19This is it! The final chapter. Thank you all so much for reading! It took me a year to finish but I'm so happy with the results. Comments are welcomed! This chapter is named after How it Ends by Devotchka. Enjoy and thank you again! ~Carly
Odette and Murphy rushed up the steps, weapons in hand. He'd brought a gun for each of them from the safe house; it was all he could carry without rising suspicion.
Bellamy, Clarke and Isaac should already have been nearing the dining room. The plan was simple, use the Isaac's loyal guards to disarm Basil's unknowing men throughout the estate, leaving the path open for them to get to Basil. Bellamy, Clarke, and Isaac, however, knew they'd still have to fight their way through, and each were armed with a fully loaded rifle.
Isaac had considered striding back into the Estate with his guards behind him and arresting Basil, but he wanted to catch the traitors in the act. He explained it would be the only way to ensure Odette's innocence.
When they reached the hall, they stepped over the body of the guard Murphy had knocked out with the butt of his rifle. Odette only glanced down, unnerved, as they moved away from him.
"Do you know the way to the dining room?" he whispered. Though he'd been down these exact halls before, he could not retrace his path.
Odette nodded, "follow me."
Reluctantly, he agreed, "be careful, most of Basil's guards should be taken out by now but I wouldn't be surprised if we find more."
Odette led John through the halls, guns drawn to their chests. She felt the cold steel of a knife agaisnt her ankle, tucked away in her boot. They rounded each corner slowly, cautiously. If a guard appeared before them, guns drawn, she was prepared to shoot, but it would be nearly impossible to tell who was on their side and who wasn't before it would be too late.
They had come across a few Estate guards, but many were already disarmed and tied up, or knocked out cold. None of Isaac's guards were in the halls, Odette assumed he needed all their fire power in the dining room.
They were nearly to the french doors when they heard a group approaching with heavy steps, moving quickly. Odette pressed herself agaisnt the wall, but John leaned forward. The group of guards was upon them in a moment, and they didn't hesitate to pull their weapons, but John was quicker, and he mowed the three down in quick succession. The three men fell instantly, eyes open and empty.
As John let his gun down, the silence was buzzing. He looked to her as he caught his breath. She only nodded in support, and the two continued to the dining room. She refused to look down as she rounded the bodies.
When the reached the double doors to the dining room, they listened for a moment. They had heard no gunshots as they approached and now the only heard muffled voices.
Odette took a deep breath, gathering her courage. She knew a stand off was beyond that door; guns pointed at other guns, and only one side would get out alive.
Together, they each grabbed a door handle pushed their way into the room. In front of them, Bellamy, Clarke, Isaac and a slew of his guards stood with their guns drawn toward Basil, who stood across the room, away from the table. Behind him were ten of his own guards. It was nearly an even match.
The room went silent as they entered and Isaac glanced back.
Fuming at the sight of Basil, Odette pushed her way forward to stand beside Isaac. John followed.
"Ah, I should have expected," Basil smirked when he saw her, his arms were raised above his head as if in surrender, but the armed guards behind him with guns raised suggested other intentions. "Let me guess, you sent your little lover boy to save your husband?" He glanced to John, "what a sacrifice you've made," he said dryly.
"Shut up," John spat, raising his rifle toward him.
Basil only chuckled, "I'm afraid I'm no good at that, savage." He turned back to Isaac, "what do you do now, boy? Kill your uncle in cold blood? Your only living family?"
Isaac gritted his teeth, "you had no problem killing your only family when you sent your Guards to kill me."
Basil sighed, "I am sorry about that, necessary evils, I'm afraid. Your father should have given the Governorship to me, we both know that," he took one small step forward, everyone tensed, "but he was a selfish man. He chose you, a inexperienced child, out of spite."
"It is mine by right," Isaac said simply. Odette clung harder to the rifle that hung over her shoulder.
"I have a proposal," Basil droned on, "no one knows you are alive, son. This is your chance, this is your chance," he repeated vigorously, "your chance for freedom, to live a life outside of responsibility. I will let you, your wife and the savages leave the City alive. You can all go back to Arkadia and live as you wish, without the weight of a city on your shoulders. I will take it for you, son. I will bare the burden."
He almost sounded convincing, but Odette knew Isaac better. He wouldn't fall for this. He'd been raised for duty. It was in his blood; it's what he lived for. He didn't want anything else. Not even her.
Isaac shook his head, "no, Uncle. It is my burden and my joy."
Basil released his arms from the air and let them lay limp at his sides, "then, so be it, nephew."
Odette wasn't sure who fired the first shot, but within an isntant bullets were flying across the dining room. She flew to the floor, feeling John's arm over her. She dove for the table, firing two shots into no where. The room was a frenzy of blood and bullets; the sides were no longer clear. She clawed for John behind her, but he was just out of reach at the end of the table. She positioned herself under a chair, resting her arm and gun on the seat to take aim. She only got one shot off before she felt strong hands pulling her back from under her arms.
For a moment, she was in the forest again, being dragged from sleep into the cold grasp of a Grounder with a death wish.
Her captor pulled her to her feet and she felt a knife at her throat. Again, the forest flashed before her eyes.
"Odette!" John roared as he jumped from below the table. The bullets ceased at his outburst and the room went still, focusing on Odette and the man behind her.
"Love is weakness, you know," Basil whispered harshly into her ear, pushing the end of the knife into her soft neck. She felt a warm drop of blood run down to her collar bone.
She dropped the gun instantly and it clattered to the floor. She saw Isaac across the room, holding his side as blood seeped through his shirt. John kept his gun trained on Basil, who used her as a shield.
"Put the guns down or I cut her throat," Basil threatened, specifically to John.
She looked to him and saw the torment behind his eyes. She had never seen such fear there.
"John," she cooed, trying to calm him, whilst nearly forgetting to breath herself, "take the shot."
He shook his head once and swallowed hard, as if he couldn't speak. It broke her heart.
"John," her voice cracking, she felt tears begin to brim in her eyes. "John, it's okay. You need to save Isaac."
He didn't respond at all this time, just continued to hold the gun, continued to contemplate his choice. She could see the debate raging in him.
She couldn't force him to make this decision. It wasn't his to make.
How could she have forgotten?
"It's okay," she whispered again.
Odette raised her head, hoping to distract Basil, and she slowly lifted her leg. In an instant, she grabbed the blade from her boot and spun around, digging the knife into Basil's neck.
She stood before him as he fell, knees first, to the tile floor. She starred down at him, suddenly transported to a forest, watching a Grounder bleed out in front of her. But it was Basil. He held his neck, trying to keep in the blood, as if his hands would do anything.
She listened as he choked on his own blood.
She felt hands on her shoulders and then John was before her.
"Odette, Odette, are you okay?" he asked frantically.
She looked up at him, confused, and then down at her hands. Her right hand was soaked with bright, warm blood. She starred at it, before closing it into a fist.
"Yes," she said simply, "yes."
She found John on the balcony that stretched out from her room at the Estate.
The night had come and gone, and Isaac had been restored to power. Odette was clean of blood and John was clean of worry.
"Hey," she said softly as she came up behind him.
He turned to greet her and leaned against the railing. The sun was just beginning to rise in the east, and the sky was a soft canvas of blue and pink.
She came beside him and leaned over the rail, gazing out over the rooftops of the City.
"Before I met you, I'd never left this place," she said absent-mindedly.
John turned and rested his arms on the railing beside her, letting his shoulder touch hers.
"I know," he said.
"You changed everything," she looked at him, "everything."
He chuckled, "you did that yourself, Odette. I could never stop you."
She smiled, "no, you couldn't."
The two stood in silence for a moment, appreciating the peace that surrounded them for the first time in weeks.
"Basil and his guards will be tried for high treason and executed," Odette broke the silence, "and..." she trailed off.
"And?" he asked, looking down at her, raising his eyebrows.
"And Isaac is annulling our marriage."
John nearly lost his grip on the balcony rail, "what?" he asked, stunned.
"Annulled. It never happen-" before she could finish, John was swinging her in his arms. She giggled wildly as he put her down, showering her in a flutter of kisses.
He pulled away, grinning wider than she'd ever seen him do before.
"So, now what?" he asked, holding her close, "we can't stay here..." he glanced toward her room.
"No, we can't," she sighed, "there is always the apartment. We could go back there, get jobs, live in peace, grow old..." she trailed off and glanced out toward the slowly rising sun.
John studied her, "but we can't do that, can we?" he asked.
She turned back to him and shrugged, "after all this? No, I don't think we can."
He sighed, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but we could go back to Arkadia."
She perked up at his suggestion, "we could? Are they not joining the City?"
John shook his head, "Bellamy and Clarke made it sound like they were going to stay at Arkadia until they are sure no more survivors from the Ark crash are out there. Once they come here, they'd never be able to find them."
"Sounds like an adventure," she smiled.
He groaned jokingly, "yes, it does."
She hit him playfully on the shoulder and pulled away, leaning forward on the balcony again. The sun had slowly begun to creep above the horizon.
"I love you, you know," John said from behind her.
She looked over her shoulder and smiled softly, "I know," she said, and she turned back to the sun. "You fell from the stars to be here. This is where you were meant to be."
She felt him wrap his arms around her waist and rest his chin on her shoulder. "I know," he whispered.
