Chapter 37: Ch. 37 – Raven and Lexa: A Secret Revealed

Raven sat at the desk in her room in the Second Dawn Bunker with a dozen or so crumpled pieces of paper littering the floor. She had completed five letters that she was supposed to prewrite for Kane, but Lexa could not tell her how long they would be gone, so she had to make sure there were enough. The problem was that she had quickly run out of things to write about.

There was a knock on her door which made Raven sigh with annoyance and shouted out, "Come in."

The door opened and a cloaked figure walked.

"Cute... Did you walk the whole way here like that?" Raven remarked before turning her attention back to the letter that she was working on.

"I see why you two get along so well," Lexa replied as she pulled off her hood. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'm packed; I just wanna finish this last letter."

"Take your time."

Lexa sat down in an empty chair then closed her eyes as she started to meditate to restore her energy. Although Raven recognized that she was in the same state that Octavia would often go into, Lexa's presence in her room still made her uncomfortable. She ended up finishing the letter quickly by mentioning that Wick was being transferred to Polis which was code that she was leaving with Lexa.

"I'm done," Raven announced as she pushed her chair back and tossed down her pen.

"Alright," Lexa sighed, opening her eyes.

Raven grabbed her bag from the bed and stood up.

"Now... I need a spot to place a mark on you that is easily hidden but won't get me anymore of Octavia's wrath than I need," Lexa said with a light chuckle.

"What?"

"Our powers work in different ways. To take you through the Shadow Realm, you have to be marked by a Naru Darc, or the darkness will claim you. It sounds crazy, I know, but I have used this ability twice before to move someone between the tower and outside Polis. It will just be a little unsettling and cold while we move through it, but it won't last more than a few seconds."

That made Raven pause for a moment, but she was not going to change her mind with everything that Octavia was already doing for them. She put a foot on her chair then pulled up her pant leg and asked, "Does this work?"

"Sure," Lexa replied while she leaned over. Her hand turned jet-black as she reached Raven's calf and started to draw a spiraling eye shape with her finger. "There... Once I teach Octavia how to connect to the Shadow Realm, she'll be able to replace this with her own symbol, but until then, it will allow me to track you and come to your aid if something happens. You just need to tap it three times, and I'll know that you need help no matter how far away you are."

"Convenient," Raven remarked as she pulled down her pant leg.

"I like to think so. Do you need anything else?" Lexa asked, standing up straight and pulling her hood back on.

"No, I'm ready."

"Then take my hand," Lexa said with an outstretched hand.

Raven grabbed the charm on her necklace with one hand while she took Lexa's with the other. Instantly, the world around her turned to black and a bone-chilling breeze seemed to cut through her body. The only beacon of warmth came from Lexa's hand, so she could not help but tighten her grip as she felt herself being pulled through the darkness.

As Lexa had promised, it only lasted for a few seconds before the pair stepped into the forest that surrounded Polis. It was the middle of the night, but Gustus was waiting for them with three horses, though the third was for the gear that they were bringing with them. Lexa stumbled a little as a black streak of blood dripped from her eye, but she caught herself before she could fall.

"Heda," Gustus said with concern.

"I'm fine... It just takes a lot more out of me to move someone else," Lexa replied dismissively as she wiped away the streak of blood. "Secure Raven's bag on the horse. The sooner that we set out, the sooner we can return."

"Yes, Heda," he replied with a nod.

Lexa rubbed her temples in a vain attempt to alleviate her migraine as she walked over to her horse. Raven took off her backpack and handed it over to Gustus then headed over to her own horse. The two women mounted up while Gustus tied the bag onto the third horse.

"Are you sure that I can't come with you, Heda? I know you're strong, but..." Gustus started.

"It will just draw more attention to us, and I need you and Titus to manage Polis while I am gone. We need this to remain a secret for as long as possible. Now, my bow," Lexa cut him off.

He pulled the quiver off and passed it over to Lexa then did the same with the bow. She slid both over her shoulder then gave him a nod.

"Hopefully, this won't take more than a couple of weeks, but I expect you to take care of my city while I'm gone," Lexa reminded.

"Of course, Heda," Gustus agreed as he passed her the lead rope for the pack horse.

Lexa tapped her horse with her heels and urged it forward with Raven following behind. Gustus could only watch on in silence as they rode away and were swallowed by the night. Even with the horses, it would still take them nearly a week to reach Becca's Island, so Lexa did not set a rushed pace.

"How are you holding up?" Lexa asked as the sky began to lighten.

"I've been better," Raven retorted.

"Then let's stop for a bit to eat and stretch. This is only the beginning and the riding isn't going to get any easier," Lexa said, pulling her horse to a stop.

"No complaints from me."

The pair dismounted and tied their horses to the nearby trees.

"If you can collect some wood, I'll get a few things unpacked and start the fire once you're done," Lexa offered.

"Alright," Raven agreed then walked off.

There was a level of awkward tension between the two women since they had spent no time together alone and their backgrounds were very different. Katye's hope was that after this little mission, they could be friends, since she knew that she and Rebecca would be together for a long time after things were settled in this world. Other than a few conversations with her and what Tori had told her in her past life, she really did not know a lot about Rebecca, so she hoped that Raven could give her some insight.

"Here; I can't have you catching a cold," Lexa said as she draped a heavy winter cloak over Raven's shoulders as they settled down.

"Thanks."

Lexa knelt down by the small pile of wood and built up a small frame to cradle the kindling while catching the rest of the wood on fire once she lit it. The problem was, she had never actually lit a fire by sparking rocks together, even if she had Lexa's memories. It took several tries, but eventually, she got a spark to land in the right place and gently blew it into a real fire.

"I've got to get Octavia to teach me how to conjure flames. It's embarrassing how bad I am at this," Lexa remarked as she sat down.

Raven chuckled, "I guess you normally have other people do that kind of thing for you."

"Yeah, but it's nice to finally get out of Polis without an entourage of people following me. It's been years since I've been able to act like a normal person. I'm pretty sure that only Octavia sees me that way."

"I'm not sure either of you count as normal anymore," Raven said with a bit of humor.

Lexa chuckled and nodded her head. "Fair enough, but I am jealous of the freedom that she gets to have to be herself while I'm stuck being Heda and having to play the part."

"But didn't you want to be the leader of your people?"

Shaking her head, she explained, "Whenever a Natblida is found, they are taken in by the Fleimkepa and raised from a young age to learn how to fight and lead our people. When the current Heda dies, we hold a Conclave where we fight each other to the death and then the surviving Natblida receives the Flame. I never had a choice on whether or not I wanted to become Heda, only if I wanted to live or die."

"Oh... I'm sorry," Raven said quietly.

"It's fine. Like Octavia, I've made my peace with the past."

"What was she like during your past lives? She never really talks about it."

"Actually, you probably know her better than me. While 'I' was alive, I only met her handful of times and always in formal occasions. Maddie's memories of her are limited because Clarke kept them separated from each other. While we have our memories of our past life, it is closer say that it's like watching a playback on a screen yet knowing that it did happen. That's probably why she was so hesitant to step forward because she knew that she would have to shoulder even more this time around, especially because she didn't know that I got the same second chance."

"I guess that's how she can jump between her serious side and her oddball side so easily."

Lexa chuckled, "I was actually hoping you could tell me a little bit about her since the four of us will be spending a lot of time together after Praimfaya hits."

"What are you talking about?"

"She didn't tell you? The reason why we want Abby to recreate the Nightblood serum is to make you, Octavia, and another into Natblidas so that we can travel between the bunkers, hopefully Arkadia, and Eden. This way, if something happens at one location, the others might be able to make up for the problem... That's what caused Blodreina to be born, and no one wants to see that."

"When Octavia was in the bunker with Kane and Abby, right?" Raven asked with a note of concern.

Lexa nodded, but defended Rebecca as best she could, "She's not the same person that she was during that time. If the Ark was harsh, then that bunker was hell... Their only other option was to watch themselves die slowly. She did what she had to, to make sure that everyone lived and then did everything that she could to make up for it. Octavia was the one to stop the Final War and gave everyone the chance at true peace."

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"Final War?" Raven asked.

Lexa shook her head and replied, "Something I won't elaborate on because Octavia and I have yet to agree on whether or not we'll allow it to happen. It's not something that I can describe easily, anyways. I just don't want you to judge her too harshly because of what the old her was forced to do... she already beats herself up enough with what she has done in this life."

"With everything that she has already done for me, I would be a terrible person to hate her for something that she hasn't done yet."

"I'm glad that you two have each other this time... yet another thing that I am jealous of," Lexa said with a soft chuckle.

"Yeah... me too," Raven agreed with a smile as she grabbed the charm around her neck, then after a few minutes, asked, "Who's the fourth?"

"The person that I've trusted to send back into the Ice Nation to help Octavia..."

~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~

Lexa and Raven had been on the road for six days when they stopped at the ruins of an Old-World port city. The original name had been lost to time, but the concrete dock still functioned which was why they were here. They stopped their horses outside the dock at a small building while four men walked out and knelt.

"Your boat is ready, Heda," one of the men said.

"Good. Help us transfer our things and then explain the controls of the ship to my attendant," Lexa replied as she and Raven dismounted.

The men stood up and started unloading the pack horse. Raven took her bag from them, and Lexa grabbed one of her own before all of them made their way down the boardwalk. A member of Floukru went over the controls for the ship with her while Lexa dug through the bags and found the map. It was easy for Raven to pick up everything that he explained, and they set sail within an hour of arriving.

"Now... here's the fun bit that I left out. I have no idea where Becca's Island actually is. I just know that it's off the coast of Massachusetts and we need to look for a lighthouse," Lexa explained as she spread out the map.

"Did you two agree to leave out every important detail, or is this just a trademark of those that get a second chance at their lives?" Raven asked, rolling her eyes.

"Probably a combination of both," Lexa chuckled.

Raven sighed with annoyance, but there was still a light smile on her face since she had gotten to know Lexa. It was almost a little scary how similar Lexa and Octavia were when they relaxed around someone else. She always kept a respectable distance between them, but there were several times that she caught herself comparing them to each other.

"It should take us roughly six hours to get into that region if we can keep up this speed," Raven said as she consulted the map.

"Good, that gives me time to explain my ideas on how we are going to shut her down. There are two main options: you hack into her mainframe and figure out how to shut down, or I take the Key and hope that I can figure out how to tap into the Flame to shut her down from the inside out."

"I need more than that," Raven sighed.

"I was dead when all of this happened originally! I've only got bits and pieces from what Clarke told Maddie growing up," Lexa lied. "How Clarke did it before was by having the Flame implanted in her and then took the Key which allowed her to enter Alie's virtual world to use the back door to shut her down, but it will be a race against time because the Flame is the more advanced version of the AI program and Alie will be able to update herself. I do have Becca's kill code as well, but Alie will lock us out the moment she realizes what we are trying to do."

Raven rubbed her temple with her free hand while the other steered the ship. "I get why Octavia didn't want me to come," she sighed. "What kind of defenses does she have? Physical ones, not virtual."

"Other than the people that she can control, there are some automated drones that are armed with guns, but you should be able to hack them if we can disable one of them."

"You sure have a lot of faith in my abilities."

"You may not have the brain upgrade from Alie that you did before, but even she knew you were special from the beginning. Believe in yourself, and I'll help make up for whatever else that you can't handle," Lexa said with a smile.

"Thanks."

~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~

"I guess she knows that we're here," Raven remarked as a drone circled their boat.

"Many people go looking for the City of Light, so she is probably deciding whether or not we're refugees or scavengers," Lexa replied.

The drone made last circle then took off towards the northeast.

"It looks like we have our heading," Lexa remarked.

"As you command, Heda," Raven chuckled as she turned the ship to follow the drone.

"I'm not sure if I can survive living with you two for six years; both of your humor is terrible," Lexa replied with a wry smile.

"Ah, you'll get used to it."

The lighthouse came into view after another half hour of sailing and the drone led them to a small dock where a large man was standing. Lexa recognized him right away from the show since he had followed Jaha until Murphy and Emori had to kill him, so she knew that he was already chipped. Before they docked, she handed Raven a handgun then hid another one under her shirt.

"I thought Grounders didn't use guns," Raven said as she tucked away her gun.

"I wasn't always a Grounder," Lexa chuckled.

Raven cut the engines and let their inertia carry them the rest of the way to the dock. Lexa pulled the hood of her cloak over her head then picked up the rope, so that she could tie the boat to the dock. She jumped onto the wooden platform when they were close enough as the man slowly walked towards them.

"Have you come seeking the City of Light or are you seeking to trade tech?" he asked.

"Tech," Raven announced as she retrieved a large case that had some spare gear salvaged from the Second Dawn Bunker and set it on the railing of the ship, opening it up.

Although the man seemed more interested in what Raven had, Lexa could sense the feeling of danger that he was giving off. There was no reason for him to be so close to her when Raven was the one talking, yet she would have to cross right in front of him if she walked back onto the boat. Using her cloak to hide her actions, she drew her gun then started head over to Raven, but her senses did not betray her.

"This is all I want," he replied, grabbing Lexa.

Before anyone could react, Lexa stirred her power and twisted out of his grip then shot him in the head without any hesitation.

"Whoa!" Raven exclaimed as she backed away.

"Damnit! He changed it! There is no way that Alie should know that I have the second AI!" Lexa cursed.

"What are you talking about? Who changed what?!?" Raven demanded.

Lexa instantly realized that she had said something that she should not have, but thankfully, the buzzing sound of a dozen drones quickly filled the air, so Raven could not press her any further.

"Come on, I know a safe place where I can get you. Bringing you with me was a mistake, I'm sorry... I should have known things would be different this time," Lexa said, holding out a hand.

Raven sighed but took her hand anyways. The world faded to black instantly and she felt herself being dragged along behind Lexa. When the light returned, she found herself standing in a luxurious living room with wood paneling on the walls, a large leather couch, and a giant television up on one of the walls. Lexa stumbled and quickly sat down on the couch as pain exploded through her head.

"I want answers," Raven said with no sympathy as Lexa held her head.

Lexa chuckled weakly, despite the pain, and looked up at her as a black streak dripped from her eye. "I would have thought she would have been the first to slip up, but it looks like I'm the fool who made the mistake... Damn... she's going to hate me for this, but you love her, right? No matter what? You know that all she wants is to keep you and the rest of your friends safe?"

Raven grabbed the charm around her and took a moment before she agreed, "I do."

"Octavia is Octavia, and I am Lexa... but we weren't always these people. A being beyond our understanding placed us here, in your world, with knowledge of the future, these powers, and the memories of the original owners of our bodies. I obviously had personal reasons to change 'my' fate, but she could have chosen to follow the path that we had been given since she survived the Final War. Our world... hell, I guess it's this world, but we lived and died before the bombs wiped out the majority of Earth. Neither of us had met before we found each other in Tondc and we don't know why we were chosen to be brought here, but we were told that the other existed, just not who the other was. We didn't tell anyone because how do you tell Bellamy that Octavia died and that another soul took over her body? If my own people found out that I had replaced Lexa, they would kill me in a heartbeat and then no one would be able to survive Praimfaya," Lexa said honestly, while still leaving out a few things.

Raven walked over unsteady and sat down in an empty chair as she processed what she had just heard. After a few minutes, she asked quietly, "For how long?"

"Since the day that your people sent down the hundred to the surface."

Raven looked down at the raven charm in her hand and ran her thumb over it as every memory that she had made with Octavia replayed through her mind. "Everyone, but Bellamy, has only known her... I've only known her..." she said softly. "Do you know what her name was before?"

"Rebecca... Rebecca Dawn Cox, but she says that she went by Becca."

"I knew she was still hiding things, but this... no wonder there's that troubled look in her eyes every time I say Octavia. Thank you for telling me."

"I know that she would have told you when things calmed down some, but she feared that you wouldn't accept her if you knew the truth. She still carries the weight of every death that, in her mind, she allowed to happen, but our past lives were peaceful, even more so than what life was like on the Ark compared to here. She wasn't ready to handle everything that she knew was coming... I don't think she could keep doing this without you, Raven."

"I'm not going anywhere," Raven replied with a soft smile as she tucked her charm back under her shirt. "It's going to take a lot more than... Rebecca to scare me off after everything we've been through."

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