Chapter 17
Murphy looks up when he hears the door begin to creak open a few hours later and Roan slowly enters the room. Neither of them say anything as he sits on the floor beside Murphy. He is quiet for a few minutes before he decides to speak.
"You okay?"
"Not really but I will be when this is over."
"Is he okay?"
"Yeah. His mind needs some time to adjust to getting his memories back."
"You think he'll be mad at you when he wakes up?"
"Maybe but I did it so he'd have a life. He may be The Elite's golden boy now but if I hadn't erased his memories he'd have been out casted like me and there was his sister to think about. I did what was best for him." Murphy states but its not as certain a statement as it should have been and Roan didn't miss it.
"At the expense of yourself because your happiness doesn't matter, right? Don't you think that should have been his decision to make instead of yours? He may have chosen you."
"He would of chosen Octavia."
"You don't know that for sure. He...You were afraid, weren't you? You were afraid he'd choose to forget you and go on with his life so you made sure he'd never remember you, didn't you. Why? Why would you willingly put yourself through that pain Murphy?" Roan asks with both curiosity and concern.
"It doesn't matter anyways because the spell didn't work. He was already remembering before he arrived here. I'm not sure what went wrong. The spell should have permanently erased all traces of me from his memory." He replies avoiding Roan's question.
"Do you remember the spell or where you got it?" Roan asks going along with the subject change since he knew Murphy wasn't gonna answer him.
"I found it in a book my dad left me."
"Show me."
Murphy leads Roan to his room where he hands him the book before heading back to Mbege's room and Bellamy. He's almost asleep when Roan comes back in and sits beside him, showing him the page after the spell. It contains a warning about using the spell on dream walkers.
"Maybe the reason it didn't work is because he's your dream walker. Maybe it's part of the reason he's here."
"He's here for help in getting his sister back and nothing else. I'm nothing to him when it comes to her." Murphy says and while his voice doesn't show any emotion, his eyes tell a different story.
"I'm not so sure about that. I think you mean more to him than you realize."
Before Murphy can respond Lincoln sticks his head through the door and says "dinner will be ready in a few minutes. He'll be okay, right?"
"Yeah. I'm sure he'll wake up in time for dinner and if not we'll save him some for when he does." Roan says.
Lincoln nods but still looks worried for Bellamy as he heads back into the kitchen to finish dinner.
"He will wake up soon, won't he?" Roan asks Murphy once Lincoln is gone.
"He shouldn't be out for any more than an hour. I'll stay with him until he does though."
When Lincoln calls them for dinner, Bellamy is still sleeping. Murphy makes no move to get up as Roan starts to stand.
"I'm bring you back some food." Roan says before he leaves the room.
Roan comes back a few minutes later with food and then goes back to the kitchen to fix his own plate. As Murphy stares at the food, he hopes Bellamy wakes up soon and wonders what he's dreaming about.
---------------------------
Bellamy is laying in a bed in Murphy's cabin but Murphy isn't the person in the room with him. The person looks familiar but he doesn't know who they are. He sits up slowly and they motion for him to follow. He hesitates for a second before getting up and following them into the kitchen. They sit down in a chair and pull one out for Bellamy as well. He sits after a few minutes of uncertainty but waits for them to speak since he has no idea what's going on other than he's dreaming.
"I knew you'd eventually find your way back to him. He could deny it all he wanted but he missed you. I was never all that great at keeping him balanced. I think the only reason I'd managed to for so long was because of you. He needs you Bellamy, more than you know."
"You're Mbege, aren't you? How are you here and talking to me?"
"Even in death a dream walker can reach out to another in a time of need or if they are connected to someone that the deceased dream walker was attached to. You and Murphy are connected and I loved him."
"He loved you too." Bellamy says but he isn't sure why he felt the need to reassure him of that.
"But not fully. I knew I'd never have his heart because that was given to someone long before we met but I was okay with that. We were friends and I was more than content to stay that way but he needed more. So I was that as well."
"But it still wasn't enough, was it?"
"No because I wasn't his perfect match. I wasn't the dream walker that was his and his alone but you are."
"You're the second person that's told me that but I barely know him. I mean I've gotten my memories back but still I need time." Bellamy says still unsure if he was on board with the whole being Murphy's perfect match thing or not.
"Unfortunately time isn't something we have a lot of. You need each other and the sooner you accept it the better off everyone will be. If you aren't united when you face A.L.I.E. then you will all die and the world as we know it will cease to exists."
"Murphy's kept the darkness at bay this long, he can do it for a bit longer."
"No he can't! You don't get it. He's losing. The longer the two of you remain separated now that you've found each other again the easier it will be for the darkness to take him and once it does it will destroy the world as you know it." Mbege shouts angrily.
"What do I have to do?" Bellamy asks because while he's not sure about them being a perfect match he does know that Murphy is tired of fighting and close to the point of giving up.
"Just let him in and embrace your full potential."
"Like you did?"
"I had my reasons for holding back."
"And what would that be? Why would you willingly let yourself die when if you'd embraced it you could of lived?"
"Because Murphy would have died and The Key would never be stopped. You and Murphy are the only ones with the power to stop it and if I hadn't sacrificed myself that night, he'd never have met you again. He'd never admit it but he needs you in so many ways. Don't let him stay here alone and secluded for the rest of his life. Promise me you won't let that happen. Promise me Bellamy!"
"I promise I won't let that happen."
"Good now it's time for you to go back to him. Remember what I've said Bellamy. He needs you more than you know."
Bellamy watches as Mbege's image fades and he slowly begins to wake up. When he's fully awake he finds Murphy on the floor looking through a book and munching on food from a near by plate. He sits up and Murphy puts the book down, starting at him a bit before he speaks.
"I'll grab you some food. I'll be right back."
Before Bellamy can stop him Murphy is out the door to get him food. He wonders if he should mention Mbege in his dream to Murphy or leave it. He didn't want to make Murphy feel bad for Mbege talking to him but at the same time he didn't want him mad at him for not telling him either. He was still debating the issue when Murphy returned with a plate of food. Murphy resumed his position on the floor while Bellamy sat in the bed and the two ate in silence until they were both finished. Murphy grabs Bellamy's plate to return it to the kitchen almost as soon as he's finished like he couldn't wait for an excuse to leave the room but stops when Bellamy grabs his arm.
"We need to talk about some things and I think it's best we do it now, don't you?" Bellamy states in a way that isn't mean but leaves no room for argument.
Murphy doesn't say a word but his nervousness is clear in the way he swallows and from the look on his face. However he nods and takes his seat back on the floor where Bellamy joins him.