The End of Red All Over
I need to update my LJ here again because I just wrote a fucking wall of text and I don't want to post it to my Tumblr. So for anyone whose still around who used to follow my webcomic, Red All Over- now very much retired- I've decided to write up how it was supposed to end, according to the notes I wrote when I was fucking SIXTEEN so please forgive a lot of blatant stupidity.
so where did we leave off-
Aurora goes home to Graviston for her brother's inauguration as the new king. We learn that Graviston is suffering a plague which they have decided to blame on Ereid-Reech to justify a war. But afterwards she vanishes to go back to Ian White. The new king, her brother decides it would be safer for her in Graviston but can only think of one way to keep her home, and engages her to General Aries. Meanwhile, without Aurora around to ground him, Ian relapses into insanity and stalks after Lydia again. Aurora finds him tied to a tree after harassing the heroes, and promises not to leave him again until she's helped him accomplish his goal of killing Lance.
Now. heres what happens next. (to the best of my understanding of the notes I scribbled in a notebook when I was 17.)
Lets see. Looks like we were supposed to have an update with Takis and Merchant though I don't recall what about (probably the plague?), and some insight into the abusive relationship of Takis and Delia.
After finding Aurora gone, King Jeffrey (I named him this before Game of Thrones i swear to god) sends Aries to Ereid-Reech to bring her home, as her husband to be.
Merchant finally introduces himself to Lance's company. He's very familiar with Ivy, and in trying to repel him, Ivy reveals herself as a gaiain (elemental magician).
later, Aries finds Ian alone and threatens him. I think I had some sort of cool scene planned here but I don't recall it now. After, Aries goes back home and Anansi, the prime minister, tries to convince Jeffrey to let her look for Aurora in Aries' stead. We probably get a hint here that either Layla or Nikita has a crush on Aries, but I forget which.
Looks like here we take a break to go back to Angelica's bandit crew, and how they are plotting to steal Lance's Vancastle Crest, and maybe turn the lot of them in for a reward as deserters. I think they confront the heroes in a ridiculous story about wearing disguises. Um, then it says "Story D'Hann's rise to power" so I guess we get some Takis and Delia backstory, which is basically the same as was already explained in the comic- using the Vine family's money and Merchant's cunning combined with his power and charisma, he took over as emperor when he was roughly 19. His rival Ley tries to stop him, he kills Ley and married Delia blah blah blah I could have probably skipped that scene. Whats next.
Oh this was gonna be cool. Aries confronts Ian again, this time with Aurora in tow. He tells them that he's Aurora's fiance and its time for her to go home, but she refuses and Ian sticks by her. Thinking she would have no reason to stay with Ian dead, Aries attacks Ian but Aurora defends with her shield. However, his sword is more powerful than her shield and he strikes her. Horrified, Ian throws some of her blood in Aries' eyes to temporarily blind him and vanishes with Aurora. He shows up at the hotel room of Lance and co. begging Lydia to save Aurora, forget about her feelings for him personally just please save Aurora. lance leaves it up to Lydia who reluctantly agrees. So then Lydia magic-healing-smooches Aurora and thats pretty great for Ian. Anyhow, Aries failed and he has to go tell Jeffrey, who decides to replace him with Anansi. Aries, proving how volatile and emotional he actually is, goes ballistic and starts thrashing the throne room, and jeffrey kills him. womp-wah. Hmm, I should speed this up. lets see. Looks like I have a scene with Layla, Nikita and Anansi but it doesnt look important.
Then theres some love triangle stuff as Krystofer and Lance both consider their feelings for Ivy but Ivy only seems to have eyes for Lance, who confides that if he hadn't decided to go for this Hero of Destiny crap he would have liked to be a tailor. Big surprise, right? I mean only I only show him sewing something like eight times.
bum bum bum, ah okay so Anansi decides to go the other way from Aries and thinks if she kills Lance she'll have helped Aurora succeed in Ian's goal and her promise will be fulfilled, freeing her. So Anansi goes to attack lance but WHOOPS, Merchant shows up and kills her, takes her jewel. Merchant uses his teleportation to kidnap Lance away to a place they can talk, suggests quite forcefully that Lance is on the wrong side and should not oppose D'Hann but join him, as the villain often does. And as the hero does, Lance politely declines with a magic sword to Merchant's throat. Merchant leaves him be.
Okay so with both Aries and Anansi dead, Jeff (at Captain Aleph's advice) sends a fleet of soldiers to Ereid-Reech to kill 100 Ereidan soldiers and then retreat, as a threat. Takis D'Hann travels to the battlefield to survey the damage and make an assessment but en route Lance and co find him and Lance decides to be A Very Smart Person and attack because we have already established how Very Smart A Person Lance is. So obviously Lance loses this fight. Ummm I can't find in my notes where its revealed that Takis is a gaian but SURPRISE hes a gaian. So he knocks lance off a cliff and Ivy dives after him and thats when Ivy masters wind magic which had eluded her before and becomes a master gaian. so she more or less flies Lance back to safety. And lance loses this battle because hes a big adorable dummy. What a loser.
Whats next.
Okay so the heroes now decide to cross continents to Octavia from Rhea, because thats where the capital is so they get on a boat and surprise of surprises, Ian and Aurora are following on another boat- the boat Angelica and her bandits stole, oh snap so many antagonists in one boat like whaaaat
Then theres a bit where Krystofer and Vaas, without lance and the girls, go to a bar and end up drinking with and picking fights with the bandit girls. Theres a little Vaas/Symone chemistry but shes shitfaced so its hard to figure out. maybe Krystofer hits on Angelica, maybe Angelica is too much woman for Krystofer idk.
Okay now keep in mind for this part i wrote this story when I was 16.
They end up in Krystofer's hometown and he goes to meet him mom. obviously Ian and Aurora are lurking around and somehow we discover- god this is so stupid im so sorry okay but yeah Krystofer and Ian are actually brothers. Theres a two-kid limit on all Ereidan households, Lance and Lydia's baby brother was killed. So Krys and Ian's mom has Magnolia, and then BAM TWIMS OH NO THREE BABIES so they decide to separate the boys, and she leaves with the youngest, Krystofer (idk she probably should have kept the twins together and taken Maggie??? but whatever) Mom splits a pair of earrings for each boy and thats why they have the same earring. somehow mom and dad lose contact and dad accidentally kills maggie, then sends Ian away and vanishes. So Ian learns this story but instead of it being heartwarming he becomes incredibly angry and lashes out, and injures Mom real bad, then feels super fucking bad about it. He and Krystofer obviously argue but in the end Ian visits her in the hospital. heres where Aurora privately corners lance and admits that she doesn't want Ian to kill Lance and will try and stop him, because if her promise is unfulfilled she can stay with Ian longer, and anyhow, if Lance really can defeat D'hann that would be super for like, all her people.
Shit this is getting long I did not get very far into this plot in six years did I?
uhhh here it looks like we get some Merchant backstory, basically he spent a lot of his youth feeling really gross about being a half Graviston stuck in Ereid-Reech and desperately trying to port into Graviston. one time he actually makes it for a moment, but is quickly bounced back again so hes been trying to recreate that moment for a long time.
So here it starts to get heavy.
Vaas goes out to a bar by himself and meets the bandit girls again because apparently these bitches spend a lot of time getting shitfaced. He and Symone have a confrontation thats very heated and rife with sexual tension until oh my god FINALLY they make out.
Elsewhere, the next morning, Aurora and Ian and having an argument about Lance probably or maybe even Lydia and she storms out. Nearby, Vaas wakes up next to Symone (OOOOHHHH!!), dresses and leaves. Hes seen following Aurora. He corners her in an alley, then kills her and takes her jewel. thats right, Vaas kills Aurora, right after totally nailing Symone. what a dick.
We'll get to the why bear with me
Ian goes to find Aurora after their fight and finds her dying, Vaas' sword bloody. He rushes to attack but vaas deflects him by asking if this is how he wants to spent Aurora's last moment alive. Ian goes to Aurora but its too late, she has no final words, shes dead. Vaas is gone.
Back with the company, Vaas confides in lance that he has some regrets in his life and wants to know if/when they find Cyrus Vancastle, if Lance would let him atone for his sins by letting him be the one to request the end of D'Hann as their favor. Lance somewhat reluctantly agrees.
So obviously Ian is suffering mightily after this whole deal. Hes in a hotel room one night seriously considering suicide and he hears Krystofer outside. So he pretty much knocks him out and drags him back into his own room cuz hes just in a weird place right now ok
So remembering that the two of them are brothers, and, as you may recall, completely bug-fuck insane, Ian cuts off Krystofer's braid and tries to style their hair the same. Hes then fully prepared to cut out Krystofer's eye the same way he's only got one- but thats not how it happened, was it? LYDIA cut out his eye, so Lydia should cut out Krystofer's eye, too. So one-two skip-a-few he kidnaps Lydia as well and locks them both in the room with him and with a knife to Krys' throat demands Lydia do to Krystofer what she did to him and take out his left eye. Somehow, she is able to talk him down and Ian collapses a sobbing mess about Aurora. Awkwardly, Kyrs and Lydia reluctantly attempt to comfort him as he wonders about his choices and his direction in life.
Thats sort of friendly for a guy thats tried to kill/assault them on multiple occasions but shit maybe it was a survival instinct on their part.
Okay so FINALLY the Heroes come upon a cave in the woods that seems to match the map on the Vancastle Crest- the secret, it seems, was to turn the map upside down. So theres a house in the cave in the woods and holy shit its actually for real Cyrus Vancastle, except to their surprise, he's a kid, like an 11 year old. But for real and for true he exchanges magical favors, but only one per group so Vaas volunteers and he is separated from everyone else by earthen magic bars. So Vaas is asked to do some really stupid stuff first like fry some eggs and tell a joke but by God he does it, and is granted a favor in exchange, just name it. So Vaas in a total heel-turn moment asks for the eternal reign of D'Hann. Granted, boom. FUUUUUCK YOU VAAS THAT WAS OUR WHOLE PLOT GOD SO MANY CHAPTERS GETTING TO THIS POINT. vaas ditched his summon to help find VanCastle just to make this exact wish, and now with a Graviston Princess' jewel hes sure to have favor with Takis D'hann. So he leaves and once hes gone Vancastle releases the heroes too who are obviously super pissed. he tells them to try and continue their goal anyhow because you never know. So they do.
man this is fucking long how many more goddam pages would this have taken to draw
Ugh okay so. For all his experiments, Merchant finally finds a way to port into Graviston despite being a half. In his few moments there, he kidnaps the youngest princess AJ and ports back, but only for a couple moments before Layla and Nikita come after and take her back, but thats basically the final straw and its time for a war.
So our heroes get to the capitol and sneak into the castle the back way disguised as servants. meanwhile Ian and the bandit girls just fucking charge in wrecking shit because who fucking cares. Honestly im not sure why the bandit girls are still following but here it is, its on paper so here we are. Ian splits up from the bandits. Meanwhile, Vaas is granted a meeting with Takis. He presents Aurora's jewel and swears his loyalty. In exchange he would like to know what happened to his father, who vanished and who I HAD NEVER MENTIONED BECAUSE I AM A GOOD WRITER (once again, I was 16 please bear with me). D'Hann recalls Vaas' father though, remembers he actually had to kill the man because he betrayed D'hann when he decided what he was doing was morally reprehensible. And Vaas' mother had betrayed Vaas father,... and Vaas betrayed his friends... so clearly there was absolutely nothing to trust about Vaas. so D'Hann stabs him in the belly and Vaas staggers off, bleeding to death.
Somewhere around here, lance and co. are discovered and taken prisoners.
So Ian discovers Vaas propped up dying against a wall because who else would. Vaas invites Ian to take revenge for Aurora now. Ian takes Vaas's sword, and then kicks him right in the stab wound. Then tells him his suffering is much more satisfying and leaves him. Ian instead goes to find the bandit girls again, where he wordlessly hands Symone Vaas' sword. Symone runs to find him and they have a lovely moment before Vaas totally dies.
Fuck. Okay. We're getting to the end I think.
So the hero party is taken in shackles to D'Hann. He orders Lance and Krystofer into execution, and, hmm, just to be awful, Lydia and Ivy into the harem. Here Lord Vine interrupts, because hes been mentioned a thousand times and never seen, saying that since Ivy was his daughter, maybe he could just go ahead and take her back, instead?
shit I think I forgot, somewhere in the story its revealed that Ivy is from the Vine family, and not just that but a third born child who was allowed to live because privilege. Probably Merchant brought that up?? Anyhow I dont think its news to the heroes I think they knew. And yeah her name is Ivy Vine i know its terrible. So okay everyone goes in separate dungeons for now. It doesnt take very long for Krystofer to break free though, lil theif that his is and Merchant goes after him.
So Ivy is in her cell alone when a secret door is opened and the Empress Delia enters, they are obviously surprised to see each other. Delia meets someone here in secret sometimes. She tells Ivy that years ago when she and Takis were first married, she ran away to find Cyrus Vancastle as well, to ask for someone to end her husband's reign of terror. He agreed but in return she was asked to bear Takis' child, so Delia is here to meet her secret son.
So Krystofer is running but Merchant, who can fucking teleport, catches up to him. they battle but Ian soon finds them and teams up with Krystofer. Merchant defeats Ian, and then Krystofer defeats Merchant. Injured, Merchant teleports away, and Ian has also vanished, leaving a bloody trail.
Lydia is alone in a cell when she hears Ian calling for her. Shes conflicted, but finally calls back, desperate for the door to be unlocked. He chops the lock off the door but that was the end of his strength and he stumbles in, exhausted and tells her whats become of Krystofer, Vaas and the others. Hes clearly bleeding to death and Lydia, as a form of thanks, offers to heal him if he can be fucking mature about it and not read into it. So she magic-healing-smooches Ian but this time its hard to tell if it worked properly because shes distracted and hes gravely injured. He tells her not to worry and to go find Lance and leave him. He then lays on the cell floor, says Aurora's name and closes his eyes.
Almost done.
So Lance is alone in a cell. Hes thinking of everything hes worked for, everything hes lost and everything he will lose. When he sees an illusion of Vaas, he finds the strength to free his sword and cut his chains, and bursts free. Finding the throne room he challenges Takis D'Hann once more. Do no fucking guards or servants exist around here how come these assholes are free to just fucking run around and do what they want???? Anyhow so Krystofer and Lydia join Lance to team up and theres like a fucking epic battle and its crazy shit. At some point Krystofer is hurt so Lydia takes him aside to heal him but he wont let her, doesnt want to kiss her- not like this, not for this, not their first kiss. So she offers instead to kiss him for bravery and we fucking seal the Lydia/Krystofer ship are you happy now, Moni?
Lance now is fighting Takis alone until Ivy bursts in and dispels his Gaian magic with her own and Delia helps because shes made it pretty fucking clear where she stands. while they hold him, Lance runs Takis through with his magic sword. Takis sees Lance as his old rival Ley, and apologies to Ley as he dies. So okay the bad guy is dead, yayyy. But what about Vaas' wish for D'Hann's eternal reign? Well hes getting it because Delia's son, Logan D'Hann was raised away from his father's influence to be good and just, and now hes gonna have a go at the throne, because Cyrus VanCastle thinks this shit through apparently.
The Graviston royal family appears. They can break through Ereidan barriers because its the entire fucking royal family, of course they can teleport into the throne room. They take back Aurora's jewel and its decided that with Takis dead, they can go ahead and put a pin in the whole "war" thing- SHIT I FORGOT ABOUT THE PLAGUE lol okay well theres no war but theres still a plague so thats a bummer. But yeah that problem is solved for now. Lance and Ivy get together. Krystofer and Lydia are together hahahaha Lydia did less to contribute to the plot alive than Aurora did dead I'm such a good writer.
Outside the palace, Symone is erecting a cross while wearing vaas' coat and sword. behind her, Monica and Angelica are holding up an injured but alive Ian.
And thats the fucking end of Red All Over.
so where did we leave off-
Aurora goes home to Graviston for her brother's inauguration as the new king. We learn that Graviston is suffering a plague which they have decided to blame on Ereid-Reech to justify a war. But afterwards she vanishes to go back to Ian White. The new king, her brother decides it would be safer for her in Graviston but can only think of one way to keep her home, and engages her to General Aries. Meanwhile, without Aurora around to ground him, Ian relapses into insanity and stalks after Lydia again. Aurora finds him tied to a tree after harassing the heroes, and promises not to leave him again until she's helped him accomplish his goal of killing Lance.
Now. heres what happens next. (to the best of my understanding of the notes I scribbled in a notebook when I was 17.)
Lets see. Looks like we were supposed to have an update with Takis and Merchant though I don't recall what about (probably the plague?), and some insight into the abusive relationship of Takis and Delia.
After finding Aurora gone, King Jeffrey (I named him this before Game of Thrones i swear to god) sends Aries to Ereid-Reech to bring her home, as her husband to be.
Merchant finally introduces himself to Lance's company. He's very familiar with Ivy, and in trying to repel him, Ivy reveals herself as a gaiain (elemental magician).
later, Aries finds Ian alone and threatens him. I think I had some sort of cool scene planned here but I don't recall it now. After, Aries goes back home and Anansi, the prime minister, tries to convince Jeffrey to let her look for Aurora in Aries' stead. We probably get a hint here that either Layla or Nikita has a crush on Aries, but I forget which.
Looks like here we take a break to go back to Angelica's bandit crew, and how they are plotting to steal Lance's Vancastle Crest, and maybe turn the lot of them in for a reward as deserters. I think they confront the heroes in a ridiculous story about wearing disguises. Um, then it says "Story D'Hann's rise to power" so I guess we get some Takis and Delia backstory, which is basically the same as was already explained in the comic- using the Vine family's money and Merchant's cunning combined with his power and charisma, he took over as emperor when he was roughly 19. His rival Ley tries to stop him, he kills Ley and married Delia blah blah blah I could have probably skipped that scene. Whats next.
Oh this was gonna be cool. Aries confronts Ian again, this time with Aurora in tow. He tells them that he's Aurora's fiance and its time for her to go home, but she refuses and Ian sticks by her. Thinking she would have no reason to stay with Ian dead, Aries attacks Ian but Aurora defends with her shield. However, his sword is more powerful than her shield and he strikes her. Horrified, Ian throws some of her blood in Aries' eyes to temporarily blind him and vanishes with Aurora. He shows up at the hotel room of Lance and co. begging Lydia to save Aurora, forget about her feelings for him personally just please save Aurora. lance leaves it up to Lydia who reluctantly agrees. So then Lydia magic-healing-smooches Aurora and thats pretty great for Ian. Anyhow, Aries failed and he has to go tell Jeffrey, who decides to replace him with Anansi. Aries, proving how volatile and emotional he actually is, goes ballistic and starts thrashing the throne room, and jeffrey kills him. womp-wah. Hmm, I should speed this up. lets see. Looks like I have a scene with Layla, Nikita and Anansi but it doesnt look important.
Then theres some love triangle stuff as Krystofer and Lance both consider their feelings for Ivy but Ivy only seems to have eyes for Lance, who confides that if he hadn't decided to go for this Hero of Destiny crap he would have liked to be a tailor. Big surprise, right? I mean only I only show him sewing something like eight times.
bum bum bum, ah okay so Anansi decides to go the other way from Aries and thinks if she kills Lance she'll have helped Aurora succeed in Ian's goal and her promise will be fulfilled, freeing her. So Anansi goes to attack lance but WHOOPS, Merchant shows up and kills her, takes her jewel. Merchant uses his teleportation to kidnap Lance away to a place they can talk, suggests quite forcefully that Lance is on the wrong side and should not oppose D'Hann but join him, as the villain often does. And as the hero does, Lance politely declines with a magic sword to Merchant's throat. Merchant leaves him be.
Okay so with both Aries and Anansi dead, Jeff (at Captain Aleph's advice) sends a fleet of soldiers to Ereid-Reech to kill 100 Ereidan soldiers and then retreat, as a threat. Takis D'Hann travels to the battlefield to survey the damage and make an assessment but en route Lance and co find him and Lance decides to be A Very Smart Person and attack because we have already established how Very Smart A Person Lance is. So obviously Lance loses this fight. Ummm I can't find in my notes where its revealed that Takis is a gaian but SURPRISE hes a gaian. So he knocks lance off a cliff and Ivy dives after him and thats when Ivy masters wind magic which had eluded her before and becomes a master gaian. so she more or less flies Lance back to safety. And lance loses this battle because hes a big adorable dummy. What a loser.
Whats next.
Okay so the heroes now decide to cross continents to Octavia from Rhea, because thats where the capital is so they get on a boat and surprise of surprises, Ian and Aurora are following on another boat- the boat Angelica and her bandits stole, oh snap so many antagonists in one boat like whaaaat
Then theres a bit where Krystofer and Vaas, without lance and the girls, go to a bar and end up drinking with and picking fights with the bandit girls. Theres a little Vaas/Symone chemistry but shes shitfaced so its hard to figure out. maybe Krystofer hits on Angelica, maybe Angelica is too much woman for Krystofer idk.
Okay now keep in mind for this part i wrote this story when I was 16.
They end up in Krystofer's hometown and he goes to meet him mom. obviously Ian and Aurora are lurking around and somehow we discover- god this is so stupid im so sorry okay but yeah Krystofer and Ian are actually brothers. Theres a two-kid limit on all Ereidan households, Lance and Lydia's baby brother was killed. So Krys and Ian's mom has Magnolia, and then BAM TWIMS OH NO THREE BABIES so they decide to separate the boys, and she leaves with the youngest, Krystofer (idk she probably should have kept the twins together and taken Maggie??? but whatever) Mom splits a pair of earrings for each boy and thats why they have the same earring. somehow mom and dad lose contact and dad accidentally kills maggie, then sends Ian away and vanishes. So Ian learns this story but instead of it being heartwarming he becomes incredibly angry and lashes out, and injures Mom real bad, then feels super fucking bad about it. He and Krystofer obviously argue but in the end Ian visits her in the hospital. heres where Aurora privately corners lance and admits that she doesn't want Ian to kill Lance and will try and stop him, because if her promise is unfulfilled she can stay with Ian longer, and anyhow, if Lance really can defeat D'hann that would be super for like, all her people.
Shit this is getting long I did not get very far into this plot in six years did I?
uhhh here it looks like we get some Merchant backstory, basically he spent a lot of his youth feeling really gross about being a half Graviston stuck in Ereid-Reech and desperately trying to port into Graviston. one time he actually makes it for a moment, but is quickly bounced back again so hes been trying to recreate that moment for a long time.
So here it starts to get heavy.
Vaas goes out to a bar by himself and meets the bandit girls again because apparently these bitches spend a lot of time getting shitfaced. He and Symone have a confrontation thats very heated and rife with sexual tension until oh my god FINALLY they make out.
Elsewhere, the next morning, Aurora and Ian and having an argument about Lance probably or maybe even Lydia and she storms out. Nearby, Vaas wakes up next to Symone (OOOOHHHH!!), dresses and leaves. Hes seen following Aurora. He corners her in an alley, then kills her and takes her jewel. thats right, Vaas kills Aurora, right after totally nailing Symone. what a dick.
We'll get to the why bear with me
Ian goes to find Aurora after their fight and finds her dying, Vaas' sword bloody. He rushes to attack but vaas deflects him by asking if this is how he wants to spent Aurora's last moment alive. Ian goes to Aurora but its too late, she has no final words, shes dead. Vaas is gone.
Back with the company, Vaas confides in lance that he has some regrets in his life and wants to know if/when they find Cyrus Vancastle, if Lance would let him atone for his sins by letting him be the one to request the end of D'Hann as their favor. Lance somewhat reluctantly agrees.
So obviously Ian is suffering mightily after this whole deal. Hes in a hotel room one night seriously considering suicide and he hears Krystofer outside. So he pretty much knocks him out and drags him back into his own room cuz hes just in a weird place right now ok
So remembering that the two of them are brothers, and, as you may recall, completely bug-fuck insane, Ian cuts off Krystofer's braid and tries to style their hair the same. Hes then fully prepared to cut out Krystofer's eye the same way he's only got one- but thats not how it happened, was it? LYDIA cut out his eye, so Lydia should cut out Krystofer's eye, too. So one-two skip-a-few he kidnaps Lydia as well and locks them both in the room with him and with a knife to Krys' throat demands Lydia do to Krystofer what she did to him and take out his left eye. Somehow, she is able to talk him down and Ian collapses a sobbing mess about Aurora. Awkwardly, Kyrs and Lydia reluctantly attempt to comfort him as he wonders about his choices and his direction in life.
Thats sort of friendly for a guy thats tried to kill/assault them on multiple occasions but shit maybe it was a survival instinct on their part.
Okay so FINALLY the Heroes come upon a cave in the woods that seems to match the map on the Vancastle Crest- the secret, it seems, was to turn the map upside down. So theres a house in the cave in the woods and holy shit its actually for real Cyrus Vancastle, except to their surprise, he's a kid, like an 11 year old. But for real and for true he exchanges magical favors, but only one per group so Vaas volunteers and he is separated from everyone else by earthen magic bars. So Vaas is asked to do some really stupid stuff first like fry some eggs and tell a joke but by God he does it, and is granted a favor in exchange, just name it. So Vaas in a total heel-turn moment asks for the eternal reign of D'Hann. Granted, boom. FUUUUUCK YOU VAAS THAT WAS OUR WHOLE PLOT GOD SO MANY CHAPTERS GETTING TO THIS POINT. vaas ditched his summon to help find VanCastle just to make this exact wish, and now with a Graviston Princess' jewel hes sure to have favor with Takis D'hann. So he leaves and once hes gone Vancastle releases the heroes too who are obviously super pissed. he tells them to try and continue their goal anyhow because you never know. So they do.
man this is fucking long how many more goddam pages would this have taken to draw
Ugh okay so. For all his experiments, Merchant finally finds a way to port into Graviston despite being a half. In his few moments there, he kidnaps the youngest princess AJ and ports back, but only for a couple moments before Layla and Nikita come after and take her back, but thats basically the final straw and its time for a war.
So our heroes get to the capitol and sneak into the castle the back way disguised as servants. meanwhile Ian and the bandit girls just fucking charge in wrecking shit because who fucking cares. Honestly im not sure why the bandit girls are still following but here it is, its on paper so here we are. Ian splits up from the bandits. Meanwhile, Vaas is granted a meeting with Takis. He presents Aurora's jewel and swears his loyalty. In exchange he would like to know what happened to his father, who vanished and who I HAD NEVER MENTIONED BECAUSE I AM A GOOD WRITER (once again, I was 16 please bear with me). D'Hann recalls Vaas' father though, remembers he actually had to kill the man because he betrayed D'hann when he decided what he was doing was morally reprehensible. And Vaas' mother had betrayed Vaas father,... and Vaas betrayed his friends... so clearly there was absolutely nothing to trust about Vaas. so D'Hann stabs him in the belly and Vaas staggers off, bleeding to death.
Somewhere around here, lance and co. are discovered and taken prisoners.
So Ian discovers Vaas propped up dying against a wall because who else would. Vaas invites Ian to take revenge for Aurora now. Ian takes Vaas's sword, and then kicks him right in the stab wound. Then tells him his suffering is much more satisfying and leaves him. Ian instead goes to find the bandit girls again, where he wordlessly hands Symone Vaas' sword. Symone runs to find him and they have a lovely moment before Vaas totally dies.
Fuck. Okay. We're getting to the end I think.
So the hero party is taken in shackles to D'Hann. He orders Lance and Krystofer into execution, and, hmm, just to be awful, Lydia and Ivy into the harem. Here Lord Vine interrupts, because hes been mentioned a thousand times and never seen, saying that since Ivy was his daughter, maybe he could just go ahead and take her back, instead?
shit I think I forgot, somewhere in the story its revealed that Ivy is from the Vine family, and not just that but a third born child who was allowed to live because privilege. Probably Merchant brought that up?? Anyhow I dont think its news to the heroes I think they knew. And yeah her name is Ivy Vine i know its terrible. So okay everyone goes in separate dungeons for now. It doesnt take very long for Krystofer to break free though, lil theif that his is and Merchant goes after him.
So Ivy is in her cell alone when a secret door is opened and the Empress Delia enters, they are obviously surprised to see each other. Delia meets someone here in secret sometimes. She tells Ivy that years ago when she and Takis were first married, she ran away to find Cyrus Vancastle as well, to ask for someone to end her husband's reign of terror. He agreed but in return she was asked to bear Takis' child, so Delia is here to meet her secret son.
So Krystofer is running but Merchant, who can fucking teleport, catches up to him. they battle but Ian soon finds them and teams up with Krystofer. Merchant defeats Ian, and then Krystofer defeats Merchant. Injured, Merchant teleports away, and Ian has also vanished, leaving a bloody trail.
Lydia is alone in a cell when she hears Ian calling for her. Shes conflicted, but finally calls back, desperate for the door to be unlocked. He chops the lock off the door but that was the end of his strength and he stumbles in, exhausted and tells her whats become of Krystofer, Vaas and the others. Hes clearly bleeding to death and Lydia, as a form of thanks, offers to heal him if he can be fucking mature about it and not read into it. So she magic-healing-smooches Ian but this time its hard to tell if it worked properly because shes distracted and hes gravely injured. He tells her not to worry and to go find Lance and leave him. He then lays on the cell floor, says Aurora's name and closes his eyes.
Almost done.
So Lance is alone in a cell. Hes thinking of everything hes worked for, everything hes lost and everything he will lose. When he sees an illusion of Vaas, he finds the strength to free his sword and cut his chains, and bursts free. Finding the throne room he challenges Takis D'Hann once more. Do no fucking guards or servants exist around here how come these assholes are free to just fucking run around and do what they want???? Anyhow so Krystofer and Lydia join Lance to team up and theres like a fucking epic battle and its crazy shit. At some point Krystofer is hurt so Lydia takes him aside to heal him but he wont let her, doesnt want to kiss her- not like this, not for this, not their first kiss. So she offers instead to kiss him for bravery and we fucking seal the Lydia/Krystofer ship are you happy now, Moni?
Lance now is fighting Takis alone until Ivy bursts in and dispels his Gaian magic with her own and Delia helps because shes made it pretty fucking clear where she stands. while they hold him, Lance runs Takis through with his magic sword. Takis sees Lance as his old rival Ley, and apologies to Ley as he dies. So okay the bad guy is dead, yayyy. But what about Vaas' wish for D'Hann's eternal reign? Well hes getting it because Delia's son, Logan D'Hann was raised away from his father's influence to be good and just, and now hes gonna have a go at the throne, because Cyrus VanCastle thinks this shit through apparently.
The Graviston royal family appears. They can break through Ereidan barriers because its the entire fucking royal family, of course they can teleport into the throne room. They take back Aurora's jewel and its decided that with Takis dead, they can go ahead and put a pin in the whole "war" thing- SHIT I FORGOT ABOUT THE PLAGUE lol okay well theres no war but theres still a plague so thats a bummer. But yeah that problem is solved for now. Lance and Ivy get together. Krystofer and Lydia are together hahahaha Lydia did less to contribute to the plot alive than Aurora did dead I'm such a good writer.
Outside the palace, Symone is erecting a cross while wearing vaas' coat and sword. behind her, Monica and Angelica are holding up an injured but alive Ian.
And thats the fucking end of Red All Over.