Atlantis

Chapter Thirty-Three

"Puke should be in his quarters." Bellamy had called more guards to help led the girls away like prisoners.

"Bellamy, you don't have to do this." Clarke tried again and again to convince him, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.

"Yes, I do."

"Just let us go." Clarke pleaded.

"Believe it or not, I'm doing this for your own good."

"Believe it or not, I'm doing this for yours." Octavia came in, knocking the guard out who stood behind Faye. Octavia grabbed Faye's confiscated weapons.

"You can't just hit a guard." Bellamy told her.

"I just did. Let them go." Octavia said.

"I can't do that." Bellamy insisted.

"They're coming." From the other side of the door, they all heard footsteps.

"You should go." Bellamy told his sister. Clarke took the distraction to grab the electric baton from the limp guard. She hit Bellamy with it.

"Clarke, hurry up." Octavia told her while Clarke fiddled for the keys from Bellamy.

"Let's go." They didn't immediately removed the cuffs, they simply took off running.

"Follow me. Come on."

They followed Octavia down empty hallways until they ran into Kane and Abby.

"Mom?" Clarke stopped to hug her mom.

"We know what happened. We know what Pike did." Abby told her. "Is there anything we can do to prevent a retaliation?" Abby asked.

"Abby, hurry." Marcus told her.

"We came here to give them Pike." Octavia said.

"He's the duly elected Chancellor. Our people knew what they were voting for. Besides, he had the guards and all the guns. Can't get close to him."

"And that's not the way we do things." Abby added onto Kane's words.

"Then maybe it's time we changed the way we do things."

"Security breach. Lockdown commencing."

"You three need to go." Kane told the girls. "Now."

"What about Lincoln?" Octavia asked.

"You want to help him? Do it from outside. With this. The range isn't great. Stay close and wait for me to contact you. Go."

They all got into the crawl space, but Clarke held back to talk with her mom.

"Clarke." Faye tried to grab her with her words.

They ran for the woods. They never stopped till they reached the camp.

Clarke and Faye waited to be announced.

"He's not going to change." Faye said, breaking their long lasting silence.

"I have to keep trying. I almost got to him."

"No, Clarke. He knows who he chose. You can't keep putting that aside. Your friend, is no longer a friend."

"He's your friend, too. You trusted him with your life in that mountain."

"She's ready." The man told them, leaving the tent.

They ended their talk and joined Lexa and Indra.

"Where's Octavia?" Indra asked.

"She's watching over camp." Clarke told her.

"So, tell us. How does this end? Have you come up with a way to save your people, yet again?" Lexa questioned.

"No." Clarke admitted. "Only you can do that. What happened here was an act of war. Your army was here to help us and my people slaughtered them. You have every right to respond. Every right to wipe us out. Or, you can change the way you do things."

"Why should she change?" Indra asked. "Blood must have blood." Indra spoke the words like they were stained to her brain.

"Really? Because from where I stand, the only way that ends is with everyone dead. So, what kind of leader do you want to be? The kind who kills every chance she gets because that's your way, or the kind who shows the world a better way?"

"You consider letting a massacre go unavenged, a better way?" Lexa asked.

"If it ends the cycle of violence? Yes. If it brings about peace? Yes. Someone has to take the first step. Let it be you."

Lexa turned away, but Clarke would not let her leave this.

"You say you want peace. That everything you've done was to achieve that. Yet, here we stand, on the brink of another war. A war you could stop."

"Commander, you can't seriously be considering this." Indra said.

"I'm not considering it. I'm doing it."

"Heda, please—"

"Indra. Our people act as if war is easier than peace. If that's so, should we not try and achieve the more difficult goal?"

"I agree with Indra. And Polis will not support you." Faye stepped in.

"Titus—"

"Titus is my subject. They're all my subjects. Do you say they will defy me?" Lexa came face to face with Faye. Both of them unwavering. "Will you defy me?"

Faye looked into her eyes. Lexa's emerald eyes had not changed since the day she ascended. Faye had changed. She was no longer a scared girl who followed blindly behind anyone.

"No, Heda. I will not." But not everything had changed. She would only follow blindly behind Lexa.

"Then let it be known..." She turned away from Faye. "Blood must not have blood."