Alright so I had a chapter planned, I really did, but last second I decided to completely rewrite it. And then I was going to post the one after that, but then forget that I hadn't finished it yet for some reason because I'm a scatterbrained fool. Fortunately, these next few chapters are around the same time chronologically. In this one, things are getting a little more heated as we head back to Janyah and, well, suddenly have some questions answered and more of them popping up.

Chapter 11

Girl. You there, girl. Wake up.

Janyah jolted awake when she thought she heard, yes, heard, a voice. She hesitantly waited, wondering if she'd just been imagining actually hearing something, but the voice didn't come back. Deciding to pass it off as nothing, she took a look at her surroundings.

Above, she saw a high ceiling with lots of cords and piping hanging from it. For a second, she was confused. Hadn't that just been a nightmare, her kidnapping? She sat up wondering this, wringing her hands nervously as she looked around. She was in the corner of some room. It was so big though, this room, that she couldn't see either end of it.

Speak out. There are allies nearby. Her ear twitched and she looked around curiously.

"Hello?" she called out. Which was pretty stupid on her part, considering she was deaf and wouldn't hear any possible reply. She huffed, reaching up to rub the sleep out of her eyes. She blamed it on the fact that she was still tired.

But wait, what if Karkat was there? Or Jade? They would recognize her voice and come looking for her. On the other hand, though, if she made too much noise then she would probably alert someone else and she didn't want that. Especially since she wouldn't be able to hear them coming. She decided to stay quiet, instead.

What do I do, then? I can't just sit here... she thought exasperatedly. She didn't want to get up, though. She was too scared.

Her heart skipped a beat when she thought she saw something flash in the dark. Bright eyes reflected light. It could be anything, really, from troll to beast to lusus. She pushed herself further into the corner, praying that they didn't see her. She didn't want them to find her, no matter what they were.

Her greatest fear was that her attackers might know about her blood colour, which may or may not have been what prompted her capture in the first place. Karkat had always told her never to tell anyone about her blood colour. He never told her why, but she caught on quickly that the results of such an act would be grisly. Experience told her, though, that maintaining an anonymous grey was just as likely to get other trolls' attention.

But maybe they'd taken her because she was deaf, which she supposed was pretty logical. Karkat liked to talk in his sleep, and sometimes she would sit up and watch him after waking up from a nightmare. He didn't have nice things to say about Alternia.

But he talked about other things, too, things that confused her. He talked about a game, about Lord English, about Her Imperial Condescension. Sometimes he would even cry over the death of some friend or another. Once he cried about Terezi, someone Janyah knew a little about. She wondered what had happened to the teal blooded troll to get this kind of response.

Karkat talked a lot about a troll called Gamzee. Sometimes he would call Gamzee a drunken idiot, other times he would express concern for him, and sometimes full out fear of him. Once he'd even angrily told him to 'shut your whore mouth, you clown murderer son of bitch', which scared her the most. The angry troll had quite obviously been through a lot.

She was sad and a little guilty because of how much she complained about her nightmares when she'd seen his own in action. All he did was tell her that he never had nightmares, though. He would suck it up and roll with it. Maybe he talked to Jade about it? Janyah didn't know, but she hoped that he didn't keep it all bottled up.

But did that mean Karkat and Jade were moirails, then?

She had been trying to figure out their relationship ever since Karkat had explained, in great detail, the quadrants. Which was obviously a topic that he was very passionate about. She couldn't just accept the two as platonic friends, though, they were too close. But what if Jade, being a human, didn't realize the kind of relationship? What were human friendships like? They didn't have quadrants, she knew. She wished she knew more about humans, then maybe she could figure it out.

All this thinking about quadrants had her thinking about her matesprit. Her ears drooped. Poor Catryn was probably wondering why she hadn't come to visit. The yellow blooded troll had seemed so excited about meeting Karkat, and Janyah had been excited to introduce them. She had even asked Karkat about quadrants the other night, mostly to see if he would be receptive to the idea, but he'd gotten kind of sad and just told her to go to sleep. She didn't really know what to think of that.

Do not fear.

When she saw the eyes flash again, and this time there were more of them, she really wished that she had allocated something to her strife specibus. She supposed a somewhat sheltered life did that to her. Jade had set the rule that she couldn't go out without Karkat, and Karkat didn't like going out in the first place. She wasn't always able to convince him unfortunately.

Speak to them. They wish to talk.

"If you're trying to talk to me, I'm deaf," she whispered, or at least she hoped she was whispering. Whatever, they knew she was here anyways. "And I can't talk to you properly unless I can read your lips."

There was an obvious pause in movement. Then, one of the pairs of eyes came out of the darkness into her line of sight. He was her age, but still small. And he was a troll, though she couldn't tell what colour his eyes were, if they'd filled in at all. He was wearing fairly thick glasses and had short but messy hair. His horns spiralled gracefully upwards. Two sharp teeth poked out over top of his upper lip.

One of us. Trust him.

"Hello," he said, his ears perking up. "Are...you really...deaf?" He spoke slowly and steadily and she wasn't sure if he was doing it for her sake or if that was how he always talked. She didn't really like it, though.

"I'm deaf, but not dumb. You can speak normally," she couldn't help but snap. He sneered.

"I don't know how it works," he growled. She didn't like him.

"Whatever. Where are we?" she demanded. "And who are you?"

He is an ally.

"I wonder why they brought a stupid deaf girl," he continued, ignoring her. She bristled angrily.

"Hey! You're the idiot, here, fuckass!" she snarled. He folded his arms across his chest.

"At least I know where we are, i-di-ot!"

"Then where are we!" she raised her voice as much as she could.

"Well, alright, I don't know," he giggled. "You're cute when you're angry, though. I'm Addern Captan."

"Go fuck yourself," she grumbled.

"I do know that we were chosen for a reason," he offered. "Sometimes they take us away and we come back with certain abilities..."

"That... That doesn't sound very good at all," she murmured. Hadn't she read stuff like this in the shitty novels that Jade always brought her?

"Hey, you should meet the Grand Highblood!" he suddenly exclaimed.

Do not go. This Highblood is not one of us. He is of the light.

"Huh? What?" Addern had already grabbed her hand and dragged her to her feet. She was suddenly feeling very uneasy about the Highblood.

"Hey, what's your name anyways?" he abruptly changed the subject, turning so she could 'hear' him. She had to admit that he was catching on quickly. "We can't just keep calling you the stupid deaf girl, can we?" he snickered, making her glare at him.

"Janyah Vantas," she growled irritably. She then looked around nervously at the other trolls nearby. "And what about everyone else? Are they...friendly?"

"Oh yeah. There's a lot of us here," he told her. "Not all of us think it's so great, but we don't fight. Much," he added, giggling in a way that frightened her a little. "Those with powers like to test them out of each other."

Stay away. Not good. They will hurt you.

"Ugh! Why would you think any of this is great!" she exclaimed. He frowned. "This sounds like a weird prison with creepy shit head scientists experimenting on us, and I'm starting to actually believe that."

"Hey, I'll let you in on a little secret, Vantas," he muttered. "This is way better than what would happen if we weren't here, you know? If you aren't nigh perfection, if you're weird in the head or have something physically wrong with you, hell, if you don't have a lusus, then you're going to get killed. That's the reason we're here, you know, so we won't get killed. Or at least that's what they've told us, so what choice to we have but to believe them?"

Silly boy and his silly lies...

"What?" She didn't really buy that explanation.

"It's called culling," he continued. "They keep it on the down low, apparently."

"I already knew that," Janyah said. "My, uh..." She hesitated, what was Karkat to her? Jade called him her dad but that wasn't something Addern would understand. "Friend," she settled on, "told me about that. That's why he helped me stay hidden."

"'Cause you're deaf," he finished for her.

"Um... Yeah." Best not to tell him about her blood colour, Karkat always warned her about that. "Why were you going to be culled?"

"Heh, attention deficit disorder," he giggled. "Apparently it's an issue!"

These are lies. Tell the boy they are lies, he can't hear us. This 'culling' is a lie, lie, lie...

"I don't care about culling... I'd rather just go home," Janyah said sadly. "I miss my...lusus."

"I'm surprised a lusus would even pick up a freak like you!" he laughed. It hurt more than she'd wanted it to.

If there was one thing about the way she was raised that truly bothered her, then it was the fact that she'd never had a lusus. Even Karkat had had one, and he had the same blood colour. And she was almost sure that there were other deaf troll children with lusus. But not her. Karkat had told her that he had picked her up in the forest all alone. No lusus, no nobody. Nobody had wanted her except another freak and his dog eared, alien friend.

Not that she didn't like Jade and Karkat, but the fact that she didn't have a lusus... It just bothered her and she couldn't stop herself from being bothered.

"Where is the Grand Highblood?" she asked, feeling awkward when she said that. It sounded stupid, like something an ignorant child would say.

No! Do not go!

"Over here!" he snickered. "This way!"

Deny! DENY! DENYDENYDENYDENYDENY–

"Uh... O-Okay..." she agreed hesitantly, letting him drag her away once more.

Foolish girl...

"what do you motherfuckers motherfucking want?"

Janyah was stiff with horror at the troll she saw in the cage next to whatever...pen they'd been herded into. He was tall and gruesomely thin. His features were drawn from lack of food and sharply accentuated by the use of messy white paint. His wild eyes were dark purple in the half light. His hair was just as wild, though, a mane of black that trailed halfway down his back. He was hunched over in the far corner, making good use of the shadows to cast a frightening visage.

His eyes are the same colour as Addern's... The thought made her jolt. Wait, I thought I couldn't see...?

"We've got someone new, Highblood," Addern said, grinning and motioning towards Janyah with his eyes. "Her name is Janyah Vantas." The Highblood's eyes flashed, fixating on her.

"vantas..." He barely moved his lips when he talked, and the dark only made it that much harder. Janyah flinched away from him when he moved, suddenly very close. His breath stank. "who the motherfuck are you?"

"He just told you," she growled. Addern was giving her a panicked look, silently telling her to shut up. She ignored him. "Weren't you listening, fuckass? My name is Janyah Vantas, and if you have a fucking problem with that just come out and say it, jackass!"

"YOU'VE GOT MOTHERFUCKING SPUNK, CHICKA!" he roared with laughter. "JUST LIKE MY OLD MOTHERFUCKING BEST FRIEND, YOU KNOW?!" He grinned madly at her, making her pull away even more.

"And who the fuck are you, anyways?" she sneered, trying to keep the tremor from her voice.

Do not provoke him, he is dangerous. Leave. Run.

"gamzee makara," he purred. She paled with horror. This was the last troll she expected to meet. Ever. Gamzee stuck his thin face through the bars, only stopped by his long twisting horns, sneering at her. "GUESS HE MOTHERFUCKING TOLD YOU ABOUT ME, HUH?!" He burst out laughing. But just as suddenly, that laughter turned into a grimace and his eyes fixated on Addern, who was looking at the scene with bemusement. "leave." He blinked out of his stupor.

"What? No way, I-"

"I SAID MOTHERFUCKING LEAVE, MOTHERFUCKER!" he screeched. Addern wasted no time scurrying off into the darkness. Janyah, for all her dislike of him, wish he had stayed. She didn't want to be alone with this madtroll.

Go after him!

"He didn't," she answered. "He...he talks in his sleep." No use lying. He obviously already knew that she was acquainted with Karkat.

"did he raise you?" he whispered. "you're a shit blood too, eh?"

"N-No-"

"DON'T MOTHERFUCKING LIE TO ME!" he snarled. But his anger snapped back to seeming content and relaxation within a second. "how is my brother, hm? i haven't seen that motherfucker ever since they locked me up."

Run!

"G-Good..." She felt like she shouldn't be here. "How do you know him? And why..." she trailed off, unable to finish. She wanted to ask him why Karkat was so afraid of him, but...

"it's a loooong story, chicka," he chuckled. His grin widened, as if he'd been waiting for her to ask that. "you willing to get your listen on so i can all up and tell you my story?"

Lies. Only lies.

Ignoring the bad feeling in her gut, she nodded, "Yes please. I...I get the feeling that he's been through a lot. He won't tell me, so maybe you will."

"that's a motherfucking understatement," he sneered.

As he began to spin his tale, she hesitantly sat down. She listened to him tell her about a game, about sopor slime, the Mirthful Messiahs. Suddenly, a lot of the things that Karkat muttered about in his sleep made sense. And though a part of her wanted to disbelieve him, she knew that he wasn't lying save for a few embellishments in the story.

By the end of it, she was stupefied. Gamzee sat back, a relaxed grin spreading across his face as he watched her with lazy eyes. Of course she'd always known that Jade wasn't particularly normal, Janyah had seen her abilities to teleport but had never questioned them because that was what she'd grown up with. But from Gamzee told her, her human friend was practically a god, conditional immortality and all.

But there were others, too. Gamzee was one of the players, and so was Terezi and everyone else that Karkat talked about in his sleep. Not all of them were gods, Karkat wasn't, but they had all played an important role in the destruction of a great demon called Lord English, a mad troll queen known as Her Imperious Condescension, and the creation of the very universe they lived in now.

It made her mind reel with all the information she'd just taken in, and she was sure that what Gamzee had told her was only the half of it.

"All of that really happened?" she breathed.

"don't be all up and calling my a motherfucking liar, chicka. i know what i'm talking about," he told her.

"I'm sorry, it's just... Wow, okay, so... So... Why are you here, then? What would they want with someone who helped make the universe itself? I'm starting to think we aren't just here because we would be culled if we weren't," she murmured.

"that's motherfucking right. what you heard were just motherfucking lies, motherfucker," he told her, his grin fading. "know the classpects i was all up and telling you about?"

"Oh yeah. Karkat's the Knight of Blood, and Jade's the Witch of Space..."

"that's motherfucking right. these motherfuckers were interested in them. i'm not the only motherfucker here from the game," he told her. "but i'm the only non-god, i motherfucking suppose."

"Why didn't you tell the others that they were lies?" she asked, leaning forward a little. She was bubbling with questions that she wanted answers to.

"because i don't give a shit about those motherfuckers," he growled. She frowned.

"Why me?"

"cause you're my old best buddy's motherfucking friend. i can't all up and leave you in the dark," he paused, "plus, you have a way of stealing all the secrets away from this motherfucking mystery."

The light one doesn't speak all lies, it seems.

"Okay then," she said, confused. She didn't really understand what he meant, nor why he worded it that way. "But if you're here because of the classpects, then why us?" she asked. His grin once again returned.

"you're about to find out, motherfucker," he purred. "THE CARNIVAL'S JUST BEGUN!" he roared.

Gamzee is hella fun to write. Also, I feel like I should clarify that Janyah only 'heard' the first italicized phrase that woke her up, while the others were more influencing her decisions like the exiles did. ^^