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Rubble cascades around Techno as he flees into the forest, axe gripped tightly in his fist as he slashes away at the bushes blocking his path. Distantly he can hear people shouting, their voices growing muffled as he scrambles away from the now ruined Lmanberg. His own words echo in his skull as well, piercing his thoughts harshly-
You want to be a hero Tommy? Then die like one-
He tries not to flinch as yet another explosion roar behind him, likely from the wither. He’s managed to put enough distance between himself and the carnage, constantly glancing behind him to make sure nobody had followed. He’s sure he could fend them off if needed, but the explosion had caught him off guard, he wanted to save his strength for the rest of his journey if he could. He needed to get as far from Lmanberg as possible.
Or at least what used to be Lmanberg.
Techno huffs, shaking his head as he slashes his was through another bush. He didn’t have time to think about regret.
He did what was necessary. That’s all.
The reassurance is meager, but it keeps him focused as he reaches the outskirts of the city, where the podium stood tall, poking out from the trees. Techno makes it just beyond the looming structure, when he hears rubble stir from behind. In an instant he’s swinging around, the crossbow on his back cocked with an arrow in an instant, prepared to fight, to defend himself, to kill.
From the rubble of the podium a figure emerges, massive wings spreading at their side. His grip on the crossbow wavers, fear forgotten, replaced by utter shock.
“Phil-?”
Phil stands shakily among the rocks and ash, covered in soot and hands stained red. His left wing trembles terribly, bent at an unnatural angle. Still he stares at Techno undeterred, eyes fixated firmly on his. His grip on his sword tightens as he glances back toward Lmanberg, jaw clenched as he watches the smoke rise in the distance.
Techno lines up the crossbow cautiously, reminding himself regrettably he didn’t know where Phil’s loyalties were. They both stood for moment, the tense silence hanging in the air as they clutched their weapons.
“You should go.” Is all Phil says. Breaking the silence as he turns his focus back to the other man. Techno lowers his crossbow and nods, enough having been said. Phil watches silently as Techno turns and vanishes into the trees, wondering distantly when he’ll see his son again. All he can do is tuck the thought away as he sheaths his sword and trudges off into the smoldering ravine below.
~
It’s quite some time until someone comes knocking on Techno’s door. He’s in the midst of sharpening an axe by the fire place when the sound echoes through his small cabin. He grimaces from the cold breeze as he swings the wooden door open, snow billowing into the wood interior. Stood before him is Phil, staring up at him with a weary smile.
“Hello son.”
They don’t talk as Techno pours tea into two cups, sitting comfortably as they listened to the firewood crackle from the mantle. Phil eventually clears his throat, hands wrapped snuggly around his cup, savoring the warmth from the hot beverage.
“It’s quite the nice place you’ve set up.”
“Yeah I suppose it is.” Techno grunts, eyeing Phil cautiously from across the table. His already gulped down his own tea, staring into the empty cup. “How’s things in Lmanberg?”
Phil can only sigh, making Technoblade grin just barely.
“That bad?”
“You have no idea.” Phil chuckles, wringing his hands together. “Tubbo did a good job reorganizing, everything was rebuilt well enough. Honestly he doesn’t make a half bad leader-“
“But?”
“Conflict with Dream again has everyone on edge.” Phil sighed into his mug, idly tapping his fingers on the surface. “They’ve uh- exiled Tommy from what I’ve heard.”
Techno’s brows shoot up in surprise. Now that he hadn’t expected.
“It’s really quite the mess at the moment, granted it’s given me the perfect opportunity to slip away- hopefully I’m not interrupting anything by my visit by the way-“ Phil smiles, Techno thinks distantly that something feels off about it. He looks more withdrawn- tired.
“Of course not.” Techno says, as earnest as he can manage. “I’ve been needing some company. Hopefully the journey wasn’t too bad, hows the wing holding up?”
“The blast did quite a number on it.” Phil leans back in his chair, stretching both wings out a bit, the one injured in the explosion was bandaged now, restricting its movement.
“Yeah Wilbur didn’t hold back that’s for sure” Techno snorts, the faintest of amusement lacing his tone. “Did quite a number on that place, can’t imagine what he’s up to now, the little maniac, holed up planning another catastrophe I’d imagine.” Techno grins, always admirable of his brothers appreciation for chaos. He doesn’t notice the way Phil tenses up then, eyes flickering down to his cup, where his tea sat abandoned.
“Techno- I think we’d ought to discuss Wilbur.”
“What’d he get himself into now?” Techno half jokes, only for his smile to dissipate when he saw the way Phil sat tense, face pulled taut into a pained expression.
“He hasn’t-hasn’t done anything it’s not... like that.” Phil swallows loudly, avoiding techno’s eyes.
“Well... he’s alright isn’t he?” Techno tries to suppress the worry threatening to sneak into his voice. Last he’d seen Wilbur he’d given his speech at the podium. He had been fine- relatively speaking. A little unhinged sure, but fine. He had to be.
“Son I think you’d ought to sit down.”
Techno didn’t sit, he uncrossed his arms and stared expectantly at Phil, who still wouldn’t look at him.
Why wouldn’t he look at him?
“Techno-“ Phil hesitates, in the silence Phil’s resolve wavers, just barely. He takes a deep shuddering breath and meets his sons eyes.
“Techno, Wilbur is dead.”
Techno doesn’t move, or speak. He stares blankly at Phil for several painstaking moments, seeming both focused and far away all at once. Phil loathes the silence, and so he continues
“The night when he set off the TNT, the explosion it- it killed him. He died in the blast.” Phil looks back down, biting back the tears that threatened to spill. “He died underneath the podium, I was there with him there was nothing I could do-“
Phil is cut off then as the table in front of him his abruptly shoved aside, his cup and it’s contents shattering against the floor. Phil stumbles to his feet in alarm as he now stares down the blade of an axe. On the other end Techno stares at him, face twisted in nothing short of rage.
“Techno-“
“You’re lying!” Techno snaps, blade trembling dangerously close to Phil’s throat.
“No- no son I’m not. Wilbur’s dead-“
“ No-“ Techno’s voice breaks just barely. “No you said the- the explosion killed him- that’s not... that’s not true is it?”
“I-“ Phil still can’t look at him. He just stares at the blade of the axe, glinting orange from the glow of the fire. Techno knows then, just from the haunted way Phil’s eyes dance along the sharp edge. But still he persists.
He has to hear it himself.
“Phil-“ The blade presses closer, any further and it would draw blood. “Phil how did he die?”
“He just-“ Phil wants to lie, to insist that it was a terrible accident, beyond his control.
But he can’t, not to Techno.
“He wasn’t himself.” Phil whispers, barely audible over the crackling logs. “You have to understand-“
“Understand?” Techno just about gasps, the axe lowering as the reality sets in, ice cold horror racing through his veins. “You expect me to- to understand!? Wilbur was a good man Phil-“
“You think I don’t know that!?” Phil snaps back, voice threatening to break. “ But look that man, in that cave. That wasn’t Wilbur-“
“So you what? You killed him!?”
“He asked me to- he begged me to! What was I supposed to do!” Phil’s voice is far too loud in the small cabin, the sound shattering the quiet night air.
“He- he was my brother!”
“And he was my son !”
The silence falls heavy again. Phil’s shuddering breath the only sound aside from the fire. Techno was deathly still, knuckles white from where he gripped his axe, only able to watch as a sob finally escaped from Phil’s throat, a hand flying up to his mouth to muffle the sound. Techno stayed in his spot, breathing growing more ragged with every passing second. couldn’t move, he couldn’t breath he couldn’t think.
Even the voices are quiet then, his mind still for the first time he could remember.
“I just-“ Phil’s choked out, tears now streaming across his cheeks. “-I just didn’t want him to hurt anyone else- or himself. I couldn’t leave him like that.-“
Phil thinks of Wilbur then. Face streaked with blood and ash and tears. His eyes were wide and wild, voice laced with desperation as he guided Phil’s sword to his stomach.
Do it Phil- kill me.
“I just didn’t want him to suffer anymore.”
Phil sinks back into his chair, exhausted in every way that he could be.
“I had to do that for him- I’d failed him too much already.” He says, quieter now. He doesn’t have it in him to be loud anymore. He just sinks his head into his hands, shoulders dropping heavily and his wings flopping heavily beside him.
“I should have been there, I should have been helping him.” He mutters, voice muffled by his hands. He wants to hide there forever, tucked away between his palms, away from techno, away from his failures-
A hand on knee makes him look back up.
“You didn’t- you never failed him.”
Techno is kneeling in front of Phil now, their eyes level, both full of tears. Phil can’t think then of the last time he’d seen Techno cry.
“He was- he wasn’t himself for a long time. There wasn’t anything you could have done.” Techno says solemnly. “I know you just- you did what you had to. I’m sorry.” Techno means it, every ounce of him aches with it. The anger he felt before was now gone. Leaving nothing but a terrible gaping regret in his chest. He glances at Phil, who looks far older then with the way he slouches in the chair, haunted expression illuminated by the he looked just as he did when he had encountered him in the woods after the explosion all that time ago. The night feels like another lifetime and yet here it was, as current and as vivid here in his small cabin hundreds of miles away.
See, while Techno walked away from that night and left the wreckage behind him, Phil was still carrying it with him, as if it were another set of wings perched on his back. Even then Phil somehow manages to smile and take Techno’s hand, squeezing his fingers between his own.
“Wilbur always had to have what he wanted I suppose” Phil says lightly, a chuckle barely escaping his lips. He’s wiping the damp from his face, sighing as he blinks away the last of his tears. He clings to fondness he feels then, savoring it over the memories of caves and scribbled words etched in stone.
Techno laughs with him, just for a moment. Before the tears finally come in their full force. The sob catches him off guard, the laughter giving away into a quiet sniffling. Phil slides down to the floor with him and pull his son into his arms. Techno melts into the touch, face burying its way into Phil’s shoulder. Phil clings to techno like he had once clung to Wilbur, desperate and needy as he clutched his fists in his cloak, as if he might vanish at any moment.
Just like Wil had.
But neither of them did. They sat on the floor of Techno’s cabin, both of them illuminated faintly by the fireplace, which had now died down to just embers.
For now they mourned. Tomorrow they’d tend to the fire, tomorrow they’d figure out what to do with the idiot kid brother who’d gotten himself exiled.
But that would have to wait until tomorrow.