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Technoblade’s greatest weakness, as Philza had once told him, was leaving things, important things, left unsaid.
Back then, before the hard-earned trust and friendship had bonded them for eternity, before two twin emerald earrings clinked with their armor, and before a bracelet and a necklace joined those ranks, Technoblade had ignored Philza entirely. They were but two generals on the battlefield, and it was nothing personal.
Now-
It would probably mean much more.
It was the night before their plans with L’manburg would begin. Dream had left without a trace, with a deceptive smile in his voice and a foggy promise which curled around the corners of Techno’s mind.
Technoblade had no hesitation, no second thoughts about what he was going to do. This new nation, born from the ashes of the old, was everything he was told would never happen again, and everything Wilbur had worked to prevent as his final action.
Quackity’s steady recovery from the injury Techno had inflicted only served to strengthen his anger. After all, he had never been merciful.
Especially not to those who hurt his family.
(There was another reason, hidden in some fold of his heart. It, too, like many other things, is left behind, this time at the bottom of an enderchest with a stained photograph titled “the bros of the bedrock”. Techno made sure he never saw it before he went on to L’manburg.)
(He’s not sure he could go on at all.)
‘Why did you agree?’ Phil asked him one day.
Techno had been reading a book on the armchair by the fire. He turned, slightly, watching his friend wipe the blood of a sparkling diamond sword. There was something in Philza’s eyes, right then, gleaming in the light the powerful enchantments of the weapon gave off. Something like fractured starlight.
The question itself was poised casually, and thus Technoblade answered it as such.
‘Because they betrayed me.’ He said simply. ‘When I joined Pogtopia, they said their goals aligned with mine. It didn’t. The withers nearly destroyed them the first time.’ A pause. ‘I doubt they can take it again.’
Philza hummed softly, as Techno finished. ‘Also, the execution attempt.’
Leaving things unsaid , Phil had told him. Seems like his own mind was keeping things from him, now.
They summoned a grand total of fourteen withers that day.
It was cathartic.
‘YOU NEVER THOUGHT OF ME AS A FRIEND! YOU LITTLE TRAITOR , ALL I EVER WAS TO YOU WAS A WEAPON, TOMMY, AND DON’T YOU DARE CLAIM OTHERWISE-’
‘You’re the most selfish person I’ve ever seen.’
‘I would’ve given you the world, and you just took that and threw it back at me the moment it was convenient. Was I ever anything but a tool, something to use when it was helpful to you?’
‘This isn’t what family is supposed to feel like, Techno, you selfish prick, YOU KILLED TUBBO-’
Leaving things unsaid, Philza had told him.
I did it all for you , Technoblade wanted to scream, can’t you see it? The withers, the TNT, everything- Just so you could move on and be free .
Selfish, Tommy said.
Traitor, Techno called.
What a joke.
‘We could’ve been family .’
Technoblade never visited Tommy in exile.
At the time, the guilt ate him alive, shadowed his every move, burdened his shoulders and darkened his eyes.
Later, he regretted and reminisced until it got hard to breathe around the tulips which blossomed in his chest.
But eventually, after a very, very long time, it turns into a melancholy gratefulness.
If not for all the events that had transpired, it might’ve ended up happening differently, or not happening at all, and that was… not something Technoblade would ever, ever want.
A gentle breeze blew over the scene. Shivers crawled up Tommy’s spine, and for more reasons than just the cold. He couldn’t see it, but he knew perfectly well just how high this cliff was.
There was no telling what would happen if he fell.
And right now, the only thing which prevented his inevitable drop was a green eyed trickster hidden behind a smiling porcelain mask. The man’s hand is as steady as could be, yet Tommy doesn’t feel any safer.
Dread pooling in his gut and terror paralyzing his every muscle, Tommy stared Dream fearfully in the eyes.
‘This isn’t what family’s supposed to feel like.’
A sick sense of nostalgia hit Tommy like a ton of bricks. He couldn’t help but scoff at the difference of his situation between then and now; it wasn’t much.
Distantly, he thought of emerald bracelets and yellow roses, as time came to a screeching halt and Dream gently tilted his head.
‘I’m not your family, little songbird.’ Dream whispered, and he let go.
He let go.
Tommy was free.
(Not like this, a distant voice screamed.)
Nearly losing his third and final life was a terrifying experience. As he fell, the distant voice became louder, and suddenly it all clicked.
Tommy would not die on this stupid, random fucking cliff, was his final rational thought before he pulled out a sparkling totem, its golden surface gleaming in the dying sunlight.
I’m free .
Tommy never did find out just how long he had staggered for. All that registered in his mind was he needed to get somewhere safe, somewhere far away, somewhere Dream wouldn’t be able to get to him.
He had never realized just how close Logstedshire was to a certain snow biome. After all these months, the coordinates remained in his mind clearly, as though they’d been freshly engraved. There was really only one place where Dream could never hope to get him.
He hates you , Tommy’s mind whispered the entire way, he’ll kill you .
So will Dream , a distant voice (getting closer) reasoned, this is better .
Tommy couldn’t help but hope Technoblade and Philza still had something left in their hearts.
Maybe pity. Maybe hatred. Maybe something else.
Tommy would soon learn that the hatred was simply a thick layer of fog over an entire ocean of hurt, and the ocean was hiding a bed of something close to love, something close to fondness. Technoblade would die before he admitted it, but he knew. They both did.
Leaving things unsaid , Philza had said. Maybe Techno will stop, and maybe Tommy will accept, and maybe that’ll be enough.