There wasn't a possible way for Harley to explain the relief that Octavia was alive. It was like the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders, providing her with a breath taking peace every time she saw Octavia, still hurt, but living. The fire in Arkadia had been put out, and it was clear the human race couldn't survive in it after. Even if they worked every day they had left before Praimfaya repairing the station, they still wouldn't make it. All they had left was Luna and her nightblood. Harley let Octavia squeeze her hand as Niylah helped her stretch, mind wandering to Murphy.

The radio Murphy had given Harley was smashed into pieces, and she didn't have a way to know if he was alright. She frowned at the thought, feeling a new weight return, one that she couldn't shrug off. Octavia was grunting as Niylah bent her leg, sucking in deep breaths with her gaze locked on the ceiling above them. Harley shifted, lacing their fingers together before asking; "How is she?"

"Good. She's stronger already," Niylah answered soothingly, smiling warmly before addressing Octavia directly. "You'll be running around in no time."

A small groan caught the attention of the three from the other side of the room. Harley looked back up, remembering who was there. Ilian. His wrists and ankles were bound to the bed, keeping him from moving. After he was attacked by a mob that Kane shielded him from with a gun, he was brought to medbay. Niylah seemed uncomfortable by him, and Harley didn't blame her. "What happened to his guards?" She asked. Octavia shrugged tiredly.

Niylah sighed before flattening her leg, softly patting it. "That's enough for now. I'll come back soon," she stated kindly.

"Thank you, Niylah," Harley said gratefully. Niylah nodded with her smile as she left, leaving them alone with Ilian.

"I'm glad you're alive." Harley felt a shiver when Ilian spoke, hating how genuine he sounded towards Octavia. She didn't think he was as much of a threat in Polis, and was convinced that him destroying what he thought was the Flame would be enough to avenge his family. Harley had never believe in vengeance, blood must have blood, so she was torn between what she's always believed in and allowing him to be punished for killing the human race.

Resting her hand on the leg Niylah bent, Octavia didn't bother looking to him. "You won't be soon," she promised. "Jus drein jus daun." (Blood must have blood.)

"I killed no one," Ilian replied calmly.

"Wrong. You killed them all," Octavia corrected coldly. "And now, they're gonna kill you."

Harley ran her thumb down Octavia's hand. "Did you know about Praimfaya?" She asked, her voice wavering. She found it difficult to speak to Ilian, but it was a valid question. Harley wasn't even sure how far the news had spread once her people found out.

Shaking his head, Ilian spoke honestly. "I didn't. You can tell them that." His voice dropped lower. "I never meant to hurt anyone."

"A sword doesn't care what you meant," Octavia said darkly through gritted teeth. "It just cuts."

━━━━━━━━

Harley's knuckles stung as she rapped them against the door shut to the Chancellor's office. She waited patiently until it slid open, revealing Kane, staring back in curiosity. She could see the stress of being in charge was taking a toll on him, his raven black hair having strands of gray, even in his beard. There was even dark circles under his eyes, but he still looked kind. "Harley? Is there something wrong?"

After a brief, few seconds silence, Harley nodded. "I'm worried," she expressed softly. "About Octavia."

The name caused Kane to nod in understanding. "Would you like to come in?" He offered, outstretching his arm towards his open office.

"No, thank you," Harley politely declined. She left Octavia in the medbay area to warn Kane, and she didn't have much time. "She... She threatened to kill Ilian."

"And you don't want that?" Kane questioned, eyebrows drawing down together.

A nauseous feeling swirled in Harley's chest. "I don't know," she finally admitted. She hated that she was struggling, but all she could think about was Octavia and what would happen to her in falling through with it. "But I won't let Octavia kill him. She'd never come back from it."

"I agree," Kane reassured her calmly before the radio clipped to his belt began crackling. He lifted it, multiple voices coming through the speaker. All Harley could make out was a few words, starting with mob, marching, and ending with medbay. Kane sent Harley a stunned look before gesturing for her to follow him back to medbay, pressing the button of his radio and making commands for guards.

As they picked up their pace down the hall Harley had come from, she almost rammed into a figure coming around a corner. "Sorry!" She exclaimed before blinking, making out the figure. "Monty?"

"Hey," Monty greeted, alarmed at the panicked tension from both her and Kane. "Are you alright? Is it Octavia?"

"Harley!" Kane called from where he had nearly made it to the end of the hall, urging her to catch up.

Grabbing Monty's sleeve, Harley dragged him after her. "No time to explain!" She exclaimed breathlessly, knowing the mob described from Kane's radio could beat them there. Monty stumbled before catching himself, jogging to keep up; multiple guards joining them as they came to medbay's door. By the time Harley could see the glass door in her view, she could hear dozens of heavy footsteps not too far away, accompanied with a few shouts.

Quickly typing in the code, the door slid open, allowing them access with Kane being the first to rush in. Harley and Monty were on his heels as he continued making orders. "Lock this room down immediately. They're right behind us."

"Yes, sir." One guard complied, rushing to type the code in that would keep anyone from the other side opening it.

Monty approached Octavia, who Harley could see sat up in the time she had left her alone. "Where is everyone?" He questioned, lost at the sight of the empty room.

"Out there with them," Octavia mumbled.

As if it was on cue, a pounding on the door startled Harley. She turned, astonished to see a group through the clear glass, furious looks on their faces as they desperately tried to open the door. Frightened at the sight, she grabbed the sleeve of Monty's jacket, backing up despite knowing they couldn't get through. Months ago, Harley would have found a corner and covered her ears to shield herself from the violence, but now, she tried to seem as brave as she could until she believed it for herself.

"Open this door!" A man demanded, banging a fist on the shut door again and again.

Miller's father, Guardsman David look from the closed door to Kane a few times before suggesting. "Sir, maybe we should reconsider."

"No," Kane immediately responded firmly. "They aren't doing this."

"Listen, on The Ark, we floated people for less," David reminded him.

"This is Arkadia, not The Ark," Harley cut in, loosening her grip on Monty to approach them both with a stern look on her young features. Every day may still be a fight, especially with the radiation coming, but there was no longer the need to float people for survival. "There are new rules. If Chancellor Kane says we aren't punishing him, than we are not."

Kane nodded in agreement. "Mob rule will not dictate justice in this camp," he added strictly. 

"Open this door right now, and nobody else gets hurt!" The same man, who Harley assumed was in the lead of the angry crowd, shouted, his voice muffled through the glass separating them.

Leaving Octavia's side to join them, Monty declared anxious words, sending a quick glance to Ilian who had been silent this entire time. "We can't let them in here. They'll kill him."

Drawing in a deep breath, Kane pulled out his handgun and loaded it. "Woah, no!" Harley exclaimed, stopping the older one by grabbing his wrist. "If we aren't hurting him, we aren't hurting them."

"Please," David pleaded with her, dark brown eyes wide in shock at Kane's choice.

"If we let them descend into darkness, there's no coming back," Kane countered sharply.

From behind them, Octavia slid off her bed. "It's the end of the world, Kane," she uttered with a dark tone that caught Harley off guard. "Darkness is all we have left." She walked towards the keypad, arm outstretched. Kane demanded to know what she was doing as she pressed a few numbers in.

"No!" Harley shouted in protest, darting forward.

"Octavia, don't!" Monty begged, following Harley, but was too late.

The door slid open.

In silent horror, Harley helplessly watched the mob pour in, coming to a stop. She followed their gazes to a barrel of a gun, being held shakily by Kane with his finger on the trigger. For a moment, she truly believed that he'd pull the trigger to stop them from killing Ilian. Harley's mouth fell open, prepared to object or calm him until they could sort this out, but David made a choice and beats her to it.

"I'm sorry." The guard apologized, his wrist flicking out a shock baton and turning it on. He pressed the tip of it to Kane's back, sending his twitching body to hit the ground with a gargling shout of pain.

The man in lead is pleased, swiping up Kane's lost gun and heads straight for Ilian, but Octavia stops him quickly with her hand to his chest. "You want his blood, you can have it. But the kill is mine," she commanded.

"N-No!" Harley stammered, taking a step forward, only to have a hand shove her back as more continued, cutting Ilian's restraints and hauling him up. "Stop! You don't have to do this!" She begged, a firm arm kept in front of Harley as she watched Ilian be dragged out of the room.

A man's comment rings in Harley's ears long after they're gone. "You're a dead man, kid."

Octavia is too calm, and that's possibly the worst sight of them all. Harley left medbay for the outside with Monty and Kane, who recovered quickly after the paralyzing shock subsided. She could hear the mob causing an uproar, cheering at the idea of killing a man. Ilian is silent as well, refusing to fight back against the men dragging him out. Harley doesn't know what to do. Her head hurts from how much she's thinking, processing where she was now - surrounded by people who believed in violently murdering someone would be able to make them feel better.

"Sir, how do we stop this?" Monty asked, fearful at the sight of the brutal chaos being created.

"I don't know," Kane confessed quietly, just as lost as them.

Harley tightly pressed her lips together, shaking her head as she watched them shove Ilian to his knees, causing mud to splatter everywhere. "We're not savages," she uttered, emphasizing the word, remembering the time everyone considered grounders to be the savages.

Light footsteps crossed the mud before Niylah came up between Harley and Monty. "We're not so different after all," she says softly.

Knowing Niylah was right, Monty bolted across the mud to Octavia, who stood frozen in place in front of Ilian. Harley hesitated before following, her boots sinking in the mud in time to hear him beg with her. "Octavia, please don't do this." Octavia doesn't respond, swaying as she remained locked in a daze. "Octavia," Monty pleaded. "You're not a murderer."

Octavia snapped out of it. "You're wrong," she says, emotionless, as she rips a handgun out of her belt.

Tears fill Harley's eyes from the frustration. "Octavia, please," she begged. "You will never come back from this."

Going ignored, Octavia keeps the barrel of the gun pointed to Ilian's temple as a few encouraged her. One male even called out; "We want justice." Harley feels sick.

"Get it over with." Ilian is completely relaxed as he speaks, hushed, to Octavia.

Harley expects to hear a gunshot, but instead, a blaring alarm goes off. She's confused, not recognizing the sound, until Kane wildly starts to shout. "Black rain! Everybody get inside!" The crowd panics, running for the open door. Harley is alarmed at first, until she noticed Kane not making a move to follow, only ushering everyone to run inside, piecing together this was only a distraction to stop Ilian's public assassination. "Go, go, go!" Kane exclaimed, in a fake hysteria.

Although everyone leaves, both Monty and Harley stays put, as does Kane. "Octavia," he speaks to her. "Octavia. Put the gun down and come inside."

Refusing, Octavia keeps still with the gun pointed, but her hand shakes. Harley can see, and she frowns in pity as she takes a slow, cautious step forward. "It's okay," she whispered gently. "You're okay. I'm here for you, Octavia. I'm not going to leave," she swore. "I know this isn't you."

"They put Lincoln on his knees too." Kane's words get to Octavia in a way Harley's hadn't. "Pike stood right there, right where you're standing when they put a gun against his head."

Just as Octavia was, Harley couldn't help but remember too. Lincoln was as much her friend as he was hers, and she wished she had taken her own advice to shut her eyes and not watch. The memory was painful and vivid, a gunshot ringing in the air and blood blowing from the side of his head before he falls to the ground. Harley pressed the cuff of her jacket sleeve to her eye while Octavia cocks her head, shutting her eyes before shivering and letting out a whisper. "I was there."

"You do this... You do this, and you're no better than he was," Kane quietly said, as gently as he could. Even though it hurts, it works. Octavia's face pinches up, letting out choked cries as tears slid down her cheeks. But she drops the gun, allowing the firearm to hit the mud. Surrendering, Octavia backs up, the small sobs she makes squeezing Harley's heart painfully, but she allows Kane to comfort her.

"It's alright, Octavia," Kane reassured her softly, touching her upper arm. "It's okay. It's okay, Octavia, it's alright."

Suddenly, Octavia ripped her arm out of Kane's hold, stumbling back again before turning and to Harley's horror, running away with her hand clutched to her chest. "Wait! Octavia!" Her voice broke on her name, unable to stop her, watching as she headed for the open fence.

"Octavia! Where will you go?" Kane called after Octavia, but neither receive a response.

Shaking her head, Harley took a few quick steps onward before Kane stops her by touching her shoulder. "Wait, it's not safe out there," he cautioned her in worry.

"Exactly. I'm not leaving her," Harley retorted, vowing to keep her promise as she sent him one last look before taking off, running through the mud to keep up with the broken girl she loved.