Vriska tightened her hold on the dice, using her free hand to wipe the cerulean tears inching their way down her left cheek. "You don't have to go. We can still be the Scourge Sisters! It'll be just like old times!"

Across from her, Terezi's blue-green god tier wings fluttered in anticipation; her hood covered the upper half of her face, like any normal seer's would, but it was plain that her glassy scarlet eyes were smiling just as widely as her perfectly sharpened teeth.

"I'm afraid it's time for me to go, Vriska, but thanks for the offer." There was the sarcasm Vriska was so used to, so good at detecting.

Vriska knew she had to stop Terezi from leaving. She'd get them all killed.

And Terezi knew she knew. Because she could see in her mind's eye that leaving was wrong for her, and staying would be unheard of; she was a danger for everyone around her with her growing psychopathic tendencies.

"Vriska," she began. The blue-blooded troll knew exactly what words were coming, and how Terezi was picking and choosing carefully from countless conversations she likely had planned out. "I can't stay here. What if I snap, too? We all know how I'm literally dancing on the edge of insanity, don't we? Why must it be so hard for you to let me go?"

Vriska choked on the lump in her throat. "Don't leave us, Terezi! We can work it out!" She wouldn't be able to bear the pain of watching her best friend, her self-proclaimed sister- her secret love- go.

Terezi turned, spanning the paper-thin wings. Vriska squeezed her eyes shut and inhaled sharply.

She rolled the dice.

With a gasp, Terezi's body pitched forward as her spine audibly snapped. Teal blood pooled around her and her breathing grew shallower by the second. Vriska ran to her side, disregarding the dice, leaning over the girl and pulling that annoying hood from over pointed candy-corn horns. Terezi shuddered as Vriska lay her head on her lap, and her jaw involuntarily relaxed, lips ever-so-gently parting. Blood pushed its way up to cover them from her throat at the same time as bitter, sickening bile rushed into Vriska's mouth. She nearly averted her eyes.

Navy tears mixed with the aqua splotches on the god tier's face as she gasped a final time. Vriska felt as if a blade had stabbed her through the solar plexus and had to reach a trembling hand to check her chest, hoping that this was the end for her and not for her best friend. Her fingers touched the cool metal of her jacket's zipper, the lining just behind, and a bit of hair, but she did not cut herself on any protruding knives. She rubbed at the rivulets of water- though she would later deny ever having cried- and stared at the teal blood coating Terezi's mouth. She knew she was going to regret killing her friend and flushcrush. Her hair brushed Terezi's face as she leaned forward, a hair's breadth away.

Karkat knew something was up. It had been well over thirty minutes and Vriska still hadn't returned with Terezi. He handed Sollux's arm to Kanaya, embarking on the long journey up several flights of stairs. The light behind him lengthened his shadow, reassuring him that the two trolls were right behind him.

As he neared the top of the steps, he felt his stomach flip-flop. He could hear someone crying, and he would bet his Homes Smell Ya Later that it wasn't Terezi. The air was tense, almost like the scene of a murder.

A murder.

He rushed up, nearly tripping in his haste, and confirmed his suspicions. There lay Terezi's body, robes saturated with the blue-green blood. Vriska's dice lay nearby, unattended and scattered, and the girl was sobbing over Terezi. She was hunched over the corpse and held the corpse's hand to her cheek.

"What the fuck is going on here?" Karkat stammered. "What happened to Terezi?"

As if he didn't already know.

Kanaya knelt down beside the cerulean blood, rubbing soothing circles into her back and talking in a low hush. Karkat moved to touch Terezi's cheek. There were sections where light cobalt had mixed over her blood and dried. Sollux stood solemnly behind him.

Karkat's worried face twisted into one of disgust at the sight of all the blood shed around his shoes. He turned to leave, dragging the now-blind psychic behind him. Once he reached their main base- the computer room, he opened a new memo and attempted to inform the other living members of his team about the loss.

God, their numbers were really dwindling now.

Vriska returned not too long afterward, assisted by Kanaya. Teal stained her lips, as well as some of her forehead and the tip of her nose. She trudged to her station, grabbed one of her precious 8-balls and hurled it to the floor. The shatter resounded in the four's ears and around the entire meteor; Karkat supposed even Gamzee, wherever he was hiding, heard it, too.

Vriska laid her head down on the desk and screamed.

CURRENT grimAuxiliatrix [CGA] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.

CGA: I Spoke With Vriska

CGA: She Is Upset With What She Had To Do

CGA: But She Knows It Was The Right Choice

CCG: NO, IT FUCKING WASN'T

CCG: THAT'S BULLSHIT AND YOU KNOW IT.

CCG: TER'S GOING TO BE BACK IN A FEW DAYS

CCG: THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL SHE'S GONE FOR GOOD.

CGA: I Know This Is Hard For All Of Us Karkat

CGA: But Terezi's Death Was Just And To Put It Frankly

CGA: It Was Due

CCG: WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?

CCG: ARE YOU EVEN READING WHAT YOU'RE TYPING, KANAYA? SHE CAN'T BE DEAD FOR GOOD.

CGA: I Am Telling You What I Myself Have Witnessed

CCG: I DON'T LIKE WHERE THIS IS GOING.

CGA: Vriska Could Not Revive Terezi

CGA: She Tried

CGA: She Truly Did

CGA: But Every Attempt Failed

My name is Bailey, and this is my first- but hopefully not my last, depending on the kind of feedback I get for it- contribution to the wondrous Homestuck fandom.

I'd like to thank my friend Jaymee for giving me support as I nearly threw this out. Thanks to her also for giving me positive reinforcement. I couldn't have finished it without you, Jaymee. You're a great friend.

Vriskezi is my OTP and I want to give it more of the attention that it deserves.

I hope to write more for you in the future.