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chapter thirty-three, End of an Era

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BACK AT POLIS

ECHO AND ROAN WALK INTO THE CELL that Bellamy, Kane, Fio, Iris and more are being held. "On your feet" Echo demands and they all slowly stand to their feet. "We're bringing you home. Your ship is shelter from Praimfaya, so I intend to take it" Roan states and Bellamy and Fio look to each other.

"You don't have to do this. We can find a solution together" Kane declares, trying to come up with a deal. "That time has passed. Get them ready to march" Roan demands as Bellamy lets out a scoff.

"Octavia will get there first. She'll warn them you're coming. You'll lose" Bellamy says as Echo clears her throat and drops Octavia's blade at Bellamy's feet and Nova's hair at Fio's feet.

Fio looks down and slowly puts his head up to look at Echo. "No... Is that?" Iris asks. "They wouldn't be taken alive. Octavia or... Nova" Roan states and Bellamy shakes his head dropping to his feet mourning the loss of his sister.

"No! No!" Iris shouts as tears fall down her face.

"It was a good death for them both" Echo says as she turns and walks out the room leaving guards to drag them out of the cell. Tears slide down Fio's face but he's trying to hide it to stay strong.

BACK AT THE CLIFF

NOVA OPENS HER EYES FAST AND gasps for air, the pain hitting her instantly. She sits up, takes off her jacket, and folds it up before tying it around her stomach to slow the bleeding. She lays back, taking a few deep breaths, and stares up at the bright sky.

Forcing herself to stand, Nova limps over to her sword lying on the ground and picks it up, gripping it tightly. "Have to warn... Clarke," she breathes out, using her sword as a cane. She starts limping through the woods, determined to reach her destination.

After a while, Nova stops and leans against a tree to keep her balance. Sweat pours off her face, washing away some of the dried blood. She feels her skin growing paler by the second. Untying her jacket, she lifts her shirt and sees the arrow wound worsening. She rips half of her shirt, gently wraps it around the wound, and ties it tightly before continuing her journey, refusing to stop until she's home.

As Nova struggles through the dense woods, her vision blurs, and she starts seeing images of her father moving silently through the trees. His presence feels like that of a guardian angel, guiding her path without saying a word. The sight of him gives her a brief sense of comfort and determination. She watches him ahead of her, his figure a beacon in her pain-fogged mind.

Nova stumbles, catching herself on a tree. She glances up, and her father's image stands ahead, motioning with a nod. She pushes on, each step a battle against the searing pain in her stomach. Her breaths come in ragged gasps, but she refuses to give in.

Finally, she collapses against another tree, sliding down to sit at its base. Her father's image appears again, closer this time, his eyes filled with unspoken encouragement. Nova takes a moment to gather her strength, staring at her father's ghostly figure before forcing herself to stand once more.

With renewed resolve, she limps forward, her father's silent guidance urging her on. She can see the edge of the woods, the trees thinning out. Nova pushes through, every step an agony, but driven by the need to warn Clarke. Her vision tunnels as she nears the clearing, her father's image standing just beyond it, waiting for her.

As she breaks through the tree line, Nova collapses onto the ground, her strength finally giving out. She lies there, panting and bleeding, but with the knowledge that she made it out of the woods. She looks up, and her father's image slowly fades away, leaving her with a sense of peace. Nova takes a deep breath and starts crawling toward her destination, knowing that she has to keep moving, no matter what.

Nova finally made it back to Arkadia and stood at the front gate. She pushed through the gate and quickly fell onto her stomach. "War... War" Nova mumbled as she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. She looked over and saw Harper was helping her stand up.

"Let's get you some help" Harper pleads and Nova let's out a few coughs with blood coming out as well. "War..." Nova mumbles but Harper isn't listening as she starts yelling for Clarke.

"Clarke! Clarke! It's Nova!" Harper shouts and Nova lays her head on Harpers shoulder as Harper dragged her. "Nova! Nova! Hey!" Clarke shouted as she rushes up to Harper who was holding Nova. Clarke grabbed Nova's face and slapped her cheeks gently.

"Nova!" Clarke cries out. "Niylah make sure Octavia is okay" Clarke orders, motioning to Octavia and Nova lifts her head up, looking around in confusion and in a daze. "Octavia?" Nova furrows her eyebrows and lifts her head up slowly.

"Come on" Clarke whispered as she carried Nova to a bed and gently laid her down. "Oh my god" Clarke breathed out as she removed the bloody shirt from around Nova wound.

"I need rags!" Clarke shouted as Harper ran over cleaning up Nova's stomach and Clarke went over to check on Octavia. "Azgeda is coming. Army... marching." Octavia mumbles and Clarke looks over at Nova and back at Octavia who starts going unconscious again.

"Octavia, hey, hey, hey, stay with me" Clarke begs. Nova grabs Harpers arm and brings her closer.

"War... War is here" Nova whispers before she lets go of Harper and Harper stands up straight and looks over to Clarke.

"Start an I.V., blood and fluids, and--and get a suture kit ready for both of them!" Clarke demands and everyone in med bay listens to her orders. "Nova... hey" Clarke whispers as she pushes Nova's hair back. Nova opens her eyes and looks at Clarke who looks as beautiful as ever. "Hey, you're so beautiful" Nova mumbles with a smile on her face.

Clarke sniffles and wipes tears from her eyes. "Are you okay?" Clarke asks and Nova nods.

"Everything just... hurts" Nova says as she lets out a harsh breath. "I thought Octavia... She died... I saw her fall off the cliff" Nova explains and Clarke clears her throat.

"Well, she's fine. Just like you. You are going to be fine" Clarke declares as she places her lips on Nova's forehead and gets a cold rag and places it on her forehead to cool her down.

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A COUPLE HOURS LATER, Nova wakes up and slowly opens her eyes, looking around her. She sees Octavia asleep in the bed next to her. She notices she's in new clothes, a tight black tank top, dark leather jeans and her boots were placed by the bed and her handmade jacket with spikes on the sleeves laid at the end of the bed.

She looked down to notice her wounds have been tended too before looking down at her arm and sees an IV in it then lays back in her bed, continuing to look around remembering things that happened a little at a time.

Niylah walks in with 2 cups of water. "Hey, sit back" Niylah orders as she gently leans Nova back into bed and turns to Octavia who is slowly waking up. Niylah handed Nova her water and Nova cleared her throat before taking small sips.

"Where's Clarke?" Nova asks looking to Niylah. "Hopefully getting the alliance back on track" Niylah responds as she lifts Octavia's legs up to her stomach slowly and Octavia lays there while she does it.

"Is llian still here?" Octavia asks and Nova sets her water down not in the mood to eat or drink anything.

"Octavia, how did you survive?" Nova questions and Octavia shrugs her shoulders as Niylah lifts her other leg up to her stomach slowly. "Are you okay? I seen Echo got you pretty- good" Octavia grunts in pain as Niylah went too far. Octavia sits up straight and lets out a cough.

"I'm fine... now what about llian?" Octavia asks.

"We've searched half the ship. What makes you so sure he's still here?" Niylah states and questions looking to Octavia who shakes her head in disbelief. "You didn't see him in Polis. He was on a mission to destroy tech. It was no coincidence he found me on my way here. He used me to get in" Octavia states as she takes deep breathes.

"I believe it" Nova mumbles, grunting as she adjusts in her bed.

"This whole ship is tech. Where would you go to do the most damage?" Niylah asks and Nova lifts her head up quickly and looks over to Niylah. "There's some type of server room in this, right?" Nova asks and Octavia nods getting Niylah to help her out of bed.

"This way" Octavia orders making Nova sighs and get up herself. She holds onto her stomach but shortly catches up with Octavia and Niylah.

They make it to the server room and low and behold there lies llian with a small torch in his hand ready to blow the server room up. "For my brother. For my father. For my mother" llian mumbles and Nova widens her eyes looking at the flames on the torch.

"llian no!" Octavia shouts grabbing llian's attention quickly. "Whatever you do here, it won't bring your family back" Nova reassures as she holds onto the wall while she takes a step towards him. "Trust me, I've tried to hurt so many people because of my own pain" Nova states to lIian and starts seeing him become vulnerable.

"No one needs to die. You should leave" lIian begs and Nova sighs looking to Octavia as she holds onto her stomach.

"Please. The engine room is right below us. If it blows, you'll destroy the whole ship" Octavia warns and Niylah grabs Nova's arm and pulls her over and wraps an arm around her waist after noticing her in pain.

"That's the idea." lIian states and Nova looks to lIian. "You don't think we feel your pain?" Nova asks and lIian scoffs. "I know you don't" lIian states and Nova takes a deep breath.

"I was a prisoner on this ship like Octavia, and trust me, we hate this place, but now we need it. I lost my mother and father too; I killed my friend out of anger. I know your pain! So, please don't do this," Nova tried to reassure Ilian, but he didn't seem to process anything.

"Were you in the City of Light?" Ilian asked, and Octavia and Nova shook their heads.

"Then you'll never understand." Ilian wasted no time and dropped the burning torch. Niylah pushed Nova and Octavia out of the room, making them hit the ground hard before the explosion rang in their ears.

"Ah!" Nova shouted, groaning in pain as she held onto her stomach. Smoke began to surround the room, and Nova looked around for Octavia. Once she found her, she crawled towards her, but Niylah slowly lifted Nova up and walked over to help Octavia.

"What are you doing? You should've left," Nova said as she wrapped an arm around Niylah reassuringly while coughing from the amount of smoke. "I'm making sure neither of you die," Niylah replied as she carried both of them with all of her strength. Nova tried her best to walk so Niylah wouldn't have to bear so much weight.

Niylah was strong enough to carry them out of the burning Arkadia and away from the smoke. Nova finally opened her eyes and saw Clarke, Fio, and Iris standing in the distance. "Nova? Nova! Nova!" Nova heard Fio shout and saw him running towards her.

"Come on.. Come on," Fio whispered as he lifted Nova up in a bridal style and carried her away from the burning building. Iris helped Niylah get away while Bellamy helped Octavia. "It was Ilian. I tried to stop him," Octavia let them know before she passed out.

Nova let out a few coughs and looked around. "Clarke-" Nova began, but she couldn't finish her sentence as the explosion got louder. Arkadia was officially ruined, and there was no saving it. She watched the fire consume the structure, the heat and light a stark contrast to the darkness of the forest around them. Tears mixed with the soot on her face as she realized the enormity of their loss.