Rampant: A Divergent FanFiction (Book Two) ©

Epilogue

Epilogue: Iris' P.O.V.

                 I sit in my seat, mouth agape, heart thundering, as I see who Sage’s mystery opponent –Ira the Deathly– truly is. Ally, there’s no mistaking it; though her face is twisted into a rabid snarl, and her eyes appear wild with bloodlust, it’s her.

               How can it be? Less than an hour ago, we’d been talking about how after we finished initiation, she and I would be bunking together in a shared room. Before even that, we’d been discussing how fortunate we were that Sage had managed to train us before Banks had witnessed us going through a simulation; so far, we’d both managed to slide by undetected.

               I can’t help but wonder now, just where did things go wrong?

 

                For days Ally had been acting strange, more thoughtful and meditative than she normally was. I had worried. Since we both shared not only dauntless, but also erudite as a faction, I knew that overthinking things was a problem I commonly had, and so I figured it might to be something similar for her. After some prodding from me, she’d told me the reason why she was so out of sorts; it was love troubles, more specifically, Sage troubles that had her mind reeling.

               Though it really didn’t come as much of a surprise to me –I’d known for a while that Sage wasn’t the only one battling what he felt– I had nodded and tried to appear surprised. Thank god Ally didn’t come from candor, because I knew if it had been Sage who’d been telling me this, he would’ve seen past my facade of astonishment. He was irritatingly good at that; not a secret was safe from him if he truly set about to finding answers.

               “So you see, I can never be with him.”

               “Hmm.” I’d said with a raised brow. “Hey Ally, do you know why I liked you and wanted to be friends with you back when we first met?” She didn’t answer, but I continued on. “Because even when I’d only known you for a few minutes, I could tell you were a fighter, someone who didn’t give up on what they wanted. You used to be so fearless, even when the odds were stacked against you.”

               “Iris, why are you saying all this in past tense?” She’d asked with a frown. “I’m still that same girl inside.”

               “Could’ve fooled me,” I’d lied, hoping my plan to get her to react would work. “I mean, it seems to me you must not really love Sage, not if you’re willing to give him up because you’re afraid of a little hard work. Think about it, nothing good ever came easy.”

               “Okay, I’ll give you that,” she’d eventually said with a huff. “But what if he doesn’t feel the same way? All that stuff he said before could’ve just been said in the heat of the moment, or to spare my feelings.”

               “Jesus, Ally are you serious?” I’d said with a sharp laugh. “I’ve known him longer than you, so let me just tell you this, even at his complete and utter worst, Sage has never been able to lie convincingly to those he cares about.” I’d grabbed her shoulder and given her a playful shake. “Come on, rev up that erudite brain of yours. He said he wanted to get over her, to be right for you, that he cared! What else do you want, a written contract?”

               “But what if–”

               “Can you magically turn off your amity, erudite, or dauntless traits?”