Today was John's birthday, and Jade was excited for everything that was to come along with that. She had been awake since the early hours of the morning - which was very unusual for her. The excitement had staved off any sleep, and she was looking herself over in the full length mirror her handmaiden had prepared for her. The Prospit gold suited her complexion, and flattered her figure. Several hours had been spent agonising over the way to wear her hair, until she'd been informed that a braided up-do was traditional for a priestess with locks as long as hers. She thumbed some of the more intricate work with her right hand, wondering how on earth she'd get it all down again when the cleansing took place.
Lucky for Rose she wouldn't have that same experience! Jade had been speaking to some of the gods for years now, her awakening had taken place when she was very young and so she was not in the least bit concerned about their duties. She had tried to talk to Dave about it several times, but he vehemently denied their existence. Really they were quite nice for the most part, if not a little unusual. Still, she supposed this is something they would all find out in the coming weeks. Looking at herself in the mirror again gave her a strange uneasy feeling - like she was unable to tell if she was awake or asleep. After waking up on Prospit all that time ago her dreams and reality could be difficult to separate at the best of times, never mind when she was wearing these gold pyjamas in her waking hours.
As she did her best to push the uneasy feeling out of her mind, she heard a message come through on her laptop.
- grimAuxiliatrix [GA] began trolling gardenGnostic [GG] at 10:00 -
GA: Good Morning Jade
GG: hello kanaya!
GA: You Seem To Be In A Good Mood Today
GA: I Hope This Is A Reflection of Your Excitement For The Coming Events
GG: yes! i am very excited :D
GG: i am finding it hard to sit around waiting for things to happen
GG: i dont think dave or rose will be able to talk to me this morning
GA: Why Is That?
GA: I Have Not Personally Spoken To Either Of Them But From What You Say They Are Usually Available For Conversation
GG: yeah
GG: i think they are both busy today with their own problems!
GG: i will see them later anyway
GA: I Suppose That Will Have To Suffice
GA: Karkat Is Concerned About Dave
GG: concerned
GG: why? :/
GA: He Is As Usual
GA: Struggling To Overcome His Own Issues Surrounding The Joining
GG: i wouldnt worry about it
GG: i know he meets dave eventually
GG: all of us actually!
GA: Yes I Know
GA: I Have Tried To Explain This
GA: I Hope You Enjoy Your Special Day Jade
GA: It Will Be Nice To Have A Chance To Really Meet You Outside Of Dreams
GG: yes! i cant wait to meet all of you too
GG: but it is not my special day
GG: it is johns!
GG: i should wish him a happy birthday
GG: goodbye kanaya!
- gardenGnostic [GG] is now an idle chum! -
GA: Goodbye Jade
- grimAuxiliatrix [GA] ceased trolling gardenGnostic [GG] at 10:15 -
Remembering that it is her friend's most special birthday of all, Jade finishes her conversation with Kanaya and opens up another chat window to speak with John.
- gardenGnostic [GG] began pestering ectoBiologist [EB] at 10:20 -
GG: john!
GG: happy birthday! :D
GG: john?
EB: oh hi jade!
EB: sorry i am so busy this morning you would not believe it
GG: im sure i would
GG: we are all very busy remember?
EB: yeah i know, sorry, thanks for the birthday wishes!
GG: youre welcome
GG: i wont bother you for too long
GG: just wanted to congratulate you
GG: and say im looking forward to meeting you for real!
EB: yeah me too! and dave and rose.
EB: oh man it will be so sweet
EB: i cant believe we werent allowed to see each other before now :(
GG: it sucks
GG: but it is almost over now!
GG: i will let you get down to business
EB: to defeat the huns?
EB: hehe
GG: haha
GG: yes
GG: goodbye john!
EB: bye jade!
- gardenGnostic [GG] ceased pestering ectoBiologist [EB] at 10:40 -
Jade took a moment to appreciate John's joke, before she returned to her preparations. As the first to awaken she had been in charge of supplying the others with the information they needed to correctly perform the rites. Unfortunately, she already knew that at least one of them would not read the memo, and another would disregard most of it. Still, it was nice to feel important.
Her own evenings had been spent practising up until today, it was good, to know that her dedication wouldn't go to waste. Rose, she mused, would probably be more eloquent and impressive than her when it came down to it, but as long as she was enthusiastic and did her best she couldn't be sad about it. John was about as clueless as ever, and she guessed Dave would be too cool to care much about it all.
The large golden leather-bound tome on her shelf winked at her out of the corner of her eye. Jade smiled, she didn't have to remove her glasses just yet so she would give it another quick flick through - just the important parts. Becquerel, who was until this moment curled up on the rug, came to sit next to her on the bed. His silent vigilance was as endearing as it always was.
Good dog, best friend.
She opened to a specific page and ran her fingers affectionately over the handwritten note.
Name Username Abbr
Sollux Captor twinArmageddons [TA]
Nepeta Leijon arsenicCatnip [AC]
Kanaya Maryam grimAuxiliatrix [GA]
There were a great deal more friends to be made than this, in fact there were twelve more in total including the other priests! However, these were the three she was allocated to. The three that she would get to know the best - and in fact the three that she had already spoken to the most. She spent some time like this, considering the ins and outs of their imminent undertaking. Reading about the various temples they would visit for their pilgrimage, scattered throughout the valley of the gods.
It made her sad to know that she would be split up from her friends not long after meeting them, but they would all meet up again in the end and their journeys would be important to their development.
Jade was always an excitable, happy-go-lucky kind of girl - but sometimes she really did feel sad. Everyone did, why would she be an exception? The excitement of meeting her friends and starting their journey was hampered down with the weight of responsibility and the feeling that somehow, she would be left behind by them. That John and Dave would reach heights she couldn't, and Rose would do things her own way and leave Jade alone. It brought her down some days more than others.
Looking at her hand she could see the final colourful band which sat on her index finger, reminding her that today was the day that everything would change. When she removed this band no more would take its place. Taking a deep breath she rolled it off her finger and put it on her side table, her glasses following suit. She would need those again later, but she wasn't supposed to wear them right now. Her final accessory was a garland of flowers made to sit atop her head as a crown. Now the girl in the mirror was not Jade Harley. The makeup, the outfit, the crown, it made her look like someone else - someone bigger than she felt like she could be. This was no time to dwell on things like that. When they were cleansed she could be herself again - that was the point wasn't it? To bring yourself back to your most natural state. Even so, she couldn't help feeling that something was changing and that they would never get it back again. It left an emptiness in her chest that was hollow and cold.
She reached a finger up into the intricate knot work of her hair and loosed a single wavy strand. There! Just that one little act of rebellion made her feel a million times better. She smiled despite herself and wondered if the others would do something similar. Bec tugged on her sleeve, reminding her that she had to leave soon. It was just after eleven, she could spend a little longer here. Maybe get a nap in just to see Prospit before she left. It always calmed her.
"Bec, wake me up if I seep too long okay?"
The dog didn't reply, but sat back on his haunches and watched her intently, indicating that he understood. She smiled, lying down and allowing herself to drift out of consciousness if only for half an hour.
Fortunately for Jade, all of the trolls she had been talking to were more than used to interacting with her by now, and none of them had to go through any special circumstances to get her to open up to them. She had simply always welcomed their conversation and sometimes even met up with those who dreamed on Prospit.
Kanaya smiled to herself, happy to have such a pleasant person for a consort. Admittedly she was more curious about some of the other humans but Jade was a nice girl, if a bit naive sometimes. She looked up as Karkat stormed off out of the room, volatile as usual. Aradia smiled at her sympathetically, both of them understanding each other's experience with his outbursts.
"Lookths like KK is throwing another hithy fit." came Sollux's lisping dig from her left hand side.
"I don't get wwhat the big deal is." Eridan's voice wafted over from the other side of the room.
Kanaya could never really think of a word to describe how he spoke. It wasn't quite a stutter, but the emphasis on particular letters grated on her somewhat.
"So he can't use mind-speak, it's not like he talks to any of them in the first place."
"I don't think that's very fair." Kanaya scolded him, turning away from her computer. "Karkat is trying to make a friend, I think, and we shouldn't berate him for that."
"He should just ask it's not that hard."
"Yeth, becauthe that workth sho well for you."
"Shut your mouth piss-blooded scum."
Aradia and Kanaya looked at each other again with an expression that read 'are we really doing this now'.
"Shut up, both of you!" Aradia spoke up eventually, crossing her arms over her chest. "Really, this is why everything is so messed up in the first place."
The argument went on for a little while, but as with most of them it was circular. Kanaya and Aradia trying to appease Sollux and Eridan whose threats of violence were about as dangerous as a wet paper bag.
The sound of the transportilizer whirring to life heralded the end of their conversation, Karkat reappearing after only around ten minutes of absence. His eyes were wide with shock, and everyone stared at him in response.
"KK, you alright?" Sollux asked, concerned for his friend.
"Karkat?" Kanaya too, was worried about what could cause his sudden reappearance.
He shook his head, walking over to his computer again and sitting down. He rested his elbows on the surface, and put his head in his hands.
Puzzled, Kanaya looked over at Aradia who moved her chair over to sit next to him and put a hand on his forearm.
"Would you like to go somewhere else?"
He shook his head again, looking up at her with a pained expression. If she had cogs in her head you would have been able to hear them clanking into place.
"Oh! Karkat, that's great!"
Grimacing, he bared his fangs at her in an attempt at an angry expression.
"Whaths great?" Aradia whispered something to Karkat, who nodded slowly. She turned to face the others.
"He can hear Dave!"
There was a short silence, followed by a commotion as the others tried to congratulate or question him about it. The noise was deafening to someone who had just experienced telepathy for the first time.
"Would you all just shut the fuck up!" he shouted eventually, rubbing his temples. "You're making my headache worse if that's even possible."
"Thorry KK, I forget thith mutht be weird to you."
"Weird is a seriously massive understatement, tell me what the hell I'm supposed to do about this."
The other trolls looked at one another before wordlessly backing off to leave him with Aradia. They assumed her to be the most qualified for this conversation.
"Really though, this is a good thing." She began explaining to him the nuances of mind-speak.
Ways to mute the echoes, and they made arrangements for some training regimens so that he might be able to turn the connection on and off at will - and more importantly reply. He listened to her talk with a scrunched up face of conflict for a while, until his expression softened almost immediately.
"Oh, did something change?" she asked, noticing the difference in him.
"Yeah, I think Dave did something on his end. My head feels lighter."
She nodded, guessing earlier that the one in 'control' of the connection had been the Derse dreamer.
"Perhaps he woke up on Earth?"
Karkat shook his head.
"No, he wasn't awake on Derse in the first place, stubborn asshole."
This was puzzling but not unheard of.
"I hate to interrupt." Kanaya called from her chair. "But the ceremony will start soon, perhaps you would like to move somewhere quieter?"
Nodding, Aradia picked Karkat up from his seat - who swatted her hands away. Disgusted with the idea of needing her help to get anywhere.
"Alright, let's go to your block Karkat, I'll help you out if things get rough."
Although he wouldn't admit it, he was terrified of the whole thing, but the idea of leaving made him feel like a scumbag. He shrugged her off, groaning a little from the pressure on his skull. It was still tender it seemed.
"No, gonna stay here. Not giving her the satisfaction."
Which of the female trolls he was referring to, they could only speculate. However, the list wasn't particularly long.
Kanaya resumed her work at the computer, waiting for the ceremony to begin, and the inevitable influx of eleven other trolls, well, seven considering that there were five of them in the room to begin with. Right on queue, what Karkat affectionately (or not) described as the 'shit-show' began to show up one by one. Vriska and Terezi had appeared together, arms lazily wrapped around each other's shoulders. Kanaya cringed, glad Karkat was preoccupied. It was one thing to have a moirail, it was another thing to rub it in everyone's faces.
"Hello, bitches!" Vriska's cackling laugh bashed her eardrums in a way she couldn't describe. Even worse for the hurt feelings that still caught in her chest when she saw the 'scourge sisters' back together again. "Hm, what only you guys so far?"
Eridan waved a hand at her from across the room without sparing a single glance in her direction.
"Could you be quiet? Some of us havve shit to do."
This earned a snigger from Sollux, typical that the only time they get along is when they're teasing someone else.
"Dithappointed? I'm thure Tavroth would come if you methaged him."
She scowled, flipping them both off.
"Whatever, I guess our supreme leader got over himself this time, instead of hiding like a little wriggler once again."
Kanaya bit her tongue, resisting the urge to rub it into her face that Karkat was talking to Dave, possibly right at this moment, with Aradia's help. Nobody responded.
"Well at least he smells delicious when he's embarrassed." Terezi spoke up eventually, to which Vriska laughed a little too much. Just enough for it to be unsettling.
"If you must know," Kanaya spoke up eventually.
"We were all quite busy with something important."
"Oh? Are you guys all some weird thing now?"
"No, we were helping Karkat."
"With what, exactly?"
"Figure that out for yourself."
"Come on Kanaya, that was pretty venomous from you."
"He is presently occupied, and that is all there is to say on the matter until he decides otherwise."
Vriska pouted, flopping herself down into a chair, Terezi following suit at the unit next to her. Sollux was snickering to himself on the periphery of her hearing.
"What the hell are you laughing at, asshole?"
"Juth looking forward to the look on your faith when you get dethroned."
"What the fuck does that mean?"
There was silence again, nobody said anything for a long time - mostly waiting for the events of the day to begin. Every now and again the others could make out Aradia whispering something to Karkat who would shout-whisper in response. Eventually Aradia returned to her own computer, leaving the other troll to his own devices. She smiled at Kanaya reassuringly who decided he must just need to be left to it.
Vriska was tapping her claw-like nails on the table, getting increasingly bored, and agitated by the fact that Karkat hadn't said a single thing to her since she'd arrived with his old flame.
"Hey, nubby horns!" she called from across the room, Karkat's frown only deepened but he said nothing. "I'm talking to you! Karkat! Don't ignore me."
Eventually he couldn't stop himself from responding.
"I'm trying to have a fucking conversation here can you stop interrupting with your loud bitchy bullshit? Thanks."
"A conversation? So now you've finally lost the last bit of your sanity."
He lifted his head up out of his hands and turned to look at her, flashing an unsettling grin that was just the right amount of smug to make her think twice.
"What, John hasn't spoken to you yet?" he asked, letting the question hang in the air like a bad smell.
"What are you on about? Are you honestly expecting me to believe that you're talking to your idiot of a consort right now?"
"Mm I agree."
"What?"
"Oh, Dave just said you sound like a vapid hag."
There was silence, then a screeching yell, and pandemonium.