Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

H̶e̷ ̷f̸e̶l̴t̵ ̵s̵o̷m̶e̵o̵n̴e̸ ̸g̶r̵a̴b̵ ̷h̷i̸m̷ ̸f̸r̵o̵m̸ ̷a̷r̷o̵u̷n̴d̷ ̵t̶h̵e̶ ̷w̶a̵i̵s̷t̸,̷ ̸p̴i̶c̶k̸i̷n̴g̸ ̷h̶i̸m̵ ̸u̸p̷.̶ ̸H̷i̷s̴ ̵k̵n̴i̵v̵e̵s̵ ̸w̵e̴r̶e̸ ̶g̴o̸n̸e̴ ̴a̶n̷d̵ ̵t̶h̵e̴ ̶a̶d̸u̶l̷t̷ ̶w̵a̷s̴ ̷m̸u̴c̸h̵ ̵s̷t̴r̶o̵n̴g̴e̷r̸ ̵t̴h̶a̸n̴ ̷h̸i̶m̴.̸ ̸"̸ㄒ̸乇̶匚̷卄̸几̸ㄖ̸乃̴ㄥ̸卂̶ᗪ̵乇̸!̵"̴ ̶H̴e̶ ̴s̵h̶r̷i̸e̶k̸e̷d̵.̸ ̴"̸H̸E̵L̵P̵ ̸M̵E̵!̵"̶

 ̴

 ̵ ̷ ̸ㄒ̴乇̶匚̶卄̴几̶ㄖ̴ ̴h̶a̵d̴ ̵h̵i̵s̷ ̴o̸w̴n̵ ̷s̴w̵o̵r̷d̸ ̶o̶u̶t̸,̶ ̴f̶i̴g̸h̴t̴i̷n̸g̸ ̴a̸w̶a̷y̴ ̸t̵h̵e̶ ̷o̴n̶e̵s̷ ̸w̷h̵o̵ ̴w̷e̸r̷e̷ ̷a̴t̸t̵a̷c̸k̶i̷n̷g̷ ̸h̶i̵m̸.̷ ̶"̴D̸o̴n̴'̵t̷ ̷w̴o̴r̸r̸y̶ ̵W̴i̶l̷b̴u̸r̵!̵"̶ ̷H̸e̶ ̵y̵e̸l̶l̴e̷d̶,̷ ̶r̵u̸n̸n̸i̵n̷g̷ ̵t̴o̸w̶a̷r̵d̵s̵ ̶h̶i̶m̴.̷

 ̸

 ̸ ̵"̸G̸o̴,̶ ̵g̶e̷t̵ ̵h̵i̶m̷ ̵o̷u̴t̷ ̷o̵f̸ ̷h̷e̸r̶e̶!̸"̷ ̶O̸n̶e̵ ̷o̷f̸ ̷t̶h̴e̵ ̶m̷e̶n̶ ̴y̵e̴l̷l̷e̸d̴.̷ ̴"̵T̷h̷e̶ ̴g̵u̵a̵r̵d̶s̷ ̷a̶r̶e̴ ̷o̶n̶ ̷t̶h̴e̷i̸r̶ ̵w̴a̴y̵!̷"̵

 ̵

 ̶ ̷ ̶"̸ㄒ̸乇̵匚̸卄̵几̷ㄖ̵!̴"̷ ̷W̸i̷l̶b̴u̴r̴ ̶s̴c̵r̸e̴a̷m̷e̴d̵,̷ ̵r̴e̵a̷c̴h̸i̸n̵g̴ ̷o̵u̸t̴ ̴f̸o̸r̴ ̸t̸h̷e̸ ̷o̶t̸h̵e̵r̸.̵ ̴H̴e̴ ̵f̵e̸l̴t̴ ̴s̵o̶m̴e̵t̸h̴i̵n̶g̷ ̷s̷m̶a̶s̸h̸ ̶o̵v̸e̷r̷ ̷h̷i̶s̷ ̶h̶e̵a̴d̴,̸ ̶m̵o̶s̷t̶ ̵l̴i̷k̴e̴l̵y̸ ̶a̶ ̸p̸o̸t̴i̶o̶n̵ ̴t̵o̸ ̴k̴n̸o̷c̸k̸ ̷h̷i̵m̸ ̴o̶u̶t̶.̶ ̷

 ̸

 ̴ ̶ ̷"̴W̷I̷L̴B̴U̵R̵!̵"̸ ̶H̵e̷ ̶h̶e̶a̸r̸d̸.̵ ̸H̴e̶ ̵h̵e̴a̶r̷d̸ ̷t̸h̶e̶ ̶p̷o̷p̷ ̷o̴f̷ ̸a̸n̴ ̷e̷n̶d̴e̷r̸ ̷p̷e̸a̴r̴l̸ ̴b̶e̵i̷n̴g̶ ̵u̶s̷e̵d̶,̷ ̴a̷n̷d̵ ̵e̵v̴e̷r̴y̶t̴h̸i̶n̴g̶ ̵w̸e̸n̸t̴ ̵c̴o̷m̴p̵l̸e̴t̵e̶l̶y̸ ̶b̴l̷a̵c̶k̷.̴

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Wilbur sat up in bed, breathing hard. He had another one of those nightmares, one that felt like a dream but all to real. "Oi, you okay Wilbur?" His adopted brother, Tommy, asked. Tommy and him slept in the same room, Tommy being 16 while Wilbur was 20. 

  "I'm all good," Wilbur replied. "Just another one of those nightmares. What time is it?"

  "It's 6:30, go back to sleep."

  Wilbur stood up, going to the closet and grabbing out a yellow sweater and jeans. "I'm gonna go see if Niki is up, you go back to sleep," He said, getting the clothes on and leaving the room.

  Niki was already in the kitchen, baking something. "Ayup, Niki," Wilbur said, waving. Niki waved back. She had brown hair with two blonde streaks. She was wearing a pink t-shirt and a pair of leggings, her hair in a bun. 

  "What are you doing up this early, Wilbur? Or knowing you, up this late."

  "Early, Niki. I'm not that much of an insomniac," Wilbur said with a snicker. "I was just having another nightmare."

  "Maybe those nightmares actually did happen," Niki said. "You never know. Maybe one of the empire's freaks did something to you."

 Everybody who lived in Esempii knew that The Antarctic Empire was a strict and controlling place. King Philza Craft was the ruthless ruler. Prince Technoblade was his son, a bloodthirsty piglin hybrid who always strayed outside the kingdom, murdering everybody in his path. There used to be another prince, Prince William, who was Technoblade's fraternal twin. It was rumored he ran away years ago.

  Wilbur had woken up in an orphanage 10 years ago with no memory of what happened to him. All he remembered was the name Wilbur and he was 10. Soon, Wilbur Soot became his name and he became friends with Niki. 4 years later, Niki, Wilbur, and two 9 year old boys named Tommy and Tubbo ran away from the orphanage, making a living on their own. Niki was a baker and Wilbur brewed and sold potions.

  "Hopefully, King Dream will end this war soon. King Philza might be a dictator, but Dream is a warrior. He'll take them down easily," Wilbur replied.

  "Nikki, Wilbur!" Tommy said from behind them. Him and Tubbo came into the room in their pajamas, both looking to have just woken up. "We're hungry."

  "Well good for both of you, I've just made some pastries."

  Tubbo and Tommy cheered. While Tommy was just a human, Tubbo was a bee hybrid. He had little antennas and bee wings. Niki was a human, but Wilbur was faster than most people, more immune to fire and heat, and loved to look at gold. They all assumed he was some sort of piglin hybrid.

 As they ate, there was a knock on the door. Wilbur got up to go get it. Outside stood a man wearing a white hoodie, black ripped jeans, and white sneakers. 

  "Are you Wilbur Soot?" He asked.

  "Yes I am. What do you need?"

  "Emperor Dream has called you and Tubbo Beloved to the palace. Please come at once."

Chapter Text

Wilbur and Tubbo followed the man, who's name was apparently Punz, to the castle. The guards opened the gates for them and then the doors to the inside. They followed Punz through winding halls, and ended up at the throne room.

 King Dream was sitting there on his throne, one left crossed over another and his hands resting on the armests of the chair. He had on a green jacket, a black shirt, black jeans, and combat boots. A porcelain mask with a smiley face hid away his face. He had blonde hair and wore a golden crown.

  "Hello," He said. "It's a pleasure to finally meet both of you."

  Wilbur and Tubbo bowed. "Hello, your majesty," Wilbur said. 

  "I have heard about your potion skills, Wilbur Soot. And I have heard that Tubbo Beloved has shown skill in it as well. I want you both to help with the war with your potions."

  Wilbur's eyes went wide, and he heard Tubbo gasp. "Tubbo can be properly trained by the royal alchemist, George. But you Wilbur, you already possess the skills we need. Punz, why don't you take Tubbo to George, so he can look around the alchemist's tower?"

  Punz nodded, and made a motion for Tubbo to follow him. Tubbo complied, both of them leaving the room. That left Wilbur alone with King Dream. Dream stood up from his throne, taking off his mask and setting it on the armrest. He had bright green eyes, freckles, and a kind smile.

  "Tubbo doesn't have to help as much in the war effort," He said. "But you do. Your potions are powerful, and with proper training they could be even more so. We could change the tide of the war in an instant if my men are armed with irregular potions. I could boost you and your siblings up in the world if you help me."

  It was the offer of a lifetime, Wilbur knew that. Yet, he found himself hesitating. King Dream seemed to notice his hesitation. "Wilbur, you don't exactly have a choice here. This is life or death, war waits for nobody."

  "I know, King Dream. I'll help, gladly for the fate of Esempii."

  The king smiled, and Wilbur thought he saw a bit of a sinister look in it. He decided to ignore it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  George was showing Tubbo around the alchemist's tower. He was amazed, but also a bit confused. He didn't wanna fight in this war and he didn't care about making potions. He was 17, for fuck's sake, he knew that King Dream had everything under control.

  If anybody asked him, he'd say that King Dream was a bit of a megalomaniac. He always seemed to be after something more and it freaked Tubbo out. Nobody asked him though.

  "You'll be helping in the war efforts, once your properly trained," George was saying.

  "What if I don't wanna help, though? Your good with potions and there's gotta be a hundred more people who are," Tubbo replied.

  "We need any force necessary to defeat the empire. Show loyalty to your kingdom."

  "I am loyal, but I'm also 17."

  "Your going to be helping, Tubbo. There's no choice about it, understand?" George snapped.

  "I understand," Tubbo said, although there was no way in hell he was agreeing to that. Then, Punz came back into the room.

  "George, Sapnap wants to see you," He said. George nodded and began to follow.

 "Tubbo, stay here," He said.

  Tubbo waited for a minute once they left, before following. He followed them, hiding behind furniture as they walked. George and Punz entered a room, and Tubbo pressed his ear to the door. 

  "King Philza's troops are attacking ruthless, we need to get more healing potions," Sapnap said.

  "I'm aware," George replied. "That's why we're getting Soot and Beloved on our side. But I have an idea that I haven't brought up with Dream, to get more leverage over King Philza. Prince Technoblade left the empire recently to search for his brother. If we find him, then we can use him as a way to end this once and for all."

  "Can't we just use William? We know where he is and we can use him easily," Sapnap said. Tubbo stifled a gasp.

  "It would probably make King Philza's wrath grow tenfold, since we had him here even before the war. Even if that doesn't happen, it's unlikely he would even listen to us, let alone believe us. So Prince Technoblade is our best option."

  Tubbo crept away from the room, running back to the alchemist's tower once he was far enough so that his footsteps wouldn't be heard.

  They kidnapped a prince, they kidnapped Prince William! Tubbo knew that King Dream was a megalomaniac, but he didn't think he'd go this far. Soon after Tubbo got into the room, George came back. He had a small black notebook in his hands, which he set on a table. "C'mon Tubbo, let's go meet up with Wilbur. Dream should be talking to him."

 "Okay," Tubbo said, with a nod. He then looked at the notebook. "Sorry if this is an intrusive question, but what's that?"

  "Oh, that notebook is full of new potions. Mixers. They'll do a whole bunch of damage in the battlefield and heal soldiers a lot quicker. Now c'mon."

  George left the room, and Tubbo followed after a moment. The table was empty.

Chapter Text

Tommy sat at the counter, swinging his feet. "Niki, I'm booored," He complained, looking to where she was reading a book. 

  "It's only been an hour, don't you dare start causing havoc. I might actually have to kill you this time," She joked.

  "I just wanna do something! Tubbo is gone and I can't fuck with Wilbur, so I don't know what to do. Your reading so we can't do anything either."

  Niki set her book down, looking over at him. "Wanna help me dye my hair? I wanna dye it pink."

  Tommy smirked mischievously. "Oh fuck yeah, let's do this!"

  20 minutes later, the two were sitting in the bathroom. Her hair was sectioned and neatly brushed. She was wearing a ratty shirt with a layer of plastic covering it. She and Tommy had on plastic gloves. Tommy was helping her put some stuff in her hair, hell if he knew what it was.

  "This feels weird," She said, just as Tommy squirted a big glob of it into her hair. "TOMMY!"

  Tommy burst out laughing as he helped her rub it in. "Feels even more weird now, doesn't it?"

  "I swear to God," She muttered, before grabbing the bleach. "Okay, be careful or this'll ruin your clothes."

  "I'm big man Innit, I'm always careful!" He exclaimed. He started to pour it slowly over her head.

  "Okay, that burns," She said, covering her eyes. "Can you rub it in?" Tommy did as he was told, making sure to get the bleach all over her hair.

  "I'm gonna get in the shower, so get out and I'll call you back in later."

  Tommy spent his time trying to find Tubbo's stash of cookies while Niki was in the shower. He was unsuccessful, and Niki called him back into the bathroom. She had thrown the clothes back on, her hair completely bleached off all its color. "Alright Tommy, let's start with the hair dye!"

  Tommy grabbed the hair dye and tried to pour the whole thing on Niki's head. "TOMMY NO-" She shrieked, grabbing the bottle. "You'll get it everywhere!"

  "Oi, gimme that!" Tommy yelled. "I was doing great!"

  After a bit of back and forth arguing, Niki managed to get Tommy to calm down. Together, they got the pink hair dye into Niki's hair. Tommy was still trying to screw around with it and Niki was trying to stop him, which resulted in pink dye getting all over the bathroom.

  "Wilbur's gonna kill us," Tommy said, once they were finishing up.

  "No, Wilbur's gonna kill you."

  Tommy snickered. "That bitch can't get on my level! He is the littlest man."

  Niki laughed, and Tommy smiled. It was a good day.

Chapter Text

Techno knew the rumors that swirled around him. He was Prince Technoblade, the feared Blood God, who killed more than anybody could count and who was a bloodthirsty piglin hybrid. Now, he didn't mind the title of Blood God, it had started out as a joke. Blood for the blood god, after all. He has killed, but those fights were never started by him. Now, he did duel people, but never to actually kill. He wasn't that bloodthirsty either, maybe some voices in his head were, but he himself wasn't.

  He was pretty noticable by his appearance, so he had to be a bit stealthy and quick getting places. For starters, he had bubblegum pink hair. He got it from his mother and it was to his waist already. Blood red eyes and tusks coming out of his mouth gave away more of the fact that he was Technoblade. He was good at what he did though, he never had to worry.

  His father, Phil, worried a lot though. Along with the war against Esempii, he fears that Techno will get himself killed. He won't, obviously. But his winged father was still nervous. He had to do this though.

  He started searching when he was 18, instead of preparing to be the king. Sometimes Phil would go with him, but he couldn't stray from his duties for long, even when he desperately wanted to. They both wanted to find William, Techno's fraternal twin and Phil's son.

  They had nicknamed him Wilbur, and he looked more human than any of them did, despite having some piglin traits. He and Techno were inseparable, until they were 10 years old. That's when Wilbur got kidnapped, by a man named BadBoyHalo. Phil sent out hundreds of search parties, and went out himself, but forbid 10 year old Techno to look for himself.

  Techno was only able to get out when he was 18 for the first time, and other than returning to the castle every so often, had been out looking since. Some called him a fool for searching for someone who was probably dead, but Techno refused to lose hope. 

   BadBoyHalo, whom was usually called Bad, hadn't been himself when he took William. He had been under the control of a demonic thing he called The Egg. He said that under the influence, he had struck a deal with someone to get Wilbur. He did, but apparently the deal was never upholded. 5 years later, they got rid of the egg, and Bad shared all that he knew. He said he wasn't sure, but he didn't think Wilbur was dead.

  Currently, Techno was doing the most dangerous thing he had ever done. He was sneaking into the kingdom of Esempii, to see if they had the audacity to take away his brother. He knew it might be dumb, but he needed to find his brother. William was probably doing the same thing.

  Loyalty was one of Wilbur's most present traits, even to a flaw. If he was alive, he'd be looking for a way to get back to his family.

Chapter Text

Wilbur woke up on a train. That was odd. He looked around, standing up. "Hello?" He called out. No response. He sat back down, leaning his head back against the seat. Suddenly, the train stopped. He stood up, exiting the train. It looked like he was a ballroom, with a chandelier. There was a little boy sitting on the other side of the ballroom, humming to himself.

  Wilbur tried to walk over to the boy, but something stopped him. It was like a glass wall preventing him to get over to the boy. Wilbur banged on it, but he still couldn't get to the boy. The boy noticed him though, and stood up, walking over to his side of the wall.

  He had brown hair and fair skin. Wilbur realized that his brown eyes had..liquid dripping out of it. They weren't tears, it looked like blue liquid. He was wearing a dark blue coat with golden cuffs on his shoulders. A red sash was wrapped around his waist. He had white pants on, and long black boots. There was a silver crown on his head, with golden jewels. He wore a golden necklace, golden earrings, and a few rings. 

  He waved to Wilbur, and Wilbur waved back. "Who are you, kid?" He asked through the glass.

  The boy didn't respond, but he put a finger up to the glass, as if to point towards Wilbur. "I don't understand," Wilbur said, his head tilting slightly. Suddenly, darkness seemed to rush into the room. Two gloved hands grabbed the boy out of the darkness and pulled him away. Wilbur could hear him scream. Before he could try and help the boy, Wilbur was pulled away as well. 

 Wilbur sat up in bed, eyes wide. He noticed that Tommy wasn't in his bed. He had gotten home with Tubbo in the afternoon, and after hanging out with Niki for awhile, he decided to go to bed. Tommy and Tubbo must've stayed up. He got out of bed and left his room.

  Niki was sitting at the counter, eating a pastry she had baked earlier. "Hey, Wilbur!" She said, putting her fork down. Her newly dyed hair was up in a bun, it looked great.

  "Hey Niki," Wilbur said, sitting down next to her. He felt a bit out of it, because of the nightmare.

 "Are you okay, Wilbur?" Niki asked. 

  Wilbur nodded. "Of course I'm okay! Just can't sleep."

  Niki let out a noncommittal hum. She got up, grabbing another fork and tossing it to him. The two sat at the counter, eating the pastry together in calm silence. 

  "It was another nightmare, wasn't it?" Niki said after awhile, looking at him. "Was it the same one?"

  Wilbur shook his head. "Nope. I saw some kid in a ballroom. He looked like a prince, had a crown and everything. Then he got kidnapped and then I woke up."

  "A prince, eh? That sounds really weird. Hopefully these nightmares will stop soon, haven't they been getting worse recently?"

  Wilbur nodded. He had been having them ever since he woke up in the oprhanage, but they had gotten better by the time he was 11. Recently, they had been getting a lot worse, but that's the first time he saw that kid.

  The two heard feet pounding, and they saw Tommy and Tubbo come down the stairs. They froze when they saw their two older siblings, and Wilbur noticed Tubbo holding a black notebook and Tommy looking a bit nervous.

  "Hey guys!" Niki said cheerfully, waving. "What's that?"

  "It's nothing," Tubbo replied, a little to quickly. That made Wilbur kind of suspicious.

  "What is it, Tubbo?" He asked. "Don't tell me you both are planning arson again. Where'd you even get that, anyway?"

  Neither replied, and Wilbur felt an uneasy feeling in his chest. He looked at Niki. 'They both seem nervous, don't you think?' She signed. Sign language was something they both decided to learn awhile ago, and they could speak to each other well in it. Tommy and Tubbo ended up learning morse code, saying they wanted to one up them. They weren't as fluent in it as Niki and Wilbur were in sign, though.

  'Yeah. It's something about that notebook,' Wilbur signed back. 

  'I'll go get it,' Niki signed, before standing. Quick as a bolt, she hopped over the counter and ran towards Tommy and Tubbo. Tubbo shrieked and tried to run, but Niki snatched the notebook from his hands and ran back to Wilbur.

  She opened it up. "This is about potions," She said. "Mixers, apparently?"

  "Mixers are dangerous," Wilbur said, reaching for the notebook. Niki gave it to him. "Tubbo, why would you wanna make-" The words died on his tongue. That wasn't Tubbo's handwriting. He closed the notebook, looking at the cover. In the corner, in neat handwriting, was a name. George.

  "Tubbo...where the fuck did you get this?"

Chapter Text

Technoblade had done it. He managed to get into Esempii undetected, only just leaving a town near the border. He pulled his hood down, letting his braid fall over his back. The chance that Will was in Esempii was probably low, but he had to hope. 

  The kingdom of Esempii wasn't that big, but it had a good military. He could hopefully get things done with quickly. What would William do if he saw Technoblade? Was he looking for him? Would he regonized him? As Techno was thinking, he didn't notice the shadow that followed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 "Tubbo, god fucking damnit, why would you do that?!" Wilbur yelled. Niki and Tommy were silent, watching as Wilbur paced and Tubbo stood with his arms crossed. "Do you even understand what's going to happen?! We'll all be labeled as traitors, we'll be killed!"

  "Wilbur, you don't understand!" Tubbo yelled back, wings flapping angrily.

  "Oh, I understand! You couldn't work for the fucking king so you stole Sir George's instead, and now it's going to fuck us all over!"

  "Wilbur, they kidnapped Prince William!" 

  Everybody froze, turning towards him. He continued. "I heard them talking about it. They kidnapped him before the war started. They would use him as ransom, but they don't want to make King Philza even angrier. They're going to target Prince Technoblade now. If you tell me that's not fucked up, than it's a lie!"

 "He's was telling me about this earlier," Tommy said. "They said that they didn't want King Philza's rage to grow. They did something, definitely, that started this war by making him angry. I don't think we're on a good side right now."

  Wilbur picked up on little taps, communication between Tommy and Tubbo. He looked towards Niki, and she looked just as shocked as him.

  'I think they're telling the truth, they wouldn't lie about something this drastic,' She signed. Wilbur sighed, and nodded to show he understood.

  They all jumped when there was a knock on the door. None of them went to answer it, not yet. "Open the door!" The voice of Punz yelled. "This is an order from King Dream!"

  Niki turned towards everybody. "Will, grab weapons. Tommy and Tubbo, grab blankets. I'll grab food. Everybody go, and hurry. Then go upstairs, to my room."

  Nobody argued. As quick as a bolt, Tommy and Tubbo ran around grabbing blankets. Niki grabbed some food. Wilbur grabbed his sword, 2 daggers, a bow and arrows, a bag of potions, some TNT, and some ender pearls. He ran upstairs, to where the others already where. Tommy took the daggers, Niki took the bow and the arrows, Tubbo took some TNT and potions, and Wilbur took his sword and some TNT. They all took some ender pearls.

  "I got some clothes for all of us, we can change at the border, they're more for stealth," Niki said, as they heard the front door break down. "Everybody, climb."

  Tubbo was able to glide down on his wings, while the others climbed out the windows. They tore through the streets of Esempii, making it to the gate that surrounded the castle and it's down. What they ended up doing was climbing over it, and disappearing into the woods into it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  "Look as these little piglets! They're so adorable!"

 "Do you have any names in mind, honey?"

  "I have a piglin name in mind. Why don't you name this one and I'll name him? Obviously, we can say no to certain names."

  "Alright!"

  "....."

  "....."

  "The name I'm chosing is Technoblade."

  "I like that name! It's a piglin name, right?"

  "Yes. Do you have a name in mind?"

  "I think I'll name him William."

  "William is a nice name. So Technoblade and William. They're so cute, right Phil?"

  "Of course they are, Kristin."

Chapter Text

Outside of the town, where no help could have been provided, swords clanged and potions were being thrown. Technoblade cut down Esemppi's men one by one, a trail of bodies behind him. He had been ambushed in the forest, but managed to fight against the soldiers sent after him.

  He looked in front of him after killing another soldier, seeing a man in front of him. Sir George Not Found. He wore a blue witch's hat with mushrooms on it, a blue cape, a light blue t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. His googles covered his eyes.

 "Prince Technoblade, you are trespassing on Esempii territory," He said.

  "I'm just looking for my brother!" Techno yelled back.

  Sir George didn't respond, but he did take something from his pocket. Seeds. He tossed them into the air and then tossed a potion, causing the seeds to grow quickly. Techno regonized them, they were called Angel's Trumpets. One seemed to be growing against his leg, and he kicked it away. It was like orange mist was coming from them. The voices in his head were yelling at him.

E

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!

I love flowers so much

KILL GEORGE

KILL DREAM

WATCH OUT!!

  "Techno?" Technoblade turned. There, behind him, stood a kid. Curly brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a white shirt, black jeans, and silver cape. A golden crown sat on his head. "Techno, what are you doing?" William asked.

  "William?" Techno said, stepping towards him.

He smiled. "It's me! C'mon, let's go home. Dad is probably waiting for us."

  Techno heard footsteps behind him, and he looked closer at his brother. That's what he had looked like 10 years ago. He's suppose to be 20 now. The Angel's Trumpets...those cause hallucinations, don't they? Techno spun around, but he was to late. He felt a sharp pain in his side, as Sir George stabbed him in the gut. Oh fuck.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Wilbur, Tommy, Niki, and Tubbo were camping in the middle of a forest. He could hear Tommy and Tubbo tapping away into the light hours of the night, knowing they were asleep when it stopped. Niki was asleep, but Wilbur couldn't seem to go to bed.

  He sat on the ground, staring up on the stars with a blanket thrown over him. He planned to stay there until either sleep overcame him or dawn arrived. The border of Esempii was a day away. 

  Suddenly, Wilbur began to hear yelling. He stood up, grabbing his sword, a few enderpearls, and a couple of potions. He put the potions in his backpack and started to walk towards the noise. He heard victorious cheers, and someone cry out.

  Wilbur crouched behind a bush, watching the scene in front of him play out. Sir George NotFound, Wilbur realized, was standing in front of a man. His sword was bloody, and there were a couple of soldiers around them. Wilbur took an enderpearl out of his pocket. The man was bleeding, pink hair covering his face. Wilbur threw the pearl, and appeared behind Sir George.

  He raised his sword and Sir George turned, a clash of metal echoing throughout the forest. Wilbur threw a poison potion at the men, and a fight with Sir George ensued. Wilbur managed to throw a healing potion at the man on the ground, although it would take a bit to work.

  Wilbur slammed his sword against Sir George's, before trying to sweep his legs out from under him. Sir George managed to get out of the way, before slicing his sword at Wilbur. Wilbur dodged, and Sir George tried to slash at him again. Their swords got locked in stalemate. Wilbur wasn't strong, he was better with smaller weapons and long ranged things. Sir George's ability with weapons matched his own pretty closely, so their swords would be locked until one decided to relent.

  Sir George kicked Wilbur in the gut, causing him to stumble back. His sword was knocked out of his hand, and he fell back onto the ground. Before Sir George could bury his sword into Wilbur's chest, an axe was thrown at the former, embedding itself into his side. He screamed, falling onto the ground.

  Wilbur looked to see who had done that, quickly realizing it was the man. Waist length pink hair in a braid, fair skin, and red eyes. A long, blood red cape, a white button up shirt, black pants, and boots. He had two tusks sticking out of his mouth, and a crown in his hands, which he put on his head. When he reached out to help Wilbur up, he realized who this was. Prince Technoblade of the Antarctic Empire.

Chapter Text

   Wilbur was frozen, staring at him without saying a word. "Well, are you gonna get up?" Prince Technoblade asked, his voice monotone. Before Wilbur responded, footsteps began to get closer to them. Technoblade grabbed the axe from the probably now dead Sir George.

  Niki burst out of the treeline, crossbow aimed at him. "Wilbur!" Tommy yelled from behind her. He was holding two daggers. Tubbo was with them, holding a bundle of TNT and some matches.

  "Get away from him!" Niki yelled, clearly not hesitant to pull the trigger.

  "He just saved my life," Prince Technoblade said. "I'd hate to kill the friends of someone who just did that."

  Niki lowered her crossbow, yet didn't drop it. 'What the fuck, Will?' She signed.

 'I wasn't thinking, I heard yelling and came to help,' Wilbur signed back. He got up, running over to his siblings. Prince Technoblade didn't move.

  "Are you gonna hurt us?" Tommy asked.

  "Nope, not unless you guys attack me," Was the response.

 "What are you doing in Esempii?" Tubbo asked.

  "I'm looking for my twin, Prince William," Prince Technoblade responded. Tubbo's head turned to Wilbur at the speed of a jump scare, clearly asking permission to tell. Tommy didn't wait.

  "Well um...'bout that," Tommy started, before Niki hissed at him to shut the fuck up.

  "What?" Prince Technoblade said, his eyes narrowing as he looked towards Tommy. "Do you know something about it?"

  Tommy glanced towards Wilbur, and Wilbur really wished he had just taught him sign. Wilbur hesitated, but he finally nodded. "Tubbo, you wanna explain?" Tommy asked.

  Tubbo nodded. "I do know a bit about Prince William's disappearance," He said. "I heard a conversation when I was visiting the castle once. King Dream had him kidnapped and taken to the kingdom, but we don't know where he is."

  Prince Technoblade froze, and his face twisted into a snarl. "I need to get back to dad at once, of fucking course it was that bastard," He hissed, his voice bitter and angry.

  "Can we come?" Tommy asked. "We had to run since Tubbo stole a book of mixer potions from Sir George, we don't really have anywhere to go."

  "Tommy, shut the fuck up," Wilbur said, glaring at his younger brother.

  "You guys would be a bit useful for information, if your willing to share it," Prince Technoblade said. "We won't force you, and you could live in the artic."

  Before Wilbur could tell him that no, they didn't want to and they had heard about the hellhole it was, Niki nodded. "Alright, we'll go."

  Oh Aether, he wasn't getting out of this, was he?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  For a second, when Techno had heard the name Wilbur, he really thought that it might be his brother. But no. The group had resumed to moving, leaving the bodies and blood behind. As they walked, Techno found at that the four were siblings. Wilbur didn't seem to trust him either, which made him doubtful that he was William.

  Wilbur Soot, Niki Niachu, Tubbo Beloved, and Tommy Innit. That was their names. Tommy and Tubbo knew morse code, Techno could hear it right now. Niki and Wilbur knew sign language, and while Techno was able to pick up some words, they used Esempii's version of it, not the Arctic's.

   The four kept moving, but because of that fight, they had to set up camp. Tommy and Tubbo fell asleep quickly, which left Niki, Wilbur, and Techno. "I guess I owe you now, eh?" Techno said. 

  Wilbur looked a bit confused. "Why, exactly?"

  "You saved my life," Techno reminded him. "So I owe you."

  Wilbur nodded, and didn't say anything else. "Y'know, I really thought you were my brother at first," Techno said.

 "Wait, why?" Niki asked, surprise in her voice and expression.

  "Along with him having a couple of piglin traits, my family and I used to call him Wilbur, as a nickname," Techno explained. "I heard it and immediately assumed, but he's obviously your brother, not mine. Although, I was kind of curious why you all had different last names."

  "We're adopted siblings," Niki said. "We left the orphanage we lived in at 14, since they kept trying to separate us."

  "Oh, I understand," Techno said, nodding a bit.

  Wilbur seemed lost in thought, staring at the dying fire that they had made with a strange look of intensity. It reminded Techno of William, but he ignored it. Similar names and the same species didn't exactly mean anything, but Techno couldn't help but have a nagging feeling that something was off.

Chapter Text

Wilbur was on the train again. That's how he knew he was dreaming, just because of the train. Instead of hearing silence though, he could hear little whispers. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but there seemed to be a lot of them. He caught his name a few times, but nothing other than that. Then, the train stopped and the doors opened. He stood up, walking off of the train.

This time, he came out into a hallway. The walls were white and the carpet that covered the was light blue. Small tables lined the hall, with white vases and blue flowers. Paintings lined the walls, but they seemed to be a bit fuzzy and blurry. He was able to catch sight of one, though. 

  It was a portrait of a woman. Her was brown, but dark pink for about an inch down the end. He guessed it was dyed brown, not pink. Her eyes were a rusty brown color, and she had little tusks poking out of her mouth. She wore a violet blouse with fluffy sleeves and a long, dark purple skirt. She wore a purple sunhat with a black ribbon tied around it. It had a see-through veil on it. She wore a golden heart necklace. He knew who this woman was. Empress Kristin of the Antarctic Empire. She died a long time ago.

  Then, he heard the crying. At the end of the hall was a door, which it seemed to be coming from. He walked towards it, hesitantly opening it and walking through. He came to a bedroom, a big one that was fit for a prince. There were two canopy beds, a bookshelf, and a little play area. There were two steps that went up towards the play area that the floor was just shaped like, like the ones you'd see in a library. The boy that Wilbur had seen before was sitting in the play area, crying.

  "Are you okay?" Wilbur asked, walking towards him. Right before he could go up the steps and into the play area, he ran into the invisible wall. The boy looked up at him, and Wilbur realized he had changed. His skin was more transparent, and his eyes looked like they were completely blue. He didn't have his crown on, and he stood up and walked over to the wall. He pointed at Wilbur again. "I don't understand what your doing," Wilbur told him. "Who are you?"

  The boy looked around, quickly grabbing notebook and a pencil. The notebook was big and was probably for drawing, so it didn't have any lines and was easier to read. He scribbled down a message, and held it up for Wilbur to see: My name is Ghostbur.

  "Oh...hi Ghostbur," Wilbur said. The name made him feel a bit weird, especially since they were so close in names. "Are you okay? This might be a dream, but I'm still concerned."

 Ghostbur continued to write, before holding the notebook up: Not really. I have blue though, so I'm feeling better. 

  "What happened to you?" Wilbur asked. When Ghostbur held up the paper though, all Wilbur saw was nonsense. As he was trying to read it, he suddenly got a splitting headache that felt to real for a dream. It felt like razor wire was wrapping around his brain and needles were being stuck into his skull. He cried out in pain, collapsing onto his knees and holding his head in his hands. Ghostbur dropped the notebook, having a similar reaction, like it was happening to him.

  It took a few moments for the migraine to be reduced to a simple pounding in his head. Wilbur stood up again. "What was that?!" 

  Ghostbur wrote something down and held the paper up: I can't tell you, or that'll happen again. That's why I can't talk now, because he won't let me tell you. He's going to kill me.

  "Wait who? How?!" Wilbur asked. "Shouldn't I know this? This is my dream and it's a lucid dream, so shouldn't I have at least SOME perks?"

 Ghostbur giggled a bit at that, before shrugging: I've been trapped in here for 10 years, I haven't had any perks.

  "10 years? So ever since I lost my memories?" Ghostbur nodded, looking sad. Wilbur wasn't sure how to respond to that. Before he could say something, like the previous nightmare, darkness filled the room and the boy was grabbed, being dragged off with a pained scream. Instead of the same thing immediately happening to him though, the voices he had heard before grew louder.

Can he hear us?

WILL! 

What happened to Ghostbur?

Can you remember, ₩łⱠⱠł₳₥?

Whatever the last voice had said, the last word Wilbur couldn't properly hear. It sounded glitched and broken, and immediately shot pain through his skull.

OH FUCK

NO, THE SPELL IS STILL WORKING

CRAP, SOMEONE GET 卞ヨ亡廾几回!

WE CAN'T!!

The voices began to overlap, screaming in his brain. With every word they said, more and more pain would fill his skull, as if it were filled with needles and knives. Then, just as it reached it's peak, Wilbur felt someone grab him and he was pulled into the darkness as well.

Wilbur woke up with a yell. Tommy was sitting right in front of him, eyes wide. "Are you okay?" He said. "You were screaming. I was just about to wake you up, but then you just woke up."

 Wilbur looked around. Tubbo and Niki were kneeling next to him as well, and Prince Technoblade was watching him from where he was sitting. "I'm... I'm okay," He said. "It was just another nightmare."

  "Do you usually have nightmares that bad? They shouldn't make you wake up screaming like that," Prince Technoblade said.

  Wilbur shrugged. "I used to have them a lot when I was a kid, but then they went away. They've gotten so much worse now."

  Prince Technoblade just nodded. "Since we're all up, let's keep going," Niki said, standing up. "Let's pack up."

  As they packed up, Wilbur couldn't help but feel like he was missing something. Empress Kristin was in his dream, why was she? And that boy, he looked like a prince. It was probably just a dumb dream, but he knew something was off.

Chapter Text

The group managed to make it out of Esempii soon, and Technoblade said that they were getting close to the empire. Wilbur couldn't help but feel nervous, paranoid even. What if Technoblade really was as murderous as people say? What if they would be killed or tortured for information? What if the others got hurt?

 "Hey, um, Prince Technoblade?" Wilbur said. He felt stupid for asking this question, but he couldn't help it. "What did Prince William look like?"

Technoblade shot him a strange look. "Why?" Wilbur responded by shrugging his shoulders, hoping that he would just calk it up to simple curiousity. "I just wanna know."

  "Well, he was a tall kid. Fluffy brown hair and brown eyes. He always hated the royal clothes he had to wear, except one outfit. He liked gold, but he preferred having a silver crown with gold jewels. He loved anything shiny."

  Wilbur felt like his mouth was glued shut. This sounded kind of like the kid he saw in his dreams. "And he also carried around this thing he called Blue. It was really just blue dye, but he would give it to people whenever they would feel upset."

  "Not really. I have blue though, so I'm feeling better."

 10 years since Prince William went missing, 10 years of memories, and now he was seeing that kid in his dreams. Holy shit. "Prince Technoblade, I've been seeing a kid like that in-" he was cut off by an arrow impaling itself next to him on a tree.

  The group turned, to see someone walking out of the shadows. Two people followed him, whom they all knew well. King Dream, Sir George, and Sir Sapnap. Guards followed them, bows trained on the group.

  "Well, Prince Technoblade," King Dream said, walking towards them. "Bold of you to assume your little exersion would go unnoticed. And Wilbur Soot, Niki Niachu, Tommy Innit, and Tubbo Beloved. Your all traitors to the royal crown."

  "Fuck off, asshole!" Tommy yelled. "Just leave us alone!"

  "Shut up, kid," King Dream replied. "You don't know anything about this. If you stay quiet, I'll make your deaths quick and painless."

 "Leave them out of this, Dream," Technoblade said. His hand was at his side, but he twitched it ever so slightly. Wilbur regonized how he was doing it, and although it wasn't the same, it was the empire's version of sign language. Enderpearl. 

  "Get your pearls," Wilbur whispered to his siblings. Just as King Dream ordered his men to arrest them, they all spun around and threw their pearls as far as they could.

 "AFTER THEM!" King Dream screamed. 

 "Drop everything but your weapons and potions!" Niki said to everyone as she was running. "Anything else will only weigh us down!" Everyone complied, dropping any nonessentials and focusing on getting away. Wilbur and Technoblade were able to get ahead of the group with their speed, Technoblade doing something on a little device strapped to his wrist.

  "I got connection through the comm to the empire! My father is on his way," He told them. Wilbur wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Their luck seemed to run out very soon though, as they broke the treeline to realize that they had come across a cliff. 

  "Oh fuck, oh god this is bad," Tommy said. Tubbo's wings were twitching out of fear. 

 Niki spun around, aiming her crossbow and firing it through a guard's head who had been coming from the treeline. Wilbur charged one and Technoblade charged another, both of the guards ending up dead on the ground. King Dream threw an enderpearl, landing right in front of Wilbur. Wilbur blocked an attack quickly.  

 Out of the corner of his eye, Wilbur could see Niki and Tommy fighting Sir Sapnap, Technoblade fighting Sir George, and Tubbo just blowing people up. "A traitor to the crown deserves to die, Wilbur Soot," King Dream snarled, slashing Wilbur. He missed, thankfully.

  "A traitor or not, I don't serve a crown who kidnaps innocent children! We found out about Prince William," Wilbur said, parrying a strike. 

 King Dream paused for a moment, before doing a disarming maneuver and slashing Wilbur across the chest. Wilbur backed up, only for his foot to land on nothing. He was at the edge of the cliff. King Dream grabbed his collar and caused him to lean back.

  "You haven't realized it, have you?" He said, before pulling his mask up and smiling. "Fine. They'll all die, but the true secret will die with you...William."

  What? "WILBUR!" Tommy shrieked, as King Dream dropped Wilbur and let him fall from the cliff. 

Chapter Text

 Wilbur was falling. He was falling, staring at the sky that was getting father and farther. He could hear Dream laughing, that fucking bitch, and Tommy screaming his name. That name echoed in his head. William, William, William. 

 Wilbur turned his head to see below him. He was falling right on top of a frozen lake. When the impact hit, his whole body was filled with freezing cold agony. He could see blood in the water, making it swirl into a scarlet red color. Wilbur wanted to give up right then and there, because he's exhausted and scared and really fucking cold. But he can't, and he know he can't. His family is up there, the prince is up there. Apparently, the key to 10 years worth of memories is up there.

 Wilbur did not live his life just to die because of a maniac king with a bad fashion sense. So despite the pain in his chest, he kicked his legs, grabbing at the ice to pull himself up. Thankfully, he had fallen near the edge of the lake. Carefully, he pulled himself onto the ice and crawled to solid land. The snow was fucking freezing. Esempii was warmer, he wasn't exactly used to this.

  Footsteps came towards him, and he looked up. Just his fuckin' luck. "Hey, Wilbur," King Dream said. "Surprised you didn't die. That was awfully convenient for you, but don't expect that to last any longer."

 "You," Wilbur snarled. "My family...what did you do to my family? My memories?"

 "Since your dying anyway, I'll just tell you," King Dream said, as Wilbur struggled to his feet. "You would have been great at making potions. I decided to let you run around in the empire, a bad choice on my part but I was feeling bold at the time. It would have been great against your father, but then you decided to pull this shit."

 "So Ghostbur...that's me?"

 Dream snickered. "Ghostbur is what he's calling himself? Unoriginal, but I guess your old memories couldn't really tell you anything anyway, including your name."

 Wilbur stumbled as King Dream came towards him, sword in hand. He fell on one knee, letting out pained breathes like it was hard to stand and he could barely do it. Of course, it was hard to stand after that fall and with his chest bleeding, but that wasn't why he was doing this. He grabbed a fist full of snow, and when King Dream came close, he threw the snow right into his face.  

 His mask didn't allow it to get into his eyes, but it made him pause for a second. Wilbur took that chance, lunging at him and punching him across the face. He still had a lot of adrenaline left, and he wasn't dying to this fucker, thank you very much. He managed to get the sword out of King Dream's hand, but right after King Dream kicked him back.

King Dream punched Wilbur in the nose, causing blood to pour down from it. He went to punch Wilbur again, but Wilbur managed to block it and instead kicked King Dream in the stomach.

 The two exchanged parries and punches for a bit, Wilbur's motions becoming more and more sluggish due to his injuries. But he wasn't down, not yet. Suddenly, a shadow paused over the two. A shadow with huge wings. Wilbur looked up to see who it was, and King Dream could a punch in, hitting his jaw. He heard a sickening crack come from it. Before he could do anything, King Dream punched him again, in the throat. He stumbled back, falling.

 King Dream grabbed him and dragged him over to the water. Wilbur tried to fight back, but couldn't as King Dream forced his head underwater. Oh shit, oh shit, oh my gods.

 Wilbur tried the best he could, but he couldn't get away. He sputtered and choked, no air to fill his lungs. He didn't bother screaming, it would waste air. King Dream's mask had cracked in their fight, revealing one green eye. It was wide, the pupil dilated. It made him look like a true maniac, and Wilbur did not doubt for a second he was. How could Wilbur have ever thought he wasn't anything less?

 Something, someone, landed behind King Dream. Wilbur couldn't see what it was before he closed his eyes and fell into darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Techno had been gone for a little over a week. Phil was getting really worried, especially since the messages he tried to send to Techno on the comms were met with a no connection signal. Where had Techno gone where his comm wouldn't connect?

 When Phil had gotten the message, that he was running from Dream with 4 civilians and they needed help, Phil panicked. It wasn't the type of panic that made him freeze though, it was the type that made him spring into action. He ordered his soldiers to come and help, but flew in front of them to get there. It took a little while regrettably, as the empire was big, but he got there. He could see them fighting, surrounded by soldiers and backed up on a cliff. Four in all, including Techno. 

 Phil landed, slashing his katana down on someone and watching their blood stain the ground. The three civilians seemed okay. One was a girl with pink hair, one was a bee hybrid, and the last was a human. Phil cut down a couple more soldiers, his own coming to help them. "Dad!" Techno yelled, voice full of panic. "One of them fell, and Dream went after him! We'll be fine with the soldiers, please go make sure he's not dead!"

 Phil didn't have time to argue, to say he wanted to make sure Techno stayed safe. He jumped off the cliff, gliding down to the ground. Phil could see Dream, and the other person. The other person had been struggling, but was stopping as Dream held him under water.

 "DREAM!" Phil yelled, rushing forward. Dream dodged to the right, inches from being impaled by Phil's katana. Phil grabbed the person in the water and pulled them out. As soon as he pulled them out of the water, they began to cough water up. Phil turned them on their side as they emptied their lungs, but didn't wake up. 

 Phil heard movement behind him, and spun around, raising his arm to block the sword that was almost brought down on his head. He gasped in pain as Dream pulled away, and Phil grabbed his katana in that moment. Their weapons met, Dream pulling away. Phil used his wings to launch himself at Dream, slashing his sword towards him. Dream got out of the way, and Phil narrowly avoided another slash.

 They slammed their swords together, locking each other into stalemate. Phil noticed that Dream's mask had been cracked, and in the back of his head, he wondered if the civilian passed out on the ground had done it. Phil had never seen Dream's face before, but now he could see one bright green eye staring him. He did not care, he had bigger issues to worry about. Y'know, like trying not to die.

 He pulled out, launching himself into the air with his wings. He dropped down soon enough, and had to use his wings to block a stab to his chest. He cried out as the sword went through his wing. Treatable, but painful as fuck. Phil pulled away, not wanting to make the damage worse by letting Dream slide his sword up or down. He made a few quick slashes at Dream, cutting his chest a couple of times.

 Dream ducked underneath Phil's katana and grabbed him around the waist, running forward and slamming him into the bottom of the cliff. He raised his fist and swung at Phil, who moved his head to the side. Dream's fist collided with the wall, and Phi kneed him in the stomach. Phil gripped his katana and stabbed at Dream, who couldn't dodge in time. He was stabbed in the side, and Phil let him fall into the snow.

 Phil then turned his attention to the person who was on the ground. Looking up, Phil realized he should have died at this height. Maybe he used some sort of feather falling potion, or maybe he was a hybrid of some sorts. Avian hybrids fell a little slower than everyone else, nobody knew why, but he didn't have any avian traits. With his pointed ears, he looked like a piglin hybrid.

 His chest was bleeding and there were bruises on his face. His back seemed to be bleeding. His pulse was weak, but he was still breathing. From behind him, Phil suddenly heard movement. He turned around, just as Dream was struck down with an arrow to the neck. The girl and the two kids Phil had seen where behind him, the girl holding the crossbow. 

 "Prince Technoblade is okay, he and the soldiers are finishing off the remaining soldiers," She said. She stared at him with a look that looked between distrustful and curious. 

 "Is...is he alive?" One of the kids said, the one who wasn't a bee hybrid. "He's alive, right? I'll fuckin' kill him if he's not."

 "He's alive," Phil said, picking him up. "We need to get him back to the castle though, we can take care of him there."

 "To the castle?" The bee hybrid asked, narrowing his eyes at him. Phil nodded.

 "Tubbo, it's his best shot," The girl told him. It didn't take long for Tech and some of the guards to come after that. Since Phil couldn't fly with a damaged wing, he had to give the person to Captain Puffy, the captain of the royal guard. The girl went with her.

 That left Phil with two teenagers from Esempii and his son, the latter staring into his soul with fire in their eyes. They looked like they wanted to be anywhere but here. "Take Dream, George, and Sapnap to the castle," Phil told one of the guards, before turning to the teenagers. "C'mon, let's go."

Chapter Text

Wilbur woke up on the train again. He stood up, looking around. Was he dead? Last thing he remembered was drowning. The voices were louder, clearer.

Prince William?

He can remember!

No he can't. He looks confused.

YOOOOOOO SUCK IT GREEN BOY!

I think we're confusing him.

"Slow down, you guys are talking to fast!" Wilbur said. His head began to pound, and he shut his eyes. "What the hell is going on?"

Dream tried to drown you!

DADZA POG!!

The others are okay! But I don't think the spell is completely broken!

Find Ghostbur!!

 "I-Alright," Wilbur said. He saw no other option but to take their word for it. He looked down at himself and realized he wasn't wearing the clothes he had on before. He had on a formal suit, like a prince going to a ball. He wore a dark blue suit jacket with the ends of the sleeves cuffed and gold, a white shirt with a white ruffled thing on it, black slacks, and a pair of dress shoes. Reaching up to his head revealed he was wearing a fancy silver crown. The train door opened, and he stepped out into the ballroom again. Instead of Ghostbur being there, shadowy figures danced with each other.

 Scanning the room, he could see Ghostbur leaving through the big double doors. He ran into the crowd of dancers to go after him, but someone grabbed him and pulled him into a waltz as music began. The woman looked kind. She had rusty red eyes and brown hair that was pink at the end. She had on a violet blouse with puffy sleeves and a long purple skirt. She wore a sunhat with a purple ribbon tied around it, with a veil covering her eyes. She and Wilbur stepped through the waltz, the moves coming to Wilbur like he'd been taught all his life how to dance.

 "Do you know who I am, Wil?" She asked. 

 Wilbur stared at her as they danced. "Your..." Think, goddamnit! "Empress Kristin of the Antarctic Empire. You died 15 years ago."

Empress Kristin smiled, the two continuing their waltz. "That's right! But that's common knowledge. Do you remember how I died?"

 Wilbur was about to respond with a no, because why the hell would he, when a memory came flashing through his head. A sickness, a plague of some sorts. Empress Kristin sick and dying, Emperor Philza crying. Him and Prince Technoblade standing next to her bed as she hugged them, as she died. She whispered something to Prince Technoblade and then to him. "Always keep making those wonderful little tunes, William. I love you to the moon and back."

 "You...you died from a plague, from before the potions were strong enough to deal with it. And you really are my mother." 

 Empress Kristin smiled joyfully. "Thank you for remembering, Wilbur. You'll have to face others in the ballroom, but you need to get your memories back. Stay strong, especially when you have your dance with him."

 Before Wilbur could ask who he was, Empress Kristin, his mother, pulled away and a new person joined her spot. It was a ram hybrid, around his age. Wilbur regonized him as some sort of politician, one that wasn't very popular around Esempii but was gossiped about a lot. "'Sup, Wilbur," He said with a smirk. He noticed Wilbur's confused expression. "This is how I used to act, we're memories."

 "Who the hell are you in my memories?" Wilbur asked. "I don't know you at all, but you do look familiar."

 "Because that's how you know me as of now, since you've heard of me. You wanna see a different me?" He replied. When Wilbur had to spin him for the dance, something strange happened. Halfway through the twirl, he changed. Suddenly, he was a little kid. Still in a suit, but with smaller horns and no goatee. "Remember me now?"

 "No, I don't. Who are you?" Wilbur asked, having to adjust his arms because of him suddenly getting a whole lot smaller.

 "I was one of your friends. My name is Schlatt. Do you remember how we used to go out and hang out?"

 Thinking hard enough, Wilbur could remember. Schlatt, a noble kid that he'd place with. The two would run around the capital until they were found by the castle guards that Phil would send after them. Techno and him didn't get along all that well, but Wilbur thought he was cool. "I remember you, Schlatt! Holy shit, it's coming back to me!" 

 When Wilbur had woken up in the orphanage, with no memories except a name and age, he'd gotten angry and lashed out at everyone. He searched through his mind desperately, looking for something to figure out where he had came from. But there was absolutely nothing. Now, there were things. Memories. Things that Wilbur could grasp. It was an amazing feeling, and Wilbur got lost in it. He barely noticed Schlatt pulling away and someone else going in his place. Wilbur's eyes went wide when he saw the person in front of him.

  A man in his thirties, with blonde hair that was in a ponytail. Three beads hung from the front of his hair. He had on a golden crown on, and a black suit with a green undershirt. "Hello, William," He said with a kind smile.  

 "You..your..." Wilbur stuttered, but the words were put in his mouth.

 "Emperor Philza of The Antarctic Empire, and your father," He replied. "I'm happy to see you again."

 Their waltz continued in practiced steps. "Your...I'm having a hard time grasping this."

 "You always thought I favored Techno, right?" He said. "But I always promised you I didn't. I loved you both the same, I just showed it in slightly different ways. But that doesn't mean I didn't like either of you differently."

 Wilbur wasn't sure what to say. Fuzzy memories kept coming back. His dad playing with them, reading to them. His dad teaching Wilbur the same dance in the same ballroom. "Did you look for me?" He asked. "Did you try to track me down or did you leave me behind? You looked, right?"

 Phil smiled. "I'm only your memory of him, Wilbur. But you can ask him that yourself, when you wake up. You only have two more dances left." He pulled away, being replaced with yet another person.

 A person who Wilbur instantly regonized as the prince he'd been traveling with for the past couple of days. But he didn't look as serious, his crimson eyes were kind and friendly. "Hey, Will," He said, a smile on his face. "I'm so glad you remember me now. Remember this dance from when we were kids?"

 "I-I do," Wilbur stuttered. Things were getting clearer! "I remember we used to mess it up a whole bunch, but we got better."

 Techno nodded. "Your right. And we helped each other deal with the voices when they got to loud. And then we found out our voices could talk to each other. Remember when your voices ratted me out, because I had gotten hurt and told nobody? I was mad about that, but the doctor said that I'd have a limp if I hadn't gone to someone sooner."

 Wilbur laughed, and nodded. "I remember! I was so worried, we were only 8, right?"

 Techno nodded, with a smile. "Right. Now, you need to dance with one more person. Then you can get to Ghostbur. See you when you wake up, brother."

 Techno pulled away, and the last person came to dance. With a shock, Wilbur regonized who it was. He tried to pull away from the dance, but he felt more like a puppet on strings than someone who was willingly dancing now. The man in front of him was nobody other than Dream himself. "You..." Wilbur hissed. "Why are you here?"

 "Because I'm someone in here that you need to remember, and I'm the one in here who wants you to forget," He replied. Wilbur felt a shiver of fear. "I worked hard to keep your memories locked away, I can't stop that now."

 "No. No, the real Dream is out there. Your a memory, a spell! Something that shouldn't, can't, be in my head!" Wilbur yelled. Darkness seemed to be creeping towards them. "I'm tired of not being able to remember!"

 "Tired of it or not, your memories are going to stay locked away. Ghostbur should have died years ago, your memories should have been completely eradicated," Dream told him. The darkness was getting faster, the other dancers were gone. "You remembered your family and a friend of yours. That's bad enough already. I can't have you remembering yourself."

 The darkness filled the entire ballroom. Wilbur had this nightmare enough to know what would happen, he'd wake up and maybe he'd never truly remember everything. Or worse, maybe the memories he'd gained would fade. The waltz was coming to a close. Step two three, step two three, steep two three. Final step. When the two had reached the final step, when the music faded, whatever was forcing Wilbur to dance stopped. Dream's grip on him tightened. He bit Dream's hand to make him let go and made a beeline for the ballroom door. Dream screamed at him and tried to run after him, but Wilbur slammed the doors shut in his face.

 Now Wilbur was in the halls of the castle, but he didn't even look at them, he was just sprinting towards Ghostbur's bedroom. His bedroom. It didn't take him long to get there. Ghostbur was waiting for him there. In the back of his thoughts, Wilbur regonized he had his normal clothes back on. "Wilbur!" Ghostbur said in a happy voice. It sounded high pitched and echoey. "Can you remember everything?"

 "Things are blurry, but I'm definitely remembering stuff," Wilbur told him. Ghostbur smiled even wider than he was before. 

 "That's awesome!" Ghostbur said, jumping up. He looked estatic. The slight murmer of the voices echoed through the room, buzzing and excited. But then, the voices grew shrill. The darkness rushed into the room, and Ghostbur grew panicked. The gloved hands that had been so frequent in Wilbur's nightmares grabbed at the kid and quickly pulled at him. Quick as a flash, Wilbur grabbed Ghostbur's hands, who had begun to scream. 

  As soon as their hands met, steam began to eminate from them. Wilbur pulled and pulled and pulled, pulling as hard as he could until Ghostbur was yanked free from the gloved hands. Wilbur stumbled back from the force, Ghostbur wrapping his arms around Wilbur quickly. More steam began to fill up and room, and Wilbur realized it was because Ghostbur was disappearing. He tried to open his mouth, to say something, and then....

...

...

...

...

...

...

Wilbur woke up.

Chapter Text

Tommy paced back and forth, wringing his hands together. Tubbo tapped his hands against his legs. Niki kept rocking back and forth. They didn't talk about it, but they were all nervous. Scared. The doctors were fixing Wilbur, they weren't ready to let them in yet. Quite frankly, Tommy thought that was absolute bullshit. They were Wilbur's family! They should be allowed in, even if the doctors weren't done helping him yet. 

King Philza came to talk to them, Technoblade coming along with him. Tommy and Tubbo didn't say anything, but after a minute, Niki spoke up. "So what's gonna happen to us now?" 

 "We can find you a place to stay," King Philza said. "My son told me that you guys were very helpful, especially with information about my other son, William. Is that okay with you guys?"

 "Yes, that's fine," Niki said. "Thank you, your majesty."

 "When will we be able to see Wilbur?" Tommy cut in. "They said we couldn't see him yet, when will we be able to see him?"

 "He's in the recovery room now, he was given healing potions so he should be waking up soon. Then you guys can go see him." 

 "Why can't we see him now?" Tubbo asked, leaning forward. "He's our older brother, we should be allowed to see him while he's recovering." 

 "This is just what I've been told by the doctors, it'd be best to let him rest until he wakes up on his own," King Philza said. He hesitated, before asking another question. "You guys all have different last names but your siblings, right? Where you adopted by someone in Esempii?"

 "Nope, Niki and Wilbur took up from an orphanage when we were all younger," Tommy said. "They didn't want us to get separated and we were fine with that. We especially didn't want to split up with Wil because he didn't have much memory of how things worked, since they kept him in the orphanage most of the time."

 "Oh? Why?" Technoblade asked.

Before Niki could get them to shut up, Tubbo spoke. "He arrived when he was 10 with no memories except his name and age. Nobody knows where he came from, and they kept him in the orphanage most of the time."

All three of them noticed that King Philza and Technoblade went still, each of them going a little pale. "Are you alright?" Niki asked. "I'm sorry they're blabbering so much." Tommy and Tubbo sent her glares when she said that.

 "He was 10...that was 10 years ago?" King Philza asked, his voice barely a whisper. 

 The three siblings glanced at each other, confusion written all over their faces. "Yes? Why?" Niki asked.

 "What did he look like? What did Wilbur look like?" King Philza asked, his voice rushed and slightly panicked. But also hopeful. 

 "Um, he had curly brown hair, shorter than it is now. Brown eyes, like now. I don't really know what you want me to say, he didn't change all that much other than getting older," Tubbo said. "He did have a much higher pitched voice, though." 

 "Who brought him in?" Technoblade said. "Did you see? Did he have any memories of where he came from, even if they were fuzzy?"

 "Yes and no?" Niki said, her head tilted to the side in confusion. "A demon hybrid. I heard that his name was...Bad something? BBH?"

 "And he had no memories, but he had nightmares," Tommy said. "Always woke up screaming, had nightmares of getting kidnapped. Nobody knows where those thoughts came from, though." 

 Meanwhile, in another hall, Wilbur had woken up and was running towards the room they were in. Staff was trying to stop him, but he kept pushing them away. Right as Techno opened his mouth to ask another question, the door slammed open. Wilbur rushed into the room, pushing away a staff member that was trying to stop him. 

 "Sir, please stop!" A member yelled, only to get elbowed in the chest when he grabbed Wilbur's arm.

 "Wilbur!" Tommy and Tubbo yelled, both relieved.

 Wilbur barely acknowledged them for the time, eyes focused on Technoblade and King Philza. "..William?" King Philza said.

 Everyone in the room went silent. "Yeah," Wilbur responded. "Yeah, that's me."

Chapter Text

Phil couldn't believe it. He couldn't fucking believe it. He'd lost one his boys 10 years ago and felt the pain of never finding him. Thoughts would always plague his mind, of what he could have done to protect William. He knew he had shown a little favoritism towards Techno, and realizing that made him feel guilty. He loved Will, he loved him so much. Him dissapearing felt like a hole had been carved into Phil's heart. But now the hole had been replaced with joy, because his boy was standing right in front of him. 

 Technoblade couldn't believe it either. Along with the fact that his brother was back, he hadn't completely trusted his brother the whole time. He'd been told directly to his face that William was in Esempii, yet he hadn't realized. 

 Wilbur looked towards them both, eyes wide and a bit cloudy, like he was disoriented. Then he stumbled, a couple of the staff members going to grab him to keep him upright. 

 "Wilbur w-what do you mean that's you?!" Niki asked. "Are you really-?!"

 "I am, I'm the missing prince," Wilbur said. "I'm just a bit...disoriented."

 Tommy and Tubbo went to run over to him, but Niki grabbed the back of their shirts as Philza slowly walked over to him. He stood in front of Wilbur, wings shifting on his back. Slowly, ever so slowly, he raised a hand and put it on Wilbur's cheek. "Primes, William," He whispered, and Wilbur lunged at him, wrapping his arms around his father. Phil did the same. 

 "Fuck, I-I..." Wilbur choked out. "I couldn't remember you. How...he did it, I couldn't remember because of him. I'm sorry, dad, I-I'm sorry I couldn't come back."

 "It's not your fault, Will," Phil said, letting go so he could look his son in the eyes. "Dream did that, it's okay. Your back now. Primes, we've missed you. Did he hurt you at all, when you were brought there?"

 "N-No, I don't think so...the memories are kinda fuzzy..." He muttered. Suddenly, he gasped and spun around, towards his adoptive siblings. "Oh my fucking god guys, I didn't even think-are you guys okay?! Were any of you hurt?"

 Tommy ran over to him and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "If you ever, EVER do that again I will literally kill you," He snapped, before throwing himself at Wilbur and wrapping his arms around him. "You scared me so badly."

 "Noted," Wilbur replied, hugging Tommy back. 

 "Wil, did you get up and immediately run over here?" Niki asked. "Are you feeling okay?" 

 "I'm feeling just fine, Niki," Wilbur said, only to have her begin rambling about how he did NOT seem fine because he looked like he was about to fall over any minute-!

 Techno wouldn't admit it out loud, but he felt jealous. He wanted to be there, making sure Wilbur was okay and talking to him, worrying about him. But he left the job up to the others. They had been his siblings for the past 10 years, not Techno. He couldn't pretend that it'd be in his place to do that. 

 Wilbur seemed to think differently though, because he turned towards Techno. After a second, Techno found himself being wrapped in a hug. "Fuck, I didn't realize how much I missed you!" Wilbur said.
 
 Techno was frozen in shock. Then, he hugged Wilbur just as tightly. "Holy shit-Will!" He said, his voice quiet. After all these years, his brother was back! The guilt, the crushing, consuming guilt of the last time he saw his brother was watching him be ripped away was gone. Now it was replaced, as the newest memory he had with Wilbur was. "Fuck, oh my fucking god, thank primes your alright."

 Wilbur was about to respond, just about, when voices reached his ears. Nobody else seemed to hear them, and he quickly remembered what this was, just as they all started yelling.

 WILLIAM!!

 AYOOOOOO THE BOY IS BACK!

 TECHBUR TWINS GO BRRRRR

 SUCK IT GREEEN BOIIIIIIIIII

 WHY'D WE HAVE TO WAIT SO LONG FOR THE CONCLUSION, IT FEELS LIKE IT'S BEEN 47 DAYS

 AYO TECHNO'S CHAT CAN ENTER

 HIIII WE CAN RETURN

 HOW'VE Y'ALL BEEN??

 Both Techno and Wilbur cringed. "I forgot how loud chat is," He muttered. "Stop yelling PLEASE-"

 "I can hear yours, they're going crazy that they're back..." Techno said. "I'm not to suprised though. I can help you deal with them if they get to loud."

 "What's 'Chat'?" Tubbo asked.

 "It's a piglin thing," Wilbur responded. "Voices inside of our heads. Mine haven't been active for the past 10 years."

 That definitely made sense to his adoptive siblings. When he had first woken up with no memories, he always seemed rather confused when it was quiet. It went away as he got older, but he always said it was so quiet even when kids all around him were making a ruckus. Nobody could figure out why, until now.

 "Hey, was Wilbur good at potion making when he was a kid here?" Tubbo asked.

 "One of the best," Techno responded. "He was always great at it."

 "You think that's why he was taken?" Tubbo asked, making the royalty freeze up. "They were trying to get him to make potions for them." 

 "What?" Phil asked, and his calm demeanor changed into one of fury. Tubbo took a step back. "He asked my son to what?"

 "I mean, he's dead now, so we don't have to worry to much about that," Techno said.

 Niki, Tubbo, and Tommy were a bit put off by that. They knew that Dream was bad, but they'd been under his leadership for their whole lives. They weren't used to thinking he was a threat, rather, they were used to thinking of him as a hero. A warrior who'd slay the very royals in front of them. And Prince William, or Wilbur, was known as someone who couldn't stand his family. That's why he ran off, or so it was said. Wilbur did feel a bit weird, especially since he'd believed all the awful stories about himself and his family.

 "A lot of things have changed over the past 10 years. Can we show you?" Techno asked.

 Wilbur nodded, and Techno grabbed his hand, pulling him along. For a second, they were kids again, running to go cause trouble with matching twin grins. Except this time, their father followed, as well as three new siblings. It was something new, but it was also something that was the same.

 It was family.