AN: Written for the reverse big bang on LJ (for Homestuck). Honestly, this sucked... since my mind kept going to different places. Ah, meant to be a Kanaya/Rose fic, but ended up being gen.
When I remember the link, I'll edit this and link the picture this is based off.
Disclaimer: Fanfiction. End of story.
There was something about the city that excited her—she wasn't sure whether it was the creatures following her (cute as they were) or if it was the thought of being caught, but she loved it nonetheless. Though she wasn't one to call for others, and their attention, she was still pleased to have all their eyes on her.
Rose was here for a reason and only that reason—to convince Kanaya Maryam to join their side, the evil side, as the "heroes" called it. Though, they didn't say she couldn't take side trips to visit the cats; she wasn't serious, as the cats already found her amusing, and they decided to make her their unofficial owner.
She could admit, to herself, that the reason she volunteered was because she wanted to get away from her (insane) weird teammates. "Someone needs to put him in a mental hospital," she muttered softly, turning away from the cats suddenly. She was certain that Gamzee suffered from a mental condition—she suspected "Dissociative Identity Disorder", also known as "Multiple Personality Disorder", but she couldn't be sure since the definition given was vague.
Her mind wandered a bit, as she aimlessly walked in the city—she could attack the citizens—that would mean that she would be the villain they portrayed her as. "Sollux said something about being able to get me in," she muttered, staring at the bus that happened to be moving alongside her.
"Sollux, how do I get there," she murmured into the phone that he'd given to her. Before he could answer, she ran into the person she was looking for. Kanaya looked lovely, like always, but she looked more confused than concern. In a way, it amused Rose to no end—the princess was innocent like always, but that probably didn't have anything to do with the person she represented (Snow White, if anyone was concerned.)
There also seemed to be something wrong with her, as she couldn't look at Rose without turning away almost as quickly as she looked at Rose. There was also a hint of horror on Kanaya's face—didn't Maryam forgive her? You give a person a poisoned apple one time, and they hate you for all eternity. She smiled bitterly as she remembered Gamzee's shy side telling her that she was terrifying and downright insane at times—it was ironic, to her, coming from Gamzee, but she never said anything about it.
Thinking of Gamzee, she couldn't help but to feel as if they're not doing him any good by allowing him to stay with them—they never really had a name for their team, as everyone always argued with each other. She could say the interactions within her "group" were comedic at worse, and just downright stupid at best.
"Kanaya," Rose said, smiling, hoping that it looked flirtatious. "I hoped to meet you today." Her eyes glimmered in amusement at Kanaya's reaction. The princess' face turned red, and her eyes were wide with shock. Those eyes, which always held a confidence that Rose wished she shared, now were full of horror and shock. She chuckled slightly, and hoped that she had a warm smile on her face—it's been so long since she had to put a façade on.
"Why?" Her eyes then had a wariness to them, as if she didn't trust Rose, which was understandable. Even then, she couldn't help but to feel a bit hurt that her (former) friend wouldn't accept her sudden appearance without suspicion.
"I just thought you'd like to see me," Rose murmured, sounding more amused than angry. She was trying hard not to attack the other, a habit she had since they often fought with each other, but she still managed to keep the soft, charming smile on her face. "I thought you'd like to at least give me another chance," she whispered into Kanaya's ear, smiling at the shock that passed her face.
"I did, but then you blew it."
"Wouldn't you give me one more chance," she said, tilting her head slightly. "Wouldn't you at least like to say that you gave me a chance before you abandoned me?" The smile slipped slightly, as she had planned, and she hoped that it was affecting Kanaya. If not, then her mission was a failure, one that she refused to accept.
"I… I guess so." The uncertain look on Kanaya's face amused her, but she held her laughter back. She didn't believe in making fun of Kanaya—not until she accomplished what she planned to do, what the "villains" planned to do.
"I wanted to actually speak to you. I understand your reasons for avoiding me, and I wanted to discuss that. I wanted to talk about what you said to me earlier. I was under the impression that you thought that I purposely tried to kill you. While that might be correct, depending on the perspective, I think you didn't consider my side of this. I didn't attempt to kill you because I personally hate you. You were wanted dead because you were a huge threat to us. I had to eliminate the threat that you possessed; if you died, then that was that. Maybe, if you lived but forgot everything, it would've worked out much better. The problem with that, however, is that lost memories can be regained, if they wanted to do that." Rose mused on her thoughts and her actions as she continued to reveal "too much" information to Kanaya—if this worked out, it would be easy to earn her trust. If it failed, however, she would probably start throwing a "shit fit" as Dave called it.
"You know, you could always leave Terezi and Vriska. They have people to watch them—John will be there for Vriska. Terezi could even join us, if you want since Karkat likes her and all. Dave even likes her, so she would be warmly welcomed into our group, if you like the sound of that. The problem with that, however, is that it'd cause infighting, and Gamzee would have to mediate. With his mental problems, I'm not sure if he could handle it—I'm almost certain that he would enter the fight itself, and create a larger problem with that." Before she could get too ahead of herself, she smiled once again at Kanaya, and said, "I have to go now. See you later."
As Rose left, she knew that she had planted a seed of curiosity within Kanaya. It would be only a matter of time before Kanaya came to visit her just for answers. If not, then she could always make time to visit Kanaya—the two of them were good friends before this whole "hero" and "villain" thing started. It was nice to think that she might be able to spend time with "Snow White" again, if everything went according to the plan that she construed.
It was an amusing thought, on that made her feel a bit happier than she originally felt. Even if she had to admit that it was only because of her friend being close to her, she still had to admit that it was much better than spending time with her other friends.
It was such a long time that she forgot most of their history—it was so long since she had to admit that she "loved" Kanaya.
They were the age of five when they first met. She had just moved to the town, and she was personally happy to make a friend almost immediately, even if it was a bit forced by their parents. The place her mother chose was a simple yet elegant house. It had everything necessary to sustain life, yet it lacked anything that made it feel "homey". There was no décor, no warmth that made it feel like she should want to come home.
That's why she found herself spending time with Kanaya at her house—it was nice, cozy, and it had such a nice family. She was first confused by it—she never had any friends when she lived in the crowded city—and she couldn't help but to question the family about it.
They showed her that there was something other than the coldness she received from her mother, showed her that there it was possible to have a loving family that understood her for who she was—she was a bookworm, and her mother wanted her to be much more social.
It also showed her that not all parents are drunks—they showed that they didn't drink much, maybe a glass of wine or two, and that her mother shouldn't if she wanted to be a good "parent". Of course, when her mother had found out about Kanaya's family, she insisted that they were wrong. She kept saying that the family would break their (iota) relationship, and that there would be nothing that her mother could do to repair it.
That was when she tried to separate herself from her new friend. She was only seven at the time, but she understood that family was important, even if she didn't feel that way. Rose knew better than to think of her mother as a cruel, heartless person, but she was curious as to why mother didn't want her spending time with someone who could offer love in the most obvious forms.
'Maybe she just doesn't like them, like how I don't like Vriska, and doesn't want me to spend time with them because she'd have to spend time with them if I went there too often,' she reasoned. So, instead of continuing to avoid Kanaya, she just avoided going to their house unless it was absolutely necessary—it meant that she wouldn't go to their house unless it was necessary for their project—they wouldn't go to Rose's house for reasons that should not be mentioned.
"Kanaya, Rose!" An enthusiastic female launched herself at them, and they barely managed to catch her—neither of them understood their friendship with Jade, but it just worked out that way. It was easy enough to assume that she was a naturally charismatic person, but they both knew that Jade wasn't exactly like that. She was eccentric, and many people often couldn't stand her because of her tendencies to say weird things (she barked once, which was beyond weird.)
"Ah, the three I needed to see," an eerie voice said, sounding a bit too optimistic about finding the "three". "I need you to come with me… if you can find me~" The speaker's voice had a lilt to it, almost a teasing tone that made her realize that this was a crazy person—if not that, then something extremely weird was about to happen.
"I need you to become heroes and villains," the voice continued. "I want you to change into these people, and become a hero or villain depending on what I tell you. Rose, you will become a villain. Jade and Kanaya will become heroes. Oh, and you can't refuse since it's already in effect~"
She heard a chuckle, and then she glanced at herself to find that her clothes had changed into… she wasn't quite sure what it was exactly. It reminded her of those stories her mother would tell her, the one with the evil witch and the poor maiden—Snow White. Glancing to her left, she noticed that Kanaya looked like Snow White (or what she'd imagine Snow White would look like), and Jade looked like… she wasn't sure, but she'd assume that it was something similar to the princess in "The Frog Princess" and to the fairy that appeared in that play that she saw once.
Rose didn't think much of it, though, for she was too busy trying to decipher the events that just happened. She didn't quite understand how that unknown entity was able to transform the three of them into fairytale characters, but she was also curious as to who that was—she didn't recognize their voice, if it had been a human, and she didn't understand anything. She didn't like being in the dark.
Rose snapped out of her memory, chuckling to herself. Yes, it would be nice to be friends with Kanaya once more—if she could convince Kanaya to join their side. "I wonder what the others are doing. Even if I do have to go back to such a horrible situation, I think it'd be much better with Kanaya there. It's been so long since we've talked, after all," she explained to the cat that was purring happily as it rubbed itself against her leg.
She chuckled, and stood up; the cat followed her to their "house"—she couldn't call it a home, since "home is where the heart is" (according to those not cursed by that mysterious beings). "You should go back," she murmured to the cat, trying to indicate that it should leave her alone. Instead, the cat purred even more loudly, shocking her even though she half expected it—this cat had taken a liking to her, even more than before.
"Silly, little feline. Wouldn't your owner miss you," she continued on. Even then, she knew the answer—this cat was a stray, and it didn't have anyone else to go to. Without hesitating, she picked up the cat (noting the lack of resistance), and carried it inside their "lair"—another name given to their housing facility by the "heroes".
"I want to make sure that you're safe," she murmured softly, almost cooing to the cat. "You won't be safe here. You should go back to the city." Without thinking about it, she started petting the cat, letting her hand run over its fur. The soft, silky fur made her rethink her assessment of it—a stray cat didn't have silky fur.
She stepped into the room, the oddly silent room, expecting murder or some other hint of horror. Instead, she noticed that the others weren't arguing, weren't really doing anything. It was as if they had finally realized that they shouldn't fight amongst each other. "This is unexpected." She was tempted to say something similar to "cat got your tongue", but refrained from doing so because of the irony—if anything, Dave liked to talk about the irony behind everything.
Sollux looked up, seemingly apathetic. Behind that mask, she knew that something else was brewing, something that would either make or break their relationships. It was a sad sight, but she couldn't say anything to disturb it—she had a feeling that this had to happen. "We decided to test out something humans created."
It wasn't exactly what she expected (wasn't what she expected at all), and immediately denied anything that went along the lines of helping them out. "We are not doing any trust exercises," she murmured. "Do you honestly think it applies to us, the people who are meant to be distrustful of each other just because we know the cruelty of humanity, the cruelty of life? We aren't meant to test our trust, which is almost nonexistent, because we've seen the worst of humanity."
She paused, almost amused by the fact that the others thought that a trust exercise would work in their case. The relationships they had were built out of necessity—had it not been for the creature that had cursed them, they would have never met each other. All of them were from different time periods (the earliest being from the tenth century), and it would've been impossible for them to meet, unless they were reborn with their past life's memories, something she didn't really believe in.
"It seems stupid, doesn't it, when pointed out like that. Maybe it would be best to end the rivalry with the others—it might save us." She didn't like sounding unsure, like she didn't know what she was facing, but she kept the uncertainty under wraps, hiding the insecurity. She was also unsure as to the reason of their existence, something that had been annoying her since the appearance of the first person.
"I think we should just end the meeting."
"Agreed."
There was something familiar about this, about those words, but she didn't comment on it, instead choosing to muse on it just to clear her mind of the pressing matter. She found that if she dwelled on the unknown for too long, her mind would become muddled, and she would be even more irritable than before.
"Maybe it was during the Second World War," she murmured, thinking about the event that just happened between all of the "villains". It did sound like something that had happened, though she wasn't completely sure—ever since she obtained this "immortality", she found herself watching political events, war events, anything that held her interest.
"It was… Japan… and the ministry was debating on whether or not to surrender to the US." Happy to at least have tackled one mystery (however temporary it was), she decided to think on the other pressing matter (that didn't involve that shadowy being.)
"Maybe Kanaya would like to join if we offered everyone on the same thing." She thought back on the time spent with Jade, and murmured, "Yes, that would be fun. I would like to see her again, along with Kanaya."
She chuckled, and continued on her way. If she had invited Terezi, as mentioned to Kanaya, it would cause even more infighting (between Dave and Karkat, vying for her attention), and it would be hell for everyone else that lived here. She didn't know who Sollux would side with—he didn't seem to care for relationship problems ever since Aradia died—but she knew almost immediately that Nepeta would side with Dave, if only because it would eliminate her competition.
"It would become more interesting, at least." It would be nice to hear a different reason for a fight if she had to hear them fight in the first place—they never would stop fighting, so it was a given that she would expect more fights.
The last of the villains, Nepeta Leijon, was playing with the cat she had unwillingly taken to their house. It was amusing, this girl, as she shouldn't have been a "villain" with her sweet personality, and her almost carefree attitude. In a way, she reminded Rose of Jade.
The girl was extremely nice, if she didn't hate you, and she would often attempt to match-make people, much to everyone else's horror. Rose, on the other hand, was amused by the girl who attempted to get Sollux to go on a date with Aradia (and it ended up successful), and she loved that the girl would never give up hope, even if it was centered on Karkat.
She also knew that Karkat knew about Nepeta's little "crush" on him—he'd often avoid the cat-like girl if only because the conversation between the two of them was always awkward. It was sweet, that schoolgirl crush, if only she didn't fly into a rage whenever someone important to her was threatened.
It wasn't long till she made it into her "room". A message had popped up on the screen, and she flinched as she remembered that the "heroes" could often contact them through pesterchum. "It looks like it's from Terezi." Without bothering to look around for the others, she read the message, most of which was filled with not-so-veiled threats.
After reading said threats, most of which were original in its own right, she chuckled to herself once again—it seemed Kanaya was seriously considering her offer. Or, at least, the personification of Snow White was attempting to untangle her thoughts about a certain subject.
"I wonder… would they like to join if I promised their safety? Or maybe, I need to offer something irresistible, like Gamzee being sane, except something possible. Then again, Gamzee could be sane, if we put him on drugs." She chuckled to herself, amused by her own little inside joke.
"I hope they don't take me seriously when I say that Gamzee's fine, mentally. But they met him before—he wasn't stable in any way when we all met, and I'm certain they know he's not stable now. In fact, I don't think he was ever stable." She chuckled to herself once again, slightly curious as to whether or not she had a mental disorder or not. Then again, it's hard not to obtain a mental illness after living for nearly one hundred years without aging—everyone who's been cursed, even the heroes, have some type of mental deficiency at some stage. Rose believed hers to be not too serious, but also decided that maybe she would check into a mental hospital if she ever needed to.
Sometimes, she wondered if saying "I love you mother" would've made any difference, but then she thought back to Kanaya and her family, and realized (once again) that it didn't make a difference. However, this time, she couldn't stop herself from saying those words. "Ich liebe dich, Mutter."
Her German wasn't the best—it often happened to people who didn't speak a language for an extended period of time—but she was almost certain that was "I love you, mother" in German. If not, then she confessed her love for her mother, which would indicate incest, which was not what she wanted.
The next day was much as the first, talking to Kanaya, revealing information that was true, but not all that secret, and trying to convince her to abandon her friends. This time, however, she decided to add a bit of German, to remind her of where they first were, how she was the foreigner, and how she was disliked because it was the height of World War I.
Rose also considered inviting her to their house, to show her the life she could have, one without a moment of boredom, a constant flow of action. Going against that, she bid her former friend farewell, all the while laughing softly. It was something she wanted—she wanted her former friendship back, no matter what.
This pattern made up much of Rose's day for the next month, and she found herself much calmer, much happier, when she spent time with Kanaya. It was then that she realized that maybe, perhaps by chance, she had fallen in love with her former friend (which seemed much more closer to joining the "evil guys"—name courtesy of a civilian who happened to see their fight.)
"You know we don't do anything horrible," Rose murmured one day, "But you still insist on fighting us. Why is that? Do you hate me so much because of the fact that I was changed into the evil witch in the fairytale Snow White? Or maybe it's because we're all a representative of the normal evils in the world—those that come from greed. We handle it without murder—or most of us do—however. So why is it that you guys insist on fighting us?"
She patiently waited for Kanaya's answer, and was shocked to learn the truth. She was amazed by their thinking, that maybe if the world was gone of this evil, if this evil was defeated, then maybe this ridiculous curse would be broken. It was nice to know the truth, as if meant that Rose had a better chance of convincing Kanaya to join this time—she revealed their theory of unity.
It was ironic, to her, as she found that the good guys' theory (name courtesy of the same civilian) had involved their death, something that was an evil—murder is one of the sins, and often would be a reason people were thrown into jail (or executed).
Sometimes, it baffled her, this concept of "heroes and villains" because everyone was a shade of grey. Or maybe her thinking of the world was a little eccentric, taking up all those opinions that no one else seemed to share. "I think that maybe, maybe, it would be nice for the heroes to consider our side of the conflict. There are some values we hold, and I honestly don't know why we're not allowed to quit being our roles.
She smiled once again, and left. It wouldn't do any good to stay here and chat about theories and the likes, but it would do good to make them seem much more mysterious than they appeared to be. As she walked past a girl, she smiled warmly, laughing with her friends. She was odd, capricious even, and Rose wanted to be able to do that. She wanted to be able to participate in that farce known as life.
"Maybe one day we can look back on this and laugh," she murmured. "If we're not dead yet," she added, shaking her head slightly. It wouldn't help to worry about the future right now, not when she had convinced Kanaya to at least see her side. It was nice, however, to have a friend to talk to, one that she could actually have an intellectual conversation with that didn't involve bantering—she often did that with Dave and sometimes Karkat.
Though, she had to admit that those quips with the others amused her, made her feel a liveliness that she often didn't get if only because she was too busy trying to keep them all from killing each other. If she was allowed to do something that was her own thing (and not someone else's thing), it would be to banter with her friends for as long as she could without wearing herself out.
She was shocked to find that no one else was in their hideout—she didn't like the name, but it sounded better than lair—they always seemed to be here doing nothing other than arguing (and sometimes "working", though she did wonder about that too.) As she looked around, hoping to find some hint as to where they went, she could hear someone's colorful language. It didn't take a genius to figure out who it was, but it did confuse her as to why they were outside doing… she could vaguely hear the sound of a ball being hit by a bat. "I never knew that they played baseball."
It wasn't like her to make an assumption like that, and she didn't usually think about her "friends'" hobbies, but it intrigued her. She didn't know that they had the potential to reach heights that were unreachable before. Of course, that meant that they would have to be doing something that didn't involve fighting—she highly doubt that they were able to do something other than fight.
"FUCK OFF!" Without really looking up, Rose knew who was speaking already—only Karkat could swear so easily (she swore that he couldn't have a conversation without swearing—no, one sentence greetings don't count as conversation.)
"Shut it, KK," Sollux said, seemingly calm, though she knew that he was close to killing their teammate.
"Karkitty, it's just a game. Why do you take it so seriously?" Already, she could imagine the look Nepeta was giving Karkat, that adoring look that made Karkat sick to the stomach, or so she assumed, and she couldn't help but to chuckle softly.
"I think it would be best to stop arguing." She spoke up, alerting them, and walked to their position, not minding the glares she received from her "brother". "It would be stupid to argue when we can defeat each other with our skills, no?" It was a last-ditch attempt at stopping them from arguing, and it always worked—it was nice to know that they were too competitive for their own good.
"Don't you think that maybe, maybe we were having a fucking good time," Karkat murmured, sounding calm (to the horror of Sollux and Gamzee). "Maybe we should fucking stop playing if we're fucking interrupted every fucking time we play. Please, stop being a fucking douche, and consider out feelings." His voice had this calm, one that made her think of that saying "the calm before the storm", and she patiently waited for his anticipated rant.
It never came as she had anticipated, astounding her and her fellow comrades. Almost as if on cue, Karkat stormed into their housing facility, growling about how stupid his "friends" could be (of course, she had censored most of this.)
"Maybe we should play without him," she suggested, smirking slightly—she might've been smart, but she was also able to play a game of baseball (or softball). If there was one thing that she wanted, it was a normal human life—she thought that playing a sports game would help her.
"Uh… well, we weren't really playing baseball," Nepeta said, sounding a bit sheepish (but also cute, as was her talent.) "Anyways, we don't have enough players." A small smile on the cat-like person's face made her realize that maybe, she was being too harsh, and she promised that she would stop trying to make them get along (as often).
"I guess we can play next time." She smirked, thinking of her mission (to convince her friend to join.) "I think we should invite our "heroes". Wouldn't it be nice to defeat them, without the bloodshed that most of you think need to happen?"
Even as she said that, she knew that there was a good chance that it would end with them fighting (either each other or the other group), and she didn't think she had the energy to mediate (even with the help of Kanaya.) It still seemed like a good idea, as there was that small off-chance that they could become friends with people from the other side.
"Do you think we could invite some of those humans we met? I would love to talk to those people we met before." As Rose replied with an affirmative, she swore she could hear Nepeta purring about how nice she was (which made absolutely no sense, but no one would dare tell her otherwise).
She presumed that this would become something of a trial for her, yet she couldn't help but to anticipate the long anticipated meeting with the heroes.
The heroes—there wasn't much she could say about them. She was curious about their thought process, one that baffled even Gamzee, who didn't think much on anything as he was always eating those weird things (sopor pie, he called them).
They picked up the habit of referring to themselves as the Allies (something from World War II, she presumed), and obviously, referred to her and her comrades as the Axis. It was confounding, to say the least, but there wasn't anything she could do about it.
Terezi Pyrope seemed to be the most… enthusiastic about their endeavor to free humanity from the evil that surrounded it. At least, she seemed to love dishing out "justice" to all those that "deserved it". She was blind, apparently, but she also did quite a good job at hiding that (with her keen sense, and he ability to "smell and taste color", something that she'd like to study.)
John Egbert, the guy that knew Dave before this whole thing happened. They used to be best friends, but were separated because of the switching of sides—they don't fight against each other, but they don't certainly have tea parties, and have small talk. He also seemed to be into heroism, and she liked him—he was certainly interesting.
Vriska Serket, the one who seemed to be the mastermind behind the Allies. She was cunning, sometimes stealthy, and arrogant. She also had a weird habit of typing the numeral of "eight", usually taking the place of the letter "b" or any part of the word that sounded similar to "eight".
Tavros Nitram was a guy who would be so much better if he could build up his self-esteem. He was someone that had no self-confidence, and would often refer to his "self-confidence" as Rufio, an imaginary friend, according to Vriska (though why she was told that, Rose never knew).
Jade Harley, her former friend, and a bit like Nepeta. She was often a bit eccentric and she was often associated with an airhead. Rose, however, knew about Jade's temper, and that she would often explode near Karkat if only because he didn't know how to keep his mouth shut. She also had a dog, such a creepy dog with no face, and it had saved them from a certain doom.
The last of the heroes was Kanaya Maryam, her closest colleague (or former colleague.) She was extremely intelligent even by her standards. Kanaya also was the one who managed to keep her friend in line, stopping them from doing whatever it was that they did when she wasn't there. She also heard that her friend was scary with her temper.
The Axis were not that different from them, but still different enough to cause a conflict (or maybe that was also caused by the curse.) She still despised the name given if only because it was also associated with one of the bloodiest wars in history (though for America, that bloodiest war will always be the Civil War.)
Anyways, these were her opinions of her own companions, ones that she was forced to live with for the past century or so.
Gamzee Makara—she knew he was from Russia originally (though why he left that country and came here, she didn't know as he wasn't a Jewish person, the only religion being persecuted in Russia around the time he made it to their group.) He was insane, as she had mentioned before, and he often did not like being bossed around by her or any of their friends (though he's easy enough to convince if he's high on something.) He was also their best fighter, though he's often distracted by the "motherfucking miracles".
Dave Strider was the person that could've been her brother—they both had single parents, and they had the same philosophy, to an extent. They bickered often, but were really close at the same time (and that closeness did not involve attempting to kill each other.) She'd often stick her nose into his business, and he would in return, bug her about the problem she was having. He also was someone who tried to be cool (or ironic… which she wasn't exactly sure what it meant, though she had a good idea of what that irony entailed).
Karkat Vantas was the one with that "huge potty mouth", as a mother of a child once said. He was one that often lost his temper with Dave (and John, though why he felt the need to help him out, she didn't know, and would hopefully never know.) He was the one who seemed to be… "Tsundere", according to Nepeta, and he was someone that would never admit that he cared for anyone else.
Her friend, Nepeta Leijon, was interesting to say the least. She acted like an otaku, but didn't seem to be one at the same time. Donning cat ears and a tail, she pulled off a good cosplay, but she wasn't too interested in anime in general—she said that she liked to roleplay more than watch anime. She also loved cats a bit too much, but she didn't think that the obsession was that horrifying. Cats were cute, after all.
He was their hacker, their friend, their confidant, and the one who fell victim to a human. His name was Sollux Captor, the one that fell in love with a human, Aradia Megido, a female that was too close to their friend. The relationship was near everything to him, and he tried his best to stay friends with her (when he ended their relationship for her happiness), but he was devastated ever since she died (apparently, they got together when both she and Gamzee joined.)
She, Rose, was an analytic person at heart. She liked dissecting problems (and that didn't involve scalpels, despite what both Dave and Karkat said), and she liked hearing about the others' problems. As long as she didn't lose her sanity due to their problems, she was fine with them complaining to her. It often made her feel useful, as if she was any closer to solving the problem plaguing them all, but everyone knew that was never the case.
As long as she knew, the problem had always existed. It was always around, from the time Tavros was coerced into joining (but knowing him, he probably just went along with it because he couldn't say no) to the time Gamzee joined—he joined last, in 1920, she believed. From what she heard, neither side wasn't any closer to solving it, to finding their salvation, but she believed that they could accomplish this.
This game, however, is the first chance she got to see her companions play baseball, a famous American pastime—at least it's not as heated as football was (she was an audience member to the argument of whether or not it was football or rugby—she agreed to never let them watch NFL or AFL ever again.) She hoped that it wasn't as heated as football, at the least.
For now, they seem content with pushing each other's buttons, seeing who'll crack first. Again, she was amazed that they didn't seem ready to get into a (fist) fight with the heroes, but she was smart enough not to question it; she didn't really feel like jinxing it. If anything, it was weird not to hear Karkat curse everything imaginable, but that might've been because of some other circumstances—it might have been caused by both Terezi and Nepeta.
It was relaxing for once, and she thought that they could all get along (to an extent—she could hear Jade arguing with Karkat, even if it wasn't a huge commotion as it originally would've been.) Then, she wasn't exactly sure what happened, but Karkat was swearing at Vriska, and she was retaliating with her creepy grin, promising him that luck would never be on his side. Rose was almost certain that Serket had a perverse interest in fortune, but she didn't think much on it as it wasn't really her problem.
While she was listening to that, she caught Pyrope in her peripheral vision, talking to Kanaya about something. Before she could comprehend what was going on, the hero, who looks similar to the star of the Disney movie, Mulan, was standing in front of her, talking about justice. It wasn't like those long rants that villains apparently were fond of, and before she knew it, an apple was presented to her.
She stared at it, almost immediately understanding what Terezi was trying to tell her. It was a message and some form of justice in one—it was saying that she should pay for trying to eliminate their teammate and that anyone who tried would get the same thing. It was amusing, to think of the actual reason she had attempted to poison Kanaya (instead of that bullshit reason she gave earlier.) To be honest, she wasn't sure why she lied about her motives, but it was there nonetheless, and she would never betray that lie.
It had been so long since she's seen that creature, the one that had brought this curse on all of them, but she wasn't all that eager to see it again. Then again, she did have some questions for it—she wanted a way out of this. It would be nice to have some of her suspicions confirmed (or denied) after all that she went though.
"I would like to ask some questions," she stated, polite but firm. "What was the point of the whole curse? How is it broken? When will we be able to die?" The last question was the most pressing to her, but she did want answers to them all. She wanted to understand the reason for this mess that the being had created.
"Hm, so many questions. I guess I'll answer it the best I can. The curse was created because I wanted to have fun. I mean, being immortal can only be fun for so long. It was a game for me, and it was a way to feel connected to humans. As to how you break it, well, I can say that it's obvious." There was a high-pitched giggle that made Rose think the organism was feminine.
"It's… obvious?" She thought more on it, and decided that she was implying that they should murder the heroes. "Should we kill them?"
"What? Of course not! You would only ensure your demise, and suffer a fate where there is no happiness, and all happiness that you have will be ripped away from you! Of course, if you do defeat this curse, you're free to die at any moment."
Rose paused, confused as to what was being implied. "What do you mean by that?" She wasn't sure if the being was implying that she'd make their lives "hell" or if karma would be, as Dave would say, "a fucking bitch…"
"Just don't kill them. Think of other ways to end the curse. Maybe, I don't know, a united front to defeat me. Or something like that," she mumbled. "Well, you should give our little Snow White a poisoned apple. Oh, and you have no choice, your opinions don't matter at all, and it should be done within 48 hours."
"I'm sorry, but I don't believe I deserve to be poisoned. I had my reasons, and my reasons are legit," she said quite calmly, not betraying her true thoughts that plagued her. She disliked the feeling of ignorance that came with not knowing of their true motive, not knowing what plagued the mysterious being into doing this.
As if there was a cue, Terezi moved away, staring at her deploringly, probably attempting to stop Vriska and Karkat from killing each other. Rose sighed, thinking about this game. It was interesting, as in they were able to get along to an extent, but it was hard to believe considering the fact that their Cinderella was trying to kill their version of Robin Hood (though why he was considered a villain, Rose never would know.)
She also saw Gamzee and Tavros on the side, speaking to each other with such happiness that she couldn't help but to wonder about the events that had transpired. It seemed that the two were able to "hit off" as soon as they had started talking, but the friendliness was a bit too much, considering that they weren't supposed to be trusting.
She shook her head—it wouldn't do any good to ponder on this.
Those two were the first to create a lasting friendship, but they weren't the last. She finally (finally) managed to convince Kanaya to join their side (though, to be honest, they didn't really fight with the villains anymore), and it was interesting, seeing the "Allies" enter and exit their adobe. It was also amusing to walk in on Dave and John talking, that careful façade of Dave's down just slightly, and John trying to become cooler for his friend.
She had to admit, she was shocked that they started speaking again. It must've been horrible for Dave, meeting John fifty years after the curse happened to him, and having it happen to him too. Yes, she managed to get that story out of John with a small smile and constant pestering. It was interesting to find out more about Dave and John's history though, considering where each person came from.
John said that he was from the north, from currently, the biggest country in the world. He said he was from Russia, a country under the Mongol rule at the time, and was forced into this curse because of his encounter. Dave was from Japan, you found out through various means, and he was from the feudal era, marking the time of samurais and katanas. That explained his obsession with (shitty) swords, though, as even she knew that samurais had katanas used both for battle and seppuku.
Karkat and John shocked her to an extent, considering how Karkat treated him. They seemed to be close friends, but they often argued, seeming to never come to an agreement as to how to play, or how to speak to each other. However, John seemed a bit more mature than Karkat, taking his thinly veiled insults as a gesture of friendship, and the rest, as many say, is history.
She was amused by the relationship that was built within this. She was amazed beyond belief by the friendliness between Karkat and Dave the most. The two argued constantly, or they did, and they couldn't stand to be in the same room. However, that seemed to change when both became friends with Terezi. It was good for everyone, their friendship, as that meant that there would not be as many arguments within their house.
She sighed—it was great that everyone was able to get along, but she wished that they could go visit the heroes' home instead of them having to constantly be here. It wasn't only that—she wished to see their housing facility, a place that seemed like a haven for them. That made it a mystery, one that she wanted to crack.
However, she'd like to know when exactly the lines started to blur between the two groups. As long as Rose knew, they hated each other, wanted to fight each other (maybe it was born in them because of her appearance) but now, they wanted to hug each other. Maybe not hug each other, but they didn't want to spill each other's blood.
She was still trying to get that easy friendship back, though, the one she shared with Kanaya. It wasn't that shocking that Kanaya still didn't trust her—everything went back to that apple—though she assumed that Kanaya would've forgiven her by now.
"Maybe I'll go apologize. One day," she murmured, turning to face the cat that had made itself known. In response, it started purring happily, almost mocking her. "Or, at least, the others could tell her… the truth." She paused, knowing that would never happen; they didn't know her true reason for poisoning her.
"At least, the others are slowly, but surely, getting along." She sighed, taking that in with as much enthusiasm as she could. "Maybe, maybe, we'll get closer to the answers that we so desire." Even then, she had doubts about breaking the curse, of getting any answers.
It was amazing, the things she could think of when she was trying to figure out how she would get Kanaya to really trust her again. Maybe it was Terezi's fault, considering that she reminded Kanaya about the poisoned apple. It might've also gone hand-in-hand with the fact that Kanaya wasn't the most sociable person.
Sometimes, though, she thought that Kanaya was considering giving her a third chance (if the last time she trusted her was gone) whenever they had a conversation that lasted more than two minutes. She also thought that they might be able to repair that friendship whenever Kanaya would talk about her to someone else (as Dave had once complained about.)
Before she could make a move, however, a meeting was called—of course, it was Karkat who created it. Instead of it starting off the way it usually did, with him swearing at everyone, and maybe, maybe, he would speak with purpose—those purposes did not include him telling everyone that they must do something just because he said to. It had started with the lights dimming, with everyone confused, and Dave muttering something about this being stupid.
The reason for them still existing, the person (creature, as she still wasn't sure whether or not the being in front of her was human) who cursed them, stood in front of them. This… creature had the audacity to actually appear before them after all she had done to them—Rose had to grudgingly admit that she respected her.
"So cute~ So stupid, you know~" A high pitched giggle could be heard. "It will never end~ You know, I don't think I ever thought of a way to let you out of this." The admission sounded almost sheepish, but it didn't really help her in this situation.
"So, sorry to tell you your efforts were in vain, little villains. Of course, it wasn't completely a waste of time—you guys won't fight anymore." Rose heard her mutter something similar to "I hope", but didn't comment. "As I said, you won't have a chance of breaking it. Or… there's a way that I haven't thought of."
The being continued to mutter to herself, oblivious to the growing hatred. Maybe she did know, but didn't comment on it. "Anyways, I wish you luck with eternity!" With that said, she disappeared for what Rose presumed to be for the last time.
As she watched Sollux speak with Jade, as she watched everyone talk to each other, she couldn't help but to agree with one thing that creature said. It wasn't a complete waste of time, as they got friends that understood them better than anyone else.