~ ✮ ✮ ~

chapter thirty, Memento Mori

--

NOVA WALKS THROUGH THE CROWD OF POLIS at night with torches lit in the walkway and meets up with Octavia. "He's challenging Roan and there's no stopping him" Nova declares and Octavia shrugs her shoulders as she hands Nova a cloak and Nova puts it on.

"Then like you said, we kill him" Octavia recalls, pulling her hood over her head and Nova does the same before they start walking through the streets side by side in unison.

Once they arrive at Rafel's place, they walk in and remove their hoods, shutting the door behind them. "It's about time, pour the wine." Rafel orders, not looking at the girls who have just invaded his home.

With his response, Nova furrows her eyebrows and walks to stand in front of his table and looks down to him. He looks up to see who is standing in front of him and is shocked to see it is Octavia and Nova standing before him.

"What do you want?" Rafel asks with hostile laced in his voice, looking between both girls. "I'm here to ask you one last time to back down" Octavia demands and Rafel sits up straight, looking at Octavia as if she's unworthy.

"Are you trying to frighten me, little girl?" Rafel asks and Nova scoffs. "If your problem really is with Skaikru, not Roan, then challenge me instead. We can settle this" Octavia states and Rafel waves her off and picks up his spoon.

"You are not worthy of my blade" Rafel declares, and Nova looks over at Octavia then back down at Rafel.

"Are you sure she can't change your mind?" Nova asks as she watches Octavia step beside Rafel and Rafel lets out a deep sigh. "You can't. Trishanakru will have its justice. Now leave before I-" Rafel begins before Octavia lifts her blade and stabs him in the side of his head, killing him instantly. She swiftly removes her blade and wipes away the evidence.

Nova lets out a sigh as she throws his bowl of food to the side and looks up at Octavia. "Long live the king" Nova calls out softly as she pulls out her sword, lifts Rafel's head, smoothly decapitating it from the rest of his body and hands it to Octavia.

Nova pushes his body down and drags half of Rafel's body outside and grabs a torch by the entry way and light Rafel on fire and lets him burn. "Memento Mori (remember you have to die)" Nova whispers as she watches Rafel's body burn in flames.

Octavia walks out and throws Rafel's head in the fire and walks off. Nova clears her throat and wipes the blood off of her sword and walks off as well.

It was the next morning, and Nova was in her room that Roan had assigned to her. She was changing into a black top when her door opened. She turned around and noticed Iris standing in the doorway.

"What are you doing in here?" Nova asks looking Iris up and down as she puts on her black handmade jacket with silver spikes on the sleeves.

"Why did you kill Rafel last night?" Iris asks crossing her arms over her chest.

Nova shakes her head, wanting to quickly end the conversation. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Nova held up her sword, sharpening it with practiced precision while her eyes remained fixed on Iris. Iris stepped forward, her gaze unwavering as she addressed Nova.

"Do you have any idea what people are calling you?" Iris asked.

Nova shrugged, slipping her sword into her weapons belt, tucking her blade into her boot, and slinging her crossbow onto her back. "No," she replied coolly.

"They call you Thanatos, the Grim Reaper. Someone dies, and you send them off," Iris explained, her voice tinged with a mix of awe and concern.

Nova cleared her throat, brushing off the weight of the nickname. "Whatever," she muttered.

Iris rolled her eyes in frustration. "Nova! This isn't you," she insisted, her voice rising.

Nova's eyes widened, the words striking a nerve. "You don't know me. Maybe this is me. People change, Iris. People move on. You should be one of those people," Nova said, her tone cold and resolute.

She walked past Iris, brushing her shoulder as she did, leaving Iris standing there, alone and shocked by Nova's actions and demeanor. The air was thick with unspoken words and the lingering tension of a friendship strained to its limits. As Nova disappeared into the shadows, Iris could only watch, her heart heavy with the realization of how much her friend had changed in this harsh world.

_______

NOVA MET UP WITH OCTAVIA AND once she got there Octavia let out a sigh while sharpening her sword. "You're late" Octavia says, Nova sighs as she pulls her hood down.

"Iris came into my room and started talking" Nova informs and Octavia shrugs her shoulders.

Nova hears footsteps behind her, so she turns around and stands next to Octavia who is sitting down sharpening her sword. A tall man walks up with a cloak on covering his identity. The man finally removes his hood and reveals he is Roan. Nova looks around before looking to Roan in confusion.

"It's not safe for you here. What do you want?" Octavia states standing to her feet then setting her sword to the side. "I need you two to handle something for me the way you handled Ambassador Rafel" Roan begins but stops his sentence as Indra steps outside.

"We should speak alone" Roan states and Nova clears her throat. "We can trust Indra" Nova states as Indra steps closer to the 3 of them to listen to the conversation.

"The flame's been stolen" Roan states and Nova widens her eyes in shock, "What? When?" She asks. "Just now from my quarters while I was training" Roan says motioning to the tower where his quarters are.

"How can you be so careless?" Indra asks, very ashamed while looking Roan up and down making Roan turn his head towards Indra with a serious expression on his face.

"We need to lock down this city and search everyone" Octavia suggests. "Yeah, find who stole it and torture them. Get answers" Nova states and notices Indra shaking her head.

"We can't. If word gets out that he's lost the flame, the other clans will question his rule, Trikru loudest of all" Indra states looking over to Nova. "Fine, we can just find it. Where do I start?" Octavia wonders while putting her jacket over her shoulders and looking to Roan for answers.

"Whoever did this got in and out of the tower without being seen. In order to risk that, she'd have to care more about the flame than her own life" Roan begins, and Nova seems a little taken back by his words. "She?" Nova questions furrowing her eyebrows.

"The new Flame keeper."

"Perhaps you should look closer to home. You're not exactly beloved" Indra defends quickly. "My people want an Ice Nation king" Roan argues going back and forth with Indra.

"The ambassadors don't." Indra declares, "The ambassadors are cowards and know I'd have their heads. The keepers of the flame--fanatics. I'd do it myself, but my guards won't let me out of their sight" Roan finishes and Nova puts her hand up, stopping the conversation from going any further.

"We will handle it" Nova says and Octavia nods her head in agreement as they both walk off together side by side.

Nova and Octavia get as much answers as they can. They knew they were looking for a girl and spotted a girl who looked suspicious. She had long locs and wore Azgeda clothes, so they continued to follow her until she reaches the flame keeper room.

The girl reveals that she has the Flame and Nova looks over at Octavia and sends her a nod that it's time to go in. They start walking to the door until a grounder steps right in front of them. Nova is taken aback and looks the grounder up and down.

"Where are you going?" The man asks and Nova clears her throat. "Somewhere you're not invited so be smart and back off" Nova states as her and Octavia try to walk past him, but he slightly pushes them back a little before llian walks up stopping them from getting inside.

"No. We're here for the tech. That's all" llian lets them know and Octavia furrows her eyebrows.

"What's the point?" Octavia asks. "ALIE used tech to control us. No one'll ever take over our minds again," llian says and Nova starts to see where he's getting at. llian looks around to make sure no one is listening.

"Follow her, see where she goes" llian pleads and Nova and Octavia nods in unison and start following the girl again.

Once they arrive in the flame keeper room, they see the girl on her knees. They both step up, but the girl has yet to notice them. "So, you're the new Flame keeper" Octavia calls out, breaking the girl out of her trance and making her stand up slowly.

"This is a sacred space. Leave before you get hurt" The girl demands, and Nova slowly pulls out her sword. "Give us the flame and no has to get hurt" Nova says with a smirk on her face while looking at the girl.

"It does not belong to you or your red-blooded King" The girl declares, and Octavia shrugs her shoulders.

"We can't let you leave with it," Octavia declared, her voice firm and unyielding.

The mystery girl took deep, steadying breaths before suddenly lunging at Octavia, landing a solid punch to her face. Nova, reacting swiftly, spun around and delivered a powerful kick to the girl's stomach, sending her sprawling to the ground. The girl rolled, grabbed her sword from the floor, and sprang back to her feet.

Nova charged, her sword at the ready. Their blades clashed in a rapid, almost dance-like exchange of strikes and parries. They moved with such speed and precision that it seemed impossible to tell who had the upper hand, until the girl caught Nova off guard. She spun, dropped low, and swept her leg under Nova, knocking her onto her back.

Standing over Nova, the girl pointed her sword at her. "Good technique. I know it well," she remarked, her tone almost admiring. Nova's brows furrowed in confusion.

Before the girl could make another move, Octavia rushed in, engaging her in a fierce fight. Octavia hooked her leg around the girl's, slamming her to the ground. Nova quickly got to her feet and pointed her sword at the girl, ready to end the confrontation. Octavia, picking up her own sword, prepared to deliver the final blow.

"Stop! Put down the sword, Octavia," a commanding voice echoed through the tunnels.

Nova turned to see Indra emerging from the shadows. She was breathing heavily but stood tall, her presence demanding attention.

"She has the Flame," Octavia pleaded, her eyes wide with desperation.

Indra took a deep breath, her gaze locking onto the girl on the ground. "She's my daughter," she revealed, her voice heavy with a mix of authority and emotion.