Chapter Text
“I made you centurion because I trust your judgment, Tubbo, and I’m not going to abandon that when there’s an actually hard decision to be made. I know you’ll put the best interests of the legion first, even though Tommy’s your friend. So I’m leaving it up to you: do we give in to Dream’s demands? Exile him?”
“Do you think Dream can really sink the alliance like she’s threatening?”
“She’s one of the Amazons’ best warriors, and married to the minister of war’s son. The minister of war…she’s from an old, wealthy, powerful family. American and British dual citizen, descendant of Pluto, dug many of their underground bases, kept her position through multiple changes of queen…and Dream has her ear and her respect. If I had to bet money on it…I hate to say it, but I think she can.”
“Do I have to decide right now?”
“Of course not, Tubbo, I wouldn’t come to you at the last minute. Dream wants our answer in three days; I want yours in two. Your honest opinion of what choice is best for the legion.”
“So, Tommy—can I call you Tommy?”
“Everyone calls me Tommy.”
“Tommy, I was hoping today I could share some fun facts with you. Teach you a little about my sword, Nightmare—I call it ‘Nightmare’, get it?”
“That’s very clever,” says Tommy without emotion.
“The first fun fact is that Stygian iron blades, made right, can trap monsters’ souls! Some people say all Stygian iron blades do that, but that’s a misconception; really it needs precision craftsmanship to make sure the soul doesn’t slip out, to prevent the monster from ever re-forming so long as the weapon remains in existence—and some of these weapons, after all, last thousands of years. It’s a rare thing I’m holding right now; there are fewer and fewer smiths around who know how to make one.
The second fun fact is that some Stygian ‘iron’ weapons are really steel, Stygian iron mixed with perfectly ordinary carbon to make an alloy capable of harming both humans and monsters. Lots of Amazon weapons are alloys like that, actually, since our war is against both the monsters and patriarchal mortal society.
The thing we don’t know—that’s never been tested—is whether a Stygian iron blade can trap a human’s soul, prevent you from going on to the Underworld. There are some simple checks one could do, having killed a human with the blade, to see whether it worked. For example, you could try the ritual of the sheep’s blood, to summon ghosts, and see if their shade shows up. But I’ve never gotten to test it; after all, I’ve never had to kill a human with this blade.”
Dream rests the tip of the sword on Tommy’s chest, right over the heart, lightly, barely making contact.
“Isn’t that interesting?”
Tommy can hear the smile in her voice. He can’t help but imagine what her face must look like, under the mask. Maybe it resembles the mask itself, pale and beady-eyed and smirking wider than anyone should…Tommy shivers. He tries not to let Dream see it. He doesn’t want to give her the satisfaction.