A/N: My goal for this one is to use everyone's perspective at least once, so I'm putting off some of the harder ones for later. I also added in a creepy rhyme before each chapter, inspired by an assignment in Creative Writing to write a dark nursery rhyme.

See the mind, see the blood

See all that's turned to mud

Pull the memories from the mind

But protect yourself in kind

== Kankri: Avoid Exploding the House

Your name is Kankri Vantas, and the man on the chair in front of you is as good as dead.

You'd rather think of this as a social justice cause (which it is) than a cold-blooded murder, but your conscious is pressuring you into this awkward state of internal indecision where you always seem to end up. It's not even murder, for heaven's sake. You'll wipe his memory and send him away.

You cast your gaze around at your friends. Porrim, more a maternal figure than anything else (but she's not your mother), looks on with a sort of vicious indifference covering angry pride. Damara's practically hiding in the corner, which is expected. Rufioh looks flirtatious, of all things, and you're deeply annoyed by this. This is serious business. Meenah, however, looks cocky and confident, even proud. Meulin has this odd look on her face, something between nausea, fear, and vengeance. This is vaguely unsettling and you're not sure why.

"We could just kill him, you know." The voice pierces the air like a spark and it's shocking everyone in the room.

"No. Absolutely not," you say immediately, shaking your head frantically. This is not murder, this society will not kill indiscriminately. Some of your friends support you, adding, "Yeah, we're not just gonna kill him," and the like.

"We should still get information from him," Meenah presses, her confidence only slightly dimmed by the group's response.

"She's right," Sollux says. "If we leave him there, he'll kill us all. If we wipe his memory, we might lose some pretty important shit. If we kill him, we're no better than he is."

"Fine," you concede shortly. You'd talk more, but you've been having throat troubles and every word you speak pains you. "Vriska, Sollux, Rose, Terezi."

The four nod and surround Duke Scratch. Your friends who have magic and no psychics form a protective circle around the five of you and the duke. You don't know what kinds of powers the duke might be concealing.

"Vriska, wait," you croak. She is far too violent to be the first to probe the man's mind. "All of you, wait."

They nod, but none drop their guard.

You stare at the duke and let your mind race beyond his white skin and black eyes to his red blood and gray mind. Your powers work by blood: your mind can travel through the blood see inside someone quite literally. You can also use blood to read a person's mind, because blood is the life source of the body and the brain. You suppose you faint, as you do when you use your powers to this extent, because someone kicks you and you yelp.

"What the shit, Kankri?" Sollux asks.

"He knows," you blurt. You always think before speaking, except when it comes to waking up suddenly. You stand, dust yourself off, and add, "He knows too much. Vriska and Terezi, please cooperate." You hope they know that you mean with each other. You'll need all the psychic strength you can muster to extract memories from this man's guarded mind. And it is guarded; it's like even in his sleep, he knows what you're trying to do.

Terezi faces the duke straight on, with Vriska stands right behind. They both brace themselves while Sollux stands to the side and holds everything in place, because you know better than most that this much psychic strength in one place will blow up the house without someone like Sollux keeping it together. As long as he doesn't set the headquarters on fire again.

No matter how much he reminds you that "that was just once", it was not a fun once.

"Ready, sister?" Vriska grins, addressing Terezi (as opposed to her biological sister, Aranea). Terezi rolls her eyes, you believe, and then closes them. Vriska closes her eyes, too, and then the two of them go to work. Sparks fly, hitting the magical shields. You'd love to be able to help, because you know your psychics are just as strong as the others, but only three people can fit in any one person at any one time and Terezi and Vriska have fewer qualms than a morally upright person like you.

A long time passes, but it's also no time at all. It's forever and no time, and you think that pretty much sums up what it's like to use magic. Bizarre. Terezi and Vriska jump back, glowing vibrantly bright like stars for a millisecond before dulling.

"There's a spy," Terezi says. "A spy in our midst who is going to reveal us to the queen in one month!"

"What?" Aranea asks, alarmed. "A spy?"

Vriska nods. "Nothing we can't take. But this douche doesn't even know who."

"That could be problematic," Kanaya quips. "How will we tell who the spy is?"

"How do we know it's not you?" Vriska asks antagonistically. You can't help but agree, but you also can't just exclude your friends randomly and hope. It will be impossible to tell who is the spy without making sure to check the psychics first, then using them to check the others.

"How can we prove it's not anyone here?" Sollux asks, sending an angry glance around the room.

"Well, who is not present?" you ask. You answer yourself. "The Underground. I believe Mituna is psychic. We could use him to select the spy."

"Do we have to?" Vriska whines.

"You'd only say that if you were the spy!" Terezi shouts.

"Haven't you guys ever felt these psychics used on you? They fucking suck!" Meenah shouts.

"Or is it you?" Feferi asks. She and her sister do not get along.

"Your own sister!" Meenah retaliates. "You're the queen's daughter, too!"

"SHUT UP!" Sollux roars. Everyone does, in fact, fall quiet. You take over.

"We gain nothing by heedlessly accusing each other of this heinous crime," you point out. "We need an impartial judge. Mituna seems to be the best choice as the strongest psychic who is unaware of the situation. Now everyone, we need to wipe his memories and send him away."

"I'll get right on it," Rose says. She and Terezi stand on either side of the unconscious duke (it seems your psychics haven't woken him) and begin to do something you won't tell them you don't understand. You can probe people's minds and souls, but to wipe memories and replace them with something new is completely beyond you.

Not as if you'd ever tell anyone this.

"Gog damn," Terezi mutters under her breath. "It's like he's fighting with us for the memories. Hell, we've outnumbered him in his own mind! What the hell is going on?"

The duke suddenly snaps awake with an angry shout, his eyes blazing. Rose and Terezi jump back, shattering the psychic link. Sollux tries to stop him, but the man is too quick and Sollux has trouble controlling people for whatever reason. So you close your eyes and let your mind flow through his blood and to his muscles. He freezes solid and your psychic friends take the chance to jump on him (figuratively speaking) and take control of his mind. It's taking all your energy to hold him in place and not fall asleep, which you can't do, because if you faint, your control will loosen and he might be able to break free.

The duke starts shaking and glowing as Terezi's hands turn turquoise from her powers and Rose's hair stands on end from hers. You're sure your hands and feet have long since disappeared, a side effect of your magic. The invisibility must be creeping up your arms by now, but you can't risk checking and losing your focus.

There is a sound louder than you can comprehend and you feel your entire body vibrated like a wineglass. Something definitely cracks and when the sound dissipates and you manage to open you eyes, you see blood trickling out of Meulin's ears and Porrim running over to you to check you. "Are you okay?" she asks, scanning you for any signs of injury. "Gogdamn, Kankri, if you've gone and fucked yourself over again…"

"I am fine," you insist. She's not your mother, dam—darn it. "And your cursing in my presence has triggered—"

"Oh, shut up, stupid," she says. Rose interrupts.

"Should we wake him up?"

"No," you order. "Rogues, take him to the docks." Your voice hurts so badly you don't know if you'll be able to say another word. But you need to get rid of the duke and they'll never make it without a proper leader. You open your mouth and try to keep speaking but no words come out. Porrim whacks you on the back, probably assuming you're choking, but nothing happens. You've completely lost your voice. You wonder if it's the psychic explosion that just took place or something else.

"Kankri?" Rufioh asks. You mouth something in response and curse yourself for never learning sign language. You know every morally proper person like yourself should learn how to communicate with the deaf, but you don't have time for it.

"Well, come on," Roxy says, picking up the duke easily and gesturing for Rufioh and Nepeta to follow her. "We'll be back in three weeks, see you soon!"

You nod tersely and watch them leave. There is silence for a long time before Meulin shouts, "WHAT DID SHE SAY?"

"Meulin, why are you shouting?" Porrim asks. The blood on her cheeks is drying, but you have a feeling that psychic explosion did more than just nearly tear down the house.

"WHAT?"

Aranea rests her head in one hand and writes for about five minutes on a piece of paper.

"DEAF?" Meulin screams. Aranea nods and walks her to another room. You sincerely hope there's some sort of cure. You don't have time to learn sign language or repair someone's hearing.

"We ought to get some sleep," you mouth. Porrim looks at you, figuring out what you're saying, and then says, "Bed, everyone."

You nod and everyone climbs upstairs to their rooms. You think you'll make a cup of tea first, to see if maybe you'll be able to speak again. You won't hold onto your sanity for long if this cold keeps up. Possibly your life, too, but that's not a pressing concern considering the other issues facing you.

You drink the whole cup of tea in four gulps because you're exhausted and end up with a burnt tongue and a slightly less sore throat. You sigh and head up to the room you share with Sollux (for no adequately explained reason) and fall asleep.

You wake up with the sun, dress, and walk downstairs to make breakfast. You're about to light the fire (it'll take about an hour to heat up enough to cook) when suddenly Porrim stands in front of you and glares at you like you've just asked her about her life before the Magicals.

It's funny; Porrim acts so angry when you ask her about her past. You already know, of course. Who could miss the way she glances at every street corner in the village, the glares she shoots some of the men she passes, or the very specialized knowledge she has of certain things? Most definitely not the Seer of Blood. She also seems to think you wouldn't respect her anymore if you knew, which is also vaguely befuddling. You don't respect the profession, but no one chooses it. Why should something that's not a choice be a source of shame?

Anyways, she's crossing her arms and tapping one foot. "Kankri?"

She's not your mother. "Yes, Porrim?"

"Can you explain to me why, exactly, there is no food anywhere in the house?"

She's got you there and she's not your mother, damn—dang it. "Because we ate it all."

"No shit, Shakespeare. But I believe it was your idea to keep food in the house at all times. Or was that your fucking clone?"

"Please do not swear so much, Porrim, it triggers me."

"Shut up and answer the question."

"I cannot complete both tasks at once."

"What are you, five? Answer me!"

"I forgot to send Rose to the village to do the shopping and Vriska did not retrieve enough supplies!" you snap. Now you're annoyed, too. And you seem to have found your voice, luckily enough.

Porrim rolls her eyes. Why does she have to be taller than you? It's not fair. "Well, someone's got to find something to eat, because I'm not going to run to village at this insane hour."

"Why are you awake, anyway?" you snap moodily. She's not your mother. And why is she awake?

"I didn't sleep," she shrugs.

"Why not?" Your voice is getting sore again.

"Because I didn't sleep, gog," she says, rolling her eyes again. "I didn't sleep because a magical unicorn flew through the window and cursed me with an inability to sleep."

You cross your arms and wrinkle your nose. Something about Porrim always makes you act like a little kid again, something you definitely do not want to do. "Fine. Tend the fire. I'll be right back."

"What do you think I'm gonna do, let the place burn down?" Porrim asks sarcastically. She throws a log carelessly on the fire, but it lands exactly right and you know she planned it that way. "Go. We can handle an hour without our fearless leader."

You're almost tempted to stick your tongue out at her, but you don't. Instead, you spin on your heel and stomp out, not bothering to close the door behind you.

Days and weeks pass and no new plans or ideas emerge. Your days pass in utter uniformity and you're sick of it. You need to do something, be somewhere, have a mission to complete. Your Underground friends do not come for the entire time and no, you do not miss a certain knight who's not actually male and who has the prettiest turquoise eyes, that is not why you're rather upset about the Underground not visiting at all and anyone who says that is attempting to trigger you.

The rogues return three weeks later and they still have four people. The fourth is not Duke Scratch. She is shortish, with insanely pale hair and tan skin and bright green eyes. She looks guarded and Roxy's arm is linked with the mystery girl's.

What the hel—heck is she thinking?

"Roxy!" Rose cries. "Who on Earth is that?"

"Everyone, this is Callie!"

"Who?" you repeat, stunned.

"Lord English's twin sister."

A/N: I'm sorry for Kankri's characterization. A good ninety percent of it is based on how my moirail acts in cosplay.

I also have no idea if people said "No shit, Shakespeare" (I kind of doubt it), but I love how it sounds so thanks to my sister dearest for that.