Alcina was sitting at her vanity, looking through her collection of necklaces and trying to figure out which one to wear, when suddenly her daughters burst through the door. "MOTHERSELINEFOUNDTHEDUNGEONSHE'SINHERROOMWEDON'TKNOWWHATTODO!" They all started talking at the same time without taking a breath, so it was impossible to decipher what they said. Alcina looked at them worryingly. What's going on? Why do they look like something absolutely horrible just happened? She kept her cool, and tried speaking calmly. "Can one of you speak, and tell me what happened?" Bela took a long, deep breath, and tried to put this in a way that wouldn't make it sound too bad. "Seline might have… Kinda… Sorta… Found the dungeon and found out the truth about us? And now she's locked herself in her room and won't respond to us and I think she thinks we're monsters?" Cassandra facepalmed in the background. Of all the ways to phrase it, that definitely wasn't the best one. Alcina forced herself not to say anything and to keep her expression neutral. "I… Alright. Do you girls mind staying in your rooms for a little? You can be together, but please just let me talk to Seline on my own." The three nodded and left, but Daniela turned and looked back. "Mother… Please fix this." Without saying another word, she followed her sisters, leaving Alcina struggling to figure out what she could say to fix this situation. I knew this was going to happen one day. I was just hoping it wouldn't be so soon. What can I say? What can I do? I have no idea… Maybe one of my siblings can help? Even though she hated to do this, Alcina called Karl, struggling to keep her voice from shaking. He picked up on the first ring, and she could already tell he was preparing a sassy comment. "Before you say anything, know I wouldn't call you unless it was absolutely necessary. I… I need some help." Karl knew this wasn't the time to joke, so he just listened as she relayed the situation. When she was done talking, he sighed and tried to think of a good response. C'mon, Heisenberg. You've just gotta think of something, ANYTHING, to say to your sister. "Maybe… Just… Go into her room and listen to her?" He could practically hear the skepticism on the other side of the phone. "I mean, just let her talk when she's ready. She's probably really scared right now, but I know she'd talk to you eventually. You've just gotta sit with her and give her some time." Really, Karl? That's what you say? 'Sit with her and wait'? God, this is why people never call you. However, Alcina seriously considered his advice. "You know what? I think I will try that. Thanks, Heisenberg." Karl was so relieved that it actually went well. "It's gonna be alright, Allie." She shook her head. "Don't make promises that you can't keep, Heisenberg." Karl couldn't help but smile. His stubborn sister was so goddamn… Stubborn. "Better than moping around." Normally, Alcina would shoot back a retort, but instead she just sighed. "Goodbye. See you soon." With that maybe-helpful-maybe-useless advice, Alcina hung up and opened her door. She was either going to fix this, or she would lose one of her daughters forever. Everyone would lose Seline, and life would go back to being the dark, dull, pit of despair it used to be. All or nothing, I suppose. Of course it has to be. Nothing can ever be simple in my life.
Alcina stared down her youngest daughter's door. For some reason, she was incredibly nervous about this. I need to do this perfectly. Might as well start right now. Reluctantly, she knocked on the door. "Seline? It's me... May I please come in?" There was nothing for a few moments, until the lock clicked open. Incredibly relieved, Alcina went inside and sat next to Seline on her bed. Remembering what Karl said, she didn't say anything, and instead waited. However, the longer the silence went on, the closer she was to abandoning Karl's strategy. But just as she was about to say something, Seline spoke up. "Mama… Are you gonna eat me too?" Alcina looked down in surprise. "Of course not! You're my daughter! I would never hurt you." That didn't exactly help. "B-but if I wasn't your daughter, you would?" Alcina hugged her. "Not even then. You're the sweetest child I've ever met. I wouldn't eat you if there was nothing left to eat in the entire world." I feel like that was a good thing to say. This might actually work out? "But what about Bels and Cass and Dani? Will they eat me?" Seline looked a little sad, like she wished she didn't have to say that out loud. "Of course we won't eat you!" The three girls in question, as per usual, stopped eavesdropping and just came into the room. At this point, I should just stop having conversations without them. "Trust me, Selly. We would never do anything to hurt you." Cassandra said, feeling a bit of guilt considering what she was thinking yesterday. However, she pushed that aside and focused on the situation at hand. "Yeah! You're a Dimitrescu! And Dimitrescus never hurt other Dimitrescus!" Daniela reassured, and Bela also spoke. "You have nothing to worry about. Those people… Were not very good people." That was kind of true. The people in the dungeon were people who had tried to break into the castle, or had tried to hurt Alcina on the few occasions she went out. "So you only hurt bad people?" Seline confirmed, and they nodded. "Well… I guess that's okay!" They all gave her a hug, very happy that a different outcome had been avoided. Meanwhile, from outside the window, Miranda scowled. She had hoped that discovering the dungeon would've been enough for the girl to leave, but their family was stronger than expected. Oh well. I will have her soon enough. She looked into the room once again, and noticed Daniela sneakily giving her the finger. That Dimitrescu daughter managed to sense me… She could be useful. The truth is, Daniela still didn't know who or what was watching them, but she just had a hunch that something was. Something very, very bad. However, she put her feeling of suspicion aside. She needed to focus on the moment in front of her. They had been lucky enough to keep Seline in their family, and that was all that mattered.
(A/N: Sorry for the late update! It was my mom's birthday, and I've been focused on giving her the best possible experience. Also, I got my hair cut FIFTEEN INCHES, so that was fun. Anyways, have a good day/afternoon/night, and please make sure to take care of yourselves!)