Chapter 1

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The year was 2198, and I was a part of the inter-planetary study program. I had signed up the year before, and I was very excited to hear that I was going to the planet of Alternia. Although it was only because I qualified for a full-paid scholarship. I'd heard many things about the place, and although some were bad, most were pretty good. They had a great trade system going with us since the old Empress had died. Some people say that she was murdered, but with the way the old Empress had treated others beneath her, no one was really complaining. The throne had ended up going to her youngest sister, Feferi. She's known as Her Imperial Radiance now, though.

The funny thing was, she was only my age when she took the throne, and that was about five years ago, when she and I were 13.

When I got to the inter-planetary travel station, I had with me only a few large suitcases holding things that I would need for a two year period, which roughly equaled one of Alternia's solar sweeps, which was 26 months. I got into my seat and looked around at my fellow planetary travellers. Not everyone here was going to Alternia; some would go to Dagoba, others to Chiron or Chetanis. Some would even be lucky enough to go to the water planet of Cthulhu, named after the water monster itself.

The time to travel to each place would take maybe a minute or two thanks to the wonderful advancements in technology over the years. The first stop of the planetary train was Alternia, so I would get off first.

I fidgeted in my seat as the train took off. I looked down and reread the paper that contained the basic info about my host family, the Makaras. All three of them were boys, and they were quite wealthy. I was a bit nervous, considering that I came from a lower-class family . . . and the fact that they were all guys. The physical description of them was very basic: black hair, horns, gray skin, and they wore a lot of purple.

The train came to a stop at the Alternian inter-planetary station and I stepped off. The Alternian porter helped me with my bags as they were set out next to me. He had black hair, horns, and gray skin. In fact, everyone here did. I mentally facepalmed and groaned quietly.

Dammit, I thought. What a great way to begin my stay; I'm gonna get lost looking for my host family.

The porter set my bags next to me, and I thanked him quietly. I looked around, hoping to find a flash of purple somewhere. I heard a bit of commotion coming from my right, so I looked. Lo and behold, a trio of troll males in various amounts of purple were walking towards me. One looked to be about my age, and had a lazy grin on his face. Truth be told, he looked a bit . . . high. Another looked to be about a couple of years older than me, and he had a skeleton-ish outfit on. I also noticed his lips seemed to be sewn shut! I shuddered a bit, then looked at the tallest of the three. He was maybe 8 years older than me, and he had the most lion-like hair I'd ever seen. Like, for real, you could most likely get lost in there if you were small enough.

One thing that was the same for all of them: they all had face makeup on, and each design was different. The youngest's was the most simple, just some dark circles around the eyes and the mouth, with white everywhere else. The next brother's was a bit more complicated, actually resembling a human skull, using both dark gray and white to give the illusion. It was actually really cool, I had to admit. The eldest's makeup was very detailed, making it almost resemble a goat skull. I gulped and looked up at them, since they were all taller than me by varying degrees.

"A-are you three the Makaras?" I asked timidly.

The youngest smiled wider at me. "Hell yeah, motherfucker," he said. His voice was lazy and gravelly, and I automatically grinned. "I'm Gamzee, and this silent motherfucker over here's my bro Kurloz, then that tall as fuck bro with the big hair is Malice, but everyone calls him Grand Highblood."

I inwardly chuckled. Well, at least I won't have to watch my language around them if they talk like this, I thought to myself. That will make the next 26 months easier.

Kurloz waved hi to me and used sign language to say, "Welcome to Alternia. What is your name?"

I smiled wider and said, "I'm Sahara Jackson. Wicked awesome to meet you lot."

I heard murmurs around us, and glanced around in confusion. Everyone else was giving us a wide berth, and kept looking between me and the three Makaras. I looked down and fiddled with a strand of my white hair, sweeping my fuschia bangs to the side of my face to create a makeshift curtain to block my face from everyone else.

Malice looked around in annoyance, then glanced down at my nervous expression. When his gaze met mine, his amethyst purple eyes widened. "Whoa, motherfucker. You have fuckin' pink eyes?"

Part of me was transfixed by his voice; it was so deep and rumbling, it gave me shivers. The other part was slightly embarrassed and looked down. "Y-yeah, it's because I'm an albino," I said quietly. "I-I was born with it. It's a, uhm, well a genetic thing, I guess. That also explains my pale as fuck skin, too. And the white hair."

I chanced a glance at the three brothers, and they looked at me in slight . . . awe?

"Whoa, sis!" said Gamzee, putting an arm around my shoulders and taking one of my bags. "That's pretty fuckin' miraculous."

Kurlos took the other two, and I heard a strange voice in my head say, ~Yeah, it's pretty damn miraculous. No one here has hair like you, and only the motherfuckin' Empress and those of her family have pink eyes. It's motherfucking sick that you have them bitchtits wicked colors.~

My eyes widened in surprise when I realized Kurloz was speaking in my mind, and they led me outside. They stopped in front of a very sleek, black Jeep-like limo, and my jaw dropped.

"Th-thi-THIS is your guys's ride?!" I asked, flabbergasted. "Just . . . . wow."

Gamzee and Malice laughed, and I noticed that they honked when they did so, letting out a quiet giggle myself. Kurloz, due to his mouth being sewn shut, could only chuckle at my reaction.

"Yeah lil motherfucker," said Malice. "This is our wicked ride. Don't you have this motherfuckin' shit on your planet?"

I nodded as the other two put my bags inside. "Yes, but only the wealthy can afford them. I, uh, I'm from a more . . . lower-class family, Malice," I said, embarrassed. Then, I smiled. "But we DO have a car; it's just pretty old. It works well, though. Gets us from point A to point B," I added, giggling.

The boys came back and got in the back seats. Malice held the door and gestured for me to get in first. I smiled brightly in thanks and climbed in, sitting across from Kurloz and Gamzee. Malice got in next to me, then whacked the divider behind us that seperated us from the driver. "Take us back home, motherfucker!" he said in a commanding tone.

As we rode, I took in the sights of the planet, gazing at the city in pure awe. "Wow . . . This place almost looks like Tokyo, Japan," I said. "It's so busy here . . ."

"Yeah, we get all the motherfuckin' good stuff from all over the universe, sis," said Gamzee, leaning down to get something out of the minifridge. As he sat up, I saw he had a bottle of Faygo, and I felt myself grin uncontrollably.

"Omigod, Faygo!" I said, excited. "I love that shit! That stuff is seriously the best thing EVER!"

All three of them looked at me like I was their new best friend, and then Gamzee leaned forward. "That's motherfuckin' miraculous, sis! What's your favorite flavor?"

"Oh, that's not fair," I said playfully. "That's like asking me to pick one star out of the sky and name it! But, if I absolutely HAD to pick, I'd have to say it would be a tie between the grape flavor and the candy apple flavor," I said, putting my finger on my chin in thought. "Yeah, those two. I like the grape and candy apple flavors best."

Gamzee honked and then quickly dove into the fridge, then tossed me a red-ish pink bottle: Candy Apple Faygo. I grinned, twisting off the cap and taking a few gulps. When I set the bottle down, it was only half full. I sat back and sighed in happiness.

"Ah, that stuff is beautiful," I said.

For the rest of the ride, Gamzee, Kurloz, and I talked. Well, in Kurloz's case, signed. He was so happy to know that I could understand him. He asked me how I knew sign language, and I smiled.

"My uncle Murtagh is deaf," I said. "That's the only way I can talk to him. He can read lips and stuff, but it's fun to talk with my hands. I already do that a lot anyways," I added, chuckling.

At that moment, I happened to look down and I noticed that the bottom of Malice's pants had various splotches of color on them.

"I think you got paint on your pants, Malice," I said, gesturing to the spots. At that moment, Gamzee and Kurloz stilled, glancing between Malice and I, seeming almost nervous.

Malice only looked down at me with an almost secretive, and slightly evil, grin. "Yeah, you could say that, sis," he said. "You wanna know where I got the miraculous colors from?"

I nodded, a bit apprehensive, but not wanting to seem rude. "Yeah, I'm curious," I said. "I like painting, too, so that's why I noticed."

He grinned wider and leaned in. "How about I motherfucking show you later then, hm? After all," he added, glancing at Gamzee and Kurloz, "it's something you'll end up seein' sooner or later, my wicked human sis."

Gamzee and Kurloz both looked like they wanted to say/sign something, but they were silenced once more when Malice glanced at them again. I didn't fully understand at the time, but I knew it had to be something that they were either ashamed of, or they were extremely nervous about.

"Well, you don't HAVE to show me if you don't want to," I said quietly. "After all, I don't want to pry . . . ."

Malice shook his head, still grinning. "Don't motherfuckin' worry, sis. You'll need to know about our wicked miraculous duties that we have as being motherfuckin' highbloods."

I had learned a bit about the blood caste system when I read up on the planet to prepare myself for my trip, so I had a bit of idea of what he meant by "highblood." But since Feferi had become Empress, a lot of the restrictions based on blood color were removed. I tried to remember if I'd read about the purple-bloods, and all I could remember at that moment was that they were like clowns and dressed a lot like them.

"Well, alright," I said. "If you think it's necessary. But . . . if you would, I'd rather you explain now so I'm not all surprised later . . . ."

Malice thought about it, then nodded. "Alright, my wicked sis. I'll tell the motherfucking truth to ya straight: we as motherfuckin' purple-bloods are Subjugglators. We worship the Mirthful Messiahs and offer the motherfuckin' blood of lowbloods as a miraculous sacrifice. Since the little princess got on the motherfuckin' throne, she only lets us do that to the motherfuckin' rapists and serial killers."

I thought about that for a moment, trying to process the information. "So, basically," I said, trying to simplify what he'd told me, "everyone of your blood color is kind of like a royal excecutor of those who are deemed as heinous criminals?"

They all nodded, Malice grinning, the other two looking apprehensive. I was quiet for a moment, then broke out into a grin. "Dude, you guys have the best jobs EVER!" I said.

"Having the duty of getting rid of fuckasses like that would be a big honor in my opinion," I continued, easing into my seat again. "I mean, do you know how many people on earth would want to do that? So many people, man. So many people; myself included. Sometimes I just really wanna beat certain assholes over the head with a brick."

I took a sip of my Faygo, and saw that Malice looked like he wanted to hug me, and Gamzee in Kurloz looked relieved.

"Glad you think that way, my wicked sis," said Gamzee. "I didn't want you to all up and leave and shit cuz you walked in on the ceremony."

"The same goes for me," signed Kurloz. Then, Kurloz paused. "Did you mean it when you said you want to beat motherfuckers like that over the head?" he finally signed.

I thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yes," I said. "Those who are serial killers or rapists deserve much worse than that. But I won't bore you three with my twisted ideas of how to kill someone," I added, smiling slightly and letting out a giggle.

Malice looked like he wanted to ask me exactly what I was thinking, but the limo stopped. I heard the driver up front say, "We have arrived, Grand Highblood."

Malice grunted in responce and lowered the divider. "Help the wicked lil human sis with her miraculous shit, got it?" he said, that commanding tone back again.

I glanced behind and saw the driver pale and nod quickly before getting out and rushing to the trunk. I bit my lip, but said nothing. Malice opened the door and held out his hand for mine. I took it, a light blush coating my cheeks as he helped me out. Gamzee and Kurloz followed soon after, and I looked around at our surroundings to take it all in.

Their house was immense! Against the Alternian night sky, it looked a bit forboding. But I could see the beauty about it; it was a dark beauty, but it was a beauty all the same. It almost looked like a medieval castle, and it was made of purple stone. There were a few gargoyle-like decorations on the steeples and around the molding. It was easily the biggest home I'd ever seen. The green and pink moons shed light on the front door, and I saw that the door had a large symbol on it. If my assumptions were correct, it was the Alternian symbol for "rage."

"Wow," I said, looking up at Malice. "This place is huge . . . Is it really just you three living here?"

"Nope; our servants live here too and shit," he said, leading me to the door. "We have a fuck ton of 'em all up in here. And a bunch of our other purple-blooded brothahs and sistahs. It's a miraculous place of wonder, sis."

I chuckled as he opened the door, and my jaw dropped once I saw the main room. The walls were covered in random splashes of color. Knowing where the colors came from made me gulp and shudder a little, but I gave myself a little shake and tried to look at it from an artist's perspective. Doing this made me less nervous, and made me see how . . . pretty it actually was. I walked ahead of the three brothers and went towards one of the walls.

"Hmmm," I said in a quiet murmur. "Very wonderfly abstract. It has a more avant garde appearance that shows passion and even some slight anger and paranoia . . . All in all, a wonderful piece of artwork . . ."

"Well, shit, you make it sound even more miraculous than it is, sis," said Gamzee, coming to stand next to me. "You got some fancy art words goin' on there."

I chuckled and rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly. "Well, I like painting, and I enjoy studying art," I explained. "I'm more of an abstract artist myself, though I enjoy painting different beings from all over the universe. I give them a bit more of a fantasy feel than my abstract pieces."

Malice was suddenly right next to me on my other side. "That's motherfuckin' cool, sis. You ever sell any of your miraculous art?"

I blushed a bit and looked down. "Oh no, I'm not nearly good enough of a painter to sell my work. I just do it because I enjoy it . . . But . . . if I ever become good enough, I'd sell them," I added, kind of zoning out. "Then I could help support my family and give them a better life, you know? I'd make sure my sister could go to college or university, and that my mom could retire happily in a large house that she could bake things in . . . ."

~ Third P.o.V ~

Malice listened to Sahara muse and couldn't help but like the girl more. In his opinion, the little human had more guts and determination than a ceruleanblood, and that was saying something.

She blinked her dark pink eyes and looked up at him, smiling wryly. "That probably sounds a bit silly though, doesn't it?"

"Hell no, lil sis," he said, grinning. "I think it's motherfucking bitchtits wicked. You can try n' sell your miraculous art while you're here, you know."

She looked shocked and fiddled with some of her fuschia bangs, a motion that he began to associate with her being either nervous or embarrassed. "U-uhm, I s-suppose I could try," she said, looking down. She then looked up at him from under her long, pale lashes and gave him a little grin. "But, I must warn you, I turn into a friggin' beast when I paint. It's best not to bother me," she added, giggling.

He was beginning to picture that in his mind, and he grinned even wider, if possible. "That's perfectly fine, mah wicked sis," he said. He then looked at Gamzee, who was giving him a smug grin, glancing between Sahara and him. Malice's cheeks colored a bit, but the facepaint covered it.

"Hey, littlest motherfucker, show our wicked sis to her room," he said gruffly, glancing away from Gamzee.

The stoned troll laughed and honked, taking Sahara's hand and leading her to her room. Malice watched them go and hoped that she would like it. They'd never really had a girl be around them for extended amounts of time, aside from females of their blood color. He wasn't sure what she'd like, so he'd actually gone to the Empress to ask for help, which was something he hardly ever did. Given Sahara's choice in colors for her outfit, he imagined that she would like what Her Imperial Radiance did to the old, unused weapons room.

Malice sighed, then thought back to some things Sahara had said on the way there.

"Dude, you guys have the best jobs EVER! I mean, do you know how many people on earth would want to do that? So many people, man. So many people; myself included. Sometimes I just really wanna beat certain assholes over the head with a brick. Those who are serial killers or rapists deserve much worse than that. But I won't bore you three with my twisted ideas of how to kill someone."

He grinned, chuckling quietly to himself.

"She would've made a motherfuckin' miraculous Subjugglette," he murmured.

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I warned y'all he was gonna be a bit OOC. But please don't hate me for it ;-;