𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓/𝟏.𝟏.
☆ RETURN TO EARTH ☆
"𝓦𝓮'𝓻𝓮 𝓫𝓪𝓬𝓴, 𝓫𝓲𝓽𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓼!"

☆꧁*꧂☆

   ALLAIA KANE WAS sitting in a cell which she was forced to call home her entire life, being bored out of her mind as usual. She has never really been outside her little prison except when her health condition required a medical care. Two years ago, Abby managed to convince the Chancellor to let Allaia start medical practice since she had enough general knowledge about the anatomy and functioning of the human body to start training as a doctor. Abby wanted to make Allaia seem extremely valuable to the Ark to be pardoned on her eighteenth birthday. And with the girl's brilliant mind which easily assimilated new information in virtually every scientific field, it wasn't that difficult. Allaia has always been interested in medical science and was very grateful when Abby managed to begin her practice.

   Her cell was small; there was only a not exactly comfortable bed and a secluded area resembling a bathroom. Thanks to Abby, Allaia owned lots of books, crayons and MP3 with some music. It helped her survive the hell she had to live in ever since she was born and her mother was floated for having her.

   The only thing Allaia genuinely liked about her home was the tiny window with the enchanting view at the space and stars. She could stare at it for hours, immersed in the dimension of her vivid imagination, a whole alternative universe where she wasn't a prisoner, locked until her death for existing. To Allaia, a star was in a way a metaphor of her life combined with a tincture of hope. An eerie dusk of her past and a meager light of her future breaking through the eternal gloom. 

Stars cannot shine without darkness, right? 

   Suddenly the door opened and a dark-haired man stepped into the room. For a moment, he froze like a rigid statue, his heart beating in a rapid rhythm, as he was staring at the terrified girl. He was overwhelmed by the beauty she certainly inherited from her mother. He had no idea what to say, it was the first time he saw his daughter since the day she was born. Allaia stood up abruptly and rushed to the nearest the wall, petrified of the man's unknown intentions. Her breathing was extremely uneven, heavier and heavier by every second, setting her senses ablaze like a gasoline. Allaia felt herself falling over the edge of a panic attack, but she attempted to allay her anxiety caused by her horrible experience with guards. 

"Prisoner 177, stay against the wall." Kane barely managed to utter those words, trying to disguise the pain overpowering his entire body as he was looking at his frightened daughter. 

   He needed to see her before the launch. Marcus begged Jaha to let him see Allaia. Thelonious agreed under one condition. Kane had to fake his true identity and pretend to be a guard. For some strange reason, the Chancellor refused to let the two reunite as a family, coming up with such a ridiculous collusion, even though it could be the first and the last time at once they would ever see each other. Marcus suspected why Thelonious was so unyielding on the matter, but decided not to interfere and demand any explanations, beyond happy that he was finally able to see his little girl. 

"What— What's going on? You can't float me. I'm not eighteen yet!" Allaia stuttered and tried to resist the man despite her fear.

"You're not getting floated." Marcus assured, slowly approaching her. He tried to calm her down a little by putting his hand on her shoulder, but she flinched and shuddered. "Hey, it's okay, Allaia. Just come with me."

"Hey, Kane, what the hell are you doing? Pretending to be a member of the Guard? That's a pretty low move for a vice Chancellor if you ask me." Some high-ranking guard pointed out when he was walking near Allaia's cell after peeking inside.

"You're my father." Allaia whispered in realization.

"I'm so sorry, little one." Kane pulled Allaia to his chest, sobbing quietly. Despite her father's affectionate gesture, Allaia stubbornly didn't wrap her arms around him. She was simply looking at her shoes awkwardly. "Okay, we don't have much time, Lai. You're going to the ground." He announced.

"You mean Earth?" Allaia queried with widened eyes. Marcus nodded and gazed at her with concern, genuinely worried about her reaction. "But what about radiation? We don't know what the current level of radioactivity on Earth is! The radiation can be so strong that it'll wipe us out of the ground a second after we open the door! Or it could kill us slowly. It could cause such a dangerous mutation in our genetic material that an extra arm or leg would grow out of our ass! Is the Council completely out of its mind?!" Allaia panicked in a subdued voice, slightly trembling at the thought.

"Hey, hey, honey, look at me." Kane gently placed his hands on her thin shoulders. "You're going to be fine. You finally get the chance to live, sweetheart. I wouldn't send you down there without knowing it's perfectly safe..."

"You can't know that!" Allaia protested.

"Kiddo, don't forget the basics of ecology." Abby appeared at the entry of Allaia's cell. "Just because radiation killed our ancestors, doesn't mean it has to affect us as much. It's been almost a hundred years. Our organisms are already differently adapted. Besides, the intensity of the radiation is constantly decreasing. Keep your head up, Alle."

"Abby!" Allaia ran to the only present motherly figure in her life and hugged her tightly. "I'm scared." She admitted quietly. Abby gently caressed her hair, looking .

"You'll be okay, Allaia, I promise." Abby swore in a delicate tone. "Find Clarke, Lai. Join forces and look out for each other, okay?"

"Yeah, of course, Abby. I love you."

   Kane's heart filled with pure envy as he watched the two women interact with such affection. He wanted to be the one to bring Allaia comfort when she needed it. But his daughter sought Abby's attention and tenderness way more than his. He missed Allaia's first steps, first words, first everything. And now his little girl cared more about Abby than her actual dad. 

"I love you too, Alle. Be safe, please." Abby kissed Allaia's forehead. "And say goodbye to him." She whispered and secretly pointed at Kane. "He loves you like a maniac, Allaia. You will regret it if you don't. "

"He doesn't love me, Abby." Allaia mumbled bitterly in denial, saying the words almost soundlessly. "If he'd cared about me at all, he would've come to visit me in the Sky Box. But he never did. He doesn't care."

"Just say goodbye to him." Abby pleaded.

   Allaia approached her father and looked at him emotionlessly. She truly hated him for leaving her completely on her own in the Sky Box. Alle despised him to the core, because he let that guard sexually harass her, or at least he didn't bother to investigate the case and allowed it to fade away, like a rumor. That's how little he cared about her.

   When the truth finally came out to light and the Chancellor found out about the crimes of his subordinate against the young girl, he didn't even move a finger. He was indifferent towards the hell Allaia was forced to go through on a daily basis. To him, her accusations meant nothing. Jaha only cared about his own reputation amongst the people of the Ark. If his subjects found out that he let a guard bully and sexually abuse a teenage girl, they would immediately deprive him of the title of Chancellor, and perhaps even have him executed. So, Thelonious ruthlessly disguised the guard's crimes, bequeathing Allaia's hell unspoken and hidden from the world. And when Allaia realized the guard wasn't going to be punished for what he had done to her, she assumed her father agreed to pardon him as well. 

She hated him with her whole heart ever since. 

"Bye." Allaia murmured quietly.

Kane pulled his daughter to his chest despite her cold attitude. 

"I love you, angel. Just please be safe down there, okay? I can't lose you." He whispered shakily at the thought of his little girl getting hurt. He kissed her temple fondly.

"Stay strong, honey." Abby implied, caressing Allaia's forehead gently.

"May we meet again." Kane whispered almost silently, his cast bereaved in reverie. 

   Suddenly Allaia felt a painful sting on her shoulder caused by a syringe containing an anesthetic. The picture began to smear, and after a while she completely swam away, losing herself in the darkness.

☆꧁*꧂☆

   ALLAIA WOKE UP with a gasp, pinned tightly to a chair. She started looking around, slightly panicked and uncomfortable, because she hated not being able to move freely after her traumatic events from the Ark. Allaia quickly noticed she was surrounded by a bunch of screaming teenagers. She flinched by the noise they were making with all the yelling. The girl wasn't used to the chaos and turmoil. The disarray was foreign to her since she spent most of her life in a quiet cell, away from all the unwanted noise. Allaia smiled shyly, realizing she was finally free and annoying uproars didn't matter to her anymore.

   A metal bracelet decorated her thin wrist, making Allaia feel like she was still a prisoner. The wristband was painfully ramming into her hand. Allaia massaged her reddened wrist, hoping the stinging feeling would go away, but the steel was pinning into her skin achingly nonetheless.

   Allaia looked around herself once again. It was like her senses were on the highest alert, because she's never been near so many people before. Allaia was absorbing teenagers' behavior, observing their movements cautiously, but curiously. Some people were laughing and joking around despite their surroundings; others were rather reluctant and clearly frightened by what was happening; and others were laughing and joking around despite their surroundings and some of them were even totally impassive by the whole situation.

   All of a sudden, the whole interior of the ship was filled with blinding light. Chancellor Jaha appeared on the ceiling screens and started his speech with a proud smirk dancing across his lips.

"Prisoners of the Ark, hear me now." Thelonious Jaha spoke authoritatively through loudspeakers with no compassion in his harsh voice. "You've been given a second chance and as your Chancellor, it is my hope that you see this as not just a chance for you, but a chance for all of us, indeed for mankind itself." Jaha spoke as he was a great savior of humanity. "We have no idea what is waiting for you down there." He admitted that he was possibly sending them all to die for greater good without any sign of shame. "If the odds of survival had been better, we would have sent the others. But your crimes made you expendable."

Allaia rolled her eyes in sheer annoyance. 

"Your dad is a dick, Wells!" Some boy yelled.

"Those crimes will be forgiven and your records wiped clear." Jaha continued. "The drop site has been chosen carefully. Before the last war, Mount Weather was a military base built within a mountain. It was to be stocked with enough non-perishables to sustain three hundred people for up to two years."

   Then Allaia noticed that some dark-haired boy unfastened his seatbelt and the lack of gravity caused him to unwittingly float around the ship. He was smirking, obviously proud of himself, and lazily drifting in the air, clearly enjoying his current position. Allaia grew worried, seeing his stupidity; the slightest jolt of the ship could throw him against a wall like some rag doll, most probably killing him.

"Spacewalker strikes again!" Someone yelled.

"Whoa! The girl cheered.

"Go, Finn!" Another boy called out.

   The boy apparently named Finn flew over to where the pretty blonde girl was sitting, a few seats away from Allaia's site. His hands were behind his head as he lazily reclined his body into a horizontal position. A sly smirk appeared across his features when he winked at the blonde. Allaia didn't manage to avoid his attention too. She was unquestionably one of the most pretty girls that has ever lived on the Ark. When Finn looked at the brunette his smile grew even wider.

"Hey, beauties." He flirted.

"Check it out, Wells." Finn smirked, turning to a black-skinned boy. "Your daddy floated me after all."

"You should strap in before the parachutes deploy." Wells advised him, ignoring the remark about his father.

   Abruptly two other prisoners attempted to free themselves, wanting to float around the ship as well. The blonde girl who caught Finn's eye yelled at them.

"Hey, you two! Stay put if you wanna live!"

"Mount Weather is life. You must locate those supplies immediately." Jaha's voice resonated again.

"Hey, you're the traitor who's been in solitary for a year." Finn realized.

"And you're the idiot who wasted three months of oxygen on an illegal space walk." The girl fired back, and suddenly Finn's nickname made sense to unaware Allaia.

"But it was fun." Finn laughed. "And who might you be, angel?" He asked Allaia. "I've never seen you before, and trust me, if I had seen you, I would have definitely remembered your pretty face."

   Finn wasn't entirely selfless by being nice to her and asking her that question. He was determined to find his baby sister and the girl's features matched how he assumed she could look like, considering her parents' appearances.

"I'm nobody." Allaia murmured awkwardly, and Finn frowned, taken aback by her response.

"Your one responsibility is to stay alive." Jaha said.

   No one really paid any attention to Chancellor's lecture about survival on Earth. They were a bunch of rebellious teenagers after all, always breaking the rules and neglecting authorities. Everyone was either watching Finn who was leisurely floating in the air or looking at the two boys who were trying to unfasten their seatbelts and join Finn.

"Stay in your seats!" The blonde ordered as two boys freed themselves of their seatbelts and started began to float around the ship.

   Suddenly an unusually large shudder ran through the drop ship, throwing Finn and the other two to the floor. The ship was jolting harshly, falling from the atmosphere in a speed beyond reach as a blazing sparkle on the sky. Allaia gripped her seatbelt tightly, closing her eyes in pure fear paralyzing her senses. She groaned a little as her head shot backwards and hit a metal headrest. Tensely, Allaia started to play with her fingers, trying to appease her shattered nerves. Allaia's breathing rate started to increase unrelentingly as another one of her panic attacks was about to come. 

Then someone grabbed her left hand and squeezed it.

"Don't be afraid." The girl with nearly black hair said reassuringly. Although Allaia realized she was terrified too and sought support as much as she did. "Focus yourself on something else." She advised warmly.

Allaia squeezed the girl's hand in return, silently thanking her.

"What's your name?" Allaia asked, trying to control her breath.

"I'm Octavia." The girl introduced herself. "And what's yours?"

"I'm Allaia." 

"Well, Alle, I think that we're going to be a great friends if we don't die in the next few minutes." Octavia joked.

"You can count on that, bestie." Allaia looked at her, amused.

Octavia sincerely smiled at her new friend, grateful for her support.

The ship continued to jerk more and more violently. 

"Retrorockets ought to have fired by now." Wells explained.

"Okay, everything on this ship is about one hundred years old, right?" The blonde girl asked. "Just give it a second!"

"Clarke, there's something I need to tell you." Wells shouted to the blonde whose name was Clarke. "I'm sorry I got your father arrested!"

So this is Abby's daughter, Allaia realized.

"Don't talk about my father!" Clarke yelled furiously.

"Please!" Wells pleaded. "I can't die knowing you hate me."

"They didn't arrest my father, Wells." Clarke snapped, her voice held so much anger and hate towards the boy. "They executed him! And I do hate you!" Clarke roared.

   The tremors continued to shuttle with electrical discharge surging overhead, lights flickering in pristine mayhem. Teenagers were jostling immensely, absolutely frightened as thousands of landing possibilities were going through their thoughts. Allaia squeezed Octavia's hand firmly and closed her eyes to prepare for a lethal collision with the ground.

But in the end, nothing happened.

"Listen." The boy with slanted eyes said. "No machine hum."

"Whoa, that's a first." Another guy with goggles on his head gasped in awe.

   After Allaia made sure the ship wasn't moving anymore, she unfastened her seatbelt and quickly stood up, relieved that she was finally free. Then she rushed towards Finn who was crouching guiltily beside two unconscious boys who followed his lead and removed their seatbelts during the flight.

"Hey, check if he's breathing." Allaia told Finn, gesturing towards the boy who was lying closer to him.

   Allaia knelt near the other boy and checked his pulse. Unfortunately she didn't sense anything, so she turned him over to the other side, carefully examining the wound on his head. There was no way he could have survived with such a serious injury. Allaia looked at Finn, silently asking if the other boy was breathing. He only shook his head sadly, staring at the two dead teenagers sorrowfully.

   Allaia sighed with sadness, tears shining in her eyes. She hated the way she was feeling, being oversensitive was one of her biggest weaknesses. Allaia had a kind heart and a soul of a hero who wanted to save everyone. The sight of dead bodies made her miss her safer cell despite the hell she's been through there. Death was hard to cope with and Allaia was sensitive to the harm of others, that was the main reason why she wanted to become a doctor, to help and save lives. They had just only gotten to the ground and were already losing people. Allaia needed to put her fragility aside and learn to accept unavailable losses of the future if she wanted to survive. Selflessness was her nature though, and Allaia wasn't willing to let Earth deprive her of her values.

"The door is on the lower level!" Some boy shouted.

"No!" Clarke exclaimed. "We can't just open the door!" She rushed to the ladder.

   Allaia followed the blonde after sorrowfully glancing at the dead bodies one more time. She climbed down a few steps on the ladder and looked at the crowd formed near the huge door.

"Hey, just back it up, guys." A male voice ordered. From her current position, Alle could only see that he was a tall, dark-haired and quite muscular guy. His hand was reaching for the lever which would open the door.

"Stop!" Clarke yelled, shoving through the crowd. Allaia once again rushed after the girl, remembering Abby's words about joining forces. "The air could be toxic."

"If the air is toxic, we're all dead anyway." He pointed out harshly.

   Allaia pushed herself through the crowd and saw the guy Clarke was arguing with in all his glory. He was extremely handsome with his dark curly hair in artistic disorder and almost black hypnotizing irises. Although he was surprisingly wearing a guard's uniform, Allaia still could see the outline of his muscles through it. She wouldn't admit it, but she actually felt the famous butterflies in her stomach. Then the guy realized she was staring