Chapter 1
Lexa made a note to thank Anya’s soulmate one day, when they revealed themselves, because she owed her free afternoon to them.
Lexa rested against Costia’s chest, enjoying the sun on her face and the rare opportunity to allow her aching muscles rest. Costia sighed every few moments in contentment, weaving flowers into Lexa’s hair and gently brushing against her cheekbones with her fingertips.
“So tell me, Leksa. How did you manage this little miracle?” Costia murmured, a teasing lilt in her voice. “You’ve been let off your leash.”
Lexa chuckled, the sound tapering off into a hum as Costia’s fingers massaged her scalp. “I got into an argument with Onya. One of the Natblidas angered Titus and I was late to training. She told me if I could defeat her, I would have the day off.”
Costia hummed. “I don’t believe you.”
Lexa sat up to level a playful glare at the other girl. Costia’s golden hazel eyes narrowed, she may not be a warrior, but she’d never back down from a challenge. “I’m hurt, hodnes. Where is your faith in me? I’ll be a full-fledged warrior soon.”
“Soon, but not yet.” Costia teased, placing a kiss to Lexa’s cheek. “Tell me how you really managed this. Anya won’t be hunting me down because you skipped training will she?”
Lexa grinned. “No. I did win the fight. I may have had help.”
“Oh?”
“Anya and I were blade to blade,” Lexa started dramatically, wiggling an eyebrow just to make the other girl giggle. “But just as she was about to strike, Anya’s Keryontai must have burned themselves. Anya dropped the knife and I struck. I won the fight and my freedom.” Lexa puffed her chest out in pride, sending a wink towards Costia. “I was superior.”
Costia laughed, shoving Lexa away by the shoulder. “You were lucky.”
Lexa pulled Costia to her, placing a sweet kiss to her lips. “I’m always lucky, I have you.”
Lexa smirked as Costia very nearly swooned. But burst into free laughter as Costia shoved her away again. “Shof op!”
Lexa’s laughter died down, leaving her breathless in the grass, looking up at Costia with all of the innocence of the young girl she was. “I mean it, hodnes.”
Costia heaved a happy sigh as she moved to curl up beside Lexa. “I’ve missed you this last few weeks.”
“I’ve been busy.”
Costia traced patterns across Lexa’s shoulder. “I know. I missed you anyway.”
Lexa turned, placed a kiss to the crown of the other girl’s head and looked back to the clear sky. They watched the sun move above them before sinking towards the horizon, the comfortable silence broken by snippets of conversation, peals of laughter, and occasionally a jab to the ribs, the only thing, Costia found, that made Lexa squirm.
Their afternoon- because that’s what it was when Lexa wasn’t being ground into the mud by her mentor’s heal, theirs- was cut short by a huffing messenger boy. He was young, too young to be a second, but old enough to sprint at full speed to find someone and tell them they were needed, and sweat streamed down his face. “Leksa kom Trikru, Heda is dead. The Conclave begins at nightfall.” He reported briefly, not even making eye contact with the girls. Likely there were more details that he’d simply missed or forgotten, but the gist was enough.
With that, the boy was off, sprinting away to deliver some other message. Completely unaware of the turmoil his message left in Lexa. Costia seemed to register it first. “No-“
Lexa shot to her feet, ripping the flowers from her hair and mechanically removing her armor and weapons from where they hung from the tree. “I must go.” Her heart clenched. “Heda is gone.”
“Lexa-“
“The spirit must choose between us.” Lexa continued as if Costia hadn’t spoken. “Eight of us will die, and one will ascend, raised by the flame.” She was reciting the line driven into her head by Titus since she could toddle, but that didn’t mean it really brought her any comfort.
Costia pulled Lexa away, pushing her against the tree trunk so that Lexa was looking at her. “Lexa you can’t. Luna will kill you.”
“If I die, then it is meant to be.”
Costia was crying, Lexa would have wiped them away, but she couldn’t think to do anything but prepare for battle. “Lexa, you can’t let yourself die.”
Lexa raised her chin. “I will kill them if I must. But if they should kill me first, I die for Heda.”
Costia gaped at her, eyes red, tears dripping from her chin. “Leksa, ai hod yu in. You cannot die. Understand? You won’t die.”
“Ste yuj.” Lexa whispered.
Lexa pushed past Costia, back to the last of her armor, and after the last tie was in place, she jogged off to find Anya. She would need whatever last minute guidance her mentor had to offer.
Clarke was pissed. She was going to take someone down. In fact, that’s where she was heading right this minute. She stormed through the halls of the Ark, shoving past any poor soul to get in her way. She was going to kill that girl dammit.
Wells had been nothing but good to her and she broke his heart. She had to go. Sure they were thirteen years old. Sure they knew nothing about dating, or how to have a healthy relationship, or really anything about being in love, but that didn’t mean that Wells wasn’t heartbroken. And that certainly didn’t mean his protective best friend wasn’t going to take the girl down.
Nothing would take her from her war path. Absolutely nothing. She was in an awful mood to begin with. A day full of phantom pains in her arms, legs, occasionally a blow to the ribs or head, all of it was grating on her. This wasn’t like her normal pains, those were dull and went away, these ached, sharp and stinging, and painful.
She had made it just a few doors down from the girl’s home before her chest caved in. Clarke couldn’t even yell out, it felt like her lungs had constricted entirely. She clawed at her own chest, trying to free the scream building up inside, but nothing came forth, instead, she gasped and collapsed to the floor, a silent sob forced its way from her throat. Clarke barely noticed the hands surrounding her and lifting her up before she passed out from the pain.
When Clarke woke, she was in her mother’s hospital, and the pain in her chest had only lessened a little bit, it was a dull ache, throbbing, but not to the timing of her own heartbeat. Clarke was used to that sensation, the feeling of pain that you knew wasn’t yours. Wells told her that he rarely felt anything at all, but when he did, it always disoriented him to feel throbbing that didn’t match up to his own heartbeat like it should.
Clarke found it comforting sometimes, but this was beyond anything she had ever felt. Something important must have happened, and it had devastated her soulmate.
“Hey, Clarke.” Abby sighed as she entered her room, setting her clipboard down. “What happened?”
“Soulmate,” Clarke sighed, her hand coming to rest over her chest. “Something bad must have happened.” Her chest flared again, and then ebbed. “Is happening.” She grunted.
Abby nodded sadly. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, I know-“
“Yeah.” Clarke cut her off. She didn’t need her mother’s fake sympathy. Abby didn’t know. Her soulmate, while wasn’t her father, rarely hurt themselves. She didn’t know what it was like to be in constant pain. She didn’t know what it was like to have a soulmate in constant, frequent agony.
Clarke had been certain for a couple of years that perhaps her soulmate was being abused, but there was no way someone on the Ark could get away with beating their kid so frequently around the face. There was no way her soulmate didn’t have obviously visible bruises. So there was no way her soulmate could be on the Ark.
That only left Earth. Abby continued to chatter on about whatever small damages Clarke had acquired during her fall and of the kind people who had carried her to the hospital. But Clarke’s mind was pulled to Earth. Every time she brought it up, her mother would remind her that it was impossible, humanity had been wiped out, and they were alone. But that made no sense. There were so few people on the Ark, everyone would find their soulmate, but in fact, finding one’s soulmate on the Ark was rare. Mathematically, it didn’t add up. Radiation was evidently high on Earth, and Clarke was sure that caused higher than normal instances of cancer and debilitating mutations, but if a majority of the people on the Ark never found their soulmates, then that meant that their soulmates had to be on the ground. It was the only thing that made sense.
“Clarke, are you listening?” Abby didn’t wait for a response, she knew the answer. “Why were you even in that station in the first place?”
Clarke shrugged. “Wells and Sabrina broke up. I wanted to talk to her.” Clarke decided it was best not to reveal her more violent intentions towards the girl. Besides, by the look Abby gave her, her mother already knew.
“Well, I suggest you get some rest at home, I need this bed for another patient. Wells is here, he said he’ll walk you home and make sure you get everything you need.” Abby sighed, gesturing for Wells to pull aside the curtain and step towards Clarke.
He still looked a little sad, but Clarke could see the glimmer of recovery in his eyes. He smiled a little brighter and gave her a mocking look. Clarke knew she was going to be teased, but that look only confirmed her suspicions: this would be a long walk home.
A few more minutes, the last dregs of Abby’s lecture, and the two were off, dragging their feet down the halls of the Ark towards Clarke’s home. “So, on your way to Sabrina’s huh?” Wells began, smirking over at his friend.
Clarke huffed. “She broke your heart, I was going to break her arm.”
“Only her arm I hope.”
“Whatever Wells!” Clarke pushed him away, wincing at residual pain in her chest.
Wells noticed, of course, he was always more empathetic towards others than Clarke was. “Has it at least subsided a little?”
Clarke rubbed at her chest. “It hurts a lot. Not as bad as it did, but it was awful. I’m worried about them.”
Wells threw his arm around her shoulders and rubbed her arm with his hand soothingly. “I know. I’m sure wherever they are they’ll make it through.”
Clarke nodded, resting her head on his shoulder as they turned a corner, coming to a stop outside her door. “Thanks, Wells.”
He smiled brightly. “Anytime. And Clarke, stay away from Sabrina okay? I’ll be fine, just a little wounded pride. Get some rest.”
Clarke nodded once more before entering her home and collapsing onto the couch in the main room of her home. Her parents weren’t home yet and they wouldn’t be for a while, but Clarke was grateful for the alone time.
Her chest ached, like her lungs weren’t doing a good enough job raking air in. The rest of her body hurt, sure, she felt like she’d been hit by a truck, but nothing compared to the painful squeezing of her chest. It felt like an iron vice had clamped around her heart and started squeezing. Whatever her soulmate was going through right now, she’d never felt anything like it before.
For the first time in her life, Clarke was genuinely afraid for her soulmate. Something truly awful must have happened to make them feel like this, and all Clarke could do was feel it with them. Something deep inside Clarke begged her to do something about it, lessen her soulmate’s pain somehow, help them in some way. But there’s nothing she could do when she was an entire planet away.
Finally, Clarke fell into a restless sleep, lulled by the pounding time of a heartbeat that wasn’t hers. She dreamt of noble battles and the clashing of steel as a masked figure bravely fought, born to wield the sword in their hands.