Final Journey to the Ground: A Bellarke Reunion

IV. Rude Awakening

"She's waking up!" A young voice calls out in Trigedasleng. "Madi, come quick!"

I groan and my head threatens to split itself in half. I can't smell the comforting smell of the Earth anymore; it had been replaced with a metallic, medicinal smell in the air. Where am I?

"Clarkie," a voice whispers in my ear. Madi! I open my eyes and blink rapidly in the bright fluorescent lighting. "Madi," I croak as I look into her tear-filled brown eyes.

"Aw Clarkie!" She sobs, throwing her body on top of mine. I attempt to pat her back, but I can't seem to move my hand.

"Get off, Madi! It's my turn to hug!" Abba yells out, her sweet voice laced with tears. I feel a sob work it's way up my throat. My girls. I feel another body lay on me and my heart begins to sing. My girls.

Eventually, Madi and Abba make their way off of me and move to my side. I attempt to reach my hand up once more, but again it is stuck. I hear the clang of metal on the bedposts and my eyes widen as I take in the handcuffs. Handcuffs? Why? What happened? I begin to freak out, straining against the cuffs, wildly trying to sit up and move on my own accord. My breath comes faster and I can feel my chest beginning to constrict, the pressure threatening to crush me.

As I start to wheeze in panic, I feel a pair of hands on my shoulders and beanie-adorned head blocks the light for a minute. "Clarkie," Madi whispers fiercely. "You need to calm down before they come back!"

"Abba! Madi!" I yell. "What happened to me? Where am I? Please let me go!"

Madi shakes her head in disbelief from her place next to me and Abba comes into my line of view. "You don't remember anything, Clarkie?" Abba asks with concern.

"Abba," Madi says softly, having switched to English. "Go and get Tiberius." Abba nods her head in obedience and scurries from the room. My eyes follow her movement, taking in her dirty clothes and messy hair. As the door slowly shuts and I turn my head towards Madi.

"Tell me what is happening," I demand in Trigedasleng. "Who is Tiberius?"

Madi sighs, discomfort rippling across her face. "I have to speak fast before Abba comes back with Tiberius, who will get Nero," she says hurriedly in Trigedasleng. "It was a week ago that you fainted in the field after the big guard punched you. We brought you to medical which was a mistake." Madi pauses, gulping in air to calm the panic rising in her voice.

"Nero was there, the leader guy- 'Captain' they call him. He noticed your nightblood from where the guard made a gash on your head so he demanded tests to be done. Abba and I had just found the room they took you too but you started your seizing which I said was going to happen. Tiberius, the nice one, took me and Abba to a room and we haven't seen you since. Nero kept you."

A sudden mass of rushed footsteps sound in the metal hallway and Madi glances around in panic. "Hurry!" I whisper back, frantic to know more. Madi is frozen, looking towards the door in fear and rage courses through my body. What have they done to my girls? "Madi!"

"A day after you seized, Nero sent me back to work with Abba and you've been unconscious since then. We only know they did many tests and tortures because of your screams. We could hear them from the fields," Madi says with a small sob as the door bangs open.

A tall familiar man walks in, his face, a reminder of my lost friend Wells, is lit up with excitement. "You!" I snarl as I start shaking my fists and thrashing in my bed. It was the guy that had captured Abba the day the Elisguarians landed on Earth, the one that had punched her too many times for my liking. "I will kill you when I get out of here!"

The man, Tiberius, chuckles softly and stands off to the side of my bed as Abba latches the door behind them. She joins Tiberius and he pulls her in for a side hug, her small body appearing to be swallowed up by the mass of muscle who had previously hurt her. What is going on?

"Clarkie," Abba says softly, a big smile on her face. "This is Tiberius- he's our friend."

"Yes Clarke," Madi says in agreement, her head bobbing up in down. "We've been staying with him, mainly because Nero doesn't trust us and made us super prisoners-"

"Spichen Madi," Abba says in Trigedslang, glowering at Madi. "She just woke up, try and be positive!"

"Abba," I say in warning, as I don't like when they swear. Abba looks a little sheepish but puts herself behind Tiberius.

Tiberius gives Abba another squeeze before stepping closer to me. He fiddles with something and suddenly my bed is forcing me into a sitting position. "Can you take these cuffs off?" I snarl at him, still unsure if I should trust him.

He smiles softly and shakes his head, "Sorry Clarke, but I'm not in charge. You'll have to ask the Captain."

"Nero," I state, ready to act compliant and get the hell out of here.

Tiberius nods in surprise. "Yes, Nero. You remember him- big and tall, basically, a walking boulder who thinks he is Nero reincarnated." I reach back into my memories, to the day we were captured.

"Nero is the one who cut me," I say. Who else could it be? Tiberius nods again and I get the impression that he is a man of few words.

"I assume Madi has filled you in on what has transpired?" Tiberius questions as he turns towards Madi. Madi nods with a tight grimace on her face, "I tried my best, but I don't know why she's been unconscious." I look between them in surprise; Madi seems to really trust him and I don't know why.

"I wasn't all of the time," I say softly, as small bits and pieces flash through my mind. All three of them turn to me in surprise. Abba runs back to my bed and hops up to cuddle into my side, her head lying on my chest with her small arms reaching around to squeeze me.

"What do you mean?" Tiberius says softly back, concern lacing his voice.

"I mean that I remember some things," I state, my confidence coming back into my voice. I now know what these people want and this can make for easy negotiations. "They were testing my Nightblood."

"Yeah we know," Madi says back softly, her confusion written on her face.

"They need Nightblood. They want to use it as a cure."

"Well well well," says an accented voice. We all jump me as best as I can with the restraints. "Looks like our sleeping princess has figured it out." A big man comes in as two more soldiers flank his sides, their guns at the ready.

"Hello Clarke," he says. "Welcome back to the land of the living. I'm Nero, your Captian."