And along…
John fumbled his way down the dark corridor. They had long since left the catacomb behind, and the Soulstone shards got dimmer the further they went. Eventually Jade had given up using them and tucked the faded grey stones into her pocket, and let Rose lead the way. She was now grimly trudging at the head of their small group, a glint of strange determination apparent in her eyes.
John deliberately let his steps slow and put some distance between him and the leader, muttering anxiously to the lagging Dave. "Do you think Rose' acting a bit strange?"
Dave said nothing. The boy had found the darkness of the corridor no different to the darkness he was now perpetually in and walked along at a constant pace albeit unsteadily, occasionally tripping over something but not reacting much to it. No screaming about his blindness or any sort of hysteria. At this question the blonde boy looked vaguely more thoughtful for a while before he replied; "Dunno, maybe. We've been through a lot. I wouldn't put it past her for something to happen"
"Are you two all right back there?" Jade asked anxiously from somewhere ahead on the tunnel. "Do you want Rose and I to slow down and wait? Is something wrong? We don't want to lose you!" John nodded, tugged on his companion's sleeve and quickened his pace forward.
Suddenly a flash of light lit up the tunnel and momentarily blinded John before he recognized it as coming from his pesterchum device.
"I thought there wasn't any connection here?" Rose frowned, herself and Jade fumbling for their own communication devices as well and discovering the weak signal. Dave didn't bother, or react as the two girls tried to send help messages, to no avail. John meanwhile was waiting for his message to load. When it finally did, he called everyone to his side to read the contents.
"Message from Grim Ausi- Grim Auxilleta- um...grim...Aux-il-la-trix." He read the jade green words out. "Dear John, We Have Received Word Of Your Current Situation And Will Arrange To Meet You Some Distance From The Exit Of The Catacombs. After Emerging, Find A Way To Slip Out Of The North Gate. Vriska And Terezi Will Be There To Assist You. Bring All Three Of Your Friends. All Twelve Of Us Are Fine. Hope To Meet You Soon. From Kanaya."
John looked up from the device. "That's the 'what to do next' problem settled, Jade."
The girl frowned. "I...guess...I mean, not much else we can do...the foreigners will help us, won't they? Even though...they're quite strange...but we shouldn't judge them. They can help us!"
"Rose. So you're sure you're going." Dave said to fill the short silence that followed Jade's declaration.
"Very sure." Rose said firmly. "I understand and appreciate your good intentions, but I'm afraid any attempts to persuade me from my decision would prove futile. One is not easily shaken from the broodfester tongues, John." With an apologetic smile, she continued down the empty corridor. "Let's continue on. We have no reason to stay in this tunnel any longer than we are required to."
Jade and John shared a worried look before they raced after her. What could she have meant?
After goodness knows how long of walking, John was extremely relieved to see a pinprick of light in the distance. Jade already complained of her aches, John was short of breath, and while Dave maintained a resolute silence it was obvious from his ragged breathing that he wasn't faring any better than the others. However Rose retained the same unwavering expression and forged forward with a will of iron. She had the good grace to let the group rest once in a while and distributed the little rations of water and food they had taken along, but even that was not enough to sustain the group's energies for long.
The catacomb tunnel opened out into a disused alleyway near the city walls. As John peered out cautiously from behind a corner, he could see the North Gate that was a few streets away. However what surprised him was how empty the district had become. The doors were closed, windows barred, curtains drawn and gates locked. The silence was both terrible and awkward. He dreaded to think of the possible occurrences that had left the north district in this state, and hoped that it was just a curfew, nothing more.
Rose turned to them as they approached the cardinal road. "As Shakespeare once said; parting is such sweet sorrow. I loathe to part ways with you, but I truly cannot bring myself to join you on this dangerous wild-goose chase. I wish you the best of luck, my friends."
"You're really not coming with us?" John sighed sadly. "But it'll be...fun?"
"Yes, John. It will be great fun. But unlike you I cannot keep thinking such things to tide me though, and frankly all I see of this path is very grim indeed." Rose shook her head. "Your sunny optimism serves you well. Keep in touch as much as possible, will you? The mail-carriers will know where to find me."
John blinked, but said no more as she left down the avenue, his eyes searching for her silhouette long after she had been swallowed up by the horizon. He only broke out of his reverie after Dave had grabbed his arm, hauling him in a random direction.
"Dave, where are you going?" Jade asked, stunned by Rose's departure as well.
"The gates."
"It's in the other direction!"
"Got you moving either way."
They were then faced with another problem. The heavy doors wouldn't budge.
"Now what?" Jade whined, banging helplessly on the doors with her fists relentlessly.
Bang-bang-bang-bang-FLASH!
"Aaahh!" Jade ducked away from the door as a flash of jade green light illuminated the gates. Kanaya jumped from the light, now dressed in a black shirt with a green design on it; she looked around and with a flick of her wrist faded the light down to nothing.
"I think I have Gotten the Right Place." She nodded to herself before giving the others a friendly smile. "Greetings, my Friends." She scanned the area, and then continued quizzically; "We were Told to Expect Four of You?"
"Uh, Rose decided not to come." John explained heavily. "She was strangely against it. We have no idea why."
"Ah." Kanaya looked serious for a moment, but sighed and shrugged it off. "That is extremely Unfortunate, but Miss Rose is Allowed to make Her Own Choices. Even if we Were to Pursue her, Time is Not on our Side. Do hang on Tight. Teleportation Can Be Disorientating." She took the hands of John, Jade and Dave before tapping her heels sharply on the pavement. Suddenly they were sucked into a blinding light, pressure pushing in from all directions, but it was over as soon as it began; the three of them rolled onto the ground well outside the gates while Kanaya landed on her feet behind them.
"Aaaaand record timing, Kan!" Terezi giggled. "Somebody give the lady a medal!"
"Very On-Topic, Terezi."
"Very nice sarcasm, Kanaya! Good job!"
John groaned and looked around. The city gates were just visible as far-off slabs of grey in the distance. They must be pretty far from the City of Light. The land was grey as well, only interspersed with random patches of browning grass. It looked pretty depressing indeed. "So we are out of the city?"
"Yeppp!" Terezi nodded gleefully. "Isn't it so lovely and desolate?"
"Yeah..." John surprised and dismayed. Why was everything so horrible and lifeless? He had expected a great adventure! "Why is it so...dead?"
"Where's all the grass and greenery?" Jade continued, biting her lip.
"A splash of green would have been a refreshing change, I suppose." Terezi replied. "Red would have been much better. Red and neon purple and lime green. Such delicious colors~"
John blinked, trying and failing to imagine what the landscape would look like with those three garish colors. Jade, nearby, wrinkled her nose as she did the same.
"We should Move before Something finds Us."
"Dave! You smell blind!" Terezi interrupted, looking and sounding absolutely delighted.
"Yes. I am blind." Dave did not sound happy to be reminded.
"That's great! I can teach you how to smell the wonders of the world! It was always rather selfish of me to keep this marvellous sensory bouquet to myself-"
"We really Should Move." Kanaya repeated worriedly. "Are you alright, Dave? Why did I not Notice Before...Terezi, could you Take care of Him? The other Two can Come with Me."
Dave was hauled wordlessly towards Terezi by the blind girl, who grinned so wide it almost split her face and immediately began chattering. John was too tired to make out the words properly, and finally plucked up the courage to ask for a break- Kanaya conceded, and even agreed to teleport the group ahead for a while.
However after a few more jumps no one wanted to push her any more, for she looked quite strained, so it was on foot once more. As evening fell, John caught sight of a great establishment looming up over the horizon, and with it a surge of energy. As they drew closer, picking up the pace, he saw a black wall that became a set of battlements and eventually resolved itself into another city, but with black walls and a dreary grey door.
"Are we here? Is this it?" John said, peering up at the ginormous door with awe and foreboding.
"Yes." Kanaya confirmed. "This is the South Door."
"Of?" Jade asked curiously.
Kanaya did not reply right away. Instead, she called out to a hidden door guard in a tongue John did not recognize, and the twin iron gates began to creak open slowly. As the gap widened, John could see down a cardinal street. Both sides of the street were bordered by multicoloured houses, though they were not as bright nor as colourful as the ones in his home city. A few children in black were playing just outside the gate, and quickly vanished into the shadows upon noticing the strangers- but not before John made out their bright golden eyes.
As the doors grinded to a halt, Kanaya turned to them and gave them a small smile, but not exactly a very happy one. "Welcome, my Friends, to Our Hometown : Alternia, the City of Night."
Rose walked moodily along the street towards her house. It was so cold and empty that she had begun to suspect something amiss. At last her eyes landed upon a crying little girl at the side of the road.
"Why are you crying?" She asked the sobbing child. The child was dressed entirely in white save for the bright red bow in her short hair. The girl looked up, startling Rose with her golden eyes. "I'm lost. I want to go home!
"I can accompany you back towards your house. What is the address?" Rose had no idea why she was inclined to help this child, but she was.
"Near the South Gate." The girl dried her tears on the sleeve of her white dress.
"That's a significant distance from here," Rose frowned, it was on the other side of the city from her house! But she couldn't leave the child here when there was possibly a war raging outside. "But if we must, I shall go with you. The streets are unsafe at this time."
"Yay!" The girl's face cracked into a smile. "What's your name?"
"Salutations. I go by the name Rose. And you, young lady?"
"My name is Scarlet." The girl stood up from the sidewalk and tugged at Rose's sleeve. "Come on. Could we go now?"
"Of course." Rose set off along the road. However, there was something nagging uncomfortably at her mind, and she couldn't erase her memory of Scarlet's bright, almost haunting, golden eyes.
Several hundred kilometers away, a woman dressed entirely in white was arranging flowers in a small vase. She sold only white flowers, ranging from the palest Alice blue to the richest cream. All sorts of blossoms inhabited her garden, and she loved the times that she would take a stroll through the beautiful landscape.
Suddenly, the petals began to fall. They fell from the flowers like a rich layer of snow, and blanketed the floor with a layer of black as they withered and darkened in their flight. The air around her was filled with the perfume of dying flowers, and she could only watch as the fruit of her labour crumbled to dust.
"Rose!" The woman whispered urgently, catching one grey petal mid-fall. "What has happened to you?"