Chapter Text
Schlatt gripped the back of Quackity's suit, a dangerous smile spread across his face. In that moment, Quackity was a mere body shield-- someone expendable, someone who had to take the damage that Schlatt wasn't willing to. He hated it.
Schlatt was the President, and the monster. Those two words meant the same thing to Quackity now.
Technoblade lifted the crossbow, saying something while loading a rocket into the weapon. Quackity didn't pay attention to his words; he didn't care much about what the anarchist had to say. He was staring at Tubbo, whose face was twisted into an expression of terror and confusion. Quackity couldn't blame him.
Red, blue, and white. Was the red blood or fireworks? Quackity couldn't tell. He didn't want to.
He burned. His wings burned as he wrapped them around himself in a vain attempt to protect his body. His eyes burned as the three colors were seared into his mind. He was thrown back, his head banging into the small wall of the podium.
As he lied there, dazed, he could hear more explosions and more screaming and more crying and pain, pain, pain. He sobbed as he heard Tommy pearl in, heard his voice screaming for Tubbo without getting a response back.
He couldn't take this. He was the Vice President, right? He should get a say in things... right? Just because Schlatt was the President didn't mean he could call all the shots.
Quackity hopes he burns in hell.
Quackity hopes for a lot of things, and none of them ever come true.
Quackity blacks out.
---*---
His eyes flutter open, and he sits up, gasping for air. What the fuck just happened? He looks around at the room he's in. He forgot that this was where he last slept-- Eret's castle. He hasn't slept in so long.
He slowly stands from the bed, not sure whether Eret had died in the chaos or not. He didn't want to confront the king and have to explain why he respawned in his castle. The only excuse he could think of was the truth-- he couldn't find a bed to sleep in one night and just broke in to sleep there. Yeah, yeah, it isn't that hard to find a few sheep and wood, but he's lazy, okay?
He creeps out of the room, cautiously looking around the hallway and slinking toward the open doorway to outside. He almost makes it before he hears a deep, familiar voice and freezes. "Quackity?"
He slowly turns and jumps. Blinding, pure white eyes stare back at him. It's kind of terrifying, but before he can scream, Eret straightens up and slips his sunglasses back on hurriedly. "Uh, s-sorry. I forgot that my glasses don't respawn on me."
Quackity opens his mouth, then closes it, then opens his mouth again. "What- um. What the fuck?"
Eret looks away, fidgeting nervously. "What are you doing here?" he asks, completely ignoring Quackity's obvious confusion. He decides he'll ask him about the eyes later.
"This is where I slept last." Quackity gets out, still a little shocked. Eret tilts his head. "It's not what you think! I wasn't spying on you or anything. I just couldn't find a bed and uh... I borrowed it!" Quackity laughs nervously, a bit scared of the man in front of him.
"Oh. Okay." Eret shrugs and backs away, sitting down onto his couch. Quackity stares at him. Was the king going to let him go, just like that? Quackity noticed the slump of his shoulders, the way Eret let out a long, shaky breath.
"You alright, Eret?"
Eret scoffs. “After that mess, is anyone alright?”
”...no.” Quackity, without thinking, plops down next to him and settles his left wing onto Eret’s back comfortingly. He doesn’t know why he does it, but he can’t help but try and lighten up the mood when he sees that someone is down. Maybe it’s his weird bird-hybrid instincts.
Yeah. It has to be that. It’s not like he’s a good person anyway.
Eret looks a little surprised, but doesn’t push Quackity away. He slumps over and puts his head in his hands, suddenly emotional. “What the fuck just happened, Quackity? What...”
”I don’t know.” Quackity says, sighing. He feels the tears coming and stops himself before they slip. He can’t cry now, especially not in front of someone else. “It wasn’t planned. At least, Schlatt didn’t tell me anything about it.” He never tells me these things.
They’re silent for a few moments, the tense atmosphere calming down a bit as they both process what’s happened and what it means for the future.
“I hate him, you know.”
Eret startles and glances over. “Who?”
”Schlatt.” Quackity has never admitted it before, but he feels like letting off steam and the only way he can do that right now is admit his feelings. Damn, that sounds really sad, actually. Maybe he should just punch something instead, then at least he’d seem less depressed.
”Oh.” Eret eventually replies, hesitant. “Is there, uh... a specific reason for that?”
Quackity’s eyes darken. He fucking used me, Eret. He’s still using me. He never tells me anything, and he never listens to my opinions or decisions. I’m the Vice President, right? But that’s kind of an empty title here, isn’t it. I’ve never gotten a say in things, and I’m so fucking tired of it.
That’s what he wants to say. He wants to scream it, he wants to cry it, he wants to let the world hear his pain.
But he doesn’t.
Instead, he tells him, “I dunno. He’s just a dick, I guess.”
Eret huffs a small laugh and smiles bitterly. “I left my family for this kingship.” He gestures over to the huge throne halfheartedly. “In the war for L’Manburg’s independence. I betrayed them all just so I could have a kingdom with no subjects or power.” Quackity notices that the light that always seems to come from behind Eret’s sunglasses dim. “I still regret it to this day. Maybe things would have turned out different if I hadn’t...”
Tears can now be seen making their way slowly down the king’s face as he looks down, silent. Quackity scoots closer and pats his back with a sigh. He didn’t really know what to do. How the hell do you help people who’ve been through a lot more than you have?
“Hey, come with me.” Quackity suddenly stands, holding out his hand. Eret looks up at him, eyebrows raised. Surprisingly, he gets up and follows Quackity out of the castle, rubbing the tears from his face.
They walk for a while, chatting idly, before Quackity comes to a stop in the middle of a field. “You see that up there?” he points up to the sky.
Eret cranes his head up, squinting. He can barely make out a small island floating in the dimming sky. “Why’d you take me here?”
Quackity smiles at him and goes behind Eret. Before the tall man can say anything, Quackity's arms are wrapped around his torso, and they’re soaring into the sky. “H-holy shit.”
Eret is speechless as he marvels at the world around him, Quackity’s wings taking them higher and higher. They make it all the way to the little island in the sky, which Eret realizes isn’t actually so small— it can fit around ten people on it, he guesses.
He turns to Quackity, awe-struck. The bird hybrid beams at him and sighs contentedly, sitting at the edge and swinging his legs. "This is my little safe spot. It's kinda turned into a place where I can get away from Schlatt for a while and relax from my 'VP duties'." Quackity says the last part with air quotes, rolling his eyes. He pats the spot next to him and Eret sits down, looking out over the Dream SMP.
Eret's posture visibly relaxes as he admires the beautiful sunset, a gentle breeze lightly tugging at his hair. He takes off his sunglasses to get the full colors, his unnatural eyes somehow less harsh as they glow softly in the light of the sinking star. "This is... this is amazing." he breathes.
"Yeah." Quackity hums, eyes flicking over all the buildings of Manburg, which are bathed in orange by the setting sun. "I've never taken anyone up here before, since it's kind of a secret. But," Quackity shrugs, "You're pretty good at keeping secrets, yeah?"
Eret nods and continues to watch the sunset until its light completely fades and the stars stand out brightly in the dark sky. Quackity stands, brushing his pants off and offering Eret a hand. "Let's get back. Unfortunately, I never thought to bring food up here, and I crave Niki's pastries."
Eret chuckles a little and lets Quackity help him up. Quackity once again wraps his arms under Eret's and takes off, spiraling down to the ground steadily and landing with only a slight stumble. He isn't really used to flying with someone in his arms.
Eret looks back up at the island, which once again looks much smaller than it actually is. "Thank you for that, Quackity." he says softly, pushing his sunglasses back on and smiling. "I... I really needed it."
"Hm? Oh, no problemo, mi amigo!" Quackity grins and stuffs his hands into his pockets, starting to walk back to Manburg. He sighs. "It was nice."