Chapter 40

Color Out of Space

"Dualscar, My Love. Please Let Me Go. You Will Find Love Again But You Need To Let Me Go."

"I… I can't…"

It was a dreary rainy night and the Orphaner was knelt beside the feeble form of the Dolorosa. Her body had become so frail for she lost all her will to live after her purity was taken away from her. She no longer wanted to be a part of this world, but she didn't have the strength to take matters into her own hands. She made a visit to one of the very few people she could trust to ask him to do what she couldn't. Upon entering his cabin, she collapsed at his feet unable to carry on anymore, and as he went to her side to tend to her she told him her plea.

"Ye can carry on… Ye wvill be fine…" the old man whimpered.

The woman gives him a sad smile shaking her head before resting one of her soft delicate hands on the side of his distressed face. Even now while in a time of such anguish she still remained such a peaceful aura around her. The man just leans rest his face in her hand, a single tear rolling down his cheek as the woman he loved asked him to end her life. She reached for his belt with her free hand pulling his pistol out if it's holster. Holding it out, she nods to him to take it from her, which he reluctantly compiled with.

"I lovwe ye, Rosa," he muttered his fins drooping.

"I Know. That's Why I Want You To Do This," she crooned smiling at him. "Don't Be Sad That I Am Gone… Just Be Happy We Got To Know Each Other," she whispered before closing her eyes. "I Am Ready To Go Now."

The saddened captain just gently rests her small hand down next to the side of her body. He wiped his eyes before his expression became very serious. He had this blank haunting expression on his face as he rose to his feet and pointed the pistol at her head. There were no sounds coming from him nor emotion in his actions, he just did as he was asked. The loud crack of gunfire disrupted the silence as he pulled the trigger.

Dualscar snarled, throwing the walkie talkie down onto the deck before he stomped on it in fury. He marched over to the helm of the ship and threw the man who was steering it out of the way. The man looked at his enraged captain in fear as he saw him guided the ship back in the direction of the mayhem.

"C-Captain… Ye can't head in there… We will get annihilated…" the man uttered.

"If ye as so much try to stop me or deny any if me orders I will fuckin' flay ye alivwe and turn ye into leather boots," the seadweller roared.

Vriska sits with Mindfang, the two women watching the sun rise slowly turning the sky into such a beautiful color. The younger woman smiles at the sight before feeling her ancestor slump into her in a limp manner. The Marquise's breath was labored before she started coughing up a rather large amount of blood. The blow Vriska had delivered had punctured one of the older woman's lungs causing blood to fill up inside. Carefully, Vriska grabs Mindfang and rests her down on her back so she could be a bit more comfortable. She turns the woman's head to the side so she could still watch the sunrise while allowing the blood to leak out of her mouth.

"Why are ye 8eing so kind?"

"Because I know you can no longer hurt me… and the wriggler in me still loves you. You are still my ancestor… and I want to have peace in our final moments together," Vriska sighs.

"Me final moments, lass… It is not yer time to 8e claimed 8y the sea… it's mine," she wheezed her eyes shifting towards the approaching ship.

Vriska turns to look. "What are they doing?!" She yelled.

"Hehe… Girl… Ye should know 8y now that yer m8sprit is a stu88orn man… Ye should know…" she coughs loudly blood splattering everywhere. "Ye should know that he isn't goin' to let you die…"

"That idiot! He is going to get everyone killed!" the younger Serket snarled to herself.

Mindfang rolls her head up so she could look straight up at the sky, seeing the darkness get eaten away by the light. "Stand 8y yer choices, Vriska…"

"What do you mean?" The young woman asks, her eye still fixated on the approaching ship.

When the only response she received was that of silence, Vriska turns frowning a bit at her ancestor seeing that the woman's movements had ceased all together. She crouched beside her touching her neck to feel no pulse and the warmth of her body beginning to fade. If the elder woman were a highblood she would have lasted much longer before her body shut down from the internal damages but being just a midblood such a fatal wound claimed her life relatively soon. Putting two fingers over her eyelids, the sole surviving Serket pulls them down so Mindfang's face wouldn't get locked in death's stare. She reached over the edge of the raft so she could cup some water in her hands, which she used to wash all the blood off the deceased's face. She grabbed the woman's hands and crossed them over her chest in a dignified manner. The Marquise may not of had an honorable life, but Vriska took the time to make sure she could at least have an honorable death.

Dualscar ship stops near the platform, but unfortunately it wasn't able to get close enough to toss a rope down to Vriska due to many of the sea beast's tentacles rising out of the water around her. If they got any closer the ship would most definitely get destroyed by Gl'bgolyb. The seadweller runs from the helm to the mast where he began unhooking one of the lines from it. Grabbing the freed rope, he wrapped it around his forearm repeatedly before running over the railing. Eridan runs up to him becoming baffled at what his ancestor was planning to do.

"Wwhat are you doing?" He snapped.

"Look lad ye should knowv by nowv that Amporas wvill do some fuckin' stupid shit for the people they lovwe…" he boasts.

Dualscar checks his grip making sure the rope was secure before moving as far back as he could. He shoots Eridan a suave smirk while putting up a finger gun with his freehand like Cronus might do when he was trying to show his 'cool guy' status. Then like some sort of mad man, he runs full speed forward hurtling over the ship's railing with such grace. Using the mast line, swung out over the ocean of ravenous beasts and in the direction of Vriska. He had to be absolutely precise or he'd risk missing his matesprit entirely or swing himself right into one of the kraken beast's tentacles.

Vriska watches this display of idiotic heroism and takes a deep breath to quiet the chatter in her mind. Counting in her head she was predicting the amount of time it would take for him to reach her before realizing he miscalculated the length of rope. He wasn't going to make it in time, let alone reach her before the tentacles completely obliterated her platform so she backed up a few steps before sprinting as fast as she could. The girl leaped as far as she could, miraculously threading herself between the gap between two of the tentacles. While in midair she got whisked away by Dualscar, who swooped her up with his one free arm just as Gl'bgolyb finished off the debris. Vriska glances over her shoulder after hearing the platform destroyed, only to catch a glimpse of the iconic Serket horns vanishing into the waters.

"Dualscar…" she mutters clinging as tightly as she could to his body.

"Sorry, Vwris… But I refused to listen to yer insane ramblings," the man states.

Tears of joy well up in her eyes. "You fucking stubborn idiot," she laughs. "I fucking love you!"

"Brace yerself. I didn't plan out howv wve'd land…" he chuckles.

Once the momentum brought them back over the deck, he released the rope from his arm causing them to drop. An attempt to land on his feet with the girl in his arms didn't exactly go as planned so he tucked and rolled with her compressed to his chest. They were stopped when they ended up crashing into the mast causing him to sprawl out on his back with Vriska laying on top of him. Sitting up, she looks down at him, breathing heavily as adrenaline rushed through her. Panting as well, Dualscar moves to sit up slightly with her in his lap.

"I don't wvant to find a newv lovwe. I wvant ye to be me only lovwe… and I couldn't stand the thought of lose-"

Vriska grabs his face leaning in to kiss him in a passionate manner cutting off the rest of his sentence. He wraps his arms around her letting his hand slide up into her hair, returning the kiss. Soon he breaks the passion to look at her face before a slight grimace of shock crossed over as he saw how gnarly she looked. She was stained in her own blood with cuts and deep dark bruises cascading all over her body. The wound in critical condition at her side was hemorrhaging blood and drenching her clothing in an intensely bright shade of cobalt. The gouged-out eye socket was swollen, her lip was busted open, blood trickled down from her nose, and her one working eye was slowly darkening into a blackeye. All these wounds yet she didn't even seem to be in any pain at all, she was just fueled by her victory, her repetitive behavior of cheating death, and an incredible amount of adrenaline.

"COD! Yer eye is fuckin' gone…" he muttered.

She moves her hand to brush some hair away out of her face giggling a bit. "I'm trying out a new look. What do you think?"

He grabs her hand she had used to brush her hair back seeing her pinky and ring finger were bent back. "Yer little fingers are bent back," he sighs with a frown crossing his face.

Vriska looked down at her hand wondering when that could of happened, perhaps it was during the crash landing and she hadn't even noticed. She grabs the two digits and cracks them back in place without even flinching. Then she moved off him before rising to her feet so she could hold out her hand for him to take. He grabs it standing as well before leaning in to kiss her deeply once more because despite her being battered, he was grateful she was still standing and resilient.

The crew member whom Dualscar had pushed away from the wheel earlier runs over. "Hate to break up the reunion but we have an issue."

The man leads the two over to show them members of Mindfang's crew desperately clawing at their ship in attempts to get out of the water. Dualscar just scoffs at the sight. "Wvhat's the issue? They wvon't make it on board."

"It's a moral issue… Do we just leave them to drown or be eaten alive or do we spare their lives and take them into custody?" The man responded.

The Captain turned to look at Vriska. "I think she should be the one to decide that… She knowvs their character better than any of us so if she thinks they deservwe any form of mercy than I wvill allowv it."

Vriska looks over at the edge of the men watching as they scrambled and writhed in attempts to seek out sanctum aboard the Orphaner's ship. The men knew very well that boarding that ship would end up with them being imprisoned or forced into slave work, but that seemed to be a better fate to them than facing the unpleasant death of drowning or being torn limb by limb by hungry beasts for that matter. The woman stared for a long time analyzing and recognizing all the faces of the men below. Faces that pinned her down. Faces that violated her. Faces that tortured her every waking moment. Faces that beat and abused her. Faces that were burned into her memory. The woman stared for a long time before pointing out to only one man from the dozens pleading for their lives.

"Save him. Leave the rest to perish," she commands coldly before turning her back on the view. "Shoot any of the other men who try to intervene."

"Ye heard the lass," Dualscar states.

They casted a line out to the one soul the woman wanted to spare. She kept her back turned on the entire ordeal listening to the screams of the damned and the firing of guns. An icy serious demeanor could be felt radiating from her, a demeanor no one dared to speak to nor confront. In this moment she was no longer that free spirited passionate Serket, but an executioner and she had absolutely no remorse for any of the actions that were taking place behind her. Only when the slapping sound of a soaked body could be heard being heaved on deck she turned, and that unholy demeanor faded into a smile.

"Glad to see you managed to survive. Close call huh?" She asked walking up to the man.

"Ya damn right about that girly…" her ally panted.

"Wvho might this be?" Dualscar asked.

"He helped me out after the first explosion. If it weren't for him, I might not be here… and he wasn't around during my first stay on Mindfang's ship, so I don't think I have the right to kill a man who didn't wrong me," she responded.

The Orphaner nodded to the answer his matesprit had given him before directing his attention to the man. "Wvhat exactly wvas yer position aboard Fang's ship?"

"In… infirmary, Orphaner," he muttered cowering as he was questioned.

The seadweller raised a brow. "So, yer a doctor. Wvhere'd ye get yer trainin'?"

"Military… I was there for several sweeps before I was dishonorably discharged," he answered.

"And wvhy wvere ye discharged?"

The man becomes embarrassed laughing slightly. "I… I got caught getting a little too close with my commander's matesprit…"

"Ye wvere caught fucking around wvith their wvoman?" The Orphaner asked sternly.

"...Man."

"Man?" Dualscar asks raising one of his eyebrows.

"Aye. It was a man…"

"Oh! That explains so much," Vriska mumbled under her breath.

"Yeah like how I wasn't interested in staring at ya naked tits," the man laughs.

Vriska laughs with the man for a moment before Dualscar interjects. "Wvait… Wvhat does that mean?!"

"I'll tell you later… It is kind of a long st… st…" Vriska collapses to the ground.

"Vwris! Vwris!"

Vriska could barely hear the sound of her name being called out because for some reason all the noises began to become muffled. Her adrenaline high was finally diminished and she had finally succumbed to the severity of her injuries. Everything started to fade around her and the last thing she saw was the panicked face of her matesprit.

Vriska would awake to find herself in a foreign white room filled with various types of medical equipment. She sits up in her bed only to wince in pain from the intense throbbing coming from her head. Moving a hand up to rub her face she felt that her eye was patched up before noticing she had an IV injection in her arm. She decided to inspect the rest of her body pulling the blanket down to see that her waist was bandaged up and on the mend of getting better. Dualscar rises from a chair in the corner he had been sitting in so come make his way over to sit beside her on the edge of the bed. With gentle touches, he delicately brushes some lose strands of hair from her tired face.

"Dualscar… Where am I?" she asks rubbing her aching head.

"The infirmary at the palace… I wvas startin' to wvorry. Ye havwe been out cold for three days," he says just before a doctor walks in.

"Someone has finally woken up," the doctor says.

Vriska squints looking around the room before asking, "Where is Cronus?"

The doctor sighs a with a grim look. "He lost a severe amount of blood even for a highblood. We have been working nonstop to keep him stable, but as of right now it is too early to say what the outcome will be."

"Didn't I lose a lot of blood too? How am I fine?" she inquired.

"About that… As you probably already know, your left eye is completely gone, but there weren't extensive damages so other than the loss of depth perception you should be able to see relatively okay," she states flipping through some papers on a clipboard. "You had numerous lacerations across your body, especially on your back several of which were found to have shards of glass and ceramics embedded in them. You ended up needing over a hundred stitches. Along with that you had a few cracked rips and you lost about five of your molars," the doctor then sighs through her nose. "I understand that you were impaled, and the good news is that the wood bypassed all your major organs."

"That's great! So, she should heal up wvithout complications?" Dualscar asks happily squeezing one of Vriska's hands.

"For the most part yes, but the wood did damage her reproductive system," the doctor responded.

"Wvhich means wvhat?"

"She will be unable to create any life beyond her own."

Vriska just begins to laugh in a manner that was almost delirious. "That's perfect."

"Vwris. It's okay. Everythin' wvill be fine," Dualscar assured in a calm tone trying to make her feel better assuming she was responding in shock.

"Everything is okay… I'm actually happy…" she hums.

"Ms. Serket. You do understand that you will never be able to create a lineage beyond yourself? It's not just that you can't produce the old fashion way, but your reproductive system all together is unable to produce the genetic material needed to create a grub in your image. You will never have descendants," the doctor states.

"It's Vriska. Enough with the Serket bullshit. Besides who fucking cares?" She laughs.

"Your matesprit perhaps," the doctor replied.

Vriska looks to Dualscar then back at the doctor. "What? Am I not going to be able to pail again or something? "

The doctor becomes a bit flustered. "Well… Once you're healed… sure. You can pail, but there will be no greater purpose to it."

"No greater purpose? It's an act of love, passion, and pleasure isn't it? It doesn't need any other greater purpose than that for me," she scoffs before sitting up more.

"I'd think that someone who went through what you did would have a different opinion in regard to that," the doctor says, seeming to become slightly annoyed with how nonchalant Vriska was behaving.

Dualscar proceeds to stand up from the bed giving the doctor a glare that announced that her comment had ticked him off. However, that wasn't the only reason he stood for he knew that his matesprit was about to react far more harshly than he would to that statement. Vriska grabs the tubes that connected her arm to the IV and yanks them out so aggressively it caused the IV pump to be knocked over. The seadweller showed no interest in intervening in whatever actions she planned on taking because he felt the doctor had brought whatever was about to come on herself.

"Oh really? And in your 'professional' opinion what view should I have, you ignorant little cunt?" Vriska's words cut deep. "Would it have been better if I had disgusting little offspring with all those fucking disgusting motherfuckers who raped me?! Would that satisfy your god damn agenda?! You act like it's such a fucking ISSUE that I don't give a shit about having a grub or not!"

"N-no… That's not what I meant…" the doctor whimpered.

"Look I get it. You work for the Empress, so you have to push this ideal that we are all meant to be a part of this imperial sanctioned mandatory bucket filling and gestation, but honestly I don't really fucking care." The cerulean blood gets up out of the bed so she could walk up to the doctor. "Despite what you may think there is more to life than creating even more of it! Trying to make your own life the best it can be should be what's truly important, but you'll never realize that!" She growls in the terrified woman's face before storming to the door and slamming it open. "Besides… Who wants another fucking Serket?" She snarled before exiting the room.

Dualscar slowly saunters past the doctor. "Ye're lucky I don't report ye to the Empress for royally pissing me off."

With that he leaves the room and made his way towards Vriska, who was leaning against the wall a little way down the hall. He smiles at her before pulling her into a hug, keeping the embrace as delicate as he could. She wrapped her arms around him before leaning her head against his chest letting a rather loud sigh escape her nose. He gently rubs her back in a soothing manner while resting his chin on top of her head.

"Ye sounded like the Grand Highblood back there," he says with an amused smile crossing his face. "Seems ye havwe been hangin' out wvith him too much and he is starting to rub off on ye."

"Did you see the way she looked at me? Looking at me like I am trash," she hissed.

"Don't let the ignorant get to ye," he cooed.

"Fucking bitch," she grumbled under her breath.

"Ye should really get some rest, Vwris," he whispered.

"I feel fine…" she grunts.

"That's because the pain meds havwen't wvorn off… Besides evwerythin' must be so ovwerwvhelmin' for ye," he chortles.

"I am not going back into that room," she huffed.

"Wvell wve can alwvays go back to me room… Remember the one wvhere wve first…" he trails off starting to snicker to himself.

"Can we go to the garden? It is so stuffy in here and I really want to get some fresh air."

"I'd rather not go there," he groaned looking away.

"Why not?..." she asked.

A few moments later they were in the palace garden and Vriska was doing her best to hold in her laughter. Back when Dualscar had passed, a statue was erected in his honor in the garden. The statue was impressive enough, standing almost eight feet tall, hand carved out of stone, and the detailing, for the most part, was impeccable, but there was one flaw. One major flaw. Whoever had carved the statue clearly didn't know how to properly shape eyes out of stone. The left eye was slightly higher than then the right one, and on top of that they were severely crossed.

"Don't. Say. Anything," he commands.

"It… Looks great," she snorts trying not to hurt his feelings.

"Don't lie to make me feel better. Me face looks like I'm an inbred mongoloid being fucked up the ass by a tentacle monster," he shouts.

Vriska begins to cry from laughter grabbing her sides tightly. "Hahaha. Ow. Ow. Hahha. Please don't make me laugh it hurts. I'm… I'm going to bust my stitches…," she whines between laughs.

"Alright. That's enough fresh air. Yer goin' back to bed. No arguin'," he stated picking her up.

A little over a week passes as Vriska remained confined in Dualscar's bedroom, and she was gradually becoming stir crazy from it. Dualscar had put emphasis on how badly he wanted her to heal up and relax so he did everything in his power to make sure she didn't lift a finger. Vriska appreciated his care at first, but now she was just anxious to do something other with herself than lay around and watch T.V. all day. She had repetitively told him she had felt better, and for the most part all the relatively minor injuries were closed up, but her eye and side wound still concerned him. He knew how quickly a highblood body could heal from all of his own experiences, and so he knew that a midblood needed even more time than that.

It was at some point in the night Vriska had woken up in terror from a horrible dream. She had relived everything traumatizing that had happened to her in a sort of disturbing montage. However, the dream ended with her being slain by Mindfang out on that platform in the ocean, not the other way around. The woman groaned sitting up from the bed rubbing her face before looking around to see that Dualscar was nowhere in the room. She smirks a bit to herself deciding she had the opportunity to sneak out and get a chance to stretch out her legs.

After wandering the halls of the enormous palace for some time she finally ends up in the bar area. Recognizing a behemoth troll seated at one of the stools she walks up to sit beside him. The Grand Highblood looks down at the little female before signaling to the bar tender to make them some drinks.

"There's the killer. THOUGHT DUALSCAR SMOTHERED YOU TO DEATH," he chuckled.

"He means well, but I needed to get out of that room. Losing my mind," she sighs. She grabs the drink as the bartender slide it over to her. "Oh god~ It's been so long since I've had a drink," she moans in delight. "Didn't take you for a drinker. More of a hard drugs sort of man."

"Anything that intoxicates is fine by me. PEOPLE DON'T LIKE ME WHEN I AM SOBER," he retorts opening his mouth and pouring the entire drink in.

"I could see that," Vriska just sniggers a bit taking a sip of her drink before sighing in a melancholy manner.

"What is it? FOR SOMEONE WHO WAS SO EXCITED TO DRINK YOU SEEM RATHER FUCKING SAD."

"Past few nights I have been having nightmares…" she muttered before taking a large swig. "I haven't told Dualscar. He'd just worry."

"Nightmares about what?" he asked signaling for more drinks.

"About… What happened to me," she sighs before downing the rest of the contents in the glass.

"You need to learn to forgive," he uttered.

"What?"

"YOU NEED TO LEARN TO FORGIVE."

"Why?"

"Because forgiving isn't about freeing those from the wrong they've done to you. IT IS ABOUT FREEING YOURSELF. You need to forgive Mindfang. FORGIVE THE MEN WHO RAPED YOU. Because if you don't you will only destroy yourself with the pain and anger you hold onto," he states.

"Do you think I am a bad person for getting so many people killed in my quest for vengeance?" she asked.

"Eh. BAD AND GOOD ARE JUST LABELS. At the end of the day we are just trying to live and stand by the actions we perceive to be best for us. SURE, OUR ACTIONS MIGHT NOT CORRESPOND WITH THE IDEALS WITH OTHERS BUT IT DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER. There is no truly good or truly bad person because we all end up doing things that can appeal to both sides of this hypothetical spectrum of morality. NO ONE IS COMPLETELY INNOCENT. We all have something we've done that conflicts with our own morality. IS IT BAD? Not necessarily. IT ONLY BECOMES BAD WHEN WE BEGIN TO FESTER ON IT WHICH IN TURN ENDS UP CORRUPTING OUR SANITY. You need to accept what you've done and move past it," he answered draining another drink.

Vriska just stares at him in awe as he spoke. "Uh… Who are you and what did you do with the giant clown faced troll who has an obsession for the word Motherfucker?"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!..." he sneers.

"I killed Mindfang… But I don't really feel any better…" she sighs.

"You need to stand by your choices, Vriska," he groaned.

"Stand by your choices… Those were Mindfang's last words," she says looking down into her empty glass. "What do you think she meant by that?"

"SHE WAS A CRAZY BITCH. But she was a smart woman and new when she was beat. THAT WAS PROBABLY HER WAY OF TELLING YOU THAT YOU BESTED HER. And maybe a little part of her was proud." The Grand Highblood just grunts some before pushing a drink in front of her. "Drink up."

Vriska looks down at the new drink. "I really shouldn't…"

One of the palace servants runs up to Dualscar who had went out to the beach to take in the salt air. The worker frantically explained to the Orphaner that Vriska had gone on a bender and was getting a little out of control in the bar area. Growing very concerned, he runs towards the direction of the commotion. He'd find Vriska standing on top of the bar drinking straight from a bottle of rum while the Grand Highblood egged her on.

"And… and that's when I… I chopped the fucker's dick off. His face was priceless…" she hoots.

"VWRIS! Get dowvn! Wvhat are ye doin'?! Yer supposed to be in bed!" He shouts.

"Ahahah. SHE'S TELLING THE STORY OF CHOPPING SOME MOTHERFUCKER'S DICK OFF! Don't piss her off or she might do it to you!" He laughs loudly.

"She wvhat?" The seadweller asks confused.

"Hehehe. Come here~ Have some fun with us~" Vriska purrs making grabby hands at Dualscar.

He groans grabbing her from the bar and lifting her up in his arms bridal style. "No. Ye need to be in bed!"

"Aw Dually! No fun!" Vriska whines sticking her bottom lip out in a pout like a spoiled brat.

"Yeah Dually~ NO FUN!" The Grand Highblood roared in laughter clearly enjoying this.

"This is not okay! Don't encourage her!" The seadweller snapped.

"FUCKING HELL MAN. Let her have some fun. SHE ISN'T A GRUB. She deserves it," the Highblood huffed.

"She can do that wvhen she is better, Grand," he growls.

"THIS IS WHY WE NEVER GOT ALONG. You get carried away with being careful."

"I'm so sorry I don't wvant anythin' to happen to her."

"YOU GET SO BLINDED ABOUT YOUR FEAR OF THE PEOPLE YOU CARE ABOUT GETTING HURT YOU ARE UNABLE TO SEE WHEN THEY ACTUALLY ARE HURT!"

"Ye're an intoxicated clowvn wvho doesn't knowv wvhat it is like to lose someone! Ye don't knowv wvhat ye're talkin' about."

"Then you know about her nightmares then? HER STRUGGLES WITH HER OWN MORALITY?" He scoffed. "No, you don't, do you? BECAUSE YOU'VE BEEN TOO BUSY CODDLING HER TO ASK HER HOW SHE ACTUALLY FEELS. She knows her limits, Scar… YOU DON'T!"

"I'm not gonna to stand here and be berated by an executioner about howv to take care of me matesprit," he says in a low growl.

Dualscar makes his way back to his room while trying to contain the angry drunk Vriska who was throwing a tantrum. Once in the room he sets her down on the bed and moves to lock the door, but as he did so she got up to move over to the window. He sighs running his hands through his hair before walking over and grabbing her wrist, giving it a slight tug. She yanks her arm away from him and backs up against the desk near the window.

"Vwris… please get back in bed," he begged looking rather stressed.

"Stop! Just stop!" She shouted. "I am sick of being treated like a wriggler by you!"

"Ye havwe been through a lot. Ye shouldn't exert yer energy. It could put you at risk…" he sighs.

"I am fine! Stop acting like I am fragile!"

"Cod damn it Vwriska! I AM DOING ALL OF THIS BECAUSE I CARE! CAN'T YE FUCKIN' SEE THAT! YE CAN'T BE DOING DUMB SHIT THAT'S GOING TO GET YE HURT!" he yells shaking her by the shoulder lightly.

Vriska slaps him hard across the face. "Stop doing dumb shit that upsets me! Because that shit hurts me more than any physical pain will," she snarled.

Dualscar touches his cheek rubbing it softly feeling a stinging sensation from her strike. He snarled a lip staring in her eyes to make sure she saw how angry he was. She looks at him breathing a bit heavily before grabbing him by the horns and pulling him into a deep hungry kiss. He growls lightly against her lips before grabbing her by the hips and pinning her up onto the desk. He stared down at her running one of his large hands over her neck, moving his thumb up to slide across her lips. He hunched over her and leaned in kissing her deeply, lightly biting at her bottom lip in the process. She wraps her legs up around him grinding her body feverishly against him. He growls again moving to grip her sides tightly before hoisting her up and moving to pin her up against the wall.

Within seconds he begins to pail her in an aggressive manner, biting at her neck a bit in the process. She cries out in pleasure tightening her grip on his horns, using them to pull his face closer to her. She pants heavily in his ear fin causing his actions to be fueled even more by desire. His claws dig into her sides forgetting to be mindful of her injury there. A few of the stitches bust open, causing some of her blood to leak onto his palm. He snaps out of his lust, pulling his hand up once he felt the warm liquid before growing concerned to see it was lightly coated in cerulean blood.

"S-shit! I'm sorry…" he stammered.

Vriska looks at him before leaning in again to intensely kiss him, seeming to be unphased by her reopened injury. She grabs his bloodied hand, still kissing him, and pressed it back down onto her wound rather hard getting both their hands covered in the fluid. He was hesitant to continue, but she leaned in biting his neck slightly hard which dove him back into his primal urges. Once more she kisses him vehemently moving her bloody hand and putting it up on the side of his face. The blood gets smeared across his cheek, but instead of being put off by it he grasps her small hand and turns to lick her fingers seductively.

Soon he carried her over to the bed and tossed her down onto it before taking off her remaining clothing then his own. He grips her thighs running his hands up to feel her body leaving a trail of blood in their wake. Fingers cascade over the curves and contours of her body before halting at her neck. His thumb affectionately rubs at the small cut she had on her neck from when she had been held at knife point. She gazed up at him feeling like the world had stopped and all that was left in time was only this moment. As he positioned himself on top of her she wrapped her legs up around his waist and used her strength to roll them over to where he was on his back.

Beginning to take the lead now she starts to rock her hips against him, picking up the pace with every passing second. Vriska wanted to be in control for a moment while they shared this thrill. However, she didn't want control in means of being in power or to put Dualscar in a position to submit to her, in fact she often got off on him dominating her, but after everything she had been through the past few sweeps she wanted to be in control of her own self. From Mindfang enslaving her, to the men having their way with her, to Eridan and Cronus' constant surveillance when she was suicidal, to Dualscar's overprotective behavior, she hadn't really had any control over her own life. Although some of those individuals were doing what they did out of love and care she still didn't get a say in any of it. Even her own emotions and feelings of fear, pain, vengeance, and sorrow had a control over her and her actions. She was tired of her spirit being under control and influenced by outside forces, so now that she felt like she had some sort of freedom she decided to embrace it.

Time passed and Dualscar was now laying in bed with the sheet loosely draped over his groin. He brings a cigarette to his lips and takes a long drag off it before looking over to Vriska. The woman was at the end of the bed using a small sewing kit to stitch her wound back up. She hadn't lost that much blood for the wound had already healed a significant amount, but the gash was still deep enough to where it needed to be held together with stitches a little while longer. The seadweller looks up at the ceiling moving the hand holding the cigarette up in the air to get a good look at all the dried blood on it.

"So ye chopped a man's bulge off and proceeded to fight off an entire group of assailants wvhile being partially blind and topless?" He asked bringing the cigarette back down to his lips.

"Yep. That's what happened," she hummed tying off the last stitch.

"That's hot," he grinned. "Howv's the injury? I didn't hurt ye too bad, did I?" He sighs blowing smoke through his nose.

"Fine. It is just merely a flesh wound at this point," she boasts.

The older man laughs a bit. "Cod. Ye sound like me. Ye'vwe been spending wvay too much time wvith me."

Vriska giggles and crawls across the bed to lay beside him. "Oh yeah?"

"Aye. I remember one time I took a blade to the side of the head. Me crewv wvas terrified wvhen they sawv me and I wvasn't even in any pain so I assume it just grazed me and they wvere ovwerreacting. I didn't evwen realized howv bad it actually wvas until I wvent to brush some hair back. Turns out me wvhole ear fin wvas danglin' by a thread and I had mistaken it for a fewv unruly pieces of hair tickling me neck," he snickered.

"Is that why you're such a shitty listener at times? " she teases snatching the smoke from him.

He lets out a chuckle followed by a sigh. "I'm sorry I havwe been such a hardass on ye… I nevwer thought I'd fall in lovwe again and wvell… Ye changed that. Ye changed a lot of things. I just didn't wvant to fuck up this second shot at lovwe I got."

She kisses his cheek. "I'm no longer that vulnerable little girl you met sweeps ago," she whispered.

"I know. I am just pretty ovwerwvhelmed wvith evwerythin'. I wvas afraid yer injuries wvould take a turn and ye'd fall ill, but maybe I fear that because I am vwery wvorried for Cronus. On top of the blood loss, the blade he wvas cut wvith punctured an intestine. He got a sevwere infection wvhich made his brain swvell and organs almost dowvn… They had to induce a coma… They aren't sure if he'll wvake up… Let alone survwivwe."

Vriska takes a long smoke before exhaling it through her lips. "Poor Eridan… Before I left, him and Cronus were never close, but when I was gone, he became his emotional support. They're as thick as thieves despite being so different… I don't know how he will be if Cronus is gone."

"He and I both donated as much blood as wve could to help, but things still seem so grim as of right nowv," he responds leaning in to press her face to her hair to comfort himself.

"It is so crazy that this insane journey has come to an end," she muttered changing the topic.

"Wvell nowv ye can livwe yer life happily nowv, can't ye?" he asked pulling his face away from the messy locks of black hair.

"I suppose… But I almost don't know what my next step in life will be… I was so focused on this mission of revenge I don't know what to do with myself now that it is over," she sighs.

"Ye wvill figure it out. Ye alwvays do," he purred kissing her cheek.

Three Sweeps Pass

Vriska darts down the corridor of a sinking ship, her boots splashing in the few inches of water that covered the floor. She turns a corner to find a terrified man who tried to run away from her, which only seemed to excite the woman. He takes a few turns, but accidently landed up in a dead end with the wild cerulean blood cornering him. The man pulls out a gun and points it at her, but she pulls out an explosive eight ball showing it to him.

"Come on. Think this out. You're holding a muff pistol for Prospit's sake. Let's say you fire that thing and manage to hit me, I fucking doubt it will deter me at all. Your hand is shaking so badly for that matter I don't think we'd even get to that point. Now look at what I have. This is an explosive of my design completely capable of melting the flesh off of your bones. I've detonated hundreds of these on people just like yourself and out of me and those other people who is still here with their flesh," she chuckles deviously. "Now I can do one of three things. Blow you the fuck up for the hell of it. Chop your head off in your attempts to fight back. Or you submit and your life can be spared. The choice is yours."

"You are a wicked bitch, Serket!" the man yells.

"Ugh… You call me Vriska. Or Captain Vriska. Only my friends call me Vris so don't call me that unless you want to be my friend," she laughs to herself. "Hell, even that stupid nickname that is floating around is starting to grow on me but…" she growls before giving a twisted grin and unsheathing her blade. "Only assholes who want to die call me Serket…"

"Ohhhh, I know about you and that name… A woman who rejected her own bloodline… Rejected her own namesake… A woman who no longer bares a symbol. You killed one of the greatest pirates and for what? To run around with her former kismesis," the man scoffed.

"Pft. What are you the leader of my fan club?" she jeered.

"I read that book about you," he remarked with a grin.

"Ugh that fucking book! Didn't think you'd be able to read. Now what will it be? The choice is yours…"

"SER…KET…" the man hisses.

Vriska casually struts up on deck, as the ship slowly starts to sink, and makes her way across a boarding plank to another vessel. She tossed a severed head into the hands of one of the men on the ship before taking a seat on a nearby barrel. She slides her hands down her leg and into her boot where she pulls out a flask taking a swig from it. The man holding the head walks up looking down at the severed body part in his hands then at the woman.

"So, I am assuming you couldn't get him alive?" the man asked.

"Ugly one-eyed motherfucker pissed me off so…" she scoffed gesturing to the head.

"Captain… You do know you have one eye too?" the man responds raising a brow.

"Oh yes~ But I am still sexy as hell," she hums playfully, flipping her hair to the side.

Vriska giggles a bit tapping at her black eyepatch with the symbol of skull embroidered in blue thread. She still stayed a relatively petite troll over the sweeps, only standing at five foot six, but she had developed a muscular yet curvy form. Finally overcoming the effects from her malnutrition in the past her body managed to fill out in the right places making her slightly more buxom and her muscle became more tone. Her hair was very long, reaching down to her waist, with a vibrant healthy black sheen to it. She was currently dressed in bright scarlet metal boots, tight black jeans, a blue and black striped armored corset, and short black leather jacket.

"You lack discretion, don't you?" The man groaned obviously seeming tired of Vriska's antics.

She rolls her eyes letting a loud huff out through her nose before shoving the flask back into her boot. "Does that bother you? I save you from a life of squalor and make you my first mate and this is how you treat me? Your beloved Captain?" she teases walking up to him.

"Let's just say despite your generosity for your crew and I… You are a bit of a… well… wild card. Sometimes I don't exactly feel safe around you…" the first mate muttered.

"Oh, don't be such a prude. You sound like my old neighbor… Are all you blue bloods such a stick in the mud?" She giggles putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Do all of you cobalts march to the beat of your own drum without a care?" He chuckles.

"I am just a woman who knows what she wants… Besides you know ya love me… " she titters playfully punching him in the shoulder.

The first mate rolls his eyes giving a slight smile. "Well, you're one of the better captain's I've had."

"I'll take that as 'Yes Captain Vriska. I love you so much. You are the best thing in my life'," she jokes before turning towards her cabin. "Let's just get the hell out of here. It takes several hours to get back to port. I am meeting my matesprit later and at this rate I am going to be late. That bodiless fucker wasted more time than I expected," she groans gesturing to the head.

"Yes, but before we head out what do we do with all the crewmen from the ship we destroyed?"

"Oh, come on now. You know the drill… Scoop them up. Interrogate them. See if any of the decent ones want to join the crew. Hopefully we can get a doctor with this batch," she responds starting to walk to her quarters. "Now. I am going to take a nap so I can be all fresh and awake for whatever freaky shit I am getting into tonight so if anyone wakes me up, I will gut them alive and chum the waters!"

"I highly doubt you will!" the man laughs.

"Yes, I will!" she calls out opening her door. "I am your mighty ruthless captain!" she bantered.

"You will pout for ten minutes, down a bottle of rum, then you'll be perfectly fine," he cackled.

"I AM RUTHLESS!" She screeches out before entering her room and slamming the door shut.

Night falls and Dualscar was currently sitting alone in the bar of an exclusive high blood resort. With a low sigh he runs his hand through his hair staring down at his half empty drink. He reaches a hand into the pocket of his pants and pulls out a small golden chain watch to inspect the time. Impatiently, he swirled a straw around in his drink listening to the ice clink to the glass as he did so.

"Hello there handsome~ Is this seat taken?" a sexy feminine voice asks from behind him.

The Orphaner groans, "I am not interested. I am wvaiting on me matesprit."

"Aw~ She stood you up? She sounds like a bitch!" the voice said.

Dualscar growls turning to face the woman. "Look I don't appre-… Vriska!"

She kisses his cheek lovingly. "I got you, didn't I?" she giggles sitting beside him.

Dualscar gestured to the bartender to get Vriska a drink before leaning in to kiss her passionately on the lips. He breaks the kiss and affectionately puts his forehead to hers so he could stare into her eye. He looks her over enjoying the sight of the outfit she had picked out, a cerulean bikini with a low waisted black chiffon skirt that showed off her tattoo of a pile of eight balls on her side where a scar was once visible before the ink. She smiles at him putting a hand on the side of his cheek feeling his scruffy facial hair tickle her fingers,

"You haven't shaved in a while," she coos.

"Wvell that's wvhat ye are for… I wvas gettin' wvorried ye wveren't goin' to showv up," he responds.

"I got caught up in some business. Then I had to get ready. Then I got denied at the door because I am not a highblood and I needed to show a symbol to get in. It was a whole ordeal," she sighs grabbing the drink the bartender handed to her.

"I told those idiots that I wvas havwing a midblood comin'," he huffed.

"Eh. Someone recognized me from that fucking book, and they let me in once they knew who I was," she responded. "Anyways… I am surprised you were able to convince the Empress to relieve you of your Orphaner duties for a while so you can spend time with me~" she purrs.

"Wvell ye knowv me. Can't disappoint me matesprit~" he says seductively.

"Don't fuckin' lie," Eridan grunts walking over and sitting beside Dualscar. "I took on his routes Vvris. Thank me for gettin' him a month off to be wwith you," the younger man states.

"Wvhat are ye doin' here?" Dualscar snarled.

"I don't ship out till tomorroww and I kneww the twwo of you wwould be here. Thought I'd catch up wwith Vvris… It's been awwhile has it not?" he asks smiling over at the woman.

"If it isn't the great Orphaner Eridan! Heard you are quickly rising in the ranks. Almost as good as your ancestor," she giggles playfully tugging on Dualscar's shirt. "A quarter of a sweep, right?" she says looking back over to Eridan and taking a sip from her drink.

"It has, Captain Vvriska… Or is it Vvriska the Queen Bitch? Heard that's wwhat people are callin' you," he laughs.

"Ugh. I don't even know who started that, but I don't know if I should hate if for being called a bitch or love it for being called a queen," she states rolling her eyes with a smirk.

"Howv long do ye plan on interruptin' my romantic time wvith me matesprit?" Dualscar groaned.

"I don't get to see MY moirail as often as you do, Dual. You think the Empress hasn't caught on to you sneaking off once a month to see Vvriska? You're lucky you are her best Orphaner," Eridan teases.

"Wvell Vwris denied me offer for her to wvork on me ship and nowv I don't get to see her as much," he pouts wrapping an arm around the woman.

"Yeah…" Eridan looks down the bar at Vriska. "I still can't believve you passed up an opportunity to wwork alongside Dualscar."

"I wouldn't be working alongside him. I'd be working under him… and I mean I don't mind being under him, but-"

"Aye. Ye do that quite often~" the elder Ampora brags.

"Ugh come on Dual," his descendent gagged.

Vriska just laughs a bit before resuming her statement. "But he works under the Empress… and I do not want to work for her. I prefer to go my own way… and besides being a privateer sounded fun, but ever since I was little, I wanted to be a pirate. The problem with that is I would end up following in the same footsteps as-" She paused realizing what she was about to say.

Eridan noticed this and decided to speak up. "So, you ended up becoming a bounty hunter. Best of both wworlds I suppose."

"And she's a damn good one at that! Best on in all of Alternia," Dualscar cheered.

She smiles softly at the men. "Oh, come on I wouldn't say best," she muttered coyly as a blush crossed her face. "I'd say GREATEST!" She cockily boasted.

Her matesprit just smiles at her before shaking his head with a small laugh under his breath. "I just still can't get ovwer that ye wvent wvith the Grand Highblood's suggestion on wvhat to do wvith yerself…"

"What? The man is actually pretty intelligent…" she responded.

Eridan and Dualscar bust out in laughter together.

"For real! He is. He's given me great advice over the sweeps. If he wasn't such a drugged up homicidal clown lunatic, he might actually get recognized for it more," she says laughing along with them before sipping her drink. "He's knew that I'd never be happy working for anyone other than myself… Even if I do love you Dualscar, you know how shitty of a listener I am," she teases. "This way I can do as I please. Earn boon bucks on my own terms. Make my own rules. I am not an enemy of the Empire nor an ally of it. I capture bad people and in doing so I get all their treasures and paid on top of that."

"Wwell I heard your killing rate is higher than your sparing one," Eridan playfully jabbed.

"I only kill if it says dead or alive and when I do kill, I only kill my target. I try to spare anyone else affiliated with them… If they deserve to live that is," she remarks.

Dualscar moves his hand from her waist to grab her hand and hold it gently. "Either wvay… I'm proud of the wvoman ye'vwe become," he whispered.

She becomes a bit flustered looking away in embarrassment. "Jeez where did that come from?" She stammered. "You're talking like I am your descendant or something."

"Wvell there is a part of me feels that wvay about ye. I wvatched ye mature and change ovwer the years," he hums.

"I know you mean that in a loving way but it's coming off a bit weird," she joshed.

"Yeah… Nevver tell someone you pail you think of them as a descendant," Eridan chimed in.

"Wvhat if that's our kink? ~ " Dualscar says with a mischievous grin wrapping an arm back around Vriska's waist.

"I don't wwant to knoww wwhat you twwo do intimately. I still havve images of it burned into my memory," the little Ampora says with a shudder.

"Ye jerk off to it?" the Orphaner taunted.

"Gross!" Eridan shouts.

Vriska laughs loudly, patting Dualscar on the shoulder. "Babe. That's just creepy. Don't ask him about something so personal. Besides… that's something Cronus would do," she quipped.

Eridan let out a snicker before sighing. "I miss him…"

Dualscar nods. "Aye. Me too."

"I just hope he's in a better place," Vriska lamented taking a drink from her glass.

"Vwhat the hell? Vwhy are you talking about me like I am dead?!" Cronus complained.

The three turn around to see the greaser styled seadweller standing behind them with an annoyed expression. The man hadn't changed much over the sweeps, he was just slightly more muscular, but he was the same Cronus they've all come to know and love. He even dressed the same showing them that his preferences in clothes were not a phase, but just his lifestyle. He walked up giving Vriska a hug and a kiss on the cheek before sitting next to her.

"I thought I'd come surprise my friends and I find them talking about my masturbatory habits and speaking as if I died. You hawve one near death experience and you newver get treated the same," he muttered pulling out a cigarette.

"It's not that. You were a resilient little fucker and managed to pull through back in the day, but you left for over a sweep and didn't keep in touch! We worried about you!" Vriska objected.

He smiled at her before giving her a playful push. "I see they are letting anyone in this resort aren't they. I thought no midbloods vwere allovwed here."

"She's more of a Highblood than ye. Ye jerk," Dualscar grunted.

"Such a vwarm lowving vwelcome," he teases lighting his smoke.

"Wwell Vvris has a point. You can't just leavve saying you are going off on big advventures then just nevver message us on howw you're doin'," his dancestor reasoned.

"I figured you guys vwere busy… Didn't vwant to bother you," he speculated.

"We are never too busy for you… We all need to stick together. We always will be there for you…" Vriska hummed, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Vwhen did you become so sentimental? It thought that was the old man's job. Also, I guess a group of oddities like us do got to stick together. Vwe have the temperamental codger vwith an affinity for vwomen half his age. Vwe hawve the symbol-less chick, vwho embedded herself into another bloodline like some sort of sexy little tick. Vwe got me, the super cool super attractiwve playboy vwho has been trawveling the vworld. Then vwe hawve Eridan… Vwho some hovw turned out to be the most normal compared to the rest of us…" he laughed.

"Wwhy are you evven here?" Eridan groaned.

"Did… did you just refer to me as a sexy tick?" Vriska pondered.

"Call me a codger again and yer goin' to wvish ye bled out all those swveeps ago," Dualscar roared.

"I heard Eridan picked up a nevw route on his Orphaning missions, vwhich he is starting tomorrovw and that the mighty Dualscar is on wvaction at this luxurious resort so I figured I'd make an appearance," he chuckles blowing out some smoke before looking at Vriska. "As for you… I heard you're some sexy badass bounty hunter that is scaring the shit out of the criminal undervworld."

"Stop calling me matesprit sexy," Dualscar snarled.

"Avwvw Wvris… Dualscar doesn't think you're sexy…" he whispered wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "You alvways can come back to me if you vwant."

Vriska just laughs smacking him in the chest lightly. "You better stop before Dualscar kills you."

"Aye! I prefer to forget wvhat ye did vwith ME MATESPRIT," the eldest Ampora hissed.

"Kinda hard to forget vwhen it got vwritten dovwn in one of the bestselling books out there… About that… I hate hovw pathetic I am in it. Vwhy did you allovw that to happen?" Cronus huffed.

"Wwhy did you alloww that book to be made about you to begin wwith?" Eridan scoffs.

"Look. I can't control what Nepeta does! Maybe when I had my powers, but I after disowning my own blood they don't work anymore. Besides… she begged me… Like… really begged," she muttered. "Then I needed a favor from Equius, and he said he'd help me if she could write that book, so I gave in… Now all of Alternia knows the story of the woman who pursued vengeance on her own bloodline and got into a very intense quadrant with her own Ancestor's former blackmate."

"I wwonder if Equius is happy wwith howw… graphic... she made some of those scenes?" Eridan asked.

"Vwell I knovw I'm not complaining about that…" Cronus laughed.

"Yet you complained about us talking about your masturbatory habits…" Vriska replied.

"It vwas more jarring than anything. Try to make a grand appearance and my friends are talking about hovw I get off."

"So vwhat's yer plan novw lad?" Dualscar asks.

"Vwell I vwas thinkin' of joining Eridan if he'd hawve me… If not, I can just third vwheel vwith you and Vwris," he snickered moving so he could wrap his arms around both Vriska and his ancestor.

"It's probably best if you come wwith me," Eridan commented. "I almost lost my dancestor once… I don't wwant to havve that happen again because he decided to annoy the shit out of our ancestor wwith his constant infatuation for his matesprit."

"I'm not infatuated vwith Wvris," Cronus says rather defensively.

The three just look at him with a skeptical look before laughing at him.

"Fuck you guys!" He hollered.

"Pretty sure you just wwant to fuck Vvris," Eridan wheezed.

"Cod damn it!"

The group drank well into the night reminiscing about the old days and telling stories of the sort of adventures they were getting into in the new. They were all happy to be in each other's company again because all of them held this strong bond with one another that was fortified through the pain and hardships they had faced together. They all loved one another beyond quadrants or bloodlines because while they were together, they knew they had people they could truly fit in with, trust, and rely on for as long as they'd live. The odd group could be themselves and feel the freedom of not having to worry about whatever may come in the future. They would always have each other's back and they relished in the comfort of knowing that.

At some point in the night Vriska had gotten a tad too tipsy and ended up spilling the contents of an entire pitcher of beer all over her. The group, including her, laughs a bit at the mishap and she grabbed some napkins trying to dry herself off. Seeing that her efforts were fruitless for the most part she stands up.

"Let's me go clean up really quick," she drunkenly giggles.

"Do ye need me to come wvith ye?" Dualscar asks getting ready to stand up.

"No. No. It's okay. Besides I don't think you meet the qualifications to enter a woman's bathroom," she quipped before leaning in so she could kiss his cheek. "I'll be right back~"

With a slight stumble she struts over to the nearby restrooms and entered the one designated for women. There was no one else in there, but that wasn't too surprising given how late it was. She was honestly surprised that poor bartender had patiently put up with her and the rowdy gang of Ampora's and figured that she'd have to leave a very generous tip. She heads over to the sink and turns on the faucet to get water to run warm. She reaches over to the paper towel dispenser and grabs a handful, which she then shoves under the stream. She begins to wash all the alcohol off her clothing and her skin, really scrubbing hard to make sure she got the intoxicating scent of strong booze out.

After a few moments she removed her eye patch and for just a brief moment she gazed at the mirror to see the eye with permanently the closed lids. She then hunched over the sink bringing her face near the flowing water. Dipping her hands into the steadily filling sink she starts to wash her face. Once she felt like she was freshened up she removes her hands from her face and looks down at them. Her eye widened in horror seeing her hands were covered in dark violet blood. She scrubs them vigorously, but the blood didn't seem to come off to any avail. Her breathing picks up before developing into a full-on panic attack. She begins to hyperventilate backing up from the sink only to slip on some water on the floor causing her to fall to the ground. She grabs the sides of her head pulling on her hair a bit, shaking violently in the process.

Despite her happy demeanor she seemed to have, she still remained haunted by horrific visions. Episodes would randomly happen with no warning or anything to trigger it. Along with that even if they weren't as frequent as they use to be, her nightmares never went away so her sleep suffered which meant her sanity suffered as well. She hadn't told Dualscar or anyone for that matter and did her best to hide it. Her mental health was a constant uncontrollable rollercoaster, but with all her strength she hid the pain behind a confident smile so no one would know how she really felt.

Vriska slowly stands once she managed to steady her breath and looks back at the mirror. Instead of her reflection she just saw the distorted image of a bloody demonic looking woman. The woman looked like her, but she had this unnatural smile to her that was filled with jagged teeth. She looked as if she had just crawled out of the ocean, with pale wet skin, and soggy hair plastered to the sides of her face. The woman twitches in a sporadic manner for a few moments before opening her mouth to let a thick bloody and gooey cerulean slosh pour out. Vriska grits her teeth and pulled her eyepatch back down, only to watch the demonic entity to mirror the same actions. However, there was a slight alteration to the reflection's actions, instead of pulling an eye patch down it just moved its violet dripping fingers to its eye before ripping it out from the socket. It begins to cackle holding out the eyeball which seemed to squirm like a fish removed from water.

"GO AWAY!" Vriska screeches punching the glass.

The lights in the room flickered a bit before going out completely leaving the woman alone in darkness. After a few seconds the room was illuminated again and Vriska lets out a sigh of relief seeing that everything seemed regular again. She looks back in the mirror to fix her disheveled hair, trying to make her appearance look less panicked. Her eye catches a glimpse of something behind her in the mirror, which caused her to tense up. Mindfang was leaning against the stalls behind her with a cocky smirk on her face.

"Ye are still so weak. Ye 8roken little thing…"

Vriska quickly turns around ready to confront the woman, but no one else was there. She was alone. Just her and her thoughts. She let out a small fearful whimper before shaking her head to try to snap out it. She rushed out of the door quickly and made her way back to the bar, where she took a seat beside Dualscar. The woman hugs his arm tightly resting her head against him, which made him look down at her with a baffled look.

"Vvris… Ye okay?" he asked.

"Yeah…" she muttered under her breath.

"Ye sure? Did something happen?" he says concern crossing his face.

Vriska smiles up at him. "Yeah. I'm fine. Everything is okay."

~FIN~

(Thank you for reading this Fic. Exactly 6 years ago from today I uploaded the first chapter of this story on a whim and didn't expect it to go as far as it did. A lot of work went into it and it actually helped develop me as a writer. Thank you so much for supporting and joining me on this journey. I had a lot of fun with it and I hope you did too.)