Chapter Text
Some might say that in the Minecraft world, death was inevitable. There were plenty of ways you could meet your end. However, no matter how many times you died, you could always come back. Yes, respawning wasn’t the most comfortable process to go through, but at the end of the day it still meant you could live your life. So why were people so afraid of death? Death isn’t permanent, so why spend your time worrying about something so insignificant. This was Philza’s thought process. Death was such an insignificant thing to him, so he didn’t bother spending time worrying about it.
He is the Philza Minecraft. He has spent so many years living in hardcore realms that he is used to surviving. It’s what he’s best known for. And even if he died in one of those worlds, it just meant he returned to the hub, a place where everyone went to if they weren’t spending time in a server. Phil would admit that dying hurt, obviously, and the pain you felt was present when respawning. It had been years though since Phil had been forced to respawn, the memory of being engulfed in lava whilst escaping an army of wither skeletons long forgotten. So, he can’t really say that he remembers the process.
But no matter what happens, Phil is adamant that he will never be scared of death.
He wasn’t afraid back then and isn’t afraid now as he sets up his own small house, living a peaceful and retired life. And it wasn’t as if Phil had to worry about fighting for his life. Yes, he could agree that he wasn’t the best pvp player, but he wasn’t given the nickname the “angel of death” for nothing. So, when rumours started to spread about a winged man quietly settling down, people knew that it wasn’t some random player that they could loot, or a hybrid that they could sell for a hefty reward.
So, Phil set up a place he could finally call home. It wasn’t anything grand, just a humble house situated in the middle of a grass plains. An oak forest to the right, some snowy mountains far to the left and he could see the sea from his kitchen window. It was a secluded and quite place and that was all Phil needed.
However, he didn’t realise how quickly that tranquillity would come to an end.
He had decided he was going to do some trading and had flown specifically in search for a cleric. A few stops later he had managed to find one in a quaint little village. Planning to stay the night, as the sun started to set in the distance, he headed to a little camp he had set up on the outskirts of the village. There weren’t many other players, so it was a quick and easy process to set up camp and he silently set up a small campfire in order to cook some food.
Any outsider would say he lived a boring ‘retired’ life, but it was what Phil expected and he was pleasantly pleased with the experience. What he hadn’t expected was to see a small child, maybe only 7, hurriedly come rushing to him in a state of panic.
The young boy had a torn yellow jumper on and a dark beanie that covered greasy, brown curls. On his back was a guitar that was almost the size of him. Phil would’ve chuckled at the sight of the too big guitar if he hadn’t seen the obvious panicked expression on the child’s pale face.
“Plea- please,” the child begged, breath shaky, “you need to help my brother, I can’t fin- I need help, plea-” Phil held up a hand to indicate the child to take a breath.
“It’s okay bud, why don’t you show me where he is?” Phil responded, noticing the small, relieved sigh the child had let out once he had agreed to help. Putting out the small fire he had started, leaving only faint glowing embers left, he stood up. The child turned round and headed back towards the village, occasionally looking back to check he was still being followed.
They came to a small alleyway between two houses, “T-Techno,” the child called out. Phil heard a whimper respond and glanced over to where he heard it. A small figure, hunched over, could be seen in the back of the alley.
Phil turned to the brown-haired boy, “you said his name is Techno?”
Wilbur nodded, “Yeah his name is Technoblade but he likes to be called Techno.”
Slowly, he approached the boy, crouching down and gently laying a hand on his back. “Hey Techno, your brother came and asked me for help, can you hear me?” He felt the small frame shake violently under his hand. The boy slowly looked up and Phil was greeted with a distressed expression, noticing two small tusks pointing out from his lower jaw, a small trail of blood trickling down his chin.
Offering his other hand, the child hesitantly grabbed it. Phil immediately noticed how rough the boy’s skin was. The boy let out a small hiccup as he tried hopelessly to steady his breathing. He moved Techno’s hands to his chest, “okay mate, you’re going to have to breath with me.”
Phil slowed down his breathing and whispered comforting praise into the boy’s ear. Finally, the child’s breathing steadied, and a small voice spoke out, “s’rry” he murmured.
He let out a relieved sigh, “it’s fine mate, you’re okay now, your brother asked me to come help you out.”
Both of them turned to look at the boy standing in the alleyway entrance. He fiddled with the hem of his jumper as he spoke, “I’m Wilbur, t-thank you.”
“Don’t mention it mate, now where are your parents?” Phil asked softly.
“Gone,” was the only response he got from Wilbur. Phil stopped for a second, not asking any more questions about the matter. He couldn’t leave two kids alone so what was he going to do? He could always bring them home- no, Phil shook his head. He wasn’t even slightly suited for the parenting life, maybe he could find a safe place these kids could live.
A small whimper pulled him out of his thoughts.
Glancing over to Techno, he realised the boy had stared shaking again. His hands flew up to his mouth, scratching furiously.
“H-hurts,” Techno whined. Phil rested his hand on the child’s shoulder once again, softening his expression. Flinching the boy stopped scratching at his face for a spilt second. That’s all the time Phil needed to realise that the tusks pointing out from his lower lip had definitely grown bigger. At that exact moment, Phil realised that this kid was a hybrid.
“Do you kids know what a hybrid is?” He watched Techno’s eyes widen as he nodded. His breathing quickened as the shaking became violent. Phil was ready to calm the boy down when he was interrupted by a small hand placed on his shoulder.
He turned to look at Wilbur who had his eyes focused on his brother. Gently he spoke, “Techno, I’m going to sing my song.” He turned to Phil, “you need to cover your ears.”
Phil cocked his head in confusion but did what the boy instructed him to do. He watched as Wilbur slipped the guitar off his back, sit down, and rest the instrument on his knees. Tenderly, Wilbur strummed at the strings and Phil watched him open his mouth, which he could only presume meant that he was singing. His attention shifted to the hunched over boy, who, to Phil’s surprise, had stopped shaking. He gently swayed a couple times before his eyelids slowly closed and he slumped forward.
Cautiously, Phil removed his hands away from his ears and watched the now sleeping boy. “How long have you been able to do that?” he questioned.
“A few months probably, I can use music to control people and animals, pretty cool right?” Wilbur responded and for the first time since meeting the kid, Phil saw a spark light up the boy’s eyes. He let out a small chuckle and scooped up the small hybrid. He tilted his head back towards the alleyway’s entrance, gesturing for the young boy to follow him back to his temporary camp.
Later that night, Phil gazed up towards the stars. He sighed, turning his attention to the small pile of blankets that took up all his tent space, covering the two children. What was he going to do? He had initially agreed to help find them a safe space but realising that these weren’t just ordinary kids, he felt a sudden need to protect them. He wondered, had the parents always know that the brothers were different, is that why they were alone? These kids, especially Techno, were going to experience changes which just reminded Phil of his own childhood. He remembered the shooting, sharp pain in his back and the panic rising in his stomach as two wings fought to break through his skin.
Stretching out his wings at the thought of old memories, Phil realised just how lucky he was to have two parents to help him through that time. He couldn’t leave these children alone, he already saw himself in these boys, he needed to be there for them.
So that’s the story of how Phil ended up leaving his house in search for some potions and coming back with two children.
However, as reckless as that sounds, any outsider would have thought that they had always been a family. A year had passed, and the trio had formed unbreakable bonds. Above Techno’s tusks his nose had morphed into a small snout, hooves had replaced his feet and a pinkish hue had covered his skin, obviously a piglin hybrid.
Whilst Will didn’t show any physical signs of being any different from human, Phil can only assume he was some sort of Siren hybrid due to his unusual power that came from his music. Being able to control others using a song was not considered ‘normal’. And of course, Phil was an avian hybrid, his long wings always proudly on show.
They were an odd three but no of them cared about that, they were content being in each others company.
Once the boys had turned 8 Phil had sat them down, over the past 2 years they hadn’t really left their home much, spending more time focusing on forming a family instead of going out on his daily adventures. He had decided they were at a good age to start going on small journeys with him, but he obviously had some things to talk to them about.
“So, boys,” he began, “what do you know about respawning?”
Phil had never really been afraid of death, being able to survive was something he was naturally good at, so it had never been a concern for him. But now, a new worry had crept into his mind, the thought of two specific people dying scared him.
Somehow, Phil had adopted two boisterous kids. They were a chaotic and adventurous family, pain and hurt was probably inevitable. This caused Phil to realise that he would do anything to protect his family, anything to help his kids avoid respawning.
For the first time in his life, Phil could admit that he was slightly scared of death.