𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐋 [The 100]

𝟎𝟏𝟐: 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙀𝙉𝙀𝙈𝙔 𝙊𝙁 𝙈𝙔 𝙀𝙉𝙀𝙈𝙔

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

She had been skeptical when she put the small black headphones on her head. Maybe it was some kind of self-protection - the fear of being disappointed. She had imagined this moment for so long, fantasized about it during the day and dreamed about it at night. But now this moment seemed so unbelievable. Almost as if she couldn't accept the fact that what she had longed for so long was finally within her grasp.
Her brown eyes fixed on the small screen, which flickered, rustled and didn't seem to work at all. Her doubts disappeared, however, as soon as her small headphones crackled and spat out a squeaky female voice that she had long been familiar with:

"Alice? Alice, can you hear me?" A face flickered on the screen - honey blonde hair and two sparkling green eyes looking at her with concern.
"Mom?" Her voice broke. Glassy-eyed, she reached forward and placed her fingertips on the flickering screen that revealed her mother. "Oh my God, mom. I miss you so much." Tears streamed down her cheeks and dripped down her chin onto the blue cloth jacket - Wells' jacket. She lowered her head for a moment, trying to regain her composure. Her mother shouldn't have to see this - her breakdown. Alice knew that she would only worry if she knew how alone Alice actually felt on the ground.

As her brown eyes returned to the screen, she noticed that her mother had long since burst into tears of her own. Sobbing, she had brought her hands to her lips, her wide green eyes focused solely on her daughter.
"I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I'm so sorry that this happened to you." She sniffled and took a shaky breath as if trying to compose herself. Alice, however, noticed how badly she was shaking and saw the tears that wouldn't stop falling from her red eyes. She was pale - more so than usual - while deep dark shadows loomed over her face.

"I should've been there to protect you," she whimpered, completely devastated. Alicent immediately shook her head.
"No, mom."
"This is my fault. I should've been there. I'm your mother!"
"This isn't your fault, mom. I'm fine." Alice wiped the tears from her cheeks and smiled a small, gentle smile. "You don't have to worry about me, okay? I'm fine. We've got food down here and plenty to drink. We've even set up tents. I'm really fine." She tried to be as uplifting as possible, and to give her mother the impression that everything on Earth was perfect - which couldn't be further from the truth. Still, she didn't want her mother to worry.

Her words seemed to soothe Emilia for a moment - to stanch the tears on her pale white cheeks. Alice's lips parted to tell her about her new friendships - which didn't really exist - and about the weather and the deer she'd seen in the woods, before the figure in the background of her distraught mother made her freeze. She watched as a hand rested on the blonde's slender, trembling shoulder before another face appeared on the monitor.

Suddenly, she looked into the two brown eyes that had haunted her in her dreams, staring into the face of the man she had cursed all her life.
"Dad?" She made it sound like a question as she watched his hand slip from her mother's shoulder and wrap around her waist instead. He was sitting right next to her now, comforting her in a way, while his eyes focused on his daughter's face.
"Alicent," he said in his usual serious manner, "are you all right?" He drew his eyebrows together and studied her. Even through the screen, she could feel his brown eyes burning dozens of tiny holes in her skin. Strangely, she didn't feel provoked, as she usually did, but relieved. She was glad to see him - to look at his usually stern facade and listen to his monotonous voice, which this time, she was sure, seemed a little softer, more concerned. He pressed his lips together as if suddenly nervous.
Maybe he really had missed her as much as she had missed him, Alice thought as she began to nod.