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Tommy stepped out of the portal, Ranboo trailing behind. The nausea of swapping dimensions quickly passed, leaving him to recover his breath quickly. He swallowed and stepped down the Blackstone staircase that never failed to make him shudder.
“‘Kay, let’s go,” He paused for a moment and opened his mouth to continue before hearing a soft ping against his thigh.
He paused halfway down the steps and reached for his communicator, tucked safely in his pocket. He heard Ranboo pause as he opened it and read through the message.
Eret: I made a perfect recreation of several historical locations on the server in my museum, including the button room.
He froze at the message. How he even knew what Tommy was doing, he didn’t know, and quite frankly he didn’t care, but he had an exact replica of the button room. He took a shuddering breath and felt Ranboo’s tail flick his ankle gently. “You okay?”
Tommy swallowed and coughed into his elbow before speaking. “Slight change of course,”
“Okay?”
“We’re gonna go to- um-” He took another breath, trying not to sound as terrified as he felt. “We’re gonna go to the actual recreation of the thing.”
“Wh- so not the recreation, just the actual place?”
Tommy quickly shook his head and reached for the totem in his pocket, gripping and ungripping it for some kind of grounding. “No no no, an exact re- a new exact recreation,”
“Block by block!”
Tommy shrieked in alarm and gripped at his chest as he saw Tubbo, earning a startled laugh from the shorter. “Don’t you ever fuckin’ do that again or I swear to fucking god I’ll kill you.”
Tubbo only laughed and shook his head. “Sorry- sorry! Didn’t mean to startle you big man,”
“You fuckers are trying to scare me, aren’t you? Fuckin’ hell.”
“We’re not! We’re not- I just had to finish the prison replica.”
Tommy shuddered at the thought and shook his head. “God, how did you even know what we’re talking about?”
“Oh, I ran into Eret and we had a little chat, I told him what was up and he told me he had a replica of the button room.”
“You fucking told him what we’re doing!?”
“Did you not want me to?”
“Fuckin’ hell, Tubbo! We might as fuckin’ well broadcast this live for everyone to see!”
Tubbo put his hands up. “Sorry, sorry, I didn’t know you didn’t want to tell him.”
The blond only sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s fine, it’s… it’s fine.”
They fell into silence as Tommy led them to the museum. He’d never actually visited the huge building, despite passing it so often. He could see the huge quartz pillars holding the building up and reached to rub his arms anxiously. “We’ll um-” He paused, unsure what he was going to say, before deciding on just, “okay…”
Tubbo and Ranboo exchanged worried looks. They knew it would be bad, but this was bad. If Tommy was being honest in saying that the exile spot would be the easiest, then they had a feeling this would be so, so much worse.
“Here we go.”
“Oh…” Ranboo murmured softly.
“This is quite a lot more intense than I thought it’d be,” Tommy chuckled, seeming to be trying to lighten the mood.
His walk slowed when he saw Eret step out from behind one of the pillars, waiting for them. They wore a fitted red dress with gold hemmings and jewelry. Their crown sat atop their head as it always did, the multicolored jewels shimmering in the moonlight and reflecting the glowstone lamps. Their glasses hit their eyes, as they always did, but Tommy could imagine the sadness in them, seeing it in the older’s posture.
The three fell silent as Tommy approached the monarch. “Sovereign Eret,” He greeted softly.
“Tommyinnit,” He greeted in return.
Tommy felt his hands twitch at the greeting, all too formal, compared to what it had once been.
Tommy almost repressed the memory on reflex, but paused, just for a moment. Today was about reflection for him, reflection and facing his fears. This was one of them.
He swallowed and turned. “I’m not down for all this formal bullshit, I reckon we just get this over with, eh?”
Eret smiled softly. “You never have been, let’s go.”
Tommy let Eret lead him down the path towards the museum.
“How do you feel?” Tubbo questioned.
Tommy fidgeted his hands, trying not to scratch at the already open sores on his arms. “Give me a minute, Tubbo.”
Eret stalled as they entered the museum and Tommy took a moment to appreciate the building. It was large, larger than anything he’d ever tried to build. In the middle was a replica of the camaravan, there was a replica of the walls that used to surround L’Manburg, and a mess of a replica of that crimson egg towards the back encased in glass.
He turned to his right and paused to see two all-too-familiar rooms. Both tiny closed-in rooms with a button that single-handedly managed to break his heart every time they were pressed.
Eret gave him a soft look before leading him forward to the one closest to the corner. “This is it,”
Tommy remembered the last time he was led to this room, both times by Eret, both times trapped.
He stared at the sign. Final Control Room. Eret stood beside the doorway, giving him a look that seemed to say, ‘you can still turn back’, but he couldn’t. He was this close, he couldn’t turn away now.
He approached the steps and turned to face the Enderman hybrid. “Can you shut me in there, please Ranboo?”
The chimera nodded. “Um, yeah, sure.”
Tommy sent one last look to Eret, who offered him a small smile, before moving up the steps into the room.
He stood in the entryway for several seconds, giving himself a couple moments to take it in. It was block for block, just as Tubbo had said.
He glanced back at Tubbo and Ranboo who were giving him concerned looks, before speaking. “Lock me in until I say otherwise.”
Ranboo nodded mutely as Tommy turned, and placed two blocks, effectively locking the blond in.
He took a shuddering breath as shadows cast into the room, much as they had so many months go. He stepped forward, stumbling slightly, and spoke aloud to himself, trying to organize his thoughts.
“So this is the room I came in, and- and I pressed this button,” He reached down before feeling his limbs lock up.
“I- I pressed this button, I-”
He felt his throat close up as tears welled into his eyes. “I let them in,”
He gripped his hand into a fist and slammed it down onto the button, feeling the wood cave under him. He closed his eyes for a moment, expecting the sound of pistons to fill the room, expecting the sound of screams, of Wilbur screaming, of- of
Tubbo’s alarmed shrieks filled the room.
“A TRAITOR!” Wilbur cried, anger and anguish in his voice as Punz lunged at him.
Tubbo was the first to fall, being slammed into the wall where the doors had closed behind him and having Sapnap’s sword pushed through his chest. Tommy watched as his friend’s eyes widen before his body went slack, dying.
“GET OUT, TOMMY! GET OUT!”
Tommy watched as Punz killed Wilbur, Fundy dying quickly after to George’s blade.
And suddenly, he was alone, frantically mining his way out as Eret’s voice rang through the small room. “Down with the revolution, boys.”
He felt a blade dig into his shoulder and whipped around just in time for Dream to push a sword through his stomach. “It was never meant to be.”
He felt tears spill down his face as he desperately tried to catch his breath, trying to restrain his panic. Oh god- he killed them, he pushed the button and let them in, he killed them all…
He coughed and stood up hastily, stumbling until he was leaning against a wall, bile rising in his throat. He forced air into his lungs and reached frantically into his pocket for the totem, trying to alleviate his panic. He reached for one of the chests and threw it open, almost hoping something would be in there.
They were empty, just as they had been that day.
He struggled to slow his breath, repeating ‘I can do this’ under his breath as he looked around.
His panic didn’t subside, but now he at least had some reigns on them. He paced a little bit before turning to see the door sealed shut, and panic threatened to rise again. He pressed his hands against the wall, gripping the totem tighter, and sure enough, the wall was real, tangible, and he was trapped.
Suddenly, he was shaking again. “I-I gotta- fuck- speak my feelings, okay,” He took a sharp breath. “I am feeling like this room has a lot more to it than-than remembered,” He choked out.
“And- and, it’s hard to be in here, and I don’t want to, I really don’t want to- but I have to, I’m going to do what needs to be done.” He took a deep breath and paced, his hands shake.
He looked behind him and saw the wall again and suddenly, his panic was rising even more. Bile filled his throat, threatening to suffocate him as he tried to swallow down breaths. He felt his lungs constrict and gagged. His voice was tight as he tried to speak. “Let me- let me out I-”
His voice was small, weak, and oh so pained. He turned frantically and began opening chests, feeling light-headed. They were all empty until he got to Wilbur’s, freezing as he saw a book, sealed.
With shaky hands, he reached down and grabbed it, opening it up to see a short message.
I’m Sorry
- Eret
He stared at the message for several seconds and felt his panic begin to subside, his breath slowing at the sight. It was definitely the monarch’s handwriting, he remembered his signature when they all signed the first Declaration of Independence, not that it mattered much anymore.
“It’s okay,” he breathed aloud to himself. “It’s okay because times have changed,” he read the message once again. “And so have people.”
He closed the book before gently setting it down in the chest. “Not all people, but most.”
He turned back to the sealed entrance and took a deep breath. “I’m ready to come out!” He yelled.
The blocks were quickly mined away and he stepped out, the cool night air soothing his stress. He stepped down the steps and turned to Eret who still stood where he had. He offered the monarch a smile, genuine. “Thank you,”
Eret smiled back. “You’re welcome.”
Tommy turned and began walking towards the exit with Ranboo and Tubbo, before pausing at the doorway. “And Eret?”
The sovereign looked up. “Yes?”
Tommy met his eyes, wrapping his arms around his torso for a moment. “You’re forgiven,”
Eret’s breath hitched for a moment, but Tommy didn’t wait any longer, turning and stepping out of the museum.
He still had one more stop.