The Heir Transparent

Chapter Eleven

Out of all the towns you’ve been to so far, you think that this one is the scariest. It’s almost as crowded as the capital, which you could deal with by itself. But then there’s the fact that this town is popular for those who are running from something. Criminals, thieves, debtors, vagabonds, murderers, they all come to this town for solace. The authorities here might as well not exist for all the good they do.

That was what you heard before coming to this city. It no where near covers how the town makes you feel. It makes you feel watched, hunted. Afraid. You’ve hunted animals that could kill you all by yourself since you were thirteen; but none of them were quite so frightening as the people here, with their scars and their weapons and their malice.

You keep your eyes on the road as you weave through the city. You know exactly where you’re headed, even though you have never been to this city. A few years back, a woman was thrown in the prison that your brother is now trapped in. You talked to her often, because you thought your stories were interesting, and you pitied her. Her only crime had been that she was poor; she couldn’t pay her taxes, and was thrown in prison.

But she broke free.

Technically, you’ve been committing treason all these years by not letting your brother know where she had run to. Sometimes you’d contemplated it, because you knew that he wouldn’t chase after her; he’d had a soft spot for her as well, even through his normal disdain for the commoners. But you never told anyone what she had said in the letter she gave you the day before she ran away, about how you were the only friend she’d had and if you ever needed help with anything, to come find her.

Now you figure that if she had broken out of the prison once on her own, how much harder could it be to help someone else break free?

You finally reach the door you’ve been looking for and knock twice, timidly. Astonishingly, it was still loud enough to be heard. A hollow response comes through the door, and then it opens, revealing a young woman with wavy black hair. She looks at you in shock.

“:33 < you have to help me aradia!” You say as soon as she opens the door.

“what are y0u d0ing here?” she asks, frozen with astonishment. “y0ure the last pers0n i expected t0 find 0n my d00rstep.”

“:33 < you’ve got to help me, purrease! Big purrther equius has been ofurthrown! He’s in the purrison now!”

“y0u’d better c0me in and explain. make sure t0 n0te h0w it is that y0u expect me t0 help,” she says, stepping aside to admit you.

You breathe a sigh of relief. Finally, you can see some hope.

Sir Dave

its hard bein a coolkid in medieval-ish times. its hard and nobody understands.

(Dave, in his traveling clothes because I can’t draw armor lol. Yes, that’s the Breath symbol on his sword, my logic is that since he’s a knight from John’s kingdom, not to mention John’s personal bodyguard, he would have the symbol of John’s kingdom, not his own symbol. Also this is how I procrastinate making Christmas gifts yes. /self indulgent author ramble)

Chapter Ten

The past week or so has just been so exciting!

You’ve been staying in sketchy inns, eating whatever you could afford, walking your feet off during the day, having to watch your tongue to make sure you don’t say your own name (especially after the incident with Karkat; you think Dave will really kill you if you screw that up again.). Basically, you’ve been doing things that you never would have dreamed of while you still lived in the palace!

Granted, it hasn’t all be fun. More than once you’ve regretted bringing Karkat along. When he’s not raging about Eridan, he’s moping or insulting you and Dave. Usually you don’t mind, but at the end of the day when your feet hurt and all you have to look forward too is mystery stew and a lumpy bed, it kind of gets on your nerves.

There’s also the fact that this whole quest is almost seeming like a lost cause. Karkat said that when his sister was in trouble one time, he didn’t know what kind of trouble but it was apparently dire, she went to see her close friend known as the Seer. He had never met her though, so he had no idea where she lived or even her real name. So ever since you met up with him the three of you have been asking every innkeeper in every town you go through if they know the location of the Seer, and all of them have said that they had no clue who you were talking about.

That is, until today.

“YOU MEAN YOU ACTUALLY KNOW WHO WE’RE TALKING ABOUT?”

The innkeeper twitches at the octave of Karkat’s voice. “Yes, she lives in the woods, three days ’ walk from here. She doesn’t like visitors though, so you can’t let her know I told you?

“how do you know about her then?” Dave asks skeptically.

“She grew up in this town, alright? Anyone here could tell you where she lives, it’s just that most of them won’t because she’s terrifying!”

You’re starting to not be so sure about finding her. The innkeeper is a burly man, one who you wouldn’t imagine being afraid of anything, but he’s nearly trembling just telling you these things.

You all walk away from the counter and start a whispered conversation.

“um dave i’m not actually sure we should search out this seer now…”

“im not either but what options do we really have?? karkat says his sister went to this wizard lady for help and we need some fucking help here”

“are you sure she’ll help us though?”

“SHE OUGHT TO. AT LEAST, SINCE YOU HAVE ME. YOU SHITHEADS WOULD PROBABLY BE BLOWN TO BITS IF YOU WENT TO HER ON YOUR OWN, KANAYA USED TO SAY SHE WAS POWERFUL AS FUCK, BUT SINCE I’M KANAYA’S BROTHER YOU IDIOTS ACTUALLY HAVE A CHANCE.”

“thank you for the vote of confidence loudmouth” Dave says, “it really makes me feel like a fucking million bricks of gold let me tell you”

“OH SHUT YOUR YAMMERING TRAP.”

“c’mon guys we need to focus! the innkeeper said that her house was three days south, right? i think we should stay here tonight and go in the morning so that we don’t have to spend so much time sleeping on the ground.”

With Karkat and Dave grudgingly agreeing, the three of you pay for a room and get some rest. You occupy yourself with trying to imagine what this Seer looks like.

The only image you can come up with is that of a grimdark sorceress with powers given by demons.

For the first time on this adventure, you contemplate being terrified.

Chapter Nine

As you trudge through the darkening city, you pull your hood further down over your head. Nighttime is especially dangerous for you; the paleness of your skin seems to glow with the moon.

Your name is KANAYA MARYAM, and you are still pissed.

That bastard shot you in front of your little brother. Of course it didn’t kill you; it takes a little more than a blast from a stupid fairy godmother’s wand to kill a vampire. All it did was mean that you had to play dead as you heard your brother forced out of the palace screaming. You are hoping so hard that he is okay, and that his friend Gamzee managed to calm him down. You wished that you could have shown Karkat that you were fine, that something that simple couldn’t kill you, but he doesn’t know you are a vampire, and that probably would’ve been the worst time to show the entire Locas court anyway.

You wind through the throng of people still in the streets, most of them returning to their homes after a long workday.  You, on the contrary, are leaving. During the day you lock yourself in a convenient barn, or hotel room if there’s one cheap enough. Traveling by night means you are less likely to run into anyone you’d rather not meet.

You have three specific goals in mind: find your brother, seek the counsel of your dearest friend, and kill the one that tried to kill you. You’re hoping to find your brother first, to prevent him from doing something stupid, but your friend’s counsel is of even more importance than finding Karkat. The Seer’s wisdom is nearly unlimited. If she can tell you how to go about killing Eridan, then maybe you can end this without any more people who don’t have immortality getting hurt.

You exit the city and set out on the road again. You’ve got a long path ahead of you.

Chapter Eight

Your name is TEREZI PYROPE, and this castle has reeked of chaos for days now.

You have long been a supporter of John’s claim to the throne. He was only a year away from turning 18, when he could officially take the throne of Lowas for his own. But now it seems those ideas are foiled, due to this usurper.

That is, unless you start interfering.

You don’t trust this new “king”. He smells like bad news to you. But you have pretended to become his staunchest supporter; if you can get any information to use against him, you may be able to dethrone him. In what seems like a stroke of luck, you’ve discovered that he has no intentions of killing the princess Jade. You’ve heard rumors that he wishes to declare John dead and marry her, so that he will become king through her. At least this secures that she will live.

Presently, you are wandering through the palace, putting on an air of having lost your way. You’ve been to the palace thousands of times before, but you can play stupid due to your blindness. It’s amazing what this “disability” has granted you. Not only do people pass you off as unimportant, not a threat, but the heightened abilities of the rest of your senses are remarkable. You can taste poison in food before it reaches your mouth, and smell lies and deceit from across the room.

The trail you are tracking now you have learned to connect to His Royal Assholery, Eridan. It’s a strange smell; fervent and crazy. It would send shivers down your back if your backbone weren’t made of the strongest iron. Turning right down the next hallway, you keep the bemused look on your face as you deliberately wander in the direction of the smell. Its source seems to be coming from the next room; you hear a quiet conversation taking place.

“wwell wwill you do it?” Eridan’s voice asks.

“May8e. What price are we talking?” from a voice you have never heard before, “These are pretty high stakes!!!!!!!!”

“wwhen you get me that ring ill havve an entire fuckin kingdom at my disposal. wwhatever you wwant wwill be yours.”

“I like the sounds of that!!!!!!!!”

“then wwe havve a deal?”

“You 8et!”

You turn and run at the sound of scraping chairs. Neither of the people in that room can know that you heard; your head would be severed immediately, you are sure. You’re low enough nobility that no one would question it; you’re almost on level with the commonfolk.

You make your way back to your temporary chambers. You had been on a visit here from your home in the deep forest, when the takeover happened. Fortunately this means your traveling clothes are with you.

“LOOKS L1K3 1TS T1M3 FOR A RO4D TR1P,” you say, giggling.

—-

Your name is VRISKA SERKET, and you just took a job that might have you living large for the rest of your existence.

You whistle a tune as you walk down the lane toward your home. You’ve got some traveling and investigating to do; if you’re going to find this king-to-be John and steal his ring, you’re gonna have to get busy! All while avoiding the law not loyal to His Royal Assery Eridan too. So many irons in the fire!

You barge in the front door of your mansion and start yelling at the maids to get your traveling clothes ready. They all know better than to question it; the last ones who did were never seen again. You continue your confident stride towards your armory to get some weapons for the journey.

Upon reaching the armory you encounter the last person you wanted to see.

“uHM, hI, mY LADY. wHERE HAVE YOU, uM, BEEN?”

“None of your 8uisness, page 8oy!”

“i, uM, wAS JUST CURIOUS, sORRY.”

You laugh manaically. “Oh toughen up page 8oy! A little re8uke shouldn’t leave you sniveling!” You laugh again, then decide to divulge your mission to your one friend. “I’m actually going on a jo8, okay? 8ut you can’t tell anyone, got it????????”

“uM, aND WHY, wOULD THAT BE?”

“8ecause it’s not exactly a jo8 most people would want me to go on, dum8ass!”

“oH. wHAT ARE YOU, gOING TO DO, tHEN?”

“I’m going to steal the king’s ring! You remem8er the rumors, about how the king-to-8e ran off with the heir’s ring? Well I’m going to get it 8ack for the new king!”

The page boy TAVROS actually looks upset at this news, the idiot! “tHAT, uM, DOESN’T SOUND LIKE A VERY, uM, rESPECTABLE JOB„,”

“Fuck off! It’ll give me enough money to live for the rest of my life, so I’m taking it!”

“i, uM„,”

“What, Taaaaaaaavros?” You ask threateningly, “You got a pro8lem with me doing this? Are you going to question your superior’s decisions now????????”

“i JUST, tHINK THAT YOU ARENT, tHINKING THIS ALL THE WAY THROUGH, uM, pERHAPS.”

You slap him as hard as you can across the face. It sends his scrawny form to the floor, and he trembles in pain. You stand over him, shaking in rage.

“Don’t ever question me ag8in, got it?”

You hear a whimpered “yES„,”, and, satisfied, grab your knives and leave.

L4DY T3R3Z1

Y3S, 1 4M L4DY T3R3Z1, M4N1PUL4TOR OF 4LL. WH4T D1D YOU N33D?

(also I just now decided that things from me are going to be in parenthesis! yay! anyway this is the Lady Terezi as portrayed in this shitty fanfic. 8D
I swear I will write again soon, honestly. When I do, this beautiful lady up there will be introduced, so BR4C3 YOURS3LV3S >:]

I’m also going to be trying to draw some of the others in character too. Expect more of the girls than the guys though, 1. because I suck at drawing armor and shit and 2. because pretty dresses = my weakness.)

Welp.

So guess who intended to write chapters 8 and 9 on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Guess who was also insanely busy and didn’t get around to it. :x

I’m coming home from family on Sunday so I’ll be able to pick back up the story then. Until then, byebye!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Chapter Seven

Three days and many miles later, you still don’t feel like you can let your guard down even for a second.

Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky is still as happy-go-lucky as ever. It’s like he can’t see the danger he’s facing, and like he doesn’t realize that Jade didn’t manage to get free. Your only comfort is that he didn’t kill the ruler of Locas, so he probably wouldn’t kill Jade.

You’re pulled from your gloomy thoughts by the sound of John’s voice. “come on dave! it’s nearly dark, we should go to that inn over there! they may have some good food!”

You allow yourself to be dragged along silently. John has accused you of moping the past couple of days, and ruining his since of adventure. You replied that you were too cool to mope, and that he could kiss your ass.

As you enter the inn, the noise of many people washes over you. You’re constantly scanning for any signs of hostility, any clue that anyone has recognized either you or John. John of course just wanders in and looks in wonder at everything. You tried telling him that someone his age shouldn’t act like every fucking thing was made of solid gold, it was a red flag to people who could kill him, but he just laughed at you.

You direct him to a table in the corner, and order both of you some shitty food. You didn’t manage to grab much money before you had to escape, so you’re having to be skimpy.

Both of you start to sit back in your chairs and listen to the crowd. A lot of people are talking about Locas, Lowas, and Eridan. The people are of course saying that he’s not their rightful ruler until he wears the ring; you once again commend yourself on checking that John had it before escaping.

Suddenly one of the voices stands out among the rest.

“THE BASTARD KILLED MY SISTER. YOU REALLY THINK I’M GOING TO LET THAT PRETENTIOUS ERIDAN AMPORA GET AWAY WITH THAT? I’M GOING TO HUNT HIM DOWN AND KILL HIM.” A roar of laughter. “YOU THINK I CAN’T DO IT, HUH? WELL I WILL FIND PEOPLE WHO CAN. I WILL ORCHESTRATE HIS FUCKING DEMISE ONE WAY OR THE OTHER, YOU WILL SEE.”

You shake your head. You’ve mingled with a lot of people, to gauge how public opinion was going, but you hadn’t seen anyone this worked up over it. You glance up to see if John noticed the yelly asshole.

John isn’t anywhere to be found.

You jump up and shove your chair back all in one motion. Several people look up at you, but you disregard them as you scan the room for John or anyone that could be carrying him off. A sudden quiet from the direction of the yelly voice catches your attention.

“hi there! my name’s John, what’s yours? you were saying you wanted to go after eridan? Well maybe we can help! why don’t you come with us?”

You promptly walk over, smack John in the back of the head, and motion for the obnoxiously loud person to follow you. Now that you have a closer look at him, it seems like he probably hadn’t slept in days; there were dark circles under his eyes and a haunted look.

You lead him to out back behind the inn, keeping a firm grip on John’s arm during the process. “alright listen up. john you’re a motherfucking idiot and you should be lucky that i dont abandon you now.”

“but dave all I did—-“

“was tell him your name, yeah, but that’s a damned idiotic move when we’re fugitives. yelly person, what’s your name?”

“I’M KARKAT YOU DUMBAS—-“

“karkat nice to meet you. if you ever tell anyone you saw us i will personally come and rip your fucking head off. nice seeing you. lets go john.”

“but dave we didn’t even get to eat!”

“blame your own mouth for fucking running to people it shouldnt.”

“CAN I COME WITH YOU?” Karkat asks in a quiet tone.

“what no why?” you reply, astonished, “i just said were leaving.”

“YOU SEEM LIKE PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY HAVE A CHANCE OF BEATING ERIDAN, AND I NEED HELP. I CAN’T TAKE HIM OUT ON MY OWN.”

John’s giving you puppy dog eyes.

You roll your eyes in response. “come on then. dammit all the things i do for you, fucking heir of fucking lowas.”

“WAIT WHAT?”

Chapter Six

This was not as simple as Locas.

It would have been, oh it would have been, if you had been prepared for a kingdom that knew how to defend itself. Instead, you were met with a capable army, with a complete wizard regiment to its name, not to mention the witch of a princess. Also the fact that her blasted brother managed to get away.

“wwhere wwould he havve headed!” you snarl at the princess again, for the hundreth time.

She spits on your face and you scream in rage. You smack the insolent brat, but it does nothing to remove the grim look of rebellion from her face.

“tell me wwhere he wwouldvve gone!!” you scream.

“i told you, i have no idea.” she says, “we never had a plan for this! we were never expecting anything like this. so it sucks to be you, doesn’t it?”

You give her a wordless snarl in reply. You have never before been this angry. All your plans could come to ruin because of this, this one issue.

The monarch’s ring. Such a simple thing to hold such importance. The people of this kingdom put a lot of stock into symbols and traditions; traditionally, if someone takes over the kingdom and wears the monarch’s ring, then they are the new ruler, period. That’s how it had been for centuries. If there were multiple siblings with a claim to the throne, then whoever could manage to get the ring would become the ruler. If you took over the kingdom by conquest, the people would rebel against you until you wore the ring. They were so simple-minded sometimes that you wondered if they were related to salamanders or the like.

You walk up to princess Jade and bend close, right in her face. “and you are sure that that ring, the monarchs ring, is not here?”

“yep!” she waves a hand in front of your face. “see, i’m not wearing it. john has it, and dave is with him, so good luck ever finding him!” You could kill this girl just because of how annoying her optimism is.

“take her to the dungeon until i need her again” you order your followers that are restraining her.

“good luck ruling this kingdom since the people will never support you!” she half sings over her shoulder as she is led away.

You collapse on the throne, and start facepalming. This is going to be a lot more complicated than you anticipated.

Chapter Five

Your name is DAVE STRIDER, and you have devoted your life to bailing this guy out of trouble.

It’s what a knight does when he’s assigned as personal bodyguard to the heir; he shadows the heir, stands guard at his door, you even stabbed an assassian for him for fuck’s sake. JOHN, the HEIR TO THE LOWAS THRONE, was always your responsibility. Now, John the RULER OF LOWAS, is still your fucking responsiblity, and you have to get him out of trouble. Again.

You all got wind of the violent takeover of Locas a little over three days ago. If you weren’t too cool to beg, you’d have been begging John and his sister JADE to abscond the fuck out of the palace. Instead, you asked them quite persistently and calmly, yes completely calming, no begging involved whatsoever. But the idiot king decided that this Eridan wouldn’t come to attack Lowas, that Locas would be enough, and that he needed to stay in place to form a plan for helping put Equius back on his throne.

Which has put you in this situation of dragging his scrawny ass out of the back doors of the palace while the front is being attacked. You’ve been looking everywhere for Jade; you hope as hard as you ever have that she’s okay, that she’s going to be okay, that she has to be okay, but you can’t find her to ensure that she’s okay. Since she’s as stupid as her brother sometimes, and didn’t have you near her to protect her, she’s probably trying to face down the ursurper as you walk away. But you’ve had your responsiblity engraved into your head since you were fifteen; John is your charge, you protect him at all costs. And so you’re living up to your fucking duties. You swear to yourself that if Jade’s bodyguard doesn’t get her out of here, you’ll personally make them do a fucking pirouette off the highest tower of this damned palace.

“shouldn’t we be going back to fight him?” John the Idiot asks.
“if we do youll be the shortest ruling king this kingdoms ever had and we are NOT GOING BACK” you growl at him.
“then what are we going to do????????” he asks, sounding as if he’s near panic.

You continue dragging him while you think. You’re almost out of this palace, almost to freedom. What do you do when you reach freedom though?

“we just need to get out of this palace. once were out well find someone who can help us, i mean for fucks sake theres got to be someone out there who can tell us what to do.”

“so we’ve got no idea who we’re looking for, just someone who might have a chance of helping??”

“yeah pretty much.”

“this is so great!!”

John looks so excited that you’re afraid he’s going to piss his pants. “i get to go on a real adventure! finally!”

You roll your eyes and return your focus to absocnding the fuck out of this place.