Chapter Text
"Blue. That was the first word that came to Karkat's mind as he slowly arose from his slumber. Damn, he really shouldn't fall asleep in the train. The red-eyed human looked up in front of him, where two figures were sitting. Everything was in different shades of blue in front of him. It took him a while before noticing that the place was some sort of... Train? It was very different from the one he was in before, looking more like a first class train than the third class seat he was in.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room. This place exists between dreams and reality. Mind and matter." Chuckled one of the figures in front of him. It was a man that looked old and creepy, with a long nose. His eyes looked like they were about to come out of their sockets anytime and he was dressed entirely in black. "My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance."
"Wait, how the fuck did I end up here?!" Karkat almost yelled.
"Simple! We summoned you during your dreams to help you in the upcoming quest you're gonna have!" Cheerfully said the second figure. It was a teenager about his age, with black hair, rectangular glasses, deep blue eyes and bucktooth. He was dressed in blue clothes, with round patterns and reminiscent of one of those butlers in hotels, except blue instead of red. In his hands lied a rather thick book. "I'm John! I'll be helping you from here too! But right now, you gotta wake up."
"Wait, what do you fucking mean, 'upcoming quest'?!"
"It appears our time with you has come to an end today. Till we meet again." Igor said, ignoring his questions as the scenery progressively became blurry before it was pure white.
Then, Karkat woke up, stirring slowly from his slumber. "The train will arrive soon to the Alternia-Beforus train station." said a mechanical voice. "Oh shit, that's my stop!" Karkat stood up quickly, surprising the lady and her son in front of him. He grabbed his bag and ran to the doors.
Alternia was a small town, and Beforus was simply the ridiculously huge hypermarket-hotel-train station that towered over Alternia. Karkat was transferred there when his father decided to get one of those fucking annoying jobs where he travels everywhere. So he was sent to stay with his cousin and aunt, Kanaya and Porrim Maryam.
Both girls were waiting for him in front of the train station. Porrim Maryam was a feminist. Not a feminazi, though. She was tattooed from neck to feet, and her clothes were slightly provocative, but Karkat was used to it. Just like the rest of the family, she had black hair, but coupled with Jade green eyes.
Kanaya was dressed more fashionably. After all, she was all about fashion and sewing. She had a black long sleeved shirt with a jade green Virgo symbol and a red long skirt, presumably all sewed by her. Like her mother, she has green eyes, but short black hair, shaped like what appeared to be a cape from Karkat's perspective. The cousin immediately smiled.
"Well, there is my dear cousin. How are you, Karkat?"
"Tired as fuck." He grumbled before yawning. Porrim chuckled, smiling widely.
"It must have been a long trip. Come on, let's head home." She said. The trip to the Maryam household wasn't long, and Karkat had planned to pass it without a word, but his cousin spoke up.
"So, are you excited about staying here for a year?" Kanaya asked, while they were still in the car.
"Not even fucking sure if it's only a year. Dad was so vague about that shit."
"I see you still have that colorful language of yours." Giggled Porrim.
"Well fuck you too!" This ended in laughter from both females and grumbles from the male.
"I have already made your uniform for school, by the way." Continued Kanaya.
"Oh, cool... Wait, made? Can't you just buy it like a fucking normal person?!"
"They were no grey Cancer signs." She said with a shrug.
Skaia High had a weird dress code. Students had to wear a black shirt, t-shirt, jumper or even turtleneck with their Zodiac symbol on it. The color of the said symbol was up to the student. And then, for boys, dark grey pants and for girls, they were actually free to chose. Weird, but Karkat didn't complain. It was better than most uniforms.
When they arrived home, Karkat immediately went to his room, with his bag. The room he was given was small, and already had multiple boxes containing his belongings. “Yeah, only one year, huh? Fucker….” He grumbled, starting to unpack everything. He had school tomorrow, and it will be his first day in Alternia. Laying on his futon, Karkat looked up. “Hope I won’t have that weird ass dream…" He mumbled, closing his eyes.
Skaia High School. It was a huge building in front of you with its logo being a Spirograph. Karkat had put on the uniform Kanaya gave him. A black turtleneck with a grey Cancer Symbol on the middle, and the school's spirograph in the back, in green. Dark grey pants and black shoes finished the uniform. Karkat actually liked the style. He could wear that everyday.
He went to the principal's office to get assigned to a class. The name tag on the door read "M. Hussie". "Oh hello! You must the the transfer student, Karkat Vantas!" He said cheerfully. "Yeah, that's me." "Alright! You are in class 2-1! It's in the room 612. Have fun!" Have fun, my ass...He thought as he walked out with a nod and started heading to his class. Just how fucking big is this shitty school?! It has a room 612... So at least six fucking floors. And that's if it counts normally. What the fucking hell.
When he reached the classroom, the bell rang. The teacher, Ms. Paint, asked Karkat to stay up in the front. He soon realised Kanaya was in the class too. "Well, students. This is a transfer student who should stay here for this years." The teacher said. "You can introduce yourself." The albino nodded.
"My name's Karkat Vantas." He said coldly. "Staying for the year, blah blah, you know the drill. Oh and it's because of my dad's job before you ask." And Karkat went to sit next to some tall guy with clown make up because it was literally the only sit available. Before he could sit down, the clown spoke up.
"Brooo, that's Tavbro's seat!" The tall guy whined. [i]Whined.[/i]. What kind of 5'10" tall guy WHINES?! The albino's jaw nearly dropped.
"How about you sit next to Pyrope? That's another seat available." The teacher said. How did he miss the seat? Instead of sitting next to a giant clown guy, he settled to sit next to that "Pyrope" girl. She had obviously dyed hair, with it being a bright red that matched her red shades. Her face was pale covered with freckles and decorated with a mischievous grin.
"Heeeey Karkles!" She whispered as he sat. "Lucky you! You get Ms. Paint for this year!"
"My name is Karkat! It's written in the fucking board. Can't you see?" He whispered back.
"No." The girl lost her smile. "What?"
"I can't see. I'm blind. That was terribly offensive."
"Wait, what?! Shit, I'm sorry!" That earned him a crackled laugh from the girl.
"You worry too much Karkles! I'm Terezi Pyrope."
"Class! Silence, now! We are going to go through the rules." Ms. Paint said. Karkat proceeded to take notes, ask questions and answer questions. He was a great student, contrary to popular belief with his cousin and parents. Being an albino, he felt like the world would reject him unless he proved himself. At lunch break, Terezi, Kanaya and the clown guy grouped around Karkat's desk.
"Why the fuck is everyone around me?!"
"Chill, Karbro. We always motherfucking group 'round that desk." The clown guy said. Now that Karkat was actually looking at him, he saw the giant was oddly... Relaxed.
"Well, I see you already made friends." Said Kanaya with a smile.
"I didn't! You cocksuckers just randomly decided to get here!"
"Pff, Karkles, you need to calm down a bit." Terezi said. They all laughed and talked while Karkat barely see clown guy look... Worried? He kept looking around like he was expecting someone to pop up. They all ate separately, Karkat eating with Kanaya. The rest of the school was boring. There was a meeting where the principal introduced himself, welcomed new students, explained how things worked and all that stuff. Boring stuff. Karkat barely payed attention.
As Karkat left, the clown guy came up to him. "Karbro!" The tall teen arrived next to the Vantas, who was at least one head smaller than the guy. "Didn't introduce my righteous self in all the motherfuckin day. 'M Gamzee motherfuckin Makara." This dude's name was as weird as himself.
"Who said you were in the shitlicking right to fucking talk to me?" Karkat grumbled.
"Haha, I did!" The albino sighed when he heard those words. "Ya didn't meet the whole motherfuckin group yet, bro."
"What?" Does that mean there is ANOTHER asshole? Karkat was about to blow up.
"Yeah, the morherfucker all up and called me. He's coming tomorrow." Gamzee said almost cheerfully. "I'm gonna go now. See ya tomorrow!" And with that, the clown was gone.
Kanaya soon joined Karkat and both went back home. Karkat flopped down on his bed. That was going to be a long year...
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Green eyes met a furious look. "Uh... So, chap. What did you want to ask me?"
Without a word, the person grabbed the boy's throat. "ACK! W-what are you doing?!" The boy was being pushed backwards, until his back met a mirror... And a dark hand grabbed his stomach. "H-huh?!" His back started sinking in something. But there was only the mirror back there...
The boy didn't scream. He didn't have the time before he was completely dragged in. Rectangular glasses were all that was left, before they got crushed under a shoe. "Heh... Hehehe..... Have fun, kiddo."