Work Text:
It was a fine normal morning, birds were chirping, people were going about their normal business and Tommy was doing the perfectly normal teenage thing of running away from a rich looking man after stealing his wallet but turns out that he was a FBI agent trying to arrest a terrorist but due to him stealing the agent's wallet, the agent got spotted by the terrorist and the terrorist ran away. AND SOMEHOW IT WAS ALL TOMMY'S FAULT NOW. In the first place, if the government officers actually did their job and made sure that the money sent to orphanages was actually going towards the kids and not going towards some fat old woman's monthly luxury spa day, he wouldn't have to resort to stealing.
Tommy felt like his lungs were burning. He had never ran as fast as he had run in the last 10 minutes than ever in his short life of 16 years. He pushed through the busy morning street full of people trying to lose the agent amid the crowd. He was sure that he had stepped on a couple of people's feets during the chase. He constantly kept looking back to see if he had lost the agent but the agent was roughly pursuing him with the same speed if not faster despite his huge build. 'How the hell was this guy moving through this crowd while being a literal giant?' was Tommy's only thought when he saw the agent pursuing him.
Tommy looked ahead and saw that there was a crossing ahead; if he managed to get past it in time before the timer runs out, he might lose the agent. After all, there was no other route left. The agent was getting closer every second and if he just kept running down the street he would definitely get caught especially with the growing amount of people noticing him.
He looked at the street light. 30 seconds left.
He ran faster.
20 seconds.
He was near the crossing now.
15 seconds.
He was on the crossing. Most People had almost crossed and most other people were simply standing on the pavement. ' Why are they standing?'
10 secs .
' Whose arm is holding me? Am I caught? Why is there blood everywhere? Why is everything burning? What went wrong?'
5 .
'ah… I feel sleepy.'
' goodnight…everyone…i am sor-'
—x—
" WAHHH! "
A baby's crying was echoing throughout the room. Tommy felt like someone was holding him. He couldn't move his head for some reason. All he could see was a fancy ceiling, which looked like those in Victorian setting movies. He could hear people chattering beside in some foreign language.
'Why is everything so big here?' Tommy thought as he looked at the huge chandelier that was hanging from the ceiling.
The person holding him sat down on a chair and put him in their lap so that he was able to see a person laying on the bed. He was also able to see tiny hands below him.
'Are these… my hands? I have been turned into a baby? Then the one crying is.. me?But..I don't feel anything.'
Tommy saw there was a beautiful woman lying on the bed. She had dark brown hair and beautiful black eyes that glowed like gemstones under the light of the lamps. She was wearing a black gown and had been covered with a blanket. She had a tired expression with a lazy smile on her face. 'She is so pretty.' When the woman looked at Tommy a floating blue screen appeared in front of him.
[ Synchronisation 1%
*When synchronisation is 100% the user will get full control of the vessel]
'wtf?! What is this? Synchronisation? Is this like a game or something?'
It seemed like nobody else was able to see the screen. The person holding him moved him and Tommy went right through the screen and into the arms of the dark haired woman. As the woman kept talking the synchronisation kept increasing.
[ Synchronisation 10%
Language insight privileges unlocked]
'Does this mean I can speak now?'
"I love you, Theseus. Mother will always love you, no matter what." The dark haired women kissed Tommy on the forehead with teary eyes. Her hands were trembling and her complexion was getting paler.
'Wait, mother?' Tommy tried to speak but all that came out of his mouth was a loud cry. Tommy was now able to understand the words of the people around him now. The numerous chatter of different people, mostly people asking his 'mother' for things or informing her of them. They called her 'your majesty the empress'.
'So she was an empress. Does that mean I am a prince?'
The dark haired woman coughed and the person sitting on the chair took me back into their lap and Tommy saw that she was a young woman with light brown hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a black and white maid uniform with puff sleeves.
"Your majesty, you must rest." The blue eyed woman said.
"I think… my time has come… Clara." The empress's eyes began to close.
'Is she…dying? Surely not? I can't lose my mother in this life too. Please.. please… don't die.'
"Your majesty!" Clara yelled. The other servants in the room also stopped chattering, some started sobbing out loud. Tommy also started crying; even if he didn't have direct control over his body, his body still reacted to his emotions.
*Bang!*
The doors to the room banged open. A person ran inside the room and sat beside the empress. He had a crown on his head, presumably the emperor. He had blonde hair which was tied into a messy ponytail and blue eyes which were on the brink of tears. He held the empress's hand and brought it to his cheek. The servants bowed when they saw him.
"My love, you can't leave us. Please…please hold on..the doctors can surely help you.." He sobbed.
"Phil…take good care of Theseus and give him enough love to make up for my absence… make sure he, Techno and Wil know how much I loved them… I love you, Phil."
The empress gave a smile.
" Kristin!" The emperor screamed.
The empress closed her eyes.
—x—
"Your highness! It's time to eat!" Clara's cheery voice echoed in the ghastly palace. It was early in the morning and the rays of the sun had begun to enter through the tiny gaps in the old torn curtains.
"Nuuu, i w'ana sleep.'' A two year old Tommy rolled in his crib.
'Let me sleep dammit! Why the hell does a baby have to wake up at fucking 7 in the morning!'
"But your highness, it's already morning." Clara said as she took Tommy into her arms and wiped his face with a soft cloth and water she had brought in a wash basin along with the tray of food. All of the utensils were cracked and old to a noticeable degree.
She then sat on a sofa in the room with Tommy sitting on her lap and began feeding Tommy porridge with a baby spoon.
'Porridge again. I am a prince but all I have been eating is PORRIDGE.'
"Po'ige." Tommy babbled with a mouth full of porridge.
"Yes yes, it's your favourite porridge. You eat so well compared to other babies." Clara said as she wiped Tommy's mouth and fed him another spoonful of porridge.
'Damn this baby body! I don't want to eat this anymore!'
"No, m'ore eat."
"You don't want to eat anymore. Oh but there's only a spoonful left. Won't you eat it like a good boy?" Clara said as she brought the spoon closer to Tommy's mouth.
'Fine, only for you Clara.' Tommy thought as he ate the final spoonful of porridge.
"I will be right back, your highness. I have to go get your clothes for the day." Clara said as she put Tommy back in the crib. She then took the old cracked utensils in one arm hand and the wash basin in the other.
'Clara is so strong! Definitely the poggest woman as well.'
"Clara so strong!" Tommy sat up in his crib looking at Clara with a look of admiration.
"I was your highness's mother's personal knight after all! I am the strongest knight in the kingdom." Clara said as she smiled brightly and exited the room.
PING!
[Synchronisation 20%
New features unlocked: 'The window to one's mind' 'I know how you feel!'
*When synchronisation is 100% the user will get full control of the vessel]
'Finally something new after two fucking years! ' Tommy thought in his mind as he stared at the floating status screen. The sync rate had been growing as slow as a snail since 2 years ago. The only time it went up rapidly was when he interacted with his very dead mother which led Tommy to the conclusion that it only increased with certain people and that rate was also different for different people.
The only person up until now able to increase his sync rate was Clara but it was so slow he might have to wait until he's an adult for the sync rate to reach 100%.
Clack!
'Huh? Is Clara back?'
Tommy looked at the door which was opened and a big, not big but Tommy was so small everything was big, a brunette child entered the room. The child wore a dress shirt and navy blue fancy pants along with black shoes and socks with navy blue lines. The child from his face seemed to be in his early teens, probably 12 to 14 years old. His eyes were swollen red as if he was crying.
Ping!
[Would you like to apply your skills on target 'Wilbur Soot Craft'?
Yes or No
Tip: Apply skills whenever you get them to increase the sync rate.]
'So this kid's name is Wilbur? Weird name. Also apply skills to increase sync rate, this is new. Welp let's try it. What's the worst that could happen? Yes.'
[Applying both skills on target!]
As soon as Tommy accepted, another window popped up in front of him. Meanwhile the brunette, Wilbur, didn't seem to have noticed Tommy sitting on the crib and had hid behind the sofa.
[Wilbur: " I don't want to go back to the main palace! I hate them! I hate dad! I hate Techno! I don't want to be crown prince! I hate it! I hate everything!"
Target's mood: Distressed, angry]
'Are these this kid's thoughts? Wait, crown prince? Does this mean this kid's my brother? Looks like this kid's been suffering. It won't hurt to cheer him up. Plus he's the only person from my family I have seen in like 2 years.'
"He'llo" Tommy stood up in his crib and leaned against the railing so Wilbur could see him. Upon hearing his voice Wilbur stood up from where he was hiding and came closer to Tommy.
"Hello, what's a baby doing here and that hair and eye colour? What's your name?" Wilbur said as he looked at Tommy and put his hand on the railing of the crib. Tommy in turn put one of his hands on Wilbur's and said, "Thes'us! Why you sad?"
Wilbur chuckled upon hearing that. In the status window his mood changed to [Intrigued] and the other emotions displayed earlier were replaced by it, which was good for Tommy .
"Why am I sad? Well it's because of my dad. He doesn't really spend time with me anymore. My brother doesn't either and I am also supposed to have a younger baby brother just like you but nobody lets me visit him because I might 'hurt him' just like with Techno. Why am I ranting towards a baby?" Wilbur threw his arms into the air as he ended his rant.
"That mus be tough." Tommy said as he tried to comfort Wilbur by patting his shoulder. He wanted to say so much more but curse this baby body.
"Wan a hug?" Tommy said as he extended both of his arms. Wilbur hugged him and held him tightly. Upon hugging him Wilbur's status changed to [Happy, Calm] which made Tommy happy as well.
"Can't believe I was comforted by a baby. Are all babies this smart?"
"Nope! It's cau'se I am so pog!" Tommy giggled as he said that.
'It's because I am a teenager inside!'
"Pog? What does that even mean? Pog as in dog? Well you are as cute as a little puppy!" Wilbur laughed as he said that and put Tommy back in the crib.
"Oi! No! Pog means good!" Tommy babbled angrily and tried to punch Wilbur with his tiny baby hands.
"Awww! Are you trying to punch me? Little wittle baby is angry." Wilbur said as he pinched Tommy's cheeks with both of his hands which made Tommy angrier and he tried to grab his hair.
'I literally just comforted you brat! This is how you repay me?!'
"Your highness! I am back with your clothes!" Clara's cheery voice echoed as she entered the room and saw the two princes fighting, mostly Tommy. As soon as her eyes laid on Wilbur she fell into a deep bow.
"I greet the ever glowing sun of the empire." She greeted Wilbur. Tommy also stopped trying to hit Wilbur and just looked at him and then at Clara.
"You may rise. Tell me, is this child perhaps my brother, otherwise the youngest prince?" Wilbur's face was now pulled in a thin smile, no longer displaying a playful mood.
[ Wilbur: 'The condition of this room is incredibly bad but looking at this child's hair and eye colour, he really is my brother. Have the maids been neglecting him and his palace?
Mood: Suspicious, Slightly Angry]
'Wait! Don't hurt Clara. It was the other maids who were neglecting me. Punish them, not Clara.'
"Yes, your highness the crown prince." Clara said and she looked down and avoided meeting Wilbur's eyes. Just as Wilbur opened his mouth to something Tommy cut him-
"Clara is good!" Tommy yelled and held onto Wilbur's arm tightly,"She takes care ow me!"
"Does she now? You seem to really like her." Wilbur's smile grew as he looked at Tommy and then looked back at Clara,"Are you his nanny? He seems really fond of you. Now that I remember it, weren't you my mother's personal guard?"
"Yes, your highness, you are correct. It's nice seeing you again after two whole years. You seem to have grown a lot. I didn't expect you would recognise me." Clara said with a warm look on her face.
"How could I forget the knight who used to play with me? You look certainly different without the knight uniform." Wilbur chuckled, "Would you mind having a little conversation with me…about the condition of the palace this evening? I think I must have a long conversation with my father about this as well."
"Oh yes ofcourse, your highness!" Clara replied as Wilbur smiled in a sinister way.
'Are they both villains or something? Why are they smiling like that?'
"I will take my leave now, my tutors must be searching for me and I don't want to put father in a bad mood if I am going to talk about something like this." Wilbur said as went to the door to leave and waved goodbye towards Tommy, "Bye bye, Theseus."
"Bye bye!" Tommy waved bye in return.
—x—
Night had fallen and all of the residents of Tommy's palace had gone asleep. Clara had also fed Tommy so food a little earlier and put Tommy to sleep in his crib. She had sung him a lullaby in her oh so godly voice. Tommy thought she was an actual goddess. Back in his world she would have definitely been world famous if she were a singer. Tommy pretended to sleep and when Clara saw him close his eyes, she tucked him in and left.
'Everyone should be asleep now.' Tommy opened his eyes as he thought that and sat up his crib.
'I got a ton of status notifications today, so now it's time check them all out!'
As soon as Tommy thought this the floating blue status window appeared infront of him. Tommy first decided to check the sync rate.
[Synchronisation rate 30%]
'woah! It went up that much just by talking with Wilbur a little. Now let's look at skills.'
[Current skills: Passive- 'Language Insight'
Active- 'The window to one's mind' 'I know how you feel!'
Tip: more skills will unlock as sync rate increases, so make sure to get it up to 100% as soon as possible!]
'so the window skill lets me read minds and the feeling one lets me know their moods. This is pretty good for survival.'
Creak!
'huh?'
The door to Tommy's room was slightly opened and someone with pink hair peaked in. Tommy quickly fell onto his back in the crib and pretended to sleep. There was a clatter of shoes, probably two people were together. They were whispering something. Tommy felt that they were near the crib now and even with his eyes closed he could tell that there were two people seeing him.
"Shh, Wilbur be quiet. We could get found out. Why did you bring me here in the first place?" An unknown child's voice whispered.
'Did Wilbur bring a friend? At this fucking late in the night?'
"Techno, didn't you want to see our baby brother?" Wilbur whispered back.
"Yeah but if father finds out we snuck out at night he will be mad at us and speak in a more quiet tone what if he wakes up and starts crying?" The supposed child, Techno, whispered back in a scolding tone.
'well I am already awake.'
"Oh! Who cares what father thinks? He didn't let us meet our baby brother." Wilbur said, he wasn't whispering anymore and from his voice it seemed he was frustrated.
"There must be a reason father did this."
"Oh yeah right! Father's little golden boy wouldn't understand. Father neglected Theseus. Father neglected me. But you wouldn't understand because you were too busy being coddl-" Wilbur said as he raised his voice was a cut off by Techno.
"You don't understand what father is going through! Well you were always the "
"YOU-"
"Stop!" Tommy said in the middle of their argument which made both Techno and Wilbur look at Tommy with panicked eyes. Tommy sat up and glared at the two as an awkward silence descended upon the room. Tommy looked at Techno and saw that he had soft pink hair like cotton candy tied in a bun and red eyes like rubies which were almost glowing in the faint moonlight coming from the window.
'oh my god! Stop fighting. You guys might wake up the whole palace at this point.'
"Wilba, stop fighting with Tec- Tec- Pinky!" Tommy pointed his finger at Wilbur as he huffed and stood up in his crib.
"Pinky? Techno he called you pinky." Wilbur wheezed as he heard Tommy's nickname for Techno and Techno hit Wilbur's head but Wilbur continued laughing.
"Call me Techno. My name is Technoblade." Techno moved his face directly in front of Tommy and narrowed his eyes as he stared directly into Tommy's eyes. Tommy felt that he was directly staring into his soul.
"Te-tesho." Tommy struggled with saying the word.
"No, Techno." Techno moved closer.
"Tesno."
"No. It's Te-ch-no. Techno." Techno explained in a calm voice.
"Pinky!" Tommy giggled as he said that. Techno sighed and put one hand on his forehead as Wilbur's laughter intensified.
'It's not my fault that I am stuck in a baby's body, pinky. Deal with it.'
"Your highness, I am coming in." Upon hearing Clara's voice at the door, both the princes dashed and hid behind the curtain. Clara walked in holding a small lamp. She was wearing a night dress and her hair was tied in a messy bun.
"Clara!" Tommy's face brightened as he saw her.
"Your highness, I heard some sounds coming from your room. Was anyone here?" Clara asked as she tucked Tommy back into his crib.
'Should I snitch? Hmm.' Tommy thought as he glanced at the spot in the curtains where the two princes were hidden.
"Nope!" Tommy giggled slightly and yawned and pretended to fall asleep.
"Alright, goodnight then your highness." Clara kissed Tommy's forehead before she left the room.
"Clara gone. Come out pinky and wilba." Tommy sat back up and called out to them.
"Phew! I thought we would be caught!" Wilbur huffed a sigh of relief as he came out from behind the curtains.
"If Wil wasn't laughing so loudly we wouldn't even have to hide." Techno said as he readjusted his bun.
"Hey! It isn't entirely my fault!" Wilbur said as he glared at Techno.
'Pinky is right about that.'
"Pinky is right, Wilba." Tommy said as he crossed his arms.
"Don't take Techno's side. Aren't I your favourite brother?" Wilbur held Tommy's hand and stared at him in a dramatic fashion.
"Theseus seems to have realised who the better brother is." Techno egged Wilbur on.
"But I have known him longer!" Wilbur cried in response, hugging Tommy.
'I literally got to know you both today.'
"Theseus, who do you like more?" Both Wilbur and Techno said in unison and held one of Tommy's hands.
"Clara! I only like Clara!" Tommy said matter of factly.
"Heh?" "What?" Both Techno and Wilbur had a defeated face and let go of Tommy's hand.
"Well, she is his nanny so that explains why he likes her most." Wilbur sighed as he put a hand behind his head.
"Well we should get going as well Wil. The servants might notice our absence." Techno said as he started going towards the door.
"Yeah we should, if our father found out we would be scolded pretty harshly." Wilbur sighed and followed Techno. Both of them waved Tommy goodnight and left.
'Hope they don't get caught.' Tommy yawned as he had that thought and drifted into a slumber and into the land of dreams. This night was truly an eventful one, a night which none of the the three princes would ever forget.
[Synchronisation 45%]
—x—
The next day, the secluded palace was more busy than it ever had been. There was a constant going and coming of servants, cleaning and fixing the crumbling palace. All of the servants were new faces to Tommy except Clara. At times the new servants would come and greet Tommy and even try to play with. All of this new attention was nice to Tommy but he wondered what happened to the old servants. He used his skills on some of the servants and all of them seemed to have liked him a lot and were sent on the emperor's orders to replace the old servants
Clack!
The room to his door burst open which made Tommy sit up and see who was entering. It was the same man from 2 years ago, the man with blond hair and blue eyes, the man who screamed at his mother's death, the emperor, his father . Upon seeing him many thoughts swirled in his mind.
'Why is he here? Didn't he abandon me? He also made Wilbur sad and was presumably neglecting him.'
The emperor came near his crib and all the servants bowed down to him, including Clara.
"It has been 2 years since we met my son, Theseus." The emperor said with a warm look in his face which only made Tommy more angry. When the emperor tried to hold Tommy, Tommy slapped his hand away and yelled while at him–
"Bad man!"
'If you missed me so much, you should have visited me. Why the fuck are you here now?'
[Use skills on target 'Philza Watson Craft'?
Yes or no]
'yes. Let's see what your real intentions are now.'
All the servants in the room gasped and Clara knelt down in front of him.
"Please forgive his highness Theseus your majesty. He just…doesn't like some new people. I am sure he will get used to you with time." Clara said as she bowed her head down.
[Philza: Does he hate me? Well it is understandable. I have never come to see him up until now, I wouldn't be able to see him much until the war ends.
Mood: Sorrowful, Regretful]
"Please stand up, Dame Clara. I perfectly understand why he might hate me." Philza said in a calm voice as Clara stood up. He walked closer to Tommy and knelt in front of him.
"Prince Theseus Innit Watson, I make a vow, that from now forth, the emperor Philza Watson Craft, will do anything in my power to never disappoint or hurt you ever again." Philza said with a determined look in his eyes.
"Then pway with me, pinky and Wilba." Tommy said as soon as Phil made the vow. Some servants and Philza laughed while the others tried to hold in their laughter while Clara had a bewildered look on her face, probably wondering when Tommy met Techno.
"Did you mean play with you, Wilbur and Techno. Pinky is certainly a unique name for Techno. It seems they snuck out to meet you." Phil chuckled lightly and stood up.
"And yes, I would definitely play with you. It seems I have neglected my family for a long time. I may not be the best father up till now but I will try to make it up to all three of you." Phil had a melancholy look in his eyes and in the status his mood stayed as [Sorrowful, Regretful] .
Ping!
[Achievement unlocked: 'Join a family'
Rewards: 1xSR reward box]
'Huh what's this nevermind I will see it later.'
"Anyways I have to go now, i will come back after work." Philza said softly as he got up and began going towards the door.
"Bye bye dad ." Upon hearing that everyone stood still and Philza stopped in his tracks and looked back with teary eyes.
"Bye bye son ." Phil said with a bright smile and left the room, as Tommy glanced for the last time at the status window he saw his mood had changed to [Overjoyed, Regretful] .
'There is some hope for a family this time, right?'
[Synchronisation 50%]
—x—