The Final One
It took around an hour to explain everything. You actually learn quite a bit that you didn’t know originally- nobody was all that willing to open up about what happened before they died.
Kanaya and Karkat talked the most. They spoke of how Jade and Jane hunted down John (you wonder if he even died. You don’t remember him dying; so, maybe he didn’t?) and how Karkat died, was resurrected, then died at Gamzee’s hands.
Jane goes a little pale. “You know I wasn’t in control, right? Otherwise, I am terribly sorry, Karkat. Never in my right mind would I want to hurt anyone.” Her eyes are solemn, boring holes into Karkat.
He seems uncomfortable under her gaze. He shifts a little in place. “Yeah, I know. You had loads of little black lines from the headpiece, and I’ve been around humans enough to know that’s not in your ass-backwards biology.”
Jane nods, and the conversation moves onwards. Jane reveals she doesn’t actually know how she died, but Jake goes red. “That, er, that was partially my fault that we both died.”
Jane looked over, head snapping to the side to look at Jake. He scratches the back of his neck, having obviously not told her how he’d died, just let her know that they died at the same time. “Aranea- did you know her?- she launched a katana at you, as you were asleep. It was a completely cowardly move! So I leapt in front, earned myself a Heroic death. I’m pretty sure that she hurled it into you afterwards, but I’m not entirely sure. I was dead, after all!” He laughs nervously, unnerved by her glare.
She sighs, looking up towards the ceiling. She sighs, sits down on a footstool. “As much as I want to ask why the hell you would do that, I’m quite glad you did. That was a doomed timeline, right?”
Dave nods. “As doomed as they get.”
She nods again. “Right. So. You would have been wiped out. No Jake. At least now, you’re in a bubble, with me.” She blushes a little. “My last friend, really.”
Jane shuffles over, and Jake sits down beside her. “Hey, Jane, I’ll always be there.” He smiles, slinging an arm around her shoulder.
It was so awkward, you stifle a laugh but turning to Kanaya. She seems to be doing the same. You hear an oof, and see Jake trying to sit up on the floor; he’d been pushed off the stool by Jane.
You’ve managed to calm your laughter, so that Kanaya was the only one who noticed. You clear your throat. “I know we have the leisure to do things at any pace we wish, but we should still move this along. Perhaps after this, we might never have to think about this again.”
Dave shrugs. “Sounds good to me.” He leans forward, from between Jade and Karkat. “I guess my death was anticlimactic as fuck. I got stabbed by the two dog-gods, skewered on a shitty Bec-berque.” He lays back. Jade looks vaguely offended.
“Pfft. Better than being stabbed in the chest by your so-called moirail.” Karkat sounded bitter. “Three times, dropped in a fucking lava pool.”
You decide to go next. “After Kanaya was vaporised-“ you lean on her for a moment, letting her know she doesn’t need to remember if she doesn’t want to, doesn’t need to contribute if she’s uncomfortable “-I made a suicide-run towards the Batterwitch. As a version of her once said, I ‘got forked’. Not the most elegant of deaths, I must admit.” You think for a moment. “Whether I ded a Heroic or Just death, I’m not completely sure. I just- stopped existing?” You realise that you are rambling, so you stop promptly. People give you a weird look, before moving on.
“I guess I’m last then? Mine sounds like it was the quickest. Dave said that I had a house dropped on me, but I don’t remember much, not after I went grimdark.” She goes silent, ears drooping. “I did some shitty stuff grimdark.”
You give a small laugh. “Not that I did much more than try and attack your overgrown wolf when I was grimdark, but I remember what it was like. Somewhat.” It was a memory of another you, three years ago. Tricked by the white text, too.
This version of you was born in the green flames, arisen from your Quest Bed.
You shake those thoughts. Jane speaks up again. “Alright! Thank goodness that’s all over and done with. The cake should have cooled nicely now, if any of you are interested…?”
A chorus of yeses (Or fuck yeses, in Dave and Karkat’s case) rose, and Jane grinned. She walked to the kitchen, steps laden with purposefulness.
The night after, youwake in a cold sweat.
There’s still one more person out there, one that you need to find. She’s alone. She needs your help, for fucks sake! But you’re sure that everyone would say no.
She asked for your help. Not directly, but she’s yearning for someone else, and your Sight latched onto that.
Before you can go out, though, you need to convince a Space player to go with you.
Kanaya is the obvious choice. If you convince her, and the others say no, she’ll still take you. You’re entirely positive of this.
“Come on, Kanaya. She’s all alone! It wasn’t her fault, not really.”
“She killed us, if not directly! She began it all.” Kanaya doesn’t want to go with you- but she doesn’t understand. You Saw her there, with you finding her.
“If it was Jade, you’d go out in a second.” You know you won’t be proud of this in the long run, but you can’t abandon her.
“Of course. That’s because Jade didn’t hurt us!”
You twist your fingers together. “Please, Kanaya. She needs us now, no matter what she’s done.”
Kanaya sighed. “Promise me, Rose. Promise me that she doesn’t want to hurt us anymore.”
You look directly into her eyes. “I swear, Kanaya.”
She nods. “Okay. Let’s do this.”
You told the group. You’d expected Jane and Jake to argue the most vehemently, but Jake only had one request.
“Please don’t tell her I’m here. Uh, personal reasons.”
You shrug. “Fair enough. Anyone coming with?”
Jade stood from the soft cushions. “Sure. Could do with something to get me out of the house.” She stretches, fingers interlocked. She settles, eyes bright with excitement.
“Kinda looking forward to meeting another troll! Haven’t met many.” She gives a little laugh.
The three of you step outside, shutting the door softly. You turn to the other two, who stare at you expectantly. “She was in a dark place. I’m not completely sure. Get us into the white, and I want to try to recreate it.”
Jade shrugs. “I can give it a go. With Kanaya, it should be a piece of cake.”
Right on cue, Jane’s laughter roars from within the house. The perfect timing makes you laugh.
Even Kanaya laughs, with her skewed troll humour.
When you can finally catch your breath, Jade is still giggling. She catches her breath quickly, eyes still swimming with mirth as she holds out her hands for both of you.
You link hands, and she squishes her eyes shut, giggles forgotten quickly. Kanaya closes her eyes, albeit less forcefully than Jade.
You close your eyes, framing your dream in your mind’s eye. As the world flickers to white, you focus everything you have on making it real.
A sudden fear whips through you, making your stomach flip like an acrobat. What if you saw Aranea in her future, and she’s not there, and doesn’t trust you because you were already there?
You shove that thought away, bundling it away. It can wait until afterwards, you reason.
And then you realise, the image is slipping. You refocus every bit of energy you possess into making it real around you. You even imagine the smell of books, for fucks sake.
And then, a whoomph. The smell of books becomes larger than life, and you pull your eyes open.
Your surroundings are pretty damn dark. You break hands from Kanaya and Jade, feel blindly for a wall to find a switch.
Instead, light floods your eyesight, and your eyes can’t adjust quickly enough. When they do, you look towards the source, and see your girlfriend rubbing her neck sheepishly.
“I thought it might help,” she defended herself, a smile in her voice. You reach for her hand, and she takes it. You look at your hand, see the red of your blood illuminated by her glowing skin.
You glance around. Your fear is confirmed- Aranea isn’t here. You rub an eye.
“We’re too early. She’s not-“
The door clicks, opens. More light than what was emitted from Kanaya chases the shadows to behind the bookshelves and comfortable seats. From the doorway, the person you’ve been seeking stands before you.
Aranea Serket. Recognition dawn on her face as she stares at you; at least, you think she stares at you. She’s got white eyes- she’s dead, too.
“Hello, Rose Lalonde. What are you doing here?” Her voice is just as you remember it, from those moments on the meteor when you weren’t falling-down drunk. She sounds tired. “Even brought a Maryam.” Her eyes flick to Jade. “And who are you? I recognize you, but I can’t place a name to your face.”
Jade gives her a wave. “I’m Jade Harley. Can we sit down and talk for a while?”
Aranea looks around. “Of course. This isn’t my all my hive, so if you’ll excuse my awkward hospitality. There should be more than enough seats.” She gestures around.
You, Jade and Kanaya sit in a small cluster of chairs. Aranea sits a little further away, as if she was afraid to sit too close.
“Aranea.” You decide to get to the point. “Come back with us. You won’t be alone.”
She shook her head. “No,” she says, flatly. “I’m fucking dangerous, if you don’t remember. I killed some of you humans.” She doesn’t sneer the word.
Kanaya shifts. You know you don’t have much time before she up and leaves.
“You’ve changed. I can feel it.”
“Maybe. Still doesn’t make me less likely to hurt you, even on accident. You’re fragile.” She seems so tired to you- you can’t help but feel sorry for her.
“Aranea, even trolls can change their ways. And you weren’t always like this; back when I was on the meteor, you were kind and only wanted to help. That’s you. Not the murder-version.”
Kanaya rubs her hair, pulling it back. “Aranea, may I ask a question?” Aranea shrugs in response, so Kanaya continues. “You caused Karkat’s death, through my friend Gamzee. You killed Jake and Jane, and probably Terezi. Can we trust you, or not?”
Man, this is why you loved this girl. If you couldn’t cut to the point, she definitely could.
Aranea leans forward. “I don’t know, Maryam. Can you trust me?”
Kanaya crosses her legs. “That really depends on you, doesn’t it?”
Aranea leans back, deflating. She almost looks as if she’s going to cry.
“Don’t let me hurt you, Maryam. Nor you, Jade, or Rose. Because I can hurt people very badly.”
You give a hollow laugh. “We noticed, Aranea. Still, I don’t want you to fade away here, alone.”
“You should be given a fair chance too! It wasn’t your fault, I don’t think it was, anyway. It sounds like you were pushed past your breaking point.” Ah, Jade. Ever perceptive.
Aranea rubs her eyes behind her glasses, making them shift up to her forehead. “Fine, whatever. I’ll come with you, if you really want me too.”
You stand, walk over to her. You extend a hand, and as her glasses lower, she stares at it. Shen seems to come to a point, before reaching for your hand hesitantly. “Come on. We still have a spare room.”
At that, she grabs your hand, her resolve strengthened. “If I’m no bother.” The deflated-ness has faded from her voice. You pull her to stand upright, smile at her.
“They’ve already forgiven you.”
At that, she smiles. “Thank you, Rose Lalonde. I won’t forget this.”