the gospel of josephine;
❛ HOMECOMING ❜ ↷ the hundred
❝ you're not ellie ❞

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There was nothing that Gabriella Hastings hated more than being alone. Then, it was just her stuck with her own mind and the eternal battle constantly happening in it. Despite her worst fear being loneliness, she somehow always ended up being alone.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself face-to-face with the bright morning sky. She instantly squinted, overwhelmed by the light.

"What the fuck?" Gabriella muttered to herself once she sat up and looked around. She did not remember anything that happened before, other than laying in bed with Bellamy. How the fuck did she end up in the middle of the forest?

She looked down to see that she was no longer wearing the silk red pajamas that she wore the night before. Rather than that, she was wearing the same clothes she wore when she first landed on Earth all those years ago.

Gabriella's confused frown only deepened at the realization. She got up from the ground, trying to figure out where exactly she was and how she was going to get back to the others.

She looked around the forest to see if there was a good way that she could find out in which direction she should go in. When she saw smoke in the distance, she did not hesitate to walk straight in its direction.

After walking for a couple of minutes, she froze and her mouth fell open in shock.

When the gates to the dropship camp came into view, she thought that she was having another nightmare. Or, maybe she just died and went straight to heaven. Because, if she was being honest, the dropship days were the days when she felt the most at peace.

She knew that there was no way that it was the actual camp because that place burned down decades ago.

Gabriella hesitated to walk inside but when she did, her eyes immediately fell on the bonfire in the middle of all the tents scattered around. It looked exactly like it did when she left it all those years ago. Judging by the smell in the air and the smoke in the air, there was recently a fire there.

She pursed her lips and thought about her next actions for a couple of moments. Then, her feet carried her toward her former tent. Again, it looked exactly how she left it. Her eyebrows furrowed and she just stood in the middle of the tent. She was waiting for the tipping point of the dream.

Usually, that tipping point was someone dying. Most nights it was somebody who she already watched die but sometimes it turned out to be someone who was still alive but she had a fear of losing them.

She huffed and walked back outside. When she did, she immediately heard a voice coming from one of the other tents. Gabriella narrowed her eyes and tried to realize where the voice was coming from when she laid eyes on the mapping tent. It was the tent where she, Bellamy, and Clarke made plans regarding everything in the camp.

Gabriella's feet carried her toward it and when she opened it, she saw a radio sitting in the middle of the makeshift table in the middle of the room.

"Josephine, can you hear me?"

"What?" She muttered to herself and walked closer to the radio. She could have sworn that the voice coming from the radio belonged to Russell.

"Blink if you can hear me, sweetheart."

Gabriella stumbled back in shock when a piercing scream rang through the air, coming from the radio. She blinked in confusion once she recovered from the initial shock. Was that...her scream?

"It's okay. You're not falling. You're safe." Russell said soothingly.

"I hate this part. It never gets any easier."

"Breathe. Breathe, my beautiful baby girl. In."

"Dad?" Gabriella's dumbfounded voice followed. "Mom?"

"What the fuck?" Gabriella exclaimed, her eyes wide and filled with both confusion and fear.

"Welcome home, baby."

The radio was silent for a couple of moments before she heard Russell speak once again. "Stop with the hair."

"Now, this I can work with." More silence. "Where is he?"

"We wanted your approval first. He's here."

-

Josephine let out a relieved cry when the eyes of the love of her life finally opened. (Well, they were not exactly his eyes, but you get the point.) His eyebrows furrowed at first and it clearly took him a moment to put the pieces together.

He sat up and instantly wrapped his arms around her waist, clinging to her as if she was his last lifeline. In a way, she was.

"I found you." He whispered into the crook of her neck.

"I found you." She shot back, her tone laced with the usual cockiness that reassured him that it was, in fact, her.

Derek pulled away and his hand instantly cupped her cheek. He scanned her face, her new face, and a small smirk found its way to his face. "I like this face." His eyes scanned her body and the dress she was wearing. "And the body. But you know that nothing will beat the first one, Josie."

"I know." Josephine mirrored his smirk. "You were the most handsome man I ever saw, so finding a body even close to your original one is hard." The palms of her hands rested on his chest. "My parents did a good job, though."

Derek tilted his head curiously and reluctantly pushed the blonde away from him. He got to his feet and slowly made his way toward the full-length mirror on the other side of the room.

The unfamiliar face that stared back at him was drastically different than his original one, but he was not complaining. He nodded to himself and met Josephine's eyes through the mirror. "This will do."

-

"You have got to be kidding me!" Gabriella exclaimed after hearing the exchange between the lovers. "These backstabbing, body-snatching, assholes!"

The sound of Wells' voice whispering the words 'I love you' and her own voice repeating the phrase was heard from the radio after her outburst. Gabriella swore that she was going to throw up.

She was trapped in her own mind while some princess was walking around Sanctum in her body while in the arms of her best friend. What was Raven going to think? What was Bellamy going to think?

Gabriella groaned at the realization.

She had to get out of that mess as fast as possible. Any other person would think that that was impossible, but if Gabriella was still aware of what was happening, it meant that there was still a chance.

-

"Bellamy Blake, John Murphy, Jordan Green." Josephine whispered to herself from the doorway, her eyes glued to the three men who were sharing a table.

Jade nodded from behind her, "Yes, good. Mother isn't here. Maybe we should..."

"Relax," Josephine rolled her eyes, "I played Vladimir in 'Godot' twice. How hard can Gabriella be?"

She plastered on a fake smile when Bellamy looked over his shoulder. His eyes lit up and his grin made her quickly realize that he held certain feelings toward her host. She just had to figure out if he already acted on them or not.

"Hey, Ella." An unfamiliar female voice made her stop mid-way to the three men. She turned around to see a blonde who looked her age smiling at her. Next to her was a pre-teen girl with brown hair and a short-haired blonde.

"Morning." She flashed her a tight-lipped smile and then turned back around to continue in the direction she was previously going in.

"Everything okay?" Bellamy asked her the second she reached their table.

"Yeah. Fine." Josephine nodded, although her smile was still tense. "Where are the others?"

"One of the primes is showing Raven and Emori how to build a radiation shield." He told her, a scowl on his face.

Her eyebrows furrowed. "Ryker?"

Bellamy nodded. "Yeah. I sent Echo and Miller to watch their backs."

"And Wells and my dad?"

"Raven said that she had not seen Wells since their fight last night. She seemed pretty upset about it." Bellamy scanned her features while talking, his eyes still holding a hint of worry. "And your dad is still unconscious. Abby is trying to find something to do about it in the library with Jackson."

"Okay." She nodded and sat down in the empty chair that belonged to Jordan who slipped out while she was talking to Bellamy.

Murphy flashed her a knowing smirk. "I'm guessing you two had fun last night."

Josephine's eyes slightly narrowed and she was trying to guess what he was insinuating. She did not have to think anymore when Bellamy's hand rested on her thigh. She jumped a little, earning herself another concerned look. Murphy snorted.

"Yeah." She muttered, her eyes glued to Derek who just slipped into the room through the main doors. She flashed him a smile ── a genuine one that time ── and he immediately headed in their direction.

Bellamy followed her gaze and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Hey." Derek greeted them. "Rough night, huh?"

"For some more than others." Murphy grumbled and took a long sip of his drink.

Bellamy snorted and Josephine let out an airy chuckle. Her finger started twisting a strand of her hair which Derek instantly took note of.

He met her eyes once again and asked, "Can you help me look for Raven? I can't find her."

"Yeah." Josephine perked up the second the words left his lips. She was looking for an excuse to leave and be alone with him.

Bellamy's confusion only grew as he watched his girlfriend practically jump out of her seat. He grabbed her wrist before she was able to slip away too soon.

"Hey," He started slowly, "where were you last night? I woke up in the middle of the night and you weren't there."

Josephine tried not to cringe at the realization that he was definitely her host's boyfriend and that they were sharing a bedroom.

"I went on a walk and ended up falling asleep outside." She easily lied and shrugged her wrist from his hold. "It's calming. You should try it."

She did not say another word and walked outside with Derek by her side. Bellamy watched the two of them leave with an unfamiliar feeling in his chest.

"Dude," Murphy drunkenly snorted, "if I didn't know any better, I would say she and Jaha were fucking."

He scowled. "Shut up, Murphy. And lay off the booze. It's ten in the morning."

-

Gabriella stared at the radio in disbelief. She wished that what was happening was a nightmare but once she connected everything she knew about the people in Sanctum and what was happening to her, she realized that it made sense.

She let out a frustrated sigh and got to her feet. With the radio in her hand, she made her way out of the tent and walked toward the gates of the camp which were now closed. Her eyebrows furrowed and she moved to open them but they were not budging.

"You have got to be kidding me."

-

Josephine's original plan was to see if her host's father was a nightblood. But once she realized that the man was barely alive, she left that plan for later and focused on making out with her boyfriend.

Abby, Clarke's mom, did not help much which was why she ignored everything around her except for the man who had her pressed up against the wall. They were not even trying to be subtle, only going as far as to go behind the building where anyone could walk past them.

Derek panted against her lips, their foreheads pressed together as he gripped her waist. Her eyes momentarily flickered away from his face and over his shoulder and she let out a short frustrated sigh.

Bellamy and Murphy were running up the stairs of the palace, clearly trying to sneak in.

"My host's boyfriends are trying to sneak in." Josephine muttered and met Derek's eyes.

"So?" He furrowed his eyebrows, "Why should we care? It's none of our business."

Josephine rolled her eyes and pushed him off of her so she could start following the two men. "They could easily find out about all of this if somebody doesn't catch them. And if we do that, they will run away and we won't have any more hosts."

Derek huffed, clearly not comfortable with getting mixed up in keeping her family's secrets once again. Still, he stayed quiet and followed her to the doors of the lab in the castle.

Josephine scoffed when she saw that they somehow disabled the alarm and silently opened the door to step inside.

"This is Sanctum's holiest place." She blurted out without thinking. "You shouldn't be here." Her panicked look faltered when she saw the looks the three men and two women were giving her. "I'm sorry. We just, uh, we saw you on the steps."

Murphy gave her an unimpressed look. "Does that mean your bodyguard could, too?"

"Good point." Josephine pursed her lips, "Let's take this outside."

Clarke shook her head, staring at the skeletons. "No, not yet. They have the mark of the flame. They were all commanders."

Bellamy nodded to himself, a look of realization crossing his face. "That's why the symbol was on the flag."

"Well, it's all coming together, isn't it?" Murphy quipped sarcastically, "Now can we please ago?"

"The ones in the front row must be the original Eligius team. There's twelve of them." Bellamy ranted, stopping once he came across a skeleton that was much shorter than the others. He gave it a look of disgust, "Oh, and they take kids."

"Familial love is a powerful motivator. People will do anything to ensure the survival of the ones they love." Josephine said, trying to mask her panic. "Now let's ensure our survival and get the hell out of here."

Her breath hitched when the sound of the hidden door opening echoed through the room.

"Open sesame." Jordan whispered.

Josephine's blood ran cold and she could feel Derek's worried stare burning at the side of her face.

Jordan stepped inside and they did not hesitate to follow. Josephine and Derek stayed behind and shared a worried look before following them.

"Operating room attached to a crypt. Really?" Murphy scoffed as they walked into the main lab and turned on the lights.

Jordan marched over to a piece of clothing laying on one of the drawers and picked it up. "She was here. This was Delilah's. I'm sure of it. Still think I'm overreacting?"

"Okay, let's think this through." Bellamy told him softly but sternly. "Becca created the flame after apocalypse one. She obviously provided the tech to Eligius III before that. That means that──"

"That they are not commanders." Clarke finished and Josephine shared a brief look of confusion with Derek.

"Right." Bellamy nodded. "So what the hell are they?"

Jordan walked over to the computer and sat down in the chair in front of it. "Let's find out."

Murphy hummed. "Monty taught him how to hack, too." He gave Josephine a small smirk. "That's my kind of parenting."

Josephine did nothing but blink and turn back to the computer which made him give the side of her face a confused look.

"No hacking needed. The Eligius system all use the same access code." Jordan said and Josephine felt herself growing anxious.

"Eureka. Try that." Gaia told him once a bunch of files showed up on the screen.

Jordan did as he was told and the second he did, one of Gabriel's old faces popped up. Derek almost flinched at the sight.

"𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘛𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺'𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦, 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘺𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘺-𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯. 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥. 𝘛𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺-𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺-𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘶𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳."

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭. 𝘛𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺-𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦."

"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."

Derek grimaced at the sound of the screams of agony coming from the woman behind him.

"𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭, 𝘭𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘰. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘋𝘰 𝘪𝘵."

"Do─Do what? What are they doing?" Murphy stuttered, looking between Bellamy, Derek, and Josephine in confusion.

"𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘥'𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘦, 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦!" Josephine's father yelled on the screen because the girl did not stop trashing around on the table.

"𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵. 𝘍𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵." Gabriel told him and got closer to the girl.

"𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦." Russell told him and his words made Josephine's mask of coldness falter just a little bit.

Her ex-boyfriend fought so hard to bring her and his brother back. He sacrificed his humanity for her to simply stab him in the back and choose Derek instead of him.

"𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘋𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘛𝘦𝘨𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘮'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘶𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘮. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵."

Josephine watched them insert the serum into the veins of the blonde girl.

"Did they just kill that girl?" Jordan gaped at the screen. "Did we just watch someone die?"

"𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭. 𝘓𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺'𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺."

Then, Russell passed Gabriel Josephine's first mind drive.

A minute later, the girl started waking up. Well, now that girl was Josephine rather than who she was before.

"𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨'𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱. 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘦? 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘩. 𝘚𝘩𝘩. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺. 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘯𝘰, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘦. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦. 𝘏𝘦𝘺. 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦." Russell softly comforted his daughter.

She snatched herself out of his hold and fell, backing herself into the corner of the lab. Josephine remembered the first successful host. It was a lot to deal with. The first day was always a lot to deal with but the first time was more painful than the rest.

"𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭?" Josephine gaped up at him. "𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦?"

Gabriel nodded. "𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭."

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦?" She squinted and ghosted her fingers over his beard.

"𝘐 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘭𝘥. 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺-𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘬 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬." Her eyes fell on her father and Gabriel assured her, "𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘶𝘭𝘵. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘯."

"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴𝘦. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵."

Gabriel nodded. "𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩. 𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴."

"𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦-𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵!" Josephine's grin was bright. "𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘱𝘢."

Russell let out a teary laugh and hugged her. Josephine cringed when she felt her heart soften just a little bit.

"𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘋𝘳. 𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘰. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩."

"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵'𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦. 𝘕𝘰𝘸, 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘶𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳, 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘦'𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦. 𝘐𝘯 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘬𝘢. 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯."

"They're immortal." Murphy muttered to himself in disbelief.

"They're murderers." Jordan corrected him. "They murdered Delilah."

"It's not murder if they go willingly." Josephine had to stop herself from rolling her eyes.

Bellamy looked over his shoulder to squint at her while Derek gave her a deadpan look.

"Did that girl look willing to you?" Jordan asked her loudly.

"That's how they made it better, easier, by manipulating people into believing they were sacrificing themselves to some false gods. .Becoming one with the primes' like Delilah's mother said." Gaia ranted but Josephine drowned out her words.

She turned around and slipped one of the serums for paralyzing people into the pocket of her jacket.

"Well, so much for respecting their faith." Murphy gave Gaia a knowing look. "I mean, no offense. We let a bunch of kids fight to the death to become your God."

"Murphy, that's enough." Bellamy glared at him and then turned to the woman he thought was his girlfriend. "Gabi, you're okay with this?

Josephine shook her head. "Well, I didn't say that. I just don't think they pose a threat to us, that's all."

Bellamy squinted at her in confusion. "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." Clarke gasped, realizing that she left her daughter all alone. "I have to find her."

"I'll come with you." Gaia nodded.

"Bring her back to the tavern so we can decide what to do." Bellamy told the two as all of them stepped out of the lab.

Josephine could not stay in that place anymore so she walked right out without saying goodbye to any of them.

-

Josephine ran to tell her parents everything the second that she managed to get the people from Earth off of her ass. He gave her the task of making all of them stay in Sanctum.

"El, you realize staying says we're okay with what they're doing." Madi said with an innocent type of confusion in her eyes.

Murphy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and what's the alternative? Go back to space? Sleep for another hundred years on our way to a planet even less likely to support life?"

"Build our own compound." Bellamy suggested although he did not seem too convinced in his own idea.

"We'll not last out there on our own." Murphy immediately shook his head.

"Emori, Echo, and Raven will be back in the morning. They'll know everything we need to build a radiation shield." Bellamy argued. "After that, it's just hard work."

Murphy glared at him. "Over how many lifetimes? No, seriously, how many eclipses? How many swarms? How many terrorist attacks?"

Clarke looked at Gabriella, confused at how unbothered she was being. Just as she was about to open her mouth and ask her why she was not saying anything, she beat her to it.

"I agree with Murphy." Murphy's blood ran cold at her words but he tried not to seem fazed. "I don't like who they are either, but we need them to survive."

Jordan gave her a confused look, but not for the same reason Murphy was. "They're murderers, raising people to give up their bodies, brainwashing them into believing they're gods."

"He's right." Gaia nodded. "It's a perversion of everything Bekka Pramheda believed. The flame was about passing wisdom on to the next line, not keeping it all to yourself."

"Yeah, well, no offense, but Becca wasn't a god either. She was a scientist who made herself a nightblood in the lab the same way Abby did to Clarke, Ellie, and Wells." Murphy pointed out.

Josephine's eyes briefly widened. The idea that they could create nightbloods in a lab never crossed her mind.

Madi frowned. "So much for doing better."

Bellamy's eyes widened when Jordan shot up to his feet and headed straight toward 'Dalilah'. "Hey. Hey, hey!"

Josephine used the couple of moments during which everyone was distracted by Jordan to tug Derek out of the building. Unknown to her, Bellamy was watching their every move.

She gripped Derek's hand and quickly tugged him into a dark corner.

"Primes, these people are killing me." Josephine huffed, feeling his hands slip around her waist. "I can't wait to get them off our backs."

"Gabi! Wells!" Bellamy's voice made their eyes widen and they did not expect him to immediately appear behind the corner.

He eyed 'Wells'' hands on his 'girlfriend's' waist and clenched his jaw. "What the hell is going on with you two?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Josephine crossed her arms over her chest and stepped away from Derek, immediately growing defensive. She could not have him starting to doubt his girlfriend's loyalty. Especially if it was out of the blue.

"You and I need to talk." He stated firmly and glared at Derek. "Give us a minute."

Derek raised his hands in the air in mock defense and slowly walked away, choosing to hide behind the corner to listen instead of walking away completely.

Bellamy ran the palm of his hand over his face in frustration. "What's going on? You are not yourself. And you have been sneaking around with Wells all day. Where were you two going just now?"

"To see my dad. We have been researching things to find a cure for him all day." She took a step closer to him and faked concern while placing a hand on his chest. "What's wrong?"

Bellamy shook his head, trying to tell himself that she was being honest. "How are we on different sides of this?"

"I know how they survive seems harsh. But from what I've seen, these people are happy." She shrugged. "Their world works. We destroyed ours."

Bellamy narrowed his eyes. "This isn't about us."

"So we can judge them but not ourselves?"

"You know I judge myself every day. You want to know the difference between us and them?" Bellamy raised an eyebrow and then said something in the language that Josephine could not recognize.

She figured it was the right time to use the serum for paralysis and subtly slipped her hand into her pocket. There was no way to get out of that now.

Josephine blinked dumbly. "I'm sorry. Can you repeat that last phrase? It sounds like flashpa means flashback. So was it a dream?"

She could see the exact moment Bellamy Blake's world shattered into little pieces. The woman he loved was dead and the woman standing in front of him, wearing her face, was just a stranger.

He grabbed her by her jacket and slammed her against the wall. He covered her mouth to keep her from screaming and growled. "Who are you?"

She stuck the syringe into his neck and he immediately dropped to the floor. His wide and shocked eyes stared up at her while she smirked.

"Josephine Lightbourne. Nice to meet you."

-

Gabriella's mouth fell open in shock when she could not hear the sound of Bellamy's voice anymore.

Her eyes filled with tears as only one question filled her head. Did Josephine kill him?

"Fuck." She cried into the palm of her hand in the middle of the empty camp.

Her eyes widened when the sound of Murphy's voice was heard from the radio and she, once again, started listening intently.

She wiped the tears from her red cheeks as she listened to their conversation.

"You're not Ellie."

"I'm gonna be honest with you. She's dead. My parents killed her and brought me back. My question is, how would you like to be immortal, too?"

"I'm listening."

Gabriella felt sick.