TIME TO BE THE LAST.

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LOST IN FIRE (book three).
°• CHAPTER FIFTEEN •°

" BUT IF JOHN SURVIVES,
I CAN LIVE WITH IT. "

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        The jail Harley is thrown in is cold. She had paced for awhile, lost in her own thoughts, blinking rapidly to get rid of the tears. But then she sat down on one of the metal benches, hands on her knees and head bowed. Truth be told, she didn't know what she was supposed to be feeling. If Harley had to limit and choose her emotions, it'd start with anger. When Echo said she couldn't let the fire in her be smothered, she didn't. She let herself be furious. Whether it was at her own decisions and herself, at Octavia, her people, or the whole situation she was forced in, that she didn't know. Maybe it was all of it.

Harley was also terrified. She had seen the dried blood in the fighting pit, smeared against the stone walls permanently. She was about to be tossed into it with people she knew - Bellamy, her family, and Indra and her daughter, people she cared about. She didn't want to hurt them, and she didn't know if she could kill them. Harley was afraid when she thought about what was coming, to be faced against them and either die or be the one who has to live with killing them all. It comes down to her fight instinct.

The door creaking made Harley nearly jump out of her skin. She couldn't tell the time and know if she was about to be taken away, but to her surprise, Octavia is at the entry with a guard. Their eyes meet and Harley's face softened, but Octavia turned her head to glance at the man. "Leave us," she ordered. There's clear hesitation, her guard glaring at Harley before he complied, knowing better, and left them alone.

When the door shut, Octavia slowly wandered in, her boots making soft thuds against the floor. Harley doesn't look away from her once, waiting until she's in front of her before she speaks, her voice strained. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to save your life, despite all the reasons I have that I shouldn't," Octavia spit out, taking offense to Harley's words even though she hadn't meant it in a bad way. Harley flinched at the venom in her tone. "You poisoned me."

"You didn't give me a choice," Harley weakly tried to defend. "John and everyone else I care about was going to die because you had to have your war." Octavia's stare darkened. "And now, they're still going to - "

"No, they're not," Octavia cut her off harshly. "I think you'll be happy to know Clarke took the rover to save Madi, with the worms. They're long gone by now." Harley suddenly feels much colder than before. Clarke saved Madi like she wanted, and that was comforting, but all she could hear was that she left. Clarke knew what Bellamy and Harley were facing, and after they risked everything and saved her life, she was abandoning them to die when facing one another in the pit.

Like they always have been able to do, Octavia easily reads the emotion of betrayal Harley is feeling. Maybe Octavia told her purposely just to see her hurt over it. "Hurts, doesn't it?" She asked coldly. "Being betrayed by people you trust."

"It does," Harley agreed, her voice breaking. "But if John gets to survive, I can live with it."

"Can you?" Octavia challenged. Harley doesn't answer, because she doesn't know. "Look, you really want to know why I'm here? I'm trying to save you and Bellamy."

"How?" Harley shot back. "Only one person comes out alive. Maybe now you know how I feel - having to choose between you and my brother."

"Enough," Octavia snapped back, stopping her. "Indra and Gaia have weaknesses. Indra's shoulder never fully healed from Pike shooting her, so you and Bellamy go for the swords. Let her take the hammer, or whatever's heaviest. I've seen you with a sword, so it shouldn't be a problem. Once one of you kill her, Gaia's guard will be down. Take her out next - "

Shooting up from her seat, Harley stood in front of Octavia, refusing to let herself be degraded like this. "And then what?" She demanded. "Then, when it's me and Bellamy, what are you going to do? Let us kill each other? Because I might be able to take down Indra or Gaia in self-defense, but he's my family too! And now one of us is going to die!" Harley's voice raised as she let out her fury. "And the others at the valley... I love them - I love them all, and now all their lives are at risk because of you!"

It's deadly quiet between them after Harley's outburst and accusation, just them glaring at each other, trying to understand the other. Then Octavia broke the silence. "Do you still love me?" She asked, softer than Harley had ever heard her speak while in the bunker.

Harley doesn't hesitate when she nodded with a whisper. "Yes."

"Then how could you?" Octavia urged. She's afraid, and Harley can read it on her like she had earlier. "You say that you love me, but you poisoned me. You tried to kill me."

"I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't want to kill you. John survived without any medical attention, so I knew you would too," Harley desperately attempted to convince her. She doesn't know if Octavia believed her. "Choosing between you and John are the hardest decisions I've ever had to make, and I'm given a few minutes to choose before one of you die!" She exclaimed. "Octavia, I will never forgive myself for what I did to you... But I would die for you both and if you don't believe me, I don't blame you, but I'm not lying."

Octavia is quiet as she mulled it over, taking slow steps around until she's on the other side of Harley and glaring down at her. "I believe you," she finally said. Harley doesn't know how good that is but feels relief when a weight is lifted. "It doesn't change anything, but I believe you."

"I wish that I stayed here," Harley admitted softly. Octavia tilted her head back, jaw clenched and sharp. "I had peace in space, I did, but if I could go back and change leaving with John, I would. I wish I could have bore this with you because I would so you wouldn't have suffered, and I wish I could understand what turned you into a stranger of the girl I once knew."

"Are you afraid of me now?" Octavia questioned, voice low.

Harley remembered when she asked her the same question years ago after she killed someone to keep Roan on the throne. That was different then, and it was as if Octavia wanted to know if she is, needed to hear that Harley isn't. So she answered truthfully. "No. I'm not afraid of you, Octavia. I want to save you before I am."

Just like that, something snapped inside of Octavia that angered her. "You can't save me," she fired back, her tone causing a chill to crawl up Harley's spine. "I'm already dead."

"Yeah?" Harley closed the space between them, pressing the palm of her hand against Octavia's chest. She can feel her heart pounding back. "I can feel your heart beating. You have a pulse. You're alive and you're terrified." She lifted Octavia's hand, putting it under her own so she can feel it too. Harley would lie if she said she wasn't stunned that Octavia didn't pull away. "You're alive for a reason, Octavia. You're strong, and you united the clans, and I'm so proud of you for it."

More emotional than before, Octavia's hand starts to tremble under Harley's. She leaned forward, but not to kiss her, only allowing their foreheads to brush against each other closely. "I tried," Octavia whispered. "I tried to be a good leader. I wanted to honor you... I wanted peace here, but..." She swallowed thickly, suddenly throwing her guard back up and pulling away from Harley. "Nevermind that."

Harley is hurt, watching with a blurry vision as Octavia stormed to the door and knocked on it a few times, signaling the guard to open it. "Octavia," is all Harley can choke out, knowing fully that when this starts, there's no going back.

"You're Wonkru," Octavia sneered, the mask of an emotionless dictator put back on. "Or you're the enemy of Wonkru. Choose."

Then Octavia is gone, the door slamming shut behind her loudly, sealing Harley's fate and giving her the last choice she may ever make.

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When the guard opened the door, Harley knows that its time. She doesn't let her fear show in her blank mask of features, although she's positive her legs are about to give out any second with how much she's shaking. She allowed herself to be led out down a dark hall, but when she sees a familiar figure at the end having just been led out of his own cell, Harley attempted to dart forward only for the guard to grab her arm as if she was trying to run away.

"Let me go!" Harley seethed through gritted teeth, trying to rip her arm back. "Just - just let me say good-bye!"

The grip on Harley's arm loosened. She ran ahead, stopping when she meets Bellamy in front of a gate-like door and throws her arms over his shoulders. She squeezed him tightly, feeling Bellamy return it around her hips. "Alright, enough," Bellamy's guard warned, going to pull them apart.

"Wait!" Harley exclaimed, pulling away. She grabbed Bellamy's face in his hands, cupping his jawline and forcing him to look her in the eyes. "Take care of John for me," she demanded.

Bellamy's brown eyes turned sad. "Harley - "

"Swear it!" Harley's pulled away by her guard, her hands forced to let him go. "Please, Bellamy!" She begged frantically, refusing to be put in the arena without hearing him promise.

"I will," Bellamy struggled to breathe out.

The door squeaked when it opened, and Harley and Bellamy are pushed inside the room. Indra and Gaia are already waiting, having been silent and listening to Harley pleading with him to protect Murphy for her. The four stand in a line, still, eyes on the red light that would soon turn green and allow them to enter the pit. Bellamy spoke up, clearly still emotional from what Harley asked of him. "What happens if we don't fight?"

Indra doesn't glance his way when she replied. "Its been tried. You get executed."

"Good," Bellamy said calmly. "Means she'll have to do it herself." He paused. "If she can."

"After all this, you still think that because you're her brother, she won't kill you?" Gaia questioned.

"I have to."

A buzzer from the door goes off, and the light turned green, signaling the door was about to open. Gaia shakes her head. "Let's hope we don't have to find out." She stood in front, being the first in line.

"You might be right," Indra confessed to Bellamy. "She might not execute you or Harley, but me and Gaia?" She straightened, stretching her shoulder boldly. "I'll kill you both quickly, I promise." Indra then leaves, following Gaia and standing behind her.

With a deep breath, Harley shared a grave look with Bellamy. "Are you ready?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"No." Bellamy nudged her to go first. Harley nodded, moving to stand behind Indra, her heart beginning to race in her chest as she watched the door slide open for them.

The fighting pit has its audience, but they're completely silent as the four walk in. Harley feels like her boots are dragging against the bloody ground as she looked up, seeing the crowd is pressing against the gate, but other than that aren't cheering. She wondered how strange that was. As Harley came to a stop in the middle of the arena, she tilted her head back, noticing that Octavia was on her throne and her breath hitched in her throat.

As Octavia rose, an ominous red light shone on her. She has different war paint on. Instead of red paint, dry blood is streaking down her face, starting at her forehead and ending at her jaw. It was like she coated her fingers in it and dragged them down. Octavia looks more ruthless than Harley had ever seen her be yet. As she spoke, her tone is cleared of any emotion, replaced with hostile.

"We gather here today to remind ourselves what happens to the enemies of Wonkru," she announced. "It doesn't matter who you are. If you choose sides against us, if you divide us, if you defy us, then you are not us." Octavia paused, eyes flickering down to the four prisoners below her. "Before we give these traitors a second chance to be called brother... Sister... Niron... Or, seda, we pay tribute to those who have died so that we might live." (My love... Or, teacher,). Octavia bowed her head, hand draped over the railing, everyone following in suit. "Omon gon oson." (All of me for all of us.) Her people echo the phrase.

Then Octavia picked her head back up, scowling down before she declared. "Be the last."

And it begins.

Before Harley can move or even blink, Gaia swung her leg around with a cry, swiping Harley's feet out from underneath her. She gasped, falling on her back, having the wind knocked out of her briefly when she hits the ground, hard. Indra takes off after daughter, but when Harley opened her eyes, Bellamy is staring straight at Octavia, waiting for her to decide. He snapped out of it when realizing Indra has a spear and is staring straight at him and Harley. She shot up, ignoring the pain in her back.

Bellamy had already snatched two of the swords hanging off of the gate. "Harley!" She whirled around, managing to catch the handle in the time he had thrown it to her.

With a war cry, Indra leaped, bringing the spear down with her. Being her target, Bellamy ducked, narrowly missing it but cutting his sword through the air and pushing it away. With them fighting, and Gaia fell on her side in the corner, Harley flicked her wrist, swinging her sword in a circle before she joined. She brought the blade down, her feet positioned at an angle, intending to make it a kill. But Indra sensed it, spinning around and swiping her spear across Harley's upper arm that was holding her sword. She cried out when a stinging pain rose, feeling blood drip down her arm from the open wound, but she doesn't back down.

Indra had brought the wooden stick against Bellamy's back, and he fell forward, landing with a grunt. Harley brought her non-dominant hand up to press against her open gash, keeping her sword angled as a guard in front of her as the three stand in a circle, staring each other down. The crowd is cheering around them, the noise a ringing, and Harley knows what it means. They want a show. They want them to turn against each other. She hears Bellamy let out a wail before his sword is swung in her direction.

It becomes a blur. Harley can feel her injury spreading, bleeding heavier, but she doesn't stop, even when it's no longer her and Bellamy against Indra, but all three of them against each other. Her and Bellamy's sword clang when they meet and Harley spins, bringing her handle down and striking him in the chest, hard. He lets out a grunt, stumbling back, but Harley doesn't stop there. She swung her leg up, kicking him square in the same spot before swinging her arm around, knocking his sword out of his hand.

As Harley whirled back around, she jerked out of the way of where Indra is bringing her spear down, just in time and missing the spear piercing her back. She brought her sword around, catching Indra's long weapon and forcing her to turn and face where Gaia had risen, attacking her mother which leads to a fight over the spear. Bellamy launched forward, one hand catching Indra's leg and yanking it back. She released the spear and falls, causing Gaia to grin and spin the stick around in a large circle while muttering with pride;

"Keryon kom Heda shoun ai meika op." (May the spirit of the Commanders guide my hand.)

It takes Harley less than a second to put together what Gaia's target is, and it's not her, Bellamy or Indra. At the same time Bellamy shouted her name, she dropped the sword, Gaia positioned the spear, and she's launching forward, screaming. "No!" Harley threw herself on Gaia, knocking them both down, just as she flung the stick above them, aiming straight for Octavia.

Harley squeezed her eyes shut when she hears a clang, panting from her position hunched over Gaia. She can't see Octavia dead, she can't, but when her eyes open, Octavia isn't. She had jolted to the side before the spear hit her. The blade is over her shoulder, sticking out of her throne. The crowd had gone silent, each of them shocked at Gaia's action. Harley slowly pushed herself off of her, staggering on her feet as Octavia ripped the weapon out and stood. For a moment, she was worried she would cast it at one of them, but she doesn't.

Instead, Octavia held the spear out. "I said..." She snarled, tossing it into the arena. "Be the last!"

The group sprung back into their fight. Harley swiped up her sword again as Bellamy does, Indra snatching the spear and Gaia backing up to find a new weapon. They are separated into four corners, glaring at the other, waiting for one to strike. Harley's wound is burning by now, and she knows she won't be able to use her arm much longer. She doesn't know how long she'll last in this state, but she knows she won't die without a fight like some coward.

All of a sudden, the door to the pit buzzed and slid open. "Stop!" Harley's head snapped to it when she recognized it as Monty, seeing him run straight into the battle with something in his hands, covered by a sheet, Harper behind him.

"Get out of here!" Harley hissed at them, blue eyes wide and fierce. If her and, or, Bellamy are going to die, Monty and Harper can't too.

"Guards, take him away!" Octavia commanded as Harper stopped to lock the door.

"Octavia told you we have to march, that we have to fight for the one place left where we can survive, but she knows that's not true!" Monty announced.

Octavia gripped the railing tightly. "Monty, you do not belong here," she sneered lowly in warning.

Ignoring her, Monty ripped the sheet away and revealed he was carrying a plastic pot with white flowers poking out. Harley hears everyone gasp, even Gaia and Indra, who drop their weapons at the sight. "The hydrofarm is working again!" Monty declared, holding it up for everyone to see. "Soon, it'll be processing enough food to feed all of us here. Using the same techniques, we can grow crops in the wasteland." He looked up to Octavia. "Ask Octavia. She's seen it with her own eyes."

With her never mentioning this, Harley glanced up to see Octavia was clenching her jaw, knowing then and there that it's true. Octavia was going to let most of them die in a war when there was a better way to survive if they stayed in the bunker. She doesn't know what to feel, but there's disbelief to start with. When Wonkru murmured, astonished at the news, Monty pushed Octavia further. "Go to war if you want to, but at least tell them that they have a choice!"

Still, Octavia says nothing to her people to defend herself. A man shouted out. "Nou Blodreina nowe!" (Blodreina no more!) Harley's sword felt like a deadweight with her arm aching when the rest join in, stuck in a daze that she lived. It soon becomes chaos of everyone chanting the words, ripping at the wire and hopping over the railing to jump in the arena. Harley was afraid they'd be attacked, backing up to Monty and Harper protectively, but all Wonkru does is pump their fist in the air, screaming the same words again and again.

From where Miller's gun is pointed down at them beside Octavia, she at last reacted, pushing it down. So she wasn't going to execute them. Harley feels Harper touch her arm, gasp when her hand meets blood. "Harley, you're hurt."

"It's just a scratch," Harley whispered, barely audible over the noise. She hears a ripping a sound before Harper is wrapping it around her arm, tying a tight knot around it for now.

"You fought well." Harley turned her head, tearing her stare off of Octavia to see Indra greeting both her and Bellamy. There's no hatred in Harley's heart for her - she was doing what all of them were doing. Trying to be the last.

"You too," Bellamy responded, firmly shaking her hand. He smiled then, pulling Harper, Monty, and Harley into a tight hug. Harley's arms are trying to stretch over all four of them, suddenly feeling as if she could float with relief and the happiness that they're all alive. She wants to thank Monty, but can't say the words, unsure if she's crying or not from being so grateful.

It all comes crashing down when Monty's chin hooked over Harley's shoulder and he noticed something wrong. "Where'd she go?" They release each other to see what Monty's referring to.

Octavia's throne is empty.

Just like that, panic settled in. Harley dropped her sword and followed the group in bolting up the stairs, shoving through the crowd, Bellamy the first to push open the door to Octavia's throne room. It's clear as well. "We have to find her," he said anxiously.

"Why?" Monty asked, setting the flowers on a table. "She didn't shoot us, right? That's got to mean something."

"I wouldn't count on it," Harley admitted in despair. "We're going to find her before she..." She can't finish her sentence, knowing Octavia is unpredictable. None of them know what her next move will be.

Indra nodded. "It means she lost the battle, not the war." The battle was the fighting pit, Harley realized. The war hadn't started yet. "We should split up," Indra suggested. "But be careful, there are people here that would give their lives to save Blodreina."

Before anyone can split up and decide who goes where in the largely spaced bunker, a piercing alarm filled the air. Harley jumped at the sound, dread settling in. "What's that?" Harper questioned slowly.

"The fire alarm," Gaia whispered in shock.

A look of horror washed over Monty's face. "The hydrofarm..." He shakily sprinted back to the door, the rest following him.

All Harley can think is that it can't be true while she ran. It's impossible. Octavia would never do something so terrible and kill almost all of her people just to prove that she could win a war because of her pride when they could live a better life without violence and murder. She wants to believe herself, but she has to see it for herself. And when she does, Harley is horrified, because it all is true.

Harley feels the heat before she sees the flames. She's running through the mess hall, an orange glow coming from the farm that warms her skin on sight. She hears Monty scream as Bellamy and Harper tug him back. Harley is paralyzed beside Indra, jaw dropped into a gape. Flames are crawling up the plants, eating up their food supply, burning alive their chance of peace. And Octavia is standing at the entry, turning around in a menacing way when they arrive.

"Octavia..." Harley brokenly whispered. She can't gasp out anything else. The smoke is burning her nose when she breathes in, but she can't get away, her gaze permanently stuck on the fire. Harley's positive her lungs are collapsing, and she's suffocating under the weight pressing on her chest.

"What did you do?!" Monty demanded in terror.

"Took away the choice," Indra muttered gravely. Harley feels tears spring in her eyes, whether it's from the smoke or the sorrow of it all.

"You still have one," Octavia told them darkly. "Stay here and die... Or march with me and live."

With the blood staining her face and the fire raging around her, Harley felt a punch in her gut when she realized the true answer to Octavia's earlier question. Harley wasn't sure if she could ever look at her as Octavia, the one she loves, ever again. It was the first time she was genuinely afraid of her, feeling as if she was staring straight into Hell with the Red Queen herself.