Sorry about taking so long to post this. I have been a little busy with work and life. But after getting this edited I now present it to you.

There is a whole slew of references and Easter Eggs spread throughout this chapter.

Also. I have loaded a few Checkov Guns that will be playing out in the next few chapters.

I hope that you will like what I have written.

Chapter 16 – Paths to one's new home – Part 2 - Motherly Advice

Bekka grinned as she walked through the streets with her mortal bridge: Ontari.

"The last time I saw this place with my eyes. Old man Mathews was griping that the last of the barring bugs were heading to the northern deserts." The hybrid of mutated insects and invasive crustaceans had become a stable food source for the people in the years after the Nuclear fires. They had looked disgusting, but the taste was similar to that of crab and lobster meat.

"Sankru territory. I have heard of those bugs. I hear that they are a good treat when cooked. Boiled in water and covered in fruit juice."

"Amazing what happens when the old adage: if it is good, eat it." Ontari grinned at that statement. Murphy had the same look on his face when she had offered Azgeda Sweet milk to him. That was one of the better memories of the young woman's mind. Food was a connection back to one's home or to places where they wished to experience safety, love, passion, and/or a link to the larger world they were part of. Ontari was sensing that statement was leading back to some memories of her times as a leader. "What was this place like before, Prymefire?" Not every day that you could talk with someone who had seen the world of before. The golden times before the Great Fires of Old.

"Much as it is now, just with more intact buildings and the tower… well, it was covered in large sheets of glass panels within its windows." Ontari looked up to the Commander's tower. "It must have been a glorious sight in the old days."

Ontari had only seen large segments of glass about the size of a sheet of paper. But to have the banner or wall-sized was just outside of the current technical skills of these people for the time being.

"It was- but it wasn't the home of Commanders- it belonged to a banking group," Bekka spoke as she moved around the physical obstruction before her. She didn't need to, but she did out of common curiously. The little things like that are what kept her and the other former Commanders feeling connected to the world. Those little things while they were working with their successor to save is what made their noncorporeal existence tolerable.

"Banking group?" Ontari spoke, having seeing the words on various buildings written in English throughout the city.

"Money, cash, gold, contracts about whom owned land and personal property," Bekka spoke. Bekka's attention turned away from their journey as she started to watch how children were moving about as they were doing their best to play a game. Windsails if she was right. A game that had been created back in her own time. That and soccer had somehow survived.

Basketball or the space station variant of it seemed to have been the popular game for the Arker youth. That part, Bekka had been able to glean from Clarke's memories while she was linked to the City of Light.

"Were people held under servitude to these contracts?" Ontari spoke as she watched the people move by.

Bekka sensed the information floating around Ontari's mind.

"Clarify Ontari." Ontari's thoughts were often at times rushing around her like a sea, but once focused. Well, the ADHD and the IED disorders could be tamed at this time, even with the primitive medications they had.

"Were they slaves?" Ah, the crux of the matter at hand.

"Slavery was banned at the time. But- some individuals preyed upon those in need. Wrote and used unscrupulous contracts to take advantage of those in need."

Looking at Ontari, Bekka could understand the weight and problems she was facing.

"I know that you have memories of what Nia did to you." Ontari jumped back at the mention of the name.

"I wish I didn't have them," Ontari spoke softly.

"Those memories shape you, but they are not who you are." Ontari looked up at her through the faceplate of the artistic ballet-based spacesuit helmet, Bekka could see that Clarke's teachings were finally taking hold. So much like herself. So eager. So full of enthusiasm. Yet so damaged by what had been done to her and what she had also done. "You are so much like me. But you can also be as strong as me, you just need to understand that a true leader is a servant to the people they serve. For it is the people for whom they lead and listen to that give them their full strength to overcome the challenges they face." Ontari nodded at this.

"Then, I am alone?"

"No... You just needed to find the right people and friends to help you through your challenges."

"Like Jasper?"

"Jasper, Monty, and especially Murphy. That boy has been through the same rough things as you. But he is a good advisor. A real keeper of the flame of knowledge and justice."

"But he is a fake one," Ontari spoke.

"In whose eyes and from what view, Ontari, from whose eyes and view." Bekka grinned.

The girl now understood what was now taking place and what she needed to do.

Conversely, with these events, this is what Ontari was experiencing:

As Ontari walked through the streets of Polis wearing Karina of Skaikru's old mask. Nearby Bekka's spirit self-stood projected wearing an image of the spacesuit she had worn during her decent form the heavens. Between wearing Jasper's Earth Day 2050 shirt and some other Skaikru clothing, it was strange to just walk down the streets without being noticed. That and the sound of the mask's breathing unit was almost calming.

A feeling of strangeness befell her. So familiar in her short life, A member of an honored bloodline/lowly servant girl. Even wearing Karina's noble ancestor Bound's war mask, she was both Outsider and Native. Azgeda and Skaikru.

Blessed with the powers of Bekka and Wanheda-

Seeing the next world and this one.

Not many understood what she had gone through, but Jasper did.

Enemy, turned friend, turned- Lover.

Bekka grinned as she walked through the streets with her.

"The last time I saw this place with my eyes. Old man Mathews was griping that the last of the barring bugs were heading to the northern deserts."

"Sankru territory. I have heard of those bugs. I hear that they are a good treat when cooked. Boiled in water and covered in fruit juice."

"Amazing what happens when the old adage: if it is good, eat it." Ontari grinned at that statement. Murphy had the same look on his face when she had offered Azgeda Sweet milk to him.

"What was this place like before, Prymefire?" Not every day that you could talk with someone who had seen the world of before. The golden times before the Great Fires of Old.

"Much as it is now, just with more intact buildings and the tower… well, it was covered in large sheets of glass panels." Ontari looked up to the Commander's tower.

"It must have been a glorious sight in the old days."

"It was- but it wasn't the home of Commanders- it belonged to a banking group," Bekka spoke as she moved around the physical obstruction before her. She didn't need to, but she did out of common curiously.

"Banking group?" Ontari spoke, having seen the words on various buildings written in Gonaslang.

"Money, cash, gold, contracts about whom owned land and personal property," Bekka spoke as she started to watch how children were moving about. Bekka's actions seemed to be of deep contemplation and nostalgia for the time before.

"Were people held under servitude to these contracts?" Ontari spoke as she watched her ancestor talk about the topic.

Ontari still hurt from images of what Nia had done to her when she had been ripped from her mother's arms.

She could still hear her mother's cries each night when she went to bed.

But as the conversation drifted towards those allies, she had made Bekka seemed to come to an understanding of how damaged and hurt Ontari had been in her short life.

Bekka's words of understanding and compassion spoke of someone who hadn't wished this fate of suffering and pain upon her.

But there was hope as Bekka pointed out that despite all of the challenges that Ontari had faced in her life, she had found real allies. Friends and even love and hearing that even Murphy had the sign of respect of the Pramheda… well, she started to feel better.

She needed to find the entrance to the Shelter that Bekka had stated where it was. So far, from walking about and helping match up landmarks. Bekka requested to see through Ontari's eyes from time to time, and the experience bonded them closer on an emotional level. Ontari sensed that there was much history that had been lost over the years. But hearing Bekka talk as they moved through the streets and using the Commander's tower as a starting point to begin their search Ontari saw the damage she had done.

"So Much death," Ontari spoke aloud. Even under the mask of Bound of Skaikru, her voice sounded almost surreal.

The golden sun shield hid her face leaving a faceless individual walking about. Some of the warriors hearing her speak moved away, thinking that she wasn't human, but some creature the Skaikru had brought down with them.

The faceless mask reflected whoever was approaching her. Thus, as a result, made the warriors think she was going to reflect back their own fighting technique at them. That unease let her move about in peace.

Amazing what a mirror can do to someone's mindset to a person who hasn't seen their reflection other than in a pool of water.

For the first time in Ontari's life, she could be herself.

Bekka commented on how well they had done in light of the recent events.

Not to the point where they should be, but close enough that the advances that needed to be made could be made with the acquired skills on hand.

Ontari sensed that she needed to do more.

Then a child from the Skaikru came running up to her.

"BOUND!" The Child thought she was Karina kon Skaikru's alter ego.

Ontari wanted to pull away, but the child was clinging to her. Kneeling down to the child's eye level, she saw that the child was frightened.

The boy had the same look of fear as her eyes once had- right after Nia had her ripped from her mother's arms.

Ontari was inexperienced in these matters, but Lexa wasn't.

"Hold him." Lexa emerged to speak to Ontari. Ontari did do, and the boy started to calm down.

"Are you alright?" Ontari spoke, doing her best not to scare the child with her strange-sounding voice.

"No, I lost my Dad." A lost child who had gotten separated from their parents. A feeling of dread came over Ontari. This kid's father must be going crazy.

"Where were you last when you lost your Father?"

"In the market." The boy spoke as he looked at her. "Bound, can you hold me. I know that you saved those children a long time ago from being sucked into space. Can you protect me from the Scary Grounders?"

If he only knew.

"Only if you are brave." The boy nodded at this.

"Okay." Then the boy seemed to have had a bulk of his fears halted. But as he looked up at Ontari, she realized that Bound was a figure within the Skaikru mythos that was almost similar to that of Bekka.

"So, what is your name?" Ontari/Bound spoke.

"Ethan- Ethan Hardy." Ontari listened to the boy talk.

"Well, Ethan- Ethan Hardy, let us walk and find your father." Ethan seemed to understand that as they started to walk. Lexa and Bekka seemed to realize that Ontari was slowly becoming the leader she was meant to be.

Karina wore the traditional white warpaint of her homeland of Azgeda. The only reason she did so was so she could look and feel brave. In truth, she was scared shitless. She had a small frame that screamed that she was easy prey like a deer. Even with seventeen winters from her birth, she looked like a girl a third her age. Stories of the decimation that the Black Rains had caused to the Ocean people and the Sand Clan made her start to have nightmares about dying.

You didn't die of being poisoned- this was a slow twist of the knife type of death that someone was taking their quiet, pleasant time in killing you.

She needed to be brave. She needed to do something that would make her feel less scared. Then she saw it.

Karina watched the masked Skaikru warrior walk with the young boy from their village. The strange golden bracelet looked important. If she could steal it-

"I know that you are there." The masked figure called out without turning around. Now that didn't get her attention. It was the fact that the character spoken it in native tri. Without an accent to it. Karina gulped.

"Oh... Shit."

The figure turned its reflective mask covered face towards her.

Karina felt unnerved at this person's face or lack there-of because of this mask. Only after a moment did Karina make out the fact that this person was a woman. The only act she had gotten that information was seeing the bulge of breasts before her.

The child clung close to behind the woman in fear.

"Azgeda, of what house or village are you from?" The woman's voice had an unearthly echo to it.

Karina tried to force herself to speak. The warrior moved into a defensive stance forcing the child behind herself.

"WHITEFISH." Karina was able to force out.

Shit... if this warrior was this scary without reaching for a weapon. And Karina was about to piss herself in fear. Who knew what would happen when they went for their primary weapon.

Please do not be a gun! By the gods, don't be a gun!

The image of those weapons that the Sky Clan had and the late Mountain men used as weapons of terror brought horror to Karina's mind.

"Whitefish-" The warrior nodded its head. "Good people, but rough place to live. Close to the Lake People, am I correct?"

"It is..." The warrior approached. Karina stepped back. She was watching the body language of the warrior, but that damn mask just kept drawing her eyes towards it. All Karina kept seeing was her damn reflection in the faceless mask.

That of a terrified girl.

"I am Bound of the Sky People." The warrior gestured to itself. "And this little one is Ethan of Sky People." The young boy behind the strange warrior looked at her.

"Bound... What are you saying in Grounder?" The boy looked confused and worried about the situation. Then she got her answer.

"I am speaking to her in her native tongue," Bound spoke back in the warrior language. Karina now understood that the child didn't understand her. That and the pure fear in her eyes stated that Bound-. This warrior from the depths of the underworld looked ready to take her spirt from her.

"Um... what are you saying?" The child spoke up. The desperation for wanting to understand tore at Karina.

She imagined the fear this child was having. In a strange land. Not able to understand anyone near you. To be so alone that you would cling to anything familiar, even if it were a faceless warrior who spoke your tongue.

"Who-" Karina started in the warrior language, she held back... Should she speak without the ritual being completed? Bound did start the conversation in Tri, and the boy was still learning, then- In pure fear, she just said it aloud as if it was the only thing she could do to fight back against the threat before her.

Each word she spoke was given like a sword swing against this- this- Nightmare given flesh.

"My name is Karina of Azgeda, daughter of Ragnar and Zara." Bound looked at her. That damn mask seemed to force her to see herself through another's eyes. If she ever learned how that mask was made, she would have one forged and be the terror of Azgeda.

If she lived that long.

"You speak like me?" the boy seemed to be less scared now since she had changed dialects.

"I do..." Karina felt more comfortable. This was a child, not a warrior she was speaking to. "I do not speak the warrior tongue well, but you speak it much better than I do." Karina shifted back to the native language for the words she was trying her best to remember.

"See..." Bound spoke. "She speaks like you, just that she is inexperienced in speaking in your tongue." The boy came out from behind the warrior.

Karina's scared appearance spoke volumes to the boy as he realized that she was just as scared as him.

"Oh..." The young boy approached Karina. "You look scared." Karina's fear brought about sympathy in the young boy.

"I am." Karina reverted to her native language.

Then the boy moved up to her and hugged her. She blinked a few times.

Maybe being scared, that connective emotion that they both shared allowed them to make some peace with each other.

"My mom used to hug me when I got scared." Then he pulled closer to her. "I miss her." Karina moved and hugged the boy. His fear was like her's. Present and in full view of all to see.

"How did you lose your mother?" The question seemed to produce an answer that was upsetting to the boy without him saying a word. But the words did come.

"During Arkfall." Karina didn't know the term. Then she got the answer. "The day the Ark fell out of the sky, she had me fastened into a seat for the descent. The Station section we were in shook like nothing I had ever known, then. There was this crack. And the chairs my mom and several others were strapped into for the ride down started to break away. The section-"

Bound answered the rest in Tri.

"Given the speed, they were falling, and the force the section was pulled away with-. All on that part that had broken away had their necks broken from the speed and force before they knew they were already dead-," Bound spoke in Tri, to let her know but the not the boy of what happened. Knowing that your mother had fallen to her death was one thing, but the details of the force that you were the last thing they had seen.

Ethan had seen his mother die. The horror just slammed her in the gut like a sword being impaled into her.

"What did Bound-" Karina understood that this boy didn't need to know the gruesome details of his mother's death of what this woman had discovered when they had found the bodies of their dead.

"All she said was-" Karina needed to say this right. "That members of your Kru found your mother's body and did the funerary rites of your people."

Karina didn't know what the funerary customs of the Skaikru were. Still, some closure was better than none given the reference the woman was giving.

Given the boy's age, Bound must have wanted to protect the child from learning the grisly fate that had befallen his mother.

"Bound," Ethan spoke as he felt calmer in her arms. The lie had been spoken. Merely hearing that to some degree, this boy's mother was now at rest. Showed sympathy for her people and his. Karina was a youth today, and now this young boy... and her now shared their pain and fear in those moments of primal connection.

Karina watched as Ethan pulled away from her. A large smudge of her war paint had gotten smeared across the side of his face. This was when Bound spoke.

"Ethan guess that you look like a young Initiate warrior." Ethan looked confused at this statement. "You have some Karina's face paint smeared on the side of your cheeks." Ethan reached up and touched the side of his face and realize that it was sticky. Bound knelt down to the boy's eye level and let him see his reflection in the mask.

"I look like a Grounder!" Ethan spoke as he looked at the impromptu warrior marking. Maybe for the young boy looking like everyone, he was scared of took the edge of fear away. "Bound, are you scared of the storms?" The question held close to the child as Karina's own concerns were being voiced by another.

"Yes, but not for the reasons you think."

Bound seems to have a weight upon her shoulders.

"A long time ago, storms like these ravaged the lands. The rains and winds tore through everything. Mighty buildings fell like a child's play bricks during a tantrum. Water so toxic to call it poison was a compliment. But through it all- It was the piles of the dead that were the most disconcerting. For those who had been caught in those storms, quick death in battle would have been a blessing. But the people made their way through it. It took finding some sturdy shelters and using the healing arts to treat the sick, but the people made it.

Whether it would be in the Ground inside some bunker or in the harden parts of the Stations. The people had come through those storms alive." Bound touched the young boy.

"I have seen the sick, not all made it, but those who did I have respect for. But the Dead... I have to honor and make sure that those whom those people loved that survived to make it to another day. My fealty is to them."

"Are you Wanheda?" Karina braced herself to see the golden locks of the feared Commander of Death. When one has names like The Golden Wolf, Flame Bringer, The Slayer of the Mountain, Karina feared the gaze of death when this warrior woman removed her war mask.

Karina had heard the stories: It was said that Wanheda often moved about in a disguise while among other villages. Learning about them and their ways. Deadly one moment, Compassionate to those before her like benevolent healing goddess. But always observing those around her and if one was lucky, see her smile.

"No..." Bound spoke. "But I am one of Wanheda's Hundred."

Bound held up her wrist to show the bracelet that Karina had wanted to steal.

Karina gulped.

"You came down with Klark Griffin and the rest of the delinquent survey team?" Ethan spoke, putting a heavy accent on the Ka sound of Wanheda's name. "But you were at the festival."

"No... I joined later." Bound spoke. "No... She needed help. There so few of the original Hundred left. After what happened with Luna and what I saw. That and helping Ontari learn to walk again after she had gotten hurt. She has a strong will. Stubborn, but a strong will. She had to be held back from hurting herself, but I respect her for that."

"You helped Heda Ontari..." Karina was stunned at this revelation from this masked warrior.

"How do you think I learned to speak your language so well, that and she taught me how to use the traditional blades for battle. It was fair enough payment." Bound spoke.

"How..."

"Karina... I see the fear. Now you have two choices, let it envelop you, or use it to become stronger."

"Bound I-"

"Fear is like Water, there is knowing that you will get wet a little or a lot. It is your choice if you are going to get soaked then, get soaked for the right reasons. If you have to swim with your clothes on, accept that you will need to make a fire to dry off on the other side."

"I should not be afraid of the fear?"

"As an ancient leader once said: All we have to fear is fear itself. We are facing a bad storm, but like a storm, it will pass." Karina nodded at this wisdom she had been given.

"Then, finding a shelter will..."

"Protect us from the bad weather to come," Ethan spoke, completing the sentence.

"Yes... and I was doing that before I ran into you two," Bound spoke as she looked up the side of the building to see an old statue carved into its corner. "Rebekka... I found that Statue you told me to look for." Bound nodded a few times. "Okay, so the statue of the goddess of Victory should be pointing in the direction with her left hand. So that is the direction where the exit you were telling me about should be?"

"Who is Rebekka?" Karina spoke up.

"Bound... you have a radio in your helmet?" She had heard stories about radios, but to be in the presence of one stated that this person was in contact with another individual.

"I do, and Rebekka is Bekka, and it is routed through Raven's Black Mirror terminal."

"Black Mirror, Raven." Karina started to realize the level of magic she was present before.

Raven kon Skaikru... the mage that had helped Wanheda defeat the Red Witch Alie. There were stories that Raven had a set of Black mirrors from which she was able to weave spells and magic to control ancient machines and speak to those still in the City of Light.

If it was the Pramheda, she was speaking to-

"Rebekka..." Ethan decided to talk first. Karina was in shock. "Um... Do you mind that Karina and I help? I mean, I am small-" Bound raised a hand to stop the boy from speaking so that she could hear the side of the conversation she was part of.

"Hold on, Ethan." Karina rushed over to the boy.

"This is important, and we should not-" Karina worry was reflected as Bound turned to look at the two of them.

"Okay... the extra eyes will help." Bound looked at the two of them.

"Um... what does..." Karina was concerned about stating the title of Pramheda before this boy or aloud for others to hear.

"Well... I am looking for a door concealed about chest level from the ground." Bound pointed in the direction of where the Statue was pointing. "From what Bekka is stating, we are on the right path."

Karina nodded at this.

"So... we need to find a door," Ethan spoke as he started to look around for a door nearby.

"Ethan... The door is in that direction." Bound stated as she knelt down near the boy.

"Oh..." Ethan looked dejected at this realization.

"Don't worry. We just have to head in the direction where Bekka is guiding us to." Karina realized that Bound was very kind, but also was being honest with the child. "Come on." Bound took the boy's hand and started to guide him with her.

"Bound..." Karina moved to catch up with the two Skaikru. "You stated that Wanheda recruited you into the Hundred." Karina paused at the notice that Ethan seemed to want to say something that couldn't be held back. "Why?"

"Why... Because Bound it the bestest protector of children around. A long time ago, there was a hull breach on the station and... and she helped save the children before they got sucked out into the vacuum of space. She crawled through the smallest gaps that were around the breach, made sure that the seals were in place while the work crew outside worked to seal the breach. Then when enough of the hull was fixed, she got the children out of the section and rushed them towards the airlock to safety. It was said the door was shut so hard that the entire Ark had heard it before the seal broke, and the section fell into space."

Bound just shook her head at this as if the child's exuberance of what she had done was more significant than it actually was.

Bound had snuck past some sky creature that had attacked their sky vessel. Bound was able with some help with the rest of her people get the children to their freedom.

No wonder Wanheda had picked this warrior to join her ranks.

"Your mask... it is." Karina was answered.

"She wore it the day she saved us, and afterward, she wore it at the festivals."

"You wear that mask as a sign of honor." Bound stopped cold.

"That, but I don't wear it all the time. Most of the time-" Bound seemed to catch herself. "The Mask isn't mine," Bound stated as she stopped. "It is another's."

"You are not Bound!" Ethan looked worried.

"The mask has been passed from Mother to Daughter since the incident." Bound or the woman was wearing Bound's mask spoke.

"You are her daughter." Karina realized what had been spoken. "You are the daughter of Bound. Wait... you are doing this to claim your place next to your mother."

"I am doing this because this is my home. I have sworn to protect it. I have a guy that I am in love with who loves me for all my faults and strengths. Most of all... Bekka was a member of my family. Not she was of Skaikru family, I mean family, Kru, and spirit type of family. Now I have a door to find, people to save and fealty to the Gods I have to pull off."

Karina just stood there understanding the weight on Bound's-

"What is your true name, Daughter of Bound?" Karina stated.

"Karina."

"That is my name."

"And so is mine." That was when Karina kom Skaikru tapped the side of her helmet. "Yeah. I see the edge of the bank building near the tower. The one with the Roman/Greek Roof on it. Okay, follow the alley behind it." Karina stopped as her fellow namesake looked back at her. "Well, you stated you wanted to help."

Karina nodded and started to follow.

As they made their way through the back alleys of the city. Karina started to sense the history of this place.

This is where real history took place.

Not in Tents on some battlefield, or in some place chamber- No… the real deals and intrigue took place in places like this. The assassins in the corner, the mercenary for hire, the harlot with the poison vile around her neck. The ones charged with doing the dirty work of whoever needed a job done.

Karina knew that to even look the wrong way would have her killed or worse- disappeared into a world where death was considered an act of mercy.

This is when she quickly raced up to make sure Ethan wouldn't become another disappeared youth in these dark alleys. Now, if one understands that there is danger around, then having a knife ready to use is sensible.

Now, if one looked at the alleyway, they would see that it was reasonably congested given how off the main path it was. Though if one cut through the congestion, people could see that long ago this back street was used to service the buildings facing the main buildings of the capitol. This made sense. If this was originally a service path, then placing a hidden door here made sense.

Karina took a deep breath and started searching the walls for anything looking close to the size of a door. After a moment, Karina watched her counterpart come to a stop by a metal plate on a wall that had writing on it along with a strange circled Triangle symbol.

"Okay, Rebekka, I am here, what do I do next?" the masked woman spoke to her unseen guide.

Then, Bound started to move a panel in several directions in a specific order:

Up, Up, Down, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, and then Right. After this sequence was done, several letters popped forth. Bound moved to tap four of them down in a specific order before the panel swung open to reveal that it was a door.

"Bekka... Your friend Konami sure knew how to code a lock." After a moment of getting a response from the Pramheda herself, Bound seemed to chuckle. "If you had to cheat at a game for you to win against him just so you could learn from him, states that he was looking for cunning in his students."

Karina didn't know what that meant, but it stated something about whom the original Pramheda had surrounded herself with.

Karina started to walk away, but Bound stopped her.

"You are part of this, Karina." Karina looked scared.

"But I..."

"Bekka wants me to tell you that though you are scared, it is a good type of scared. You are scared for the right reasons, not the wrong ones." Karina realized that she was now part of something more substantial than her meager existence had this point in her life. This would have effects for generations to come.

"Bekka, you have my fealty in this mission for the Heda."

That was when Ethan started to look down the hallway.

"Ethan…," Bound called out. "Hold up." This was when Bound started to tear at her jacket. Pulling off several strips of cloth from inside of the garment and handing them to her fellow searchers. "Here, I need you to breathe through this mask. I don't know what sorts of gunk or toxic stuff we might run into that will be hanging in the air." The boy seemed to understand as Bound/Karina placed the improvised mask over the boy's nose and mouth.

Karina took note of that as she proceeded to make her own mask to cover her nose and mouth.

"What type of toxins might we run into?" Karina spoke as she looked at the masked Skaikru.

"Don't know, could be anything from Mercer, Zika, or just old school anthrax," Bound spoke. "All of which hang around in soil and dust. All deadly, all nearly fatal if not treated in hours after exposure."

Karina just gulped.

"That is just the viral ones, that doesn't begin to count if they decided to use anything chemical, radiological, or bacterial. That stuff could be flesh-eating, flesh destroying and smaller than a grain of sand that could really mess you up."

Karina realized that there was more danger here than she thought.

"Like the poison fog the Mountain Men used?"

"Worse." Karina took a step back. "Though most of it is detectable as right now standing by this door. there isn't the clicking sound radiation makes when it is hitting the earpieces in my helmet, and the face-plate has a way to illuminate the growth of the others."

With that, Karina realized there was a reason for Bound wearing that Mask.

Some of the dangers could be heard before they approached, while others could be seen.

They were heading into a place, and the helmet Bound was wearing not was making sense.

It wasn't to hide her from others. It was to allow her and those with her ample warning to see the dangers coming.

Karina worked up her courage and stepped forward to follow Bound through the doorway, keeping Ethan firmly behind her.

With a tap on the mask, a set of lights ignited from the mask's sides. The brighten hallway before them was only partially lit for the three of them. Taking note of that Ethan pulled a small hand torch from his pocket and lit it as well and handed it to Karina. The strange device had been heard of by her. But to hold the small thing in her hands was surreal to her.

As they made their way through the tunnel, the place started to feel less like a foreboding location, but more like a temple.

Karina remembered entering into an old temple back on her island home when she was a child, the reverence of the place seemed to seep into her. Though the ancient gods of sites of worship were long burned away, the sense of faith and connection to the people with the deities they worshiped flowed into her.

As they walked by, Karina saw posters illustrating the symbols of the original twelve clans. Well, the base patterns of the twelve clans.

The symbol of the Ice nation was without its handprint.

The other clans were the same way.

Incomplete symbols.

On the floor was another symbol.

A Necklace with-

Skaikru. The three interlinked ovals that made up their symbol.

Skaikru's people had been here.

Near it was another symbol just as tarnished as the first.

The three claw marks with dots on top...

There were stories that Wanheda had this symbol on her back.

"What did you find?" Ethan spoke, trying to look at the necklace.

"A necklace on the floor," Karina spoke as she showed it to the boy.

"Looks like someone from the Ark was here."

"Yes, but long ago." Ethan looked up at the poster on the wall.

"Guess someone didn't like us even back then." Karina seemed to understand the boy a little more now. If he thought his people were hated now, learning that they were hated a long time ago, must be disconcerting.

"The Arwen in your hand was seen as the mark of balance, the triquetra that Skaikru uses is based on the three faces of the goddess: Mind, Body, and spirit. Azgeda's image means Fertility, evolution, and growth. Near the water, it means change." Bound spoke as she turned back to the two.

"I didn't know that," Karina stated as she looked down at the Necklace again.

"Guess that it was torn from Bekka's neck when Bill Cadogan of the Second Dawn cult tried to burn her at the stake. Probably he didn't realize that she had remote access to some improvised drones armed with fire retardant sprayers." Bound spoke as she touched the necklace.

"Cadogan the damned. the murderer of the innocent." Karina's words echoed in the small hallway. As she watched Ethan cling closer to her.

"Was he a bad Grounder?" Ethan spoke under his mask.

"The worse... he walled up children to starve if they cried and wailed if their stomachs were empty." Karina stated. "that is why I children hid food on their person so that their tummies have something in it." Karina brought out a small pouch of rough tea grass and showed it to Ethan. "That is why some of us still carry edible grasses and nuts on us." This was when Ethan chimed in.

"Like Ontari... she always has a few dried berries and nuts with her all the time." Karina nodded at this. To hear that the Azgeda Heda was holding the tradition of the past made her feel a bit better.

"In truth, she keeps the dried berries and nuts with her so that she can keep her blood sugar levels up due to her head injury. Bekka's knowledge saved her, but she still will bear the scars for years until all of the tissues heal up." Bound's words seemed to bear some personal weight to the situation. "She is a strong person, the scars and injuries she bears like a seasoned warrior. The temperament she has gained over the recent weeks have shaped her into a better leader." There was pride in the tone of this member of the Skaikru's voice.

To go from being feared by the Skaiku. To being almost seen as being a reverent figure in so little time. This let Karina know that significant changes were coming her way.

Was Wanheda that great of a mentor? Were the stories true that in Ontari she had found an authentic Second to learn her arts to Command Death itself?

What if the talent was there for Ontari to become a great leader, just that she needed the right person to set the fire within her.

No wonder the Pramheda had given the blessing to Wanheda to make the Azgeda leader one of her own warriors.

Now, as they looked down the hallway after their short respite, they started walking again.

The layer that the trio was approaching seemed to feel like a temple of sorts. As they pulled back a white cloth banner, Bound poked her head through the young woman shook her head in disbelief.

"You have got to be kidding me. Bekka... Are you sure you got your directions right?" there was a sound of disbelief in Bound's voice. Then there was a long sigh. "Well, I knew that there was a secret entrance here, I just didn't know that we would be coming up through it." This was when bound pulled back the cloth barrier, and they entered a room.

"What is this.." Karina stopped cold when she saw the symbol of the Heda. Then... Karina fell to her knees when she saw the charcoal artwork on the walls.

The temple of the Pramheda.

"We should not be here." The pure instinctual fear held her to her throat. Then a voice spoke.

"So... I take it that Wanheda of Skaikru told you of the secret entrance to this place." By the Lights of the North, do not be the vengeful spirit of one of the previous Hedas.

"Hi..." Ethan spoke as he moved by Karina and waved at the unseen figure. "My name is Ethan... um of Skai kru from the Ark... Arkadia… Alpha station... the place that came crashing down near the Territory of the Tri... Crew." Ethan seemed unafraid, more... concerned. "These are my friends... Karina of Az- ga-da. And Bound... She is the one in the mask. She is from my home."

"I am not Bound of Skaikru..." This was when Karina turned to look to see Bound... no... Karina of... The face made her swallow hard. "I am Ontari, daughter of Rhiannon and Owl of Azgeda.

She wasn't just on a quest with a member of Skaikru… no, she had been on a journey with Heda Ontari of Azgeda.

Whatever events she had thought of hurting this warrior... her Heda had...

Bekka, please take mercy upon my soul for my attempted actions against your servant in this world.

Karina's thoughts turned to the situation she had become in.

"Ontari..." Ethan spoke as he looked at the woman before her. "So... how did you.."

"I asked for Bound's mask. She is wearing mine so that she can find out about the locals." Ontari was grinning. "Karina of Skaikru is my friend. One of the few I gained when I became a member of the Hundred."

"You lied to me..." Ethan looked upset.

"About who I was, not about what happened. Most of what Karina daughter of Bound told me about her journey when she..." Ontari stopped. "She and the others of the group found the body of your mother." There was a wight to her words and actions. "There are good Skaikru as there are good Azgeda and Trikru. But there are those who among any people tend to do wrong, they have to be made accountable."

"Ontari... is this about Mr. Pike. what he did to get land?"

The mention of the very name made Ontari spit.

"That piece of dung caused trouble for your people, but it was a reaction to what that Whore Nia, stealer of children from their mother's arms, did to your clan to get her war." There was a visible visceral stance to Ontari's body language. If their late Queen had been there, Ontari would have shoved a sword through the woman.

"Then, the stories are true." The mysterious voice who had been in the room of this temple spoke. "You are the stolen Nightblood." A young dark-skinned woman walked out from beside the capsule that had delivered the first Heda to the ground from the heavens.

The clear tattoos on her shoulder showed her to be a Flamekeeper. But there was something about her that was different. This is when Ethan approached the woman.

"You don't look like a Grounder." The young Skaikru studied her. The elongated Octagon with the symbol of the Heda could be clearly seen tattooed on the back of her lower arm. "Are you Polaris? The thirteenth station... the one that crashed? The ones show tried to save Rebekka?"

The woman knelt. More shocked than anything else at the young child's words.

"How do you know of Rebekka?" The woman spoke to Ethan, and he seemed shocked that she knew so much of his and her cultures.

"She gave us the Last Tree, one that we care for. The one that is the roots of the place we called home on the Earth." The woman had tears come from her eyes.

"Then it is true, she spent time with your people before the great fires." The tension in the room was being relayed. "I am Gaia... Daughter of Lor of Polaris and Indra of Trikru."

"Indra had a daughter?" Ontari spoke. "She doesn't speak of it." Gaia interceded.

"She sees me as a disgrace. She wanted a warrior daughter, not some.." Gaia touched the symbol of the Flamekeeper on her left shoulder.

"The people of the Polaris-" Ontari spoke. "-The keepers of the Flame of knowledge." There was a wince to those words.

"We were until the Flamekeepers decided to become King and Queen makers." There was a shame of having the mark on her arm. "Conclaves rigged for generations, slaughter of innocents, Nightbloods used as tools of power. when Truth learn, murdered, silenced, files deleted or rolled back." Gaia bit her lip. "decades of work undermined. Building up forces to destroy Alie, rebuild the world."

"Alie is gone." Ontari moved and pulled back her hair, and the evident healing scar that covered the entire left side of her head could be seen. "Wanheda used my blood as a backdoor to get into the system to activate Bekka's kill switch." There was a weight to Ontari's words. "Unfortunately, Alie activated a backup plan to run in her absence. We need to fund the bunker so that we can save the people of Polis."

This was when the young woman approached the group.

"What was Alie's failsafe?" Gaia spoke as Ontari realized how small the young woman looked. Gods... this Flamekeeper was the same age she was.

"She used her followers set fire to several of the old Nuclear reactors in an attempt to unleash the same poisons upon the land. She unleashed the last time with the great fires," Ontari spoke. Gaia took note of this, and the look of horror upon her eyes stabbed into Karina's soul.

"Show that you have taken the flame."

Karina must have been out of place in this sacred place. The young woman who had been here walked up to her as the woman's necklace with the symbol of the Heda started to glow. One of the strange devices in the room looked to be coming alive as Ontari tapped several controls on it. "Remote connection established." a voice from a black box called out. "A- L - I - E - Two Point Oh Id confirmed. Julia coding emulator running. Simulants Detected. Identifying Simulant id Mugan number zero, zero, zero, one."

The system got quiet. As all in the room felt the weight of the situation around the group started to become understandable.

"Hello Bekka." the box called out.

"Hello Siri." A different voice called out. But there was no doubt about who it was. "It has been a while since I spoke to you."

"It has been 32,850 days since our last conversation."

"Has it?"

"It has... system standby through light panels might be off by several days but will be corrected with current system sync."

"Clock and date synchronization confirmed Siri."

"Date and time have been updated Bekka. How may I assist you at this time?"

"Add User ID for Admin level for Ontari kon Azgeda to system."

"User Ontari added."

"Good, give system status on Second Dawn."

"Facility is currently on standby mode. Several systems are listed as being in offline."

"Transfer information through remote link to complex identified as Alpha Station."

"Transfer of information will take approximately twelve hours, forty-five minutes to complete."

"Commence transfer."

"Transfer in progress." The voice stated back.

"Sounds like someone talking with a computer with voice commands?" Ethan spoke.

"It is young one." Bekka's voice came out. Ethan ducked.

"Sorry."

"There is nothing to be worried about speaking up." Then Bekka's voice changed. "Ontari, Karina... Gaia, there are intruders on their way here. Ethan... get into the drop pod fast."

"What is going on?" Karina spoke.

"Trouble!" Bekka stated as she activated a strange lantern from her place in the ancient machines and showed on the wall where the flag of the Heda hung the problem that was coming their way. Several men and women armed with clubs, torches and axes were heading their way down the tunnel that they had come through moments ago. "Ontari, I think it is time that we use some of that training that Clarke taught you in battle tactics to win this fight."

"Pramheda... I am ready. Just make sure that the information we need gets to Arkadia so that we can save the people yet to be born."

"Einheart, Lexa... Map combat skill set to Ontari zero, zero, one, one motor functions." the Pramheda's voice commanded to her fellow spirits.

"Map completed, Bekka." Lexa and Einheart said in unison.

What happened next... Karina would tell stories of till the time her hair was white as the Azgeda winter to the children of the village she would become part of.

Rene didn't mind that there were Skaikru in her eatery. Being a member of the Plains riders, she was tolerant of different people coming into her establishment as long as they didn't make a ruckus. So far, they had behaved themselves. Between the lines of war paint, they wore to signify they were members of Wanheda's Hundred, they mostly kept to themselves. Most of the meals ordered by them consisted of a lot of vegetables. She didn't know if it was what they liked for lunch or the fact that it was maybe a cultural thing. Meat seemed to almost seem to be considered a treat.

The only problem that she had was the fact that they were speaking in the old warrior tongue. That was when a buxom blonde Skaikru entered the establishment, and with a few words of insult about the Mighty Wanheda, she moved to sit by her friends. A knife was clearly sticking out of her clothing stated she either wasn't able to feel pain, or she had not noticed it there.

"I have been spat on nine times today." The buxom blond spoke as she moved near the group.

"Dana..." The woman at the table called out.

"It isn't because I am Skaikru..." The girl was crying. "It is because they think I am floating, Clarke." Rene saw as the girl undid her hair and started to mess it up before she took up a knife that was on the table and started to pull out with force the hair ties she had in her lion's mane of her hair. The evident tearing of hair could be heard before she could respond to the scene. The woman throwing knife Dana was using was slid across the table to soothe her friend.

"Dana..." One of her friends reached out and patted her shoulder. "They blame us for the crap Alie did with her technological magic."

"Well... Float her. Float her coded hard drive ass to hell." Dana just vented her anger out. "Alie attacked Arkadia to find out if we knew anything about the floating flame because Bekka went into space to forge it."

"I miss the bliss she brought. The safety, the illusion that death wasn't out to get us at every moment." one of the group spoke with weariness. That mood changed the moment that one of her friends saw the knife.

"Dana!" The male of the group called out when he saw the knife sticking out of her. "Crap... you got stabbed." Dana froze.

"Is it deep?" The buxom blonde spoke as her friend moved to check her wound.

"I have to check before I remove the knife. But I need to feel under your shirt to see how far it penetrated into your back." The male of the group reached under the back hem of her clothing to check for any bleeding.

"James..." Dana looked worried as James of Skaikru moved to pick up the hem of her jacket. Slowly started to work his way, peeling up the garment till he could reach the shirt she had on. Then the shine of something metal could be seen underneath the shirt as the blade was coming into view.

"Good news, the chain mail that you are paranoid about wearing saved your life. Though it went through and stopped just inside of the weave of that old Kevlar vest you are also wearing." No wonder the girl didn't feel the weapon strike on her. She had been wearing a double layer of armor under her clothing to protect herself from harm.

Dana sighed as James removed the knife and placed it upon the table. Rene half expected the woman to start bleeding over her floor, but she didn't.

Dana looked at the knife that had been shoved into her back as she reached back to feel for it. Slowly she removed it. A moment later, Dana started to take off her jacket, followed by her dark red shirt, then Rene saw the amount of armor the girl had been wearing.

Underneath the clothing, the woman wore a layer of chain mail armor like her friend had spoken of. It looked to be of Trikru design, but the way it been patched in several sections stated that its previous wearer was now in the next world. But the rest seemed to have been scavenged from the dead as well.

The stories were true that Skaikru salvaged weapons and armor off of the dead. But seeing firsthand spoke much to Skaikru's ability to scavenge anything they found and turn it into something useful to them.

Peeling off the chain mail and the light-colored vest, the girl's sizable chest could be seen. The woven top she had on was quite beautiful, given the detailed wave of Skaikru glyphs upon it. But the knife on top of the pile of armor just sat there with its own lethal beauty.

A few people in the tavern were eyeing the woman's body, although Dana's apparent mood was far from seeking carnal sexual pleasures of the flesh. They were more tuned to her own emotional, vulnerable state.

"I fucking hate this Blood must have blood shit!" Dana spoke as she moved to take a seat. "Spitting is one thing. Shanking someone who had offered up their blood sweat and tears to save them-" Dana leaned forward and slumped her head into her hands. "Ah... that is the twelfth knife already from this shit that I have been stabbed with."

Twelfth-!

The sheer number of blades that this woman must have from being attack showed cunning and ingenuity when it came to her creating armor.

Shit... if it was anything like the weave of her top. Rene might want to ask for some armor to be created by this woman.

"Dana..." James reached out to comfort Dana. Rene realized that the assault wasn't the issue with the Skaikru woman. It was the repeated assaults she had taken because of her close resemblance to Wanheda. The Twisted Fishtail hairstyle that the Skaikru Warrior Commander had adopted during her time in Polis to make her look less of an outsider. It seemed the haircut had been taken up among many of the women of her people. This connection to their Princess seemed to be something that other women with golden hair wanted to harness as well. Maybe it was their way of protecting their famous warrior leader, or it was something that made them feel no so much like the outsiders they were.

But the drawbacks seemed to have also followed the hairstyle as well.

"That is it- You need a drink." The other Skaikru woman motioned to Rene. Rene realized that this had become her chance to speak. Rene moved and grabbed a glass of soothing apple ale and brought it to the table.

"Here, drink this." Rene offered to Dana kon Skaikru. The blonde looked at her, concerned. "Your people saved me from the Mountain."

"You were there?" Rene nodded. "Did they..." Rene moved and hiked up the edge of her skirt. The scar she had from the Mountkru where they had moved to drain her of her blood and marrow like a piece of livestock being ready for slaughter. The looks of understanding among the Skaikru showed that she was among those who had understood.

"I remember the sound of the drill," Rene spoke as she let the Skaikru touch the scar. "I remember the cage." Rene moved and kissed the Skaikru on the lips. Dana moved back some. "Oh..."

Rene realized that she might not have been this Skaikru's type.

The woman might have looked like Wanheda, but her taste in lovers was utterly different.

Not like the rumored maiden that she had slept with during her self-exile from her people.

"I like guys." There was a bit of embarrassment from Dana. "Guess that you wanted to jump me but for an entirely different set of reasons." She cleared her throat. "For Bones to Barry, Veins to Vines. By the Goddess-"

"You're a Dyad Dana?" the buxom Skaikru nodded at the response of her friend.

"Yeah... a dirt forger Nomi. By the Goddess, I am."

"Dirt Forger?" This was a new term that Rene hadn't heard of. The Skaikru were so new so rarely seen. Many of their beliefs and taboos were still a mystery to those of this land.

Maybe it was that question that got the young woman to explain the term for her.

"Dirt Forgers were the ones who made the dirt that we needed to grow our crops in." One of them started to explain.

"They salvage materials from broken spacecraft along with using-" James seemed hesitant about saying what else.

"Poop and urine, plant debris." Dana was frank about what was needed. "That and occasionally our dead." She shrugged. "Grandpa, after he died, was mummified into the mix to ensure that his flesh and bones could provide for those he had left."

"Then, that phrase you spoke was." Rene started to realize what was spoken.

"To honor my ancestors." They used funeral soil to grow their crops. This started to get people's attention now.

"Like, From the Ashes we Rise." Such a strange phrase, but the context was out of practicality. There was no dirt up in the sky, so in terms, they had to make it- to forge it.

"So, you had compost your dead so that you would have enough soil to grow food for your people."

"Yeah, we did. Dyads were creatures of the Trees. So, from the trees, we came from, to the trees we return."

"Kom folau, ai na gyon op." From the Ashes, we rise. But in these people's cases, they took food from their garden, and thus they had to return what they had used.

It was cannibalism, but without the taste of meat.

To use the dead as a means to keep your crops alive was something she didn't even want to go near. But for these people, it had been a necessary evil for them to survive.

"So... you are not afraid of death?" A voice croaked out. "Or what happened to some of your dead when they were slain."

"I am not afraid of dying. I just don't want to become part of my people's soil just yet. I want to fall in love, have a kid, maybe two... crap... two kids." The realization of something hit her. "We haven't really grown as a population since..." One of her fellow Skaikru reached out and patted her on the arm.

"Since the population controls were put in place by our elders to keep us from running out of resources. In truth, it was to keep us from starving to death."

"Yeah..." Dana looked at the armor she had been wearing. "We are no longer Arkers. We are Grounders now. Sky Crew Grounders."

Skaikru. The Sky Crew. Dana said the words but a different context.

Not as a reference to her clan, or where they had come from. But a reference to something older.

A heritage. A people heritage.

This was when a masked Skaikru approached the group along with an Azgeda girl. Her face paint looked like it had come off from sweat and battle. But it was the young child with them that seemed to be talking so fast that event the winds would have a hard time catching what he was saying.

"Bound… that was amazing… I mean… Polaris station was real, and we met an actual descendant of one of the survivors."

"Ethan… I am glad that you are excited, but understand we still have to work at getting that door open."

"But Rebekka… she… she was right. We found the door… The Door." This was when the masked Skaikru moved to place a hand over the child's mouth as the child was processing whatever this Door was.

The Azgeda looked at the rest of the group and took a step back as she looked at the gold bracelets on their wrists.

"Karina… these are my fellow members of the Hundred."

Hundred...

Wanheda's Hundred.

No wonder these warriors were so calm in this place and why the Azgeda had taken a step back. There were stories about that to become one of these warriors; you would have been selected by Wanheda herself.

Some of them had been taken by the Mountain. While others had been working beside the Golden Wolf herself to take down those monsters.

"This is Karina- One of Ontari's Handmaidens. She helped in finding and protecting the Door of the Second Dawn." The masked figure spoke. This got the attention of the Skaikru warriors.

"Wait… you found it!" One of them was about the climb over the table to approach the masked warrior.

"Found it, but we need a key to open it." The masked figure Bound stated.

"Gaia of Bekka's kru was guarding it." a young boy stated. "We chased a group of warriors out who wished to destroy everything in the room it is in." The masked figure moved and patted the young boy on the shoulder.

"Ontari fought beside us like... like a..." the boy was doing his best to find a word. "Like a giant, flesh-eating beetle with pincers the size of Waldo arms tearing into and tossing men ten times her size around."

"They were not THAT big Ethan." Bound chuckled under the mask.

"Well, they were bigger than ME!" the young boy stated. "Miss Bekka told me to hide in that drop pod and to push a few buttons when she spoke inside of that room we were in."

"Yes... whatever you did in there was... terrifying." The young Azgeda spoke as she was working off the jitters that take place after a battle. That was when she grabbed one of the drinks that had been brought out for the group. The little thing poured it down in an attempt to settle her nerves. Dana of Skaikru blinked a few times as the ale that was supposed to be for her was gone in mere moments.

"I take it that your friend here just went through her first fire fight?" Dana stated.

"Less fire and more projected hot steam with a touch of sulfur added to it." The masked figure added. "Though she does have a good arm for Lacrosse when it comes to running defense on the field."

The warriors gathered around the Azgeda at this statement.

"Well, I did what I needed to do in service to the Heda." the girl spoke, then she started to cough.

"Easy there... Breathe..." Then the ale hit. Followed by a rash of coughing that usually takes place when one is unused to strong drink.

The gasping that follows... well between the burning through the nose that most try to fight through by breathing through their mouths... well, that doesn't help things as Rene well knew.

"Close your mouth and breathe through your nose..." Dana spoke as she forced her hand over the girl's mouth. The stifled cough that took place as the girl started to breathe through a draining nose. That same cough eased after a moment as a groan could be heard as she got over the strong scent of the ale and started to get used to the drink.

"Be glad that isn't Shine, or you would have been tossing your cookies at this moment!" James spoke up at this time. The sheer heaving of the girl's breathing slowly started to reside as she got used to having the alcohol rush throughout her system.

Whatever this Shine was, given how it was spoken of, it must have been a potent tonic or ale that the Skaikru must have made before their Journey to the ground.

There was a comment that the masked one named Bound that caught her attention: "I swear that when Ontari had her first swig of that potent ale, she swore that it was trying to kill her." Then The tone of her voice changed. "but a moment later, as she gasped her way through that raw sent and smell of that ale, she Learned that she wasn't alone in experiencing the events that had changed her life. That she wasn't the only one that Wanheda had drug back from the borderlands of the dead."

"Yeah... Jasper." One of them sighed. "The guy has been through shit, hell, and pain on a scale that would tear anyone down."

"Yes, him and knowing that he is not alone and seeing the spirit world next to this one would be a weight that many would fold under seeing people he loved die." Bound sighed and weighed her words with understanding. "Guess that the Hedas of the past walking around him have left him understanding that not all of the spirits want to cause him harm, nor are they a threat to him like some."

"i.e., Alie the Queen of Lies and the lover of pain," Dana stated as she scratched at her head. "Fuck. How does Ontari and the rest of those Grounder Commanders deal with this fucking thing in their head."

"Inter-cranial itch?" Bound spoke as Dana nodded. Bound rose the chair and reached behind the girl's neck and placed her thumb at the base of the girl's skull. With what looked to be a slight bulge could be seen forming under the woman's thumbs. Then a soft pop could be heard from the spot.

"The damn chip at times doesn't find the sweet spot between the muscle fiber and the skin. The damn thing goes for the most efficient functional connection to the brain and not for comfort."

The young blonde looked like she had gone out of her head for a second. She proceeded to roll her eyes feeling the comfort be restored through the entire lower part of her skull and body.

"Fuuuukkkkk." Dana spoke as her legs looked like they were slowly failing her.

"Feel Better now?" Bound spoke.

"Yeah..." Dana swallowed hard.

"Me, Ontari, Jasper, Klark, and Abbi have put a few of these in place," Bound spoke. Dana looked like whatever these False Flames had done to her, having the damn thing not driving her crazy with it still being in her skull seemed to be a blessing.

"Are you able to remove them?" Karina of Azgeda spoke as several in the Tavern started to take note of this.

"Not really. In some cases. Given where these damn things wormed themselves into, they either went in and nested to the base of the skull like Dana's here had done. While others nested themselves into the back of the throat around the soft pallet. A few like the ones that Raven, Ontari, Abbi, and Myself have. They nested into the small gap between the tissues of our brains. Surprisingly that is what helped save Ontari's life after her head injury." Bound spoke as Dana nodded at this. "All Raven did was tell the damn Chip to take commands from the Flame to expand its tendrils into the damaged parts of her brain and take over from the crushed and dead tissues."

"The False Flame is still inside of... her... Ontari's head?" Karina spoke.

"Right next to the Real Flame, which the false one is now a servant to," Bound spoke. "Bekka created the Flame to dominate and control of implant chips so that it could grant its user the ability to override and neutralize any co-oped individual. Mostly it was set up so that any of Bekka's descendants or those turned into Nightbloods by Bekka's knowledge could go after Alie and defeat her."

"Turned?" Bound paused at the realization of what had been said.

"Bekka wasn't born a Nightblood, she... created the Nightbloods." Bound sighed. "Bekka used her womb to carry the first of the viable children, then she used what she learned to pass on the trait to other children. She harvested material from her body to aid those born after the fires. Because of that, those here born on the Ground survived."

"You dare speak of the Pramheda like that." A giant Azgeda warrior stated, and he marched towards the group.

"I speak of what I know."

"Ms. Bekka is speaking to her in her Helmet," Ethan called out as his father raced in.

"Ethan..." Ethan's father yelled out, seeing his son and the situation that he was about to be caught in the middle of.

"Dad... I..." His son was caught off as his father scooped the young boy up in his arms.

"Hardy... get your son out of here. We will deal with this."

"But the adventure I was on..." Ethan called out.

"Was to keep you out of danger, we found it... and I am sorry. What took place was Karina and me protecting you."

"But..." Ethan was cut off by his father.

"Ethan... listen to her."

"This is a fight I must fight!" Bound spoke. "You are back with your father. You have seen that you are not alone."

"But..."

"You are an Initiate Ethan of Skaikru, not a full warrior. I am a warrior. What needs to take place needs to take place between warriors."

The Azgeda looked at the boy.

"GO WITH YOUR FATHER AND HIDE BEHIND MOMMY SKAIKAT. I AM GOING TO BE THE MONSTER COMING FOR YOUR BLOOD."

The Azgeda spat after saying that.

Rene felt sick hearing that.

A few patrons were like her.

"Go... Ethan... Remember I, wearer of the mask of Bound of the family Bound will make sure you are safe. Also, know that the one under this mask isn't the only protector of children."

"Bound... you mean..." Ethan stopped. "-of the family Bound." This was when Ethan realized something that had been spoken of by Bound. "Let's get out of here, Dad." This was when the boy pulled at his father to leave. Several people took note and helped the two leave so that the fight could take place between this warrior of Wanheda's and the Azgeda dirtbag.

"Well, the child is away with his father... you seem glad about that masked one." The Azgeda spoke.

"Yes... because I can fight you without this mask on and not destroy the legacy of the original bearer of this mask."

"Like what..."

Bound removed her mask to reveal her face. The way that the war mask split apart to allow the reflective faceplate to be pulled away with an unearthly action made the revelation all that more stunning.

The Azgeda warrior who had been threatening her stopped cold as his smug grin turned to horror.

Ontari of Azgeda had been the one telling the story about Bekka…

About the Flame...

Ontari's head scar could be clearly seen on the left side of her head. The intricate weaving of her hair on that side of her scalp. The shaved edging of the handprint of Azgeda showed that she bore her injury with pride and humility.

"Heda..." the fool started to step back.

"You call me Heda… Heda is a rank one gets after they have served. It is a role that is earned. I have not received that title. I have inherited the mantle of Bearer of the Flame, that is something I must bear. It is a weight that every Commander... Every leader that was before me had to handle. I didn't earn that title. I stole it... I was to be a puppet of Nia's... But she is gone... I thought I could force people to kneel before me... Well... some will not kneel, that do not fear me. Not out of spite... Some actually see me as an equal. Shit... I faked my way to power, and not having the flame caused this crap to come to these lands... Now I have the Flame in my skull... Do you know what it is like to have the previous commanders yell at you and tell you how much you have screwed up... No... you do not... I have had this thing in my skull for less than a week... Yes... Raven still needs to access it and those within... While I was unconscious... She decided while in possession of my body. Headed to Raven's quarters and use her Black Mirror Terminals to write code like crazy so that she could keep talking with those there... " Ontari looked like she was about to throttle the guy.

She had heard about what had happened to the Sankru ambassador and the entire crushed eyes incident.

"Heda…." the Azgeda was looking like he was about to be stuck down.

"Wait... you have the flame in your head?" Emma of the Skaikru stated. "I thought that there was going to be some..."

"Ceremony..." Ontari sighed. "Would have been good to have a decent one, but events stated otherwise."

There was a weight to this decision.

"You didn't see the updates..." There was a somberness about her.

"I awoke in Raven's quarters... Raven is freaked out. Then she sees the code. See's Bekka's message glaring at her on the screen. We get a few souls as witnesses, Luna... her daughter, Clarke, her mother, Indra, All of the Nightblods, Jasper, Kane, Lorna... her mother-" there was a sigh. "A few others of the Kongeda, who were half-awake, and we do a rough ceremony."

"Heda..." the Azgeda was a bit more understanding but was thoroughly scared shitless.

Ontari pulled the hair from behind her neck to show the scar that was healing.

"I don't have the damn tattoo yet. I have the scar of the mantle, but not the mark."

"Hed..." Ontari grabbed the fool by the throat.

"Say... My... Name."

"he..." she squeezed.

Her glare spoke that she had enough of this shit.

"My... Name..." the last part was gritted through her teeth.

"h.." she squeezed and let go lightly. He was learning. "uh..."

"Keep speaking-" She was doing her best not to kill this guy with her bare hands, but the flesh under her fingers looked like bread dough being squeezed through. Even the sound of the fool made sounded the same.

"Tar... ray..." She nodded her head at this.

"Keep going."

"Kon..." the fool coughed... "Az... ged... da." The spit itching up from the back of his throat and spreading out the edges of his mouth stated the effort that he had to go through just to put those few sounds out for everyone to hear.

"Good." Ontari's firm grip spoke volumes to the shit for brains idiot. "As a fellow Azgeda... the cold makes us strong, but also means that mistakes cost lives." she flexed her fingers. "You have gotten too warm. You... need... to... cool... off..." She wasn't defending the Skaikru... she was defending the honor of her fellow Azgeda from this hot-headed jerk.

"Okay. Ice Wolf. The guy got the point." One of the Skaikru stated.

Ice Wolf...

The Skaikru had a name for Ontari like the people of the Kondgeda had for Wanheda. The Golden Wolf

"No... he has not..." The guy shit himself.

Literally.

On her floor.

Ontari and the other in the establishment took note of this.

Ontari glanced down and sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I will be back in a moment with this one to clean it up!" Ontari stated as she looked down and back up from the mess that had been made on the floor. There was a loud gulp heard from the asshole being held in her vice grip.

Taking the Azgeda jerk with her, Ontari moved over to Dana of Skaikru.

"Dana... Mind swapping jackets with Nomi and me?"

"Sure..." Dana started realizing what was taking place. But to the patrons and she didn't.

"Nomi... put on my jacket and Bound's helmet." It had taken a moment for everyone to realize that Ontari had been wearing Bound's war mask the entire time she had been with the boy who had come in with her.

"Heda Ontari-" Rene moved to speak, and the Azgeda Commander looked at her. There was a look, not of anger- but concern. "Why are you changing garments to make her?" Rene pointed to Nomi, "Why do you want her to look like this Bound individual that you pretended to be, instead of revealing that it was you under the mask?"

The handmaiden gave the answer.

"Bound, the true Bound found the body of the boy's mother. She performed the funeral rites and has looked over the child since she had returned to their village." Then the handmaiden added: "The Mask is a family mantle that each of the warrior women of the family has worn."

"Bound also is the reason that I am standing before you. She helped me learn to walk again. Something that I am grateful for. Given recent events, she lent me her war mask so that I could search the city without interference. I, in turn, helped dress her in traditional Azgeda garments so that she could help calm the children of Polis. Her task is to help them overcome their fears in light of the crisis we are facing. Something that is in short supply in light of recent events." Ontari's words hit home.

"Hed..." Ontari was still pissed at the Azgeda fool. The squeeze spoke volumes to that as she moved to swap hands to allow for the jacket to be slipped over her other arm.

"Still angry." She was showing restraint to a level that many were becoming impressed with. "You are going to apologize to that boy. Then you are going to state that your actions were done in a moment of extreme stupidity." The amount of effort it took for Ontari to say this without ripping the man's larynx out said much for her current state of self-control. "After that is done, we are coming back here, and the mess that is currently on the floor under your feet will be cleaned up!" The loud gulp that took place from the arrogant youth had everyone's attention. There were a few prayers to the gods that this boy may have a merciful death, or at least be spared to some degree with his life and possibly all of his limbs and all of his senses intact.

As the three women wearing Skaikru clothing looked at each other, the war mask belonging to Bound was put on by the one named Nomi. Then with the Azgeda fool by the throat, they left the establishment to find the child that have been wronged by this person's foul words.

Tarik was looking at the Azgeda girl. She looked pretty even in the war paint of her people. The lines of her facial scars showed her to be from one of the coastal settlements. But it was her work with the children around here that was winning his heart.

This was a girl who is slowly becoming a woman. Though she was small of frame and had a petite body. She handed the children around her with all of the care of a mother.

Scared children started to calm down when she approached them.

It didn't matter what people they were from, the fear in these children's eyes faded to nothingness.

Very few people had that gift when it came to calming children...

The other had been the late Commander Lexa.

Children would come to her in waves, knowing that she would defend them.

Now this woman... who had the same gift was filling that spot.

Even a Nearby Skaikru boy was dragging his father behind him to introduce him to this girl.

"Dad... this is a friend." The boy stated, and the girl nodded. "She found Mom's body after she died." The father looked concerned at the statement.

"So... this is your father that Ontari and Jasper were telling me about."

"Jasper?" the father spoke, feeling his way through the situation.

"Jasper- you know of the Hundred and of Garden Station." The boy ruffled his hair in frustration. "The guy that smells of the makings of shine ale and herbs. The one that watched over Azpaka as she was was moving around on crutches."

"Wait... him..." the father came to the realization at whom they were talking about. The pieces were falling into place as he looked at the woman. "You are one of the Hundred? One that Klark recruited to help?" The girl nodded. The children and those in the crowd were confused by this statement. Though the man's body language spoke volumes.

Whomever these Hundred were must be important.

"How do you know of this woman?" The Father seemed to be in a situation that he was working hard to understand.

"Bound... the Bound that was in that meal place was wearing Bound's mask, but it wasn't her. but the real Bound Ontari dressed up one of her people, so she could help the scared children here in the city."

The father looked more closely at the girl.

"Wait, those scars are," the father raised his hand and moved it to obscure part of the girl's face.

"Bound, gave- Ontari her mask so she could look for the bunker. Miss Bekka, was on the radio talking to her in the mask, and they followed the trail of landmarks she needed. In return, Bound was dressed up in some of Ontari's old clothes to help the children here not be scared. They are no different than those who live in Arkadia."

"Bound?"

"Hi, Mr. Hardy." The Father took a step back, stunned.

"Whoa..."

Tarik realized that this woman was Skaikru. Still, given how she was speaking and her mannerisms, she acted more like a native from Azgeda.

"You are not from Azgeda?" Bound nodded.

"Skaikru, but a friend..." the dialect was now Plains Rider. The Child's jaw was on the ground hearing the dialect in Tri, but in a different tongue.

"How?" A girl spoke up. "Did you do that?"

"I just learn." This time the words came out in Delphi same as the girl who had questioned her. "I learned from a friend from Trikru, and after the Ark crashed... well, I moved around the war camp learning as much as I could."

"You were a spy?" A girl spoke up.

"No... just got stuck being a translator, then later on with some pooched armor, I just sat in a few conversations. Mostly worried young warriors who lost family to the Mountain." There was an understanding in her voice. "I saw n eyes of people who were like me and the pain just... Stuck. I don't know, after a while, when I moved to leave one of the groups to change back into my clothes. I got caught while changing. Instead of the warriors who caught me as being a threat, they thought that I was going to sneak into Arkadia... They wanted to come." Bound seemed to had taken the situation. "First off... I told them that this was reconnaissance... information gathering. Not to attack, just... get a look around. Speak English and just see the people." There was some weight to the words she was giving. "Considering that it was our clothing that had cost the lives of innocents, using it to save the lives of innocents seemed to be the right thing to do."

Bound's story to the crowd around her felt contained and to the point. The children seemed enthralled by the tale been spoken to them.

The bit about dressing a few warriors she had found within Heda Lexa's war camp and having them get used to speaking Gonaslang. Sneaking into Skaikru's village was tense as they had to work their way through the guards, but with Bound's knowledge, she was able to talk her way past the guards. Forcing the warriors she had brought in not to draw their weapons would have led to certain death.

It wasn't the warriors that were before her, it was the warriors behind her that she had to keep from causing trouble.

"Give me the damn knife, Nytoa!" Bound stated as she reenacted the situation that got the warriors into the Skaikru camp. As the story continued on, there were moments of tension as the warriors saw what was in the settlement as they were not fighting invaders, but refugees. Out of that, Bound had guided the warriors to the father of one of Wanheda's hundred. The man was beside himself with grief, Miller, the Elder. Miller was torn between protecting his people and marching through Heda Lexa's army all by himself to punch his way into the damn mountain to get this son back. The man looked like he hadn't sleep in days. Bound reached out and calmed the man with her touch. "Miller, you are not going to anyone any good if you wear yourself out like this." She spoke, remembering the events of that day. "What if I Told you that the people that attacked your son's camp also attacked the other villages in the area. What if one of your son's friends took some stolen armor taken from the battle of the bridge they had fought in and used it to sneak into the War camp outside to find some help for you." The looks of shock that forming from the crowd spoke volumes. The warriors that had been brought into the Skaikru camp were not just to show the humanity of the people within, but also, they faced the same foe as well. As the tale proceeded along from Bound's point of view, she recounted the understanding that this father didn't want to fight these people. He would fight alongside them to get his son back.

Walking through the camp beside this man spoke volumes about the state Skaikru was in.

These were not people to be feared, just people who just wanted to feel safe.

It was an ongoing process for these people to learn the rules of the ground. But some wished to live under their own rules.

Pike of Skiakru had been one of those. But his death by the hands and blade of Skairipa had set things right with some of the villages. In truth, that all had excepted the change of regime to the more tolerant leadership of her people. Though it would be a long time until the members of the sky clan to ever trusted fully again.

In truth, it felt like two factions within the sky clan were battling it out for Control. The camps that were loyal to Wanheda, and those who wish to make their own rules you're on the ground. Then some wanted a return to their old ways of living in the sky. Their desires were being driven by fear and ignorance of life down here. In truth, Wanheda's warriors seemed to have been fighting an internal battle to educate her people about the facts of what it was like living down here. It was going to be a long battle for them against the consciousness of ignorance, but it was going to won... in time.

For the time being, the members of the sky clan were obeying the word of Wanheda as she had put her foot do.

The stories that were being told illustrated the rapid changes that were happening to the Skaikru. Thus, this story about a father making peace with his enemy to get his son and his friends back only reinforced that battle that Wanheda's warriors were fighting.

It wouldn't be one in one massive victory... it was going to be won through one on one combat against ignorance.

Hopefully, the amount of blood that would be split would end with the loss of those 300 peacekeepers that had surrounded Arkadia. Still, something told him that her war against this foe was now in the close quarters' combat... that was the most dangerous form of all.

Looking your foe in the eyes and fighting them... knowing that they might take your life.

These warriors now had his respect.

That was when a tussle was taking place was a warrior in dark Skaikru clothing, and a strange mask started to move through the crowd. The warrior looked to be a woman just by her figure. But the mask hid.. well Reflected the faces of those around her.

It was a frightening sight.

As with Mountkru's war masks, you could see their murderous eyes. This mask, with its reflected surface, was like a river of water at night. Then its color changed to look golden as the light hit it. The reflections of it only got stronger as a few near this warrior started to move away.

Then the rest of the warriors that were with this... fearful nightmare made flesh could be seen.

One of them was the Heda herself.

Ontari moved with the group dragging/shoving with all of her body strength, some Azgeda warrior in her grip.

"Karina, daughter of Bound, Bearer of the current mantle of the Warrior Maidens called Bound. I believe this piece of horse dung owes you and your family an apology."

This was a far different Ontari that had been heard of.

Some had seen her as a Heda who loved the sight of blood, but this one... Though Azgeda in mannerism... Seemed to act more in the interest of... well, this servant.

"Azpaka."

Ice Wolf...

Such a strange name for the Heda to be called, but Ontari seemed to be concerned about the situation.

"Heda... I am sorry about my actions... my my my words..."

"You didn't care about who I was while I was wearing the mask." The Heda looked like she was moments away from doing some very unspeakable things to this man.

"I...I... I..."

"Tari... Throttling the poor fool will only make things harder for you to get people to trust you." Bound spoke.

The side look from Heda Ontari was one of disdain but accepted with its truth.

Then Ontari punched the fool in the gut just hard enough to knock the wind out of him. As the man fell to his knees before Bound she reached up and pulled the man's head up to have him look at the woman.

"Ah-pol-lo-gize to the-em." Ontari spoke with each syllable in Gonaslang and pointing to Bound and the Skaikru boy.

"Wa Wh... what?"

"Do you not understand- Apologize..."

Ontari looked to Bound and the young boy.

"Ethan... Bound... Give me a moment-" Ontari moved, and the sound of a loud crunch could be heard as she grabbed something under the warrior's shirt. Something sounded like it had been broken or at least... well pulled out of whack as the warrior's eyes went- the best word- or phrase was: I am screwed.

With a clearing of the throat by Ontari, she went civil. She gestured the now terrified warrior before the two Skaikru.

"Apologize to these two."

The warrior was now looking at the two Skaikru gulping in fear as he tried to speak.

With a weighted sigh, the Heda rubbed her forehead with some weighty options.

Then Ontari spoke with some regalness that had been lacking when she had first come to power.

"Karina of Skaikru, Daughter of Bound... protector of children against the vacuum that tried to take the innocent so long ago... warrior and scout for Wanheda. I know that your honor has been sullied by this insulting warrior. You granted the use of your family war mask as a sign of respect so that I might help find the Bunker the Pramheda used to protect the people she sought to save. Your honorable ancestor protected the innocent from harm as you do now. I accepted your offering and have used it with honor as my offering of training you the use of the sword. In my darkest of times, you gave me hope.

In turn, you offered your skills to help me walk again after injuries Alie the Red Witch inflicted upon me. You have my gratitude because of that.

I learned much of your people, especially the tale of you finding the crashed remains of one of your sky vessels. Knowing that you went forth to find and perform the funerary rituals for this boy's mother who died during the decent of your people to the Ground. Shows that you have fealty of respect for the dead. Knowing that you also performed funerary rights for those that your brethren slew at the bridge speaks volumes to your character. A character whose honor was spat upon by this piece of horse dung." Ontari grabbed a full handful of the now kneeling Azgeda warrior before them. "Now he didn't just insult my honor while I was wearing your mask. He insulted both my family, my ancestors, but my family and your ancestors." Ontari was grinning at this. She seemed that she wanted to taste his blood on her lips.

"Ontari, I know you want to turn this guy into a piece of floating Dren, shove his head into a part of his body that I cannon mention because there are children present. Though I clearly understand why you are feeling this way."

"Understand! UNDERSTAND! You think that you understand what it is like to have your character assassinated." The Heda was in a state of fury. "To be seen as being weak. Defenseless."

"Ontari of the Ice Nation, I do not care if you are a Commander, Klark's Second, or some Servant Girl. There is some Dren... Like this piece of Float that is on his way into planetary entry that needs a more subtle touch to deal with. The type of subtle that-" Bound moved and whispered into the hear of the Head. The image of fury that was there simmered for a moment and then cooled down. The words that Bound was telling her seemed to have caught her attention.

The Azgeda Horse's Ass that was on his knees seemed to be doing his best to attempt to listen in to the whispered conversation.

The way that Ontari was grinning, well, everyone had heard about the ambassador whose eyes she had gouged out with her thumbs.

Then Bound became audible again as she pulled back from Ontari. "- now we can do that-. Or I can do the thing that you read Queen Boudicca did to her enemies that made you laugh at how gory it was after the sensual pleasure of it wore off."

Whatever this horror was- the way that the Heda just grinned sent chills down Tarik's spine. He wasn't the only one who felt this way.

"Heda-"

"Be quiet." Ontari's words halted him cold. After a long moment, she sighed "So... Those are the options if he doesn't apologize-"

"Bound of Skaikru-" The young man was quickly apologizing like his life depended on it. "I am sorry about insulting your family, your ancestors, your loved ones, any children you may or may not have. I implore you... I apologize for my rashness in thinking that you were weak... Without honor... I am the one without honor. I did not know that the Heda had asked to use your family's war garments." He was stammering before the two women.

"What about Ethan... the young boy whose dead mother, whose grave I had to dig, who died the night of the freaking Ark falling out of the Sky. You are an ass that-" Bound stopped as she held back the words with all of her will not to say things that could upset the nearby children. The strain was almost to the point of being a battle of mortal combat. Then with a deep breath, Bound grabbed the young man and dragged him over to the Skaikru boy. "His mother was a friend of my family. She spent ages patching up that damn helmet when the seals started to go on it. My mother... My late freaking floating mother and her were close. I was there when he was born." With tension running throughout her body, she forced the Azgeda to look at the boy. "You have this Blood Must have Blood shit, Ethan is family. Extended family. My family, you float. He isn't just Skaikru, he is kin. I am his freaking godmother as his mother was mine."

"Ethan... I-"

"You said bad things about a people that you didn't know. Words hurt. Harder... harder than rock on... on the soul."

"Sorry."

"Now, you know how I feel." Ethan, the Skaikru boy, looked at the now terrified man.

"Bound... Keep an eye on Ethan." Ontari spoke as she moved and pulled the dumb shit of a young man up. "I am going to go and take this Azgeda back with me so that I can clean up a mess that he made on the floor of a tavern."

"Ontari... " Ethan called out, and the young man looked now in fear of the young boy. "Thank you." The boy moved and kneeled down for a moment. The people took notice of this.

This wasn't a weakness...

It was restraint.

Then the boy rushed over and hugged Ontari around the waist.

The soft grin of compassion conveyed volumes. "Thank you for telling me stories about Azgeda, May Roan be a great leader up North."

"Let's get through the storm first, then we will know if he is a great leader."

"Sha Heda." The boy stated as he ran back to Bound as a masked warrior remained that had come with Onatari looked over at Bound.

"Kay... " the warrior spoke as Ontari was dragging the Azgeda back the direction from which they had come. "How do you scratch your nose in this thing without taking it off, because my nose is itching." Bound was grinning.

"Nomi... I'll show you how to do it with your upper lip." Bound spoke.

"Thanks..." Nomi spoke as she looked back at Ontari, dragging the fool who had started this mess out of eyesight. "Well, it looks like Ontari is going to have her hands full for the next few days."

"Yeah... " Ethan spoke up. "But the survivors of Polaris station, they have offered to help."

"Polaris crashed into sea, losing all hands on-board," Nomi spoke under the mask.

"Crashed yes, but they didn't lose all hands. They made it shore." Ethan chimed up. "They made to land after the first Pok, Heda Bekka's friends survived."

Those words had an impact on the Skaikru present and was summed up in the following terms: "Holy Float-"

Tarik didn't know what it meant, but whomever this Polaris kru were...

The Skaikru knew of them, and they were, given the context of how they looked, mighty allies to have on your side.

Octavia and the group she was with approached the old hydroelectric dam that Clarke and Anya had made their escape through. Despite what Nia had attempted to do to erase the Mountain Men from existence. This part of the structure they had lived in survived. Guess what no one thought that cutting a few wires for patching part of the Ark would keep this place standing.

That was cold comfort for the 49 people that died here.

That was when Octavia stopped cold.

The sign/grave marker in Clarke's handwriting spoke volumes:

Here lay the bodies of the children of Mount Weather.

Innocents to a people who caused so much wrong.

The people that We/Wanheda couldn't save.

May the Gods forgive us for the sins we committed to saving the lives of those we love.

Seeing We replaced with Wanheda stated that Clarke bore the weight of that decision.

Octavia sensed that the latest change to the sign stated that Clarke wanted to dispel the hard legend that was forming around her.

Getting off of her horse, she took the loop of rope and the electric Omni-directional torch she had brought with her.

The rest of the group dismounted nearby. Olivia patted the horse to calm it. The creature's fur had been washed clean of the toxins from the Black Rain, but there were hives where the rain had gotten down to the skin.

Octavia's own steed; Helios was going to have a few scars around his mane and ears where the rain had come into contact with the toxic rainwater. After the storm had passed and they have been able to scrub down along with their animals. The restlessness, after all of that, they were very close to feeling an emotional zeitgeist. For them, the feeling of an apocryphal event was there. The ending of one hour and the start of another in their lives.

Now, as Octavia looked at the rulings that had been original bunker entrance/the rabbit hole, they had to find the actual entrance into the newer parts of the old bunker. Breaking out the ropes and tying them to the exposed iron and stone positions upon the old dam, there was a feeling of understanding about to take place. That this wasn't a journey into the layer of the former villain that had been vanquished. But the ruins of an old civilization that had to die so that a new one could be born.

Even the new companion to hit join their group started to understand what the meaning of this Journey meant now. This wasn't the claiming a trophy of the Mountain Men! No, this was reclaiming a piece of one's dead to be brought appropriately home so that your spirit could rest.

Octavia used the repelling skills that Pike had forced her to learn back on the Ark. Despite all the evil that men had caused here on the ground, he had provided the members of The Hundred the skill sets they needed to survive down here.

Those skills now or being used to retrieve the last little bit of stolen genetic material from the man she loved. Octavia wanted so much to have a child in the future from the man she considered her soulmate.

As they reached the mouth of the overflow chamber of the dam, the feeling of loss could be Felt by those present. The spirits from the other side seemed to have understood that these people were not here to discrete the tomb of those trapped inside. Those spirits from the Garden Station realized why Octavia was there. They were doing their best to help guide Octavia and the others to their goal in safety through their tomb.

Only when a flickering light, somehow still operational after everything that had happened to this place. Pointed to the fact that the great dam built over a century earlier was continually putting forth electrical power to equipment that may never be used ever again. The grating sound pointed out that this equipment was approaching not just the end of its life but the end of its existence as well.

With keen ears, the sounds of a refrigerant compressor could be heard running. Following the faint scent of ammonia and the broken humming of a motor that was moments away from its last compressive legs of cooling materials down giving out. Octavia had found her goal: The biological samples locker that the Mountain Men had used for their project Cerberus. Within that refrigerator lay the samples of genetic material taken from her late love Lincoln and any possible chance for Octavia to bear his seed.

Whatever gods were watching over Octavia at that moment allowed her to pass freely before a line of loosened support material fell down behind her.

As Octavia moved towards the door of the samples. The amount of security that many of the Grounders thought was around it was being voiced by Julia. In truth, Octavia was more concerned about electronic locks. Seeing that all that was between them and their goal was just a simple handle. Well... If you are a group of underground supervillain people and think that you are above all others, well, the lack of a lock was surprising.

Then the motor to the refrigeration unit crapped out.

Octavia moved to grab the door, but Olivia stopped her.

"Octavia... wait. let's check the records first."

"But, the sample is here." Octavia gritted her teeth at being so close, and yet being stopped out of caution.

"And probably beside a slew of others. Think... They probably put it with some obscure code number. So, what if you grab the first sample. For all you know, you might be grabbing your brother's sample or one of the many others who were caged like animals in this place." Olivia's words echoed throughout the walls of the chamber they were in.

The understanding by those present made the slowdown of actions all that more important.

Moving over to a file cabinet nearby, Caris tapped the thumb lock and pulled the drawer open.

"Let's see... the name of the project was named Cerberus... okay." Caris started to look at the names before her. "Cerberus, 2144, 2145-"

"Skip to 2149," Olivia stated as she looked at the homemade colander.

"Why that year?" Caris stated as Julia looked at the Sakirku as well.

"Because that is this calendar year. Mount Kru and Skaikru used the same type of calendar before the first Poc." Octavia stated. "Everyone did before the original Long Winter took place."

The realization of what this meant.

"So, I should be looking at the ones from this year."

That was when Caris reached in and grabbed the lot out of the drawer. Looking around, Caris then placed the contents on a nearby desk.

It was strange as Octavia got a look at the files.

So many men and women.

The red stamp of Deceased made her sick.

Several women were found as being slain or succumbing to whatever had been done, but something made Liam take that pile.

"I thought that we were looking for your hodnes? Julia stated as Octavia got a look at the files Liam was now looking through.

"Senua... she is in this file."

"Who?" Julia stated as she moved to look at the image of the brown-haired woman.

"A friend, a former Reaper like Lincoln. She is currently is living in Arkada." Liam looked at the file.

"What is it?" Julia stated as she watched as Liam move to look at one of the charts on the wall.

"Looked like there was an attempt to... Well, Breed Reapers."

"Breed..." Octavia looked shocked in fear.

"Senua was listed to be the donor of several eggs that were, well- placed into several women prisoners after fertilization to make a new breed of Reapers."

"And I thought the evils of the Mountkru couldn't get any viler!" Caris stated as she fought back the urge to be sick.

"Hybrid Reapers... Um... project abandoned after discovery of... Us." Liam looked at the information as he started to flip through the documents.

"Harper..." Olivia looked in shock at the image of their friend. "Looked like she and Bellamy were to be the next set of donors after harvest." Octavia looked sick at the realization that the part that her brother's sperm might be in the fridge as well.

"Liam... I don't like being in here." Octavia stated.

"Whoa... slow down, Miss my Biological Clock has gone off, and I want to make a baby."

Liam moved and opened the drawer again and started to flip through some more files and found one to pull out.

"Niyliah's mom was one of the surrogates they used in the breeding program."

"Shit..." Olivia winced at the name of their Trikru friend and ally.

Not every day that one learns that the mother of a close friend was used for... well... breeding stock was the term, but those words would never be spoken aloud before that woman unless it was under pain of death. No... There were some images and fates that only the gods would need to know.

May that woman's soul rest in peace now given she was free of the unspeakable horrors done to her.

Then Octavia moved to help look through the files.

Some of the stuff for a hardened warrior like herself-

Octavia only focused on looking for the face of the man she loved.

Everything else was shoved to the side. Octavia was driven by the need to do this just so that she might get through these horrific files of unholy sins created by demons. Demons that even the Underworld would never allow back into Hell.

After a few more moments, the clear image of Lincoln's war-painted was seen looking back at them.

"Lincoln—" Octavia's voice cracked under the emotional weight.

Octavia needed a moment to process seeing the man whom she loved face.

Everyone in the room let her have the space she needed.

For the first time in a few weeks, Octavia of the Sky Clan needed to cry.

Liam moved and knelt down by her and hugged her. The weeks of loss just flooded out as she let go of keeping the pain inside of her body.

She was in pain...

Not a suffering pain, the type of pain that comes from knowing that you are alive.

The pain that comes from healing.

The pain that arises after you have moved through the valley of loss and knowing that you will alright.

The pain of survival.

The knowledge that you are alive.

That the world hasn't ended.

That you will go on and that you are not alone.

You will have the scars… But ones that state that you have changed.

Not the person that you were.

But one that has grown because of the change.

For better or worse.

You have become stronger because of it.

Marked by it.

Not as a sign of honor- but as a sign of survival and growth.

The silence that follows in that moment after the tears and the calmness that follows that you are there.

Your life is there.

There is a task that needs to be done and-

Octavia breathed in.

"Let's check the units," Octavia stated as the group that had come with her nodded in agreement as they moved into performing the tasks they needed to do.

"I'll check to see if there are other former Reapers we can help with the knowledge here?" Liam stated as he moved and started to gather the files, they would need to help Octavia in her quest to have Lincoln's child.

Olivia moved to look at the refrigeration unit that held the samples.

"Looks like they were using zeolite from someplace called Yellow Stone in the Plains Rider's territories. A good coolant mix for creating liquid nitrogen using vacuum compression. Beats using the nitrogen from the scrubbers on the station. But the process is sound." Olivia stated as she looked at the device chamber. "Looks like even if the pump goes out, we have about five days to get it back to Arkadia before we lose all of the samples."

"Five Days…" Octavia nodded as Liam looked at the materials.

"Okay, looks like Lincoln and the rest of the male genetic samples were stored in chamber one, vat box-." Liam clicked his tongue a few times, isolating the numbering scheme -"A5, row 8."

Then the pump died.

"Shit… Not good." Octavia spoke as she realized they were now literally on the clock. "Oh... We need to get this back to Arkada without opening it." They were so close and yet so far.

"Why don't we open it and get the sample..."

"Because, if the unit is as cold as I think it is, then if we open it, we lose it when it starts to warm up. We go from having days to get usable, to only having less than an hour, even then maybe less." Liam stated as Olivia looked for away from the to get the refrigeration unit through the rubble.

"We need to clear a path out of here!" Olivia stated as she looked at Caris. " Caris take my radio and count the number of steps out of here to the spillway where we came in. When you get to the edge. I want you to give Arkada a call. As for Raven and tell her that we need Ice or something to keep a cooling unit operational."

"How do I do that?" Caris stated.

"I walk you through what you need to do!" Olivia stated.

"I'll start strapping the doors of the cooling box down," Octavia stated. Octavia found a few straps that had been used to tie down people for the Reaper transformation nearby and started to loop them around the refrigeration unit.

"Do you want me to grab the records?" Julia moved to look at the files that had been pulled. Understanding that they would need them, she spoke her actions to the group as she realized that she had become part of something bigger than herself. "I'll grab the files to take with us." Those words were her agreement that she had taken up the role of being the protector of these records. Octavia saw uncertainty move to certainty of the task before them.

"All right, now we have some idea of what we need to get done. Let's proceed to get this done as quickly as possible before we run out of cold."

The moment it took for Caris to understand how to use the radio did come in handy for them. Because of taking those few moments, she was able to scout out the route they needed to move the refrigeration unit. The quickest possible path was required for their task while keeping up with the time they had left before the temperature inside of the refrigerator rose to dangerous levels. Using several yards of Hemp climbing rope to secure the door to the unit shut so that it wouldn't open by accident and let out the vital cold inside dooming the samples inside. The task of moving down the path now could take place with relative ease.

Liam and Olivia, along with Julia and Octavia rolled, shoved and kicked all of the rocks they could away from the path they needed to move the unit down the hallway. Caris's information from her call on the radio stated the distance they needed to travel and the number of steps they needed to go up and down with.

Between the multi-wheeled stair climbing, dolly they had found to help them heave the unit up a few steps from the lab to the overflow tunnels had been a godsend.

But the most challenging part would be ahead of them as they would need to get the unit clear of the spillway tunnel and up along the side of the wall of the dam.

This would come down the logistics.

Octavia knew how to lead, but to stuff like this, Olivia had been able to handle. If this had been Zero or Low-G, moving this item wouldn't have been a problem. Here on the ground... Well... it just came down to knowing that gravity was your friend and gravity working at a fall rate of 1 g = 9.807 meters per second of fall and doubling at each number meant that with 190 kg of weight they would need to move it with... carry the one- The maximum load a horse can pull is-

Seeing Olivia work the math on the wall when they got to the spillway made Octavia realize how much she missed just being a normal girl.

"I think we are going to need all of our horses, two pulleys, and us pulling on the ropes with at-least two or three more people to get this thing up!" Olivia stated as she mapped out the logistics of how they were going to get the samples refrigerator from the spillway outlet to the top of the dam.

"Let's start with the ropes and go from there," Octavia spoke as she moved and headed out of the spillway tunnel and climbed back to the horses.

Each moment Octavia pulled herself up, she felt a bit better on how things were going for her.

She needed this moment in her life.

As she reached the edge of the dam and pulled herself up, she felt Helios's muzzle start to lick on her.

She remembered the day she had gotten him. A horse as a gift from Indra. The animal and she seemed to sense each other. The strong warrior sense in her blood and strength made the steed move around her. It didn't kneel down to her, but Helios... sensed the wild, primal creature she was. The two of them just paced around one another, sensing who the other was. Sensing the fears, angers, joys, but... most of all, their souls.

"Remember Oktavia... a rider does not pick their steed, their steed picks them. They seek out the truth of their nature and bond with them. But remember... they have a mind of their own and will let you know how they feel. When Angered, they will not allow you to ride, and remember the same applies to you. This is your brother in arms now. Care for him, and he will care for you." Indra's words had sunk into the depth of this relationship.

Helios would be part of her to the day she died.

The raw understanding of something so powerful... yet so gentle had forced her to face a lot of pain before they started to ride like one.

It was like the forest of glowing butterflies that she had come across searching with the others.

They seemed to connect with her on the most intimate level.

They were so beautiful and so different.

It was like being in a fairy tale.

With Helios... he had sensed that she had been a caged creature... that she wanted to be free... run... escape from her past. Feel the freedom of the land under her feet and not stop moving until she felt safe.

He had been gentle with her and when she had first gotten onto his back... She was scared, but he had allowed her to know that he would move in one direction if she wanted to. Learning that he understood that if she wanted to go somewhere, she just needed to lean.

At first, he had not moved fast, sensing her unsure nature. Still, the more comfortable Octavia got on Helios's back, the more distance he moved under her direction.

That first full run out of the stables...

Magic.

Now, as she stood up, Helios turned and nudged her to look down the direction of the path that ran the length of the dam's roof.

"Treasure Hunting, my friend." One of the male voices called out. "I hear that most of it has been picked over by the members of Skaikru." Octavia remained silent not to give away her origins. At this distance and with these garments, Octavia mostly looked like a member of the Trikru. But opening her mouth could cause her problems given that the cadence of how she spoke Trig. Skaikru had the sub nuances that showed up whenever they spoke- even in English.

Problems that she didn't need at this time, given the situation that she was working on.

That was when they decided to step it for her when Caris's voice called out from the spillway tunnel.

"Oktavia... you up there yet?"

"Yes," Octavia responded in Trig, but kept a tone that she affiliated with that Indra used.

"I am coming up. Just keep Helios steady."

"Understood." Octavia moved to keep her words short from these two unknown men.

Octavia sensed that there was something more going on. Something that told her to stay on her guard. For now. She took note that these two hadn't decided to help her or Caris.

That was when Caris moved up and saw the two other men standing nearby. "No wonder you were not talkative." Octavia turned slowly to get an accurate look at the men.

"Bandits..." Octavia knew that going for her sword would undermine everything.

"Now... I see why you were taking so long." One of the bandits stated as they moved to pat Caris down.

The sickening way they were doing so illustrated that their mothers didn't raise them right. Octavia saw that Caris wanted to break the wrist, ankles, and the fleshy and hard pieces of these two's manhoods. Octavia just wanted to break their knees and toss them over the side of the dam to their deaths.

Then the radio on Caris's belt crackled to life.

"Caris, Octavia, if one of you can hear us, respond? We are on the clock here."

"You have a Skaikru Radio." One of the Bandits stated. Now, details of this piece of technology being tolerated by the members of the Coalition. In light of the recent crisis. So seeing the device on her stated that she was doing something for either the Skaikru. Or concerning the preparations for the upcoming disaster. "So what is in the Dam? Some treasure or something more?"

"Research... On Reapers."

"Research on Reapers... Why would one want to search for Reapers?"

"Have the rest of your party come up." One of the bandits stated as he drew forth a crossbow. Octavia nodded.

"This is Octavia... Everything is Code Green up here, Me and Caris have secured the ropes for you to come up. Bring up the records that we found."

It took a moment as the radio clicked a few times in Morse.

How many hostiles?

Octavia responded With five clicks:

2

And using the twitch of her "nervous" hand she continued:

1 has an x-bow.

"Okay. We are going to get the records out of here first. Hopefully, Harper and the team she is with can use them to deal with the problem." Liam stated.

Harper was nearby?

How much out of the loop had she been?

"Understood."

Harper was on patrol... And probably within radio distance.

They had backup coming.

"Send up the package," Octavia stated.

"Understood. Julia is coming up along with some intel packages from what we found along with research for McClane when he went vent diving during the siege."

Who the fuck was McClane?

Greek and Roman Mythology and stories she knew...

Movies, TV shows, Radio Dramas, Podcasts. Not part of life growing up under the floor.

Most of the music she liked were cover songs done on a Greek-style harp.

Harps were still around, along with variations of guitars and drums, and flutes.

Oh, as a child, she so wanted to learn to play the harp.

But she couldn't because it might cause noise and people would come to investigate.

Guess her friends realized that she hadn't seen all that much pre-nuke media.

Then the radio clicked.

Reality now returned to her as the situation before her.

Gun Taped on Back. Safety off.

"Shit!" Octavia stated as she Now understood who McClane was. He must have been some movie character or actor that everyone must have known about while growing up. The raw fuming that Octavia was presenting could be seen by Caris and the bandits.

"What is it, Octavia?" Caris stated.

"McClane is a dick," Octavia stated as she gritted her teeth. The two bandits took note of this.

The realization that Octavia was fuming at the mention of this individual made the two realize there was some history between Octavia and this unseen figure.

"You are Skaikru." Octavia glared.

"I so want to shove a Shock rod up McClane's ass and turn it on."

"Lover…."

"Father, who knocked my mother up with me. I get out of this, I am cutting his manhood off. He is the reason my mother is dead."

In truth, Octavia was tapping all of the anger she had for her unnamed father. She had never known of the man, but she had to really sell her desire for a non-secretive family. She had to sell her desire to become a Reaper.

"So, the research- possible treasures."

"Go Float yourself."

"McClane is your blood, but not your family." Caris studied Octavia.

"I am Hundred, Not Skaikru… Skaikru floated my mother, I am a daughter of the Earth Mother. She gave me family, friends, a lover, a new mother." Octavia spat. "My lover was a Reaper made a man again by Wanheda. I want to bare his child. Become a mother. I do not care if I become part Reaper myself and never taste meat again. I am taking back my life from that man." Octavia's movement of her dialect into Trig.

Caris touched her friend on the shoulder.

"O… It is going to be alright."

"They can take the treasure, not the files. Not the paper." Octavia moved to touch her belly.

Even with the world ending the way it was, Octavia knew that from the ashes, life would start again. It would need help, but getting knocked down and getting back up was the way of the universe.

That was when Julia crested over the edge of the dam's spillway.

"Oktavia..." The redhead called out. Her curly locks pulled back into a ponytail and her clothes that looked to have seen better days. Well looked better before today, before the rain and the trudging throughout the underground. "I found a Skaikru Jacket down there." Julia's voice stated as she came up over the crumbling concrete that in a century or two would fail. But today, it wasn't going to fail... It was going to chip in segments as the curly red-head came over its edge to meet with her improvised backpack made from a pair of pants. Given how thoroughly the pack happens literally, been crammed with documents illustrated that Octavia's focus on her goals.

First, she had to make this look very convincing. Though she had wished that they hadn't picked Julia for this particular job.

"Oh, one of your friends has come up from inside the dam." The bandit stated as he helped Juliet up to her feet. Octavia's scowling eyes towards the man spoke volumes. Julia picked up on this, and she just nodded. Then Thief pulled a blade out and slowly brought it up to Julia's neck. "You two tie her to your horse." He stated.

Octavia was going to play along with this. Well, only as long until she could get to Julia and put a bullet into him. That was when a thunder strike took place. It was the closeness of it that drew the attention of the two. That was when the radio clicked a few times.

Trouble

The word just hung there in the air. It wasn't just that. No... the situation was rapidly changing.

Harper, where are you?

The thought ran rampant through Octavia's mind. Then the situation raced again.

"Octavia, we have a situation here- The Battery is failing."

Skairipa awoke in a rage.

"NOOOOO, the words bled out of Octavia's throat with a primal rage. Octavia raced to the rope.

"Liam, tie the damn rope around the fucking fridge. or I will personally gut you in was that your darkest nightmare about Grounders will look and sound like a child-friendly storytime back on the Fucking Ark." Octavia's words were screamed into the radio with such anger and fury that the two thieves started to realize that whatever they had come for. They were dealing with a Skiakru who was on borderline mad.

"What is this treasure?" The thieves started to realize as when Octavia moved from the rope and grabbed one of them by the throat.

"The refrigerator... an icebox carries the last remains of the man whom I loved. The Mountain men took a sample of his blood and genetic material so that they could make better Reapers... Then they turned him into a Reaper... Clarke may have returned their souls to them, but they were still changed. I wanted to bare this child. Pike killed the man I loved... Now... in that damn box lays the last of the man I loved. I will bare that child. I have gathered the healing knowledge to bring that child into this world. Now By the Gods of whatever land that is out there... By the Heavens and the Primal Earth Mother herself... I am going to have that child."

Octavia had removed the blade from the Bandit and slit a good chunk of clothing free of the fool.

"What are you trying to do... make another Skairipa?" One the thieves looked at her, realizing that they were becoming outnumbered as Liam pulled himself up over the dam wall.

"I AM SKAIRIPA..."

"Oh... SHIT!"

"Octavia... Calm down... I know you want to have Lincoln's baby... Just keep your head while we get this damn thing up." Octavia turned and growled. "You can fuck these guys up as much as you like after this, but take a clean breath-" Liam spoke as Octavia was fighting against her urge for blood.

She so wanted blood.

She wanted to bathe in it.

To drink it.

To be one with it.

Then one of the thieves grabbed Julia's backpack. The random pulling of items out which were only papers.

"Where is the treasure?" One of the thieves called out.

"Not all treasure is gold and jewels or tech-" Liam spoke to the two thieves.

"take a look at the files."

The radio clicked.

O, Li, Ov this Harper We are here Respond I am in sniper position.

The bandit who was holding the backpack pulled out several documents.

"You know that I can not read."

"Look at the damn fucking pictures." Octavia wanted to throttle the thieves, then do things to them that had only been rumored that she had overheard as punishments done by the various krus. Peeling off the flesh of...

"Wait... Why is that per..."

"Senua?" Liam spoke up. "Why are you at this place?" That was the bandit found the file with Senua's picture prominent in its cover. e

Senua was standing at the end of the dam. Now given that she was wearing her blue war paint and wearing her war gear- Julia was doing her best not to stammer.

"I only heard the stories of the Reapers Wanheda had tamed to her control." Julia did her best not to piss herself, but Reapers- even former ones, were seen as individuals to be feared in battle.

For the bandits who were currently crapping their pants after realizing that there was a Reaper standing guard over its former Master's home. Well...probably under the orders of its current one. They didn't know if the Commander of Death herself had sent this flesh-eating beast after them, but given the sword and how it was being held. She looked like she was going to make a meal of the intruders. Or worse... feed their flesh to the animals as an offering to the Gods of the Skaikru.

"You know that the spillway we climbed up from is where Anya and Clarke jumped from-" Octavia stated as the two traveling bandits. thieves realized that they had gotten over their preferable heads.

The scared shitless bandits who looked at each other and made the decision to survive than rather die. It didn't help that at the time that Senua decided to come screaming and running at them with her sword drawn.

Senua was one of those individuals who, when she wanted to gain your attention, she did. Well, when she desired to scare the full shit from you, she could.

Now the rampant smell of urine and erupting from those two could be smelt past Helos' normal bowel movement. That was saying something if one could out stink horse manure.

So taking a quick prayer to whatever gods would take pity upon them, they made a running jump from the side of the dam and leap for their lives.

After the bandits had done that, Senua slowed down and lowered her sword so that she could look over the edge. The wince spoke volumes.

"I was expecting them to fight, not..." Senua spoke as she exhaled with a heavyweight.

That was Harper came running up to the group. Her large assault rifle being hefted in her arms like a battering ram.

"What the hell happened?" Harper called out as she came to a stop, her breathing rampant as she started to assess the situation.

"They Jumped," Senua spoke as Octavia knelt clinging to the rope that bore the precious cargo of the Cryo-thermoses. She wasn't going to lose the last bit of the man whom she had loved with her full heart, her entire soul, her soulmate. Her hodnes.

"Octavia, are you okay?" Harper spoke as she saw her friend running through a gambit of emotions.

"We found them." Octavia was fighting back her primal feelings.

"I have Lincoln's Samples in the refrigerator below," Liam stated as he got on the radio. "Guy's the Code Green is over."

"Well, has backup arrived?" Olivia called over the radio. "Because we are getting a bit worried down here."

"Yeah, Harper and Senua are here!" Liam stated.

"Good, because this will be a whole lot easier to get out of here with the wench on the rover. " Olivia stated.

"We have to get it up—" Octavia was in panic mode. How could people keep talking?

That was when Liam reached down and placed a hand on both her's. Her grip was like a vice as it was tugging on the rope.

"We have the samples cooled off. Ilian placed them in the spillway water to keep them cool. The containers are airtight, so they won't be contaminated. Lincoln's biomaterial is safe."

Octavia's grip just released as she finally could catch her breath.

"So..." Octavia was doing her best not to collapse under the hope before her.

"All we need is to retrofit a cooling unit from one of the old spacesuits. Set it to go lower than 17.2 C to about 1.1 C."

"Then... All I am holding with this rope is..."

"Just a cumbersome empty box."

Octavia let go of the rope and started to sob.

Skairipa for now... could rest... For Octavia of Skaikru... Well- What needed to play out would play out per the desires of the Gods.

For the girl who had hidden under the floor. Events would unfold in such a way that the course of generations to come would understand this day and its impact on the events to come.

The contents of the refrigerator would be taken back to Arkadia. They would be used to aid the former Reapers for years to come.

Senua would later be able to bear a child from the information gained from those records.

Octavia would bare a daughter of her heart's desire.

But that story would be one told at another time and how she found love again.

Next: Bunker Set up.