𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄─𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞¹ (𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠)

120. back to the beach

"Careful!" Bellamy warned as Octavia and I burst into the machine room. 

It had taken us quite a few minutes to locate it, so once we did, we knew we didn't have any time to waste. 

The scene we entered to was rather horrific. I felt my heart drop as my eyes scanned the scene in front of me. 

Half a dozen bodies lay dead on the ground. Jasper was tied up near the door, as was a young girl, but both appeared to be rather unharmed. 

Octavia veered off toward Jasper, leaving me heading for the young girl who looked absolutely terrified. 

"You're okay." I soothed, dropping down to my knees to begin untying her. Bellamy joined me, wrapped a comforting arm around the young girl. "We've got you." he promised. 

It was then that a heart shattering scream ripped through the room. I tore my eyes away from the girl who was being helped up by Bellamy, only to see Luna sitting in the middle of the room, a body clutched in her hands as she let out loud sobs. 

My heart broke for her as she let out a string of choked apologies. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the body in her hands was that of her lover.

I felt a tug in my heart toward Bellamy, and ever so briefly my eyes flickered toward him. He was already looking down at me when I focused my gaze on him. 

Neither of us said anything, but I could tell we were both thinking the same thing. That could have been us. 

Bellamy and I may not have been on the best of terms, but I could easily imagine the pain I would have felt if I was in Luna's situation. 

Wordlessly, I tore my attention away from him, not able to bear the thought of losing him any longer. 

Instead, my attention turned to the devastation that had been left in our wake. It seemed wherever we went the peace was upheaved, and unfortunately this was yet another example. 

---

Quiet murmurs floated around the room as the five of us stood, watching as some sort of ritual was carried out by Luna and her people. A ceremony was to take place soon, one to commemorate those who were lost tonight. 

"Any one of them could be chipped and we would never know." Bellamy pointed out, his arms crossed firmly in front of his body as his eyes travelled around the room. 

"If they are, they'll make their move before we put the chip into Luna." Clarke countered. "Stay sharp."

"She changed her mind?" Jasper questioned as Luna made her way toward us.

"Quiet!" Clarke warned, turning to face Luna with a forced smile.

A woman followed behind Luna, holding out a tray with five drinks. We all shared brief looks before each of us took a cup. 

"The ceremony is about to begin." Luna explained, giving us a small smile before beginning to turn away. 

"Luna, wait!" Clarke  called, "I'm so sorry. But now you see what we're facing. An enemy who will do whatever it takes to win. She won't stop until she has everyone."

I silently watched as Luna held up the Flame, "People  I loved died today. Needlessly. At my hand. I can't let  happen again."

With that, she turned toward the rest of the room. Everyone stood, cups held in hand.

"As we prepare to give our brothers and sister to the sea, we honour their lives." Luna's voice was strong as she spoke, but I could hear the sadness buried within. 

She held her goblet up in front of her, before reciting a string of words in Trigedasleng that were repeated back to her by everyone in the room. 

We then raised the goblets to our mouths, drinking the contents in one swig.   

"If we're going to do this," Clarke rushed the minute Luna had turned around, "Then we need to hurry. ALIE will send reinforcements."

"And we have to find someplace private to perform the ascension" she added, quickly looking around. 

Luna wore a blank expression as she lightly shook her head. "You think that to stop an enemy who will stop at nothing, you have to stop at nothing. How is that different that 'Blood Must Have Blood'?"

Suddenly, my body began to feel numb as I felt myself sway. It was the same feeling I had had when we were first brought over here. 

"Luna, wait a second!" Octavia gasped, "You can't just--"

I didn't get to hear the rest of her sentence, as either she collapsed or I did. I wasn't exactly sure which one of us hit the ground first. 

Within a matter of seconds, for the second time in less than two days, everything went black. 

---

This time when my eyes opened, we were back on the beach. 

A groan escaped my lips as I turned my head slightly, noting that Bellamy was standing beside me, staring down. "You okay?"

I nodded, reaching out to take his hand which was outstretched. "Yeah." I sighed, allowing him to pull me to my feet. 

Once standing, I looked around to see that the rest of the group had awoken as well, all of us congregating in a small line. "So," Bellamy spoke, his eyes set forward. "What now?"

Safe to say, our lives had just gotten a whole lot more difficult.