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When I did arrive at Skaia, it certainly wasn't what I expected. The kingdom still had the chessboard pattern, but it was in terrible shape. The buildings were run-down, and carapaces and consorts lay in the streets. At least the crocodiles, turtles, and lizards were still alive. But I still remembered Casey, and hoped that John took good care of her.

As I moved further into the kingdom, the buildings got slightly better. Citizens were in rags, but they were walking around. One of the carapaces walked up to me and tugged on my arm. "Yes?" I asked, kneeling down so we were at eye level.

The carapace was black, and wore rags that resembled dirty bed sheets. He was rather short, and he had some sort of sash made of wires. A paper was attached to it, and it looked as though it originally said 'Mayo'. a red R was drawn on the edge, transforming it into 'MayoR'.
The carapace shifted uneasily. "Are you Rose Lalonde?" he asked quietly.

"Yes."

"I thought so. I saw you last time. Can you follow me?" He didn't wait for a response, and started walking away. I followed him, and tried to remember him. The only male carapaces that stood out to me kings and the AR. Both of the kings were taller than this one and the AR was much more outgoing.

"Who are you, if you don't mind me asking?" I asked.

"Well, I'm the mayor of Can Town," he said proudly. "But the other carapaces call me WV. For Wayward Vagabond." The rest of the walk was in silence, and we reached a tall building. This one seemed to be the only one that was cared for. One side was black, the other white. WV shied away and left me alone. I walked into the building.

I walked into a heated discussion. There were two figures standing in the center. One was a black male carapace. The other was a white female carapace. Both had dog heads, bird wings, one arm, a sword in the stomach, and two tentacles growing out of their torsos. Behind them were the heroes. The same people I had fought beside.

Half of them were wearing purple, and the other half were wearing yellow. I noticed that Caliborn was missing from the group.

"Hey, it's Rose," a young girl exclaimed from the crowd of people. I recognized this as Casey. The small salamander ran up to me. "She came back!"

"Hello Casey. It's been a while, hasn't it," I said.

Casey blinked, an amazed look on her face. After a few moments of silence, she squealed, "She remembers us!"

The rest of the group came towards me. It was no surprise that the person who got to me first was Roxy. "Oh my god, you're back!" she exclaimed.

Dave was next. "'Sup Rose." The rest of them greeted me and told me how happy they were to see me. John was the only one who kept his distance, a blush evident on his face.

When everyone left me alone, the white female carapace came towards me. "Rose Lalonde. Please follow me." She led me away from everyone else and into a different room. She closed the door. "Why did you come here?"

"This girl led me here. She gave me a looking glass that would take me here. She led me here, too."

"What was her name?"

"She never told me her real name. She told me to call her Lys," I replied.

The carapace looked down with her one hand to her chin, deep in thought. I heard her murmur, "Could it be?"

I chose to ignore that. With my experience with politicians, and all adults in general, I doubted she would give me a straight answer. "What happened to the kings and queens?" I asked.

The carapace looked up, a grim expression on her face. "They were murdered by the other carapace that you saw. We are now the rulers of the separate lands. I of Prospit, he of Derse. My name is Prospitian Monarch. You may call me PM for short."

I absorbed the information. "When did this all happen?"

"Underland has been engulfed in war so long. It's hard to put a specific date on it. I believe it was a month after you left. That man, Jack Noir, killed the Black Queen. He then murdered the other monarchs. The White Queen entrusted me with her people. I built the new kingdom Prospit, and he built Derse."

"What became of the White Kingdom?"

"Rose, this is the White Kingdom. We renamed it Skaia."

########

I was astonished by the time I left the room. Everything seemed so chaotic. The White Kingdom was in ruins, the building I was in the only remaining building in tact. Most of the carapaces had split, the blacks now known as Dersites and the whites now known as Prospitians. Skaia was where the unaligned carapaces stayed, fearing imprisonment and death.

"Hey Rose!" I recognized this as John, and turned around. He was running up to me, wearing a yellow outfit representing Prospit. When he reached me, he pulled me into a tight hug. "I thought you'd never come back," he muttered.

I wrapped my arms around him. "Glad to see your faith in me, John."

He chuckled and pulled away. "It's great to see you again! I just wish it was on better circumstances."

"Ditto. What exactly happened here, John?"

"Well, that's a long story. Let's grab a seat," he said. We walked to the meeting room, now empty, and sat on the bench. I looked at him expectantly.

"About a month after you left, the white king and queen announced war with the black king and queen. So the two colors split, and separated on the two sides of the White Kingdom.

"Jack was the turning point. For the worse, I mean. He's the cousin of Spades Slick. I guess he had some sort of grudge against the Black Queen. He gained her powers, and was confident he could defeat the other monarchs. He killed the Black and White kings. The White Queen got suspicious, and gave her powers to the Peregrine Mendicant, now the Prospitian Monarch. Of course, Jack killed her. The Prospitian Monarch took her subjects and moved to the east and built Prospit. Jack took the remaining carapaces, went west, and built Derse. Whoever was left tried to repair this place, but it was too much damage."

"Yawn! Jegus Egbert, you can make anything sound boring," Dave said, striding into the room. "It went more like this. The crazy bastard Jack killed the bluh bluh huge bitch, then everyone else. The end."

"Shut up Dave! I was telling it fine!" John exclaimed.

Dave chuckled. "Could have fooled me."

"Aren't you supposed to be bothering Karkat or something?"

"Oh, so you are both working against me? Gee, aren't I just so fucking grateful!" Karkat yelled, coming into the room. Like John, he had the same yellow outfit.

"Uh, I, er, well I was just trying to get rid of Dave," John said desperately.

I couldn't help it and began to laugh. "I'm sorry, but your bickering is rather hilarious. Childish and immature, but funny nonetheless."

"Oh, so I'm just entertaining to you now. Whoopdy fucking doo."

"Oh, shut up Karkat. Just calm down," Dave said, patting Karkat on the head. Karkat growled and hit his hand away, causing him to laugh. "Think of what Terezi would say. Would she want her matesprit hurting her friends?"

"Alright, quit your black romance. We need to start talking with everyone and explain everything to Rose." That effectively stopped Karkat and Dave. John turned to me. "I think you are supposed to be in the Derse uniform. Lets get you in that."

It seems like I'm getting back into the usual one thousand word chapters. I hope it's getting interesting, and please tell me what you thought in the reviews. And thank you to the people who have followed and favorite. That means a lot to me! See you guys tomorrow!

Alright, I'm out.