The solemn music to commemorate Rose filled my ears as I followed after Bellamy and Murphy. My eyes darted around, afraid that we were going to get caught.
But luckily, it seemed that everyone was too caught up with saying goodbye to Rose, that no one noticed us creeping toward the palace.
As we approached the door, we had made it unseen. I stopped next to Bellamy, my eyes falling on the keypad that had been pulled from its socket.
Bellamy let out a small laugh as he reached out to touch it. "Like father, like son."
A soft smile came to my lips at the mention of our fallen friend. It still seemed crazy to me somedays that Jordan was Monty and Harper's child.
Murphy wore a similar expression to my own as he hovered behind Bellamy and I. So much had happened in the past week, I don't think many of us had had a real chance to register it all.
Looking back to Murphy and I briefly, Bellamy turned and pushed open the door, allowing all of us to slip through.
As we entered the reliquary, I felt myself shudder at the sight in front of us.
There were dozens of skeletons set up around the room which was dimly lit as if to show them on display.
Instinctively, I moved closer to Bellamy, my eyes scanning the room in shock as I let out a small breath.
"You've got to be kidding me." Murphy muttered. "Which part of "I hate dead people" did you not understand?"
Bellamy placed a hand on the small of my back as a gesture of support. His own eyes were curious as they looked around. "Quiet, Murphy."
I looked over to Murphy, my face tense in discomfort as we took a slow step inside. "We know you're in here , Jordan." I called, my voice echoing throughout the room.
He didn't even try to put up a fight. Seconds after the words left my mouth, Jordan was emerging from within the room, a defeated look on his face.
"What the hell are you doing?" Bellamy demanded, marching toward Jordan.
"What you would have done." Jordan challenged. "The you before Praimfaya, anyway. Heart over head. That was my favourite Bellamy."
"Okay." I interceded as Bellamy's face flashed with annoyance. Stepping in between the two boys, I placed my hands up in front of me. "Let's just relax for a minute."
"How are we supposed to relax in a place like this?" Murphy grunted under his breath.
The sound of the door closing caused all of us to jump slightly as we turned toward it.
Gaia stood in front of it, she clearly being the source of the noise.
"You, too?" Bellamy wondered in exasperation.
Gaia looked slightly perplexed. "They worship Nightbloods. I'd like to understand why that is."
"I'd like us to leave." Murphy announced. "There's no way I'm getting thrown out of the one safe place on this moon because you got dumped." he called to Jordan.
I let out a frustrated sigh as I looked around. "I don't think they're going to be very happy if they catch us in here."
As if on cue, the door swung open and Clarke came marching in. "This is Sanctum's holiest place. You shouldn't be here."
We all looked around, slightly confused as to why Clarke was so upset that we were in here. Sure, none of us wanted to get caught, but we weren't so occupied with the holiness of this place.
"I'm sorry." she breathed, noting our confusion. "I just, uh, I saw you on the steps."
"Does that mean your bodyguard could, too?" Murphy wondered.
"Good point. Let's take this outside."
"Not yet." Gaia called, her eyes trained on the skeleton closest to her. She reached out, lightly running her thumb across the back of the skull. "Mark of the Flame?"
My face fell slightly as Bellamy and I moved toward one of the skeletons, each of us looking to the back of the skull. This one had the same mark.
Gaia slowly moved across the line, looking at each skull. "They're all commanders." she announced.
"That's why the symbol was on the flag." Bellamy concluded.
Murphy threw his hands up. "Well, it's all coming together, isn't it? Now can we please go?"
Bellamy nodded toward the front of the room. "The ones in the front row must be the original Eligius team. There's 12 of them."
My eyes landed on a number of skeletons that were much smaller than the others. "They take kids." I observed, my voice tight with contempt.
"Familial love is a powerful motivator." Clarke justified. "People will do anything to ensure the survival of the ones they love." She was already walking toward the door. "Now let's ensure our survival."
The sound of another door creaking open pulled all of our attention away from Clarke. But unlike the last time, it wasn't the main door to the Reliquary that had opened. Instead, it was a door near the back of the room, and in front of it stood Jordan Green. "Open sesame."
A series of unsure glances were thrown around the room before we all silently agreed that we wanted to see what was behind the door.
Bellamy remained close to me as we slowly entered the room before us. It was dark, but Jordan slowly moved his flashlight in front of himself, showing what seemed to be an operating theatre.
I squinted through the darkness, searching for a light switch. When I found what appeared to be one, I reached over and switched it on.
The room lit up, confirming my guess as to what the room was. A single operating bed sat in the middle, surrounded by cabinets that appeared to be well-stocked...this wasn't abandoned. In fortification of that point, what appeared to be freshly used pieces of gauze littered the floor around the bed, covered in nightblood.
"An operating room attached to a crypt." Murphy drawled. "Really?
As the rest of us milled near the door, Jordan marched into the room. "She was here." he announced, bending down to pick something up before turning back to us. "This was Delilah's. I'm sure of it." he held out the dress that Delilah had been wearing last night. "Still think I'm overreacting?"
"Okay, let's think this through." Bellamy advised. "Becca created the Flame after Apocalypse One. She obviously provided the tech to Eligius III before that. That means that--"
"They're not commanders." Gaia concluded.
"Right. So what the hell are they?"
Jordan's eyes were trained on one of the computer screens. "Let's find out."
No one argued, just made their way toward where Jordan had just sat down. "Monty taught him how to hack, too. That's my kind of parenting." Murphy muttered as Jordan began typing.
"No hacking needed." Jordan answered.
I nodded as I watched him access the files. "The Eligius systems all use the same access code." I explained, leaning forward slightly to watch what Jordan was doing.
A screen popped up with a series of video files, each one with different names. The names ranged from Castle to Black providing no clear link between them.
"'Eureka.'" Gaia pointed out. "Try that."
Jordan scrolled down, clicking onto the file under that name. The minute he did, a video popped up, showing a man stationed in front of the camera. He was in this exact room, and it looked like there was someone on the operating bed behind him.
He looked exhausted and partly defeated. "Here we go again."
As he moved slightly, I could see that the figure on the bed behind him was struggling. Not only that, but she was letting out terrified screams.
I felt my heart drop slightly as the man spoke again. "Today's subject is Brooke, Earth embryo 47. Presents with black blood. 21 Earth years old. 22 including time in the incubator."
Another voice cut in from off screen. "You can do this, Gabriel." he encouraged. "25 years of work, the failures. This is the one."
Gabriel continued on. "If I'm right, the reason all previous metempsychosis trials have failed is because the host's neuroanatomy was not developed enough to support the file size of a mature human mind."
The other man popped into frame as he rushed toward Brooke. "Gabriel, come on. Do it. I'll hold her down."
"Do--do what?" Murphy stuttered. "What are they doing?"
All of us were silent as we watched with horrified expressions. I felt my heart beat speed up as Gabriel and the other man approached Brooke who was thrashing around in terror, trying to break free.
Only when Gabriel inserted a needle into her arm, did her struggling cease. Slowly, her body relaxed and her screaming stopped.
"Rostral dorsolateral pontine tegmentum's now fully dormant. We have to wait for the serum to reach the claustrum." Gabriel was positioned in front of a screen that showed a full scan of Brooke's brain. "And...dormant."
Jordan shook his head as he stared at the screen with wide eyes. "Did-did they just kill that girl?" he whispered in complete shock. "Did we just watch someone die?"
I pulled my hand away from my mouth where it had been resting in shock. "They killed her brain." I answered, my voice low and wavering. "She's still alive but she-" I cut myself off, not wanting to come to terms with whatever they were doing.
"Heart rate and breathing are normal. Lower brain function is still intact. The body is ready."
I felt like I was going to be sick as the other man picked something up from the table, gently handing it to Gabriel. It looked like some kind of chip, similar to that of the Flame or the City of Light.
Silently, my hand reached out and latched onto Bellamy's. He looked over to me for a moment, his face tight in concern before we both looked back to the screen.
The two men inserted the chip into the back of Brooke's neck. Once again, similar to the Flame.
And then they waited for a couple of moments, each of them seeming to grow more and more distressed with each passing moment.
However, something eventually happened.
It started with a quick twitch of Brooke's foot, followed by movement of her hands. The two men jumped up, rushing to the girl's side.
When her eyes finally opened, she looked alarmed and instantly broke into a fit of screams. She seemed disoriented, alarmed.
"Josephine, it's okay!" the older of the two men soothed, trying to calm her down. "Josie!"
The girl looked terrified by the sight of him, and all but threw herself off of the table to get away from him. As she backed herself up against the wall, the two men knelt before her, trying to explain whatever was going on.
They were too far from the camera for us to hear what they were saying, but slowly the girl's face began to relax.
"Josephine?" I whispered, recognizing the name from somewhere. Clarke looked over to me, as if I had just addressed her.
When I met her eye, she gave me a small shrug, a concerned look covering her own face.
It took me a couple of moments, but I soon realized where I had heard the name before. Jo-Juice. The drink Delilah and her family had served to us on our first day here. Delilah had called Josephine one of the Primes.
"The key is a fully developed brain. Once the adult host's consciousness is gone, the mind stored in the drive uploads wth ease." Gabriel was back in front of the camera. Behind him, I could see the other man embracing Brooke-Josephine.
"Now, we still have loads of tests to run, but so far, Josie's consciousness, her self, appears to be whole. In other words, Eureka! More soon."
As the video switched off, we all sat in a stunned silence for a moment, each of us trying to digest what we had just seen.
"They're immortal." Murphy finally concluded, his voice low.
"They're murderers." Jordan corrected. "They murdered Delilah." I could hear the sheer sadness in his voice, and instantly noted the tears in his eyes.
I reached forward, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. He had been right all along, and none of us wanted to listen .
"It's not murder if they go willingly."
All of our heads snapped toward Clarke who was looking at the rest of us as if we were insane.
"Did that girl look willing to you?!" Jordan snapped, all the sadness now gone from his voice, replaced only by anger.
"That's how they made it better." Gaia declared. "Easier. By manipulating people into believing they were sacrificing themselves to some false gods. "Becoming one with the Primes," like Delilah's mother said."
"Well, so much for respecting their faith." Murphy muttered, shooting Gaia a challenging look.
"They're monsters." I whispered, still trying to process the revelation we had just made.
Murphy was still looking at Gaia. "I mean, no offence, but we let a bunch of kids fight to the death to become your God."
"Murphy, that's enough." Bellamy ordered before turning toward Clarke who had broken away from the rest of us. "Clarke, you're okay with this?"
"Well, I didn't say that."
I watched her curiously. Something about the way she was talking didn't sound right.
She gave a small shrug. "I just don't think they pose a threat to us, that's all."
Bellamy took a small step toward her. "They pose a threat to you. You're a Nightblood. And based on what we just saw, I'm thinking that's the only reason they let us stay."
"Madi." Gaia whispered, her eyes wide. "I have to get her before they find out what she is."
As Gaia took off toward the door, Clarke's face twitched slightly. "I'll go with you!"
The rest of us shared quick looks before following after them. We needed to get out of this room.
"Bring her back to the tavern so we can decide what to do." Bellamy ordered as we all followed after Clarke and Gaia.
Clarke ignored him, just kept marching on as she and Gaia exited the Reliquary.
"These are all her."
Bellamy and I turned to see Jordan hovering next to one of the skeletons labelled "Priya Desai"- the numbers I, II, III, VI, V and VI beside it. Six people died just for this one person.
I let out a sad sigh as Bellamy shook his head. "Jordan, I'm sorry I doubted you." he whispered, guilt in his tone.
When Jordan gave a small nod, Bellamy nodded back toward the operating room. "Log out of the system. We need to cover our tracks."
Jordan gave Bellamy a quick look before stalking off back toward the room where we had just witnessed a murder.
The moment he was gone, Murphy joined Bellamy and I. "I hate to say it, but I agree with Clarke. This isn't our fight."
I watched him with an incredulous expression as Bellamy turned. "You still want to stay." he snapped.
"I want to live, only these people know how to do that forever, as it turns out. That wouldn't suck either."
"So you just wanted us to live with a bunch of murderers?" I confirmed, shaking my head in disbelief.
Murphy turned to me with an exasperated expression. "Hate to break it to you Collins, but we're all murderers."
Bellamy maintained a firm expression as he spoke. "Reattach the keypad outside the tunnel." he ordered Murphy. "We're right behind you."
Murphy gave Bellamy a quick look before dipping his head in a small nod, silently making his leave.
Once he was gone, I turned to Bellamy with a worry stricken face. "What do we do?" I wondered, not sure what our best solution was.
Bellamy gave a quick shake of his head as he glanced back to where Jordan was. "I have no idea."