Archive of Our Own

“Dream,” Tommy said once when he was four, “What’s the ocean?”

Dream had sighed, like this was a conversation he wasn’t looking forward to but knew would inevitably come. “It’s a large body of water,” he said.

Tommy perked up at the mention of water.

“Like a bath?” Tommy asked instantly. He liked baths. The water felt warm on his skin, and he felt like he could live in the bathtub forever.

Dream’s voice became sharp, “No, Tommy, not like a bath.”

Tommy flinched. Dream sighed again, sagging slightly into his spot on the couch.

“The ocean is dangerous,” Dream said, “It has huge waves that will try to drown you if you stray too deep. It’s infested with dangerous creatures that will kill you on sight.”

Tommy frowned, furrowing his eyebrows. “But… a kid at school said that he swam in the ocean and had a good time,” he said slowly.

“He was joking,” Dream said with no room for doubt in his voice, “He probably wanted to seem impressive, surviving the ocean like that.”

“Oh,” Tommy said. That made a lot of sense actually.

“I’m not sure how I feel about your teachers not warning you about the ocean, though,” Dream said, pulling out his computer, “How would you feel about homeschool?”

Tommy only hesitated for a moment; what about his friends? But Dream was his friend, and homeschool meant that he got to spend more time with Dream!

He quickly agreed to the notion, and he and Dream had a movie night to celebrate his new change in schools.

“Oh, and Tommy?” Dream said, his hand squeezing Tommy’s shoulder a little harder than comfortable, “Promise me you will never go to the ocean.”

For some dumb reason, Tommy hesitated. His stupid brain had gotten it into his head that the ocean wasn’t bad, that it was good, that it was safe, that it was (and this was the most ridiculous) home.

Tommy quickly pushed those thoughts away. Dream was always right. If he said the ocean was bad, it must be bad.

“I promise,” Tommy said, smiling.

Dream’s hold lessened. “Good boy,” he said softly.

Listen, Tommy had managed to keep that promise for twelve whole years. In his opinion, that was pretty impressive. He had only managed to keep his promise to never sneak out for five.

Bruises had mottled his skin for weeks afterwards, but that was okay, because nobody but Dream was there to see them.

So, Tommy was inclined to pat himself on the back. Twelve years was a long time. For twelve years Tommy had resisted the longing that tugged at him whenever he saw a picture of the ocean on the internet or on brands or in commercials.

Once, Dream saw Tommy staring at a picture of the ocean on Dream’s computer. Tommy had lost food privileges for a day, and computer privileges for two months. Tommy stopped looking up pictures of the ocean after that.

Heck, he even managed to press back the horrifying whine of longing that threatened to escape while he and Dream watched Jaws. That movie had been terrifying, and yet he had still wanted to make those strange sounds that Dream hated.

Once, Tommy had made a strange trilling sound when he saw a fish at the waiting room of the doctor’s office for his yearly checkup. Dream refused to interact with him for the rest of the day. Tommy tried to stop making the sounds after that.

But Tommy was finally at his breaking point. Dream was away on a business trip, telling Tommy to behave himself and not answer the door for anyone while he was gone. And Tommy was behaving himself.

But then Tommy’s favorite cashier at the coffee shop near his home just had to mess with Tommy’s plan of being on his best behavior.

“I’m taking a trip to the beach,” the cashier, Tubbo, said casually as Tommy ordered his usual cup of black coffee, “My dad said that I can take a friend.”

Tommy shrugged, trying to ignore the way his heart skipped a beat at the mention of the beach. “That’s cool, I guess,” he said.

Tubbo laughed. “Well, I was wondering if you wanted to come?” he asked hesitantly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Tommy stared.

“You barely know me,” Tommy helpfully pointed out.

Tubbo shrugged. “Yeah, I know,” he said casually, “But you seem like a pretty cool dude, and I don’t really have that many friends, so…”

Tommy really couldn’t bring himself to argue with that.

“Sure, I’ll come,” he said, without really thinking about it, “How long is the trip?”

Tubbo instantly brightened. “Just the week,” he said eagerly, “Do you think you can make it?”

Tommy thought it over. Dream said he was coming back home in two weeks, which meant that should give Tommy plenty of time to return home and act like nothing happened. And sure, he had promised Dream time and time again not to go anywhere near the ocean, and Tommy was pretty sure the beach would count, but…

Tubbo needed him. And Tommy wouldn’t actually go into the ocean. He would just… observe it from afar. That’s what most people did any way. Everyone knew the ocean was far too deadly to be around, especially with all those mer.

Tommy didn’t know much about mer. He knew that they were dangerous. He knew that they dragged humans underwater to drown. He knew that there was a dangerous mer that was slinking in the shadows of the ocean, waiting for his time to rule the entire world.

That’s all Tommy really needed to know, to be honest.

“Yeah, I think I can,” he said, pressing back an excited noise that wanted to bubble from his throat.

He was going to see the ocean. With his own eyes.

Tommy should’ve been scared, or nervous at the very least, but the only emotion he could muster up was raw, unadulterated joy.

That nervousness came full force as Tommy sat in the back seat of the car next to Tubbo, Tubbo’s dad driving.

Dream was going to kill him if he ever found out what Tommy was doing. Nobody would ever be able to find Tommy’s body.

Tommy took a deep breath, fidgeting with the bottom of his shirt. He would be fine. Dream would never know.

“You good man?” Tubbo asked, “you look a little sick. Is it the car?”

Tommy shook his head, swallowing. “Uh, no. I’ve just… um, I’ve just never seen the ocean before.”

Tubbo’s dad, Schlatt, whistled. “You’re in for a treat, kid,” he said, “I cannot wait to see the look on your face.”

Tubbo nodded, his eyes shining with excitement. “It’s amazing!” he gushed, “Just wait until you see it.”

It was strange, hearing the ocean described as a “treat” and “amazing.” Dream had only ever talked about the ocean with disgust, describing it as “dangerous” and “awful.”

It was confusing, but Tommy didn’t want to argue against Schlatt, so he kept quiet.

Besides, he would be lying if he denied that he wasn’t a little excited to see the ocean for the first time.

He ignored the little piece of his chest that felt like it was screaming home, comfort, safety that always came up whenever the ocean was mentioned.

When they finally arrived, Tommy and Tubbo quickly took their bags up at the condo Schlatt was renting for the week. Both Tommy and Tubbo had their own rooms, and Tommy carefully rested his suitcase on his bed before returning to the kitchen area.

“You boys can put your bathing suits on, and we can go ahead and go down to the beach,” Schlatt said.

Tommy froze. Bathing suit? He didn’t have a bathing suit. Heck, he didn’t even know how to swim.

Why would they even need bathing suits? Was there a pool nearby? Surely Schlatt didn’t expect them to swim in the ocean?

“I, uh.” Tommy swallowed the dryness in his throat. “I don’t have a bathing suit.”

“That’s okay!” Tubbo said without missing a beat, rushing to his room. He reemerged holding out a red bathing suit. “I have a spare, it will probably fit you.”

Tommy took it silently, holding back a grateful trill that threatened to come out.

The suit did fit, and Tubbo dragged Tommy out of the condo at an inhuman speed. Still, Tubbo’s excitement was contagious, and Tommy found himself laughing as he properly inhaled the salt-air for the first time while he chased after Tubbo.

The salty smell almost hit him like a truck full of nostalgia. Which didn’t make any sense, because Tommy had never been to the beach before. Dream had made a huge point to make sure Tommy never stepped foot toward the beach.

So why did it feel like he was home after years of exile?

Tommy pushed away the happy sounds that Dream so hated and shrugged it off as Tubbo finally skidded to a halt in front of the gate to the beach area. He was probably imagining things.

Tommy stared at the ground, playing with the small grains of sand between his toes. He wished his imagination would stop being so active.

“Look up, Tommy!” Tubbo said cheerily, “Look!”

Tommy glanced up, and his breath left his body.

How could anyone say that this was dangerous? How could anyone look upon this endless expanse of blue with disgust? How could anyone fault the waves as they rolled across the sea, making rhythmic crashing noises? How could anyone hate the sun as it reflected off of the water, making the ocean sparkle in its magnificence?

How could Dream keep Tommy away from this?

Before Tommy even realized what was happening, salty tears were slipping down his cheeks, and a low, keening rumble emerged from his throat.

Tommy quickly silenced it, but Tubbo was only staring at Tommy with concern. Not anger.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Tommy opened his mouth to speak, but something that felt like both a sob and another strange sound felt like it would spill out, so he shut it tightly again, not looking away from the expanse of water.

Schlatt appeared behind them, having finally caught up with the sprinting boys.

“It really is something, isn’t it?” he asked quietly.

Tommy nodded, quickly wiping his tears away. Another high-pitched sound emerged from his throat for a split second, but it sounded more like a whimper, so Tommy had hope that nobody noticed it.

Still, Tommy thought he noticed Schlatt’s eyes lingering on him as they walked down the beach area. As soon as Tommy tried to take a look, Schlatt was glancing up at the sky.

Maybe Tommy was imagining things.

“Come on, Tommy!” Tubbo shouted, “Let’s go in the water!”

Tommy froze misstep. Go… into the water? But the water was dangerous! Tubbo could get hurt…

The waves didn’t sound dangerous. They sounded safe, protective, like an embrace. The ocean didn’t look dangerous. It looked like home.

“Wait a minute!” Schlatt called after Tubbo, “Sunscreen, remember?”

Tubbo groaned, but he walked back toward Schlatt and Tommy. Schlatt pulled out a bottle of sunscreen and squeezed large globs of the stuff into both Tubbo and Tommy’s outstretched palms.

After the annoying amount of time it took for Tommy to lather sunscreen all over his body, he grinned at Tubbo, forgetting all of his fears.

“I’ll race you,” he said.

Tubbo grinned back. “Oh, you’re on.”

As it turned out, running in the sand was not as easy as it looked. For one thing, Tommy’s feet kept sinking into the ground, like the sand was actively trying to prevent him from winning this race. For another, there were sharp shells all over, and Tommy would prefer not to have bleeding feet for the sake of honor.

Tommy still won, of course. Well, Tubbo thought it was a tie, but everyone knew who the real winner was.

And now Tommy was standing at the edge of the tide, staring as the waves almost reached his toes. The ocean was dangerous. But it felt so good. Stay away. Tommy needed to get closer.

Tubbo laughed. “It’s not that cold,” he said, marching straight toward the water.

Tommy inhaled deeply and took a large step forward.

…Tubbo was right. It wasn’t that cold. As a matter of fact, it was perfect. It felt so right, it felt like a blanket on a cold day and a glass of ice water on a hot day.

Without thinking, Tommy began wading deeper into the water. He needed to feel more, he needed to.

It wasn’t until Tommy was chest-deep in the water that he realized that there was a small problem with his plan.

He couldn’t swim.

Tubbo caught up with him, actually swimming to keep his head more conveniently afloat.

“See?” he shouted over the crashing of the waves, “It’s not so bad.”

Tommy grinned. “It’s fantastic.” A wave splashed him in the face, and while it didn’t hurt, it did remind Tommy of his little predicament. The smile melted. “Um… I can’t swim.”

Tubbo pursed his lips together. “Well, that might be a bit of a problem.”

No crap, Tommy wanted to say. Instead, he kept his mouth shut, bracing himself for whatever Tubbo decided to do.

“I guess we’ll just have to get you lessons!” Tubbo said brightly, “I’m pretty sure there are some provided not far from here!”

Tommy swallowed. “Um… Tubbo, I don’t have any money.”

Well, he did have Dream’s credit-card information for food or emergencies, but that was only for those two things. Swimming lessons were definitely not one of those things, especially when Dream would not like it at all.

The reminder of what Dream would do to Tommy if he ever found out where Tommy was put a slight damper on his mood, but the ocean made it feel less like an iron grip around his chest.

“Don’t worry,” Tubbo said, waving his arm dismissively, “My dad will pay for it.”

Tommy stared, shock filling his system. “Seriously?”

Tubbo nodded. “Yep! He takes swimming very seriously. He once paid for my classmates lessons, so that she could go on a school beach trip safely.”

Schlatt was an absolute madman.

Still, Tommy reluctantly allowed Tubbo to drag him over to Schlatt, who agreed to the lessons almost instantly, directing Tommy and Tubbo to a specific swim instructor who he apparently knew.

“His name is Sam,” Schlatt said, “Green hair, life-guard outfit, really can’t miss him.”

“Thanks,” Tommy said quietly.

“No problem, kid.” Schlatt returned to his book like there was nothing at all unusual about paying for another kid’s swimming lessons.

Tommy and Tubbo followed Schlatt’s instructions, finding themselves at a currently isolated pool deck. A life guard with green hair was sitting at the life-guard’s stand, staring at his phone.

The two walked toward the stand, and the lifeguard looked up at them.

“Excuse me,” Tubbo said politely, “are you Sam?”

The life guard, Sam, nodded. “That’s me,” he said, “What do you need?”

Tubbo looked over to Tommy, who sighed. “I, uh, I don’t know how to swim.”

Sam smiled. “Well, you came to the right place,” he said, hopping out of his life-guard’s stand, “We can get started now, if you’d like.”

Tommy nodded automatically, and that was how Tommy found himself agreeing to daily swimming lessons for the rest of the week.

The first day of swimming lessons was fairly uneventful, except that Sam told him that he did a “great job” and that he was a “quick learner.”

The praise made Tommy feel soft inside, and he had to work extra hard to force down the trills.

The second day, Tommy managed to convince Tubbo to enjoy the beach on his own.

“I want to learn as quickly as possible,” Tommy explained, “So I’ll probably be able to swim in two days. Then we can spend day and night together.”

Tubbo seemed fine with that, admitting that watching Tommy kick at the water was “a bit boring” and so they parted ways.

When Tommy reached the swimming pool, however, Sam wasn’t the only one waiting for him at the pool deck.

No, a very tall man with pink hair tied up in a braid was leaning against the life-guard’s stand, acting like he owned the place.

Tommy approached cautiously, but the stranger noticed him almost instantly.

“You must be that kid Sam’s teaching,” the stranger said, his voice gruff and mildly unimpressed.

For some strange reason, Tommy felt a small pull in his chest, as if it was screaming trust, comfort, brotherhood.

Sam turned around from his conversation with the stranger and brightened. “Tommy!” he said, sounding way too happy to see him, “We were just talking about you.”

Tommy narrowed his eyes at them. They were talking about him? Was it about how bad he was at swimming? Did they know he was disobeying Dream? Did Sam hear the sounds?

“Nothing bad,” the stranger said, “Just discussing your proficiency in swimming.”

Oh.

Tommy forced himself to relax.

“I’m Techno, by the way,” the stranger, Techno, said, holding his hand out to shake, “Well, technically, it’s Technoblade, but you can call me whatever.”

Tommy shook his hand cautiously, trying to ignore the warmth that instantly spread through his body at the contact with another human being.

Tommy heard a small rumble, and he panicked. Did he make that noise? A small rumble threatened to form in his throat, and Tommy swallowed it down.

Techno let go of him, staring at him strangely. Did he hear the rumble too? Had Tommy failed some kind of test of some kind?

“Alright,” Sam said as if nothing had happened, “Let’s get started.”

Tommy gave Techno a wary look but followed Sam into the pool.

At one point, Tommy screwed up instructions with the kicking. And even though Sam patiently asked Tommy to try again, Tommy still tensed up, preparing for a hit.

“Relax, kid,” Techno said from where he was sitting on the edge of the pool, “You’d think Tractatus was knocking at your door from the look on your face.”

Tommy gave Techno a confused look. “Tractatus?”

Just saying the strange name sent a shiver down Tommy’s spine, even though Tommy didn’t have a clue as to why.

“Just a mer legend,” Sam said, shooting a weird look in Techno’s direction.

Tommy tensed up. “You-you know about mer legends?” he asked.

Dream hadn’t liked people who studied the mer; he said they were too close to their barbaric ways.

Techno shrugged. “I’m a bit of a mythology nerd,” he admitted.

“Tractatus is a mer that is told to be a puppet master of sorts,” Sam explained, “Apparently he walks among us—the mer, I mean—hiding in plain sight. One day, he’s going to attempt to have everyone under his thumb so that he’s basically ruling the world.”

“Key word being attempt,” Techno added helpfully, “There was a prophecy that popped up a century or two ago.”

Tommy scoffed and rolled his eyes. “A prophecy? Isn’t that a bit cliché?”

Sam chuckled. “A bit. It's mostly just a bedtime story for young mer, though. I wouldn't worry too much about it." 

That put an end to that conversation.

“What did you think?” Sam asked after Tommy left when the sun was half-way down the sky.

Techno hesitated, sliding into the pool and shifting into his mer form.

“I think… it’s definitely possible,” he conceded, “The kid is inhumanely quick at learning, and that usually is a good sign.”

Sam nodded, sighing and shifting himself. “Yeah, but…”

“No trilling or growling or nothing,” Techno finished for him, “Yeah, I noticed.”

“Either he’s really good at repressing himself,” Sam said, “Or he’s just a human who is abnormally good at swimming.”

“Both are possible,” Techno agreed, “But…”

Techno remembered that pulling sensation he felt when he first laid eyes on the kid. That sensation he got whenever he saw Phil or Wilbur after a long time away.

“You felt it, didn’t you?” Sam said, always too smart for his own good.

Techno narrowed his eyes at him. “We are not going to jump to conclusions here,” he said warningly.

Sam nodded and didn’t say anything else. Techno was grateful. It was one thing to speculate that some kid might not know he’s mer. It’s another thing entirely to speculate that this kid was Techno’s long-lost brother.

Tommy didn’t go to lessons the next day. Sam said that he could swim well enough not to drown in the ocean, and that was good enough for him.

He and Tubbo spent the day playing and having an all-around good time. As a matter of fact, Tommy could almost forget Dream’s threats of danger that the ocean brought.

Around noonish, a fluffy-haired brunette swam toward them.

“Hello, there!” he greeted, “I have noticed that you are tossing a ball.”

Tommy stared at him. He felt like his stranger danger alarms should be going off, but instead he felt another pull, like the one he had when he saw Techno for the first time.

“No crap,” Tommy said, feeling bolder the longer he spent in the ocean, “What about it?”

“I propose an extra man,” the stranger said, “For fish in the middle.”

Tubbo nodded before Tommy could even begin to object. “Oh yeah, that could be fun!”

Well, if Tommy must toss a ball with this man… “You’re in the middle first,” Tommy commanded, pointing to the space between him and Tubbo.

“Thank you,” the stranger said, sounding not at all perturbed, “My name is Wilbur by the way.”

“Tommy,” Tommy muttered.

“I’m Tubbo!” Tubbo said brightly.

As it would turn out, Wilbur was stupidly proficient at playing fish in the middle, and he stole the ball from Tommy so many times that Tommy cursed the day he ever met Wilbur.

Which, coincidentally enough, happened to be today, but that was not the point.

“One day,” Tommy vowed as he was forced back in between Tubbo and Wilbur, “I will appear out of nowhere and be your undoing.”

“Careful,” Wilbur teased as he threw the ball above Tommy’s head, “You’ll be like the child of prophecy.”

Tommy froze. There was that damn prophecy thing again. What was with that?

“You know about that?” Tommy asked.

“Oh, anyone who hangs around enough mer knows about the prophecy,” Tubbo said calmly, as if it was perfectly normal to hang around mer.

“You know mer?” Tommy demanded, “And how come you haven’t told me about it yet?”

Tubbo shrugged. “Never came up I guess. To be honest, I kind of assumed that you already knew.”

Tommy knew that he shouldn’t ask any more questions. Dream wouldn’t like it if he was digging too deep into mer history.

But he really couldn’t help himself.

“Well, who is this child of the prophecy?”

Wilbur shrugged. “People have been speculating for over a hundred years,” he said, “But they are apparently destined to come when nobody expects and be the undoing of Tractatus.”

Tommy frowned. There was that Tractatus guy again too.

How come every time Tommy heard the name, this strange shudder came across his body?

Probably because the dude was apparently a puppet master hiding within the mer’s midst. That must be it.

On the fourth day of the beach trip, Schlatt, Sam, Techno, Wilbur, Tubbo, and Tommy all had a picnic. Apparently, Schlatt had also known Techno and Wilbur, which Tommy found very strange, but who was he to question it?

Things went awry, however, when the conversation shifted from Schlatt’s upbringing on the ocean to Tommy.

“I never asked,” Schlatt said casually, “But who’s your dad, Tommy? I might know him.”

Tommy felt every nerve in his body tense, and he forced himself to stay calm. “Um… Dream,” he admitted, “You probably don’t—”

Wilbur’s face darkened. “Dream?” he demanded, like he would know a guy that lived four hours away from him.

Tommy shrunk away, holding back a frightened noise. “Yes?”

Techno was already on his feet, swearing loudly. “He said he was looking, damnit!” he shouted, storming away toward the ocean.

Wilbur and Sam were quick to follow Techno.

Tommy had no idea what had just happened. “What-do they know Dream?” Tommy whispered, “Why are they going to the ocean?”

Schlatt sighed. “Tommy,” he said, “Techno, Sam, and Wilbur are mer.”

What.

Tubbo nodded. “Makes sense,” he said, “Wilbur just popping out of the water kind of gave it away.”

Tommy couldn’t breathe.

They were mer. Tommy had been speaking to mer. Tommy had been interacting with the most dangerous creatures on the planet.

But… they hadn’t seemed dangerous. They certainly hadn’t acted dangerous.

Could Dream be wrong about mer? That was absurd. Dream was never wrong. Well… he might have been wrong about the ocean, but that was different. Was it?

Nothing made sense anymore.

“Kid?” Schlatt said, “Are you okay?”

Tommy buried his face into his knees, letting out a series of confused sounds before he could stop himself. Someone placed their hand on Tommy’s shoulder, and Tommy leaned toward the touch.

“You’re mer too, aren’t you?” Tubbo asked, as if he were discovering something that should’ve been obvious from the start.

Tommy shot up instantly. “What?”

Tubbo blinked, looking surprised. “You didn’t know?”

Of course, Tommy didn’t know, because Tommy was human, and that was that. Tommy wasn’t a mer; Tommy wasn’t bloodthirsty and dangerous; Tommy was a perfectly normal human boy.

Schlatt was giving him a look that was akin to pity, and Tommy scowled.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” he demanded, “I’m not mer.”

“Mer aren’t bad,” Tubbo said, not looking at all perturbed by Tommy’s anger. He gestured in the vague direction of the ocean. “I mean, look at Wilbur.”

Tommy shot to his feet. “Yeah, Wilbur who lied to us!” Tommy shouted, “I’m not like him, I refuse to be like him, I don’t want…”

What didn’t Tommy want? Not want to live in the ocean? Because Tommy did want that, almost more than anything. Not want to hang out with Sam, Technoblade, and Wilbur every day? Because they were actually really nice.

Except that Tractatus dude. He sounded terrifying.

It was all too confusing. First the ocean was bad and then it was a haven. Then mer were dangerous and then they were friends. It was all too much.

So, Tommy did the only thing he could think of.

He ran.

He ran straight toward the ocean and dove in, swimming as quickly as he could. Because the ocean was safe, safer than Dream’s home had ever felt.

Tommy didn’t know how long he swam. What he did know was that when he finally stopped, he was probably fifty-feet underwater.

What.

How had he gotten so far under? How was he breathing? Instinctually, Tommy held his breath again, before realizing that he wasn’t even breathing through his mouth.

He lifted his hand and felt the sides of his neck. Sure enough, he could feel flaps that he was almost certain were gills.

Tommy glanced down at his legs, and let out a high-pitched trill of terror.

Because he didn’t have legs anymore. He had a tail.

Oh prime, he actually was a mer.

Tommy’s thoughts began spiraling.

He was mer. He was a dangerous creature of the ocean. The ocean, which was also dangerous. No wonder Tommy was so attracted to the ocean, no wonder Tommy made inhuman sounds.

He wasn’t human.

“Tommy,” a voice said, jerking Tommy out of his thoughts.

Tommy looked up, jerking back with a start.

Dream was in front of him. Except that he wasn’t human. He too had a long tail in place of legs.

That was one of the last things on Tommy’s mind though.

“D-Dream,” Tommy stuttered, surprised at how clearly he could speak from underwater, “What-what are you doing here?”

Dream crossed his arms, glaring at Tommy. “I think I should be asking you the same,” he said, his voice threatening, “I thought I told you to behave yourself.”

Tommy automatically swam backward, clenching his shaking hands into fists. “I-I have,” he whispered, his voice cracking, “I just-my friend-he—”

Dream’s fist came swinging toward him, and Tommy couldn’t dodge out of the way in time before Dream’s fist connected with Tommy’s nose. Tommy heard a loud crack, and he clutched his nose, holding back pained whimpers.

“Tommy,” Dream said, sounding disappointed, “You promised. You promised you wouldn’t leave without permission, and you promised you would never step foot near the ocean.”

“But-but I don’t understand,” Tommy whispered, “I-I’m a mer, you’re a mer, why—”

Dream sighed. “I was trying to tame you, Tommy,” he said, his voice suddenly gentle, “Our kind, they’re so violent, so bloodthirsty. I was trying to stop you from becoming a monster.”

Dream caressed Tommy’s cheek, and Tommy leaned into the touch, even as every part of his body told him to run.

“Wilbur isn’t a monster,” Tommy protested weakly, “And Sam and Tech—”

Dream grabbed Tommy firmly by the chin, squeezing so hard that Tommy knew it would bruise.

“Tommy,” he said dangerously, “they were lying to you. Mer lie. It’s how they trap their victims.”

Tommy squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to see the anger in Dream’s face.

He was scared. He was more scared around the person who was supposed to protect him than around the people who were supposed to hurt him.

And suddenly, he felt a strange boldness rise up in him.

“But you’re a mer,” he said, opening his eyes and staring straight at Dream, “So does that mean you’ve been lying to me the entire time?”

Dream snarled.

“You ungrateful, little pest.” Tommy tried to swim away at the pure venom in Dream’s tone, but Dream had already started wrapping his hands around Tommy’s throat. “I feed you, I give you a home, I protect you, and this is how you repay me?”

Tommy couldn’t breathe; Dream was blocking his gills as he squeezed his throat tighter and tighter.

Dream smiled.

“You know, I didn’t have to raise you,” he said, “I could’ve just killed you where you lay. You, the little child of the prophecy. You, the one who was going to save the world from me.”

Tommy’s eyes widened. What? Dream was the scary dude from the prophecy? Dream was Tractatus?

And Tommy was the child of the prophecy?

At this point, Tommy knew he must be dreaming, because there was no way he was a mer, and there was no way he was some fricking child of some made up prophecy for some made up legend.

“Too bad you won’t fulfill your destiny,” Dream said, his voice a low purr, “Goodbye, Theseus.”

The pain worsened, and Tommy returned to the reality of the situation.

Tommy was going to die. Dream was going to kill him. Dream, the person he trusted, was going to kill him. All because of some stupid prophecy.

Nothing made sense anymore.  Tommy didn’t know what to do.

So, for the first time in Tommy’s life, he didn’t hold back, and he let out a rumbling shriek.

And suddenly, someone crashed into Dream, causing him to drop Tommy. Tommy collapsed to the ocean floor, coughing into the sand.

“Stay away from my son,” the new mer said, his voice a rumbling growl.

Dream smiled, tilting his head. “Philza,” he said cheerily, “How kind of you to join the party! It only took you, what, sixteen years?”

The new mer, Philza, glanced back at Tommy, looking… worried? Sad?

Tommy didn’t even know anymore. He wasn’t entirely sure he cared. Everything hurt.

Philza… was fighting Dream, Tommy was pretty sure. Sam and Techno had joined at one point…Wilbur was there, wrapping his arms around Tommy protectively.

Dream locked eyes with Tommy, aiming his trident toward Tommy’s chest, and Tommy braced himself for impact.

Thunk.

Blood dribbled out of Dream’s mouth as Techno’s trident lodged into his chest. A small laugh emerged from Dream’s chest.

“So, this is how it ends,” Dream whispered, “Centuries of gaining control, and this…”

“Maybe next time, you kill the person destined to be your undoing,” Techno said, his voice sounding so deadly that Tommy let out a whimpering rumble from his chest.

“You’re safe,” Wilbur murmured, “You’re safe.”

Dream smiled. “But that would have been—” He coughed up more blood. “—no fun.”

And Tommy saw the light drain out of Dream’s eyes.

He screamed.

It was months after Tommy had properly settled in to his home under the sea—where he belonged—that he fully understood the story of his life.

Apparently, the prophecy had never explicitly said anything about Tommy killing Dream, or Tractatus, or whatever. It only said that he would be his undoing.

Philza was only a high-ranking general in King Eret’s army, with Dream as the closest advisor to the king. Apparently, Dream had figured out that Tommy was the ‘chosen one’ or whatever and decided to kidnap him instead of kill him.

“He said it was fun,” Tommy whispered to Tubbo and Schlatt on the night he came up to the shore to explain everything, “He said it wouldn’t have been fun to kill me off the bat.”

“That’s screwed up,” Tubbo said simply.

Tommy let out a low laugh. “Yeah, well, apparently him keeping me alive was enough for Phil, Sam, and Techno to get the jump on him after he outed himself as the mer-equivalent of the boogey-man, which technically made me his undoing.”

Tommy hugged himself slightly. “I just…” he muttered, “I like it here, and I feel safer here, but…”

“But what?” Tubbo asked gently.

“I feel like I didn’t do enough?” Tommy offered, he let out a shuddering breath, “I feel like a horrible chosen one, because deep down, I wish that Dream didn’t have to die.”

There, he said it. Because a part of him still cared for Dream like a father, and it sickened him, because Tommy knew it wasn’t real. Did that make Tommy a horrible person?

“That’s normal,” Schlatt said frankly, “You don’t have to feel bad for it, kid. Have you talked to Puffy about this?”

Puffy was Tommy’s therapist. Sam was good friends with her or something, which was how Tommy got introduced.

Tommy shook his head.

“You should,” Schlatt instructed, “Or if not her, Phil or Techno or Wil. As long as you talk to someone.”

“I’m talking to you,” Tommy pointed out.

Tubbo smiled. “He’s got you there, dad.”

Schlatt huffed. “Still. Puffy would help.”

Tommy nodded. He was probably right.

After bidding both Tubbo and Schlatt a good night, Tommy dove back into the water, enjoying the comfortable embrace of ocean surrounding him from all sides.

He swam through the city and reached his home near the large palace. As he entered, Wilbur greeted him almost instantly.

“How is my little brother?” he said, pulling Tommy into a hug.

Tommy trilled. “Good.”

“Come on, you two,” Techno said as he swam passed them, “Phil has dinner ready.”

Tommy smiled. Phil always fed him, unlike Dream who would pick and choose which days Tommy deserved what to eat.

Before, Tommy hadn’t seen what was wrong with that. Now, he understood.

He wasn’t with Dream anymore. He was safe.

Tommy was home.