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Chapter Text

Stomping troughs the dust, Tommy didn't looked at where he was going. Not that he had a destination in mind anyway. Maybe he should have actually watched his steps because the next moment he's got his face in the dirt of the road as something grasped his ankle, like a snake wrapping himself around it.

Quickly looking down, he watched in horror as a bloody red vine slowly climbed his leg. Trying to tear free from the thing grasp, Tommy felt the panic make his chest rise and fall faster. Of course Dream fucked him up this much, seems like the revival bullshit wasn't without secondary effects. He's pretty sure he isn't supposed to already be out of breath and that his lungs can normally easley hold against a little panic attack like this one.

Anyway, the plant reached his waist by now and slowly started to... Shit... drag him. His feet planted in the ground and his hands trying to get the red wire off him, he didn't heart someone approach.

« Tommy? »

Snapping his head in direction of the voice, Tommy froze, seeing BadBoyHalo standing next to him, seeming genuinely surprised to see him. Staying silent, the teen just looked at the adult dead in the eyes, the vine having stopped to pull him but still firmly - but not too tightly, weirdly enough - grasped around him. The demon looked at Tommy leg, watching as the crimson plant continued to escalate the younger's torso.

« Oh... » is the only sound he made before crouching next to the teen. He slowly approached his gigantic clawed hand to his head, brushing it trough the blond locks and making Tommy flinch. He pulled his hand away before trying it again, worriedly watching the teen tense under his touch. Then the nine feet tall ancient creature started to purr. Slightly at first then, seeing that it seemed to calm the other down, louder. The vine had now started to wrap itself around the kid's arm, steadily avoiding his neck. He was grateful for that.

« Tommy. »

He looked at Bad.

« I'm going to hold you in my arms okay? You're in no state to walk right now. »

Looking down at his body he had to concede that maybe resurrection didn't do much and that maybe being covered in his mostly dried blood wasn't the best sight. He nodded tiredly, he didn't actually cared about anything right now and all he needed was to sleep. He barely moved when the other picked him up, snuggling closer to the demon chest, the vine gently letting him go as he drifted off into the dream's lands.

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

Waking up, Tommy was really confused. He was pretty sure he didn't owned a place like that. The room was white and red, the two blending together perfectly. Some jewelry were put for the aesthetic and a few ponds of lava, safely tucked behind red colored glass, were littered across the room and the walls. Tommy was surprised to see himself literally trapped in blankets, in a sitting position against the wall but, as he tried to stand, he found himself unable to. He was sure his wrist and ankles were bounded by now. Fighting back tears, he realized that he actually wasn't against a wall. He would recognize the colors and everything everywhere, the form still plaguing some of his dreams since Sam rescue.

He was laying against the mother fucking Egg.

The door to the room opened, letting in a quite familiar cat hybrid.

« You're awake! » said cheerfully Ant, making the teen jump slightly. « Sorry for the bounds, can't have you running when you're this hurt! »

Tommy whimpered lowly, curling himself in a ball. Seemingly a bit worried, the cat slowly got closer to the kid, his hands in view, before delicately untying the younger's ones.

« Like that it must be better! I can't free your feet thought. I understand it's not the best situation ever, but you might run off like an idiot and we can't allow you to get more hurt. » stated the Egg worshipper. Talking about Egg, Tommy started to point at the entity and the room, praying for Ant to understand.

« Why you are here? You nearly died on us three days ago and even potions can't do miracles. »

The kid mix of surprise and panic must have shown on his face because the hybrid continued.

« Yes, you really scared us back then. A bit later and you could have died again. »

Tilting his head on the side, Tommy mouthed an "again" with his eyebrows furrowed.

« Everyone saw the message on the comms, kid. » answered gravely the cat, looking at Tommy with... Sadness?

Trying not to cry - not that he had a lot of tears left anyway - the blond curled on himself again. He was kind of surprised to feel a hand - or was it a paw? - gently starting to rub against his scalp. Tensing at first, he slowly started lay in the touch before he impulsively threw himself in the other arms, grasping the back of the shapeshifter's shirt in the strongest grip he could muster.

« The Egg was really worried you know? It's why you're here. We will give you a bed soon but you can see we've been a bit overwhelmed. »

Tommy just nodded against the older chest as his eyes had difficulties to stay open. It made him think about another similar situations three days ago.

« Go to sleep gremlin. »

And Tommy did.

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

Did waking up confused and surprised was becoming a tradition? Seriously, either those guy were Flash or he slept again for an ungodly amount of days. Anyway, he was actually in a bed, a real freaking masterpiece of a bed. It was king like, an impressive woodwork dispelled on it and red silk curtains. His back was still against the monstrous Egg but he actually didn't cared that much since it was warm. What he cared about was the cat that was definitely Antfrost in his animal form curled against him, prisoner of Tommy's arms who had a tight and definitly bruising grip on the shapeshifter - couldn't be confortable at all for Ant.

Freeing the cat who immediately woke up, he sat discovered he had no more bounds on his ankles. Instead he watched some of the red vines gently covering him. The kid was still extremely tired, possibly because of all the potions he had to drink to heal but weirdly, nothing was hurting, even the areas shielded with bandages. He tiredly noted that the vines were letting him go as someone was carefully reaching for him before ending in the shapeshifter arms. Tommy was tall oh, really? but he felt strangely small in the other arms.

« Hey kid, do you wanna go eat? »

Tommy hummed. Feeling in a weird state of asleep enought to not grasp anything that was happening around him and still kind of awake and able understand a lot. He didn't have any better words to describe it. This is why he was painfully aware of the silence replacing the banter in the room he just entered, watching Bad and Skeppy stop mid-fight, while he couldn't process anything else.

He was put on a stool - why were their table this big? - in front of a plate as Ant left to who-knows-where in another part of the underground 'house'. Feeling odd without someone at his side - Notch, he was really fucked up, heh? - he wrapped his arms around himself in a pitiful copy of a hug. He saw the two friends starting to sign at each other across the table. He recognized some of them and tried to mimic the movement of the adult making them smile. Bad showed him another hand movement. Tommy copied it before looking at the other, a question in his eyes.

« You are safe. » said Skeppy smiling a bit as Bad was showing him the signs again.

Tommy looked at his hands and back at the adults, frowning.

« Tommy, did you know that some hybrids or species might age differently than humans? »

He nodded. He was feeling that it was supposed to mean something but, still out of it, he couldn't grasp it.

« Did you also knew that those hybrids often had two form? One for his hybrid age and one for his actual age... More or less. Like for example, Skeppy and me seems adult but in real we are extremely young in our people eyes? »

Now he kind of see where this is going. He do really need to sleep though.

« Tommy, when was the last time you left your wings out? »

Chapter Text

Tommy froze, his eyes full blown open and looking directly at the two others. His grip around himself tightened, his nails digging in his right arm. He looked around him for an escape, still keeping the two others in the corner of his eyes. His breath started to fasten. They knew.

« Stop it you muffinhead! » Startling the kid, Bad gently took Tommy's hands away from his arm. « You're already hurt. »

And formulating it like that, Tommy realized what they where trying to do. They were trying not to make him remember Dream. "You wouldn't want to get more hurt..." or "You are already hurt badly enough, don't you think?" were thing that anyone would say in normal time, but Dream especially loved those two, using them quite often with this undertone asking for blood. But Bad and Skeppy? They were careful not to set him off. Looking back to them, the kid slowly and with trembling hands did one the sign he just saw while tilting his head one the side in a questioning way. Smiling from across the table as Bad was fussing over his wounds, Skeppy traced the same pattern as a bit ago.

« You are safe. »

He wanted to believe them so badly. He was hesitating between crying and sleeping when he suddenly felt a potion he didn’t realized he had in his organism wear off. The pain came all at once. Stifling a cry, he nearly fell down it seat if it wasn’t for Bad’s incredible reflexes. He then settled on crying. Being careful not to touch the wounds, the demon carried him back to the room, Skeppy sitting on his shoulder – being able to change size seemed to be useful, not that he couldn’t do it, just not in the same way.

He was delicately put on the – his ? – bed, the Egg starting to pulse slowly and warmly its tendrils gently wrapping around him. Surprisingly, the entity was comforting.

« I’m sorry kiddo but we can’t give you another potion, it would be too dangerous. » said Bad, gently putting the covers on him. « Maybe you should try to sleep. »

Tommy was tired, yes, but he was hurting and while it wasn’t like he was dying again, it was too munch and kept the sleep at bay. So instead, he turned to Skeppy and traced a trembling something that meant "like" if he remembered well, and the one meaning "you" before pointing at the other's hands. And then, with the help of a nearly cooing gemfolk, he tried to learn some more sign language in his half asleep and pained state – he surprisingly still learned quite easily.

« You know, I actually have at least two friends who’re mute, so we all learned sign language. It’s actually useful when you wanna talk sneakily with someone in a room full of people. » started the gem golem before loosing himself in stories about his friends from other serveurs, all as strange as the muffin duo. Wait, rewind, what did he said? Toes fetishism ?

Finally falling asleep, Tommy realized that he was supposed to be at least six feet tall but right now, he was as tall as Skeppy. Before he could understand, sleep finally got hold of his mind.

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

He was clearly dreaming. A land without ugly buildings - no, his dirt shack wasn't one of those - and creeper holes? Not the Dream SMP. Looking around, he saw some kind of red shadow figure standing next to him. Even though it didn't have any eyes, he knew it was looking at him. The red thing arms - maybe - signed a "Are you okay?" tilting his head to the side - was this concern?

« Not really » signed back the blond. It was a dream you know it's not he could tell a few things to this weird imaginary friend.

The thing then started to sign a lot and Tommy could only recognize a few of them. Stopping the red shadow splitted its head in two and it took Tommy a few second to understand it was a smile. And a Sorry one in more! How could a shadow widely show its emotions? Normally it couldn't but this one did even so it still took some time to decrypt.

« You will get it. » said the entity, using one of the gestures Skeppy used a lot while teaching him.

Tommy smiled back a timid one before laying on the ground, looking at a blu sky free of smoke. Breathing an air clear of ash. The shadow also moved to sit before gently and delicately run his fingers through his feathers.

Before he could process any of this he was awake again.

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

Yup, it was becoming a tradition. Seriously, they did it on purpose, it couldn't be either way! Bad was literally curled around him, his wing on Tommy like a blanket.

« Do you often sleep this much? »

Peeking above the side of the demon, he could see the gem folk with Ant in his cat form slumped on him.

« No » answered the kid. Then adding « Bitch » for good measure, sending the red diamond in a fit of giggles.

« Lang- Wait, why did you taught him the swearing? » interrompted a very not asleep Bad.

« He asked! »

« And? Geppy! »

Watching the bickering - Ant was going to wake up, seriously guys - Tommy realised that they weren't supposed to act like this anymore, with all of the Egg thing. Well that was a problem for future Tommy. Finally able to proceed what had happen the day before, he looked at his body. He clearly wasn't sixteen anymore not that he was to begin with and no one asked questions. They talked about it to warn him but never wondered why he never shrinked back before? Or why a eight years old fought in war?

« You should go back to sleep, you're not getting out of here anytime soon... »

Raising an eyebrow - that the gem couldn't see - he signed a "Why?"

« He's nesting. »

Tommy shot up, surprised, at the great displeasure of his ribs an the big demon next to him. And maybe to a few vines that retracted themself. He started to literally babble in sign language, sticking bit of phrases and words together, trying to make sense. Skeppy then passed another set of hours teaching Tommy more things, making his speech more clear.

« So you never nested with Phil even though you're his biological son. »

Tommy nodded. Skeppy frowned.

« So you want to know how it work. »

He nodded again.

« It can be different from people to people. Bad does this sometime when he needs to be sure everyone he cares about is fine. Since he can't always drag everyone in it, he just steal something from the missing people. »

This explain the googles, the headband and the pirate hat. And a few other. He knew where the Captain America's mask came from too. It didn't explained why Tommy was here, tho.

« Can he lay back down now? » mumbled the demon before dragging the kid down. Skeppy laughed from his corner before they heard a hiss and an indignantly whispered "Ant!" following it - Tommy called it, didn't he.

Safely curled under the antic creature wing, red vines wraped around him, Tommy followed in his strike of night with no nightmares.

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

He was back in the clearing, the shadow still here.

« Why do you look like this? » asked Tommy after some short greetings.

« If you don't give me a form, you won't see me. »

« What's your name? »

« Why don't you choose it? »

« Don't- I know- Shit. I don't know how to talk it. »

« You have a ----- ? »

He didn't get the last word. The blond drew a "What?" looking utterly lost.

« You know how to name me ? » reapeted differently the shadow.

He didn't.

« This is a no, then. » said the creature before stroking the child's hairs.

Falling back in the darkness of the sleep realm, he started to think. Red iris with black instead of white and white instead of black, not bad for the eyes! Like Techno's.

...

Oh! Wait! The mystery word was idea...

Chapter Text

« Tommy, you can't just run on the leftovers of energy from the potions, you need to eat now! »

Wow, Bad was really acting like a dad - there is only one letter different in the word after all. People often said that Phil was the one collecting children not really but Bad had his fair share of it. No wonder Sapnap was one of the only person who hadn't broke yet with two real dad to support him.

« Tommyinnit ! »

The dad voice. How dare he? He's not five anymore! Eight isn't that different, he should start to remember that he's not sixteen. Pouting, he took a bite of steak. Shit, they had a great cook. He ate a little bit more before the nausea came.

« You didn't eat anything, muffin. You sure you can't eat more? »

Why did he feet guilty when this nine feet tall demon was concerned about him? That's not fair.

« No. » signed the kid avoiding the other eyes.

« You've became way better with your sign! » stated Bad, taking the dishes away. « You've been learning only for five days! This makes me think that you will be able to walk soon... »

How can talking about learning sign language could have made him think about Tommy state? Oh yes, he could actually see the correlation.

« Does people know? »

« Does they know what? »

« That I'm alive. »

Tommy waited for a bit, gripping tightly the fabric of his pants.

« Yes. » finally answered the older.

Tommy quickly looked at him, his eyes wide in shock and full of questions.

« Sam said that you came out of... this place, to everyone. And Dream.... let's say he didn't kept the incident silent to the one who visited. »

Oh...

« Tommy, are you still with me? »

No. Not really.

« You need to breath! Tommy! »

Oh yeah, true. It couldn't be good to breath this fast. How do you do it already?

« Try to follow my lead, okay? » said someone before starting to breath exaggeratedly.

Tommy tried to follow the other, with a bit of success before signing a shaking "Tubbo" when he was conscious enough.

« I don't know, he lives pretty far away... »

« Do people know I'm here? »

Bad hand cupped his cheek, wiping the tears away.

« Do you want them too? »

He never though about it. Maybe? No. But Tubbo... No. No, he didn't want anyone to know right now. He was stuck in his original form, still weak and hurt. He couldn't bear someone confronting him in this state.

« Hey! No vines in the kitchen! You're going to trash everything! » shouted the demon as he was about to give his answer.

Spinning on his stool, he laughed, the livings wires coming around him in a copy of a hug.

« Of course you say the Tommy excuse, always the same thing... » muttered the ancient creature, glaring at the vines.

« Why can't I hear him? »

Bad seemed to think about this one.

« Well... It might have something to do with your genes... Could Phil hear it? »

Tommy shrugged, petting a vine that came circling around his wrist making the kid giggle again.

« Do you want to go back to your room or came say hi to Ant when he came back? »

« Bed »

Sighing, the creature carried the child away from the kitchen, hushing some vines away from the kitchen.

« Why can't they come in the kitchen? »

« Last time they did it, they gave us food poisoning. In muffin! » grumbled Bad. « I know he really want to do like everyone else but he need to hatch before! »

Hatch? Oh, yeah, it's an egg, it can't do a lot of other things normally.

« He's actually way older than me, you know? He's a pure dreamon. »

« Dream on? » don't think about Him, don't think about Him....

Laughing, Bad corrected Tommy's hands position.

« Yeah, he might be the last full blood dreamon. Nowadays, they are just some kind of possessive spirit and not the incredible shapeshifters they once were. The ancient ones like the Egg were really toward family, by blood or not. Once someone was close enough to them, they could help the creature "re-create" itself... It's kind of hard, I will explain when you're not falling asleep on me. »

Seems like finally being able to sleep without nightmares forced his body to catch up with all the sleep he had missed.

« Good night. »

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

The shadow - dubbed "Red" in wait for a better name - was teaching the kid some more difficult signs - no wonder he was learning this fast.

« Why don't you talk? »

The creature - now having red and black eyes, brown curly hair with two big black horns coming from the front, a long black and white - and also red - tail with fluff at the end and pointy ears - seemed to think for a bit.

« Because you can't hear me. »

Was that even an answer? The creature trembled in what seemed to be a chuckle before passing its- no, they hands in Tommy's hairs. Leaning into the touch, the kid was extremely surprised when he was suddenly drawn into a hug. It wasn't really really the same as Bad's but... It was more. More personal if he could say it like that.

Red started purring before Tommy was taken away from the dream land.

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Waking up groggily - he wanted to spend much time with Red, damn - the first thing the tired brain of the young man did was make Tommy legs swing on the side of the bed to land on their feet. And a surprised Tommy discovered that he didn't land flare on his face afterwards. Even better, he could walk! With the help of the wall.

Starting to walk further and further into the maze of corridors, leaving the too slow crimson vines behind, Tommy asked himself why he was doing that. Was it because that, now that he was able to move around, he will be kicked out or they will ask something from him in return of the help? Or maybe simply because he was bored to always be in the same places? A bit of the two maybe.

« Who the hell is this kid? »

Chapter Text

Shooting his head up, the first thing Tommy saw was a pixelated fire symbol. Taking a few seconds to understand, he raised his head even more - why was he so small? - to make eye contact with a very known blaze hybrid.

« Are you alright ? » Sapnap asked, crouching to the child level.

Eyes wide and forgetting that he couldn't walk without a support, Tommy took a few step back and started to fall backwards.

« Shit! » the arsonist threw his arms, catching the blond before he could hurt himself on the ground.

« You're definitely not a villager kid... Maybe someone new? Did dad adopted another one? » muttered the man with the bandana, not seeing the kid's terror while checking if he was alright.

« Toms? Where are you? » called someone from inside the dedal.

« I think he's here! » screamed back Sapnap making the child flinch before he tried frantically to apologize, not knowing what he did to scare the younger.

Bad stepped into the room, looked at the scene before scooping the young blond up looking at his son with a mix of gratefulness and weariness.

« Sooooo... Got a little brother? Where do he came from? » awkwardly spoke the hybrid.

« Was always there, bitch. » shakily signed the kid.

« Don't tell me... Fucking hell ... »

« Language! »

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« I have multiple thing to say... One: Tommy, that Sam pressed us to search for because he was still half dead when he got out of the prison, was here for the last week and half. » stated Sapnap

« Yes. » announced Ant from the next room.

« And he's actually stuck in eight years old body. »

With this question, Tommy hesitated... Do he tell him?

« I wasn't really sixteen to begin with... »

A crushing silence fell down on the room.

« Wait... So you guys are telling me that Tommy is actually eight years old... » asked a really uneasy Sapnap from his place on the sofa.

His father nodded, weirdly it didn't seemed to make him better. Quite the contrary actually his face fell as he murmured à "Fuck...", his expression suddenly a mix of pain, horror, and realization.

« Language! »

« You don't get it dad... » said the blaze hybrid, tears in his voice.

« Panda- » tried to said Skeppy.

« You don't get it! It means I've gone to war against a fucking eight years old kid. IT MEANS I TOOK THE FIRST LIFE OF A EIGHT YEARS OLD KID! » Sapnap screamed, tears of lava now running down his face. Bad and Skeppy gathered their son close as he was clinching to them for dear life.

« It also mean the green motherfucker lost against a eight years old. Not a kid tho. » said Tommy in a hope to at least comfort him a bit - Bad had his back turned, he didn't see the bad word. It had the merit to make the other crack a smile before he dragged the blond to join the hug too.

« I'm so sorry Tommy... If I had knew... »

« So it's not the good moment to announce that Fundy is ten? » okay, maybe he wanted to make him feel his pain a bit.

« WHO'S WHAT, NOW? »

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

« Did you know that hybrid choosing to use their grown up form kind of grow faster mentally too ? »

Red looked at him, nodding.

« But that not a lot of hybrid use this? Why? That's dumb! »

« You need time to grow up, there is things you don't learn if you do it too fast. »

Tommy tilted his head to the side, copying the move of a bird.

« If you grew up too fast, you don't have time for the childhood. But childhood is where you lean about life, where you create yourself. Those who grew up too fast aren't really ready for life. »

Tommy frowned.

« I don't get it... Isn't growing up faster a good thing? Like that you can help around the house faster ? Or simply help with great thing that needs people. »

« Who told you that? »

« Wilbur. »

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

« So not only Wilbur made his eight years old brother fight, but also made his ten years old son too? »

Okay, that was a direct accusation to his perfectly fine he never was, especially at the end older brother who just traumatized you when you joined him back in the afterlife.

« He wasn't that bad. At least he raised us. »

« Wilbur is the one who... Wait... And the others? » asked a surprisingly serious Skeppy.

« Phil was never here and Will pushed Techno out of the house everytime he was home » maybe Techno cared in the end, he always came back, even with his deranged twin pushing him away and spitting hurtfull words. « Wil got Fundy at sixteen and had me dumped on him by Phil three years later. »

« That's why he asked two kid to destroy themselves by growing up faster? That's how he justify taking you two in a war? »

« Okay, maybe he's a bit of a bitch. »

« Language! » murmured Bad on habit.

« He technically didn't talked... » said Skeppy, a small smile gracing his face again. Bad thought about it a bit.

« Sign? »

Sapnap started to laugh.

« Watch you hands young man! » he moked his father, making his dad laugh as well.

« Sappy! »

As the family was bickering, Tommy still knew the discussion wasn't over.

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

« You're the Egg, right? »

Red nodded, looking at the child next to them.

« What's happening outside? »

The red person was a bit taken aback, they didn't expected this kind of question.

« Sam is blaming himself, Puffy is searching and helping to heal, Purpled is forgotten again, Quackity is searching for revenge, Karl is loosing himself... Do you want me to continue? »

Tommy was surprised, he wasn't used to adult tolding him what he wanted or asked and who didn't kept him out of things.

« And Tubbo? »

The dreamon shook their head.

« He lives too far. I think he's taking care of a kid? And Ranboo is with him. »

« Ranboo? »

« Be reassured, he didn't replaced you. Your death just shacked both of them, they needed to find someone to ground them and found each other. »

Tommy layed against the older. He missed the other so much.

« Why did you wanted to kill me? »

They shook their head.

« The goal was actually to make you go away, maybe away from the SMP so you could be safe. Same thing with Purpled, he's going to fail, and Puffy will find him and help him. I'm sorry for Sam but I needed at least a bit of energy to be able to stay awake and protect the other. At the same time it painted me as great danger that people would hesitate to go against. »

« So no evil Egg controlling everyone? »

The ancient creature ruffled the kid's hair.

« All the red clothes and thing was actually those idiots idea. »

Tommy laughed before stopping and started to bounce excitedly.

« I know how to name you! »

As he was starting to sign, the other stopped him, a little smile on their face.

« There is a few things I need to warn you about, angel... »

Chapter Text

Tommy looked at the other, eye wide.

« Since when? »

« I had some suspicions when I heard you couldn't hear me and that you had wings. But I my thoughts where confirmed when I saw you here for the first time, you had wings and halo full on display. »

Tommy though back at the sensation of hands delicately arranging his wings.

« Oh... »

Red seemed to die of laughter.

« Why did you sign it? »

Okay, they were definitely making fun of them.

« Don't judge me, bitch! Like if you would have done anything else! » annoyingly - not really - signed back the blond « Didn't you said you had something to tell me? »

His face looking serious again - tho with a little smile still on his face - the dreamon started to sign again.

« Bad started to explain to you the fact that I'm actually remaking myself, right? »

A nod.

« And he talked about a "family" that could help me do it, you remember? »

Another nod, he started to see where this was going.

« Well to explain better, not all of this family help in the process, only one person do it. And he do that by imaginating another body and giving a name. »

Oh... Oh! Tommy looked at the other with wide eyes.

« The moment you give me a name, there will be no turning back. The moment my body is completly imagined, I will start to hatch. Think before naming me. Because you will also be marked from it… »

« Will you still stay with me? »

With a found smile and loving gaze, Red nodded.

« I Swear it Tommy. People may have say that way too often to you before but, if you don't want me to leave, I will stay, no matter what. »

One more try couldn't hurt, right?

« Crimson, your name is Crimson. »

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

Tommy awoke from Morpheus’s kingdom with a voice murmuring around him. A voice as kind as an anciently loved brother, as sooting as the one of a never known mother, as protective as the one of a forgotten father but still asking to be listen - with still more emotions – a bit like the one of a now denigred brother.

« You should sleep more… Don’t worry, I’ll be there… »

Cracking his eyes open, all he could see was crimson vines, hugging him and creating a cocoon around the child. The clostrophobia didn’t came as Tommy fell asleep again, feeling something crawl inside the two limbs that were showing themselves to the world for the first time in forever, halo laying, useless, next to his head. He didn’t bother trying to see if his limbs changed, prefering to let Morpheus embrace him again.

Why was he thinking that four paws would be cool ? Maybe Crimson will like it.

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

« Tommy. »

He was asleep, leave him alone.

« Tommy. Wake up. »

He snuggled closer to his pillow.

« Tommy, let Crimson breath a bit… »

He just gripped his pillow tighter. A chuckle resonated as his pillow trembled. Two arms circling around him. He hummed in pleasure.

« Come on Bad, let him sleep, he need it. »

Something came through his hair and Tommy reached to catch it, gripping it in a tight grip. Another chuckle and another hand through his hairsm and the kid was out as a fast as a light

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« Come on Tubbo ! He’s okay ! It’s Tommy we’re talking about ! »

« Ranboo, you don’t get it, everyone wanted him dead, who told you it changed ? »

« There weren’t any messages on the communicators ! »

« He already died, maybe it don’t work like that for him anymore ! »

« Tubbo, he’s sixteen, give him a bit of credit ! »

« But he’s not ! »

« What ? »

« Nevermind, Michael is waiting for us… »

« Tubbo, you can’t just…. Wait, Tubbo ! »

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

Crimson was breath taking. Even better than in his dreams. Tommy realized that the other was made with "pieces" of people he knew, but the dreamon was a masterpiece himself and didn't looked anything like the people he knew. He could also still control his vines and it was pog.

« You should sleep more. » stated said creature, his finger still in the younger's hair.

« I already slept a lot. Leave me alone! » he tiredly signed, trying to bat the other's hand away.

Crimson sighed, a found smile on his face.

« I guess you want to move then. »

He hugged the older tighter. He chuckled, scooping the younger in his arms who let out a yelp in surprise.

« Guys! I need your help to make the octopus eat! And I need to taste the food from this time! »

Snuggling closer to the taller - seriously, he was as tall as Bad in full demon mode... - Tommy started to purr. Maybe this time it will end well.

Chapter Text

The hallucinations where kind of annoying.

He could perfectly see Crimson where there was only vines for the others. Sapnap was back with his fiancés so hopefully he wasn't here to make fun of him he knew it was for the best, he could feel Quackity's mind crumble and Karl disappearing, he was not getting attached to the blaze hybrid, really.

« Why? Why can't you see them? They make me look insane! Sleeping three days doesn't make you insane, I think... »

« Because you weren't? » pointed Skeppy, his eternal smirk on his face.

« That's a good point... But that's not what I was talking about and you know it, dickhead! » angrily responded the annoyed kid, making the gem laugh.

« Language! »

Spinning around to face the newcomer, Tommy "intentionally" hit the red diamond with his leg.

« I was signing! »

« Not this discussion again... » mumbled Bad, pinching the bridge of his nose, glasses on top of his head.

« Bad! There is more important! This gremlin hit me! I’m dying! » screamed Skeppy, doing his drama queen and making the said gremlin snicker as Bad raised an eyebrow.

« A gremlin? Come on Geppy! The kid is a true angel! »

Tommy didn’t knew if he had to be impressed with the dad joke coming out of the way to often serious demon or of he had to gag from how lame it was. Looking at diamond guy, he saw the same dilemma as him, gaging taking the upper hand as he was more used to it than the kid. His now red and black wings puffed, sending messy feather on the ground, vines gathering them as their voice jumbled with each other, making something Tommy guessed Chat would sound like.

« How’s Ant? » he finally asked, shaking his head as another illusion of the dreamon started to play with his blond locks.

Skeppy shrugged, Bad shooshing the overprotective vines away, trying to start making the lunch.

« I think he’s kidnapping Punz… Or Ponk… I hope he’s kidnapping Ponk because he’s trying to win back Sam’s interest and it’s not going to end well… » Skeppy sounded responsible! He actually raised Sapnap so it might not be this surprising

« Why? »

Bad was the one to answer.

« Tommy, when someone you see as important is ignoring you, what do you do? »

« I usually- wait… »

The kid could see where this was going. He wasn't dumb, as most people tend to forget.

« You mean he's going to do stupid things until possibly reaching a moment he's going to regret? »

The two nodded. Tommy winced.

« So he's going to be okay? »

« If someone reach him in time. He's not listening to Crimson lately so someone might have to come to him and give him a few slap. » said Skeppy with a far away look directed inside of his cup.

« I hope he's going to be okay... The prison is changing Sam. » Tommy added the last part with trembling hands, feeling the pressure built up behind his eyes. He wasn't going to cry again right? It was nearly a month ago! more if you count the time in the limbo...

« Let's go back to what we where talking before. » interjected the red diamond, not wanting to deal with a kid breaking down. Sapnap doing it even so he was an adult was enough. « So Crimson is stalking you? »

The kid laughed as the vines shuddered in annoyance, multiple objections coming from them.

« He's more, like, popping out of nowhere, taking the place of the vines when they're interacting with me. I'm sure they're taking great pleasure in watching me jump everytime they appear... » the kid pouted, a few vines circling him, making Bad groan in annoyance as Crimson chuckled thought them.

« Well, ask him to get out of my kitchen, I would like you to eat something without vine spore in it! »

Grumbling and shouting their regret, Crimson and the vines retreated out of the room to leave them the space to eat without being poisoned. Fighting with his dripping halo, Tommy finally succeeded to block it from retuning above his head by putting it under seven can of coke, the only thing Skeppy and him would have been eating if it wasn't for Bad.

« Is Sapnap going to be okay? Quackity isn't really in a good mindset right now... » inquired Tommy, his mouth full of pasta bolognese.

« How do you know that? » asked Skeppy, even so it came out muffled by the delicious meal prepared by the tall demon.

« Well... They created something called Kinoko without him, right? And Karl is forgetting everything, even the people he cares about, so it's not going to help... »

« Tommy... » Interrupted Bad, stopping eating and eyebrow furrowed in concern « How can you know that? »

The half angel gulped.

« I have two answer, the first is the fact that I'm linked to Crimson. You're not going to like the second... »

And before anyone could ask, the two adults froze. The vines making a commotion outside, their voice screaming in concern and overlapping one another, forcing Tommy to put his hands over his ears, uselessly trying to block the sound. He could understand Techno a bit more.

« Tommy. Hide. » Crimson voice resonated above the ones of the living red plants - was it really plants, tho? - sending a bone chilling feeling through the kid.

The red vines dragged him to the living room, the duo following closely. Bad ran to what he guessed was the entrance direction, Skeppy pushing him behind him. And a way too familiar sound sended him in another fit of panic, memories too fresh for his liking coming back to haunt him again.

A hiss. Then a boom.

Tommy was standing, laughing next to his makeshift family. The person in front of them didn't liked it, lighting the red tubes. And before he knew it, the entire place was destroyed.

A hiss. Then a boom.

He screamed as the entire place he wanted to call home exploded to smitherin, a sword guided by his biological father through his once brother body, a now stranger screaming at him to die.

A hiss. Then a boom.

He piled his belongings in the Notchdamn hole again, watching the things he took so long to create being destroyed again.

A hiss. Then a boom.

He cried, screaming insult at two unstoppable forces, watching helplessly his once home to witch he gave so much being tore open to the bedrock, a person he looked up to leaving him in the dust once more.

A hiss. Then a boom.

He didn't understand at first. Then he howled the name of someone he thought cared, being dragged down and punched until he couldn't feel anything.

« -ommy! Tommy! Tommy! Come back here kid! »

Coming back to his senses, the kid faced a very worried Skeppy who towered over him with a good feet, having change his size again. The place shook again. The gem exhaled a relived sight before becoming deadly serious.

« Hide » he voiced, superimposing his order with the one of the giant Egg, giving an immediate reaction. The kid bolted.

He raced through the corridors, stumbling to the ground and standing back up, hand hitting the wall to stay upright as his wings flapped helplessly behind, not able to reach their full length. He ran to the place he knew best by instinct, his poor sense of orientation leaving him unable to find his way through the other corridors. He crashed against the door of his room, groaning and using the bit of strength left to crawl under his bed, his back hitting the egg as he brought his knees to his chest, burying his face in them.

« Tommy? I know you're here niño, can you tell me where you're hiding? »

Whimpering and hiding his head under his arms, Tommy couldn’t stop himself from reminiscing about this one day in exile, when he was running away from Dream and the later was searching through the trees, creeping like a creature with nothing human left .

And with a sickening crack, the Egg behind him opened, swallowing him whole.

Chapter Text

Okay guys, sorry I was gone for so long, but exams where killing me. I'm writing the next chapter (and the one that have to come after, just in case) and might update once a week by now. See ya all in the next chapter! ^^

Chapter Text

Sapnap had to be stupid. He let slip that there was someone new living with the ‘Egg cult’ during his ‘trying to get back together' picnic with his fiancés. He never saw Quackity look at him with so much horror, like he didn’t understood why he didn’t do anything about it. Witch is true, he couldn’t understand.

He ran pass vine screaming about a danger, Crimson voice absent from the panicked chatter of the things. He continued down the labyrinth of corridor, saw his father help his dad on his feet, and with a conscience more at ease he kicked Tommy and Crimson room’s open.

“Q! What are you doing?” Screamed Sapnap

The duck hybrid looked at him, pickaxe still held up in the air.

“This thing needs to go away, Sapnap!”

“Why?”

“Isn’t your own family under it’s clutch? Don’t you want them free?”

Sapnap froze.

“I told them the whole cult thing wasn’t going to work!” he muttered.

But in those long weeks away from the duck hybrid, he didn’t remember how enhanced his hearing was.

“Sapnap?” the question came weak, betrayal seething through the name. “What are you talking about? Do you know more it than what you told everyone?”

Sapnap always had been a bit overprotective, and Quackity was crossing a line he made clear the moment they got engaged.

“Could you please refer Crimson as they/them? And please step away from their egg, you’re going to scare the child.”

“The child?”

“You saw him run away from you, right? Well this kid is my soon to be nephew. And he’s a bit traumatized of explosive after the server's history, if you see what I mean.”

“What?”

“He lived in L’Mamberg, and because of all the shit we pulled out on each other without thinking about the consequences, he’s now on his last life, so please follow me out of this room.”

Without looking behind and trying to not literally burst into flame, the blaze hybrid quickly walked away from the Egg. After half a second of nothing he then heard precipitated step following after him.

“When you show your hybridation, you’re suddenly the taller…” whispered the duck. Sapnap stayed quiet. He watched his father following them discreetly from the shadows.

“So you’re now following this Egg cult?” continued Quackity. “And for what? A shitty little wish of an imitation of the perfect family while you leave us behind?”

Finally at the entrance of the cave, the nether hybrid came to a halt, laughing with a hurt, bittersweet laugh, unknowingly breaking everyone heart around.

“Oh my god… You really think Crimson is able to make someone’s wish come true in exchange of someone’s loyalty? Well I would know that, because if it was true, we would have been home right now, maybe joking about Karl last story. I would spend half of my time panicking with my dad while my father would be making muffins and talking about his own marriage, even so his was platonic. George would be awake and talking about this XD guy and annoying the shit out of me by acting like a mother hen while being so fucking reckless as usual...And Dream would be there, normal and screaming George name while running after him, running the other way when Sam or Bad would understand he pulled another all-night… I wouldn’t be crying myself to sleep half the time, asking myself where all of my relationship are gone.” He finished with a sad smile and a wobbling voice.

Quackity opened his mouth before closing it. He turned away from his fiancé and started to walk towards Karl who was standing in the distance, fidgeting with his hands.

If he had waited a bit more before running back inside, colliding into his father’s waiting arms while bawling his heart out, he would have seen his two fiancé look back, tear streaming down their face.