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"Wilbur, do need help with that or something?" Philza asked.
Wilbur was holding 7 glass bottles in his arms, making Phil cringe at thought of even one of them falling.
"Techno's been rearranging my things," Wilbur muttered. "I'm trying to move them back before he comes home."
"What an opportune moment," Phil agreed. "Do you still need help?"
"Yes please," Wilbur said softly and Phil began to take the bottles out of his arm. Wilbur sighed as the last of the bottles made it to the new (old) part of the shelves he liked.
"Why are you doing this alone? Where's Tommy?" Phil asked. "I thought I'd find him here. Doesn't he usually help you?"
"He was supposed to, he didn't show," Wilbur shrugged. "Can't say I'm too mad about it, he might try to juggle the bottles again."
"I haven't seen him all day," Phil said.
"He's probably out with Tubbo," Wilbur reasoned. "Or Ranboo."
"I just saw Tubbo," Phil said. "And I think Ranboo's out with Niki today."
"Okay," Wilbur said slowly.
"I don't like if he's being too quiet," Phil confessed.
"Okay, uhm," Wilbur looked around at the mess of his station before deciding something was more important. "I'll deal with this later, let's go find Tommy."
"Right, I'll go find Fundy and Sam, you go find Dream and Sapnap," Phil said. "Maybe either of them knows where Tommy is."
"Meet you in the kitchen afterward," Wilbur agreed as he walked away.
Wilbur didn't realize how fast he was walking until he nearly slammed into Fundy in the armory. Fundy stumbled back, shaking his head before looking up at Wilbur.
"What's up buddy?" Fundy asked jokingly. "You want to body slam me again?"
"Have you seen Tommy all day?" Wilbur said hurriedly.
"No, I don't think so," Fundy shook his head. "Why? Is he supposed to do something for you? I'm free, I can help."
"Yes, but no," Wilbur said. "Phil hasn't seen him all day and it's just a little weird. Do you know where Sam is?"
"He should be upfront at the gate," Fundy said. "C'mon, I'll come with."
And even though Fundy was the one supposed to be leading Wilbur to Sam, Wilbur's speed was unmatched. Fundy was practically sprinting after him.
"Sam!" Wilbur yelled.
Awesamdude leaned out of the tower to look down at them.
"What?" Sam yelled back.
"Have you seen Tommy?" Wilbur asked.
"No, sorry," He replied loudly. "I've been up here since 8."
"Okay, thanks!" Wilbur huffed and looked at Fundy.
"I'm sure he's fine," Fundy told him. "Why are you so worried?"
"So he's not with Tubbo, Ranboo, you, or Sam. Phil hasn't seen him all day, and neither has anyone apparently," Wilbur reiterated. "That screams danger, either for him or from him."
"Oh," Fundy said. "I can go find Eret and Jack, and we can do a ground sweep."
"Thanks Fundy," Wilbur said before running back in to find Philza.
Phil was heading to King George's office. He only realized he was worried when he stormed into the office and didn't remember to knock.
"Damn it, Sapnap-" Dream cursed, very obviously surprised, and threw himself out of a compromising position of making out with George in time before Phil could see anything. Phil could, however, see George's face flushed red as he tried to pretend like Dream wasn't just leaning over his desk. "Phil? I thought Sapnap was the only one that doesn't knock."
"What is it Philza?" George cleared his throat.
"Have either of you seen or heard from Tommy?" Phil asked.
"I think I saw him in the stables," Dream said. "But that was last night- well this morning at like 4 AM."
"No, can't say I have," George said.
"Right," Phil bit his lip. "Sorry then, go back to what you were doing."
Phil left without another word.
"He wasn't even phased," Dream said.
"Shut up Dream, that was so embarrassing," George giggled.
Phil was heading down the stairs when he met Wilbur on his way to the kitchen.
"Dream said he saw him at the stables at 4," Phil said.
"4 AM?" Wilbur exclaimed.
"Yes AM Wilbur, we haven't gotten to PM yet," Philza said sarcastically.
"Well, it's a no from Fundy and Sam. Fundy's getting Eret and Jack and they're doing a ground sweep," Wilbur said. "We could just start yelling his name."
"I don't think he's at the palace," Phil said.
"You think he took a horse?" Wilbur said. "Wouldn't he have told someone or taken someone with him?"
Silence.
"Tubbo," They both said at the same time.
The two men went straight to the training ground where they knew Tubbo was axe training with Karl.
"Tubbo," Wilbur called the moment Tubbo was in sight.
"Wilbur!" Tubbo exclaimed. "Look at this!" Tubbo said proudly as he launched an ax towards the target, hitting it quite close to the mark.
"That's great Tubbo," Phil wanted to get straight to the point, but he couldn't be rude to Tubbo.
"Thanks! I had a good teacher," Tubbo said nudging Karl.
"And I had one too," Karl replied proudly.
"Very proud of you Tubbo," Wilbur said. "Where's Tommy gone?"
"I don't know," Tubbo said a little too quickly.
"Tubbo," Philza said warningly. "Dream said he caught Tommy at the stables before sunrise, did you know anything about that?"
"No," Tubbo mumbled.
"You're not going to get in trouble Tubbo, why didn't Tommy tell anyone he was leaving?" Wilbur said. "And where's he gone?"
"Uhm," Tubbo bit his lip. "Because we're going to get in trouble?"
At this point, Karl silently waved before walking backward to avoid whatever the hell is happening right now.
"Tubbo, we just want to know if he's safe. He could leave if he wanted to, but why didn't he tell anyone?" Phil asked.
"Because-" Tubbo mumbled very quietly. "-blade."
"Come again?" Wilbur said.
"hewentto-" Tubbo mumbled hurriedly. "-noblade"
"One more time, Tubbo," Phil said.
"He went to go find Technoblade," Tubbo blurted out before covering his face.
Wilbur and Phil turned to each other, face equal levels of concern and panic.
"He what?" Wilbur was the first to speak back up.
"He said Techno promised to be home last Sunday and he didn't," Tubbo reasoned. "And you would never go and find Techno because Technoblade never dies-" Tubbo mimicked mockingly. "-so he got worried and went to go find-" Tubbo's voice slowly faltered off.
Phil rubbed his temples, trying his best not to show Tubbo he was frustrated. He was, but he wasn't mad at Tubbo and he doesn't want Tubbo to be worried. Wilbur was a little less subtle.
"You let him go to find Techno?" Wilbur asked incredulously. "You didn't stop him? Why didn't you tell him to go ask someone?"
"Well in his defense, Techno rarely leaves more than like two weeks, and we're approaching a month," Tubbo reasoned. "And-" Tubbo shrugged. "Tommy didn't even want to admit to me that he missed Techno."
"Oh god," It was Wilbur's turn to hide his face in his hands.
"Tell me he at least brought supplies," Phil said. "Stole some potions, communicators-"
"He didn't take communicators because he thought you would notice quicker," Tubbo explained and Wilbur only groaned harder. "And also he knew Wilbur would do inventory today so he didn't bring-"
"Oh god!" Wilbur yelled even harder.
"-potions." Tubbo squeaked.
"Alright, you go message Techno," Phil told Wilbur who looked absolutely defeated. "And I'll tell George we have to leave."
"Oh, can I come?" Tubbo chirped in.
Wilbur and Philza both glared at Tubbo, who immediately shrunk back.
"This is not a reward, you both are doing stable duty for the next month," Philza said. "Get gear and horses, meet us up front."
Tubbo let out a small excited grin as Wilbur and Philza ran back into the palace.
"Tommy's gone off to find Techno-" Phil blurted out as he burst into George's office again. Dream slipped off the table and crashed onto the floor.
"Phil you gotta learn how to knock," Dream sighed.
George again tried to recompose himself and if it was possible, his face was much redder than before. Dream groaned, holding to the edge of the desk as he stood up.
"What do you mean gone off to find Techno?" George asked.
"He didn't," Dream said and Phil nodded. "This morning?" And Phil nodded again. "Why?"
"Techno may have promised him he was going to be back last Sunday and he didn't," Phil said.
"Because he's gone off to fight an underwater kingdom, that's not exactly easy," Dream said. "Techno'll be fine, Tommy's the one that's-"
"I know. Me, Will, and Tubbo are going to go get him," Philza declared.
"I mean," George mumbled. "Permission granted, do we have a choice?"
"No, Tommy left without communicators or potions," Phil told them.
"My god, Tommy," George placed his forehead on the palm of his head. "Alright then, go, you have to catch him quick."
"Thanks," Phil said. "Carry on." And with that Phil closed the door and sprinted at me.
Dream looked at George with a smirk on his face.
"We are not carrying on," George said. "Stop it," George shoved off a wheezing Dream.
Phil sent off a quick 'Tommy left for you' off to one of Techno's communicators that he'd made Techno to bring a few weeks ago, before running out to the front of the palace.
"No, no, absolutely not," Phil immediately said once he saw Ranboo standing with Wilbur and Tubbo.
"Come on," Ranboo replied. "If you're going to take any youngens, it's me, not Tubbo."
"Hey!" Tubbo exclaimed.
"We might need the extra people Phil," Wilbur shrugged.
"You do realize we'll be outnumbered," Phil said. "It's the two of us with three of them."
"It's three and three," Tubbo stared quizzically. "Techno's an adult."
"I wasn't planning on finding Techno," Phil specified. "We're finding Tommy and dragging him home, let Techno do his work in peace."
"But Tommy's right, what if Techno needs help?" Ranboo piped up.
"When has Technoblade needed help?" Phil said before stopping. "Okay, aside from that one time with Rupert."
"He's late," Tubbo reasoned. "He promised Tommy."
"Since when does Technoblade make promises to-" Phil sighed before rolling his eyes. "Oh, whatever, we'll just go, we'll go."
Ranboo and Tubbo looked at each other triumphantly, before getting on their horse and waiting for Phil's further instructions.
"Wilbur, you know Tommy, you know tracking, can you lead?" Philza asked as he checked to make sure he had plenty of communicators and an elytra before mounting his horse. "Sun's almost down."
"Speed it is," Wilbur nodded before taking off in the lead of the other three.
They were racing against daylight. Wilbur barely had any time to stop and try to look at broken branches or footpaths, they just galloped towards the general direction Techno was in, and therefore the general direction Tommy would've won.
"Where in the bloody hell is he?" Wilbur huffed exasperatedly. "He couldn't have gone far."
"Now is probably not the best time to tell you that-" Tubbo winced. "Tommy may have brewed some speed potion."
"And what? Fed it to the horse?" Phil scoffed. Ranboo however, facepalmed. "He did not feed the horse speed potion," Phil exclaimed in disbelief.
"I thought you said he didn't steal any potions!" Wilbur exclaimed.
"He didn't steal any, speed potion is the only thing he actually knows how to brew!" Tubbo said. "You know Tommy- Tommy, and speed."
"So that-" Ranboo calculated in his head. "Brings us from a 10-hour head start to a 12-hour head start."
"I'm going to punt that child into a fucking lake," Wilbur grumbled.
"I hope he has a shelter from the mobs," Philza sighed, looking around until he found a cave. "I'm not risking any of you out here so we should settle for the night."
Phil made sure that he was the one who sealed off either end of the cavern to ensure that none of them would accidentally get shot by a skeleton while they sleep through the night. Ranboo had made a small and contained fire as Tubbo helped Wilbur with some food.
"Sorry," Tubbo mumbled. "Sorry I didn't tell you guys, I really didn't think it would be that big of a deal." Tubbo sat on the floor of the cave and sighed. "Tommy can take care of himself, can't he? He's always been able to, he was just worried about Technoblade."
"More variables means more troubles," Phil explained calmly. "If Tommy surprises Techno in the middle of a coup, Techno might be distracted by trying to keep Tommy safe instead of finishing his work. What do you think that would mean?"
"He might blunder and fail," Tubbo answered miserably.
"If Tommy was really truly concerned for Techno he should've told us," Wilbur said. "Told me." He insisted.
"However," Ranboo interjected. "Techno did promise and he failed. That at least means that something didn't go according to his plan."
Phil and Wilbur went silent, both looking at each other as a form of deliberation. They were both very accustomed to Techno being able to handle himself, always getting the work done. He's the Blade, killer of kings.
But Ranboo was not entirely wrong.
"Let's hope they're both alright," Phil answered after a while. "Get some sleep, we leave first light."
Phil sat, back against the cave wall, trying to close his eyes for a rest but very obviously, and very predictably, cannot seem to calm himself enough.
"Tubbo's right you know," Wilbur called out, voice soft enough so neither of the other two kids even stirred from their slumber. "Tommy'll be fine. We've taught him enough to know how to take care of himself."
Phil nodded slowly, somewhat in agreement but more like he was trying to convince himself that everything would be okay. Everything should be, there was no immediate threat, but Phil can't help but think about the worst-case scenarios.
"Tubbo's right," Phil repeated. "But Ranboo might also be right."
Guilt was slowly building behind his throat, the underlying message that he should've noticed, that Phil should've been worried, worried about Techno, more worried than Tommy perhaps- but Phil wasn't and that's why Tommy left.
"Techno will be fine," Wilbur assured Phil. "Techno is always fine."
"Go to sleep Will," Phil said kindly as he nodded. Wilbur obliged and lied back down, leaving Phil to simmer in his thoughts.
Phil was grateful he had passed out at some point giving him a few hours of shut-eye before Ranboo kindly waking him up, only after they had all readied themselves with breakfast and the horses to ensure Phil had an extra half an hour to sleep.
"No word?" Ranboo asked.
The bane of Phil's worry, other than Tommy of course, has just been Techno not answering his messages. Phil shook his head as they started to ride again, Wilbur leading the pack.
"Mizu," Wilbur said. "That's really the only place we could go right now."
"That's where Techno is going?" Tubbo asked. "Who's he trying to kill?"
"The king," Philza said. "Apparently he's gone real crazy. He's using some really messed up magic and taking control of drowned to keep his people in line. And once his people die, he just makes them part of his army of the undead."
"Water undead," Ranboo shuddered. "I hate water."
"Water is the part you have a problem with?" Tubbo asked.
"He used to be some kind of magician, and he killed the old king for his position now, so Techno's trying to get rid of him," Phil continued with his explanation.
"And Mizu should be right-" Wilbur said as they approached the shoreline. "-right somewhere out there."
The ocean looks calm. Almost too calm. It was a pristine surface, clear and cool, hiding whatever horrors the waters hide.
"Where could they possibly be?" Ranboo muttered.
"They should be here somewhere," Wilbur concluded.
Phil looked around. His eyes scanned the surrounding area, looking through the trees and big rocks. Ranboo and Wilbur were also looking around.
"You're missing something big," Tubbo piped up.
"What is it?" Phil asked.
"Lighthouse," Tubbo answered easily.
The other three snapped their heads towards the lighthouse, big red and white, across a bit of distance. It just looked like a part of the landscape, well because it was, so much so that they all glossed over it.
The four immediately rode their horses towards the lighthouse. They were getting even closer when they finally spotted a horse in palace armor.
"Horse!" Tubbo exclaimed.
"Which horse is that?" Ranboo asked.
"Carl," Wilbur said.
Phil jumped off his horse as soon as he was close enough.
"Techno!" Phil called out. "Techno!"
The door of the lighthouse opened and a man stood behind the door, crossbow out and pointing at Phil.
"Woah, woah," Wilbur exclaimed, putting himself in front of Phil. "Don't shoot, don't shoot."
"What do you want?" The man asked.
"You have Techno's horse," Phil insisted, walking around Wilbur's attempt to protect him. "Where is Techno?"
"Philza?" Techno's voice piped up from behind the man. "He's a friend of mine Marcus, it's fine," Techno told the man.
The man lowered the crossbow just in time for Phil to sprint inside and pull Techno into a hug. Techno stumbled back, eyes wildly looking at Wilbur who just shrugged with a small smile on his face. Techno finally obliged and squeezed Phil back.
"You're all here," Techno commented as Phil finally let him go. "Wilbur, Tubbo, Ranboo." He greeted.
"You didn't reply to my message on the communicator," Phil said immediately.
"Didn't know you sent one, I lost my communicators," Techno shrugged easily. "Why are you here again?"
"You promised Tommy you'd be home last Sunday," Wilbur responded. "You didn't."
"I'm a little occupied, I thought he would understand," Techno replied.
"Well he didn't, and he left yesterday morning to go find you," Ranboo said.
"Why?" Techno groaned.
"He was worried," Tubbo shrugged.
"Why did you even promise him you'd come home?" Wilbur asked.
"I didn't, not really-" Techno brushed off. "He said Techno, do parkour with me, and I said after I come back. He asked when, and I said three weeks," He rushed the explanation. "Didn't know it was a binding contract," Techno huffed looking at Phil. "And you were worried too?"
"Well I wasn't," Phil said. "Until I sent you a message and you didn't reply, then I thought maybe Tommy had a point to be worried, you aren't usually gone more than 2 weeks."
"Mizu is a bit tricky and we're severely outnumbered," Techno explained. "Everyone, Marcus, Marcus, everyone. Marcus is the only person in that entire kingdom with a brain cell."
"Hello," Marcus greeted politely.
"So where is Tommy? You didn't find him?" Techno inquired.
"No," Wilbur shook his head. "We're getting kind of worried actually."
"Is he-" Marcus suddenly piped up. "Is he on a horse?"
The group turned to him.
"Yes," Ranboo replied.
"Blonde hair, tall and kinda skinny?" Marcus asked.
"Yes," Wilbur and Phil were the ones who answered this time.
"Technoblade, remember when I told you someone tried to break into the palace yesterday?" Marcus said slowly.
"Oh he didn't," Techno looked defeated.
"I think that might be your friend," Marcus said.
Techno was rubbing his temples as he crouched on the ground. Phil and Wilbur equally shared a horrified look while Tubbo and Ranboo looked completely done for.
"Alright Techno, what do you need?" Phil asked. "How outnumbered are we if you have us to fight now too?"
"How much experience do you have with an underwater kingdom?" Techno asked back.
"Plenty actually," Phil scoffed.
"You know how to hold off guardians?" Techno raised an eyebrow.
"Should've asked for help," Phil said.
"Okay Phil," Techno responds sarcastically. "Tubbo and Wilbur, you'll go get Tommy from- I'm guessing the dungeon?" He turned to Marcus.
"I'd assume so if they'd caught him by now." Marcus nodded.
"Phil and Ranboo can hold off the guardians while I kill off the king. Sounds doable," Techno concluded.
"That doesn't sound like planning at all," Marcus said.
"Yeah, I agree," Ranboo said. "You got a plan in there somewhere?"
"It's fine it'll work out," Techno laughed nervously. "It'll be fine."
It was not.
There seems to be an ongoing trend of Technoblade barging into somewhere with about 1/34th of a plan and things go really south really fast.
Ranboo hates water, first of all. So getting him to put himself in a, although very pretty, claustrophobic glass kingdom some large distance from the surface wasn't ideal.
Second, as good a tracker Wilbur is on land and through the jungle, those skills don't exactly translate in the hallways of a strange underwater kingdom.
Third, Tubbo was no help. They were lost, okay? No one knows where the dungeon is because there is no basement. They're underwater, who knows what an underwater basement looks like? And they can't exactly go looking when every corner they turn is guarded by about a dozen Drowned.
"These are not regular guardians," Phil said, trying his best to ward off the guardians without actually killing them.
Phil respected the sanctity of the ocean, and he knows the guardians will change alliance to the new king once Techno was finished, so he just needs to stall.
"There are irregular guardians?" Ranboo exclaimed.
"Well," Phil said. "I don't know if you've noticed Ranboo, we're inside the glass and so are they." Ranboo stopped and looked at Phil. "We're not drowning, we're breathing."
"So either they're swimming in air, or we're breathing underwater," Ranboo concluded.
"We did pass a magic barrier before we entered," Phil told him.
"We might be underwater," Ranboo said. "I don't like that. I don't- I don't like that at all."
"Don't think about it, don't think about it," Phil said.
"Phil we gotta go, we gotta go!" Philza heard Wilbur yell further down the hallway. Wilbur and Tubbo were sprinting down the hallway, behind them was an army of Drowned.
"Where's Tommy?" Philza yelled.
"We can't find him!" Tubbo exclaimed back.
"Got get Techno but we are not leaving without Tommy," Phil said sternly. "Ranboo, go with them, I'll hold them off."
Ranboo nodded and immediately started running the moment Wilbur and Tubbo approached them. The three of them ran and went
Phil was standing in the middle of the hallway, half of his attention on the swimming guardians, the other half at the slowly walking towards him.
He was much too occupied to hear rattling in the vents only for a particular someone to fall out of the sky, landing face-first on the floor.
"Tommy!" Phil yelled.
"Philza Minecraft!" Tommy yelled back, hurriedly brushing himself off, and stood up.
"How did you get out of the dungeon?" Phil asked. "Wilbur and Tubbo couldn't even find the dungeon."
"I was never in the dungeon," Tommy said. "No one can capture Tommyinnit."
"Oh just you watch me, I'm going to lock you in your room." Philza threatened. "I'm gonna craft a goddamn belt, I swear to god Tommy, I'm so angry at you-"
"Wait Tubbo and Wilbur are here?" Tommy asked, completely ignoring Phil's seething anger. "Did you find Techno?"
"Techno was at shore Tommy, you didn't have to storm the palace, never mind alone," Philza said exasperatedly.
"Well," Tommy laughed. "I guess we better get out of here."
"Get to the throne room Tommy," Phil instructed. "I'm right behind you."
Tommy nodded and took off, and Phil did as he promised, following Tommy right on his tail.
"Where is he?" Phil could hear Techno's threatening voice from out of the hallway.
"I don't know who you're talking about!" The king was on the floor, the point of Techno's sword on his chin.
"Tommy!" Tubbo exclaimed.
"Tubbo!" Tommy yelled back.
"Oh so he wasn't lying after all," Ranboo muttered.
"Unfortunately," Techno said. "He was your last leverage. I have no use for you now."
The king slammed both his hands flat against the floor and within seconds, it seems like the Drowned have been summoned into the room.
The sheer quantity of Drowned that entered and were getting a little too close to Tommy and Phil, made Techno lax enough that the King slipped away from under his grip.
"I guess we're fighting," Wilbur shrugged before charging with a sword.
A trident was shot across the room straight to Techno, though Ranboo stepped in somehow managed to redirect it and crash it into the glass wall. A fleet of arrows came flying as they all hid behind various pillars and statues. Tubbo had run straight to Tommy, as he was the one carrying a shield, and Tommy immediately ducked behind him. Tommy took his crossbow and started shooting back. Wilbur had brought the ax to the party, taking down the front lines of the Drowned before they got too close to anyone else in the room. Phil next to him wielding a sword.
"What's the plan again?" Ranboo yelled at Techno. Ranboo had made his way up front, watching point and shooting anyone Tommy had missed who got too close to Phil and Wilbur.
"Kill the king," Techno and Phil answered at the same time. Phil was genuinely doing his best to hold the line alongside Wilbur, but it seems that every single Drowned that passed them were heading straight for Techno. It wasn't anything Technoblade couldn't handle though.
"Hopefully his magic will die with him," Phil concluded.
"That's cool," Tubbo said. "If we knew where he was." Tubbo, who'd managed to get a weapon at some point and fighting side by side with Tommy, was also the only one to be observant enough to notice.
"Where- where's he gone?" Tommy exclaimed.
"Invis," Techno grumbled knowingly as he knocked another Drowned down to the floor.
"Cover me," Wilbur requested as dashed across the room towards Techno. Phil and Tommy immediately flanked him allowing him to pass the mob. Wilbur was holding something in his hand, fists closed. "Shoot when you see him." Techno nodded.
Wilbur launched a little ball of blue that hit the floor and exploded into a cloud of blue. The colored fog fell upon a figure, outlining the shape of the king hiding next to his Throne. Techno dashed across and brought his sword down on the King's head. It was quick and efficient.
And then it was done.
The army of Drowned started to collapse, one by one, finally letting Phil, Tubbo, Ranboo, and Tommy breathe.
"Well that was easy," Techno commented.
"Blue," Wilbur nodded, giving Techno a high five. "Works every time."
Phil glanced at the two boys, still catching his breath from trying to strangle 4 Drowned at once, before slowly chuckling.
"It worked out!" Tommy cheered. "And no one needs to thank me, no one needs to get mad at me-"
"Tommy, I will throw you into a lake," Wilbur said.
"I'm going to tie you to a flag pole," Techno said at the same time.
"Oh come on guys," Tommy laughed nervously. "I wasn't going to get hurt.."
"Oh it's moving, it's moving-" Ranboo jumped and hid behind Techno, even though he was much taller. "It's moving."
The group was suddenly on high alert once more. A few Drowned had turned out not to be Drowned after all. Nearly half of them were just cursed palace staff, now dazed and confused as they woke up from their trance. The horror of the situation really dawned on them on what the King had really been doing. Thankfully, it didn't look like the damage they'd gotten when they were cursed remained when they transformed back into humans.
"James," Marcus exclaimed, running to engulf a man from in the midst of the group.
"Marcus," James mumbled groggily. "What happened?"
"I got you. I got all of you," Marcus laughed before turning to Techno. "This is James, my brother, the steward."
"You're king got out of control and apparently found a way to curse his own staff," Phil explained. "Your brother saved you."
"We did it," Marcus said excitedly. "Well they did it, they did most of the work." He nudged over to Techno and the group, who simply nodded.
"Thank you, thank you," James said. "I guess we better start cleaning up."
Marcus and James went back to help the other living palace staff reorient themselves.
"Phil, are we underwater?" Ranboo asked.
"Yes Ranboo, we are underwater," Phil said.
"No I meant what you said about the guardians, are we underwater-underwater?" Ranboo said.
"Don't think about it," Techno was the one who replied.
At this point, it seemed that the invis potion had subsequently run out. The king's dead body materialized in front of them, his crown on the ground next to him.
Techno picked up the crown from the floor and twirled it between his hands before placing it on top of his head. He liked the gold and the gems. He faced a glass panel, looking at his hazy reflection, and checked himself out.
"That looks really cool Technoblade!" Tubbo exclaimed.
"Thank you Tubbo," Techno answered.
"Oh god," Philza said. Tubbo had gotten his attention and now Phil was looking at Techno. "I really wish you hadn't done that."
"Why?" Techno asked quizzically.
They noticed that the guardians had started to swarm into the room, slowly swimming and moving towards them. They hovered above Techno and patiently swam in place.
"What did I do?" Techno asked, now capturing Ranboo, Wilbur, and Tommy's attention.
"By the rules of the ocean-" Philza sighed. "Kill the king and take his crown, now all the kingdom will bow down."
Silence.
"Heh?" Techno exclaimed.
"I think you've accidentally claimed the throne mate," Wilbur said.
"King Blade," Tommy laughed loudly. "Oh you've done it, you've done it now."
"I what?" Techno asked. "Why didn't you warn me about ocean-kingdom assassination rules?" He stared accusingly at Philza.
"They take things too literally mate," Philza was stopping himself from chuckling. "You would've been fine if you stopped at the assassination part, how was I supposed to know you were gonna put on the crown?"
Techno's eyes shifted around looking at the guardians and some of the palace staff that had come to see their new king.
"Oh look," Techno chuckled softly. "That Drowned earlier dropped a trident."
Techno sprinted and took the trident off the floor before launching himself out of the room. Continuous whooshing sounds were heard as Techno disappeared from the group's vision. Everyone, the silent Guardians and the palace staff included, was left confused.
"So he just left us here?" Ranboo said. "Okay. That's fine." Ranboo jittered. "He can use the trident so that means we're underwater, oh I don't like that at all."
Philza just raised his right hand, slowly waving his hand in an elegant infinity motion. Whatever he just did, abruptly dismissed the guardians.
"Get out of here Ranboo," Phil said lovingly as Ranboo went after Techno, rushing as fast as he could to get out of the water.
Phil started walking towards the door where a few of the palace staff stood. He looked at James and Marcus before smiling.
"Steward to steward, he might keep the actual crown," Philza told James and his brother Marcus. "Pick a better king this time, take care."
"Pleasure," James nodded as Phil walked away, the other three children trailed behind him.
When Phil and the group got up to the surface, they saw Techno pacing the beach. He was making a track in the sand and it was getting deeper every time he walked over it. Ranboo was also
already there with him.
"Ready to go home?" Phil asked calmly once he got to shore.
"Please," Techno nodded.
"As you wish your majesty," Philza replied.
"Stop it, that's not even funny," Techno hurriedly said.
"Please forgive my father, he's a senile old man-" Wilbur said. "Please, your highness, have mercy." He begged.
"Not funny, not funny," Techno said again.
"Sire-" Ranboo bowed down, hands gesturing to a horse. "The steed, your faithful ride awaits your grace."
"I'm done," Techno threw his hands in the air. "I'm done."
"I am not calling him anything royalty," Tommy crinkled his nose. "He is a bitch and he is a liar."
"You could just say you missed me, Tommy," Techno said flatly. "Thank you for coming after me." Tommy sputtered in denial as Wilbur cackled.
"I thought you died you dickwad," Tommy exclaimed.
"Technoblade never dies," Techno said coyly.
"But my king-" Tubbo started.
"Shhhh," Techno placed a hand over Tubbo's mouth. "We're ignoring the problems here, it's a strategy called conflict avoidance. Let's go home before I banish you underwater."
"Tommy where's your horse?" Tubbo asked.
"See Tubbo," Tommy started. "Turns out horses don't like speed potions very much. So it ran away the second I got off."
"You fed a horse speed potion?" Techno asked incredulously. "Yeah, you're not getting anywhere near Carl."
"I almost think that you like the horse more than you like me," Tommy said.
"Hah, yeah. Weird," Techno mumbled as Wilbur cackled.
"Right, you're riding home with me you little shit," Wilbur pulled Tommy by the back of his collar.
"You're going to have to explain to Dream what happened to the horse by the way," Ranboo said.
"And we have stable duty for a whole month when we get back," Tubbo told him.
"As huh- wa- what?" Tommy sputtered. "Phil!" He whined.
"It's your punishment Tommy," Phil was laughing as he nudged his boys towards the horses. "Now, let's go home."
"Phil, why do you know so much about the ocean kingdom rules?" Techno asked as they began their journey home.
"I spent a good almost-ten years traveling, learning, and working with other kingdoms Techno, right before Wilbur was born," Phil said.
"And after," Wilbur interjected. "You took me to the zombie base and nearly left me there, don't think I forgot."
"I did not almost leave you at the Zombie base," Phil said defensively. "It was the witch farm and I'm sorry." He quickly added and everyone broke out into laughter.
"That's when he really stopped traveling and started working for George's father," Wilbur told Techno. "I was four."
"I said I'm sorry!" Phil yelled. "You probably can't even remember what happened."
"So you just went around and just worked for different kings?" Techno asked.
"Like three different ocean kingdoms," Phil said. "Did a bunch of work in the nether, went to the end a lot-"
"Oh, you used to tell the Endlantis story all the time! I loved Endlantis, it sounded so cool," Tubbo exclaimed.
"I'm a personal fan of the Nethervoid," Ranboo said. "Or maybe Chaos Caverns."
"Sky City," Tommy said. "I like Sky City, you took me there once."
"I forget that you weren't always with us and you never heard about the stories Techno," Phil chuckled. "We should have a bonfire night sometime and catch you up with the stories."
"Oh you mean like the time Tommy got stuck in that room with the pistons and we wouldn't help him," Wilbur laughed.
"Hey!" Tommy yelled and pinched Wilbur, who immediately smacked his arm back causing Tommy to screech.
"That sounds-" Techno sighed, finally realizing that his work probably would've been done a lot sooner if he hadn't insisted on doing things alone. He's learning though, baby steps to receive some help. He's got friends- family now, I guess. "That sounds great."
Bonus scene:
"Techno's a what?" Dream was wheezing on the floor. George was covering his mouth as he stifled his laughter.
"Obviously, I was messing with him," Phil chuckled along. "I didn't lie entirely, he was- is, de facto King, but he could've just said I resign and they would've accepted it."
"Wait but he didn't though?" George said.
"No," Phil laughed. "He's technically still King."
"The worst punishment for Technoblade," Dream chuckled.
"So Ranboo and Tubbo's been taking the crown and hiding it in cupboards and places where Techno would find it- kind of like the crown's been following him. He tried to throw it in a lake and Tubbo swam down and retrieved it," Phil explained through his laughter. "So if you could play along with the joke and call him a fellow King, that would be great."
"You got it," George was laughing into his hand. "What's happens now?"
"Oh, technically I resigned for him and they're trying to look for a new monarch," Phil explained. "If the guardians don't accept my resignation on behalf of Techno, the steward will just contact me and I'll take Techno back to officially resign."
"So that's what?" Dream smirked. "Two weeks to make Techno sweat?" Phil chuckled. "I'll let everyone know."
"Long live King Blade," George muttered mischievously.