Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tommy closed the door to the taxi staring at the gate to his uncle's estate, he remembers when he used to come and visit every weekend and spend the night, his uncle telling him stories of mythical creatures and the great unknown. Being as young as he was he believed him and was always happy to hear the stories his uncle told him but after so long and not seeing his uncle for such a long time it was hard.

He felt burning in the back of his eyes and his throat felt closed up and tight, it felt hard to breath and slightly suffocating standing here after so long. It felt wrong to be here, he didn’t deserve to be here after leaving his uncle behind and forgetting about all the things he told him.

With his uncle's recent passing and the reading of his will everything was passed down to him and his uncles brothers his father included were left nothing much to their anger. His uncle's lawyer would be the one to hold onto the money he would be given once he turned 18, but he was given a key to the estate and if it went missing or got lost the locks on the estate would be changed immediately and he would be given a new key.

He had asked his parents if he could visit the estate, they originally demanded that they be let in to take whatever they wanted but this caused an argument until he just left and got a taxi. He had packed enough clothes to spend the night so he didn’t have to go back home to his parents.

He sighed shakily and took slow steps forward, he pulled the key that hung on a chain around his neck off and slipped it into the keyhole. He turned it hearing a soft click and the gate creaked forward. He pushed it more open pulling the key out and putting it back around his neck, closing the gate locking with a soft click behind him. His uncle's estate was rather big with large brick walls surrounding it entirely and a large gate at the front. He stared at the large gravel pathway in front of him leading to a circular driveway and a fountain in the middle.

It looked oddly enough straight from one of those old movies his uncle and he used to watch when he was younger. He moved forward, it felt like forever until he was standing in front of the front door staring at the clear red wood door. He unlocked the front door pushing it open and stepping in locking it behind himself. When he entered he came into an open room with two hallways on either side and on straight forward. The hallway straight ahead was lined with painting and half of it was taken up by a stairway leading to the next floor.

Tommy took slow steps forward looking at everything. Nothing has changed since the last time he’s visited and he’s glad, he smiles as he walks through the first floor remembering everything from his childhood in this very house.

Tommy stopped in front of the last doorway leading into the living room. The living room is large with a flat screen Tv mounted onto the wall above a fireplace with a coffee table a few feet in front of the fireplace and a couch with two feet of legs space in between. There are two other couches on either side of the coffee table. The whole wall to his right is glass with a sliding glass door leading into the garden.

Tommy couldn’t help the warmth that flooded through him as he stepped into the garden. The cement walkway leading to two statues a few feet ahead of him. The garden is in a circle formation with other statues spread out evenly. He remembers all the stories he used to come up with for each statue and couldn’t help but smile as he stands in front of the two statues in the middle of the garden. The statues were both of male figures standing back to back, the first holding a sword pointed towards the grown with a crown and royal wear on, the other wore a long over coat with a weird smiley mask and had an axe slung over his shoulder, his hand gripping the handle.

“Technoblade and Dream, Rivals and friends till the very end” He muttered quietly, then chuckled lightly. “I had a pretty wild imagination when I was younger” He snorted as he walked around it looking at all the other statues. The first statue he stopped in front of made him smile.

“Wilbur soot, the first founder of the L’manburg republic and one of the greatest leaders” He whispered to himself tilting his head to the side. He moved onto the next, he quietly muttered all the stories he made up for each and everyone of them until he stopped at the last. This statue was always special, the statue took on the form of someone young probably Tommy’s age at this point.

He never got around to giving them a story but Tommy remembers the one he would have given them. “Tubbo, I never really got around to giving you a story huh” He muttered a frown crossing his lips. “I was planning on it but then my parents made me stop coming here” He sighed sadly running a hand lazily through his hair. “Can’t believe I’m saying this but I kinda missed these statues” He huffed with a small laugh as he turned on his heels and made his way back inside.

He couldn’t lie to himself but he did miss them, the stories he made up. The small adventures he's described as a child he remembers a good majority of them. He had been confronted by his uncle's lawyer alone before he left after the reading of the will, the lawyer a man named Scott had given him his number so they could talk more extensively about his inheritance and about the estate. Before he had left to the estate he had messaged Scott he would be going to the estate, Scott had told him that he’d check on him tomorrow in the morning.

Tommy sat in the living room having turned on the TV and was rewatching all the old movies him and his uncle used to. He had changed from the red button up shirt and black pants into a black tank top, dark grey shorts and an oversized hoodie with the hood up and was sitting there with a cup of hot choco in hand and was waiting for the pizza he had ordered that he would be paying for with the money he had from his part time job.

He hadn’t done much since arriving but he had gone through all the rooms until he found his old room he stayed in which was right next to his uncles. It was still the same as he left it, even all of his old stuffed animals and toys his uncle had bought him were still there and that made him want to cry a little. But he refused to cry, he needed to be strong.

Tommy sighed as he sunk deeper into the couch getting more comfortable. He stood up after a few more minutes figuring his pizza was going to arrive soon. He stood up and slipped on a pair of sandals he brought with him and made his way outside to the front gate where he stood waiting. A few minutes later the pizza guy came over and waited for him to unlock the gate. He did and handed the guy the money and grabbed his pizza, closing the gate and walking back to the house.

When night fell he brought a bunch of blankets and pillows downstairs into the living room he didn’t feel comfortable enough to sleep in the room he used to when he was a kid. The room was rather big with a huge bed that could probably fit more than just him so if he wanted to stay in the room he didn’t really have to worry about bed space. His uncle always got him things that he didn’t really think he had needed or wanted but he was forever grateful to his uncle.

Despite having not seen his uncle in years his death impacted Tommy a lot. After he found out his parents weren’t going to let him see his uncle anymore when he was 12 things took a turn for the worst, he started to act up and get in trouble. Cause multiple fights and get injured but also injured others. His parents had trouble dealing with him and for a second they almost gave in to letting him see his uncle again but they changed their minds at the last second and refused to let him see his uncle.

He didn’t know why in the beginning, why he wanted to see his uncle so much growing up. He knew he didn’t care about his uncle's money or all the gifts he got from him but all he wanted was to hear the stories his uncle told him, all the supernatural and mythical creatures. About witches and witchcraft, dragons, other dimensions even, growing up with his open mindset he believed anything was possible and he saw the world in a different point of view because after a while he knew everything his uncle told him about was real.

Others may not believe in it but he does and he knows his uncle isn’t lying to him. Tommy sighed running a hand through his hair as he lay down pulling one of the blankets over himself watching the Tv play one of the many movies he used to watch. A small smile stretched across his lips and he closed his eyes with a soft sigh.

[-----]

Tommy didn’t know what he expected when he woke up but he sure as hell didn’t expect the Tv to be turned off when he left it on, or his cup of hot choco to be missing or the pizza. He stood up throwing the blankets off a little worried but not too much, entering the kitchen he found the box of pizza thrown away and the cup he used for hot choco put away cleaned in the cupboard. He stood there staring at the cup for a few seconds before he sighed and turned around his eyes landing on the bright pink sticky note on the microwave.

He stared at it with narrowed eyes for what felt like forever until he sighed and moved closer to see what it said.

[ Made breakfast in the microwave, hope you like it! - N ]

“Who the heck is N” He muttered, pulling the sticky note off the microwave and throwing it away, he opened the microwave raising an eyebrow at the plate of pancakes, bacon, eggs and fried potatoes. He stared again at the plate for a few silent minutes this time until he sighed and closed the microwave door and started the microwave for 1 minutes.

After he heated up the food he pulled it out, grabbed the syrup after finding it in one of the cupboards and grabbing a fork and knife. He sat at the island table in the kitchen on his phone eating for a few minutes when he heard the front door open and close and a familiar voice call out. “Tommy! Are you still here?”

“In the kitchen Scott!” He yelled back. Scott came walking in, wearing casual clothing rather than the suit he wore when they were present for the reading of his uncle’s will.

“There you are, I just came to check up on you” Scott said. Tommy shrugged, Scott moved around the kitchen making himself a cup of coffee.

“This place hasn’t changed in the slightest since the last time I’ve seen it” Tommy muttered. Scott sat down across from him and hummed taking a sip of his coffee.

“Yeah I know, I lived here with your uncle when you were a kid, I was a former co-owner of his business, good man. Don’t know if you remember me though” Scott responded.

Tommy blinked at him for a few seconds. Until he remembered, Tommy wasn’t going to say it outloud but Scott doesn’t look like he’s aged a day since the last time Tommy saw him. Now that Scott told him this he does remember meeting Scott when he was younger, his uncle would sometimes ask Scott to watch him when he couldn’t. Scott was fun to hang around with when he was younger telling him similar stories to his uncle's the difference was that they weren’t as in greater detail as his uncle put them in.

“I remember” He muttered. “Although not very clearly” He added after a few seconds of silence.

“It’s fine, I wasn’t around that often only when your uncle asked me to babysit, anyways I have work to be doing so I better be off” Scott said, he left his mug on the counter and stood up exiting the kitchen. The sound of the front door opening and closing could be heard and Tommy sighed.

He finished the rest of his food and stood returning to the living room. He stood there staring at the turned off Tv for a few seconds before he sighed and went out to the garden. He always found the garden peaceful and he loved being around it when he was younger and somewhat still does.

Tommy sat down on the ground in front of the statues in the middle. He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his sweater and stared at the two statues standing back to back for what felt like forever. Tommy sighed and pulled out his phone sitting criss crossed on the ground, he wasn’t surprised to see a bunch of messages from his parents and a few missed calls.

He frowned and unlocked his phone going to his contact and hesitantly hitting call on his father's contact. He set the phone on the ground on speaker, he was a little surprised when his father picked up expecting him to be at work at this point in time.

“Tommy!” He wasn’t surprised at the angry tone in his father's voice and sat there hunched forward with a small frown on his face. “Don’t you ever go running off like that again, you better come home this instant!”

“Hate to break it to you old man, but I’m not going home. I'll be staying here in the estate for a few days” Tommy replied a small smile of amusement crossing his lips.

“You're really going to make me and your mother come and get you?” His father asked with an exasperated sigh.

“No, because I know for a fact your not even allowed to step a foot into the estate” He responded and it was true, when Scott had given him his number to contact him if he ever needed anything he had also informed Tommy that if they tried they could be arrested for attempt breaking in and entering, while Tommy currently wasn’t the owner of the estate until he was 18. Scott was in charge of the estate and it’s wellbeing until he came of age to take ownership of it and Scott could possibly press charges against his parents for trying to break into the estate he basically owned until Tommy was 18.

Tommy didn’t care if they tried or not. “Tommy, this is not up for debate you will come home this instant”

“I don’t see the problem here old man, you know where I am and that I’m perfectly and utterly safe. There's nothing wrong with me being at the estate other than you not wanting me to be here” He responded. Before his father could respond he hung up and wasn’t surprised when he tried to call back but Tommy powered off his phone.

“Well that was a shit show” He sighed. He stood and walked back inside, he hadn’t really gone through the entire house. He had explored the first and second floor but the third floor along with the attic he had yet to check and see if they’ve changed. Tommy grinned and made his way upstairs to the attic leaving the third floor to be explored later.

He stood in front of the door leading into the attic a light switch was off to the side and he flicked it light coming out from under the door. He smiled and pushed the door open, he used to hide up here as a kid he had even made a makeshift fort. The attic was a pretty large room with piles upon piles of boxes everywhere, Tommy stared at all of the boxes, his gaze quickly going over the labels on the boxes before he moved to look at the next.

After a minute or two of looking at the boxes and their labels his gaze stopped on a box. He narrowed his eyes and walked over to the box. His name was neatly written across the front of the box in an all to familiar hand writing. He opened the box and saw a bunch of books, he raised an eyebrow until he picked one of the books up and turned it over to look at the cover. The book seemed to be like a journal but the name written on the front surprised him.

[Technoblade Creation Of The Antarctic Empire]

Tommy frowned. The title was a bit of a surprise, an old title he hasn’t heard since he was a kid. He sat down beside the box and flipped the book open to the first page. He didn’t really need to read it to confirm what it was, the title itself was a confirmation. Growing up with his imagination he not only thought of titles and for all the statues but also stories, the book he was holding in his hands he assumed holds the first story he ever thought of. 

He had never even told this story to his uncle. He was only nine when he thought of it and had been sitting in the garden in front of the statue with a coloring book as he talked about it.

“I’ve talked about Techno and how he’s a king but how did he become a king, that's where Technoblade Creation Of The Antarctic Empire comes in, Techno’s first ever adventure that earned him his name as a fearless warrior”

Tommy smiled when he remembered how he dropped the red crayon he had in hand and threw his hands into the air as he sat back on his knees to look up at the statue. He set the book back down in the box and picked the box up, walked over to the attic's door, closing the door behind himself and turning off the lights on his way out. He brought the box back to the living room and set it down on the coffee table pulling out the first book he had originally grabbed and setting it down on the table.

He goes through all the other books casting a short gaze over all the familiar names on the covers of each book.

[Wilbur & Schlatt Rise Of L’manburg Republic]

[Niki Oracle Of Amar]

[Phil Renowned Mage]

[Bad & Skeppy Crystal Cavern]

[Eret Freedom Speaker]

[Dream Team Fight For Rights]

[Brothers By Choice, Rivals By Blood]

[Dream SMP]

[The Election, Fight For L’manburg]

All the familiar titles only made his suspicions even more and more correct, all of these books were recreations of the stories he came up with for all of the statues. Except there were a lot of other books revolving around the other members of the Dream SMP but these ones were the ones he remembered coming up with off the top of his head when he was younger.

He was a little confused when he found two books similar to the rest, the only difference was they didn’t have titles on the front covers and all the pages were left blank. Tommy assumed they were for Tubbo, he had never gotten around to speaking out loud about all the adventures he thought Tubbo would go on like the rest. He remembered the stories though, he thought they were fitting.

He picked up the first book which followed Techno’s first adventure and ends in the creation and start of the Antarctic Empire. He knew the story would probably have greater detail than he was able to explain when he was younger, he had a small vocabulary but a big imagination and couldn’t really describe things the best but he still tried.

Tommy sighed and dropped the book back onto the coffee table leaning back into the couch turning to look out the window into the garden a little surprised to see it was night time already. He pulled his phone out and powered it on to check the time, 9:49 pm Tommy huffed and leaned his head back against the couch and closed his eyes.

After a bit he stood up and exited the living room walking to the kitchen. Once he was inside the kitchen he began digging through the fridge to look for something to eat. The fridge was rather full but Tommy was lazy and didn’t want to cook at the moment so he just stood there staring at everything until he sighed and picked up a small knife twirling it between his fingers.

He sat down at the island table, still twirling the blade around his fingers. He sat there for what felt like minutes in silence until he heard footsteps. He frowned and checked his messages, Scott hadn’t messaged him he was here or that he was coming back here in general so it couldn’t be Scott not to mention there were multiple pairs of footsteps.

Tommy’s uncle was a very paranoid person so he quietly stood up and dug through one of the cupboards knowing there was a pistol somewhere, his uncle had one put into every room just in case anything bad happened. Once Tommy found the pistol he put it into his pocket or his sweater. 

Tommy quietly hid behind the island table out of view of the door. The door to the kitchen was pushed open and hushed voices could be heard. “Shh, he’s not in here”

“Then where do you think he could be!”

“I don’t know, split up to see where he is”

“Fine I’ll check upstairs” The sound of footsteps exiting the kitchen were heard and Tommy frowned still twirling the blade around in his left hand. He shifted around the other side of the island when he heard footsteps come around the other side. He peeked over the edge seeing the back of someone with long blond hair. He stared for a few minutes before he ducked behind the island table again and stopped twirling the blade in hand and instead gripping it tight.

He scuffled to the pantry door and slowly pulled it open and closed it lightly shut behind himself not drawing whoever it was attention. Whoever it was turned around to facing the island table their back pressed against the counter in front of the sink. After a few minutes Tommy heard the kitchen door open again and more footsteps come into the kitchen.

“He’s not upstairs” A voice said.

“I checked the attic,” Another voice said.

“Well, where do you think he is” A third much younger voice questioned. Tommy frowned, he wasn’t too worried about who it could be since he had a pretty good idea of who these people were. He was young not stupid and he could piece together a lot of things with the right information. Tommy could vaguely tell someone was leaning against the door to the pantry and that they weren’t that tall and probably could be easily pushed.

He debated rushing out and pointing the knife he had at the closest person or calling the police. He liked the first option because it had far more chaos in it and he knew whoever these people where had been inside the estate before he even arrived because he would have been altered to a break in cause of the cameras on the walls outside the estate.

“Are you sure we checked everywhere, I mean this place is huge” A fourth voice cut in.

Tommy huffed quietly knowing it was now or never. He held the knife in his left hand and the pistol in the other hand. He kicked the pantry door open pushing whoever was leaning against it into the wall without a care in the world. He pointed the pistol at the nearest person who backed up and put their hands up.

“he has a gun!?”

He stared at the person with narrowed eyes taking in their appearance until he realized who this person was, even if he’s only ever seen them as a statue. “Wait? Tubbo” He said raising an eyebrow at the familiar person? In front of him.

Chapter Text

Tommy stared at Tubbo with furrowed brows and a frown crossing his lips. Until he sighs and lets his hand holding the gun fall to his side and drops the knife running his left hand lazily through his hair. “You guys seriously don’t know how to keep secrets do you” He muttered.

“W-what!?” Tubbo stuttered.

“I’m confused?”

“Whats happening!”

Tommy ignores their questions and turns to look around the kitchen at the other shocked figures. It’s night probably around 11 Pm or something and Tommy’s beginning to feel tired.

“Wait! So how long have you known?” Niki asked.

“I was young not stupid, it wasn’t hard to piece it together. In the beginning I thought it was just some weird crazy dream” He explained as he leaned down to pick up his knife. He lifted his hand holding the gun and tapped the barrel of the pistol against his forehead. “But it wasn’t a dream” he lowered the gun. “My suspicions that you statutes? only grew because I never once told my uncle about the stories I came up with the only way those books would exist is if you told him, I know for a fact he’s never set up cameras outside”

“You're a lot smarter than we took you for” Techno muttered. Tommy snorted and set the gun down on the kitchen island table alongside the knife.

“I’m tired and don’t have the willpower or necessary amount of sleep to deal with this, so do whatever you want and we'll talk about this tomorrow after sundown” He said exiting the kitchen. He walked back to the living room where a bunch of the other formerly statutes sat all surprised when he entered. He moved over to his spot on the couch pushing Fundy to the side and face planting his spot on the couch. He sighed and closed his eyes.

“Leave the fucking Tv on when you guys go back to the garden” He huffed as he buried his face in the pillows.

“He knows” the voice of Tubbo said from what Tommy assumed was the doorway.

“Makes our lives easier” Fundy sighed.

[-----]

Tommy cracked an eye open and sat up the Tv still on all the books where he had left them all though there were a few books with page markers in them, so he assumed they had read them. He dug his phone out of his pocket and hit call on Scott’s contact. Once Scott picked up he sighed and spoke into the phone. “I knew the fucking statutes were alive” He hissed.

“Oh, you found out,” Scott said.

“Yes, kinda held one of them at gun point with the fucking pistol” Tommy responded.

“Oh, honestly I don’t blame you, scared the fuck out of me when I first met them but I had my suspicions” Scott replied and Tommy swore he heard him sigh through the phone. “I assume you're going to talk to them more often then?”

“Yes, today after the sun set because I assume they only walk during the night” Tommy responded.

“Got that part correct,” Scott replied.

“Anyways, I’ll update you later” Tommy sighed. Scott said his goodbyes and hung up and Tommy sighed running a hand lazily through his messy bed head that he noticed was a lot messier than it usually was. He frowned and realized they must have ruffled his hair in his sleep, he huffed and stood heading to the kitchen where he found another pink sticky note on the microwave.

[ Sorry about last night, apology breakfast hope you accept!? <3 - N ]

Tommy sighed and pressed 1 minute and let the microwave run. Now that he thought about it all the piece’s kind of fell together. This place was rather large and his uncle never had any maids to come and take care of it and his uncle was a shitty cook so he always wandered how he was able to even survive on his own here in the estate if he couldn’t cook but in a way it made sense. He had them to help him with all of that including watching over Tommy himself, now that he realized it they were technically there for him just as much as his own parents and uncle. They could obviously hear and remember things when in statute form and that also meant they watched him grow up.

The thought would have probably disturbed others but it made him somewhat happy, having others to help him remember his uncle by. After all no one knew about them so no one has probably even asked how his uncle's death has affected them.

Tommy sighed and looked around the house for a pencil and paper. He found the items in his uncle's work study and brought them down stairs writing a note. He stood up leaving the note on the coffee table and left the house with his phone and some money since he needed to go out and buy some stuff.

[-----]

When the sun went down and Tubbo could actually move alongside all the others they went inside. Tommy wasn’t anywhere to be seen but there was a note on the coffee table. Dream moved over to it without hesitation and picked it up reading it out loud.

“Went out to get a few things, if I’m not back before sundown then I’m probably also getting food, don’t fuck anything up or make a mess” Dream stared at the note or at least Tubbo assumed he was staring at it he couldn’t tell with the mask he had on.

“Well looks like we're waiting” Fundy sighed as he sunk into the couch avoiding Tommy’s pile of blankets and pillows.

“Do you think he’s actually going to come back?” Niki asked sitting down on one of the other couches on either side of the coffee table.

“Most likely, from what I can tell he’d rather be here than with his own parents” Techno shrugged.

Tubbo let their conversation fade into background noise as he sat down beside Niki picking up the Tv remote and switching through the channels. “Wouldn’t blame the kid if he up and left though,” Sapnap sighed, sinking into the other couch across from him and Niki.

“He’ll come back,” Tubbo said, cutting off whatever Techno was going to say. He didn’t elaborate or give any reason as to why he thought Tommy would return, Tubbo just had a feeling. They had all known Tommy for years even if it didn’t seem like it, they had watched Tommy grow into the person he was today even if they missed the past five years thanks to his parents Tommy obviously didn’t change, he still had that same child like imagination but he held it back more than he did when he was younger.

Tubbo didn’t usually think a lot or get lost in his head a lot but he was sure Tommy would come back because he cared about his uncle just as much as they did, this was Tommy’s home now and Tommy obviously wasn’t going to just abandon it and leave it behind.

Tommy wasn’t sure what he expected to come back to when he came home. He had been out for a while going shopping for things he wanted and at some point called Scott to help him carry the stuff he got back to the estate. Scott had been happy to pick him up and help him out to get all his things back to the estate which Tommy was grateful for.

He had gone mostly shopping for snacks and drinks but had also gotten pizza again along the way since he didn’t feel like cooking. He pushed the front door open and closed behind himself and walked to the kitchen setting all the groceries he could carry. “Niki!” He called out. She came running into the kitchen with a worried but relieved look.

“Sorry for the abrupt call but can you help me put all this stuff away, and get the others to pack the rest in it's on the porch?” He said. She nodded and left the room, Tommy ignored the sound of multiple footsteps and began to unpack everything. Tubbo, Techno, Dream and others carried more bags into the kitchen and helped unpack.

“You sure took your sweet time” Schlatt huffed.

“Oh put a cork in it” Tommy retorted. Once they were done, Tommy carried the Pizza to the living room and sat down in his spot. It was quiet besides the Tv for a bit until Tommy sighed. “You guys don’t have to be so fucking silent” He snorted.

“I’m honestly surprised you didn’t freak out when finding out” Fundy shrugged.

“Like I said I was young not stupid dipshit” Tommy responded.

“I wonder what changed, you used to never cuss when you were younger” Eret muttered poking Tommy in the back of the head.

“When I was younger” Tommy corrected, leaning his head back to look at Eret with a tired expression. “But I’m not, plus you can thank my parents for the terrible fucking change” Tommy sighed.

“So you're not mad we tried to hide from you?” Tubbo asked.

“No, if anything I’m only mad because you guys could scare the shit out of me if I didn’t already suspect something was up” Tommy replied.

“Great to know,” Wilbur muttered.

“Quick question, do you guys like need to eat, I already guessed you don’t age which seems to be correct but do you guys like still get hungry?” Tommy asked.

“Yeah, we steal food from the kitchen” Fundy responded.

“No wonder we were so low on food” Tommy sighed.

“Sorry” Niki muttered.

“I’m not blaming you guys I was just curious” Tommy shrugged.

“So what happens at this point?” George asked.

“Nothing, I don’t care if you guys are here or not just don’t fucking scare the shit out of me, or I’ll slap you upside the face” Tommy bluntly responded.

“Do you think you could get me a phone? It gets so boring around here especially when you’ve watched almost all the movies” Quackity said poking Tommy in the side.

“Fine, anyone else needs something?” He asked. Tommy didn’t know what to expect when a good majority of them asked for phones besides Wilbur, Dream, Techno and Tubbo who already seemed to have phones of their own, how Tommy didn’t know. Why? He wasn’t going to question why they had them in the first place and instead just added his contacts to their phones just in case he was ever out during the night and they could easily contact them.

They spent a good majority of the rest of the night arguing about which movies Tommy could get them to watch because they all have watched all of the movies in the house so Tommy had to get new ones that they haven’t seen. Tommy was a little interested to see how they’d react to the new movies he’s already planned on bringing. When he checked the time and it was nearing 7 Am all of them retreated to the garden, Tommy didn’t follow and instead sat their writing up a list of things he could possibly get them.

It was odd having basically people he thought were statutes come to life, but he didn’t question it. He had already suspected them but his brain was still very slowly trying to wrap it’s mind around this whole situation so it hasn’t really fully processed.

Tommy went to sleep setting a timer on his phone to wake him up in an hour or two so he could go shopping.

When Tommy did wake up he sighed and ran a hand through his hair before he decided to shower and change into new clothes. When he was about ready to leave and go shopping he was wearing black ripped jeans, white converse, and a red button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

He brought his backpack with him and texted Scott he was going shopping because the statutes? Asked him to get them phones because they were bored of watching movies. It was odd to say something like that and even odder when Scott said he’d help him. He waited outside the estate the key around his neck as Scott pulled up in his car.

Tommy climbed into the passenger seat, clicking his seat belt into place. “So why exactly are you helping with this?” Tommy asked.

“I kinda feel guilty if I’m being honest, the only reason I don’t stay the night here is because you know Fundy and all the others they like to pull pranks a lot when they're bored either on each other or on guests, me usually being the only guest. Which is why I don’t live here or visit this place often anymore” Scott huffs.

“They don’t seem that bad,” Tommy said, pulling out his phone and pulling up the list of things he’d need. “I’m gonna have to get a part time job” Tommy frowned running a hand through his hair as he leaned back.

“Don’t worry about it right now, I’ll handle paying for whatever you need” Scott responded. Tommy hummed in response, his gaze shifted to a new notification, a text message from his mom asking him to come home again. 

“They all want phones except for Techno, Dream, Wilbur and Tubbo, it’s surprising Phil doesn’t have one” Tommy sighed.

“How so?” Scott asked.

“He’s the oldest and most responsible of them all” Tommy replied like it was the most obvious answer anyone could give. Scott gave him an odd look as if questioning how he knew this until it clicked in Tommy’s head and he bursted out laughing. “You didn’t know he’s practically the oldest!?” He said. Scott huffed and lifted a hand off the steering wheel as they stopped at a red light. He ruffled Tommy’s already untamable curly hair much to Tommy’s displeasure.

“Of course I didn’t, unlike you I was alway uneasy when I was around those statutes and always got a feeling of being watched” Scott replied.

“At least your hunch was right,” Tommy snorted.

“Continue with what you need,” Scott said, steering the conversation in another direction.

“I already got groceries yesterday so we just need the phones. Oh! Also Scott, can you do something for me?” Tommy asked. Scott hummed in response to let him know he was still listening. “Can you go to my house and have my PC and my monitors moved to the estate?”

“I’ll do you one better, I’ll order you a new one” Scott replied. Tommy took a few seconds to register what Scott said before he flipped out.

“No way! You're not doing that! I’d feel so guilty” Tommy argued.

“Nope it’s happening, plus consider it a late birthday present you turned 16 like a month ago if I remember” Scott replied. Tommy’s eyes widened as he realized Scott remembered his birthday even after so long of them not meeting.

“You remember?” Tommy muttered.

“Of course, I remember the weekends you’d come over and your uncle would give you all kinds of gifts” Scott snorted with a small smile. “Some of those gifts were from me but I told him to say they were from him”

“Like that small Kalimba thumb piano I liked so much” Tommy said. Scott looked a little surprised.

“You knew that was from me?” Scott asked.

“I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again” Tommy laughed lightly. “I was young not stupid, my uncle got me all kinds of expensive and extravagant things, but that Kalimba thumb piano was nice but it was under the price range of everything my uncle bought me, plus wherever I had it and played it around you, you always seemed a lot more happy”

“Smart even when you were only like 10 when I got you that” Scott snorted. Tommy huffed rolled his eyes as Scott pulled into a parking space. Once the car was turned off Tommy unbuckled and jumped out. Scott followed behind him into the store.

[-----]

To say they were worried was an understatement, they knew Tommy left to get them the things they asked for but it was way past sundown and nearing 12 Am and the growing pit of dread and the tense silence was getting to be too much. Despite them denying it a lot of the time they cared about Tommy, they watched him grow up so of course they cared. How could they not care even if they’d never admit it out loud.

Tubbo and Niki were pacing, Wilbur was pulling his beanie on and off, Dream and Techno were leaning against the wall, arms crossed and obviously tense. Skeppy and Bad were sitting in the corner actually quiet instead of bickering like they usually do. The door to the house opened and closed and they all perked up turning to face the entrance. They were a little surprised when Scott stumbled in carrying Tommy who was fast asleep on his back.

“Shh” Scott said in a hushed tone as he stumbled over to the couch before setting Tommy down as gently as he could. “I’ll be right back” He whispered, they nodded and he left. Tubbo and Niki quickly fixed Tommy’s spot getting him to lay the right way and throwing a blanket over him.

Scott came back carrying a few bags of things. He set them on the coffee table and motioned to them. “I’ll be staying in one of the guest rooms, please don’t bug me” He sighed. They nodded and he left.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Fundy sighed in relief. “Fucking hell, kid almost made me worry” He muttered crossing his arms.

“Could have given us a warning he was going to be out late” Eret said quietly.

“It doesn’t matter, he’s here now and he’s okay we don’t have to worry” Niki reassured everyone. Fundy looked through the bags pulling out a phone. There were others in the bag all of them with different phone cases and names on the back. He was orange and said his name on the phone case in bold black letters. Niki’s was a pastel pink with her name on the back in cursive pastel blue.

“He got the things” Fundy said, making everyone turn their attention to him. “He even got them phone cases” He said, handing Niki her phone. The bag was left with nothing but four phone cases and nothing else. One of the phone cases was a light green with Tubbo’s name written on the back in bold black like Fundy’s. He called Tubbo over and handed him the phone case much to Tubbo’s surprise, but he was nonetheless happy.

[-----]

Tommy woke up on the couch, light coming in front the one wall that was made out of glass. Tommy sighed as he rolled onto his back staring up at the ceiling, his arm thrown across his forehead and his other hand resting across his stomach. He stared at the ceiling for what felt like forever until he got up and noticed one of the bags of stuff was empty, the one they had put the phones in.

The other bags were left aside but everything was put back in the bags rather messily so Tommy assumed they did look through the other bags at the movies he had gotten. He had gotten a lot of movies, and made sure that they were none of the others Fundy or the others have watched. Tommy sighed as he stood, going to the bathroom and changing into black shorts and a white T-shirt so he was more comfortable.

He sat back down on the couch turning on the Tv and switching it to some random kids show. He powered up his phone having charged it in Scott’s car when they were shopping. He scrolled through social media and watched a few random youtube videos from his favorite youtubers. He turned his head to look over his shoulder at the doorway to the living room when he heard a soft knock. Scott stood there dressed in rather casual clothing a stark contrast to his usual formal wear. “Making breakfast, are you going to help?” Scott asked.

“Oh! Coming” He said abruptly standing up, he dropped his phone back onto the couch where he was once sitting and followed after Scott who returned to the kitchen with Tommy trailing behind him.

“For someone your age, I expected you to have just bought a lot of junk food” Scott muttered as he looked through the cabinets at all the food Tommy had gotten.

“Just because I’m a kid doesn’t mean I don’t know how to eat healthy” Tommy snorted. It was rather true, he was young and played video games a good majority of his time but that didn’t mean he didn’t try to eat healthy or go outside every once in awhile but now that they had a garden and he’s been staying at the estate he’s been having the time of his life with not having to wake up early to the yelling of his parents.

He knew they were probably on the edge of a divorce especially after the resent reading of his uncle’s will, he’s heard talks of how his mother has only stuck around because of his fathers possible inheritance from his uncle but when the reading of the will came naming him the sole person to inherit everything his uncle owned his mother was more than a little upset. He heard how she had thrown a temper tantrum.

Tommy doesn’t really blame his Dad though. His father didn’t really care much about the inheritance and just wanted to try and fix his relationship with his mother who was nothing but a gold digging witch. He hadn’t realized it up until she demanded to stay at his uncle's estate that would belong to him in a few years time. Of course his mother hadn’t been informed she wasn’t even allowed near the estate but when she was she threw an even bigger tantrum.

Speaking of his parents Tommy would probably have to check up on them sooner rather than later. He couldn’t avoid them forever and he was an only child so he knew they would at some point genuinely start to worry about his well being. 

“What do you think about pancakes or waffles?” Scott asked.

“Pancakes, and we should make a lot more extra for the others later tonight” Tommy said.

“We're gonna have a lot of pancakes leftover” Scott muttered with a light smile on his face.

“Heck ya” Tommy grinned. Scott snorted and began to grab everything he’d probably need for the pancakes. Tommy helped to the best of his abilities, he had a lot of skill in cooking, he wasn’t good at math or anything of the sort but he was good at cooking and general things that revolved around Technology.

Despite having his ups and downs he still tired his best when it came to doing things he wasn’t good at. And that's all he could do at the moment.

[-----]

The day went by pretty fast and soon it was the next day, he had decided now would be the time to talk to his parents about the recent events and he had texted them before he was leaving that he’d be coming home to talk. He had been a little nervous when the idea of going home came to his mind but spending time with Scott and the others made that nervousness wash away. Scott had left early in the morning for work so Tommy didn’t have to worry about where he was, Tommy had also ordered an uber because Scott wasn’t around to drive him home back to his parents house.

He didn’t know what to expect when he stepped into his home but everything was quiet but the lights were still turned on. His father stood in the hallway and watched as he shut the door behind himself. “Come on, you said you wanted to talk and there are some things me and your mother also want to talk about” His father said, his voice calm and quiet.

Tommy nodded and followed his father into the living room. He sat down on the other couch across from them, his mother's gaze was sharply pointed towards the ground her arms crossed. They sat in heavy silence for what felt like hours until Tommy decided to just say what's on his mind. “You're getting a divorce aren’t you?” He asked. His mother seemed surprised while his father was perfectly calm.

“Yes, but that isn’t everything” His father sighed running a hand through his hair. “Tommy what I’m about to tell you may not be what you want to hear but it’s now or never”

Tommy frowned, casting a glance around the room until he set his gaze on the coffee table. “Continue” He muttered.

“I’m not your father” Those four words rang in his ears and made his eyes widen but his father continued to speak. “A few months after your mother and I were married your mother had an affair with my brother your supposed uncle, you are by blood his son and not mine, but by law you are mine. I’ve kept this secret from you for so long and I didn’t know how to break it to you but with the most recent events it’s best not to keep this from you any long”

Tommy could feel the burning in the back of his eyes and his throat begin to close up. He couldn’t think coherent thoughts or even speak. “Your mother will be moving to new york to stay with her mother, and she has agreed to hand full custody of you over to me. Despite all of this I want you to know that no matter what we love you and we are sorry we kept this from you for so s-so long” The small crack in his ‘father's’ voice made his hands begin to shake and he sat their in stunned silence for a few minutes until he silently stood up and left.

He closed the door behind himself with a soft click. He didn’t even think as he left his feet take him to wherever they wanted to go. His supposed uncle was his actual father. He wasn’t his ‘father's’ son. These thoughts swirled around his head as he walked aimlessly, losing track of time until he ended up in the old park he and his ‘father’ went to when he was a kid, where they played games. Laughed and had fun. He sat down on a rock near the parking lot and silently pulled out his phone. He pressed the call on Scott’s contact noticing that he had probably been sitting there for a half an hour now.

“Tommy?” Scott questioned through the phone.

“C-can you c-come pick me u-up please S-scott” Tommy stuttered his voice shaky as he spoke.

“Where are you?” Scott asked immediately.

“Weld P-park” Tommy responded. Scott hung up after his response and Tommy numbly slid his phone back into his pocket. He sat their hands folded into his lap until he felt silent tears begin to fall down his cheeks. For years he had thought he had a perfect family that nothing could make things change, that they’d always be okay. But he guessed he was wrong, he guessed things were beginning to take a turn for the worst and he didn’t know what to do so he sat in silence tears streaming down his face.

He didn’t even notice when Scott pulled up. He did notice when Scott sat down beside him and wrapped an arm silently around him and pulled him into a hug and Tommy felt the dam shatter. He cried and cried and cried. He cried until he couldn’t anymore, he set their face buried in Scott’s shoulder crying for what felt like hours the weight of his ‘father's’ words impacting him more than he thought they would. His uncle was his father and his father was technically his uncle. None of this made sense and Tommy just wanted to forget everything right now.

Why didn’t they tell him sooner, why did his ‘father’ stick around to raise him, a kid that wasn’t even his own flesh and blood. “Come on Tommy” He looked up at Scott who gave a sad but gentle smile. “Let's get you home” He nodded and Scott helped him stand and walk him to the car. Once in the passenger seat and buckled in he leaned against the door and let his eyes fall shut.

Chapter Text

Returning home and numbly sitting down on the couch was a little overwhelming, his mind was still trying to wrap around everything. He hadn’t even fully processed his ‘uncles’ death or that his ‘uncle’ wasn’t his ‘uncle’ but his father and his ‘father’ was technically his uncle. That his mother had an affair and his ‘father’ stuck around to raise him a child who wasn’t his own. He hadn’t even wrapped his head around the whole living statutes thing just yet and everything was just getting more and more confusing.

It wasn’t even sundown yet but it would be in an hour or two. Tommy didn’t know why but he stood up letting his feet lead him to his ‘uncles’ study. He stared at all the books on the bookshelves that lined the walls, his gaze turning around the room to land on his ‘uncles’ desk.

He sat down in the desk’s chair and looked out over the room from behind the desk. He stared blankly at the door, a calm silence fell and all the tension drained from his body. He was beginning to piece everything together but with each thought he felt a part of his fall and shatter. He did look a lot like his father, while the person he thought was his dad had the same pale skin as him but he had dark brown eyes and blond hair that was darker than his own. His real father had the same untamable curly hair he had, the same pale skin, the same pale baby blue eyes. He frowned and pulled out his phone unlocking it and moving to look at the photos he had on his phone of him, his mother and his ‘father’.

Now that he was looking at photos of them he could see it the differences he had compared to his father. Everyone always said he looked a lot like his mother, she had pale skin but not as pale as him, pale blue eyes with long blonde hair.

Tommy sighed and shut off his phone, the screen going black, he set his phone down on his father's desk and sat there in silence. He turned his gaze to look around the room until the door to the study abruptly opened and Scott stepped in a look of relief crossing his expression. 

“I just wanted to come check on you,” Scott muttered. “And give you one more thing” He added and came forward placing a book on the desk. He walked back over to the door as Tommy lifted the book to look at it. Scott cast a worried glance at him. “In his will it said not to give you the book until you knew, about him being your father” Scott said, before he turned back closing the door as he exited the room. 

Tommy sat there staring at the book, the cover was a plain black with gold lines formed into a pattern crossed the cover in an oddly intricate but beautiful pattern. He stared at the book for the longest time until he grip on the book tightened and he breathed in heavily, anger, fear, curiosity. He was angry at them not telling him, scared of everything that's going to happen from here on out and curious of what the future may hold.

But one thing was for sure he wanted answers, his father didn’t just hide this from him for no reason. He’s come to terms with the fact his uncle was his father and that the person he thought was his dad isn’t but that isn’t going to change how he feels or views the person he thought of as his dad.

Deep down he knew they wouldn’t have hidden this from him when he was growing up that there was something bigger going on and he was going to find out, his father was a very secretive and paranoid person and Tommy knew this. Even when he was younger and growing up the small watchful eye he casted everywhere even in his own home was never unnoticed. He never trusted anyone but Scott to watch over Tommy and never allowed anyone but Scott into the estate and there had to be a reason, he trusted Scott and so did Tommy and that wasn’t going to change but that also meant something was out there something that his father had to be afraid of. 

Tommy sighed as he opened the book, the first page being a letter to him from his father. He somewhat expected this since Scott had said that he would give it to him after he knew his ‘uncle’ was his father.

[-----]

Scott sighed as he ran a hand through his hair after he closed the door to the study. He walked back to the living room and sat down feeling more tired than he ever has before. He knew Titan, Tommy’s uncle was a very secretive person. He’s known Titan for years and he’s never opened up to anyone but him and Tommy, never let anyone near him but him or Tommy. It was why he had the estate but even in his own home Titan didn’t feel safe, casting worried glances everywhere every few seconds it was obvious and with how smart Tommy was Scott suspected he noticed them too.

Scott was beyond smart and knew that Titan got himself into something even he couldn’t handle. Titan in the first few years of Scott knowing him knew that Titan was different from the first time they met, he saw more, thought more, paid attention more. Noticed the little things others didn’t he had a keen eye and was far smarter than Scott ever was.

Titan was a force no one wanted to mess with even when they worked together. Scott had gotten into a lot of debates and fights, and in a lot of odd situations, situations that Titan always got him out of just by being there, anyone knew that Titan was a wild card just by being around him.

Scott didn’t know if he appreciated Titan’s friendship or if he feared it. Titan didn’t have to be his friend, Titan could have just gone on with life and ignored him but he didn’t and instead stuck to Scott for some odd reason. Titan didn’t even have a will up until a few months ago. The first words Titan said to Scott before he asked for his help to write his will, will forever haunt him.

“I won’t live much longer”

Scott didn’t know how and in the beginning didn’t believe those words but Titan was a paranoid person and Scott was never easily convinced but Titan knew he wasn’t going to live any longer, he knew his death was coming before it happened and that scared him. He originally thought Titan’s death was random but after hearing what had happened he didn’t think this anymore.

Titan had been working late night from what he had been told. When he was found earlier in the morning all the windows were shattered, all the glass laying on the ground around him in a circle as he was curled in a fetal position, his desk and chair were nowhere to be seen and he had been severely burned that his body looked almost unrecognizable.

Scott was scared because in the back of his mind he had a nagging feeling that whatever had killed Titan was still out there, doing what? He didn’t know but it was out there and it was doing something. He had a feeling his life was about to get a lot more hetect and crazy.

[-----]

Tommy wasn’t sure what to expect when or if he decided to open the book and look at what was inside. He knew it was probably something written from his father but in a small sense he was afraid of what he’d find. Now that he knew a small part of the truth he was beginning to piece together a lot of things, he was a lot like his father and he was only beginning to notice this as he thought more about it.

Growing up he was never considered a normal child in the eyes of his peers or teachers, a lot of the time his ‘parents’ had been pulled into meetings to talk to them about his supposed odd behavior of either spacing out or talking to thin air or just staring at things unblinking. He freaked a lot of his teachers out sometimes and he knows this because he’s overheard their conversations with his ‘parents’ he never thought that his teachers' worries were true or relevant. But now that he thought more on it and how he was a lot like his father he realized it was true.

Tommy looked up when he heard a knock on the door. “Come in!” He called out, the door was pushed open and Schlatt and Techno stepped inside Wilbur quickly following in behind them and closing the door after himself. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Do you guys need something?” He asked.

“Yeah, we want to steal Scott’s car keys and try and go for a ride” Wilbur said shit eating grin on his face. Tommy stared before he realized this could be a fun thing to distract himself from everything right now.

[-----]

Now he regretted everything he’s ever done in life. “Your a terrible fucking driver Schlatt!” He yelled as he pulled the steering wheel to swerve to the right and avoid another car while simultaneously running a red light. Schlatt just cackled maddly a grin on his face as he clutched the steering wheel and pushed Tommy back into the passenger seat. Wilbur, Dream and Techno were laughing in the back seats while Tubbo and Fundy breathed in heavily, Tubbo sitting on the ground behind his seat while Fundy was on the ground behind Schlatt’s. “Why did I agree to this” He sighed heavily.

“Because it’s a fucking great idea” Wilbur said a grin on his face.

“All of you are fucking children” Techno sighed.

“You wanted this as much as we did” Dream cut in throwing an arm over Techno’s shoulder and leaning into his rival a grin probably stretched across his lips under the mask.

“I hate all of you, besides Tubbo and Fundy” Tommy sighed and jumped when they’re was a loud honk from a semi-truck that had almost hit that barely missed them. “Holy shit!” He yelled as he pulled his seat belt tighter.

“Ohh~ wait till we get on the highway” Schlatt grinned. Everything went silent when the sound of a police siren could be heard, Tommy and Schlatt looked at each from the corner of they’re vision.

“Go faster,” Tommy said.

“Going faster,” Schlatt said, slamming his foot on the gas pedal, the car speeding up. “I don’t have a license so we gotta not get caught,” Schlatt added. Tommy ignored him as he pulled his phone out of his pocket hearing it ring.

“Heyyyy Scott, busy at the moment” He said into the phone.

“Tommy! Is that a fucking police siren, you better get back here now!”

“Kinda can’t Scott, we're already nearing the highway” He replied.

“Can’t believe I’m doing this, if you wanna get away avoid the highway they're a high chance that's going to make your escape a lot harder” At this point Tommy had switched the phone to speaker and was clutching it in his hand as Schlatt swerved the car again to avoid another.

“Scott kinda needs to know where to go” Schlatt cut in.

“If my memories serve me correctly, you're heading south. Take a turn and head east towards downtown, they probably already have the license plate number so I’ll just report my car as stolen, once you get to downtown the streets they’re are usually empty so try and get him off your guyses tails and then park it somewhere random and run”

“Sounds like a fucking plan” Schlatt grinned and turned avoiding the road that would have taken them to the highway and heading the direction Scott told them to go. “Thanks for the help Scott!” Schlatt added before he reached a hand over and pressed the end call button.

“Well this is fun,” Wilbur said.

“Phil’s going to kill us,” Fundy sighed.

“Looking forward to it,” Techno grunted as he pushed Dream away from him, the two practically wacking at each other like children.

“Would all of you sit down and stop moving!” Tommy yelled, pulling his legs up to his chest. “Tubbo crawls into the front and sit on the floor, so you have more space” He said. Tubbo sighed in relief and began to crawl into the front sitting down on the ground. Tommy shifted in his seat as he was sitting sideways, his back against the locked passenger door.

“Scott’s car has a gun!” Dream yelled. He pulled open the window on the ceiling and stuck his upper body out. Tommy felt dread seep into himself as he realized that was the sound of a shotgun being loaded.

“Why the fuck would Scott need a gun on his car!” Tommy hissed as he pulled his phone out and called Scott back, which was immediately picked up.

“Scott!” He yelled over the sound of yelling, a police siren and the sound of a shotgun going off.

“They found the shotgun?” Scott whispered but it was still heard by them.

“Why do you have a shotgun in your car!” Tubbo yelled loud enough for the man on the other end of the call to hear.

Wilbur and Techno were yelling and Schlatt was still cackling madly while Fundy was screaming at Dream to put the shotgun down and they were talking to Scott. “Just make sure he doesn’t kill anyone”   They didn’t get to responde as Scott hung up on them.

Tommy looked at Tubbo who looked back at him before Tommy sighed and buried his face in his hands. This wasn’t the distraction he was expecting but it was one nonetheless. And he wasn’t going to lie, it was a little funny, but at the same time he was nervous they were going to get caught and be in big trouble. Schlatt took a sharp turn to the right then another left the cop losing speed on them. “Shit” Tommy looked into the back seat over his shoulder watching as Dream ducked back into the car with the shotgun in hand. “Out of ammo” He said.

Tommy, Tubbo and Fundy sighed in relief while Techno and Schlatt complained and Wilbur just sat there with a grin recording everything with his phone from when Dream found the shotgun to now. “I think we lost 'em” Schlatt said as he pulled the car over. Tommy pulled out his phone pushing the car door open as Schlatt turned the car off. Tommy didn’t recognize anything in the area and knew that they were pretty far from the estate if this was the downtown area near the east of the city since the upper class area where the estate was is in the direction of north west and that was practically half way across the city. “Were half way across the fucking city, how the fuck did we get here” He huffed throwing his hands into the area before he looked back at the map.

“Lets go, we need to get away from the car first” Tubbo said, pushing him in a direction Fundy and the others following behind the two. They definitely didn’t look like a suspicious group of people. Tommy wasn’t at all worried that they’d get hurt out here because Techno was not only dressed in rather royal and elegant clothing but was also a piglin hybrid to boot, Schlatt’s horns made him stick out. Fundy’s ears and tails weren’t helping and Tubbo’s insect wings would draw a lot more attention than the others.

“Just great” He sighed. “Where stuck out here in the middle of god knows where and all of you don’t exactly look human” He huffed as he moved forward, he was surprised to be grabbed by the back of his shirt and pulled back out of the way of a speeding car. “Thank you, Fundy,” he said.

“No problem” Fundy replied. This was turning out to be a lot more stressful than he thought.

“Let's find some place to rest before we call Scott to come pick us up,” Schlatt said as they crossed the road.

“Not that simple” Tommy muttered, he wasn’t going to lie he didn’t want to be here, he’d rather be drowning in his blankets on the couch rewatching ‘Up’ for the 100th time than rather walking down a street road with no idea where he was. It wasn’t like he hasn’t been here before but it’s been a while since he’s been to the downtown area, the last time he was here was when he was 14 and an idiot, young and stupid and hanging around the wrong crowd who only wanted to use him. “We need to hurry up” He whispered.

“Why are you in such a rush kid, live a little?” Schlatt said light heartedly. Tommy glared at him and they seemed to realize he was no longer in the mood, all of them going quiet.

“I just don’t want to be here” he muttered but tensed when he heard a familiar voice call his name. Just what he needed, looks like lady luck wasn’t on his side today.

“Tommy!” He turned around to come face to face with a familiar figure.

“Jeremy, heyy” He muttered nervously waving as his old friend stepped forward five others standing behind them.

“Long time no see, Tommy” Jeremy’s gaze shifted from him to the others standing behind him, his eyes narrowed as a scowl crossed his lips. “I see you replaced us with a bunch of fucking cosplayers” He hissed.

“I mean, I-i didn’t r-replace you g-guys I just-”

“I see you're still the nervous freak you were when we were younger” Jeremy cut in. Tommy frowned his grip tightening around his phone. “Still think your so high and fucking mighty huh?”

Tommy shifted on his feet and took a small step back surprised when Dream took a step forward, He realized Dream still had the shotgun in hand despite not having any ammo left. “Dream wait-” He said as Dream lifted the shotgun.

“You have to ten seconds to fuck off or I’m going to pull the trigger” Dream said in warning. Jeremy stared back at Dream with narrowed eyes before his eyes turned from dark brown to a glowing neon blue his gaze shifting to Tommy.

“Wow, your such a fucking pussy you need to hid behind-”

“One” Dream cut him off.

Jeremy’s eyes turned back to Dream, widening slightly before his lips curled upwards in a smile. “Your not gonna do it”

“Two” Dream counted.

“I fucking dare you bitch boy” Jeremy laughed his smile turning to a grin showing off oddly sharp teeth that Tommy never noticed when they were younger.

“Time cut in half it seemed” Dream said as he pulled the trigger, Tommy’s eyes widened when the sound of a shotgun going off could be heard, his ears ringing.

“Dream what the fuck!” He hissed. But snapped his gaze to Jeremy who stood there's head tilted to the side, a grin still on his face, it was odd how bright his eyes were glowing and how sharp his teeth were, but was mostly noticeable was the glowing neon blue pattern across his skin and the gaping hole in his side.

“The demon kings returns huh?” Jeremy muttered in question. Dream pushed him to the side, his back slamming against the wall narrowly avoiding Jeremy’s strike with a pitch black clawed hand. Dream turned slamming the shotgun into Jeremy’s head and a sickening crack could be heard.

The others moved forward but Tommy was pulled away from the fight by Tubbo who latched onto his arm and pulled him back into an alleyway. “What the fuck is going on?” Tommy whispered.

“You didn’t notice Tommy?” Tubbo said. “They’re not human,” He added. Tommy’s eyes widened as he pieced it together. He wasn’t going to lie but Jeremy had always come off as odd when they were younger, his eyes actually going electric blue. He wasn’t the only one who thought this since the guy always came off as creepy to everyone, his friends did too.

“But how did I notice before, and what the fuck does he mean by the Demon Kings return?” Tommy asked.

“I don’t know,” Tubbo responded. “There's a lot that's changing and there's nothing we can do about it at the moment”

“Shit!” He jumps forward pushing Tubbo to the ground and avoiding a strike from one of Jeremy’s friends, Tommy doesn’t fully remember all of them but he’s pretty sure this one was named something like Mavis. He jumps up standing at full height and helping Tubbo quickly to his feet about to grab Tubbo by the arm and run but nearly jumps when he realizes there's already a fist aimed at his face.

The hit never lands as Tubbo pushes him back into the wall catching the fist in his own hand and moving his other hand to wrap around Mavis upper arm and pushing them back before moving forward, Tommy watches in mild surprised as Tubbo slams his elbow into they’re face and he winces at the sickening crunch knowing they’re nose was probably broken from that hit.

Tubbo takes a few steps back, his wings spreading out behind him and a buzzing noise can be heard as his feet lift off from the ground and he’s in the air. Tommy’s not even sure what's going on anymore as Tubbo moves forward slamming his feet into the guy's face knocking him to the ground. Tubbo turns to him holding out a hand, Tommy doesn’t even hesitate and takes his hand Tubbo lifting both of them into the air, his grip tight on his hand.

They don’t get far off the ground as Mavis is already up and grabbing on Tommy’s ankle. “Son of a fucking bitch!” He yelps as he feels their claws dig into the sides of his ankles.

The grip was gone as soon as it was there, Tommy watching in practically slow motion as Techno slammed the but of the shotgun into Mavis head knocking him back to the ground and releasing his grip on Tommy’s ankle. Before he knows it they’re high in the sky and he’s being set down on the roof of some random apartment building.

“Stay here” Tubbo said, still flying mid air and probably going to return to the others. Tommy can only nod as he blinks rapidly still trying to process everything that's happened. Tommy realizes he isn’t alone when he hears footsteps and turns, seeing a figure standing a few feet behind him, he can’t see they’re face blocked by a cloud of fog, nothing but a pitch black void.

“The golden thread, for someone with so much power you do so little for you friends” They said coming forward, Tommy scrambled back his legs hitting the edge of the buildings support bars to prevent people from falling off. He feels a sinking dread as he realizes he doesn’t have anywhere to run. He doesn’t get a chance to do much as he’s suddenly lifted off his feet by the mysterious guy grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and holding him over the building's side.

“Tubbo!” He yells fear was all he could feel as he clutched at the man's wrist.

“Show me exactly what you can do, Golden Thread” They said and suddenly he was falling. But that didn’t last for long as color drained from his vision like someone or something had pulled the color from his world leaving him in suspended time of empty grey everything and everyone being in nothing but grey scale. Tommy’s back still hit the ground but the impact wasn’t as bad as he thought it would have been.

A spark of color brought his vision from the dark figure leaning over the edge of the building to a golden thread swirling through the air, it wasn’t the only one there were multiple all the threads tied to one thing, connected to a single point and suddenly he understood.

Golden Thread, a legend his father had told him about someone who could wield the fate of others by a golden thread. All these threads swerved and moved through the air all of them tied to the pinky finger of one person but all of them ended in the same place, all of them sinking and merged into his chest where his heart was.

He stood up his hand coming up to feel over his chest gripping at the golden strings sinking into his chest through his clothes, he couldn’t feel them sinking into his skin but when he touched them he felt his head pound as if giving warning.

He breathed in heavily and shakily stood up moving over to his friends. Tubbo was stopped in mid air, eyes wide as he reached out, probably racing towards him if he was still falling. They’re were a lot more people present now that he was getting a good look at the fight he realized they had been outnumbered since the beginning with Dream having Jeremy pinned to the ground Techno standing behind him fending off those who tried to get too close.

Wilbur, Schlatt and Fundy were all back to back fists raised ready to strike at whoever got too close to them. Tubbo had been flying above the crowd of people or demons. Tommy couldn’t really give them a name if he wanted to but it was his best guess from the amount of them who either had horns, claws, razor sharp teeth or even tails.

These other people had pitch black threads instead of golden ones and Tommy reached out taking one into his hand following it back to Jeremy where he kneeled beside the pinned man. Dream himself had three large gashes in his shoulder, blood seeping out of the wound but with everything paused like this the wound itself was frozen. Tommy shakily reached out his hand and ran it over the injury watching in confused awe as golden strings appeared sort of stitching and pulling the wounds closed together the wound gone now.

He stood to full height looking down at his hands, the black threads sinking into the inside of his palms, the skin around the strings a ugly purple. He picked at the strings watching as one thread came undone and began to decay and disappear the person it was connected to decaying with it. His eyes widened and he realized what he could do and without much thought he reached out his hand and pulled on the threads sinking into his right hand and half the crowd of gathered figures disappeared. He felt a wave of extreme exhaustion and suddenly color bursted into his vision and the golden and black threads were gone.

He dropped to the ground sitting with his head clutched in his hands. “Tommy?” He looked up shakily, Dream pausing mid punch to face him in surprise before he looked around surprised to see the number of people in the crowd cut in half.

“Tommy thank god!” Tubbo sighed in relief as he moved over to Tommy helping him up. They didn’t really get to rest as Tommy pulled them out of the way of some random goon, he watched as the goon turned about to get ready to charge at them again but Tommy lifted a hand watching a black string appear one end around their pinky finger of their right hand and the other end sinking into his hand. He pulled the thread and they decayed screaming in agony.

At this point the fighting had stopped and everyone was staring at the man dropped to the ground screaming in complete and utter pain until his entire body was nothing but ash on the ground. Tommy turned his gaze to the rest of the people who at this point had begun to back off.

“What the fuck are you idiots waiting for!” Jeremy snapped at them despite being pinned to the ground. “We need him alive” Jeremy added but none of them stepped forward and instead seemed to back away before most of them took off leaving just Jeremy and his friends. Dream slammed his fist into Jeremy’s face at the same time he let go of the guy's shirt, the back of Jeremy’s head slamming into the concrete road, the man now knocked out cold.

“Lets get the fuck out of here” Dream hissed obviously tired from how heavy he was breathing. He didn’t even take notice his injury was gone. Tommy nodded and took one step and his vision tilted the ground suddenly becoming the sky until he realized he was about to have an upfront meeting with the floor until Tubbo quickly caught him pulling one of his arms over his shoulder and wrapping his own arm around Tommy’s lower back. His vision went black before he could say anything.

Chapter Text

Tommy abruptly sat up but flinched when he felt his head bound, the sound of his rapidly beating heart in his ears as he shakily stood up and made his way to the bathroom on the bottom floor of the mansion. Once he was in the bathroom he dropped to the floor hunching over the toilet and emptying whatever he had before the events of yesterday last night went down. He dry heaved for a few seconds after and jumped a little when he felt a hand on his back but relaxed when he looked over at Scott who had a worried expression on his face, he continued to dry heave over the toilet calming down ever so slightly and becoming more relaxed.

Once he was sure he wasn’t going to throw up anymore he shakily stood up and pulled off his sweater turning on the faucet as Scott left the bathroom to do something, Tommy washed his face off and dried his face and hands on a towel looking at himself in the mirror, he was deathly pale and he had dark bags under his eyes that usually weren’t there. He sighed and shakily made his way to the kitchen where he could hear footsteps and the sound of moving dishes, entering the kitchen he found Scott getting ready to cook breakfast or was it lunch he couldn’t tell. Scott seeing him enter pointed to a seat at the island table, Tommy sat down without much thought even if he wanted to help Scott making some food he knew the man would probably force him to rest.

“Glad you're okay” Scott sighed, running a hand through his hair as he watched a pot with what looked to be chicken noodle soup.

“Could be better,” He muttered.

“Care to explain what happened last night?” Scott asked. Tommy blinked trying to remember to the best of his abilities the events that had transpired last night during they’re drive through town. He remembered meeting his old friends, finding out apparently Jeremy wasn’t human and neither were a majority of his friends. The others get into a fight and have to protect him, Tubbo flying him onto a roof thinking it’d be safer than being on the ground. Being attacked by some random dude with a black cloud over his face and held over the edge of a building until time practically stopped and everything became nothing but greyscale the only sign of color coming from the golden threads that sunk into his chest through his clothing.

“Tommy?” He looked up blinking rapidly at Scott, his gaze shifting from Scott to the golden string tied to his pinky finger, it drifted through the air but was still connected to his chest where his heart was.

“I don’t know how to explain it” He sighed, running a hand through his already messy hair.

“That's fine, things seem to be getting worse by the day” Scott sighed leaning against the island table.

Tommy nodded in agreement, his eyes drooping as he realized how tired he actually was, especially after yesterday’s events he wasn’t exactly sure how to feel about Jeremy’s words.

“One of them” He began, Scott looking up at him. “Said something about ‘the demon king's return’ or something, he said this after Dream shot him”

“Anything else?” Scott asked his voice a little more quietly than it was before.

“A man, he had this weird cloud of black fog over his face, he called me the Golden Thread” He replied, everything went into complete silence, it was uncomfortable but rather calming. Tommy felt safe knowing he was home and away from everything that had gone down last night and being in the presence of someone he knew was better than being anywhere else.

“Golden Thread” Scott repeated, his eyes narrowed.

“Scott the soup” Tommy interrupted. Scott spun around and grabbed the handle of the pot and lifted it up, turning off the stove and setting the pot of chicken noodle soup onto another stove. Tommy watched, a mischievous smile on his face and amusement in his eyes as Scott moved over to the cabinets and brought down two bowls placing them on the counter and splitting the chicken noodle soup into the two separate bowls.

Scott slid into the seat beside him after he handed Tommy his own bowl. The two began to eat in silence until Tommy remembered something from last night. “Why exactly do you have a shotgun in your car?” He asked Scott, who sighed, his shoulders slumping and head turning downwards.

“I was hoping you’d forget,” Scott said. Tommy shrugged, it was one of the most memorable things besides the whole getting into an all out brawl with those strange creatures from last night. “The shotgun is there just in case I almost get mugged again” Scott explained.

Tommy hummed in response but his eyes widened as he fully processed what Scott said. “WAIT AGAIN!?”

[-----]

The rest of the day was spent with Tommy sitting around the house not having anything to do while Scott worked from the house not feeling the need to go in for work and not wanting to let Tommy out of his sight for even a second. After everything that went down last night he was a little afraid something bad could happen or Tommy would abruptly get kidnapped if he even let him out of his sight. His irrational fear wasn’t as irrational in Tommy’s eyes though since Tommy somewhat understood.

Tommy couldn’t help but be curious about what the strangers said last night. “Demon king’s return” He muttered quietly to himself. He stood up and was about to walk off to his fathers study before he stopped.

“Where are you going?” Scott asked, having turned to look over at him while he stood in the living room's door frame.

“Going to my fathers study, I won’t be long” He replied.

“Alright don’t go running off again please” Scott sighed. Tommy shrugged and nodded and exited the living room returning again to his fathers study where he realized he left the book Scott had handed him.

Tommy sighed and moved over to the desk, picking up the book and flipping it over so he could see the cover. He frowned reading the front of the book. “Demon King’s” He blinked, he was pretty sure the cover was originally blank before when he was first handed it from Scott.

He opened it and looked at the writing on the back of the cover. “For you worries and for your travels, this book will be your guide to everything” It read and he sighed and sat down in the desk chair flipping to the first page, the writing on the pages was surprisingly elegant and written in crimson red ink, the pages smelt like smoke and wood which he found slightly odd.

[-----]

Scott lost track of time rather easily and didn’t notice two hours had passed since Tommy retreated to his fathers study. He frowned standing up and running a hand through his hair and going to Titan’s study. He was a little worried that Tommy wouldn’t be there but that worry drained away when he entered the study his worry was replaced with surprise and confusion at seeing Tommy sitting on the ground books sprawled out around him some open to different pages. “Tommy?” He asked in question, Tommy snapped his head to look up at him with wide eyes, before he quickly turned back to the book.

“Oh! It’s just you Scott, you scared me a bit” Tommy said flipping to the next page of the book he was holding before he set that book down and picked up another one turning to another page on the now other book he was holding.

“What are you doing?” Scott asked. He jumped when Tommy slammed the book in his hands shut and stood up with a grin on his face.

“Research I was able to relatively figure out the events of last night with the information gathered from these books and the book you handed me from my father” Tommy replied. He walked past Scott who quickly turned to follow him as he moved around the house seemingly looking for something.

“And what exactly did you find out?” Scott asked in worry.

Tommy stopped walking, Scott almost running into him. He starred as Tommy turned on his heels to face him. “The things that attacked us are imp’s disguised as humans, from what I was able to gather from the book they work for a man named Agis the current demon king who settled down here in the city, he took the title of demon king when the former demon kings who ruled together disappeared and ever since then things have gone to shit and he’s done nothing to keep the demon’s in line”

Scott stared at Tommy with worry, it wasn’t that he didn’t believe Tommy he knew things of the supernatural existed heck the statues were a living example of them. “Then why did they target you?” Scott asked. 

Tommy frowned. “They called me the Golden Thread, from what I’m able to gather from the book it speaks of the god of fate, a man formerly named Farren, the bringer of the universe and creator of humanity that hailed our very existence. He well they decided to pass down his power to a single human that person being named or called the Golden Thread who decides the fate of others. It’s passed down by blood and it appears I’m the next” Tommy explained.

“Do you think they’ll try again?” Scott asked.

“Most likely, they said they needed me alive and just because I manipulate fate doesn’t mean I’m immortal, I have access to infinite knowledge sure but that can only get me so far right now. They're probably going to come after me in the hopes of controlling my powers” Tommy responded, turning to continue walking.

“Anything else I need to know?” Scott asked.

“Has Dream or the others ever told you their actual past or do they not remember?” Tommy asked as they entered the living room, the sun going down.

“Not that I remember” Scott responded.

“I’ll have to ask them,” Tommy sighed.

“Ask us what” Tommy and Scott looked over Phil who pushed the glass door open and stepped in wings folded as the others entered behind him.

“Tommy are you okay?” Tubbo asked coming over to him quickly and cupped his face in his hands, turning his head from side to side to see if there was any damage.

“I’m fine Tubbo” He sighed smiling softly.

“What were you guys talking about?” Niki asked sitting down on the couch avoiding Tommy’s spot where he usually slept.

“Yeah it sounded important” Fundy added as he sat down in one of the single chairs in the room while Skeppy and Bad retreated to a corner and Dream sat on the floor in front of the couch with Techno.

“Tommy has found out some important information about the events of last night thanks to the book I gave him apparently” Scott replied and all attention and eyes were on him. Tommy moved around the couch and took a seat sitting all the way back instead of having his shoulders slumped. He began going over the information he has in his head unsure if he should ask such a personal question. He didn’t want to come off as rude to Techno or Dream because he wasn’t even sure if they had any clue of their past or not.

“Earth to Tommy?” Tommy blinked looking down at the hand Dream was waving in his head with a bored frown on his face. “You gonna talk Tommy?” He asked. Tommy gave a small nod and sighed running a hand through his messy hair.

“The book I got from Scott basically gives me information I need, it told me a bit about the Demon kings which is what Jeremy mentioned last night, something about demon kings return” Tommy responded. “What do you guys remember about your guy’s past?” He asked after.

“How does this help us?” Niki asked quietly.

“Trust me it will” He responded.

They all looked nervous even though Tubbo looked a little unsettled and unsure of himself, it was quiet for a while. “We don’t remember anything if we're being honest Tommy” Tommy turned his head to look at Phil who had been the one brave enough to speak up. “Our past’s aren’t really something we have information on let alone who we were before we were statues''

Tommy gave a small nod and went back over the information he had in his mind. “Well it adds up to my information” He muttered.

“Can you cut the shit and tell us?” Skeppy complained. Tommy huffed and smiled but nodded.

“Why you guys are statues is because of a curse called Stone Punishment, all of you were turned to statues for different reasons but I only know why Dream and Techno were turned to stone” His words made Dream and Techno perk up both shifting to sit on the coffee table and pushing anything on it off so they could face him as he spoke. “The book spoke of the former demon kings, they weren’t married or anything but they were good friends and ruled the underworld together keeping every demon in line, a single legend stands that during the finale battle of Sanctum East a temple boarding the barrier between heaven and hell that the two demon kings were striked down and cursed to be forever immortal taking on the form of statues, it speaks vaguely of what the demon kings were like stating that both were skilled in combat one went in head first and was extremely brash in the beginning while the other planned and went overboard with all of their plans but never failed once in gaining a victory until the battle of Sanctum East” Tommy stopped letting everyone process the information. He couldn’t tell what Dream was thinking with the mask while Techno seemed to be piecing everything together from Tommy’s words alone.

“And I remember the book noting where Sanctum’s East is located in the underworld and crossed referenced it to a location in the overworld and guess what I found, Heaven, Hell and Earth are all intertwined a location in the underworld existes here in the overworld and vise versa so the underworld has a city similar to the very one we stand it, I found that Sanctum’s East is at the same location here in the overworld were the very graveyard you were all dumped in, so if I had to guess you all weren’t dumped in the graveyard at different times but at the same time. Which meant all of you were rather powerful figures no matter what side you were on” Tommy stopped again letting everyone comprehend his words.

“What your saying means-” Niki muttered quietly.

“That someone planned Sanctum’s East’s battle ahead of time” Techno finished Niki’s words for her with a frown on his face while Niki nodded.

“Yes, sadly Sanctum’s East was a planned battle, there is no such thing as a god of death or god of life there was only fate. A demon king exists as a stance of power. The same thing could be said for Archangels and I have a reason to believe that Niki was an archangel alongside Phil” Tommy sighed. This made Niki look up at him with wide eyes. “I won’t go into to much detail cause we need to do this one thing at a time before we fully are able to piece together why all of you were specifically targeted” He said with a huff and let his shoulders slump and his head lean back to stare at Phil and Scott who stood side by side a few feet behind the couch seemingly taking in the information he had just spewed out.

“So were demon kings” Dream muttered quietly.

“Not entirely hard to believe” Techno huffed with a small shrug, Techno was always good with shoving down his emotions and hiding them behind a steel cold mask and his monotone voice but Dream and Phil knew otherwise that Techno was just as curious as what's going on and why they had been turned to statues in the first place.

“I am curious as to why Tubbo was there” Fundy cut in. “He is a statue but he’s also considerably young”

Tubbo shrugged. Tommy had hoped some of them had retained some memories of their past lives but this was fine, they’d piece everything together one way or another. They’d find out what happened during the battle of Sanctum’s East whether people liked it or not, he knew the risks of them going after the truth and was a little afraid of telling them. They’d have targets on their backs and this could possibly put all of their lives in danger.

“The book did give me some info on all of you” Tommy muttered. “It mentioned something about Tubbo being something of the in-between a demon but an angel, a being born on the day of an eclipse” He shrugged.

Tubbo frowned and seemed to contemplate his words. “Does that explain the weird noises?” Tubbo said. This made everyone turn to him.

“What?” Dream said.

“The noises” Tubbo clarified. “I thought I was just hearing things or going crazy but there are these voices that speak to me about protecting a tree or something about it being alive or a gateway?” Tubbo said while shrugging.

Tommy sighed heavily. “I’ll look into it,” He said. Tubbo smiled and nodded while some of the others looked worried. 

“First things first” Scott cut in. “Ground rules, no leaving the estate unless it’s absolutely necessary or if you have a lead on information Tommy, I’ll order food online from here on out”

“Second, none of you are allowed in the garage and we’ve hidden the keys to the cars” Phil said after Scott.

“And finally” They said in unison. “Don’t fucking rip each others heads off while either one of us are gone”

“Who wants to play Uno?” Tommy gave Skeppy a deadpan stare while others immediately jumped at the chance to kick ass at the game that destroys friendships.

“You're going down green man” Techno grinned.

“Bring it you oversized pig” Dream snorted in response a grin on his own on his face. “What a great way to pass the time” Tommy thought while rolling his eyes but a fond smile crossed his lips as he voiced his agreements of joining the game.

[-----]

Tommy sighed heavily as he threw down his cards onto the coffee table feeling his headache pound. They were in the middle of the 12th round and Tommy was getting tired and his headache from all the yelling wasn’t helping, Tommy found it funny how he, Techno, Fundy and Tubbo kept trying to plus 4 Dream to get him to rage quiet but in the end those plans usually back fired. He stretched his arms above his head and sighed leaning back against the couch smiling when Phil began carding a hand through his hair.

Since they had started playing everyone had moved to sit in different places with him sitting in between Techno and Tubbo with Skeppy across from him, Bad across from Techno and Dream across from Tubbo on the other side of the coffee table their backs to the fireplace while Tommy Techno and Tubbo’s backs were to the couch. Fundy sat at one end of the coffee table technically between Dream and Tubbo and Eret sat at the other end across from Fundy between Bad and Techno. Schlatt, Punz, Purpled and a few others had already raged quiet on the 5th round and they were just trying to keep the game going at this point despite it only having been three hours and nowhere near morning.

Tommy was getting tired since he wasn’t exactly used to staying up this late and his mind was still swimming with thoughts of the information he gathered from the book. He sighed heavily as Phil who sat on the couch behind him continued to run a hand through his hair while staring at his phone. Scott was to his right with his laptop open typing away, Wilbur was to Phil’s left softly strumming away at his guitar playing a quiet melody that seemed to calm everyone down a bit from the ruckus.

A few others were sitting around on their own phones that Tommy had gotten them and he couldn’t stop himself from smiling softly. Tommy pulled out his phone and began to go over some of the information in his head while typing in questions to google search wandering what he could find on the internet. He stopped when he found a video, it wasn’t long and the lighting was terrible but it seemed to be a recording of a fight specifically the fight Dream and them had between the demons. The demon's features weren’t visible in the fight or anything but Tubbo’s wings were and him carrying Tommy onto the building for supposed safety. 

Tommy turned on subtitles casting a small glance at the uno game and just guessing everyone assumed he didn’t want to play anymore cause they were still continuing in an intense but calm silence. Tommy read over the subtitles of whatever the person was saying something about just wanting to go on a late night walk and coming across an all out brawl.

Tommy couldn’t help but feel uneasy about the fact there was a video recording of their fight and the thought that this information could be released to the public about their being supernatural things in the world. Sure there were already speculations but Tommy would have liked for those to stay speculations and not become known truths, the panic it would and could cause would be a problem. 

He continued to type any questions that came to mind in the search engine to see if the internet could provide any information because the book gave him information he needed not the information he directly wanted, it wouldn’t summarize everything for him he had to read through everything it gave him and piece the things together plus it only seems to give him the information when he needed at the direct moment.

Tommy stopped when a bright glow of gold overtook his vision, his gaze shifting to the golden string wrapped around his index finger, the string was pulled tight going in a straight direction and phasing through the wall of the house, without much thinking Tommy stood up ignoring the questioning glance or the confused questions he got. There was static in his ears and voices in his head, all of them wishing, praying, demanding others crying for help while some asked for justice but a voice through all of them stuck out amongst them.

He stopped when he got outside finding where the string was coming from, by now the golden thread tied around his index finger was joined by other threads all of them wrapped around his fingers and pulling but this one was the closest. He stared at the pure white figure that he knew he could only see.

“H-hi?” He frowned, staring at the little girl who held a teddy bear in her arms, her hair pulled into two pigtails at the back of her head and tears falling down their cheeks. “D-do you k-know where I-i am, I w-want t-to go home p-please” Her voice was pleading and full of fear and Tommy brought his other hand up to tug at the string that was attached to his index finger and connected to her pinky finger.

Tommy was trying his best to comprehend what was happening but he knew it was something out of his control but not entirely. Sure he was technically the god of fate with his abilities to tug at the strings that tied this universe together but deciding who lives or dies was something he never thought he’d have to do. He knew what this meant despite only discovering this ability at the moment. She looked up at him with curious but fear filled eyes and Tommy felt nothing but sorrow. He moved forward until he stood in front of the ghost-like figure of this probably 11 year old girl from the looks of her. He himself was young, no older than 16 and he had to decide who lived or who died and the thought made his heart hurt, his eyes burn and his throat close.

“Where were you before you came here” He asked quietly.

She looked confused by his question until she perked up and smiled. “I was at the park, I was running across the road to the other side of the street to get the ball my brother kicked off the playground by accident” She responded quietly.

Tommy nodded and turned his gaze to the strings of gold and sighed heavily before he pulled on the string that connected to their hands. He tugged on the string until the side that tied to his index finger came off and the string seemingly already knowing what he wanted it to do extended and disappeared off into the distance phasing through the walls of the estate. “Follow the string” He told her quietly. She gave him a confused look but nodded and took a single step towards the direction the string went before she paused and turned back to him.

“Will I see you again?” She asked.

He sighed shakily but smiled, the tears now falling down his face. This was harder than he thought it’d be. “For your sake and mine, I mean this in the nicest way possible but I hope not okay” He responded. She again looked confused but nodded and continued in the direction of the string, Tommy watched as she got closer to the walls of the estate until she stopped just before the wall and turned back to him with a wide smile on her face and waved at him.

“Bye mister gold man!” She yelled and the small ghost of a smile that grazed his lips didn’t go unnoticed by her as she phased through the walls of the estate.

Tommy stood there in silence for what felt like hours until he turned on his feet the tears now dry nothing but marks against his skin. He doesn’t return to the living room where he knows where everyone else is and instead goes to his fathers study and sits down in the chair his shoulders sagging and his breathing coming out short. The weight of what just happens makes his gaze shift down to the many other golden threads connected to his fingers and he closes his eyes shut tight and begins to whisper to himself wanting nothing more than for them to go away.

He opens his eyes and breaths a small sigh of relief when the strings are no longer in his vision but the realization of what he has to do from here on out is still there and the sinking feeling inside of him only grows. He leans forward in the chair and lays his head face down on the desk closing his eyes as darkness consumes him.

Chapter Text

Tommy spent a majority of his day hiding away from everyone else, he didn’t really feel like talking or being around another person in general which was really unlike himself and he knew they’d begin to worry about him and whether or not he’s left the estate. He has his phone in hand and is currently sitting in a corner of the attic hiding behind a bunch of stacked boxes. He had hauled a bunch of blankets and pillows up here with him to make a small nest in his corner, he had done this when the others were back to statue form and Scott was asleep passed out on the couch.

He wasn’t really sure why what happened last night was affecting him so much he had assumed something like this would happen being the literally god of fate or at least a vessel of the power but he’s not immortal he’ll just live longer. His gaze shifted to look up and around his small corner. It wasn’t small per say it was a relatively open corner with a window to his right and the box wall to his left. He knew that a bunch of other things were in the attic making it appear maze like which it was he had searched for a spot to sit for a good 20 minutes until he found this place. It was a hassle getting all the blankets and pillows here as well since he got lost a few times.

Tommy sighed and curled up on his side phone in hand and scrolled through social media platforms. He wasn’t really looking for anything to do but he had a few online friends that he could talk to if he wanted to and currently the idea of being able to talk to someone without them physically being in front of him seemed like a nice idea. He didn’t really want someone seeing how . . . Vulnerable he was right now, the thought made him sick to his stomach.

His pride mixed with his brash decision making and head first into things personality made a bad mix. He didn’t like to admit to things whether he was right or not he was a selfless person and loyal to a fault. He wouldn’t betray someone unless he knew what they were doing was morally wrong, then again at this point he couldn’t really tell what was right or what was wrong everything seemed to be mixing together in his mind as he still tried to grasp his situation and what he is as a whole.

Tommy sighed and dropped his phone letting it fall onto the pillow under his head. He turned so he was laying flat on his back looking up at the ceiling of the attic, folding his arms over his stomach and laying their staring blankly. “What's gotten you down kid?” He jumped turning to look back at the window where a man appeared fully translucent. He wore basic clothing, jeans, a long sleeved t-shirt and a weird looking hat.

Tommy couldn’t see a string so this must have been a lost soul or one that had unfinished business. Tommy had a sense of familiarity and calm when seeing the man but he couldn’t figure out why until it seemingly clicked.

“Mavis?” He asked in a questioning tone. The man smiled and tipped his hat at him.

“The one and only kid, good to see you again although you're a lot older than when we first met” Mavis said with a grin on his face as his back pressed against the window’s glass.

Tommy remembered Mavis, he was the man he always talked to when he was in the attic when he still visits his Uncl- his father. He had told his father about him a few times and all the man had done was smile and nod, Mavis was a bit of an odd character always seeming like a perform of show man it was amusing and confusing at the same time but he never spoke openly about it when he was younger but then again all the man ever did when they hanged out was try and make him laugh. “Can’t believe you're still here” He sighed sitting crossed legged. Mavis shrugged.

“Got nothing better to do, besides I figured you’d come back” He replied. “You seem down though,” Mavis noted, tilting his head to one side.

“A lot has happened and changed” He muttered in response with a small shrug while he fidgeted with his fingers.

“I’d assume seeing as you don’t smile like you used to” Mavis responded, his voice sounding bitter and distasteful. “When you smiled I swear it was like a full blown sun lit up the room” Mavis said with a small snort. “I was the only one that thought so, seeing as so did the maids and caretakers''

“That's right, I kinda forgot about them” He sighed realizing that this place was practically crawling with lost souls that didn’t have anywhere else to go. He hadn’t had time to think or even remember all the things from when he was younger he was mostly preoccupied with trying to tie together all the answers as to why and who turned the others to statues. 

“Heads up by the way that Jeremy kid is here” Tommy looked at Mavis with a confused expression, until he processed what the man said.

“What where!!” He asked in slight panic.

“Calm down I don’t mean physically I mean spiritually, that guy you guys fought that was a demon that kicked Jeremy the actually Jeremy’s spirit out of his body he’s kinda been following you since he was kicked out of his own body since you appear to be the only one he remembers” Mavis clarified. It made a little more sense but for how long had Jeremy the actual Jeremy been out of his body the thought that it could have been years made his stomach turn.

“For how long? He asked hesitantly.

“I don’t know, he’s been here for a while now probably a few years” The thought made him feel cold.

“Gonna have to figure out how to get his body back for him since it’s my faul-”

“Nope, getting his body back is easier said than done, but it’s not your fault, demon’s tend to choose their victims at random not just because of their connections. Jeremy seemed like an easier target to the demon that took his body” Maivs explained.

Thinking about it made it more believable because the Jeremy when they first met was quiet, soft spoken and had no backbone and tended to sink into the background rather than be loud and brash and egg him on he’d try to drag him back and reason with him so when Jeremy changed it was odd and had freaked him out a bit since he had done a complete one eighty. Looking back on it he wanted to headbut a wall for how stupid he was but he couldn’t really blame himself for it because he had no knolwedge of ghost and the likes existing so he couldn’t really have done much to help Jeremy in the beginning.

“Do you know how to get his body back?” He asked looking back at Mavis.

Mavis nodded. “You’ll have to figure out the demon’s name first, once that's done lead him into a magic circle, from their it’s just a banishing incantation back to the underworld for him and Jeremy will have his body back after he’s gone, although their might be physical and mental after effects and damage to Jeremy, the best you could do for the guy is make him your subordinate” Mavis replied.

“Subordinate?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Right, Titan didn’t really explain shit to you with him passing and all but he had subordinates, alive people that helped handle demons and send them back to hell and return the stolen body to their original owner. These people were generally called Fater’s and are marked by a symbol. Of course whether you want him as one of your Faters is entirely up to you but it will give him more resistance to being kicked from his own body and will give him a much longer lifespan while also healing his physical appearance as for mental damage all I can suggest is going to Medusa''

“You're giving good answers but also raising more questions,” Tommy sighed, running a hand lazily through his hair.

“Medusa is a sort of therapist, she knows a lot about the overworld and things of the like. She’s lived a rather long life spanning from the 16 hundreds to now so a few decades maybe a century or two I can’t tell anymore” Mavis shrugged with a tired sigh of his own.

“Well you obviously know a lot” Tommy sighed. He didn’t get a response and looked up at Mavis to see if he was still there, the man was staring at him with an unreadable look in his eyes until he sighed again and ran a hand over his face.

“You're a lot like your father” Tommy tensed and looked away, he didn’t really like to think about it. How much alike he is to his father the thought that the man who raised him was actually his uncle and the man he thought was his uncle was really his father was still taking its toll on him. It wasn’t helping with everything that's been happening. “I guess I’ll leave you alone for now”

He didn’t look up knowing Mavis wouldn’t be there anymore. He huffed and picked his phone back up shifting around so that his back was against the wall instead of facing towards the wall of boxes.

[-----]

It was around 10 Pm, the sun no longer in the sky and no sunlight coming in through the window. Tommy hadn’t really moved from his spot still scrolling through social media and watching videos while eating the snacks he had also brought up to the attic with him. He had been receiving a lot of text messages from the others but he decided to ignore them and not answer, not even bothering to leave them on read either all he did was read the notifications that show a small part of what they send.

It was mostly worried texts from Tubbo, Phil, Niki, Scott and Wilbur while Techno, Dream, Schlatt and Bad demanded to know where he was with Techno, Dream and Schlatt using more colorful language with promise of kicking his ass if he didn’t tell them. He had a few other messages from people like Skeppy, Purpled, Eret and Jack but other than that the others haven’t really sent much.

He sighs as he looks at the latest text from Scott asking where he was again and decides it’s about time he stops avoiding his problems. When in reality it isn’t really a problem he’s hiding from it more that he’s still trying to process that he chooses who gets to live or die in certain situations and the thought still scares him. He hesitates and instead of getting up he opens his contact’s to Scott. He reads over the messages and isn’t surprised when the typing icon pops up near the message bar meaning he knows he’s read the messages.

The icon disappeared but no message is sent Tommy frowns creating a group chat with Tubbo, Scott, Phil and Niki. He tells them he’s in the attic and to not let anyone else up other than themselves. He isn’t surprised when he doesn’t get a response. It’s about three minutes until theirs the sound of the door opening and a call of his name, he sighs and stands up knowing he probably looks like complete shit but doesn’t bother to think about it to much and instead makes his way through the maze turning a corner around a wall of boxes and crashing into Phil who immediately pulls him into a crushing hug wings wrapping around them.

“Tommy thank god, we thought you were kidnapped or something!” Phil said beginning to fret over him and Tommy sighs but just sinks into the hug more closing his eyes and enjoying the warmth of another person. Phil seems to register that he’s too tired to deal with his fretting and begins to move them in the direction of the exit but he pulls Phil in the direction of his corner. Phil doesn’t seem to protest finally giving Tommy a once over.

If Phil was being honest he would have told Tommy he looked dead on his feet but the dullness of his once bright baby blue eyes makes the sinking feeling in him come back and he just lets Tommy pull him through the maze that was the attic. They find Tubbo and Scott along the way and Phil presses a finger to his lips and motions for them to follow. Phil messages Niki that they found him and she can head back to the living room because he doesn’t want to leave the attic.

Tommy didn’t say anything and instead sat back in his nest of blankets and pillows with Phil to his right and Tubbo and Scott to his left. He felt content to just sit there in silence and lean against Phil who had an arm wrapped around his back while Tubbo lazily leaned against his other side and Scott had his phone in hand typing away at the device. Tommy sighed heavily and closed his eyes.

[-----]

No one bothers to mention his sudden disappearance the next day and Phil and Scott don’t push him for answers but Scott is a little more watchful, keeping a close eye on him to make sure he doesn’t disappear. He doesn’t tell the others just yet about Jeremy. Since Mavis pointed it out to him Jeremy’s spirit has become more noticeable to him and he has tried to talk to him, the spirit of Jeremy seems a little more younger than the last time they had talked which would make sense if he was out of his body for so long.

With the few days that Tommy has had to think and go over information that he’s written down from the book his father had given him, they had a few piece’s to the bigger puzzle but there were still a large amount of missing holes and with this whole controlling fate thing Tommy needed to handle deciding who lives or who dies which meant he had a problem at hand. He needed to choose fater’s and he had a good idea of the first person or people who he could choose.

Tommy was currently standing in his fathers study, a phone in hand hovering over the call button with a small frown on his face. It’s been a while since they talked but he knew he could rely on them when the time came and plus they were just as weird as he was he knew that somehow in some way these people were like him, not normal in a way.

He sighed heavily and pressed the call button.

With the amount of thinking and the long conversation on the phone lead him to now, sitting in his fathers study with four people he knows standing before him all of them having equal looks of mild confusion and concern.

“Okay explain to us exactly what you’ve gotten yourself into” Wisp said tilting his head to the side while raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, Tommy please tell me you didn’t get into some small skirmish and want us to help, I mean we would but I’m really hoping it’s not the answer” Deo huffed his tone light and teasing.

Tommy frowned and kept his arms crossed as he thought over how to explain this. “Do you guys believe in fate?” He asked abruptly. His voice quiet and barely above a whisper.

The four stayed silent and stared at him him with even more curious looks. “Tommy what the fuck did you get yourself into” Bitzel sighed heavily running a hand through his hair.

“Yeah, just give it to us straight Tommy” Luke piped up.

“Okay, where do I even begin. Um the man I thought was my uncle is really my father. My father apparently isn’t human and is or was the golden thread meaning he had the ability to control fate and it’s passed down by blood and I’m the next in line and therefore I am now the golden thread and can control fate or some shit and the statues in the garden can come to life and magic exists and so do demons and angels and there's this whole thing with this place bordering heaven and hell called Sanctums east and some big event happened during a battle that happened their with the statues who don’t have their memories and were trying to regain them back and-”

“Tommy calm down!” Tommy blinked in surprise staring at Deo who looked rightfully concerned with his hands placed on Tommy's shoulders. Bitzel and the other two looked equally concerned if not more. 

“Okay what I was able to get from all of that is that you control fate, magic and shit exists and that you're trying to get the memories of your statue friends back because of something at some battle of sanctums east” Deo sighed. “So how do we play into all of this”

“You're not even going to question anything else?” Tommy asked in mild confusion.

“Tommy, we’ve spent years feeling like we’ve never belonged. Because of this we barely have any friends and are very antisocial and spend our waking days playing video games” Wisp responded. “Therefore we believe you, it’s not the weirdest thing that could have happened like the multiverse existing” Wisp added with a shrug.

“That could be a possibility” Tommy shrugged.

“Were getting off track, why did you call us?” Deo cut in before any of the others could respond to Tommy.

“Right, being the controller of fate I have the ability to apparently share my powers with others these people are called fater’s and help me decide where a person goes, whether they become a lost soul, an angel or demon” Tommy explained.

“Sounds cool” Deo grinned while pushing his sunglasses up to rest on his head.

“It’s not as cool as it sounds” Tommy muttered, crossing his arms as his smile at seeing his friends dropped into a frown.

The room was silent for a few tense seconds until Wisp sighed. “What happened Tommy?” Wisp asked.

Tommy stayed silent thinking over the way he would respond. “The first time I used that ability to decide a person’s fate, she was an eleven year old girl, a child Wisp” Tommy whispered his voice unbelievably quiet. “I didn’t know what to do and I was slightly afraid of doing something wrong, once something is decided it cannot be undone” Tommy added fidgeting with the hem of his sleeves while keeping his gaze to the ground finding the floorboards more interesting.

He looked up when a hand was placed on his shoulders, looking up at Deo who smiled down at him. “It’s okay Tommy, things might not be okay right now but all we can do is try and make it better. Things aren’t going to go back to normal after everything you vaguely explained to us but that's alright. Well help you no matter what, after all freaks like us have to stick together” Deo responded his hand giving a reassuring squeeze to his shoulder. Tommy couldn’t stop himself even if he wanted to as he surged forward arms wrapping around Deo’s torso. Deo didn’t even hesitate to hug back Bitzel, Luke and Wisp quickly joining in on the hug with their arms wrapping around both him and Deo.

“Thank you” He sighed, pulling away.

“Anytime,” Deo said. “So how does this whole being a Fater thing work?” He asked at the end. Tommy began to think before pulling out the book he had used before to get information about the Demon Kings. He opened the book not at all surprised to see the title had changed and the pages were now written differently.

“All the book says is that a mark should appear if I trust that person enough to grant them a part of my abilities it doesn’t specify a process” Tommy sighed. “I really wish my Dad was here to help,” He frowned.

“A mark? You mean something like this?” Tommy looked up at Bitzel who lifted their arm to show off a marking drawn in gold ink on the back of their hand. The marking was a needle with a piece of thread going through the loop at the end of the needle.

“Oh! That thing” Deo said pulling off his sunglasses and pushing the hair at the right corner of his head up to show off the golden mark their. “This thing appeared like a few days ago, don’t know why but it just did” Deo shrugged letting his hair fall back down to hide the mark.

“Glad to know you already have the marking, now we need to see if it works” Tommy said with a smile.

“Epic training time” Deo grinned as he threw an arm around his shoulder and began dragging him out of the room, the others following behind him. Tommy vaguely realized he didn’t tell the others he was having friends over.