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chapter five, War

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TWO MORE PEOPLE COME DOWN. A man and the women and Nova look to them in confusion. "Who are they?" Nova asks as she looks to the man and woman and the woman looks back at her.

"We're here to rescue you" She states and Nova scoffs.

"Why are you armed?" Octavia questions taking a step towards her, but Bellamy holds her back. "O, O, It's okay. We have an understanding" Bellamy warns and Nova grips her sword tightly.

"Before we get to that, where's my mom?" Clarke asks looking around the arena.

"Indra, take her to her mother" Nova states and Indra nods and Clarke begins to follow her out. "So, I take it you're his sister" The woman says looking to Octavia and Bellamy nods.

"Yes. Sorry. Octavia, Nova, this is Colonel Diyoza" Bellamy introduces and Nova holds in a laugh. "Colonel?" Octavia questions and Diyoza shrugs.

"Used to be. Love the war paint, by the way" Diyoza says looking to Octavia who has red on her forehead and Nova who has Fio's war paint on her face. They both look to her like they want to slit her throat right then and there, but they know if they did that they wouldn't get out of this bunker and Nova needed fresh air. Everyone did.

Bellamy notices the look in their eyes and speaks up, "Okay, so how do we do this?" Bellamy asks. "Two at a time. Why don't all your people get their things, and we'll get started as soon as we're ready topside?" Diyoza states.

"Exactly how many people should we be prepping for extraction?" The man asks and Bellamy steps forward.

"1,200" Bellamy answers just a little too early. "814" Nova corrects quicker and the man salutes her rudely before he turns around. Bellamy looks to Nova and Octavia in confusion at the decrease in numbers.

As Nova prepared for her ascent, the ground chants filled the air. "Kom Falau Oso ana Gypn Op!" Gaia's voice rang out, echoed by the crowd. Nova felt herself being lifted, inching closer to the light. With every upward movement, she took a deep, steadying breath, mirroring the one she had taken years ago when she first set foot on the ground. The sensation was eerily similar-the anticipation, the hope.

The sun's rays finally touched her face, warm and reassuring. She emerged from the confines of the rope, stepping onto solid ground. The world that greeted her was a harsh contrast to what she remembered. Polis lay in ruins, a wasteland where civilization had once stood. The Earth she had known had been transformed into a stark, desolate landscape, yet the freedom of being out of the bunker was intoxicating. The sunlight on her skin, the fresh air filling her lungs-it was a profound relief.

Her gaze fell on a colossal ship in the distance, its size dwarfing the vessel she had arrived on years earlier. The sight was astonishing, raising questions about who these new arrivals were and what this new world would hold.

As she turned, she saw Octavia emerging, the second person to be unhooked from the rope. Their eyes met, a mixture of relief and determination shining through. They stood together, taking in the expanse of the sky above them, their faces reflecting the awe and gravity of their situation. The future was uncertain, but for now, they were free to breathe, to feel the sun, and to face whatever came next together.

"We did it" Octavia breathed out as she took deep breathes, taking in the scenery.

"We did" Nova states taking Octavia's hand and squeezing it reassuringly before letting it go.

Everyone began coming up out of the bunker one by one and soon Bellamy and Clarke came out. Bellamy walked over to Nova, "The deal was no weapons" Bellamy whispers and Nova turns her head to look at him. "I never agreed to it so, was it really a deal?" Nova questions looking at her people.

"Octavia, Can I talk to you?" Bellamy asks and Octavia sighs walking away to speak to her brother privately leaving Nova and Clarke in awkward silence.

"They call you Keket" Clarke points out and Nova nods her head slowly. "I know. It means Goddess of Darkness" Nova states with no emotion laced in her voice and Clarke furrows her eyebrows. "What happened down there?" Clarke questions and Nova turns her head to face Clarke.

"6 years is a long time. Things have changed" Nova explains and Clarke shakes her head. "But you've changed a lot. When people change, they change a hairstyle or the way they dress. You've changed everything. The face, the clothes, the attitude... You look at things differently" Clarke states and Nova furrows her eyebrows in confusion.

"You've been here two minutes, and you already know everything?" Nova questions. "Yes, because there's blood on the walls and floor of that bunker. Let's not forgot about the weapons hanging around. What do you do? Make people fight to the death?" Clarke wonders and Nova doesn't answer she just simply looks Clarke in the eyes and Clarke's face softens into a curious one.

"No.. Nova" Clarke mumbles as she places a hand on Nova's shoulder. Nova jerks away and turns to face her, "You have no idea what happened down there and how things got to this. If you did you wouldn't look at me like I'm a monster" Nova orders as she walks away from Clarke and climbs down on the rocks to get to solid ground.

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IT WAS NOW NIGHTFALL AND people brought up tents and made fires to make this look like a real camp outside. Nova and Octavia were talking when they heard a loud explosion outside of their tent. "What the hell!" Nova shouted stomping out of her tent and pushing through the crowd of her people to get to the front to see Diyoza and her people holding weapons, and one was holding a weapon that had blue lights beaming from it and it made a humming noise.

Nova looked to the fountain and saw it was destroyed and pieces of it scattered on the ground.

"Sorry about your pretty fountain, but that was only half the power. I know most of you are armed. If anyone moves for a weapon, you'll see what full power does to human flesh. It's not pretty" Diyoza announces, and Nova leaves her hands at her side making sure not to move as she looked to Diyoza and her people.

"Hey! Hey, what the hell are you doing? One call from me--" Bellamy voices. "Make your call" Diyoza orders and Bellamy furrows his eyebrows, pulling out his walkie-talkie.

"Raven, come in. Read me?" Bellamy calls and Nova hears no response.

"Bellamy, what the hell is going on?" Octavia calls out as she looks to her brother who is in shock.

"The deal's off, but nobody has to get hurt. Hold your fire. Where's your mother?" Diyoza stops as Clarke starts rushing towards the group. "She's, our doctor. You can't have her" Nova states taking a step forward and the gun is instantly pulled on her by one of Diyoza's men.

"She asked you a question. Where is the doctor?" One of the men questions as they lock eyes with Nova. "Yeah! Not so tough now!" Another man shouts alarming Wonkru and Nova holds her hand up.

"Hold!" Nova warns.

"I'm right here. Don't shoot. We'll come without a fight" Abby voices in the distance and Nova looks at her and Kane walking up. "Hm, I bet you will" Nova mumbles to herself as she cracks her knuckles by just making a fist.

"We?" Diyoza questions and Abby holds onto Kane's hand, "The two of us. Those are my terms" Abby states and Diyoza shrugs.

"I see where your daughter gets it from. Take them both" Diyoza orders and one of her men go to grab Abby and Kane. "Mom, what are you doing?" Clarke asks looking to her mother sadly. "I love you, Clarke" Abby confesses kisses her daughter on the cheek before she is taken away safely. Nova rolls her eyes and looks back to Diyoza who is still here with some of her guards.

"Okay then. Here are my terms. The valley is ours. Any attempt to get there will be met by overwhelming force. As long as you stay here, we won't have a problem. Is that a problem?" Diyoza asks and Nova scoffs.

"What about Raven and Murphy?" Bellamy asks and Diyoza turns her head to face him, "For now, insurance. Let's go. On me. Szybunka, that's an order" Diyoza calls out, but the man Szybunka stays where he's at with his powerful weapon looking around at Wonkru and locking eyes with Nova.

Nova sends him and wink, "Yah!" The man yells, powering his weapon up. Nova stays where she is at but Octavia rushes to her and knocks her down to the ground, leaving the person behind Nova get blasted and exploded into pieces.

Nova breathed heavily as she felt blood stain her face and some of her body. People around her screamed and Nova pulled out her sword standing to her feet. "Szybunka, you idiot! Get to the ship. Move! Now! Prep for emergency evac" Diyoza shouts as her and her team start rushing to their ship.

When Nova stands up, she can feel herself getting dizzy, so she almost falls to the ground until she feels a pair of arms under her. She opens her eyes and sees Bellamy who gently places her down on the ground.

"Keket! I've got you!" Octavia calls out as she crawls over to Nova wincing at the ringing in her ears from how loud the blast was.

Nova looks up at Bellamy and roughly sits up on her own and stands to her feet with Miller by her side helping her and Indra helping Octavia. "I trusted you; I thought since I knew you, you wouldn't put me in danger or my people. This is your fault. All of it!" Nova shouts as she looks to Bellamy and lets out two coughs.

"To the tents" Indra states as her and Miller start carrying Octavia and Nova to their tents for safety.

"What do we do now, Keket?" Octavia asks breathing heavily once she is sat down.

"We go to war... Bloodreina... war" Nova answers as she wipes the blood off of her face.