Episode Three, Part 1:
Fragile.

Everyone you know is trying to smooth it over; 
find a way to make the hurt go away.
But everyone needs a floor they can fall through.
I won't let you make the great escape. 
I'm not going to watch you checking out of this race. 

Wynn and Chessca followed Ammon down the hallway, trying to peer inside each cell they passed in the hopes of finding Sol and Atlantis. To their discomfort, Ammon opened a door that led to a stairway. He waited until they stepped inside before he began walking down, knowing they had no other choice but to follow.

"I don't know about you, but I'm not having a good feeling about this," Chessca muttered to Wynn, continuing down two flights of stairs until Ammon opened a door. He seemed to hesitate - turning on the lights and glancing around as if to make sure that no one else was around - and opening one of the doors to their left.

Ammon stepped inside, illuminating the room and allowing Wynn and Chessca to enter. Once they were in, he removed their handcuffs and allowed them a moment to look around. It was still a cell - there was no doubt about that - but it was vastly different than all the others they had seen. The light was brighter - much more soothing than the constant flickering in their old cell; the beds looked more comfortable, and they had a table in the middle with a tray of rations laid out for each of them...

Why were they the only ones who were taken here? Were Sol, Dreea and Atlantis moved to a place like this? Were Dante and Luca? Were they ever going to get any explanation?

"You need to give us some answers," Wynn turned around, already giving out his demands, but Ammon had his hand on the door and was halfway out of the room by the time Wynn noticed. "Hey!" He called out to him. "Why the hell have you taken us here?"

"You're safe from the trials down here," Ammon told them. "No one will find you. That's all that matters."

"Hey, wait!" Wynn called out again, hurrying over to him, but the door was shut in his face leaving him and Chessca alone in a room full of questions.

////////

"Why are you here?" Elara asked, watching as Dreea paced around in front of the door, waiting impatiently to see if Ammon would return.

"I wish I knew," Dreea said. "All I know is that the guard came to my cell with Wynn and left him with Chessca whilst he took me here. Wynn thought I might be going to Quill's cell in some sort of exchange, but I have no idea who's with him."

"Quill's alone?" Elara asked, something miserable in her voice. She had been on her own since they arrived on the ship and although it wasn't for long, she hated to think that her brother was now left in the same solitude as her.

"He'll be okay," Dreea said, not even missing a beat. "They might have even put him back with Fenn if they realised that he and Liam switched cells... Maybe that's why this has happened."

"Did you figure out why River and Atlantis weren't there last night?" Elara asked, propping herself at the back wall as she stared straight ahead at the door, slowly gliding down until she was sitting against the cold floor.

"No idea," Dreea sighed, wandering over to Elara and joining her on the floor.

"...We still have no clue about Izzy or Harlow or the rest of the kids," Elara murmured, dropping her head in her hands.

Dreea felt an aching in her chest as she looked over at her; she had never been tremendous with expressing her emotions - except anger, which she had always been great at, but the last few years had changed her. Losing Sol; finding Chessca and now, losing Kodiak. It was something that even her entire lifetime on training couldn't have prepared her for...

"I'm sure Izzy's okay," Dreea said, trying to find the words she knew any one of the other Sovereigns would be able to say so easily. "She's had you for company for the last six months: that alone would have taught her a little bit about strength."

"She's been through so much," Elara shook her head. "Her mother died when she was a baby; her dad - Josiah - died the day we moved into the Bunker... She was already strong. That wasn't because of me."

"It was-"

"No, it wasn't. Because I've been locked up in here for the last 2 days, freaking out because I haven't seen her; because I don't know if she's okay. I promised her that she would always have someone: that's what I told her the day we moved in, and I'm breaking that promise."

"Being separated from her isn't your fault, Elara."

"I know, but what else can I do? All I do is worry; if not about her, then about my brothers. If not about them, then about-" She sighed, not wanting to say it - hating herself for how often she seemed to forget.

"You have to be strong. You can't afford to give up your hope. Riv, Kodiak and I have trained you for this ever since you reached the ground."

"Dreea-"

"You're the second strongest in Basilisk, and you know I'm not just talking physically."

Elara paused, looking over at the Sovereign - searching for deceit in her eyes but was disheartened to see that Dreea was being sincere. If what she was saying was the truth, how come Elara couldn't feel a single thing other than the crushing, debilitating fear that squeezed the air out of her chest? Why couldn't she find a way out of her cell? Find her way to Izzy or her brothers?

She dropped her gaze again, continuing to shake her head at herself, laughing miserably at the tears that spilt out of her eyes.

"I just wish Kodiak was here," Elara whispered, accepting that everything always came back to him; to him being gone. "I know he'd be able to make me believe that everything is going to turn out okay, even in times like this."

"Yeah, he was pretty good at that," Dreea smiled mournfully, feeling her eyes burn red with tears. "He was good at a lot of things which is why I loved him and why I miss him... So badly."

She inhaled a deep breath, feeling as if talking about Kodiak, remembering Kodiak, was the bravest thing she had ever done. "Before your Bunker was opened, him, River and I were the three finalists promised to become a Sovereign," she began. "We all had to come up with our own mission to showcase our strengths to help the current Sovereigns - at the time - determine which one of us would be the Nobel. River knew what her mission would be for as long as she could recall: evacuate all and any nearby Bunkers to recruit the people inside for our army against Blood Riders. That, and still believing the lie Eryx told her about her mum being inside one... Well, I know you might find it hard to believe, but I couldn't come up with anything," she admitted. "And it came down to the night before we were supposed to present our missions and I had nothing."

"What happened?" Elara asked.

"Kodiak stayed with me," she smiled fondly, staring out into space as if she could picture him right in the room. "He helped me come up with a plan from start to end for an entire 17 hours - on top of the day we had already endured - and refused to leave the map room until he was sure that I had him beat. He should have been finalising his own plans or going over his speech with Joren, but he chose to help me - his best friend and competitor - to win something he had also been training his entire life for. Because that's just who he was: someone who was proud of the people he loved - always wanting them to succeed or realise how great they were at something... I know everyone calls me Scary Sovereign; I know my confidence is seen by everyone I come across; it's because of him having my back; fighting my corner... As much as I wish he could be the one to say it himself, I know he'd be proud of me. And Riv, and Wynn, and you. He'd been thrilled that Hannah didn't win with her implants and that Quill's been safe with you and Wynn. He'd be proud of who you've been for Izzy and I know that he'd adore her just like you do. No matter what's happening right now, we're all facing it together, and I like to believe that even in the hardest of trials we face, Kodiak is somewhere here; alive in all of us, keeping us safe."

Dreea couldn't help but feel a sense of peace as Elara leaned her head on her shoulder, and she surprised herself by resting her own on Elara's.

"What is it you guys say?" She said. "For always."

"Yeah," Elara whispered back. "For always." 

Three // Part One
I like to believe that even in the hardest of trials we face, Kodiak is somewhere here; alive in all of us, keeping us safe.

I wrote 14 pages over Saturday and Sunday! Almost all of Episode Three (I just have one chapter left to write) and I'm so happy with how they turned out!

That line ^ is one of my favourites in the entire book, btw.

Also, this episode was originally planned to be called 'Ammon' (as you might have seen on the Instagram page for my writing), but I decided to change it last minute!

09/11/20