[Fic] "Trollstuck," part 38 - Homestuck
Oct. 8th, 2013 12:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
edenfallingback to part 37
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Trollstuck, part 38
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====>Be Jothan
You'd rather not be yourself just now, because if you were somebody else you might not be climbing this endless stairway.
That's not a figure of speech. You're starting to think the stairway is literally endless. Why does Vriska even have so many stairs in her hive? Half of them don't lead anywhere except more stairways! You've never realized before just how confusing this place is. Sure, you know how to get from the meal block to the ablution block to Vriska's own habitation block, but now that you think back, every time you've gone beyond that limited area, Vriska's been with you to guide the way.
You are ashamed to admit that you are totally lost in your best friend's hive.
Also, the stairs are really badly designed in a lot of places -- changing from too high to too shallow with no warning -- and terribly lit to boot. Maybe Davven has a point when he delivers portentous warnings about stairs. Maybe these stairs are the apotheosis of all stairs, and every stairway can secretly turn this evil if you turn your back at the wrong moment.
Or maybe you're still just a little concussed.
Whatever. Onward!
====>Be Vriska
The downside to vision eightfold is that blinding explosions tend to be even more blinding than for normal trolls. You rub your eyes again, smearing blueish tears onto the cuffs of your jacket, and squint at the pictures your secret advantage is projecting on the wall.
Sollux got to Aradia's hive and blew it up, but you're not sure if he got Aradia along with it. The minute Alonde stupid squid arrived, her stupid black magic started to blur the screens and man, trying to aim out of Sollux's eyes is awful. Everything is all swimmy with electric crackles and you have no idea how he can see at all, let alone focus enough to read a computer screen.
You're not sure if Sollux got Davven either. You've lost contact with his tiny little brain, but he was starting to push you out anyway -- stupid squid, ruining things again! -- so who even knows what actually broke the link.
Whatever. Like it matters! Even if he blinked out at the last second, you just need to keep him away from Aradia, and oh hey, guess what you have at your disposal! Yeah, that's right -- one genuine accept-no-substitutes starship-class psionic. If you want generalized mayhem, Sollux is ready to provide (at least when you're running the show). You close your eyes and make him toss off a few blasts in random directions. Maybe you'll get lucky and he'll explode the rest of the squid while he's at it.
You're due a bit of luck.
====>Be Equius
You are still down in the canyon, gathering salvage. You are quite sure that you have now found all the pieces that are of any useful size, but your attention is pulled inexorably toward your neighbor's lusus and the lowest entrance to her hive.
====>Find dubious excuse to visit your neighbor for no real reason
It's obvious that there is no truth to your acquaintances' persistent allegation that Vriska intends to execute Aradia, let alone to the assertion that she is carrying out such an action at this very moment. Nonetheless, upon due investigation you have noticed a broken window in the first basement level of your own hive, and a matching broken window on your neighbor's hive with a rope hanging down, which suggests that if nothing else, Terezi was correct when she said that you have a pretext available should you wish to visit Vriska.
You do not, in point of fact, wish to visit Vriska. To be blunt, if it were not unthinkable due to your shared social status, you would be quite happy never to associate with her again.
But Nepeta is upset enough to badmouth you to others. This implies quite a bit of distress.
You dislike the idea of your moirail's distress. It would be a relatively small thing to acquire irrefutable proof that her fears for Aradia's safety are baseless.
You find that you have reached the edge of the web while lost in thought, and your neighbor's lusus is eyeing you speculatively with at least five eyes. You hastily leap to the landing and retreat with dignity into your neighbor's lair.
====>Be Aradia
You are going to kill Vriska Serket.
Forget ghosts! Forget trying to teach her a lesson! Instead of learning that there are consequences to hurting her friends and trying to be a better person, she's obviously decided that it makes way more sense to get rid of anyone who stands up to her.
Well screw her! You are not going to die, and you're especially not going to let Vriska use Sollux against you.
You dodge another wild eyeblast, reflecting the edge with your own telekinesis. It's getting harder every time, and you need to save some oomph for striking back once you get a good opportunity. You're not sure if knocking Sollux out will break him free from Vriska's control, but if nothing else it ought to scramble his psionics and make it harder for her to aim -- speaking of which, wow, she has shitty aim! She hasn't managed to hit you once, and it's not like you have anything to hide behind since she blew your house to pieces.
The poor squiddleterror is less fortunate. You think it's dying. It's a little hard to tell since its anatomy doesn't quite make geometric sense, let alone biological sense, but its weird magenta-black glow is starting to fade and you're fairly sure that's a bad sign. It keeps trying to get between you and Sollux, blowing clouds of glowing ink at his eyes and lashing fitfully with its remaining tentacles. You're grateful it seems to be on your side, but at the same time you wish it would get out of the way and give you a clear shot!
You have no idea what happened to Davven. You can't hear his ghost, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Lots of people don't turn into ghosts, and even if he did, you're not sure what effect dying in the middle of Alonde's black majjyyks might have -- he could've been sent to the Furthest Ring for all you know.
But right now, you have more important things to worry about.
Sollux stops turning. He hovers in place, arms and legs hanging limp, like a discarded puppet. His glasses dangle loosely from one hand. Slowly, he faces downward, tilts his head until he's facing the squiddleterror's center of mass.
You lift into the air, ready to ambush him from behind.
Energy crackles, building to an unbearable pitch.
Sollux closes his eyes and draws a breath.
You move.
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I think two more sections should finish the chapter. Maybe three, if I get ambitious and attempt more art, or if certain characters get wordy, but probably two. *crosses fingers*
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continue to part 39
Hmm. I still feel reasonably awake. I should go look through the full list of NFE prompts and see if I can dash off a quick Madness Round ficlet. Or maybe I should start sorting through my Yuletide signup options. Oh, decisions, decisions...
But first, chocolate ice cream. It is not always time for ice cream, but it IS always time for chocolate, and right now ice cream is not inappropriate either. :-)
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Trollstuck, part 38
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====>Be Jothan
You'd rather not be yourself just now, because if you were somebody else you might not be climbing this endless stairway.
That's not a figure of speech. You're starting to think the stairway is literally endless. Why does Vriska even have so many stairs in her hive? Half of them don't lead anywhere except more stairways! You've never realized before just how confusing this place is. Sure, you know how to get from the meal block to the ablution block to Vriska's own habitation block, but now that you think back, every time you've gone beyond that limited area, Vriska's been with you to guide the way.
You are ashamed to admit that you are totally lost in your best friend's hive.
Also, the stairs are really badly designed in a lot of places -- changing from too high to too shallow with no warning -- and terribly lit to boot. Maybe Davven has a point when he delivers portentous warnings about stairs. Maybe these stairs are the apotheosis of all stairs, and every stairway can secretly turn this evil if you turn your back at the wrong moment.
Or maybe you're still just a little concussed.
Whatever. Onward!
====>Be Vriska
The downside to vision eightfold is that blinding explosions tend to be even more blinding than for normal trolls. You rub your eyes again, smearing blueish tears onto the cuffs of your jacket, and squint at the pictures your secret advantage is projecting on the wall.
Sollux got to Aradia's hive and blew it up, but you're not sure if he got Aradia along with it. The minute Alonde stupid squid arrived, her stupid black magic started to blur the screens and man, trying to aim out of Sollux's eyes is awful. Everything is all swimmy with electric crackles and you have no idea how he can see at all, let alone focus enough to read a computer screen.
You're not sure if Sollux got Davven either. You've lost contact with his tiny little brain, but he was starting to push you out anyway -- stupid squid, ruining things again! -- so who even knows what actually broke the link.
Whatever. Like it matters! Even if he blinked out at the last second, you just need to keep him away from Aradia, and oh hey, guess what you have at your disposal! Yeah, that's right -- one genuine accept-no-substitutes starship-class psionic. If you want generalized mayhem, Sollux is ready to provide (at least when you're running the show). You close your eyes and make him toss off a few blasts in random directions. Maybe you'll get lucky and he'll explode the rest of the squid while he's at it.
You're due a bit of luck.
====>Be Equius
You are still down in the canyon, gathering salvage. You are quite sure that you have now found all the pieces that are of any useful size, but your attention is pulled inexorably toward your neighbor's lusus and the lowest entrance to her hive.
====>Find dubious excuse to visit your neighbor for no real reason
It's obvious that there is no truth to your acquaintances' persistent allegation that Vriska intends to execute Aradia, let alone to the assertion that she is carrying out such an action at this very moment. Nonetheless, upon due investigation you have noticed a broken window in the first basement level of your own hive, and a matching broken window on your neighbor's hive with a rope hanging down, which suggests that if nothing else, Terezi was correct when she said that you have a pretext available should you wish to visit Vriska.
You do not, in point of fact, wish to visit Vriska. To be blunt, if it were not unthinkable due to your shared social status, you would be quite happy never to associate with her again.
But Nepeta is upset enough to badmouth you to others. This implies quite a bit of distress.
You dislike the idea of your moirail's distress. It would be a relatively small thing to acquire irrefutable proof that her fears for Aradia's safety are baseless.
You find that you have reached the edge of the web while lost in thought, and your neighbor's lusus is eyeing you speculatively with at least five eyes. You hastily leap to the landing and retreat with dignity into your neighbor's lair.
====>Be Aradia
You are going to kill Vriska Serket.
Forget ghosts! Forget trying to teach her a lesson! Instead of learning that there are consequences to hurting her friends and trying to be a better person, she's obviously decided that it makes way more sense to get rid of anyone who stands up to her.
Well screw her! You are not going to die, and you're especially not going to let Vriska use Sollux against you.
You dodge another wild eyeblast, reflecting the edge with your own telekinesis. It's getting harder every time, and you need to save some oomph for striking back once you get a good opportunity. You're not sure if knocking Sollux out will break him free from Vriska's control, but if nothing else it ought to scramble his psionics and make it harder for her to aim -- speaking of which, wow, she has shitty aim! She hasn't managed to hit you once, and it's not like you have anything to hide behind since she blew your house to pieces.
The poor squiddleterror is less fortunate. You think it's dying. It's a little hard to tell since its anatomy doesn't quite make geometric sense, let alone biological sense, but its weird magenta-black glow is starting to fade and you're fairly sure that's a bad sign. It keeps trying to get between you and Sollux, blowing clouds of glowing ink at his eyes and lashing fitfully with its remaining tentacles. You're grateful it seems to be on your side, but at the same time you wish it would get out of the way and give you a clear shot!
You have no idea what happened to Davven. You can't hear his ghost, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Lots of people don't turn into ghosts, and even if he did, you're not sure what effect dying in the middle of Alonde's black majjyyks might have -- he could've been sent to the Furthest Ring for all you know.
But right now, you have more important things to worry about.
Sollux stops turning. He hovers in place, arms and legs hanging limp, like a discarded puppet. His glasses dangle loosely from one hand. Slowly, he faces downward, tilts his head until he's facing the squiddleterror's center of mass.
You lift into the air, ready to ambush him from behind.
Energy crackles, building to an unbearable pitch.
Sollux closes his eyes and draws a breath.
You move.
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I think two more sections should finish the chapter. Maybe three, if I get ambitious and attempt more art, or if certain characters get wordy, but probably two. *crosses fingers*
---------------------------------------------
continue to part 39
Hmm. I still feel reasonably awake. I should go look through the full list of NFE prompts and see if I can dash off a quick Madness Round ficlet. Or maybe I should start sorting through my Yuletide signup options. Oh, decisions, decisions...
But first, chocolate ice cream. It is not always time for ice cream, but it IS always time for chocolate, and right now ice cream is not inappropriate either. :-)
