Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The Angel of Death was mad.

Hostile energy emanated from Philza's tense form billowing around the ship and infecting every crew member unlucky enough to be caught in its path. People cowered away from the pacing figure, avoiding eye contact with their Emperor at all costs. Niki almost laughed at the expression on the cabin boy's face. Absolute fear was scrawled on every inch of the young man's pale features. Niki just hoped the kid wouldn't be around to witness the full form of the Emperor's wrath. Phil was just a shadow of violence, the true Angel of Death would only step into the light when he had someone to fight. When the captain was mad, truly mad, you wouldn’t want to be around to witness the consequences. 

Not that his crew had a choice.

They were a bundle of criminals, outlaws, rebels, and victims all seeking sanctuary under the wing of the great king of the sea, pirate emperor Philza Craft. They all adored their captain and his endearing family, but, by God, could they be terrifying. Then again, reconsidered Niki, they had good reason to be. Something extremely valuable had been stolen from them. Something so precious that Emperor Philza would do anything to get it back. Something that meant so much to the pirate empire that their mortal enemy the land king, Dream, had thought it appropriate to steal. Something that had golden tinted hair, a personality of sunlight and had the unnerving habit of charming anyone that it encountered. The Emperor’s only birth son.

Tommy Theseus Craft.

Niki winced as yet another blade flew past her ear and buried itself into the wooden wall that she was casually leaning on. Tracing back The line of fire to its source, her eyes rested on one of the adopted twin princes, aptly named by the pirate and non-pirate communities alike as Technoblade. It wasn't his chosen name, of course, but Technoblade was a much more intimidating name than Prince Techno Craft. He was of an average height, but in build and stature, he was anything but average. An amaranth pink braid cascaded down his back, a golden crown glinting from atop his head.

The Craft family hadn’t wished for crowns, the Emperor wasn’t someone who enjoyed brandishing his status in the faces of others, but their people had pleaded and Phil was a sucker for answering the cries of others. So, they each had a crown made, all simple, not too flashy, each matching their personality.

Technoblade didn’t need suitable clothing to cause chaos. His crimson velvet cape held securely at his neck was known well by their enemies and allies alike. The people whispered that it was dyed red by the blood of his victims. Niki doubted that, but she knew Techno wasn’t one to correct rumours that added to his reputation.

Technoblade wasn’t looking at her, his eyes were focused purely on the collection of needle-sharp blades resting in his fingers. The voices must be bad, Niki observed. She was one of the only few on the Emperor’s main ship that was close enough to the royals to know about the voices. As far as she was aware Techno had always heard them. They interfered with his thoughts, driving him to madness while he attempted to withstand their constant demands for violence. Niki felt sorry for the prince, but she also knew that if anyone was strong enough to handle the constant pressure it would be Techno.

As Techno chucked a second knife at the wall behind her, Niki slowly edged away from the line of fire. Casually, she made her way over to the younger prince and her close friend Wilbur Craft. Wilbur was tall and gangly with only a small resemblance to his twin. His hair was short and curly and his piglin hybrid traits were much less prominent than his brother’s. The clothes he wore were also a lot less intimidating than his brothers, a long dark trench coat draped on top of a simple sweater and a pair of trousers, his crown resting lopsidedly atop his puff of brown hair. Wilbur’s crown was a silver band with letters engraved around the edge. His style was casual, very much reflecting his personality.

Wilbur wasn’t a fighter; he was a leader. A politician who could make words flow in a way that could manipulate a person’s mind and could cause more damage than Techno’s famous skill with the sword. Wilbur was just as dangerous as the rest of his family, if not more so. But right now, he just looked a mess.

He looked like he needed Niki’s help.

“Wil?” Niki collapsed onto the deck next to him, flinging an arm around his shoulders.

“Niki.” Wilbur mumbled quietly, head still in his hands. She stayed quiet, confidently awaiting the rant that was about to follow.

“Niki, I wanna murder things.”

“Ok Wil.”

“Niki I wanna murder that sick bastard.”

“I know Wil.”

“Niki, he took Tommy”

“But we’ll get him back.”

“But—”

“No buts. We’ll get him back and that ‘king’ Dream is going to pay.”

He went silent, and Niki sat there watching Wilbur’s twin attempt assault on a wall with a crossbow. Wilbur raised his head, his red-rimmed eyes meeting hers with a determination that was shadowed by violence.

“I am going to kill him.” Wilbur growled in a whisper, only just allowing words to escape the line that was his lips.

Niki only nodded curtly in response before pointedly looking at Wilbur’s father who was pacing the deck, eyes dark and wings tense. Wilbur looked at her as though she was mad.

“You’re not being serious.”

“Come on Wil, if anyone can get him to calm down it’s you.”

“But Niki—” He whined, “You’re basically asking me to sign my death sentence.”

“The sooner the Capt’n calms down, the sooner we can get a plan to rescue Tommy.”

“But Dad is terrifying when he’s like this.”

“I know and that is why you have to do it.”

“Why me?”

“Wilbur, you’re his son.” Niki was exasperated but manage to restrain it from infecting her tone by keeping her volume down and lacing her words with soothing energy.

“What about Tech?”

“Techno’s busy.” She motioned to where the piglin hybrid was stood in battle stance, his eyes vacant, a war raging within his mind. Wilbur gazed at his brother, worry increasing on his face.

“Oh. He doesn’t look good, does he?”

“No and that is why you have to be the one who deals with your dad.” Wilbur nodded slowly, obviously still feeling a little conflicted. A mischievous grin dawned on his lips, and he turned to Niki.

“I may not live to see our glory.” He sang in a melodramatic voice.

Niki punched him on the arm.

“Come on, hurry up otherwise you’ll never get around to it.” She said raising her eyes to the sky.

“That’s my aim.” He grinned, slowly pushing himself back onto his feet.

Niki watched the father-son interaction from the side-lines, only overhearing snippets of what followed. From what she could discern, Wilbur had not signed his death sentence. In fact, as she watched, Phil seemed to calm down a little as his son talked to him, violence was still present in his eyes, but it would be unlikely to go when one of his sons was in trouble.

They looked over to where she was sitting on the deck, leaning against the ship railing. Phil started to walk in her direction, and Niki had a chance to properly take in her captain. He was smaller than his son with eyes the colour of the ocean he reigned over. His shoulder-length blond hair was braided with dark feathers that Niki had no doubt his sons were responsible for. A crow perched unceremoniously on his shoulder like a watchdog, somehow having managed to avoid being thrown off during Phil’s furious pacing. He was an avian, a bird hybrid, with wings the colour of night, that would tell him apart from a crowd at a glance.

Phil’s crown was odd, different, and yet somehow very Phil. It was a black band circling an Emerald striped bucket hat, spikes protruding in an upwards motion from the base. At the front of the crown were three gems, each to represent a son. An emerald for Techno, a sapphire for Wilbur and a ruby for Tommy.

It was simple but Niki couldn’t think of anything more perfect to represent her Captain. It showed him as he was. A caring Father. At Phil’s chest lay a charm, a ruby heart. A symbol of loss. A symbol of Love. Niki could remember Tommy’s mother. Her smile could make the world complete, and she had bravery like no other. If Phil was the Angel of Death, then she was his Goddess.

“Hey Niki.” His voice was rough, pain clear in his tone. Phil had a reputation similar to the devil, but he was still a father. And one of the kindest people she had ever met.

Niki was a merling hybrid, allowing her to breathe underwater. Phil had saved her from Hybrid Hunters, and she was now one of the longest remaining crew members and Phil’s second in command, His first mate.

“Hi Capt’n.” Phil laughed, but it was strained with sorrow. So different to its usual bellowing tone.

“How many times do I have to tell you just to call me Phil, mate?”

“As many times as you want Captain.” Niki replied softly and she released a tinkling laugh as sweet as the wind. Phil sighed, smile ever so slightly more genuine.

“I think we need a meeting.” Phil had adorned his ‘serious face’. The Angel of Death had returned.

“Your office?” Niki asked.

“Yes, I think that would be appropriate.”

“Alright sir. I’ll go fetch Puffy.” Puffy was the Emperor’s Navy General a sheep hybrid with a heart of steel, a strategic mind that could rival the greatest leaders, and a personality of fire.

Phil’s face softened for a second, “Thanks, mate.”

They walked to the back of the ship, Wilbur following closely behind, passing Techno who had halted his knife throwing to look at them expectantly. Niki marvelled at his control over the voices, wondering how he managed with so many opinions in his head. But then again, maybe he just needed the distraction of war planning. He strolled over to them, hand resting on the axe at his waist, and an evil glint in his eye.

“Going to plan a king’s death?” Philza nodded and glanced his son over, clearly worried, but said nothing, knowing fully well Techno needed violence, or at least to plan violence.

“Good, I’m coming with you.” No one argued. No one ever argued with Technoblade except Wilbur and well—

Tommy.

“They took little Theseus,” Niki heard Techno mumble menacingly under his breath, “and don’t worry chat, they are going to pay.”

~

The weather was kind today with blue skies stretching out to sea and the sun looking down on them like a benevolent parent. It could not be more contrasting to the mood of the crew. They had been docked in the harbour of L’Manburg city for a few days, which is probably how Dream had enough time to stage his plan.

If Niki was being honest, she missed the cavernous depths of open seas and the sense of freedom that no hybrid prejudice could take away. She could roam the ocean as she pleased, with the protection of the Angel of Death, no one would dare go against her.

L’Manburg city was large, one of the largest in the SMP archipelago and housed the biggest trade market out of any of the other cities available to them. That’s why they had docked there in the first place, L’Manburg didn’t care if it was trading with pirates, or commoners, the money was all that mattered, and the Pirate Emperor sure did have a lot of it.

Niki walked down the plank and placed her foot on dry land. She didn’t like it, the feeling that the water wasn’t close by, she could feel the tug of the ocean calling her back to the sea. But she restrained herself, she had more important matters to attend to.

She knew that Puffy had been in a trade meeting with one of the L’manburg officials and should have been released from their clutches not that long ago but she couldn’t for the life of her remember where the meeting had been arranged to take place. It had to be different each time due to the spying eyes of King Dream’s Lackies but where had they decided this time?

She was distracted from her thoughts by the sound of her name being called from the other side of the dock.

“Niki!”

A figure was striding towards her, ivory hair blowing behind her in the sea wind. A black and gold hat perched atop a pair of curved chestnut horns. A knee-length crimson pirate’s coat hung from their shoulders, styled with a pair of heeled boots and a white blouse. Puffy smiled at her in greeting, hurrying to stand by Niki’s side.

Each of the crew had a reputation that proceeded them, Puffy’s was one that could almost be on par with Technoblade himself. She had never lost a battle and she was an asset that the crew could never afford to lose. Puffy was a force to be reckoned with.

“Still no sign of Prince Tommy?” Niki shook her head, her eyes downcast. Puffy’s expression morphed from one of intrigue to one of determined anguish.

“Those bastards.” Puffy’s hand clenched around the hilt of the cutlass that was sheathed at her belt. Like every other member of the crew, Niki knew Puffy had a special place in her heart for Tommy. They had all watched him grow and his personality flourish into its ultimate form of ‘chaotic child’. He was family. To all of them. And now he was gone

“Meeting, Phil’s quarters. We should hurry if we don’t want to keep them waiting.” She turned back in the direction of the ship and the pair fell back into a comfortable silence as they walked.

Niki turned her head slightly towards her companion, “How do you think Dream managed it?” Puffy’s face was unreadable, a mask of stone.

“Being a complete fool? Oh, I don’t know, probably born that way.” Niki laughed quietly and Puffy continued, “Anyone with any sense of self-preservation wouldn’t dare challenge the Captain.”

“I thought we’d had already established that Dream was a dead man walking. What I want to know is how the ‘fool’ managed to kidnap the prince of the Pirate Emperor.”

“Traitors.” The word was spat from Puffy’s mouth with a nonchalance that didn’t match the meaning. Niki grabbed the sheep hybrid’s arm bringing their progress down the dock to a halt.

“What do you mean traitors?”

“I mean exactly what I said. There is a spy among us.” Niki’s mind was working overtime.

“Who?” Puffy glared at her, eyes burrowing into Niki soul.

“It could be anyone.”

“Me?” Puffy sighed, not meeting her eye.

“No. I know you would never do this to the Capt’n Niki. We just need to be careful, that’s all.” Niki smiled gently, glad her long term friend didn’t mistrust her.

“We’ll work it out.” They returned to their quick pace, back on route to the ship. Puffy side-eyed her.

“I know, just be careful who you trust. Can’t be having you killed my friend.” Niki’s heart warmed.

“I wouldn’t dare.”

~

They climbed onto the deck of the ship, automatically aiming for the door that provided them entrance into the bowls of the ship. Puffy went ahead, pushing the timber door open with a soft creak. Niki closely followed and was greeted with the familiar faces of the other high members of the crew.

On the left, Eret and Wilbur leant against the wooden wall of the office, a small porthole dividing them. On the right, Techno and Jack were standing, both peering at a collection of maps spread over a large table that sat in the centre of the room. Candles were spaced along the walls, illuminating the room that had begun to fill with shadows due to the setting sun. Philza was reclining in a chair at the head of the table, looking at the two new arrivals over the top of the document he was clutching in both hands. His dark wings shifted slightly behind him.

At their entrance, he placed the document down on the table in front of him. He shot them a quick smile and Niki couldn’t help but notice that it didn't reach his eyes. Phil looked tired. It seemed he was taking worse than she’d first imagined.

“Niki, Puffy.” Phil acknowledged before glancing over the rest of the room. All faces turned towards him, awaiting the command of their Emperor.

“So, does anyone know how we take down a king?” Everyone’s faces stilled, each transforming into a different image of sincerity. The room was silent as Phil talked, no one wishing to interrupt the Emperor and distract from the purpose. No light-hearted comments or bad puns were thrown around. No laughs were exchanged. No grins were shared. Niki was just glad she was on Phil's side.

The Angel of death’s son had been kidnapped. The kidnappers would regret ever knowing Tommy existed.

Chapter Text

Tommy’s eyes drifted open.

Blurrily and with an unfocused gaze he absentmindedly glared at something above him. The thing that had very rudely awakened him from a very good sleep, was staring back at him, blue eyes wide with interest. And then, when Tommy realised that the thing was on top of him, crushing his legs, he jerked abruptly upwards, taking it by surprise and smashing into its head. The thing groaned loudly and uttered something that sounded suspiciously like a swear. It sat back on its heels and winced, rubbing its forehead with a hand.

The thing, Tommy notice, was a boy around his age, thirteen or fourteen, with messy brown hair and small rounded horns that protruded from the sides of his head. Tommy supposed he must be a hybrid, maybe a sheep of some sort?

Tommy sat up and, after summoning a bit more of himself into consciousness, he pointedly asked the boy, “What the fuck were you doing on my bed?”

The boy looked sheepish but infuriatingly confident, seemingly unshaken by Tommy’s rough way of starting a conversation.

“Needed to wake you up.” Tommy scoffed at that, what absolute rubbish.

“There are plenty of ways of waking a person up without climbing onto their legs.”

“And you think we didn’t try them? You sleep like a fucking log.” Tommy was taken aback by the kid’s blunt response.

“Oi, I’m not a log bitch.”

“Well—”

It seemed like the kid was about to argue against this statement, but, after second thought, he seemed to give up, realising it was pointless. Tommy silently counted that as a win in his books. One to him and none to the odd child with horns.

“Never mind. I’m just going to get Ranboo.”

Tommy stared at him incredulously, “And who, the fuck, is Ranboo?” The boy didn’t bother answering him and, instead, strolled to the other side of the room and opened the door.

“Wait! You didn’t answer my question.”

The boy looked back at him with an infuriating grin on his face, “Shut it Tommy.”

How the hell did this kid know his name?

“But—” The boy slammed the door shut behind him, cutting off Tommy’s whining.

He stared around the room, noticing the almost cabin feel to it. For some reason, that he couldn’t quite pin down, it felt familiar to him. It was not like he had been here before, just that was similar to a place he knew very well. It was cramped, but not exactly cosy, a small bed tucked into the corner of the square wood-panelled room.

“Who has a name like Ranboo?” Tommy muttered to himself, thoughts whirring with confusion and curiosity. He glanced down at his bed sheets wondering how long he had been asleep for, a day, a week, a month, longer?

“You're awake!”

The small, brown-haired, ram hybrid was back, dragging an awkward looking boy behind him.

He was tall, extremely tall, taller than Tommy and in his books that immediately marked him down as a wrongun. The boy was a hybrid of some sort, enderman maybe? With his hair and face split into black and white, it was almost impossible for him not to be a hybrid. His hair was a similar length to the other boy’s and it seemed constantly in his field of vision, dangling in front of his eyes. His eyes were different as well; a red and green that couldn’t be natural. He wore a knitted magenta scarf that matched the olive green one wrapped around the other boy’s throat and a tail swung gently behind him as he walked into the room. He was the one who had greeted Tommy. Tommy glared at him determined not to feel intimidated by this newcomer, even if he was taller than him.

“What kind of fucking name is Ranboo”

Ranboo looked taken aback but replied hastily, “Tubbo was right about you swearing a lot.’” His accent was weird, different to how Tommy and Tubbo spoke.

“And what kind of name is Tubbo?”

The boy that had had rudely awakened Tommy from his very nice sleep looked indignant.

“My name isn’t weird, idiot.”

Tubbo shot him a challenging glare. Tommy stared back. Neither backed down. Ranboo sighed.

“Well, this went just as well as I expected. Come on this is such a waste of time.” Gods this guy was annoying.

“Shut up boob boy.”

“What?”

“I said—”

“I know what you said just never say it again.” Tubbo looked like he wanted to bust a gut from trying to not laugh. Tommy glared at Ranboo.

“Ok boob boy.” Tubbo burst out laughing, clutching his stomach. Tommy grinned at him, maybe this kid was so bad after all, he sure did have a sense of humour.

“BOOOOB BOY” Tubbo bellowed and then continued to howl with laughter.

Ranboo looked absolutely horrified but couldn’t restrain the smile that emerged at his lips and just shook his head eyes downcast.

“So, Tommy, do you know why you’re here?” Ranboo looked hopeful, as though he really wanted an answer. Tommy thought about it. Did he? What could he remember? What was the last thing he could remember doing? Nothing. Tommy was throwing questions at his mind and he was getting nothing back. Huh. Tommy sent the other boy a look infused with confusion and concern.

“I don’t know.”

“Do you remember anyone you used to know?” Tommy searched his mind for something, anything but there was nothing. His mind was empty.

“I don’t know.” The concern on Tommy’s face was spreading to other parts of his body, his fingers started fidgeting with the duvet cover and his shoulders tensed.

“No family? No friends?”

“I don’t know.”

“What about where you lived?”

“I don’t fucking know man. I have nothing. N-O-T-H-I-N-G.”

It was clear he was getting desperate, his eyes flitted around the room refusing to rest on anything in particular. Ranboo sighed, disappointed for some reason or another. Why the heck was he disappointed with Tommy’s lack of memories?

Ranboo turned to Tubbo and shrugged.

“Eh, oh well, it was worth a try.”

“What was worth a try?” Tommy said in his lilting accent, eyes narrowing.

“Tommy, you’re currently on The Spirit, the ship of the King of the Mainland, Dream. We want to know why you turned up, unconscious, and why we’ve been instructed to keep a boy our age safe.”

Tommy blanched. Well, this just got interesting.

“So, let me get this straight, I get rudely awakened by this ram hybrid kid, I realise I have memory loss, and this happens to be a King’s ship?”

“Goat.” The Tubbo kid says abruptly.

“What?”

“Goat hybrid, not ram.”

“Whatever man, I just want to know that I’m not going crazy.”

“Well yes, I suppose that description is accurate.” The enderman hybrid replies. Tommy had no clue what was going on. His mind seemed to be processing his situation at a snail’s pace. What was he supposed to do now?

“Anyway, you should get ready.” Could Ranboo mind read?

“For what?”

“Lunch with the King.”

“You’re gonna feed me?”

“You’re not a prisoner, idiot.” Tubbo giggled, and Tommy blushed.

“I’m not?”

“Sorry if we made you think that,” Ranboo grinned at him, “Tubbo can be a little intimidating.” He slid his friend a mischievous side glance.

“Oi! No, I’m not—” The taller cut him off before he could continue,

“We’re just gonna leave now so you can get ready.”

“What you like a pair of servants or something?” Tommy grumbled back.

“Something like that.”

“Well, you’re doing a really shit job if you are my servants.”

Ranboo laughed but Tubbo looked miffed, he stepped towards the bed,

“Well, fuck you Tom—”

“And we are definitely going now,” Ranboo said grabbing his smaller companion by the arms and dragging him from the room.

“See ya in a minute Tommy.”

“Bye Bitch!” Tommy yelled back, eyes sparkling with mischief.

~

Tommy stared at the pile of clothes in front of him and contemplated life. Well, he contemplated whatever of it remained stored in his memories. He was called Tommy, he knew that for certain, and he was thirteen. Or fourteen. Maybe. Ok so Tommy knew his name and that was about it. Real helpful. Tommy sighed. This was rubbish.

“Tommy?” Ranboo’s voice echoed through the door; Tommy rolled his eyes.

“Coming, coming.” He grumbled under his breath while attempting to pull a sock on with one hand.

“Huh? We can’t hear you!” Tubbo yelled. Tommy paused, were they calling him quiet?

“I SAID I’M COMING.” He heard the muffled sound of two people stumbling away from the door as quickly as possible and Tommy cackled. Served them right for calling him, big man Tommy, quiet.

Tommy grabbed the pile of clothes and slipped them on, adjusting to ensure they were positioned correctly. He stared at himself in the mirror in the corner of the cabin, the clothes fit perfectly. It was almost as though they knew he was coming. He wore an oversized brown coat draped around his shoulders, with pockets perfect for stuffing his hands in and a comfy shirt with crimson red sleeves that he rather liked.

He opened the cabin door, revealing the same pair of idiots. He groaned.

“This is the only escort I get? I’m going to meet a King for god’s sake.”

Ranboo raised his eyes to the ceiling and then shot Tubbo a pointed look. Tubbo stepped towards Tommy fidgeting with something he clutched in his hands. Tubbo was smaller than Ranboo and Tommy with bright, mischievous eyes that changed shade ever so slightly in the lighting. He held out the thing, looking at Tommy expectantly. Tommy took it carefully, gazing at the gift.

It was a knitted scarf. The stitches we messy and uneven but Tommy didn’t care. It was his. The wool was crimson, Tommy's favourite colour. He gazed at the boys with an odd expression on his face.

“Th- Thanks.”

“No problem, Ranboo knitted it while you were asleep.” Tommy turned to Ranboo, eyes wide.

“This is insane, man.” Ranboo smiled at him, actual warmth in his different coloured eyes.

“Glad you like it.” Tommy grinned gratefully and wrapped the scarf hurriedly around his shoulders and snuggled into its warmth. These guys weren’t so bad.

~

The Ship was too extravagant for Tommy’s liking. It was obvious to him that this ‘King’ enjoyed shoving his wealth in others faces. Everything that could be made to look like gold, was gold and if it wasn’t, it was green. Emerald green. Tommy almost gagged at the thought. Who their right mind chose green and gold as a colour palette? The lamps on the walls, the door handles, even the porthole frame were all the same shiny metal that indicated too much wealth. This Dream guy wanted to look powerful and, to Tommy, that was a sure sign of a wrongun.

Ranboo led him to the captains quarters, Tubbo tagging along at the back. The goat-hybrid seemed happy just to talk to Tommy.

It was a rather one-sided conversation, with Tubbo ranting about his love for mainland bees, what he could expect from lunch with a king and the story of how he and Ranboo had ended up on the ship working as servants to a boy with memory loss. If Tommy was being honest, he’d zoned out during half of Tubbo’s speech, but this caught his interest.

They had been orphans. The classic story of unwanted hybrids being shoved in government establishments because their parents were being hunted. Hybrid prejudice reigned throughout the SMP archipelago, but, from his descriptions, it was seemingly it was worse in the kingdom where Tubbo and Ranboo were from. And then the King had decided he needed two boys around their age to work for him. The request had been sent all around the kingdom, but for some reason, it was Tubbo and Ranboo who had been chosen.

Tommy contemplated this. Why Tubbo and Ranboo in particular? Why then? Supposedly, they were wanted to look after him; he was a similar age to them and was suffering from amnesia, so was supposedly in desperate need of friends. But the timescale Tubbo was talking about was from months ago. They had just worked as cabin boys until he had turned up. What was going on?

Tommy was pulled rather hastily from his thoughts as Ranboo knocked on a door. The door was, against all of Tommy’s previous beliefs, even more, covered in gold than the previous lot. It was painted the same emerald green with golden metal roses climbing up the woodwork from its hinges, glinting in the sunlight pouring through the porthole on Tommy's left.

In the centre was a plaque, with curvy writing engraved into the metal. It read “Captain’s quarters. Do not disturb unless absolutely necessary.” Tommy grimaced, eyes crinkling up.

“Snob.”

Ranboo turned to him, a questioning look on his face, “Huh?”

Tommy put on an annoying posh voice and read out the plaque, extravagant actions accentuating his words.

“Do not disturb unless absolutely necessary. Definitely a snob.” His companions snorted and Ranboo pushed open the door as a voice acknowledged their presence from within.

As Tommy walked into the room, all eyes flicked to him. There were three people in the room, excluding the servants, all seated at a grand table in the centre. On the left, a young man sat. Dark eyes squinted up at Tommy from under short brown hair. He was wearing casual clothes but still managed to look posh. Tommy guessed he was probably one of the King’s advisers. The man on the right also had dark eyes but his hair was the colour of coal, held back by a spotless white bandanna. He smirked at Tommy for some reason that Tommy couldn’t discern.

The final person was the most imposing and Tommy guessed he was the King Tommy had heard so much about. He wore a mask, with a simple smiley face drawn on the front. His crown was positioned meticulously on his head of dirty blond hair. He wore what a king was expected to wear, a fancy shirt and pants but everything, to Tommy’s disgust, was green or gold.

Ranboo guided Tommy to his seat opposite the King and he collapsed into the chair.

“I'm Dream.” The king waited for Tommy to say something. Tommy didn’t.

Dream looked at him, non-existent eyes burrowing deep into his soul. Tommy squirmed under his gaze, eyes darting to the floor.

“What’s your name?” Tommy looked the King squarely in the face, jaw set.

“Tommy.” Dream released a rumbling laugh, no warmth in his tone.

“Last name?” Dreams head was tilted ever so slightly, as though knowing the answer Tommy was about to give. Tommy pondered the question. If he couldn’t remember his last name did that mean he could choose it? He would choose something intimidating like Tommy Big Man or Tommy—

“Innit!” The entire party stared at him, eyes incredulous.

“Your name is Tommy Innit?” Ranboo had spoken, one hand clamped firmly over Tubbo’s shoulder to prevent him from bursting out laughing.

“Yep, Boss Man. Tommy Innit is me. I am Tommy Innit.”

“Who chooses the name Innit?” Ranboo’s sarcasm was getting a little too close to home.

“Says you Ranboo.”

Ranboo dipped his head, “Point taken.” Another victory for Tommy, seems it was his lucky day.

Dream was looking at him weirdly, mask tilted to the side. Had Tommy said the wrong thing? Did King Dream know Tommy's real last name? Did he know who he was? Tommy clenched his first, blunt nails digging into his palm. Fuckin’ Amnesia.

“So,” Tommy started awkwardly, “Why am I here Your Majesty?”

“What do you mean?” Something told Tommy that he knew exactly what Tommy had meant.

“Who am I and why the hell am I on your ship?”

“What? You don’t remember anything?” There was almost no surprise in Dream’s tone, “Tommy, you were abandoned by your family. It’s so sad how so many hybrid kids are treated like this. Fortunately, I was here to save you!”

Tommy looked at him like he was mad.

“But, this must be a mistake, big man. I’m not a hybrid. I may have amnesia but I’m pretty certain I would know if I was.” Dream just continued to stare at him disconcertingly. God, that mask was creepy as hell.

“Tommy,” The King's voice was soft, patronising, like he was talking to a young child, “You are a hybrid.” Tommy rolled his eyes and grinned at the mad King. This day was getting more and more strange by the second.

He looked down at the food that had been placed carefully in front of him. The portion was tiny. Tommy glared at his food in disbelief and then, turning to Ranboo who was standing behind him, he says, spite clear in his voice, “What the fuck is this.”

Ranboo grimaced and shot a worried look towards the King. Apparently, swearing wasn’t encouraged in the presence of royalty. Tommy stood up and faced dream, eyes glinting with annoyance.

“What the fuck is this food.” Tommy had never been a supporter of sticking to rules. He heard his companion hiss from behind him, telling him to sit down. Tommy ignored him. Stupid rule-obeying boob boy.

“Food.” The King wasn't looking at him, his mask facing his portion of food that was considerably bigger than Tommy’s.

“But—” Dream stood up, hand slamming on the table and shocking Tommy into silence.

“Listen here, child, you will eat what you are given. Right?” His voice was a growl of annoyance, biting into Tommy’s bones and chilling his heart. Tommy sat down, eyes focused on the floor. He mumbled something in response. Dream drummed his fingers on the table in a rhythm that would echo around Tommy’s mind for days to come.

“Pardon?”

“Sorry.” Tommy’s eyes were still focused on the floor, his hands were desperate to fidget but he forced them to be still. He felt a hand squeeze his shoulder and he relaxed a little at Tubbos touch. He wouldn't be dealing with this mess alone.

~

Later that evening, Tubbo Tommy and Ranboo were sitting in the latter's room, giggling over one thing or another, when Tubbo decided to broach a sensitive topic of conversation.

“What do you think the King is up to?” The other two went silent and Tommy chewed his lip nervously. At the silence that met his inquiry, Tubbo decided to continue, “I think he’s being suspicious.” Ranboo shot Tommy a glance before turning back to his friend.

“Yeah, maybe.” It was obvious he was trying to divert the conversation away from this topic for Tommy’s sake, but Tommy wasn’t having it.

“Why do you think he’s being suspicious?”

Tubbo looked at him in surprise, obviously not expecting him to join in.

“I can’t pin my finger on it but I don’t think his intentions are good.” Tommy stared at him in disbelief.

“Why? Because he saved me from a family that left me to die?” Tubbo winced at his tone.

“Look, Tommy, you don’t know Dream. He never does anything that doesn’t have some benefit for himself.” Tommy’s hackles were rising.

“You never know, he might have had a change of heart.”

“I don’t think so.” Tubbo’s eyes were on the floor, obviously feeling guilty for bringing up the topic. Tommy hated him for it.

“Dream,” Tommy said in a growl, “Is the first person to give me a single clue about who I am. The first person to take an interest in my fucking missing memories. The first person to care.”

He slid off the bed and stalked to the door, intending to slam it in the faces of the others.

But, before he could, Tubbo yelled, frustration and hurt in his tone, “ What about us Tommy? What about me and Ranboo?”

Tommy slammed the door behind him.

~

Tommy didn’t cry. He sat, curled up in a ball leaning against the door, and regretted every decision he ever made. Which wasn’t many, as he couldn’t remember most of them.

Hours later, he decided that it was time to apologise. He felt so bad, especially as Tubbo was right. They were the first two to care about him. Tommy fingered the scarf, stroking its crimson surface and relishing in its imperfections. Imperfect. Just like him.

It was late when Tommy opened his door quietly. Dark, as he crept down the hallway to where his friends' cabin was. The only light in the corridor was a candle, positioned on the wall. Tommy paused outside the door before knocking. He wouldn’t let himself avoid this confrontation. He needed his friends. Tubbo opened it a few seconds later, Tommy was met with red-rimmed eyes. Tommy winced, he may not have been crying but Tubbo sure had.

“I’m sorry.”

Tubbo looked him in the eyes, as though searching for some sign of lying. He found none. Tubbo stepped forward, carefully wrapping his arms around Tommy’s middle and squeezed. Tommy squeezed back.

“It’s OK Tommy.” Tommy smiled into his friend's messy hair.

Ranboo soon joined them and they walked up on deck, just the three of them. Tommy’s friends.

They stood on deck, leaning against the railing of the ship and gazing at the night sky above. It was so vast and had such a detailed beauty that Tommy wouldn’t trust a single artist to do it proper justice. The darkness spread over the ocean like smoke, but the night was clear, and the moon shone down upon the trio, like a guardian watching over its charges. Tommy smiled up at the moon and for once didn’t feel empty due to his lack of memories. His past didn’t matter to him now, he would get through it with his friends by his side.

Then, Tommy felt the first shock of deja vu.

He had been on a ship. He had looked up at the stars with someone else. With other people. And he had felt comfortable. He had felt like he belonged and was loved before this. Tommy froze. And, for the first time since lunch, he started to doubt the King’s description of his backstory.

“Oh damn.”

The curious eyes of his friends turned to him, before morphing into expressions of worry at his pale face.

“Tommy, are you—”

Thump.

Tommy raised a finger to his lips before dragging both Ranboo and Tubbo into the shelter of a nearby doorway.

“What the hell?” Tubbo looked at him with a scared expression.

“No, no. It’s ok, I thought I heard a sound.” Tommy reassured, sounding more confident than he felt.

Thump.

“Ok never mind, turns out my instincts were correct.” He pulled the other two further into the darkness of the hallway, eyes flitting around the deck in panic.

“Intruders?” Ranboo’s eyebrows had shot up in confusion and alarm. Ranboo clutched Tubbo’s hand with his.

“Possibly,” Tommy replied, keeping his eyes firmly trained on the deck.

“Skeppy I told you this was a bad idea!” The voice was an annoyed whisper and didn’t seem too threatening. The accent was similar to Ranboo’s, a mainlander then?

“Keep it down Bad, we don’t want King Dream waking up.”

Tommy’s mind raced. He thought he had overheard two names, Skeppy and Bad, but the oddness of it all made him unsure. The Intruders didn’t sound violent, they sounded like a bickering pair of friends.

Another voice joined the other two, making Tommy jump, it was much closer than he had expected.

“Found anything yet? Maybe Dream just keeps his valuables under lock and key like any normal person would.”

“Shut up Antfrost.” A barely concealed laugh escaped through Antfrost’s lips. Tommy couldn’t see any of the intruders, but he hoped to God that they couldn’t see them huddling in the shade of the doorway.

Suddenly, Tommy felt a hand on the back of his wrist, and he let out a guttural squeak of fear, before turning on his heals to find Tubbo staring up at him with a horror-struck expression.

Tommy was an idiot.

Tubbo just wanted to hold hands, and now he’d managed to give away their position. The three stood in baited silence, awaiting what would come next.

“Was- Was that a kid?” Bad squealed, surprise clear in his tone.

This would be one of those moments in his life where Tommy did something without thinking about the consequences. However, if you were to ask him about it now, he would say that he never regrets anything because he is a big man.

So, before either of his companions could say anything, Tommy stepped out into the spotlight of the moon and said indignantly, “I am not a kid.”

He could hear his friend’s annoyed whispers behind him and just turned shot them a mischievous grin.

“Oh, you are most definitely a kid.”

Tommy whirled to find a young man of regular height and build striding towards them, a smirk plastered onto his face. He had short dark hair and an eyepatch stretched across his left eye. He was wearing a roughed-up, sky blue coat and a pair of simple boots.

Tommy stared into the laughing eyes of the man and frowned, “And who, the fuck, are you?”

The guy looked unimpressed.

“My name's Skeppy, and don’t swear, it’ll upset Bad. Never realised Dream kept kids on his ship as servants.”

“He doesn’t,” Tommy grumbled, “I’m a special guest.” Skeppy’s eyebrows shot up.

“Oh really? And what is so special about you?” Tommy laughed coldly at the irony of the question.

“That’s the thing, I don’t fucking know.”

“LANGUAGE.”

Another man was emerging from the shadows, eyes narrowed in disapproval. He had a black hood pulled up over his head, redlining rimming the outside. A pair of dark devil’s horns poked up from underneath his hood, revealing him to be, Tommy supposed, a demon hybrid. A tail, similar to Ranboo’s, trailed behind him as he strolled forward into the light of the moon.

“Hi Bad.” Skeppy rolled his eyes at his companion's entrance and motioned towards Tommy.

“I found a kid. Apparently, Dream has taken to keeping children as guests.” The pair exchanged a look.

“What’s your name?” Tommy wasn’t going to be intimidated by this pair of patronising idiots.

“Tommy Innit.”

Skeppy barely concealed a scoff and Tommy turned to him, a challenging light in his eye.

“And what, Skeppy, is funny about my name.” Bad cut Skeppy off before he could say anything, eyes alight with interest.

“Tommy, when did you arrive here?” Tommy froze.

“Uh- I don’t know, a few days ago? I woke up yesterday.” Bad nodded to himself, as though appeasing an inner thought.

“That would make sense.”

“What would make sense?” Now Tommy was just confused. Bad looked him in the eye with a steady gaze.

“Would you like to come with us?” Everyone froze. Tommy could hear the ocean breeze rustle through the sails of the ship.

“What?” Tommy and Skeppy said in unison.

“I- uh- I’ll have to go and talk to my friends.” Bad raised an eyebrow at this but nodded sagely, and Tommy retreated to where Ranboo and Tubbo were standing. They both looked extremely unimpressed.

“What the fuck Tommy.” Tubbo was glaring at him, and Tommy squirmed inwardly.

“Nope. Not now. You are not allowed to tell me off before we work out what is going on.”

“We go.”

They both turned towards their half-enderman friend.

“What.” Ranboo looked calm, how was he so calm?

“We go. We don’t trust King Dream so we go.”

“You're kidding right?” Tubbo was staring at Ranboo in disbelief, “We just managed to get ourselves a job that actually pays and you want to just leave?”

Ranboo turned to look at him, eyes soft with fondness.

“Tubbo, I don’t think Tommy is safe. We need to get out of here.”

“And do I get a say in this?” Tommy asked, eyes wide with confusion.

“Yes. Yes, of course, you do Tommy.” Now Tommy hadn’t expected that. He never got a choice. In anything.

“Right then. I think we should go. It’s the best for my safety and I don’t want either of you arguing about it.”

“But Tommy, that’s what we were sayi—” Tommy cut him off, a smug smile on his face.

“No, no Big man you don’t understand. I have the best decisions around here. Is that understood?”

Ranboo rolled his eyes.

“Yes Tommy.”

“Right now that is settled I think we should tell those idiots what we had decided to do.”

“Please don’t call them idiots.”

Tommy ignored him and strolled off in the direction of where Skeppy and Bad were muttering in quiet whispers.

“Oi. Skeppy and Bad, we have formally decided to join your crew.” The pair turned towards them. Bad, smiling thankfully, and Skeppy looking like he had swallowed a lemon.

“Great, would you like to grab your friends?”

“Tubso, Ranboob get over here.” Bad stared at him wide-eyed.

“That’s their names?”

“No. Those are not our names. I’m Ranboo and that’s Tubbo.” The enderman-hybrid replied.

“Oh,” Bad replied, relieved, “Thank God. I’m Bad and that’s Skeppy. I’m glad you decided to join us.” Ranboo smiled quietly in reply.

Bad, lead them to the edge of the ship where a plank had been connected between The Spirit and the intruders’ vessel. It was large, not as large as the King’s ship and definitely not as fancy but looked just as well cared for.

As they walked the plank onto the connecting ship, the other intruder joined them, intrigued by the new additions to the crew. His name was Antfrost, and he was a cat hybrid. Tommy didn’t feel the need to label him as much more than that.

Skeppy, who was last onboard, disconnected the plank from the other ship, heaving it back on board with the help of an unknown crew member, and Bad climbed up to the helm, slowly starting to steer the ship away from The Spirit. Tommy later found out the name of the ship was Rat and thought it was a very stupid name for such a beautiful vessel.

He, Ranboo and Tubbo then went up on deck, leaning against the railing in a similar manner to earlier that evening. Sleepily, the trio watched The Spirit drift away into the distance and once again Tommy wondered who he was. He gazed at his friends and felt content.

This time, no unnerving shots of déjà vu disturbed Tommy’s peace of mind.

Chapter Text

The world was quiet that night. The ocean was still but very rarely a fresh breeze would ripple across its gently writhing water.

Everyone on the ship was trapped in fitful sleep. Everyone except Wilbur.

He was slumped against the sides of the deck, neck arched upwards, eyes gazing steadily at the dark sky above.

Resting against his stomach was a guitar, a beautiful instrument with a sleek body of timber and strings made from fine strands of silk. It had been a gift from his family for his eighteenth birthday and now, at twenty, Wilbur had still never loved an item more. But he didn’t love the guitar for its beauty nor its sentimentality. Wilbur loved the guitar for what it allowed him to create. What it allowed him to release into the world. A single chord could change the mood of a room. A single song could change the hearts of men.

Wilbur’s finger tips danced over the strings, unleashing a pure melody into the quiet night. He continued to gaze at the speckling of stars above, as he didn’t need his eyes to play this particular melody. It had been their song, Tommy's and his.

This had been their spot on the deck where they would sit, way past Tommy’s bedtime, and just exist. Some nights they would sing, some nights they would stargaze, some nights Wilbur would tell his stories. Those nights, without fail, were always Tommy’s favourites.

Wilbur missed his brother so much.

He began to sing; his soft whispers being transported over the deck too where the sky met the sea; to where Tommy was.

I used to hear a simple song

That was until you came along

Now in its place is something new

I hear it when I look at you

His words floated around the sails, darting the cracks in the portholes, and into the cabins where the crewmates lay. Unknowingly, Wilbur made many of them smile that night, eyes fond at the memory of the two brothers and hearts hard in determination for them to sing together again.

With simple songs, I wanted more

Perfection is so quick to bore

You are my beautiful, by far

Our flaws are who we really are

Wilbur registered a dark shape moving toward him but continued to gently strum his guitar. The dark shape drew nearer, its wings ruffling slightly in the breeze. Phil sat down next to his son, his pained face reflecting Wilbur’s inner emotions. Wilbur continued to sing.

I used to hear a simple song

That was until you came along

You took my broken melody

And now, I hear a symphony

A wing slid itself behind Wilbur’s back warmth seeping into his skin from the feathers. Wilbur rested his head on his father’s shoulder craving the sense of protection. His father began to sing, his voice was quiet, and his pitch was off but Wilbur didn’t mind. He just wondered how Phil knew the words to Wilbur’s and Tommy’s melody. The father and son sang together.

And now, I hear

A symphony

The world paused as though awaiting an answering call. None came. The silence stretched on, never-ending. Wilbur sighed, squeezing his eyes shut against the world.

An ocean away, Tommy stirred in his sleep, clutching his blanket a little tighter around his shoulders.

Chapter Text

The ship sailed at daybreak.

Wilbur wasn’t awake when its path was directed north. He was still wrapped up in bed when they had started their journey to the mainland. He was deep in the caverns of sleep when his father had risen from his slumber at an ungodly hour in the morning. But Wilbur was definitely awake when a crash echoed around the ship causing his ears to throb and the cabin door to rattle.

Wilbur’s first thought was one of confusion. He couldn’t work out for the life of him why he was in his own warm bed rather than sprawled on the deck of the ship. His memories were blurred images, unintelligible and misshapen. Had he’d been drinking? No. No, for if he had he would surely have an ear-splitting headache by now. In fact, Wilbur wouldn’t trust himself to say a single non-gibberish word when he was drunk, never mind manage get himself into bed. Unless—

Wilbur’s sleepy thoughts we interrupted by a few hasty raps at his door, and he groaned to himself, shifting ever so slightly under the weight of his blankets.

“Wilbur?” It was Techno. His brother Techno. Fuck Techno.

“Go away life hates you.”

There was a pause and then, “I already knew that but thanks for the confirmation dear brother of mine.”

Wilbur groaned a second time. Techno was being mean, making Wilbur cope with his stupid mind games at this time in the morning.

“Fuck you, techno.”

“Wilbur, if you don’t get out of bed then I will kick the door down and carry you.”

Wilbur groaned a third time. This time because he knew Techno wasn’t lying, he would probably do exactly that. Wilbur hated him for it.

Rolling out of bed he placed his feet on the wood floor with a thump that reverberated around his cabin. He was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday, all except for his trench coat that was draped neatly over the back of his desk chair, and his crown that was placed carefully on his table. Wilbur smiled, now he knew why he had woken up in bed rather than on the uncomfortable wooden boards of the ship deck. Oh, Phil. Always a stickler for caring for things properly.

Wilbur stumbled around his room, careening into one of his walls and almost tripping over his guitar that was left in the middle of his floor. Skipping over this obstacle, Wilbur reached for his shoes. After slipping them on and ignoring the fact laces existed, he stumbled to his door and threw it open.

Wilbur was met with the unimpressed eyes of his twin. Techno stared at him, eyebrows lifted and a stupid smirk on his face.

“Wil, are you de-ageing?”

“What?”

“Your shoelaces are undone, and your hair looks like it was arranged father’s crows.”

Wilbur frowned and shot his brother and dirty look.

“Shut up Techno.”

“Heh your loss, the crew will get a blast out of this. Oh yes, those are our princes of the sea, the athletic well-dressed one is Technoblade and the string bean with a nest on his head, who keeps tripping over his laces is Wilbur.”

Wilbur frown deepened but retreated back into his room to fix his hair. Staring at himself in the mirror, he realised Techno wasn’t wrong, but he would never admit that. Returning to the door he was met with the smug grin that was still plastered on his twin’s face. Eager to retain just a little of his pride, Wilbur kept his laces undone. A decision he would later regret while following Techno to the crew’s eating quarters.

As they strolled down a corridor, Wilbur turned to his brother and asked, “Was it you who made the ear-splitting noise?” Techno shot him an apathetic expression.

“Yes.” Wilbur looked at him with mischievous interest.

“So,” He wheedled, “What happened”

“I dropped my sword.”

“On purpose?”

“Yes.” Wilbur’s shoulders dropped.

“Why?”

“Because I knew it would wake you up” Wilbur grumbled at him, annoyed that the opportunity for laughing at techno had been lost.

“Oh.”

Techno wandered into the eating quarters, Wilbur following behind like a disgruntled puppy, whilst trying not to trip over his laces in the process. The room was one of the larger ones on the ship, benches arranged neatly around in the space. Light flooded in through large windows that gave a stunning view of the ocean outside. Their family had their private chambers to eat in but family meals weren’t the same without Tommy.

Wilbur spotted Niki and Jack waving to him to come sit with them. He started to wade through the sea of tables and crew members, making his way towards them.

“Wilbur!”

Wilbur halted, rolling his eyes, and turning to where the voice was coming from. His father was striding purposefully towards him, a fond gleam in his eyes. Realising that he had caught his son’s attention Phil continued, “Do your laces up.”

Wilbur blushed, feeling everyone’s eyes on him.

“Dad…” Wilbur hissed, “Here? Really?”

Phil’s expression turned stern.

“Wilbur, I don’t want you faceplanting into the floor.”

“But I need to assert my dominance over Techno.”

The Pirate Emperor glanced at his other son, raising his eyebrows. Techno was observing the situation with a face of solemn gravity, but Wilbur had absolutely no doubt that internally he was in fits of laughter.

“You can’t hold me responsible for your petty childishness.”

Wilbur, stared at his brother, hatred in his eyes.

“Fuck you.”

The entire room was watching the exchange now, all attempting to stifle laughs except Niki, whose expression was the same as always, the gentle smile of a genuinely nice person. He silently reminded himself to tell her that she was the only non-mean person on this ship

“Wilbur.” His father was wearing the ‘unimpressed look’.

“Mhm?” Wilbur hummed in reply.

“Just tie your laces please.” It was at that moment that Wilbur realised there was no way out of this situation with his pride still attached. Begrudgingly he did what he was told and tied his laces.

Techno snorted and Wilbur punched him in the arm, striking out in the direction of his friends.

~

“Captain!”

Wilbur lifted his eyes from his buttered bread just in time to see one of the younger crew members, hurry up to Phil, eyes wide, impatience filling every inch of his demeanour. He was a hybrid of some sort and Wilbur was pretty certain he was the son of one of the other crew members.

“Captain- I mean your majesty- my dad, sorry, the lookout saw something. He said I should come and get you, your majesty, sir.” Wilbur glanced at his father, wanting to see his reaction to the information being spurted at him at top speed. Gleefully, Wilbur watched Phil’s concerned expression morph into one of pure bafflement. Phil held his hands up in mock surrender, unsure how to react.

“Woah there mate, slow down. Right let’s start from the beginning, your dad saw what?” The boy looked up at him in awe, his bright green eyes sparkling in joy as the Pirate Emperor spoke to him.

“There was a ship. He saw a ship, and he said to come and get you. Said it was important, he did. And my dad ain’t never wrong, never.” The child shook his head fervently, and Wilbur noted the gentle smile that emerged on his father’s face, a smile that he reserved specifically for children.

“Ok then mate, you’d better lead the way if we’re going to go see this ship of yours.”

The boy looked relieved as he skipped out of the room at top speed, the Angel of Death following closely behind. Wilbur had always thought that name was an incredibly ironic one. Phil? The angel of death? The same man who welcomed strangers into the safety of his ship? The same man who consistently remembered the name of everyone in his crew and would do anything to protect them? The same man who gave every child a gift on their birthday. The same man who invited a pair of homeless hybrid twins shelter and then proceeded to adopt them? The same man who, after his fiancé was killed in battle, proceeded to obliterate the entire crew of pirates? Ok, Wilbur realised, maybe the name had some sort of basis.

Niki turned to him, pink hair bouncing with the motion.

“Should we go too?” Wilbur considered for about a second, before nodding and motioning for them to follow him in the direction of the stairs.

The wood creaked as they hurried up the steps on the tail of Phil and Techno. Emerging on deck, Wilbur was immediately struck by how grey the sky was. It was a stormy grey with only a few shafts of sunlight being able to escape their prison of clouds.

“It’s The Spirit.” Wilbur almost jumped out of his skin, accidentally biting his tongue in shock.

“Whaaaa- Techno don’t do that!” Techno had the audacity to look confused.

“Heh? Do what?”

“Creep up on people like that and then whisper down their ear.”

“But it’s fun. You’re the perfect victim because you scare easily.”

“And you’re the annoying bastard,” Wilbur whispered under his breath.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

“Ok.” Techno shrugged, rolling his eyes, “Anyway, that ship is The Spirit.” Wilbur paused, finally processing what his brother was saying. His eyes widened in hope.

“Wait, really? How can you tell?”

“The stupid flag. Lime green with a smiley face that looks like a child drew it.” Wilbur nodded slowly, cogs in his brain turning at a snail’s pace.

“Have you told dad?” Techno shook his head, gaze focusing on something over Wilbur’s shoulder.

“Didn’t need to, take a look for yourself.”

Wilbur followed his gaze, eyes colliding with the sight of his father, who was standing at the helm of the ship, hand resting on the axe at his belt, wings tensed as though ready to fly. Wilbur turned back to Techno; brow furrowed.

“Do you think we should go tell him not to try and fly over there and rescue Tommy on his own?” Techno contemplated the question for a little bit.

“I mean, dad wouldn’t die. Phil never dies. But I suppose that he would also try and kill everyone on board on his own and we can’t be having that.”

“Oh, yes it would be too dangerous.” Techno shook his head earnestly.

“No. Because I want to be able to murder people in revenge too.”

“Techno, it’s not like you to value violence over the safety of your family.”

“Oh, but I am valuing the safety of my family. If I kill every bastard on that god-dammed ship, then they won’t be able to touch my family ever again.”

~

The two twins managed to convince their father not to go on a killing spree alone, even if it was for two different reasons, and they set about making plans to rescue Tommy from the clutches of the Dream. Plans they soon found out were completely useless. Upon boarding The Spirit, they found its crew in shambles, no one seemed to be doing anything and had no interest in the invasion of pirates on the ship.

“What the hell? What’s going on?”

“You’re asking me as though I know the answer to that question.” Techno was standing beside him as they observed the bustling mess of people that were on the deck of The Spirit.

Phil had wandered over to an elderly man with startlingly bright green eyes, who was sitting on a crate on the corner of The Spirit’s Deck. Wilbur and Techno followed, interested to see what the man had to say.

“Hey mate, could you please tell us what’s going on?” The man didn’t bother looking at Philza, eyes still focused on the ground, letting out another puff of smoke from his pipe.

“King’s gone.”

Wilbur's brain froze.

“What?”

“The King fella, Dream, has disappeared along with his sidekicks. Good riddance if you ask me. Too proud of himself. Too powerful for his own good. Liked to shove it in others faces, he did.”

The man continued, seemingly content to ramble on about Dream’s faults.

“What about Tommy?” Wilbur whispered in Techno’s ear panicked, “Do you think they took him with them?”

“Wilbur, the question we should be asking ourselves is why Dream abandoned his ship in the first place. It makes no sense.” Wilbur’s expression turned hard.

“I don’t care. I just want to know my younger brother is safe.” Techno sighed but nodded, understanding his brother’s plea fully.

“Ok, so do you want to take the helm or the stern entrance?”

“Stern.”

Techno nodded and strode off in the direction of the front of the ship at a quick pace. Wilbur did the same but towards the back, aiming for the entrance that would take him into the lower floors of the ship. He hurried down a set of stairs, pausing to wonder at the gold bannisters. Maybe the elderly man had been right about the King. Anyone who chose gold bannisters was clearly rich and desperate for people to know it. Wilbur came upon a door, more extravagant than the others, with golden roses climbing up the green paintwork and a plaque stating that this was the captain’s quarters.

Wilbur grimaced, who chose a colour palette of green and gold?

When he opened the door, he found a meeting room with a central table and comfy looking chairs positioned all around. Wilbur walked slowly around the edge, attempting to reach the door at the other side of the room. He opened it to find a large office, with a desk in the middle and bookcases on either side. The office would seem pretty normal if it wasn’t for the huge amounts of weapons hung upon the walls. Crossbows, swords, tridents, axes all polished to sparkling perfection. At a closer look, Wilbur realised that each held the insignia of different kingdoms. He recognised a few of them but couldn’t work out why the King would own so many.

And then it hit him.

They were spoils of war. Wilbur’s lip curled at the thought, King Dream was a power-hungry snob then. Wilbur crossed around the desk and started rifling through drawers, searching for something, anything, that would help. He hoped that Techno would find Tommy hidden in a jail cell in the depths of the ship having scared off Dream and his Lackies with his personality. But something told Wilbur that it was just a little too optimistic to be realistic.

Sunlight streamed through the window reflecting off an object that could just be seen through a crack in the bottom drawer of the desk. Wilbur eyebrows furrowed slightly and crouching down, he pulled open the drawer reviling the thing inside. Wilbur’s fingers shook, tapping on the wood in confusion and rage. He ran a hand through his hair absentmindedly, before reaching in and grabbing the object with a trembling hand.

It was a crown. A small plain gold circlet with two tiny, detailed wings protruding upwards from either side.

Tommy’s crown.

Fire built up in Wilbur’s system, he could feel the blood pumping in his ears and hear beating heart in his chest. He curled his fingers around the metal, feeling the wings dig into the skin.

Wilbur stood up abruptly, his mind a whir. He brought one of his closed fists down on the desk next to him, feeling the strength of a thousand men echo through his bones. He kicked the chair that Dream used to sit on. He ripped the pages of Dream’s books. He burned Dream’s papers and he smashed Dream’s ornaments.

Wilbur wanted revenge.

That was until Techno slammed the door open. Fully expecting to be told off for the mess, Wilbur froze where he was standing, eyes flitting across the room. Techno took one look at his tear-stained, red face and strolled forward, ignoring the way that Wilbur flinched away, and wrapped his arms around his brother awkwardly. Wilbur didn’t know what was going on. He had frozen in his twin’s odd embrace, unused to such things from Techno. Nevertheless, Wilbur released the crown from his clutches, letting it clatter on the wooden floor, and wrapped both his arms around his brother and relaxed into his embrace.

Techno didn’t give hugs.

It was a fact, common knowledge within his family that he would receive them but not gift them. So, Wilbur savoured the moment, smiling gently into his twin’s amaranth hair, knowing fully well Techno needed this just as much as himself. Wilbur was calm. He was calm. They would find Tommy. They would.

Wilbur was exhausted when they emerged back on deck half an hour later to find that there was still no sign of Tommy on The Spirit. It wasn’t surprising really. Why would Dream abandon his ship with its precious cargo still on it?

And then it started raining. Torrents of water poured down upon Wilbur’s head, trickling down his back. He shivered but held his head up, challenging the sky and its stupid rain. Then a large drop of water landed in his eye causing Wilbur to blink rapidly.

Yep, he thought bitterly, how fitting.

Chapter Text

Bad wasn’t sure what he was doing.

He had no clue what he’d been thinking. On the spur of the moment it had seemed like a good idea, now though, not so much. Three children were on his ship. Three kids, he had stolen for King Dream who would undoubtedly want them back. Three kids, he didn’t know how to look after.

What the hell had he’d been thinking?

Bad had just wanted to protect them. That’s what he’d been thinking.

Tommy reminded him of someone he’d once known. The blond hair and blue eyes reminded him of a friend. A very powerful friend with a heart of gold and the reputation of the devil. Bad had seen Phil in the child. Seen him in the way the child spoke, the way his eyes glinted and the way he bounced on his feet.

When he had heard one of The Pirate Emperor’s sons had gone missing he had been as angry as the rest of the pirate population. It was just one of the sort of rumours that spread quickly within the community. Their Emperor’s son was missing. The Angel of the Death was on the hunt for blood.

What Bad hadn’t expected was that he would be the one to find the child. Or that the child would have amnesia. But that would be a problem for his family to worry about. Tommy was an interesting kid, to say the least. He was a ball of sunlight, as annoying as the devil but endearing in small ways. The way he was constantly trying to get Bad to swear, how he couldn't stop talking and his cheeky smile and loud laugh.

The other two kids Bad was less sure about. Ranboo and Tubbo were definitely nice kids, and just as interesting as Tommy, but he couldn’t seem to work them out. How did they know Tommy? Another thing he had noticed was how protective they were over him. They were almost like two guardian angels, just as chaotic but not allowing their charge to drag them into danger.

Bad watched on as the trio played a game of tag on the deck of The Rat. Tommy had been caught and was whining very loudly to anyone who would listen.

“It’s not fair! Tubbo was cheating.”

Bad smiled quietly to himself, Tubbo had tagged him fair and square, Tommy just couldn’t accept the fact that his friend was faster than him.

A cool breeze rustled through the sails of the ship, ruffling the boys’ hair and causing Tommy’s thick brown coat to almost be blown off the side of the Rat. Bad smiled at the shouting that ensued, observing fondly as Tommy and Tubbo chased after it, only stopping when Ranboo had placed a firm foot on the coat, preventing it from moving any further.

It was a few days since they had rescued the kids from King Dream’s clutches, and if Bad was being honest, he was exhausted. He’d been working overtime to improve the defences of the ship in honour of their precious cargo, as well as trying to find some way to return him to his Father. Turns out, it was a lot harder to find the Emporer of the sea than first thought.

“Bad!” He spun around, coming face to face with a tired-looking Skeppy.

“Morning Skeppy, You just woke up?” His friend yawned, eyes squinting in an attempt to focus. His blue hoody was pulled over his dark hair trying to disguise the mess that lay beneath.

“Uhuh.” He mumbled, attempting to prevent himself from yawning again. Bad watched as Skeppy took his place next to him leaning against the side of the ship. His eyes searched the ship, landing on Tommy and Tubbo who were attempting to punch each other, and Ranboo who was holding them both back with a bored expression on his face. Skeppy’s eyes seemed to harden at the sight, the line of his lips thinning ever so slightly. Before Bad had time to puzzle over his reaction, Skeppy had turned to him a determined expression on his face.

“For fucks sake Bad.” Bad sighed. He’d known this was coming.

Eyes cast down he replied, “Language Skeppy.”

Skeppy ignored him.

“ Bad, what were you thinking? We can’t look after kids! We can barely look after the remaining crew! Pirates Bad. That’s what we are, not a fucking orphanage.”

Bad curled in on himself slightly, but still managed to look his friend in the eye.

“I know.”

“You know? You know! Bad you don’t know Shit!” Skeppy said angrily.

“Language.” Bad whispered under his breath.

“We are starving. The Spirit was the first good ship we’d seen in ages. It had food. Enough to feed the crew for several months if we’d managed to find the stores. But no.” Skeppy’s voice transformed into a snarl, “No. You decide to kidnap a load of teenagers. Teenagers Dream will probably want back. Bad! Had you thought of that? Why’d you think they’d been on the ship in the first place!”

Bad, in fact, had thought of that. He was pretty certain he knew why Dream wanted them. But there was no point trying to tell Skeppy that.

“And now we have even more mouths to feed! How? Do you have a plan? Do you ever have a plan? Or do you always act before you think?”

He paused, looking Bad steadily in the eye, “I used to be a loner you know. I can take care of myself. I don’t need this crew. I could find food elsewhere.”

He started to turn away, started to retreat in the direction of his cabin.

“For muffin’s sake!” Bad yelled, fuse finally lit, “Just listen to me!”

Skeppy paused, surprised he had bothered to argue.

“Skeppy, I know. Did you really think I didn’t know that we are low on food? But I have a reason. One of the kids, Tommy, I think I know who he is. If we return him to his family then we will be provided with food that could last us the year.” Bad was breathless yet determined, watching anxiously as Skeppy’s face morphed into one of intrigue.

“Tommy?” The word was whispered, coming from behind him. Bad turned and was confronted with three young faces, each as pale as the others.

“Tommy?” It was Tubbo who had spoken, worried eyes focused on where Tommy was standing. Tubbo’s hand was carefully caressing his friend’s shoulder, obviously uncertain what to do. Tommy was staring at Bad, ocean eyes full of confusion and fear.

Bad had no idea what to do. He could only watch, frozen in place, as Ranboo and Tubbo led Tommy away slowly, each trying to process the situation. Skeppy turned to him, a smirk plastered on his face, all presence of anger fled.

“You know what’s funny. That’s the first time you’ve raised your voice in the last year.” Skeppy was grinning fully now, beginning to see the incredible irony of the situation.

Bad let out an exasperated breath.

“I know Skeppy. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do about this now.”

“Bad, your not supposed to know.”

“What do you mean?” Skeppy turned to him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“You’ve never dealt with kids before. We just need to try and take it one step at a time. I trust you, mostly, if you think you know where Tommy’s family is we’ll find them. We just have to be careful, Dream will be searching for the kid, whoever he is, and his family probably will be too. We don’t want to make them suspicious.”

Bad nodded, surprised at Skeppy’s sudden wisdom.

“So,” His friend continued, a determined smile spreading across his face, “What’s our plan of action captain?”

Bad grinned back earnestly, glad Skeppy was once more willing to listen to him.

“Oh, and preferably can it be as quick as possible, please? Don’t want to run out of food before we claim our prize,” Skeppy added, disguising the serious undertone with a laugh.

“I think I know how we find our missing family members.”

Skeppy looked at him expectantly, waiting for Bad to continue.

“We go to The Syndicate.”

Chapter Text

(Few weeks after the events on The Spirit in Chapter 4)

“Dad?”

Phil blearily opened one of his eyes to find one of his sons looking at him in a concerned manner.

“Yes, Wil?” His words were slurred slightly, exhaustion ebbing into his tone.

“Phil, are you ok?”

Philza processed the question, unsure whether to tell the truth.

He was so tired.

He hadn’t slept properly since- since- well since Tommy was kidnapped.

But he didn’t need to worry his already anxious son with trivial matters such as that.

“I’m ok mate. Perfectly fine.” Wilbur looked unconvinced, his eyebrows twitching in the way they always did when he was trying to focus.

Phil was sitting in the captain’s quarters, (his quarters) collapsed in his chair at the head of the table. In the same position as the night before. Phil wasn’t surprised his son didn’t believe him. He wasn’t sure he even believed himself.

Phil moved to escape his chair, pushing himself up with both hands. Spikes of pain shot up his limbs, causing him to intake a sharp breath of air.

Sleep in a chair, going to get cramps. Lesson learnt.

He stretched out his wings, disgruntled by how ruffled they were. Well, he couldn’t really complain, it was his fault for not sleeping in a bed after all. He took a moment to observe the plans he had been making the night before. They were all heavily annotated diagrams of Dream’s castle. Phil already knew the plans by heart, having got descriptions from the remaining crew aboard The Spirit.

Wilbur was still observing him faint lines of worry creasing his forehead.

Phil turned to his son, fixing a small smile on his exhaustion-scarred face.

“So, what do you want from me Wil?”

Wilbur gave him a final glance over before replying, “We’re here.”

“At the mainland?”

“I mean, where else would I be talking about?”

“You have a solid point mate, The Syndicate maybe?” The Syndicate was their home base, The Pirate Empires capital, and the most targeted place on earth.

“Phil, are you sure you’re ok? Give me one reason we would be back at The Syndicate?”

Phil laughed quietly, replying, “Maybe Niki decided that the mission was a stupid idea and the crew just wanted to go home?”

Wilbur leant against the table, and it slightly creaked in protest.

“You know Niki would never disobey your orders.”

“Maybe, but if you persuaded her, she might.”

“Nope,” Wilbur said with finality, “She would take your side any day. She would take a bullet for you. Thinking about it, most the crew would.”

Philza shifted uncomfortably, not finding any reassurance in his words.

“I wish they wouldn’t,” He mumbled.

“Phil, you can’t be kind to everyone and not expect them to want to give you something in return. That’s what being a fair king is all about. You have to be prepared to die for your people, and them for you.”

“Life is such a precious thing; it should not be traded.”

“Says the so-called Angel of death” Phil let out a bark of laughter.

“You know I don’t call myself that.”

“I think it’s cool.”

“So did Tommy.”

That was a mistake, a slip of the tongue.

An awful silence followed, engulfing the father and son in a shadow of loss.

“I know he does.” Phil didn’t miss the way Wilbur corrected him, and he cursed himself inwardly for making it in the first place. Tommy was still here, still very much in the realm of the living, he hadn’t been entirely stolen from them yet. Phil couldn’t afford to lose another soul so close to his heart. He hoped that his lost Goddess was watching over their son, keeping him safe.

“Phil? Are you coming?”

Phil looked up, shooting his son a small smile, and followed him out of the room.

~

The Greater SMP, better known as the SMP Mainland, was the biggest island in the Archipelago.

Having been ruled by Dream’s family for generations, it had seen its fair few fights in the last century. Political squabbles between the nations and the explorers of the sea had not been uncommon, hatred for the pirates being increased by their prominently hybrid population. The islands of the SMP archipelago had prejudices against hybrids that went back millennia, pushing them out of their homelands and forcing them to live on the sea.

Forcing them to become pirates.

And then, of course, they had wanted the sea back for themselves, believing the hybrids to be cursed monsters. It was almost funny, how they thought that the sea could be claimed. That the sea had been stolen from them. The sea belonged to no one. It was as untameable as the hybrids it protected. Battles had been fought between the pirates and the nations, centuries of pain and war born hatred.

Then a king rose from the midst of the pirate ranks. An avian who would unite all hybrids. The Angel of Death, who granted the seafarers liberty from the abusive hand of the Islands.

Phil found the story incredibly ironic. He found love, in the form of his fiancé and two sons adopted off the battlefield. But he also lost so much. Lost his warrior queen, his Goddess in the final battle. Struck down by the hand of the other side. A face, amongst a crowd of bloodied faces. One more soul dead amongst a field of lost souls. She had left him that day. Left him to care for their 6-month-old child. But no matter how much he had suffered, he knew many had suffered more.

“Huh. It’s a lot quieter than I thought it would be.” Techno’s florescent plat was being blown this way and that, battered by the cold sea wind.

Phil looked around the dock before them, searching for any sign of life. Techno was right, Phil noticed, for it was empty. Well almost empty, a few stragglers cris-crossed here and there, but not nearly enough for what Phil had expected from an industrial-sized port.

“Maybe it’s a festival day or something?”

“What festival with no celebrations?” Wilbur asked, not convinced.

“They might be in mourning.” A grin crept onto Techno’s face, stretching across his cheeks. Wilbur shivered, looking at his brother with dramatic disgust.

“Techno that’s really creepy.”

“I’m just stating facts.”

“You don’t smile at the thought of death. It’s not moral.”

“Since when is anything, I do moral.”

Then Wilbur, the 19-year-old grown man, decided to stick his tongue out.

Phil snickered, and Techno rolled his eyes at his brother before continuing, “You’re such a child Wil.”

Before Wilbur could reply with yet another snide remark, Phil decided it was time to intervene.

“Why don’t we just go and ask someone?”

His sons, stared at him like he was utterly insane.

“Phil, you have wings—” Techno started.

“And they are very recognisable—” Wilbur continued, “They will probably realise that you’re the ‘Angel of Death’ within seconds or even if they're stupid enough not to realise, hybrid abuse is still really common on the mainland, they won’t listen to us.”

“So, we’ll make them listen.” Techno looked at him with an awed expression on his face, Wilbur just rolled his eyes.

“Are you suggesting torture?” Techno asked tentatively, as though he couldn’t quite believe his luck.

“No,” Phil replied hastily.

And then, seeing his son’s dejected expression he continued, “I mean, only if really have to.”

Techno shrugged, “Good enough for me.”

They scouted out their victim for the interrogation, one of the few stragglers left on the dock. He was a young man, seated on a stack of large crates, a pen was tucked behind his ear. He was staring down at a notebook held carefully in his hands, a pair of engineers goggles perched atop his head of light brown curls. He wore the purple jacket of a traveller, a backpack thrown on the floor beside his feet.

“Hey there.” Wilbur had decided to make the introductions, stepping towards the man first.

“Ayup.” The man replied uncommittedly.

Wilbur turned to his father who shrugged at the response, taking it as a sign of encouragement to continue.

“Uh, we were wondering if you could tell us what’s going on.”

“Going on with what?” The man replied, still looking apathetically at the floor.

“We want to know the reason the dock is so empty.” The man looked up at that, piercing grey-blue eyes taking the trio before him.

“We all want to know reasons for things. Just like how you three probably want to know the reason you’re doomed.” Philza saw his son freeze, confused.

“What?”

“Your empire is doomed, you will be dead, your family will be destroyed, if you do not find some way to fix the future.”

Phil looked at the guy again, finally noticing his odd appearance. He looked young, but appeared old, wizened by age, but not affected by age.

“Why are we doomed?” The man frowned quietly to himself.

“Dream.”

“Like King Dream? Why?”

“Dream stormed The Syndicate.” They all froze.

“What?”

“You need to find a way to get the capital back or your beloved brother is lost forever.”

“What do you mean?” Phil was perplexed, “He’s with Dream?”

“Nope! But he will be soon.” The guy grinned a mouthful of blindingly white teeth.

“Wha—”

“Now you need to get your empire and your son back, Angel of Death.”

Wilbur was looking at the man with a mixture of fear and confusion.

“But, what- How did he have time to rally an army?”

“The Spirit—”

“Was a decoy.” Phil finished breathlessly, kicking himself for not realising before. His sons stared at him, understanding dawning on both of their faces.

“The location is secret. How did they work it out?” Wilbur asked, still trying to get his head around Dream’s actions.

Shadows entered Techno’s eyes; he had obviously worked something out.

Techno mumbled something under his breath. Phil glanced at his son.

“What?”

“There’s an imposter.” Techno pronounced clearly, an undertone of violence threatening to take over, “Some little rat had been reporting back to Dream.”

The dockworker laughed gleefully, as though he was thankful, they had finally worked something out.

“So you lot are not totally stupid,” He sang in a lilting tone.

“Who are you?” Wilbur asked incredulously.

The man adopted a serious expression for the first time in their interaction.

“Karl.”

~

The walk back to the ship was silent, none of them particularly sure what to make of the situation.

The light was getting low, and the dock was still as empty as ever, it was almost creepy in its atmosphere. Phil realised that they hadn’t even figured out the reason why it was so empty, not that it mattered now that they had bigger problems to worry about.

They hadn’t managed to get much more out of the man after that, he seemed hesitant to tell them anything else other than earnestly reminding them that time was ticking. Phil wasn’t sure what to make of him, he was an odd fellow who obviously wanted to help but he was slightly disconcerting. He knew too much about their family.

Upon boarding the ship, Phil was met with the eager faces of his crew, anxious to hear if they had any news on Tommy. He dreaded the thought of having only having more bad news to add to the growing pile of unfortunate events. Most of them had entrusted loved ones to the protection of The Syndicate, believing the capital city of the Pirate Empire to be the safest place in the SMP archipelago.

It had been until the location was leaked. Phil ground his teeth at the thought. A traitor within their midst. One of his precious crew had decided to turn their backs on their fellow members. But why? Phil supposed everyone had their reasons. He just hoped that this traitor had good enough reasons to die for.

Phil scanned the faces in the crowd gathered on the deck of the ship, any one of them could be the imposter. Phil opened his mouth to speak, hesitating for a second as he thought about how to word the news that would change their lives so drastically.

“You all knew that when King Dream of the Mainland kidnapped Prince Theseus revenge would have to be served.”

The faces before him exchange puzzled looks with each other, unsure what to make of this obscure remark. Nevertheless, they cheered for their king, all wishing death upon those who dared to cross The Angel of Death.

“Yes, we were all prepared to fight for our prince, my son.”

Someone in the crowd shouted that they would die for Prince Tommy. More cheering commenced at this pronouncement.

Phil smiled sadly.

“My sons and I went to look for information on our missing prince. What we found was worse than we could have ever imagined.”

The crowd was silenced, each face filled with dread.

“That tyrant, Dream, has stormed The Syndicate.”

Chaos ensued.

Yelling echoed around the almost empty harbour, ringing in Phil’s ears. After a few minutes, it died down, leaving a silence that was only punctuated by the sobs of those who had entrusted loved ones to the safety of the city. At some point, a shrill voice called out, asking the question that lay in many of the crewmember’s hearts.

“But the location was secret, how did they find it?”

Phil saw Niki and Puffy exchange a knowing glance and wondered to himself if they had guessed the answer before.

“We don’t know.”

His two sons, first mate and war general looked up at him in surprise. He shot them looks that said, “later, we’ll discuss this later”. Niki nodded, understanding fully.

If they told the crew that there was most likely an imposter in their midst, the discord that would follow would be almost impossible to comprehend. Better they kept it a secret among themselves.

“However,” Phil yelled, the cold determination in his tone catching the attention of all present, “We have fought for freedom before. And we have won.”

Hope began to blossom in the hearts of the crew.

“We will not back down. We will go and fight for our home or we will die trying.”

The crowd cheered, Phil’s cold determination spreading to all present like an infectious disease.

“I, The Angel of Death, Declare war on that bastard Dream.”

A few laughs punctured the roar of the crowd. A roar that, if Dream could hear, would chill him to the bone. For it was something he would never receive from his army. It was a roar of warriors who knew they would fight to the death for their beloved Emperor.

Phil grinned, and for the first time in weeks, he felt a small sliver of hope. He turned away from the crowd, coming face to face with Techno and Wilbur, who had been by his side for the entire speech. They both held a look of grim determination on their faces but Wilbur’s expression soon morphed into one mischief.

“I thought you said you didn’t call yourself the Angel of death.” Wilbur laughed at Phil.

Phil grimaced and, smirking, he smothered both his sons in a hug. Ignoring the muffled sounds of protests, he whispered into Wilbur’s shoulder,

“I did it for Tommy.”

Chapter Text

(Tommy POV)

“We can stow away and get jobs on the Mainland.”

Tommy and the two hybrids, who he was pretty sure could be considered his friends, were sitting within their shared cabin aboard The Rat, having retreated there soon after overhearing the end of Bad's argument with Skeppy. Tommy couldn't make sense of what had been said. Bad knew his family and they wanted to return him... to them? The family who abandoned him? The family who could care less if he lived or died? That family?

Ranboo was looking at him with a tired expression. They had been talking about escaping for hours and yet had still not come to a conclusion.

“No Tommy, we can’t.”

Tommy glowered at the enderman hybrid, “Well, we need to escape somehow.”

There was a pause. Tommy stared at his friends.

“But do we really have—"

Tubbo started, getting immediately cut-off by Tommy, panic creeping into his voice, “Yes! Yes. We have to, I can’t let them take me back.”

Tubbo and Ranboo exchanged a look that he decided to ignore.

“But why don’t we just tell Bad about it? I’m sure he’ll listen and then maybe he won’t try to return you to them.” Ranboo said soothingly, as though he was edging across the side of a cliff, trying to avoid falling into the void below.

“We can’t.”

“But Tommy—”

“We can’t,” He repeated, frustrated, “I don’t trust him. He just- just seems like- like... I dunno. I just don't trust that bitch.”

Tubbo seemed as though he was about to interrupt but Tommy continued undeterred, “All I know is that they abandoned me. My family left me for dead and I don’t need them. I don’t need them at all.”

“You do.” Tubbo whispered, head dipped, chocolate brown hair covering his eyes, “You need them more than you could ever imagine, you just don’t realise it yet.”

Ranboo clutched Tubbo’s shoulder, steadying him.

“What?” Tommy felt oblivious, as though he was missing out on a section of the story. What was wrong with Tubbo?

“Tommy?”

“Yes,” Tommy replied still unsure about what was going on.

“Why do you believe Dream?” Tubbo asked shakily. Tommy wasn’t really sure what Tubbo was implying, his brain was working at a snail’s pace.

“I- I- I don’t know. Why wouldn’t I?” The pair were staring at him like he was mad.

“Have you ever contemplated the fact that he might’ve been lying?”

Tommy had not.

“Well, no, but why would he?”

Tubbo sighed exasperatedly.

“You are so fucking oblivious.”

“Oi, I’m not obvious!”

“Oblivious.”

“Don’t care, I just know that I’m not it.”

“Tommy, you woke up with amnesia. Did you ever think that maybe Dream might, for some reason, been trying to make you think that he saved you?”

Tommy had not.

“Uh, no.”

“Well, just think about it.”

“Ok.”

“Cool.”

“Cool.”

They stood in awkward silence, Ranboo watching on with a contemplative expression. If there was one thing in the world that Tommy hated it was silence.

“So, about that escape plan…”

His companions shot him looks of disbelief. Tommy shut his mouth.

~

“Tommy?”

It was late at night, the sun had sunk into the sea and the stars had released their sparkling gleam upon the world. Within their shared cabin the trio were attempting to sleep, with only Tubbo being successful. Ranboo’s whisper carried to where Tommy was lying on a pile of blankets on the floor, his arm tucked behind his head.

“Wha’?” He mumbled back, wishing boob boy would just shut up.

“Tommy, could I talk to you?”

“You already are, bitch.”

“I mean properly, idiot.”

“Only if you make an escape plan with me.”

He could hear Ranboo visibly sigh, the evident regret of bothering to ask clear.

“Fine.”

Wait, Tommy hadn’t really thought that was going to work.

“Really?”

He abruptly sat up in bed, motioning for Ranboo to come and sit with him.

“So what do you want boob boy?” He whispered in an attempt not to wake Tubbo as Ranboo collapsed beside him.

“Are you serious?” Ranboo was evidently not as happy with the nickname as Tommy was.

“I am always serious big man, serious is my middle name.”

“Not, it’s not.”

“Yes, it is. Tommy Serious Innit, that’s me.”

“Oh my god.”

“Anyway, can you get a move on, I want to discuss escape plans.”

Ranboo’s face transformed into something unusually serious.

“You know how Tubbo and I are orphans?”

Tommy nodded slowly, unsure where this was going.

“We were both left at the orphanage at very young ages, abandoned by our parents, or so we thought.”

“I’m sorry, that’s shit,” Tommy whispered, a little confused but empathetic none the less.

“Nah, it’s fine. My parents were “Evil” mob hybrids, so people hunted them, believing them to be hostile. They had no choice but to abandon me.”

Ranboo, seemed apathetic towards what he was saying, bored of pity and sympathy from the people who surrounded him.

“But Tubbo’s parents,” His face stayed emotionless but there was a slight shake in his voice, “Tubbo’s parents abandoned him. Left him for no reason. But one day, when we were looking through the records we found Tubbo’s file. It had all the usual stuff in it, documents and stuff, you know what I mean.”

Tommy didn’t bother to say that he didn’t know.

“But there was also something else. A note, from his parents. They had promised to come back. Promised to come back and take him away.”

“But why did they leave in the first place?” Tommy asked, intrigued.

“You know about the war?”

“War?”

“There was a war, between the hybrids and the humans. It lasted for millennia, and the hybrids got pushed out of the land and forced to become pirates. They were then hunted on the sea as well, thought to be demons and criminals. The pirates were losing. But then a king rose from the ashes and he took hybrids back from the brink. He won them the war.”

Tommy stared at him in awe

“Who was he?”

“The Angel of Death, Pirate Emperor Philza.”

“Poooooog. He sounds insane.”

“Um yeah, he is, I think, never really met him.” Ranboo stuttered, “But anyway, Tubbo’s parents went to fight in the war. Went to fight in the war so he could be free from prejudice and tyranny. So, he could live a normal life.”

“What happened to them?”

“They didn’t come back. They died fighting.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Why are you telling me all this?”

“Because he wants you to give your family a second chance.”

Ranboo and Tommy jumped out of their skins, shocked by the sound of Tubbo’s voice. He had turned to face them, bright eyes connecting with Tommy’s.

“Tommy, I hated my parents for abandoning me. I thought they did it out of spite. They did it out of love. I regret ever hating them. I miss them every day.”

Tommy froze, hearing his friend’s words but not processing them.

“Tommy, your family are alive, why don’t you at least give them a chance and let them explain their reasoning for themselves.”

Tommy paused, not sure what to make of the statement.

“Just, you know, think about it.” Tubbo huddled closer into the warmth of his blankets.

Tommy stood up, ignoring the cold that penetrated his bones through his clothes and walked over to his friend, wrapping his arms around Tubbo’s shoulders, and squeezing. They said nothing for a while. Just the two of them enjoying the silence of friendship. After a few minutes, Tommy climbed back into his blankets and closed his eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep, his mind whirring with his friend’s words.

“… Let them explain their reasoning for themselves.”

“… I regret ever hating them and I miss them every day.”

“… give your family a second chance.”

Could Dream have lied?

~

Tommy woke up for the second time that night, a dull ache pulling at his back. Something niggled at the back of his mind, telling him that this wasn’t normal but he ignored it, turning over and trying to fall back into the caverns of sleep. But the pain didn’t go away, it grew worse, spiking through his spine and causing him to sit up.

What the fuck?

Another shooting pain flared up in-between his shoulder blades, white-hot against his skin.

Tommy screamed.

Chapter Text

Tubbo woke to the sound of screaming.

His eyes flicked open in panic and, sitting up, he searched for the source of the ear-splitting noise. His eyes rested on Tommy, who was also sitting up in bed, writhing in pain, an expression of agony stretched across his face. Tubbo scrambled out of bed, almost crashing into Ranboo who was also rushing to get to Tommy’s side.

“Tommy?” Tubbo yelled, “Tommy!”

The only reply Tubbo received was another anguished shout that echoed around the cabin.

The pair knelt beside the blond boy in confusion, unable to see what was wrong.

“Tommy? Can you tell us what’s bothering you?” Ranboo said, trying to disguise panic he was obviously feeling.

Tommy turned to look at them, eyes wide in pain, “It’s my fucking ba—”

Tommy doubled over again, clutching his blanket.

“What do we do?” Tubbo looked at his friend, attempting to convey his fear.

Ranboo nodded and, turning to Tommy, asked, “Shall we go get Bad?”

Tommy shook his head vigorously and Tubbo sighed, why did he have to be so stubborn?

“No, no, I don’t - ARGH- trust him.”

“But Tommy, he might be able to help,” Ranboo pleaded, his two-toned eyes leaking concern.

“No- FUCK!” Tommy shook with pain, and Tubbo winced. What was wrong with his friend?

Footsteps sounded at the door and a familiar voice called, “Are you alright in there?”

Tubbo and Ranboo exchanged a look, unsure what to respond. Tommy made the decision for them.

“Fine, everything’s fine- AAARRRGHH SHIT!”

“Tommy?” Bad yelled in a panicked tone, “What the- are you alright?”

“Like I said I’m fi—” Tommy said nothing, just proceeded to double over again. Tubbo looked at his friend’s shaking form and anguished face and realised just how stupid Tommy was being.

“Fuck’s sake Tommy, you're being an idiot,” Tubbo whispered ferociously to his friend, unsure if Tommy could even hear him speak over his own pained cries.

“Bad?” Tubbo called, walking over to the door, “Tommy is getting shooting pains through his back, we don’t know what causing it.”

Throwing it open, he came face to face with the demon hybrid, whose cloudy eyes peered into the room in concern. Skeppy wasn’t far behind, apparently also being awakened by Tommy’s screaming, his hair in a mess from sleep. At Tubbo’s words, Bad’s eyebrows furrowed, almost as though he was thinking over something.

“Upper back pain?”

Tommy, who had resigned himself to the truth of having to talk to Bad, managed to stutter out, “Yeah, in between shoulder blades.”

Bad’s eyebrows perked up, “Oh really? Huh- I suppose it would make sense.”

“Bad,” Skeppy asked, running a hand through his dark hair, “If you know something, would you be kind enough to fill us in?”

“Not now, I need you to go and grab the potions.”

“Potions?”

“The ones for pain and sleep.”

“So we’re gonna knock him out?”

“It’s our only option to reduce the pain, it will last at least a day or two.”

“WHAT THE FUCK? A DAY OR TWO?” Tommy evidently was not happy with what he was hearing.

“But- what- how do you know how long it’ll take?”

Bad offered him a strained smile, “I’ll tell you later.” He turned to Skeppy inquisitorially, “Will you please get those potions?”

Skeppy nodded hastily, retreating down the corridor to the storage rooms.

“I DON’T WANT DRUGS.” Rushing back to his side, Tubbo placed a hand around his shoulder, accidentally brushing Tommy’s spine. Tommy screamed in response. Oops.

“Sorry, Sorry.”

Tommy didn’t say anything but reached for Tubbo’s hand instead. Tubbo took it and squeezed. Bad had moved into the room, resting a hand on Tommy’s shoulder, attempting to steady him.

“Oh, thank muffin” Skeppy had returned, his arms laden with glass bottles filled with different colour liquids. He dumped them carefully in front of the huddle, looking up at Bad expectantly.

“Sleeping potion?” Bad nodded in response, motioning for him to pass the bottle over. Skeppy complied and Bad grasped it, un-stoppering it with his free hand. Leaning down to Tommy’s level, he held it to his lips and waited for him to drink. The teen made a face but apparently swallowed it nonetheless.

“Tasthes disthgusthin,” Tommy muttered faintly, sticking his tongue out in disgust.

“I know, but it’ll Reduce the pain.” Bad whispered to him soothingly, taking the empty bottle from Tommy’s hand.

“How long will it take?” Tommy said meekly, collapsing back on his bed.

“A few minutes I think, it’s very powerful,” Bad replied.

Tommy hummed sleepily in response and Tubbo watched as his friend sunk slowly into the escape of sleep. Ranboo turned to Bad, eyebrows furrowed.

“How did you know that would work?”

Bad lips twitched, “I didn’t, it was just a guess.”

“But you said that you knew what was going on with him.” Ranboo pressed.

“I can take quite a good guess.”

“So?”

Bad sighed, and, taking a quick glance at Tommy’s sleeping form, he explained, “He’s an avian.”

Tubbo’s mouth fell open. That was impossible.

“What the fuck.”

“An avian, bird hybrid.”

“But there is only one left in the world.”

“And?”

“The Angel of Death is the only Avian, there are no others.”

They stood in silence. Ranboo’s eyes went wide.

“Is Tommy related to the Pirate Emperor?”

“Tommy is his son.”

“What the fuck.”

“Tubbo, Language!” Bad still managed to look mortified, even after the bomb he had just dropped on them.

“And so that is why King Dream wants him? For blackmail?”

“Exactly so.”

Tubbo turned to his friend, “Fuck, Tommy’s a prince.”

“I mean he doesn’t need to know that.”

Tubbo let out a shout of laughter.

“Can you imagine how he would react if he knew!”

Ranboo started giggling too, finding the irony of it all incredibly funny. Tommy was probably the last person you would expect to be a prince. Tommy snorted in his sleep, causing the pair to turn and stare in horror at their friend, terrified he had overheard what had been said. Tubbo walked over to Tommy’s bedside, worry nestling in the pit of his stomach, but found him fast asleep, arm flung over his eyes in the dark of the room.

He sighed in relief, calling to the others, “We’re good, he’s completely knocked out.”

The group retreated into the candlelit hallway, where shadows were cast sporadically over the dark walls.

“So, Tommy is growing wings?” Ranboo asked Bad, an expression of interest on his two-toned face.

Bad seemed to contemplate the question for a few seconds, “Well, I think so. To be honest I’m not entirely sure.”

“But what do we tell him when he wakes up? The truth?”

Ranboo had a point, what the fuck were they going to say?

Tubbo shook his head in response, knowing fully well that any attempt to convince him that his family hadn’t abandoned him would not end well.

“But Tommy hates his family, telling him that his dad is a pirate seems like a bad idea.”

“But what choice do we have? We don’t want the Angel of death thinking we stole his son.”

“Well, would you like to tell Tommy that, So, uh, your dad is the Pirate Emperor, and we think you were kidnapped and drugged so, you know, we don’t want him trying to murder us while thinking we kidnapped you.” Ranboo splutters out a laugh and the others smile at Tubbo’s sarcasm.

“I think we wait until I can let Phil know that we have Tommy.” Bad’s words are met with mumbles of affirmation from the others.

Skeppy still looked a little confused, "So we go to The Syndicate, wait for The Angel of Death to return, tell him we have his son that we kinda kidnapped from King Dream and that he may have amnesia and wings, hopes he believes us, all while praying that the child doesn’t die from some odd hybrid transformation.”

The group stared at Skeppy, the full realisation hitting them of just how stupid the plan sounded.

“Yep, we’re doomed,” Ranboo replied, making the rest burst out laughing.

~

Tommy continued to stay in a peaceful coma for the next few days as a small pair of wings began to grow. Tubbo found it incredibly weird, watching an entirely new body part sprout from his sleeping friend’s back. He had only seen them once, Bad hadn’t really let them close due to the sheer amount of blood that he had to clear up, but when Tubbo had managed to catch a glimpse, he’d realised just how tiny and extremely fluffy they were. God, that will be perfect blackmail material when Tommy wakes up.

Tubbo wasn’t scared. Tommy may have been knocked out for several days now, but he trusted Bad, who had said that it was probably going to take a few days for the pain to cease. However, as much as Tubbo didn’t want to admit it, he missed Tommy. He missed the way he was always way too fucking loud all the time. He missed the way they would annoy the heck out of Ranboo. He missed the way he made everything fun.

The ship was kind of boring without him.

Ranboo and Tubbo were squeezed into the crow’s nest above the ship, watching the world from above. Grey clouds stretched to where the sky met the sea, the sun just peeking over the horizon. The pair were playing a small game, observing the crew members below and trying to guess what they would do next. It was a stupid game, but fun nonetheless. They were gods watching the puny humans below, guiding their every movement. The funniest crew member to watch was Skeppy, especially as he never seemed to do much. He would just wander around the deck aimlessly until Bad would come and ask him to do something. They soon found that Ranboo was very good at fitting stupid thoughts to Skeppy, and it made the game 1000% funnier.

Tubbo decided to give a mainland impression a go, "Those teenagers are useless; they eat too much food and don’t do anything to help around the ship.”

Ranboo snorted with laughter, "What was that!”

“What?”

“That accent.”

“It’s my impression of mainlanders.”

“It’s terrible.”

“Oi! Stop slandering my accents.”

“I’m pretty certain your imitation was an offence to my accent.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, it captured the pure essence of mainlander personalities.”

“Tubbo, you grew up on the mainland too!”

“But I lived on the sea for 10 years, so really I am a pirate at heart.”

Ranboo hummed in response, “Yes, by the way, did I ever tell you that your jumper looks amazing.”

“Fuck off.”

“Oh, and it goes so well your trousers.”

“I will defenestrate you.”

“I am terrified.”

“I will.”

“Try spelling defenestrate Tubbo.”

Tubbo can’t spell defenestrate. Tubbo can’t spell at all. And that bitch knows it.

“Fuck off.”

Ranboo laughed, “Language.”

Tubbo scrambled to the other side of the crow’s nest, where his companion is leaning against the side, making a grab for him. The enderman hybrid dodged out the way, and Tubbo goes careening into the side, shrieking n alarm as he almost headbutts the wooden planks. Eyes wide in shock, Ranboo flings his arm out just in time.

“You’re an idiot.” Ranboo checked Tubbo over for any injuries before helping him back on his feet. Tubbo rubbed his forehead, trying to rid himself of the shock, before taking a quick glance around.

That’s when he noticed it.

A dark shape, looming out of the sea mist like a dragon. It’s a rock, a very large one at that. A very large rock indeed. It’s a rock that Tubbo had only heard about in stories. Stories of pirates and hidden cities, of wars and ships. A mountain that hid a city of wanted criminals.

“Tubbo?” Ranboo asked, “Is that it?”

“Yes,” Tubbo replied reverently, “Yes, that’s it.”

There was a small silence between the two of them, unspoken words of awe glistening in the air.

“Ranboo?”

“Yes?”

“What happens to us when Tommy goes home?” Tubbo’s voice is quiet, uncertain. Ranboo turns to him, eyes full of concern.

“I don’t know. I really don’t know”

~

The entrance to the cave loomed over them, the opening so large three ships could fit through it at once. Tubbo stood beside Bad at the helm, watching as he steered carefully into the cave with the expertise of a year worn captain. Bad navigates the rocks, sailing them down the open tunnel with almost no wind. A small breeze floated around The Rat, adding to the eery atmosphere of the cave. The only sounds being those of the ship cutting through the water. This definitely wasn’t what Tubbo expected for the entrance to the capital of an Empire.

“Bad?”

The demon hybrid shot him a quick glance, “Yes Tubbo?”

“Is this what it’s usually like?”

“What do you mean?”

“Is it always this silent?” Tubbo tried again.

“No—” Bad was hesitant, “I don’t think so.”

They fell back into silence. Cold fingers of fear crept up Tubbo’s spine, casting a chill over his heart. Everything about this place didn’t seem right.

Suddenly, the tunnel of stone opened out to reveal an enormous cove, surrounded on all sides by mountains. The Rat was heading towards the opposite bank, where a magnificent city climbed up the side of the tallest peak. They had arrived at The Syndicate, The city of pirates.

The sun shone down from the sky above, causing the water to sparkle in a way that was almost magical. A palace sat elegantly where the mountain met the sky, reaching up to the clouds above. The home of the emperor. The home of Tommy, Tubbo realised. Tommy had grown up there, on top of the world.

The Ship turned slowly towards one of the docks, where other boats were clustered against the shore. Everything was surprisingly still. The city was quiet. Too quiet. What the fuck? The boats themselves didn’t even seem right. They didn’t have the flag of the Pirates. They didn’t have the Crow of Freedom plastered onto the sails. The fabrics were blank. That wasn’t right. Tubbo noticed something that sealed his suspicion. There were no people. None at all. The docks, the streets, the ships, all empty. He turned to Ranboo, who was standing just behind him, and saw that he also held an expression of concern. Tubbo wasn’t the only one who had thought something was off then.

They sailed into the dockyard, yells of the crewmembers, echoing around the deck. An anchor was let down and The Rat came to a shuddering stop. Tubbo and Ranboo tailed after Bad as he moved down the steps, heading towards the plank that would allow them to access dry land. Tubbo stared around in wonder, taking in the sheer size of the buildings around him. He recognised it, sort of, from years ago when he had lived here. This place was built, brick by brick by the soldiers of the war. A stronghold of safety for those who had nowhere else to go. Even when the war was finished and the lands were once again open to hybrids, many chose to stay. Many chose to live among their own.

He stepped onto the wooden dock, feeling the firm safety of solid ground for the first time in months. Ranboo followed soon after and they walked after Bad and Skeppy, who were slightly ahead, searching for any sign of life within the houses.

Tubbo heard something. The shuffling of movement, a whispered conversation.

“Bad, Skeppy, I think I hear something...”

The pair halted, waiting for Tubbo and Ranboo to catch up. Laughing erupted from up ahead, sending chills down Tubbo’s spine. The group froze.

“Oh look, if it isn’t the disloyal servants.”

King Dream, his mask positioned carefully underneath his lopsided crown, stalked out from an alleyway, netherite axe swinging dangerously from his hand. His two right-hand men soon followed, each gripping their weapon of choice, and, within a few seconds, the entire cobblestone street was blocked by Dream’s guards.

“Thanks for returning your little friend to us,” Dream smiled maliciously, “you will be rewarded generously for your actions.”

Tubbo blanched, Tommy had been left, comatose and helpless, back on the Rat. They had just handed the Son of the Pirate Emperor back to the enemy.

Oh shit.

Chapter Text

“Wilby?” Bright blue eyes stared questioningly up at the older boy, “Can you make me a song?”

The child was perched on the young teen’s lap, twisting uncomfortably in order to look his companion in the face. His older boy made face, but his eyes were still soft with care as he manoeuvred the child into a more comfortable position.

“Oh yeah?” The boy sighed softly, “What sort of song?”

The child snuggled back into his brother’s arms comfortably.

“I dunno. A song for us. Our song.”

“Our song?”

“Yes, the Tommy and Wilbur song.”

His brother laughed softly.

“But what about Techno?”

The child furrowed his eyebrows, unsure what to make of the statement.

“What about Techie?”

“Is it his song too?”

“No.”

“Is that because I’m the best brother?”

“No. Techie already is the coolest, he doesn’t need a song.”

“You little fucker.” The teen reached down and tickled his little brother in the sides, causing him to squeal with laughter.

“No- No- Stop it, bitch!”

The older boy froze.

“What did you say?”

“I said nothing, bitch.”

“Ah fuck, dad’s gonna kill me.”

“You are fucked.”

“TOMMY STOP SWEARING!”

“I refuse, bitch.”

“Wilbur, am I imagining it or is our little brother swearing?”

Another boy had strolled into the room, his amaranth braid swinging as he walked. The child’s eyes widened in excitement, and he retreated from his brother’s arms, scampering up to the new arrival. He waved his hands fanatically, a wide grin etched onto his face, eyes pleading to be picked up.

“Techie!”

The teen’s lips twitched ever so slightly, betraying the sliver of fondness that warmed his heart. He reached forwards, complying with the child’s unspoken demands, and lifted him in into his arms.

“Hullo, Tommy.”

~

Tommy woke from his coma with a mind full of fog and absolutely no fuckin’ clue where he was. This was beginning to get stupid. How many people have this happen to them twice? Surely one is enough? And this time, he hadn’t even lost his memory. He still had a distinct recollection of the sickening taste of that sleeping potion on his lips. And he remembered the agonising pain in his back, which had now, thankfully, evaporated. Nope, his memory was still very much here.

So, where the fuck was he?

Tommy stared around the room trying to find anything that would give him a single notion of where he was. It was a large room, with a tall window on one wall that Tommy could just about glimpse of the sky through from where he was sitting on the bed. Another side of the room was taken up with a full-length bookcase, crammed full with hundreds of leather-bound tomes. His eyes widened at the sight of so many books in one place. This guy must be a nerd.

And then he noticed the weapons on the walls. Actual swords that had been shone to perfection, and crossbows that looked brand new. Who chose to have weapons hung on their bedroom wall? So, the owner of the room was both a nerd and a fighter. Pog.

The door to the room crashed open, causing Tommy’s heart to stop briefly. A man entered. A man he vaguely recognised. He had burning red eyes and wore a bandana to keep his coal-black hair away from his face. He had definitely seen this man before.

“Why did Dream have to put me on babysitting duty?” The guy growled at no one in particular.

Tommy’s mind whirred. Oh, that’s right, Tommy recognised him now. He was one of King Dream’s sidekicks. Wait— There was no fucking way.

“Right, Child, if you put a single toe out of line, I don’t care what dream says I will kill you myself. And I will enjoy it.”

“No, no. you have to be kidding me,” Tommy mumbled underneath his breath, frustrated with the world and fully prepared to put this guy in his place.

The man raised an eyebrow at his whispered grumbling, “What’s that?”

“Nothing,” Tommy replied quickly, “Good morning to you to bitch.” Tommy didn’t care what this guy was saying, as soon as he found Tubbo and Ranboo they were out of here.

“Get up.”

“But I don’t want to.”

“Did I ask for your opinion? Get up.”

“Where are my friends?”

“Where they can’t cause trouble. Now, get up.”

“No.”

“Oh, for fucks sake—” The man took a few steps towards the bed, a malicious glint in his eye.

“NOPE,” Tommy scrambled out of bed quickly, “no- no need for that, I don’t need help getting out of bed, I’m not a fucking child.”

Tommy looked down at his clothes and realised they were the same ones from before, he even had his red scarf tucked around his throat. He felt unsteady on his sock-covered feet and he wobbled slightly, beginning to feel a little sick. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

His legs gave out, causing him to collapse onto the rug. He felt dizzy and nauseous, feeling bile rise up the inside of his throat.

Laughter erupted from above him, “Need help finding your feet little bird?”

Tommy pushed himself back onto his feet, trying to steady himself without using the hand the guy offered. He did not need help from the enemy. As he did he caught sight of himself in the windowpane, his blond hair, blue eyes and—

Wings. White, fluffy wings sprouted from his back. What the fuck.

Tommy was so done with this.

“You know, King Dream doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

Tommy stayed silent, his thoughts a mess of confusion and downright anger at the world for making his life more difficult than it already was.

“Kid?”

Upon receiving no reply, the man grabbed Tommy’s shoulder and spun him around, so they were face to face. Red eyes glared at Tommy, burning into his soul and awakening him from his dazed state.

“Kid, if you don’t get a fucking move on dream’s gonna murder me,” The man rested his hand on the axe at his waist, “And I don’t have a death wish. So, if you don’t either then I’d suggest getting a bit of a move on because I have no qualms against murdering a child.”

Tommy shook himself, and searched the floor with his eyes, looking for his shoes. He still felt disorientated from the potion, and the things on his back were not helping his balance.

He tried stretching them and he was surprised to find that they worked like normal limbs. It felt good to move them, as though it had been programmed into his brain at birth and he had only just unlocked this secret part of his mind. The wings were a part of him. The piece of himself that he’d been missing for so long. They felt natural.

His eyes rested on his worn pair of boots that had been placed neatly against the side of the bed. They were battered and covered in unknown muck but at least the villains had the courtesy to allow him to keep his shoes.

The man clucked his tongue, clearly losing all patience with Tommy’s slow progress.

“Calm the fuck down bitch, I’m coming.”

“Do it quicker.” Tommy rolled his eyes and then proceeded to tie his shoelaces as slowly as humanely possible.

~

They marched through the corridors at a quick pace, rounding what felt like a million corners. This place was a maze of high ceiling corridors and doors that lead to rooms that had no purpose. It was messing with Tommy’s mind. He supposed it had to be a palace of some sort due to the extent of its grandeur and the pure size of the building, but it felt unusually cosy. The more he looked around the more Tommy began to realise just how lived-in this place was. This was a home; he was sure of it.

They reached a door that was considerably grander than the rest, with an emblem stretching across the door frame. It was a bird of some sort, caught in flight, with beady eyes that looked down at Tommy with an apathetic expression. He recognised this bird, but he couldn’t remember where from. It wasn’t King Dream’s symbol, he was almost certain of that, so why did he recognise it?

Tommy’s guide knocked loudly on the door; a disgruntled expression still plastered on his face.

“Fucking decorum, why the hell do I have to wait for permission to enter a stupid room,” He muttered under his breath.

“You don’t want your King hearing you say that.” Tommy taunted, eyes alight with mischief.

“Be quiet.”

“But I don’t want to.”

The man didn’t bother replying, keeping his eyes focused on the closed door.

Tommy was about to continue his attempt to annoy him, when the door burst open to reveal another of Dream’s sidekicks, standing in the doorway to an enormous room. The grandeur of the corridors was nothing to this space. A hall bursting with light from a thousand different windows along the walls.

“Sapnap, your late, Dream was getting impatient.” The man who had opened the door hissed. He had goggles atop his brown curls like some kind of mad scientist.

Tommy’s chaperon, Sapnap, shot the guy an evil smirk.

“If Dream makes me babysit, he has to face the consequences.”

“I’m not a baby, I don’t need someone to look after me.” Tommy butted in, indignant.

The other two ignored him.

“Alright, your head not mine,” Goggles shrugged, “Don’t blame me when you lose it.”

“Fuck off George.” George grinned and motioned to them to follow as he started to walk back into the hall.

Sapnap was staring daggers into his back. “Cocky bastard,” He muttered disgust, “He thinks that just because he’s Dream’s favourite—”

He tailed off and, grabbing Tommy by the arm, strolled through the doors.

“Hey, hey, get off man, I can walk on my own.”

Sapnap ignored him. Well, this just wasn’t acceptable, Tommy’s had enough of being ignored. Shaking his hand free from Sapnap’s grip, he stumbled away from his captor. Tommy overbalanced, still unused to the extra weight of the wings and tripped over his own feet, only just managing to thrust his hands out in time to prevent himself from faceplanting into the floor.

“Hello, Tommy Innit.”

Tommy looked up, finally noticing the gigantic throne he had somehow managed to throw himself in front of. The King watched Tommy lazily from where he was slumped comfortably on his chair. Dream somehow managed to look like he owned anything he laid his hands on, Tommy supposed it must come naturally when you grew up having everything at your fingertips.

“It’s nice to have you visit again after your abrupt departure on your previous visit.” The King commented, his tone as sickly-sweet as a snake.

Tommy glared at the royal bitch, anger bubbling up under his skin. That mask had started to get on his nerves, the permanent smile was so fake. Fake like everything this man said.

“Where’s Tubbo and Ranboo?”

“You know, that’s a good question.” Dream was smiling malevolently at him behind his mask; Tommy could just tell.

“Where are they?” Tommy growled, eyes narrowing.

King Dream moved his head slightly to the left and said, deathly calm, “George, where did we put the traitors?”

Tommy winced; he understood the message hidden within his words. Tommy was never going to see his friends again; Dream had made sure of that.

“The cells,” George replied. He sounded tired and a little fed up.

“Ah, yes, I remember now,” Dream turned blank eyes on Tommy, “I can promise you that they will be dually rewarded for their actions.”

At least his friends hadn’t been executed yet.

“So, Tommy, what do you think of my humble abode?”

Tommy shrugged, “It’s very big.”

Dream nodded in acknowledgement, “It is, not as big as my usual place though.”

Tommy rolled his eyes, of course, this guy had more than one mansion. Fuckin’ snob.

“I recently acquired this one from its previous owners,” The king continued, “Good investment I think.”

“How much did you pay for it?” Tommy asked interestedly, against his better judgement.

“Oh, I didn’t pay for it,” Dream tilted his head in a strangely menacing way, “In fact, I don’t think the old residents are even aware of my presence here yet, not that they’ll have any choice other than to accept it.” His low chuckle echoed around the chamber.

“You just stole it?” Tommy’s eyes widened in curiosity.

“I wouldn’t call it stealing.”

“Oh.”

They fell into silence, and Tommy stood there, awkwardly fiddling with his fingers as Dream continued to observe him through the expressionless mask.

“Who am I?” Tommy blurted before he could stop himself. He knew he couldn’t trust Dream, but it seemed as though he and Bad were the only ones with absolutely any clue about Tommy’s past. And Bad had wanted to return him without explaining to Tommy who he was returning him to. So now his only option was a mad king.

Dream tilted his head to the side and altered his position on the throne into something more comfortable.

“Who is Tommy? Well, let’s think. You are the son of a mother and father who abandoned you, for the same reason as so many other kids are abandoned. They were hybrids, monsters who feel no love and had no qualms about leaving a child alone in the world. You are my guest in this palace and you are also a hybrid,” Dream leaned forward slightly, placing his hands on his knees, “But you already know this, Tommy. I told you this before. And if I was right about you being a hybrid then surely I must be right about everything else? Trust me, Tommy, I only want to help you.”

~

Tommy didn’t know what to think.

He was curled up on the floor of the room he had woken up in, hours later, trying to make sense of the thoughts rushing through his mind. His head was resting in his hands and his small ivory wings were tucked around his body like a shield. The rug underneath him was soft, unusually so, and a little voice in the back of his mind whispered, this feeling is familiar; you have lain here before, but Tommy ignored it. He was sure there must be plenty of soft rugs he could have lain on in the past, it didn’t have to be this one in particular.

His brain vaguely registered a soft thump from behind him, and Tommy lifted his head, half expecting to find Sapnap storming into the room, angry at something he’d managed to mess up. It was not Sapnap.

“Tommy?”

A man was staring down at him in mild surprise. He had tusks, wore a crown on his head, and dressed like a king, but easily the oddest thing about him was the amaranth pink braid that trailed down his back. Tommy stared at the new arrival in surprise.

“And who the fuck are you?”