What an ending! My goodness, Squid Game is a phenomenal show. The anxiety I felt each ep had me sitting here sweating so much. Definitely reccomend everyone to go watch this show. I'm telling you, so many range of emotions I went through just from watching this series.
Miles: god dammit fuck you Julian I fucking hate you!!!! I want to destroy you at everything you do!! Fuck you and everything about you! If you died I wouldn’t care!
mmmmmm this took a long time to write... (i really hope you guys like it)
TW: heavy cursing, angsty backstories, SPACE BATTLES (that’s right), gunshot wounds (they’re okay, though), mentions of blood.
“Remind me again of how we’re not going to be caught in your delusional idea of a plan?” Logan asked skeptically, running a hand through his hair for what had to be the umpteenth time. Roman, as though summoned from the other life, jolted awake from daydreaming in the copilot’s chair, stilling suddenly as he was met with Anxiety stuffed into the seat with him, head resting on the prince’s shoulder, completely asleep.
“Well,” the prince began softly, combing his fingers through his friend’s silken hair, “my plan isn’t entirely formulated yet, but I have a rough outline-”
“Do you mean to say we’re going to walk into our literal doom with no forethought, basing our chance of survival solely on luck?” the robot asked dangerously. Roman shrugged. The robot shut his eyes, groaning. “You know what? I’m just going to power off for a handful of hours- preferably forever, but I assume you’d just turn me own against my own volition anyways,” Logan said as he strode out of the room, rolling his eyes as he passed the prince.
Calrex eyed the prince. “Logan has a point, you know,” they said, their words still somewhat slurred from their storytime at Sleeping Stars. “We should at least have a solid escape plan if your let’s-go-off-the-cuff-and-hope-we-don’t-die scheme doesn’t work out.” Roman snorted.
“Hey, I’m working on it!” he cried indignantly. “I just need to smooth out the details is all. I’ll finish it tonight,” he promised. From the other pilot’s chair, Patton snorted, his hands skillfully steering the ship on its path.
“Roman, you procrastinate like there’s no tomorrow. Do it now; you might even have stroke of inspiration!” the shapeshifter said. The prince sighed, caving in to Patton’s request.
“Fine.” He hummed, mulling over something. “Once we get there, we’re going to have to hide immediately. Remember that valley we always used to run to and play in?” he asked the Drisine, who thought back for a moment before nodding. “We should land there; I don’t think Draven would go anywhere near something as beautiful. He’d think it would ruin his aesthetic,” the prince chuckled bitterly. “Anyways, once we’re there, we have to start moving quickly. I believe the stables shall be the perfect hiding spot!” Cal bit back a laugh, rolling their eyes.
“Not gonna happen, Princey,” they said. “I’m not going anywhere near mounds of horse shit-”
“Language!”
“Sorry, Patton... Anyways! You and I both know Logan’s going to flip his top if he realizes we’re going to be cowering in utter hell for about three hours while you revise your plans last minute to figure out those tiny details you’ve forgotten until then.” Roman flushed, sputtering in offense. Cal cocked an eyebrow. “Say, how many details are you going to gloss over, anyways? I’ve hid in the stables like twice beforehand on my own failed escapades, and they’re only useful if you’re escaping. Even then, you have to grab a horse and go, not hide behind saddles and whatnot, since they updated security to have guards patrolling the stables and garden grounds, too.” They paused, seeing Roman shrinking in on himself. “You must have run away a long time ago to not know this sort of stuff,” they concluded, a face of pity flashing across their face with a weak but understanding smile.
The awkwardly tender moment was interrupted by Anxiety snorting in his sleep, cuddling closer to the prince, who cooed softly at his dark thunderstorm. “I would squeal, but that would wake him up,” Roman whispered, biting back the smile reaching from ear to ear. “Ugh, why does he have to be so precious when he’s sleeping but be so ferocious when he’s awake?” the prince complained, sighing as he slumped into what little chair space was not claimed by Anxiety.
“Focus, Roman, we need to know the plan if we actually want to pull this off,” Patton warned.
“Yeah, and we want to do this before we finally sober up,” Cal added with a raunchy grin. “Patton, why can’t we just kick this thing into overdrive and get to Vasryia now? It’s several hours at least if we do it manually.” Patton let out a chuckle as he turned his head to face Cal.
“You better not say, ‘Are we there yet?’ Cal, or I’m exiling you to the kitchen!” Cal giggled, mouthing the words to tease the shapeshifter. “And as much as I would love to go into hyperdrive and get to Vasryia quickly, it’s far safer to fly manually. Vasryia is surrounded by security gates that detect any ships flying by in hyperdrive to tag and track them, since there are a lot of pirates and smugglers in the past few decades who use Vasryia as a trading point. We would be found out immediately. But without hyperdrive, the security gates won’t lock on our ship and tag us. Last I heard, Draven had gotten cohorts of soldiers to monitor the skies for any ships entering the atmosphere at speeds lower than hyperdrive, but they slack off all the time.” Cal hummed.
“How do you know this and Roman doesn’t?” they asked, jutting a thumb at the prince who was now quietly fuming with rage that would only fuel dramatic outbursts. At Roman’s audible huff, Cal added, “You know I’m joking, Roman! Anyways, continue with your devious scheme for revolution and revenge, I wanna know how long I’ll have to wait until I get to beat the shit out of that asshole. ‘King,’ my ass! You’d be a better king, Roman, and you aren’t even royalty, even with that silly nickname of yours,” they muttered, their train of thought derailing on a tangent, missing the glance Patton sent towards Roman, who had froze in his seat, mouth slightly agape as if he had been about to protest Cal’s words.
“...About that…” Roman mumbled, his voice breathy and cautious. Cal fell silent, attention back on the prince. “The others kind of know this already, so I guess I kind of forgot to tell you these past weeks…” Roman started as Cal settled in on their chair, perched like a feline. “I may sort of actually be a prince,” he said sheepishly, his fingers weaving their way once more through the tangled strands of Anxiety’s hair as Cal’s jaw dropped to the floor.
“You’re shitting me,” they cried in disbelief. Roman remained silent, glancing away from the pirate who would surely bombard him with all sorts of questions that would reopen old wounds he had nearly forgotten the pain of. “You’ve got be shitting me. And here I thought Anxiety only called you ‘Princey’ because you act like one…” Cal sat back in their chair, eyes wide with shock. They leaned forward suddenly as a question popped into their mind. “Why are you an outlaw, then? I’m sure living the high life is much better than whatever you guys have gotten up to in the past,” they commented, tilting their head with curiosity.
Roman stiffened, the tight clench of his jaw the only hint that Cal was stepping dangerously close to the line Roman drew between himself and others. “Sorry, Roman. Sore spot?” The prince nodded curtly, saying no more on the matter. Not that it mattered; Cal was already piecing together what little they knew about Roman to figure what exactly he was still unable to say.
A silence fell over the inhabitants of the cockpit. It was not the comfortable, understanding silence that had befallen them times beforehand, rather one that made them all shift in their seats, unsure if they should be the one to break the fragile tension that had arisen. Fortunately, Roman decided first to interrupt everyone’s moment of discomfort.
He tsked as he straightened himself, Anxiety slumping halfway over Roman’s body. The prince struggled to push the sleeping human off of him as he launched into a much more stoic continuation of his devious plot. “We’ll sneak into one of the kitchen windows, since it’s in the back and less guards will be there. From there, it’ll be easy to find an entrance to the catacombs. I know those corridors like they were mapped out on my eyelids, so we’ll find the Treasury in no time. Once we’re there, we grab the Halo sword and get out as quickly as possible.” Roman pursed his lips, running through a possible line of thought before speaking. “I suppose then we can figure out a way to overthrow Draven without, as Logan would say, ‘dooming us all.’” He tapped a single finger to his lips, slow and musing. “Calypso, he’s really rubbing off on me, isn’t he?” he sighed, ending his explanation on a much lighter note.
Cal, however, had heard only about half of it, their thoughts still concentrated on whatever Roman wasn’t telling them. It was certainly up to him whether or not he disclosed whatever Patton seemed to understand, based on the shared glances they’d caught the two friends sending to one another. “Say, Princey, mind if I ask you something? Outside?” Roman raised his eyebrows but untangled himself from the mess that was Anxiety sleeping and followed Cal outside of the cockpit. They rocked back and forth on their heels, wondering how to ask the question burning in the front of their mind without offending the dramatic outlaw.
Roman took notice of Cal’s hesitation and felt dread begin to creep into the back of his mind. “Come now, Cal, ask away… I already know it’s something about my past, isn’t it?”
“...Yeah. It is. But, you don’t have to answer, just-”
“Just tell me, Cal. I’m going back home, the wounds are going to open anyways. Might as well rip the band-aids off of some of them while I still have time to catch my breath,” the prince replied. Cal took a deep breath, stalling.
“You’re a prince.” Roman flushed, glancing at the floor before meeting the pirate’s eyes once more. Even after all these years, it still felt odd for someone to finally know. It still felt strange when he told Logan and Anxiety he was related to actual royals, not that he himself was one of them. It still felt like something was missing when he combed his fingers through his hair, only to not be blocked by a crown tossed haphazardly on his head. But Cal knew none of that. “You know the Vasryian palace as if you grew up there-” Roman’s face contorted into something full of pain and secrets, “-your sword-thingy is in the Vasryian Treasury, and you talk about Draven like he personally fucked up your life.” They paused, hoping the prince would understand what Cal was trying to ask without actually voicing it, perhaps sparing some of his emotional heart from tumult. But he was passively stoic, either not catching Cal’s drift or not knowing how to answer. “You’re the prince of Vasryia, aren’t you?” The words were subdued, as if they were taboo to say aloud. Roman’s gaze was stuck to the floor, his eyes glued to the little nails in the white metal panels.
All of a sudden, Roman’s eyes snapped up and Cal saw the pain behind his blue irises, the troubled past he kept hidden if only to not bring down his companions. Cal saw the raging fire quelled before their eyes, as though just speaking of his mysterious origins was a flood that would drown him if he wasn’t clinging so desperately to the hands of his comrades. “...not anymore,” he mumbled under his breath, swallowing thickly as he fought back the tears that never failed to appear in time with the memories of his final days on his home planet. “Draven… he took the throne and Patton and I ran for our lives…” His voice cracked at the end of his sentence, but it seemed that Cal didn’t care, showing more concern for the details they knew he was leaving out. He concentrated on his feet, unable to meet Cal’s unflinching gaze.
“Do the others know?”
“...Only Patton. H-he was the one who rescued me. All Logan and Anxiety think is that I carry royal blood, not that I’m its definition.” The prince’s gaze met the pirate’s once more, full of desperation. “We must do this, Cal. We must overthrow Draven. What he did… it’s simply unspeakable- I still wake up screaming some nights. I’m losing my mind, knowing tomorrow isn’t guaranteed, knowing every moment the next one could be when Draven finally finds me and finishes the job. I can’t sit around anymore. Finally, I have the chance and the balls to do something right for once in my life, and I’m not backing down. It’s like you said, Cal. I’m not backing down from the fight anymore. He made my life a living hell, and I’m going to make him pay.” His eyes flickered towards the barren walls, searching for any sign of an escape from the confining hallway. “If I don’t…” Roman trailed off, shaking his head.
Cal grabbed Roman’s shoulder, forcing the prince to look them in the eye. “Hey, Princey,” they said. “Don’t worry. We’re gonna find Draven, and we’re gonna take turns beating his ass with the backside of a staff.” Roman, against his will, cracked a smile, almost chuckling at the vision of Draven splayed comically across the floor, his companions taking turns swatting him as he let out even more comical screeches.
Cal turned to the door where the others where waiting on the other side. “Come on, let’s join them,” they suggested as they lead Roman back through the doorway, releasing his hand so he could take his perch once more in the copilot’s seat, noticing the way the prince’s shoulders slumped slightly, encumbered with both his revelation to Cal and his return to his home. He sullenly took his seat, gingerly allowing Anxiety’s sleeping form to flop over him once more, a small comfort to the growing dread that he was having trouble pushing away.
“Roman, could you wake Anxiety up?” Patton said, his baby blue eyes focusing on the stars racing past them as they made their way to Vasryia. The prince sighed.
“Right.” Roman proceeded to smack his hand on Anxiety’s face, telling the earthling to wake up. Said earthling woke up immediately, his eyes wild and still full of drowsiness.
“What the fuck, Roman?!” Anxiety screeched as he toppled out of the copilot’s chair, landing on the cold floor with a resounding thump. Though his body was somnolent, his mouth was apparently not, bombarding the blushing prince with a litany of curses, half of which spoken in his own tongue. “I was having a nice dream, thanks for interrupting it!” the human complained. “What the hell so important that you had to wake me up?”
Cal bit back a cackle watching Roman try to explain his plan to the sulking human, who only offered retorts in response. The prince eventually gave up with a displeased huff. “Couldn’t you at least have woken me when we were closer to Vasryia? We’re not even in the DR-34-M system yet, for crying out loud! At least then you could kill two birds with one stone and explain your stupid idea to Logan at the same time,” Anxiety grumbled.
“It was Cal’s idea to overthrow Draven, blame them!” Roman argued. Cal threw their arms up in defense.
“Hey, actions speak louder than words, and you’re the one who’s planned this whole rebellion, Princey,” Cal teased. Roman began arguing against Cal as well, before Patton finally tired of their antics and ordered all three to head outside so he could focus on flying the Sanders Yersinia without crashing into another ship or a rogue asteroid.
“How about we show Cal one of those earthling movies you’ve introduced me to?” the prince asked Anxiety, who shrugged, glancing at Cal for an okay. Though unaware of what movies they were talking about, they were never one to shy away from any form of entertainment, and nodded eagerly. “What do you think, should we show them the one with the mermaid or the son of the gods first?”
“Whichever one has the most romance,” Cal interjected. “And whichever one is longer, it might help pass time ‘til we get to Vasryia.” Anxiety mused over his childhood favorites.
“Then probably The Little Mermaid. It’s one of my favorites, and it’s over an hour, so we should be set for the rest of this roadtrip,” Anxiety replied as the three headed for the Common Rooms in the ship. “If we die, which we probably will, at least I get to introduce you to the wonderful word of Disney!”
They all piled together on a couch as Anxiety fished around in a chest, yanking out a slim box containing a disk. After setting it in a device that Cal assumed had been found on a black market somewhere or other, the human returned to the couch, snuggling into Roman’s warm side as a pillow as a castle that had been a constant throughout his childhood popped up on the screen in front of them.
“Settle in, Cal. It’s a long way to Vasryia.”
After Cal had finally wiped away their tears at the happy ending with the pretty mergirl and dashing human prince, Thomas appeared to inform them that they would be approaching Vasryia soon and that they should power Logan back on. Heeding the hologram’s suggestion, the trio headed for the kitchen, Roman’s wings flapping quickly after the emotional rollercoaster of the movie.
They found Logan seated prim and proper, a thin wire connected from the back of his head to an outlet in the wall. His eyes were open, empty, lifeless balls of glass that endlessly stared forward unnervingly. Cal shuddered, creeped out by the way Logan’s head was tilted ever so slightly, as if he would jolt awake at any moment to lecture them.
“Alright, how do you turn a robot on?” Cal wondered aloud, already playing with the little wire in the back of Logan’s head, scrutinizing the robot.
“I’m blaming you if anything happens to Logan!” Anxiety hollered as he pried Cal’s hands away from the delicate wires. “Let me do it, I know how not to damage him.” Gently, Anxiety coaxed the plug from the outlet as tiny sparks flickered. He opened a small panel on the back of the robot’s neck, tapped a few buttons, and shut the panel door, unplugging the wire from Logan’s head as well. “And now we wait,” the earthling sighed, hoisting himself up onto the table, swinging his legs nonchalantly.
Without warning, Logan’s eyes burned like blue fire before dimming to his normal slate grey orbs. The robot took a breath, testing out his systems as his vision fully returned, noticing his companions. “I assume we have arrived at Vasryia?” the robot said, his voice cracking slightly. Logan swore under his breath. “Remind me to seek a new voice box if we survive this idiotic plan, this one must be getting old.”
“Duly noted,” Anxiety replied as Roman swiped a bottle of juice from the cabinets. The four felt the ship shudder as it grew closer to the gravitational pull of Vasryia.
“Hey, kiddos, we’re going to pass through the security gates in a moment. You might want to come check this out,” Patton said over the intercom. Following the shapeshifter’s request, they helped Logan stand up and headed for the cockpit, making small talk as they went along. The doors slid open with precision, revealing the unmistakable swirling blues and greens of a planet. Cal stepped further toward the wall of glass in front of them and felt a rush of air leave their lungs in a soft, breathless gasp.
Before the ship was Vasryia, a planet known for both its beauty and its ruthless leadership. While mostly covered in blue waters that shone like sapphires bathed in a setting sun, the few swaths of land there were blessed with emerald forests whose trees sprung up to towering heights never witness by any other planets. Even from here, it seemed almost like the planet had its own soul, as if just by gazing upon it one would gain a connection with the enigmatic Vasryian lands.
“...I’ve never seen anything so beautiful,” Cal whispered in awe. They could scarcely remember a time when their life wasn’t shrouded in shadows, when they were able to see such untouched marvels.
“Welcome home, Roman,” Patton murmured, blinking away tears from his baby blue eyes as a smile crossed his lips. “I can’t wait to see the Neimas and Raehs again!” he said in a much more excited tone. Roman made a sound of agreement, taking Anxiety and Cal’s hands in his own and pulling them haphazardly to the large glass pane so they could eagerly take in the sight.
“You were born here, Princey?” Anxiety scoffed skeptically as he took in the view. “Looks like just forest to me.” Roman swatted at Anxiety’s nose with a tsk.
“Alright, kiddos, play nice. And, Anxiety, Roman was born here. Just beyond the horizon is the Main Land, a peninsula where most Vasryians live, since almost all of the planet’s covered in dense vegetation. The palace is on the water’s edge, and the coast is only a minute’s walk away,” Patton explained as he expertly guided the spacecraft through a circular gate. All held their breath as they passed through, letting it out with relief as nothing happened.
Patton landed the Sanders Yersinia in the valley, just as Roman suggested, and they scurried out of the spaceship quickly, as if their presence alone would be enough to alert Draven to the upcoming danger. “Well, it’s now or never, kiddos. Are you guys ready?” the shapeshifter asked as he stuck out a hand to the others. Cal quickly placed theirs on top, Logan and Anxiety following suit. Roman, however, hesitated, a cocktail of emotions flashing across his face as he stared at them.
“Roman?” Anxiety asked with concern. Roman snapped back to life, throwing his hand on top forcefully.
“Sorry, it’s just been a while since… since I’ve come back home,” the prince mused wistfully as his eyes roamed over the landscape, taking in the behemoth trees around them, reaching for the sky. “Let’s go.”
They expected it to be difficult to infiltrate the castle. They expected there to be guards at every turn. They expected to run into trouble. But they never expected to be able to sneak into the kitchen without any qualms, without any fights, without any guards. It was like they were allowed to walk in unannounced. Cal felt the hair on the back of their neck, tingle, unnerved by the seemingly deserted castle.
“I smell something cooking, there’s got to be at least someone here!” they cried in exasperation. “How can a castle have literally nobody?” They growled low in their throat, annoyed at the absence of people, and thus, adrenaline-inducing fights.
“Hush, Cal, if there is someone, they’ll know just by hearing you!” Roman retorted. “Now follow me, there’s a passageway somewhere around here, if I remember correctly.” The prince lead them through a narrow hallway, stopping without warning in front of a tapestry. Its brilliant reds and golds stood out from the muted blues and purples of the background. Cal squinted, yet still couldn’t make out what the picture was supposed to be. “In here,” Roman ordered, pulling back the woven piece to reveal a small wooden door behind it. The door swung open easily, as though there had never been a need to lock the entrances to the passageways in the first place.
The group followed Roman through a labyrinth of catacombs and corridors, weaving his way through them like they were tattooed on the back of his hand. They moved in silence, all agreeing any sound might spook the others, besides possibly revealing their location to any guards.
All at once, Roman paused, hushing Cal and Logan, who were whispering about deep space travel. “Listen,” he whispered, pressing his ear against the stone cold wall to his right. Cal cocked an eyebrow, clearly confused. Giving in, they pressed an ear to the wall, too, and heard faint mumbles from the other side.
“Your Majesty, in three days time the suns will set on Dageron. My team and I believe that the best time to attack is during the Festival of Dying Suns,” someone was saying. Roman paled.
“Sweet Calypso, that’s Sir Picani!” he whispered angrily. “What has Draven done to that poor man?”
“Very good, Picani. You’ve proven your worth to me. You are dismissed.” A cold silence fell over Cal and Roman as they shared a look. Draven.
“Your Majesty, what should I tell the troops?”
“Whatever they want to hear. Make up some tale of Dageron outlaws threatening the royal family. The common folk believe whatever they are told.” Cal glanced at Roman, whose face was pale as a ghost’s, his fists clenched into tight balls. He was hyperventilating, eyes glazed over, staring forward as though his eyes were seeing a different reality.
“Roman, whatever you’re planning to do, save it for later. We have to follow through with the plan, or we might get ourselves killed,” Cal told him harshly. The prince jolted, shaking his head twice. “Can you lead us to the Treasury?” They cringed at the barely concealed concern, gripping the Vasryian’s arm tightly to keep his anchored within their reality. Roman took a deep breath as he collected himself, blinking back invisible tears from his dark eyes.
“It’s this way.” Without another word, Roman continued their path to the Treasury, stopping and starting in turn as the sounds of a guard’s boot hitting the cold stone ground grew louder and softer at intervals. “This should be it,” he said, stopping in front of a nondescript door with rotting wood edges and rusting metal bolts on either side. Closing his eyes, he held a palm up to the door, which swung open without effort.
“That shouldn’t be possible,” Logan muttered under his breath.
“Really? Vasryians can turn into animals and it’s opening doors you think shouldn’t be possible?” Cal teased. Logan spluttered, grumbling quietly as Roman helped the others down to the Treasury floor. “Right, Princey, what now?” Cal asked, landing on the floor like a cat.
“We find out where the heck Draven’s keeping my sword. We grab it. We gun it. We warn Dageron and hopefully save some lives in the process. We kick the shit out of that lying bastard,” Roman replied, gritting his teeth as he whirled around in the dark room. “Let’s split up. As bad an idea it is, we’ll find the Halo Sword much faster if we do. Anxiety, you’re with me, and Logan, you’re with Patton. Cal, did you ever go into the Treasury?” Cal nodded.
“Once or twice, but I know my way around. Let’s kick it, shall we?” The others and went off in separate directions, leaving Cal in the middle of the room they had entered. It was underneath the castle, judging by the frigid temperature, and a puddle formed in one corner of the room, the leak above dripping every so often enough to remind Cal they weren’t in a dream.
In front of them was a tall glass case spanning the height of the room. A panel on the other acted as the door to access the glittering jewel resting on a peach velvet cushion inside. The thief inside of Cal squirmed, aching to snatch the beautiful piece and sell it for a month’s good night’s sleep. The piece, an heirloom necklace that just laid on the cushion, taunting Cal, was a emerald in the shape of a cloud beset in sparkling diamonds. Cal’s hand rested on the glass, their fingers tapping apprehensively before they sighed, turning away. They had a mission to get to.
With that, they turned on their heel, letting their feet guide themselves down the maze of hallways. They recognized the long, winding corridor as the Hall of Ornaments, where the royal family and its visiting guests stored their precious jewelry, ranging from sapphire earrings that would likely tear a hole in someone’s ear to ivory bangles studded with tiny gold nuggets. Cal, unfortunately, had to bypass them all with a muffled whine.
They didn’t know where they were headed. It seemed like their legs had a mind of their own, guiding to some unknown destination that was pulling at them like gravity. Dimming torches passed by them with monotony, homogenous doors at every interval, yearning to be opened. Cal stopped suddenly, feeling something call them. They looked to their left to see an nondescript door, so plain they would’ve passed it by and not thought twice about it had they not felt something tugging at their soul like a child who so desperately wanted to play.
The door, surprisingly, swung open, unlocked. Inside, it looked to be… empty. There was nothing, save for a couple dust mites lounging in the air as if the room hadn’t been opened in some time. Cal took a step forward and stumbled, tripping on an invisible pebble on the ground. As their head rose from the dusty floor, they crawled back in surprise. A dais had appeared before them like a ghost in the dead of night. Atop it sat a strange stone dusted with lavenders and a blush. Cal’s eyes were entranced by this odd rock that had appeared out of nowhere. It seemed to call their name, begging them to reach out and touch it. They extended one of their dainty fingers- surely one touch wouldn’t hurt?
A yelp sounded through the dim corridors. Cal lurched away from the stone as if shoved, gaining their bearings as they staggered out of the room, looking around for the person. Another yelp, louder this time, sounded, alerting Cal. They took off immediately in the direction of the scream, forgetting all about the door that seem to vanish as soon as they were out of sight.
Cal rounded a corner to see the flash of a guard’s rapier and froze. In the hallway stood Roman, his body angled forward to protect Anxiety from the blade, and the guard, whose ebony skin shone like coal in the torchlight and whose body took on characteristics of a wolf. Roman’s face was bewildered, flashing with recognition.
“Another one? What is with you kids and stealing jewels for a thrill? Come on, if you’re lucky the Head Guard will let you off with a caning,” the guard said sternly, whipping his weapon back and forth between Cal and Roman and Anxiety, making sure they knew not to try to escape.
“T-Terrence?” Roman mumbled in disbelief. The guard visibly flinched back, his eyes narrowing. “Sweet Calypso, Terrence, is that really you?”
“How do you know me?”
“Terrence… it’s me… Roman. Don’t you recognize me?” the prince asked in a hushed voice. The guard- Terrence- stared at Roman, squinting as he racked through his brain, trying to figure out who the thief in front of him was. The guard’s face relaxed into one of shock, seeing a much younger face in his mind.
“No way…” he breathed. “Your Highness? What are you doing here?” Terrence’s face broke into a relieved smile as he let out a sigh, lowering his rapier. “I- I thought you were dead!”
Roman stepped forward, grinning. “It’s been too long, my friend.” The prince tackled the guard in a crushing hug, letting a few quiet laughs escape him. “Patton and I escaped the day… the day Draven sealed his power.” The mood between the two immediately soured. “We’re going to bring him down, Terrence. He’s forced too many people to suffer without any repercussions.” The two separated, studying each other. “I almost didn’t recognize you. Still short as ever, eh?” Roman smirked as Terrence squaked in offense, his grey tail swishing.
“Are you ever going to let that go?”
“Never, as long as you’re still short,” Roman teased, his wings flapping happily.
“As much as I hate to interrupt this touching moment, we still haven’t found your sword Roman, and we need to make this heist as quick as possible,” Anxiety interjected, tugging on the prince’s arm. Terrence’s face paled.
“Oh no… I alerted the Guard the Snake that there were intruders in here, they’ll be here any minute!” he exclaimed. “You guys have to get out of here, now!” Cal felt the air rush out of them. Draven headed the Guard. He would be here. They could exact their revenge now. They could end this all.
“Where’s Patton and Logan?” they asked instead. Worry flashed across the faces of the others as Anxiety shouted their names. No reply came. “Shit, we gotta find them.”
“Cal, do you know how to get back to where we entered?” The pirate nodded. “Good. Go look for Patton and Logan. We’ll go find my sword, we’re not leaving empty handed.”
“I’ll ask Dominic and Jamahl to come here. They’ll help us,” the guard said. Duty given, Cal ran off in the opposite direction, calling the name of their friends, looking down every hallway they came upon. There was no sign of their companions.
“Patton! Logan! Guys?” they cried desperately. From a distant corridor came a soft thump, grabbing Cal’s attention. They ran towards the noise, turning sharply down the hallway to find Logan stumbling out of a room, his hand interlocked tightly with Patton’s. Patton’s breaths came in short gasps, his head weak on his neck, lolling around. “Are you guys alright?” Cal asked with concern, rushing to help support the semi-conscious shapeshifter.
“I don’t know what happened! One moment, I opened the door to see what was inside, the next moment, Patton’s fainting,” Logan explained as he struggled to hold up the Drisine. Cal heaved Patton onto the back, explaining the situation to Logan as they began dragging Patton back the way they had came.
“To make a long fucking story short, Roman found an old friend of his who’s going to help us out of here. Friend is a guard, so he alerted Draven’s top squad of soldiers we were here. Roman ran off with Anxiety and the guard to find his sword, and I came to find you guys. We’re getting out of here, now,” they said as they limped down the hallways, careful to keep Patton upright as he stumbled about, still not fully conscious.
The three made their way quickly through the corridors of the Treasury, hearing nothing. Cal felt their heart climb up into their throat, beyond worried for their friends. “Calypso above help them,” they mumbled under their breath as they reached their starting point. They heard Logan take in a breath, holding it. Cal turned to the robot.
“They’re going to be okay… right?” They cursed silently, cringing at how childlike and vulnerable they sounded. The AI’s face relaxed.
“Of course, Calrex. We’ve been in worse situations before. Don’t worry,” he reassured, taking Patton from their care. “Come on, Patton, we need you to wake up now,” he urged the shapeshifter. Patton blinked heavily, groaning.
“Jus’... gimme a minute…” the Drisine grumbled, disoriented.
A sudden, low scream tore Cal’s gaze away from the recovering pilot to the other hallway that led in the room they were in. They could see the faint glow of a lantern at the distant end, but could make out nothing else. Cries of pain echoed through the dim corridor, Cal’s panic slowly but surely rising to the dreaded top.
They could hear heavy footsteps coming towards them, the shouts getting louder and more coherent. A swash of white entered the light, the edges crimson red. From the darkness burst Roman and Anxiety, gripping each others’ hands as they raced towards the pirate, the android, and the shapeshifter. “Guys, open the door! Just push, it’s right behind you!” Roman shouted as the colorless uniform of a guard plunged into the light behind them. It wasn’t Terrence, nor was it any guard Cal could remember seeing on any of their escapades to the palace.
Cal threw their body weight at the wall, swearing as their shoulder collided with the stones of the secret door. It swung open as Cal stumbled into the dusty passageway, hitting the floor with a yelp. Logan helped Patton inside, moving past Cal. “You help them, I’ll get Patton as far ahead as possible before they advance after us.” Cal pushed themselves off the floor, turning around to watch the prince and the human run down the corridor as fast as they could.
Roman suddenly grabbed Anxiety, shoving him into the passageway as he slowed down, pulling a dagger from the depths of his coat. “Roman, are you crazy? Get in here so I can close the door!” Anxiety yelled, grunted as he thrust himself from the ground.
The prince either didn’t hear him or don’t care. He whirled around, walking backwards. “Dominic, take this. Protect yourself, alright? I’ll come back and help you all, I promise,” he murmured. The guard startled, halfway through refusing the dagger before Roman placed it gingerly in Dominic’s hands. “I’ll fight alongside you until the end, my dear friend.”
“No! Your Highness, forgive for refusing your orders, but it appears to me that your friends need you. I cannot allow you to endanger yourself. You and your friends must defeat Draven. Now, go, Your Highness!” The guard sheathed the dagger in an empty holster, turned toward Roman, and shoved him hard. Roman fell back into Anxiety’s arms, his arms flailing dangerously. As he pulled the door shut, the guard at Roman’s face of betrayal. “Me and the others never stopped searching for you, Your Highness. Please don’t make our efforts in vain.”
Dominic heaved the door closed, offering the three a sad smile as the light from the torches disappeared. Roman let out a distressed whine, ripping himself out of Anxiety’s arms, clawing at the door. “Dominic, no! Draven is going to kill you, you fool! Please, don’t… don’t… don’t sacrifice yourself for someone as lousy as me,” Roman said as he sank to the dusty ground.
“Roman…” Anxiety began. “...c’mon. We have to go.” Gently, the earthling pulled the prince away from the door, Cal prying his fingers off the heartless, cold stones. “You heard him, don’t let his sacrifice go to waste,” he grumbled. The three headed down the corridor, their tense breathing the only break of silence.
Roman guided them without a word, jutting his head in the directions they had to go in. Just as Cal was convinced they had gone the wrong way and the door in front of them lead right into Draven’s hands, they fell out into the kitchen, coughing as disturbed dust flew into the air. “Let’s just go,” Roman said coldly as Cal tried to speak words of comfort.
They met Logan and Patton at the kitchen window they had broken to get in. Patton, by now, had regained his inhibitions and could stand upright, much to the relief to the robot. Cal and Logan, the strongest of the group, helped the others out as they heard a crash from the other side of the kitchen.
“Shit, guys, I think we might have company!” Cal shouted as they helped Logan out of the window, grabbing onto the ledge to haul themselves over. They heard incoherent mumbles, a shot firing through the room. “Fuck!” They ducked, narrowly missing being hit by the bullet. They threw their body over the ledge, falling onto the ground with a grunt of pain. “Let’s go!” they shouted, already starting to run. “We might have to bring out the big guns for- wait, you guys have blasters on that ship, right?”
“Uh, I think so? We’ve never really been one for offense. I think they’re on the lower level, if I had to guess,” Patton explained as he shapeshifted into a spotted feline, running ahead to the ship. Once there, the Drisine shapeshifted back, opening the bay ramp for his friends, who were still scrambling down the sides of the valley. “Come on, kiddos, get on- woah!” he called as he dodged another bullet.
A fleet of guards was approaching them from above, raining them with bullets and beams of energy. Roman froze suddenly, seizing up as his breath quickened, flinching with every gunshot that brought him just one step closer to death. Anxiety turned to pull Roman along and paled, letting out a howl. “Roman, watch out!” he screamed as he tackled the prince to the ground, a bullet whizzing by them, not an inch from where the Vasryian’s heart had been just moments before. The earthling spoke rapidly in his native tongue, hands wandering over the prince’s body, looking for a wound. “Are you alright?” he panted.
Roman nodded, eyes wide and wild as they stared into the human’s. “T-thank you,” he mumbled as Anxiety pulled him off the ground, yanking him as the sprinted for the ship. Cal ran up the ramp, shoving Logan and Patton inside with them as the AI began bringing up the ramp.
Anxiety and Roman launched themselves onto the ramp, rolling into the ship with a grunt. “Ah! Shit!” Anxiety shrieked in pain, grabbing his arm. Roman, his breathing still heavy from panic, took the earthling’s arm in his hand, carefully twisting it to see a trail of blood making its way down his shirt. As his eyes followed the trail up, the prince felt his breathing completely stop. Just below his shoulder, Anxiety’s shirt had ripped open, revealing a bloodied wound. The bullet he had protected Roman from had hit his bicep.
“Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, I’m freaking out, this is insane, we’re going to die-”
“Cal, now is not the time. Anxiety, come with me, I’ll tend to your wound,” Logan interjected quickly, heading down a hallway, the human untangling himself from the prince’s guilty, lingering grasp and following. “Patton, Roman, Cal, you guys better get us out of here,” he warned before disappearing into a room.
“I’ll go find the blasters,” Cal said, running downstairs. They tripped on a step, falling face-first to the lower level. “Calypso above…” they muttered bitterly. “Right, let’s find where my babies are.” They slammed the door open, running down the hallway. They checked every room, but none seemed to be the blasters’ bay. “Where are you?” they asked in frustration. They kicked open the door to their right, surprised to see nothing but a small hatch in the compacted room.
They turned on the comm system in the room, hearing the ship groan as Patton likely coaxed it to lift off. “Hey, Patton, I’m in a room with nothing but a hatch? Can you tell me if it leads to the blasters or an escape route?”
The speaker next to them crackled to life. “I’m looking at a blueprint right now, Cal, and I think that is the blaster. Do you know how to handle one?” Cal chuckled as they threw open the hatch, revealing a seat directly underneath, surrounded by a control panel.
“Do I know how to handle a blaster? Please, blasters are child’s play for me.” They slid into the sight, grinning at the sight of the controls of a battle-class blaster. “Hoo boy, let’s see what you babies are capable of!” they cackled gleefully. They hit their head on the window in front of them as the ship suddenly lurched forward, taking off.
“There are two fighters headed towards us on your right, Cal,” Roman apprised. Cal found them on the scanner, locked the target onto them, and pressed the control buttons. Two bright blue beams of energy shot out of the blast, hitting the fighters head on. Cal whooped, feeling familiar adrenaline pump into their veins.
“Let’s fucking do this!”
Two more fighters appeared on their scanner, coming from opposite directions. They tsked, focusing on the one approaching them fastest. They maneuvered the blaster in the fighter’s direction as it fired twice, biting their lip as they pressed down hard on the buttons. “Taste laser, fucker!” they cheered as the fighter went down, one engine a ball of flames. They moved on to the other one, firing several times and missing. This fighter was definitely flown by a pro; it dodged all of their shots, and even returned a couple as the Sanders Yersinia climbed higher into the atmosphere.
“Guys, this fighter’s dodging all of my shots. We might not- ah!” They screamed as a shot hit the spaceship full force, rocking it back violently. They heard broken up screams from the comms, the system frizzling. “Are you guys alright?” Cal shouted, hoping the comms system wasn’t broken.
“Cal- shoot- down!” crackled the speaker above. Cal growled, determined to shoot down the fighter. They heaved the cumbersome controls back, pulling the blaster up.
“Let’s see if you can dodge this,” they grumbled, firing the blaster a few feet ahead of where the fighter would be. As the beam approached the fighter, it exploded, unable to contain the energy any longer, creating a cloud of smoke and flames that distracted the plane long enough for Cal to lock onto it. “Long live the king,” they whispered bitterly as they shot once more, sending the ship crashing down to the earth below. They cursed vividly as they noticed a squadron lift off from the ground.
“Cal, hang on, we’re going to go into hyperdrive as soon as we’re far enough!” Roman said over the intercom.
“Right, well, we’ve got company, so make snappy,” they replied as they recharged the blaster, gearing up to fire again. The ship was rapidly picking up speed, the Vasryian lands almost disappearing before Cal’s eyes. “Don’t worry,” they mumbled aloud, thinking of the guards who apparently were still loyal to Roman, “I’ll make sure to get Roman home safely.” With resolve, they shot a final time, managing to bring down two in one blow.
“We’re far enough now, Cal, hold on to something,” Patton advised as the ship rumbled to full power. Cal swore as they were pressed back painfully into their seat, eyes swimming with tears as they saw the warped image of one final fighter.
“Guys, one’s following us, I have to get rid of it!” they alerted, hearing the speakers crackle as blurred stars flew past them.
“Don’t, Cal, it’s too dangerous! The shot could rebound and damage the Sanders Yersinia,” came from overhead.
“I’m sorry, Patton, but there’s no other option. I have to shoot it or we risk it shooting us. We’ve come this far, we’re not leaving this up to chance,” Cal responded, aiming the blaster. Whispering lines from the myth of Calypso, they locked onto the fighter and fired.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion as the beam of energy shot out of the blaster cannon. Cal held their breath, biting down hard enough on their lip to draw beads of crimson blood. The beam shone like a dying star, nearly blinding them as they focused on its path to the fighter, which was more a splash of chartreuse and ebony than a flying hunk of metal in the warped heavens of hyperdrive.
And then reality went back to its normal speed, the explosions raking at Cal’s sensitive ears. It took them a moment to register the fact that the explosions came from the fighter, the shot having hit it dead on. Cal felt their breath rush out of them all at once, panting in the aftermath of the short-lived but intense battle.
“Oh. Oh! Fucking Calypso! I did it! I fucking did it!” they whooped, smacking the controls of the blaster happily. Overhead, they heard the intercom crackle back to life. “I did it, guys! Did you even see that? Calypso, it was awesome!”
“I’m so proud of you, kiddo!” Patton said from the cockpit. “Come upstairs, we’ve got some things to figure out.”
As the adrenaline slowly eased out of their body, Cal headed upstairs to the cockpit, where Patton and Roman were waiting for them. Patton was calm, relieved tears visible in his eyes. Roman, however, was fidgeting, biting his lip and tapping his foot briskly. His eyes darted about from place to place, and his hands hugged his sides.
“He shouldn’t have taken that bullet for me. I… I should’ve been more careful. He wouldn’t have gotten hurt if I had just been more careful. Sweet Calypso, I’m too reckless,” Roman was in the middle of saying.
“Roman, it’s not your fault that you froze up. You’ve been through a lot, nobody can blame you,” Patton argued.
“Well, Anxiety probably does!” Roman spat, crossing his arms childishly.
“Woah, hey, Princey, you don’t know that,” Cal cut in. “He did what he thought was right, not what he thought had to do. Besides, he’s probably more worried about his wound getting infected that whatever you’re beating yourself up over. Now, Patton, what did you want to talk about?” Patton straightened in his chair, offering the pirate a smile of thanks for dealing with Roman.
“I just wanted us to go over everything that happened so we can figure out our next step. I’ve asked Thomas to check in on Logan and Anxiety and update us on his condition. Anxiety has the Halo Sword, so at least we didn’t go to Vasryia for nothing. We also need to assess how much damage was dealt to the Sanders Yersinia. If it’s really bad, we’ll have to go to the mechanic and get it fixed before we do anything else,” Patton explained. Cal nodded, still eyeing the prince.
“If you can pull up a diagram of the ship, I can cross-reference that with incoming data. I did this a lot with the Dragon Witches,” Cal suggested, sliding into a seat by the glass panel. Patton did as asked, and a transparent screen popped up in front of Cal, displaying a crude outline of the ship and its basic components. “Right, let’s see…” they breathed, looking over the diagram, their eyes flickering between it and the numbers scrolling by the screen on the right.
“‘40% damage sustained overall,’” they read. “Shit, really? Hmm… ‘Outside barrier: 20% damage sustained.’ Yeah, but where? ‘Engines: 10% damage sustained, Thrusters: 10% damage sustained.’ Okay, so do you have anyway to capture events on this ship?”
“Yeah, we have a motion capture device outfitted on the top. Why do you ask?” Patton replied.
“If I can find out where we were shot, I can use that information to figure out which exact parts were damaged.” Cal hummed, their fingers flying over a keyboard, pulling up the motion capture device’s data onto the screen as well. Numbers and letters flew past Cal’s blue-green eyes, nothing but gibberish to the untrained being. “It’s saying that a fighter came towards us from down-right, firing twice, hitting us once. Must have been one of the ones I shot down. The beam moved past the engine, so it must have been a thruster. Looking at the ship’s diagram, I’d say it’s the one labelled ‘Thruster A.’ Before that- so probably while we were lifting off or running into the valley- three bolts of energy hit the ship, according to this thing. One hit… let’s see… one hit the engines, and the other two hit the hull. My best guess is that the damaged engine is this one, and the other two shots hit here and here,” Cal said as they pointed to the contact points of the diagram.
“We’re probably going to need a mechanic,” Patton concluded, Cal nodding in agreement. “Roman, would you set a course for Legion? It’s about time we pay Wonderling a visit.” Roman nodded curtly, banging a couple keys as he entered their next destination.
“Who’s Wonderling, exactly?” Cal inquired, cocking an eyebrow as the Vasryian and the Drisine glanced at each other, oppressing giggles.
“Oh, don’t worry Cal. You’re going to love her,” Roman told them wickedly, smiling mischievously. Cal gulped, already feeling concerned for their well-being, though they knew they would probably be fine. After all that had happened so far, a mechanic couldn’t possibly any worse.
Of course, experiencing every that had happened so far told them it probably would turn out to be worse.
Do I know what the word ‘ending’ means? Haha, that’s cute, you thought I did.
I don’t.
Anywho, I hope you guys enjoyed this installment of Starbound! We’re finally getting somewhere with the plot (yay)! And now I get to introduce you all to Wonderling Finch, a badass mechanic, and her fun-filled crew (and I’m sitting at my computer cackling because I know exactly what happens to Cal and the Sides while they visit her, haha).
NOTE: THIS MAY BE THE LAST CHAPTER FOR A WHILE. I am leaving in two weeks for a camp in the mountains of West Virginia (equaling no wi-fi or service). I am working as hard as I can to get a new chapter up before then, but that’s a best-case scenario. Between work and other projects, I will likely not have time to write, edit, and review and entire chapter in two weeks. IF THIS IS THE CASE, I will try my best to queue some art work to go up at intervals throughout my time in WV. I will also work on the next chapter during that time, so it can go up as soon as I’m back. To end, I WILL BE GONE FOR TWO WEEKS, SO DON’T EXPECT ANY NEW INSTALLMENTS OF STARBOUND FOR ANYWHERE FROM TWO TO FOUR WEEKS. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
I hate pedophiles. I hate people who sexualize children. I hate people who sexualize a childs needs. I hate people who sexualize gear made for children. I hate people who sexualize the relationship between child and parent. I hate people who sexualize what children call their parents. I hate people who sexualize the relationship between student and teacher. I hate people who sexualize childlike behavior. I hate people who sexualize siblingry. I hate people who sexualize childgear. I hate people who sexualize age regression. I hate, I hate, I hate.
I'm going to rant about Bruno Mars’ song locked outta heaven
(I will diss on it hard so if you don’t wanna hear it, don’t click keep reading) (Also don’t read if lazy typing irritates you cuz I’m too lazy to write like im an intellectual)
I swear I hate that really obnoxious song of Bruno Mars called locked out of heaven or whatever
Damn right it’s locked out of heaven because that song fucking belongs in fucking hell oh my fucking god it enrages the fucking hell out of me every fucking time I hear this god damn song.
like what the fuck is with that weird sound that makes a constant sound like what is it hph hph hphp php hp hp ????????????????????? and i don’t know if this is right but he has staccatos almost constantly. I don’t know if it is, but how he sings it and the fucking background noise in his song sounds so choppy I hate it!
also if you have to say LOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooOOOOOOooooOOOOOOOOOOOoooooOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng for long, STOP! It sounds like shit! wait did he sing it like that or did he sing it like LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOEEEEEEEEEEEE OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOEEEEEEE WHOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAA
I swear if i hear another fucking WHOA in a song I will fucking scream!
I don’t know what it is but sometimes when i hear certain songs i get fucking enraged!
every time i hear this song i must blast whatever i can to NOT HEAR THIS SONG!!!!!!!
MY ROOMMATES BOYFRIEND JUST JUMPED DOWN MY THROAT BECAUSE I DIDNT WANT TO WATCH SOME BULLSHIT SHOW WITH HIM. Like fuck you I would much rather talk to the two wonderful people I never actually met than do ANYTHING with you. No I don't care about the story. No I don't care who dies. No I don't care about what your saying Let me talk to my girls in private you cantankerous twat!
