Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

CarcinoGeneticist began trolling CaligulasAquarium

CG: ERIDAN!

CG: WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!

CG: EVERYBODY ELSE HAS DEALT WITH THEIR DENIZEN DAYS AGO

CG: ARE YOU STILL KILLING ANGELS?

CG: DUDE, YOU NEED TO FUCKING DO YOUR QUEST, NOT SPEND YOUR TIME DICKING OFF DOING POINTLESS SHIT!

Eridan stared at the message popping up on his glasses… pointless? Pointless! He could not fucking believe this.

CG: I KNOW YOU CAN SEE THIS WITH YOUR STUPID SHADES!

He starred as the pitch black angel fell from the sky, letting out a hideous screech as it hit the ground, staining the white floor with purple blood. Eridan let out a sigh looking down before looking back up to see another angel already there.

CG: LOOK, IF YOU DON’T HURRY THIS THE FUCK UP, THEN VRISKA’S PROLLY GONNA GO AND KICK YOUR ASS HERSELF

CG: SO DO US BOTH A FAVOR AND HURRY UP

A deep bronze leaked out from the angel laying beside the last as another replaced it in the sky.

-

Eridan stood just outside the ship wreck looking out at the tower reaching high into the sky far away circled by hundreds… thousands? Of angels, waiting. Waiting to finish their goal and their purpose. Death.

The thing he’d been fighting against all his life, and now they complain. Not when he was working his ass off making sure none of them died. Not while it allowed them to leave him alone doing the 1 thing he was supposed to…

-

Eridan stared at the corpse lying in front of him… her olive blood gushing out from the circular hole in her center… he knew what his job entailed. A Troll without a Lusus was a dead troll but…

She was beneath him… she didn’t matter. She shouldn’t matter.

It had been a normal day when she showed up. He was returning from a day out feeding Gl'bgolyb when he had gotten off and saw her standing outside his door. When she noticed him she jumped with a knife in her hand then… she lay there dead. 1 shot from Ahab’s… that was it took.

She wasn’t very notable. Short-medium horns, a multicolored ribbon tied around 1, short hair. A long skirt. T-shirt with her sign on it. Lerius a circle with a line going up parting before going back down either side before curving up again and terminating.

She didn’t matter; he'd doom millions in his life. There would be more after, and there was plenty before. She didn’t matter. Her corpse would be dumped into the ocean, her name already washed away by the tide of time.

-

Eridan’s violet blood dripped down off his forehead into his eyes. He closed his left eye, keeping his right open to track the angel that had got out the scratch on him. It fell down as he limped inside the tower.

He sat down on the stone slab and un captchalouged a roll of bandages out. He wrapped it around his left arm before cutting off the roll.

He looked through his pester logs while catching his breath, nothing, nothing and nothing… besides.

ArsenicCatnip began trolling CaligulasAquarium

AC: :33 < Eridan

AC: :33 < Eridan!

AC: :33 < Mrowidan???

AC: :33 < mmm n33d to come up with a better nickname fur you

AC: :33 < ERIDAN!

CA: Wwhat?

CA: and make it quick, I’m busy

AC: :33 < *AC pounce’s a bites you*

AC: :33 < you need to build up my hive

CA: I’m busy

AC: :33 < ughhh I can’t myove on until you build up

CA: well right now I am busy doing more important things

AC: :33 < and what might that be?

CA: I’m killing angels 

AC: :33 < why?

CA: …

CA: why?

CA: Why am I killing? Angels.

CA: Do you not know what angels are?

AC: :33 < well not everybody reads boring books like you

CA: okay well sit down cause your ass down plant blood cause you're going to get a summary of angels

CA: their death incarnate, a Herold for the end of life as wwell as the angel of double death.

CA: long story short, if wwe let these things just fly around, our wwhole session is doomed.

CA: So because nobody else is wwilling to kill them, it falls to me as alwways.

He wiped the violet blood that was dripping down towards his eyes. scowling, how did nobody care about this, why did this insignificant Olive think she could tell him what to do...

AC: :33 < well, could you take a second out of your very important duties to build up my hive

AC: :33 < that would be very apursiated

CA: ugh, I’ll wwork on getting back to my hivve

He sat up off the slab of stone and looked down at it. A bit of violet blood was left, but he didn’t really have a way to clean it up. Plus, the city was stained with thousands of blood stains in all 11 colors.

-

Eridan moved around the mouse, he basically just made a giant staircase reaching up into the sky

CA: their I did you’re stupid buildin

AC: :33 < thank you

AC: :33 < why is it just a staircase?

CA: cause it’s efficient wwhat else should I havve done

AC: :33 < I mean like I guess

CA: good cause I’m busy noww

AC: :33 < busy… meow?

CaligulasAquarium ceased trolling ArsenicCatnip

ArsenicCatnip ceased trolling CaligulasAquarium

-

Eridan watched as the dragon Lusus sank into the sea below, its teal blood mixing with the water, slightly tinting it. A lighter shade of blue… he imagined what would happen to it, he knew this was where Gl'bgolyb stayed, that’s why he killed it after all, and whoever it was looking after. Either Gl'bgolyb would find it on its own, or Feferi would notice it and lead her to it.

He had just saved all troll-kind, once again… an empty victory. 

Hook looked up at him, annoyed. 

“Let’s head home” he sighed as Hook nodded and flew back to his hive.

-

Eridan stared at the crushed lusus… the front of his house the head of the boat had been broken off by Feferi and then, Hook was no more. He was not unfamiliar with the sight of violet blood. Definitely the 1 he had seen the 2nd least, mostly from scrapes on Flarp adventures.

CC: o)( my glub I am so sorry

CC: I didn’t mean to do that, let me just

The corpse was pulled out from under and started floating around. Eridan rolled his eyes and back towards his room.

CC: let me just

CC: I’ll u)(m 

CA: it’s fine

CC: no, no it’s really my fault

CA: it was time for his finally 

CC: you don’t )(ave to lie it’s really my fault

CA: who cares

CA: it’s just another dead Lusus

-

Eridan stood on the transportalizer as he appeared in his room. He walked off and turned around, flipping it over and removing the battery from the transportalizer.

He captchalouged it before walking over and sitting on his bed… he was tired. Which he really shouldn’t be. I mean, he spent his whole life fighting against the inevitable… but he could delay, he could slow it down, but this, this was different. It wasn’t a monster that needed to be fed, it wasn’t an enemy just waiting to attack. It was searching, it was looking for them, and they couldn’t do anything.

He uncaptchalouged his nightwear as his outfit in an instance swapped from his majestic cape and scarf to a night shirt and pants. He lay down and stared up at the wooden bed top fancy… thing above him… he shouldn’t be sleeping. He should have stopped the angel of death, but he couldn't. He would fail. So here he was… hiding. Hiding from Jack, hiding from the others, hiding from his life.

-

Eridan opened his eyes as he sat up in his bed and…

He uncaptchalouged Ahab’s crosshair and pointed it at the figure standing at the end of his bed, when,

* zap *

It disappeared in a blue blur. 

He kept his crosshair aimed at where it was… waiting for it to come back but nothing. He cautiously captchalouged Ahab’s and sat up out his bed. He walked over to where the figure was to find… a package

It was a box with a note underneath the box wrapped in white wrapping paper and a ribbon around it… He recognized that ribbon, the cyan white and light pink design, the same she had. He checked his modus and… yep, he still had it, it should be the only 1 in existence. He had never even checked the code on it, but there was another. He took out the letter from beneath and read.

Chapter Text

The door creaked open as Eridan stepped inside and came face to face with the final boss. Thanatos. It was long snake pitch white until its face a black blur devoid of anything.

“Hello their prince” it said with no mouth, forming seemingly right behind him “it was inevitable that you would meet me. The 1 you believed to be fighting against” it said approaching him. “Yet you have been feeding me all along, each Lusus lost, each troll terminated, each angel assassinated. It all let me into your mind, you fought against me yes. But at the same time you were letting me in”

Eridan scowled at him as he raised Ahab’s.

“Now you are met with a choice, The Choice you may either continue, continue feeding me with each action you take… or you may-” it was cut short a white beam struck through its void… the choice had been made, he had accepted it.

Eridan looked at the slain serpent, a hole bore straight through the center of its head. “WWhat a sham,” he said, walking past to the rewards, piles and piles of grist needed for the ultimate alchemy and a small chest. He flipped open the lid and inside... a pitch black rifle. He frowned before closing the chest.

-  *zap*

Thanatos waited for the prince… but he knew something was wrong. “Heir?” he asked angrily.

A god tiered human in light blue stepped out from behind a wall.

“You intend to stop his growth, correct?”

“I intended to stop her from making a choice she’ll regret,” June said looking up at it.

“I have already claimed him, I know his end, the fate you plan to set him on is an anomaly" it said. “A mistake. I have my hold on him you can’t so easily change fate”

“You’d be surprised," she smirked.

“You are a fool” it said as its head started to shake. “I know his end” an arm reached out through its void. “It’s to allow my lord to live, to propagate. To w-”

*zap*

And just like that, Thanatos was gone; it was pulled in by the gravitational force of a black hole erasing all, death’s death. Double death. June let out a chuckle “Ironic” she walked forward and 

*zap*

Appeared behind the final door in the treasure room. She opened up the chest to see black rifle then. 

*zap*

It joined its maker and she placed something better inside.

-

The door creaked open as Eridan stepped inside to come face to face with the final boss. Thanatos.

“Uhh, Thanatos?” he asked, looking around… nothing. He turned around and looked… nothing. “This game” he complained walking over to the treasure room. 

piles and piles of grist were all that would be needed for the ultimate alchemy and a small chest.

Eirdan collected the grist before taking a second to open trollium.

CaligulasAquarium began trolling CarcinoGeneticist

CA: I got the grist

CG: WELL FINALLY YOU DO SOMETHING FAST FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE

CA: wwoww someone’s impatient

CA: also there wwas nothin to do

CG: YEAH WE GET IT MISTER GREAT FIGHTER HERE HAD NO TROUBLE WITH THE FIGHT

CA: no I mean there wwas nothin

CA: no denezin, no boss, no nothin

CG: OF COURSE
CG: OF COURSE MR WOW I BET I COULD BEAT MY DENEZIN TWICE AS FAST AS YOU COULD GET’S LITERALLY NO DENEZIN

CG: WHATEVER I DON’T EVEN CARE ANY MORE FUCK IT

CG: FEFRI’S DOING THE ULTIMATE GRIST BULLSHIT

CG: JUST GET TO THE BATTLEFIELD

CG: OR DON’T

CG: NOT LIKE I CARE

CarcinoGeneticist ceased trolling CaligulasAquarium

He rolled his eyes and knelt down to open the chest. He flipped open the lid and inside was… was…

He wasn’t quite sure what it was, 

He captachlouged it before heading out into the rainbow city. Painted with the blood of each and every angel. As he looked up at the clear sky he smiled. They get to live.

-

“Hey Eridan” it read at the top line. In a blue close to Equius's shirt.

“I know that you think it’s hopeless. I understand why but I know better and I’m here to share so. flip this over” He flipped over the card to see… 

them. 

All of them… 

like a fuck ton of people. 8 weird lines who’s skin isn’t gray. 4 sprites. And 12 trolls… alive.

There was Aradia, somehow a troll again. Tavros standing on robot legs, Sollux missing his left eye wearing half a pair of glasses smiling wider than he had ever seen, Nepeta with her bright blue cat hat with a patch sewn in near the top, Kanaya smiling holding the Matriorb, Terezi looking as annoying as usual with her obnoxiously red glasses, Vriska looking exasperated, Equius a bow on his back and his right arm robotic, Gamzee with his ridiculous make up and a the faint scar of a scratch on his face, Feferi smiling wide and free.

And… them. Eridan, they had the 2 stripped ribbons warped around their horns in bows, a high collar cape around their body. A striped scarf hanging loose a plain black tee with 2 spiky wwavvy lines and around their hip… a red and black plaid skirt…

They flipped over the card again… what? They kept reading 

“Bet you just got flustered there ;3” it winked at him "anyway point is at some point ask Nepeta what transgender means from -June”

-