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The morning was wet, dreary. Grey skies weighed down the air of the land as cold raindrops muddied the forest floor.
Fallen leaves and mossy stones weren’t the only thing Eret found halfway out the grounds of Manberg that day, though.
---
“Oh, you’re awake.”
“...”
“The soup isn’t poisoned, you know.”
The bowl, only slightly steaming now, lay unassuming in the orange-tinted moonlight streaming in through the castle window. Wilbur stared at it in disgust. “I don’t want it.”
“Suit yourself.” Eret sat down in the chair across from the bed, swinging his legs over the cushioned arm. “Are you feeling any better? You looked a bit roughed up when I found you-”
“No offense, but I don’t have time for this. I don’t need your charity, I just need to get back to my L’Manberg. I need to settle this score.” Wilbur began to sit up, but flinched at some sudden pain in his side. “Jesus, what did Tommy do to me?”
“He shanked you- specifically, TUBBO shanked you.”
“No. He wouldn’t.”
Eret almost laughed at how offended Wil sounded. “I know, right? To be fair, you did lunge at Tommy with your sword and everything. Maybe the poison was a bit overkill, though.”
“Poison? What- Okay, never mind. Where are they now?”
“Honestly, no idea. They haven’t been seen in three days now.”
“THREE DAYS ?” Wil gaped at the man in front of him. “Whu- Why’ve you kept me here this long?!”
“Hey, you were the one who was found in the forest in the morning. Face down, blood oozing- the whole works, mind you. I didn’t want to wake you because I thought it might be dangerous.”
“Yeah, right.” Wilbur curled his lip at him in contempt. “How did you know what happened to me if you found me hours later?”
“HBomb was passing by, and he just told me what he heard. I guess he thought you’d left with them or something. It’s not like I planned to leave you half dead out there.” Eret shrugged back at him, expression almost bored.
It was as if the fight had deflated from Wilbur. He lay back down. “So that’s it? I’m alone?”
Eret cleared his throat, ready to spout his I’m sorry for betraying you but I was justified and I’m here to help you now speech. “I’m s-”
“Oh, don’t you fucking dare say ANYTHING along the lines of ‘oH, i’M hErE fOr YoU’, Eret.” Wilbur cut him off with a shaking finger pointed in his face, eyes blazing with concentrated fury. “You weren’t here for us when we earned our freedom, and you sure as hell never will be. Bloody two faced, conniving bastard.”
Silence.
From behind his sunglasses, Eret watched Wilbur shift under his blanket and face the stone wall.
“Your food’s getting cold.” was all he said, walking out the door and closing it quietly behind him.
Maybe another day.
---
“How is Niki, by the way?”
“Uh.”
A week and a half later and Wil was still bedbound, barely able to sit up. According to Purpled, his hipbone had been chipped and fractured.
The black and scarlet redstone-rays had been shuffled under the bed after Wil swept them onto the floor in anger; they remained there.
Eret cleared his throat, choosing his words carefully. “Niki is… well, I don’t know, honestly. I told you about how we were working together to help recover L’Manberg from behind the scenes, but I’ve... been seeing slightly less of her lately. She’s probably out helping Tommy, Tubbo, and Techno though, so there’s no reason to worry. She visits to drop off pies and cakes pretty often, I’ll put in a good word for you if you like.”
“Ah. Yeah, I reckon that would be nice.”
“Of course, no problem.”
Technically, Eret wasn’t lying when he said he’d been seeing less of her; it was more of a vast understatement. Beyond the day she helped drag Wilbur into a spare room in the castle, they hadn’t communicated at all- and the worry was really getting to him.
Nevertheless, he couldn’t let him know. It’d just anger him more; and though Eret wished Niki was back as much as he did, none of them could afford to lose Wilbur.
“So,” he said from where he stood in the doorway. “Uh, you had a nice base down there. Great farm.”
For the first time, a rueful smile cracked out of Wilbur’s sullen demeanor. “Yeah, Techno really worked his magic there. We have tons of potatoes down there, if you ever want any.”
Eret went red in embarrassment, remembering his actions the day after Manberg was declared. “I, uh. Actually don’t really need them. You see, I made a farm a bit ago-”
“You really thought you could build a farm that could compete with The Technoblade ? Victor of the potato war? Eret, I knew you were stupid, but I didn’t think you were that stupid.” Wilbur stared at him in disbelief, his nose crinkling as he laughed incredulously.
Eret rolled his eyes, his mouth beginning to curl into a smile of his own. “I wanted to impress the guy! He’s known for potatoes, so I gave him a couple stacks to kickstart his farm or whatnot. I don’t know, I thought it would be a nice gesture.”
He considered this, eyeing the other man with half-hearted suspicion. “Did he take them?”
“I… think he did?”
“So most of our food supply was grown from a traitor’s stock, huh.”
The easy air was gone, replaced by a heavy tension, and Eret frowned at the shift. “Oh come on, must we bring this bit back up? That was ages ago, and I will tell you again that I only betrayed you because I thought that our attempts at revolution would be hopeless. I hoped you guys would give up after being beaten once, because I didn’t want to lose L’Manberg along with all my friends.”
“They weren’t hopeless. We weren't hopeless. And yet you still took all this.” Wilbur gestured almost bitterly to the paintings on the walls, the stained glass windows, the view beyond. “Was the camarvan not big enough for you?”
“Hey, Dream offered me the land, I just took the opportunity. And if I’m being quite honest, this place is much too spacious for me. H only takes up so much space, you know.”
“Right.”
A beat of silence, then two, then-
“...I wouldn’t mind you staying.” Eret looked hopefully at him. “This could be your new base, since the ravine was officially declared Manberg land when they discovered it. You could play the part of a reformed outcast, you know.”
Wilbur began to nod along, and Eret took this as a sign that things might be looking up. “Uh, you could gather information about the flaws of the inner cabinet, plant distrust from the inside, maybe try to falsely reconcile with Schlatt-”
“Wh- Are you out of your mind?” Wilbur shot up in the bed, ignoring his pain. “I am NEVER going to speak to that man. He deserves nothing from me aside from my axe cutting into his neck.”
“Wilbur, you have to understand that he has very powerful connections, and you could very well be seriously harmed even trying to-”
“NO!” He swung his legs over the side of the bed, anger spewing from his face like a dragon’s fire. “You’re just trying to shut us down, Eret. We WILL take back L’Manberg, or leave it inhabitable for anyone else to rule.”
“You wouldn’t do that. Wilbur, it’s our- it’s your homeland. You can’t just destroy it!”
“I am the rightful ruler, Eret. I am the President. If L’Manberg isn’t mine, I’ll make it so it can’t be anyone’s .” Shaking his head, Wilbur stood up from the bed and took one, two wobbly steps- and crumpled into Eret’s waiting arms.
“Maybe you’ll be president again soon, Wil.” The man in question pounded his fist weakly against Eret’s back before relenting letting himself be taken back to his bed. “Right now, you need to rest.”
“I can’t rest until we’ve won… I can’t.”
“Maybe one day. It’ll take time, but you will take it back. I swear it.”
Wilbur pulled the covers tightly over himself in response, and Eret sighed at him and left the room.
There was still so much work to do.
---
“You must be so uncomfortable n that.”
“It’s for the aesthetic, shut up.”
Wilbur was sweating profusely under his trenchcoat, but the fabric was fully dry thanks to the liquid evaporating quickly in the Nether air.
Even Eret looked uncomfortably flushed in his T-shirt and jeans, having unequipped his cloak for the outing.
“So just to clarify, we’re splitting the netherite, correct?”
“Yup, since you don’t have any armor and mine’s pretty worn out.” Eret slid on his helmet and pulled his leggings over his golden shoes before handing his chestplate and boots to Wilbur, who looked over them with a furrowed brow.
“Holy shit, these are stacked with enchantments. You sure you want to lend these to me?”
“What do you mean? You can’t just be walking around literal hell with no armor. Don’t forget the golden helmet.”
“...Thanks.”
The two suited up and made their way to the mine, navigating the terrain with care.
Eret retrieved the beds from the chest and handed a couple to Wilbur, who placed all but one of them in his pockets. He turned the remaining one over and over in his hands, taking special care not to activate it. “Why would you just… hand these to me? These are powerful.”
“Again with this? You know, I really don’t know what point you’re trying to get at. How else are you going to find the debris?” Eret was hard at work making a couple more beds to restock the chest, barely paying attention to the bewilderment of the other man.
“I mean, it’s just kind of surprising you’d be so indifferent about it. I could do some serious damage with these.”
“You’re a smart guy, Wilbur, I trust you not to blow us up. Plus, in the month we’ve spent in each other’s company, I doubt you hate me as much as you used to.” Eret smiled warmly at him and patted his shoulder, walking past and beginning to hack into the wall with his pickaxe.
“Okay.”
He trusts me. Wilbur walked up and took his place in front of him, placing beds and blocks and detonating them. The innocuous words echoed in his skull all the while.
*boom*
Why does he trust me?
*boom*
Is he making fun of me?
*boom*
He’s probably making fun of me.
*boom*
He knows he can take me out with a strike to my hip.
*boom*
Dammit, I knew I should’ve crafted a sword before we left.
*boom*
I have to stay in my element, I can’t let him incapacita-
“WIL!”
He felt himself being pulled back by the collar of his jacket hard , and before he knew it, he was sprawled on the ground under another body.
This is where I die. Oh my god what was I thinking? I’m gone, I’m dead, I’ll never get to say goodbye…
… and I’m fine.
Eret sat back on his knees, his breath caught in his throat as he stared at the carnage so close to where they lay.
If Wilbur looked close enough, he could see the flame dancing in his companion’s eyes.
“...you okay? Hey, come on, are you hurt?”
Wilbur jolted at the sudden sound cutting through the ringing of his ears. He looked up into Eret’s wide, worried eyes and sat up to face him, nodding frantically all the while. “No, yeah, I’m okay, I’m fine.”
“Oh thank god.” Eret wiped his forehead in relief, lips stretching into a grateful smile; and all of a sudden Wilbur was taken aback at how wrong he now saw he was.
“You just- wha- you just saved my life! Holy fuck, I thought I would’ve been blown to bits there.”
“I didn’t even know I was capable of placing that fast, my goodness.” Eret gestured to the dirt in front of them, and Wilbur kicked it into the fire. “Not to be rude or anything, but you should probably remember to put something down before you set the bed.”
“Yeah man, I- I don’t know what happened to me.” He got up shakily to his feet, rubbing the phantom pain in his hip. “That makes this, what, the second time? That you’ve saved me?”
“I guess so.” Eret extinguished the fire around them and began to dig again before turning to meet Wilbur’s eyes, smiling slightly. “I’m beginning to think I might be your good luck charm. Maybe sticking around isn’t such a bad idea, don’t you think?”
“Maybe.”
Maybe.
It was hours until they scrounged up enough ancient debris for the two of them, and even longer before the close call left the front of their minds; but both of them agreed that it was worth it for how pretty fucking sick they looked in the matte black armor they emerged with.
Wilbur definitely thought he looked better with the trenchcoat off under his chestplate.
—
“Well damn, this is some strong shit.”
“Yeah man, you’ve missed out on a ton of substance advancements digging around in that cave of yours.”
Eret never thought he’d see Wilbur cry with a mouth full of cocoa beans. He never expected to be by his side as he did.
But here they were, vibing to a couple of music discs HBomb had given them as a parting gift when he’d moved out.
They sat under the stars at some ungodly morning hour, sharing some of Quackity’s best stock, letting their tears fall freely as they laughed.
It had been two whole months since Pogtopia’s apparent disbanding. No one had come for their straggler.
“Remember that stupid sewer system they spent ages making? God, we had no need for it, and yet they made it anyway.” Wilbur was raising and dropping his hand as he spoke, as if he were surprised that gravity affected him.
“Those two are too smart for their own good, yet they put it to use by making, like, multiple longass tunnels. Why the tunnels? Why so many?”
“Honestly! I thought they had rubbed off on you when you showed us that control room. I didn’t expect your thing at all.”
Eret nodded at that. He no longer worried about Wilbur lashing out at him when memories of their revolution resurfaced. He no longer feared rejection.
The time they had spent together had smoothed their rough edges.
“You would’ve fought back tooth and nail if you had any idea what was coming. Maybe you could’ve won.”
“Nnnno way. Five versus four? We were doomed from the start, you were always right.”
“I would have fought for you guys. Maybe not super obviously, but the room was small, and I could’ve claimed I fumbled. Besides, a little friendly fire didn’t hurt anyone too badly.”
“Friendly fire… haha…” Wilbur had a dazed smile on his face. “I still can’t believe they would do that to me in the forest. I mean the fact that it was Tubbo who left me near-dead makes it so much worse.”
“Do you think they’re okay out there?”
A slow nod. “They’re with Niki and Techno, they’re fine. I just wish I could apologize to them.”
Eret looked at Wilbur, a bit surprised that the normally prideful man would admit to such a thing. “You weren’t the one doing the stabbing, dude.”
“I could’ve been. I almost was. The only reason Tubbo attacked me was to protect Tommy.”
“Good kids, the two of them. Loyal almost to a fault.” Eret smiled fondly at the memory, but Wilbur was shaking his head.
“They would have been better off in a functioning city. I should have rallied for them to stay here. Anarchy is no fit for children.”
“And yet they helped lead L’Manberg to victory. You underestimate them.”
Wilbur laughed suddenly, bitterness in his tone. “I did. I do. It pains me to admit this, but part of me doesn’t believe they’re even alive out there, let alone planning to take back the land.”
Eret winced at hearing his own doubts aloud.
“God,” Wilbur continued. “I should never have proposed to destroy Manberg in the first place, I should’ve just let it be. You think they would still be by my side if I hadn’t gone crazy on them?”
Where was he going with this? Eret was quietly baffled as he added, “I mean, there’s nothing wrong with being protective of your land, Wil.”
Wilbur turned and looked at the other man with glistening eyes, grimacing in the starlight. “L’Manberg… it wasn’t just a land; it was a people, too. You knew all along.”
“...Yeah. I couldn’t bear to lose both.”
“And I couldn’t protect either. I was supposed to lead L’Manberg to prosperity, but the lands have been expanding tenfold under Schlatt’s rule. I was supposed to protect Tommy and Tubbo, but they’re long gone.” He laughed dryly, staring into the lights of the city. “Some president I was, eh?”
“Hey, no.” Eret opened his arms, and Wilbur leaned into him. “It wasn’t your fault. You did the best with what you could.”
“But it wasn’t enough! I was supposed to be so much greater than I could be, and I couldn’t live up to that perfect image of myself, and in my reach to untangle the noose, I-” Wilbur took a breath and swallowed a lump in his throat, burying his face in his shoulder. “I just fell off the chair.”
Eret was speechless, his mind devoid of words he could possibly reply with, and so he simply held him tightly.
“It… this is sappy as all hell, but you cut my rope, Eret. You saved me that day when no one else gave a shit about me. I don’t know where I would be without you, and I… god, I never thought I’d say so, but I truly can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done. For L’Manberg, for Pogtopia, and… and for me.”
Eret smiled triumphantly, murmuring a small “You’re welcome” into Wilbur’s hair, grateful that he knew for sure he was finally vindicated.
They clung to each other, their breaths in tune under the cold night. Above them, the stars shimmered, an innocent reminder of how painfully small they were compared to what lay beyond their horizons, how unable they were to prepare for what the future wrought; but in that moment, the world was reduced to only them.
No matter how alone they felt, they were each other’s lifeline.
And under the luminescence of the galaxies above them, they silently swore they would continue to be- long after their lungs gave in and the stars burnt out.
---
“You’re a hell of a swordfighter.”
“Wish I could say the same about you.”
Eret laughed and parried Wilbur’s lunge, striking back with his own wooden sword.
They fought through the hallways, multicoloured sunlight streaking across their flurrying limbs, closing doors and sliding down railings to avoid being hit.
“How- hauh- how did you even learn to fight this well?” Eret was panting heavier, and he jumped down the stairs and landed in a roll in a flashy dodge. “Do you offer lessons?”
“No, but I’d do them for you.” Wilbur walked leisurely down to him, twirling the blade in his hand. “Techno’s a hell of a teacher though, I’d recommend asking him first. He’s taught me more than I think I could ever pass on.”
“Will do, then, thanks- g huhh, haah- thanks for the recommendation.”
Instead of replying, WIlbur just grinned and flicked the sword out of his opponent’s hand. “L!”
“Damnit.” Eret sighed at the fallen weapon, looked up at him, and bolted. “You still won’t catch me though!”
Wil shrugged and gave chase, running after him through the labyrinthian hallways and down a couple ladders, finally tackling him to the ground on the outer grounds of the castle. “Gonna admit defeat yet?”
“Not if I can help it.” Eret began to wriggle out of the pin, using his left hand to drag himself out.
He was halfway free when Wilbur suddenly let up the pressure, staring at something above them.
What-
“Ahem.”
The smooth voice instantly alerted him to Jschlatt’s presence, and the two pairs of feet and one tail swishing beside him could belong to none other than Quackity and Fundy.
“Oh my god, are we interrupting? We can swing by another time when you’re not, you know…” Quackity drove the point home with a couple too many shoulder nudges, and the other two ignored him but smirked at the pair anyway.
“Oh no no, we’re good, this is a great time, yeah.” Wilbur stood up and pulled Eret up with a hand, the pain in his hip nearly fully gone by now. “Quackity. Schlatt. F… Fundy.”
Eret noted the latter shifting uncomfortably as he interjected, lowering his sunglasses. “Is there any business you have here, gentlemen?”
“Yeah, actually. We’d just like to take a look around the castle, to ensure you aren’t harboring any criminals. You know, like the one you have here.” Schlatt eyed Wilbur up and down before laughing loudly. “I’m joking! Wil here is a wonderful addition to our great nation of Manberg, we’re unbelievably happy you came to your senses.”
“Right, yeah.” Wilbur was stiff and quiet, a far cry from the laughing man swinging his hair out of his face every fifth second Eret knew from moments ago.
“Still, as you both know, a certain TommyInnit is still at large, along with my ex-right hand man Tubbo. There is also a Niki Nihachu who still hasn’t paid her taxes, which we take very seriously here in Manberg. Can you believe that? Five months!”
The two flanking him nodded and murmured in agreement, and Schlatt seemed pleased by the reaction. “And of course, I’d love to greet my good friend Technoblade- not that we haven’t kept in contact, of course, but I haven’t seen that guy in person in ages!” Schlatt tilted his head towards him, raising his brow expectedly. “You, of all people, know how it is. Don’t you, Wilbur?”
Wil’s hands began to shake violently, and he shoved them into his coat pockets to keep from trembling- but it was to no avail.
Seeing this, Eret knew it was time to get this over with. “You all can inspect anywhere you like! Right this way! Would you like me to heat you all up some stew? Wilbur here is quite the cook, you know…”
Neither of them thought the inspection would last so long. The three searched behind every painting and drawer, knocking on every flat surface to see if there was hollow space behind. It was exhausting having to correct every mess behind the trio, but it was much more beneficial having another person to help.
“I swear, you know my castle more than I do.” Eret was in awe at the level of detail Wilbur knew, from which throw pillows went on which couch to the exact orientation of the flowerpots. “How do you do it?”
“Well, once I got past trying to escape these walls in an act of self destruction, I decided that it was quite nice of a place after all. And you know me, my brain’s just a constant sponge for knowledge.”
“Pff, right. Man, do they have to be this thorough?”
“They’re looking for a perceived threat to society, I don’t completely fault them.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“I don’t.” Wilbur chortled at the thought. “But knowing Tommy, he’d probably tunnel between the walls or something. Their approach isn’t completely off.”
“Gentlemen?” The two snapped to attention, whipping around to face him. “We’re done here. Thank you for your time.” Schlatt nodded at them before beckoning his crew out, but paused in the doorway. “Wilbur, you should cook for us sometime. Your stew was actually pretty good, and the cabinet of Manberg always needs some chefs.”
“Yeah, anytime man!” Wilbur nodded enthusiastically, lips twitching.
As soon as the trio were out of sight, the pair of them dissolved into fits of laughter.
“You- oh my god-” Eret wheezed, tears developing in his eyes. “You ONE HUNDRED PERCENT almost gave it away.”
“No way! They don’t suspect me anymore, I’m a perfect indoctrinated sheep.” Wilbur pulled some wool out of a drawer and stuffed it under his hat, and the other man collapsed to the floor breathless.
“I didn’t know sheep were- HAAAH- were so good at building secret bases.”
“Lots and lots of practice, Er.” He helped him up and they walked to the back of the castle, stopping in front of Wil’s room. “After you, my good sir.”
“Why, thank you.”
He pulled a pickaxe out of his red cloak and struck the ground below them, and they fell through the floor into a black pit below. “You know, we should probably install some more safety features.”
“Safety is for the weak. Besides, we’ll be fine.” They splashed into a pool of water, and were, indeed, unharmed.
With a grin, Wilbur placed and flicked a lever on the ground, and suddenly the wall opened up to reveal a gargantuan, dark chamber.
They walked through the threshold, and Eret hit a button on the wall, muttering “It was always meant to be!” with an easy grin.
Bit by bit, the huge room was lit up.
The wood and redstone lamp floors lent a beautiful ambience to the environment, and the armorstands cast intimidating textures on the smooth stone walls.
Chests and ender chests spotted the perimeter, and the chained lanterns offered brightness to the darker areas.
Stacked blocks of TNT lay in the corners, and there were exits everywhere you turned.
It was the opposite of the final control room in every way, but the best part lay at the very end of the room.
Built into the wall was a huge mural of the L’Manberg flag, complete with silhouettes of all of their past members.
Tommy stood raising his disc in the air, and Tubbo sat in his box with a bee resting on his pickaxe. Jack Manifold toted his signature headset, and Niki and Fundy carried trays of cookies and cakes in the corner, so obviously smiling even they were merely shadows.
Eret and Wilbur simply stood in the middle.
“It never gets old, does it?”
“It never will, Eret. It never will.”
The pair looked up at the flag, at themselves , mirroring their poses subconsciously.
Every time they saw the mural gave them such a rush, and they could only imagine what the other members of the movement would think once they returned.
The mere sight filled their chests with pride and hope, for both what they had accomplished, and what they were yet to achieve.
Eret ran his fingers over the surface of the wall, Wilbur pressed his palm to his chest, and they grasped each other’s hands with all the strength they could muster to anchor themselves to one another.
—-
“Is this necessary?”
“This is probably the best gift I’ve ever given someone, so yes.”
A blindfolded Wilbur allowed Eret to lead him into his room above the base, and he sat back on the bed. “This is pretty kinky so far. Don’t tell me…” He added a suggestive grin to his statement, and yelped when he was swatted playfully across the back of the head. “Ow!”
“Oh my god, shut up.” Wilbur could practically hear Eret try to shake the smile off his face as a clunk of wood and the shhhunk of a certain piece of metal being sheathed sounded out in front of him. “Okay, are you ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
“Okay, one, two-”
A louder crash, this time involving glass, and Wilbur felt movement around his legs. “Oh my god, did you get me a dog?”
“...”
“...”
“...”
“Eret?”
“Hey, big man.”
Wilbur’s blindfold was ripped off unceremoniously, and instead of the marble eyes he had grown quite fond of, he stared into a pair of icy blue ones. They crinkled with a smirk, and he jumped up in shock.
“Tommy!”
“Hey, I’m here too!” Tubbo popped up beside the teen, his face mockingly annoyed.
“Of course, how could I miss you? I- wha-”
They tackled him in a hug, and Wilbur wrapped his arms around them tightly, already beginning to cry.
“Holy shit, we missed you so much! Did you know it’s a lot harder to run a revolution when there isn’t a Wilbur Soot on our side?”
“Yea, all we’ve eaten is potatoes and sometimes apples with honey from our tree and bee farm. I miss your food, man!”
Wilbur pulled back, inspecting their faces. The two looked older, rougher; as if far more time had passed than the half a year they’d been apart. “I thought you were dead! I have so many questions! Where have you been? What have you been up to? How’s Niki doing?”
“Niki? I thought she was with you?” Tommy asked, tilting his head, and Wilbur furrowed his brow.
“That can’t be right. Eret, you-” He wrested from the embrace and looked around. “Where’d he go?”
“Oh, the traitor’s right here!” Tubbo said with a cheerful grin, stepping aside.
By his feet lay an unconscious Eret, sprawled out across the floor, face bleeding from where they’d splashed a bottle into his face.
It was obvious, from the green pallor of his skin, that the contents couldn’t have been anything good.
“No. No, no, what did you do?” Wil knelt on the ground beside him, pressing his fingers to his neck.
The pulse was faint, but there, and he could’ve sobbed in relief.
The teens looked at each other, and Tommy mouthed “Stockholm syndrome.” to Tubbo before reaching down and grabbing Wilbur’s wrist.
“Listen. We don’t have much time. Techno’s standing guard, but he won’t be able to stick around the circuit much longer.”
“Circuit? What the fuck are you talking about?” He tried to wrest his hand from the grip, but Tommy only squeezed tighter. “Ah- let go!”
“You were right, okay?”
Wilbur stopped trying to escape and stared up at Tommy, trying to process the words.
“The last time we saw each other,” Tommy continued, “I thought you were fuckin insane. We couldn’t just destroy everything we’d worked for just like that, right?”
“No, you don’t understand-”
“Wil, shut it. We get it, we do.” Tubbo crouched down beside him. “We realized that it was the principle of the thing, and that there was no point in revolting against Schlatt.”
“Of course there was! We could have turned them against each other! We could’ve planted distrust from the inside!” Wilbur’s gaze was wide, desperate, and Tommy rolled his eyes.
“Where’s the fun in that, Wilbur? You said it yourself- if we can’t have L’Manberg, no one can. Don’t tell us you’ve gone all soft n shit.”
He took a breath and sat down, and Tommy let his wrist go. Keeping his eyes on the boys, Wilbur fumbled around and clutched Eret’s cold hand.
“Okay, can- can you just tell me right now? What. Did. You. Do.”
“We came back to the ravine after a bit, but we couldn’t find you anywhere. We left you messages in the library, did you know?” Tommy pulled a book out of his bag, showed off the scratched ink on the inside.
Coordinates.
It was smart. Wilbur couldn’t believe he’d hadn’t thought of that. He opened his mouth, maybe to congratulate them, maybe to apologize, but Tubbo cut him off.
“It was a dumb move on our part. Eret wouldn’t have let you out, else you would’ve tracked us down already.”
What…? “Let me out?”
“Of the fuckin castle, dipshit.” Tommy said with a no duh tone, and Wilbur couldn’t help but feel he was being made fun of. “The guy’s an asshole, but he’s not incompetent.”
“No. You’re wrong, he’s my friend! He didn’t-” He barked out an incredulous laugh. “He didn’t kidnap me. It’s not like I was trapped here.”
Tubbo simply stood up and pushed on the window.
Beyond a centimetre-wide crack, it didn’t budge.
Wil’s laugh turned nervous.
“That was my fault, I was trying to escape…”
“Okay, big man, I don’t know what he did to you, but we’ll get you some help.” Tommy patted his shoulder, but Wilbur flinched away from the boy.
“Tommy, I don’t NEED help! I was okay before you came back!”
“Oh shit.” Tubbo was frantically reading some message only he could see, and for some reason Wil perked up. “Tommy, we don’t have time for this. Techno’s been seen!”
Maybe this is good.
Punz and Ponk could incapacitate the Blade, and we could break him out and fight Schlatt and drive him away from L’manberg, and we could rebuild and find everyone and us two could fill them in on what really happened-
“Well, guess we have to go now, huh?” Tommy stood up and brushed off his jeans, and Wilbur breathed a huge sigh of relief.
“Yeah, you guys do that.” He got up and made his way to the chests beneath the mirror, shuffling through and searching for potions of regen, healing, anything that might help Eret.
A creak of a hinge, the shhhiiing! of a sword, and Wilbur felt the tip of a blade against his spine.
He stopped dead and turned his head to the right, staring bewilderedly at Tommy.
“Wilbur, come on! You can’t just miss the show for him. ” Tommy spit out the word with as much venom as he could muster, nudging Eret’s limp leg with the tip of a gleaming netherite sword as if he were disgusted by the mere thought of touching him.
“I’m not going with you until I know he’s okay. I can’t.”
“Then I guess we’ll just get him out of the way.”
Wilbur watched Tommy shrug and look past him at Tubbo, who lowered the sword and took a couple steps away.
There was a pause, and a whoosh, and all of a sudden he realized just what Tommy meant.
“Don’t you FUCKING DARE!” Wilbur yelled, getting to his feet and shoving Tubbo away.
The downward swing of the sword- brand new and matching the one Tommy held, he belatedly realized- just barely missed Eret’s neck.
He closed his eyes, opened them again, and prayed he would be forgiven.
“I’LL GO WITH YOU, OKAY?”
The boys looked at each other.
“I’ll come with you. Just… just leave him alone.”
Tommy and Tubbo broke out into smiles and cheers, and helped Wilbur up. “Glad to have you, then!”
The three walked out of the room, the teens talking excitedly over each other about how long they’d been gathering supplies, how hard it was to lay the TNT and not be noticed, and how they’d wanted to break in the castle and rescue Wil earlier but couldn’t for fear their plans would have been noticed.
It all went in one ear and out the other, and Wilbur did his best to nod along and seem supportive of it all.
He didn’t have the words to describe how much he hated this with every fibre of his being.
He couldn’t properly express how he longed for the two to never have returned.
---
It was three days.
Three fucking days until Eret finally returned to consciousness, surrounded by nothing but rubble and glass.
He wore his voice out quickly, screaming for Wilbur, begging him to answer.
The engraved swords he’d planned to gift him were gone- an odd thing to be hung up on when the rest of his castle no longer stood.
Shaking violently, he made his way out, picking his way carefully over shattered pots and empty cushions.
The sight of the billowing smoke sent him to his knees.
This was no city anymore.
There was no name that could fit this wasteland.
He walked over the grey ground, staring at the twists of metal and glass that could no longer be called houses, yelling the best he could with a broken voice for anyone, anyone to answer.
Beyond the crackle of the fire, there was no sound.
For the first time in too long, Eret felt truly alone.
He lay in the heart of a dead city, not knowing why he, of all people, was spared.
Coughing out the smog of the rubble and squinting at the darkened sun, he wondered to no one if it was worse this way.
-
The base below was untouched.
To be honest, Eret admitted it stung.
The sight of the flag left a bitter taste in his mouth, and he hefted the gleaming dark pickaxe in his hands.
There was no point in keeping it up.
“Don’t you dare.”
CRACK!
Down went Jack.
“We weren’t hopeless.”
CRACK!
Fundy disintegrated into rubble.
“That makes this the second time you’ve saved me?”
CRACK!
Tubbo collapsed to the ground.
“You cut my rope, Eret.”
CRACK!
Tommy crumbled down the wall.
“We’re good, this is a great time, yeah.”
CRACK!
Niki shattered into fragments.
“Are you ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
Eret paused, pickaxe inches away from Wilbur’s face, before reeling back and swinging it into his head with all the strength he could summon.
CRACK!
He let the hilt clatter to the ground and walked away, leaving the remnants of a pipe dream shattered where they belonged.
He’d blow the rest of it up tomorrow.