Disclaimer: Homestuck is owned by Andrew Hussie.
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One moment John was biting his lip on LOHAC, trying not to think about how the world was about to be reset and how he wouldn't remember his adventures with his friends or his childhood or … oh god, he wouldn't remember his friends. Not only would they all be different, different personalities and experiences and attitudes, but he would be different as well. Would they still be friends in this new universe? Of course we'll still be friends, he consoled himself. We still have to play the game together. Of course we would become friends! He took a deep calming breath and looked up into the LOHAC sky... but then the moment was over, and he found himself standing next to Jade on a Prospitian Warship.
He faintly registered Jade's new God Tier attire as he watched her manipulate space - a tiny version of Skaia and LOHAC floated in front of her, and as the seconds flew past miniature versions of LOWAS, LOLAR, and LOFAF joined the rest. With a flick of her wrist Jade captchalogued them, then pulled a four paned window out in front of her. She reached out with her hands, then pulled space apart in front of her; John was awestruck. The window grew immensely, then without warning Jade waved her arm and the entire warship crashed through the glass.
The sudden acceleration caused John to fall to his knees, and he covered his head in anticipation of falling glass and shrapnel. After what felt like an eternity of nothing happening, the sound of wind touched his ears. No, not wind, he corrected himself as he peeked past his own arms. I know the sound of wind. This isn't quite as... swooshy.
The sky was a vibrant green with neon streaks constantly passing by, as if some parody of a meteor shower. John pushed his palms against the deck of the ship and pulled himself to his full height as he craned his neck to look at the heavens. "... where in SBurb are we?"
"I'm not sure!" He jumped at Jade's cheerful voice, and turned to look at her. She smiled, her fingers pulling lightly at her dark skirts, and looked past him to the bizarre light show above. "Some sort of limbo dimension between the two walls, I guess..? Like a realm with unusual spatial properties that we have to pass through." She stepped towards him gracefully, and John couldn't help but wonder where her confidence came from. Jade's always been sort of spooky and all knowing... but before it was more of a hunch thing. Now it's sort of like she actually knows.
And then she was smiling that goofy, buck toothed grin that she was known for, and John realized that he probably looked stupid standing there with his mouth shut and that he should probably respond. "Okay then... we escaped the scratch?" She nodded. He looked back out beyond the rails of the warship, and felt Jade's shoulder bump his as she stepped beside them. But the scratch should have killed us... John felt himself pale. "We still exist and everything... right?" We're not ghosts, right!?
"Yes!" Jade laughed, and John felt himself flush in embarrassment. "We still totally exist John!"
"Okay. Good. I was just making sure," he chewed the inside of his cheek in an attempt not to pout, and looked away from his ectobiological sibling. "I mean... I still feel pretty existy, but you never know."
Jade giggled, then moved towards the edge of the ship. John could see the wonder and excitement in the way she floated as she moved across deck, and he grinned. We've only been playing for a day, but it felt more like a year. I can barely remember the last time I felt carefree... Immediately he blanched, turning inwards as his train of thought derailed and crashed into the side of his skull. Besides the jetpack flying thing. That was pretty carefree. Or the entire swooshy-whirlwind business. That's always fun, even if monsters are trying to kill you.
He shook his head, and looked up to see Jade staring back at him. She was still smiling, but this time it seemed like she was waiting, too. John took the hint, and walked up to her. "I'm still confused."
Jade nodded and listened and explained as best she could as John asked question after question, that little knowing smile on her face. She pointed out the other end of their journey, a four paneled wall that didn't seem all that far away to John but that would take them 3 years to reach. She told him about her witch powers, and even playfully stretched herself out to be a full head taller than John for a moment before he used his windy-powers to propel himself high enough to lightly bop her on the head; then she shrunk herself down small enough to stand on his shoulder and shouted pixie words in his ear.
A red streak broke out across the sky, catching both of their attentions. Jade proportioned herself properly and grabbed hold of John's arm - he could feel her shaking. Don't worry, I'll protect you. He focused on the red smear in the sky - it almost looked a meteor, until it was framed by a large silver smudge. "What the fuck is that?"
Suddenly the world went dark. The sky was still green but now much dimmer, and the lights still showered the heavens but they no longer appeared quite so bright. "I have no idea," John felt her shrug against his arm, pulling his limb into a tighter embrace even when her shaking stopped. Don't be scared. He looked down at her, and she gave him her best toothy smile to make up for the lost circulation in his hand. "Extra-dimensional shenanigan based phenomena..?"
John chuckled, using his free hand to rub at the back of his neck. "Sounds like something Dave would have his hand in."
Jade's smile slowly drifted away, and her hold on John's arm loosened as she took another tentative step towards the side of the ship. John held himself as he thought about his other friends. I told Karkat that I would see him soon during that last conversation we had - well, his first conversation, he couldn't help but snort and shake his head at the ridiculousness that was Karkat Vantas, before looking at Jade's lonely profile once again.
He moved towards his ecto-sister again and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Where are the others..? You said they made it."
A sad turn of the lips made it seem like she was smiling, but John could see a tear on the corner of her eye. Why's she crying..? "They're at the Green Sun."
"The Green Sun..?" John blinked. "Weren't they going to go destroy the Green Sun? I mean... everyone made a huge deal about how it was the thing that was bringing all the evil guys into the game... right?"
"Sort of," she looked up at him, a sheepish expression on her face that told John exactly how confused he was going to feel in a second. "The Green Sun is what governs over our session, and the trolls session, and any alternative versions of both of our sessions - like the new session, the one created from the scratch where we are heading to." John could already feel a knot tightening in his skull, and pushed his lips together in a straight line as he tried to keep listening to Jade. "But it didn't exist yet. So Dave and Rose had to create it, both so that they could reach God Tier and so that all of our sessions could happen in the first place."
John blinked again. Then he raised both of his hands to rub at his forehead. "So wait," he displaced his glasses as he pushed the heels of his palms against his eyelids. "How is that even possible..? I mean. I know Dave is the Knight of Time and Rose is magical now, but if the Green Sun was giving power to people that were making things difficult in our timeline and in the trolls timeline, how could it not exist until after Dave and Rose blew up the bomb and-" he jumped lightly, his wind-powers automatically pulling at his clothes and causing him to float a foot in the air as he punched at nothing to stop himself from groaning. "I don't get it. I don't wanna get it. It happened." He landed and look at Jade, who was covering her mouth to try and stifle her giggles. "Can't you just... teleport us to them or something..? You have witchy powers."
He watched her as she sighed. Her shoulders drooped as she wrapped her arms around her waist, and she looked once again out into the green abyss. "I miss them..."
John stepped up behind her and pulled her into a hug. He rested his chin on her shoulder and shared her point of view. "I miss them too... and it's only been a couple of minutes! There's so much we won't get to tell them in the next three years..." Jade was shaking again, so John held her tighter. "And the trolls! We won't get to see them either! Vriska is probably going to flip about that one, I can imagine her disappointment now!" He chuckled, envisioning the spider-girl's cross expression when she would undoubtedly tell him how not-cool-and-amazing he was being. "Karkat will be the worst, I'm sure," he could feel his own tears welling at his eyes as the shaking in Jade's shoulders finally settled. She reached up and whipped at her face before turning in John's arms to hug him properly.
She buried her face into his chest, and he could feel her mumbling something. John moved away just enough to look her in the face and asked her to speak again, so she pulled her saddest smile onto her lips and repeated "you could travel with them to the new session, if you'd like."
He stood there for a moment, a little dumbfounded. We can be with our friends..? Why didn't you say so sooner? "Woah, why the heck don't we do that?" He could feel the excitement of the game coming back, that bit of wanderlust and invulnerability that he had felt when he first entered the medium.
"I can serve as a gateway," Jade pushed him back, and he took one floating leap away from her and the side of the warship. He watched as her features dimmed, and her entire being became a window to the other side. He looked through her and watched as Dave and Rose and two funny grey looking people will horns (Trolls! He thought excitedly. That must be what trolls look like!) descended towards the top of a building. He could see the Green Sun looming like a nuclear storm on their horizon. "You can hop right through me and join them. Then you can travel with them."
John bounced lightly on the balls of his feet. "That's amazing Jade! You're amazing! Your space-witch powers are amazing!" He giggled like a schoolboy with candy on halloween. "Awe man, can you see this as well?" Jade shook her head, and John chewed his lip for a moment in contemplation. "Oh man, Rose and Dave both have sweet new God Tier pajamas like us! Haha," he shook his head. "Dave looks sort of like a doofus with that snug hood on..." Jade frowned at him, but John waved off her reaction.
"I bet he looks super cool!" She defended him with a huff.. John couldn't help but smile at the blatant admiration in her voice. I wonder if anything happened between them during the game. "Like some sort of superhero!"
"That's true," John agreed. "I still like my outfit better, though."
"Naturally," Jade scoffed, then they both lapsed into silence.
Something felt off. "Soooo..." John kept looking at their friends. That must be Karkat! And that asshole clown... grr! "I just sort of... jump through?"
"Yep!" There was 110% cheer in Jade's voice. "Hurry up, before they leave the Green Sun! I won't be able to transport you to them once they start their journey!"
Something felt off. "I'll see you soon?" He tried to find Jade's eyes, but could only see the burning gaze of the Green Sun.
He watched her nod. "Hurry up John!"
He stepped up to her again, and tentatively wrapped his arms around her one more time. He could feel her there for a moment as she folded herself into his chest and looped her arms around his neck. She still feels pretty existy. And then he was moving through her, and space pushed in on him on all sides and forced his eyes shut and his mouth open and he was falling to his knees. His stomach rolled and bile stung the back of his throat, and his mind spun wildly.
"Jegus fuck John!" A voice yelled at him. He opened his eyes only to see that he had unwittingly landed on top of a troll. "Get the fuck off of me!"
"Ahaha... ha..." John's legs felt weak, and he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Seems that instant-teleportation made me a bit wobbly..." He pushed himself to a stand, then reached a hand out to help the poor troll he had toppled over. "Karkat, right..? You must be Karkat. Only Karkat could get that mad."
He ignored John's outstretched hand and stood by himself. "What the fuck are you doing here? I don't remember there being two suicide missions to destroy the fucking Green Sun."
"Except that we created the Sun," Rose's voice broke in. John could feel his face break as he smiled widely at her and Dave as the two humans stepped closer to their friend, but Rose didn't smile back. "Weren't you with Jade..?"
"She used her awesome witch-powers to teleport us here," John grinned. "You should have seen it all, it happened so fast! She shrunk everything down to pocket-size; all of the planets, Skaia, everything! And she captchalogued them as if it were nothing, then pulled this huuuuuuuge window out of no where and crashed the ship straight into it!" He tried to bounce in his excitement, but his stomach rolled again so he calmed down. He looked around instead, seeing the other trolls standing with them. His grin died down as he noticed the blood smears, the dead bodies, the sullen expressions. He did a full 360 degree turn, then looked at Rose again with a serious look on his face. "Where's Jade..?"
Before anyone could attempt an answer, a bucket appeared out of thin air. It smacked John square in the face, and the windy-boy fell backwards and knocked over Karkat - once again he pinned the poor troll to the ground, though this time he was left sitting uncomfortably on top of him with a bump forming on his skull.
The bucket bounced, then landed on the already irate Karkat with a loud clang! "Jegus fucking shit!" The angry troll flailed, pushing John aside as he rubbed around his nubby horns. "What the fucking hell is this shit!?"
John was too distracted to care about the cursing troll. The bucket had landed beside him and Karkat, and inside was a poster he recognized from his room back on Earth. He spread the crumbled poster open as he pulled it from the bucket, only to see that someone had written something on the back.
He recognized Jade's neat writing from the late birthday present that he opened up on Skaia's battlefield.
Dear John,
I mean, dear everyone! I'm sorry I won't be there for the next three years! I could be the gate to let John travel with all of you, but I can't really pass through myself! That would be entirely too silly. I'm especially sorry to you John - I guess I fooled you a little, by letting you think that I would be coming through too. But I could see how much you missed everyone, and I didn't want you to not be with our friends! Don't worry about me, since I shrunk down basically our entire session, I'll have lots of nakkadiles and other critters around to spend time with, so I'm sure I won't be lonely! Oh, and Davesprite and all of the other sprites are here, too! They'll keep me company.
I miss you all so much already. John, make sure you tell Dave and Rose how they both look like superheros!
I will see you all in three years!
xo
Jade
He could only stare at the poster paper blankly, reading and rereading the words. He could feel people peering over his shoulder trying to read as well, but it wasn't until Rose pressed in close and placed a hand to his back that he realized that there was a post script scribbled in familiar pigeon scratch on the bottom.
PS. Don't worry dude. I'll keep her safe while you're gullible ass is gone. DS.
Rage built up inside of him as he crumpled the poster in his hands. He threw it across the rooftop with a howl, then pulled his knees to his chest and cried. I said I'd protect her... and now she's going to be alone for three years.