Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Today is an important day, okay?,” the head of staff guy lectured. “So no one is allowed to fuck up. The delegates are on their way, and we’ve received word from a trusted source that they’re very peculiar. This means that you all will have to adhere to their desires, no matter how strange they may seem. Keep in mind that-“

“What county are the delegates coming from?” Wilbur loudly whispered (well, okay, that’s an oxymoron, he didn’t really whisper at all) in Tommy’s ear.

“I dunno. ‘S not like they’re gonna tell us,” Tommy actually whispered, barely making sound at all. Luckily, the demons could hear him, and no one else seemed to.

“That’s strange. They don’t even tell you who you’re trying to cater to? How are you supposed to know about their culture if you don’t know where they’re from?” Techno asked.

“They don’t like to tell us things,” Tommy replied, and he must’ve been making enough noise to be heard, because the servant next to him nudged him as a sign to shut the fuck up. Tommy clamped his mouth shut and faintly nodded as a thank you slash apology combo to the servant.

Techno walked right up to the head of staff guy who was lecturing them, and Tommy figured that he was eavesdropping on his angel and demon. Fuck, this was so weird, man. As soon as Tommy got a moment to himself, he was definitely just gonna break down crying again. But for now, he just had to do his job.

“As for your job assignments,” Mr. Mean Staff Head continued as Tommy tuned back in, “many of you are expected to be seen, but firmly out of the way. Dream wishes to show the delegates-“

“He totally wants to show off how much power he has!” Wilbur giggled. “He’s trying to show the delegates that he has a whole bunch of obedient servants! It’s like a power play, Tommy.”

“They’re coming from Kinoko,” Techno added. “Do you know what that is?”

“My friend,” Ranboo , “mentioned it a few times,” Tommy replied, barely even parting his lips as he breathed the words. “They have three Lords, I think. Dream’s on good terms with them.”

“Do you think they’re making a peace deal or something? Because I doubt that anyone would make a huge deal out of a few Lords just hanging out. Maybe they’re trading something important,” Wilbur guessed.

“Nah, I bet Dream’s tryin’ to threaten Kinoko.”

“What?” Tommy hissed, his face showing confusion for a split second before he numbed it back to neutrality. “That’s silly. Dream doesn’t need to…” Tommy didn’t know what Dream needed, and it wasn’t his place to speculate, was it?

“That’s just my guess. He wouldn’t be needing this ‘show of power’ if they were on great terms, after all.”

Tommy intentionally tuned out the demons. He had to find out his assignment for today. Staff Head was still droning on about stupid shit, per usual. And then, “As I said, stay out of the way, and you’ll all be called on as needed.”

So, this lecture was literally pointless. Tommy just had to stand in a corner until Dream asked something of him? That wasn’t a very big deal at all.

“You’re dismissed.” Instinctually, Tommy moved his gaze to the ground and left the room on autopilot, following the person in front of him.

“That’s all? That’s everything they tell you?” Wilbur asked.

“Mhm,” Tommy hummed.

“That’s stupid,” Wilbur continued, causally throwing his arm around Tommy’s shoulder as he continued to walk. “Do you just have to go stand in a corner now? That’s pretty pointless for servant activities. There’s so many of you, how do you even get individual attention?”

Tommy certainly gets noticed enough to get punished. Going under the radar is a blessing, but Tommy can’t seem to be meek. He just isn’t good at maintaining that demeanor for a long time. He’s just so… annoying .

“Plus, you’re like, ten years old.”

“Sixteen,” Tommy corrected.

“Yeah, same thing. They should coddle you a little more, right?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be a demon? You should be a fan of these kind of abuses of human rights.” Tommy got both Techno and Wilbur to laugh with that one. He was almost proud of himself. But then, thankfully, the conversation lapsed into silence. Tommy decided that he would try and stay in the dining room. Then, his duties would just be to pour water or something, rather than be put on the spot to entertain someone, or worse, have to converse with the delegates. He approached a giant window and decided to stand still there, half safely shrouded by the ginormous curtain. He didn’t want to be seen at all, really.

“I think you should try and leave tonight during the festivities,” Techno said. “While everyone is bustling around and working, you can slip out.”

“ Tonight ??” Tommy gasped. “Already? I-“

“Would you rather have to wait, devise an entire plan, and risk getting caught? Your superiors don’t know that we took your tag off. They don’t know about Wilbur and I at all. But you’re not doing a very good job of keeping us a secret.”

Wilbur finally released Tommy and ran halfway across the room, moving right next to another servant who was giving Tommy a strange look.

“This one’s been staring at you for a little while,” Wilbur said, clearly delighting in the fact that Tommy’s face was going bright red. “I think they’ve noticed how you’re talking to seemingly no one, and reacting to air. Plus, they see you staring at them now, and-“ Tommy realized that he was making eye contact with the other servant, mouthed an apology, and snapped his gaze down to the floor. That’s where he should always be looking. He should never risk making eye contact. Eye contact is always dangerous.

“Fuck off! I’m not a professional at being surrounded by demon pricks all the time!” Tommy grumbled. “You’re the conspicuous-est people I’ve ever met.” Wilbur snorted.

“No one else can see us, Tommy,” Techno replied. “You’re the conspicuous one.”

“Nuh uh! Because you’re the ones being annoying motherfuckers, and then I have to react to you! I’m just being a polite conversationalist.”

“I’m shocked you know such big words,” Wilbur retorted. Tommy learned them from Ranboo .

“Ugh, go fuck yourself. I’m gonna ignore you now.”

“If he gets annoyed at us this easily, it’s gonna be a long couple of months.”

“Months?!” Tommy squawked, immediately breaking his silent treatment. And, also, fuck, he said that way too loud. He went back to talking under his breath and continued. “You said that you’re stuck with me for the rest of my life! Do you think I’m only gonna live for a few months?”

Neither Techno nor Wilbur replied. Techno’s expression was blank. Wilbur looked guilty, sheepish even. What the fuck.

“Fuck you guys!”

“Well, you’re trying to kill the Leader,” Techno deadpanned.

“That’s what you’re saying, anyway.”

“And you’re a literal child who can’t wield magic.”

Tommy blinked slowly. “Yes.”

“We’re not saying that you’re gonna die,” Wilbur interrupted. “We’re saying the opposite! We’ll tell you all about it once you leave tonight, okay? I just don’t want you to be overwhelmed with a ton of information.” Tommy felt Wilbur wrap his arms around him again. He couldn’t melt into his hold, not in a room surrounded by other servants, but he could at least bask in the comfort.

“Still fuck you,” Tommy mumbled.

“Aww, are you pissy ‘cause Techno thinks you’re gonna die a howwible death?” Wilbur said in a baby voice. Tommy’s mouth opened in shock and he elbowed Wilbur in the gut. Wilbur stumbled backwards with a loud laugh, and Tommy quickly composed himself.

“Hey, man, are you good over there?” another servant said from the other side of the window. Tommy jumped, tensing.

“Oh, fuck, sorry, I didn’t see you there.” Wilbur was cackling now. Tommy tried to ignore him.

“I just thought I heard you say something. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just talking to the wall people,” Tommy joked. The servant stared at him blankly. “They’re telling me to kill everyone here.” The servant looked scared. “The voices!” Tommy added, hissing in a silly voice.

“You should kill these people. They’re all terrible. You’re so much better. Then you can just leave!” Techno advised. Tommy completely ignored that, trying to keep his small smile on for the random servant.

“The… wall people?”

“It’s a joke, man. No, sorry, I- I’m just- I stubbed my toe. I’m clumsy as fuck, you probably just heard that.”

“Um… Okay. You should try being quiet once the delegates get here. If you were paying attention while the Head of Staff was talking, you’d know they’re meeting in here as soon as they arrive.”

… Fuck.

“No, no, I knew that! I knew that.”

“Sure, just… stop talking to me, okay? I don’t wanna get in trouble, today is a big deal.”

“They’re the one who talked to you first,” Wilbur pointed out.

“You’re the one who talked to me first,” Tommy echoed.

“Fuck off, man,” the servant replied. Oh. That’s kinda rude.

“This servant does not have to right to snap at you like that,” Techno grumbled.

“Okay, if you tell me to murder them, I’m literally going to, like, blow up this whole manor.”

“Yes! Good! Now you’re getting it!”

“No- fuckin- I wasn’t being serious! I’m just, like, ex-asper-ted.”

“Exasperated,” Wilbur corrected.

“Kill yourself.”

“Stop fucking talking!” the other servant hissed, and before Tommy could snap back, he heard something from the hallway. Immediately, the mood in the room amongst the servants changed. An almost eerie silence descended upon them, and then the doors swung open.

“Welcome to my humble manor,” Dream said, leading a group of fancy looking people into the dining room. “If I’d known that you were coming today with more advance, I could’ve had a fancier menu prepared for tonight! My apologies on that account.”

“It’s no worry,” Fancy Blue Shirt Guy replied smoothly. He had a weird accent like something Tommy had never heard before. Maybe all of the delegates and Lords from other manors spoke funnily.

“There’s something off about these guys,” Wilbur hummed.

“Don’t be racist,” Tommy scolded.

“Wh- that’s not what I meant!” Wilbur sputtered. “I meant that I think they’re up to something! There’s an air about them-“

“Sounds like racism to me.”

“No, like, I can see the literal physical form of their consciousness as their angel and demon, and I’m a hundred percent sure that they’re-“

“Wilbur, I know you’re from hell, but racism? Really? Not cool.”

“They’re literally planning to kill you all and expand their own territory!”

“ What ?”

“It’s not racism!”

“No, no, go back to how they’re gonna kill us.”

“Oh. Yeah, the guy who’s wearing white? His demon is gloating all about how they’ve got an army on the way to kill a bunch of servants, threaten Dream, and prob’ly kill him too.”

Tommy’s jaw dropped.

“I have to warn Dream!”

“No, no, you will not be doing that,” Techno intervened. “Information is a privilege, and this is the perfect chance to make your escape. Dream will live, don’t worry your loyal little head off. I’m sure the angels will stop Kinoko from actually killing anyone important.”

“I don’t want any of the other servants to die either!”

“You don’t want anyone to die,” Wilbur groaned.

“Yeah! Of course I don’t! Why the fuck would I want people to die?!”

“Because they’re bad people?” Techno offered.

“Dream isn’t a bad person.”

“Uh huh, sure he’s not. I didn’t say Dream’s name or anything, so it’s funny that your mind jumped to that.”

“Dream just does what he’s supposed to! That’s just how things work.”

“Just because his eyes are piss color?” Wilbur inquired.

“Gold,” Tommy mumbled.

“They do look like piss,” Techno gasped.

“You’re getting off track, guys. Are you sure Kinoko is gonna…?” Tommy couldn’t manage finishing the sentence. “Because maybe it’s just the demon being annoying. Like when you guys keep saying you want me to murder everyone.”

“You could just kill the three Kinoko Lords, and then your precious Dream would be fine, but you’re sooo obsessed with not killing people,” Wilbur teased.

“That’s a normal thing to think! Murder is bad!”

“Says you. Wilbur and I were raised in a society where killin’ is expected.”

“Yeah! We had to kill other demons just to earn our statuses! So, maybe you’re the racist one. Or, species-est?”

“Uh- okay- I’m sorry for calling you racist?” And Tommy wasn’t surprised that the demons had killed before. He supposed that it made sense.

“ Thank you. S-“

“Get down,” Techno abruptly commanded, and since, Tommy’s brain was hardwired to recognize an order when he heard one, he immediately obeyed. He dropped to the ground, his chin hitting the hardwood floors hard enough to send a jolt of pain through his head. But in a split second, Tommy’s small amount of pain turned into pure fear. He heard the sound before he felt the blast: an explosion. The entrance wall of the dining room blew open, and the air was consumed with fire. Tommy tucked his head into his arms and balled up under the curtain.

He was going to die here. Fuck his destiny to kill the Leader! He wasn’t gonna make it out of the manor! All because of some stupid Lords from a district that he’d never cared about a day in his life.

The room was so hot, and Tommy could hear pained screaming, and yet he couldn’t bring himself to move or run. He was terrified.

He wasn’t hero material. He was just some scared little kid.

And then, suddenly, there was another loud noise accompanied by a rush of cold air.

“Tommy, come on, stand up, it’s gonna be okay,” Wilbur rushedly said in a soothing voice. “You have to stand up now. It’s time to get out.” Tommy took a shaky deep breath and poked his head out from behind the curtain. He was met with the sight of Dream and the Kinoko Lords having some scary looking magic battle as the guards and higher ranked employees fought on the sidelines. His fellow human servants were panicked and fleeing, but they still had the tags on their ears. They couldn’t leave the manor. The only thing they could do was run from the fire.

Tommy could run through the gaping hole in the wall and escape .

Fuck. Okay. Here goes what is probably going to be the death of him. That, or, he escapes and gets to return home to his village, to Tubbo .

Shaking, he stepped out off the ledge and grabbed onto an exposed brick. He was on the second floor of the manor. He only had to scale a fe-

The brick dislodged and Tommy fell, rushing through the air. His scream was eaten up in the screams of countless terrified servants stuck in the manor, and then he crashed into a bush on the ground.

“Fu-uuuuck, man,” Tommy groaned in pain.

“Tommy!” Wilbur yelled.

“Did he live?” Techno asked dryly.

“Yes I lived, bitch! Fuck you! Did you push me?” Techno and Wilbur jumped out of the wall hole and landed easily on the ground. Of course they did. They weren’t even real, or, didn’t have physical bodies or whatever it was. Tommy didn’t really understand. But he knew that they were both annoying bastards.

“Techno pushed you,” Wilbur lied obviously with a grin.

“No,” Techno denied monotonously. Tommy rolled his eyes.

“People are literally dying right now.”

“I think all the servants got away,” Wilbur offered. “The magic wielders up there, on the other hand…”

“At least this wall conveniently opened up for us!” Techno added. “I certainly didn’t have anything to do with that.”

“Did you explode the wall?!” Tommy exclaimed. “I thought you couldn’t touch anything except for me!”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Wilbur said, standing behind Tommy and draping his arms over his shoulders in a strange hug as if he was just trying to prove that he could physically touch Tommy.

“I merely suggested that one of the demons have their human blow the wall open.” Techno shrugged.

“But you can’t talk to the other demons, right? You can hear them, they can’t hear you! That’s what you said!”

“Usually, yeah. I just ignored that rule and, like, implanted the idea in the demon’s mind. The guy was really weak, a much lower class of demon. It wasn’t hard to bend the rules.”

“You can’t just break the laws of magic!” Tommy protested. Wilbur ruffled his hair, and Tommy refused to allow that, moving his head away. Touchy motherfucker.

“Yes we can,” Wilbur replied, cooing into Tommy’s ear. “Demon magic is all about chaos. The rules exist to be broken, at least for us.”

“But not all the demons can break the rules, right? ‘Cause that would be really bad,” Tommy worried.

“We’re just special,” Wilbur mused smugly.

“Is it because you guys are my demons? And I’m like, the chosen one? That would make sense, I guess.”

“Probably. I dunno,” Techno responded, clearly trying not to make it obvious that he knew way more than he was letting on.

“You fucking liars!” Tommy exclaimed, pushing Wilbur off of him. “Are you making up everything that you’re telling me? I’m just trying to figure stuff out!”

“Aww, are you going through an angst phase? Do you need to find yourself on a journey of self exploration?” Wilbur teased.

“Go die,” Tommy snapped back. “Can demons die?”

“Maybe,” Techno answered. “We’re not tellin’ you.”

“Die. Both of you. You deserve death.”

“What if we’re immortal? What would you do then?” Wilbur asked.

“No,” Tommy replied eloquently.

“No?” Techno echoed.

“No.”

“Fucking gremlin,” Wilbur groaned. “Okay, listen, we should probably go, okay? Maybe we can pay some magic user to fly us to wherever the Leader lives so you can just get rid of him real quick.”

Yeah, right. Like that was happening.

But Tommy just had to play along so that the demons didn’t know about how he wasn’t gonna stick to their little plan. Then he could just ignore the headache in the back of his head for the rest of his life while he lived home again. Having to listen to two demons complain wasn’t life-ending torture. It was kinda like dealing with intrusive thoughts. They sucked, and they said dark things, but they weren’t a representation of who Tommy was because they weren’t Tommy, and he could just not give them the satisfaction of acknowledgment.

“I could just take a carriage, if I can find a means of paying for one.”

“I guess we could rob someone,” Wilbur suggested.

“Or take money from the manor. I’m sure we can find some loose cash that your Lord has layin’ around, Tommy.”

“But I just escaped the manor!”

“Yeah, but we can’t grab the money, we can’t touch the physical realm!” Wilbur retorted.

“Just break the rules then!!” Tommy argued. “I thought you could break the rules whenever you wanted!”

“It’s not that easy,” Techno replied.

“I don’t care! I’m not going back in there! It’s literally on fire!”

“Ugh, stop whining!” Wilbur groaned. “Here, I’ll just make money for you.” He lifted up his hand, made a fist, and when he opened it, gold coins started to spill out of his grasp and clatter onto the ground.

“ Wil ,” Techno chastised.

“What? I made the kid some chocolate earlier! Why can’t I make him money?”

“You shouldn’t abuse your powers.”

“I’ll abuse whatever the fuck I want. Recklessly, thank you very much.” It was Techno’s turn to roll his eyes and groan. Tommy, on the other hand, was on his knees on the ground scrambling to pick up as much money as he could. He hadn’t seen this many coins in his entire life , let alone all in one place.

“Thank you Wilbur,” he said breathlessly, gratefully, his eyes wide as he stared at the shiny gold coins.

“Aww, Techno, isn’t he cute? Look at him, he’s like a little raccoon!” Tommy was too infatuated with the money to tell Wilbur to go fuck himself.

“You’re gonna spoil him,” Techno grumbled.

“He’s our human, so it doesn’t really matter that much. We’re the ones stuck with him forever.” Okay, now that’s something Tommy wanted to reply to.

“Oh, so it’s ‘forever’ now? What happened to ‘a few months’?”

Wilbur blinked dumbly. “No.”

“But-“

“Tommy, you should probably hurry and get in a carriage before the whole manor burns down or something,” Wilbur interrupted. “Or you get caught.”

Fuck. He was right.

For once.

“Fiiiiine,” Tommy drawled. He gathered up the coins in his pockets and started to walk away from the manor that he’d been forced to call his home for far too long. The demons trailed behind him, and Tommy chose to ignore them so he could have his moment. He was leaving. Going home.

(He just had to tell the carriage driver to take him to his home village, rather than the Leader. Wilbur and Techno would be pissed, of course, but Tommy didn’t care! Why should he?)

“Do you feel badass walking away from a burning building, Tommy?” Wilbur asked.

“Um, no?” Yes, he totally did. “Shut up, you’re being stupid.”

Tommy felt what was definitely Wilbur’s hand run through his hair again. Wilbur was so weird, man. Tommy wouldn’t admit the fact that he hadn’t had positive physical touch in so long. Being hit and punished didn’t fill the void inside Tommy that begged to be cared about. And, obviously, Tommy didn’t love the random demon who he’d met, like, yesterday! But… still. He really liked the affection. It was nice.

When Tommy reached a road, he decided to stand still until a carriage came by for him to pay. Luckily, he didn’t have to wait very long. He waved the incoming carriage down, and the footman looked him up and down with a scrutinizing glare.

Tommy realized, all of a sudden, that he was probably a mess. Covered in bruises for sure, but also wearing a tattered servant uniform that likely had soot on it from escaping a burning building.

Fuck. Hahaha.

“I have money,” Tommy started by saying, holding up the coins. The footman’s eyes practically turned into dollar signs, he looked so estatic to see the money.

“Where to, sir?” the footman asked, his demeanor instantly changing. And before Tommy could even open his mouth, something happened. He felt a wave of cold shudder through his very bones, and then it felt like a curtain descended in his brain, and he was pushed behind it.

“To the Leader’s district, please,” Tommy’s voice said. But Tommy wasn’t the one in control of it! He tried to say something, to force his mouth to move or his legs to allow him to run, but he wasn’t in control of his body. What the fuck, what the fuck?! That wasn’t him who said that! How was he not in control?

“Oh, I’m sorry, I don’t want to have the horses traveling that far,” the footman said, and his response was probably out of fear of the Leader rather than care for his horses. But Tommy didn’t give a fuck, because this meant that the footman was on his side for this! Yes!

‘Take me to the nearest village!’ Tommy tried to say. ‘Please! I just want to go home!’

But he couldn’t .

He wasn’t in control.

And out of the corner of his eye, through the curtain veil in his brain, he saw Techno standing alone, smiling smugly.

He’d fucking done something! He did something to Tommy! And Wilbur too, they must’ve-

The realization hits Tommy like a speeding train.

The warmth enveloping his brain and coaxing him into sitting back and allowing whatever parasite that was controlling him to keep control? It felt like Wilbur. The warmth was the same as how Tommy would feel in Wilbur’s arms. Except, hugs felt safe. This was terrifying, the thought that a demon was in control of his body, and Tommy wasn’t.

Wilbur was possessing him! Fuck him!!

‘FUCK YOU!’ Tommy screamed inside of his head.

“Could you at least give me a ride to the nearest train station, please? Anything helps,” Tommy’s voice said politely.

“Sure, kid, I can do that for ya. Hop on in the carriage, and I’ll take a couple of those coins off your hands,” the footman replied unfunnily. He laughed at his own joke anyway, and Tommy found himself laughing too out of sheer politeness. If Tommy were in control, he never would have laughed at that.

“Thank you, sir,” Tommy’s voice replied earnestly. His hands reached out to give the footman a few coins, and then his body stepped into the cabin of the carriage.

Tommy wanted to scream.

He couldn’t even get his mouth to twitch.

Fuck Wilbur. Fuck both of them. Fuck this, fuck everything.

As soon as the footman shut the door, Techno’s face went from looking full of himself to worried.

“Wilbur, are you going to keep that up for the entire carriage ride?”

“If I don’t,” Tommy’s voice answered, “he’s gonna scream and demand to be let out of the carriage or taken somewhere else. Plus, you know I’ll be useless after.” Techno snorted, apparently remembering something funny. Nothing about this was funny!

‘Wilbur, you shithead! Can you hear me?’ Tommy said inside his head. To his dismay, his voice didn’t reply to him.

“So, what? You’re just going to possess the kid until we get on the train? That’s a pretty long stretch of time.”

“Come on,” Tommy’s voice whined, “you know it’s necessary. The aftereffects are worth it, because what matters is that Tommy fulfills his destiny.”

“I guess,” Techno sighed. “But I’m gonna laugh at you when you’re succumbing to the side effects later.”

“Wha- that’s not fair!”

‘The flaw better be that you fucking die, bitch,’ Tommy grumbled. But Wilbur didn’t seem to hear him.

Wilbur should die. That would be good.

The rest of the carriage ride was silent. Tommy’s body sat politely still, and Tommy futilely tried to get his body to even twitch. He couldn’t make his limbs move at all.

When the carriage jolted to a halt and the footman came around to let Tommy out, Tommy’s voice politely thanked him, and his body walked away briskly towards the train tracks.

“It’s probably easier if we hitch a ride in an empty train car, rather than take a passenger train,” Techno suggested, and Tommy’s head nodded in agreement.

“That way, Tommy can’t scream or freak out or anything,” Tommy’s voice agreed.

“You should probably see if you can tie his wrists to the car once we get in, just so he doesn’t try and jump out and run and end up accidentally killing himself.”

‘I’d rather murder you ,’ Tommy thought. These motherfuckers were literally kidnapping him! And they weren’t even supposed to be able to interact with reality at all! They were cheating!

As soon as Wilbur…

As soon as Wilbur stopped fucking possessing him, which was surreal as it was, Tommy could just try and run home. But couldn’t Wilbur just do it again? If the demons could really do whatever they wanted, what was stopping them from controlling Tommy again? They were clearly lying to him about nearly everything. Tommy was so helpless in this situation, and he wasn’t even supposed to have to deal with magic a day in his life. He wasn’t equipped for this! He didn’t want this!

Tommy wanted to cry. But his body just kept walking. He wasn’t in control.

He ended up standing by the train tracks. Sure enough, a cargo train pulled in and stopped at the station. It wasn’t hard at all for Tommy’s body to nimbly climb up into one of the cars that was just filled with random shit and hay and whatever, and to sit down amongst the rubbish.

“I’m not gonna tie him up,” Tommy’s voice said decisively. “I think it’s okay. Can you go find out if this train has many stops before it gets the the Leader’s district? I know it’s going in that direction, but…”

“Yes, I’ll be right back,” Techno replied, and then he was off.

There was silence for a moment. And then-

“Tommy, I’m sorry,” Tommy’s voice apologized softly. He sounded nervously sincere, and even genuine .

‘Fuck you. I don’t forgive you.’

“If it helps, I can make Techno tell you the truth about some things during the train ride!”

‘No! Nothing helps! You can’t just take someone’s autonomy and then apologize . I don’t give a fuck that you’re a demon trying to help me with my destiny or some shit. I don’t want this. I want to go home .’

“I know you wanna go home-“

‘SO YOU CAN HEAR ME!’

“Wait, no, I-“

‘FUCK YOU! Fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you!’

“I’m sorry!” Tommy’s voice tried to protest, but Tommy continued to chant ‘FUCK YOU’ as loud as he could in his head, just to give Wilbur a headache.

Techno came back after a moment and said that, to Tommy’s dismay, the train was going right to the Leader’s district. Apparently, it had some important cargo on board that had to go right to him! Fuck, this was just Tommy’s luck. Of fucking course, the train was conveniently stopping right here where Tommy was, and then going straight to the Leader. Unless, again, there was something Techno wasn’t telling him. That was more realistic.

“Techno,” Tommy’s voice whined, “Tommy won’t stop screaming ‘fuck you’.”

“That’s your problem.”

“Fuck you!”

Finally, something that Wilbur made him say that he actually would say.

After what seemed like an eternity, the train finally jolted and started moving. As soon as the train picked up speed, Tommy felt the same freezing cold sensation through his bones. Slowly, too slowly, he regained the ability to move his extremities, and then the rest of his body. And finally, control over his voice.

“FUCK YOU!” he screeched at the top of his lungs, repeating what he’d been thinking for the entire duration of his possession like a broken record. “I HATE YOU! I don’t know WHAT you think you were gonna achieve by FORCING ME TO DO THIS AGAINST MY WILL, but I’m not gonna do this fucking suicide mission! You can’t just POSSESS SOMEONE! As soon as this train stops, I’m going home. You can’t stop me.”

“Are you sure about that?” Techno asked. Tommy screamed again and stood up. He glanced around the train car, and-

“Where the fuck is Wilbur,” he demanded.

“I genuinely couldn’t tell you. He’s kinda shitty at using his powers.”

“Wh-“ Actually, Tommy didn’t want to ask. He hated Techno. He didn’t want to make conversation or learn more about either demon.

“Wilbur’s the only demon who I know that can possess people, to the extent that he just did to you anyway,” Techno elaborated, not caring that Tommy didn’t give a fuck. “We both have special and enhanced abilities, far more than average demons.”

Okay. Well, now Tommy had to ask.

“What can you do?”

“I’m not tellin’.”

“Fuck you, man,” Tommy whined, flopping down onto some random haybale that had no reason to be in a train car. (Why was it so comfortable, too? Tommy could honestly just fall asleep.)

“Just let me know if you see Wilbur.” Tommy groaned.

“Isn’t it literally impossible for you guys to get too far away from me? Or is that another rule that you’re just gonna break? Oh, do you think Wilbur fell out off the train when he was un-possessing me? Gods, I hope so. Maybe he died.”

“That would be funny,” Techno agreed.

Tommy didn’t care enough to try and have a conversation with the demon. He still fucking hated him.

He just wanted to live. He didn’t want to go and fulfill his supposed destiny of killing the Leader and toppling the government, no matter how wrong everything was. He just wanted to go home and live with Tubbo and be a normal kid. He just wanted to be a kid. But that was too much to ask, he supposed.

Tommy closed his eyes and floated in a state of half-sleep, until Techno’s voice caused him to stir.

“Oh. Hello, Wilbur.”

Tommy expected to hear Wilbur’s annoying voice say something in return.

He did not expect to hear some sort of strangled chirping noise.

He sat up, and to his sheer confusion, he saw Techno pulling Wilbur’s limp body out from behind a random haybale. (Genuinely, why were there haybales on a train?)

“Is he drunk?” Tommy asked bluntly.

“Mrphhh,” Wilbur hummed.

“Basically, yes,” Techno translated.

What the actual fuck.

“You people are so weird,” Tommy grumbled. Wilbur whined sadly. He looked like a kicked puppy. “Is that the ‘side effect’ you kept bitching about?” Techno nodded.

Tommy hummed in acknowledgement and then turned to face the other way, his back to the demons. He didn’t want to interact with them. He didn’t care that they could be interesting conversationalists, or that High Drunk Silly Wilbur was apparently an unavoidable afteraffect of possessing Tommy. They were demons who had no respect for his autonomy or his wish not to die a horrible death .

He knew, deep down, that much of his resistance to the idea of his ‘destiny’ was that he knew he would never be even worth enough to be in the same room as the Leader. Fuck killing the guy. Tommy would get obliterated by the guards at the edge of the district!

He ignored the demons to the best of his ability. He’d be happy if they never bothered him again!

But Tommy couldn’t block out the sound of Wilbur fucking cooing like a bird or some shit. He was definitely high out of his mind.

Which. Well. Good. If that was his punishment from the gods for being a prick to Tommy! Then it was fair.

And while thinking about Wilbur being in what Tommy was going to christen Silly Mode, he realized something. If Wilbur wasn’t lucid, then Tommy could ask him questions, demand the truth, and Wilbur wouldn’t be as likely to stick to his carefully crafted web of lies that both demons had been feeding Tommy! And if Wilbur had one weakness: Silly Mode, what was to say the demons didn’t have other weaknesses that Tommy could use against them! Maybe he could even get rid of them for good!

“Um. Techno. Can you go, um. And find out how long the trip is gonna be? I can watch Wilbur.”

Techno hesitated to respond immediately, his face unreadable, and Tommy prayed that he wasn’t about to refuse and spoil his plan.

“Sure,” Techno finally agreed, and Tommy let out a breath that he didn’t know he was holding. “You can just say that you wanna bond with him, y’know.” Tommy couldn’t stop his nose from scrunching up in disdain. He did not want to bond with the fucker. Techno snorted. “No, I’m kidding. I know you think it’s funny.” Oh, thank the gods.

“Yeah,” Tommy agreed, lying easily. Well, technically it wasn’t even a lie! That just wasn’t his main reason.

And then, thank the gods, Techno left, practically tossing Wilbur’s limp form at Tommy.

Let the interrogation begin!

“Wilbur,” Tommy said urgently. “How am I supposed to kill the Leader?”

“I’unno,” Wilbur grumbled. “Y’r the one doin’ it.”

“Okay, fuck you, that’s not helpful. Uh… what powers do you and Techno have that you’re not telling me about?”

Wilbur giggled at that, and with a shit-eating grin, he slurred, “I p’ssessed you.” Tommy groaned in frustration and threw his arms up in the air.

“Do you exist to make my life miserable?!”

“No! We’re s’posed to help ,” Wilbur said, like it was obvious.

“Oh no, nuh uh, you have not been helpful to me in any way.” Wilbur’s face contorted into a scowl (a pout, really, if Tommy was being honest), and he petulantly flicked Tommy’s ear. Tommy couldn’t stop the memory of Techno removing the device from his ear that kept him trapped in the manor from coming to the forefront of his mind.

Okay, fine, whatever, the demons did one thing for him. Big whoop. They only helped him for their own personal gain! Like, for example, Dream had fed him and clothed him and given him a place to live, and taught him how to behave. Which was a lot more than the demons had done, and Tommy didn’t like Dream either.

“How does your possession thing work?” Tommy asked, getting back on track. “Are you gonna be all weird forever? Can you do it again in the near future? Are you gonna force me to go to the Leader by possessing me? Or are you just gonna be stupid forever?”

Wilbur blinked, slowly processing the barrage of questions. “Y’r mean,” he finally replied.

“ You’re mean!!” Tommy shrieked, fed up.

“Nuh uh.”

“Fuck you!” … “Um, anyway. What’s Techno’s secret power?”

“‘M not telling.”

“Ugh! You’re fucking useless. … Is Techno’s power the whole thing where he can put ideas into the other demons’ minds, like he did in the manor?”

Wilbur tensed, and Tommy knew that he’d hit the jackpot.

“Yes! It is, isn’t it! So that’s not just you breaking the rules , it’s just a Techno thing! Ahaha, I got you! See, I’m figuring you out!”

“Not r’lly,” Wilbur mumbled, but Tommy gladly ignored that bitch.

“Oh, here’s another question. Can you really just create anything, and make it like, tangible? For me, and for everyone who’s like, real, y’know what I’m saying? Like when you made the chocolate? Could you, like, give me a magic weapon that instantly kills anyone? Because that would be really useful, I think. I’d be able to kill the Leader for you if you let me have a magic murder sword! And then I could go home!”

“Um-“

“Or what if you possessed me again, and then you used demon magic to make me, like, fly ? And I could shoot demon fire out of my hands like a superhero! If Dream lived through the manor fire, he’d fuckin’ have something coming for him!

“And, I know that the Leader is basically the gods’ power concentrated on earth, but doesn’t he have an angel and a demon? If all magic wielders do? So maybe Techno could just, like, convince them to convince the Leader to kill himself or something. Because if you and Techno are so all-powerful, you should be able to dispose of any human being, even the most powerful living being alive! Right? I mean, nothing seems to stop you from getting your way! I know that it’s my destiny or some shit, but if you guys could take care of it for me, that’d be great.

“I know I haven’t really been down for the whole Tommy-tries-to-kill-the-Leader-and-gets-smited thing, but now that I think about it, it shouldn’t be that hard! And then I guess I could survive spending some time with you fuckers in the back of my head, as long as I get to live to go home to Tubbo, y’know? It’s not the end of the world to have your conscience be a bitch, I guess.”

“But me an’ Tech can’t go near him,” Wilbur whined.

What?

“What?” Tommy pushed, hoping Wilbur would elaborate.

“He c-“

“Tommy,” Techno growled, his voice sending an actual chill down Tommy’s spine. Tommy froze like he’d been caught in the act of killing someone, rather than just interrogating Wilbur.

Countless memories of being punished after misbehaving in the manor crashed into Tommy’s mind. Pain, fear, all of it deserved of course but so so terrifying .

Tommy tried to imagine what he would’ve been punished like if he’d found a guard drunk, and had started asking questions about information he wasn’t allowed to know.

Oh gods. Tommy was fucked!

“I’m sorry,” Tommy whimpered, his demeanor changing in an instant. He pushed Wilbur off of his lap and frantically tried to shove himself as far away from Techno as he could until his back hit the wall, holding back sobs the entire time. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he cried like a broken record, not able to muster the ability to say anything else. “I’m s- I’m- I’m sorry- I’m so sorry!” Fuck, Techno looked pissed.

He stepped towards Tommy, and Tommy flinched away. “I’m sorry , just please don’t-“ Fuck, Tommy’s hubris was going to cause his downfall. For all of his excitement about the fact that the demons could interact with the physical plane through him, he’d forgotten that that meant that they could hurt him .

“Please don’t hurt me,” he whimpered, his voice sounding as small and childish as he’d sounded the day he was first taken to the manor.

Trembling on the ground as Dream stood over him.

Tommy winced and curled into himself as Techno knelt down in front of him. He barely swallowed an audible sob.

Techno was just… staring. At him. And it was terrifying. Tommy stared back with wide, terrified eyes that were filled with tears that threatened to fall.

“What did you and Wilbur talk about while I was gone?” Techno asked. His voice was unreadable. It didn’t sound like he wanted to beat the shit out of Tommy, but he didn’t sound happy either.

“Um.” Tommy shuddered and squeezed his eyes shut to avoid eye contact with Techno, and therefore avoid crying. But it was best to be honest. He couldn’t risk lying and getting caught. “I asked him about you guys’ powers,” Tommy mumbled, his voice barely audible. “And- and my destiny an’ stuff.”

“About the Leader,” Techno concluded, filling in the blank. Tommy nodded fearfully, refusing to open his eyes.

All of a sudden, he had the revelation that ‘the Leader’ was a stupid name and a stupid title. Now was not the time for that kind of idiotic Tommy realization, though.

“I’m sorry,” Tommy squeaked.

“What did Wilbur tell you?” Techno pushed.

“Nothing! N- he didn’t tell me anything! I don’t know anything, I promise!”

“Okay, okay, calm down, kid. You’re acting like I’m about to beat you to death or something! There’s only one thing that, contractually speaking, we can’t tell you. Other than that, us withholding information is just a matter of strategy. You’re allowed to know things about your own destiny.”

“But you haven’t told me anything,” Tommy sniffled, daring to finally open his eyes and see Techno sitting on the ground in front of him, non-threateningly. Huh.

“Um. I’ll answer one question for you if you calm down? Stop sobbing?” Oh, was Tommy…? Only now did Tommy notice that he was quivering fiercely, that his breaths were coming so quickly he was on the verge of hyperventilation. He tried to take a deep breath, and then exhaled, shuddering. After repeating that a few more times, he met Techno’s eyes again.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” Techno said. Was he… apologizing ? What the actual fuck.

“I’m sorry for freaking out,” Tommy mumbled. Techno shook his head.

“Don’t apologize. I’m just not good with kids.”

“Hey! I’m not a child!”

“You’re not a seasoned warrior either. I don’t even think your voice has dropped yet!”

“Yes it has! You just don’t understand because your voice is weirdly deep! It’s- it’s different for humans! And also, hey! Wilbur has a squeaky high voice! I’m more manly than him!!”

“Wha’?” Wilbur asked drowsily from where he was still slumped on the floor behind Techno.

“He’s just insulting your masculinity,” Techno replied, brushing it off. Wilbur squawked in protest, but Techno ignored him and turned back to Tommy. “So, you wanted to ask me a question.”

“You weren’t just saying that?” Tommy asked, surprised. Techno shook his head. Oh. That’s… okay! Tommy was gonna take advantage of that. “Okay- okay, um, can you really just break all of the ‘demon rules’? Or were you just saying that? Or are there even rules at all? Or-“

“ One question, Tommy,” Techno interrupted. Tommy’s jaw snapped shut. “Okay, do you want me to tell you a little bit about that?”

“Yes please,” Tommy answered, and wow, fuck, his voice sounded embarrassingly meek. Techno didn’t seem to care.

“Technically, there are limitations and rules to any kind of magic. You’d know that if you’d been raised with magic and educated in it. Angels and demons, too, are magic. Moreso than magic wielders on the earthly plane, because we’re born and created from magic. Still, we can only do magic within the constraints of what we were created to do. For most demons, that’s to steer their assigned magic wielder into chaos, and to have harmony in the world. Earth would be shit if everyone only had an angel, after all. Wilbur and I are special, and you’re special, so we’re assigned to you. That’s really the basics of it. It’s our job to push you to complete your destiny, and we can do whatever is in our power to make sure you succeed. There are annoying constraints that I wish didn’t exist. I can’t simply murder every human who opposes you. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah.”

No.

What the fuck did he mean, ‘created by magic’? Did Techno’s parents never tell him that storks weren’t real, or something? There’s something devious called sex , Tommy snickered to himself. Or maybe the demons really just spawned in . Which was also dumb.

This was just some roundabout way of Techno saying ‘you have to do what we tell you, and we can murder people but only sometimes,’ and also probably ‘mimimi, I’m Techno, I don’t understand the rules of magic that control me, but I’m gonna act like I do ‘cause it makes me seem cool.’

Fuck that.

“Anyways, the train ride will probably just be a few more days, but-“

“DAYS?” Tommy shouted. “Fucking DAYS? I’m not spending days on a train! I’ll starve to death! Or dehydrate! Or die of boredom!”

“Hey, hey, Wilbur and I will feed you, and you won’t die of boredom.”

“But I haaaaaate you,” Tommy whined, putting his face in his hands.

“I don’t care,” Techno deadpanned. “That’s your problem.”

“But the train’s moving so fast ,” Tommy groaned. “There’s no way the Leader is that far away.”

“Well, if you hadn’t continuously rudely interrupted me, you would’ve known by now that the train is going this fast because of magic wielders .” His voice was condescending as he spoke slowly, like he was talking down to a child. What a bitch! “And in the greater area surrounding the Leader’s district, there’s a magic barrier. Within said barrier, you can’t use magic that’s greater than everyday small things. This is to prevent anyone from using their power to overthrow the Leader or plunge the area into disharmony.”

Tommy’s mouth gaped.

“And you didn’t tell me this until now?” He scoffed, a noise that almost sounded like an incredulous laugh. “That’s probably why I’m the one who’s supposed to take him down! Since I don’t have any magic!” Techno shrugged. “I can’t believe he’s that powerful. I mean, casting a spell that has power over everyone around you for that big of an area!” …Tommy was fucked, in terms of killing him. There was no way.

“Yup.” Well, shit. But, maybe the Leader would have pity for Tommy! He’d been forced into this against his will after all. Tommy could be a loyal servant! He-… well, okay, he wasn’t good at being obedient, but he was okay. He’d had practice with Dream! Unless the Leader used all of his evil magic to, like, wipe Tommy’s memory or magically control him or something.

Actually, come to think of it, Tommy didn’t know jack shit about the Leader! No one did, really, but Tommy was supposed to kill him? (As if Tommy would even survive eye contact with the guy.)

“Uh, hey, I have another question. Is mind control a real thing?”

“Not in the way you’re thinkin’ about it.”

“So it is?!”

“I mean, you’ve seen me plant ideas in people’s heads through telling stuff to their demon. Does that count?”

“… I guess.” Techno nodded approvingly.

“It’s possible for magic wielders to affect the minds of others, but not completely control their thoughts or anything.”

“… Will you promise to tell me the truth about things?”

“No,” Techno replied bluntly without a second thought. Tommy blinked dumbly before processing Techno’s response.

“Oh. Fuck you too, I guess.”

There was an awkward silence.

“We’ll be inside the barrier soon. Behave yourself until then, okay?”

Tommy didn’t want to reply. He curled up into a ball, pushed himself into the corner of the train car, and tucked his head down. Everything was just so much .

He ended up falling asleep, rocked to unconsciousness by the steady hum of the train rumbling on the tracks.