Chapter title is from The Little Prince by Antoine de St. Exupéry
WARNING: honestly I think just the normal warnings, as well as a few mentions of the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, and discussion of the Uktena genocide
As Pickens Day rolls around, the Lodge family tries to take control of the Southside, but Hiram certainly didn't expect five teenagers with no intention of ever backing down or giving up their home.
(Cast Not Your Stone at the) Wayward Daughter
The Land of Tears
It had been just over a week since the transfer, and things were going as well as could be expected. Sweet Pea had gotten in trouble for his tattoo, but Amy quickly argued that it was technically covered—by hickeys, yes, but still covered—and Weatherbee had sighed and said that in the future that wouldn't count; River Vixens was going relatively well, Cheryl didn't like having a Southsider on her squad, but she couldn't deny that Amy was too good to get rid of; Toni was just happy to have a school that actually taught her something; Fangs, usually the most level-headed of the group, was trying to keep his more volatile partners and fellow Serpents out of trouble; and Jughead and Betty had come to some sort of understanding and were back together. Amy didn't seem to be happy about the latter, and had yet to call Betty by her name, but Jughead had given up on trying to get her to come around.
Yet it was Veronica Lodge's, clearly fake, desire to bring the North and Southside together that had Amy sitting on the top of the stairs inside the Andrews house.
"I don't know what they're up to, sweetheart, and I don't want you getting involved if you don't have to. But the Southside is somehow involved, so I think you deserve to be nearby if the plan is bad," he had told her earlier.
As much as Amy wanted to be there for the entire thing, she knew that Fred had a point. If Amy was there from the start, it would look like Fred had planned for her to oppose the plan, and she knew that he couldn't be seen as opposing his partners—technically his bosses—but if she just happened to be there, and since it was technically her permanent address she had every right to be there, and overhear, then no one could blame Fred if she got involved.
She had her phone out, but was entirely focused on trying to pick up everything that was going on; even with her hearing aids on full volume, it was a challenge that required her full attention. She moved closer to the bottom of the stairs when she heard Veronica mention the Southside, and fought the urge to rush in. Their plan was absolute bullshit, and she was sure that was the reason that Fred wanted her to be there. Hire the Southside as security? Serpents were always looking for work, of course, and she knew that many other Southsiders were as well, but to hire them for a town event was an insult. Their plan wasn't to include the Southside, on what was supposed to be a day for all of Riverdale, but to alienate them under the guise of inclusivity. She'd told Veronica before, but their friendship was secondary to her Serpents.
*"I'm sure you had your reasons for closing down Southside High—"* she heard Fred start, and knew that it was her best chance to step in.
"But they were bullshit and this will only push us further away," Amy interrupted, "would probably take even less time than those dumb uniforms or your fucking raid," she added, glaring at the mayor and Sheriff Keller.
"You think?" Fred asked, somehow seeming genuinely surprised by her opinion.
"Oh, definitely—"
"I'm sorry, Amy, was it? Veronica didn't mention inviting a friend," Hiram cut her off.
"Don't fucking interrupt me," Amy hissed, "no one invited me. No one needed to."
"This is a private meeting," Hiram argued.
"This is my house. I'm well within my rights to walk down my own stairs."
"This is Fred's house."
"Do you think I'm an idiot, Hiram? This is Fred's house, which makes it mine. You know he's my dad, right?"
Of course he didn't know, but Amy enjoyed watching him fumble.
"Your last name is Adams, not Andrews. If—"
"Jesus fuck," Amy scoffed, "ever heard of adoption? Southside, born and raised, but Fred adopted me when I was younger. So yes, I live here, so yes, it's my right to walk down my own stairs, and as a Southsider, your idea is fucking bullshit."
"Excuse me?" Hermione asked, finally speaking up.
"You heard me," Amy shrugged, grabbing the chair next to Fred. "If you actually cared about the Southside, not just about seeming like you do, then you'd realize that this will just offend every single fucking Southsider in Riverdale; Serpent, Ghoulie, everyone. Pickens slaughtered our people, pushed us out of our own town until we were basically given the option to live in trailers or be homeless. The Serpents were founded by the Uktena, you know. The very same people Pickens slaughtered, the very same people whose school you shut down for bullshit reasons, the very same people that you assholes arrest whenever you need a scapegoat for Northside problems."
"And how do you know so much about Serpent history?" Hiram asked.
"Right, right. Proper introduction time. Hi, I'm Amy Adams, I practically grew up in the Wyrm, and I've been an official Serpent for close to four years now. Which also makes me the only person in this room who's qualified to tell you that this is the single dumbest idea any of you have ever had, and Keller let his deputies crack my ribs and concuss me. So, if you want to celebrate a mass murderer, go for it, but leave my people the fuck out of it—"
"Dad? Ames?"
"Hey, Red," Amy greeted, standing up to hug the boy, "oh, gross, you smell like locker rooms."
"I was at basketball," he reminded her, "mind if I join?"
"Well I don't know about any of the goon squad, but I'm actually about to leave. Sleepover and all that. But I'll see you at school, yeah?"
"Of course," he promised, pulling her into a tight hug. "Love you, Ames."
"Love you too, Red. Bye Fred!"
"Bye sweetheart," Fred waved, smiling fondly as Amy grabbed her backpack, pulling out her jacket as she went, and slamming the door behind her.
They could hear the roar of her bike as she took off towards the Southside, where she quickly made her way to the Jones trailer.
"Amethyst?" Jughead asked, looking up from his typewriter.
"I need to talk to you, and your dad. It's Serpent business."
"Dad's at Pops," he told her.
"Want to head over there, or wait for him here?"
"Well I need to work on my history project, so wait here?"
"Sure. What are you presenting on?"
"Serpent history. I'm having trouble finding any primary sources though—"
"Well, have you asked Toni?"
"What do you mean?"
"Her grandpa is the oldest living Serpent. He's kind of amazing. I bet he'd be willing to talk to you if you asked."
"You're amazing," Jughead told her.
"I know. Now text Toni, I'll make dinner. Do you have any actual food?"
"There might be some ramen, and I think we have some leftover chicken from the other night?"
"Okay, I can definitely work with that. Talk to Toni, come up with some questions, dinner will be ready soonish."
"Seriously, you're the best," he said.
"Careful, Jonesey, I don't think your girlfriend would like to hear you saying that."
"Betty knows it's not like that."
"Like what? Like I've sucked you off, like you've fucked me? It was like that, you know."
"I know it was, Amethyst. I meant that it wasn't romantic."
"So she does know that we—"
"No. God, no. I know that you don't like her, I didn't think it was my place to tell her if you didn't want her to know."
"So you're not scared that she'd be pissed even though you were broken up?" Amy teased, grabbing the pack of chicken slices from the fridge.
"Well, that too," Jughead admitted.
"Don't worry, Juggie, I won't tell her either. I don't care if you do tell her, as long as the others are okay with it, but it's up to you."
"Thanks," he smiled.
"Yep, all good. Now get to work, I know you're stalling."
"You're so bossy," Jughead chuckled.
"And you love me. If you really want bossy, I could always tell Toni that you're not working on the project—"
"Nope, we're good," he promised, quickly pulling out his phone. "Text sent."
"Good. Dinner should only take a few minutes, unless you want to wait for FP?"
Jughead checked the clock, "he should be back in about half an hour?"
"Alright, we can wait then. My presentation was yesterday, but I have a Spanish test that I really need to study for."
"Why are you still taking Spanish? Riverdale offers French and I know you like that better."
"Well yeah," Amy agreed, pulling out her textbook—and she had actual textbooks now, that was weird—from her bag. "I tried, but they didn't believe me that I actually know French, so they wouldn't let me transfer mid-year."
"But you've been speaking French since—" He cut himself off suddenly.
"Since I was at the Sisters way back when. You can say it, Jug, as long as there aren't outsiders."
"I know you don't like to be reminded—"
"Listen, Juggie, you're a sweetheart for worrying, but I can handle it. I don't want to talk about it in detail or anything, but it's not like ignoring it will suddenly let me forget it."
Jughead nodded sheepishly, but took the hint and went back to his history project.
When FP showed up, a while later, Amy stood quickly to hug him before moving straight back to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
As she cooked, she filled both Joneses in on the Lodge's plan, and what she had told him.
"So, does Hiram know exactly who you are to the Serpents?" FP asked, once she was done recounting the event.
"I might have forgotten to mention that," Amy smirked.
"Of course you did. Do you think they'll actually change their plan?" Jughead asked.
"No chance in hell," FP told them both. "They're too proud to ever consider it. But now we've warned them so whatever you come up with is more or less fair game. As long as it isn't actually against the law."
"This is about Pickens and the Uktena, so I think we should leave that up to Toni," Amy decided.
"Speaking of which, she's introducing me to her grandpa tomorrow if you want to come?"
"Of course! I haven't seen him since before—well, before."
"So, kiddo," FP interrupted, "are you staying here tonight?"
"Toni and I were actually going to sleep over at the Wyrm tonight. Fangs and Sweets are staying at Fangs' with Mrs. F, and I don't think Cooper would be too happy if we were sleeping over with her boyfriend."
"You're not, you're staying with your king at his insistence. Invite her over, you can pull out the cot."
"Oh. Well, okay. I'll text her."
She did so, and Toni showed up shortly. The three teenagers finished their homework quickly, before going to bed. They woke early the next morning, getting ready for school, and met up with the other boys outside of the Wyrm.
They arrived to school early, settling into the Swords and Serpents classroom to hang out with the rest of the Serpents until it was time for class. Just like at Southside, Sweet Pea refused to let Amy go anywhere without him, but she still hated to be separated from him for the few classes they didn't share.
The end of the day came quickly, thankfully, and Amy and Sweet Pea joined Toni and Fangs on their bikes, waiting for Jughead.
Jughead, meanwhile, had just finished explaining to Veronica why Amy was right about her plan being terrible, and was on his way to meet the girls when Betty and Kevin cut him off.
"Hey guys, what's up?"
"We were just talking about Betty's brother. She has a bad feeling about him."
"Well, he lived at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, right?"
"Yeah, why?" Betty asked.
"I might be able to learn a few things about him, but I need you guys not to ask how."
"That sounds pretty sketchy," Kevin told him.
"I know it does. But I can't tell you guys anything more, so it's up to you if you trust what I say," he checked the time on his phone, "but I have to go. Toni is probably going to be pretty annoyed with me already."
*"Plans with Toni?" Betty asked.
"Uh, yeah, I'm interviewing her grandfather for my oral history report. The oldest living Serpent,"* he explained.
He left without waiting for an answer, quickly joining the other Serpents on their bikes.
"You're late," Toni told him.
"Yeah, got stopped by Veronica, who wanted me to disagree with you about the whole Pickens day thing, and then by Betty and Kevin who wanted to talk about her brother."
"Her brother?" Amy asked.
"I'll tell you when we get to Sunnyside," Jughead said.
Amy nodded, sliding on her helmet before the five took off; the trio towards Sunnyside, Sweet Pea and Fangs to the Wyrm.
They pulled to a stop outside of the trailer.
"So, Betty's brother?"
"Yeah, she just found out that she has one, and she has a bad feeling about him. I actually sort of promised I'd ask—I didn't mention you—but he grew up at the Sisters so I thought you might know?"
"I might. What's his name?"
"Charles Smith."
"Oh, Charlie! Yeah, I know him. He's a good guy. He protected me, always had my back—he's probably the only reason that I didn't lose my mind the first time around," she admitted.
"Thanks. So, Toni, you sure this is all good?"
"It's all good," Toni promised. "Grandpa is looking forward to meeting you, and Amy, he's excited to see you again."
Amy smiled, following Toni into the trailer.
"There are my two little gems," Mr. Topaz said, opening his arms for a hug, which both girls were quick to give him.
"Hey Grandpa," Toni said, pulling away.
"Hi Grandpa T. I'm sorry I haven't been around—"
"Nonsense! Toni told me that you went through some bad things over the summer, I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you."
"It's not your fault, Grandpa T!"
"And it's not yours either," he assured her.
"And this is Jughead," Amy added suddenly, gesturing to the boy.
"Mr. Topaz, thank you so much for letting me ask you some questions. I haven't had any luck finding firsthand accounts on anything before the last thirty or so years, and *Toni told me that you're one of the founding memers of the Serpents."
"Yes. The snake, the laws, it's all based on Uktena tradition."
"Who were the Uktena?" Jughead asked.
"Uktena is a serpent, a horned serpent, a water serpent. Before there was Riverdale, all this land belonged to the Uktena."
"How did the Uktena evolve into the Serpents?"
Mr. Topaz laughed, "The Uktena, we didn't evolve. We were all slaughtered. When my grandpa was a baby, there was a raid, and it was led by your hero over there, General Pickens. The battle, if you want to call it that, only lasted for twelve minutes, but the dlaughter was total and savage."
"The General Pickens whose statue stands proudly in Pickens Park?"
"Yes, and every year the Northside honours this man who massacred children. When my grandpa died, we formed the Serpents as a way to keep the family together."
"How do people not know about this?" Jughead demanded.
"Well, some do, but—"
"It's called the whitewashing of history, Jones," Toni explained. "What, did you think Jason Blossom was the first person to be murdered in Riverdale?"*
"I guess I never really thought about it," he said.
"That's because you're white," Amy shrugged. "Look, you and me, we're Serpents, yes, but we're still white, and you didn't grow up in the Serpents. Of course you didn't know. And even knowing, we can't understand this the way Toni and Grandpa T do, this is their family. We can fight back, and we can try to educate people, but let's be real, if we weren't Serpents, we wouldn't even think twice about any of it."
"But it's awful."
"Yeah, Jug, it is," Toni agreed.
"And now Hiram Lodge wants to honour him? That's—"
"Bullshit? Of course it is, but what are you going to do about it?" Amy asked.
"If it's okay with you, Mr. Topaz, maybe I could write an article about it for the Blue and Gold?"
"Absolutely, Jughead. You're a Serpent, this is your history too."
They said their goodbyes before heading out. The girls went to join their partners at the Wyrm, while Jughead went to his trailer to start on his article. They met up the next morning, in the student lounge.
"So, how's the article?" Amy asked him
"It's good. I'm more or less ready to show Betty to get it published, but first I want to ask Toni to take a look."
"Yeah?"
"I thought about what you said; I'm white, it's not my place to decide what's okay to say."
"You're absolutely right," Toni agreed, "I can take a look and get it to you by the end of the day."
"Thanks, Toni," Jughead said, passing her his laptop.
Toni sat down to read it, immediately crossing pieces of it out, editing right up until they had to go to class.
When they met up after class, Toni gave him back the computer.
"Alright, Jug, there were some issues, but I changed them up and it should be good now."
"Thanks, Toni. If I get it to Betty now, we should have it out tonight."
"Just in time for Pickens Day?" Amy asked, smirking.
"Exactly."
"Speaking of Pickens Day, I called a Swords and Serpents meeting. We're not just letting this shit happen," Toni told them.
"I'll drop off the article and meet you there?" Jughead asked.
Toni nodded, and the group split off. Fangs and Sweet Pea, who had been busy texting each other, stood and walked the girls to the classroom.
"So, Toni, what's your plan?" Jughead asked, when he joined them.
"We're going to protest," Toni explained, "duct tape your mouths and make signs, we're making a point tomorrow."
"Should we meet at the Wyrm to make the signs?" Fangs asked.
"Definitely. I already texted FP, he's gathering the adults, we're meeting at seven."
"Alright, you guys heard her. Seven o'clock at the Wyrm. Be ready to make signs and shut down the Northside," Amy ordered.
She waited until the rest of the Serpents had filed out, before turning to Toni.
"You are fucking amazing, babe," she whispered, pulling the other girl in for a kiss.
"Come on, girls, save it for the Wyrm," Fangs teased.
"Fine," Amy sighed dramatically, as the five made their way to their bikes.
They took off to the Wyrm, immediately setting off to the back room. Amy pushed Toni back onto the couch, straddling her. Toni's hands tangled in her hair, pulling her closer.
"Okay," Jughead coughed, "I thought we were planning a protest."
"God," Amy groaned, "you're all a bunch of cock blocks."
"But they have a point," Toni argued. "We need to have everything absolutely perfect tomorrow,
They only had a couple of hours until the meeting, so they spent the first hour preparing for the meeting, and the second hour eating the Pops takeout that FP brought them.
Seven o'clock rolled around, and the entire gang gathered in the bar. Sweet Pea lifted Toni onto the pool table so that she could get everyone's attention.
"Alright, guys. Hiram Lodge and Mayor McCoy want to throw a big celebration for a man who slaughtered our people? We're not letting them. Jones' article is already getting a lot of traction, this is the perfect time for it. Anyone who isn't Uktena, duct tape your mouth shut. I'm going to bring a megaphone, and I'll do the talking, but this needs to be a unanimous show, got it?"
She heard a few protests from Tall Boy's side of the room, but a glare from her and a flash of Sweet Pea's brass knuckles silenced them almost immediately. The Serpents spent the rest of the night preparing, eventually being sent off with strict instructions to regroup first thing in the morning. Jughead and FP decided to join the quartet in sleeping at the Wyrm, digging out the mattresses that Amy always stored in the cleaning closet. They piled into the back room, so that FP could take the couch, falling asleep quickly despite their combined anxiety and excitement about the following day.
They woke at the crack of dawn, letting Toni send them all back to the trailer to get changed, and asking Amy to bring her back something to wear. They all dressed simply, dark jeans and flannels over black shirts, Serpent jackets proudly on display. They got back to the Wyrm before anyone else had arrived, and Toni changed quickly before joining them in the main room.
The rest of the Serpents arrived an hour later, gathering their signs and letting Toni duct tape their mouths. They didn't take their bikes, didn't want to leave them near hordes of Northsiders that they were about to piss off, and instead walked to the park.
As they entered the park, Amy noticed a blond boy standing with the Coopers, but as soon as he noticed her looking, he turned away. She filed that away for later, focusing her attention forwards, staring blankly ahead, glare pasted on her face. She was tucked between Fangs and Sweet Pea, with Toni in front of them and the Jonses right behind them. She realized that Veronica was onstage, and felt a smug satisfaction at the look on her face.
*"Toni? Jughead? What's going on?" she demanded.
Toni lifted the megaphone, voice carrying over the entire crowd. "We're here representing the dead and the silenced. Pickens Day is a lie. General Pickens slaughtered the Uktena tribe, my grandfather's family. And this land, the land that we're standing on, the land that will soon give way to a 'new Southside', was stolen from them. And we can't bring them back, but we can and we must honour them."
"Hey, folks, hi,"* Hiram Lodge said, and Amy knew that she wasn't the only Serpent growling as he interrupted Toni. *"Uh, I think we can all be proud to live in a Riverdale where young people stand up for justice. Where a young woman can defend the honour and legacy of her grandfather, and we can—"*
"Stand down, Lodge," Toni ordered, and the man fell silent. "You're the one taking away our home, and I'm tired of men talking over me about my life, my background, my legacy. The Southside isn't yours, will never be yours, and you are exactly the person we're protesting, so shut the fuck down."
Hiram stared at her blankly, seeming unsure of how to handle the Serpents, particularly the teenagers who refused to back down, and Amy knew that he had underestimated them; that he had no idea what kind of war he was getting into.
Hey guys! Sorry that the chapter took a while, I'm in the middle of finals. I'm no longer going to be posting a chapter a day, I only have 11 chapters left of season 2 and I don't want to rush them out until I have some idea of what I'm going to do next (I'm ignoring 98% of Season 3's canon because it's terrible). That said, I'll try to get at least one more chapter before I finish finals, and I'm really excited with where the rest of the season is heading!
As always, comments are always welcome, and I'm always open to suggestions of what you'd like to see happen down the line!