Chapter Text
When his son didn’t respond, Philza pulled his head back slowly, cupping his pale cheeks with both hands and gently wiping the blood away from his lower lip.
He should’ve been paying more attention. Why the hell hadn’t he been paying more attention? He knew the risks of not watching his boys in the city. Especially with Techno. Wilbur was slightly older and human, but Techno… Techno’s whole appearance made him a walking target for places like this.
As soon as he couldn’t find him after ten minutes of looking, he ran to the nearest guard station. He informed them that he was missing his son and they needed to help. Just a few of them went to search, but it wasn’t enough. He needed to go look too. He couldn’t take Wilbur with him though, so he left him in the safe hands of the guards and ran off to find him himself.
He didn’t have to ask around for too long until he found the place. A monster fighting ring. Fighting monsters was legal, but these people thought hybrids were monsters too. The city was always littered with people like this.
They were the real monsters.
If only he’d found it faster.
He imagined Techno, all lost and scared, taking trust in a lying stranger who dumped him here, in a pit with a monster. He was 7 years old for fucks sake.
Is 7-years-old.
His mind reminded him of that label tied to his baby all those years again as he stared at him, weak in his arms.
Freak. Reject. Only 1 life, leave to die.
All humans had three lives… monsters and animals only had one. Hybrids almost always had three, but he supposed the other could happen too... God, he hoped that fucking label was wrong. It had to be. How could they know?
He had to get out there. He safely bundled his son in his coat and held him against his side before grabbing his sword. If he had had time, he would not have hesitated to tear everyone in that godforsaken room apart, but he needed to get Techno to someone that could help.
He was getting his son back no matter what, mark his words.
He stood and let his wings fold out from where they had been neatly tucked away under his coat, the black-feathered wings extending out. He often kept them hidden within the city, it was easier than dealing with bigots. They gave one powerful flap as he jumped right out of the pit his boy had been murdered in, gracefully landing over the railing that surrounded it. The crowd parted for him as they mumbled amongst themselves.
“He’s a fucking monster too.” One of the men had the audacity to say. The words hardly came out of his mouth before there was a sword held up against his throat. Philza’s expression remained unwavering as he threatened the stranger’s life.
“I will show you what a monster looks like if you don’t allow me to leave peacefully.” He said, voice low and eyes full of silent rage. His stare snapped to the rest of the people that had stuck around in the room, clearly lacking a survival instinct. “And that goes for all of you. I swear to god, you better pray he wakes up because if he doesn’t then I will be back.” He paused, voice lowering. “and there will be nothing to stop me then.”
The man stepped aside and Philza lowered his weapon a little before running out, stepping over the door he’d busted down on entry and taking off into the sky without hesitation.
He didn’t like to fly in cities all that much. He didn’t want to start problems with people who thought they were ‘pure’ just because they seemed 100% human, didn’t want to draw unwanted attention, but he didn’t have time to travel to the closest healer for his son by foot. Air would be a lot faster.
Despite the fact he didn’t even know if his son was still breathing, he held him tighter to his chest so the wind didn’t give him a chill… It was easier to think like that rather than face the truth.
He didn’t want him to shiver or catch a cold.
When he landed he rushed in to find the nearest healer, taking the woman by surprise.
“My boy! I need you to fix my boy, please!” He grabbed her arm with his spare hand that was covered in dried blood. He wasn’t above begging. He just needed someone to help him. He let go of her in order to lower the jacket covering Techno a little bit, just enough so that she could see him. His skin was pale and Philza could swear his pink hair had even lost colour to it. It had gotten so messy and had been pulled out of its loose braid that it was in, someone must’ve been messing with it.
He would need to brush it when they got back to their campsite.
He looked back up at the healer, his expression the pinnacle of desperation. “Please.” He whispered.
The healer nodded and led Philza off to a private room at a fast pace. “How many lives does he have left?” She asked as they entered the room. The winged man hesitated for a moment and the woman turned to stare at him. “Sir?”
“I… He’s never lost one before… but-” He swallowed heavily. “Yeah. Yeah, this is his first one…” He would be fine.
The healer nodded and she gestured for Philza to put Techno onto the bed. He didn’t want to put him down. The bed was so large and Techno had always been a small runt for his age. Sometimes he wondered if he’d ever grow. Besides, if he was already cold then it would make it worse.
He needed him to warm him up and stop him from getting scared.
He was probably terrified.
“Sir.”
Philza took in a deep breath before gently setting him down against the bed. The healer was immediately checking him over, removing the dark coat he was wrapped in despite how much Philza wanted to tell her not to. He understood she had too, but he didn’t want her to, which was silly. He supposed it was just his mother-hen instinct. He was sure Techno didn’t want her to remove it either. Her brows rose almost into her hairline when she finally saw the wound in question. Children that came in with panicking parents had probably never been impaled before. There was so much blood…
But it wasn’t bleeding any more.
The healer raised her hand gently to Techno’s neck, holding two fingers to that specific point.
He hoped she didn’t wake him up.
“So, what-”
“Sir… your son doesn’t have a pulse.”
Philza swore his heart stopped then too. He took a step forward as if he wanted to prove her wrong. No. No, he had to have a pulse. He still had lives left, he was just resting until his next one started up again.
This was only his first one.
He was only 7-years-old.
“No-”
“He’s not breathing either. Or bleeding, and it doesn’t look like it’s because his body is healing-”
“You’re lying. This is some sick joke. He-” Philza placed his fingers against Techno pulse point, trying to prove her long, only… he knew she was right. Not being able to find it just proved that.
The healer sighed and stepped back. “He’s gone… I’m so sorry.”
Philza stared at the body, at his son , for a long moment. If he didn’t look down at the bloodstains… he could almost pretend he was just sleeping. It was like all the times he’d passed out in his arms whilst walking to their campsite, not able to keep his eyes open any longer. Sometimes he’d have a boy in each arm, cuddled into him whilst they slept, totally at peace, and he’d just feel whole.
Would he ever feel whole like that again?
What would he tell Wilbur? His son had already been distraught when Philza had found him, saying how he’d lost Techno and it was all his fault. If he showed up without his twin brother, he’d never stop blaming himself. It was just the kind of kid he was… It’s how both of them were.
Hell, in Techno’s last moments, he was just worried about having broken a promise.
A promise. He promised Techno he’d wake up.
The healer went to leave then, not able to do much else now except call the coroner and have them talk to the grieving father about funeral plans, but before she got the chance, Philza grabbed her arm again, looking determined.
“Do we have time to give him one of my lives?”
“What?-”
“I know it’s possible. I’ve heard about it. People that give their spare lives.”
“Well- yes, but it doesn’t always work-”
“Do it.”
“Sir, he’s already dead, those transfers only happen when the patient is still alive, and even then-”
“I said do it. I have three lives. I can waste one. I want to try.” He looked her in the eyes, gaze broken. If there was a chance. Any chance. He’d take it. He’d do it. He promised Techno he would do anything. “He’s 7-years-old…”
The healer sighed before nodding slowly. “I’ll go get the potions… you stay here.”
Philza let out a breath of relief before he nodded and took a step back, letting go of her. “Okay…” He whispered. “Okay…” He watched the healer leave before turning back his son. He’d fix it.
He knelt by the bed and gently picked Techno back up, not caring whether or not he should. He tucked him against his chest and let his wings rise up and cover them both protectively despite the empty room. He promised he’d wake up, he was going to keep that. He’d be okay. They’d be okay. “I’ll fix you…”
--
It was a miracle that Techno’s heart started again at all. Philza knew that, and every day he was thankful for it. It was definitely worth dying for his son to live, and even with only two lives remaining he’d do it again for any of his boys.
The only issue now was that he had only two lives left now and three sons. He supposed it was first come first serve.
He’d been watching Techno for almost ten minutes now as the boy- well, he was no boy now at nearly 18 years old but nonetheless he’d been watching him as he looked at his reflection in the calm lake. Looked at his scar. He knew what his son was thinking about.
Philza still didn’t know all of the details about what happened before he showed up. He was sure it was a combination of Techno not wanting to tell and Techno just… not remembering. He was only 7 after all. He didn’t mind though.
Because there was a massive lie he’d been telling his son since that day too. Or maybe more… a truth he hadn’t told him.
He never told Techno that the life had come from him. Just told him when he woke up that he was on his last life and he now needed to be very careful. He didn’t need to feel guilty that Philza gave up one of his lives for him. He didn’t need him to carry that weight.
Whenever the question of how many lives he had came up, he just told them he only had two, and that one of them had been claimed by a baby zombie… which wasn’t entirely a lie. Just wasn’t the whole truth. It was better that way. That way Techno knew to be careful whilst also not feeling guilty.
Finally, Philza stood up and started to walk over. He stepped over Wilbur, who was wrapped up tight in his sleeping bag and blanket, and Tommy, who was quite the opposite as he chose to sleep on the cool grass. His boys... He watched as his middle son raised his head and smiled at him a little. He smiled back. “Can’t sleep again?” He asked. “Nightmare?” He was just glad he was sitting by the lake instead of out in the danger of the night. He could never stop Techno fighting, no matter how much he wanted to just wrap him up in bubble wrap and keep him safe. That went for Wilbur as well, but he was far less likely to get himself into physical danger.
Philza supposed that was partially his own fault though… like father, like son.
Techno’s body was still healing at the healers and Wilbur was safe with him when he showed back up at that back alley fighting pit again. There was nothing to stop him and his netherite sword that time.
He was snapped out of his memories by Techno smiling and giving a small chuckle. “Guess you could say that…” He brushed his hand over his scar again. They were in the middle of a heatwave, so Techno being shirtless even in the dead of night was perfectly okay, yet Philza still had to resist the urge to go grab his own coat or Techno’s cloak and drape it over his shoulders. “It’s more like a memory…”
They didn’t talk about it, not properly, but they didn’t need to.
Philza leaned over and gently took Techno’s hand from where he was caressing his scar and smiled fondly when he looked over at him. He preferred it when they were both sitting and Philza didn’t have to tilt his head up to look at his own son, even if he was proud of him. He’d grown so much since he was the tiny 7-year-old in that bed…
He squeezed his hand before looking up at the sky. “I love you to the moon and back, sweetheart.” He spoke, voice full of adoration for the kid he’d raised into a man. He listened as Techno edged over a little to get rid of any gap between the two and rested his head on his father’s shoulders. He looked down and smiled as he saw his son had closed his eyes, raising his spare hand to tuck a strand of hair behind his hair.
“I love you too, Dad.”