And the next chapter is here! I have, thankfully, managed to build up a few more chapters to stay ahead of the game, so I'll be ready when that first review comes in. :3 As for this chapter, I think I should mention that I will be referencing the first short story in my one shot series 'Human Emotion Called Love' where Jade/Karkat meet in a dream bubble during the 3 year long trip. You don't have to read it because it's not playing a huge role or anything, but I just thought I'd warn you.
Chapter 8
When Meenah had been brought back to life alongside all the others, she had thought that maybe living would be a great deal more fun than being dead for sweeps on end. No one had told her that when she was alive that she would be dealing with the same boring bunch as before. Karkat's team wasn't the greatest fun, either, if cooler than hers.
Things actually hadn't changed much. She hung around, swelled her treasury, and occasionally talked with boring people that decided they wanted to be boring around her on that particular day. Sometimes she dreamed in the dream bubbles, but she was still surrounded by the same boring old people. Except this time, most of them were dead.
At the moment, she lounged in a large chair within her equally large hive, casually examining a shiny gold crown she'd gotten her hands on a few days ago. She was pretty sure it was fake, but she was too bored to be mad as she tossed it away. At least she wasn't dealing with boring people; they couldn't come down into her underwater hive. Well, most of them.
"Crodog," she sighed. Her fellow seadweller had been hanging around her way too much as of late. Even now he looked up from his place in front of her chair, a brief lapse in the attention he was giving to his waterproof notebook. "Gotta stop comin' in here uninvited, get what I'm sayin'? Need a little me time, yo. Like, it's nice an' all, with your music an' shit," Not reelly... "But c'mon I can't spend every glubbin' second with you."
"Come on, Meenah, I ain't bothering you!" he protested. Oh shit he was giving her the puppy eyes and the pouty lip. She groaned. "You said so yourself. It's not like I'm burdening you wvith my problems, or romprobs as you call 'em. I am merely focusing on my musical and poetic talents and I find that being in your luxurious hivwe does wvonders for my inspiration!"
"Nope, stop, just stop whatever stupid fin you was gonna say," she moaned. "Holy fucking mackerel, Ampora, I know what you's trying to glubbing do, 'kay? And let me tell ya, it ain't happening."
"Oh jeez," he said, standing up abruptly. "I wvouldn't wvant to jeopardize our friendship, much less our potential to become more than friends, Meenah! I just find it easier to wvrite songs wvhen I havwe such an attractivwe person nearby, you see! You knowv, I could alwvays showv you-"
"No," she said quickly.
"I'm doing a revwision of my prevwious 'You Belong Wvith Me'. After hearing the human vwersion -I alwvays knewv they had good taste- I couldn't help but use it to improvwe my owvn!"
"Clamscray, Ampora, I ain't puttin' up with this anenomemore," she told him. He sneered. "Go hang out with what's his shit, Shouty's dancestor. The buoy I don't care about because he runs his squawk gaper twice as much as Serket the original. He's the one who gives a carp."
"Oh I see, that's howv it is! Guess I ain't broken or mentally retarded enough to catch your eye, huh? Wvhy is it that you either gotta be an amputee or unable to fucking speak right to get some nook or bulge around here?! Even Captor's got Tules wvrapped around his little retarded finger and wve all knowv it's out of sympathy but that matespritship is how old? Like, jegus, wvho could possibly put up wvith that idiot for more than a fewv seconds?! I should havwe gone to Earth wvith the humans, wvhere I belong!"
"Look, Crodog, the only reason no one likes you is cause you're a basshole," Meenah deadpanned.
"I'm not a- Wvait, wvhat? Wvhat-"
"I meant asshole you class A dunderfuck! Nomoby wants to be around ya cause all you do is insult people! Seriously, though, clamscray da fuck outta ma hive, bitch. And not just cause you're a douchebag. I'm gonna sleep it's way too late in the day." Once again, not really, but anything to convince him to get lost.
"Fine," he sneered. He left in a huff.
Meenah lay back in her chair, suddenly exhausted. She reminded herself that she really needed to lock her hive door. And the windows. And maybe invest in steel shutters. The bastard was awfully persistent. Maybe one of the Zahhaks could make her some awesome as shit Cronus alarm system. Or a boring person alarm system that would be better.
She didn't remember closing her eyes, nor did she recall falling asleep, but when she opened her eyes she was in a dream bubble. She might have been excited if the first thing she saw were familiar nubby horns. Oh FUCK, was she sharing her bubble with Kankri again?
C'mon Paradox Space I can't even deal, yo, she thought. Then she frowned, raising an eyebrow. Oh shit wait that's not what's his shit...
"NUBS!" she yelled excitedly, waving to the cloaked figure a ways away. She recognized that they were in a mixed memory of Prospit and Derse. Probubbly her Derse and his Prospit. When he heard her, Karkat turned.
"Oh, Meenah," he said rather unenthusiastically as she bounced over.
"Way to kill the mood, Shouty," she pouted. "Haven't seen ya in glubbing ages and ya greet me with an 'oh, Meenah'? That is a LOAD of carp!" He shrugged.
"Sorry. Just some heavy shit going down, okay?" he said. Suddenly, he blinked, looking at her in confusion. Even pulling down his hood to glare at her. "Wait, what the fuck is wrong with your eyes?"
"Eyes? My eyes are totally norm, Shouts," she said, tilting her head in confusion.
"Are you alive?!" he exclaimed.
"No shit." They gave each other weird looks.
"What the fuck-" he began.
"Don' bother it's fuck up my think pan just remembering that whole biz," she deadpanned. He facepalmed.
"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck, does that mean all of you-"
"Yeah."
"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!" he yelled, grabbing a couple of fistfuls of hair. "And what the chafing fuck is my ancestor doing with you guys when he has the shame shit blood I do, huh?! I thought you didn't want mutant bloods fucking up the spectrum!"
"Oh that? Iunno he's probubbly some carpy advisor. Fuck if I was paying attention," she said with a dismissive shrug. "Seariously, though, that's why you ain't over here? Cause of the dumbass spectrum? Nomoby gives a dolphin flip about it." He stared at her like she'd just grown a second head.
"What the fuck? So you're fucking telling me I stormed off for fucking nothing?" he screeched. "Why the fuck didn't anyone tell me?"
"Iunno. It ain't official just...nomoby cares, yo. Like we say we do but not reely." She grinned. "That mean yer coming back, then?" she asked excitedly. The corner of his mouth twitched into an even deeper frown and he folded his arms across his chest.
"Fuck no. If you bastards can't even-"
"Oh my fucking cod, just shut the fuck up bout yer stupid troll male pride thang," she groaned. "I get enough of that carp from Crodog." She grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Cod dammit, Shouts, yer supposed to be cool!"
"I am cool!" he protested. "And it's not pride, jegus! Ugh," he rubbed his head tiredly, "it's something else, okay?" She gave him a disappointed look.
"C'mon, what needs yer attention...wherever the glub you is now, anywaves?" she mumbled.
"Remember when I told you about heavy shit?" She nodded. "There's your answer. Great, case closed, we can throw that file in the fire," he clapped his hands together as if brushing dust off of his hands, "no need to touch that shit anymore. How's the leader shtick going?" Wow, he was quick to change the subject.
"I ain't the leader," she told him. "I'm not going back after all that trouble getting out of it! I left that carp to my adorbubble dancestor that I can't even glubbing look at without wanting to poke her full a holes."
"Uh... Right..." he mumbled. "Look, I should probably go..." She rolled her eyes.
"Where you gonna go? Over there to mope? I haven't seen ya in forevs, yo, let's hang before you wake up, c'mon," she insisted. He still looked unsure, but then something else caught her eye. She hadn't noticed it before, but the Prospit portion of the dream bubble was burning green fire. "Yo, what's up with your Prospit?" He followed her gaze.
"I didn't wake up until Prospit was destroyed," he grumbled. "I never got to frolic in gaudy yellow pyjamas through the land of piss and chess people." He paused a second. "Well, once," he admitted. "In a dream bubble with a...friend."
"What friend?" she purred, interest piqued. Gossip hound senses a tingling.
"Just a friend," he grouched.
"C'mon, Shouts, cough up all the juicy details!" she chimed, inching closer. "How far'd ya go?" He gave her a disgusted look.
"Holy shit, Meenah, we were 7 sweeps old!" he exclaimed angrily.
"As if you don't sea 6 sweep olds fucking everymoby left an' right," she scoffed. "Even on Beforus is was just one big clusterfuck with Popo Maryam in the centre of it all." She grinned at him. "She's still at the centre!"
"Yeah, well, I'm not one of them! It doesn't matter, it happened a long time ago. Why the fuck are you even interested?!" he snapped.
"You gettin' all defensive 'bout it don't convince me," she told him. "C'mon, you must have a least one quadrant filled," she urged. He looked away with a sheepish look on his face.
"Well you're wrong. I haven't had any quadrants since the damn game. Fuck, I live in the middle of buttfuck nowhere, where do you expect me to find a fucking matesprit anyways?" he exclaimed. She merely shrugged.
"Maybe... Maybe somemoby told me about that little wriggler you decided to take care of?"she said, grinning sheepishly. He gaped at her.
"WHO THE FUCK-"
"Oh so it is true," she chuckled. "Porrim told me."
"Why the fuck-"
"Don' be asking me where she got it from. Probubbly her descendent/ancestor." The fact that he was seething with anger only served to amuse her further.
"Well great, does everyone fucking know, then?!" he yelled angrily.
"Probubbly not. P ain't one to gossip too much with the others. Tules might know," she added with a shrug. "And maybe Tunaboy but what the fuck does that matter. Oh, right, Serket knows, too."
"Vriska?!"
"No, Aranea," she corrected him. He groaned, pinching his temples between a thumb and a finger.
"Gog dammit," he muttered. "Thank gog none of them know how to contact me. The last thing I fucking need is all those losers trying to force their way into my fucking life. But why the fuck does everyone assume we're in a fucking quadrant together?! I fucking raised her, dammit! Maybe you idiots can't understand but why don't I explain it like this: It's like a fucking lusus trying to romance their troll kid it's outright fucking disgusting and I wouldn't even fucking consider it."
"Not even pale?" Meenah pressed.
"NO!" he yelled at her. "She's like a human daughter to me, dammit! Do you see the humans' guardians all over their kids?! Gog fucking dammit!"
"Clam down, Shouty," she deadpanned. "It's no big deal."
"I think it's a very big deal!" he snarled.
"Why?" He stopped, flustered.
"I... Because it's not fucking true-"
"So what? Let others think what they want, Nubs. Look at me I'm not even the fucking ruler even though everymoby was looking at me all like 'c'mon Meenah step the fuck up'. It wasn't my thing though and they can bitch about it all they want. I don't give a dolphin flip about their opinion," she told him with a dismissive shrug. "I'm cool just chilling down in my hive collecting ma gold and shit." He frowned at her for a second.
"Your fish puns almost ruined that fucking speech," he told her. She rolled her eyes.
"Shut up."
"I get what you're saying, though. Just...fuck, it pisses me off that people get the wrong fucking idea about us. Half the time I can't even explain it because no one can understand what I'm trying to fucking tell them."
"True. I don't reely understand either," she pointed out.
"See? Ugh, whatever, you're right. I shouldn't even fucking bother. The next time someone asks I'll just tell them to raise a troll and figure it the fuck out themselves," he mumbled, rubbing his eyes tiredly. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders, grinning.
"Jegus, Nubs, you're so fucking tense. Let's hang and forget about the stupid boring people," she suggested. He actually cracked a tiny smile.
"Yeah, fine, that's sounds okay," he said, letting her drag him away.
Tavros had long ago shucked off any trepidation he once had when venturing down into the darker depths of the 'palace', or whatever you wanted to call it. This palace was located in the hub of Alternia, the place where everything had begun. It was located beside a river that was wide and deep and emptied out into a large lake. The tunnels the fudge blood was in at the moment were actually fairly close to said lake.
He, like almost all the previous troll players, stayed at the palace. He wasn't a cavalreaper, though, but rather a prisoner guard. He was pretty sure that he liked it better this way, though, since it was a much quieter job. Plus, he got to spend time with his best friend down there, which he felt was a great trade off for the fact that the tunnels were dark and dank.
Today was just a daily visit, though, rather than duty. He had in his hands a variety of games, books, and cards for his pal. He would have brought fiduspawn, but they weren't allowed down in the prisoner chambers. He didn't mind, though, because there were plenty of other fun things to do. Not to mention the fun new things that the Beforus trolls had brought with them. Some of those games he preferred even over the Alternian versions.
The fudge blood by now was at the bottom of the stairs and began heading down the halls. There weren't really many prisoners at all, which was understandable since Alternia was still so new. But there was one occupied cell at the very end, a cell made specifically for keeping one troll inside. This cell always had a guard on it, and he was usually that guard, but since he couldn't work all hours there were obviously other guards to take care of it too.
"Pelane?" He was pretty sure it was Pelane on today. There was no reply. "Um, hello?"
But as he approached, he quickly saw what had become of the olive blooded troll. Her innards decorated the walls around the cell, of which the door was torn open. It looked like a fresh coat of green paint, and Tavros knew he should feel sick. However, he'd grown accustomed to this sort of thing. One had to when one spent so much time with the Thief of Light.
Her head had been placed on top of the chair provided for the guards. It had been moved to the middle of the hall and there was a sword through it. Whether it was Gamzee himself or someone who had com to break him out, they'd use Pelane's own sword to dismember and decorate the halls. He dropped the games and hesitantly looked inside the cell, ready to grab his lance at the sign of a possible threat.
"G-Gamzee?" he squeaked. Oh no, did he...
Gamzee had never shown any signs of wanting to leave. Not once had he resisted his punishment. In fact, he'd seemed rather...okay with it. And he'd told Tavros as much, and the fudge blood had believed him. His ears drooped now as he observed the empty cell. Had Gamzee lied to him then? Maybe he'd just wanted to lull them into a false sense of security...
He slowly walked into the middle of the cell, staring down at the last remaining item within; a simple picture of him and his good friend with huge grins on their faces. He'd thought that maybe things could go back to being the way they were before. He crouched down to pick up the picture before taking another look around the room.
"Why are you doing this, Gamzee?" he murmured.
