havoc | bellamy blake (book two)

21 | all caught in this hell

The only reason why Jovie got any sleep that night was because she had Bellamy next to her. If he hadn't been there, she was sure she wouldn't have slept a minute. He provided a sense of comfort she never knew she needed.

"Weapons," Gustus ordered as they stood outside the gates of Tondc. Lincoln was the first to hand over his weapon.

"We need to disarm before we enter," he told the rest of the group. Jovie immediately handed her daggers over after, hoping it would be the first step towards trust. Clarke was quick to follow after her. One after another, the rest of their group began handing over their weapons. Though some were reluctant, like Raven, it had to be done.

As soon as they were all cleared, the Commander led the group into the village. Jovie didn't know what the Grounders in the village where saying when they saw them walking in, but it didn't sound good. They sounded angry. She didn't blame them. One man stepped in front of the Commander. It was obvious she wanted to prove who was in charge  though because before they knew it, he was being beat on the ground.

"Tell him to stop," Jovie stepped forward. The Commander glanced over at her. She had yet to officially talk to the girl, but she knew who Jovie was.

"They'll blame us for this too," Clarke added. She finally spoke words from their language and Gustus stopped.

"The Sky People march with us now," Lexa announced. "Anyone who tries to stop that will pay with their life."

"Warm welcome," Bellamy commented quietly.

♛

Jovie stood quietly in between Bellamy and Octavia as Finn's body laid on a bed of wood. The Commander was making a speech to her people in their language. Lincoln stood close behind to act as a translator.

"People of Tondc, in fire, we cleanse the pain of the past," he said. Indra handed a torch over to Lexa. She hesitated before looking over at Clarke.

"Clarke," she said. Clarke stepped forward and took the torch. It was clear that she was deep in thought as she stared at Finn's body. Eventually she slowly lowered it and set the wood to flames.

"Yu gonplei ste odon," Clarke said. Jovie watched as Finn's body became engulfed into flames. She didn't know where he was now, but she hoped he was at peace. Even after what he had done, he still deserved it.

After everyone dispersed, Jovie lingered outside for a while. She wasn't quite ready to be with everyone yet. She was beyond surprised when she suddenly heard her name... or rather, the name that she was given.

"Natstrecha." Jovie looked up to see Lexa standing in front of her.

"Commander," she replied shortly.

"I've been waiting to meet you," Lexa told her.

"I can say the same," Jovie replied. She had always been curious what the Grounders' leader would look like. For someone so young, Lexa held a lot of power. Maybe if the Ark saw that, they would give the delinquents a bit more respect. Jovie figured that if the Commander was coming up to talk, she would be free to speak her mind. "You know, Finn wanted peace from the start. The only reason he did what he did was because he was desperate to find Clarke. The people you lost didn't deserve the fate that they got but neither did he. Finn, he was one of the good ones. He just got caught in this hell."

"We are all caught in this hell," Lexa said. She paused before speaking again. "Why do you want peace?"

"Because we are all caught in this hell," Jovie said, using Lexa's own words to answer her question. It was like when one conflict ended, another started. She couldn't remember the last time that they hadn't had anything to worry about. "Whether we like or not, we are all stuck in the same goddamn place, so we might as well learn to live with it. Otherwise, we're just going to keep losing people, on both sides." Lexa stared at her for a brief moment before giving a short nod, almost as if she was satisfied with Jovie's answer.

"Well, let's go then," Lexa said. Jovie nodded her head before following the Commander into a room with a long table. Jovie's people slowly filed in after to sit across from the Grounders. Jovie stood in between Bellamy and Kane.

"Please accept this gift, Commander," Kane said. "We drink this at special occasions. I believe this qualifies." Her guard took the drink from Kane and handed it to her.

"Thank you, Marcus of the Sky People," Lexa said.

"You're welcome, Lexa... kom Trikru," he added. "Just don't drink too much of it."

"Clarke, Jovie, let us drink together," Lexa said.

"It would be my pleasure," Clarke said as Jovie gave a simple head nod in appreciation. She poured the drink into three cups and handed each to Clarke and Jovie.

"Heda, allow me," Gustus spoke. He took a sip of the drink then handed it back to Lexa.

"Tonight, we celebrate our newfound peace," Lexa announced. "Tomorrow, we plan our war. To those we've lost. And to those we shall soon find." The three girls went to raise the glass to their lips when Gustus suddenly collapsed onto the table. Everyone stared in shock as he fell back into the wall.

"It's poison," one of the Grounders said. Bellamy knocked the cups out of Jovie and Clarke's hand.

"It was the Sky People," Indra said, pulling her sword out of its holder. Chaos erupted as the Grounders shoved the table out of the way to get to the people from the Ark.

"This wasn't us. You have to know it wasn't us!" Clarke tried defending them. Indra gave orders in their language as the other Grounders pulled Gustus out of the room. The Grounders began grabbing the Ark's people as Clarke continued to try to convince Lexa it wasn't them. "No. No. We didn't do this!"

"Lexa, you have to believe us!" Jovie said as one of the Grounders tried dragging her away.

"Gustus warned me about you, but I didn't listen," Lexa growled.

"Lexa, please," Clarke begged.

"Tell me something, Clarke. When you plunged the knife into the heart of the boy you loved, did you not wish that it was mine?" Lexa spoke angrily. Clarke had nothing to say as she stared at the brunette.

"Heda," one of the Grounders said. He held up a small vial that he had supposedly found on Raven.

"That's not mine," Raven argued. "I'm telling you. That's not mine! He put it there when he searched me."

"No Sky Person leaves this room!"