Chapter 3: Pharisaeis Nicodemus

GC

"You wouldn't believe who I saw today!" Terezi yelled excitedly to her matesprit across the room. She had changed out of her tuxedo, now wearing some comfortable pjamas. It was a good feeling, being safe. She and Karkat deserved it after what they had been through.

"Let me take a wild guess: no one?" mumbled Karkat in a grumpy tone. This was pretty much his regular tone. He was sitting in an armchair, fiddling around on a stolen laptop. Terezi giggled; blind jokes never really bothered her.

"Sollux! He definitely did not remember me though!" Karkat froze, and turned to face Terezi.

"Sollux?! But we haven't even heard from him in sweeps! Not since the whole Admirse thing. How could he possibly have not recognized you?"

"Well, he did speak to you more than he spoke to me. And I've kind of forgotten half of our old friends too, so give him a break." Terezi swiftly jumped over the armchair, and landed right on Karkat's lap, giving him a huge kiss.

After Feferi had become Empress, she had abducted every troll of Karkat's blood colour, and locked them up in a special room on one of her huge flagships. "Wouldn't want them to come to any harm, would we?" She had said. There were around ten red blooded trolls in Karkat's room, and three had died within an hour. No matter how much Karkat tried reasoning with Feferi when she came to retrieve the bodies, she would not listen, insisting that she was culling them for their own safety. She had been corrupted well beyond reach.

Terezi knew she had to save Karkat as news of Feferi's insanity reached her. She had boarded the flagship on one of its frequent visits to Alternia, and spent half a sweep on board trying to find Karkat's room. She had been caught twice by the guards on board, but always managed to escape them.

Eventually, she had found Karkat, and escaped off the flagship, and stowed away on another one to Zanzabar. Terezi had heard about this planet, and knew it meant safety. She was able to claim a hive just out of the city, all while sneakily hiding Karkat. If he were to leave the hive, it would mean certain death, probably for the both of them. It was nearly impossible to hide his blood colour.

"Do you ever miss life back on Alternia?" Terezi asked suddenly. Karkat shrugged.

"Well, it's the exact same to me. Stay in hiding or you'll die. Such fun." His answers always lacked heart, but Terezi was used to it. She cuddled up to him, quickly pecking him on the cheek. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in closer.

"Don't worry. As soon as that stupid ideot of a murderer stops doing what he's doing, we'll be home free."

CA

On Alternia, Eridan rarely went into the ocean. He had killed a lot of trolls and the other sea dwellers were hostile towards him because of this. But on Zanzabar, he was the only sea dwelling troll. The ocean was his to rule.

Drifting aimlessly through the ocean current was the easiest way to pass time. It helped Eridan get his thoughts together without any distractions. He had left his baggy clothing in his cave. After all, it was near impossible for anyone to find him here. A little skinny dipping wouldn't hurt anyone.

Orange blood was rising off his fingers, drifting away into the abyss of the sea. He watched it slowly floated away, and scrubbed the rest off. A fish of some sort swam over, trying to eat it, paying no interest to the murderer.

Eridan almost didn't hear the large splash behind him as something began to sink through the water. The fish abruptedly swam away, tearing Eridan's attention away from it. He then turned around, observing the object which had stopped sinking. As it began moving, it immediately became apparent that it was not an object. It was another troll.

It was not a sea dweller, to Eridan's relief, just a regular land dweller. He was very startled, and hadn't even noticed another presence. Eridan concluded that the unfortunate troll had fallen from a boat or a flagship.

Once the troll snapped back to reality, he began screaming at the sight of the naked sea dweller before him. Bubbles escaped his mouth, racing to the water's surface. He soon shut up, and grabbed Eridan's shoulders. He was begging for Eridan to bring him to the surface, but the stone cold sea dweller showed no such mercy. He watched as the troll shook Eridan's shoulders, screaming frantically. Eventually, the trolls grip weakened.

He had not drowned yet, which was dangerous for Eridan. What if some more trolls came looking for him? As unlikely as it seemed, it was still a huge threat to him. He opened his mouth, sharp shark teeth glistening in the water. The troll had a weak reaction, assuming Eridan was finally about to help him. But Eridan bit down onto his chest, dragging his teeth across, ripping shreds of flesh out. Green blood was sprayed out, surrounding the two trolls. The ruined body of the now dead troll began to sink, being met by ravenous fish the further it went.

As more puffs of green floated up, Eridan decided it was best he headed home.