Author's Note: This story will feature many fantasy elements as well as romance and other genres. The story will be told through rotating point of views which will be indicated by the chapter titles. This story will feature both Alpha and Beta kids as humans and the post-scratch trolls as elves.

Content Warning: This story is Rated M for a reason. There will be gore (or at least gorey/sickening parts). There might also be sex scenes of any variety (hetero or homosexual ones). Some scenes may even be non-consensual/rape. I will spare my readers nothing. I will write whatever I feel, so be warned.

Disclaimer: I do not own Homestuck, but I do own this fanficiton and its plot. Title credit goes to FF author, Kaneli Caprin. (Thanks :D)

Now, let's begin!

Terezi

The moon was full and the night seemed to be without end. Beneath an open sky, the elliptical amphitheater was filled with anxious elves, both eager and scared to watch the sentencing of the poor sailor. The stands had gone quiet as the elves watched below where the Spider Queen and her imperial keeper of justice stood near the gallows.

Terezi took the noose in her hands and then lead the trembling fool onto the stand and slipped it around his neck. She grinned deviously, eager to serve justice of any kind, even if it was under the Spider Queen's harsh laws. He looked at her with pleading eyes and Terezi almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

"Peasant," began the Queen of Eights. "For two years you have served as a sailor on one of my many expedition vessels. Upon returning from a land I had ordered to be plundered. One of the chests of gold had a piece missing," she smirked evilly. Terezi knew that there was no possible way that Vriska could have ever known that a piece missing, and there probably wasn't a single coin out of place. Vriska loved to demonstrate her cruelty.

"You," the queen continued slowly, "Have been found guilty under my jurisdiction. The punishment is death."

Without another word, she raised her hand and pulled a lever. The ground beneath the sailor dropped away and his footing was lost. Terezi watched as he struggled. His hands flew up to neck, prying at the rope and trying to free himself. His pale skin was turning purple and red as he screamed for help. He began swinging his body back forth, trying to get a foot back on the ledge to keep himself from losing his life. His foot landed on the other side of ledge but it was too late at this point. He began losing consciousness and fell backwards, hanging like the others before him. He was dead now. It wasn't until then that Terezi realized Vriska had been laughing all along.

No wonder Kanaya wants to get away from her. It was never in question that she was evil but she has gone out of control.

As per usual, the spectators began to file out of the amphitheater, their faces looking both pleased and horrified. Terezi took the dagger from its place at her hip and cut the rope, the strangled elf hitting the ground with a loud thump. "May true justice find you," she whispered under her breath so that her majesty would not hear. And she didn't hear. Vriska was too busy executing a surprising twist to the night.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Just where do you think you're going?" The queen giggled like a young maiden, but there was something cold to the laugh. Terezi was suddenly still. She was afraid of where this was going. "We have another sentencing! A rather exciting one if I do say so myself." She flashed a smile to Terezi, her fanged teeth looking very un-elflike.

"Why did I not know about this?" Terezi asked the queen under her breath. She had spoken out of term but she quickly realized that was the least of her problems.

"My dearest Terezi. Justice Pyrope, if you will. You have committed high treason by plotting against me, your most gracious Queen," Vriska whined, pouting her lip in a way that seemed sadistic. This was all a game to her. "You have been found guilty under my jurisdiction. Your punishment is death."

Terezi watched Vriska stepped forward, her long dress trailed behind her. Her smooth, white hands moved down tot the black belt around her waist. She unfastened the accessory and let the whole skirt of her dress fall down against the gallow's platform. Beneath the skirt, the Queen of Eights was wearing leather trousers that were tight to her legs. She aimed for mobility, not fashion - though they seemed to have been designed by Vriska's special seamstress - and she looked ready for a fight. She bent over and detached a dagger from her ankle. Terezi had missed that. She wasn't focused. This was all happening too fast for Terezi to get a grip on the situation.

Before Terezi could think, Vriska was on her. Terezi saw everything in a blur and felt everything in slow motion. Vriska's dagger hand flew at her, but she was able to grab her forearm and keep the blade from her chest. Vriska growled and pushed on the judge. Terezi stumbled backwards. She could feel the fearful eyes of the spectators on her. They sympathized for her. If the queen could turn so easily on those she trusted most, they could be next.

The Imperial Judge gripped her own dagger, spit on the ground and did what no one else would have done; she turned on the queen. If there was any hope of redemption before, it was gone now. No one double-crosses the Spider Queen. Terezi knew what her treasonous actions were. It was trying helping Kanaya escape. If that's what she was being punished for, so be it. She had been the queen's puppet too long. She'd been promised equality and had been given order after order, command after command. Terezi would not stand for this.

Vriska fell right off the gallow's platform and onto the dusty ground with Terezi poised above her, dagger right over the heart. But Vriska did not panic. Terezi saw not a single ounce of fear in her eyes. She only smiled and cooed to her attacker.

"Maryam is supposed to board that ship at dawn, isn't she. You were supposed to lead her there! But if you're dead..." Vriska laughed softly, speaking so her subjects would not hear her. "You always were useless, Pyrope."

The Queen of Eights closed her eyes and began to hum. Terezi knew what was happening and quickly dismounted the queen but it was all too late. Some elves were blessed with incredible abilities and magic and the queen's was some of the most frightening Terezi ever had the horror to witness. She gulped and ran. Ran from the the queen, ran from the gallows and ran from the amphitheater. The night was cold and starless and the feeling of endlessness suddenly became something that seemed to be a physical force. This night would never truly end.

She took cover in the nearest forest with the trees to hide her. It wouldn't matter. This endeavor was all in vain, she knew that, but she refused to give up on herself. She ran as fast as she could, watching the forest floor to avoid stepping on twigs and giving away her location. That was her fatal flaw. She didn't even hear her as Vriska stepped in front of her until it was too late. The queen hovered in the air, held in midair by the eight large, hairy appendages that sprouted from her shoulders and reached to the ground. There were four on either side, each varying in size so that she may be mobile with two of them and use the others to conduct torment. Terezi fell backward in surprise and let out a scream.

"Please no!"

"Don't beg," Vriska spat. "It's very annoying."

Vriska's spider-like appendages retracted and she landed gently on the ground. She narrowed her eyes and Terezi was suddenly slammed into a nearby tree. Bark tore her clothes and skinned her back but she couldn't take her eyes away from Vriska. She felt tears stream down but she didn't blink. She watched even as Vriska took her dagger and plunged it into Terezi's eyes, pulling one out and then the other. And even as Terezi was blinded, she watched as her eyes were taken from her. She did not scream. All she could hear was Vriska's terrible high-pitched laughter as she faded away from the waking world.