Octavia Blake (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
okteiviakom) wrote2020-06-11 10:26 pm
okteiviakom) wrote2020-06-11 10:26 pm
Elsewhere, then the Preserve and Through Town, Late Thursday/Early Friday
The next day, they marched on Shallow Valley again. Madi led the group, but Octavia was by her side. And this time, they were successful. The strike team handled the guards in the pillboxes, and the rest of them charged through, and into the village, and surrounded McCreary's men. McCreary himself was up on his ship, but he was a problem for Clarke and Raven and the others up there to handle.
Madi wanted to kill the men in retaliation for the gorge. Bellamy was almost done making his little peacemaking speech to her about breaking the cycle when the alarms around the village started blaring. One of the men said it was an evac signal.
"It means conditions are unsafe. We're supposed to bug out."
Then Raven's voice came through on the loudspeakers. "Everyone listen up. Life as we know it is about to end. Again. Get your asses to the transport ship now for immediate evacuation." They had nine minutes to get everyone to the Gagarin.
Octavia didn't ask questions. She volunteered to stay with the group that went door to door, getting every last person out of the village. And that was how she found Abby, her hands bloody. And Kane, unconscious on a makeshift operating table.
Abby didn't want to leave him.
"We've been here before," Octavia told her. "This is not a choice."
"Yes, it is."
Octavia stared at her. Abby was a doctor, she had a duty. She couldn't just stay here and wash her hands clean of her sins by playing the saint for Kane, or by dying for nothing. No matter how much Octavia wanted to leave her behind for what she and Kane had done to Wonkru. "So it's okay for me to be the monster, but not you?" she snapped. "Is that right? 'Eat or die', that was you, too!"
"Yes, it was," Abby replied, coolly. "You're right. And he knew. So, go ahead. Strike me down like the devil he says you are, or get the hell out." She was already turning away. "Because I'm saving the man that I love."
Fine.
-----
They carried the stretcher to the Gagarin with barely a minute to spare. And then they were off, flying away from a planet once more on fire. Wasn't until they made it to the mothership that Octavia heard what they were actually running from. As his final act, McCreary had bombed the valley with hythylodium. If he couldn't have it, no one could.
And so no one had.
And now they were on Eligius IV, and it was overcrowded, its hallways lined with the wounded and the weary, Wonkru and Eligius prisoners alike. They were no longer at war, but that didn't mean they were doing well, either.
And just a day ago, Octavia would've been the one calling a meeting on figuring out the next move, a new plan. Now she watched Bellamy and Clarke go on their way as she sat on the floor with the rest of those who didn't get a say.
"Cheer up," a voice said from above her. Octavia looked up and, to her surprise, saw Diyoza. She hadn't actually seen the woman since the day her people had lifted Wonkru out of the bunker. She was visibly pregnant now, her belly big and round, and Octavia had to assume that had been a factor in her decision to switch sides when she had. "I wasn't invited, either."
Octavia made no move to give the impression that she wanted any company, but Diyoza sat down next to her anyway.
"You know what your mistake was?"
"Not killing you the day you opened the bunker?" Octavia drawled, looking over.
"That, too," Diyoza allowed with a little nod, as if to say 'good one'. Then she smirked, just a little. "But then what kind of lesson would that be?"
This was the first time in years anyone had even tried, however vaguely, to tease Octavia. Figured it would come from someone who'd been one of the worst terrorists of her time.
Octavia was too tired to even manage a snort. She said nothing, and Diyoza seemed to be fine with that. "Your mistake was liking it," she continued. "Power." Octavia didn't have the energy to roll her eyes, either. "It's the kiss of death," Diyoza added, softer somehow. Then, almost like an afterthought, she said, "That's okay. I liked it, too."
Octavia looked at the wall across the hallway.
"One garden," she said, after she'd let the thought sit there for a moment. "Two serpents." Her voice raspier than before. "Eden never stood a chance."
-----
It was obvious the ship was overcrowded. They didn't have a lot of rations, and the half life of hythylodium meant it would take at least a decade for the valley to come back. And so the decision was made by the ones in charge: they were all going into cryo for the next ten years. There were 500 chambers, and 412 of them aboard the ship. More than enough for all of them to take a decade-long nap.
Something about the idea felt welcome to Octavia. She could use the rest.
And the chance to not think for a while.
To not feel.
To her surprise, Bellamy came to seal her into her chamber. She lay down, and felt a brief surge of claustrophobia, even though she hadn't even slid into the actual pod yet. She swallowed it down, and murmured, "Kind of like closing the door in the floor."
"Kind of like that," Bellamy replied. He turned towards the controls, already reaching for them. She turned her head. "Wait," she said.
And then waited for what felt like an excrutiatingly long moment for him to look at her.
"I love you, big brother," she breathed. When he said nothing, she turned her head again, looking up at the ceiling. "I know you love me, too." He still didn't say anything. Bellamy, please. Octavia pushed herself up on her elbows. "Don't make me wait 10 years to hear you say it."
"You're my sister," he said, after far too long. "And a part of me will always love you."
She nodded.
It was better than she'd expected, if she was honest. She stretched back out, settling down. And she didn't look at him again.
"Does the other part still wish I was dead?"
"The other part wishes a part of you was," he said. "Yeah."
She nodded again, and whispered, "That's fair."
As he closed the chamber, he told her it wouldn't feel like ten years. She felt a tear roll down onto her temple, and then she felt cold, and then she felt nothing at all.
-----
And then Octavia opened her eyes again, and didn't even notice the tear roll the rest of the way into her hairline. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness, but then she saw them, treetops against the night sky, nothing but moonlight touching them.
She was laying on the forest floor.
This was a familiar dream. Countless nights in the bunker, she'd ended up in the woods. Either filled with shadows that seemed to move and to stalk, or - when she was lucky - filled with calm and quiet and no one and nothing else for miles.
She felt no danger here. Nothing moved in the shadows as she got up from the undergrowth. She didn't notice the things under her bare feet, crunching and scraping and pushing between her toes. Nothing could hurt her here, after all. She was sure of it.
And so she began walking.
And she walked and she walked.
And eventually she came to the edge of the forest, and wasn't at all surprised to see the castle. She'd seen it many times over the years, in her dreams, looming in the background of everything else.
She kept walking. Past the castle, towards the gates. Onto the cobblestone streets.
Down to the docks.
To the ship.
It wasn't always there when she came down here. Sometimes she couldn't even find the docks, but this time she had, and it was. She stood still for a moment, just looking at it, stretched out in its slip.
Then, she walked across the gangplank, and stepped aboard.
[ooc: For one. NFB for distance first, and then for timing. Things under the cut taken from The 100 S5 episode 13, and THUS CONCLUDES THE PLOT! \o/]
Madi wanted to kill the men in retaliation for the gorge. Bellamy was almost done making his little peacemaking speech to her about breaking the cycle when the alarms around the village started blaring. One of the men said it was an evac signal.
"It means conditions are unsafe. We're supposed to bug out."
Then Raven's voice came through on the loudspeakers. "Everyone listen up. Life as we know it is about to end. Again. Get your asses to the transport ship now for immediate evacuation." They had nine minutes to get everyone to the Gagarin.
Octavia didn't ask questions. She volunteered to stay with the group that went door to door, getting every last person out of the village. And that was how she found Abby, her hands bloody. And Kane, unconscious on a makeshift operating table.
Abby didn't want to leave him.
"We've been here before," Octavia told her. "This is not a choice."
"Yes, it is."
Octavia stared at her. Abby was a doctor, she had a duty. She couldn't just stay here and wash her hands clean of her sins by playing the saint for Kane, or by dying for nothing. No matter how much Octavia wanted to leave her behind for what she and Kane had done to Wonkru. "So it's okay for me to be the monster, but not you?" she snapped. "Is that right? 'Eat or die', that was you, too!"
"Yes, it was," Abby replied, coolly. "You're right. And he knew. So, go ahead. Strike me down like the devil he says you are, or get the hell out." She was already turning away. "Because I'm saving the man that I love."
Fine.
They carried the stretcher to the Gagarin with barely a minute to spare. And then they were off, flying away from a planet once more on fire. Wasn't until they made it to the mothership that Octavia heard what they were actually running from. As his final act, McCreary had bombed the valley with hythylodium. If he couldn't have it, no one could.
And so no one had.
And now they were on Eligius IV, and it was overcrowded, its hallways lined with the wounded and the weary, Wonkru and Eligius prisoners alike. They were no longer at war, but that didn't mean they were doing well, either.
And just a day ago, Octavia would've been the one calling a meeting on figuring out the next move, a new plan. Now she watched Bellamy and Clarke go on their way as she sat on the floor with the rest of those who didn't get a say.
"Cheer up," a voice said from above her. Octavia looked up and, to her surprise, saw Diyoza. She hadn't actually seen the woman since the day her people had lifted Wonkru out of the bunker. She was visibly pregnant now, her belly big and round, and Octavia had to assume that had been a factor in her decision to switch sides when she had. "I wasn't invited, either."
Octavia made no move to give the impression that she wanted any company, but Diyoza sat down next to her anyway.
"You know what your mistake was?"
"Not killing you the day you opened the bunker?" Octavia drawled, looking over.
"That, too," Diyoza allowed with a little nod, as if to say 'good one'. Then she smirked, just a little. "But then what kind of lesson would that be?"
This was the first time in years anyone had even tried, however vaguely, to tease Octavia. Figured it would come from someone who'd been one of the worst terrorists of her time.
Octavia was too tired to even manage a snort. She said nothing, and Diyoza seemed to be fine with that. "Your mistake was liking it," she continued. "Power." Octavia didn't have the energy to roll her eyes, either. "It's the kiss of death," Diyoza added, softer somehow. Then, almost like an afterthought, she said, "That's okay. I liked it, too."
Octavia looked at the wall across the hallway.
"One garden," she said, after she'd let the thought sit there for a moment. "Two serpents." Her voice raspier than before. "Eden never stood a chance."
It was obvious the ship was overcrowded. They didn't have a lot of rations, and the half life of hythylodium meant it would take at least a decade for the valley to come back. And so the decision was made by the ones in charge: they were all going into cryo for the next ten years. There were 500 chambers, and 412 of them aboard the ship. More than enough for all of them to take a decade-long nap.
Something about the idea felt welcome to Octavia. She could use the rest.
And the chance to not think for a while.
To not feel.
To her surprise, Bellamy came to seal her into her chamber. She lay down, and felt a brief surge of claustrophobia, even though she hadn't even slid into the actual pod yet. She swallowed it down, and murmured, "Kind of like closing the door in the floor."
"Kind of like that," Bellamy replied. He turned towards the controls, already reaching for them. She turned her head. "Wait," she said.
And then waited for what felt like an excrutiatingly long moment for him to look at her.
"I love you, big brother," she breathed. When he said nothing, she turned her head again, looking up at the ceiling. "I know you love me, too." He still didn't say anything. Bellamy, please. Octavia pushed herself up on her elbows. "Don't make me wait 10 years to hear you say it."
"You're my sister," he said, after far too long. "And a part of me will always love you."
She nodded.
It was better than she'd expected, if she was honest. She stretched back out, settling down. And she didn't look at him again.
"Does the other part still wish I was dead?"
"The other part wishes a part of you was," he said. "Yeah."
She nodded again, and whispered, "That's fair."
As he closed the chamber, he told her it wouldn't feel like ten years. She felt a tear roll down onto her temple, and then she felt cold, and then she felt nothing at all.
And then Octavia opened her eyes again, and didn't even notice the tear roll the rest of the way into her hairline. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness, but then she saw them, treetops against the night sky, nothing but moonlight touching them.
She was laying on the forest floor.
This was a familiar dream. Countless nights in the bunker, she'd ended up in the woods. Either filled with shadows that seemed to move and to stalk, or - when she was lucky - filled with calm and quiet and no one and nothing else for miles.
She felt no danger here. Nothing moved in the shadows as she got up from the undergrowth. She didn't notice the things under her bare feet, crunching and scraping and pushing between her toes. Nothing could hurt her here, after all. She was sure of it.
And so she began walking.
And she walked and she walked.
And eventually she came to the edge of the forest, and wasn't at all surprised to see the castle. She'd seen it many times over the years, in her dreams, looming in the background of everything else.
She kept walking. Past the castle, towards the gates. Onto the cobblestone streets.
Down to the docks.
To the ship.
It wasn't always there when she came down here. Sometimes she couldn't even find the docks, but this time she had, and it was. She stood still for a moment, just looking at it, stretched out in its slip.
Then, she walked across the gangplank, and stepped aboard.
[ooc: For one. NFB for distance first, and then for timing. Things under the cut taken from The 100 S5 episode 13, and THUS CONCLUDES THE PLOT! \o/]