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The silence in the lab was only broken by the faint honks as the horn pile settled. The room was painted in many hues of blood but only one body remained from the battle that had taken place mere minutes ago. The heiress to the throne had been killed. With the loss of both her and the matriorb all hope had been lost.
But where there is life there is hope. Feferi’s fingers twitched and nose wrinkled as life began returning to her. Her face rapidly flushed pink as her blood pumper ground back into life and she pulled in one grating, gasping breath as her lungs knitted themselves back together.
With a lurch she bolted upright and looked down just in time to see the huge hole in her chest closing over. For a while she just sat there panting in a desperate effort to reoxygenate her blood. When her head stopped spinning for a moment she got up slowly, the horn pile making a dreadful racket, and swayed in place trying to find her balance again. Looking around she was surprised to find herself alone. She wasn’t sure if Sollux had died but he had been dragged away going by the trail headed to the centre of the room.
Unknown to everyone else she had reached god tier long before they had won the game. No one had paid much attention to the silly little girl who always made fish puns and got excited all the time even if she was heir to the throne. Her death at the hands of Eridan had in no way been just or heroic. She had been planning on surprising everyone, especially Sollux, with her new powers before Eridan had to come and ruin it all.
The witch of life held up her hands and looked at the green energy sparking off them. “Whale this shore will be a glubbing surfprise!”
The one thing on here mind right now was to stop Eridan. He could have gone on to kill others that weren’t god tier and his idea to go and join with Jack was simply moronic. But she wasn’t trying to stop him out some thirst for revenge or a desire to help her former moirail. She was going to make him sit and watch as she and the other fixed everything and brought back hope. She was going to prove him wrong.
She noticed Kanaya’s husktop was turned on and hoped she wouldn’t mind her logging into her trollian through it. Thankfully Eridan was listed online. A few clacks sounded out as her fingers flew over the keys.
CC: )(ey mot)(erglubber looks like you aren’t such a good s)(ot wit)( t)(at science stick as you say
CC: S)(-ELLO!
CC: I’m glubbing to you fis)( face
CC: 38(
CC: -Eridan I can see you are online so stop ignoring me
CC: FIN T)(-EN!
CC: I’ll just )(ave to find you
CC: and
CC: kick your ass in person
She pushed herself away from the desk and stomped back over to the horn pile. Retrieving her 2x3dent from where it had fallen from her limp fingers she stood on the transportaliser in the middle of the room and in a flash she was in the corridor. It was far too quiet for her liking and Eridan still wasn’t responding. Pocketing her mobile device she picked a random direction and headed out. She didn’t have time to waste fussing about with choosing which of the identical corridors she should take and the light was so dim she would probably miss what little blood trails there were by this point.
It didn’t take long to find something. Her first clue was the smell of fresh blood on the air and on following that she found the body of Tavros lying sprawled out with his metal legs in pieces. Equius wouldn’t like that.
Dropping to her knees she looked him over. He had obviously died from the gaping hole in his gut. Feferi’s hand went to the smooth skin just under her chest. She hadn’t used her powers on anyone but herself and even then only on minor wounds so she had no idea if she could actually do anything but she had to at least try. Tavros’ legs were holding on only by a few wires so she ripped them out; she couldn’t repair them so better to get them out of the way. She also brushed the strange red dust off his face with a gentle hand. Pulling the body into a sitting position Feferi placed her hand on the wound and let the magic flow out of her fingertips.
Green sparks ran over the hole and where they touched the skin started to regrow and join back up. Soon there was no trace of an injury other than the torn shirt which made the two of them a matching set. She felt the magic go to work on his organs and get them all in working order. With a smile she began to withdraw her hand when she realised her power was still working away. Feferi’s brows drew together in confusion until she realised what was going on.
His legs were being restored.
Sparks flew out of the ragged stump that was Tavros’ torso and soon bones began to grow out like trees and formed into the shape of a pelvis. This was followed by leg bones and finally all the tiny parts of his feet. Within seconds the muscles stared to balloon out and attached themselves to the bones.
Feferi watched all this in excited fascination but then she blushed and turned away as certain aspects of Tavros’ anatomy filled in. Pulling her skirt off she draped it over him to protect his privacy. It left her with only the bottom of her bathing suit covering her but she was fine with that and at least this way they were both covered in one way or another.
It took a minute or two before Tavros roused himself and blinked up at her. “Whoa Feferi where did you come from?” He shifted slightly and grunted softly. “Uh, what is that on my legs? Wait! Why can I feel my legs!?”
Tavros immediately started to panic and Feferi didn’t blame him; she was freaking out about him having legs herself so he must be 100 times worse. It took a while before Feferi could calm him down and while she didn’t blame him she did wish she hadn’t wasted so much time that she should have used tracking down Eridan. As soon as he felt up to moving she started pulling him along as he skipped behind her; still wearing her brightly coloured skirt around his waist.
“So uh do you have any idea where he is?” He was practically singing he was so happy. In any other scenario Feferi would be right there with him but she had other things on her mind right at this moment.
“Unfortunately not, so it’s just a guessing game going from plaice to plaice.” And it was about then the game paid out and this time they had hit the jackpot.
They came out into a large open space that had nearly been died violet by all the blood that had been spilt here. In the centre was Feferi’s target. He made a sorry sight split right in half. But Feferi wasn’t letting that bust her resolve to do what she had too. She no longer held any sympathy for her fellow seadweller. “Whale if I don’t heal your legs at least it will be easier to keep track of you.” She pushed the offending body parts away from her and knelt down ready to get to work when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
“I get that he needs to be punished but don’t you think that might be a tiny bit too far.” His hand on her shoulder quivered slightly and then gripped her a bit tighter before he continued. “Not having your legs is horrible. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, not even my worst enemy.”
Feferi looked at Eridan’s wide dead eyes as she mulled that over. “Not even Vriska?”
“No not even her.” Tavros knelt down next to her. His legs squelched in the blood and his new skirt began to soak in the colour but he took no notice of it. Taking Eridan’s bottom half by the belt he pulled it back next to the rest of the body. He then took Feferi’s hands in his and he placed one on each half of the dead troll. “You were given these powers to help people not hurt. And if you ask me there has been more than enough pain today so how about we just put him back together for now?”
Feeling the warmth of his hands over hers Feferi nodded and smiled. Her power pulsed again but this time she noticed just how tired she was getting as she worked. Bringing the dead back to life was obviously going to be a tough task. That along with healing her chest wound, growing back Tavros’ legs and putting Eridan back together had clearly taken a lot more out of her than she thought. This was likely the last one she had in her for the day but she held on to the futile hope that there would be no more need. Putting any thought of that possibility out of her mind she looked down at her patient.
The skin around his middle pulled together like someone had drawn a zip up along his skin. And with a few more sparks of magic to fix him on the inside and she was done. Turning to Tavros she let out a sigh and smiled at him. “I guess it’s punishment enough that he was saved by magic rather than science.” Tavros’ only response was to nod gently and remove his hands.
“Motherfucker was around here last I remember. OF COURSE THIS WOULD BE SO MUCH MOTHERFUCKING EASIER IF BODIES DIDN’T WEIGH SO MUCH. Maybe if I just take the heads and leave the rest behind…” They heard the familiar voice grunting and grumbling to himself as he made his way towards them. They both froze at the strange malice in the voice of the troll. It was an odd combination of malice and light-heartedness. His intentions were impossible to guess.
There was a splash and they turned to see Gamzee standing over them. The splash had clearly come from the bodies that he had dropped unceremoniously into the blood. His freshly scared face was twisted into a grimace of confusion. But Feferi wasn’t looking at his face but rather at one of the bodies.
It’s eyes were leaking mustard coloured blood from behind the goggles that she had lost during the time she was dead and his mouth was void of the teeth he had always had but she had still recognised him instantly. Laying before her was the body of Sollux. The troll she had been with just before everything had started happening.
She scrambled forwards and tried to grab him and heal him but a foot crashed down in front of her. “and what the motherfuck do you think you are doing dogg?”
Feferi stood up and looked pleadingly into Gamzee’s eyes. “Please I have to help him! I have to help them all but mostly Sollux! It’s my fault he died so I have to fix it…” She trailed off her eyes welling up with tears.
Gamzee took a long while to answer. His face twitched and shifted almost imperceptibly as he debated what to do. Feferi couldn’t even begin making a guess at his thought process. The only thing that was clear was that he was sober. His natural murderous desires had come through to the forefront. But if that was true then she had something up her sleeve.
She straightened up and blinked away her tears. In the most commanding voice she could muster she spoke words she never expected to have to say. “As of now I am stepping up to my true plaice. I am claming my throne as the only surviving heir. As your empress I command you to stand down and allow me access to these bodies.”
This time Gamzee’s reaction was instant. He dropped to one knee and despite the grimace still present on his face he spat out, “YES YOUR HIGHNESS.” He adjusted his position but remained on one knee refusing to look at her. “But trying to bring Sollux back isn’t going to do you any wicked good. CONSIDERING THE MOTHERFUCKER IS UPSTAIRS RIGHT NOW.”
Feferi’s breath caught in her throat and she was running for the stairs before she had even thought about it. Sollux was alive! She wanted to see him if only to say sorry for what Eridan had done. Her chest was feeling tight and her breathing was ragged but she pressed on regardless. As she neared the top of the meteor the ground lurched under her and she crashed into the wall. As she pulled herself to her feet she could tell that they were moving. Why or where made no difference to her right at this moment so she stumbled out of the door and found everyone gathered around, some in conversation and others in stony silence.
She saw old friends and new faces but one glance told her Sollux wasn’t there. A small sigh left her lips but she composed herself quickly. If she was going to rule from now on she couldn’t be seen as week. Not anymore. She pulled at the shirt she wore over her bathing suit and heard it rip clean off. Her god tier wings unfolded behind her and she stepped into the middle of the crowd ignoring the stares of surprise, disbelief or confusion. “Ok here is how it’s going to go. I have stepped up as the empress of troll kind and I clam this meteor as mine. Anyone who wants to dispute my rule can feel free to leave. You humans are free to stay but you will be subject to my commands and the new Alternian law that my legal counsel here will draw up.” She placed a hand on Terezi’s shoulder and looked into the blind girl’s eyes that were wide with shock. “From now on the main mission of this meteor is to restart the troll race and find a planet to call our own. Also the first law? No one dies. Ever again.”