Who We Are [Bellamy Blake]

Epilogue

They stood in the deep, white snow. As pure as it could be, the whiteness pristine and untouched. It had begun heavily snowing on the mountain, cold flakes rushing down in absolute fury. In front of them, they watched Athena's body gently be placed upon the stack of wood, dampened by the snow, but dry enough to catch fire. Aslan was the one to do it, and Bellamy stood back, eyes glazed over as he watched the large man bring the torch to the base of the wood pile.

It lit up quickly, just like Athena had lit up Bellamy's life in so many ways. He felt as though there was nothing left for him. He had slaughtered an entire group of people, burned them in their homes. Children, women, men, innocent people, people who had helped him. Clarke had left when they returned to the Arc, unable to face the awful things that she had done since she arrived on Earth. Bellamy only had Octavia; the reason he came here was to keep her safe, and now she showed that she truly could take care of herself, and then some. So he needed another reason to be here, and that reason had been Athena.

And Athena was gone.

Aslan stepped back after he had lit the funeral pyre, the fire drying his eyes, burning his skin from a distance. Despite the pain it caused, it made him remember that he was alive, and he had more reasons to live than Athena. In the flickering flames that were consuming his former mate and friend, it looked as though his tattoos were dancing on his skin. A tribute to Athena. Inside, Aslan felt cold, darkened by life itself, but still strong. He knew that he would go on to live a long life, continue what he had been doing before Athena was lost. He would go on training, he would go on finding someone else to fill the void.

Bellamy closed his eyes, lowering his head as the black smoke filled the air, and the orange flame burned Athena's body. This was closure, but he felt as though he had been ripped open. He had learned many lessons since arriving on Earth, and many before that, but the one that would stick with him forever is that everyone he loves will die. Before him or after him, it made no difference; they would all die at one point or another, and he would have to live with the pain. He would have to overcome the pain, and he knew that he was strong enough to do so.

It's who he was.

Thank you. All of you. Everyone who commented, voted, messaged, or had any activity on this story. I cannot believe it is already at 33 thousand reads. I started this probably about 65 days ago, and it feels like it just whipped by. Thank you.