Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Considering they are in Heaven, the room is awfully dark. A long table stretches out in front of him, with the Prince of the Skies perched at the end, head in his hands. His mask lays abandoned, cracked at the edge from the recent attack on earth. Phil would laugh, but he too mourns the deaths of the Angels that were struck down because of the stupid recklessness of the Leader of Heaven. Dream may be fourth in command, but he ultimately had no ability to stop the attack.

Even down in Hell, safely tucked under his Lady’s embrace, Phil felt the losses. Each one that was struck down, each death that came because Heaven wanted a new realm, the realm of earth.

At Phil’s side are his two boys. Technoblade is in full armour, his Demon features clearly on display as he glares down the table at the array of Angels. Wilbur’s in human form, save for the slightly too-sharp teeth and the pointed ears. They offer some comfort to Phil, an Angel turned Demon, whose wings ache behind him at the sight in front.

They’ve mocked Heaven for hundreds of years. The stupid, outdated laws. The ridiculous notion that humans were below that of Angels. Not to mention the treatment of their young. Phil couldn’t believe it when they Leader ordered that the younglings were trained to fight. Barely out of their nests, already with a sword in hand. So no, he feels little pity for the losses, but he can sympathise with the agony it is causing Prince Dream and his cohort.

There’s four other Angels surrounding the Prince. One has a wing bandaged, and a limp that tells Phil that he was probably injured in the last battle.

‘Have you called us here so that we might enjoy the beautiful silence of death?’ Technoblade mocks lightly, fingers drumming on the table.

Dream tenses. His eyes glow molten for a moment, but he knows better than to try and attack one of Phil’s sons. The last time that happened, he had to go into regeneration for a while. ‘You jest about the dead?’ Dream snaps back angrily, and Phil sighs. This is going to be a long meeting.

Techno’s grin is all sharp-teeth and a sharper wit. ‘Strange, I feel no pity for a would-be conqueror.’

‘Those were not my orders,’ Dream bristles, wings twitching in agitation.

‘No, but they were your men.’

Phil decides that somebody is probably about to draw blood if they continue this line of banter. ‘Enough, boys.’

Dream may be a Prince, but he is young. Young enough that Phil remembers him as a fledgling, tucked at the Leader’s side and wrapped in golden cloth. An archangel being born was rare, he was the youngest of them.

The Prince of the Skies takes his pride and swallows it. ‘I require your help, Philza.’

The way the boy says his name reminds Phil of his time in Heaven. They used to be close; Phil trained Dream. ‘What do you need, sunlight?’ The old nickname has the Prince ducking his head, a flush spreading over freckled skin.

It is like they are younger again, before Phil fell to his Lady. Before everything that went wrong.

‘During the attack, the humans stole an Angel from us. We… we cannot find him, and I beseech you to ask your Lady to track him,’ Dream pleads quietly, a hopeful glint in his eyes.

Phil thinks this is a stupid thing to ask. ‘Use his sire and track the bond.’

All Angels are bonded to an Archangel. Dream is young, only a little over a thousand years, so he has few Angels in his garrison. The four around him are loyal to him, and share his morals. As an Angel, they have little free will. But an Archangel does. They have independency, and the ability to think for themselves. An Angel would find it hard to fall from Heaven, unless their Archangel ordered it.

Philza has no Angels in his garrison, but he does have his two boys.

Dream shifts uncomfortably, wings twitching. ‘It is an Archangel that is missing.’

He chuckles. ‘Then the humans are in more danger than the Angel is. Which one is it? Foolish? Cara?’

He knows all of the Archangels, obviously. All nine of them, ten if he is included still. They were his family, and Dream was the youngest. Cara mothered him, and Jschlatt acted as a father. He was crafted of their spirits, but he was also a child of Prime, the Leader of the Heavens.

Dream looks to his cohort. The injured soldier grimaces, like this entire conversation is unsavoury. It is the smaller brunet, with the darkest of eyes, that speaks. ‘You need him back.’

The Prince looks back to Phil. ‘There is another Archangel. One born after your fall.’

It strikes the air out of his lungs. He cannot imagine Dream in battle, yet alone someone younger than him. Phil only fell eight-hundred years ago; the Archangel is young.

And separated from Heaven.

‘Hold old?’ he demands, uncaring that his wings twitch angrily at the thought of Prime letting one of them stray so far.

Dream hesitates, weighing up his options. It is a look of strategy, one that Phil taught. ‘Eighty-four.’

Even Technoblade recoils. That is a baby. A child, stuck in the hands of the nemesis of the Angels. Stripped from his nest, and alone, and probably terrified, and—

‘At ease,’ Techno soothes quietly, the bond that tethers them filling with reassurance.

Phil can contain himself for the time being. His Lady… she’ll be able to find the nestling. To reunite him with the Heavens. ‘I will need something belonging to him. Show me to his quarters,’ Phil demands, wasting no time.

Dream’s expression becomes more worried. ‘If… when you find him, do not punish him for his… uniqueness. He doesn’t mean to be so aggressive, he’s still learning, and I swear I’m doing my best but—’

‘You are a young Archangel, Dream,’ Phil interrupts the rambling boy, ‘You should not be expected to raise a baby. I shall not harm a nestling, you have my word.’

It doesn’t do much to soothe the youngest – once youngest – of the Archangels. The Prince of the Skies lingers, looking unsure as to whether he should allow them to leave with this information, before he bows his head in submission. It is an awfully Angelic-like gesture, but Phil does not complain. He leaves his chair and moves to the boy’s side, before reaching out for him.

Dream helped him escape. It is a thing he has told nobody but his Lady, and his two sons. The Prince of the Skies used his free will and chose to help Phil. He did not fall himself, and managed to hide the betrayal.

He has a soft spot for Dream. The boy sinks into his touch, cheek turning into Phil’s palm gently as his wings flatten back in easy submission. ‘It has been a while since we were unaccompanied,’ Phil murmurs gently, stroking under the boy’s cheek. He raised Dream.

The Prince smiles, ‘Since I helped you fall? I am glad you found your family.’

Philza glances to the cohort of Angels. ‘Just as you found yours, it would seem.’

Dream’s green eyes flicker open, filled with a vengeance unlike anything he’s ever seen. ‘Once I have Theseus back, my flock is complete.’

Philza will bring Dream his nestling, to repay the kindness he was shown all those years ago.

Chapter Text

Tommy thinks this entire situation is stupid. Honestly, fuck whoever thought that it was a good idea to get involved in the humans, because they’re all idiots doubting that he is, in fact, a Big Man. The very best of the best, the son of Prime. She is Queen of the Heavens, the leader of the Angels, and she chose Tommy. It makes him special, even if Dream doubts her motives.

Prime told him that he had been captured for a reason, so he doesn’t protest about being dragged around and – to put it bluntly – tortured for information. Not that he gives anything away; Prime would have his head, or worse, Dream’s head, if he started spilling their secrets.

Humans are all idiots. Except the two that stay with him, two human boys that sneak him food and occasionally medical supplies to aid his wounds. The smaller one is a boy named Tubbo, although calling him a human would be a stretch. He’s a hybrid of some sort, with tiny little horns that remind Tommy of his lessons on hell. Ranboo is also a hybrid, with a name that’s honestly hilarious. The Boob-boy doesn’t exactly like Tommy teasing him, or maybe he does, because there’s a fond smile on his face whenever Tommy tries his luck.

They’ve bound him in a cell with Angel runes, which could possibly hold a normal member of the Garrison. Tommy doesn’t tell them that it can’t hold him, but he does push his luck by back-chatting a lot. The other Arch-Angels aren’t too fond of his sharp tongue, but they respect Prime enough to leave him alone.

Tommy’s only been in his realm for eighty-four years, but he knows that something went wrong with the tenth Arch-Angel. The one before him. Dream speaks of Philza in hushed tones, but with an admiration that makes Tommy reconsider what he knows about Hell. He’s been taught to fight, to attack anything that isn’t an Angel, but he knows that Dream has some bond with the Fallen Angel.

For that, he usually skirts around fights with Demons. After all, each Demon is connected to their Lady Mother, and she would be able to see him if he got too close.

Tommy muses over all of these things as he plays a card game through the bars of the cell, sitting cross-legged with Ranboo and Tubbo opposite him. He suspects that the shorter boy is trying to trick him, because he’s sure that the game has changed at least three times in the past minute. Not that he cares that much; it’s distracting him from what happens upstairs.

‘Three fours,’ Tubbo says, placing them down on the pile and then continuing on his mission to completely ruin him and Boob. Tommy’s wings flick behind him, momentarily considering if this is truthful or not. When he decides not to call Tubbo out, he places the final four on the pile.

Ranboo places down a five.

‘What’s got the all angsty today?’ Tommy asks, tilting his head to the ceiling and briefly using his enhanced senses to listen to the ruckus.

Ranboo shrugs, ‘They’re expecting an attack. Demons were sighted, which is strange, cause they usually leave us alone.’

Ranboo and Tubbo were picked up by this army base after an attack on a human city by the Angels. It should make them hateful towards him, but apparently the humans aren’t great at treating the kids any better than the Angels treat their fledglings. Tommy feels sorry for the two humans, and vows to keep them safe once Prime says he can use his gifts to break free.

‘Three fours,’ Tubbo says again, placing three more cards on the pile.

Tommy and Ranboo share an uneasy glance. ‘Can’t you use your voodoo and figure out if he’s lying?’ Ranboo pleads, and Tommy shakes his head. It would be cheating. Besides, there’s something in Tubbo’s evil grin that makes Tommy’s heart ache with happiness.

‘When they let me go—’ Tommy begins, ignoring the look traded by his two human friends, ‘—I’m going to bring you back to my home with me. You’ll love it, it’s up in the mountains.’

‘Why do you live on earth?’ Ranboo curiously asks, as Tommy places down two fives. Ranboo lies when he puts down another five, the one he got rid of on the last turn.

Tommy’s not going to call him out on it. ‘S’nice. And I have a habit of annoying the other Arch-Angels,’ Tommy admits, grimacing at Jschlatt’s harsh words, or Foolish’s attempts to best him. Cara, or Puffy as she prefers to go by, is the nicest to him aside from Dream. Sometimes, she even helps preen his wings when Prime calls on Dream to do her bidding.

‘Cause your mum made you second in command?’ Tubbo bluntly questions. It’s a point that Tommy’s never understood, either. Tommy is young, and as much as he denies it, the position would be better suited to any of the other arch-angels. ‘Three fours, by the way.’

Ranboo throws his hands up in frustration. ‘I call it,’ he snaps, turning over the cards.

Three fours stare up at him.

Tubbo’s laughter is only broken by the sound of the siren over them. ‘An attack?’ Tommy questions, wishing that his friends were on the other side of the bars with him, so he could protect them.

Shouting from above, followed by an explosion, tells Tommy that he needs to act. ‘Fuck, we should be helping—’

‘Get in here with me,’ Tommy counters, reaching through the bars and grabbing both of them by their wrists, using a hint of his gifts to liquidate the metal so they stumble through. With that done, he tucks them behind his wings.

‘What the fuck,’ Tubbo hisses, prodding at one of his wings.

Ranboo is less aggressive, content to hide behind the golden feathers. ‘You could do that the whole time?’

Another explosion, followed by the swirling darkness descending from the steps at the end of the corridor. Tubbo whispers a correct guess on what’s approaching, a demon. Powerful as well, if the expert control over matter is any indication.

A figure emerges from the darkness, dressed in deep black and purple robes, with a cloak pinned around his shoulders. A beanpole of a person, honestly. A mop of brown hair peeks out from under the cloak’s hood, before pale fingers reach to remove it. The light reveals a boy, or a young man, standing in the space. ‘Theseus.’

Tommy’s never had the pleasure of meeting the man, but he can recognise a Princeling of Hell. ‘Siren.’

His lips quirk up at the corners. Behind him, Tubbo and Ranboo make a mild sound of anguish at the mention of a demon so powerful, revered in the history books as a creature that can kill with nothing but his voice.

Siren’s head cocks to the side. ‘The Prince of the Skies sent us.’

Dream. Tommy lunges towards the bars, unable to contain the way his wings flicker upwards. ‘He’s here?’

Prime hasn’t told him he can leave yet, but Tommy’s also desperate to see his sibling. When Siren nods, Tommy laughs in delight, removing the manacles around his wrist with a brief glance to them. They clatter to the floor, and Tommy tucks his wings so he doesn’t knock over his human friends when he turns. ‘C’mon, my brother’s here! I’ll keep you safe,’ he promises, and Tubbo has no hesitation to take his hand. Ranboo waits for a second, before he pulls all three of them through the bars.

Siren observes the situation calmly. ‘You chose not to escape?’

‘Prime told me not to,’ Tommy replies, looking to the sky to see if his Queen will say anything.

She doesn’t. Tommy follows Siren out of the basement, with Ranboo and Tubbo clutching tightly at him. Outside, there’re a lot of dead. Humans, and a couple of black stains on the earth where Demons must have fallen. Looking out across the camp of the humans, Tommy catches sight of the angelic glow of what must be his people.

He’s about to move towards them, when the sound of wings halts him.

The tenth Arch-Angel, Tommy’s predecessor, looks… oddly friendly. Despite the shadows that wrap around him, and the black feathers that are darker than the night itself, there’s a smile on his face as he looks to Tommy. ‘Theseus, it’s good to meet you, mate. I’m—’

‘Philza, Fallen Angel, bringer of darkness, Lady Mother’s lover. Yeah, I know who you are,’ Tommy goads, eyeing him up. Philza looks surprised, while the Siren barks a laugh.

A third figure appears, which is hardly surprising. Where the Angel of Death walks, the Siren and the Blood God follow. He’s broad-shouldered and heavily armoured, with tusks and pointed ears that show his heritage. Tommy spares him a glance, spreading his wings so they dip around Tubbo and Ranboo’s shoulders. Mine, he tells the Demons.

Phil is undeterred. ‘We’re here to get you back to Dream, he was quite worried about you.’

Tommy huffs. ‘I’m fine. Honestly, he’s such a worrier, I’m a big man. Quite capable of dealing with some fucking humans, no offence,’ he adds, smiling to his two friends.

Tubbo whacks him on the arm anyway. ‘Who are you calling human, dickhead? I’ll pluck you like a fucking chicken.’

Tommy’s feathers bristle. ‘I’m going to drop you into a lake, bitch boy.’

‘Fuck face.’

‘Twat.’

‘Ass—’

‘Not to interrupt,’ Philza interrupts, looking highly amused, ‘But perhaps we should be concerned with whatever that is?’

Tommy follows his gaze, and it only takes a moment for him to recognise the weapon that the humans have activated. He barely has time to throw his hands out, pushing the three Demons out of the blast radius of the same machine that felled him the first time.

An electromagnetic pulse, that for some reason could temporarily screw with abilities. The trio of Hell-royals are out of the zone – Tommy threw them back quite far – but Tommy doesn’t have the same abilities to do the same to himself. Instead, he uses his wings to curl around both Tubbo and Ranboo, hoping that the energy won’t break their eardrums.

It doesn’t. Safely tucked up in golden feathers, he feels Tubbo grab his hand. ‘They’re going after Dream.’

Tommy knows this. He also knows that Prime’s going to kill him if he uses his gifts, but as he hears a shriek from one of the Angels across the field, he decides he really doesn’t have a choice.

The demons have recovered, and Philza’s coming over, so Tommy shoves his friends towards the Angel of Death. ‘Look after them, and I swear to Prime if you eat them I’ll shove your wings so far up your arse that your Lady will taste them,’ he threatens, blocking out the huffed laughter from the Blood God.

Then, Tommy turns back to the issue in front.

Each Arch-Angel has a gift from Prime, that they can use to fight. As Prince of the Skies, Dream has enhanced flight abilities, and a control over time. Puffy’s gift is her resilience and strength. Foolish is near-immortal, even to Angel blades. Jschlatt can control the minds of those around him. Hannah can control plant-material, Skeppy is gifted with turning stone into angel-ore. The last two Arch-Angels, Victor and HBomb, have control over weather.

Tommy’s power is a little harder to understand. In short, he can adopt gifts from others, including Prime herself. Which is why he uses different gifts in unison, first freezing the scene in front of him, or at least slowing it down. He strikes out at the machine with angry vines that burst from the ground, then sends scorching fire out to eliminate the soldiers keeping him from the Angels. For good measure, he stretches a hand out to the side and calls down lightning from Prime, smiling when the bolt forms in his hand.

Dream taught him to fight, usually. He was highly skilled, but sometimes Tommy would return to his mother and sit at the steps of her temple, until she eventually would train herself. Perhaps another reason why the rest of the Garrison hate him, because they don’t get to see their Queen. Tommy’s the only one that has access to Prime now.

Even being flooded by human soldiers, Tommy makes light work of clearing the field. When the last soldier falls, Tommy glances to the Angel running towards him.

Dream barrels into him, and they both go flying back into the blood-soaked dirt beneath them. He growls out a threat, but he doesn’t really mean it, because Dream is embracing him and tugging him closer and Tommy doesn’t care that his wings are becoming red. ‘Tommy,’ Dream whispers, as they sit up and he presses kisses to his forehead, hands frantically searching him for wounds.

Behind them, on one side are Dream’s flock. On the other side are Tubbo and Ranboo, with the trio of Demons watching the reunion. ‘Are you hurt? What did they do to you, oh my fledgling, I’m never letting you out of my sight,’ Dream babbles, and Tommy lazily flicks a wing at him.

‘I’m fine, big D. Barely a scratch. Although you’ve just ruined my wings, which is rude,’ he huffs, before rising out of the dirt and beaming when his brother ruffles his hair.

Dream then looks back at the Demons, although his eyes focus in on the humans. ‘Tommy?’

‘This is Tubbo and Ranboo. They’re coming back to the mountain house with us,’ Tommy tells him, and Dream’s eyes widen. Then, he places a hand over his chest and briefly bows.

‘Dream, Prince of the Skies. Honour to meet you.’

‘You’re the dickhead that burned Tommy’s nest?’

Okay, maybe telling Tubbo about that had been a bad idea. Because Dream flinches, and the Demons look surprised, and Tubbo crosses his arms angrily. ‘I had no choice—’

‘Like how you’ve got no choice when it comes to listening to the Queen Bitch? Nice one.’

‘Hey! That’s my mother,’ Tommy says with a frown, flicking his wings slightly.

Philza goes quite still. ‘She’s your what?’

Tommy feels like he’s missing something. Dream grabs Tommy and tugs him slightly behind him, like the Angel of Death his now a threat. ‘I was going to tell you…’ Dream begins awkwardly, while Tommy tries to work out what the issue is.

He knows that the other Arch-Angels are made, and that he wasn’t. That Prime birthed him herself.

‘That’s Prime’s child?’

‘Who are you calling a fucking that, dickhead. Fight me, we’ll see if you can—’

Dream clamps a hand over Tommy’s mouth. He responds by licking the hand, which does nothing but make Dream huff. Philza is still staring at him in shock, before his expression softens. ‘No wonder our Lady was so insistent that we bring the boy back so she can meet him.’

Tommy looks to Tubbo and Ranboo, silently questioning if they have any idea what they’ve got themselves into. When both humans just stare, Tommy figures that he might have to figure this out on his own. ‘You’re not taking him to Hell,’ Dream snaps wings spreading slightly in a show of aggression.

Philza shakes his head in earnest, ‘Dream, Sunlight, you know what this means. That’s my—’

‘Shut it,’ Dream threatens, ‘You owed me. You owed me, you can’t take this- can’t take him from me.’

Tommy shoves Dream off him, just to spin angrily between them. ‘Which one of you wants to explain what the fuck is going on?’

The Angels behind Dream all look ready to fight, and Dream is moments away from grabbing him and taking him back to Heaven where he can never get lost again, but none of that happens because Philza speaks. ‘Prime and Lady Death are sisters.’

Tommy has no idea what this has to do with him. ‘So?’

Tubbo clears his throat, ‘So, boss man, that means the Queen of Hell is your aunt. And that the bird over here is your uncle.’

And the two Demons that stand either side of the fallen Angel are his cousins.

Huh. Tommy blinks, then slowly turns to look at Dream. His brother, his ­flockmate, is just standing there quietly, with his head hung. So are the other Angels. They… they all knew. Everyone knew, and nobody told Tommy.

‘You’re the first creature, the Queens aside, with Heaven and Hell in your blood,’ Philza continues, looking… delighted.

Tommy thinks about what this means, and then decides he doesn’t actually want to know what’s going to happen next. Before anyone can stop him, he lunges for both Ranboo and Tubbo, grabbing them and securing the bond between them.

The last thing he hears before the world morphs around them is Dream’s shriek.