Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He didn't remember what life was like before the SMP he’d start to call home. No...no that wasn't entirely true. He remembers a large castle. Its walls were shades of dark obsidian, gray bedrock, dark bricks with a mixture of the tough obsidian and even tougher bedrock. Yet the walls were never cold, never overcast, never threatening. He remembers the halls were never empty, always hosting people or the laughter of people. The halls had portraits of people so familiar yet clouded over that the faces would be nothing but blurs. 

Music seemed to be everywhere in this place. He remembers the floors lined with soft, always clean, purple and gold carpets. He remembers the large room that housed multiple guests in lavish outfits. The sound of music ordinated from this very room and its echo of laughter. A purple crystal with golden swirls glimmered with light to illuminate the room. Three seats— three thrones were above the room, curved stairs lined the way up to the thrones.

 One was the purest white he’s ever remembered with speckles of luxurious jewels and gemstone embedded in it. Another one was obsidian black with gold mixed in, creating a shimmer whenever the crystal’s light hit it just right. Then the last throne, smaller than the other two but just as important. White swirled with black yet never mixed. Gold danced across the white as gems shimmered in the void black. It was a beautiful blend of both thrones. 

He would always enjoy when the memory of the throne graced his mind. 

He remembers dark, scaly wings colliding into him for an embrace. Never the person, though, only the warmth that followed the surprising chill of the wings. They brought him happy feelings of a time he was in need. A friend's, probably, he had concluded after a while. The friend never hurt him, never squeezed too hard with the wings, never bullied him. He wishes he could remember their name. 

He remembers the kindness of his parents. His parents...he never remembered who was who. He didn't know which was responsible for his left side and never figured out who made his right. Their faces never came to him but everything he could remember, they were always smiling. They seemed nice. 

The castle wasn't here, the overworld. It didn't have a sun nor a moon. It had stars though. It had a void to stare into, it always stared back. It was a world of islands, of ships in the air, of stalky fruits that you could never name the taste yet knew you loved it, it was…free. 

But he doesn't remember it. It had a smile, cold and cynical. 

He remembers the sound of glass shattering, the feeling of cold hands grabbing him, the screaming of everyone, the cloth that smothered his mouth, the jolting pain through his arm, then darkness. He used to love the darkness but now it scared him. The darkness filled his muscles, his eyes, just throat, his senses. But he could still feel. He could feel the thing hold him like a ragdoll. He could feel the air he used to be in with his friend. He could feel the landing, jostling him. Cold air hit him like a slap in the face, it soon took over his body, then it felt like he was floating. 

His memory stayed clear for a bit. 

He remembers the air being too thick. He couldn't breathe. Why couldn't he breathe?! Next came the light. Had he not been numbed he would have screamed. The night felt like a magic bullet had been fired straight into his head. It burned. He wanted to getaway. The darkness lifted and soon, he was away. A dark cave met him, the smell of rotting flesh lined it, and he passed out. 

That's the farthest he could remember. Burnt reels of a movie strip. Taunting him of what he had but couldn't reach. 

Some days, when he was still hiding in a cave, he'd wonder if his parents missed him. If they looked for him or held a burial for his supposed death. If his winged friend flew for countless hours in search of him. 

“—Ndboo! Ranboo! Hello?”

Ranboo jolted out of his memory walk, “o-oh! Sorry! What you were saying, Techno?” He fidgeted slightly with his hands.

Techno paused, glancing at the fidgeting, before continuing, “do you think you can pick up spawners?” Ranboo shrugged before looking at his hands, “I don't think so but we can try.” He gave a small smile, Techno giving him a quick nod before the two went to the spawner. 

“I'm, like, 95% sure I already tried this with Tubbo and it didn't work.”

“That's still 5% that it might!”

“True.”

They stopped in front of a spawner and Ranboo started to break it, expecting it to shatter like the one with Tubbo did. 

It, in fact, did not shatter, and now was in his hands. “Oh my prime it works…” Ranboo said, shocked. Techno laughed, obviously shocked as well.

“Ranboo’s the main character, Phil!” The sounds of the communicator crackled to life with a laugh. 

“I swear I tried this yesterday!” Ranboo said, laughing at the ridiculousness of the whole thing.

“Oh god, he's getting stronger,” the other joked. 

Ranboo laughed as Techno went on about not being the main character anymore. His mood was dampened as Ranboo felt eyes staring him down. He looked around with unease as the two walked back home. After looking around for a while, he adjusted his crown and kept up chatting with Techno. 

He didn't like this. Not one bit. With his puppet imprisoned, he couldn't control the world. He couldn't stop the one thing that could destroy him. He was forced to sit back and watch, like the other three. He just hopes he doesn't fall as 1 and 2 did to 3. For now, he'll watch. He'll watch the Blood Prince dance around as a measly mortal, not knowledgeable on what the pearly white side is capable of. 

Chapter Text

Ranboo hummed a random tune he’d heard Phil sing when attending the bee farm as he picked up a new grass block. It was weird to him, how only now was this ‘comfort-block’ thing appearing. A while back he had found this structure under the sea waters when on a call with Tubbo and it seemed like he knew what it was. Of course, being the Memory Boy, this feeling wasn’t anything new to him. Sure the blocks were comforting to be near but they were just stone bricks! He could craft those and make a whole house with them. So he did, remaking his comfort room with similar bricks.

When the question of why he could pick up any block with his hands, now jokingly called Silk Touch Hands, was always followed up with the question of teleportation. Ranboo knew that he couldn’t teleport but some part of him still wished he could. He’d read about it in books that Techno has in his library and it always seemed like a freeing activity, to move where you pleased no matter how hard it was. It seemed amazing. The way it occurred, though, was less freeing. The idea of your code breaking apart and appearing somewhere new sounded painful and always made Ranboo shiver at the thought.

He had placed the grass block near Tubbo’s door in Snowchester, a gift or a sign of trust, before heading off to the small shack he’d come to call home. Ranboo was almost to the main portal when Tommy’s yelling startled him. One second the image of Tommy’s cackling face was in front of him, the next, he was on top of the portal with a distinct stinging sensation in his chest. The ender hybrid looked around before his eyes landed on a very surprised looking Tommy. A beat of silence then two very shocked yells.

“You can teleport!?”

“Did I just teleport?!”

They both yelled at the same time. Tommy stared up at Ranboo before cackling, “I was the first one to see you teleport,” the younger said. Ranboo just looked down, part thought on how to get down, and the newly found ability. Sure, he was excited that he could do more ender like things but, what did this mean? Why was his enderside only coming out and not the unknown side? Why did it feel like that? Would it be random? Would this happen during his black-outs? The last one came to Ranboo quickly but stayed around like an unwelcome guest.

Tommy must have noticed the taller one spacing out so he’d called out to get Ranboo’s attention. Ranboo looked back at Tommy, “s-sorry, was still surprised I did..that.” Tommy nodded, seemingly understanding, “how do you feel after that? I mean that must have been weird, right? It looked cool on my end, though! One second I was about to ram into you, by mistake I swear, then next you’re completely out of harm's way! That’s so cool, man.” The blond started to ramble on about how he’d use this power and it helped Ranboo calm down, not all the way but enough that he wasn’t completely panicking.

“Uh...T-Tommy...I don’t- I don’t know how to get down. Like I know I can use water but something tells me that will hurt. A lot.” Ranboo said, sheepishly as he sat down on the obsidian. Tommy looked around for anything before looking in his inventory for any useful block. “I have, uh, hay? You could use that to slow the fall!” He suggested and Ranboo nodded. Tommy’s tail swayed side to side as he made a small hay bale platform for Ranboo to land in. “Ok, try now.”

Ranboo took a deep breath before sliding off the portal frame. He landed with a grunt before standing up all the way, no damage taken. “Thanks, Tommy,” he said as he looked at the smaller teen, “sorry if I stopped you from working.” Tommy waved him off, “Sam Nook gave me a break, plus Puffy wanted to talk to me soon, so I was just messing ‘round,” the tanuki hybrid smiled, “what about you, memory boy, what are you up too?” Ranboo shrugged, getting some hay off of him, “heading back home after Grass Block Time. I was going to work on my comfort room but, ya know.” He gestured to the two and the portal. 

“Oh, so just, ender boy things?” Ranboo nodded, “Understandable. Hey, do you happen to have any red concrete? A...uh...ok well I might have mistakenly let a creeper near the hotel and it broke some of the walls. I don’t want Sam Nook to get angry at me, seeing how he’s my only protection,” the last part was mumbled but Ranboo still heard it. He didn’t call Tommy out though and nodded, “I am 93% sure I’ve got some spare blocks left in my chests back home. I can quickly grab you some if you’d like,” Ranboo offered.

Tommy shook his head, “Nah, I think that would take too much time,” he turned around and started running to Eret’s castle, “I’ll see if Eret has some! Thank you anyway Boob Boy!” Ranboo jokingly yelled back at the name but laughed and waved. Ranboo headed through the portal and started making the trek back to Techno’s.

Philza was tending to the wolves when Ranboo returned. The older man smiled softly and waved as Ranboo made his way over. “Hey Mr.Phil, something odd happened again,” Ranboo said, scratching behind his head a bit. Philza had insisted that Ranboo just call him Phil but Ranboo still used Mr.Phil, claiming that he still didn’t feel polite. Oh well, this was better than Mr.Minecraft.  Phil stood up and turned to Ranboo, who was still taller, “Oh? What’s up, mate?” Ranboo had told Philza about the whole blacking out issue and sleepwalking thing a few days ago. He never mentioned the voice-dream or the memory book being tampered with or any of the secretive problems, he was scared of being kicked out and left alone again.

The cave’s closed space made him almost wish for his captor to come to get him again. A chill breeze passed his tail as he slowly wandered around. A drop of water hit his nose. At first, it was fine then the burning pain hit him. He screamed in agony, wishing for it to stop. Soon more pain trickled down his eyes and the pain worsened. Why won’t it stop? Please make it stop! Make it-

“-eed you to breath, Ranboo. Can you do that for me?” The pain had stopped and Ranboo was now curled up in a ball in the snow with a large, tattered wing wrapped around him. He looked up and Philza was there, helping the younger one breathe. That’s when he noticed he wasn’t breathing. He took in a shaky breath, then another, and another and soon he was back to breathing evenly again. “S-sorry, I didn’t mean to-” he was cut off, “You don’t need to say sorry about that, mate. It’s all good, just focus on breathing and calming down, ok?” Ranboo nodded, albeit uncertain, before just focusing on calming down.

The two stayed in the snow for Prime knows how long before Ranboo was up to talk. “I was just heading home when Tommy appeared. He was just killing time and was going to play a small jumpscare prank. Nothing harmful, I promise, just a ‘boo’ and small jokes. But when he attempted to do the scaring I...I teleported. N-not too far! Just on top of the portal frame!” Ranboo said quickly, not looking at Phil for the entire explanation. He felt a slight shift before being swallowed in a hug, wings and all. Ranboo...Ranboo didn’t know what to expect after retelling what happened but it wasn’t a hug. 

“That’s amazing, s- Ranboo! I’m proud of you, even if you don’t know how you did it. It’s still pretty damn impressive.” The older said, a smile clear in his voice. Ranboo hugged back, shocked that Phil was boh hugging him and was impressed. “And are you feeling alright, mate? I know teleporting can hurt the first time and seeing how it was very random it could have been a shock.” Ranboo shrugged, “It stung a bit but the pain faded quickly. I’m just worried that this might affect…” he trailed off. Philza had apparently heard Ranboo, much to the ender hybrid’s dismay, and pulled back to look at him, “affect what, Ranboo?” He asked kindly, like a parent trying to get their kid to open up about a school bully or a bad fall out with a friend. Ranboo grimaced at the thought of telling Philza about the voice-dream.

“T-the sleepwalking and blackouts,” he said instead, not entirely lying. Philza didn’t look at all convinced but didn’t pry. “Oh, that could be an issue. Would you like to stay with me for today and see if anything happens?” Philza offered. Ranboo thought it over for a bit before nodding, “if that's ok. I don’t want to mess up anything you might be doing.” He fidgeted with his hands as he looked at the snow. The winged man just waved him off, “Nonsense, I wouldn’t have offered it if I thought you’d break anything. You could help me out, being as tall as you are.” He smiled and stood up, some bone-cracking at the new movement. Ranboo followed in suit.

“I need to grab some things from spawn, are you comfortable coming with me?” A nod “Alright! If you start blacking out I’ll make sure to stay with you so you’re safe.” Another nod. Phil had started walking back to the nether portal, making sure Ranboo was still following, as he listed off things he was getting. Ranboo didn’t bother writing the list down, as Phil already had a physical list, and just enjoyed being with a trusted person. 

The staring sensation was back and this time it lasted throughout the nether and into spawn. It was setting Ranboo on edge and was slowly starting to stress him out. He grabbed a grass block as they walked past the church. It happened again. This time it was due to a burning skeleton and an arrow. They were just walking along the prime path when Ranboo was now no longer by Philza’s side and was instead in a cave. He quickly grabbed his communicator and focused on Philza’s glowing name.

[Philza whispered to you]: Where did you teleport to this time? I don’t see you
[You whispered to Philza]: ⟟⋏ ⏃ ☊⏃⎐⟒, ⟟ ⏁⊑⟟⋏☍ ⟟'⋔ ⎍⋏⎅⟒⍀ ⏁⊑⟒ ☊⊑⎍⍀☊⊑. ⟟ ☊⏃⋏ ⊑⟒⏃⍀ ⊬⍜⎍ ⊬⟒⌰⌰⟟⋏☌.
[Philza whispered to you]: Woah mate, that wasn’t English. Are you ok?
[You whispered to Philza]: ⍙⊑⏃⏁? ⟟⋔ ⏁⊬⌿⟟⋏☌ ⋏⍜⍀⋔⏃⌰⌰⊬?
[Philza whispered to you]: I can’t understand you. If you can hear me, try coming back.
[You whispered to Philza]: ⍜☍⏃⊬

Ranboo thought it was weird. He was typing in English and could read Philza’s messages. Seeing how he could hear the other one yelling his name he tried to make his way out of the cave. After a bit of stone and dirt, Ranboo appeared out of the ground next to one of Tubbo’s old trees. Philza spotted him immediately and came over, “you ok? You kept messaging me in something that was definitely not English.” Ranboo only tilted his head before speaking, “⟟'⋔ ⎎⟟⋏⟒.” That, he could tell, was not English. But it sounded like English to him in his head. Philza blinked a bit before bopping Ranboo on the head.

As if he had factory reset, he’d forgotten what just happened after he teleported into the cave, and looked at Philza, “Mr.Phil, why am I in a hole? Weren’t we just on the path?” Philza took a deep breath before grumbling something that sounded suspiciously like an ‘oh my heart.’ “You teleported away after almost getting shot. You also started speaking in something that was really not English.” He blinked, “Oh...that's not good, is it?”

Teleporting?! Already!? He’d only just started to blackout and speak his native tongue but teleporting? Being forced to watch your biggest threat gain powers quickly was a terrible punishment. He needed to get his puppet out of that forsaken prison or he’d be screwed. Not only has the Blood Prince been getting stronger, he no longer came into the one box he could tamper with. His connection to him was weakening and the time away from the half breed was straining his clutches. That little scum was tampering with his total control. It pissed him off.

The ender air never seemed to be as thick as it did that day. Queen Nakoa had picked up on activity near an old trading port. The world that was connected to the port had long since been disconnected after Watcher 4, better known as the tyrant DreamXD, took over that world and made it their plaything. The frames only being able to be broken we’re Watchers and Listeners. And vice versa when fixing them. Ansel had been tasked with looking at what had caused the activity.

Old laughter of childhood flew alongside him as he made his way over to the portal. “I failed the royal family once, I won’t let it happen again. For Rans..” he muttered to himself. With a rough landing, Ansel closed his dragon kind wings and searched around the portal. It...it was fixed. Not properly, though. Sparks of magic buzzed near the ender slots. But it felt alive.  Magic from the old world was stronger here than it had ever. It surged again and he saw him. The unforgettable laughter of his Price could be heard through the surges. 

The lost Blood Prince was found and in the hardest places to reach.




                                                                    DreamSMP

Chapter Text

Jack was having a good day. Well, night really, seeing how the moon was out. He was out to see if he could catch Tommy off guard and hopefully be rid of the annoying tanuki hybrid. Yeah, Jack would miss the old times but Tommy was being a pain in his side. As he walked down the path he could see Ranboo’s outline hanging around the community house. It was no surprise the black ‘n white teen was working on rebuilding it, it was a calming build and was useful for the whole server. As Jack got closer, however, Ranboo’s height wasn’t changing from what it looked like from afar. 

In fact, the hybrid was significantly taller than normal. “Ranboo? Buddy? Are you good-?” Jack called out, trying to act tough. Ranboo turned around and Jack quickly made sure not to make eye contact. Not because Ranboo had told him he didn’t like it but because the usually shy red and green eyes had no pupil. He looked more enderman than player and Jack was scared to set the other off. Ranboo was probably a block taller than his regular height and that was saying something, seeing how he was normally 3 blocks tall.

Ranboo looked at Jack and made his way over, causing the smaller to freeze. “☌⍜ ⏁⍜ ⏚⟒⎅, ⟊⏃☊☍,” Ranboo said with what looked like a smile. The ender gave Jack a small pat on the head and went back to building.  Jack just stood still before speed walking over to the portal. He muttered a curse as the portal welcomed him in. 

“What the hell was that,” he said to no one in particular. “What was what?” Jack startled as he saw Philza. “Ranboo’s being weird. And he’s tall as shit now!” Phil’s normal smile was quickly replaced with, what can only be described as, a nervous dad grimace. The type you’d see on a father after they lose their kid in a store and was in charge of keeping them safe. “Did he attempt to talk to you in a different tongue? Almost exactly like how normal endermen talk?” Philza questioned, to which Jack nodded quickly. “He’s probably sleepwalking again. Long story but I’ve got to find him before he gets lost or hurt. Where’d you see him?” Jack pointed to the portal, “The community house, he’s been rebuilding the bloody thing from pictures and the small portion in the museum.”

Philza nodded and went through the portal. Jack was correct, Ranboo was at the half fixed community house, but was just staring at a grass block in his hands. He sighed in relief before smiling and heading to Ranboo. He made sure that he was visible and heard as to not scare the hybrid, Techno trained him to do that when the voices got too much. The piglin told him it was like caring for a scared animal, you don’t want it to think you’re a threat, and Phil learned that the hard way back when techno was still a kid. A scar on his face itched as he recalled the memory.

Ranboo looked up at Philza with a calculating glance before calming down. “Do you mind if I sit down with you,” Phil asked politely. Ranboo nodded, moved a bit over, and gestured to the now open spot for Phil who gladly took the seat. The, now much taller, ender hybrid went back to his grass block but would occasionally glance at Philza. “So, I think I've gotten your other side down around 10 things. However, I’m pretty sure you’d rather be present for this,” he said, wrapping a wing around the other’s shoulders. Ranboo tilted his head in confusion and Phil had to stop himself from laughing at the puppy-like movement.

With a quick bap, Ranboo’s eyes returned and he poofed back down to regular height in a cloud of purple particles.  Ranboo looked around before his eyes landed on Philza and groaned slightly, “w-was I sleepwalking again?” The winged man nodded, “sorry. One minute I’m in my comfort room the next I’m sitting on the floor, grass in hand, and in the dead of night.” Phil chuckled, “it’s ok, kid. You can’t really stop it.”

“Yeah but I still feel bad for disappearing and wondering.” Ranboo stood up to stretch his back when his back felt itchy, more specifically his right side- the unknown side. He didn’t think much of it, scratching it stopped it so why worry. “Did I do anything-,” his words were cut off as he noticed the community house was looking better than before, “I guess I did do something.” Philza chuckled at the teen’s words. After calming down, Phil grabbed a book from his inventory, “I was really curious on what your other side might be so grabbed some of my books from travels to see if I’ve ever seen something similar.” Ranboo nodded as he listened.

“I’ve got a small list of mobs it could be but there are a few... non-mob-like  things . The first thing I did was eliminate water-needed mobs, seeing how that wouldn’t work with your ender side. Then went through the ones that were predominantly white, turns out that's not a lot of mobs. Ghast was on there but isn’t likely, seeing how you’re not naturally fireproof.  Same with skeleton but opposite, you don’t burn in the sunlight. Cat was one of them however you don’t have fur, same with arctic fox and a wolf. Then I started thinking, well what if he is part block, like Skeppy. So I checked the properties of quartz, iron, diorite, and even wool but none of them worked.”

Philza took a deep breath before continuing, “seeing how no Minecraft mobs fit I started to look into another world, or mods as everyone calls them, like creatures to see if anything stuck. There were a few but they’re all iffy seeing how I haven’t completed my research on them. Then there’s this book,” he held out a book. It definitely looked used, some of the binding coming undone, and had a purple-gold shine to it even though it was a black cover. It had words on it that weren’t human but Ranboo recognized them, “it’s the history of Evo. I doubt you’ll know what Evo is- was .” Philza stared at the book like it was a long lost friend who everyone thought died.

In truth, Ranboo didn’t remember Evo but he recognized the name. “Oh, okay...I’ll make sure to read it,” he smiled softly. Phil seemed to relax a bit before smiling back at Ranboo, “The sun is almost up, want to come back home?” Ranboo nodded, internally beaming that Phil accepted his little shack as a part of the home.

Dream was doodling in one of the many notebooks Sam had given him, a small hobby he started to pick up. He knew that Watch 4 was probably pissed that he was stuck here but it was a lot nicer to not have a voice stuck in your head quite literally puppeteering you. The two meet when the SMP was still fresh, Dream still going by Clay at the time. He changed his name to Dream after DreamXD struck a deal with him; Get to be a god of this world but destroy the end portal and let DreamXD use him like a puppet when needed. Did he know it was stupid to make a deal with a higher being? Yes. Did he care at the time? Not at all.

It was odd, after the first L’manburg war. Something in both of them changed. DreamXD started to turn their attention to Tommy and Wilbur and Dream started to lose feeling for anything but chaos. It was like the old thrill of manhunt was back, but now he felt like the hunter hunting himself. In a way, it was just like that. When Schlatt snagged Manburg, exiling the two original leaders, he felt both pride and hatred for the goat hybrid.

“Those were mine to toy with,” DreamXD yelled in the mindscape. Dream was merely grinding when the Watcher yelled. “Sure the guy wasn’t one of my kind but he could have at least seen the claim on them.” Dream rolled his eyes, “You’re whining. We could always help both sides, you know, for chaos.” That seemed to get the Watcher listening, “I’ve noticed that my craving for chaos has grown and your attachment to the Minecraft brothers has also grown. We could both get what we want by helping both sides.” The grin on DreamXD could make even The Blade shiver, but not Dream. No, he felt himself grin. Two maniacs with nothing but power on their side and a box full of toys. 

Dream huffed at the memory. The Blade was right in the end, power does indeed corrupt even the strongest minds. When he shared a mind with the Watcher, he could see all of their memories. For some reason, a version of the End was always there. One memory that played on loop was of his winged dealer breaking into a castle, stealing a royal -probably the prince or princess- with ease, and a portal that was broken with a black piece of TNT. Then it was his world, signified by one of the ugly cobblestone towers. The stolen royal disappeared after a second in the sun and that was it. The memory cut off like a burnt movie roll.

He shrugged at the memory and kept drawing. He drew some glasses, then a headband, and finally a small smile. If tears rolled down his face and splattered on to the page, only the obsidian walls would know. A defining snap of the book closing rang in the small cell and Dream fell asleep propped up against the wall.

Ranboo clutched his head as he passed out onto the bed Phil had quickly set up in Techno’s basement. The two had arrived home as Techno was enchanting more armor. Phil had explained he wanted Ranboo to stay in the house for the night so he could watch over the hybrid in case he tried to sleepwalk again. Techno just shrugged, mentioning something about his voices caring about the two, before handing a bed over to the winged man.

It was the next night when it started to happen again. Ranboo was trying to sleep but the world fell into a purple haze. Soon it was like his body was moving on its own. He didn’t feel anything, however, like you would in a dream. His body was out of the house in a quick flash of purple and soon he was at the prison. Sam let him in through the iron doors and he followed him to the cell. Lava emptied and soon Dream was there. They started talking but their voice seemed so far away. The world was spinning and Dream disappeared. The walls crumbled and the ceiling fell. The floor followed in suit and he was falling. The dark pit swallowed him whole as he tried to call for help, but nobody came. A smile filled the darkness as his crown flickered in and out of the inky void. “Not free yet,” a distorted voice called out. Then it was back to blackness. He called out again.

But nobody came.

Chapter Text

Philza woke up to the faint sound of crying. It wasn’t unusual for him to hear, being in a house of 5, it was bound to happen. As he was sitting up, however, the reality hit that he wasn’t in his house with his four boys but was in fact in the basement of his warlord and blood-thirsty son. With the realization splashing him like cold water, he quickly started to head over to the source of the sound. 

A quick glance over to the other side of the room answered the question. Ranboo’s shoulders shook under the blanket, muffled sobs wracking the tall ender hybrid’s frame as the half white half black tail twitched with every sound. Phil carefully walked over to Ranboo and shook him lightly, “Ranboo. Ranboo I need you to wake up. Come on so- buddy.” Another sob made its presence known as Phil noticed the burn tracks under Ranboo’s eyes, right where the tears were. He felt a pang of sympathy as he tried waking the other up.

“S-save...me…” A broken cry of help slipped past Ranboo’s lips and Phil knew he wasn’t going to be able to fend off the need to adopt yet another traumatized kid. It didn’t help that his own voices were trying to help Ranboo. “Sorry for this,” Phil muttered as he yanked the sheets off Ranboo. The other’s hands, now more like claws, were gripping on to each arm and ripping into the fabric. Soon they were cutting into the skin like a knife to warm butter, only instead of the smell of baking, it was the cold smell of iron.

Phil shook the teen again and finally, he woke up. A distorted yelp was heard before it was covered by quick apologies. “Hey, hey! It’s okay, Ranboo. I’m not mad at you, okay,” Phil said, quick to comfort the clearly no okay teen. Ranboo shook his head, “N-no, I’m sorry f-f-for waking you up. I-I-I didn’t mean to, I p-promise. H-he- it was r-right. I shouldn’t h-have to burden y-you,” he stuttered out. Philza didn’t miss the change from ‘he’ to ‘it’. Phil refrained from hugging the kid right then and there, worried that the sudden contact would scare Ranboo even more.

“Mate, I need to help your arms, is that ok?” He asked carefully. Ranboo nodded shakily as he slowly removed his hands from his brutalized arm. Ranboo made a small hiss of pain before grabbing the pillow for a form of comfort. Philza muttered a quick thank you before calmly grabbing the arm to bandage it. The two sat in an uneasy silence with only a few hiccups from Ranboo, still trying to calm down. “Would you like to talk about what happened?” Philza asked, cleaning some of the cuts. Ranboo sucked in a quick breath, hands instinctively going to his arms only to be blocked by Phil's hands.

“I-I was in b-bed but then the w-world went purple? L-like a weird haze. Then the p-pain of teleporting, I think. T-then I was in the p-prison. It b-blurs a bit here b-but soon I s-saw Dream and-” Ranboo’s voice cut out, almost like he was too afraid to finish the sentence. It clicked that the issue had something to do with Dream, something Phil wasn’t surprised about at this point, but it didn’t explain why it had something to do with the tyrant. He finished bandaging Ranboo’s arms up. If hearts could shatter, Phil’s sure his would be in shambles with what Ranboo finished with.

Ranboo tilted his head away from Phil before muttering, “I think I was helping Dream...Am I a bad person?” Phil broke. He quickly held the teen, wings and all, as if he would disappear into dust if he didn’t. “No, no you’re not. You aren’t fully there when this happens, okay. Don’t you dare think you’re a bad person, kid,” Phil said, holding back tears of his own. When you see a kid -your kid- break down, you hold on to their pieces. He’d failed Wilbur, he’d failed Tommy, Phil might even go on saying he failed Techno to some extent, but he wasn’t going to fail another child. His heart wouldn’t be able to take that guilt.

He felt the other hold on to him just as tight. Tears fell down between his wings and Ranboo’s shoulders shook. “It’s ok, son. Let it all out. We’ve got you, I’ve got you. You’re safe, I promise.” Just like that he was back in his old home, holding a crying Tommy after a nightmare. In a way, it was just like back then. One of his sons having a bad dream -ironic that it had to do with dreams nowadays- and needed to just be held. To be told that they’re safe, that the shadows won't hurt them here. A childish lie but a comforting one. 

Now, here he was, holding his newest son in the break of dawn. Guilt chipped at him, he should have seen that something was wrong, but he had to remind himself that everyone opens up differently. Ranboo’s walls were falling faster than he could rebuild them and needed someone to help with support, and Phil was ready to hold the cracks. The tears had slowed and Phil was sure that Ranboo was dehydrated, which sucks if you can’t touch water. He tried to think of an alternative when it hit him.

Chorus fruit! Phil still had some on him from his travels before the SMP. For fruit in dimension with no water, it was juicy and could quickly help any thirst. Endermen had to use these to survive, he thought. “Are you hungry, Ranboo?” He asked softly as the hybrid pulled away from the hug. He nodded. Phil smiled, “Okay, I’ll be right back. Just need to grab something for us.” He got a nod and quickly went to grab some fruits. He had roughly around 10 and grabbed 2 before heading back down. 

Ranboo was picking at the bandages when he returned, “are they too tight?” Ranboo shook his head, “just itchy.” Phil chuckled, “yeah, they might feel like that for a bit, try to not pick at them. I’ve got some Chorus fruit for us, though.” He held up the light-colored fruit. Ranboo tilted his head, “wass’ that?” His words slurred together, exhaustion evident on the younger one’s face. “Fruit from the End, I had it on me when I came here. Full of nutrients and juice. Surprisingly refreshing!” Philza tossed one over to Ranboo, who caught it and took a bite out of his own. Ranboo looked at the fruit suspiciously before taking a bite.

It was like giving a cat some catnip, quite literally. Ranboo’s pupils dilated as he ate another bite. Did Philza expect the fruit to do that to Ranboo? Absolutely not. He wasn’t complaining, though, seeing how the kid looked more at peace than before. The weirdest part wasn’t even over. As it turns out, ear-piercing screams and garbled English aren’t the only sounds endermen could make. Ranboo’s jaw opened slightly and clicked back down.

He was mimicking sounds one would hear from birds in a jungle. Phil almost laughed at the realization, almost. Had it not been for his own instincts kicking in and clicking back. The clicks were similar but you could tell them apart. Philza’s, who was probably some part bird, everyone just assumed with his whole feathered wings but no one really knows thanks to Phil not even answering the question, were softer and higher pitched. Ranboo’s were a bit low yet still as friendly. The shaking of the other’s shoulders had slowed down to the point that you had to be looking for it to spot and the burn tracks had almost healed up. 

The two stayed like that for a while, just clicking at the other, it wasn’t until Techno came down to see what was happening did it stop. Ranboo had calmed down enough to breathe evenly. The voice of fake-Dream had dulled down to barely anything. Two colored eyes scanned around before landing on Techno. He waved shyly and Techno returned the gesture. “So...do I want to know what I walked into?” Phil laughed light-heartedly, “Long story short, Endermen -or Ranboo at least- revert to primal instincts with chorus fruit.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Techno huffed, dare someone say, affectionately. The two adults looked over at Ranboo, who shrank in on himself by habit. “You ok kid,” Phil asked, “you haven’t spoken a word. It's ok if you don’t want to but I just want to check-in.” Ranboo fumbled with his hands before signing, ‘Hard to speak’. It was shaky at best but still got the point across. Phil nodded, “That's ok. If you don’t mind me asking, where did you learn to sign?”

‘Bee taught me. D-disc’s ears were hurt due to explosions.’ Ranboo signed, stumbling on Disc and accidentally signing it like a stutter. “I’m assuming Disc and Bee are Tommy and Tubbo.” Ranboo nodded, ‘I learned it when Bee was s-still P-R-E-S. Fox talks too fast s-sometimes.’ Philza nodded as Techno cleared his throat, “Two things; One, both of us know sign so if you need anything we can help. Two, Phil can I speak with you for a bit?” Ranboo and Phil both raised an eyebrow at the last one. “Don’t worry, Ranboo, it doesn’t have to do with you. It’s Blood God things,” the piglin hybrid stated. Ranboo nodded and opened his communicator after it buzzed a bit. Leave it to Tommy and Tubbo for being a nice distraction.

Techno nodded his head to the door and both adults left to the outside. “Are the voices getting too loud,” Philza asked with some concern. “Yes and no. They aren’t unbearable but they keep screaming about protecting Ranboo from XD but that's the issue, XD hasn’t been seen -or felt really- since Dream was put in the prison,” Techno paused, “Phil what if the kid’s other half is one of those?” Phil sucked in a breath, “He isn’t or I would have noticed I wasn’t the only Watcher here.”

Tommy was groaning, kicking his legs over the cliff that held his bench. Tubbo wanted to do a mansion hunting trip and of course, Tommy agreed. Knowing his friend, they could get hurt or lost or worse, killed. He shivered at that last one. The other issue was that they had no maps. Tubbo remembered that Ranboo had maps and thus started to message the tall ender hybrid. It’s not that Tommy was jealous of not being able to hang out alone with Tubbo. In fact, he liked Ranboo’s presence. But Tommy? Being jealous? Absolutely not! He was a big man! The Tommyinnit does not get jealous. Tubbo was the clingy one, not him.

Tubbo cheered beside Tommy, snapping him out of his thoughts, “Ranboo said yes! He’s grabbing some new maps and will be over soon.” Tubbo’s smile was contagious and Tommy smiled too, “I guess it’ll be nice to see Big R again.” The two talked for a bit as they waited, going over plans and supplies.

Tubbo’s communicator buzzed. Ranboo messaged them something. “ ‘Hey Tubbo! I’ll be over soon but I want to try something out. If you hear a thud, don’t worry too much, its probably me.’ What the hell does that mean-” The other didn’t have time to finish when an 8’5 enderhybrid appeared in the floor of the Prime Path. Tubbo yelped in surprise as Tommy double over, cackling. The tall teen had on a hoodie, instead of his regular suit, and it was clear that something was up. Lucky for Ranboo, however, the other two were too caught up in his sudden appearance to notice.

“S-since when could you teleport?!” Tubbo yelled, confused. Ranboo tried to speak before his voice failed him. He sighed and tried to free up his hands to sign. ‘A few days ago. Disc scared me and I just-’ he stopped, trying to figure out how to explain. Tommy stepped in, calming down a bit, “h-he teleported on top of-” the Tanuki paused to wheeze, ‘-On top of the Nether portal. It was hilarious, Tubs.”

Ranboo nodded, ‘I was at spawn when I did it today.’ He gave a small smile. Tubbo just sighed at the two’s antics, “Chaotic, both of you. So about the mansion hunting?” Ranboo perked up as he escaped the floor’s clutches. He held up two maps. Tommy grinned, “adventure time! Let's go Big guys!” The youngest held up his sword in an excited fashion. Ranboo just shook his head as he pointed to the direction they needed to go. With that, the Traumatized Trio -blame Tubbo for the name- set off for some loot.

XD watched Dream write in his book. It was a way they communicated with each other even if they couldn’t speak. Dream would write in XD’s old language and he would respond by using the book. It took energy, something XD hated being so low on, but it helps the two plan. 

Dream’s lover boy, XD forgotten his actual name, was planning something to help Dream out. Of course, Sam would try to stop him but he would ultimately fail. Even if XD didn’t care about the colorblind man, his puppet did. So he begrudgingly helped protect him.

Dream wrote him something about a blond kid. Apparently, that was also someone Dream wanted safe, although for a reason XD could actually get behind. Power and control. XD wrote back an agreement and started to go watch for the kid Dream called Tommy.

Who would have thought he’d also be able to watch Abitsan’s kid as well. It’s always nice when your chores line up with each other, isn’t it? Say, wasn’t that also Ram’s kid?

Listener Aditsan watched as their wife paced around their shared bedroom, “Love, we’ll find him, ok? He’s a tough kid and he's also our kid. Being strong runs in his blood.” The queen just sighed, “I know, I’m just worried that we won’t get him in time.” The two drifted off into silence, understanding the weight of the situation. The Listener’s scaly wings wrapped around themself as Nakao picked up a block-like pillow for comfort.

“He’s also in the same world as 4,” Nakao muttered. If they wanted to make an attack they would need many of their troops and Lord Dreamslayer but the latter was currently on temporary leave from wars and his Deep End duties. He deserved a break after ending 1 and 2’s horrid rule. A knock at the door grabbed their attention. “I-i’m sorry to disturb you, your majesties, however, your scientist and mages have started to pick up another force,” a maid said in a hurry. “What other force?”

“The Angel of Death a-and the Blood God.”

Chapter Text

He laughed as Lord Dreamslayer -better known as Xquela- playfully chased after him. “Get back here!” He yelled in a light-hearted manner. The Blood Prince was but 5 human years old as he played with the war hero. Everyone in his kingdom knew the tale of how Watcher 1 and 2 fell to Xquela’s hands, their deaths freeing those under their capture. It was before the Prince was born but he’d heard the tales enough to where he could almost see it.

Xquela’s feathery wings were the last thing he saw before he was tackled to the ground. His high pitch laughter filled the halls, “Oh no! I’ve been caught! Whatever shall I do?” The Prince said before giving a sly child smirk. Aster appeared from behind a pillar and tackled Xquela, “I shall save you, Prince!” Aster was around the same age as the Prince, only having a year on him.  The dragon hybrid’s wings batted at Xquela’s and the elder let go ‘on accident’.

“I’ve freed you, my Prince! Run! I shall hold him off,” they paused for a second before all bursting out with laughter. Aster’s cheeks tinted purple, “t-too much?” he asked sheepishly. Xquela shook his head and ruffled the two kids’ hair, “Alright you two, we need to head back.” The kids whined in protest, “I know, I know, I much rather be playing but I have a meeting to go to and you two have food waiting for you.” The mention of food made the two quickly change their minds.

“I’ll race you to the dining hall, Rans!”

“Hey no fair! I don’t have my wings yet and you can already fly!”

“What did I say about races,” Xquela questioned, before spreading his own wings and speeding by and grabbing the Prince, “make it a fair flight!”

The small group’s laughter could be heard throughout the castle.

Ranboo flinched as Tommy accidentally snapped a twig. “Why are these always so far away! This one seems farther than normal,” the youngest one whined. ‘That’s because I’ve cleared the nearest ones.’ Ranboo signed, dodging a branch from a tree. Tubbo looked back at him, wide-eyed, “Wh...why would you do that to yourself?” He shrugged, ‘Needed G apples.’ “Did you ever find one?” Tommy asked the smallest glint of greed flickered in his eyes. Ranboo groaned and shook his head, ‘I was in one room, fighting zombies and skeletons and spiders when Blade swooped past. Didn’t think there was one in there. There was.’ 

“Damn, rotten luck, minutes man,” Tubbo said, slightly shaking his head. “Should have just stolen from Techy-” The group paused as Tommy realized what he said, “Stop. No. Bad. Don’t you dare say what I think you will! Quit it.” The blond’s face was quickly covered in blush, his tanuki features coming out of hiding which only added to the whole mess. Tommy’s tail was all puffed up and his more raccoon-like face markings appeared as he continued to refuse what he’d just said.

Tubbo had doubled over laughing at their friend’s antics as Ranboo stood there, processing the nickname. “T-techy?” He muttered, only making Tubbo laugh harder. “Oh my-” his wheezes made it hard to speak, “-The f-first word Rans s-says after going NV a-and its-” he inhaled more oxygen, “Techy!” Ranboo had started silently chuckling as Tommy got even more impossibly red. “I hate you both. You two are the worst friends I could ever have. A squirrel would be better company. I could end you both, dicks! No one makes fun of the Tommyinnit and gets away!” Tommy pouted even though it was all light-hearted and a joke.

Ranboo just shrugged and went to go help Tubbo breathe, the poor kid looked like he was lightheaded. Tommy was still pouting but reluctantly helped Tubbo. “S-sorry, I just- you have to admit it is k-kinda funny.” The blond huffed, not bothering to hide his tanuki features, “only a bit, big man.” After the group collected themselves they started back on hunting down mansions. 

A few hours later, the sun glaring down on them even if it was still chilly, the trio found the mansion. “Hey, it’s not burned down! That’s a good sign,” Tubbo smiled, slightly bouncing up and down on their toes. Tommy grinned at the mention of fire, “We can burn it down when we’re done?” Ranboo nodded, quickly grabbing his communicator, and messaging Tommy, ‘Yep. Philza said it helps show hidden chest and also marks if it’s been raided yet. Didn’t want to sign this :P’ 

“Dope, Big R. Free arson and no backlashes,” The end had a tiny bit of spite in it but none of them dwelled on it long enough, as Ranboo chopped a hole in the roof. The small ray of sun-filled the breached room with light. The poor mobs that happened to be under the light quickly caught on fire. Ranboo dropped down first, then Tommy, then Tubbo. They devised a plan and the three of them split up for the loot.

Tommy’s cackles could be heard as Tubbo screamed. The two were running from a mob of...well- Mobs. They had opened a room that was completely full of angry enemies. Ranboo was in the middle of looting a chest when they crossed paths. An enderman that was just there looked at Ranboo, who just shrugged and continued to grab the items. 

“What the hell, man!?” Tommy yelled at Ranboo as he helped get Tubbo up to a safer location. Ranboo looked at the mobs and chuckled nervously, “I-i didn’t think mobs could run that fast..” he muttered. Had it not been for the worrying amount of mobs at the clingy duo’s feet, they would have been relieved that the tallest of them was able to talk again. “There's so many,” Tubbo yelled in disbelief. 

Ranboo tossed a pearl up to the other two and looked at the sea of danger. “You know, we can burn this d-down now. It’ll help with-” Ranboo gestured at the crowd, “-that.” Tubbo looked at Ranboo then back at Tommy, “I’m down for that, what about you Tommy?” The other gave a lopsided grin, “Burn it down.” Ranboo broke a hole in the wall for them to escape and lit a couple of fires. The old wood quickly caught on fire as the teens watched from the sidelines.

The fire crackled beside them. Xquela had been telling them stories of Evo, the time before the wars between the Watchers, and his time in a world called Hermitcraft. Both of the Prince’s parents were out on royal duties and left Xquela in charge. It’s not like the elder had never helped the kingdom, in fact, he led most of the military in big conflicts, so it wasn’t a hard decision on the majesties.

“Then I made a tower up with Netty’s diamond-block at the very top. She didn’t notice for a bit till she saw me fall down with water,” Xquela laughed lightly, “ruined her crops by mistake. She never let that go, even after I gave her some of my own. It was all in good fun, though, and we had a good laugh after the second update.” The Prince’s eyes sparkled with wonder, trying to imagine his kingdom’s strongest warrior playing around with friends.

The Prince had always heard stories of Xquela’s battles, conquests, and victories but he rarely heard stories of his time outside of the bloodshed. And for good reason, Xquela never talked about it much. Only on good days did the Prince and his faithful Dragonborn guard-turned-best friend heard the tales.

“Hello?? Earth to memory boy! You with us big guy?” Who was yelling? As Ranboo opened his eyes -when did he close them?- he found the answer to that question. Tommy was standing in front of him, tapping on the top of his head, and looked slightly concerned. Tubbo was also there, also trying to grab his attention, albeit a bit more gently. “Wha? O-oh sorry! Didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

Right? That must have been what happened! Why else would his eyes be closed? The two still looked concerned but relaxed a bit when Ranboo spoke. Ranboo finally noticed the light outside, it was slowly going down. Night would fall upon them if they didn’t leave quick enough and no one of them wanted to lose the loot that had gotten.

Tubbo just nodded, “its ok, Ranby. Although we should start heading back.” All three of them agreed and Tommy made them an impromptu portal. As ironic as it was, the Nether would be safer than the Overworld once night hit. Ranboo held up a compass, “I made a lodestone for the Nether so I could get back home if I ever got lost.”

“Ranboo you genius!” Tommy grinned. The three of them started to head back to the portal, light banter mixed in with brags about the loot they had gotten filled the walk back. Even if none of them said it, they all felt eyes on them. And they weren't a natural mob’s.

-----------------------

Phil was looking back at all of his books. After Techno had brought up the idea of Ranboo being a Watcher, he had multiple thoughts hit him at once. One of those was to look through old and forgotten books that he hadn’t touched since his time with them. Phil wasn’t a normal winged hybrid, no he wasn’t that lucky. 

After his infamous death after years in his hardcore world, he’d thought that was it. He’d thought that his last death would be in his world and he was ok with that. The Watchers thought differently. They saw how powerful he had become in his time there and wanted him on their side. He was almost a fool for believing them. For a bunch of beings that call themselves ‘All-Knowing,’ you’d think they would realize that they were the ones being used. Not him.

They ‘saved him’ and put him in trials he hated so much that he’d rather be stuck with that stupid baby zombie. When he’d finally reach the point when they welcomed him in their ranks, he stayed. Philza stayed for longer to get a feel of what he might be escaping from. As it turned out the ‘All-mighty Watchers’ had a weakness:

They needed players to access the end before they could really start messing with worlds. He’d watch One and Two play with this world called Evo. The leader of this world was a short dirty blond builder and his group of friends. The odd thing about the world is that it was back in time. The players started in beta 1.2.1 and had to find the portals to get to the next version. At first, Phil didn’t know how they would do this. That is until he saw the bedrock the Watchers had placed.

This was the Watcher’s little pet project. While Phil was in charge of keeping players from finding the Dark End, better know as Deep End, the Watchers would play with the little players. Phil got increasingly more worried as their focus shifted over to the leader of the world, Grian. The guy looked young, early 20s probably, yet he acted like a teenager. The updates seemed to affect their physical age but deep down all the players were still teens. It hurt Phil to watch them grow up too fast.

Nevertheless, the Evolutionist finally made it to the End update. Phil was also planning on taking his leave then. As the Watchers split the ragtag group up, Philza was busy removing any trace of being a Watcher on him. His purple wings dulled back down to their original gray color with the bonus of white speckles. He’s just glad that Watchers had feathered wings. Next, the robes that the Watchers were forced to wear came off and he grabbed his old outfit. It barely fit but it was enough. 

He ran to one of the portal rooms and quickly locked in a random world. It landed on something called SMPEarth. Oh well, he didn’t care. As long as he was gone he’d be happy. Phil wasn’t stupid when he was planning on leaving. He’d grabbed books of knowledge, food, normal weapons, and some hastily made iron armor. Phil looked back before falling into the portal. He’d never felt so free.

Philza snapped out of his little trance as he found the book he was looking for. The Listeners or known as the enemies to the Watchers. It was so stupidly poetic that Phil had to hold himself back from scoffing at it. The Watchers had said that the Listeners were like puppets that played with the players like food and that the Watchers were freeing them. It was the other way round. Phil never met a Listener but he knew one was a leader in their own kingdom. Listener Aditsan, at least that’s the name that was recorded in the books, had ruled over their kingdom for as long as time could remember. Hell, it was long enough that Watchers consider them a threat.

Philza opened up the book on the Mori kingdom. Unlike the name suggested, the kingdom was relatively peaceful. The Listener ruled mainly by themself until a few thousand years before today. Time was...different...in the Deep end. In fact, time was faster in some parts and painfully slow in others. The slower parts always held prisons or gladiator rings as punishments. Philza had only been to one once and that was when he was with Watcher One on a learning adventure. 

A few thousand years there could mean 20 years out of the deep end. No one really knew how to properly translate the time so they all made rough guesses. Time became irrelevant to timeless beings. Listener Aditsan had found a Queen to rule by their side, Queen Nakao. She was known to be one of the best fighters for the Mori kingdom and was also a noble. 

Watchers had a strict color code, dark purples and black with white being used to mark weapons and tools. Listeners did too but it was practically opposite. Phil rolled his eyes as he spotted yet another ying-yang type scenario. Listeners had a crystal white palette with gold swirls and gems littered in. Listener Aditsan was no different. The portrait of the Listener stared back at him. They had red piercing eyes though they didn’t have a cold gaze. They were covered in royal cloths, snow-like robes sat on their shoulders as a slightly less white suit dusted with gold on their torso. 

Unlike the Watchers' dark black and purple feathered wings, Listeners had soft white dragon-like wings. Depending on how much power they possessed, the more golden scales. It didn’t surprise Philza to see the majority of the Listener’s wings have gold scales. Listeners also had large white horns and golden tips, the older the Listener meant the larger the horn. Aditsan had some of the largest horns Phil had seen on a Listener. The sight was both beautiful and impressive. Philza read the note under the painting, it mainly talked about Listener Aditsan’s accomplishments.

  Phil turned the page and saw a portrait of both the Listener and Queen. It took Phil a little bit by surprise when the Queen looked to be an ender hybrid. Now he wasn’t surprised in the idea of the Queen not being a Listener as well, he’d be hypocritically seeing as all his sons are non of the same species, but was more surprised that the Queen didn’t have the normal enderman like properties. 

The Queen had the normal enderman qualities at a quick glance but if you studied her you could see she had light green eyes and small twisty horns. She also looked to be almost as tall as her Listener partner which was saying something, old Listeners and Watchers were exceptionally tall. Philza read more about the two leaders. The Dreamslayer, or Xquela, had popped up a couple of times. Apparently, the same chaotic builder from Evo had not only escaped from the same Watchers but ended their terror. Phil was silently proud of that guy.

The next page made Philza freeze. The Blood Prince. He’d heard of the Prince a couple of times when he was in the Arctic Empire but it was just that. Small rumors here and there, a couple of theories, but nothing much. He didn’t really care, having nothing to do with that past life, and was focused on being the Angel of Death. When Techno coined the name Blood God the rumors stopped. Now, here he was, looking at the picture of the Blood Prince in his parent’s arms. 

The Prince looked to be around a toddler, probably just learning how to walk, but that didn’t stop Phil from recognizing him. The kid had red and green eyes that had specks of gold scattered around, and two small curly horns. The small amount of hair that the kid did have was split right down the middle, half white and half black. Same as the horns, skin, and even a mini tail had the same treatment. The Listener and Queen had white and black crowns that were both decorated to fit the rulers respectfully and the prince had a silver one, lined with jewels of gold, emeralds, rubies, and diamonds.

Even if the kid was just a toddler, Phil knew undoubtedly who the kid was. Evermore so in doubt, Philza skimmed through the words. The book never mentioned a name, probably for the Prince’s safety, but it did mention something Phil would argue is worse. 

“The Blood Prince was captured many years after his birth by an unknown person. It was speculated to be the Prince’s 15th overworld birthday in upcoming cycles. No one has seen or heard from the criminal or the Prince in years. The Blood Prince was presumed dead after search parties covered the entire Deep end. His funeral is now a day of sorrow and grief for the Mori Kingdom. There is a bounty on the criminal’s head.”

Phil had to stop reading, stomach uneasy and his breathing sped up. The DreamSMP was one of the few worlds that didn’t let players into the end. It was one of the few worlds that no Watcher or Listener could enter. It was the only one home to the very same kid that was kidnapped all those years ago.

The DreamSMP was home to Ranboo and DreamXD, or better known as The Blood Prince and Watcher 4.

Chapter Text

Philza had only seen Watcher 4 once. He, still owning the old title of Watcher 3, was watching over a simple multiplayer world when the odd entity entered. They had talked and it seemed like Watcher 4 had special orders to watch this world, saying something about a strong fighter playing a game of hunting. It wasn’t something Phil had questioned, Watchers sometimes got weird worlds to watch over, but the gaze in 4’s eyes told a different story. Still, Phil let the other take over, too tired to care as much.

Watcher 4 disappeared later along with the world. This is when Phil was getting ready to escape and the oldest Watchers were going to take one of the Evolutionists. Thinking back, it was too perfect. When the DreamSMP was made, Phil felt the other Watcher immediately so he didn’t enter the server til it died down. 

When Techno and Phil found the End Portal, DreamXD appeared and broke it. Even if they tried putting the ender eyes in it wouldn’t work. It didn’t matter anyway, neither wished to go to the End for the same reason. Both found comfort in not having to worry about the Deep End. DreamXD left them alone after that, that's when Philza recognized the entity. He had informed Techno who just nodded but was visibly more tense.

The two knew that Watchers couldn’t properly interact with the world if the players didn’t open the portal, which meant this Watcher had been here before the players. As worrying as that notion was, they went back to doing what they’d been doing since they got here. The Watcher aura could be felt by the ex-watcher and Blood God, they just hoped it wasn’t the same for XD.

Phil was dragged out of his memory walk when Techno appeared, “Hey Phil did you fig-” Techno’s voice died as he saw the state is dad  friend was in. Phil was hunched over himself and a book with both wings draped haphazardly on the floor. The oldest looked pitiful and vulnerable. Very much not like Philza fucking Minecraft. Techno was by Phil’s side in a matter of seconds.

“What happened, Phil?” He asked in his signature monotone voice, the worry could be heard though. Techno wasn’t one to do emotions, that was so far from his knowledge, but he still wanted to help the other. Phil’s breathing wasn’t hyperventilating but it was still uneven. The piglin awkwardly placed a hand in between Phil’s wings and rubbed slow circles on his back. The circles were at a slow pace to mimic breathing and soon Philza calmed down enough to breathe properly on his own.

Philza made the sign for water and Techno quickly grabbed him a water bottle. The winged man drank half of it before he was able to speak. “Techno,” Phil’s voice sounded rough and tired, “the kid -fucking hell- look at this.” He held up the book which Techno took to look at. Techno’s eyes widened as he read, “Techno the kid is the Blood Prince.”

There was a soft knock at the door.

Ranboo wasn’t having a good day. In fact it was possibly one of the worst days ever. Jjjjjjjeffery had died due to his sweeping edge, Boo was somehow killed by a creeper, a bunny had died right in front of him, and he had to kill one of his zombie villagers because the dumb thing somehow went underground. 

To say the least, this might be a day he’d happily forget, as messed up as that is. Not only did all his beloved pets die, he had this headache that would not stop! No amount of regen potions dulled the ache and it had nothing to do with food, he’d just ate not less than 10 minutes ago. It wasn’t even a normal headache, the pain came from the base of his horns. At first Ranboo thought he had accidentally hit them. It would make sense, they were rather sensitive after all.  

But normally the pain subsided after a couple of hours, at the worst! It’s been like this for hours! Ranboo grumbled as he made his pet’s graves, both sad and grumpy at how the day was going. Even during his time in the panic room the horns never hurt. As he finished up grieving, for now, he started to head back down to his house. Ranboo wanted to just be alone for a while, maybe even days, but he knew he’d have to leave eventually. So for now he just flopped down on his bed. 

Ranboo’s back had also started to itch but it was sadly out of his reach. His suit hit his back uncomfortably and every brush sent electric like pain through his body. He was quite possibly miserable. Go to phil! Get dadza’s help. RanItch. I miss Jjjjjjjeffory :(. Ranboo my beloved. /rainbow.

He didn’t know when the more tame voices had come about but he wasn’t complaining. They were nice, albeit a tad annoying at times, and helped distract himself from issues. The voices called themselves the hive mind from time to time so Ranboo referred to them as such periodically, just shortening the name down to Hive. “Guys I can’t go to Mr.Phil, he’s already done so much for me in the past few days. And yes, I also miss Jjjjjjjeffory.”

Go get dadza! Do you have a rash? Horns hurt, Sadge. Ranboo was about to respond when the voices turned more frantic and worried, Phil is hurt! Save Dad! Sadza. Techo sucks at comforting wtf-? “Where is he, Hive?” Basement. Under Technosofts house. Chest room. Technos.

All the voices pointed in the same place, Techno’s house. Ranboo pushed aside the pain in his head and the pain that shot through his body as he walked. Now he wasn’t one to barge into someone’s house, especially not Techno’s, so he knocked a couple of times before entering. What he didn’t expect was to see Philza crumpled on the ground, looking like he’d just run a marathon, and Techno looking at a book with a sliver of fear in his eyes.

“S-shoot, is this a bad time or-?” Ranboo would slap himself if he wasn’t seeing the scene in front of him. Of course this was a bad time! That’s the whole reason he was here! The voices were practically yelling at him to help Phil. “Sorry for barging in...had a hunch that s-something was wrong.” The pain around his horn increased and he had a hard time suppressing the urge to wince. Techno shot a small glance at Ranboo and if Ranboo didn’t care about his well being he would’ve said it looked fearful. That caused Ranboo to flinch. The stare didn’t scare him, the fact that the Technoblade had a look of fear that scared him.

“Kid how...how much can you remember before coming here?” Oh, that was Phil speaking. Why did he sound so worried? Ranboo grabbed his arm, ignoring the small pain of rustling his bandages, “U-uh...not much? Like- shoot how do I explain this…” his tail swished around his ankles. The pain between his shoulders and horns spiked a bit as he tried to remember. “I...I was on this- this- this island, I think? Yeah, it was a big island. Floating- god that makes me sound insane,” as he spoke he started to zone out, seemingly speaking to himself, “A castle! T-there was a castle! It had dark w-wall colors but it seemed...warm? I-i don’t even know if that’s the right term…”

“There was a castle on the f-floating island. A-and the rulers w-were opposite colors? I can’t remember who was which. Then t-there was glass shattering. A tall... thing ...grabbed me-? Like- Like- Like Bad’s height just without, ya know, his whole thing. It had a cloak? And this weird mask thing! It l-looked like a broken nether portal! And...and...come on, I can remember- I can do this…” he slightly tapped his head, unable to hide the wince that came with it. He needed to remember! Philza and Techno asked him one simple thing! He should be able to remember this. Ranboo didn’t notice the two adults move their way over to him. He didn’t notice the concerned looks they were giving him. His horns were really hurting now…

Ranboo’s head shot up as he got a glimpse at the memory, “It brought me to t-this big portal o-on the floor! It was important, I think, it had guards. There were screaming...I don’t know who’s screams it was. Then it was cold. Tar kind of cold, not the nether portal’s heat. It was bright and it was still holding me. It hurt. Then it w-wasn’t bright? It was a cave? I...i don’t remember.” He sucked in a breath. When did he start crying? Crying? Oh...that explains the pain on his face. He looked up and flinched. When did Phil and Techno get so close?

Oh no :(! Protect the child! Ranhurt. Hug dadza! Are you ok, Ranboo? Ranboo, my beloved, get a hug. Lowkey crying on the dance floor? o7  guys! Who hurt the boy?    :) .

:) Hello Ranboo.

Ranboo held back a yelp. Why was it back? He was safe? He thought he was safe? He was in Techno’s house! He should be safe! Then he wasn’t in the house. He was in a dark room, darker than the panic room. It wasn’t like when he blacked out, it was a room with walls. Soon something appeared. A man(?) in a dark cloak appeared. He had a mask like Dream’s only it harbored a XD instead of a smile, Ranboo didn’t like it. It felt like it was mocking him. I’m impressed. It spoke? No it didn’t speak, it echoed in his mind. I didn’t think you remembered that much of me! I’m flattered, kid. “L-leave me alone. I d-don’t want you i-in my head all the time! J-just let me go back to Phil and Techno!” Ranboo cried out, clenching his head. Aw, but we only just spoke! After months of not being able too! I will admit, having my puppet locked up was the smartest and dumbest move by you players. “W-what? What do you mean? Puppet?” 

I mean mister Smile mask! Dream! Well...he’s not really Dream but his real name died the moment he agreed with me. Its head seemed to tilt ever so slightly, the mask truly mocking him. Say, your wings are growing in, yeah? W-wings? Ranboo didn’t have wings. Must be painful. Your horns are too. It is annoying that I can’t stop them. I would need my puppet back for that. Ranboo thought he was going to be sick. Well it was fun chatting! I do need to get back to watching Ram’s kid and Dream’s disc boy. Tell Watcher- no he goes by Angel of Death now- and Blood God 4 said hi!  

Ranboo’s body went limp.

It was like watching a one sided conversion. Scratch that, they were watching a one sided conversion. Phil knew Ranboo wasn’t there when the kid’s eyes went blank. He also knew what it meant. “He’s visiting the kid, Techno. XD is with Ranboo. Techno I need you to be ready when he goes limp. Being with Watchers in their headspace thing is draining.” Techno nodded, standing in front of Ranboo as Phil went behind. Whichever way Ranboo fell, they could catch him. They got off the first piece of Ranboo’s suit, checking if he had any extra wounds. Phil sucked in a sharp breath.

“What’s wrong,” Techno asked, monotone, but worried. “Listener wings. They aren’t even out yet but you can see where they are. Shit, how long has the kid been in pain with these?” Techno’s head roared with the voices. Many shouted Technosoft, Ranbrother, protect the kid, and so on but some of them started to speak up about how long. One of the older voices, they called themselves Fossilnet, spoke up. Just today. His back was itchy and his horns hurt. He was worried to come to you guys about this because he thought you guys would think he was needy. The older voices chimed in with agreement. It was nice to have familiar voices explain. Techno relayed the message to Phil. The older one nodded, wings slightly wrapping around Ranboo, as he observed the small bumps where the wings would be.

Ranboo would mutter these sentences every so often, communicating with the Watcher in his head, but they were all in Ender so the two couldn’t understand it. Philza grabbed a cold compress and pressed it against Ranboo’s back. The cold compress helped winged hybrids go through less pain when their wings grew. It wouldn’t stop it but it would lessen the pain. They only got a short breath before Ranboo’s body went limp.

“Oh fu- Techno!” “I got him.” Techno grunted as the kid fell. “He’ll be up in a bit. Put him on the bed and grab some food, Ranboo will need it.” Philza went to a chest to put the book away. They would have to tell Ranboo about the whole Blood Prince thing but later. The kid needed a break. Phil would make sure Ranboo got a small break before anything else. He wouldn’t fail another kid.

Chapter Text

Ranboo woke up with a start. He shot up as he tried to take in his surroundings. His back sent electric pain through his body and he let out a pained vroop . His horns still hurt but it was definitely less than before. Ranboo put a hand up to where the horns were and felt something a lot larger. His horns must have grown when he was out or just the entire time they hurt. He didn't really think much of it, reasoning that it must be because he was still growing. 

The pain in his back was still there so he knew that part wasn't over. ‘Your wings are growing in’, the person from the dark room had stated. Ranboo shook his head. He couldn't grow wings! He was just an Enderman hybrid and his unknown side hadn't shown any traits one would have if they had wings. The itch had turned into blooming hot pain whenever something touched it. 

That's when he realized he wasn't home. It wasn't uncommon for him to wake up completely random but the fact he knew where he was slightly startled him. He was on the couch in Techno's place. Ranboo was starting to get used to waking up here, sadly. He felt bad that he was always asking things of the other two. Sure he gave Techno an axe and shovel and sure he filled creeper holes so Philza didn't have too but he still felt bad for burdening them about his problems. They didn’t need to worry about an amnesiac hybrid with voices in his head.

“Oh good! You’re awake now.” Ranboo turned his head to face the voice, relaxing when he saw Philza. “Sorry for h-having to crash here again, Mr.Phil,” he muttered, pulling the blanket up higher. Phil shook his head, “no need, kid. You were hurt so of course I would help.” He said it with such certainty that Ranboo couldn’t find a counter argument. So he just nodded. A light silence filled the air, neither awkward nor comfortable. Phil held up a cup, “I made some tea for both you and Techno, want some?”

Ranboo nodded. Tea used water as a base however due to the added ingredients its effects were lessened. It felt like drinking a very hot cup of tea for the entire cup, no matter how cold it got. Ranboo didn’t mention it though, just happy to have something then the taste that came from the blackout. He should probably talk about it. “H-hey Mr.Phil,” welp no going back now, “what was that book that you put away earlier?” And he completely ignored the topic of his blackout. Smooth, he thought sarcastically, real smooth.

The Hivemind seemed to also be disappointed. You’re going to have to talk about it soon! Dadza won’t judge! How has Phil been able to collect only traumatized kids? AYO THIS TEA KINDA HITTIN DIFFERENT! Just talk about it! Yank the bandage off. Ranboo you have yet to give back the gender, good sir. Ranboo had to use a cough to hide his laughter at the last one. Phil just thought he slightly choked on the tea. “You good, mate?” He nodded. The winged man just hummed before answering Ranboo’s question, “It was an old book I wanted to look through, seeing if I could find any answer about your other side. Grabbed the wrong book and got reminded of a lot of things.” Ranboo’s pointy ears lowered in embarrassment and fear, “O-oh...sorry for bringing it back up.”

“It’s fine, Ranboo, you didn’t know.” Philza gave him a comforting smile. “Staying on brand, I guess.” Ranboo said before realizing that he said that out loud. Philza barked out a surprised laugh. He laughed as well, glad that the weird silence was disappearing. The hive decided to chip in. Road trip? Ask if he wants to go totum hunting! Gapple quest? Ranboo has been adopted by Phil. Road Trip with Dadza and Technobrother! The voices all chipped in for the idea of a road trip. It would be a good way to spend time with Phil and be productive, Ranboo reasoned. “Hey, would you be interested in going mansion hunting? I-i’ve been looking for a God apple and thought ‘hey let's invite Mr.Phil’ seeing how it would be productive.”

Phil nodded, “I don’t see why not. It would be nice to get out of the house.” Ranboo couldn’t hide the way he lit up, hypermobile ears showing off his emotions. Odd, they never did it this much. Ranboo brushed it off, weirder things have happened. As much as he enjoyed doing these trips alone it would be nice to have Philza with him. The voices seemed to cheer at the idea of a road trip with Dadza. “Let me leave a note for Techno so he doesn’t worry. He likes to pretend that he doesn’t worry but he’s a big softy once you get to know him,” Philza held a finger to his lips in a ‘shh’ fashion, “Don’t tell him I said that, he’ll get embarrassed and claim I’m ruining his reputation.” The two had a small laugh as Phil finished writing the note. “Ok! Put a pearl in the status chamber and we’ll be ready to go.”

Ranboo nodded and did what he was told. Afterwards he grabbed a map from inside his ender chest, “I’ve already hunted the nearest ones in a 20,000ish block radius. You already know what happened to the God apple with Techno,” he chuckled lightly, “I’ve made a new villager with new maps a couple blocks away. There should be a portal in the nether for it.” Phil nodded, “You know, I’m impressed that you were able to clear out all the nearest mansions. Isn’t that really tiring?” He groaned, “it really is! I have like 7 totems that are just in my ender chest! Not to mention the ones just in chests. I think I let a few here too.” 

Philza chuckled as the two entered the nether portal, “Suffering from success and failure, seeing how you’re not even hunting for totems.” The hot air hit the two as they emerged into the fiery landscape. The heat always made Ranboo nauseous for a second before it calmed down. He didn’t know why but the nether air was the wrong kind of thin. It was the thin you felt after running miles in dry heat, it left you breathless before you can get your bearings. The first time Ranboo remembers entering the nether he had to step back out for a bit, being overwhelmed with the heat. The two of them made their way over to the nether roof.

It was quiet, the sounds of Ghasts floating on pasts and piglin grunts filling the walk. Wing was a weird thing in the nether. It was there but it was small, the largest winds were in the soul sand valley and crimson forest. Even then all the winds were different. Crimson forest winds had softer warmth and smelt faintly metalicy. Warped forests, on the other hand, were completely different. It was the only place in the nether that was slightly cooled off even if it wasn’t a lot. The air smelled salty and the winds had a small chill to them. It was safe to say Ranboo enjoyed the Warped forests better.

The roof of the nether also had winds. These winds were hollow, empty of cold or hot air, just air moving to move. It was much calmer than the nether itself. Ranboo helped Philza up out of the hole in the bedrock. They started to walk in the direction of where the new villagers were when Phil chuckled softly, “You really are like him.” Ranboo turned to look at Phil, being kind enough to not make it feel like he was staring the 5’6 man down, “What do you mean? If you don’t mind me asking.” Phil hummed nonchalantly, “I know you hate being compared to Techno but it’s kind of funny how you’re both so alike and so different. Techno and I used to go exploring all the time back in our old server.” 

Ranboo nodded, showing that he was paying attention, as they continued to walk. “Actually, would you like to hear how we met? It’s bittersweet but I find it nice to remember how much Techno has actually grown,” Phil looked at Ranboo’s neck, making sure to not have eye-contact that the teen hated. Ranboo made a ‘mhm’ sound before Phil started telling the story.

“So I was traveling after my 5 year hardcore world had endded. This must have been back when I was barely 21 so of course people would hear about it. I started that world when I was a bit younger than you are right now. Originally people thought I was crazy for doing that but I did it anyway. I was out, traveling servers, hunting for the next adventure, the whole shabang. I had just finished living with only one life for years so of course I was a reckless adventurer. I stumbled across this market on a floating island,”

“I’m shopping as I see a paper advert. It was showcasing a battle in the colosseum nearby. Something about a challenge to beat The Beast. I wanted to check it out, ya know? Wanted to see if they really cared about the fighters or just bloodshed. The colosseum was titled MB, I can’t quite remember why it was MB but that wasn’t important. With the knowledge of my, I guess you’d call it status, I was able to get a good spot. The ring’s lights dimmed and the first challenger appeared. They looked young but with the armor on them you couldn’t really tell. Then the other side opened to show The Beast. The guy didn’t stand a chance and was quickly off to respawn,” Phil took a small pause to eat a golden carrot before continuing again.

“I was correct about everyone just wanting bloodshed. Challengers, one by one, would face off against The Beast and, one by one, were killed with ease. The last one managed to last a while. I don’t remember their username but it was definitely short. The armor blocked their face, yet again, but you could see tufts of brown hair under the helmet. The guy looked like they’d actually prepared for the event. You could tell that they worked on arm strength and speed. They lasted over an hour,”

Ranboo was listening intently. He’d already gathered that The Beast was Techno. “After that guy the event was over. The Beast just stood over the items that other challengers had dropped. Unlike his name, he wasn’t a beast. If you paid attention to the way he fought you could tell he was smart. Each move was calculated like a morbid dance. I slipped away from the crowd and met with the ringleader. I asked if I could poke my head around the build and he happily agreed, I think it was just due to the title I had earned myself,” The two came across a portal and hopped in. As they made it to the other side there was a small building with frosted windows. It was made out of stone bricks, spruce planks, and dark prismarine. You could hear faint grunts from the villagers from the portal.

“Do you want me to continue or should we focus on the mansions?” Phil said, looking at the other. Ranboo shugged, “It was actually kind of calming to listen to you tell the story so I don’t mind if you continue,” he gave a small smile to show he was being genuine. Phil nodded, eating another golden carrot, and started talking again. “So, being a young and curious adventurer, I immediately started to look around. The ringlead didn’t seem to mind that I just went by myself so I practically had the freedom to go wherever. I went to the challenger room to see what kind of equipment that they gave everyone. It was just some hastily enchanted diamond armor and sword, nothing surprising. Beds lined the walls for respawns,”

“The last challenger was still there, grabbing their own items. They were definitely taller than they looked back in the area. I said hello and they returned the favor. They sounded so much younger than they should have, with their skill level with a sword. They also wore a white bandana around their eyes. You could barely make out some freckles. I guess they could see everything with it on but I didn’t ask about it. I walked farther and spotted a solid iron door. It didn’t even have windows. It had iron bars that were every other block. Let me tell you, it was really annoying,” Philza chuckled sadly. Ranboo was searching for some more maps when he turned to look at Phil. For some reason, he was slightly relating. He didn’t know why he was relating to the elder’s side of the story. It’s not like he could remember why if he wanted to. It hurt, though, like he was forgetting a friend.

Phil sighed, “As you’ve probably guessed, it was where The Beast was. I still get angry that they kept him in a literal cage. I knocked on the wall and saw some movement. Now let me set what the towns people looked like. All of them were humans. Hybrids were allowed in the city, I mean I was able to walk around freely, but they were scarce. Due to them being rare in this area you could tell there was some discrimination. Passive mob hybrids got treated the most respect out of the hybrids. Neutral had both hate and love, quite literally living up to its name of being neutral. Aggressive mob hybrids got treated the worst. They had rights but people still didn’t respect them,” Phil had to take a short breath. The topic getting him a little bit heated. 

Ranboo hummed, “People are jerks.” Phil chuckled, “Ain’t that the truth.” Ranboo held up a map that showed an unexplored mansion, “Ight I found one! O-oh you can continue telling the story, if you’re still comfortable.” The hive was chattering nonstop. Damn this town sounds stupid. Bros what if the bandana dude was Dr**m jkjk. We’re so far from spawn, omg. Dadza story time is fun! Philza smiled, “I don’t mind, mate. In fact it’s nice to have someone to listen to stories. Oh god I really do sound like an old man.” The two laughed at the last bit.

“Well, as I said, aggressive mob hybrids weren’t treated the best. The movement I saw in the cell revealed to be a piglin hybrid. However he was more in his piglin form then hybrid state. Most mob hybrids have a half form but they don’t learn how to properly control it until they hit young adulthood. It's an instinct, normally random things would cause the shift but after a while your body starts to recognize the feelings and starts to control them. This meant that either he was choosing to be in his piglin form or…” He trailed off. “Or that was a kid fighting,” Ranboo finished.

Silence filled the air as they walked. It was just hitting Ranboo that Techno wasn’t that old. His voice made him sound like he was around Philza’s age. This story took place little over 10 year ago. Techno was closer to his age then he was to Phil’s. “We talked,” Phil’s voice snapped him out of his train of thought, “I learned his name, ironically it isn’t the one he uses now. I helped him escape to a different server, Hypixel, and promised I’d return. I needed to get the heat off of us first before anything, stealing The Beast wasn’t all that liked for these people. It took a couple of years but eventually I was able to get to him again. There was a competition for some money. Play a few mini games and hunger games rounds. It was all in good fun with a nice mix of hybrids and non hybrids plus there was an age cap so no actual kids could get in. I also met Wilbur here!” He chuckled.

 “They were announcing the teams when I got Techno. Of course he had changed his name so I didn’t recognize him at first. You know what he said after years of me freeing him?” Ranboo shook his head, “He said, and I will never get this out of my head, ‘You look like a guy to die to a baby zombie then risk your life for a kid in a cage.’ He said that! Techno - fucking - blade mocked me and the worse part is thats how I remembered him!” Philza cackled at the memory and Ranboo joined in with the laughter. They had to stop their travels to be able to calm down. After a bit the two eventually collected themselves. Ranboo smiled to himself, happy to listen to Philza’s stories. 

Trustworthy. Tell him. Dadza moment. Ranboo my beloved you should tell him. I want Phil to know about us! The voices all seemed to come at him in a small rush, tumbling over each other. All of them wanted Ranboo to tell Phil about them. He weighed his options; on one hand he didn't want to kill the mood. On the other hand, however, Philza just told him something that must have been a semi secret so it would only be far. The latter of the two seemed to be winning. He mentally sighed before trying to find words to better explain himself. “I- oh shoot how do I say this? Ok so...voices. I hear voices? Like- I mean- I had only one for a while but then t-there were more. I don’t know why? I should have waited to tell you this later...they just really wanted you to know...about them…A-and you did just tell me something a-about your life so...yeah…”

Call him spaghetti because he was experiencing immediate regretti. The hive seemed pleased that he did say something. Ranboo was about to start backtracking but was cut off by a small sigh from Phil, “How do you do it, Philza? How do you always mentally adopt traumatized children?” It didn’t even seem that the winged legend knew he was speaking out loud so Ranboo didn’t point it out. In fact he was slightly stunned at the ‘mentally adopt’ bit. Phil looked up at Ranboo and smiled slightly, “a common trait in this mismatched family. Started with Techno then it just slowly happened. If you’re worried I’ll look at you differently you’re correct in a way, I’ll be more understanding. It gets overwhelming sometimes.”

Ranboo would cry, he really would have, had it not been for the numerous cheers from the hive. He winced slightly and mumbled a small ‘calm down guys’ before smiling a bit, “They’re happy to hear that. Thanks, Mr.Phil.” Phil just chuckled, “come one guys, don’t make him even more nervous.” Sorry Dadza! Yeah gUyS >:]. Sorry Ranboo! Dadza my beloved. “So! Mansion! We should be nearing it, correct?” Ranboo was glad for the new distraction, “Oh, yeah actually! It should be really close.” As if they summoned the building into existence, the tall building came into view. It towered over the two as they built up to the roof. Phil was the one to break into the building.

Two small vexes flew up and out of the small hole, attacking Phil. Ranboo knew Phil could take them on his own but still jumped in to end them. It was easy, really, if anything the small mobs were just small annoyances. The two hopped down the hole and quickly eradicated the skeletons and zombies that tried to attack them. Evokers stood outside the room. It quickly spawned in vexes to defend itself but soon was easily defeated by the two. “Ight, search for loot that you can see and meet back out here before burning this,” Philza instructed and Ranboo nodded, “We can also use the coms to speak, if you’d like.” The voices and Ranboo both agreed on the decision, “Using coms would be nice.” Phil nodded and pulled up his communicator and tapped Ranboo’s icon, “When you turn the corner then call, it echoes when you’re too close.”

With a plan in place the two split off to concur the build. It was nice to have Phil there and for him to understand when Ranboo spoke to the Hive. They laughed at their antics, the whole beloved joke having been one of the main topics. Ranboo was looking around a small farm that looked like it hadn’t been cared for in awhile when he noticed a chest. He went over to it, fully expecting seeds and other farming items when a pinky-purple shine caught his eyes, “Oh my god, I got one! Phil, I got a God apple!” Ranboo didn’t even notice the slip of Mr. on Phil’s name. If Philza’s heart swelled, well, that was no one’s but his own knowledge. “Really? Yo that’s amazing, mate!” Ranboo laughed at nothing in particular, just laughing to laugh. He knew he was going to hoard the apple, not even playing on using it, he worked too hard for it to be used. He’d keep it in his ender chest in case he was in a life or death situation and needed a way out.

The voices all cheered at the enchanted apple, congratulating Ranboo on his find. “Alright, do you think we can burn the building yet or are you still grabbing things.” Philza asked, the feed of the com making it obvious that he was getting closer to the roof. Ranboo hummed, “I think I’m good. Meet back on the roof, right?” He heard an agreeing hum, “Okay, I’ll be up there soon.” Ranboo shut the com off and made his way up to where Phil was. The voices were all still really proud of Ranboo’s find. There he is, There's my favorite endboy! New national Ranboo day anyone? Lmao what if he accidentally ate that instead of steak. Dudes Dadza sounded so proud. I’m actually cheering for a kid finding a shiny apple, crowcore is strong. 

Ranboo wanted to attempt to teleport back up to the roof, remembering he actually could do that. He took a deep breath before trying to visualize the roof. The voices chipped in with details. The odd feeling of tingling sprouted from his chest and spread throughout his body. There was a light sting then Vrwoop! Then he was in a weird place, it wasn’t really a room and it certainly wasn’t the room with the mean voice. The image of the room on the roof appeared and out of curiosity he reached out to it.

Vrwoop! “Jesus Christ mate! Nearly gave me a heart attack!” Philza was laying on the roof, clearly surprised. Even though he had yelled it was all in a fun manner and was slightly laced with pride. Ranboo was a tab bit out of it when he appeared but with a quick shake of his head he came back to reality. “Ah- sorry Phil, didn’t mean to teleport right in front-” it hit him about what just happened, “-Holy crap I teleported. A-and it barely hurt! Last time I did this it was a small distance, from the pumpkin house to the bench, and that hurt a bit. I barely felt a thing!” He smiled brightly at the realization. Phil also had a smile, “want to tell me what happened as we wait for this to burn?” Ranboo nodded quickly, grabbing his flint and steel, and striking it against some wood.

The two moved away from the flames and Ranboo recounted what had happened. Phil was smiling the entire time, proud of Ranboo for not only remembering what had happened but also for just being able to teleport. Both of them joked about Techno’s theory of Ranboo being a main character with this discovery. The flames roared in the background as the two chatted. The hive would add some topics to their conversion and soon they could check for any secret chests. After finishing the mansion the two started to head back to the portal and back home, a comfortable atmosphere between them. 

One voice piped up louder than the others Homies i just got a random thought. If Ranboo is hurt by water then do potions also harm him? I mean they are water based so you would think so because the tea hurt him a bit. Like it wasn’t enough to cause bad damage but- Ranboo had physically stopped at the voice. Did the potions affect him like that? “Phil, one of the hive members just brought up a good question. Seeing how water does hurt me, would potions affect me the same way? I mean the tea did slightly hurt but it just felt extra hot to me. So...would potions hurt?” Phil also stopped to look at Ranboo, clearly pondering this as well, “I mean we also have to take in the fact that potions have many ingredients. Would more ingredients cause the water to lose its potency? Hell this is only about internal! What about splash potions!”

As the two walked they tried to figure out the answer. The hive kept popping in ideas that might help. A voice, who actually named themselves breadsexual -just bread for short-, suggested that it would have a different range of pain It's probably like from burning up crave for death down to choking on your spit of a slap depending on potency of the water. “I mean, yeah? Sometimes a regen pots stings but I just thought that was normal,” Ranboo shrugged. Philza nodded, “it is possible that more ingredients will dilute the water enough that it won’t hurt you.” 

Ranboo and Philza got to the main portal as they talked. “I want to check on the spawn and L’manhole, you can go back if you want,” Ranboo said, going to his ender chest and grabbing a netherite hoe. Phil hummed, “I don’t mind. I’ll join you in a bit though, I need to message Techno that we’ll be back a bit later.” The enderhybrid nodded and went through the portal. The sun was still out, the warmth splashing over him. Ranboo waited for Philza before walking off to see any changes. They laughed at the Pro-Omelet and Eggpire propaganda, “Techno’s gonna have a field day with these,” Ranboo joked, thoughts going back to the L’mancrater. The Pro-Omelet people weren't a government but the Eggpire most definitely had government qualities.

The pain in his back had decreased but his horns had stopped hurting entirely. Ranboo had yet to see them though, being able to feel the shape with his hands, it had a spiral top and straightened out near the base of the horns. The voices yelled at him to tell Phil about the pain in his back and he agreed he would when they got back home.   

He smiled down at the players. Being cut off from his puppet limited his energy, making his plan turn into playing the waiting game. XD hummed as he popped into Dream’s mind. A fun pastime of Watchers, appearing into players minds, or at least it was for XD. It also was able to sap energy from the player and give it to the Watcher. It was a calculated risk, going into the Prince’s mind, but boy did it pay off. XD was going to have to say a bitter thanks to the Prince.

I’m back. XD echoed in Dream’s head. Dream grinned, barely visible from the edges of his mask, “I’m guessing it’s time?” Correct! Now normally I would just go straight for my target, however, your disc boy will actually be useful. See he befriended my target and Ram’s kid. I can’t hurt the kid but I can use him for leverage. The Prince and Ram’s kid would gladly attempt to save their friend. Dream seemed to think it over. In theory the idea would work. He could tell what XD’s train of thought was; Take Tommy to a place, threaten his friends that his life is in danger, exchange Ranboo for Tommy. He knew his players, though, they would attempt to fight back. The only threat would be Philza and Techno.

The plan was doable. Of course we would need to place the Disc kid in a place no one but the Prince could reach. The Deep End. Kills two birds with one stone; Your target is isolated and mine gets trapped in a dimension that I can access and eliminate him. XD explained watching Dream’s mental movements. There was some concern but it was mostly morbid curiosity. Unlike the End, it can only be accessed by long travel or, he paused to make a small visualization for Dream. It was a broken nether portal made out of bedrock. A Watcher’s portal. Perfect, a place no one could enter and no one could leave. It was unlike the last time Dream had separated Tommy from the others because back then he could and did escape. Dream nodded at the task at hand. XD didn’t have a face but you could feel the smile he had. Ready to see the sun again? Dream laughed, empty and cold, “Let’s go create chaos.” 

The feeling of XD taking over filled Dream’s nerves. It was a frosty sensation that soon burned to ash. Dream found comfort in the feeling, having gotten used to XD taking control often. When Dream opened his eyes the world had a haze of lime and each block had a dark purple outline. XD snapped their fingers and the oh so missed heat of the sun hit Dream’s skin for the first time in forever.

Chapter Text

Dream smiled under his mask. Today was going to be a good day. He took a deep breath of fresh air, not the stale air of the prison, but real fresh air. It made him get even more pumped up. I found Disc boy. XD’s voice cut through his mind, snapping him out of his little daze. Dream nodded, “Let’s go.” XD snapped their fingers and soon they were in the tree near the bench. Tommy was talking to no one but himself, something about how his hotel was the perfect idea for the server. 

They jumped down and quickly made sure to cover Tommy’s mouth, silencing any yells for help. XD splashed down a weakness potion and a poison potion against the younger one. The rapid potions and their effects made quick work of Tommy, forcing him to pass out. XD Opened his free hand and summoned bedrock. He formed a nether portal-like structure with it and lit the portal with green fire. The portal opened with a satisfying hiss and had purple-ish black lines instead of the normal light purple swirls. 

Tommy’s limp body was lifted up and carried as XD entered the portal, the sickening feeling of the portal washed over all three of them. The air was thin and the sky was dark. Dream blinked a couple of times to get used to the area. The End. Dream has only been here for manhunt and world records. XD was born here. Created from the void’s inky hold and born right into power. His name struck fear into anyone who disrespected XD and was worshiped by those who knew of his feats. Dream knew of the Listeners through XD and knew they would be an issue after they figured out his server was open.

It didn’t matter, however, they had the Prince and his friends under their thumb and it would stay like that until the Prince fell and Tommy broke. Dream couldn’t think of a better day than today. Even if blood is spilled on this day, he would relish in the memory of everyone’s grief. It excited him of what was to come. No more obsidian, lava, clocks, or bars held him back now.

Ranboo curled over in pain. His stomach had dropped and the pain in his back increased tenfold. He could hear Phil somewhere near him but the pain in his back drowned out any sounds. The blood rushed in his ears as all the voices screamed in concern. “Make it stop make it stop make it stop make it stop-” he muttered repeatedly, grabbing at his head as he stared at the ground. He gagged before vomiting up his lunch. The acid stung the back of his throat as it came up and left its unwanted taste in his mouth. Ranboo stayed hunched over as another wave of nausea hit him. He felt Phil -or he hopes it’s Phil- drag him away from L’manhole.

He gripped at anything he could, the pain in his back becoming unbearable. There was a crack, a bone snapping, flesh-ripping before the pain became blinding. The ringing in his ear roared louder as if it was competing with the blinding pain in his back, for more attention. Ranboo heaved again, nothing but air coming up. Every cell of his body screamed in agony. His bones creaked in resentment, his lungs gasped for fresh air, his nose begging for fresh air, his stomach crying in pain, and his back angry with pain. Ranboo’s back felt as if it was split open. No, it wasn’t just a feeling. New gash wounds stung as warm air hit the uncovered flesh. His suit was torn, new holes appearing in the fabric. His knees screamed in protest from the pressure of him being crouched over for so long.

He felt something move out of his back. It was a searing cold against all the heat of the sun. A smooth, scale-like pattern pushed its way through the newly gaping holes of his back. Ranboo would laugh had he not been in pain, dry heaving on the floor. He would have laughed at how he’d denied that voice telling him about wings. He would have laughed at the fact he didn’t even tell Phil about this. He would have laughed about how he deserved this pain for all the crimes he’d committed. He would have laughed had it been funny.

Ranboo was panting, trying to grab any bit of air that he could. Warm, syrupy liquid poured over his back and down his arms. He knew what it was yet refused to believe it. He didn’t want to believe that was blood pouring out of his back like a river. The person that was helping him was trying so desperately to bandage his back. The sting of instant health was only drowned out by the other things causing him pain. A tight cloth was wrapped around his torso in a calculated manner and he could feel another set of hands. They were different than the ones bandaging him. They were calloused, worn, and strong. They helped support him back up.

The sun glared in his eyes and he whimpered in pain. Everything was blurry. Two blobs stood in front of him and he could somewhat recognize them. A tall pink blob filled his right side, “T….tec..o?” Ranboo’s words slurred together. He couldn’t hear a response but there was some movement with the pink blob so he assumed it was a nod. “So...ry...Didn...wan...to caus...burden,” his words were hard to form. Thoughts swirled together and swamped his mind. Something moved behind him and he didn’t have the willpower to scream. His back felt like it was the one moving and the flesh near the base of his shoulder blades ached with how tender they were. “M...sleby…” his vision went black.

Philza looked down at Ranboo’s unconscious body. The newly made wings sat limply behind the young teenager, shaky and bloody. Ranboo’s back was drenched in his own blood and the metallic smell mixed with the acid of vomit. They needed to move him to a less vulnerable area, mobs or players could attack them at any moment. “We...we need to move,” Phil muttered. Techno nodded and helped gently pick up Ranboo. The piglin hybrid was hard to read to the random viewer but Phil has known Techno for a while. He could see the way his shoulder hunched and his eyes creased with worry. They were walking back to the spawn portal when Philza spotted it.

The block stared back at him, mocking him, taunting him. The Watcher symbol laughed at the Angel of Death and Blood God, better known as Watcher 3 and The Beast. It mocked the two who thought they had escaped. It spat at their titles. It bit its thumb at the warriors with blood spilled from both of their hands. It was activated. Philza’s stomach turned at the item right next to it. Tommy’s old disc spun lamely and fell onto the bench, the stench of potions lingered were a child once was. A crude laughing smile was carved into the stone. Soon the portal flickered out and was just a bedrock frame. “My son. He took my son...Techno he took Tommy. Techno, Dream and XD have Tommy.” Phil’s eyes blurred with tears as Ranboo’s weight felt even heavier. His sons were in pain and he couldn’t even help them. The tears spilled over, falling on his shirt, yet he didn’t sob out loud. His face was blank, tears being the only telling of his emotions.

“Call a server meeting,” Phil spoke suddenly. Techno flinched at the cold anger, “W-what? Phil that’s...that’s a stupid idea. That would out you and Ranboo and who knows how everyone would react.” Phil turned to look at Techno and the piglin knew this was a losing battle against the winged man. “Technoblade, call server meeting. I am now the Watcher in-charge and god fucking help me, I will have a meeting.” Techno nodded, opening up his communicator.

[Technoblade]: Guys come to the community house. This is serious. No fighting or wars. It’s about Dream.

[Awesamdude]: What about my prisoner?

[Technoblade]: Fact check that, he’s not there anymore. Before you attack me, no I don’t help him escape. It was nice not having him out.

[Technoblade]: Philza says to be at the community house in thirty minutes. No one fights and no one threatens anyone. You can bring weapons if you want just no using them against anyone here.

[Technoblade]: This means no eggpire drama, no team rocket shit you got going on Niki and Jack, no Snowchester sides. 

[Philza]: Bring health pots and bandages. Ranboo is severely injured. 

Philza lifted Ranboo up again and the two went to the community house. Their communicators were going off nonstop as they tried to find a safe spot to return to healing Ranboo. Tubbo was the first one to appear. The moobloom hybrid looked out of breath and was shakily carrying loads of healing potions and bandages. Usually, Phil would question why Tubbo would have so many of these items but right now he was just grateful. “W-where’s Tommy?” The younger one panted out, his bangs clinging onto his forehead as sweat dripped down his temple. Philza looked at Techno before looking back at Tubbo, “He’s...he’s the reason for this meeting. Including Dream. We’re going to get him back, Tubbo, alright? Before then can you help with,” he gestured to Ranboo’s limp form, wings still slick with browning blood, “this?” 

Tubbo nodded silently and got to help cleaning the wounds. The smell of vomit hung around the taller teen but no one said anything. Tubbo and Philza had just finished the last wound when everyone had showed up. Quackity was the first to speak up, “So what the hell is this? Why did Techno call us here? Why is Ranboo in pain and -fucking hell- are those dragon wings?! Why is this about Dream? Where the hell is Tommy?” He had nailed everyone’s questions. No one spoke up but everyone was thinking the same things. Ranboo groaned in his sleep but made no further moves.

“Now, what I am about to say and do, you all cannot attack us for. As you may have gathered, Dream is no longer in the prison,” Philza heard a few gasps in the crowd, “and Tommy is also not here. That is because Dream kidnapped him.” People spoke up now. “Why can’t we go get him!?” “Why didn’t you stop him!? “How the fuck did he escape!?” “Why does this have anything with Ranboo?” Techno roared, piglin features flaring up, “Shut up! All of you! Shut up!” That quieted them all again. “Thank you, Techno,” Philza nodded before continuing, “Believe me if you wish but Tommy isn’t in our dimension anymore. A Watcher by the name XD took him in Dream’s body. A Watcher has the ability to inhabit a host’s body after a deal but they only have access to worlds through the End.”

Everyone was deathly silent with the only sounds being Tubbo cleaning Ranboo’s wounds and changing the quickly blood-soaked bandages. “Watchers are one of the many god-like creatures that help control worlds. The Deep End is where they all reside. I used to be a Watcher…” Philza carefully stood a bit away from Techno, Tubbo, and Ranboo before taking a deep breath. He snapped his fingers and soon his body was engulfed in a bluish-green flame. It lit up the community house with its bright light however the fire never burned the surrounding areas. As the flames dimmed Phil was visible again. This time he had two pairs of wings, the bottom pair with rich purple colors, and the top had green and black feathers. They stretched out long enough to almost hit both sides of the walls. His face had three more pairs of eyes, giving him the look of a spider. His two original eyes stayed the same however his new eyes had a dark base and neon green eyes. Two pupils had the Watcher symbol in them. His clothes turned to robes that matched his wings.

Phil was exceptionally taller now. Beating Bad in height by a few inches. Watchers have many ranks but the top five are the most powerful of them. One and Two died to Xelqua’s hands. Then it was myself and XD. Philza’s voice boomed in everyone’s head. His voice was mostly the same but had some echo. Everyone was stunned as they heard it. I ran away as they found Xelqua around the same time I escaped. I found Techno when they were still training me. They found me after my five-year hardcore world. The difference between XD and myself was that XD was born into this power. Techno got Tubbo back to reality as they helped Ranboo, blood no longer soaking the bandages in an instant. 

Ranboo stirred, slowly coming out of wherever he was. Phil groaned quietly as the power that was kept away for so long returned. He would never admit it but it was always taxing to not be able to let the power flow through him. He looked at the crowd who looked at him with fear and astonishment. I never used this form because I never wanted to. XD and Dream must've struck a deal years ago for them to go under the radar from me and for that I am sorry. He bowed his head, his wings following his movement. Sam was the one to speak up, “Well...I’m sure most of us are shocked, afraid, or a mix of both but we can’t blame you for what happened. I’m also at fault if we blame you, seeing how I was meant to keep Dream in Pandora’s Vault.” Phil looked up and smiled softly. A groan disturbed the tension.

“Ph...Phil?” Ranboo muttered, trying to sit up only to be held down by Tubbo and Techno. He stood stock-still after sharply inhaling, “oh my go- everything hurts.” Philza rushed over to the little Listener’s side to help ease the pain. His wings were the same as his skin, half black, and the other side white. The only difference was the golden scales on the wings. The black side had a mixture of gold, green, and black scales, and the white wing had a mix of gold, red, and white scales. The blood had been safely cleaned off of the wings and their beauty could be seen at full blast. They still hung limply behind the other, strength not yet regained. Ranboo opened his eyes however he had another pair of eyes as well. Both were exact copies but had a new symbol in them. It was different from the symbol in Philza’s eyes. It had a swirl similar to a nether portal. Ranboo, it’s Philza. Not XD. You’re safe, alright? I just have to talk like this now. Ranboo seemed to jump at the new voice.

His body groaned at the sudden movement. Ranboo hissed as he messed with his bandages. “Ouch, Ouch...okay no movement.” He finally got a look around the room, noticing everyone and the community house. He turned his head and looked at Tubbo, “...I lived bee bud.” Tubbo looked shocked before tears filled his eyes. Ranboo slowly opened his arms and Tubbo dove in for the hug, “Stop being stupid! Why do I-I-I always have to s-save you and T-Tommy's asses!” The smaller one cried, clutching onto Ranboo like a lifeline. Ranboo was also crying. His tears now a faint white and gold instead of normal water. It didn’t sting. Everyone in the community house started pestering the three arctic members with questions.

Sam, Niki, and Fundy rushed to help Ranboo. Puffy grabbed some more healing potions before rushing to help the others. Everyone else asked questions about what happened to Ranboo. Phil cleared his throat, Ranboo is half Listener. “The fuck does that mean!?!” a very confused Hbomb shouted. It means one of Ranboo’s parents is a Listener. Listeners are much like Watchers but instead of stealing players to turn into one of their own, they try to protect them from Watchers. They stay in the Deep End and are the protectors there as well. Have any of you heard the tale of The Blood Prince? Most of the adults nodded their heads, “he was Queen Nakao’s son that was kidnapped, right? Why does that matter? That’s just a fairytale for a hybrid child,” Jack said. A few heads turned to look at Jack who just shrugged, “what? I liked reading about stories like that.” 

Phil shook his head, It’s not a fake story. There was an actual Prince that was kidnapped years ago and has been missing ever since. The Queen was a tall ender hybrid with small horns and green eyes. Queen Nakao was married to Listener Aditsan. Listener Aditsan had large white wings with golden scales and Red eyes. Large horns and ruby eyes. They had a child. Everyone, including Ranboo, had turned to stare at Philza. Ranboo couldn’t breathe. He was panicking and he didn’t have the energy to hide it. Tubbo was at his side again, trying to help him down from the spiral. Phil summoned a book and opened it. It was the same book Ranboo saw Phil hideaway after the original voice issue. Phil continued, pain evident in his face, Many years ago a Prince was born between the rulers. The child had a direct split down the middle of opposite sides. Right side black and left side white. Phil read out before looking at the crowd, When I first read about this I skimmed over the name, assuming that it wasn’t in there for the lost Prince’s sake. I reread it after something happened. ‘The new prince of the kingdom of Mori was born. The Blood Prince, Rao.’

Time had stopped for everyone, it felt like. No one wanted to believe the information that was being fed to them. Phil closed the book and it disappeared into dark green particles. Ranboo was holding onto his shoulders like they were going to dissolve if he didn’t, bandages be damned. Everyone was silent. How does one process the information that not one, not two, but three of the same server members you played with were gods and royalty? The fact of the matter is, you don’t. You don’t really process information like that quickly. Ranboo’s whimpers and the bated breath of everyone were the only sounds.

Techno spoke up, “And now Tommy is with Dream and XD in the Deep End. There's only one way to get there; A Watcher or Listener Portal. As you’ve probably guessed, we can’t get to them-” “Why the hell not!?” Niki’s yell butted in, “why not, Techno?! You two drop multiple bombs on us, tell us that three of us are god-like things, and dare to tell us we can’t even save one of us?!” Phil was about to respond when a ragged new voice joined in, “Would you all shut up for one second?” Ranboo snapped. The kid looked like the wind could carry him away. Hell, he was barely even able to stop himself from entering his enderwalk state, the pain being the only thing keeping him grounded, “Look at us. I-i almost died, Phil h-has one life, we barely have i-items, and we’re already down a person!” His wings weakly flared up. The new movement almost toppling him over. The little Listener stood, attempting to appear taller, “We can’t do anything. We’d die seconds after chasing them. I-i’ve been having t-that sad excuse for code in m-my head for weeks. H-he’s a monster t-that we just don’t have the resources to face.” Ranboo was panting, strength quickly running out, “So shut up and think because I’m tired of losing my friends to w-wars.” He quickly slipped back down the wall. 

“What Ranboo said, we don’t have the resources. As much as I hate waiting, we can’t go after them.” Techno grunted. “And we have worse problems to worry about. A portal here was opened that goes straight to the Deep End. This means when it's active again anything can walk through it. Listeners, Watchers, hell, even soldiers from either side can come through. We need to watch it as we prepare.” Philza squatted down to Ranboo before picking him up. The younger one didn’t protest, too tired to care at the moment. Ranboo’s wings moved to rest on his back. They looked much like dragon wings, claws just on the tips of the wings. They were smaller than Philza’s wings but were still large and just as impressive. All in all, he was exhausted. After learning your past as you lay in agony after growing new limbs, it’s no wonder that Ranboo was ready to sleep for a whole month. 

We need groups, Philza started, noticeably softer than before now that Ranboo was semi-awake, Some of you guys need to be in charge of mining up resources so we can get weapons. Some of you guys need to be in charge of block supply. Some of you need to be on food duty and some on potions. Right now it doesn’t matter if you hate me, Techno, Tommy, hell even Ranboo but this is Dream we’re fighting. The same Dream that tried to put a child in a prison after his plan to kill his best friend. Tubbo seemed to stand a bit taller as everyone else mumbled about their jobs. “Who here has good pickaxes,” they said, fidgeting with the hem of their shirt. A few of the SMP members raised their hands, “Perfect, you guys get mining. Now, who’s good at baking?” The selection carried on like this. Some people got two jobs and some only got one. Everyone had a job at watching the portal.

“Okay, everyone follow me,” Techno said, getting a few weird looks, “oh come on. We would have killed you all already if we wanted to. You guys don’t know where the portal is.” Techno started to walk away. Philza followed after the piglin and soon the rest of the server did as well. Ranboo had fallen back asleep in Phil’s arms, not like it bothered the ex-Watcher. If they weren’t in a deadly situation Phil would have felt excited that Ranboo trusted him enough to fall asleep willingly near him. The price of having kids riddled with trust issues. Tubbo was sticking close to Phil, keeping an eye on Ranboo. The group of people stayed silent. No one made jokes about the Eggpire, no one talked about new building plans, no one started a playful fight. It was just the sound of footsteps that haunted the group. Everyone had started to arrive at the portal and Phil had to repress the urge to be as far away from it.

“Is that bedrock? Why is it all the way up here?” Fundy said quietly, afraid something bad would happen if he spoke too loudly. “That’s the portal. Don’t bother trying to use flint n’ steel, you need Watcher or Listener magic to light it.” Techno grunted as he hopped over the bench and stood facing everyone. He held up one of the discs, Cat. Tubbo held their breath, “he r-really was taken…'' he sniffled, “deep down I was just...I don’t...I didn’t want...He’s gotta be okay. I-i...I don’t want t-to plan his grave again…” Phil felt Tubbo hold onto his side. He used his free hand to softly pat Tubbo’s head, You won’t have to. We’re going to get him back. The sooner we get the resources we need the sooner we can save Tommy. Tubbo just nodded. Phil wasn’t planning to lose another son. Techno wasn’t ready to lose another brother.

He was in a dark room again. The voices were there but it was all muttered background sounds. He didn’t mind the quiet. He was too busy thinking over what he had just learned. ‘Rao’? Was...was that his name? It made sense that it was familiar to him if it was. He never really knew his name. He just remembered ‘Rans’ from fussy memory and added ‘Boo’ because he liked the sound of the name. ‘Ranboo’ was actually him mispronouncing it when he first met the SMP members but he didn’t mind, liking this version a bit more than his original one. 

And if he really was The Blood Prince, was that castle his? Was that large throne room his family’s? Was his mom really a queen and his other parent really a Listener? What powers do Listeners even have? Same with Watchers. Why are they so dangerous? Well, at least he knows who was what hybrid. He thought it was a bit cool, though, how he was quite literally a mystery. It’s not every day a person with memory problems learns they’re a lost prince that's from the Deep End. Actually, most people don’t learn that. 

The wings are cool. If you look past all the pain they just caused him. He didn’t get a good look at them but he saw the edges of them. Yet another half black half white feature of himself. He’s surprised neither Tommy nor Tubbo have called him Oreo Boy yet. Oh right...Tommy. He hopes the Tanuki hybrid is ok. They both had terrible experiences with being isolated with Dream and this just took that problem then made it worse. The Traumatized Trio TM were going to have a long meeting in Snowchester after this. The voices had started to clear up a bit, this time some had small little ghostly forms. ‘Ranboo! Are you ok?’ ‘HOLY SHIT WEVE BEEN SAYING MY BELOVED TO A GODDAMN PRINCE-’ ‘Yoooooo we figured out his other half guys!’ ‘I never want wings. That was painful enough to inflict physical damage to me.’ ‘WINGS WINGS WINGS WINGS :D’ ‘fit check.’

He chuckled at the group. All the voices had small forms of differently colored ghosts. None of them had a face, it being swapped out for text emotes. It was oddly comforting to be able to see the hive instead of just hearing them. The room seemed to brighten every voice he heard. Most of it was just random tidbits of conversations, some of which he would reply to. At one point the voices sang happy pre-birthday. The inky void of his mind became bearable and full of life. For the first time in who knows how long, he let himself just exist. No one to please, no one to pay, no one to fight, he just stayed and let everyone else do the same. Some ghost forms would disappear and reappear, others just stayed, and some only appeared once. He was about to go talk to a small group of people when a familiar voice popped up.

“Hey, Ranboo! I’ve brought some blue!” A chipper voice yelled. He looked up and saw Ghosbur only...only he was in a blue coat with the original L’manburg flag. “Ghostbur? How’d you..?” Ghostbur(?) laughed softly, “No...no I’m not him. However, I do remember his time. I remembered he liked blue and who his friends were. I’m Wilbur, the original Wilbur. Really the full name is Wilbur Soot-Minecraft but it doesn’t really matter.” He just looked at Wilbur with a confused look. The voices seemed to recognize Wilbur though. ‘YOOOOO ITS HIM!’ ‘O sevens boys! O Sevens!’ ‘Aye I forgot how nice the uniform was!’ ‘Oh thank god it’s not Alivebur. Our boys can't take more manipulation.’ Wilbur just smiled, “Nice to hear from you guys again! I’ve missed this suit as well.” He cleared his throat, “Ok, this is cool and all, but how are you here? Isn’t this like my mind or something?” Wilbur shrugged, “I was just watching my old memories when I felt something tug me over here. I expected to find good ol’ Techno with the sound of the voices but instead, I found a tall child. How’d Tommy react after finding out he wasn’t the tallest anymore?” He shrugged, “He seemed angry when I told him that I’m older than him.”

Wilbur wheezed-laughed, slightly holding his sides as he laughed, “Oh that's brilliant! He hates being the youngest one here, it’s partially why he likes to fight people a lot. He wants people to know he’s still there. It’s...it’s a whole thing.” He nodded. The voices were a mixture of things so he didn’t pay them much attention, “Yeah I get that. It seems like he just wants attention to an outsider's view but really he just wants people to know that he’s there. I don’t know if you remember this from Ghostbur but most people didn’t visit him in exile. He was quite literally ignored and put in the back of everyone’s minds.” Wilbur nodded, “I do remember and I think that’s why I’m,” he gestured around, “here. I created L’manburg, the original one. Before the craters, before exiles, before it became what it is now. My L’manburg was created as a hope of a few people.” The voices started to hum a song. Wilbur chuckled at the sounds and joined in, “With Wilbur, Tommy, Tubbo, Fuck Eret! It’s a very big and not blown up L’manburg.” The hive went wild and continued to sing it. He would have been starstruck had it not been for the jittery voices. It was a mess but...a nice mess.

“I know what Dream did,” Wilbur started speaking again, “and I know that he’s kidnapped my little brother to fucks knows where. Ranboo I’m going to ask you a very odd and probably slightly overwhelming question.” He looked back at Wilbur, “Y-yeah? I mean I think I’ve been numbed today so it’s the best time to ask.” “Ranboo I think you can bring me back. I mean the real me. Not Alivebur and not a weird form of Ghostbur. Watchers and Listeners have the powers of Life and Death. Watchers take the dead to turn into their own and Listeners bring people back so they have another chance.” Wilbur looked directly at him, “When you wake up, I think I might still be stuck here. Get Tommy back first, that’s my main goal. You can do this ok! Even if I can’t come back I want Tommy and Tubbo to be safe. So please...please bring back my little brother first.”

Ranboo gasped as he woke up.

Chapter Text

Tommy woke up to the smell of blood. Usually, he could remember why it smelled like blood, but for some reason, he couldn’t. He tried to look up only to realize that he couldn’t. Bandages wrapped around his eyes, blocking his view. Tommy could feel the telltale feeling of obsidian beneath him and against his back. He attempted to move his hands only to be met with the sound of chains and his wrists stinging from pain. His hands were free but he couldn’t get them close to his face. “A-alright...This is fine, yeah. Nothing The TommyInnit can’t escape…” he muttered. The air around him seemed lighter than before and not in a good way. Tommy stuck his foot out, trying to get a small layout of his area when a sharp pulse made its way up his leg. He cried out in pain, “Fuck-!” 

His voice echoed around him, bouncing off walls he couldn’t tell how close they were. Tommy carefully shifted into his Tanuki form. He felt his hair move to make way for his ears and his tail brushed against his arm. The floor became even more awkward for him to sit on. The room felt even quieter, not even the sound of wind passing through. Tommy felt sweat drip down his temple and down his neck. He brought his legs close to his chest, being greeted with the same hot pulsing, so he could be as small as possible. He clenched his jaw as the pain turned from barrable nuisance to burning needles. “Come on, just a bit more…” His breath hitched as he felt something roll down the outside of his thigh. 

“Fuck fuck fuck fu-” he mumbled hastily. Tommy might not be able to see but could definitely tell that was blood. He didn’t know how large the cut might be or how deep so, to mostly keep him sane, he went through the injury checklist Wilbur taught him during the first L’manburg war. “Oooookaaay...Just breathe, Big man. Alright, you can still move your leg so it's not cut off in any way. Bending your leg hurts so maybe the knee is hurt in some way?” Tommy hissed out in pain, “Nope! Nope, it’s not the knee. Oh, fuck did I get stabbed in the thigh? Oh, Prime’s sake please tell me I didn’t get shanked in the leg, that would be so unbelievable not poggers.” He used his hands to feel around where the pain was. Tommy stopped as his hands met with warm liquid. Definitely blood. His leg felt numb as if it wasn’t even there to begin with. He laughed irrationally, “I...fuck I’m losing blood, aren’t I,” he said to no one, “Oh my god I’m going to bleed out because someone fucking stabbed me.”

The pain hit him like ice. Red, hot pain splintered its way up to his nerves and into his head. Tommy screamed at the sudden agony that overwhelmed him, laughter turning into sobs. He couldn’t breathe. The pain was suffocating him, smothering him like a dying fire. He couldn’t die like this, he had so much more he needed to do before the great Tommyinnit left the world. He had his hotel to run. He had his discs to play. He had his friends to do things with! He’d fought so hard before and he didn’t want to go out like this; Alone, cold, and quiet. Tommy didn’t want to die. He knew everyone had to die but he wanted to go out in a blaze of glory. He was so deep in his panic that he didn’t notice the click of a piston. Tommy thrashed as something grabbed his leg, “Unhand me, you bitch!” He screamed, more panicked than irritated.

There was a shushing. He flinched at the new sound. “Keep still...I’m trying to fix your leg.” That wasn’t a voice he recognized. It was soft, uncertain, and weak. Tommy would comment on it but he was too busy now being focused on the new blistering pain on his leg. The telltale sign of a regen being splashed on his open wound bit at his nerves. He bit down on his lip, “I have a spare towel if you’d like to bite on that,” the person spoke. He nodded and was soon biting down on a cloth rather than his lips. Probably for the better or he would have chewed right through it, then they would have an even bigger problem. “It wasn’t bleeding enough to kill you however you will be extremely weak. You also can’t stand on this leg, the pressure will hurt it and you will fall down,” Tommy tisked but held his tongue. This person was helping him and he didn’t want to be alone with an injury. “I need to stitch it, regen has only slowed the blood and somewhat healed the edges.” He nodded, preparing for the pain that came with getting stitches.

Tommy held his breath and tried his damnedest to not show the overall pain he was experiencing. He was even more grateful for the towel. He had only had stitches once and even then he was knocked out. The person was very careful and apologized for moving too fast or bumped him. The last stitch was in after what felt like hours and Tommy heard them stand up. The person took out the towel and he coughed at the new air. “W-wait!” He called out, voice raw from his pained screams from before, “Your name...What is it?” The person stopped. One of Tommy’s ears twitched at the sounds. “It’s...It’s not important,” they seemed to start leaving, “Come on man! Not even just a letter? I need to be able to call you something!”

“...Z. You can call me Z.” The sound of a button clicked then pistons and soon Tommy was back to silence. Instead of the cold feeling of loneliness, he smiled to himself, “Z, huh? Thanks, man…” The quiet lulled him back to sleep.

Humming greeted him when he awoke again. It wasn’t the comforting kind of humming either. Tommy knew the tune and the voice that hummed it. The other person seemed to have noticed he was awake as the humming stopped. There was a beat of silence before singing, “A very big and very blown up L’manburg~. Welcome back to the world of the living, Tommy.” “Fucking- We’ve hit kidnapping now, Dream?” Tommy spat back. His leg was throbbing again but there was a significant lack of blood so he assumed that the stitches had held up as he slept. Dream’s laugh filled the room, “Oh I’ve missed your quips. You were bound to get stuck with me again, we just happened to speed up when.” Tommy’s head shot up, “What do you mean, ‘We’? I swear to Prime if you’re working with Techno I’ll-” The sound of a sword being stabbed in the wall shut him up.

Tommy may not be able to see but that didn’t mean he couldn’t feel how close Dream was, “You’ll what, Tommy? I don’t know if you’ve noticed but you physically can’t do anything.” He stayed quiet, subconsciously leaning away from the blade near his head. Dream hummed approvingly, “That’s what I thought. Now, how is your leg?” He asked as he removed the sword from the wall. The younger one shrugged. “You may speak, you know.” Tommy nodded, “I-its been better. It still hurts a bit…” he said softly, afraid to get too loud again. “Alright, I tell the workers to bring you a regen potion,” Dream said. He heard Dream stand up and start to walk away, “w-wait, Dream, can I ask you something?” Tommy would have slapped himself if he could. There was a pause and Tommy wondered if he had messed up. “I don’t see why not. Shoot, kid.” He mulled over how to phrase his question before asking it, “Where are we?” Dream’s laugh made him flinch, it was cold and devoid of emotions.

“The Deep End. A place no one can get to. It’s just like exile, Tommy, but this time you’re forever stuck here.” The piston clicked shut.

Tommy’s breath quickened. He didn’t want this to be like exile, that was the last thing he would want! He’d rather be forced to team up with Techno again than exile! Hell, death sounded like the better option than whatever Dream was doing now. If he was stuck here did the others even know he was gone? Oh god, what if they didn’t care? What if they enjoyed not having him around. What If they thought he was dead? Did they even care if he was? Tommy felt his nails break the skin on his palms but he didn’t pay them any attention. The bandages around his face made him feel like he was trapped. The room felt like it was shrinking. He couldn’t breathe. The air wasn’t entering his body and he was choking. Tears fell down his face as he gasped for any form of air. 

The world felt like it was crashing down on him. Tommy’s leg started to sting again and was quickly added to his panic. His fried nerves kept getting overwhelmed with more and more signals, pain from his leg and the panic worsened. Every small movement from his clothes made him flinch violently. Tommy had no doubt he was showing even more of his Tanuki features. A voice in the back of his mind whispered how Dream wouldn’t want to see his hybrid form. The memories of exile started to swarm in. His ears were filled with static. Tommy shook uncontrollably. “I thought I told you to hide your tail and ears?” Dream said angrily. Tommy laughed nervously, “Sorry! I was just listening out for mobs, ya know, don’t want to lose my last life to some dumb zombie,” he tried to bargain. Dream’s cold smiling mask stared back at him somehow unimpressed. “Uh, huh. Well, you can put them away, I’m here. I won’t let mobs hurt you, that’s what friends are for. We don’t hurt each other.” The masked man said with fake kindness. He didn’t want to make Dream mad again.

Thoughts swam together, mixing each other up, and making it impossible to form normal thoughts. The sting from his leg had upgraded to a burning sensation that forced Tommy’s mind to think about that instead. The pain was becoming unbearable and he felt himself crying for a different reason now. At this rate, he would make himself dehydrated. His hands uncurled, he hissed as he felt the freshly made cuts on his palm hit fresh(?) air, and he grabbed his leg. Blood was trickling down it again. “Fuck…” he whispered, voice cracking. Tommy had ripped his stitches in his leg and was most definitely paying for it. He had almost forgotten about the person Dream was sending to him. New hands had grabbed him by the shoulders and he yelled in surprise. “It’s ok, you’re ok! It’s Z,” Z said. He let a staggered breath out. His breathing was starting to calm down but he still hiccuped and fought for air.

“I’m going to need to grab your leg, okay?” Tommy nodded, too busy trying to slow his thoughts down. Z carefully grabbed the re-injured leg and started to wrap bandages around the wound to slow the blood flow. Tommy was silently thankful that the wound wasn’t on the inside of his thigh or he might have bled out entirely. Something cold hit his skin and he let out a surprised yelp. “Sorry…” Z mumbled before moving the cold around. His leg was starting to go numb and Tommy assumed that's when Z started to restitch his wound. “How’re you doin’, Z?” he said, trying to add sound to the room instead of the mind-numbing silence. “...Okay, I guess,” came a small reply. “Not much of a talker, aye?” Z made a noncommittal sound, “Never had a reason.” Tommy smiled, the bottom of the bandage blocking his eyes moved up slightly, “well now you do have a reason! You’re in the awesome presence of the TommyInnit.” He heard a small snort. Score, he’d gotten the reaction he wanted, even if it was a small laugh. He’ll take the wins right now.

“Sure are energetic there, T.” Z said, finishing the stitches and opening bandages. Z was nice, Tommy concluded, sure they seemed shy and just straight to the point but they let him talk. “Thank you, Big Z,” he’s pretty sure he’s smiling like, as Wilbur would say, a fool. It didn’t bother him, “You know you would probably be best friends with my good pals, Tubbo and Ranboo b .” Tommy laughed at the added letter at the end, “His name isn’t really that however, Ranboo b sounds so much more fun than Ranboo.” Had his hands be free, he would be waving them around wildly. He used his hands when telling stories. It always seemed to help convey the story better and Tommy was all about being the best so of course, he would continue to do it. “He’s really fucking tall too! Like I get that endermen are tall, oh yeah he’s an enderman hybrid, but he’s like a tree! If trees were black and white. Then there’s Tubbo, completely on the opposite side. He’s so small! Ranboo and I tower over him and he’s the oldest out of all of us!” He heard an impressed whistle, “They sound nice. And I get the tall enderman height thing, they really are tall.” 

Tommy just stared at Z, he thinks, before grinning even more, “Holy shit that’s the first sentence longer than 6 words you’ve ever said to me, Big Z! And yeah, they are really nice. Tubbo is a trickster like me. He looks all innocent and shit then Boom! , he has nukes. Ranboo...Ranboo’s got a lot going on if I’m being honest, which I am 24/7. He carries around memory books because his memory sucks ass, so Tubbo and I started joking around with him that he’s Memory Boy. He actually seemed fine with it so we just...call him that randomly.” Tommy could feel the joy slowly leaving the conversation and he really, really, doesn’t want that. Z had finished fixing Tommy’s leg up but made no moves to leave, so he took that up as an offer to keep talking, “One time, Wilbur and I -Wilbur is my brother- were talking about shit when the topic of bees came up. A thing you should know about Tubbo is that he’s a moobloom hybrid. So a few seconds later we just hear, ‘Bees?! Oh, I love bees!’ It was so fucking funny!” He could feel his voice starting to strain. He knew it had been a while since he last spoke this much plus he didn’t even know how long he’d been in here.

“This was months before Ranboo showed up. That was so weird too! Like you would think we would have at least spotted a 6 foot something enderman hybrid in the world, but one day he just showed up. I made him commit a crime when we first met. In hindsight, it was kind of funny. At the time, though, I got in some deep shit. Ranboo kept messaging me though so that was nice!” Tommy laughed before falling into a coughing fit. He tried to hide the wince he pulled. Z seemed to notice his pain, “Hey, go easy on your voice. Water is very scarce here so…” He nodded, “a-alright. Yeah, I get it.” There was a beat of silence before Z spoke up again, “I need to go, XD needs my attention. I’ll return with food if possible.” Tommy couldn’t even get a word in before he heard Z leave.

He pouted at the loneliness again. Tommy shifted his body so his leg wasn’t going to cramp and tried to lay down. Not to sleep, no, he was too awake to fall asleep but to just think. Talking about his friends made him realize how much he missed home. Tommy didn’t even know how long it has been since he’s been taken! No, no, he couldn’t get all worried about that again. He shook his head to try and clear out all the panic-worthy thoughts. “Okay. When we get out, because we will,” maybe “we’re going to build a house. A good house.” He said to no one. That’s what he started to focus on, a random house to live in after this mess. Tommy shivered as he tried to focus, his mind darted around like a speeding bullet. He started thinking of house plans by trying to think of his hotel and the flow of ideas began. Most started with a cobble box but he kept trying to incorporate new blocks and new floor plans. Tommy kept going, ideas after ideas, and passing out somewhere along the way. Z never brought him food.

It was worse. It was getting so much worse. He didn’t even know how long it had been but it was getting worse. Tommy’s body pulsed all over. Wounds he couldn’t even see ached. Dream was standing somewhere and watching him, his eyes burned holes into his head. Angry bruises perched all over his arms and cuts stung on his chest. Tommy didn’t know when he’d lost the ability to cry but his mind couldn’t linger on that for long, injuries too mind-numbing to think. “Tommy~,” Dream said, mocking him with a sing-songy voice, “Do you remember the rules yet?” He nodded frantically, hoping to not be in pain anymore. The other clapped his hands, “wonderful! Be careful, you’re on your last life and I’d hate to be the last one to take it.” Tommy let out a breath he was holding in and sighed out of relief. He heard a tsk before his head was snapped to the side, a slap stinging on his cheek. 

“So, I’ll ask again, how many days do you think your…’Friends’...will take to rescue you?” Tommy spat out, what he thinks is blood, to the side before facing forward, “I-...Days…?” he heard a disappointed sigh, “Real friends would be here quicker. I told you that they weren’t really your friends. I would have gotten here quicker.” He wanted to scream at the man. Scream about how he was wrong, that his friends would show up, that he was cared about. Each attempt died out on his tongue. Dream grabbed him by his hair, he yelped in surprise and pain, “They don’t care about you. I’m the only one that cares! You should have learned this in exile but you didn’t. Do you see why I tried to teach you?” Tommy whimpered, “S-sorry, Dream.” He mumbled. Dream tossed him back down, “Don’t mumble, no one likes it when you mumble.” 

“Sorry, Dream!” Tommy said louder, his body needing to cry but couldn’t find the resources to do so. Dream hummed, “see Tommy,” he said with a sickeningly fake sweet voice, “that wasn’t so hard. I’m really disappointed in you for not speaking up, though. I hope we don’t have this issue later, do we understand?” He nodded, “I said, ‘do we understand?’ Use your words.” “Yes, Dream. I understand,” Tommy said quickly. “Good, goodbye Tommy.” Piston doors closed and Tommy’s body gave out on him. He cried with no tears, body shaking violently. His wrists burned with cold fire. Pins and needles poked at his skin and his bones cracked with movements. Tommy knew Z wouldn’t be able to visit him, Dream would never allow it. But that’s fine. Tommy didn’t need any friends. Tommy’s only friend was Dream. Dream was his friend. Tubbo betrayed him with exile, Ranboo joined Techno and Philza, Wilbur died with his nation, and he wasn’t blind. He knew Niki and Jack kept trying to be rid of him. Dream would never do that. Dream would keep him safe. Tommy was best friends with Dream, his only friend. 

He didn’t know how long he had been here. Days had probably passed. His hair was definitely longer, the edges brushed against his shoulders, so it had to be a long time. His so-called friends really didn’t care. Tommy was fine with that, though. Dream was his new friend. He kept him company. He kept him in line when he messed up. Z would occasionally appear but Tommy knew Z didn’t really care. It didn’t hurt him when he said these things to himself. He was just being selfish. He was perfectly fine. he didn’t need anything else. Dream made sure to tell him that. And he agreed. Tommy didn’t mind the burning feelings from the wounds. They were there to remind him to stay in line. They stopped being so frequent when Tommy listened. 

“Hello, Tommy!” That was Dream coming in again for today. Tommy smiled, “Hello, Dream! How are you?” Dream moved closer to him and sat down. Tommy’s tanuki features had stopped trying to appear and he was thankful, Dream didn’t like them, so he made sure to keep them away. “Ah, you know, well. I was actually cleaning out some old trunks and I found something I think you should have.” Tommy gasped in surprise. He must have been doing well because the only time Dream gave him gifts was when he was doing everything perfectly. “R-really? Thank you, Dream.” He heard a soft laugh. He could tell that it was a fond laugh. Angry laughs sounded hollow. “I’m sure you will. Actually, this will be two gifts. The first one,” Tommy felt something grab at the bandages on his face. Soon the wrapping around his eyes fell away and Tommy blinked. He initially recoiled, eyes no longer used to actually seeing, before his eyes landed on Dream. Dream’s mask looked at him, looking practically the same, except for the added symbol. He was about to ask but was cut off, “I found one of my old masks and I think it would fit you perfectly!” Dream said cheerfully. 

Tommy smiled and could actually see himself now. His leg had a large scar running down from the middle of his thigh to the left of his knee. He could see the obsidian floor that had held him for so long and could see the button that opened the piston door. He turned to look back at Dream, “I would love to have your old mask!” Tommy felt the familiar feeling of pride creep up on him again before he squished it down. Dream nodded before getting the mask out. It covered the top part of someone’s face and had two white spikes going down, framing where his mouth and nose would be. It had the same symbol that Dream’s mask had, a broken nether portal. The mask was completely solid but Tommy had been blinded for who knows how long so he didn’t think much of it. “How will it stay on? There’s no strap,” Tommy asked carefully, not wanting to seem like he was being ungrateful. Dream reached over and ruffled his hair, “It’s magic. Once it’s on it will stay on. This way you’ll never lose my gift!” He could feel another feeling trying to break through but it never made it past joy. He was thankful, however, the feeling always left him feeling gross.

“Would you like me to put it on you?” Dream said, holding the mask up to be right at his eye-level. Tommy nodded, “Yes please. I’d like to not break it.” Dream laughed, confusing Tommy. He wasn’t trying to be funny but it wasn’t often he heard the other laugh. “Alright, hold still. The magic might be overwhelming at first but you’ll be fine.” He flipped the mask around and started to put it on, Tommy. Dream wasn’t kidding about the magic. It latched on to him in a matter of seconds. His vision had a purple haze as the mask stayed on. It stung but Tommy tried to stay strong and not scream. The mask morphed around his face to fit him better, curving around his cheeks and nose. It felt like a snake slithering on him. Purple magic ran down his arms in a lightning-like pattern and pricked at his skin. Tommy blinked, clearing his vision, before being able to see out of the mask. Anything he looked at had a label and an outline. He smiled as the pain ceased and looked over at Dream, “This is amazing, Dream!” The other nodded and chuckled, “I knew you would like it. I have a lot of trust in you, so,” he stood up, “would you like to see outside your room?”

Before Tommy could respond there was a flash of bright red and green. A portal that looked like the one on their masks appeared. A single glowing compass held on a scarred hand was the first thing out of the portal.

Chapter Text

 It had been a day. Only a single day since Tommy was kidnapped and Tubbo was going through all sorts of emotions. Anger being a pretty heavy one, if they’re entirely honest. He didn’t want to be angry but everytime he looked around, he saw people just carrying on like it wasn’t a big deal. Ranboo had to hold him back when the Eggpire people cheered, only letting him get a punch in and breaking one block of the egg. Philza had to block him from going into his nuke factory. Sam had to physically restrain him from exploding the prison. He hated it. Tubbo just wanted his best friend back and safe. He’d thought about taking canon lives from those who kept trying to let go. He’d certainly thought about taking away Dream’s last life. He needed a break from the server.

 So that’s how he found himself watching his platonic husband-married-for-tax-benefits trying to learn how to use his newly acquired wings. It was...well it served as a great distraction. Ranboo was definitely becoming close friends with the arctic snow floor. Philza was watching from the ground and trying to direct Ranboo as he flew. Tubbo huffed to themselves, it really wasn’t flying. More like falling with some style. Had he’d been good at it, Ranboo’s wings looked marvelous in the sunlight. The new dragon-like wings shimmered in the sun when it hit it just right. Light reflected onto the snow like a disco ball. Tubbo stopped zoning out when he heard the familiar yelp from the other. “Disco ball, my beloved,” Tubbo said, getting up to help Ranboo free himself from the icy snow. Ranboo chuckled, “I’ve got a new nickname already? It hasn’t even been 12 hours!” Tubbo shrugged, “it fits so yeah, you’ve got a new name, Minute Man.”

 Philza quickly made his way over to the two, “Are you good, Ranboo? That looked like one of the worst falls out of most of them.” He nodded, “yeah, it wasn’t that bad,” Ranboo casually said. Phil didn’t look convinced but let it go, “alright. Let’s take a break and have some food.” As he started to walk back to the house he turned around, “that includes you, Tubbo.” As Phil entered the house the two looked at each other. “Techno isn’t home, right?” Tubbo asked carefully. “I don’t think so...Plus you’ve been over here a lot when he was here so it shouldn’t be that bad?” Ranboo’s reasoning didn’t help calm the smaller one down. “Okay, if anything you can just grab me and run,” he said before following Phil into the cabins.

 Fortunately, Ranboo’s memory was correct about Techno. Tubbo sneezed as he entered and heard Phil chuckle to himself, “I have some cold medicine in the cabinet if you need some,” he offered. “That would be nice,” Tubbo nodded, another sneeze hitting him. “Alright. I’ll go grab some. You two stay near the fireplace and warm up.” The younger ones nodded and sat close enough to the fire to not be burned yet stay warm. Tubbo grabbed on to the side of Ranboo and stuck their face into the fluff of the other’s coat. He could feel Ranboo’s shoulders bob up and down in a silent laugh. “Wha’d you laugh’n at big…” He yawned, “Big man?” A large hand ruffled his hair and his eyes fought to stay awake, “You can sleep, you know. We’ve- You’ve been awake for awhile.” He nodded and the quiet breathing from Ranboo lulled him to sleep. Tubbo didn’t dream that night.

 Ranboo waited for the smaller hybrid’s breathing to even out before he let out a sigh. If he were to be completely honest, he was getting worried for Tubbo. Tubbo wasn’t doing the best but he couldn’t blame them. Their best friend was just kidnapped by their abuser and no one could even go after them. Not to mention those celebrating Tommy’s disappearance as if they had just found the motherload of netherite. Ranboo would have let Tubbo have at the Eggpire if they weren’t on their last life, hell, he would have joined them in kicking the Eggpire’s ass. Yet the world is cruel and things can’t be changed.

 Phil appeared with a bottle of cold medicine before spotting a tired Ranboo and sleeping Tubbo. He chuckled, “guess I’ll give him the meds later.” The taller one looked over at Phil and nodded, “He deserves to sleep. It’s been a wild ride.” The silence carried on far longer than either one of them liked. Ranboo’s white wing had been lazilied wrapped around Tubbo in a makeshift blanket as the black wing was wrapped around himself. “If you’d like, I can see if you have any dead scales so they don’t get infected,” Philza said suddenly. Ranboo tilted his head to the side, “like with feathered wings?” The other nodded, “Yep. Back when I was with Two they used to show me around the delivery dragons. I guess we sorta treated them like mailmen. I’m pretty sure Listeners had them too.” Phil shrugged as if he didn’t just admit to having literal pet dragons.

 “Woah woah woah- back it up there. You had dragons, as pets?! Like, large magic breathing dragons? And- And- and the dragons let you guys?” Ranboo stuttered in disbelief. Philza had a confused look grace his face before gasping and laughing at himself, “Oh that’s right! Literally none of you guys have ever seen Deep End Dragons! They aren’t the ones normal players see. Deep End Dragons are more like hybrids. They have a humanoid form and their dragon form. They’re still people so they have their own culture and such. Some get jobs as delivery people, some become bodyguards for nobles and royals, so-”

 “Rao, I thought I told you to not go near the void pockets,” a disappointed voice said. She had emerald green eyes and short horns, “How did you even get there? You don’t have your wings!” Xelqua put his hand on Rao’s shoulder and glanced apologetically at the other, “I should be the one that takes the blame, Nakao. I didn’t notice the Prince sneak into my bags until I had already landed to check out the ring.” The scolding had turned from a ruler’s anger to mother’s disappointment in a matter of seconds. “Alright, I believe that. Just please, Xel, please check next time you’re on a mission that you don’t happen to be carrying the Mori’s heir in your bags.” 

 “-Earth to Ranboo. Ello?” Ranboo blinked before flinching back at the slight sting. He rubbed his eyes as Phil started to speak again, “welcome back, mate. Are you ok though?” He nodded, still rubbing at his eyes, “Y-yeah sorry for spacing out, a memory popped up,” Ranboo muttered. Philza hummed, “It’s okay, Ranboo. Do you want to talk about it as I check up on your wings?” That’s right, Phil had been talking about the dragon hybrids in the Deep End, before he’d spaced out. “Sure, I don’t remember much about it -on brand I guess- but I think I was probably 7? I was small and the people in the memory seemed like they were worried for me in a parent kind of way? Gosh that sounded weird. I just- I know I was young in it somehow.”

 “Hey it’s ok, Kid. Weird has been the norm around here for a while,” Phil said, carefully holding the wing that wasn’t draped around a certain sleeping moobloom hybrid. “Right...right. Well I don’t remember where I was b-but I do remember what was happening, I think. I’m pretty sure I was being scolded for going somewhere I wasn’t meant to be, something about a void pocket or something.” Ranboo said, enjoying the new sensation of his wings being cared for. “Oh, yeah, if you were young when that happened you really shouldn’t have been near those,” Phil agreed, “You remember the story of how I met Techno? Well, because you didn’t really know about Watchers and Listeners, I altered it. Void pockets are slowed down parts of the Deep End and are usually used for fighting rings and prisons. Days there could be hours in other parts. It’s really weird magic shit that I still don’t understand. I don’t think anyone does.”

 Ranboo nodded, “Well if anyone is to figure it out, it’s not me,” he joked, Phil laughing alongside him. “I do r-remember one of their names! I think it was N-nokao? Nakao? I can’t fully remember how it was pronounced. And Xel something.” He turned his head to face Phil as he heard the other click their tongue, “Ah, Queen Nakao and Xelqua. Nakao would be your mother, Ranboo. I...I don’t actually know what Xelqua’s relationship with the Mori kingdom besides being their main warrior,” Phil shrugged, finishing off some of the last dead scales on Ranboo’s black wing. “Oh- oh yeah...god it’s been a long day. I practically blacked out the part about my family tree. Mom has the enderman genes, right?”

 Philza paused for a bit before shaking his head, “actually, I’m not sure what Queen Nakao was. She had endermen traits but she also had green eyes and horns. There’s probably more endermen races in the Deep End that I don’t remember. I think I’ve got some books on it…” he trailed off, looking around the room for any books. “Oh, well I guess we still only know what half of me is,” Ranboo joked before looking back at Tubbo. They had warmed up significantly, their shivering had stopped almost entirely and he’d fallen into a slow breathing pattern. Safe to say that Tubbo was deep in whatever sleep he could get. A honeycomb ring sat idly on Ranboo’s finger. “Do you think,” he started to speak, “Do you think we’ll get him back?” 

 It wasn’t hard to tell that everyone was worried. Ranboo felt guilty, Tubbo was going through the stages of grief, Phil was trying to work this out, and no one had seen Techno since yesterday. Ranboo didn’t have to look over at Phil to know what his face looked like. Even if Phil was technically only Wilbur’s father, he was a big figure in Tommy’s life as well. Tommy never really spoke much about his past with Ranboo, only small bits here and there, but he did talk about this old group he was in. He’d grew up in a rundown town called Business Bay and was homeless. Ranboo knew that he’d had a friend but he couldn’t remember what the name was that Tommy told him. He just knew they had the initials T.D, seeing how they were sewn into a really old suit Tommy owned. Ranboo knew Philza found him after he was living on the streets for 6 years and after Tommy attempted to steal his sandwich; Phil let him have it in the end. 

 Ranboo may not know who Philza was in Tommy’s life but he knew he was important, and vice versa. Tommy was important and close enough to Phil for him to call him ‘son’. “Yeah, yeah we’ll save. Tommy’s strong and persistent. We’ll find him and we’ll find him alive. Definitely not well but alive,” Phil faltered. Ranboo knew he was just trying to comfort him, to create a small bubble of hope, and he let it happen. Even if it was false, it was comfort, and Prime knew people needed comfort. “...Phil, I want you to teach me Listener magic,” Ranboo spoke suddenly. Philza sputtered in surprise and Tubbo sturred slightly before returning back to sleep. “And where did this come from?” The ender hybrid looked over at the other, “We’re going to be going in a place that is full of the same magic I was born with and we’re going to be fighting someone who has the same magic as you.,” He said with such certainty, “I don’t want to be dead weight or just a normal fighter. I want to fight for my friend with my magic.”

 Phil definitely had to take a moment to take in what Ranboo had just said. It was rare that the teen had a strong show of confidence but when he did, it was powerful. Phil didn’t look him in the eyes but he saw the fire that burned in them. Ranboo really wanted to learn and Philza couldn’t help but feel a bit proud. “Alright,” he agreed and watched the tension leave the younger one’s shoulders, “I’ll help teach you. However, I want you to also read some of these books. I learned Watcher magic where you were literally born into Listener magic. There’s going to be a difference in what you learn compared to what I can do.” Ranboo just nodded and looked at the books around the home, “I understand that and I promise I will-” the door swung open and a familiar face locked eyes with the two before landing on Tubbo.

 “H...hi Techno…” Ranboo hesitated. Technoblade looked at Ranboo before looking at Tubbo then Phil before a shiny glint caught his eye. A honeycomb ring sat nicely on the ender hybrid’s hand. “Five words or less, explain why they’re here,” he said pointedly. Ranboo looked at Philza before mulling over his options, “Married Bestfriend who’s not government,” he answered hesitantly. Techno just huffed, “The short one lives for now just...don’t let them rummage through my stuff.” Ranboo nodded quickly, white wing still covering Tubbo protectively. “Anyway, what’s the game plan?”

 “I’m going to train Ranboo to use his Listener music and I guess...I guess we get everyone ready for the Deep End,” Philza explained. “Alright, I’ll get the supplies for armor and tools. I’ll have a respawn anchor in the nether if you need me,” and with that Techno grabbed extra supplies and headed to leave, “stay...stay safe you two.” The door closed. The two sat in silence before they heard a groan from Tubbo, “why’s it so loud?” Ranboo chuckled, “Technosoft.” 

 There was a muffled shout from outside, “I heard that!” Phil and Ranboo looked at each other before bursting out with laughter, Tubbo just glanced around confused. They gently moved the white wing on top of them off and sat up. “So what’s next,” Tubbo asked, waking up properly. “Well, first it’s dinner time. After that we’ll talk gameplan,” Philza said and helped Tubbo and Ranboo off the floor. The hivemind had been pretty quiet for today, considering Tommy was only kidnapped yesterday. Ranboo winced as they started up after a bit. 

Simpboo

I want what Tubbo and Ranboo have Sadge

Me and Micheal

/rainbowchat

L

Homie how those wings feeling?

Bestie I simply cannot today

Ranboo, my beloved

DADZAAAAA POOOOGGG

Technosoft

Ranboo, It’s Wilbur. We have a problem.

 Just like that, he was no longer in Philza’s cabin. He didn’t know exactly where he was, per say, but he knew that he was safe. Which was odd. Normally Ranboo felt incredibly unsafe in these situations. Maybe it was because he knew who was here. That’s when it hit him. He could see the hivemind again and see Wilbur. Ranboo was back in wherever the hell this place was and could see the voices. “What’s wrong?” He said, quickly moving past his surprise. Wilbur’s form was more mortal this time, Ranboo being able to not see through him, “Ranboo there’s a spot in the afterlife thats been opening for a while and -fuck this isn’t good- and now its weakening the area round it. Just the other day, Schlatt poked his head around the area and disappeared. MD and I freaked out for a minute until Schlatt came back. Ranboo, Schlatt he- when he disappeared he didn’t turn into a ghost. Schlatt was alive.”

 The hivemind was silent for a beat before roaring. Everyone had the same thought; If someone could come back from the afterlife because of a weak point, then what did this mean for Tommy and Dream? The room was quickly fading but Wilbur kept talking, “Ranboo I need you to tell da- Philza about this. Tubbo can hear about it but you need to tell him!” He spoke urgently, fading away as well. Ranboo nodded and soon he was back in the cabin with Phil and Tubbo. He didn’t know how long had passed but he knew he was on autopilot for most of it. They were all sitting down at the table and eating what looked to be pasta. Philza and Tubbo had been talking about bees when Ranboo took a shuddering breath.

 “Guys...I think we might need to hurry up the rescue plan,” He said slowly. The other two looked at him with confused and concerned glances. “Two things. One, I was completely zoned out that entire conversation so I’m sorry about that. Two, Wilbur says the afterlife has a weaker spot. It brought Schlatt, who I’m guessing you guys know who that is because I don’t, alive for a brief moment.” The table was quiet and Ranboo worried that they thought he was lying for a moment before all hell broke loose.

 “You talked to Wil!?” “Schlatt was alive?!” “What do you mean ‘weakening’?!” “Is it actually Wilbur or Ghostbur?” “Can Wilbur talk right now?” “Did anyone else talk to you?” Their questions started to overwhelm the young Listener and his wings started to curl around him in a protective manner. Phil was the one to stop the questions. Ranboo took a deep breath, “Yeah I talked to Wilbur, I don’t know when Schlatt came back but it seemed like a small amount of time, Wilbur didn’t explain what he meant by ‘weakening’, It was Wilbur and not Ghostbur, I don’t know, and yeah the Hivemind was somewhat there,” he said, trying his best to answer their questions. “What do you mean hivemind,” Tubbo questioned. Philza’s eyes widened with an idea, “Is Wilbur in the voices?” Ranboo nodded before looking at Tubbo, “It’s kinda hard to explain but just think of it as a group of people who live in my head rent free. I guess Wilbur lives there too now…” Tubbo nodded slowly, clearly not understanding completely, but took that as an answer. “I feel kind of mean asking this, knowing that they might get loud, but do you think Wil could explain what he meant by ‘weakening’?” Philza asked carefully. Ranboo shrugged before his body went cold and his vision blurred with a blue haze. Oddly enough, he didn’t lose control of himself, but it felt like he was to the side. “S̵o̸r̵r̴y̸ ̸i̴f̵ ̴t̷h̴i̵s̴ ̶f̵e̸e̶l̶s̸ ̶w̷e̸i̵r̸d̷,̵ ̴R̵a̵n̸b̴o̸o̶.̵ ̸T̴h̴i̶s̶ ̷i̵s̵ ̴W̷i̶l̴b̸u̷r̷.̵” That was his voice but...it also wasn’t. It was a mix of his voice and Wilbur’s voice.

 “Holy fuck that’s weird,” Tubbo muttered which caused Wilbur to laugh, in extension so did Ranboo, “H̵e̵l̵l̷o̵ ̴T̵u̴b̸b̸o̷.” Philza sat to the side in shock. Wilbur turned his -their(?)- head to Phil and smiled sadly, “H̸e̸l̶l̷o̸,̶ ̷d̷a̶d̶.̵ ̸I̸'̷m̶ ̴g̷u̸e̶s̵s̶i̷n̷g̶ ̵y̷o̵u̵'̴r̷e̷ ̸c̷o̶n̶f̵u̷s̶e̷d̷-̷” Wilbur was cut off as Phil hugged them. Ranboo, even if he was in the passenger seat for control of his body, still felt the hug. He spoke up as he felt tears prick at his eyes, “W̸i̵l̵ ̷p̶l̷e̴a̶s̶e̴ ̷d̴o̴n̸'̷t̶ ̴c̶r̶y̴,̵ ̷I̶ ̶w̷i̸l̶l̵ ̴g̶e̴t̶ ̴h̷u̵r̵t,” his voice was still mixed with Wilbur’s but you could tell it was Ranboo speaking. “It’s even weirder,” Tubbo whispered not so secretly. “A̷s̵ ̵m̸u̵c̶h̶ ̵a̷s̸ ̴I̸ ̶w̴a̶n̴t̷ ̵t̴o̸ ̶c̶a̸t̷c̵h̷ ̸u̶p̴,̸ ̷t̶h̶e̷r̴e̴'̴s̶ ̸a̸ ̴b̵i̸g̴g̴e̶r̴ ̷i̷s̷s̸u̷e̴ ̵a̷t̴ ̸h̷a̵n̵d̷.̷” Wilbur said after Philza pulled away from the hug.

 “Right,” the oldest one said, “What did you mean about the afterlife having a weak spot?” Wilbur took a breath as he started to explain, “B̸a̸s̶i̴c̵a̴l̵l̷y̴,̵ ̶t̵h̷e̵r̷e̵'̵s̴ ̵l̷i̷k̶e̸ ̵a̶ ̵h̷o̷l̷e̵ ̵w̶h̵e̴n̵ ̶t̸h̵e̴ ̷b̴a̷r̶r̸i̵e̶r̵ ̸b̵e̶t̷w̵e̶e̵n̷ ̸t̵h̵e̵ ̴l̴i̷v̵i̷n̵g̶ ̸a̷n̸d̷ ̷d̶e̷a̵d̵.̵ ̸I̸t̶ ̴w̴a̸s̶ ̴t̴h̵e̸r̷e̶ ̷w̴h̴e̶n̵ ̷T̸u̴b̷b̶o̶ ̶a̴n̴d̵ ̶T̷o̴m̷m̷y̶ ̷w̸e̴n̸t̴ ̶t̷o̶ ̴g̵o̶ ̶f̴i̷g̷h̵t̷ ̴D̵r̵e̸a̴m̸ ̷f̴o̵r̷ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̷d̶i̵s̸c̷s̶ ̸a̷n̵d̷ ̶h̴a̴s̶n̶'̴t̶ ̴l̵e̶f̸t̴.̶ ̴I̴n̵ ̸f̷a̵c̸t̵ ̷i̸t̵ ̴k̴e̵p̴t̸ ̶g̴e̷t̴t̶i̴n̷g̶ ̸s̶t̵r̸o̷n̴g̶e̷r̸.̸ ̴I̴t̶ ̷g̴o̶t̸ ̴s̵t̵r̸o̷n̵g̴ ̷e̸n̶o̵u̸g̶h̶ ̷t̵h̴a̷t̸ ̴I̷ ̸w̶e̶n̷t̴ ̴t̶o̵ ̴g̴o̶ ̶c̶h̸e̵c̴k̶ ̵i̴t̶ ̸o̷u̸t̸.̸ ̸I̵ ̴d̸o̷n̶'̷t̵ ̷t̶h̷i̴n̶k̷ ̶i̷t̶ ̵w̵a̵s̴ ̶s̶t̵r̵o̶n̴g̷ ̸e̸n̴o̵u̴g̴h̴ ̶t̷o̶ ̵s̸e̶n̵d̷ ̷m̶e̶ ̶b̶a̵c̸k̸ ̴t̴o̷ ̸t̶h̴e̵ ̷l̷i̴v̴i̵n̸g̵ ̸b̸u̵t̷ ̵i̷t̴ ̸a̵t̶t̵a̶c̷h̸e̴d̵ ̵i̷t̶s̴e̶l̷f̸ ̸t̵o̵ ̸R̸a̸n̷b̴o̴o̵.̸ ̵I̷ ̸a̵p̵p̸e̶a̵r̵e̶d̵ ̷r̶i̷g̶h̷t̸ ̸a̴f̶t̶e̵r̵ ̵h̵e̴ ̶g̸o̵t̵ ̸h̷i̸s̷ ̵w̷i̴n̶g̷s̷.” Phil seemed to nod but Tubbo was still confused, “Care to dumb it down, big guy?” Wilbur gasped and facepalmed, “G̴a̸h̴!̵ ̵S̸o̶r̸r̷y̴ ̵T̶u̵b̸b̴o̵!̴ ̷I̷'̷m̶ ̴s̶o̴ ̵u̶s̶e̸d̶ ̶t̴o̷ ̴t̵a̴l̴k̴i̶n̵g̵ ̵w̸i̸t̴h̴ ̷S̵c̸h̸l̴a̸t̶t̷ ̶o̷v̴e̵r̶ ̸t̷h̴i̴s̶.̴ ̵L̸o̷n̴g̴ ̵s̵t̷o̵r̷y̴ ̶s̸h̵o̵r̶t̴,̵ ̸t̵h̷e̸ ̴a̷f̵t̴e̷r̵ ̴l̶i̸f̷e̴ ̵h̶a̷s̸ ̷a̸ ̵p̷u̶n̴c̷t̶u̷r̶e̴ ̵w̸o̵u̴n̴d̵ ̸a̶n̵d̵ ̴i̸s̸ ̵b̶l̸e̵e̴d̸i̶n̸g̷ ̷o̶u̸t̷ ̵i̶n̶t̴o̸ ̷t̴h̷e̴ ̶l̵i̵v̶i̴n̸g̵ ̶w̸o̶r̸l̶d̶.̴”

 At this, Tubbo seemed to understand, “So...should we fix it up? How the hell would we even do that?” The moobloom hybrid questioned. “T̴h̷a̵t̴'̶s̴ ̶t̵h̵e̵ ̷t̴h̵i̴n̷g̵.̷ ̴I̴ ̶d̴o̴n̵'̶t̸ ̸t̴h̷i̸n̵k̷ ̷w̴e̷ ̶s̶h̵o̷u̶l̵d̶!̸ ̸T̴h̸i̶s̴ ̶o̴n̵l̴y̴ ̵s̸t̶a̸r̵t̸e̵d̶ ̵h̷a̵p̶p̵e̸n̴i̶n̸g̷ ̸w̴h̶e̴n̴ ̴T̵o̵m̶m̸y̶ ̸w̷a̸s̶ ̷t̴a̴k̷e̶n̵.̶ ̶I̴.̵.̸.̶I̴ ̷t̸h̵i̵n̸k̴ ̸h̶e̸ ̶m̵i̵g̷h̸t̷ ̷n̴e̵e̷d̷ ̶t̵h̸i̷s̶ ̶t̶o̷ ̸e̶s̴c̸a̷p̸e̷ ̵D̶r̵e̵a̷m̷.̶” Phil shook his head, “Wait, wait, wait. Are you suggesting we almost kill Tommy, get him in the afterlife, and find that loophole to get him out? We don’t even know if it would still be opened when he dies!” Ranboo spoke up again, voice being more clear out of the two, “T̴h̸a̷t̶ ̵c̷o̵u̶l̸d̷ ̴b̵e̵ ̸a̷v̴o̸i̶d̵.̷ ̷P̴h̷i̵l̶,̶ ̵d̴i̶d̸n̶'̸t̸ ̸y̴o̷u̸ ̸s̵a̴y̷ ̷s̶o̶m̸e̷t̵h̴i̵n̶g̷ ̸a̷b̸o̵u̴t̵ ̸h̷o̵w̴ ̷W̵a̶t̴c̵h̵e̵r̵s̸ ̷a̷n̵d̴ ̶L̶i̴s̵t̸e̷n̷e̷r̵s̸ ̴h̷a̸d̷ ̶s̷o̷m̷e̸ ̵c̴o̴n̴t̸r̷o̸l̸ ̵o̸v̶e̴r̴ ̵d̶e̸a̴t̷h̶ ̶a̶n̸d̵ ̶r̸e̴v̵i̵v̵a̶l̴?̶ ̴” Tubbo gasped and nodded, “Yeah, wait! If you teach Ranboo some Listener magic then it could work!” Ranboo nodded, Wilbur making a slight sound of discomfort from the movement. “That’s...I hate how it’s actually plausible,” Phil grumbled, “but...It’s better than nothing.”

 Wilbur cheered, “P̶e̷r̷f̷e̷c̷t̵!̶ ̶A̸n̶d̶ ̵I̵'̸l̵l̵ ̴s̶t̸i̸l̵l̶ ̵b̸e̷ ̴h̶e̸r̶e̷ ̸s̵o̵ ̸I̴ ̵c̴a̵n̸ ̴a̵l̵s̵o̵ ̵h̸e̸l̸p̵ ̶p̵l̸a̵n̷.̸ ̵I̶t̴'̷s̷ ̸a̴ ̵d̶o̸d̷g̶y̷ ̵p̵l̶a̷n̸ ̷b̶u̴t̶ ̴i̴t̴ ̴m̷i̸g̷h̴t̷ ̸j̶u̴s̶t̶ ̶w̷o̷r̵k̸!̴” Ranboo shivered as a cold sensation rolled down his spine. The blue haze started to reced from his vision, “S̴h̶i̵t̶,̴ ̷I̸'̴m̶ ̴l̷o̴s̷i̷n̴g̶ ̵c̸o̷n̷t̴r̶o̵l̶.̴ ̴I̸'̴l̸l̷ ̶s̵t̷i̴l̶l̵ ̴b̷e̷ ̴h̴e̷r̶e̶ ̶b̵u̶t̴ ̸o̸n̸l̵y̸ ̷R̵a̵n̸b̶o̵o̷ ̷w̶i̶l̵l̷ ̴b̵e̴ ̴a̶b̴l̴e̵ ̴t̶o̷ ̷h̷e̶a̴r̴ ̶m̷e̵.̴ ̸I̸'̷l̵l̶ ̶b̷e̵ ̸b̴a̶c̸k̸ ̴a̴s̸ ̸s̸o̸o̵n̸ ̴a̸s̴ ̵I̴ ̵c̶a̷n̸!̶” Wilbur’s voice was barely mixed with Ranboo’s when he finally lost control of Ranboo. “I...okay I know we’re having a serious conversion but holy crap did that feel weird .” The other two chuckled before Philza clapped his hands together.

 “Alright, Ranboo, we’ve got some lessons to learn.” 

Chapter Text

Chat was not being very helpful as Techno mined in the nether. Most of them had their own conversations going on and some kept pestering Technoblade for answers like he had any clue what was happening. One day he’s watching over a kid whose life he messed up and the next that very same kid is not only extremely powerful but a lost prince of a completely different world! Did Techno know that Ranboo looked like he was more than just a hybrid? Yes, he did. Did Techno think that Ranboo could have been a lost Prince of an extremely powerful race? No, he did not. For Prime’s sake, he was joking when he called Ranboo the main-character! So he did the one thing that kept his mind of everything that didn’t involve murder, he grinded for supplies. The nether is a brutal place but it was also the place he grew up in before the fighting rings, but it’s like he remembers his time here. Instincts kept him alive and that’s all he could ask for in a place like this.

Techno groaned as he replenished the anchor. The voices had seemed to be really adamant today about the Deep End and Dream. “Chat, I’m not going to leave ‘til I’ve got all the stuff. You should know this about me by now. It’s only been 4 days since I started,” he grumbled as he started to sort through the chest, burning the extra netherack to make space for useful materials. Techno grabbed the gold ore from the chest and tossed it into the small wall of furnaces. Chat didn’t let up as the fire crackled and Techno caved, “Okay, Chat, tell you guys what. I need to wait for the gold to smelt before I craft the netherite so I can answer maybe one or two of your guy’s questions.” The effect was immediate. Chat howled with questions and Techno started to regret his suggestion.

What was the Mori Kingdom?

How old is Phil?!

Princeboo

Yoo, decapitate Dream arc?

Blood for the Blood god

“Mori Kingdom,” Technoblade said suddenly, shutting the voices up, “We can start with that.” He sat down and opened an old book. The handwriting was familiar, it turned out to be Philza’s, and the notes seemed to have two languages. “Phil sorted through his books when we originally found out about Ranboo’s lost prince status. There wasn’t a lot of the information and the stuff we did find was spread out in books. So he made one book for all of it.” He flipped through a few pages before stopping on one. It had a rough sketch of a tall castle on an island, other islands surrounded it and had towns on them. A note under the sketch read ‘Rough drawing of the Mori Kingdom -Phil’. It wasn’t a half-bad drawing. “‘The Mori Kingdom is one of the oldest kingdoms in the Deep End, its creation dating back to the times before the war. The kingdom’s rulers ranged from a long family line of Listeners, with the current one being Listener Aditsan. Most rulers ruled alone however a few did find suitors. The Mori Kingdom is ruled by Listener Aditsan and, their wife, Queen Nakao.’”, Techno read, taking a short break to breathe. Chat had gone quiet, being a soft murmur rather than their normal yelling, seemingly intrigued by the book and its story.

“‘Queen Nakao was previously the captain of the Mori’s defenses alongside Lord Dreamslayer, Xelqua.’ The kid’s got two fighter’s genes running through his blood,” he commented before continuing to read, “‘Cycles later the rulers had a son named Rao. The kingdom was quick to give him the title of Blood Prince and after a couple of cycles, the Prince had started to live up to his title. Due to their majesties not wanting their son in the battles at a young age, the Prince helped plan in the war room. It wasn’t recorded if Prince Rao’s plans were used.’” The flames had died down in the furnaces and Techno closed his book, “Golds’ done, Chat. Meaning that storytime is also finished. It’s back to mining for more supplies.” Chat started to protest and he sighed, “Chat, the fast I get this done, the faster we can get Dream’s head rolling off of him...and I guess also save Tommy.” This shut up the voices and Techno tried to ignore a cold chill that traveled down his spine.

Somewhere, a child was forgetting what a real hug was and was replacing that with the brash feeling of bandages.

Ranboo spat out a piece of blood as he stared with narrow eyes at Phil. The other stood across from him, wings spread out fully, and a staff in hand. Said staff was as tall as Philza and had a pearly-white base with gold wrapped around it. At the top sat a dark purple orb that floated ever so slightly. “Again,” Philza said quickly before jumping at Ranboo. The ender hybrid responded by also lunging at his opponent. The staff glowed with white light as lightning-like magic shot at Ranboo. He ducked and tried to focus on finding a weak spot. Just as Ranboo got close enough to Phil, the elder smacked him down with the butt-end of the staff. “Alright, break time,” Philza called as he helped Ranboo up. The younger one gladly took the help and muttered a thanks as the two carefully made their way back to the cabin. They opened the door and a pink blur rushed past Phil and rammed right into Ranboo. He repressed a wince and scooped up Michael, “Hi, Michael. Did you miss me?”

“ ‘M Boo,” the toddler oinked. Ranboo positively beamed at Michael, “I missed you too buddy.” Tubbo groaned off to the side, “I’m still salty that ‘Boo’ was his first word in English.” Phil laughed at the small family’s antics as he went to grab some bandages and energy replenishers. Ranboo moved over to Tubbo and sat down next to them, letting Michael down carefully in the process, “So how well was I doing that time, Phil?” The man in question turned around, “Better than before, you definitely lasted longer, but you keep focusing on taking me down before healing yourself,” He answered honestly. Ranboo’s body creaked at the mention of healing. “Your fighting skills are already better than most people here but that's without magic. If you get the healing down then fighting will go a million times better.”  Philza walked over to the others and gave the little Listener the replenisher. “Alright, take that and try to heal the bruises as I bandage the other wounds.” 

Ranboo nodded and closed his eyes. He could feel Philza moving things around him to start wrapping his injuries and he tried to focus on the bruises. He mentally scanned his body, trying to visualize where the bruises were, and paid attention to the spots that pulsed with pain. When Phil had originally taught him stagnant healing magic, he described what color went with which injury. Blueish-purple meant bruises, sickly green meant infection, light red was shallow cuts and scrapes, dark red meant deeper wounds, blue meant water burns and orange meant fire burns, and tar-like purple meant magic. The areas that the bruises were pulsed with their corresponding color. It was a light show on Ranboo’s mental body. As if he’d been splashed with paint, his body was mixed with all sorts of light red and blueish-purple with a hint of tar-purple. It amazed him every time he tried healing magic. Ranboo focused on the blueish-purple on his mental body, the colors glowing ever so slightly, and his hands glowed green and red. He carefully pressed his hands to the bruises. The colors faded and became overcome by red and green.

As he worked on the bruises he watched as the other colors of his wounds receded. Ranboo finished healing the last bruise and opened his eyes. Tubbo was leaning on him, using him as a pillow, and had fallen asleep. Michael was playing with Steve, the polar bear being very gentle with the toddler. Philza was putting away the extra bandages and humming a song long forgotten by most. “Jeez, how long did I take to heal up?” Ranboo jokingly asked. Phil chuckled, “Not that long, actually. Tubbo must have just been tired and Michael is, well, a toddler. I’m also starting to think that Steve isn’t a boy with how careful they’re being with the kid, pretty sure male polar bears don’t care about young enough to be careful with them.” He looked over at the polar bear in question, Steve now curled around a sleeping Michael in a protective manner. “Oh...no that- that actually makes a lot of sense,” Ranboo nodded slowly. The smell of food being cooked made his stomach make a loud growl and he realized just how hungry he was.

Phil laughed at the sound before holding up a pot of stew and nodded to the dinner table, “You two get ready to eat. The stew should be done soon.” Ranboo mumbled his thanks before getting Tubbo up and over to the table. True to Phil’s words, the food was ready and passed around. “So, how do you feel,” Tubbo questioned as they shoveled a questionable amount of stew in their mouth. “Better after I’ve healed. Just a bit tired, I guess,” Ranboo shrugged and glanced over at Phil who was reading an old book. “Wilbur has been making the Hive sing some of his songs so that’s been fun,” He chuckled as he ate a normal amount of stew. “ Listen, ‘Your New Boyfriend’ would have smashed if I was still kicking ,” Wilbur retaliated in his head, making him almost choke on his stew.

The other two gave him looks before shrugging, “he said, and I quote, ‘Your New Boyfriend would have smashed if I was still kicking’, and it caught me off guard.” Philza laughed, a small hint of sorrow mixed in it, “Wouldn’t expect any less.” The meals carried on, half-witted banter mixed with genuine remarks, and Ranboo didn’t want it to end. This was a nice bubble of false reality and he basked in it, knowing it wouldn’t last. Wilbur chipped into the conversation a couple of times, old stories and memories, but never took over and Ranboo was quite thankful. “ Hey, Ranboo, ” Wilbur whispered. Ranboo hummed as a response and half paid attention. “ Ranboo this is actually serious. Someone else is in here ,” That got him to attention. “S-sorry, guys, if I seem to space out right now. Wilbur needs me,” he said, rushed. The other two nodded, “Is everything ok,” Philza asked and all he could do was shrug, “I’m about to find out.”

“ Ranboo! Ranboo why is XD here?! ” Well shit, that’s not good. Ranboo quickly stood up, slamming his knee on the table in his haste, and rushed downstairs. “Enderwalk,” Ranboo gasped out as he reached the basement before the villagers. “ Enderwalk? The fuck is that ,” Wilbur asked, clearly getting worried. The Hive was also started to get freaked out. “I...I hear Dream’s voice and sometimes I go into this state where I can’t remember anything and I do things that I don’t like,” his words were rushed as he explained. He found a spot to sit down and block himself in before the familiar inky chill returned. D’aw, spoking him is part of the fun, Wilbur! You ruined the surprise! A voice said, unkind and sickly fake. No matter, I just have a message. Well- Really it’s a memory from Dream. “I don’t- I don’t want it…” Ranboo muttered and XD laughed, harsh and cruel, This wasn’t an option. A blazing hot sensation took over his body and soon an image appeared in his mind.

It was Tommy. The tanuki was battered and bruised with two chains holding him down from escaping. He had a rag-like bandana around his eyes and his face was stained with both blood and tears. The teen looked sickly pale and skinny, more than before, and was covered in stains. Most of them were blood but some looked to be vomit. The room looked terribly like Ranboo’s panic room except for the sad excuse for food and lack of signs. Tommy’s skin was barely shown, having bandages covering most of it, but the parts that did were discolored and mangled. His legs looked to be just as destroyed and haphazardly healed. Just by looking at him, Ranboo could tell Tommy would take a long while before he could walk properly. The main wound sat nicely on the outside of the upper part of his knee all the way to his mid-thigh. The worst part was that the memory carried feelings of pride from Dream. It made him want to puke.

“ Oh, Toms, what did he do to you… ” Wilbur said, making Ranboo tear his eyes away from the mental image. We’re doing what exile couldn’t! To be honest, it wasn’t the original plan but it helps. Ranboo could feel XD looking at him but he couldn’t see the voice, See you soon, Blood Prince. The memory zipped away and it felt as if Ranboo had a limb torn from his body. A distorted vwoop left the enderhybrid and soon everything went in a purple haze. Then...cold. Very cold. In fact, it felt like he was burning. “ Ranboo! You’re in snow! You teleported! ” Wilbur’s yells were drowned out by a new hum. The hum was full of gibberish. The gibberish turned into a chant. The chant turned into cries and cheers. They all screamed the same thing. 

⏚l⍜⍜d ⎎o⍀ th⟒ ⏚oo⌰⎅ ⌿⍀⟟nc⟒!

It didn’t scare him, not like how XD did. It encouraged him. It fueled him. It overwhelmed him but he didn’t fear the feeling. The gibberish was clearing up and he could hear the words. The cheers came from all over and as he looked around he could see them. Endermen teleported from around the fields and screamed their cries and cheers. None of them got close but they all looked at him. Ranboo felt his wings raise as he stood still. The burns of the snow faded away, disappearing as if he was healing them. One Enderman had picked up something that caught his eyes. It glimmered in the setting sun and shone in the rising moon. His crown sat in the other’s hands and soon others crowded them. It took him a second to figure out what was happening till he saw how they’d cleaned it. The crowd dispersed and the original enderman made their way to Ranboo. He tilted his head down as if he was on autopilot and the mob placed the crown on his head. The cried turned to join the cheers and as Ranboo looked up he joined them

B̶l̷o̸o̷d̸ ̷f̴o̴r̵ ̸t̴h̴e̷ ̷B̸l̵o̶o̴d̶ ̸P̶r̵i̷n̵c̵e̵

The cheers slowed back into gibberish, the gibberish turned into the hum, and one by one the other Endermen teleported away. “ The fuck was that?! ” Wilbur’s yell snapped the young enderhybrid out of the trance. “I...I wish I could tell you-” He was cut off by a very distressed Philza, “Mate, are you okay?!” Ranboo looked at the other and just starred, clearly out of it. “They...they kept chanting- cheering actually. It….⏚⌰⍜⍜⎅ ⎎⍜⍀ ⏁⊑⟒ ⏚⌰⍜⍜⎅ ⌿⍀⟟⋏☊⟒. I can’t explain it,” He tried as Philza scooped him up. “You were in the snow! You’ve got to have...burns…” That's when they notice the lack of wounds. Ranboo had healed not only the water burns but most, if not all, of the injuries from training. “P-phil we need to get Tommy,” Ranboo said as he remembered what had caused this. “XD- he...he...Tommy looks so broken. He was so skinny and pale and oh my Prime the blood. He- XD showed me a memory from Dream and it...it was awful,” He tremored, the cold and memory of the image wrecking his body. 

Tubbo stood on the small bridge as he watched, “We’ve gotta get going then.” Philza shook his head, “Techno needs to bring back-” Tubbo cut him off, “So we go help Techno. This is my best friend that’s in trouble and I won’t stand around anymore.” Ranboo and Phil looked at Tubbo in surprise. Both couldn’t deny the fire that burned in their eyes and the winged hybrid sighed, “Grab armor, tools, and some food then meet me at the portal. I’ll message Techno and bring him up to speed.” Tubbo nodded and watched Phil trident away. “Let’s go save Tommy, bossman,” the moobloom hybrid smiled and Ranboo smiled back, “Alright.”

Techno stood idly next to the portal and waited for the other three. Chat was screaming about this being a family trip and he honestly wished they’d go back to begging for stories. The portal swirled and out came the small trio, “I was almost finished so with your guy’s help, we should be good to go,” Techno explained as they walked to his mine. If anything it looked like a huge pit with supports. It was obvious that he was mining the four sides to expose as many resources as possible in a similar area. “Seeing how I’m here now, I can start to enchant the netherite to the strength we’ll need it,” Philza offered, “Everyone, well everyone who’s willing to come, have been getting their own supplies so I’ll be able to upgrade it when we’re ready to leave.” The group paused and Chat started to calm down, thankfully. “Well...let’s hop to it!” Tubbo proclaimed and began mining where Techno left off.

“Okay, Ranboo you take the left wall. Phil, you take the back wall and I’ll work on this wall. Keep mining clockwise so it stays even,” the piglin hybrid instructed and the two nodded before getting to work. They all had their coms on in case of issues and to keep the other’s sane. As they dug, the banter was tossed into the coms. Every time Ranboo found some debris, his hivemind made bets on how much along with Tubbo, blue kept winning for most of the time. Philza had multiple crows visit him and chat, not like anyone else could understand the crows. Tubbo would jokingly flirt with Ranboo and get incredibly flustered when they realized Phil and Techno were still on the call -” Hey sexy, are you a filing cabinet because I want to store my legal documents in you” “Tubbo, it is taking me incredible will power to not smite you down” “Oh fuck! Shit! You two are still-!”- Phil had jokingly mentioned that Ranboo’s memory issues were rubbing off on Tubbo which started a ‘Memory Boy’ chant from Chat. It was chaotic. It was loud. It was safe. The deadly silence had been killed by two teenage husbands and Death’s personal angel and Techno couldn’t ask for anything more.

Hours passed and soon they had everything they needed. “Alright,” Philza spoke as they grabbed the last pieces of netherite, “let's message everyone about getting ready to leave. Techno, can you do it? I’m going to be enchanting the ingots to withstand the Deep End.” Technoblade nodded with a huff and opened his communicator as the group walked to spawn.

[Technoblade]: Meet by the Watcher Portal. 

[Technoblade]: Bring your best armor, and yes Quackity that means you can’t be naked, it’s time.

[Technoblade]: Those who don’t wish to come need to stay behind and guard the portal in case we come back quickly or something wanders in.

[Technoblade]: Phil needs to enchant your armor for you to survive in the Deep End.

They all entered the portal and arrived at spawn before making it to the bench. The netherite Phil had was turning into odd algae green color and glowed slightly, “Okay, most, if not all, of our netherite has been enchanted and fixed,” the winged man said. “Cool, cool, cool,” Ranboo muttered, nerves clearly showing, “that’s really...that’s good.” Phil looked at Ranboo before turning to Techno, who just shrugged, grabbed the finished ore, and walked over to the portal to wait for everyone, and he just sighed. “Hey, Ranboo,” Phil said, making the ender hybrid jump a mile, “I need to talk to you for a second. Watcher Listener stuff, ya’ know?” The other nodded and meekly followed Phil. They moved over to the shack that was Ninja’s house, “I need to teach you the spell for opening the portal.”

“Oh...o-oh!” Ranboo’s eyes widened but there wasn’t fear in them, it was a mix of excitement and surprise. Phil nodded and held up a free hand, “now don’t do it right now but I’m going to show you the steps, minus the magic. You first need to imagine the portal, so think about the shape of a broken nether portal. Then imagine the world you want to go to. Because you can’t remember the Deep End and we really don’t know where Dream is, try to imagine Tommy. Visualize him to the best of your ability, alright. Once you have a solid grasp of the place you want to go and the shape of your portal, draw the portal in the air with your hand, like this,” Phil mimicked the portal’s shape near the bench and Ranboo nodded. “This might take a lot of energy out of you but I’ll make sure to assist.” Phil smiled up at the other, “you got this, mate.” The little listener hummed, “Yeah...yeah I got this…”

Phil chuckled, “That’s the spirit! Let’s head back, everyone is here, I think.” The two stepped out of the shack and just as Phil said, everyone had shown up. Those in armor clearly told him who was fighting and who was staying. “Alright everybody, listen up! I need to upgrade your armor to something better. The Deep End is mostly civil however it is common for people to get attacked that aren’t naturally born there. We also do not know where the portal will open up and being in a Void Pocket is borderline deadly without maxed out armor.” Without missing a beat, Techno held up the armor he’d made with the green ore, “This is called Watcher Armor,” the piglin hybrid explained, “It wasn’t made for Watchers but against them by a team of high ranked mages. It was going to be added into the main worlds but was dubbed too powerful by even popular worlds, such as Hypixel.” The crowd of people nodded and one by one Philza fixed their armor. 

Now, with everyone kitted out in green glowing armor, Phil looked to Ranboo. Ranboo had his armor on and seemed to be having a one-way conversion. ‘ Talking with Wilbur, most likely ’, Phil reasoned. He made his way over and gently tapped Ranboo’s shoulder, “A-ah, oh, hey Phil. Is it time?” The shorter man nodded, “we’ve got this, alright.” Everyone was quietly talking to themselves, enjoying the small calm before the storm, as Ranboo and Philza made their way over to the portal. “Okay, a show of hands, who is staying here?” Bad, Ant, Punz, and Ponk raised their hands which caused Foolish, Puffy, Sam, and Fundy to raise their hands. “You guys have to watch this portal when we are gone, okay? Make sure to also keep up medical supplies for when we get back.” Puffy jokingly saluted and smiled, “You got it, Philza.”

He nodded and took a deep breath before looking at Ranboo, “Let’s do this, mate.” Philza repeated what he’d said before in Ninja’s house and Ranboo followed each instruction as Phil started to recite a spell. Ranboo’s left hand glowed red as his right glowed green. His body seemed to be covered in end particles and a taller, more monstrous form took place. He had to grown to almost double the size in the portal and two new pairs of floating dragon wings appeared. His horns grew even more and his crown followed in suit. Ranboo’s hands turned to claws yet they still glowed. He wasn’t alone. Philza had shifted into his Watcher form, multiple pairs of eyes looked everywhere before landing on the portal. The portal glowed with neon greens and reds with a hint of darker green. As they opened their eyes the portal burst with life and Ranboo saw his form.

Don’t worry, Ranboo , Philza said, stuck using his Watcher voice. The sounds sending a chill down everyone’s spine. Guess that’s what your Listener form is, the ex-Watcher chuckled and Ranboo smiled softly, the corners of his mouth quirking up slightly. ⌰⍜⌰, ⟟⋔⏃☌⟟⋏⟒ ⎅⟒☊⍜⎅⟟⋏☌ ⏃ ⋔⟒⌇⌇⏃☌⟒ ⎎⍜⍀ ⏃ ⎎⟟☊. Phil shrugged, Ah, that might be an issue. Ranboo, you can understand me, right? Ranboo nodded confusedly, ⊬⟒⏃⊑, ⏁⊑⟒⍀⟒'⌇ ⋏⍜⏁⊑⟟⋏☌ ⊑⟒⍀⟒ ⏁⊑⏃⏁ ⍀⏃⋏⏚⍜⍜ ⟟⌇ ⌇⏃⊬⟟⋏☌. Techno stood up to the portal, “Alright we get it, you’re the main character! Now can we go back to our normal sizes so we don’t cause the server another heart attack? Phil cackled but turned back quickly.  ⊬⍜ ⟟ ⋔⏃⎅⟒ ⏃ ⊬⏁ ⌿⌰⏃⊬⌰⟟⌇⏁ ⎎⍜⍀ ⏃⋏ ⎍⌿☊⍜⋔⟟⋏☌ ☊⊑⏃⌿⏁⟒⍀.  Ranboo said, turning back just a bit slower,  ⟟'⌰⌰ ⌰⟒⏃⎐⟒ ⏁⊑⏃⏁ ⟟⋏ ⏁⊑⟒ ⟒⋏⎅⋏⍜⏁⟒⌇ “ -as weird!” 

“Fuck this,” said a sudden Tubbo, “if we don’t start kicking some homeless muppet ass soon I will just launch nukes in rage,” they half-joked. Ranboo just chuckled lightly before turning to Phil, “are we all in the clear to go through?” The elder nodded, “I’ll go first, followed by Ranboo,” he turned to face everyone, “Techno and Tubbo will go in after then everyone else follows. Two at a time in case the portal sends everyone to different locations.” A chorus of agreement filled the air and Ranboo hugged Tubbo, “Let’s go get our favorite raccoon boy,” he smiled before pulling away and following Phil. The portal’s colors swirled around his head and a new feeling of cold washed over him.

 ̸“̸T̶h̶i̸s̷ ̶i̶s̴ ̶a̵m̵a̶z̴i̴n̸g̶,̶ ̵D̸r̶e̴a̴m̶!̵”̷ ̵T̶h̶e̸ ̵o̴t̶h̸e̶r̸ ̸n̷o̷d̸d̵e̴d̵ ̷a̷n̸d̵ ̸c̴h̵u̷c̵k̴l̸e̴d̴,̵ ̷“̸I̶ ̵k̵n̵e̶w̴ ̴y̷o̴u̴ ̸w̶o̴u̵l̷d̸ ̴l̸i̸k̴e̶ ̶i̶t̸.̴ ̵I̷ ̵h̵a̸v̶e̸ ̷a̵ ̵l̵o̶t̵ ̵o̸f̸ ̷t̷r̶u̸s̴t̵ ̶i̴n̵ ̷y̵o̶u̸,̵ ̴s̴o̴,̷”̶ ̷h̸e̵ ̸s̵t̵o̵o̶d̷ ̴u̴p̶,̴ ̵“̸w̸o̵u̶l̸d̷ ̶y̵o̶u̶ ̴l̶i̸k̵e̸ ̸t̷o̷ ̴s̶e̴e̷ ̶o̸u̷t̵s̴i̶d̸e̸ ̸y̴o̶u̸r̸ ̵r̴o̷o̸m̵?̷”̷

̷

̸B̵e̶f̵o̸r̷e̵ ̵T̴o̴m̶m̶y̷ ̷c̶o̸u̷l̷d̴ ̴r̴e̶s̷p̴o̷n̷d̸ ̸t̸h̵e̶r̸e̵ ̸w̵a̶s̸ ̸a̵ ̶f̷l̴a̸s̶h̶ ̵o̷f̷ ̶b̵r̶i̸g̴h̶t̷ ̸r̶e̷d̸ ̶a̷n̶d̵ ̷g̴r̸e̴e̷n̷.̶ ̸A̶ ̵p̴o̸r̸t̷a̸l̸ ̶t̸h̸a̶t̸ ̴l̶o̸o̴k̴e̸d̴ ̴l̵i̶k̶e̶ ̷t̵h̶e̷ ̷o̵n̸e̶ ̵o̵n̴ ̸t̷h̷e̸i̴r̶ ̸m̸a̴s̵k̶s̶ ̵a̶p̸p̶e̵a̷r̴e̴d̸.̸ ̸A̸ ̷s̶i̶n̴g̷l̵e̸ ̸g̴l̵o̶w̸i̷n̷g̵ ̸c̷o̵m̴p̴a̴s̷s̶ ̶h̶e̶l̷d̷ ̷o̵n̵ ̴a̴ ̵s̶c̷a̵r̴r̴e̵d̴ ̸h̸a̷n̸d̴ ̶w̸a̵s̷ ̴t̶h̸e̸ ̴f̶i̷r̷s̷t̶ ̴t̴h̶i̶n̷g̶ ̷o̵u̶t̵ ̶o̷f̸ ̴t̸h̶e̶ ̶p̷o̴r̵t̷a̴l̷.̸

Chapter Text

Dream was going to scream . He had just started to break Tommy and the stupid Listener’s gang appeared! They only took four overword days. He could give them credit, though, it was impressive. He thought it would take at least a few more days but it didn’t matter anymore, they were here. Tommy clung to Dream’s side and he smiled slyly under his mask. Maybe he broke Tommy more than the younger one let on. Ranboo and Philza step out first only to be followed by Technoblade and Tubbo. Greeeeaaaat, even more pests. Dream thought angrily. He looked at the ender hybrid and saw, no, felt the power difference. “So the half n’ half hybrid is a Listener,” Dream taunted bitterly. 

“Oh buzz off, XD,” Philza spoke. Weird, Dream assessed, Why isn’t he using his Watcher form? He doesn’t think he can fight me without- His thought process had stopped as he watched the rest of the people spill out. Ah, they think with all of them they can defeat me. He chuckled darkly and felt Tommy shrink beside him in fear, recognizing what laugh this was like a trained dog to a whistle. That gave Dream an idea, “Tommy, would you like to test out your new mask?” Tommy immediately looked up at Dream and nodded. Dream grabbed Tommy’s hand and started to draw a spell, “I want you to move your hand like this and aim at the bad guy,” he instructed quickly. Phil had recognized what Dream was doing and extended his wing to cover everyone, “Guys get back! That a highly explosive spell-” the ex-Watcher was cut off by Tommy getting a direct hit on the wing.

Phil yelled as the spell hit, igniting his wing in a golden-red flame. Dream's smile widened as he realized the untapped will of power he had standing next to him. “Tommy, I want you to take on the black and white endermen and I’ll fight the other, okay?’ Tommy nodded and the spell again. Dream turned to Phil and the group and smiled sharply, “You see, this is my palace. I have more than just a child working for me.” A door opened in a statue like guards moved in. They looked like angels with large staffs and no halo. Each had three sets of wings and two heads. One head had a mask on it with the Watcher symbol and one head had a sad, almost screaming, face on it. “I’d like you to meet One and Two, fallen Watchers that got turned to statues by one of their own. Now, they work for me,” Dream explained and three figures launched forwards. Tommy lunged at Ranboo and the statues launched at the group.

Tommy grunted as his arm recoiled back from his flames. Ranboo’s body had changed, now supporting an extra pair of wings and tree branches like horns. He was speaking but Tommy couldn’t understand the gibberish. He aimed the spell at Ranboo’s head before going in for a punch. The punch landed with a sick crack and Ranboo got shoved back. The Listener hybrid spat out some green blood and glared at Tommy. He froze. Why could his body move? Why did he feel stuck to the floor? He needed to move! He’d locked eyes with Ranboo’s. The eyes themselves had lost their pupils and had started to glow slightly. The hybrid opened his mouth and no one could cover their ears in time to block out the elderwitch screech the Listener let out.

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The Listener’s head shoot up along with their wife’s. They looked at each other and nodded. “That was him, wasn’t it? I’ve been feeling his energy spike near that Watchers. You don’t think…” Queen Nakao trailed off only for Listener Aditsan to continue it, “that he’s fighting that thing? I do, my love. It would explain the flux in powers in that region. We need to call for help and see it for ourselves.” The queen nodded and rushed off to grab the elite guards and Aditsan opened the family armor cabinet. Black armor glistened with a blue shine stared back at the Listener. The armor had been reserved only for this moment. They carefully gilded the arm pieces on, which was then followed buy the chestplate. Spikes in the shoulders pointed out from their face. Their wings escaped from the holes in the back and soon they put on the rest.

They glistened with the armor and made their way out. Nakao stood outside their door with a group of five guards and Aster. “Aster, I know you want to-” they started only to be cut off by the younger dragonic hybrid, “No, your highness. I cannot let you risk your life for my Prince and my friend without my help. I am coming with.” Aditsan paused before huffing fondly and softly smiling, “of course,” Queen Nakao turned to face everyone else, “Today, readings of a Watcher versus Listener  battle has broken out. This is between Watcher DreamXD, with the use of player Clay’s body as a host, and the young Blood Prince. Energy of the Blood God and Angel of Death have also been picked up so be on the lookout for that. A new Watcher aura was also created at the time of the fight so it is possible that XD has also converted a player,” she relayed, a holographic gold screen floated around her with graphs and ever changing words. 

“Head northeast for 5000 blocks then take a sharp turn east and go straight till you see the Watcher’s palace. The battle is happening somewhere there,” Nakao looked up from her screen, “Do not fight anyone but XD, we don’t know who’s on who’s side.” A short chorus of ‘Yes Ma’am’ filled the halls. “Awe, you guys are going to leave me and save the prince by yourselves,” a new voice joined them. Two large soft purple wings expanded to reveal a dirty-blond hair man in a red sweater and jeans. The man had a white staff in one hand and a…-bird?- mask in the other hand. “And to fight Dream without me? Ads I’m wounded,” he joked. “O-oh! G! I thought you were on break?” Aditsan looked over at Xelqua in surprise. “As much as I love HC, I felt that shift in Watchers and chipped in a quick leave. So, my favorite Watcher is back, correct?” Nakao nodded, “And he’s fighting the Blood Prince.”

Xelqua cracked his knuckles, “Well then, let’s fly, right?” 

-----

After the scream, the Watcher statues crumble, leaving Dream to fight. Techno had screamed his war cry as Philza sent spells after spells at Dream. The rest tried to get close to Tommy but the only ones standing or not as harmed were Ranboo and Tubbo. Everytime a fireball had been sent at Tubbo, one of Ranboo’s many wings shielded the moobloom. “Tommy, come on! We’re friends, see!” Tubbo pleaded, only for Tommy to send another spell at them, “friends don’t leave friends alone! Dream is my only friend, you traitors.” The hivemind was crying out at Tommy, trying to think of ways to bring Tommy back 

Ranboo looked at the teen who’d been taken over and soon another voice piped up. Wilbur’s. Ranboo I need you to almost kill him. The spot is at its weakest and he’d be able to leave. He nodded, vision becoming slightly blurry with a blue haze. Wilbur was taking control of this and Ranboo was glad. The ghost would know exactly how to do this and he didn’t want to make a mistake. “G̸u̸y̴s̴,̷ ̸w̸e̴ ̸h̸a̸v̴e̶ ̴a̸ ̵p̸l̴a̴n̶!̴!” He -they- shouted. Ranboo’s voice was mixed with Wilbur’s and it echoed around the room, “T̴r̵u̷s̴t̴ ̸m̷e̴!” Somewhere he got a shout of confirmation and lunged at Tommy. His claws grabbed onto the tanuki’s sides and a sickening red liquid oozed out. Tommy struggled to get freed but soon his body went limp and the blue haze faded from Ranboo’s vision.

Ranboo held onto the limp teen and the sounds around him drizzled out. His head felt like it had been dunked under lava and his mind swam. The one thing keeping him grounded was Tommy’s slow, fuck it was so slow, breathing. Wilbur had disappeared, probably to find Tommy, and Ranboo was alone with the Hive. The Hive had been going crazy about home and how this room wasn’t it. He didn’t even hear the sound of wings and breaking walls. He just curled around his wounded friend. Ranboo would protect Tommy even if that meant kicking and screaming.

---

What the group did not expect to see was statues crumpled to dust and XD fighting Death’s Angel. Blood God’s fighting was to be expected but the others weren’t. It was clear to see that Death’s Angel had enchanted the armor to Listener Armor so sides had been cleaner to spot but it didn’t help to see the Blood Prince on the floor holding a broken player. Xelqua arrived and almost burst out laughing, a feral grin plastered on his face with no mask to hide it. “Oh hohoho oh! Dream~” The fighter sang. The Watcher in question looked up and backed away slightly at the newer additions. Death’s Angel whipped his head around and smiled, “Nice to see we’ve got Mori backup,” he said, holding off a direct attack. “On Queen’s orders of course,” Xel flew over to Death’s Angel and helped attack the Watcher, “Say, you knew Braid and Crown before me, right? They always just went on and on about you.” 

 The Angel laughed, “I called them thing one and two but yeah.” They fought like a dance. A dance of death and victory. Xelqua would send earth pillars to Dream and Death’s Angel sent fire. The Blood God kept the Watcher distracted with physical combat. The rest of the group moved to the Blood Prince. The young royal looked up at the people and let out a vwoop as he locked eyes with Aditsan. Recognition flashed through his eyes along with confusion and fear. His Listener features had died down and turned back to normal. Aster ran up to the Blood Prince with concern laced in every movement he made, “Rans, Rans it’s me! It’s Aster, do you remember me?” The Prince looked at the guard and clicked, “Asty, it hurts,” he mumbled out, tears sizzling down his face. 

“What hurts, Rao? Did you get hurt?” Prince Rao groaned as another flash of light happened near the fight. Everyone from the SMP had turned to fight Dream and many stood by the side to help heal wounded fighter. “Bright, Aster. It’s so b-bright.” Listener Aditsan moved forward to pick up Rao. He growled . “Gotta...Gotta protect Tommy,” he mustered out, body now fully wrapped around the wounded tanuki hybrid. Aditsan looked at the hybrid and called over one of the servermates. A duck hybrid with a scar down his face appeared. “Take the wounded one, the one you call Tommy. He’s alive but barely,” the Listener instructed. The hybrid nodded before looking at Rao. “Hey, Ranboo, buddy. It’s Quackity. I’ll take Tommy home okay?” He said softly. Rao nodded and let Quackity take Tommy. He ran off into the swirling portal. 

Rao groaned again and both turned their attention on the Prince. “Let’s go home, my Prince,” Aster said, scooping up Rao. He went limp in his personal guard’s hold. “Listener Aditsan, call the spell. Your men need to fight the Watcher, our goal was the Prince,” a guard said, handing medical supplies to the three. Aditsan nodded and soon all that was left of the three was white and gold particles. The fight raged on and Dream screamed in frustration. “You! You’ve ruined my plans! Just die already!” He roared only for the two ex-Watchers to laugh. The Blood God landed a hit directly at Dream’s side, causing the blood thirsty Watcher to crumple. “You can kill this body. I’ll just find a new host. Are you willing to do that? Kill this man you considered a friend-” Blood spat out his mouth. A blazeborn watched as his sword fell down from Dream’s back. A heart pumped from the edge of the sword, dripping blood with every pump. 

“I warned you, Dream. If you ever attempted something I would be the one who took you last life.” Dream laughed, no... Clay laughed. “Thanks man.” The Watcher turned to dust.

A moobloom screamed, “Ranboo’s gone!”

---

Tommy struggled against the cold hands that held him in this inky void. He didn’t want to be held back anymore, he didn’t want someone else in control anymore, he didn’t want cold hands holding back his body anymore. “Toms! Tommy, it’s alright,” wait, he knew that voice. Why did he sound like him? The last time they talked he was all echoey. “It's okay, Tommy. It’s Wilbur. Not Ghostbur, not Alivebur, just Wilbur.” If Tommy could cry in this void he would. “W-wilby?” He hated how weak his voice sounded, he didn’t like sounding weak. A familiar yellow sweater appeared in front of him and the face of his dead brother looked back at him, “Come on, Toms, the ground can’t be that comfortable.” He held out a hand for Tommy to reach.

He chuckled lightly, “No...no it’s not,” before grabbing Wilbur’s hand. As he was pulled up the world around him faded into white. It should have blinded Tommy, sudden white after who knows how long in darkness, but it was comforting. Wilbur stood before him with his round glasses and dark red beanie, “Hello, Tommy. Did you miss me?” He didn’t answer. Not with words that is. Tommy quickly hugged Wilbur and let a surprised gasp when his arms connected with the others body. Wilbur’s laugh filled the maybe-room with an echo. The place seemed larger with the reverb of their voices. “I’ve missed you too, Toms. I wish we didn’t meet like this, though.”

“I...I’m so sorry. I should have been stronger! I should have realized sooner that-” Tommy gasped out, tear finally falling. Wilbur shushed him, “hey, hey, it’s alright. You did your best, big man.” Tommy only cried harder, both in grief and joy. “Y-yeah but I left Tubbo! I left Sam Nook! I left everyone because I wasn’t strong enough!” Wilbur softly ran his fingers in Tommy’s hair and held the younger one closer. “Do you want to go back?” He asked, rubbing comforting circles on Tommy’s back. The other one nodded, “I do. The- The plan was to revive you and keep d-...That green bitch in the prison...but…” Tommy pulled away from the hug slightly to look up at the other, “Am I finally dead, Wilbur?”

“No...I...I’ve been talking with Ranboo. He somehow appeared here before you and we made a plan. I’ve been feeling a weak spot in this place and I’ve been able to watch from his perspective. When he...wounded you...he didn’t finish you. You can...you can go back, Toms.” Wilbur smiled softly at Tommy but he could see the sorrow in the smile. “Wha- no! I can’t...I can’t just leave you!” He protested. “There’s gotta be a way for you to come back too. I can’t- I-I...I can’t leave you alone again.” Tommy grabbed on to Wilbur’s sweater like a child not wanting to leave his parents. Tears streamed down his battered face and stung at unhealed cuts. Wilbur’s hand laid gently on his head, “You’re gonna need to let go, Toms. It’s going to hurt but you need to let go.”

Tommy slowly looked back up at Wilbur and noticed how his outs swapped around. L’manburg’s uniform flickered in first then Pogtopia’s outfit then the yellow sweater. “My symphony has finished, Toms, now you need to continue your’s.” The world seemed to start to slowly fade away and Tommy grasped at Wilbur. “Wilby, please- I don’t want to lose you again! I-...We’ll get you back, you hear me! You can’t...You can’t get rid of me that easily!” Tommy shouted as everything faded away. Everything started to hurt and before he woke up he swore he heard Wilbur.

“I know you won’t let me get rid of you. I’ll see you soon, Toms.”

---

Tommy woke up on a cot. The light was too bright but the air felt free. He was home. He was on the bench. 

Chapter Text

  Wilbur groaned as he opened his eyes. The room was colorless, an empty void that seemingly stretched on forever and stopped right in front of him. He stood up and almost fell over, unused to the new feeling of being weightless. His body felt suspended in air yet he could feel the ground below him. Wilbur went to yell but it died in his throat as he spotted two angel looking beings. Watchers. Not just any Watchers, Wil noted as he crept closer, Watcher One and Two. They were leaning over a slowly forming body. He couldn’t see the features as clearly but he’d definitely saw a smile etched on to an exposed arm. He backed up and covered his mouth with his hand to hide his shaky breath.

  That was DreamXD, the Watcher they’d just killed. This was it, Wil thought sourly, he’d finally died for good. It would explain the void, the lack of Mexican Dream and Shlatt, the bloody scene right in front of him. Wilbur looked down and almost screamed, the fear of alerting the Watchers stopping him, as he saw the state of his body. His hands were covered in a similar inky void as the one around him and it crept up to his elbows. His outfit had also changed. Now he had all shades of grey clothes with red and gold as his secondary colors mixed in it. The brighter colors twisted around the cloth like vines and tree branches. He had knee high boots with similar patterns but this time there were eyes and music notes littering the boots in the same red and gold. The clothing themselves were loose, baggy pants that cuffed at the boots and a baggy robe like sweater that seemingly merged into the void like tar on his hands. Wilbur looked up and suddenly the three Watchers were gone.

  “Hello, Wilbur,” a new yet familiar voice called to him. He looked behind himself and stared at Death herself. “I bet you’re a tiny bit confused, huh?” Lady Kristin hummed with a soft smile. “M-mom! I...yeah what is going on?” Wilbur sputtered as he looked back down at his hands. Death laughed kindly, “Well, when Philza and I had you we knew there would be a high chance you would be mortal. So we had a plan in place. Have you ever heard of the Voices?”

---

  Ranboo didn’t make any sounds as he returned to the Mori Kingdom, his kingdom. His world was spinning at that concept again. First, Wilbur had completely disappeared, which Ranboo hoped that didn’t mean Tommy had actually died. Then he was being called Prince Rao or Blood Prince and it felt off but still right. Like he’d been called that before. Honestly, that’s what the whole trip felt like. He was remembering things about the Mori Kingdom as he traveled with Listener Aditsan and Aster and a few guards. The trip was silent, most of the sounds came from magic being used to heal. He’d remembered the day DreamXD had kidnapped him from his kingdom. Ranboo griminaced as he thought about it again. Aster sent him a look but he just he just shakily gave the other a thumbs up. He’d remembered his attachment to the dragonic hybrid but not the memories that gave the feelings, It felt like only an hour since they started traveling but apparently it was half a day. 

  Right, the time shift. A day in the Overworld was a month in the Deep End. Ranboo knew it wouldn’t take long in the Overworld for his friends to make a new plan but it would definitely feel like forever for him. A large castle came into view, his castle. The place had a charming mix of dark stone walls and light roofs. The kingdom’s flag hung on tall spires; white, gold, and red dancing in winds Ranboo couldn’t feel. The group landed down on a platform and in seconds Ranboo was swamped by maids and workers tending to him. “Welcome back, Blood Prince,” said a chorus of royal workers. He chuckled nervously, unnerved by how in sync the welcome was, reminding him of a movie Tubbo made him watch. Tubbo...oh god he left Tubbo. Tears stung at his eyes but he played it off as happy tears for returning. He nodded to the workers and medics fussed over him as he walked inside. The throne room looked exactly like it did in his memories and it filled him with legitimate joy. 

  “Prince Rao, your royal outfit is waiting for you in your room. Please follow me,” A tall maid said. He nodded and followed the maid with Aster following behind. He thought it would be weird, having someone following him silently but it just reminded him of his friends back at home. Home was a funky thing now. He didn’t know what to consider as home. On one hand he had the kingdom and on the other he had the SMP. Here he could feel he had spent his life before the SMP, as if the roots of his childhood could be felt through the fog of his mind. Then the SMP had memories of friends and new family and memories he could remember. They arrive at a large door with similar markings of those in his memories. 

  “Here is your room, my Prince,” The maid before opening the door, “I shall leave you alone with your guard.” She turned to leave as Ranboo entered he room, “It’s great to see you home again, Blood Prince.” The door closed behind the two and they looked at each other. “So...What’s Miss.Straight Posture’s deal?” Ranboo said suddenly, as if reciting a memory. Aster bursted out laughing and Ranboo couldn’t help but join in. Ranboo reached out to grab the nearby bed frame to support himself as the dragonic hybrid leaned on a table. “You know, those are the exact words you said about her before you disappeared?” Aster said between giggles. Ranboo smiled, “I didn’t, actually. It just felt right to say it, I guess,” he said, getting a weird sense of Deja Vu. 

  Like an echo of the past coming back up, Ranboo wasn’t himself, but watching a younger version of himself and Aster. “Miss Straight Posture got mad at me for sneaking out again,” the younger version of him said. Tiny Aster wrapped a wing around Tiny Ranboo in a comforting way, “Hey! We can go out together and say that you wanted to check out the town! That way she can’t get mad if I’m there.” Small Ranboo smiled and nodded before running off. The burnt memory tape faded off and he was back in the present. Aster waved a hand in front of Ranboo, “Hello? Mori to void surfer,” Ranboo shooed off the hand. “Sorry was just...remembering something.”

  “Oh right! Your memory is foggy because you weren’t connected to the Deep End anymore,” Aster said like he’d just figured out a world shattering discovery, “Guess we’ll see a lot more of those space outs.” Ranboo just shrugged before grabbing his outfit, “i’ll get changed...can you?” The dragonic hybrid paused before nodding, “I’ll be outside the door, grab me when you’re done.” And with that he left Ranboo alone with the Mori kingdom’s outfit. He put it on. It resembled the outfit Philza and Technoblade wore but had lighter colors. Gold danced along a pearly white fur lining. The outfit had a fur lined cloak but was a fancy suit without it. The suit had gold, real gold , buttons and mini chains along with golden threads sewn into a white waistcoat vest. The top coak had the Mori Kingdom’s crest in the white. The pants were just normal pants that had thin layers of armor sewn into it, same with the rest of the outfit. It felt expensive and weirdly familiar. “Alright, Asty,” the nickname rolled off Ranboo’s tongue, “i’m finished.” Aster walked in and his jaw dropped, “You look just like your prince self,” he said with a small smile. Ranboo couldn’t help but smile along, “time to act the part, I guess.” 

  Queen Nakao knocked on the door before opening it, “If you’re ready,” she noted the outfit and smiled softly, “We wanted to hold an announcement of your return to the people, Rao. If you think you’re up to it, the people would love to see you up on the balcony with us.” Ranboo nodded, ears flicking at the new name Rao. He guessed it wasn’t really new, seeing how it was his original name, but it still felt odd. “Y-yeah, sure I don’t mind joining. Can Aster be there or…?” Nakao nodded, “Aster may be there. I’ll have a maid come grab you once it’s time.” And with that she left. Ranboo sighed, “I keep thinking everything is going too fast but I’m so used to the overworld times.” The dragonic hybrid hummed, “Hey, want to talk about your experience in the overworld?” He perked up and nodded.

  “So, ironically, I got platonically married,” Ranboo started, knowing that it was the weirdest start. Aster reacted much like how he expected. “I...okay before you ask, yes I know what platonic means, but what?!” He flapped his wings, going in the air slightly before landing. Aster shook Ranboo and he just laughed, “I thought you saw the ring on the horn?!” Aster shook his head, “I thought it was just decoration! I didn’t think you got married. Platonic or not that’s not something you expect!” Ranboo smirked, “and guess what,” Aster stopped and looked at Ranboo, “what?”

“I have a son.”

  Aster practically exploded, “you have a son!? Wait- biological or?” Ranboo shook his head, blushing slightly, “nonononono! Adopted. He's a zombie piglin that we found in the nether that was lost. A runt that was left behind.” The other nodded. Ranboo sighed as he glanced around his room, “They would have loved this castle. If I’m ever allowed to leave, I’ll have to bring them here.”

  A new maid entered the room, “Prince Rao, you are needed on the front balcony. I will accompany you on your way there.” Ranboo and Aster looked at each other before looking back at the maid and following her. They walked out of the large room and into a long hallway. It was filled with pictures of all the rulers and Ranboo noted the pictures mostly only had one ruler and one heir. Occasionally he would see an added king or queen but those paintings were rare. He fidgeted with his outfit, being handed a cloak lined with fur. The cloak was white with black gems littered in the fur, gold chains hung at the front to help hold the cloak on his shoulders. It reminded him a lot like Technoblade’s cloak only it was actually a royal one. They arrived at two large doors with guards holding spears to ward people away. The bowed at Ranboo’s arrival and two maids opened the door. Listener Aditsan and Queen Nakao looked over at him with soft smiles and before he even stood on the balcony he heard cheers.

------

  Tubbo paced around. It had been two days since they got Tommy and two days since they lost Ranboo. Philza hadn’t left his house in that time, focusing on how to get Ranboo back. The issue was this wasn’t like XD’s place, this was an actual castle that had actual defences for. They couldn’t just wander in. Plus, with Philza’s past status of being a Watcher would easily give them all away. Even if they got in there’s no telling if Ranboo would want to come back. For them it was only two days but for him, it was months. Tubbo shook his head, trying to be rid of those thoughts. Ranboo would come back. His mind was just thinking of worst case scenarios. He heard a knock on the door, “Give me a second,” he yelled as he made his way over.

Technoblade.

  “Hello, anarchy.” Tubbo said jokingly, receiving a fond huff, “well hello to you too, Government.” It had become a weird thing. With both of them wanting to get Ranboo back, they had pushed their differences behind them for now and somewhere along the way a platonic marriage might have been discovered between a certain moobloom and ender boy. Techno had, at first, felt betrayed that someone he trusted married the government but then he remembered how happy Ranboo had been before all this went down and he stopped. Ranboo never liked sides, he liked people, Tubbo was one of the people he picked and Techno was just going to have to live with that. “Got any news,” Tubbo said, letting Techno into the house and out of the cold. The piglin shrugged, “If you count a time and date as news then yeah,” the grin didn’t go unnoticed. Tubbo whipped around to face Techno and felt his own grin growing, “You mean we have a plan?” The other nodded, “Phil needs to find a new end portal for this to work and we all leave-”

  “The fuck is all this then?” A tired Tommy appeared below the floor, holding onto a ladder. That was also new. Tubbo didn’t want Tommy to be alone anymore and all but forced the tanuki hybrid to live with him. They already had so many guest rooms in the soon-to-be mansion so Tommy could still be close by. Techno and Tommy locked eyes and a new side of Tommy took over. He stayed silent, watching the other’s movements carefully, and was ready to run the second he needed too. A moment later and it was gone as Tommy continued up the ladder, “fuck this, I’m hanging out with Michael, Big Mike.” Tubbo chuckled at his friend’s antics, “Have fun.” Techno cleared his throat, “as I was saying. We leave in three days. Philza is collecting maps from traders and I’m collecting blaze rods. The maps will help once we’re near the portal but besides that we only have ender eyes.” Tubbo nodded. 

  With that Techno turned to leave, “Thanks for letting me know, I’ll tell Tommy and others I think who would like to join,” Tubbo said, standing at the door. Techno gave him a thumbs up and left through the tunnels. Tubbo ran back inside and popped his head into Michael’s room. Tommy was playing with Michael and telling stories of old L’manburg. “-And then Tubbo and I ran past him, grabbing on to the discs!” Tubbo knocked on the floor, alerting the two to his presence, “Tommy,” he started, “Tommy, we have a date for when we get Ranboo back,” he grinned. Tommy stopped what he was doing and shot up, “no fucking way. Really?!” Tubbo nodded, now standing up in the room. Tommy ran at him, full force, and hugged him tightly. “We’re gonna get him back and never fucking let go, got it?” Tubbo nodded, chuckling lightly, “got it.”

Chapter Text

 He clutched his head, an unbearable headache had made its filthy way into his head. It had been days since the welcome back ceremony and he added a tally to his book. Ranboo stumbled back into his bed and groaned as his head hit his pillow. No matter how soft the royal pillows were, his head throbbed as it landed. He hadn’t turned on the lights yet nor opened his blinds and laid in the darkness. The dark helped calmed the headache down slightly but not enough. He was sick. He knew he was sick. It started with a headache but would soon turn into a stomachache and he was already feeling the effects in his stomach. Ranboo heard a knock at the door and just laid in the bed; uncomfortable and gross feeling. The door opened and Aster popped his head in. “Rans? Are you in-” his sentence cut off, “you smell sick.”

   He groaned from the bed, “what does that even mean,” Ranboo said with a whine. Aster made his way over to Ranboo’s bed, “Dragonborns, or dragonics, have a great sense of smell and you,” he lifted the covers and Ranboo shrunk down to chase the warmth of the blankets, “smell very sick.” Aster placed his hand on Ranboo’s forehead, causing the other to flinch at the contact, before pulling his hand away, “Rans you are burning up,” Aster said worriedly. Ranboo groaned again before slapping his hand over his mouth. This made Aster launch into action, quickly grabbing a nearby trash can and holding it under Ranboo’s chin. In a matter of seconds, Ranboo heaved and threw up. His muscles tensed till they were sore and his head spun. A metallic taste mixed with the bile in the back of his throat and he vwooped in discomfort.

   “Let’s get you to the medical hall,” Aster said, looping an arm under Ranboo. He dry heaved into the bin as Aster tried to set him up. His stomach clenched in protest to moving. “I’m going to pick you up,” Ranboo mumbled something akin to an agreement and soon his world was spinning in slow motion. He clung onto Aster as they started to move. It felt like forever since he was picked up but soon they were at a new branch of the hallway. The doors opened up and soon he heard nurses swarm him. “He’s just sick,” Ranboo heard Aster say. He felt more movement and soon it was quiet and dark. 

   It turns out he passed out. Ranboo sat up on the new bed. The room was blurry but empty at least. His stomach cramped and he looked for a trash bin. He grabbed the edge of the bin and dry heaved again. Tears pricked at his eyes and he blinked them away, too fed up to want to deal with tears at the moment. His nose stung with the acidic smell and his mouth tasted of iron and bile. Ranboo grimaced at the taste, craving something to wash it down. One knock came from the door and in popped a nurse, “Hello Prince Rao, glad to see you’re awake. How do you feel?” Ranboo groaned slightly, “Wouldn’t mind something to wash down the gross taste in my mouth,” he said grimacing as he talked. The nurse nodded and went away just as fast as she arrived. He closed his eyes again, muscles sore from nothing. He hated being sick. It made him feel all gross, sticky, and grimey. Ranboo opened his eyes again, with much effort, and spotted a small glass with a note next to it.

   ‘ This is Chorus fruit juice. It will help soothe your throat and get rid of the gross taste in your mouth. -Nurse Lylli. ’ 

   He must have fallen asleep again. Ranboo reached over for the glass and shakily brought the cold surface to his cracked lips. The drink was like heaven in a glass. The cold drink slid down his damaged throat and down his stomach, a cooling sensation running throughout his body. His body still ached and his head still pounded but right then and there was absolute bliss. The taste of the drink overpowered the taste of iron and bile that used to sit in the back of his throat. Ranboo’s throat stopped screaming at him as he finished the drink. He mutely thought that the drink must have had some other medicine in it that helped soothe him. He felt his eyelids get heavy and he didn’t fight the sleep.

   Ranboo woke up by leaning over the edge of the bed and vomiting his guts out again. The sound was just as gross as what it felt like. His eyes could barely open and he prayed that he made it in the bin. He’s not sure when they arrived but nurses swarmed his bed. One held him upright as he heaved again and another rubbed his back, comforting him. He felt something cold touch his forehead and something else at the base of his neck. As he was taking a moment to calm down after losing his lunch for the nth time, something pressed up against his shaky lips. Cold liquid poured down his throat, the taste mixed with the acidic one, and his stomach stopped preparing round two. Ranboo wasn’t thirsty for anything anymore.

   The next time his body gained consciousness, their majesties were in the room. One was sitting in a chair off to the side and another was talking with a nurse. “End sickness,” was something he picked up, “his body isn’t used to the End and is having a back reaction.” Oh...so that’s what was wrong with him. Ranboo groaned as a headache returned. The faint talking turned to silence fast and was replaced with soft footsteps. “Hello, deary,” the, what he guessed was, nurse, said, “as I check up on you, tell me how you feel.” He grumbled softly, “Like I got hit with a bus then ran over with it.” Ranboo heard her chuckle, “as to be expected. You gave us quite a scare last night.” He did? He could barely remember what happened last night let alone how he felt. Oh...did he enderwalk? That would have not been good. 

   “You were like in a fever dream state, getting sick, and mumbling something about a dream of some sorts. Luckily, your body was too busy getting sick to let you out of the bed.” Wait...he just remembers the sickness. Did he really mumble about Dream? Ranboo just nodded vaguely as the nurse rambled on. “You’re having, what we call, End sickness. Or Ender Flu. It’s what happens to all those born in the End get when they stay out of the end for too long. You couldn’t even connect with your world’s portal so…” The nurses' words drifted off as the world swirled in Ranboo's head. He glanced over at the queen, or his mother, and took in her looks. She had lovely green eyes and void black skin. Her hair was long despite being in a bun. Her crown was golden with red and white jewels that rested right behind her horns. She was very lovely looking. His eyes threatened to close again. “-ince Rao? I need you to stay awake, deary,” the nurses’ voice snapped him back to the room.

   “I need you to take this before you go back to sleep, alright?” Ranboo nodded, or he thinks he nodded. The nurse handed him a small glass and gently guided it up to his mouth. The liquid was pink and reminded him of regeneration potions the Techno had at the ready. He wondered what everyone else was doing. It had been days since he’d returned to the kingdom. Does that mean it’s only been hours since he was gone? Or was his time here longer? Did they even know he was gone? Was Tommy okay? Maybe it had been half a day for everyone else. How would Techno react to him being literal royalty? The potion kicked in and sleep was grasping for him yet again. He let the questions tuck him into sleep.

   The next time he woke up he’d felt better. Ranboo’s stomach wasn’t ready to empty itself again and he could actually stay awake without pain. His wings cramped up from laying down for way too long. He sat up slowly, looking over the empty room, as stretched his body. Wings unfurled and Ranboo had to stop the vwoop that built up in his throat from the sensation. It felt like someone had just taken off a large weight from his back. His arms shook as he used them for support. A small thought popped into his head.

You’re safer here.

  It was kinda true, wasn’t it? The SMP wasn’t at all safe. Kids turned soldiers. Childhoods lost to wars of adults with a need for power. A sick green man with his soul turned sour. Brothers turned on brothers. Friends sacrificing friends. 

The SMP wasn't safe. 

   Inky hands shield the sun from tired eyes. This was his sunrise. He might look different but he was back. He was back and ready to relay a message. A message from Death herself. He was alive. Wilbur Soot, son of Death and Angel of Death, was breathing yet again.