Greetings! Here is chapter 4, where questions are answered. Wait, actually this just causes more. But who cares, it's another chapter! So let's begin!
The Derse uniform was just purple pants and a purple shirt with a moon on it. After I changed, we went back to the meeting room. "Look, all I could do is get my asshole friends together. But most of them are way to retarded and shit. In case you hadn't noticed," Karkat said sarcastically.
"We could just get Jade over here. John and her could tell Rose about the horrors of the golden city, and I'll get her to side with me in Derse. Who wouldn't want to live in a city that had such sick beats flowing in the air?"
"As tempting as that sounds, I must refuse. As the smartest here," I said, then paused as the boys whined about this statement. "I believe that this is a silly civil war. Nothing else to it."
"Sorry to ruin this illusion you have around you, but this is anything but silly. Spades and Ms. Paint are the only survivors from the Midnight Crew. Droog, Boxcars, and Deuce went down fighting. They didn't choose sides. I'm trying to end this," Karkat said. "There are only eight humans. But there are twenty-three other trolls. That's twelve on each side."
"Your math skills are astonishing, Karkat," Dave teased.
"Shut it, Strider! You're a bigger asshole than Sollux!"
"For the love of Skaia please shut up! We are trying to help the carapaces, not murder each other," John said. Dave and Karkat looked at the ground and sheepishly apologized. "Thank you. Look, it'd be great if we could talk somewhere else. Maybe one of the abandoned buildings here? that would work."
"I think Sollux and Aradia have been staying here together for a while. They want to stay unaligned," Karkat said.
"That's perfect! We'll gather everyone there, and then we can talk in private. I'm sick of those dumb spies from each side coming around and watching us all the time."
We were about to leave, but Casey came running up to me. "You missed my birthday!" she said, crossing her arms and glaring at me.
"Oh really?" I asked, slightly amused. I remembered doing that when my father had missed my birthday for a business trip. "Well, how can I make it up to you?"
Casey paused. I don't think she had planned for me to be willing to make it up to her. Once again, she amazed me by having the same reaction I had when I did that to my father. "I want to play with you. Now," she replied. It wasn't greedy or rude, rather it was innocent and playful.
"That could be arranged. Would you like to play outside?" I asked. She nodded excitedly and took my hand. I turned to John. "It's fine, I'll meet up with you all soon." With that, Casey brought me out doors and led me to the outskirts of the remaining city. We were near a tree, but it was really just an open field.
"Teach me how to use magic! You're a master at it, and I want to learn!" she exclaimed, taking out her wand.
"I'm not really a master. I've only used a wand once, so you probably have more experience."
"But Johnny said you were the best at it," she whined.
I blushed. "Well Johnny is a very silly boy. But I can try to help you." For the next few minutes, I borrowed her wands and tried to teach her easy moves. It wasn't exactly easy, as I couldn't describe how I did it. But she was pleased enough, so I figured I was doing well enough.
"Why'd you have to leave again?" Casey asked suddenly.
"Well, I had to take care of some things in my world. I did promise to come back."
"Boo, your world seems boring. Just stay here with us. Please," she said.
"Well, I don't know."
"Pllleeeaaassseee," she said, falling on the ground.
I had never thought any salamander or amphibian in general could be so adorable. "Fine. Now, shouldn't we go to Sollux's and Aradia's home? I think we're going to be late, and I believe I've kept everyone waiting long enough."
"Okay. Come on, it's close." She led me back to the center of the city, where an abandoned building stood. We hopped through a broke window. Instead of bringing me up the broken stairs, she pushed against a wall. To my surprise, it was just a tarp blocking a group of boxes. With my help we moved the boxes aside to reveal a trap door. She unlatched it, and hopped down on the stairs. We walked down together, and the stairway grew darker and darker. Then, when it was about to turn pitch black, the stairs stopped and we were in a room.
The room was brightly lit with electric lights. Two computers were pressed against the wall, and two chairs were occupied. Sollux and Aradia were on the computers. No one else was present. "Hi Aradia!" Casey exclaimed.
Aradia and Sollux both turned. "Oh, hello Casey. Welcome back Rose."
"What, am I not good enough for you or thomething, CA. That'th hurtful," Sollux said. "Welcome to our thitty home. Thorry there aren't any other theatth."
"Quite all right. Where are the others?"
"They thould be here thoon. Leave it to KK to be late."
"I'm not late, asshole!" Karkat yelled. He looked as though he had ran here. "I brought everyone. Do you know how hard it is to find all these retards? I swear to god, how the fuck did you guys get everywhere within ten minutes? I had to swim to find Feferi!"
Feferi sheepishly backed away. "Sorry Karkat."
Meenah put her hand on Feferi's shoulder. "Come your jiggle-flesh bumps, Nubby Mcshouts," she said. Karkat glared at her.
"Alright, calm down. We need to figure out how to stop this," Dirk said. Everyone began to listen. "We know that Jack noir is the bad guy. However, he is backed by the Dersites. I believe that only three of them, his closest spies, are actually loyal. As of now, he is the threat, what with him being omnipotent. So we have to leave him to PM."
"What about the three spies?" Jane asked.
Dirk smiled. "Just what I wanted you to ask. We have to kill them."
"Do we know, uh, who the spies are?" Tavros asked.
"Leave that to the Derse kids," Roxy said, standing triumphantly. "We will watch out for the spies, and get back to you guys. Then we can take them down."
"What about our 'omniscient' foes?" I asked.
"We could always help PM. Jack Noir is really protective over me, and its starting to freak me the fuck out," Jade said. "I don't think he could hurt me."
"That's the dumbest thing I've ever," Karkat said. "Any other ideas?"
"Actually, I have been studying the two and the history of the powers. If my research proves correct, then that means they only keep their powers in their universe. If we brought them to a different universe, they'd no longer be omnipotent," Kanaya said.
"So, they're only semipotent?" Casey asked.
"Yes, in a way. Jade, if there is any way we could get them into a different universe, that would be the best course of action," Kanaya said.
"No, not that I know of," Jade said. Everyone groaned.
"You may speak of me," someone whispered into my ear. I turned my head, but saw no one. It had sounded just like Lys.
"What do you know of a girl named Lys?" I asked.
"She's nothing but trouble," Jake said.
"How so?" I asked. Everyone shared a glance, as if they wanted me to stay ignorant.
"Lys is her clever alias for her real name, Alyssa. She says she's from your world," Aranea said.
"She is," I confirmed. "I've met with her there. She helped me return here by giving me a looking glass."
"Yes. She claims to be a Mage of Space. She's only thirteen years old, and never stays anywhere for more than a few days. We think she stays in Prospit most of the time, but she might have allies in Derse. We aren't sure yet, but we've been tracking her for months," Arania explained.
"But can she help us?" I asked.
"We don't know. We've been trying to find her just to ask questions, but she keeps running away. When one of us does find her, she acts like a bitch," Dave replied.
Terezi stared at him. "But you said that she latched on to your leg when she saw you and didn't let go for a full ten minutes."
Dave paused. "And?"
"Thut up everyone. You're all retarded," Sollux said. "Tho, we need to figure out how the fuck we defeat JN. Thith ith bathically what I hear. We need to find thith Mage of Thpace. Any ideath?" Mituna raised his hand. "Not you. Anyone elthe?" No one said anything, and Sollux sighed. "Think about it. A war ith here, whether we like it or not."
Most everyone left, and John took Casey away. Kanaya took me by the arm and led me back outside. "I see you are a Derse dreamer," she said.
"Dreamer? Thet's the first time I've heard this term," I said.
Kanaya gave a puzzled look. "Really? It's the term most commonly used by Prospitians and Dersites. It means that recently, you have dreamed of being in one of the cities. Most haven't had this happen until recently. I know Karkat still hasn't awoken, so to speak. I was one of the luckier dreamers. I've dreamt of Prospit my entire life."
"What's it like?" I asked.
A grin spread across her face. "Beautiful. There are white clouds in the sky that show future events, and the spires are golden. Even the streets are gold! It's always sunny and never dark. And even the clothes are colorful, although slightly unfashionable."
I stifled a laugh. "It certainly sounds pleasant."
"Yes, it is. What of Derse? Do you enjoy it?"
"I've never been there. I wish I could tell you," I said.
"Ah yes, just like Karkat. You know, I think Kankri has the same trouble. If I'm correct, so does your sister. That strikes me as odd," she said thoughtfully.
"Yes, it seems as though me and three others have received the short end of that stick."
She laughed, then thought for a moment. "This must all be very odd for you. What's it like in your world?"
I wasn't sure how to answer this. Thankfully, Vriska Serket had pushed herself into the conversation, much to my pleasure. Never had I liked the spider troll so much. "Fuuuuuuuuussyfaaaaaaaangs," she drawled, a confident smirk on her face. Kanaya gulped and a jade blush dusted her cheeks. "I'm bored. Come on, let's do something exciting!" she exclaimed, grabbing Kanaya's arm and dragging her away.
"Sorry Rose!" Kanaya called as she was forcefully led away.
"Yeah, sorry Rose," a voice said from behind me. I whipped around, slightly surprised, and saw Alyssa.
"Alyssa," I stated simply, regaining my composure. Alyssa smirked. She was still in the knight clothes.
"Rose," she teased. "So, I see you betrayed my trust and sold me out to the dreamers. For shame, Miss Lalonde."
"An interesting hypothesis, one definitely worth looking into, but false nonetheless." I countered. "You told me to do it. I heard you."
Now Alyssa looked puzzled. "No I didn't." She thought for a moment, then grimaced. "But I know who did."
She snapped her fingers, and another girl appeared. This one seemed to be the polar opposite of Alyssa. She had tanned skin, brown eyes, black hair, glasses, and was shorter. She had a black cloak on that made her seem like she was blending into the shadows, which were growing as it grew later.
As if noticing where she was for the first time, she immediately turned to Alyssa. "I thought you promised no more using powers on each other!" she yelled.
"I thought we promised no ratting each other out. Truly, I'm ashamed," Alyssa replied coolly, examining her nails.
The girl tried to reply, but was unable to. "Well, it had to happen. Now they know who you are."
Alyssa snickered. "Right, 'cause I'm the only one out of us that has powers."
I held my hand up. "I'm sorry, I don't quite follow. What exactly is going on here?" I asked. The girl realized I was there for the first time.
"Oh jeez, I'm sorry. I'm Gabby, the Maid of Mind. Your Rose, right?" she said, holding a hand out.
"Yes. Rose Lalonde. I assume that you both are familiar with me."
Alyssa scoffed. "A bit cocky, aren't we?"
"No, it seems as though you have done your research." The two glanced at each other. "I'd like you to tell me what exactly you know about me." I sat down on a peice of rubble that was somewhat smooth. "Please, go on."
Alyssa scratched her head, and Gabby looked to the ground. I stayed, staring at them. Finally, Gabby brought her finger to the tip of her nose and shouted, "Not it!"
Alyssa growled and muttered, "Dammit." She sighed and looked up to the darkening sky. "Where to begin." Finally, she too sat down. "I used to live in New York City. Well, both of us did, actually. We went to the same school and became friends. For maybe the first six years of our lives, we were normal.
"When I was seven I brought Gabby with me to a particularly bad part of town. We just wanted to see what it was like. Well, these men started chasing us. So we ran. We got to this alley and hopped a fence, and ran like the wind. We lost them, but we lost ourselves too. I didn't even think we were in the city anymore. We were in some sort of forest.
"Gabby and I tried to figure out where we were, and we kept walking. We found the White Kingdom, or rather, this place. One of the guards saw we were young kids and helped us out, giving us some food. He brought us to the White Queen, and she told us what I told you."
She glanced at Gabby, who said, "You two are some of the very few people who can cross between worlds. Be careful."
Alyssa chuckled. "Gog, we took that to heart. Did we even go near anyone after that?"
"I don't think so," Gabby laughed.
I coughed slightly to regain their attention. Alyssa returned to her story. "She was very kind. People like us were supposed to be executed. You got lucky, you're needed. But Gabby and I are the outcasts; powerful beings with no true meaning."
"They fear us," Gabby said. "We have powers like you do. But there is no prophecy for us. They don't want us to become evil. So we left this place, but after a few months. We were too curious, and we had to find out what exactly we were."
"And we picked up some of the cultures. I found that looking glass and tied my power to that. What was once a simple magic trick is now a powerful enchantment. It's how we kept coming back, which is normally a very complicated task."
"Right. So, we came back here just after Lord English was killed. Now, as Maid of Mind, I knew that Jack Noir would go, well, insane. So Alyssa and I studied about you, the hero."
Alyssa nodded. "You're the Seer of Light, age of twenty years. You first visited when you were six years old, and had no memory of this place when you returned. Your weapon of choice are the wands, and you are the younger sister of Roxy Lalonde. You are a Derse dreamer who hasn't yet awoken. Other dreamers with your element are Vriska and Aranea Serket. Other dreamers with your rank are Terezi Pyrope and Kankri Vantas," she said quickly and matter-of-factly. She then inhaled deeply, and added, "That was hard to say without breathing."
I mulled over these details. I thought they were telling the truth, and were correct with their facts. But I found two problems. Everyone else thought they were trouble makers and hooligans, and they were leaving a par of the story out. But I didn't question it, and instead nodded. "Okay. I believe you."
They sighed in relief. "Great!" Gabby exclaimed.
"Yes. Well, I certainly must head back, and I think you two should also. I fear it may be a long day tomorrow." They nodded and we exchanged farewells. I heard them arguing as we separated. If one thing was for sure, they must be as close as sisters.
I got back to Skaia, and found Roxy waiting for me. As she talked to me about life in Underland, she brought me to Derse, which was frighteningly close to Skaia itself. She showed me to a small purple house and said good-bye. I fell asleep easily.
And scene! I hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review telling me what you thought and how I did. I really hope you guys are enjoying the story!
Alright, I'm out.