Prince of Heart- Welp folks this is the last part of the "Ancestor Eridan arc", and we're closing ever so closely into 'certain events.' Boy howdy can I not wait for it.
Eridan followed the Sylph off the port bow of the ship, which was now lodged deep within the tough shore of a small, rocky beach, surrounded by water that stretched as far as the visible black void of the edge of the dream bubble. He landed on the rough rock gracefully, on one knee and foot, a loud crack made as his hardy boots collided with the brownish substance. He gazed up, at a wide open, and frankly quite menacing, skull shaped cave, its "toothy" mouth an entrance to god knows where on this small island. He heard the clumps of others fall to the ground, John and Tavros falling beside him, while Aranea, Vriska and Meenah ran up ahead to the entrance to the cave.
"Fuck yeah, this HAS to 8e it!" Vriska yelled from ahead, a wide smile formed by her blue lips. She rushed on in, Meenah letting out a laugh and running in after her. Aranea, meanwhile, lagged back, gazing back to Eridan and gesturing for him to quickly follow him, which he quickly complied with and jogged over to her position at the mouth of the cave, and the two proceeded into the cave after Vriska as Arada, Sollux, Feferi, and Nepeta jumped down from the ship as well.
As they entered the cave, the strong musk of moss entered his nose, causing him to recoil in disgust. "so i nevver asked wwhat the fuck you guys are doin here anywways. is this vvrises ill achievved dream of bein a real booty punderin pirate?"
"heh," Eridan heard John laugh, startling the Prince as the human appeared in between him and Aranea, "yeah it is kind of charming! i mean, i know i wanted to be a ghostbuster when i was younger, but here i am now working with a bunch of ghosts to find something to kill a skeleton monster! so, uh, i guess its nice to see her pursuing her childhood dreams, cause it's something i could never do!"
"wwhat the fuck is he saying?" Eridan asked his matesprit, pointing at the caramel skinned human with his thumb.
Aranea chuckled, "Our intentions are to find a super weapon to kill Lord English. At least, those are my dear dancestors' intentions, though it is fun to live out my own 8eta self's life on the high seas while I w8 for my own plan to play into action."
"wwhat is YOUR plan then?" Eridan asked.
"Oh, I don't rightly know! A first indeed, 8ut what can I say? I guess I'll just wing it when I do think of something."
"oh, that sounds pretty cool!" John exclaimed. "that was the basic of what i did in our session! and i guess also what vriska and karkat told me to, but even then i'd still ust do what felt right! like creating ourselves, i guess."
"oh my god can you shut the hell up seriously youre sickeninly innocent."
"aww, thanks Eridan!"
"Well, it would seem we might 8e in this cave for a while! So shall I finish off this story?"
"story?" John asked curiously, perking up. "ooh, what did i miss?"
"Oh, well may8e I should just start from the 8eginning in that case!" Aranea said excitedly.
"no bs wwith all respect ara im on the edge of my god damn seat." Eridan turned to the Heir. "ancestor me had an army got captured by ancestor fef made a pact wwith ancestor vvris and i rebuilt my army. now vvris betrayed me and im in a fight wwith her and ancestor kar."
"Bwuh?" John let out.
"Oh my god!" Aranea whined. "Well I certainly have a type of impatient and terrible story tellers 8ut…" The Sylph sighed. "Fine! I guess I'll just continue the story for 8oth of you even though John has no context! GR8!"
"yes!"Eridan whispered to himself.
"So, our Kingdom Destroyer was in the middle of a duel against two foes, outmanned, but not outskilled…"
Eridan growled, watching his former matesprit pace around him, whilst ever so quickly glancing at Karkat behind him. He gripped his wand tighter, feeling himself sweat bullets as he anticipated an attack from either side. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes and waiting. Then he heard it, quick footsteps from behind him, sprinting up to stab him in the back, so he turned and rolled out of the way, forcing the Threshicutioner into the Thief. The Thief yelped and pushed him away, taking sprint at Eridan as well, and swinging her sword at his neck, to which he dodged narrowly. She brung her sword across again and again, Eridan dodging each time before punching her in the gut and clocking her in the face, bringing up his wand to put a beam through her before the Threshicutioner jumped over her and swung at Eridan.
Eridan moved his arm away, barely getting it out of the way, before Karkat swung again and landed a stab into his hip. He let out a grunt, pulling Karkat's arm, and subsequent weapon, out of his side, pulling him in close and decking him in the nose, but not before Vriska moved around and took another swing at his stomach with her sword, Eridan attempting to jump back but the tip of the sword grazed his stomach. He clutched his stomach as he stumbled back, before remembering his side wound, violet blood slowly oozing out of the sickle wound. He let out a groan, the two attackers readying their weapons, before they both ran at him with malice in their eyes. Vriska swung first, Eridan ducking beneath the swing as Karkat too swung at where his head was now, though Eridan reached up and grabbed his arm, swinging him around and into Vriska, pushing the two away from him.
He yelled in frustration, before remembering something. He looked behind him at the rubble filled building, seeing the Sovereign still standing on top of all the rubble with a couple of guards. He raised his wand up at the Sovereign, hearing a scream from behind him, and felt it heat up, about to fire, before the Threshicutioner pushed him aside and swung his sickle down on his arm, cutting it off at the elbow. The beam still let off a short burst as it fell, firing at the base of the building, causing it to cave in further and the Sovereign disappearing in a plume of smoke. Karkat screamed as Eridan fell to his knees, clutching his forearmless arm. The Threshicutioner quickly turned to anger, Eridan noticing him turn and glare, and scrambled to his wand as Karkat, only a few feet away, made a one eighty to him. Just as the Threshicutioner got to him, he snatched his wand from his detached arm and blasted it directly through his attacker.
The Threshicutioner fell back, dead on impact with the ground as his candy red blood spread across the pavement below. Eridan sat up, taking a series of deep breaths, before he felt a foot collide with his head and kick him down to his stomach. His wand fell from his hand, clacking onto the ground, as Vriska walked around him. As he reached out to grab it, he saw it kicked away by Vriska's thigh high boot, while the other found it's way onto his intact other hand.
"Well, I must say, that was quite a cute move Mr Ampora!" She told him condescendingly, crouching down while grinding her boot into his hand. "Really. I had no dou8t that they would've turned on me, but you've made everything that much easier for me!" She reached into her overcoat, pulling out a strange case filled with three different disks. "Our mutual friend, you remem8er him right? He told me these need to 8e 8uried around this time, and I guess with your 8ody would make sense right now."
Eridan grunted, feeling her foots grip loosen on his hand, but biding his time. "id like to see you try to fuckin bury me."
Vriska chuckled, "You've lost Ampora! Everything is over! The Queen is dead, long live Vriska Serket!" Eridan wriggled his hand, flipping it over and clutching her sole. "Long live the Thief, the greatest Pir8of all-" With one move, Eridan flipped over the Cerulean blood, landing her on her back with a solid thud. He crawled up onto her chest, pinning her down and grabbing her dropped sword and stabbing into her side, the full length of the sword finding its way through her athletic body, just barely poking out the other side.
Eridan leant into her ear, and quietly whispered, "that is for makin me fall in lovve wwith you."
He watched the life drain from her eyes, her last breath going out with a groan. He pulled the sword from her side, letting it clutter to the ground, and pulled himself away from her body while clutching his stump of an arm. He sat back, heavily breathing, feeling his eyes close, his body get heavy, about to pass out…
When he heard a chime come from his PDA, waking him from his soon to be unending slumber. He grabbed around his waist, pulling his little PDA to his face and opening his message.
began Pestering caligulasAquarium (CA)
Once again Mr Ampora, we find ourselves in a dangerous position.
But a never the less necessary one that I did warn you about.
Thus causing it to be.
CA: holy fuck
CA: im not in the fuckin mood
CA: im dowwn one arm and one matesprit
CA: my armys in fuckin ruins
CA: and i just wwanna die
Oh but there is still a task for you to complete.
CA: and wwhy the fuck wwould i evver do anythin for you in my state
Because you would like to hold a place in history, would you not?
Even if it isn't recognised publically, but still a major one perhaps.
CA: …
CA: fine
CA: wwhat do you wwant
Those disks, that case.
Bury them Mr Ampora.
CA: bury them wwhere
Anywhere, it doesn't matter.
I already know where, so it really doesn't matter.
Eridan huffed, looking around him and grabbing the case of disks. He crawled over to the sidewalk quickly, finding a spot where pavement had been broken and thus revealing the dirt and soil beneath it. He placed the disks down, using his now free hand to dig a small hole in the soil, and scraped the case and the subsequent soil back in the hole, burying the disks.
CA: done
CA: wwhat the fuck did that do
Nothing for now. Nothing for a while in fact.
Now it sits there, waiting for your dear descendant to find it and share it with his hesitant friends.
CA: and wwhat wwill that do
Create a chain of events that will inevitably lead to my creation and subsequent death. As well as a universe for an alternate you far in the future.
CA: i dont understand
You do not need to.
All you have to do is whatever you feel is best.
Live or die, your existence from now will be quite armless.
Hee hee, hoo hoo.
CA: real fuckin funny
CA: i dont much feel like dyin anymore
As you wish.
But nevertheless, I am done here.
Goodbye Mr Ampora.
May we never meet again.
Eridan sighed, throwing his PDA down and looking around. He pushed himself up with his intact arm, and stumbled onto his legs, groaning in pain all along the way up. He gazed around, taking one last breath, and began to walk away, before he heard a scream from behind him.
"-ERIDAN!" Feferi called out angrily. Eridan slowly turned, gazing at the rubble where Feferi should've died, but instead stood the Sovereign herself, bloodied and beaten but very much alive. "Don't you DAR-E walk away now!" She jumped down, wincing as she hit the ground, but got up and stumbled towards the Kingdom Destroyer. "Come back )(ere and FINIS)( W)(AT YOU START-ED!"
Eridan sighed with frustration, "wwhy?! it is OVVER! im done wwith evverythin. my people are dead my kingdom gone and im left wwith fuckin nothin."
"But you can finis)( t)(is! Just come back )(ere, and KILL M-E!"
"do you wwant to fuckin die? wwhy cant you understand that i dont givve a shit anymore!"
"T)(at's never stopped you before! So w)(at's different?"
Eridan shrugged. "ivve got nothin for you princess. wwhat did you expect? i kill you and your descendant takes the throne in wwho givves a shit years? wwhere does that get me anymore? maybe if i kill you i take your throne but i dont…" He let go of his stump and threw his now free arm up in confusion, "i just dont wwant to anymore? im done i can see that. clearly my own men betrayed me the Cerulean blood i lovved so wwhy the fuck should i sit on a throne. ill just find my wway somewwhere privvate and make a havven there."
"So w)(at? Just like t)(at, it ends? You just give up and run away?"
"unless youd rather kill me?"
Feferi stood still, staring at him with her mouth hanging open in thought, before she said, "I… I don't t)(ink I want to kill someone surrendering."
"then ill see you another time princess." Eridan waved her off, turning back, clutching his stump, and walking away.
"-Eridan!" Feferi called out, prompting him to stop. She sighed, "If I ever catc)( you in my territory again, I will personally poke a )(ole t)(rough)( your throat, do you understand me?"
Eridan took a deep breath in. "got it. try not to run your kingdom into the ground."
"You've already done it for me Eridan!" She shouted, as Eridan began to walk away. "You've already done it for me."
"and then wwhat?" Beta Eridan asked Aranea, waiting for the next part. "i turn round and fuckin deck her right?"
"Sorry to disappoint," Aranea said, "8ut that was it! That's all the information I have. Far as anyone from our universe knew, you just dropped off the face of Beforus!"
"so it just… wwas the kingdom ruined at least?"
"Oh, it was damaged 8eyond repair! The Sovereign never truly fixed what you did, and many throughout the kingdom still re8elled in your name!"
"but it just… ends?"
"I suppose, 8ut 8etter you end this way, content with giving up, then mingle on for eternity in a misera8le position."
"i dont think so. i mean fuck that im makin the most of livin noww. i wwas givvin a second chance and im not gonna let that fall."
Aranea smiled. "A no8le deed, I suppose."
"Hey guys!" Eridan heard Vriska shout at them from up ahead "Stop dragging your feet 8ack there! You're falling so far 8ehind, you're starting to look tiny and ridiculous from here. The treasure should 8e 8uried just up ahead. Let's pick up the pace!"
"excuse me," Sollux replied from behind Eridan, "s0me 0f us here have special needs. i think i will c0ntinue dragging my feet if y0u d0n't mind."
"Sollux, will you just let Aranea heal your eyes already and catch the fuck up?"
"N0!"
Aranea nodded in Vriska's direction, and the pair plus John made their way up to Vriska and Meenah ahead.