CHAPTER TWENTY
❁ mother dearest ❁
"i don't follow rules. I make them. And when necessary, I break them." - Veronica Lodge
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IT WAS A HORRIFIC SIGHT THAT LAYED IN FROMT OF DAHLIA. Countless bodies, dead, scattered all over the mountain. Her heart ached for the countless families that were taken. They were just trying to get to earth, trying to survive and start a new life. Who knew that this is what life had in store for them. Dahlia felt tears fill her eyes as she looked at the many bodies, some only a feet away from her. Bellamy notices this and a soft expression forms on his face as he takes her hand in his. She looks at him, their eyes connecting and he could tell that she wouldn't forget about this anytime soon. Finn looks at the couple as he impatiently waits around.
"There's nothing we can do for these people." Bellamy states as a sigh leaves his lips. He knew that not everyone was going to survive coming down here, he just didn't think a whole section was going to die. "We gotta go." He tells everyone, who all nod their heads. They begin to walk away when Monroe looks down the mountain, squinting her eyes.
"Hey someone's down there." Monroe announces as she peeks over the edge to indeed she a woman hanging on for dear life. Dahlia's eyebrows furrow as she also walks over to get a look.
"Hey! Up here!" Bellamy shouts, earning the woman's attention. The woman looks up causing Dahlia to lose her breath as she recognizes the woman. There's no way that she was seeing who she thought she was.
"Please help me!" The woman pleads as she tries to keep a hold on the tree branch on the side of the mountain. Sterling glances at Dahlia as he looks over the edge
"Marion?" Sterling asks, confused as to how she was alive. Mostly because everyone else was dead. But Dahlia was thinking something entirely different. Her father said her mother sacrificed herself and yet there she was.
"You know her?" Murphy questions as he looks at Sterling who nods his head before looking at Dahlia. The rest of the group minus Finn who wasn't really paying attention, looks to Dahlia as they furrow their eyebrows.
"Shut up Murphy, she's Dahlia's mother. We have to do something." Sterling announces causing everyone to look at each other shocked. They all knew Marion had sacrificed herself back on the ark but that didn't explain her being a couple feet below them at that very second.
"Help me!" Marion cries out but Dahlia just stands still, not being able to move. Her mother was alive. She was really alive even though Marcus had said that she wasn't. Had he lied to her? But what reason would he have to lie?
"We can't stop." Finn mutters to Bellamy, trying not to allow Dahlia to hear but he obviously wasn't being quiet enough as Dahlia's head turns to look at the two boys.
"This isn't a grounder, Finn. We have a rope." Bellamy snaps back at him as Finn doesn't break eye contact. He loved Marion, he did. But they didnt even know if she could be saved.
"You saw her, she'd never be able to hold onto it. We'd have to lower somebody down, it'll take time that we don't have." Finn explains causing a scoff to leave from Dahlia's lips. He glances over at the strawberry blonde who was sending him a harrowing glare.
"She's my mother, Finn! We can't just leave her here to die. By all means leave but I'm not just going to leave her here. Not after I thought I lost her." Dahlia snaps at him, venom in her tone as she can't help but hate Finn at the moment. He was being selfish, she wanted to save their friends too but as far as they knew, their friends were dead.
"I hate this as much as both of you--" Finn starts as Bellamy sighs frustratingly, running a hand through his hair as he tries to think of a solution.
"I know! I know, okay I know " He replies to Finn as he closes his eyes for a split second. Finn looks at Dahlia with hurt in his eyes. She knew it pained him to make a hard decision but she didn't hate him any less.
"We'll come back for her. Okay?" Finn says causing Dahlia to just stare at him in shock. Was he really just going to let her mother die? Even if they could save her?
"She won't be able to hold on for long, Bellamy." Dahlia states, trying to get Bellamy on the same side as her. Bellamy looks at her with guilt in his eyes, he hated having to chose between things. He's about to reply to her when Finn looks over towards the edge.
"Wait, Sterling!" Finn yells but Sterling had already started descending the cliff causing everyone to rush over to the edge, keeping a close eye on the situation
"Hell, it looks like we're taking that break after all." Murphy states causing everyone to glare at him. Dahlia glances at the rope that Sterling had tied around a tree stump. It didn't look sturdy at all but she knew she couldn't stop Dterling from saving her mother.
"I'm almost there! Once I have her, pull us up!" Sterling demands as he continues to climb down the cliff, his feet hitting the rocks.
"Well, I'd say he's heard one too many of your motivational speeches." Murphy tells Bellamy with a smirk on his face. The Blake only sends a glare towards the boy before muttering a 'shut up' to him.
Out of nowhere, the rope snaps, letting loose from the tree and rapidly flying towards the end of the cliff. Murphy quickly goes to grab it but it slips out of his reach and all that is heard are Sterling's screams as he falls to his death. Dahlia gasps as she covers her mouth, not able to take her eyes off where he had just fell from seconds ago. "Sterling!" Finn had yelled after him even though they all knew it was no use. Sterling was gone.
"Marion! Marion, hold on. Focus on me, you can do this." Bellamy calls out to her but the woman only let's out a strangled cry as she was gripping onto the metal pipe near her for dear life.
"No!" She yells back at him causing Bellamy to look over the edge trying to see the older woman but all he could see was her strawberry blonde hair.
"Yes you can, you're strong." Bellamy states as he looks down at her. It's a couple seconds before he gets a response back from the woman .
"I'm not strong. Stubborn maybe." Marion says causing Bellamy to chuckle a little. Dahlia had definitely gotten that from her mother.
"So be stubborn a little longer. I'm not gonna let you die, you hear me?" Bellamy assures her, earning a faint word of agreement from her.
"We're out of rope." Finn snaps at Bellamy, trying to tell the boy that they had no other way to save Marion from the cliff.
"Then we'll make a new one." Bellamy says like it was the most easy thing in the whole world to do. He was not going to let Marion die, not now. Not after they just lost Sterling.
"If anything happens to our friends --" Finn starts but Bellamy only cuts him off, having enough of Finn's selfishness because all he really cared about was finding Clarke.
"We can't save our friends! For all we know they're dead already, we've all thought it. But what we do know is that we can save this one woman." Bellamy shouts at Finn, who only stares right back at him. Bellamy glances at Dahlia to check on her since it was her mother hanging off a cliff. She didn't move though, she didn't even look at him.
"Sterling was one of us, she is Dahlia's mother. I'm in." Monroe says as she nods her head at Bellamy. Dahlia only stares off into the distance, not bothering to pay attention to their conversation.
"How do we do it?" Murphy asks as he looks to Bellamy since he always seemed to have a plan in the middle of a crisis.
"We make new rope from the reckage. Go find wires, seatbelts, anything." Bellamy states as everyone but Dahlia and Finn head off to find some sort of material to make a rope out of.
"I hope you're right about this." Finn tells Bellamy before walking off to find things from the reckage. Bellamy let's out a sigh as he looks down to the ground.
"So do I." Bellamy mutters to himself before his eyes move to Dahlia who is standing a little ways away from him. He walks over to her, with a look of concern on her face. "Hey, you okay?" He asks Dahlia who glances at him before nodding her head as she swallows visibly.
"Mhmm." She mumbles not even believing herself as she runs a hand through her hair. She already dreaded asking the question she already knew the answer to. "You're the one that's gonna go down there, aren't you?" Dahlia asks as her eyes meet his. He looks at her softly as his hand caresses her cheek.
"Yeah." He answers her in a breathy tone as she breaks their eye contact. Bellamy sighs as he takes her face in his hands. "Hey, I'm gonna be fine." Bellamy assures her as he pecks her lips softly before pulling away. Dahlia looks at him, not really believing a word coming out of his mouth.
"Or, you'll fall like Sterling did." Dahlia mumbles as she looks to the ground. Bellamy only frowns as he stares down at her.
"That won't happen." He tries to reassure her but she only lets out a scoff as she pulls her hand from his. She walks away, her arms crossing over her chest as she stands near Finn who glances over to Bellamy.
Bellamy let's out a sigh as he secures the rope around his waist after the group had finished making it. The rest grab onto the other end tightly, not loosening their grip even a bit. "All right. Ease it out slowly." Bellamy tells them and they do exactly that as they slowly walk closer to the edge of the cliff. They lower Bellamy down even more until eventually he stops. "I got her! Pull us up!" Bellamy shouts and Dahlia holds in a breath as she knew that more weight on the rope would make it so it would be easier to break.
"Don't you worry Bellamy, I won't drop ya." Murphy mutters as Finn glares at the back of the boys head. He wanted to slap the boy but knew it wouldn't be the right moment.
"Just pull Murphy." Finn demands and Murphy rolls his eyes but does what the boy tells him to. Dahlia's vision all of a sudden turns blurry as she squeezes her eyes shut to get it clear. She ends up stumbling, hitting Finn's back and making him wobble. "Dahlia!" He hisses as he quickly regains his composure so he doesn't let go of the rope.
"Sorry. Sorry." She quickly apologies as her vision clears up a little. Dahlia clears her throat as she looks at the back of Finn. "I just felt dizzy for second." Dahlia states as she starts to pull again but all of a sudden the rope snaps, sending them to the ground. Murphy is quick to run after it, grabbing a hold as he slides across the ground
"A little help!" Murphy yells as Finn is quick to join him in pulling the rope. Dahlia and Monroe also jump in, not that they would be much help to the ever so slowly slipping rope.
"What the hell is happening up there?!" Bellamy asks as his voice echoes through the space. He was currently dangling above a pit of death, Dahlia's mother holding onto him tightly.
"Just hold on!" Finn shouts back as they pull harder, trying to get Bellamy and Marion up to the top. An arrow suddenly flies out of nowhere, landing next to Monroe, catching her attention. A gasp leaves her lips as she looks back at the woods.
"Grounders!" She yells as multiple arrows shoot out from the trees. Finn tosses her a gun as he goes back to pulling at the rope. Monroe turns and starts shooting into the trees, hoping to get one of them.
"How many are there?" Bellamy asks, his voice low as they had fallen lower when the rope snapped. Finn looks back at Monroe shooting, trying to see if he could notice anything.
"I don't know. We can't see them! In the trees!" Finn tells as Monroe does as shes told and starts shooting in the trees but it doesn't stop the arrows from coming.
"He's gonna have to cut her loose, we can't do this." Murphy mutters to Finn who looks at him like he's crazy. They had gotten this far, they weren't going to give up now. But it seems like Murphy had other plans."Cut her loose!" He yells out to Bellamy earning a deadly glare from Dahlia who was behind Finn.
"No way!" Bellamy shouts back as he holds Marion tighter, not wanting to drop her. Finn notices they are starting to slip again so his eyes go to the girl with the gun
"Monroe get back on the rope!" Finn demands and she does exactly that as she jumps to get a hold of the rope, only to be shot in the leg with an arrow. She lets out a scream as she looks at her leg which is now bleeding. Dahlia glances at her, wanting to help her but knowing if she let go Bellamy could fall. A horn then bellows out in the distance causing all of the arrows to suddenly stop. They stop pulling for a second before taking the opportunity to get Bellamy and Marion up. As they crawl onto the grass, Marion looks at Finn who is breathing heavily.
"Thank you." She says as he nods his head at her. Dahlia was too tired to even awknowledge her mother at that moment. She wanted to be with her mother, she just couldn't find the strength to move.
"We have to take cover from the fog." Finn states as he and the others start to move towards the path in order to find a safe place to wait out the acid fog.
"Bellamy." A voice calls out, earning everyone's attention as they turn their heads to see a girl in the trees. It takes Dahlia a second before she recognizes the figure to be Octavia Blake.
"No we don't." Bellamy breathes out as his eyes land on Octavia who looks like a completely different person with her new hairstyle.
"She blew the horn." Murphy states out the obvious as Octavia emerges from the tree line. Dahlia smiles a little as she sees the younger Blake.
"Octavia." Bellamy says with a smile on his face as he looked at his sister. He was glad to know that she wasn't dead like he thought she was. Octavia rushes over to him, embracing him in a tight hug as Bellamy let's out a breath as he holds her. After a couple seconds they pull away and Octavia's eyes glance over to Dahlia who's eyes are flicking between Bellamy and Marion.
"Hey, it's okay. I told you I'd be fine." Bellamy tells her as he walks over to his girlfriend who just looks up at him as she shakes her head.
"You almost fell." Dahlia points out with a frown on her face at the picture of Bellamy almost falling due to the rope snapping.
"Yeah, but I didn't." Bellamy corrects her as he smirks cockily. She only rolls her eyes as a laugh escapes her lips. Dahlia then pulls him into a hug as the breath she was holding in finally leaves her lips. Her head snuggles into his neck as Bellamy closes his eyes, pulling her closer.
"God, I love you so much. I thought I was gonna lose you." Dahlia mutters into his ear as she holds onto him tightly. He tenses up instantly as he hears the words. Dahlia's eyes widen as she realizes what she said as she pulls away from him. Bellamy just looks down at her with a shocked expression on her face. "I-i mean um.. i-i didnt--" Dahlia stutters as she tries to cover up what she said but she knows there is no use. She lets out a scoff as she covers her face with her hands, groaning loudly. "Wow, now you think I'm crazy. God, why did I say that? I'm so stu--" Bellamy cuts her off as he removes her hands from her face and plants his lips on hers. She immediately kisses back before they pull away from each other. By then, Bellamy is smiling down at her.
"You're not stupid." He assures her as Dahlia blushes lightly, pursing her lips. Bellamy connects their hands together as he stares lovingly into her eyes. "I love you too." Bellamy states with a smile causing Dahlia to return the smile widely.
"You do?" She asks, wanting to know if he really did. Bellamy only nods his head as he strokes her cheek. Dahlia connects their lips once again in a passionate kiss which Bellamy returns as his hands tangle in her hair. Octavia smiles at them before going back to wrapping Monroe's leg because there's only so much of her best friend sucking face with her brother she can take. Once they pull away, Dahlia's eyes move to her mother who was a couple feet away from them. "I don't understand. I thought you sacrificed yourself on the ark." Dahlia points out as her eyebrows furrowed, catching her mother's attention. She loved that her mother was alive she just wanted to know why everyone said she was dead when she wasn't.
"I was going to but then Thelonious convinced me that he was going to find a way down here, give me a chance to be with you." Marion explains to her daughter as she pushes her strawberry blonde hair from her face. Bellamy just gives her a confused look, trying to understand.
"Kane saw your body.." He trails off as he remembers Marcus saying how he saw her body. Marion looks at Bellamy for a second, her eyes searching his features before shaking her head.
"He must have seen someone else." Marion suggests as she continues to look at the boy. Bellamy notices this and shifts in place as he glances at Dahlia who is still staring at her mother in shock.
"But he never saw you on the ark afterwards?" Dahlia questions as she thought that there was no way her father never saw her for the days after the sacrifice.
"I avoided him. I love the man but I spent so many years trying to make our marriage work that I didn't get to spend enough time with you." Marion explains as her eyes go soft as she looks at her daughter. Dahlia glances at the ground as her mom takes her hand. "I'm sorry for not sticking up for you on the ark." She apologizes, giving Dahlia's hand a squeeze as Dahlia looks up at her mom. Dahlia only pulls her mom into a hug, Marion instantly returning it as the two stand there for a couple seconds.
"It's okay. You're here now." Dahlia states before pulling away and clearing her throat. Dahlia glances to Bellamy who was standing a little bit away from them, giving the two their space. "Mom, this is Bellamy Bl--" She starts but her mother cuts her off with a knowing expression on her face.
"Blake, yes I know." Marion finishes for her as her eyes flicker between the two. Dahlia frowns as she knew that her mom had most likely heard that it was Bellamy who shot Jaha.
"He only shot Jaha to get to Octavia." Dahlia defends her boyfriend who looked like he didn't want her to. He didn't want her relationship with her mother to be ruined because they are dating. Kane already hated him enough as it is. Marion only lets out a soft laugh as a warm smile creeps onto her face.
"I don't blame him, mija. Just, he looks a lot like his sister is all." Marion explains as her eyes shift to Octavia who was still wrapping Monroe's leg. Dahlia and Bellamy share a confused look as Bellamy opens his mouth to speak.
"You met Octavia?" Bellamy asks, he knew his sister was a few feet away from them but he never knew Octavia met anyone on the ark since she was mostly either hiding or locked away.
"Once or twice." Marion answers as Octavia looks up at the group with a smile on her face, her eyes landing on the older woman.
"She helped hide me when I snuck away from our room a couple times." Octavia explains making Bellamy glare a little at her at first but he then sends a smile to Marion who returns it. Dahlia reaches out to grab Bellamy's hand, holding it in hers as she takes a deeps breath.
"Um, mama, Bellamy and I are together." Dahlia hesitantly says to her mother who's eyes just flicker between the couple. She didn't know why she was so scared to tell her mother this but she didn't know if her mom would like the fact that she was dating Bellamy like her father.
"I figured." Marion states with an eyebrow raised as she looks at the two. Once she sees the furrowed eyebrows she explains herself a little more. "The kiss." She adds causing the couple to let out a slight laugh. Bellamy didn't know how he didn't think about that. They had literally kissed right in front of her. "And I know he will treat you right." Marion says as she sends a nod to Bellamy who returns it. She then turns to Finn, bringing the boy into a much needed hug. "Finn. You did good at protecting my daughter, thank you." She tells him as Finn smiles down at her, shrugging his shoulders a little.
"I can't say she didn't get a couple bruises in the process." Finn sheepishly answers as his eyes flicker to the ground. Dahlia playfully rolls her eyes as she licks her lips.
"That's the understatement of the century." Dahlia mutters as Finn squints his eyes at her, hitting her shoulder lightly. She sticks out her tongue at him causing him to do the same to her. Marion sighs as she sees the two basically acting like children. Bellamy watches the two in amusement as Dahlia hits Finn back.
"Thank god you came when you did." Monroe says, catching everyone's attention and making Dahlia and Finn stop fighting.
"I was going back to camp when I heard shots." Octavia explains as she finishes up with the bandage on Monroe's leg. Murphy walks up behind her, pointing to the horn next to her that she blew.
"Nice fog horn. What happened to your boyfriend?" Murphy questions causing Octavia to visibly tense up at the question. She didn't want to answer any questions about Lincoln so she kept her answer straight and to the point.
"He's gone." Octavia snaps coldly causing Dahlia eyes to widen as she hears the news about the grounder. Even Bellamy looked a little sad as he glances down at his sister.
"What do you mean he's gone, Tavia?" Dahlia asks but gets no response as Octavia stands up, brushing the dirt off her pants. Bellamy puts his hand on her shoulder causing Octavia to glance at him.
"Hey, I'm sorry O." Bellamy tells her in a raspy, hurt voice. He hated seeing his sister hurting, even if he wasn't a huge fan of Lincoln.
"The grounders will be back so we need to go, now." Octavia states as she looks around at her surroundings, making sure there isn't any lingering grounders waiting to kill them.
"Yes we do." Finn agrees as he picks up his gun and looks at Bellamy who sighs as he glances back at Monroe.
"Octavia said that the arrow may be poisoned. I have to take her back to camp." Bellamy points out as Finn just looks at him. The two knew that someone had to take them back to camp because they couldn't afford losing anyone else.
"I know." Finn says with a nod of his head as he glances to Dahlia who is smiling with her mother. He can't help the smile forming on his face as he watches her have a real conversation with her.
"I'll meet you as soon as I can." Bellamy tells him, catching his attention again. Finn only looks back at the Blake before nodding his head once more.
"I know." Finn replied before beginning to walk down the path and away from the group but not before planting a kiss on Dahlia's forehead.
"Parting. Such sweet sorrow don't you think?" Murphy asks as he turns to follow after Finn, only to be stopped by Bellamy who was confused at to what the boy was doing.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" He asks as he crosses his arms at the boy. Murphy sighs as he stops walking and turns to face them.
"Come on. You know if I go with you they'll just lock me up again." Murphy points out the obvious as Bellamy just stares at him. Bellamy takes a deep breath before grabbing a gun that was on the ground and throwing it to Murphy who catches it.
"Really?" Octavia asks with an eye roll as she looks at her brother who just ignores her. Dahlia scoffs as she watches Murphy load the fun. She did not feel safe with him having a weapon, especially near Finn.
"Watch his back." Bellamy tells Murphy who nods his head at him. Dahlia sends a slight glare towards the boy who gives a mock smile back.
"Anything happens to him I'll kill you." Dahlia threatens making Murphy let out a chuckle as he looks back down at the gun.
"No doubt you wouldn't." Murphy replies before heading off after Finn, leaving the rest in a group as Bellamy walks over to his sister.
"I can't get them home without you." Bellamy tells her with pleading eyes as she looks at him with her eyebrows rose up.
"Of course you can't." Octavia teases as she helps Monroe stand up with the help of Marion who smiles at the Blake.
"Let's go." Bellamy says as he starts to walk back down the path, wrapping his arm around Dahlia to keep her close to him.
"Hey, you okay Lia?" Octavia questions as she looks over and sees Dahlia stumbling a little as she walks. For a second Dahlia doesn't answer but her head snaps up to look at the girl as she nods her head a little.
"What? Yeah." Dahlia answers as she snaps out of the daze that she was in. Octavia didn't seem convinced though as she shared a look with her older brother.
"Are you sure?" She asks as she looks at her best friend with fear in her eyes. She had just lost Lincoln, she wasn't about to lose her best friend too.
"Just dizzy." Dahlia responds as she holds onto her head for a second, feeling her vision go blurry once again.
"Weren't you feeling dizzy before?" Monroe asks her as she limps, holding onto Marion and Octavia. Bellamy immediately furrows his eyebrows as his eyes snap over to his girlfriend who is leaning against one of the trees.
"When did you feel dizzy?" Bellamy questions her, thinking he missed something if Dahlia was feeling dizzy before. Dahlia glares at Monroe before standing up straight again.
"I'm fine." Dahlia answers as she closes her eyes for a second longer. Bellamy looks at her with concern in his eyes. But he didn't believe her one bit. No one that truly knew her would believe her. She always tried to put others in front of her but it would catch up to her evenutally. But part of him was telling himself that;
This was only just the beginning.
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Updated! It's only been a month... I'm acting like it's not been long. Sorry for the slow update. I'm gonna try and update this book every Friday though. Comment what you thought of this chapter. Like/follow/ check out my other stories if you want to. I recently made Peter Parker and Klaus Mikaelson fanfictions soooo
EDITED: JULY 5, 2020