"You Love her."

"No, I don't."

"Oh, you Totally do! It's so forking O8vious!"

(Vriska) scowls and pockets her phone as she floats up the staircase next to her doppelganger. (Kanaya refused to let her walk.) "I assure you, I do NOT."

"Well, that Message you Composed with me a couple weeks 8ack sure Sounded like you Loved Her at least a Little."

"I don't! I didn't then, and I don't now!"

"You're not even a Liiiiiiiittle 8it Flushed for Terezi?"

"No!"

(Vriska) briefly wonders if she means it, but she shoves the thought to the back of her mind when she and Vriska reach the door to their flat. Rose and Kanaya flew on ahead in order to let John and Jake in. Sollux didn't go with them; he said he had to attend some meeting with Meenah and Karkat because he had promised he would be there.

They enter the flat. John is pacing the room. Jake is talking animatedly to Kanaya. Rose is sitting on the couch, writing on a sheet of paper. When the Vriskas walk/float in, she glances up briefly, then gets back to work.

"Took You Long Enough" Kanaya remarks.

"I can't exactly Fly, Mom," Vriska retorts. She turns to John. "Where are Harry and Tavvy? I Figured they'd 8e here."

(Vriska) still can't believe that Jake named his son after Tavros. She can't think of anyone less deserving of the honour.

John stops pacing. "they have school today. it's wednesday, remember?"

"Oh, right, School! That's still a Thing!"

"yeah, and jade says she is still helping callie out. jane and roxy's deaths haven't been easy on the poor girl."

"Eh, she should Get Over It."

John glares at Vriska. "excuse you, missy, roxy was my wife!"

Jake steps between them. "Hey now chaps no need to get ourselves riled up over nothing. Not that roxys nothing of course. She was a very fine lass and i feel terribly about her untimely demise. But i guess since she was rogue of void she kind of was nothing? Not to insult her of course. Even though she technically was nothing she was most certainly something! Okay now that shes pining for the fjords i suppose that technically means shes now nothing-"

"Jake Weve Talked About Your Tendency To Paint Yourself Into A Corner"

"Oh am i doing that? Heh heh!" Jake scratches the nape of his neck. "Jeepers! Im sorry fellows! Anyhow how exactly will we be wrecking this fb (vriska)?"

"It's f8, Jape. F A T E, F8."

"but why?" John asks. "why are we fighting fate?"

"8ecause Terezi needs our help. So does Rose, and Dave, and every8ody else in the other timeline."

"we can't do anything meaningful in this universe. we've been over this."

(Vriska) smirks. "Ah, 8ut what if our actions here did something meaningful in another timeline?"

"well, you see, uh, it's because…" John cups his hand around his chin and thinks. "i... huh."

"Exactly! If there's one of many things I'm good at, it's cre8ing loopholes."

"Loopholes Are A Wonderful Thing" Kanaya remarks.

"See? Kanaya gets it!"

John stammers, "but this, but this, i still don't know. is this something we're supposed to do? is it something we even can do?"

(Vriska) stares daggers at him. "Do you want to try and help out your forking 8lack crush or what? Do you want all your altern8 friends to up and die? Do you just wanna sit 8ack and let the 8ad guy win?"

John's face falls. "i... no. of course not, but-"

"Good!" (Vriska) grins. She's not taking no for an answer. "Now, let's get started! Joke, fire up your hope powers!"

Jake blinks. "What? You know i cant do that! Youve said so yourself!"

(Vriska) shrugs. "Miracles can happen. I mean, isn't that what hope's all a8out?"

"Well i guess youre right. Ill give it a go."

Jake exhales and shuts his eyes for a long while. The room is silent save the scratching of a pen.

When he opens his eyes again, they are filled with resolve. He begins to speak.

"Ive had some terrible things happen to me over the past fifteen or so years. Ive been abused and maltreated and taken advantage of by people who i thought were my friends. And ive been unable to stop the same things from happening to my boy.

"But thats all in the past now.

"And by jove i believe that things will get better! I believe that ill be able to make up for my past follies! I believe that im turning around my life and that things can only go up from here!

"And im going to start by giving you hope."

Jake's eyes glow. The lenses of his glasses shine. It's hard to tell what's causing it, if it's from him unlocking his god-tier powers at long last, or if it's from the simple strength of his conviction and his unrelenting optimism.

"Thats one thing ive always been good at. Looking at the bright side of life. And with luck i can help you all take that leaf out of my book."

Seemingly without thinking, Jake brings his hands together. A pinpoint of white light forms between them. John looks on in wonder as it slowly grows. Rose grins. She stands up and brandishes the sheet of paper.

"Oh for the love of fork, you wrote a SPEECH?" complains (Vriska).

"It's not very long, trust me."

"That means it's at leeeeeeeeast thirty minutes long."

Rose pulls a pen out from behind her ear and scrawls something on the back of the paper. "Oh, I'm certain you'll be very grateful for everything on here." She shoots (Vriska) a wonk. "Are you ready, Jake?"

"I was born ready!" The strength of his conviction adds power to the ball of hope in his hands. It's not a forceful presence, as was the hopesplosion from long ago. Instead, it's a gentler beacon that brings a smile to the faces of everyone in the room.

(Vriska) can almost feel the belief, like an electrical charge that makes her horns itch. She can almost hear the roll of dice over a card table, the charge causing them to land all on eights and lock in place as if held by magnets. And, suddenly, there's no doubt in her mind at all. Her plan will work.

The charge grows fiercer, as though she's tossed another log onto the fire. (Vriska) grins and focuses all her attention on her resolve.

Jake releases the ball, now twice the size of his head, and it floats to the centre of the room. Nothing about its presence is ominous. He steps forward and sticks his hand in the ball. "Tally ho!" he yells.

Everyone else in the flat follows suit. Next to place his hand in is John, followed by (Vriska), then Kanaya, then Vriska. The ball grows, threatening to envelop them, but nobody flinches. They're not afraid. There's nothing to be afraid of.

Finally, Rose lets out a yell and plunges her hand, holding the paper, into the ball.

Everything goes white.

Seer.

Get up.

I know you can hear me.

You're trapped. Imprisoned. Held as a slave and weaponised.

You've been kept away from your true potential, from your Ultimate Self.

You've been spoon-fed sugar and lies by somebody whom you assumed you could trust.

Your flesh wastes away while your soul ekes out an unnatural existence.

But even though you've been blinded, you can still hear me.

I know this because I am you.

I'm not quite the same you, but I'm you nonetheless.

Rose Therese Lalonde-Maryam. Seer of Light.

You're so much more than that name implies.

You're so much more than you ever thought you were.

You know enough to cast light upon these lies.

You're strong enough to sunder these chains.

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. That's what the Ultimate Self means.

The question is, which of those parts will you value foremost?

The you who turned grimdark and savagely and unwisely initiated an unwinnable battle out of a thirst for revenge?

The you who couldn't face your own emotions and drowned them instead?

The you who is present in every narcissistic word that Jasprosesprite^2 has uttered?

The you who is all the evil you're capable of becoming?

Or the you who fearlessly stabbed an ogre in the eyes and rode it down a waterfall with nothing but a pair of knitting needles?

The you who flew a moon into nothingness and sacrificed yourself in an eager hope?

The you who has loved and been loved and vowed to never stop loving?

The you who is comprised of all the good that you've ever shown and felt and held and found inside yourself?

We've never been one to root for ourselves.

We've never been one to care about ourselves.

But we have friends, family, loved ones who can help us with that.

Everybody is rooting for you. My friends here, and your friends there.

So hear them. And hear me. And have hope.

Because you will succeed.

I have hope that you will.

And you ought to have hope as well.

So hear me, Seer.

Ascend.

Before I forget to add them, here are the other reasons why the Etaverse is named as such. Several Greek Olympians have names beginning with the letter H:

Hera is the goddess of women and family. Lesbians. Nuff said.
Hermes is the god of messengers and the psychopomp, the guide of spirits to their final destination, so to speak. This should be self-explanatory.
Hephaestus is the god of fire and craftsmanship. I don't know how that ties in, to be honest.
Hestia is the goddess of the hearth and home. It's called HOMEstuck. Also, Vriska's goal is to get home. Plus, the hearth is where hope is kept, according to the Percy Jackson books.

Anyway, next update Tuesday! See you then!