Persphyni : I am Darkness

21

I couldn't hear anything except ringing as I pushed off from the tree despite the physical protests from Monty, Octavia, and Jasper. I pushed through the crowd feet away from Murphy's rope just as Bellamy kicked the stool from underneath him.

I watched Bellamy yell something at Clarke as I moved closer to the rope. Murphy hanging in the air spurring me to go faster as I soon saw Finn try to intervene and was met with the dark skinned guys own weapon.

"Stop! Okay!" My eyes went to Charlotte's as they finally stopped ringing. "Murphy didn't kill Wells!"

"No." I whispered going to step towards her.

"I did!" Without looking I swung my dagger into the rope, dropping Murphy to the ground before grabbing Charlotte and heading to the meeting tent.

"I'm sorry."

"I know. And I knew before." I told her as we ran there. Leaving the crowd behind us.

"How?" I looked down at her face as we walked into the tent.

"When you become the darkness, it's easy to find it in other things. I also saw you run away from Wells and after hearing horrible advice from Bellamy. Listen Charlotte, what you did was wrong and horrible. But I've done worse, so much worse. And I need you to understand that if you keep going down this road you may never come back."

"But you did, I mean. You're helping me, you've helped tons of people here."

"I don't even know which direction is home." I admitted, moving over to the table and hopping up on it. "Come here."

She stood in front of me and I held her hands. I sighed as I gave her knuckles a soft brush with my thumbs.

"You hold so much inside, I know because I do it to. And worse. You can't keep everything bottled up. Cause one day, you're going to shake it and the cap is going to pop of and the bottle will explode." I lifted her chin in my hand.

"Charlotte, there will be punishment. But you will not be floated for your crimes. The first step was owning up to it, the next is accepting it and the consequences." She nodded in understanding.

"Atlys. I have a question." I nodded, mentally preparing for whatever it was.

"Are you Songbird?" I sighed in relief at the easy question.

"Yes." I chuckled. "Why do you ask?"

"Do you think you could tell me a story? Just so I can get my mind off of everything right now." I nodded. She was just a girl. A girl who got unjust revenge for her parents, who was given bad advice at a bad time. And wasn't mature enough to figure out the consequences of a bad choice.

"We'll have to make it quick, Bellamy won't be too long." And so I made her sit down with me on the floor, and I told her the story of an orphan who unwillingly made all the wrong choices until that was all she wanted and sank deep into the darkness.

_______•*•*•*•_______

I heard pounding footsteps coming towards the tent. Not being able to see who it was I jumped off the ground and stood protectively over Charlotte with my dagger out and hand behind me for her to grab.

When Bellamy walked in followed by Finn and Clarke I dropped my dagger to my side. Relieved knowing I wouldn't have to worry about them trying to kill Charlotte. We were silent none of us wanting to talk out of fear of disrupting it.

"I'm assuming Murphy is about to lead the charge?" I asked to the group.

"Once he gets back on his feet he will." Finn responded, the two of us the least emotionally involved in this mess. I was the least emotionally involved in all things though.

"I'll go talk to him." I went to move around Bellamy and head out of the tent when his hand shot out and grabbed my arm.

"Not the best idea." I yanked my arm from his grasp and shoved his shoulders.

"Not the best idea? You're the one who can't handle any sort of peer pressure from his "subjects". You're the one who kicked the damn thing from underneath him. So tell me. Is me, the only person who knew how to handle the damn situation then and now, going out to talk with the boy I saved really "not the best idea."" The air quotes and sass shut him up. As well as the yelling from outside.

"Bring out the girl, Bellamy!" Murphy. I could hear the small murmurings of the crowd as they all waited outside the tent. I moved passed Bellamy and towards the tent flap.

"Get her out of here. Finn, I know you've found plenty of weird shit in these woods, lets actually take advantage of that." I turned back to face the flaps after Finn nodded showing me he understood. "Slip out the back, I'll distract them."

"Why, Charlotte?" I heard Bellamy ask once I exited the tent flaps. I walked down until I was a few feet from Murphy and the rest of the hundred. They were all staring waiting for me to say something, as Murphy just watched me approach.

"How's your neck?" My question was genuine and Murphy knew that.

"Good. Where's the girl?" He crosses his arms over his chest as I mimicked the action.

"In the tent. We're planning her punishment. Her crime will not be forgiven nor forgotten." Trying to choose words that won't trigger Murphy into an angry spell.

"Bring the girl out now!" Clearly no matter how I briefed it, Murphy was already angry.

"Enough." I took a step back, arms down by my sides to address the whole crowd.

"Listen up. Cause trust me, you'll want to." I took a deep breath preparing for what I was about to do. The perfect distraction for them to escape, will be telling the truth or some of it.

"No one here knows me, at least not the whole me. So you may be wonder who the girl with the gun was and I'm sure my name has been spread around camp through the rumor chain. While we decide on Charlotte's punishment, I'd like to tell you the truth." I looked to Murphy who was shocked but still angry, then at Octavia who gave me an encouraging smile next to Jasper who gave me a dorky thumbs up.

"My name is Persphyni Atlys. My story is a long and dark one that I will share someday. Most, if not all, of you know me as Songbird." I large collective gasp echoed through the air. "I've been told that after all the years I spent in solitary, that I wasn't in fact alone. I've also been told that I was a symbol you instilled hope in. And I need you to do it right now. I need you to have hope that this will all be sorted out, and for any time in the future we need it." I gazed at the crowd.

"Now. You can forget this ever happened, and remember only my voice in the vents as I sang or told a story. Or you can see me and remember the hope or joy you felt even in the hardest time of your old teenage lives."

"Because we are going to need to stick together, all of us. No more turning on people," my eyes flicked to the group of boys who led the fiasco today, "no more threatening to kill people in criminal ways," a stare in Murphy's direction, "no more conflict that will tear this camp from the inside out. Because that will be why we lose. Why the grounders kill us all. We are stronger together. If we work together, if we fight together, we will win together. We will survive." I had managed to pump up the crowd as people began cheering. Octavia and Jasper leading the chants. Murphy still was adamant about it but I eventually got a small smile out from him. Until Bellamy ruined it.