That Never Was - Bellamy Blake [3]

Chapter 4 - Ye Who Enter Here

Day 145 – Feb. 4

A heavy sigh falls from the redhead's rosy lips once she and Jasper step through the empty elevator threshold. Jasper instantly moves to the right side with a crudely drawn arrow pointing up etched into the wall, reaching across to the centre of the back wall to flip the small lever that clamps down the brake. Planting his glove-clad hands on top of the rusted lever he stands in front of, Jasper cranks it down and the whole elevator jolts up in the narrow shaft. One of Myles' glove-clad hands finds the cylindrical chain reel that's connected to the hoist along the back wall and twists the short handle to follow the circular shape of the reel.

When Jasper cranks the lever, the elevator lifts a foot, and Myles spins the handle to keep the loose chain wrapped around the reel so it doesn't get caught. It's a simple design, a manual pulley system to use the elevator that survived with the building after the war 197 years ago. This building is by far the tallest structure to have survived the bombs, standing at forty-two different floors, most above but some below ground. The travel up will be long and tiring, seeing as the warriors who usually shift the elevator are not here, but that's the least of Myles' worries right now.

Today at sundown, a peace summit is being held on the very top floor, where Lexa's throne room is. Ambassadors from all twelve clans will come together to discuss a peace treaty with representatives from Arkadia. Marcus Kane is very prepared, having been planning this for the past three months, it's a great relief for him to finally be able to sit down and discuss his visions for the unity of their people. The man has been able to see, especially with Jasper and Myles' close working relationship with the grounders, that peaceful unity isn't just an option, but it has great potential to be a reality.

"Stop fiddling with them," Jasper warns, yanking the lever down again and jolting them up. Hazel eyes glide over to him, her slender fingers still feeling her earrings. "They'll get infected. Again."

"At least there's proper earrings in there now," the redhead grumbles, following each wrenching of the lever with a twirl of the reels handle.

"Thank god for that," her best friend agrees. "The other ones were terrible."

Myles snaps her head in his direction, her eyes widening and her hand dropping from her ear, "they were not!"

"None of them matched," Jasper reasons, a lighthearted smile hinting across his face as he huffs with each crank of the lever. "You didn't have two pairs of earrings. You had four different ones."

"They weren't that bad!" Myles argues, her tone raising in pitch.

"Yes, they were," the brown-haired teen snickers, his eyes gleaming with mischief. "I cannot believe you're keeping them pierced."

"This is not being supportive," the red-haired teen jibes through a giggle, "you're just jealous I'm the one with all the jewellery."

"We do everything together," Jasper protests halfheartedly, shoving the handle down and huffing. "We're switching."

Myles snorts loudly, her playful smile still covering her features, "Okay." Taking his spot by the lever, the redhead has to use her whole body weight to fully swing the lever down. "I didn't know... you wanted to get your... ears pierced."

"I don't," her best friend disputes, spinning the handle of the reel. "We've split up more in the last two weeks than we have in the last three months, and both times you've done things without me. It's rude."

"You should've...," Myles starts, quirking her eyebrow up as a serious look overtakes her face. "Stayed with me then."

"I couldn't," Jasper explains, all trace of mischief leaving his tone. "It would've been intimidating all three of us trying to nose around."