ASCENSION: BOOK 3- APOCALYPSE.

Chapter 13: Face To Face.

It was strange to be back inside The Skaikru Embassy. I'd spent so much time here, helping to establish my Clan's political standing within The Coalition. Part of me missed those day to day challenges, but I knew Octavia was smart enough and bold enough to be an excellent Ambassador for our people.
Dusk has begun to settle across the land, but with it came a strange golden colour to the sky. Octavia entered The Embassy and prepared us to make our move.
"The Commander is in The Temple. Keep your faces cloaked and your heads down," she ordered.
We nodded and pulled our hoods over our heads as Octavia led us outside into the heart of Polis.
The the sights and sounds were all so familar, almost as though I'd never left. We weaved cautiously through the crowd of traders, careful not to make eye contact, until we finally ended up at the doors to The Flamekeepers Temple.
Octavia opened the doors and we followed her down a large stairwell illuminated by flaming torches. As a rule very few are permitted access to The Temple. I had only ever been inside this sacred place once after Lexa had ascended, at a gathering to honour the new era of The Flame.
As we descended deeper into The Temple we saw a set of large double doors guarded by two of Lexa's Sentries. They immediately blocked our way as we approached.
"Access is forbidden, Ambassador. The Commander is not to be disturbed," one of them gruffly spoke.
"I understand The Commander is at meditation but there is an urgent matter I need to discuss with her. These two travellers have witnessed invaders approaching our lands from the sea. They are here to warn The Clans," Octavia spoke with respect, managing to conceal our identity.
"Wait here!" The Sentry ordered as he disappeared into the main chamber.
Minutes later he returned granting us access. My heart was racing, my palms sweating as we walked into the this sacred place. All around us were relics of the past, everything that connected us to the first Commander, Becca Pramheda.
In the centre of this space stood a woman with long braided hair, with her back to us. She was dressed all in black, the iconic armour of The Commanders attached firmly to her shoulder as the red sash flowed from it to rest upon the ground.
She was as every bit as regal as I remembered and every bit the warrior woman I fell in love with.

Silence filled the room. Lexa never once moved, instead she continued to look up at a large piece of cloth hanging from The Temple wall. Upon it was the sacred infinity symbol and the words, 'seek higher things.'
Eventually she broke the silence, her voice was void of emotion, so unlike the Lexa I once knew, "Octavia Kom Skaikru sees fit to disturb her Commander in this sacred place. Please explain!"
Octavia looked at us nervously before she replied, "My apologies, Heda. There is a matter that requires your immediate attention."
Lexa remained with her back to us, "So my Sentry informs me. Tales of invaders from across the ocean. Tell me Ambassador, should I believe these warnings spoken by strangers?"
Before Octavia had time to speak Luna removed her hood and stepped forward much to the shock of all in the room, "We are not strangers you and I, Lexa Kom Trikru nor do I speak falsely of what's to come."
Lexa recognised Luna's voice and slowly turned her head to the side, enough for us to see her profile illuminated in the candle light. Her features were hardened as though the cruelty of life had taken away her humanity.
"You risk death coming here, Luna Kom Floukru."
"The risk outweighs what we are about to face. These invaders murdered those I swore to protect, they stole our children and by now Floukru will have all but perished defending our coastline. They are searching for Polis, for a sanctuary from the end of days," she warned.
"Then all they will find is the sword of The Commander and death the moment the step anywhere near this city," Lexa growled.
"Its not the invaders you should be worried about, it's what follows them across the Ocean. A wave of fire and radiation that will decimate every living thing on the surface of this Earth, that's what should concern you, unless you're too wrapped up in the constant bickering of The Clans to care!" Luna growled back.
I kept my face covered as Lexa turned around to face us, anger blazing in her eyes, "Speak to me like that again, Natblida and it'll be you that faces my sword! SENTRIES!" Lexa called out.
Within seconds her guards approached from the other side of the door.
"Take this traitor and put her in a cell!" They grabbed Luna and attempted to drag her away. "Octavia Kom Skaikru you will be stripped of your position of Ambassador, for aiding this coward. Be thankful I don't take your life!"
I could hardly believe this was the same person I fell in love with. I could no longer hold my tongue.
"EM PLENI!" I called out, causing all around me to freeze their actions.
I continued, "The Lexa I once knew was a leader capable of offering mercy to those who risked their lives for the greater good. Has the world jaded you so much since the fall of The Mountain, Heda or maybe I am to blame for who you've become?"
She stepped towards me as though she wanted to cut me down then and there.
"Show your face!" she demanded.
I removed the hood to reveal my identity. The room fell silent, disbelief flashed across Lexa's eyes. She looked over every inch of my face, uncertain that the woman she thought she'd lost to The Mountain was now in fact standing before her.
I met her emerald green eyes that now seemed so stone cold and my heart broke. What had I done? What had my death wrought down upon a soul that was once so full of compassion?

"CLEAR THE ROOM!" Lexa shouted as her eyes remained fixed upon mine. Her Sentries escorted Luna and Octavia out of The Temple room and closed the doors behind them.
The tension between us ran high, I wasn't sure if Lexa wanted to embrace me or kill me as she stared at me in silence. My presence with Luna had made it clear to her I had purposely chosen to remain dead to the world. I think this hurt her more than the actual prospect of my death inside of Mount Weather.
"Say something, anything. Tell me to leave or stay, just say something," I pleaded.
"Words are wasted on the dead," she coldly answered.
"Do you think it was an easy decision make? There wasn't a part of me that didn't want to return home. The Clans would never have accepted a Shadow Blood who attacked her own people standing by your side, your leadership would have been compromised. I owed you more than a lifetime of complications." I explained.
"Then you should have stood by your decision and remained lost to the world. I stopped mourning you, I let you go, now here you stand with the justifications of a coward. I see now more than ever that The Flamekeeper was right, love is weakness," Lexa's words cut like a knife. She was truley lost to me and it hurt more than I could ever have imagined.
"You don't believe that. I know your heart, Lexa. I know that you feel more that most of us, because everyday you strive to do what's right for your people. I understand I have no right to ask for your forgiveness but don't punish those who've risked everything to warn you about what we all face," I said as I placed the electronic tablet Raven had given me onto a nearby table for Lexa to have.
"Decide for yourself if your heart still beats for your people, even if it no longer beats for me."
I held her stare in a brief moment of silence before turning away from the woman I still loved, leaving her behind once again.