Chapter Text
Wilbur had a strict set of duties he had to follow to serve the church.
His least favorite one was how early he had to wake up. The first worship of the day wasn't until noon, but there was plenty that needed to get done before that. Wilbur needed to clean the stone steps outside, light the candles inside, prepare all the offering baskets for the day, move the bell, and so on and so forth. It was tedious work, but Wilbur didn't mind.
Despite this not being the life he had chosen, he took pride in his work.
An orphan boy like him could not have had better opportunities in the capital than those he got after being taken in by the church. Prime was a good god to follow too, Wilbur thought. Their religion preached for community and showing gratitude. He'd be more miserable if he was a priest, probably. That seemed like a lot of effort and learning scripture by heart. But Wilbur started out as a boy helping around with the church's chores and by the time he was an adult he saw no reason to leave. He still had plenty of time to play his music outside of his duties, so he was happy.
And he got to hear a ridiculous amount of rumors.
"Did you hear something was stolen from the school yesterday? Who steals from a school? Can you imagine the audacity?" The noble who had spoken was clutching his chest in dismay, physically reacting to the news as if it was paining him.
Slowly sweeping the steps outside the church with a broom, Wilbur stifled a yawn into his hand and blinked blearily at the townsfolk gathered on the market square, whispering away among themselves as they did every morning. For the past few weeks, all the gossiping in town had seemed solely focused on that kid - Wilbur wanted to say his name was Techno? The one the king brought home from his travels.
Wilbur didn't get what the big fuss was all about. If they wanted to talk about lost children, the capital had several. Thanks to Queen Kristin, they were all safely housed and taken care of in the orphanage and could get apprenticeships all across the kingdom. But still, what was one more orphan among many?
It was nice that the subject had shifted to something else for a change, though Wilbur had no clue what had been stolen and why it was such a hot topic.
"How? Wouldn't the thieves have to climb all the way to the top of the dormer window?" A woman shook her head. "That's dangerous. All that for a useless hunk of bronze…"
"The bell was only used to call the young'uns in after lunch break. I don't see the reason anybody has for taking it," an old man added, stroking through his greying beard.
Wilbur shrugged and went back inside. It wasn't any of his business and it was boring gossip anyway.
When he was done with his morning chores, he went down the street to visit Niki. Usually, if he asked nicely enough, she would give him something to eat for breakfast without him needing to pay. They'd been friends since forever, so it wasn't unusual for them to do favors like that for each other. Wilbur often performed in her bakery to repay her.
He opened the door he'd found himself in front of so many mornings before, surprised to be greeted by not only an empty bakery but also no chiming of the bell above Niki's door. He looked up but it was gone. Had she taken it down? After closing the door again he walked up to the counter and leaned onto it, knocking his hand on the wood instead.
"Hello? Is anybody home?"
"I'll be right there," Niki called from the kitchen. A few moments later she came out with a tray of pastries, hair half-undone from her tidy bun. "Oh, Wilbur. It's you!" She smiled when she saw him. Wilbur smiled back. "How have you been?"
"I'm pretty good." Without asking, he reached out to pluck one of the pastries off the tray. Niki shook her head but the indulgent grin on her face told Wilbur she didn't mind. "How have you been?" he said while shoving it into his mouth.
"You're gross," Niki accused. "But I'm doing pretty good. The first customers of the day should be coming in any moment now."
"You should hang your bell in the doorframe again then or you won't hear them come in if you're in the back." Wilbur wiped his mouth on his sleeve.
"Yeah, that's the problem. I can't." Niki crossed her arms, a small frown on her face as she looked up at the little wooden peg above the door where the bell used to be. "I think it might have fallen off and somebody picked it up? Or it got lost some other way. I can't find it."
"Weird," Wilbur said.
Really weird. Hadn't those townsfolk been talking about a missing bell too?
Niki shrugged, not too bothered by it. "I'll just have to get a new one."
They made small talk for a few more minutes, Wilbur scarfed down two more pastries as they did much to Niki's obvious amusement, before he had to say goodbye to her. It was time for him to get back to work.
Services for Prime were simple. A priest would go around with a basket to collect the offerings. People gave what they could afford to miss, be it money or food or trinkets. All of it would be given to the less fortunate. The followers could leave messages when they did, prayers that would be heard by Prime. Asking for blessings, for forgiveness, for peace, in exchange for their donations. Sharing things with the deity that had brought its followers happiness. Wilbur lined up the empty baskets first. He dragged the bell to the altar. The priests would ring it to signify the service would begin. One at noon, one around dinnertime, and sometimes one at midnight.
Then Wilbur had to go out back to make sure they had a cart ready to move the offerings to where they needed to go after the service.
When he came back to the front and entered the church, there was somebody standing near the altar.
"Service hasn't started yet-" Wilbur began, frowning at what seemed to be a child. Where were their parents? People weren't supposed to wander around the church all willy-nilly.
The child's head shot up to stare at him, the pupils in his blood-red eyes narrowing as they focused on Wilbur.
Oh… so that's what all the gossip had been about.
Wilbur had not seen the kid the royals brought home, just heard a ton about him. After Niki met Techno when she went to the castle to deliver some food, she had explained to Wilbur in full detail how inhuman he had looked. And also how adorable he was.
Wilbur did not think Techno was adorable.
Standing there in the dewy light cast through stained glass windows, with shadows peeking out behind him and curving into sharp edges over what should be a sacred place - as if Techno's very presence was a stain on its sanctitude - Techno was the furthest thing from adorable.
Wilbur didn't know what this child was. He just knew that looking at him sent a shiver through him.
Then he blinked and Techno blinked back. And there were no shadows in the sunlit church, not even near the pillars of the altar where Wilbur could have sworn he saw eyes peering back at him a moment ago. Ever so slowly, Techno reached out. His small hands curled around the wooden frame of the bell.
In bewilderment, Wilbur watched him try and drag it outside.
Not very successfully so, though it should be noted that the fact he could move it at all was impressive enough for a child of Techno's age. The bell was made from silver and iron and was attached to a frame to keep it standing. Wilbur struggled to move it on the best of days.
But it was Wilbur's job to move it.
"Hey!" He started to run towards the altar.
Techno let go of the bell and quickly spun around so he could dart out of the church. He was frighteningly quick, weaving between some of the columns to get past Wilbur and disappear out the door. Wilbur could hear his hooves on the stone steps outside; scurrying away.
What the fuck just happened?
"Is there a problem?"
Wilbur was startled when one of the priests spoke. The man was adjusting his robes but had clearly been too late to see what had happened.
And what would Wilbur even tell him? "Yeah the king's possibly illegitimate child tried to steal one of our most sacred artifacts but I chased him away"? That's ridiculous.
So he just nodded and turned away. "Nope, all good. Everything is ready."
It kept Wilbur up that night though, and he couldn't put his finger on why. It couldn't just be the fact that Techno was a hybrid of some kind. While rare, Wilbur had definitely seen those before. It couldn't be that he'd never seen a child try to steal something, children were known for their mischief. Wilbur used to be quite the pickpocket himself. It wasn't even that one moment of odd unbelonging, as if he'd been staring into something greater than himself. No, that moment would surely haunt Wilbur's nightmares but it was not the thing nagging on his brain.
What was it then…
Something fell to the ground in the church's main chamber.
Wilbur shot upright in his cot, heart hammering away as the echoes of metal slamming into stone reverberated around the building. Wilbur's little room was right by the door that led to the church itself, in a little hallway of the side building. He was the most nearby, if something was going on he should check.
But he didn't have a death wish. Wilbur grabbed a candlestick from his bedside table before gingerly stepping out into the hallway.
The main room of the church was empty and it was dark. Wilbur's fingers felt sweaty against the cold metal of the candlestick. He wasn't usually a nervous person, but something about today had left him shaken. He could use a nap and not whatever this fucking shit was.
All the stuff on the altar had been knocked over.
Wilbur looked around, stepping forward a bit quicker now that confusion had won out over fear. His only explanation for how this could have happened would be the wind - something that made sense because he could feel a breeze. One of the windows was open. High on the wall, not easy to be reached.
A person moved in the darkness.
Wilbur swung at it out of instinct, finding himself very glad that he missed because he didn't think the royals would forgive him if he had killed their adopted child. Techno pouted at him in annoyance, as if being attacked by Wilbur with a candlestick was a mere inconvenience. He was trying to haul the bell along under his arm, ears flicking with the effort of it, his face scrunched up and turning red.
"Wha- Stop that!" Wilbur dropped the improvised weapon in favor of grabbing the bell's frame. Techno let go immediately, to glare at Wilbur instead. Presumably for interrupting him in his amazing bell heist.
And all at once Wilbur knew exactly what the odd thing was he needed to put his finger on. It was bells.
The one at the school. The chime Niki used above her door. Both of them had been stolen recently.
There could only be one culprit. Wilbur was looking at him right now!
"This isn't yours," Wilbur said firmly. He felt really stupid arguing with a literal child like that, but what else could he do?
Techno turned around and ran away again. Wilbur watched him push open the doors of the church. That wasn't how he got in through, the hinges creaked terribly and Wilbur would have woken up. No, he was awoken by the sound of all the stuff falling from the altar.
Because Techno had climbed in through the window. What the heck?
Disgruntled, Wilbur dragged the bell along toward his room. He was not taking any chances.
Part of him almost wanted to stay up to keep an eye out. Clearly, this Techno kid had some kind of unreasonable obsession with stealing bells and Wilbur would pay hell if he'd let one of the church's artifacts be stolen on his watch. After today, he was so exhausted he couldn't keep awake though. Several hours passed of him staring into the dimness of the room. Then sleep pulled at his eyelids and they finally slipped shut.
Only for Wilbur to wake up and find the bell gone.
How it had been taken out of his room was anybody's guess. It was kind of creepy for Wilbur to imagine Techno must have come in while he was sleeping to yoink it. Not to mention how he had done all that without making a noise.
At least there was no doubt in his mind Techno took it. Partly because that was the only answer that made sense, partly because there was no other reason for the king to be standing on the church's stairs when Wilbur opened the door.
There was a battalion of guards behind him, lined up two by two. The townsfolk who had gathered on the square for their usual morning gossip were staring at Wilbur, and at the king who was so politely smiling at him. He was holding Techno by the hand.
"Hello," the king said. Wilbur had never heard him speak before, he realized suddenly. He had never met the king. Should he be doing something? Should he be bowing?!
Awkwardly, Wilbur tried to bend over but also keep eye contact because eye contact was polite and he couldn't offend the king because dear gods what a disaster that would be. "Y-your majesty. I'm sorry, I wasn't prepared for you to visit."
King Philza chuckled, his laugh was warm and comfortable. "Nonsense. I should be the one apologizing for intruding on your morning so rudely." He tugged slightly on Techno's hand, making the child take a step forward. Techno had his tail wrapped around himself, looking down at the ground demurely. He definitely looked some measure of ashamed, or upset. "And Techno here should apologize for taking something without asking."
Techno glanced up at him through his lashes. Wilbur recognized that look, it was the look of a boy who got scolded by his father.
"It's alright," Wilbur said quickly. "The bell isn't even mine, technically." The church and everything in it belonged to Prime.
"No, it's not alright. Techno has to learn he can't just take things." The king put his hand sternly on Techno's back. "Techno, what do we say when we mess up?"
"Sorry," Techno mumbled. He couldn't meet Wilbur's eye.
"Thanks," Wilbur answered. "Uh, can I have my bell back?"
The king laughed. "Nope."
"What do you mean, nope?" For a moment, it was as if Wilbur had forgotten he was talking to a royal.
"It's a very nice bell. Techno asked if he could keep it and, well, I'm really bad at saying no to kids." Sheepishly, the king rubbed the back of his head.
It was in moments like these that Wilbur was painfully reminded this guy was a commoner a couple of years ago.
"But I have put in the order for a new bell to be crafted for the church," the king continued quickly. "It'll be made to Prime's specifications so you won't have to worry about that. I hope you can cope without it for a day or two, the royal blacksmiths work fast even if they're handling precious metals."
"That's very kind of you," Wilbur said.
"It's the least I could do."
A sentiment Wilbur definitely agreed with but didn't voice out loud. He valued his life too much to be thrown in jail for treason.
The king's visit to the church became the new gossip around the capital and Wilbur returned to his duties, though he noticed Techno wander around town sometime. He would always stop and wave at Wilbur. Wilbur didn't wave back.
Three days later a bell was brought to their doorstep. The silver shone delicately in the morning sun, and the engravings were done with more precision and care than Wilbur could have ever thought possible. The frame was metal too, black iron, and set with several gemstones. It was even heavier to lug around, but Wilbur couldn't deny it was one of the coolest things he'd ever seen. Prime would be happy with it.
Prime would have been happy with it.
Wilbur put the bell in his room from the get-go this time. Why he thought something that failed once would work this time, who knows.
But when he woke up the bell was gone. And Wilbur put on his shoes so he could head down to the castle and force the king to commission another one.
Maybe one they could attach to the wall so the royals' terrible adopted son wouldn't steal it.