children of gabriel;
❛ HOMECOMING ❜ ↷ the hundred
❝ mountain slayer ❞
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Gabriella was terrified. The sight of the man that she loved since she was fifteen laying on the floor in front of her, barely breathing, was making her want to throw up. It did not matter that she was not in love with him for years, she still felt like she was having a nightmare that she couldn't wake up from.
"Uh, guys..." Clarke's voice made Gabriella look away from Murphy's unconscious body in order to follow her gaze. Her breath hitched at the sight of a crowd of adults trailing behind the children that got there a minute prior.
"Remember, we're in their home." Bellamy reminded them, taking his worried eyes off of his girlfriend to give everyone ── especially his sister ── a pointed look. "Everyone keep calm."
"Weapons down."
Raven didn't even have it in her to argue with Clarke on this and sat her gun down as the rest of them did the same.
"Abby, stay with Murphy. Gabi ── "
"I'll stay too." Gabriella cut Bellamy off. He gave her a concerned look. His eyes scanned her red and wide frantic eyes that kept flickering back to Murphy and grew even more guilty. The dirty blonde responded to his look with a nod and a small reassuring smile that looked more like a grimace. Bellamy sighed but made his way toward the newcomers. The second they saw them getting closer, they held their weapons up and got ready to attack. Gabriella's eyes widened and she watched Clarke attempt to calm them down.
"Hey, It's okay. We're from Earth. We come in peace."
Children rushed towards their parents and stood behind the grown-ups who stared at them with wary gazes.
"Kaylee, where have you been? Where's your family?" An unfamiliar woman asked their hostage who gave Raven a glaring look and shakily responded.
"They killed them."
Gabriella's eyes closed in frustration and she mentally flinched. Their chances for peace were getting lower by the second. All eyes turned to Raven whose eyes stayed glued to the ground.
"That's not good." Jordan muttered to himself.
Murphy let out a loud gasp which made Gabriella's eyes widen in surprise and concern. She was a hundred percent sure that things could not get any worse than that.
"No, not now, not now." Abby gasped, "He's seizing."
"Help us, please. Our friend's dying." Clarke pleaded and got down onto the ground next to Gabriella to make an attempt to help Murphy. She leaned over her to place two fingers on his pulse. "He's not breathing."
Gabriella's heart sank.
A man in the back of the crowd spoke up, "Let me pass."
On command, every single person in the crowd parted to make a path for the unfamiliar man. They revealed an older man with guards behind him. It did not take a genius to figure out that he was some sort of leader there. He looked slightly intimidating and strict, but that was not the only reason why he reminded Gabriella of Kane.
"Move them back." He instructed and weapons were immediately raised in the direction of Gabriella and the Griffin women.
"What the hell are you doing? He's dying." Gabriella snapped, disbelief lacing her words.
He raised an eyebrow, looking unimpressed. "You want my help or not?" Gabriella swallowed and allowed Clarke to grab her by the crook of her elbow to pull her up with her. The man lifted Murphy's shirt to reveal more black veins. Gabriella felt like she was going to throw up. "He's already dead. Fortunately for him, death is not the end. Cillian, he was exposed to the seaweed during the red sun. Do it."
Cillian made his way towards Murphy and took something out of the big black bag beside him. 𝘈 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘬𝘦. Gabriella's mouth fell agape at the sight of him starting to place the snake on her ex-boyfriend's chest. She took a step forward and open her mouth to ask him what the hell he was doing when Clarke squeezed her forearm and gave her a warning look. She whispered, "Not now."
"We call it Kepa-She, which means hideous snake in Chinese."
The snake proceeded to bite Murphy and Clarke gasped in shock. "Oh, my God."
Cillian looked up to meet her gaze, "Trust me, I know, but the venom degrades too quickly to deliver it in any other form."
The black veins started to fade away, causing Gabriella to give Cillian a confused look. "It's working?"
"Amazing, isn't it?" Their leader asked, seeming satisfied with his work. "Its curative properties were discovered during one of the earliest red suns. Poison made the demon Gabriel believe he could walk on water. The Kepa-She bit him, and the toxin from the seaweed had no effect."
Murphy let out a cough and sharply inhaled which made Gabriella's eyes jump away from the snake to his face. A sigh of relief escaped her lips when his eyes slowly opened.
"He's breathing." Clarke told everyone with a relieved smile. Bellamy let out a long breath that he didn't even know he was holding and ran a hand through his hair. He was glad that he didn't hurt his friend and didn't take another innocent life.
"Well done, Cillian." the older man praised, "Now lock them up."
"Yes, sir." Echoed through the air before a guard grabbed Gabriella by her wrists to keep her from fighting them off. She groaned and trashed in his hold as she was dragged away with her friends. Clarke was even more frustrated than her and kept yelling until Bellamy told her to keep quiet.
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.
-
When that half-bald grandpa told his guards to "lock them up" Gabriella expected their cell to look like those cells in Arkadia or just dirt with four walls like the cells grounders used to have. She most certainly didn't expect their jail cells to look like full-sized apartments. Why was she even surprised? They had a whole castle.
"Why is he not waking up?" Bellamy asked impatiently. He, Gabriella, Emori, and Abby were surrounding the table that Murphy was laying on. He was only awake for a couple of seconds and then fell unconscious again. They were a hundred percent sure that he was going to be okay so they didn't worry too much.
Jasper, Wells, Emori, and Echo were brought to them a couple of minutes after they got there. Emori immediately thought that she was the cause of Murphy's condition.
"He will." Abby assured him.
"I can't believe I did this to him." Emori said, her words so quiet that they were practically a whisper. Her eyes were full of guilt as she stared down at her boyfriend's face. She could not bring herself to look away from the damage that she thought she had done.
Bellamy squeezed her hand in an attempt to comfort her but he was equally ashamed as her and could not bring himself to even try to meet her eyes.. "Emori, you didn't. I did."
Gabriella opened her mouth to assure him that it was not his fault and that he couldn't control himself when Octavia spoke up. "Who cares? We need to get out of this place."
The Blake sister was met with a look of confusion from her brother's girlfriend. She was in an entirely different mood before they went to sleep. Gabriella was sure that she was ready to make amends but she seemed like she was ready to jump into an argument the moment she had the chance. Something must have happened during those few hours that she was awake.
Bellamy clenched his jaw and stood up to face Octavia. Gabriella looked between the siblings and felt herself growing anxious at the obvious tension. "What are you even doing here?"
Octavia tilted her head and gave him an almost taunting look. "I came to save your ass."
Bellamy scoffed and started walking towards her, only for Echo to block his way. She gave him a warning glare as she stood between him and his sister and Roan, "Bellamy, no, not now. If we're going to fight our way out, we need them."
Roan smirked, satisfied that Echo still found a reason to defend him after all these years. Clarke sighed and shook her head, "Echo, we're not fighting them. We need them to teach us how to survive down here."
The doors opened and the first person that walked inside was a guard. He was followed by a girl in a bright yellow dress that had an obnoxiously big smile on her face. Then, another man walked in with a tray in his hands. He was the one to greet them, "Welcome, friends. If it's true you survived the red sun, then you need a drink."
He stood right in front of Clarke, who gratefully accepted the cup, "Thank you."
Gabriella, on the other hand, was eying the drinks in distrust. There was no way that they were drinking anything those people gave them. Trust had to be earned. And based on the fact that they were currently locked up, she saw no reason to trust them.
Bellamy seemed to be having the same thoughts because he immediately shook his head when he was offered a drink too.
"Thank you." Jordan smiled at the girl. He took a long sip and the fact that he was so trusting almost made Gabriella roll her eyes. "That's amazing. What is it?"
"We call it ── "
She was cut off by a woman behind her who gave her a scolding look, "Delilah..."
"Relax, Mother." Delilah chuckled, her doe eyes full of innocence. "I don't think they'll steal your recipe. We call it Jo Juice after Josephine Prime. Hallowed be her name."
"𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦."
Gabriella blinked. 𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵?
Clarke easily brushed off the cult-like behavior and offered them an awkward smile, "Uh, can I ask ─ it's probably none of our business ─ but what's a prime?"
"Sanctum was colonized by a team from Earth made up of four families; the primes. Their blood rules us still." Delilah explained, her last sentence making Gabriella furrow her eyebrows and share a skeptical look with Bellamy.
"Make way for the Primes." All eyes turned to the big doors when the words were spoken on the other side of them. The male leader walked inside with a woman next to him and guards behind him with their weapons raised.
"Which one's the pilot?" The leader asked no one in particular.
Kaylee pointed at Raven, "There, that one."
Raven was instantly surrounded by guards and in a split second, both Gabriella and Wells moved toward them without thinking twice about it.
"Stop." The leader told his men, his words surprising everyone, "Did I say to take her?"
"No, sir."
"Sorry, sir."
Gabriella squinted and watched them back away with their heads bowed down. She subtly stood behind Raven, who was still sitting on the stool, to lean against the counter while Wells sat down next to her.
"Look." Clarke spoke up, "If this is about what happened on the mothership, your people stole our transport and then boarded us by force. My people were just defending themselves."
"Lies." Kaylee scowled, "She wasn't there. We hurt no one."
The leader gave Clarke a curious look and asked, "What's your name?"
"Clarke Griffin. What's yours?"
"He is Russell Lightborne, seventh of his line, savior of Sanctum, and you will bow before using his name." The woman next to him said sharply.
Gabriella let out an involuntary chuckle of disbelief. The woman gave her a glare while she cleared her throat.
"The last royalty on Earth died many, 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 years ago." She deadpanned, ignoring Wells' long annoyed sigh, "We don't bow to anyone."
"My wife's a stickler for protocol, but she knows you can't observe customs that you're unaware of." Russell told her, his words accompanied by a surprisingly warm smile. "You have questions, understandably, and we'll get to them all, but first, we need your transport ship to be flown into Sanctum. You can land in one of the lower fields."
"Why? What's out there?" Abby asked.
"There are worse things in this world than eclipse-induced psychosis." Russell's wife said, "All of them are outside the shield, and the worst of them would love to get their hands on the weapons Kaylee says are on your ship."
"Why are we asking for permission? My family is on that ship." Kaylee demanded.
"Which is why you'll be on the team sent to retrieve them." When her determined look faltered, Russell gave her a mocking look, "What, now you're afraid to leave the shield?"
Kaylee shook her head, "I told you, we were late for shelter when we saw that ship. Either we took it or we suffered the red sun. We all thought we'd be done with ── "
Clarke and Abby's bickering was subtle and quiet until the former exclaimed, "What? You woke her?" She sharply exhaled when they all raised their eyebrows at the outburst, "Nevermind. Raven will fly the ship. But we're going too."
Raven scowled at her, "Didn't realize you were giving the orders again, Clarke."
"She's not." Gabriella rolled her eyes and stood up, looking away from Raven to give Clarke a sharp look, "We are doing this together this time."
Clarke met her eyes and nodded without a second thought. That meant that there was no going behind each other's backs or leaving each other for dead. They had to do better. There was not going to be a reprise of the summit in Polis, or whatever happened between them before and after that, or what happened after they reunited. Gabriella wanted them to go back to the leadership arrangement that they had when they first landed on Earth. That was the time when leadership felt almost easy.
"Fine. Choose your most disposable people. It's time to go." Russell said and Clarke was the first to step up but he blocked her way, "You don't strike me as disposable."
"None of us are, but my child is out there, so I'm going to get her." She said, moving to brush past him only to have him stop her again.
"Please. We have things to discuss. Are you the leader of your people, or not?" Russell raised an eyebrow.
"Not just me." Clarke immediately shot back, "Ella and Bellamy lead our people as much as I do."
"Good." He hummed, his eyes falling on the mouthy blonde next to Raven and seeing the way she stepped closer to Bellamy at Clarke's words. It was not hard to connect the dots. "You can escort your team to the steps. The rest of you will remain here, well-cared-for till we can decide what to do with you."
"I'll go." Bellamy immediately said, "Raven, Wells, and Echo, too." Gabriella opened her mouth to argue that she wanted to come too but he was quick to cut her off. "You stay here." He cupped her cheek and cracked a small smile, hoping to ease the tension. "Someone has to keep things from spiraling out of control here."
Gabriella raised an eyebrow, "And you think that's going to be me?" She hummed sarcastically, "Definitely."
Bellamy let out a breathy chuckle and placed a lingering kiss on her lips. She smiled slightly and said, "I'm keeping Miller, then."
-
"Ella, I have to get out of here." Jordan whined for the hundredth time in the past hour. The group made their way toward the ship a while ago and the rest of them were still right where they left them.
"Not happening." Gabriella told him, barely lifting her gaze off Jasper's hair. It was long enough to braid now and she was doing just that because she was extremely bored. She had the opportunity to take a walk with Clarke but she was too emotionally drained and wanted to be there when Murphy woke up.
"You've been locked inside for twenty-six years. What's one more day?" Miller retorted.
Just as the words escaped his lips, Murphy shot up from the table with a heart-wrenching scream. Gabriella let go of Jasper's hair and practically ran towards him with Emori gasped awake. Murphy panted and got up the second Emori tried to touch him.
"Hey, hey, You're okay." Emori soothed him when he practically fell on the floor, clearly disoriented. "The toxin's gone. It's gone. Everyone's okay." She gave Gabriella a nervous look but she was too busy watching Murphy with panicked eyes to notice. "Ella, tell him."
Gabriella held Emori's arm in order to keep her from stepping closer to him and gently said, "It's true. Everything is okay and everything is real. No one is going to hurt you. You're going to be okay, John."
"No, I won't." He shook his head, unable to look up from the floor. "I died, didn't I?"
"Your heart did stop, but the people here revived you." Abby told him.
"I saw something. I─ I felt something."
Gabriella let go of Emori's hand so the brunette joined her boyfriend on the floor and cupped his cheek.
"Give them a minute." Gabriella whispered to the Griffin women, who were the only ones besides her and Emori who got close to him. They nodded and stepped away with her, allowing Emori to soothe him out of his shocked state.
"He'll be fine." Clarke said and squeezed her shoulder after seeing the worried look on Gabriella's face.
"He always is." She nodded, although her doubtful eyes lingered on him. "He always survives."
-
The last time that Gabriella wore a dress was on her seventeenth birthday. It was a simple dress because, despite the fact that she was in Alpha Station, The Ark was not filled with luxurious things. The blue dress that Delilah gave to her and the pink one that she gave to Clarke were much more different than the ones the girls wore on The Ark.
The others seem to agree because the second they walked down the stairs to head to their dinner with Russell and his wife, all eyes were glued to them.
"What?" Clarke broke the silence, "It's just a dress." She flashed Delilah a thankful smile, "Thank you, by the way."
Miller flashed Gabriella a smirk, "Looking good, Queenie."
The old nickname made her let out a genuine laugh.
Delilah smiled back at Clarke, "My pleasure. Your escort is outside."
"You girls look beautiful." Abby stood up and walked towards them before they could walk out. The fact that Clarke's smile was fake was painfully obvious. "What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?" Clarke scoffed, her smile immediately slipping into a frown, "If I don't convince them to let us stay, we die on a moon we know nothing about."
Abby shrugged, "So convince them."
"Convince them?" Gabriella repeated bluntly, "One shitty remark from me and we will be as good as the Mountain Men."
"Let your Kane genes take over this one. Marcus is a diplomat. He always knows exactly what to say." Abby told her and gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze. She looked back to her daughter. "So did your dad."
"Is he okay?" Gabriella hesitantly asked, her face falling at the mention of her father.
"He's back in cryo, and I'm hoping that there'll be medicine here in Sanctum that will help him, but we won't know that unless you get their leaders on our side." Abby explained, "Don't tell them more than you have to, and don't lie."
Murphy hummed after he took a long sip from his drink, "Hm, unless they ask about the end of the world. In that case, maybe don't tell them Clarke fired the first shot."
"Don't worry, Murphy." Clarke glared at the back of his head, "Hell is big enough for both of us."
Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Oh, please. There is a whole sector for people like us."
-
Sanctum was much more different when it was filled with people. It looked downright depressing when they first got there and it looked absolutely beautiful when it was full of life. Gabriella could genuinely see herself and her friends settling down there. That was why she was determined to get Russell to like them.
"Welcome." Russell said from his spot at the huge dining table filled with food. "Join us, please."
Gabriella flashed them a smile that she hoped did not look too forced and sat down next to Clarke and opposite of the couple.
"You must be starving." Russell chuckled and Gabriella was surprised at how friendly he was actually being.
"Delilah and her family have been kinder than most people that we encountered over the years." Gabriella admitted, "So, we aren't exactly starving. Thank you for that."
Russell and his wife started placing food on their table so she tried to appear as natural as possible and did the same. Clarke silently stared at the table which made Gabriella nudge her under the table and nod toward the food.
Taking the hint, Clarke picked up a piece of food and put it in her mouth. She hummed in surprise mid-chew. "It's really good."
Russell gave her an amused look and nodded. "We like our simple pleasures here."
"We don't like finding strangers in our home."
Simone was definitely more forward than her husband. She went straight to the main reason they were there and Gabriella quickly realized she liked her much better than Russell.
"Oh, I'm sorry about that, but we were running from a swarm." Clarke apologized, "Trust me, It's not the way that we wanted to be introduced. Like your founders on Eligius III, we're looking to start over, and do better."
"Yes. I would hope so, considering you destroyed the planet of your birth."
Gabriella shook her head and corrected the woman, "We were actually born in space. And the Earth being destroyed is not entirely our fault. We just couldn't stop the psychopath who destroyed it. We are only here to survive. We do not have any ulterior motives. I know that you have no reason to take our word for it but at least consider it."
"Look. Here's the truth." Clarke spoke up after she was done, "Without your help, we won't survive here. You know it. We know it. Our ancestors did destroy the Earth, but they're your ancestors, too."
A tense silence filled the room and Gabriella and Clarke were staring at them intently while waiting for an answer. Russell and Simone shared a knowing look before the latter spoke up.
"How many people have the two of you killed, or should we call you Mountain Slayers?" Simone raised an eyebrow, the nickname making Gabriella's breath hitch. Her eyes fell on Clarke. "Or do you prefer Wanheda?"
Clarke swallowed nervously, "Our friend Jordan likes to talk. What else did he say?"
"He said you went to the protected compound, not unlike this one, and murdered everyone inside, innocent men, women, and children alike."
Gabriella opened her mouth, probably about to say something that she would later regret when Clarke beat her to it. "That was different. The Mountain Men were going to kill everyone that we love; our friends, my mother. I did what I had to do to save my people."
"Would you do it again?"
"That was war." Gabriella shrugged, her face stoic. "One side had to win. If the Mountain Men won, my people would be dead. The only way for us to win was to kill them. We had no choice."
"That's not what I asked you." Simone shook her head.
Russell sighed, "Simone..."
"Please, my darling, let them answer."
"I would." Gabriella said without thinking twice about how they would react. "I'm not proud of it. It haunts me every night. But it does not change the fact that I would do it again if it meant that my people would be alive."
"But we are not your people, and we must protect the people that we love." Russell said and it made her realize she gave the wrong answer. But saying anything else would make her a liar. "Kaylee said there are four hundred more of you asleep on your ship; warriors, thieves, killers."
"All we're asking for is a second chance." Clarke said softly.
"Second chance." Russell hummed and moved to pet the dog next to him. "When I was a boy, one of our dogs bit my face. My father loved that dog. Everyone told him he should put it down, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. 'Must have been my fault for startling him' he said. 'He deserves a second chance.' A few years later, that dog attacked my baby sister for crawling near his bowl. She died two days later."
"We can change."
Russell nodded, "I believe you want to, Clarke. I do. I just don't believe you can. Please understand, violence is a contagion. I'm truly sorry, but I can't let your disease wipe out what we must now presume to be the last outpost of humanity in the universe. When your friends return, I suggest you fly back to your mothership because, as you've rightly assumed, you won't survive out of the shield."
Defeated, Clarke nodded while Gabriella clenched her jaw and glared at the table.
a/n: merry christmas!