The Beginning
Two sides of one coin, Ying and Yang, Push and Pull, Life and Death, one cannot exist without the other, this is where it begins. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Cause and Effect, this is what got me into this situation. Karma. Actions have effects in the future. My name is Mariah Sarona, and this is my story.
My first mistake, existing. I could've been normal, I could've been your average ordinary every day troll. But I'm not. Why am I not normal? Let me describe what's going on. I wear a long-sleeved black shirt with a cream colored crescent moon on it. I wear blue jeans and black hiking boots that reached just above my ankle. I wear sunglasses that entirely covered my eyes, it was so that if I stayed out too late I wouldn't be blinded by Alternia's sun. My right horn was curved outward, making a loop at the top, while my left horn tilted slightly inward. My raven black braided hair reached around mid-thigh. Today is my wriggling day, not that I would point that out to anybody. I am 6 sweeps old, I just named myself, my lusus… She's not here.
I looked around my simple room; at least, it was simple to me. I had several bookcases around my room filled to burst with books, the rest of the books were either scattered around the room or in precarious stacks. To anybody else it would look messy, but I know where every book I own is. I captchalogued my white laptop in my imaginary modus which I controlled with, you guessed it, my imagination, and left my room to go outside. When I got outside I saw my normal surroundings, a lake surrounded by trees. I heard my laptop ding as I got it out. I opened my trollian account which was ImaginaryFriend (IF). I always capitalize my 'Y's because I find myself asking a lot of questions. At first I thought it was my good friend Nepeta, she often pesters me so that we could role-play, or it was Tavros wanting to play some Fidu-spawn, or maybe it was Terezi wanting to track down some 'criminals', I'm practically her apprentice. Or perhaps it was Aradia inviting me to a 'safe' FLARPing campaign with her and Tavros! It turned out to be carcinoGeneticist, or Karkat. Terezi introduced him to me; only she calls him 'K4RKL3S'.
(Karkat)CG: SARONA YOU WILL JOIN MY TEAM IMMEDIATELY
(Sarona)IF: What? What team?
CG: HAVEN'T YOU BEEN PAYING ANY FUCKING ATTENTION
IF: Well, I can't really get anY news since I'm out in the middle of nowhere, no one reallY talks to me often, except for plaYing games.
CG: TRUE
CG: I'LL GIVE YOU THE SUMMARY FOR WRIGGLERS
CG: WE'RE PLAYING THIS GAME TO SAVE THE WORLD AND WE'RE GOING AGAINST SOLLUX AND HIS TEAM
IF: Not to disrespect Your leadership skills but, wouldn't it be better if we worked together to save Alternia?
'This sounds like a pretty common FLARP campaign. Usually Aradia and Tavros could handle this kind of stuff by themselves. Well, at least they invited me…. Is Karkat joining in too? MaYbe it's a bigger group than I thought.' I debated with myself.
CG: NO
CG: WE GET ALL THE GLORY WHEN WE WIN IF WE GO AGAINST EACHOTHER
IF: OkaY, okaY, I get it. When do we start?
CG: IMMEDIATELY
CG: WHEN I GET WEYLIN ON OUR TEAM YOU'RE GOING TO BE HOSTING HIM
IF: Got it.
CG: WAIT
CG: YOU'RE OKAY WITH HOSTING THAT FUCKING SOPERED TRAIN WRECK!?
IF: Yeah, got a problem with that?
IF: He's not that bad of a guY. It's not like he has oink-beast flu.
IF: Besides, he doesn't curse all the time like Gamzee.
'And You.' I added to myself.
CG: WELL I GUESS THAT MEANS I WON'T HAVE TO PUT UP WITH ANY WHINING FROM YOU
IF: *GASP* Whining? I would never dream of it! Sarcasm
CG: I CAN SEE IT'S FUCKING SARCASTIC WITHOUT YOU SAYING IT
IF: OkaY, You go recruit WeYlin so that we can get this started.
CG: I'M THE ONE WHO GIVES ORDERS AROUND HERE!
IF: I wasn't ordering, I was suggesting
IF: Either waY, I have to get prepared
CG: HERE'S THE LINK
CG:
Geesh, he seems really annoyed, more than usual anyway. Oh well, might as well get started with this SGRUB game. I clicked on the link and it sent me to a loading screen. I breathed in the scent of the forest and the humidity of the lake. I stared at the white hive gleaming in the moonlight and the stars glittering in the midnight blue sky. Even though I had chosen this location 6 sweeps ago, it's still beautiful to me. I let the breath return to the beautiful environment I was in. Weylin isn't too bad; I'll just clean up my hive a bit while I'm waiting for him to get the memo. I looked back at my 10x10 hive, for reasons I am not willing to share, it's small. I walked back in and organized my hive a bit more. Okay, fiction to the right, non-fiction to the left, and these go on top of shelf number 3…
I heard the ping of Trollian going off, it must be Weylin.
(Weylin)RM: wHaTs hApPeNiN mY sHy fLaRp bUdDy!
RM: kArKaT jUsT sEnT mE a nEw fLaRp gAmE. aNd hE wAnTs mE tO bE oN hIs cRaBbY tEaM!
RM: [=):O) hOnK
(Sarona)IF: HeY! Glad to have You on mY team
IF: Wait, did You saY FLARP?
RM: yUp. [=):O)
IF: That means! MY hive is such a mess! I can't have trolls over!
RM: yEaH, mY lUsUs gEtS pReTtY mAd wHeN mY hIvEs a mEsS. [=):O(
RM: gUeSs I sHoUlD mOvE mY hAt mOuNd, sAd eMpTy fAyGo bOtTlEs, yEaH. . .
IF: I don't have room either!
IF: Do You mind if I contact Karkat real quick?
RM: I wOnDeR iF vRiSkA wIlL bE tHeRe. . . sHe'Ll wOuLd wAnT tO dReSs aLl sAsSy aNd tRy tO fLiRt wItH mE, wHiLe wHiNiNg AbOuT qUaDrEnT pRoBlEmS. [=)XO
Seems that he'll be babbling on and on about him and Vriska, might as well contact Karkat anyway.
(Sarona)IF: Karkat! You didn't tell me it was going to be a FLARPing game!
IF: MY hive is waY too messY to have trolls over! MY hive is too small to have anYbodY over too!
(Karkat)CG: WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'TOO SMALL'
IF: I mean mY hive is 10x10 foot!
IF: In other words, too small!
CG: HOW DO YOU FIT YOUR LUSUS IN YOUR HIVE
IF: I don't
IF: I have to withdraw from this game
CG: NO YOU'RE FUCKING NOT
CG: WE HAVE TO HAVE YOU ON MY TEAM
IF: What? Am I vital to this game? Can't You just go on without me?
CG: PLUS, WE'VE ALREADY STARTED WHAT SOLLUX SAID WAS 'THE END OF ALTERNIA'
CG: HE'S JUST MESING WITH US THOUGH
IF: What!? The end of Alternia!? I thought this was a game!
IF: Sollux doesn't joke about these kinds of things…
IF: Wait… Your spell check usually works, doesn't it?
CG: YEAH
CG: I RAN THIS CODE THAT MADE MY COMPUTER EXPPLODE.
IF: That's it.
IF: If You won't listen to Sollux's warning.
IF: I will.
CG: NO
CG: I FORBID YOU FROM CONTACTING THE OTHER TEAM
CG: SARONA
CG: SARONA GET BACK HERE!
CG: YOU WILL FUCKING LISTEN TO YOUR LEADER
Why does Karkat have to be so frustrating!? The end of Alternia!? Well… It would be an end to all the bad things of Alternian culture… No! Don't think like that! I slapped myself across the face.
(Sarona)IF: Sollux!
IF: Sollux please answer!
IF: SOLLUX!
(Sollux)TA: geez keep your pant2 on, ii wa2 bu2y.
IF: Oh thank Ra You're okaY!
TA: Ra?
IF: It's one of the gods that Aradia found in one of her expeditions.
TA: oh… what'2 wrong?
IF: I know that You don't joke about the end of the world
IF: In the short time I have known You
IF: I know You don't joke about that
IF: What kind of game is this!?
IF: I thought this was just a fun FLARPing game and Karkat tells me that it causes the end of Alternia!
TA: 2low down… ii diidn't know that thii2 game would cau2e the end of Alterniia eiither
TA: AA ju2t told me that iit would 5 miinute2 ago
TA: ii told hiim not to run the code but he diid iit anyway.
TA: you miight a2 well enjoy the game
TA: waiit
TA: AA ju2t 2aiid that 2he'2 out2iide my wiindow
TA: ii'll be riight back
IF: Alright, be careful though! I have a bad feeling about this game…
Why am I having this terrible feeling? Like something awful will happen… This feeling feels somewhat like what I felt when… Nevermind. I shook my head, it's probably nothing. Oh! Weylin's talking again…
(Weylin)RM: aNd, wOw, hEy! iT gOt dOnE lOaDiNg. nEvErMiNd vRiSkA I gOt a fLaRp tO pLaY! sEe yOu sOoN mY sMaLl tEaM tRoLl! [=):OD
RM: hOnK
He's been talking this whole time? Wow, that's… Cool? Err… Oh! He said it's done loading, and he said I'm small, I'M NOT SHORT! In fact I'm the tallest troll I know… actually, the only trolls I know personally are Terezi, Tavros, Aradia, and Nepeta…. *Sigh* Oh well, I'll address that matter later. Now, to start the end of the world.
I clicked on the SGRUB link to start the game. Might as well check the progress with RingMaster.
(Sarona)IF: HeY, I just clicked the SGRUB… Is there anYthing that happened?
(Weylin)RM: wElL mY sCrEeN iS sHoWiNg a tRoLl cHiCk lOoKiNg aT hEr sCrEeN, mIrAcLeS.
RM: sHeS gOt hEr hOrNs lEaNiNg tO oNe sIdE, aNd pLaYiNg wItH hEr hAiR, aNd hAs rOoM cLeAnEr tHaN mInE!
No way… Is that me? I looked around my room, there weren't any cameras… no recording device that could record me… I stood up and looked at my messy room, it can't be me, unless Weylin's room looks like a bomb hit it, then a super-typhoon, then an earth-quake, and finally covered in sand for Aradia to find. But I was fiddling with my braid, that's what I do when I'm nervous. I also have horns leaning to one side… I sighed heavily. This is so weird. I looked around again and sat down at my laptop again.
(Sarona)IF: Did she do anYthing?
It couldn't have been me, just stop thinking about it!
(Weylin)RM: sHe lOoKeD aRoUnD aNd sAt dOwN. aNd pLaYiNg wItH hEr cUtE sEa lUsUs tAil.
RM: i tHiNk mY eYeS aRe sEeInG iNtO yOuR mIrAcUlAs rOoM. cLeAn! [=):O0
(Sarona)IF: No waY
IF: You reallY think mY braid is cute?
RM: yEaH wAy, wHaT dO yOu sEe oN yOuR sCrEeN? gImMe a mOmEnT. tHiS cAlLs fOr sTaRdUsT! [=):OD_
IF: Err… Sure…
IF: I don't see anYthing besides clouds on mY screen…
I looked at my screen to see the clouds, very fluffy. Hmmm… I looked around my very, very small hive and sighed again… I sure hope that all he can do is see me… But there has to be a reason that he can see me. I Face-Palmed. What else could I do, if I know right, I have a sopered train-wreck that can see my hive. At least it's one of my FLARPing buddies, at least, he FLARPed on Team Scourge apparently.
IF: Do You see anY buttons or anYthing at all that might indicate how to plaY this demented game?
A trash bin suddenly upturned and placed upon my head and something secured it so I couldn't take it off quickly. I could hear fierce quick scribbling all around me moving from wall to wall and when I took the waste bin off the walls were covered in purple letters saying "hOnK".
IF: HOLY MOTHER OF ODIN!
IF: AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGG!
I screamed and looked around. Not only can he see my hive… HE CAN INTERACT WITH IT! I looked around to see the honks… I fainted.