Prince of Heart- Send help, I've been listening to Eridan's theme for the past week. Did any of you know it has lyrics?
Also dream bubbles are pretty neat.
Eridan had just kept walking for a long while, losing track of the time long ago when he'd passed from memory to memory. It was astonishing to the Prince how he could walk just a few dozen blocks and end up in a completely different area, allowing him to catch a glimpse into the lives of his friends. He'd passed three areas on his way to wherever the fuck; a land full of literal brains, blood, and beaches which seemed to be some sort of hybrid memory, a large tree-house in a green, lush forest, and a copy of Nepeta's land where he'd thought he'd meet the Rogue of Heart again, but alas couldn't find her for the life of him. Now, he'd wandered into what he vaguely recognized as a copy of Sollux's land, which he'd only visited once during the game to duel the yellow-blooded Mage.
He'd remembered the event quite well; jealous of the Mage stealing the love of his life, he journeyed to the place through various portals with his legendary weapon in tow. He thought if he could prove his strength through battle, he might win the affection of Feferi, as cliché as that sounded looking back on it. Well, that might've been only one reason; his pure and untethered hatred for low-blooded land dwellers did nothing to stem his anger towards Sollux. After so much time, he finally got his chance, but to his displeasure the battle ended on a stalemate, and he had to limp back on to his lonely planet and take his wrath out on those damn angels. He just wanted one win, something that'd make him feel better, but he was never given one. The universe enjoyed completely screwing him over time after time, it seemed.
"hi eridan!" a voice spoke up, giving the unaware Prince a shock. He jumped back, a solid yelp filling the air around him, and he stared down at the source. On the edge of the ruined building Eridan was standing on sat Aradia Megido, the Burgundy-blooded Maid of Time. She had her usual red God Tier outfit on, covering most of her curvaceous figure, with her red wings spread out behind her. She was slowly kicking her legs whilst leaning back on her arms, looking up at Eridan by leaning her head back.
Eridan scoffed, and dusted himself off. "hey. forgot you evven existed…" He hesitated a moment, forgetting the girls name.
"aradia!" she reminded him politely. "i wouldnt expect you to remember anyway. how often did we even talk?"
"twwice i think," Eridan remembered, "once wwhen kar introduced us and another wwhen you and sol blasted us into fuck knowws wwhere."
"oh yeah!" She raised her eyebrows. "we really shouldve talked more."
"wwe nevver had reason to. wwhy the hell wwould i talk to someone so loww on the spectrum?"
The Maid patted a spot beside her lightly. "well we need to fix that dont we? cmon."
Eridan thought for a moment, gazing to the pathway to the next memory, before shrugging his shoulders and complying. Using one hand to steady himself on Aradia's shoulder, he climbed down and sat with his legs idling over the edge of the building. He gazed downwards, noticing a bunch of flashing lights colliding below the two, before turning his attention to Aradia.
"so howw havve things been?" he questioned her.
"eh you know how it is. guiding doomed versions of our friends into the bubbles hanging out with all our dead alpha timeline friends trying to be a good moirail to sollux."
"i… i really don't knoww howw that is. and i thought you and sollux dated once? wwhy dowwngrade to a moirailegiance?"
The girl shrugged her shoulders. "i thought about it but i went against it. i think id rather stay out of serious relationships. FOREVER!" She raised her arms enthusiastically, and fell backwards so she laid down, looking up at the dark red sky. Eridan narrowed his eyes, because while he'd barely spoken to her, he'd never seen her act this weirdly enthusiastic and blissfully. She'd just seemed so down to earth and collected, and he'd always held a grudging respect for her, in spite of her having the lowest blood there was.
He heard shouting from below, and the girl shot back up. "its happening!"
"wwhats happenin?" Eridan replied curiously, before one of Aradia's hands wrapped around Eridan's neck, while the other covered his mouth to shut him up.
"shhhhhh shut up shut up!" Eridan scrunched up his face, but watched on to the sight below.
The lights faded, and two figures jumped back from what seemed to be a battle, and they slid a few yards apart. One, Eridan saw, was the mustard-blooded swine that he so hated, holding his glasses in his hand and huffing heavily, and the other was the Prince himself, gripping his Ahab's Crosshairs in his hands. A strand of hair fell down onto face, and he flicked his head back to get it out of his way, though unsuccessfully.
"for god2 2ake dude, ju2t givve up!" Sollux yelled, his eyes sparking with electricity. "2he ii2 over you! why can't you ju2t accept iit and move the fuck on liike 2he diid?"
"this has nothin to do wwith her!" Eridan replied. "this is betwween you and me mage."
"what ii2 actually wrong wiith you? did your lu2u2 not giive you enough love or somethiing?"
"oh im sorry did your matesprit not givve you enough lovve when you blasted her into oblivvion?"
Sollux slowly formed a look of pure anger on his face, and a series of red and blue sparks formed around the Mage. Eridan raised his gun and fired, a large laser sprouting from the tip, but Sollux countered it by shooting a flashing beam from his eyes. The beams collided, but Eridan's hardly compared to the rage fuelled Mage's, and his was blasted all the way back. The brunt of the force hit him hard, and he was sent flying backwards, hitting a stone wall hard and falling to the ground.
Sollux calmed himself, and placed his glasses back on his face. "there," he said, "iit'2 fiinii2hed. now you goiing two leave me alone?"
No response came from the unmoving body.
"come on dude, thi2 ii2n't cool. don't act all prii22y ju2t becau2e ii beat you."
Still no response, so Sollux began to make his way to the Prince.
"come on, iit ii2n't funny," the Mage mentioned cautiously, crouching down to touch Eridan's body. "ju2t get up and-" He stopped dead when he laid two fingers on Eridan's neck, and pushed his head down to listen to his chest, but recoiled in shock. He looked around the area, and pulled out his portable headset.
Alpha Eridan watched on, confused, and removed Aradia's hand from his mouth. "wwhat is this? wwhat happened?"
"you died," the Maid replied. "dont you see?"
"but i didnt. im sittin here arent i?"
"well this isnt you. i come to the bubbles to lead the doomed versions of ourselves to a better death. helps with the confusion."
"that sounds really fuckin depressin," Eridan remarked. "dont you get sad seein all your friends dead?"
She shrugged her free shoulder, her other arm still wrapped around Eridan. "eh! if anything it makes me feel better! i mean i was the lucky one. i lived. how could you not enjoy that?"
"cause it's a miserable existence. wwhat the fuck is it evven good for? wwere on our wway to a battle against a possibly invvincible force and i dont knoww if wwe can wwin. wwere wwe really so lucky?"
Aradia groaned, "ahhh stop being so pessimistic! i was dead myself once and its not as good as you think it is. it gets boring and you realise nothing was worth anything and you regret that you never did more with your life! youre scared i know that but it gets better. it always gets better. youll win the battle and enter the new universe and youll feel content! just like i feel content doing what im doing."
"i guess," Eridan sighed, slumping his shoulders. "i just get the feelin like i should havve died a long time ago you knoww?"
"yeah i think i do." She pursed her red coloured lips, and the landscape suddenly changed before the twos' eyes. "oh damn it were missing it!"
"wwhy wwhats he doin?"
"just watch."
And Eridan did, turning his attention to the new scene in front of him. The two now found themselves on a completely intact building, something not unlike a church, with an almost blinding white light surrounding them. Eridan noticed multiple floating figures around him, as well as the solid grey concrete ground below them, and immediately recognised the place: his planet of the Land of Wrath and Angels. Down below, Sollux had Eridan in his arms, struggling to keep him up as they approached a strange stone slap with Eridan's Hope symbol on it and several poles around it. Sollux eventually got to the slab, and laid Eridan down on it. The Mage seemed… genuinely concerned for reasons unknown.
Alpha Eridan stared at him from above for a few moments, before Aradia spoke up. "i dont think he wanted to kill you before you snapped you know. if he did he could have done it when you dueled him here."
Eridan scoffed, "oh please wwhat a load of shit. i could havve defeated him wwith my eyes closed."
"then why didnt you?"
"because i uh i needed the energy to kill more angels. a loww blood like him wwasnt wworth the ammo."
"i mean if you say so. im just telling you that he never wanted to kill you for whatever thats worth."
"wwell its not wworth a wwhole lot," Eridan snapped, crossing his arms and resuming the view of the memory in front of him.
Sollux slowly stepped away from the body, as a swarm of butterflies descended upon the scene, covering Eridan's dead body, the totem poles around him, and Sollux. A few even flew over and covered alpha Eridan and Aradia, allowing Eridan to take in the beauty of their blue and yellow swirly wings. More and more covered the doomed Eridan, and a blinding bright light appeared above them on the planet of Skaia.
On the Land of Quartz and Melody, the ghost smooch-bot Maid of Time sat defeated on a beautiful shining hill, a soft song humming in the air. She glanced up at the sight of Skaia as butterflies descend upon her, and thanked whatever God there is that somebody now knows what it's like to die like she did.
On the Land of Sand and Zephyr, the Page of Breath sat tired after a day of adventuring with his kinda-sorta friend, sprawled on a chair inside his hive. He looked outside his window, at the butterflies fluttering around, and a look of amazement crawls onto his face.
On the Land of Wrath and Angels, the formerly concerned Mage of Doom recoiled at the sight on Skaia, confused as he was told that the Prince would be revived from this, yet he still lay lifeless on the slab of stone in front of him.
On the Land of Pulse and Haze, the confused Knight of Blood looks up from his computer, relieved that the Mage actually went through with the process. He had low hopes, as it was unknown to hi if it was just a rumor that this would happen, but he was glad it actually worked. He smiles ear to ear, as the Derse agent Jack Noir scowls at the myriad of butterflies clutching to him.
On the Land of Little Cubes and Tea, the little Rogue of Heart sits with her hands wrapped around her legs, her mouth wide open in amazement as she dug her feet into the soft sugar in the ground and butterflies landed all around her.
On the Land of Rays and Frogs, a fashionable Sylph of Space clutched a cluster of frogs to her chest, sopping wet from her dive into the ocean to receive said frogs. She dropped them in concern, causing a cluster of butterflies to flutter off, the situation a complete wonder to her creative mind.
On the Land of Thought and Flow, a curious Seer of Mind peeked through the sky of her planet, smelling the bright rays of Hope with her keen nose. She also noticed the scent of butterflies around her, and she smiled thoughtfully.
On the Land of Maps and Treasure, a cocky Thief of Light sifted through a large chest to plunder the loot within, but stops when a group of butterflies swarm around her back. She looked backwards and up onto Skaia wonderment crawling onto her face.
On the Land of Caves and Silence, the mysterious Heir of Void took a few steps outside his hive, a fresh glass of milk in his hand. He got so encapsulated by the sight and insects around him, he didn't notice the glass he was holding break into a million shards, and he spilled the cold liquid on himself.
On the Land of Tents and Mirth, the calm and definitely not murderous Bard of Rage shoved another handful of sopor slime into his mouth, though his continuous gaping at the bright light and tiny butterflies caused it to fall back out. He mumbled 'mOtHeRfUcKiNg MiRaClEs' under his breath in amazement.
On the Land of Dew and Glass, the enthusiastic Witch of Light placed her face up against the glass surrounding her, her steady breaths fogging up the glass in front of her. She rubbed the glass with her skinny arm, a process she had done a few times so far, and went in to complete the cycle again.
Alpha Eridan watched the beam of light, a small silhouette appearing amidst it. Then suddenly, the memory ceases, the scene seemingly pausing like a movie, and Eridan noticed his doomed self down below slowly getting up and looking around the area.
"wwhat wwas that?" Eridan finally managed to whisper out, his voice low in amazement.
"you ascended," Aradia replied. "pretty neat huh?"
"but howw the fuck did that happen? wwhat evven happened?"
Aradia laughed, "eridan not everything needs to be explained away with reasoning and logic. i mean no one can explain much of what happened in the game and especially how these bubbles work!"
"but there has to be a reason to evverythin right? itd be borderline retarded if there wwas none."
"maybe. or maybe its just a little…" she turned her head to look at Eridan, a toothy smile on her face, "…magic!"
Eridan opened his mouth to refute the statement, but found himself at a loss for words. Instead, he crossed his arms angrily and blew a gust of air out his nose.
"can i just fuckin wwake up already?" he asked her.
"if you insist!"
And suddenly, the girl raised her fist and balled Eridan across the face.