unity
warnings: major character death|betrayal
If Sapphire had to be honest, there wasn’t many things she expected to be waiting on her when she returned to Riverdale. Her friends? The Serpents? Expected. Penny Finally Fucking Gone? Expected. FP’s son in charge of the Serpents? Expected but not until he was an adult.
Her brother dead and never coming back?
Entirely unexpected.
She could feel Sonja’s hand slip from hers as the shock settled in. Their brother. Their big brother was gone. “Hermano, despierta,” she demanded. Already her eyes were clouding with tears. “Despierta. Joaquin, wake up. Please. Please.”
But he wouldn’t, and her tears spilled over.
“No.”
“No.”
“No.”
“No”
“NO!”
She could feel the pressure in her chest grow as she desperately tried to breath all the while huge ugly sobs escaped her. “Hermano, please. You can’t leave me!”
She reached for his body and she felt no warmth. His skin was cold to touch and so quickly the grief inside of her turned to rage.
Joaquin was hers and she’ll make them pay. She’ll make them all pay.
After all, no serpent was left for dead and a serpent never betrays their own.
But what’s betrayal when there’s no serpents left?
--
Sapphire and Sonja walked through the halls of Riverdale with their heads held high. They each wore shades to cover their red rimmed eyes and were surrounded by a group of security guards. Each of them had their respective gang affiliated paraphernalia and tattoos covered. No need for people to wonder why a Ghoulie and Serpent Former Serpent were together.
Standing inside the protected circle with them with Stone Enterprises’ and Stone Industries’ own lawyers. It took a lot work and a lot of non-legal dealings to acquire footage of certain Serpent members leaving the woods and were last to see her brother alive. Fuck, the Serpents’ legal help. She’s going make sure that they’ll never have scale to slither on.
“Getting rid of the Serpents gives the Ghoulies a good leg to stand on,” Sonja comments offhandedly. She cares nothing of what happens to either gang. She wants vengeance. She wants to see everyone involved with her brother’s descent into realm of death held responsible. And she was responsibly hanging them over a building by their small intestines then who can blame her?
Sapphire snorted and hissed, “I don’t give flying shit. They killed my brother.”
They made it to the room where the Serpents had taken to hanging out. Sapphire had only just barely managed to suppress the snarl at seeing them lounging around so casual. Like they hadn’t been the last ones to see her brother before he was killed. To her, they were just as guilty as the murderer. Especially after she recognized the slicing of skin where his serpent tattoo had once been.
They all tense up at the sight of all the armed guards walking into the room. Sweet Pea, her dearest beloved and first love even rose up to his full height. As much as she loved Mama and Grammy Sweets and the triplets, she will see that he falls face first. Knock him down to her height.
“What’s going on,” FP’s boy questioned. She saw the old pictures of FP and the boy could’ve been his clone. Too bad that her love for her leader will not stop her from tearing his son into pieces.
Sapphire and Sonja stepped out the circle. Recognition immediately filtered through Fangs (her little murder puppy), Toni (her best friend), and Sweet Pea (her first and only love).
“Saph,” they all breathed and the others in the room with them looked on in confusion. Those who had not been a part of the gang before Sapphire left to follow her brother.
“It’s Miss Stone to you,” she snapped without bothering to hide the pure and righteous fury in her voice. They flinched away from her. Good. They’d do right to fear her. “Can someone tell me the laws of the Serpents?”
Her eyes flickered around the room even looking at FP’s boy but even he had enough sense to not make eye contact with her. It mattered not. She was going to end them all.
“There are many but the main six? One: No Serpent stands alone. I know you all like to think that I abandoned FP when he was arrested for that shitcase with the Blossoms, but I stood with Joaquin since no one else did. I stood with my brother. “
She made she sure to clearly enunciated her association with him for the ones that didn’t seem to understand.
“Two: If a Serpent is killed or imprisoned, their family will be taken care of. Again, I took care of my family since no one else decided to. And it has been a week since my big brother was fucking murdered and this is my first time seeing any fucking serpent!”
Sonja calmly laid a hand on her shoulder, but Sapphire could feel her shaking. Could feel the anger coursing through her body.
“Three: You cannot hurt one of your own.”
She held up one finger.
“Four: No Serpent is left for dead.”
She held up another.
“Five: A Serpent never betrays his own.”
She held up another.
“And yet, despite knowing these fucking laws, my brother was still hurt. He was still left for dead. And he was still betrayed!”
She was screaming so loud that she was sure the students’ around the faculty heard her. Her gaze shifted from around all of them. Fangs was the unlucky one to catch her gaze first. “You know, he called us. The whole time he and Archie were making their little plan while in juvie. He called us and told us what was going on. And I told him to stay. He should’ve been informed us of what was going on and that I’d have him out there before the next day was over with. The next day came and no one could tell me where my brother was until he called me himself to tell me how he had to save your ass, Edward. And you held him down while this poor excuse of a fucking leader cut the tattoo off his arm.”
Fangs flinched back from the anger, hurt, and grief in her voice. He didn’t even care that she spoke his real name. He hurt her, and she was damn sure going to make sure he knew it.
“He betrayed us first, Saph!”
Sapphires gaze whipped towards Sweet Pea and her lips pulled back into a snarl. “Korran, you have no leg to stand on with me. That’s my damn brother you’re talking about you oversized pea brain oaf! And it wasn’t a fucking betrayal! I heard that it was over some stupid ass Goblins game or whatever the fuck you idiots are playing! My brother is dead! That makes you either murderers or accessories to the crime. So, which is it? Tell me! Either way, the Serpents are fucking done for. This whole fucking town is done for.”
FP’s son stood and stalked over to her as if he imitated her. She could laugh. He didn’t understand the danger he was in just by being in her mere presence and he decided he was going to what? Scare her into indulging him?
He stopped right out of her reach. Smart boy.
“What do you mean the Serpents are done for?”
She pushed the shades from her eyes, so he could see the rage in them. “Exactly what I said. Everything from the mortgage down to the sugar packets and anything owned or operate by Serpents members officially and legally belong to me. And I’m going to get it all back.”
Sapphire stared right at Sweet Pea as she stated, “Which includes Sweet Pea’s family store. Includes the trailers. Includes half the land of Riverdale. Includes the Whyte Worm. The jackets on your bodies even the damn tattoos on your skin. It was MY money that paid for it and since it was my brother that paid for YOUR actions, I’m going to let you know exactly what happens when you mess with Sapphire Stone.”
“You can’t do that,” one of the people in the room argued. She let the growl escaped her, “Fucking watch me.”
Toni slowly walked towards her. Timid and slightly scared. It wasn’t how she usually was. It was actually completely out of her character, but she knew how Sapphire was when she got angry. And anger and grief don’t mix well together. Neither did the wild look in Sapphire’s eyes. But she had to try to appeal to Sapphire. She couldn’t destroy the Serpents. They were family.
“Sapphire come on. What happened to the six law? You know, ‘In unity, there is strength’. We’re family. Quin meant a lot to us too. We need to stick together.”
If it wasn’t for Sonja’s sudden arm breaking grip on her, Sapphire would’ve clocked her fist into Toni’s face. “I know my family and you’re damn sure not a part of it. Keep that same unified energy though when I’m burning the Serpents to the ground. You’re gonna need all the strength you can get.”
She snapped her fingers, “Fri, you’re up.”
Sonja and Sapphire watched as one of their many lawyers stepped forward and handed over the paperwork to Fangs and Sweet Pea and Jughead and Toni.
“Edward Fogarty, Korran Swelton, Forsythe Jones III, Antonia Topaz, you have been served.”
Sonja swallowed down her grief and rage as she looked upon the four serpents that her cousin counted as friends and allies. “You may not understand the severity of such documents considering that you previously attended Southside High and believe me, I know how fucking shitty that school was. And this current school teaches you nothing and lets you all sit around playing dumb ass board games where you go out and murder innocent people- “
“Sonja,” Sapphire stated easily reeling her back in. Sonja refuse to think about how it felt to see her brother’s body so lifeless and cold.
She cleared her throat, “The purpose of those papers basically states that you are not allowed within fifty of feet of Sapphire and I or any of our family. You are not allowed at Joaquin’s funeral. Fortunately for you, Legal has put through a set of check and balances which will allow you to continue staying in your homes. No worries, though, you still will not be able to come near us. This information will be dealt out to all Serpents and their family members. There’s probably more, but Saph and I wanted to personally see your faces when you realized that we won’t have any more your shit.”
She could feel her fist clenching, “You took our brother from us and now we will take your lively hoods.”
Sonja watched with a sort of detachment as three of the Serpents in question immediately tried to plead with her cousin.
“Come on Saph, you cannot do this.”
“Can’t we come to some sort of understanding? You’re better than this.”
“Joaquin wouldn’t want this!”
It wasn’t only because their head of security stepped into Sapphire’s path that kept her from flying at Sweet Pea’s head. What did he know of what Joaquin wanted? He basically killed him.
“I am good, but not an angel. I do sin, but I am not the devil. I may have fought with Quin a lot, but you once you laid a hand against him, it was time to face ME. And for my brother, I’d do anything. I hope you rot in hell.”
“You’d be wearing the crown,” she heard FP’s boy mutter.
“You shall hope not because I’ll never give you peace whether in life or death.”
--
“It’s not the memories inside my head that drive me crazy. It’s the new memories without that push me over the edge.”
Sapphire and Sonja stood over Joaquin’s grave. Everyone else had left the gravesite and the workers had stepped away to give them some privacy. In each of their hands they held onto the jackets that gave them their statures amongst the south side community. That made them the whispers of the night and at one point had them on opposing sides so deep with hatred they refused to sleep in the same house. But they united under a common force. The Serpents killed someone they claimed as theirs and the cousins will not stop until they have justice. In this, a Serpent and a Ghoulie stand together.
“We will raze this town to the ground,” Sonja spot into the air round them. Her gaze lifted and her connected with the small crowd standing at the edge of the graveyard. Even from a distance, she could tell they were Serpents.
Sapphire didn’t even glance their way as she kept her gaze on the coffin holding her brother captive. Keeping him from her. Taking him from her.
Sonja glanced away.
They lye their jackets on top of the bloodied jacket that Joaquin owned.
When they straightened up, Sapphire still refused to acknowledge the crowd instead running her eyes over area around them. Her gaze though always returned to the coffin.
“In unity, there is strength.”
