Chapter Text
May 1732, L’Manburg
Tommy wouldn’t say it was his best idea. There were undoubtedly better things he had done than go near the forbidden mysterious icecaps. His adoptive mother, Puffy, most commonly known as the Queen of L’manburg, had warned him about this area and its mystical properties.
She told him it was dangerous to go alone if you were to go at all. Something about old witch executions and the residual power that needed a place to stay. It all collected in the one area that could hold memory, the water. The ice .
The glaciers were a huge biome that had been hidden behind a beautiful and lively mushroom forest. It was almost eerily quiet in comparison.
The big chunks of floating ice never melted, like they were frozen in time. Not budging to the ever-growing harshness of the sun.
That day had been no different. Tommy had just gotten into a stupid argument with Puffy. Over what? He could never remember. But he remembered running away and finding himself sitting next to the icy biome.
Out of pure spite and the light of the setting sun, he ran over to the edge where the biomes meet. Small mushrooms grew crunchy with ice as he stepped on them, and the ice was watery enough to slip on. He sat by the edge, staring out at the glimmering glaciers in fascination.
Finally, he stood and stepped over the invisible barrier. Almost immediately, he could feel the magic thrumming through to his bones at his entrance in the biome.
It was an odd experience, to say the least, not one he and one of his older brothers, Dream, had predicted. Trying to make up what they thought would happen once someone were to cross the forbidden barrier.
Tommy slowly recovered from the chilling sensation and took another step, and then another. Soon he was standing in the middle of a big chunk of ice.
He giggled to himself, opening his arms out wide and closing his eyes, breathing in the cool air with a smile. He found himself skidding around on the ice childishly. Well, even though he was eight, it still felt immature of him.
He didn’t know how long he danced around on the ice, laughing to himself and basking in the frosty breeze on his face and in his hair.
He eventually got tired of jumping and running around in favor of laying down on his back on the ice. He stared up at the orange and dark blue sky with the tickling feeling of the tip of his nose going numb and smiled.
He couldn’t wait to show Dream... Oh shit.
Tommy shot up to a sitting position. He looked out over the horizon, and it was already getting dark. Tommy sprang to his feet, he looked around, and with horror and dread filling his gut, he realized he was lost.
He picked a direction and sprinted with newfound ease, sliding across the wet ice ungracefully with his arms out to balance him. But he still couldn’t find the mushroom forest that led back to his home. He paused on a smaller ice chunk to catch his breath, panting from the run and his panic.
His teeth chattered as he looked to the sky, and it had already darkened significantly. The stars and constellations his brother, Foolish, liked to point out to him, laughed and mocked him as he cried.
He gasped as he looked down and could only faintly see the glistening of the ice he was sitting on.
Tommy pushed himself to his feet, hoping to use the last bit of daylight he could. He ran and ran, but he still couldn’t see the forest where his home was in sight.
He collapsed onto another chunk of ice, sobbing while he rubbed his numb, pale fingers against his eyes. He sat there for a long moment, wishing he had just listened to his mother’s warning.
A cracking sound pulled Tommy from his thoughts. Underneath him, another crackling sound came much louder, and he stood up with a jolt. The ice chunk he was sitting on detached itself from the larger piece, and Tommy fell backward, landing harshly on his back.
He stood again and looked to the bigger chunk, but the one he was on was floating away quickly. He was too far to make the jump.
Tommy desperately clung to the small ice chunk, inhaling and exhaling the cold air a little too quickly to be considered healthy.
His clothes were damp with melted ice, and his hair stuck to his face from the sweat. He quickly brought a hand up to check- good it was still there. His crown, the thing that connected him to the rest of his family.
He unsheathed his sword, which he had been practicing a lot recently, and stabbed it into the ice chunk to hold on to.
His numb fingers clenched around the sword‘s handle as the ice underneath him crackled again. He tried and failed to not look down at the deep, dark black water below.
Tommy’s muscles felt tight and constricted like he couldn’t move them if he wanted to.
The ice cracked one last time, and that was his only warning before plunging into darkness. His heart pumped loudly in his ears, and distantly his arms flailed. He kicked out his legs and felt the burning of his freezing limbs in return. He was never as good at swimming as Dream.
Next, he felt the piercing cold water go up his nose and fill his lungs. The surface of the water felt like it was years away, getting farther and farther as he’s pulled down.
Finally, the water stilled. No more thrashing caused it to ripple as the lost prince sunk into the depths. In his final moments, he wished for his family. The cruel, unforgiving cold surrounded him like nothing ever happened.
But water never forgets. And the water and ice weren’t done with him yet.
~ ❆ ~
August 2021, L’Manburg
“Okay, he’s just around here, I swear,” a pink-haired prince chuckled, sliding down an icy slope before looking up at his nervous twin brother. “Come on down!”
“What if I slip into the water?” The brunette shuddered, gingerly sitting down at the top of the slope.
“I’ll catch you before that happens,” his brother assured, holding his arms out wide in preparation.
“Are you sure I have to go down there, Techno?” He asked sheepishly, teeth already chattering in the cold environment.
Techno rolled his eyes with fake annoyance, hiding an amused smile. “Yes, Wilbur, I’m forcin’ you to come see my pet polar bear,” he laughed fondly, closing and opening his palms in anticipation.
“Is this Steve even real? I haven’t seen a single polar bear out here-“
“Of course, he’s real,” Techno said defensively, crossing his arms. “He lives a little farther out from the forest. Just slide down.”
Wilbur sighed, dragging a hand down his face in exaggerated exhaustion. “Promise you’ll catch me?”
Techno scoffed, suppressing a laugh. “No, I’m going to let you fly off into the water,” he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. “I will catch you, I promise,” he finally called, opening his arms again and crouching down to be closer to the ice he was standing on.
“Okay, but if you let me drown, I will haunt you for the rest of your lonely life,” Wilbur smiled nervously before finally letting go of the ice, holding him up and sliding down. He held in a childish squeal at the cool air brushing against his face and through his curly brown hair.
He ran right into Techno, who wrapped his arms around him in a hug securely as he fell backward on the ice laughing.
“Lonely?” Techno challenged playfully as he picked himself up, putting his hand out for Wilbur to take as well.
“Yeah, you’d be lonely without me,” the brunette smirked, taking his twin’s hand, who pulled him to his feet carefully.
“Sure, sure,” Techno rolled his eyes again, swiping some snow off Wilbur’s shoulders.
Techno turned to avoid the teasing expression on his brother’s face in favor of looking ahead of them.
He froze.
“So, how did you even find this ‘Steve’?” Wilbur asked innocently, searching Techno’s face for any more fight before finding none. “Techno?” He whispered before following his brother’s gaze.
He, too, stopped dead in his tracks, the smile sliding off his face and turning into a look of horror.
In front of them, in a chunk of ice, was a young blonde-haired boy frozen in the ice. He looked like he was falling, his mouth was open in a silent scream, and his eyes were squinting at something just out of his reach.
An ancient-looking blade was in the ice below him, a long sword that has only been used more recently for artistic purposes. This one was stuck up, jutting out of the ice the boy floated above.
The boy was curled up a little, his right arm up reaching out for- for a golden crown. A crown that looked centuries outdated, but it was no doubt a royal crown adorned in dazzling, rare jewels.
The boy himself was wearing tight, dark brown pants that held a sheath on his hip for his sword. His shirt was a long-sleeved flowy white shirt that had intricate detail along it. His outfit was also… centuries out of date.
“What. The. Fuck,” Wilbur gasped, covering his mouth with one hand and holding onto Techno’s shoulder with the other.
Techno didn’t respond and instead walked closer, looking up at the small child encased in ice. From closer up, he could see the pain and fear on his young freckled face.
Wilbur followed him and hesitantly reached a hand out to touch the ice. As soon as his hand made contact with it, the chunk of ice melted into water. Falling onto the ice they were standing on with a splash.
Wilbur gasped and jumped back. Techno jolted as well but didn’t move, too busy looking at the limp form in the middle of the now puddle.
The crown and sword had fallen onto the ground with a clatter, and the boy hit the ice making a painful thud noise.
Both brothers stood frozen, in complete silence, staring at the boy.
They watched in awe as the boy twitched and started choking. He shot up to a sitting position and coughed out water.
The boy continued to choke, and Wilbur pulled himself out of his trance first, rushing over and slapping a hand on the boy’s back which must’ve helped because he stopped choking and instead heaved in a gasp of air.
Once he caught his breath, he turned his attention to the two, seemingly unaffected by the cold.
“Who the fuck are you?” The boy squeaked, hugging his knees to his chest and glancing between the two nervously. “Am I dead?”
Wilbur’s heart ached, and he frowned, crouching down to be at eye level. “No, you’re not dead,” he assured quietly. “I’m Prince Wilbur, and this is my brother Prince Technoblade.”
“What? How?” The boy stuttered in confusion.
Wilbur let out a little laugh. “Well, our father’s the king,” he explained, looking to Techno for help, who just continued gaping at the boy.
“Of where?” The blonde asked skeptically.
“Of L’Manburg, of course,” he replied with a confused frown. Everyone who lived in the area knew of L’Manburg. It’s the only country for a while out.
“You’re lying,” the boy scowled at him before noticing his crown discarded next to him. He leaned over and winced before scooping it up and cradling it to his chest.
“I’m not,” Wilbur assured with a frown.
“Are too.”
“Am not.”
“Are too.”
“Am not.”
“Are too because my mom’s the queen, and there is no king! And my brothers and I are the only princes, you liar!”
Wilbur froze; he was taken aback by the seriousness in the boy’s voice. The blonde waved the crown in his face.
“I am Prince Tommy of L’Manburg, and I order you to take me to my mother right now!” The boy- Tommy said nervously, still keeping up the scowl.
Wilbur turned and looked at his brother, his face was pale, and his eyes were wide staring at Tommy. When they met eyes, he nodded, and it was decided.
“Okay, well… Prince Tommy, we will take you to the leader of L’Manburg,” Wilbur said awkwardly, slapping a hand on Techno’s shoulder to shake him back to reality.
Tommy seemed to consider his words before nodding. He put his crown on his head, put two hands on the ice underneath him, and pushed. When he only fell back down after straining his muscles, he made a defeated noise.
Wilbur offered his hand, and the boy reluctantly took it, letting himself be pulled to his feet. He then let go of his hand and leaned down, and picked up his sword. He gracefully whirled it around and sheathed it on his hip before grabbing Wilbur’s hand again with his small, cold hand.
Wilbur paused and looked down at the boy before turning to his brother. “Uh- let’s go then.”
~ ❆ ~
“Why is it daytime?” Tommy asked out of nowhere. Techno and Wilbur shared an equally confused look.
“What do you mean?” Wilbur prompted, shrugging at his brother’s eyebrow raise.
“Well, when I drowned, it was nighttime,” he replied absentmindedly, nervously moving to walk closer to Wilbur as they passed a hole in the ice. Both older boys’ eyes widened.
A pause. “How old are you, Tommy?” Techno inquired, moving on from the bizarre conversation.
Tommy grinned and held up both his hands excitedly, looking at them in concentration as he put two fingers on his right hand down. “I turned eight last month!” He beamed, practically bouncing on his feet now as they walked. He slipped a little, noticed he had left the safety of holding Wilbur’s hand, and quickly returned to the brunette’s side. Wilbur would’ve denied that he smiled. “How old are you guys?”
“We’re both sixteen,” Techno replied for the both of them, leading them around a chunk of ice jutting out of the ground. At Tommy’s questioning look, he clarified. “We’re twins.”
“Oh! I know what those are,” the blonde hummed, looking out over the horizon in the direction they just came from. “You guys don’t look the same, though,” he commented, giving them a curious glance.
“Well, that’s because we aren’t identical twins. Not all twins look the same,” Wilbur explained, leading Tommy around another hole in the ice.
“Oh, okay,” he murmured, looking up to the sky and squinting. Another long pause.
“Hey Tommy,” Techno started awkwardly, pausing as the boy turned his attention to him. “What year is it?”
Tommy scrunched up his face and looked down in thought. “Seven- Seventeen thirty-two!”
Both boys froze and stopped walking. Tommy paused as well, looking up at their faces in confusion. The twins shared another look and continued walking.
“Oh, there it is!” Tommy cheered, letting go of Wilbur’s hand and sprinting over to the mushroom forest.
Wilbur observed carefully as Tommy slid off the ice and jumped onto the grass, falling to his knees and laying in the grass. Techno turned to face him, speaking in a hushed voice. “He’s the lost prince Wil,” Techno whispered, glancing over towards the boy who was rolling in the grass and the short mushrooms. “I was reading about him a little while ago- he’s the adoptive son of Queen Puffy, and he disappeared one day. No one knows what happened to him.”
Wilbur’s eyes widened, turning his attention to see Techno’s serious face for a second. “What do we do?”
Techno shrugged. “First, we tell Dad.”
“Okay,” Wilbur breathed, walking quicker to meet Tommy on the grass, whose eyes were glistening with tears. “Oh, Tommy, what’s wrong?”
“I- I don’t know! I just miss grass, I guess,” Tommy sniffled, wiping at his pink nose. Wilbur frowned sadly, looking up to see Techno stepping over the line with a similar expression on. “Well, what are we waiting for?” He jumped to his feet, scrubbing at his eyes and straightening his posture.
Wilbur nodded and took the lead, following the dirt path that led back to the palace garden. Tommy ran up and retook Wilbur’s hand, catching him off guard a little. “Your hand is warm,” he said at Wilbur’s expression. It just made Wilbur sadder about his situation. Tommy looked at the ground and frowned. “This is new,” he commented quietly, kicked up a bit of dirt with his shoes that were definitely in fashion three hundred years ago.
At the silence after he spoke, Tommy looked over to the horizon again and then down at the mushrooms. “I thought we had a few more months ‘till autumn,” he pursed his lips and turned to look back up at Wilbur. “You kind of look like someone I know,” he said, making Wilbur raise an eyebrow in his direction.
“Really?” Wilbur prompted, chuckling lightly at Tommy’s enthusiastic nod.
“Yeah, he’s friends with my mom. He’s like a poet or something,” he said, jumping onto a pile of browning leaves and giggling at the crunch they made. “I can’t remember his name, though,” he paused, looking down in thought. “He’s really nice too. Maybe when we get back to my mom, we can find him so you can meet!”
Wilbur tried to hide his frown as he glanced over at his brother, who was wearing the same expression. “What’s your mom’s name, Tommy?” He asked, putting a hand on his back to guide him across a small dry creek.
Tommy gave him an odd look. “Well, everyone knows her name,” he frowned. “But it’s Puffy!” He added cheerily, skipping over a couple rocks that made Wilbur nervous just watching.
Wilbur turned to look at Techno for a fact check, whose eyes were wide, and he nodded in confirmation. He was the history nerd, after all.
Tommy got way ahead of them while they had their silent conversation. “Tommy, wait up!” Techno called, cupping his hands around his mouth to catch the boy’s attention. He turned and sent them a smug smile.
“Race you to the palace!” He giggled, turning back around and running off in a fast sprint. Wilbur and Techno shared a look before bolting off after him, stumbling over dark oak tree roots and tall grass all the while.
They were finally getting to the end of the line of trees and mushrooms, and they came to a screeching halt. Tommy was standing at the edge of the treeline, staring up at the palace that had definitely been improved and changed since the 1700s.
Wilbur and Techno slowly walked up to stand beside him. His eyes were darting around the palace and the walls. A confused and scared look pulled on his young face. He turned to look at them, and Wilbur’s heart broke at his next question.
“What happened to my home?”