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Tommy was woken up by Wilbur way too early in the morning.
Yanking the curtains open, Wilbur turned and looked back over his shoulder. Groaning, Tommy chucked a pillow at him. There was a soft, golden laugh. “You missed.” Wilbur commented.
“Screw you.” Tommy growled, turning onto his side and holding a pillow over his head. There was a sharp smack against his thigh. “No. Why are you in here. Go away, you’re not welcome.”
“Are we sure you’re my brother? You were waking up super early just a few weeks ago.” Right. When he first got here. That was something Tommy had done constantly. Waking up early, like, early early.
Holding the pillow over his head still, Tommy grumbled, “That was before I didn’t have to worry about being broke and starving.” There was a pause. Holding still, Wilbur had a hand hovering over Tommy’s shoulder. Tommy could feel the heat from his fingers. Oh, quit that. I don’t care. Moving, he threw the pillow and covers to the side, sat up. Staring at Wilbur with narrowed eyes, he crossed his arms. “Stop that.”
“Stop what?”
“Pitying. It’s not going to help anything.” Shoving him to the side, Tommy strode over. “What do you want? Normally I would be able to sleep as long as I wanted.”
“Wow, you’re grumpy today.” Wilbur commented, although there wasn’t the usual fire and sharpness to it. Turning, Tommy arched an eyebrow. Rubbing the back of his neck, Wilbur averted his gaze, cleared his throat. “I wanted to take you on a tour of the surrounding area. Things have been a little…dramatic lately, so you haven’t had the chance to look at some of the finer places. I’m guessing you’ve never been to the capitol.”
“Nah, Tech picked me up on one of the outskirt cities. I couldn’t find my way out of this maze if I tried.” Waving a hand at the window, where the city skyline stretched out as far as Tommy could see (which wasn’t much right then, there was just…fog. Everywhere. It was a foggy morning, apparently, although most of it was tinted gold with morning sunlight), he looked back down at the clothes in front of him. Everything’s so fancy. What’s wrong with just a shirt and trousers? “Is it meant to be hot today or is it going to be cold? I don’t feel like sweating nonstop while walking.”
“We’re going to be riding. Have you ever been on a horse?” Tommy glanced over at him, paused and looked to the side.
“I stole one once.” Immediately, Wilbur’s expression switched. He looked almost impressed.
“How did you not get lynched?”
“Okay, well I didn’t steal it. It was a runaway horse that I jumped on the back of and got back under control.” Tommy confessed. “But it’s just cooler to say I stole it, because it kind of ran off with me into the woods and I didn’t get it back until a few days later because I got lost and fell off a cliff and broke my arm. I still have the scar.” Pulling up his sleeve, he showed it off. It wasn’t that big. Still, Wilbur frowned slightly, looked up with concern. Pulling his arm back, Tommy mumbled, “It wasn’t that bad. Besides, I nearly got assassinated, like, twice already since I got here.”
“That doesn’t give me much confidence.” Wilbur sighed, closing his eyes. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he sighed and looked up at Tommy. “Come on, get changed and then we’ll head off to the stables.”
“Alright.” Tommy ducked behind one of the changing screens, looked down at the clothes in his hands and frowned.
Seriously, they’re so fancy. Why?
+++
The stables were…well, they were stables.
There was hay and dirt making up the ground, and horses whinnied every so often. Looking around, Tommy sniffed and reached up, rubbing at his nose. Then, he rolled his shoulders, looked over to Wilbur. “Fun times, right?” He asked, smiling softly. Glancing over, Wilbur smiled back at him.
“Right. Come on, we need to go meet up with Sapnap and Bad. We’re bringing some of the younger paladins out with us so they can work as guards.”
“Really? I thought this was going to be some sibling bonding time.” Tommy joked. Scoffing, Wilbur punched him in the shoulder. “Ow! Hey! You jerk!” Rubbing at his arm, Tommy stared at him and laughed. Wilbur did the same, then started striding ahead. Tommy yelped, then hurried his own pace.
When they got to the two captains of the guard, Sapnap and Bad, Tommy paused. Ducking his head, dropping behind Wilbur, he glanced up a few times. Swallowed nervously and kept his gaze down. Okay, okay, let’s stay there. Let’s not look up. Nope. Not at all.
“Your Highness! And Your other Highness.” Sapnap greeted brightly. Glancing up, Tommy met his gaze and dipped his head in a hello. Wilbur elbowed him, and Tommy glanced over. There was a slight frown on his face, a question, too. “How’s your morning been?”
Tommy didn’t reply, kept his gaze down. Clearing his throat, Wilbur started speaking instead. “We were going to head out. Do you mind getting the horses for us? I’m sure that the stable hands have them ready already, you just need to fetch them. Also, I would like to speak with Bad.”
“Of course!” Sapnap darted off, and Bad cleared his throat.
“What do you want to talk to me about, Prince Wilbur?”
“Well…” Taking a breath, Wilbur said, “Ant is on the team? What happened? I thought this was for new paladins.”
“He punched Sapnap in the face.”
“Ant…punched Sapnap in the face?” Wilbur asked. There was a hum of a reply. “ Ant . The same Ant that I’m thinking of, or…”
“The same Ant. The search hasn’t…it wasn’t going well, and Sapnap suggested that maybe we’d have…have to wait. And obviously, Ant didn’t take it well.” Bad explained. Frowning, Tommy glanced up.
“Search for what?” He asked, unable to stop himself. Both Wilbur and Bad suddenly seemed to remember he was there. Glancing at one another, they turned back to Tommy.
“Ant has a…partner. We’re not sure what exactly the relationship is, other than it’s romantic. A couple months back, Ant’s partner, Velvet, and my partner Skeppy were transporting someone important back here. Someone who had information on you. There was another group with them.” Bad paused at a few points, clearly trying to figure how best to explain without getting too in detail. Not that Tommy could blame him.
“This Skeppy person is important to you?” He asked, frowning slightly. An elbow slammed into his ribs, and he glanced over to see Wilbur giving him a look. “What?”
“He’s my platonic partner. A marriage for tax reasons, partially, and because of a dare that Dream, George, and Sapnap got me to do.” With a roll of his eyes, Bad continued, “Regardless, the public doesn’t know that any of this has happened. We haven’t even been able to tell the families. As far as they and everyone else are aware, Ant and Skeppy and their whole group are still out fetching this person and trying to figure out whether or not the information is true. Obviously, that’s going to have to change now, what with your return.”
Swallowing, Tommy glanced to the side. A horse stared right back at him, which wasn’t as creepy as it sounded. Reaching up, he stroked its muzzle, asked, “Why do I get to know about this, then? It can’t just be because I asked.”
“You’re royal, Tommy.” Wilbur pointed out. “This is information that Techno and Phil are privy to as well. As equals, you get to know whatever information we know. All you need to do is ask, you have the clearance. If you weren’t a prince, you wouldn’t even be in these stables unless if you were working.”
“Oh. Right.” Rubbing the back of his neck, Tommy looked up. Bad was looking at him. “I’m sorry. About Skeppy.”
“It’s alright. He’s alive, we know that.” Opening his mouth, Bad sighed and then added softly, “Which is more than I can say for the others.”
“They died?” Bad nodded. “Do you mind if I ask how?”
“An attack. Obviously, Velvet and Skeppy survived. They’re high-ranking members, people know who they are. If anything, they were probably taken for ransom. We just don’t know by who, and my guess is they’re with the person they were escorting here.” Taking another breath, Bad straightened up, rolled his shoulders, and smiled. It didn’t seem as bright as before, though. “Either way, it’s not something that we need to worry about. We’ll have it handled soon enough. Now, about those horses! Sapnap!” Turning on his heel, he walked off. Tommy noticed a slight slump to his shoulders as he moved, a little bit of a falter in everything.
“Did I mess up?” He asked, looking over at Wilbur. His brother didn’t meet his gaze, instead following Bad.
“No. No, Tommy, you didn’t.” Sighing, Wilbur mused, “There’s just a lot you need to learn about, that’s all.”
Tommy glanced back after Bad.
+++
Green leaves and white snow showered down over them as they left the castle walls.
Growling, Ant brushed it from his ears. Turning, he snapped, “That’s not how you treat royalty!” Meanwhile, Tommy laughed lightly, looked up and closed his eyes. The sunlight had cut through the fog, and he could feel some soft warmth drifting down on his face. Taking a long breath, he smiled. Then, he opened his eyes, looked over at Wilbur. His brother was watching him.
“What? What do you want?” Tommy asked, frowning. Looking at him, Wilbur just smiled, shook his head.
“You’re a very weird person, Tommy.” Wilbur then grabbed onto the reins and started trotting ahead. For a second, Tommy glanced at the new guards, Purpled and Jack. Both of them smiled at him, and Purpled’s mouth stretched into a wide grin when Tommy returned it. Then, he paused as his brother’s words processed.
Turning back ahead, he yelled, “Hey! Get back here!” Spurring his horse on, he cantered on after him. With a laugh, Wilbur glanced back at him as Tommy pulled his horse around. Slowing to a trot jarred his teeth in his head, but he ignored it. Still, he managed not to flail around too much, although Wilbur did start laughing at him. “Don’t laugh at me! What do you mean I’m weird ?”
Looking at him, Wilbur shook his head. Didn’t reply for a moment. Rather, he looked ahead again. “I didn’t mean it as a bad thing, Tommy. There’s nothing wrong with being weird.”
“I didn’t say there was.” Tommy replied. Snorting, Wilbur looked at him. “What?”
“You are a very expressive person, Tommy. Your face says more than you think.” There was movement deeper in the woods. Immediately, Wilbur frowned, looked around and raised his head. Brown eyes narrowed, flared a deep, amber-brown tone and he paused. “Tommy, get behind me.”
“Why? It’s probably just Ant and the others.” Tommy replied.
“Except Ant and the others are behind us, and this is decidedly not .” Wilbur replied. Swallowing, Tommy nodded and shut up, took the reins and moved the gelding about so that Wilbur was in front of him like asked. As he did, Ant and the others trotted up behind them. “Ant, Jack, Purpled, something is in the woods ahead. Be ready for a—”
Wilbur didn’t have the chance to finish his sentence.
There was a sharp burst of pain splitting through Tommy’s stomach. Beneath him, the horse reared up and squealed, and he saw the horizon flip once. Then, he slammed into the ground. Everything went black for a moment.
When he came to, he was lying on the ground. His head burnt, painfully. Maybe there was shouting, but he could really only hear the ringing in his ears.
Bringing a hand up to the side of his head, Tommy opened his mouth, scrunched up his face and gasped. A tacky, wet feeling brushed against his skin. When he pulled his hand away, his fingers were red. I’m bleeding, he realised dimly, raised his head. Freezing, he stared upright.
Someone he didn’t recognise was standing over him. Vines curled over their arms, twisted and a deep, dark brown. Dried leaves sprouted from the plants, shrivelled and dead. Eyes flaring a bright scarlet, they moved and reached down. Sucking in a breath, Tommy tried to move back. His hands scraped uselessly against rocks and dirt, and he stared up at them. Dimly, he was aware he was probably saying something, making some sort of sound. He couldn’t hear himself, though, couldn’t hear anything above the sharp, high-pitched ringing. Orbs of what he guessed was some kind of magic swirled through the air. One of them brushed against his arm. Immediately, burning pain ripped through his nerves.
He must have screamed. There was no way that he didn’t. Still, the person reached down. Fingers locked around the front of his shirt. He was yanked upright. Lifting his gaze, he stared into the blankest expression he had ever seen. This wasn’t blank as in deadpan and sarcastic. No, this was blank like this person had never felt emotion before. Had never even heard of it.
Gaze holding his, they lifted him into the air. Vines wrapped around his legs, and Tommy glanced down. Kicking at them, he yelled. Yelled for help. For Wilbur. For anyone, really. Just someone to come help. No. No, no, please. Please, I don’t want to be captured again. I don’t want to be hurt again.
Along his arms, the red markings he’d seen once before, when he and Wilbur had touched hands that one time, flared up. The vines arced away like they’d been electrocuted. The person dropped him with a twitch in their expression. Then, the vines were back, stronger than before. This time, thick bark wreathed them.
They slammed down around his ribs, tightening painfully. Gasping, he sucked in another painful breath. His gaze locked with Wilbur’s. Eyes wide, Wilbur stared at him.
The vines squeezed even tighter, and Tommy felt something in his chest snap - thud out of place.
+++
“ Velvet!”
Ant was wailing, trying to get to his partner. The young man was currently being held back by Jack and Purpled, both of whom seemed torn between protecting their friend and trying to help the princes. Still, Wilbur had yelled at them to stay back, to hold back Ant. Make sure that he didn’t hurt himself, and that Wilbur could get some semblance of control over the situation.
“Velvet.” Wilbur said, holding out a hand. In Velvet’s grip, Tommy’s head was tipped back. Eyes half-closed, he had his chin resting against his chest. Come on, Wilbur. Get this done quickly, he probably can’t breathe. Let’s get this done. He took another step forward. Velvet stared at him blankly. “Velvet, we’re not here to hurt you. I promise, we aren’t here to hurt you. Just put Tommy down. You know who he is, don’t you?”
Velvet didn’t reply. Behind him, Tommy let out a pained noise, and Wilbur glanced at him. His lips were starting to turn blue. Please, please let this work. Please. He took another step towards Velvet. Face twitching, Velvet made a gesture. Tommy let out a pained cry.
“Velvet, please. You don’t want to hurt anyone.” Wilbur said, holding up his hands. Stepping back, he waited patiently. Slowly, Velvet relaxed slightly. The tension relaxed from his shoulders. Dropping his hands, Velvet looked back at Tommy. A questioning look flickered across his face for a moment. Or maybe it didn’t. Maybe it was just Wilbur seeing what he wanted to see, but he had to take that chance. “Velvet.”
Glowing red eyes flicked to him. Little sparks of gold shot through it. That’s not normal. This is someone else. Glancing back, Wilbur swallowed. We have Jack and Purpled with us. And Ant, but… looking back at Tommy, he swallowed.
“Jack, Purpled, let go of Ant.” He ordered.
“What?” Purpled asked.
“Just do it.”
Behind him, boots crunched in the dirt as Ant sprinted forwards. He stumbled a few times, dropped to his knees crying. Meanwhile, Jack and Purpled made their way over slower. “Velvet. Velvet, please, please.” Ant started speaking another language. Wilbur didn’t know it, he didn’t need to.
Blinking, Velvet stared down at his partner. His head tipped to the side, some of the golden strands shooting through his eyes disappeared for a moment. Getting up, Ant staggered forwards.
“Jack, move with me. We’re going to walk under Tommy in case Velvet drops him all of a sudden. Purpled, I want you to use your powers.” When Wilbur glanced back at him, Purpled’s expression was…well, nervous wouldn’t quite describe it. This was pure terror. Smiling, Wilbur reassured, “You’ll do fine, Purpled. I know it. Jack?”
“Right, Your Highness.” Jack said. By then, Ant was on his feet, holding onto the sides of Velvet’s face and sputtering out words. Purpled ventured forwards, touched Ant’s shoulder.
Nodding, Ant pulled away for a moment. Purpled closed his eyes, touched the side of Velvet’s face. When he opened his eyes again, they were glowing purple and gold. Alright, Purpled. Just make this fast. Wilbur thought, looking up at Tommy. His brother wasn’t responding anymore, hands dangling limply and chin resting against his chest, eyes closed.
Slowly, the vines started to relax. Wilbur glanced over, saw Ant holding onto Velvet’s arms, slowly sinking to the ground while holding him closer. Meanwhile, Purpled was still standing there, holding his hand out where Velvet’s shoulder had been a moment ago. The purple had overtaken the gold, and he blinked a few times. The swirls and circles by his eyes, the ones marking him as Punz’s younger brother and as the younger son of one of the oldest aristocratic houses, glowed even brighter. Then, slowly, they faded out.
Tommy dropped.
Quickly, Jack and Wilbur caught him, sank to the ground. Head falling to the side, Tommy’s nose smacked against Wilbur’s collarbone. “Tommy?” There was a soft gasp, chest jerking, and Wilbur stroked his hair. “Hey, hey, open your eyes. Come on, can you open your eyes for me?” We need Tubbo, we need one of the healers. We need someone else. Carefully, he pressed a hand to Tommy’s ribs, felt them carefully. He could feel a heartbeat under his fingers. Okay, he’s alive.
He’s alive, that’s something. Looking up at Velvet and Ant, Wilbur smiled softly.
“Wilbur?” Glancing down, he found Tommy looking up at him. His eyes were only partially open. Head tipping to the side, Tommy looked to Velvet and Ant. “Is he okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah, sweetheart.” Wilbur replied. Slowly, he lifted Tommy up, got to his feet. “Let’s get you home, okay?”
Humming, Tommy nodded.
+++
Arms crossed, Tommy stared up at the ceiling.
There was ice wrapped in a towel sitting on his ribs, and he swallowed carefully. Took another slow breath. Ow. Lovely.
The door opened, and he glanced over to see Wilbur walking in. His brother sat down in the chair next to his bed. “Hi.” Tommy mumbled, holding a hand over the ice pack. “My chest hurts.”
“That makes sense. You did end up with broken ribs.”
“Yeah.” Shuffling, Tommy kept staring up at the ceiling. For such a tall ceiling, it was shockingly clean. No spiderwebs, no spiders, nothing of the sort. That’s weird. Wonder how they get up to it. Maybe ladders?
“You alright?” Wilbur asked. Glancing over, Tommy looked back up at the ceiling again.
“How do they clean the ceilings?” Wilbur frowned, then followed his gaze. “There aren’t cobwebs or spiders or anything like that. It’s really clean. Like, I get there won’t be any mould or anything but you’d expect at least like a spider once in a while.”
“Oh. They’re just using magic. A lot of people in the Antarctic Empire have magic. As far as we can tell, it’s because there’s a magic well of sorts underneath the, uh…what is it. Continental…no, tectonic plate. Underneath ours, there’s a magic well where it can leak through. So more people have magic and stuff than in other countries.”
“Huh. That’s weird. Do they know why it works like that?”
“Earthquakes. Haven’t you noticed?” Wilbur looked at him. Glancing to the side, Tommy swallowed awkwardly.
“I was just trying to survive, I didn’t really notice how often earthquakes happen or like…count them or whatever.” Humming, Wilbur leaned back in his chair. He was reading a book. “How are Purpled and Velvet doing?”
“They’re alright.” Tommy kept waiting for an elaboration, patiently. Not like he could do much else if he didn’t want to be patient, after all. “You don’t need to worry about them.”
“Aren’t you the one who says that it’s the duty of the royals to care for their subjects?” Tommy replied. Sighing, Wilbur shook his head and rolled his eyes.
“Smart alec.”
“Smart Tommy.” He corrected, and Wilbur scoffed.
“Whatever. Anyways, fine. Velvet’s awake, so he’s alright. Purpled’s recovering. He’s just tired from using his powers.” Wilbur waved a hand. Casually, he added, “This happens sometimes. As Punz and the rest of us train him more, he’ll recover faster and have more ability.”
“What does he even do?”
“Nullify others’ magic.” Wilbur said this like it wasn’t one of the biggest powers ever. People didn’t have the ability to nullify others’ powers. Well, they did, but it wasn’t common. It wasn’t even rare , it was unheard of.
Apparently, Tommy was staring.
Wilbur rubbed the back of his neck. “They’re a very powerful family of aristocrats, Tommy. They’ve earned our trust, and Punz is very high up in the guards. They’ve proven themselves.”
“Right.” Tommy mused, looking at his lap and dragging himself upright. He was a bit woozy, but that was probably just from moving too fast. For a moment, Wilbur stared at him. Waving him off, Tommy mumbled, “I’m fine, I’m fine. Leave me alone.”
“Okay.” Wilbur replied, settling back to read his book. Not like Tommy could go anywhere, after all. Sighing, he looked over.
“When can I get out of here?”
+++
Phil and Techno carefully made their way into the room.
Velvet was sitting up in bed, Ant curled up beside him and holding onto his arm, reading. When the king and prince strode in, however, Velvet stopped, looked up and dipped his head. “I’d bow if I could, but…” Gesturing to himself, he smiled weakly. Phil dipped his head, smiled slightly in response. Meanwhile, Techno simply exhaled. Turning to the guards, Schlatt and Eret, he made a gesture. Immediately, the pair retreated, and Phil sat down in the chair at the end of Velvet’s bed.
“Ant, you can stay.” Phil said. Crossing his arms, Techno leaned against the doorway, eyes narrowed slightly. Nodding, Ant settled down next to Velvet, clutched onto him with an anxious expression.
“First question.” Techno began, and Velvet looked to him. “Is Skeppy alive?”
“As far as I know, yes.” Velvet replied, holding his head up. There was a new scar, one cutting across his face from above his hairline down to the left side of his jaw. “Skeppy and the person we were getting. Was the information right?” His gaze flickered to Phil. “Is—was there—we sent a letter, did it get back.”
“It did.” Techno replied. When Phil and Ant glanced at him, Techno shrugged and said, “That’s how I knew to check where…where Tommy was.”
“Tommy. He goes by Tommy.” Closing his eyes, Velvet let out a soft sigh of relief.
“Yeah. Theseus doesn’t know his official name, but…not like Techno and Wilbur go by their official names anyways.” Phil shot a look at his oldest son, who lifted his chin and squared his shoulders. Meanwhile, Ant smiled weakly. “We’ll tell him once we need to. Once he asks. But yes, the information on his location was correct. Which…makes me wonder…”
Velvet finished for the king. “It makes you wonder if that means the other information is correct, too.” Phil met his gaze and nodded. Swallowing, Velvet glanced down. “We’re going to need to talk to someone. In particular, I mean.” Techno and Phil exchanged a glance. Frowning, Ant looked over at him, tipped his head to the side. Raising his head, Velvet looked up.
“Care to tell us who this person is?” Techno asked. Holding his gaze, Velvet looked at him, tipped his head to the side slightly. Then, Phil paused, seemed to realise it.
“Dream.”