Archive of Our Own

Ghostbur’s limbo was slow, sad, and dull.

Time passed much faster here than it did while in the real world, but with nothing to do the days dragged on. There were barely any new messages on the TVs anymore. It had been so long, no one talked about him anymore. Ghostbur didn’t know if that was worse, or better than when there were more frequent messages. 

He was alone, that much is certain. It's a painful truth that ate away at him, and often he felt guilt over wishing that someone, anyone else was there with him. 

He used to busy himself looking for an escape. He would walk through the train tunnel where it got darker and darker, and before long he couldn’t see the train station behind him. And just when he would think that the dark would go on forever, or that he would lose his direction, Ghostbur would be able to see the same train station ahead of him. Like some cursed loop. 

He tried everything his counterpart did, he screamed, he clawed at the walls until his hands bled, he tried to tear the place apart- but mostly, he cried. That's really all Ghostbur did these days. He probably didn’t even realize he was still crying. Scars and chunks of flesh in his face were burned away by the tears. Ghostbur used to bury his face in his hands or in his sweater before it had soaked up all his tears and turned blue as well. 

Ghostbur didn’t touch his face anymore. It felt too raw, too wrong with the malformation. 

And so he sat there, sometimes on one of the benches, most of the time on the floor, in a corner. Somewhere if he tried hard enough maybe he’d simply fade away. That's how Ghostbur spent most of his time these days, trying to become one with the walls and floor. 

Staring at his surroundings, Ghostbur found it hard to keep his eyes open. He felt numb, worn out. His voice was raw from screaming, and his hands were raw from scratching and his face was raw from crying. This was one of the few times where the tears stopped. When Ghostbur overcame the overpowering grief and sorrow and let himself be numb. 

Being numb was so much easier than being sad. And the best kind of being numb was when he was asleep. When Ghostbur first figured this out, he would spend most of his time sleeping or trying to fall asleep. Back then he dreamed of flower fields and Friend. It was like an apology for all the tragedy that had happened to Ghostbur. 

But eventually, the pleasant dreams stopped coming. And eventually, he stopped being able to sleep altogether. Not for a lack of trying, trying to sleep is still what he spent a lot of his time doing. He was just unable to sleep. 

That is, he was. Today, Ghostbur just didn’t want to keep his eyes open. The crying letting up was a relief, and the dull ache of his pain was background noise to his tired bones. 

So, tucked into the corner of the train station, Ghostbur sleeps. 

***

The temperature outside was pleasant. Ghostbur could hear crickets chirping and the buzzing of lightning bugs. He could feel the cool grass beneath him. There was a pleasantly chill breeze that blew cutting through the warm night air.

Wait. That's not right.

Ghostbur’s eyes shot open and he frantically sat up. Quickly taking in everything around him, he noticed something was off. Panic seized him and he clutched his chest to try to catch a breath. Everything was off, this wasn’t normal. This was all different from everything that Ghostbur had known for thirteen and a half years. He needed to breathe. His heart was beating fast, that didn’t happen when you are dead. 

He took a real second to examine himself. Running his hands through his hair, he realized it was no longer a dark grey or even a brown- no, it was white. Completely white. His yellow sweater was no longer stained blue. The cut in his shirt from his death was sewn up. Ghostbur traced his hands along the stitching, and that’s when he noticed. His hands were solid. He could see them. 

That could only mean… was he alive? 

No, he must be dreaming, that was the only explanation. Ghostbur used to dream, back when he could sleep in limbo. He would dream of flower fields that stretched to infinity. And Friend would be next to him, he could have a moment of peace. Then Ghostbur stopped having those dreams, and then Ghostbur stopped sleeping. But it wasn’t impossible that he could dream again.

Wait if he was dreaming, where was Friend? Friend normally always appeared in his dreams. A solid, comforting presence, something to remind Ghostbur of his life before this hell. 

Ghostbur stood up to scan the ground around him for Friend. The tall grass and scattered flowers swayed in the breeze. There was a wheat field that was lit up by torches in the distance, large mountains surrounded this place from two sides, and on a third Ghostbur could see a drop to a ravine. He scanned the horizon but found no sign on the beloved blue sheep. 

This wasn’t limbo, that much was obvious as Ghostbur took in the surroundings. There was grass, clear air, and the sky- oh, the sky. Ghostbur found himself quickly getting lost in it. There were so many more stars than he remembered. He could see some sort of stardust sprinkled all across it. All sorts of blues and purples and light greys scattered a galaxy above. It was the most beautiful thing Ghostbur had seen in a long time. 

And looking just to the left of the sky Ghostbur realized he missed something. Honestly, it was giant, he didn’t know how he missed it, and it took him by surprise. 

A floating island, with a soft river and a rope ladder flowing down from it, looked down on him. The ladder was tied at the bottom so it wouldn’t blow away. On top of the island was what looked to be… a house? The whole area was lit up beautifully. It looked warm. Ghostbur had never seen anything like it, and he was entranced. 

“Hello?”

Ghostbur jumped and turned to see who was talking. 

It was… himself. 

Wilbur. But, not exactly. 

This Wilbur’s eyes were completely green, his skin looked translucent, and he had a cloak on that was mostly a dark blue but had silver trim. It was worn in places and had clearly seen a lot of use. It was longer in the back and eventually trailed down into a thin point. The yellow vest he wore was similar to Ghostbur’s yellow sweater, but this one had a white collared shirt underneath it. He had what looked like a wide-brimmed hat with a veil covering pulled off his head, with just the chinstrap keeping it hanging off the back of his neck. 

He was processing. They were both processing. Was this Wilbur, himself, or Alivebur? Why would Ghostbur’s brain make him a doppelganger? He had the same dark hair, same dark eyes, and the same round face. This was still a dream, surely! Though he had never seen any other people in his dreams before. There were a lot of things different about this dream than the ones he had in the past. His rising confusion was only a testament to that. 

Ghostbur realized he took too long to respond too late, as now the two different Wilburs were locked in a staring contest. Too surprised by the sudden appearance of their doppelganger to say anything.

Other Wilbur was able to shake it off first with a couple of blinks and speak.

“Sorry for staring, you just look exactly like me. Who… are you?”

Ghostbur hadn’t spoken in so long. The only noise he made these days were sobs, and even then his throat was raw and scratchy. Like he was screaming at the walls only days ago and not years. Nothing heals in limbo, he quickly learned.

But, figuring this was a dream and no harm was done, Ghostbur responded, “My- My name is Ghostbur.”  He wasn’t totally sure why he had to explain himself to his own dream, but he was happy to have someone to talk to. His voice wasn’t even a little bit sore!

“Ghostbur,” Other Wilbur replied, “That's a strange name. Especially considering my name is Wilbur. And we look so much alike.”

“That's because I’m the ghost of Wilbur!” Ghostbur eagerly replied.

“If you are the ghost of me, how come I’m a phantom and am very much alive?” Wilbur replied, a smirk dancing on his lips.

“Oh, not you, Wilbur. A different Wilbur. Wilbur from L’manburg! L’manburg must be very far away from here if I’ve never seen this place before. And I’ve traveled a lot.” 

“Ok… a different Wilbur then. That looks just like me. Sure.” Wilbur responded sarcastically. “But that still begs the question, you look human. If you are human, then how did you enter the sanctuary?” He said with an ambiguous threat under the words. If everything before was entertainment, this was the one thing he wouldn’t joke about. 

“I am a ghost! Well, was a ghost… I might be alive here? If I am alive then yes I would be human. But, I’m not quite sure I am alive? I’ve never been alive, I guess unless you count me as Alivebur. I don’t, but lots of people still do. Phil did,” Ghostbur was rambling, trying to make sense of it all. “And I remember when Tommy…” Ghostbur trailed off. 

When Tommy what? What was he saying? 

“Wait, Phil? Tommy? Alivebur? How do you know us? What is going on? Who are you? ” Wilbur asked sternly.

“Oh, that’s a long story, and my memory isn’t good, so I couldn’t tell the best story of it.” Ghostbur lamented.

“We have all night before any of them wake up,” Wilbur says and then quickly looks behind him. 

All that was behind him were the surrounding mountains and a house with a purple roof on a plateau of the cliffs.

Wilbur starts up again, “Come, walk with me. I need to walk and talk,” And then he brushed past Ghostbur, away from the houses and lights and floating island. 

“Oh, yes!” Ghostbur said and hurried to catch up. 

The walk was beautiful. It would be quite a sight if you were to stumble across it. Ghostbur was giving an animated tale of all he remembered of all his time when he was alive. Both as Wilbur and as Ghostbur. And what was once suspicion and distrust from Wilbur, turned quickly into enjoyment at this wonderful tale. He quickly became immersed in the tale of revolution, political intrigue, and joy. Even if it was a sparse tale, filled with only happy things of what Ghostbur could remember after all these years. 

“And then I died. Or Alivebur died. I’m not really him, I just have his happy memories you see? I remember dying though. And in a way, I guess that that is a sad memory, that I was happy to die, you know?” 

“That is sad, Ghostbur,” Wilbur said, with what seemed to be genuine sympathy. “I remember when I died.” 

“You died!? But you don’t look like a ghost.” Ghostbur said. This was startling new information. He didn’t know anyone else who had died and come back. 

“I did, I did… But that’s a story for another day. You are telling your story now. Go on,” Wilbur prompted. 

“You're right! Oh, where was I… right! My death , or rather, my birth!”

And so he began again. Telling a new tale, through new eyes. Of child presidents and exile and festivals. Of a horrible disaster… what was it called again? Sorry, his memory isn’t good. Anyway, the country that was and is, is now no more, and the attempted death didn’t work and then everyone won! And it was the best! And then something terrible happened. Not to Ghostbur, not at first. 

“Sorry, my memory is failing me again. I’m not telling you the story right- oh, I bet Tubbo could tell it better, or Fundy! He was always the best at telling stories.” Ghostbur rambled on.

“It’s alright. You’re doing a great job! And besides, I think Tubbo would just get distracted and talk about something else, haha,” Wilbur jokingly replied.

“You’re right, you’re right,” Ghostbur smiled, thinking back fondly. 

“Yeah… then what happened?” Wilbur questioned eagerly. 

“Um… well like I said my memory isn’t good. So there was a lot of time that passed, a few months, I think? And then, well Tommy got this great idea to kill Dream since he had been so terrible. So he and Tubbo and Ranboo made a plan and I was supposed to go into the prison to visit Dream as a distraction! And Tommy followed behind me with invisibility! So we went in and everything went as planned…until it didn't…” Ghostbur said and paused.

“Well, what happened?” Wilbur questioned and stopped in his tracks, now much too invested in the story. 

“Well… um, my… my memory, “ Ghostbur continues slowly, “I can, I can only remember happy things. Normally that is. Except for this. I… Tommy, he, he got too eager and I was already in the cell with Dream but Tommy wasn’t and he was able to go back but I… wasn’t. Dream… he… killed me,” and before Ghostbur could stop himself he was crying again. 

God, hadn’t he already shed enough tears over this? Now, this is just embarrassing, doing this alone in limbo was one thing. He could break down again and again and no one would see or care. But here? In front of Wilbur, who he was so excited to meet and who was so invested in him. Look at what he did now. 

“Hey uh, it's ok! I’ve died too, remember! That wasn’t pleasant for me either, “ Wilbur said awkwardly and patted him on the back. He clearly didn't know how to deal with this new person crying in front of him. 

‘Pull yourself together, c’mon now ’ Ghostbur thought to himself. He wiped his tears and raised his head high before continuing to walk. Maybe he needed to pace as well. 

“And then I… died , but when I died, I went to a train, I was on a metro. And… Dream was the conductor. I felt like a prisoner under his watch. I remember being just in shock… I think I was crying? But I couldn’t see much of anything since the steam was blocking my vision.” Ghostbur gestured in front of his face and turned away. Unable to look at Wilbur’s too genuine concern. 

Ghostbur was tense. He didn’t want to tell this part, more than any other part in the story. The happy parts were filled with longing and terrible regret but they were still happy. This, this was not happy. Not at all.

“Eventually the train stopped. I didn’t want to get out, but Dream pushed me onto the platform. And above me, I could hear Dream and… and Alivebur talking. Alivebur had been in limbo for 13 and a half years and he left, on that train. With Dream. And I was left there. On that train station platform.”

Ghostbur turned back to look at Wilbur, who was in shock at the tale.

“I searched the station, Wilbur. I looked and I looked and when I couldn't find an exit I clawed at the walls hoping I could somehow dig through them, but all I did was make my hands bloody and raw.  Then I tried screaming hoping someone could hear me and when no one answered? I looked at the dot matrix display. It would show everything everyone said about me, The good, the bad. All of it just made me feel worse no matter what.”

“But then, I fell asleep and just sort of…woke up here,” Ghostbur finished. His emotions felt raw, having been laid bare before Wilbur. He felt a sort of relief after it all, the type you only get after you’ve cried it out. It felt good to finally get it all out. 

They had stopped walking. Wilbur looked shaken by the story and the display of emotion. 

“Well… Ghostbur, I’m gonna be honest, I dragged you out here to push you outside the sanctuary borders,” Wilbur then gestured to a very thin, very deep ravine that had a slight curve to it. It was small but just big enough to fall down if he wasn’t careful enough. If he looked hard enough, there was a slight shimmer to the air in front of him. It was probably just a trick of the eyes, however, with the light of a village, they passed behind them. 

“But you’ve won me over!” Wilbur said happily. 

“I-I don’t understand,” Ghostbur responded

“This is the sanctuary border,” Wilbur said, gesturing to the ravine and the air in front of them. “It is a magical border that prevents humans from getting inside the sanctuary and hides our home.”

Ghosbur hummed along to show he was listening but signaled for Wilbur to continue. 

“That’s why I was so confused about you being here. Humans aren’t supposed to be able to get in here. It seems like your home is a lot different than here, but here? Humans aren’t welcome among hybrid communities like mine, because humans don’t welcome hybrids like me among their communities. Some humans even… hunt down hybrids. In some sort of sick “justice” they think they are doing good. Riding the world of… filth like us.”

“That's horrible!” Ghostbur shouted, “I would never! I can’t believe… hybrids were treated as equals back on the Dream SMP. I’m so sorry…” 

“It's just the way life is, but hey, I’m glad to know you are on the right side of this,” Wilbur smiled.

“Yeah, haha,” Ghostbur said awkwardly as he walked away from the border. “This was nice, but can we go back? I’d like to see everything! If you’d let me stay, that is.” 

“Oh, yes, yes of course! What was I thinking?” Wilbur said as he turned around and made his way back to the village. Ghostbur quickly followed.

“Oh, one thing. We probably shouldn’t be telling everyone in the sanctuary about… all of what you just told me. This is like some weird alternate universe shit, and not everyone might take it as well as me,” Wilbur said.

“So, we need a cover story! And probably a better name… “Ghostbur” is too strange, it would lead us back to the same problem of alternate universe stuff,” Wilbur thought out loud.

“Ooo! A fake story! That's so fun! What if I was a person who mysteriously woke up in your sanctuary!” Ghostbur exclaimed.

“Hahaha! No, Ghostbur, something real,” Wilbur laughed.

“Aww…” 

“Well, how about since we look so alike… maybe you're my long-lost twin brother?” Wilbur tried, sounding unsure in himself. 

“That would be so fun!! We were tragically separated at birth!” Ghostbur says dramatically, and Wilbur laughs as a response. 

“Maybe not at birth… but I think I can figure something out,” Wilbur said, starting to like the idea.

“Alright! Wilbur and Ghostbur! Best twin brothers!” Ghostbur said excitedly and pulled his arm around Wilbur’s shoulder. Wilbur seemed startled by this motion.

“Right, the name,” Wilbur said once Ghostbur pulled away. “We need to think of something better, something that doesn’t say “‘You’re me from another dimension’ or whatever.”

“I know! How about GGhostbur!” He replied eagerly.

“No no, something better,” Wilbur laughed and took a moment to think.

“You know, there was an old phantom story, about a friendly ghost just like you. I think his name would work.” Wilbur said. 

“Yeah? What is it?”

“Casper.”

“Casper…” he echoed, “I like it.”

***

All night, Ghostbur and Wilbur had stayed up and had created a cover story for Ghostbur, or now, Casper. Wilbur had also filled Casper in on the goings on in the sanctuary. Wilbur had told him about everything; a list of names that went one ear and out the other, and a culture class.

Wilbur and Ghostbur had their plan on lock. They went up onto the Pube island (which was a pub and central meeting place for the people in town) and watched the sunrise. Looking out over the mountains, watching a sunrise he hadn’t seen in so many years, sitting next to Wilbur, Ghostbur felt something warm inside of him. Something like a new start, or something that was finally slotting into place. Like it was always meant to be. 

With the sun in the sky, rays upon his face he hardly notices when something changes. 

“Uhh, hello? Wilbur, you know I don’t open the Pube until 8:30 because I need my beauty sleep so you can go snooping all you want, but maybe don’t let Scott in?”

“Jack! Jack, my friend!” Wilbur stands up and turns. “First of all, how dare you assume I would sneak Scott into the Pube!” 

Ghostbur goes to follow, but with a glance, Wilbur motions for him to stay down

“Because you have! Multiple times!” Jack interrupts.

“Yeah, well that's not even the point I was trying to make. This… “ Wilbur said and gestured for Ghostbur to stand up, “is not Scott!”

“Woah, wait… wait for what? Who are you? What? Explain this!” Jack questions. 

Jack was a blazeborn. He wore a black and blue striped hoodie with the sleeves rolled up to show off his hands which were stained and calloused to a fiery orange and yellow. He had 8 rods that floated around him, reminiscent of blaze rods. Otherwise, he looked like Jack Manifold. 

Logically Ghostbur knew this was some sort of alternate universe his brain had created from people he already knew, but seeing Jack here again, so different but the same, was strange to him. 

“This is my long-lost twin brother, Casper!” Wilbur said, nudging Ghostbur. 

“Yup! He found me outside the sanctuary borders,“ Ghostbur looked to Wilbur for reassurance on the story, “And I told him I needed a place to stay for a bit, and so he said I could stay here!” 

“What- I’m so confused, but you’re… Wilbur, I’ve known you for years! Why have you never told me that you had a long-lost twin brother?” Jack said, shocked. 

“Jack, Jack, don’t get so fussed up about it! Here, c’mon. Open up the Pube and I’ll go gather everyone. This will be easier to explain with everyone here, then we don't have to explain this 20 times! Haha,” Wilbur laughed as if he didn’t just doom Ghostbur to try and lie to Jack. All alone. For however long it takes for Wilbur to come back. 

Then Wilbur left. 

“I- don’t- this- I,” Jack stuttered, then sighed. “Just come in. Casper, was it?” 

“Uh, yes!” Ghostbur said and followed Jack into the Pube. 

The inside of the Pube was warm and lived in. As Jack sets up shop and turns on the lights, Ghostbur can clearly see the care that was put into building this place. The wood holds memories and if Ghostbur tried, maybe he could hear the echoes of laughter. 

Jack takes his place behind the counter, and Ghostbur sits at the bar. 

“So, Casper. What did Wilbur mean when he said that you were his ‘long-lost twin brother’?” Jack asked him. 

“It's, uhh… just that!” Ghostbur stumbled. Gosh, he was so bad at lying, “I’m his twin brother! I think it would be better to wait for him to come back to explain the whole thing…”

“Hmm… you do look like his twin, I’ll give you that,” Jack told him as he set things up. “I’m Jack Manifold, sorry for not introducing myself earlier.” 

“I know,” Ghostbur responded too quickly. Jack turned his head at this, confused and suspicious. “I mean… because Wilbur told me! Yeah, Wilbur told me all about you… guys…”

Oh no, he sounded so stiff. He was so suspicious. This was like that time when Dream… when he… oh no, he can’t get caught up in things he doesn’t remember now. 

‘ Focus, Ghostbur!’ he thought to himself, ‘ Remember your story. ’ 

There was an awkward silence, and Ghostbur was never one to leave open air in a conversation, so he asked, “Do you mind if I look around? While I’m waiting for Wilbur to come back?” 

“Yeah, go on! Knock yourself out! It’s not like I’m interesting to talk to at all.” Jack responded with sarcasm, but Ghostbur took it as a yes.

Leaving the bar Ghostbur took time to explore the Pube. Wilbur had told him about this central area. It was similar to the Community House in function, to give him something to compare it to. 

There was a section off to the side which housed a Nether Portal along with streams of water and lava from the ceiling. All the wood here was fireproof. Ghostbur thinks he remembers something Wilbur said to him about Jack needing lava for something, healing maybe? Then what's the water for? Confused, but determined, Ghostbur presses on.

Near the actual entrance of the Pube is what seems to be a fish tank, with no fish in it. Just a tank with water. In fact, the water in the tank seemed to be coming from a stream of water that started a floor or two higher. Ghostbur tries to remember anything Wilbur told him about fish, but all that comes to mind is Niki. Niki isn’t a fish though. But, as Ghostbur already saw with Jack and Wilbur, a lot of things are different here. 

There were plenty of chests for storage all around the main area. All of which Ghostbur looked in. Just to see what they had, not to steal anything, of course! And if Jack's back was turned and some iron tools ended up in Ghostbur’s inventory, then really, who would notice?

Beyond the chest storage, is what looked to be a garden room, filled with beautiful potted plants, a glass ceiling with many windows, and a secondary exit. Ghostbur couldn’t help but touch every plant, running his hands along all the leaves. With the ferns and saplings were potted flowers as well. Alliums, poppies, and blue cornflowers occupied higher shelves. Reaching up high, he would just be able to take down the pots if he wanted, but Ghostbur couldn’t reach high enough to touch the flowers themselves. Scared to drop the pots, he left the flowers be. 

Ghostbur sort of wished he was still a ghost if only so he could float to touch the flowers, but he decided being alive was better.

The most obvious part on the first floor Ghostbur had saved for last. The back of the Pube had been transformed into a semi-outdoor area. The ground was covered in moss, and when Ghostbur walked over it, he could faintly hear twinkling. There were two “walls” on either side but both had large circular openings like windows. When he looked up, there was a roof above him with a beautiful flower that was showering him with some sort of pollen. The pollen dissolved quickly, so Ghostbur found he didn’t mind much. The area was almost completely covered with the roof, except for a small area near the edge of the island. 

Ghostbur does remember that Wilbur had told him that this area was for the flyers to easily take off from the pube, and be able to land back on it. It also served a double purpose of getting a good look at the surrounding village, if you could even call it that. Before Ghostbur was the snow-capped mountain that he saw earlier, with someone's home attached high up the side of it. Below him were a series of connected homes. He saw a couple of caves that were made into homes that were on the side of the cliffs that were to the left of the mountain. There was a large tree, a house made of dark wood and stone, and the large wheat field he saw earlier. If Ghostbur peered over the edge, he could see a couple of smaller floating islands that floated beneath the Pube’s island. 

It was beautiful. Straight out of a fantasy story. 

After admiring the view and having no success in trying to find Wilbur walking around on the ground, Ghostbur decided to go upstairs. 

The 2nd level of the Pube was honestly considerably less impressive. This level was definitely more for function than for looking nice. Ghostbur could see the water stream that ran down to the fish tank, and it continued into the ceiling. Otherwise, this floor looked pretty barren. The only walls here were the roof itself, and the triangular gaps where the roof met were left as gaps. The only thing of note was a closed door, seeming to lead to the only room up here. 

Well, Ghostbur didn’t come up here to not snoop!

Opening the door Ghostbur saw a very tiny room. It had basically only the bare essentials, a bed, crafting table and furnace, and a chest. One of the walls was just half a wall, practically a balcony. It was a cozy room, and if this was where Ghostbur would be staying (as Wilbur had implied) he wouldn’t mind it. Anything was better than the cold, hard, concrete floor of the train station. 

Though there was a considerable lack of walls, not just in this room, but in most of the rooms of the Pube. He hoped that he wouldn’t have to deal with a draft when trying to sleep. Being so high up in the sky, Ghostbur wasn’t optimistic. But who knows, maybe the fresh air and the reminder of the sky will make him sleep easier. 

The new noise of people arriving downstairs snapped Ghsotbur out of his thoughts. His hands felt sweaty all of a sudden from where he had them on the balcony ledge, and a tightness grew in his chest. He didn’t really want to go downstairs, but it was showtime. 

***

“Remind us what’s so important that you had to gather the whole village in the Pube at nine in the morning?”

“You’ll see, you’ll see. This is really important, trust me,” Wilbur said back to Ranboo. 

“Jack, you were already here,” Tubbo started, “Do you know what’s going on?” 

Jack gives a glance to Wilbur for help, and with the look Wilbur sent him, Jack got the message.

Jack said, “I think it would be just to just let Wil explain. Honestly, I really don’t know what’s going on, I’m just as curious.”

Things were going relatively smoothly, all things considered. Most of the village woke up before nine AM anyway. He only had to wake up Tommy and Ranboo… the two worst people to wake up. But they are here now! Just ignore how grumpy they look. 

There was a bit of tension, confusion, and fear in the air. Normally when someone had something important to say, they would just go to everyone individually, instead of gathering everyone together. Big meetings like this, and done in this way of ‘meet me at the Pube in five minutes’ normally mean that the important news is the code word for bad news. Everyone here did not want to start their day with some bad news.

They were still waiting on Niki (understandable, she had to go a bit farther than everyone else) and Charlie. Actually, Wilbur didn’t end up finding Charlie, he was assured by Niki and Sneeg that they would tell him of the meeting. Speaking of Sneeg, Wilbur didn’t see him either, but that was no reason to assume he wasn’t there. The little shit was probably just watching from the roof or a crack in the wall. 

Sure enough, Wilbur looked down to see Sneeg scampering up towards him. He was dodging through people's legs who did their best to not crush him. 

“Wilbur! Hey!” Sneeg shouted

“Sneeg! Good to see you here, are Niki and Charlie on their way?” Wilbur asked.

“Yup! They are on the way.”

“Fantastic!”  Wilbur said.

Now the only thing that was left to worry about was Ghostbur. Ghostbur who was… nowhere to be seen. Honestly, it was probably for the best at first, to make the reveal a surprise. Wilbur would have probably shooed him out anyway. Jack Manifold was no help either, he just said that Ghostbur left to explore the pube. It wasn’t that big, but Wilbur didn’t see him on the first floor. 

So Wilbur takes off, up to the second floor. 

The 2nd story of the Pube looks mostly undisturbed, except for the door to the small bedroom that was left ajar. Wilbur couldn’t quite see inside, but he assumed that Ghostbur was in there. So, Wilbur goes in to talk to him and confirm their plan. Well, a bit different than what they talked about before. He can make it work, however. 

Ghostbur flinches in surprise, must have not been paying attention enough to hear Wilbur’s footsteps. Ghostbur had been standing at the “balcony” in the room. Which was less like a balcony and more like a half wall instead of a full wall on one side of the room. 

“Hey, what are you doing up here?” Wilbur asked

“Oh! Wilbur!” Ghostbur says, feigning excitement, “I didn’t notice you there! I’m just looking around the Pube.” 

Wilbur hums, “You nervous?” 

“Maybe a bit,” Ghostbur said as he rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Wilbur said as he joined Ghostbur at the half-wall. It was a bit cramped, but it worked. “Seriously don’t, that might give away that we are lying,” Wilbur playfully jabs at him.

Ghostbur chuckles and slowly brings his hand down. “Yeah… I’m still just a bit confused on what we are actually doing down there.”

“Well, to be fair, I didn’t have much of a plan other than, ‘Hey guys! Guess who turned up late last night!’” Wilbur joked.

“No, no, no! That can’t be it at all,” Ghostbur giggled. “You’ve got to be more serious about this. Don’t try to surprise them!”

“I think they are already surprised, so that's already failed.” 

“Oh god, we’ve failed our plan before we’ve even started!” Ghostbur laments with a smile. Wilbur could tell he was much more at ease now. 

Wilbur laughed, then continued, “But for real, just stay at the top of the ladder up here until I call you down.” 

“Alright,” Ghostbur breathed a sigh of relief. 

They exit the room and Wilbur goes down the ladder while Ghostbur sits at the top and waits, simply peeking over the edge a bit. 

The first thing that Wilbur noticed is Niki, in her tank, talking with Charlie and Scott. They seemed to be happy to see each other and took notice of Wilbur as he climbed down.

“Wilbur!” Niki shouted, “You're here! Are you gonna tell us what all this fuss has been about?” 

“Yeah, what is all this about?” Scott asks.

“I’ll explain, I’ll explain, let me just get everyone to quiet down,” Wilbur replied.

“Hey! Everyone!” Wilbur shouts. Within moments most conversation comes to a halt. “Wow, that worked better than expected. Tommy, shut up.”

“Ranboo was literally the one talking!” Tommy shouted back.

“I was not! Do not spread lies about me!” Ranboo said from the couch. Both boys were sitting close on the couch having a hushed conversation. Were having a conversation. 

“Anyway, last night I came across something I think you all should know about, or should I say, someone. And before you ask!” Wilbur could already see many intrigued faces, “Let me finish what I have to say first. It’ll be… a lot, so I don't want to be barraged with questions.”

“Wilbur, what’s going on?” Phil started as Wilbur made his way to the ladder. 

Wilbur gave a glance up to see Ghostbur sitting crossed-legged, staring down at him from the top. Wilbur took a big deep breath, trying to calm himself in the moment. Trying to remember everything they came up with.

‘ Remember, Ghostbur is a bad liar. You’ll have to lead him on this, he’s going on your cue,’ Wilbur told himself. 

“Everyone…” Wilbur nodded up at Ghostbur, “Meet Casper...”

‘Casper’ came down on the ladder, looking no different than he did about 6 hours ago when Wilbur first met him. Wilbur could see when Beau’s jaw dropped, and when Niki brought her hand up in shock. And when Casper took his place beside Wilbur, people could tell that they looked near identical.

“... My twin brother,” Wilbur said. Casper gave a sheepish smile from next to him. Wilbur could see the exact moment disbelief hit the crowd before him. 

“Just wait! I can explain, ok? I know this is a shock for you and it was for us as well,” Wilbur looked to Casper who nodded on cue. “I know you're about to say ‘Oh, but Wilbur! We’ve known you for years!’ I mean, Phil adopted me when I was seven! But let me explain.”

“You keep saying that! And I am not hearing any explaining!” Tommy interrupted. 

“I am getting there, be patient, child,” Wilbur shot back. Casper giggled from next to him. 

Wilbur begins to weave his tale, “Like I was saying, I found Casper wandering close to the sanctuary border early this morning. We recognized each other and so I brought him in and we talked and I offered him the upper room of the Pube to stay in since he needed somewhere to stay.” 

“Mhm,” Casper hummed along. Jack's face of surprise all but said ‘I had no say in this’ and he didn’t seem pleased that his Pube was being turned into a hotel. 

“Now I know that doesn’t explain why I didn’t tell any of you about him, but uhh…” Wilbur trailed off to look at Casper, “Can I say?” Wilbur pretended to ask. This was all a part of their plan as well, since Casper’s back story is quite dark. 

Ghostbur blinked dumbly for a moment, almost saying ‘Why are you asking me for permission?’ before realizing himself. Casper confirmed with, “Oh! Yes, it's ok.” 

“Alright, well,” Wilbur turned up the concern on his face and in his voice to try and make it seem more believable. “As you all probably know, me and Tommy were adopted by Phil, because our parents were killed by hunters”

Everyone seemed to be following so far, most in various states of shock. What hurt most was Tommy’s face. Yeah… this was gonna be hard for him, Wilbur probably should’ve thought of that more. He was seventeen and only now learning of his second biological brother. 

“I was seven and Tommy was just a baby,” Wilbur looked at his little brother with an apology and sorrow on his face. “Casper is my twin brother, but when our parents were killed, Casper was captured by the hunters. I thought he died that night. That's why I didn't tell you, Tommy, Phil.”

Wilbur looks at Phil for the first time, and Phil has a pained expression on his face. Like he couldn’t bear the thought that his son was hiding this from him the whole time. That Wilbur had opened up to him about everything else, except this. Like this was a secret that had plagued him for seventeen years and not a plan that was made up 4 hours ago.

Wilbur turned to Tommy, “I didn’t want you to grieve over the loss of a brother you could never have, so I never told you. At least we had Phil to give you a dad, but I couldn’t… I didn’t want you to feel like you were missing something.” ‘ Like how I felt’ went unsaid, was implied. Wilbur was trying to lessen the blow this was, give a reason. He might have just made it worse. 

Phil looked like he was itching to swoop up both himself and Casper. 

“And, while, uh Casper was with the hunters…” Wilbur looked to Casper, who looked unsure. So, to try and lighten their spirits and maybe lighten the next blow, Wilbur comically covered Casper’s ears. He had a feeling that some people already suspected what happened. 

“The hunters…” Wilbur tilted his head and made a “k!” sound, “his wings. Don't talk about it. He's sensitive about it,” Wilbur stage-whispered. 

Most everyone was horrified, especially Tommy and Phil. To cut off an avian’s wings was the worst thing that could ever happen to an avian. To many, their wings were the only outward displaying trait that they were hybrids at all. Take that away, and you were dooming them to constantly being mistaken for the species that did this to them. 

Tommy is a notable exception to this, having his bright orange and red feathers for ears and in his hair. 

And for this story to work Casper needed to be an avian, as Tommy is, as Wilbur was before he died. But the obvious hiccup was that he didn’t have wings, so the obvious solution? They were cut off. It's a horrific story, but it, unfortunately, happens to many avians. 

Wilbur removes his hands from Casper’s ears and continued, disregarding everyone's horrified faces, “But then Casper here was saved from the hunters, by a piglin hybrid. Then you’ve just been traveling ever since, right?” 

“Yes,” Casper luckily picks up, “I didn’t know if you had made it out that night, so I was hoping to find you, and by chance I did!” Casper finished cheerily. Probably far too cheery, considering the story they just told. 

Wilbur turned back to the crowd, “So, uh, now I’ll take questions?” 

***

The rest of the day happened so fast and so wonderfully Ghostbur could barely process it. 

After masterfully weaving their tale, Wilbur took the time to introduce Ghostbur to everyone there. This was quite strange because Ghostbur already knew most people there. And everyone acted mostly the same to how Ghostbur remembered. Tommy was loud, Tubbo loved machines, Niki was sweet, Phil was… well Phil. 

Ranboo was the most obviously different. He was proudly proclaiming that was the Prince of the End, before Tubbo butted in and said that he got kicked out of the End. He was more sassy, sarcastic, and more sure of himself. All the glimpses of sarcasm that Ghostbur saw in his own Ranboo were multiplied by tenfold in this version of him.

That wasn’t a bad thing necessarily, just a change. That was ok, dreams didn’t have to be totally realistic. 

Along with that change, brought new people that Ghostbur had genuinely not met before. Scott, Beau, Sneeg, and Charlie all made for wonderful company. Scott even insisted on showing him his house. Which started a tour of the whole sanctuary. 

Scott’s house was the one with the purple roof that Ghostbur had seen on the plateau earlier. It was a nice cottage house that reminded Ghostbur of Technoblades house. Only this one had a much taller roof and brilliant purple crystals. 

Then it was Ranboo and Tommy’s cliff-side homes, their houses were both cleared-out caves that had been modified to accommodate living. Ranboo’s was much bigger than Tommy’s and had significantly more stuff lying around. Ranboo had some of the same crystals Scott had, while Tommy was eager to show Ghostbur his moss. To be fair to Tommy, it was very nice moss. And his house was lower on the cliff with a bridge so it was easier for him to get there. 

So in Ghostbur’s opinion, Tommy wins the ‘Cliffside house competition’ that he just made up, 2-1. 

Wilbur’s house was right by theirs. It had a spruce and black stone theme, lanterns accenting the whole build. Wilbur didn’t let them go inside, but it didn’t look like there was much to see anyway. Besides, there was a small pond in the front of the house that was much more interesting. 

After that was Sneeg’s treehouse. A giant tree that was basically only accessible to him. There were all sorts of growth and farms on top, and Sneeg clearly had a few projects going on, but Ghostbur couldn’t get close enough to see any of it. 

On the other side of the Pube from the ground, across from the treehouse, lied Niki’s water-logged ravine. Part of it at least. The river spread and cut them off from two sides, being at the bottom of the cliffs. Niki actually lived at the bottom of this ravine. 

Ghostbur swam down with her to check it out, he followed her strong kicks and flicks of her tail. The bottom was beautiful and wonderfully lived in. He didn't have much time to admire it before he ran out of breath, but he knew he would be coming back. 

Beyond Niki’s home, was a man-made volcano that was Jack’s home. Ghostbur didn't know much about volcanoes, but he knew that this didn’t really look like one. It was a bit small, and the lava was at the base of the mountain, instead of at the top. Though he supposed that was so it could be hollowed out to live in. It looked cool, regardless of if it was accurate or not. 

Tubbo said his home was a secret, but after some pressure showed it to Ghostbur (and the band of traveling villagers he had somehow acquired). It was down a small hole that you had to fall into. The inside had beautiful dark oak and mushroom decoration on the walls but was otherwise mostly bare. There was no other exit other than flying out, so Ghostbur had to wait for someone to drop water down before he could see the final home of the tour. 

Charlie was not on the tour to show off his home, and Beau still didn’t have a permanent home. 

Phil’s house was nestled at the top of the snowy mountain to the back of the Pube. With the deep slate and basalt, the dark stone made it stand out against the snow and ice. It had a giant landing pad, similar to the pubes. With Phil’s powerful wings, he could probably glide all the way from here to the Pube. 

The whole sanctuary was brimming with life and joy. It had never been destroyed, these people hadn't gone to war, and they loved everything with abandon. With no fear that it could be turned against them. 

Despite being trapped in the sanctuary border, to some extent, from Ghostbur’s perception, they never looked freer. Ghostbur had never felt freer. 

The day was over far too quickly. The sun was setting and most everyone was leaving to go to sleep. Ghostbur didn’t want it to be over.

His brain must really want to hurt him, even having Wilbur give him some friendly advice like he was going to be staying longer. 

“Scott and I will be awake most nights, so if you need anything you can find us. And if you ever need to talk about…before again, you can talk to me.” Wilbur had said with a smile. Ghostbur took the knowledge that Wilbur cared and kept it tight in his chest. Right next to his memory of seeing the dox matrix light up and say that Alivebur had said that Ghostbur was stupid and worthless. 

Wanting to be polite, Ghostbur went up to the tiny room in the Pube anyway. Maybe he was in denial. The wind wasn’t as bad as Ghostbur thought it would be, it's still warm enough. But every creak in the wood and howl of the wind and shiver it sent down his spine jolted Ghostbur awake. 

He didn’t want to fall asleep. Surely if he falls asleep this will end the dream. He doesn’t want to wake up. More than anything Ghostbur wishes this were real. That he could wake up right here once again. Never have to see that cursed train station ever again. 

But despite his best efforts, Ghostbur hadn’t slept in nearly 20 hours, and somehow that was catching up to him. And against his plans, he fell asleep. 

***

Ghostbur dreamed of fields of flowers and of Friend the sheep once more. And when he awoke, it wasn’t to the cold concrete of his limbo, it was to a warm bed and the sun on his face. 

And when he realized, Ghostbur dared to let himself hope, to let himself believe.

That this might all be real.