Chapter Text
“Schlatt where the fuck is Tubbo?!” Puffy could hear Quackity yell at her brother. She was standing there, still in shock from what she had just learnt.
Her brother, her baby brother gave up his son, her nephew , she was having a hard time understanding why he had done that. Schlatt and her had always had an awkward age gap, he was closer in age to her son, Dream. The two siblings didn’t interact until he had Tubbo. He asked her to help and she did, she did everything she could for that kid. And just like that, Schlatt left him.
“I.. don’t know,” was all Schlatt was able to let out. How could he do this?
The kitchen they were currently standing in felt so much bigger and emptier than usual. Not having tiny legs run around and pulling at shirts begging for food. Tubbo wasn’t here. It was bare.
Puffy looked back up at her brother, she had been looking away from him for so long now, scared to see his face, “What do you mean you don’t know?! Where is he, Schlatt?!! He’s your son!”
“I left him in a box somewhere far from here...” Schlatt responds, “Someone would’ve taken him by now.”
“Or he’s dead,” Quackity says, the fear of that possibility ringing around the three of them in the small kitchen.
Schlatt shakes his head, “I’m sure he’s fine. He’s with someone better now.”
“Why did you do this... Why didn’t you discuss this with anyone?” Puffy felt as if she had a huge rock stuck in her throat, speaking in a sort of whisper.
“Well first of all,” Schlatt raises his voice, “I’m his father, neither of you gets to choose what I do with Tubbo-“
“Excuse me!”
Quackity tries to interrupt but Schlatt doesn’t let him, continuing on, “I had to do this. I can't raise him, I can't afford to raise him. He deserves a family who loves him. This is better for him, I’m sure of it.”
“Schlatt,” Puffy says directly, “in what world is a two-year-old safer on the side of the road in a box, then with a trusted adult?”
“He has a bee plushie!” Schlatt responds.
Quackity sighs, “I’m going to have to find him, aren’t I?” He shuts his eyes, “I’m going to have to make sure he’s at least okay.”
“I’ll help look for him, Quackity-“ Puffy adds, Schlatt instantly cutting the two of them off.
“No, no, no, don't do that.” Schlatt says, “If you find him then what? What’s going to happen with him from there? Who’s going to take care of him?”
Quackity looked down, “I don’t know- but, I just gotta know he's safe first. I can't take care of him, I’m not in the correct state to raise a child but- I just-“
“When we find him I’ll take care of him.” Puffy says, “I’ve taken care of two boys already, a third can’t be that hard.”
Schlatt leaned against the counter putting his hands on his head, “If that’s what you want to do then fine.”
“Fine.” Puffy repeats, “Can you tell us where you left him so we know where to at least start looking?”
“Somewhere between here and a much more snowy area. The place I left him in was covered in snow.”
“You couldn’t even leave him in Pridelands?!” Quackity screams, he seemed like he was about to either cry or grab a knife next to him and stab Schlatt, Puffy was prepared for either possibility, “That’s gotta be such a far fucking walk. How much do you hate this kid?”
Schlatt didn’t answer, his silence fell deep into the room. Puffy looked over at Quackity, and as in an unspoken agreement the two of them walked out of the house together.
“I’m so fucking pissed off at him Puffy you don’t even understand,” Quackity finally breathes out, “He’s acting as if nobody else cared about Tubbo. Like there wasn’t another option! Maybe I don’t see Tubbo as my son or anything like that but I care about that kid a lot! I thought Schlatt did too.”
“I'm mad too, Quackity. I also just can not understand why he would do something like that. It’s selfish.”
Quackity paused to rethink, as the two of them started walking together, “I was abandoned when I was a baby. I don’t even know who my actual birth parents are. All I know is one day Sam found me, he took me in, even though he already had George. And then he took care of me.” Quackity continues talking, Puffy staying quiet and listening to him. “But just because I’ve always had Sam doesn’t mean that what happened with my parents sucked any less. I think about it daily. That I wasn’t enough for them. The fact Schlatt did this just makes me so mad, the fact that Tubbo has to go through that at all it’s just...”
Quackity started tearing up, Puffy rubbed his back, “It’s not easy. It won’t be easy for Tubbo at all. Right now, let’s focus on finding him, we can be angry at Schlatt later.”
“Let’s fucking kill him after we find Tubbo.”
“Sure, Quackity,” Puffy stifles a laugh.
“So what should we do?” Quackity says as the two of them stop walking, facing each other, “Where do we even start?”
“Why don’t we go talk to Eret first just so we can get a map from them and see if they can figure out a general location of where Tubbo is,” Puffy directs, “It may be good to also get some supplies, just in case it’s a long journey. Some potions, armour, and weapons would be good.”
“Why don’t we split up then?” Quackity says, “One of us goes and talks to Eret, the other gathers supplies.”
Puffy pauses to think, “Yeah, that’s a good idea. You can go to Sam actually and see what he can give us, and I’ll go talk to Eret.”
“Where should we meet back up?” Quackity asks.
“Once I’m done talking to Eret I’ll come to Sam’s house, so just stay there,” Puffy responds.
Quackity nods, and after a bit more discussion on what kind of materials they need, the two of them split, Quackity walking over to Sam’s house, and Puffy making her way to the castle.
She pulled out her communicator, deciding to give Eret a heads up that she will be there. Hey Eret, are you in your castle?
Almost immediately she got a response from Eret, Yes, Foolish and I are in the garden.
Okay cool. I need to talk to you.
She put her communicator back into her pocket, moving her hair out of her face as she got closer to where the castle was. Eret’s castle, also called the Pride Castle, towered over the rest of the country. It was relatively big, built originally by Eret’s dad but added onto and changed by Eret themselves. There were rainbows placed around the castle that gave it a much more colourful aesthetic against the grey stone that is around it. It was a pleasing place, and where Eret spent most of their time.
She walked past the gate, Eret didn’t have this place heavily guarded. They never found it necessary to have guards since nobody has been actively attacking the kingdom. They do have a couple of knights, Dream, Callahan, and George if something did happen. As well as Foolish by their side constantly.
The garden was one of the first areas you would find inside the castle, after travelling through the back behind some stairs. A door would lead you out to it, it was quaint, with artwork on the walls, some statues around the place. Puffy looked around, until her eyes caught onto her son, Foolish, sitting with Eret, the two of them chatting and giggling. Foolish then looks over to her, and waves, Eret’s gaze also directing over.
“Hey,” Puffy says, going over to the two, “Sorry for interrupting your date.”
Foolish shakes his head, “It’s not a date! We’re just hanging out.”
“Mhm,” Puffy nods, “Hanging out, in a garden, alone, with food, some music, and wine. Right. Not a date.”
“What did you need, Puffy?” Eret asks, directing the topic to something else. They stood up, Foolish following the same action.
Puffy sighs, “You know Tubbo right?”
Eret nods, “Yes. Of course, I do. Is everything okay with him?”
“Well,” Puffy sighs, “Schlatt sorta… gave him up?”
“To who?”
“Yeah… about that,” Puffy sighs, “He drove out far from here and left him on the side of the road. The only thing he could tell me about where he left Tubbo was between here and somewhere snowy.”
Eret pauses, trying to think of a response, Foolish instead speaking up, “Why would Schlatt do that?”
“I still don’t understand, honestly,” Puffy says, “Quackity and I are going to go try and find him. I came here to see if you had any maps I could borrow or any insight on where Tubbo could be?”
Eret nods, “Yeah, I think… I think I have an idea of where he is. There are two areas, Snowchester which is a very underdeveloped village, and then farther out in the woods, there is just some family in a cabin.” Eret says, “It’s my job to have knowledge of these places, I can get you the map to Snowchester if you want to go check there? It’d be good to check all the surrounding areas as well, in case he hasn’t been brought in.”
“What about that family in the cabin?”
Eret sighs, “If you have to go there, which I pray you won’t, it’s just a dad and two sons, they seem relatively harmless but they have tried to claim war multiple times. If he is there, just explains the situation, I’m sure they’ll be understanding and give Tubbo back.” Eret starts walking away, “Come on, let’s get you that map.”