Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tulie remembered watching. Observing as a country split and declared independence, her best friend practically in the center of it all. She remembered the celebrations and tragedies, holding him up as he fell. Being introduced to his friends and older brother, Remembering each time she gifted each a white tulip. How Tommy treasured that white tulip everywhere he went, because only he knew how significant it was.

If only the others did as well.
When Tommy's brother had decided to blow his old country back to bits, she was caught in the destruction. Her most painful death yet. Her spirit transferred to the closest tulip, body disintegrating into soil as her new one bloomed.

That's how she saw Tommy's father kill his brother.
That's why Wilbur's tulip wasn't found in the aftermath.

Tommy held on to Tulie after that. Then came the exile. Tommy begged with Tubbo to not sentence him to isolation, Tulie could feel his heart breaking at the thought of being alone. But his so-called "Best friend" still followed through on the sentencing.
Tommy held on to Tulie until he was pulled away by Dream.
Tubbo would later find a wither rose in the pot he'd planted the gifted tulip in.

Apparently that counted as an assassination attempt.

Tulie wasn't there for her trial, she had run a few days after Tommy disappeared. She hid in tiny caverns, away from everyone. Slowly trying to find her way to Tommy again. That was until her disease caught up to her, coughing up black goo and collapsing in a forest far from anyone.

That was where Dream found her and made a decision. Tulie had a bounty on her head (Having the public think you tried to kill the president of a country will do that.) And being brought in could be a big reward. Or Dream could take her to Logstedshire with Tommy and have two kids under his control, to shape into what he wanted. Bonus, She had powers.

What's another kid to traumatize into submission?

Tommy would be so happy to be reunited with Tulie and not be alone again.
Dream knew there was a risk in bringing them together, but planned a twisted game.

Tommy and Tulie wouldn't run without the other, so keep at least one in no condition to run, and they wouldn't.
Tulie had a chronic illness, Dream could easily make both kids dependent on him.

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Tommy watched the portal swirl as he sat against the walls of his house,feeling lonely without Ghostbur. Even if it was just an image of his brother with none of the memories, it was nice not being alone. Tommy was lost in his thoughts as his hands played with the delicate flower. One of the few items that he would rather Dream kill him than let him destroy. The white tulip meant there was someone still waiting, maybe even looking for him. It would have wilted away if Tulie didn't care about him anymore.
The red ribbon wrapped around the base of the stem had seen better days, but Tulie had said that this tulip was the first one she'd ever given to someone outside family so it was special.
A gift.

He heard the sounds of footsteps so he quickly stood shoving the flower into a pocket so it was out of sight. Dream wasn't coming from the Nether portal direction which was strange, but Tommy wasn't going to question it, lest he get hit again.

Dream rounded the corner, holding someone up as they got closer. Tommy recognized the messy snow white hair and green shirt covered with dirt smeared overalls.

"TULIE!" Said girl raised her head, reaching her arms forward and taking a few stumbling steps to collapse into her best friend's arms. The two held each other tightly for a few moments, until Dream coughed to get their attention.

"Tulie is going to join you here Tommy because she's also been sentenced to exile for trying to kill Tubbo. Instead of trying to find a whole new place for her, I decided to put you both together. Considering how good you've been lately, having a friend out here while I'm gone seems like a nice reward right?"

Tommy looked down at Tulie after hearing why she was here now, and she looked back up at him, telling him with her eyes 'I'll explain later'. Tommy accepted that, seeing the smears of black around her mouth and knowing what that meant. Both started walking back into the house, Dream watching them, as a wicked smile under his mask.

This was almost too easy.

Chapter Text

Tommy looked down the beach, Tulie sat unmoving as she stared out at the water. Green bruises and scrapes mared her exposed skin, dirt on her clothes, all from an explosion. An explosion that was his fault. He was the one who hid a chest under his bed, the one hiding something from Dream.

Dream found out

Bye, Bye House.

Dream, in all his dickish glory, blew their house to kingdom come right as Tulie was coming back. He made her witness the destruction, like she had when she was blown up with L'Manberg. That's why the young girl sat on the beach motionless, and why Tommy felt guilty while watching her.

He turned back to the flimsy tent that he had constructed, it was shoddy but it would do. It had to, complaining to Dream would just make it worse. Tommy started making his way down the beach, limping due to the explosion catching his leg. Tulie didn't make any sign that she knew He was approaching, but Tommy could see the green in the whites of her eyes. A sign she had been crying. Tommy sat next to her, reaching a hand out to her. Tulie took it without looking, taking a shaky breath as the cloudy look over her eyes started to clear.

'Yep, she was reliving her most painful death.' Tommy thought to himself, rubbing his thumb against the back of her hand. The best he could do was sit and be a grounded tie to reality for her. There were a few minutes of silence between them, sitting and watching the waves hit the beach. Tommy looked over to see fresh tears roll down Tulie's face. He reached up with his other hand to wipe them away, which led to Tulie collapsing into his arms as they both cried.

"I'm sorry." "I don't blame you." "You should."

"I blame him. You and I are just trying to survive. He's the one making it difficult."

Tommy didn't have a response. He knew she was right but a small piece of his brain kept yelling that it was his own fault. He held on to Tulie's small frame a bit tighter. They let themselves wallow in their misery for a few minutes more, before getting up. Tulie noted how Tommy favored one leg over the other, limping a few steps. Tulie frowned at that, crouching down to pick up a piece of drift wood that had washed up on the shore. It didn't matter how long it had been dead for, if something once held natural life could still have it in it. Tulie wrapped her hands around the stick, focusing on growing it to the right length and growing moss at the top to make a comfortable grip.

Tommy looked back to Tulie after realizing that she wasn't right beside him, to be met with a walking cane held out to him and pink eyes giving him a "you don't get to argue. Use it." look. With a huff he took the offered cane, rolling his eyes as they both continued up to the tent.

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Dream left angry, leaving Tulie and Tommy bruised, the former's right wrist was in a worrying condition. The pair sat in their tent, Tommy wrapping up Tulie's wrist with two sticks to act as a brace.

"You didn't have to get between us."
"He wasn't letting up about your discs, I know what they mean to you I just wanted to distract him."
Tommy looked at his smaller companion with disappointment in his eyes, which caused Tulie to look down with shame as she muttered something.
"What was that?"
Tulie coughed, as she said "I didn't see anything but his rotting corpse. I wasn't in control,Tommy." Tommy's head shot up in alarm.
"Dream skipped a treatment?!"
To his horror, Tulie held up three fingers before telling Tommy, "He said it was punishment for trying to "leave". I wasn't."
Tommy, who by now had finished wrapping up her wrist, leaned back in shock.

This was unnecessarily cruel, even for Dream.

Tommy was starting to spiral, his thoughts getting to him as the image of what could happen to one of the only people in his life. Tulie saw this and took the moment to distract him from it. She stood, pulling Tommy to his feet and walking out of the tent.
"Wait, What? Why are we-
"I'm not letting you spiral. We're going to explore a bit, Dream's not going to be back for a while." Tulie announced with determination. Tommy sighed as he followed Tulie into the woods, might as well, maybe they would find something that could work as a substitute for her meds.

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"Holy shit." The duo had been wandering for about thirty minutes when they found a small clearing, taken up entirely by a strange ruin. Tulie ran forward, Tommy stood in shock at the discovery. The steps, floor, and columns were made of white marble and inside sat four tables?
It was strange, something about it seemed almost ethereal. The whole place gave off that vibe. And seeing Tulie spin around inside the ruins, eyes full of wonder...

Like she was supposed to be there.

"Tommy! You have to come in here, there's some cool stuff!"

Tommy followed her voice, climbing the three steps up to the full shrine. Moss and vines had definitely made their home here, covering some of the carvings and creeping up the tables. There were some areas for glass, but years and nature had broken the panes. Tommy looked up at the roof and was taken aback. He hit Tulie's shoulder and pointed up.

Set into the ceiling was a beautiful, intricate mixed media piece of art. It was divided into four segments, all depicting different symbols around empty space.

"It looks like something was one in that gap but it's been removed." Tulie noted, pointing at each part of the fresco, Tommy taking her word for it. The light shifted a little bit, suddenly sparkles of color were scattered all around them.

"Oh, there's quartz crystals embedded into the floor and columns." Tommy noted, rubbing a smokey quartz clean with his thumb. Tulie started pulling down some of the ivy, revealing carvings and more crystals and maybe even real jewels. Tulie turned to look at Tommy, excitement practically glowing in her eyes.

"We should restore this place." She exclaimed. Tommy looked at her as if she was crazy but he slowly came around to the idea. "It can be just for us, away from Dream." Tommy knew they had nothing else to their names, why not try to rebuild an ancient ruin. As long as Dream didn't know about it they could actually see something be completed.

Tommy nodded, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as they both looked around.
"Fix up some glass, remove the moss and vines, cleaning up, well everything, those tables-."
"Those are altars."

Tommy gave Tulie a glare for being corrected but continued talking, "Altars, sure, are going to need alot of work. We might have to replace one of them entirely." Pointing to one that had been crushed by a tree having crashed through the glass. There was a scattering of rotten apples, presumably from the tree, by now all had been dead for quite a while. Tulie nodded, leaning into Tommy.

"It'll be worth it."

After a few more minutes of planning and discussion the two got to work. First on the list, that fallen tree had to go. Tommy worked on breaking the tree down while Tulie removed the already broken branches and rotten apples from the floor. Strangely the tree had some solid wood for one that had been dead for presumably years. Tulie hauled as many branches as she could out to the edge of the forest where she dumped them. That's where she found an ax, embedded in one of the trees. She thought it strange, and swore that there wasn't one there before. So she pulled it out.

It was kinda flimsy, but it was made of stone and sharp to boot. The heft might be enough to properly destroy the tree. Tulie walked back to Tommy who had only managed to break off some of the smaller branches.

"This fucking tree is being a pain in the ass! Like, why is it so damn-" *Crack* the branch Tommy was stomping on finally snapped, sending him on to the floor with a storm of curses. Tulie walked over to her surrogate brother figure, leaning over him as she held out the ax she'd found. "Where did you find that?"

Tulie shrugged "It was just lodged in a tree outside. Think you could make use of it?" Tommy nodded, brushing himself off as he stood and grabbed the ax. Tulie laughed at his shenanigans and continued to pull branches to the edge of the forest. Tommy was taking out all his built up anger on the trunk, silently cursing everyone that had hurt and wronged him with each hit. It was about ten minutes of that, the two working in tandem to remove the offending foliage. Tulie cleared away the wood chips and splinters with a broom she fashioned from pine branches while Tommy worked on a crafting table and other tools with the wood from the tree.

Next was fixing the broken altar.
Tommy looked at the broken stone, trying to come up with an idea on what to do. Trying to avoid building a new one from scratch because neither of them wanted (or had the strength) to pull the large pieces of marble out to make room.
"Tulie? Do you have an idea for the altar?" Tommy shouted over his shoulder, Tulie had gone outside to investigate something that had caught her attention. He heard skittering behind him so he turned thinking Tulie had dragged something with her. Instead he was met with a black form with multiple legs jumping at him.

Tulie came up with the idea to use resin to hold the stone together. Tree resin on its own might not be strong enough but magically enhanced resin had the potential to stick. As long as nothing too heavy sat on it. (Not like the skin and bones the two were made of weighed much) But still Tulie pushed on, gathering globs of resin from many trees in a carved bowl, turning back to the shrine once she had what she thought was enough.

When she stepped inside, she was greeted by Tommy sitting on the floor, tightly holding onto something black with multiple legs wrapped around his torso. It looked like a spider, or the back half of it did. It had the rear end of one but only six legs, it's torso and head looked human. Tulie took cautious steps towards her brother figure, her worn boots barely making noise on the floor. Tommy looked up, eyes welling up with tears. The spider hybrid also turned around revealing four red eyes, a toothy smile with fangs and black hair that had the same curly texture as Tommy's.

"Shroud! How-"
"I don't know how he did but I'm so glad he's here now." Tommy explained with a lilt to his voice as he was on the brink of tears. Little Shroud hissed a greeting to Tulie, eyes shining like rubies with excitement at seeing her safe. Tulie left the bowl of resin next to the altar and scooped up the tiny form in a hug as his top arms reached out with grabby hands.

Tommy wiped away his tears as he stood up, how this day had been. He heard faint, sharp clicks and Tulie awing while rubbing Shroud's upper back. His little boy, the little spider who had the courage to walk up to him, how long ago now? Didn't matter, he was here now. Tulie reached down to pick up her bowl of resin as Tommy gently took Shroud back. The father-son pair watched as Tulie smeared the resin between the large stone pieces, holding them up as she tried sealing the gaps. Tommy realized what she was trying to do he set Shroud down and helped brace the altar as Tulie started to harden the resin. Shroud, bless his little heart tried his best to help by wrapping some webbing around the stones.

It actually helped! The altar was standing again, even if it looked a little odd with the bubbles of sap resin and webs. The trio looked happily at the progress that had been made. That's when the shadows of the evening crossed the threshold, reminding Tommy that he and Tulie were still basically prisoners and this was still exile.

"Shit! We got to head back." Tommy said grabbing Shroud so they could leave. Tulie stepped closer, leaving something on the altar, before turning back to Tommy as both of them took off into the forest to get back to the tent.

Later that night, the shrine started to glow. Energy from the white tulip left on the altar seeped into the cracks, the resin turning red and gaining a sort of luster as it was changed into red crystal, perfectly melded with the stones.

A figure gasped a breath of air, the first in a long while. He was laid at the base of a huge temple, one he thought he would never see again.
Grasped in his hand was a quickly wilting flower.
A White Tulip.

Chapter Text

Slowly the two brought back the shrine to its glory. Tommy kept a crafting table, furnace, and chest of tools hidden in the clearing, away from Dream's prying eyes. Any time their tormentor was gone for long the duo ran to the shrine to get even a tiny piece of progress. Glass was replaced, even through a slight mishap while removing the broken glass that caused them to lie to Dream's face. ("Yes Dream, I fell out of a tree.")

Shroud learned that while His dad and auntie loved him, they couldn't leave where they were. One of the first things Tulie did was make a hidning spot for Shroud for when Dream would intrude. The little hybrid was learning how bad it was for the older two.

That was why the shrine became a safe haven for all of them. Shroud helped by climbing to the ceiling with a rag clutched in his little hand to clear away dust and webs, revealing vibrant colors and shiny accent pieces of precious metals. The older two spent a long time scrubbing the columns and floor, revealing a whole mosaic splayed across the floor and carvings and more embedded crystals. A whole treasure trove. Tommy put in work on restoring the altars while Tulie started cleaning up the area around it. Hands in the dirt, that's where she felt the most comfortable.

Tommy also felt a sense of comfort in the shrine, letting his raccoon traits out during their time working. At one point after a long day, He even let his wings out. Shroud was enamored with them, brushing his little hands all over them, mush to the amusement of the one who had them.

They didn't question what happened to the altar they fixed, or the fact that hostile mobs wouldn't approach them anymore. Maybe the universe was taking pity on them.

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"I'm still in disbelief that you're back."

"How? We tried everything."

The revived figure sat propped up on an elaborate throne, trying so desperately to keep his head up. He was still so weak. But he did manage to hold out the wilted flower he had been clutching since he woke up. The other figures looked at it strangely, but then it dawned on one of them. He covered his mouth in shock.

"An offering of life."

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Tulie rubbed her right arm, feeling the bandages wrapped from her lower palm up to her elbow. She sat outside the tent waiting for Dream and Tommy to come back from the Nether. Why Dream took Tommy, she didn't know. But here she was alone, feeling homesick and lonely. She wanted to be back at the Cabin or the Lab, with her family.

Shroud clicked nervously beside her, nudging her with his head, to which she gave him comforting head scratches.
"I know, They've been gone for a minute. But they'll be back." She reassured the spider hybrid, closing her eyes. "I can go check on him."

Tulie was about to use her powers to find where her brother was, but her eyes shot open when she heard the wvorp of someone coming through the portal. Shroud immediately ran to his hiding spot just in case Dream was the one coming through. Tulie stood, facing the portal, but only Tommy stepped out. Once again he was favoring one leg over the other and there was a new collection of bruises but he held a bundle of glass bottles of a magenta colored potion. Regeneration.

"Dream said he's not going to be back for a few weeks so he gave me the potions for your treatments." Tommy explained, handing over the potions. Both of them walked back to the tent, Shroud joining them once inside. Tommy flopped heavily onto his rickety bed, groaning in pain as the action aggravated the bruises more than comforting them. Tulie flinched, putting most of the potions away but leaving one out, which she uncorked as she sat.

"Why did he need you in the Nether?"
"He basically was using me as a work horse. Hauling this and that around, nearly got blown up a few times." Shroud crawled his way onto Tommy's chest, hugging his dad close. Tulie nodded, taking a sip of the potion, the black creeping from the bandages retreating from her lightly green tinted skin. Health and regen potions worked wonders against the corrupting rot of her disease, but it wasn't her proper medication.

"Do you feel alright to go to our shrine today?" She asked, to which Tommy nodded eagerly, scooping up his spider son. The pair had found a path that was much shorter distance, so they took off, following the path marked by poppies and dandelions.

What they didn't expect is someone to be there. Tommy clutched Shroud tighter as Tulie stepped in front as she had the powers that could be used in a fight. Once they got half way to the clearing, the figure turned to them.

"You two did all of this?" He asked, looking over a pair of black glasses. He wore a blue cloak with the hood up, tied in the front with gold strings. Under it was a darker blue shirt with a black vest with more blue embroidery. Black pants that tucked into black front lace boots, like the ones worn by miners. His forearms were clasped in black metal and appeared unarmed but Tulie and Tommy knew better than to trust that evaluation of threat level. But they both nodded, thinking back to the many weeks worth of work they had put in.

"I'm Impressed. All of this, done by two skinny kids." That set Tommy off.

"I'm Not A Kid! I'm The Biggest Man Ever!" Tulie laughed into her hand as Tommy stepped around her to confront the person who totally should have known he was a man not a child. She couldn't help it, eternally stuck mind and body at around twelve.

"Who even are you? Standing in OUR shrine like you own it." Tommy asks/threatens the man. With that the man straightens and raises his arms.

"That's because technically I do. This shrine is dedicated to me and my friends."

Tommy stops in his tracks and Tulie is stunned. The pair got a tingle on the back of their necks as they both came to the realisation:

"You're a God?"

The God nodded his head "I'm Bizly, God of all mobs and the underground. I'm one of four that this shrine is dedicated to. And all of us are thankful for your work on it."

Tulie stood in shock then face palmed loud enough that the guys turned to look at her.

"I should have known. Shrines and temples are never empty, that was the first thing Emi taught me." Tulie explained, finally moving forward to properly greet the God. Shroud hissed and clicked reaching out to Tulie with one hand, which she took. Bizly looked at the small spider hybrid with a small smile.

"You found some nice people to care for you, I'm glad." He said looking right at Shroud's eyes, causing the young one to nod and smile, displaying his sharp teeth. He hissed something to the god which caused a change in his demeanor. Bizly looked at the two human-ish figures in front of him, a dark look in his eyes.

"Why are you bruised?" Neither wanted to tell, both just looked down at the ground. Bizly sighed, realizing that they wouldn't tell someone they didn't know or trust. "We will talk about that later. Just know that All of us are protecting our Priest and Priestess."

That caught their attention, Tommy was the first to get words out,
"What do you mean? Us? We didn't sign up for this. We wanted a side project-" His ramble was cut by Tulie taking his hand. He looked over at her, seeing a growing determination in her pink eyes. She looked back to the God asking him,

"Are you sure we're supposed to be Priests? We don't know any of you."

Bizly could feel the other Gods pulling him back, so he knew he'd have to make it quick.
"The short of it is you two were the ones to fix the shrine, you are considered our first followers which means you two are our new Priest and Priestess and our connection to the Mortal Plane. As much as I would like to stay and explain more, I'm getting called back. One of us will come by and see you two later." And in a swirl of blue light he was gone.

Tulie and Tommy stood in shock, before running into the shrine to inspect the shrine. There was no sign that he had been there, until Tulie looked up. One of the frescoes now had something in the empty space in the center. It looked like the god they had just met. Tulie pointed it out, as if they could deny that they met a god.

"We are... So screwed aren't We?"

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Bizly walked into Molympus, his home with the other Gods.

"How are they?"

He turned to the green God that walked up to him, his thin tail sweeping side to side with nervous energy.

"They are... nervous and a bit in disbelief. They treat the shine like a refuge from something because they both went on the defensive when they saw me in it."

The other God listened to Bizly's observations, his hands clenching and unclenching as swirls of magic flicked off.

"I will say however, both of them are far from normal mortals." That caught the others attention. "The boy has a god tied to him, my guess by family. The girl is something else. I can't seem to place what she is but it's definitely not human." Bizly finished.

"That would explain why they had access to a life vessel. Humans wouldn't have that in their possession."

Bizly agreed, even if he didn't understand the magic behind it. He knew mobs and anything underground, that was his domain. "How's he doing?"

"He's slowly getting his strength back. It would go so much faster if we got some offerings, but from what you just told me that might take a while."

The sound of rolling glass caught their attention. A potion bottle full of magenta liquid was rocking back and forth on the floor. The green God walked over to the bottle, picked it up and uncorked it, taking a whiff of the contents.

"It's a potion of regeneration. Why would they offer it up?" Bizly gave a shrug in response, again magic is not his domain. The green God took the potion to a different section of Molympus, followed by Bizly thinking about the strange kids that were now their worshipers.

Chapter Text

Dream thought something was up.

Tommy and Tulie seemed happy, to a degree. Something wasn't right.
He started checking in daily, blowing up anything that they did manage to gather or make. That started to affect the duo, it felt draining.

They weren't able to go to the shrine for two and a half weeks.

Dream had gotten too close to finding Shroud in his hiding spot, now Tommy lay unconscious on his bed, beaten and bloody but alive. Tulie wanted to stay with her surrogate brother, but Dream pulled her away, taking her through the Nether portal and deep into the Nether. Tulie was confused, why would Dream bring her this far out? She was still in exile, even if she hadn't meant to turn the tulip to a wither rose. She didn't actually have control of that flower, she just willed the tulip in Tubbo's possession to wilt, (Not even that, all she did was pull her influence from the flower as she didn't want to be associated with someone who hurt her friend.)

Long and short; Tulie had no control over the Wither Rose.

Dream stopped in a bare valley, releasing the grip on Tulie's left wrist.

"What are we doing here?" Tulie asked, scared and feeling a bit weak. Her body didn't like the fiery, bare environment of the hell like Nether, it drained her life energy due to its lack of, well... Plants.

"I want you to grow a warped forest. I need some materials from it but don't feel like searching for one, or dealing with hoglins today."

"I... I don't think I can. I don't have powers over fungus."

Tulie knew Dream was bullshitting her, why would he need anything from a Warped Forest aside from maybe warped vines? Dream's body language shifted, causing Tulie cower into herself.

"I think you can." His tone making clear what he meant

Grow the forest or I strand you here.

Tulie turned away, facing the bare valley. It was hopeless, not only the "plants" he wanted her to grow weren't necessarily in her control but the Nether made it so much harder to use her powers. She felt the cold numbness radiating from her wrist, black starting to creep out from the bandages.

Tulie was scared. No one could help her.

Wait... There might be...
Bizly said he was the god of Mobs and Caves, but he also said that he wasn't the only god the shrine was for. One of the others might be able to help her out.

Tulie knelt to the ground, flinching a little as her bare knees made contact with the warm netherrack, and sat with her legs folded under her. She closed her eyes and stabled herself with a shaky breath.

*' Hey, I don't know for certain if you're out there but I think you are. Bizly said there are more of you. I kinda need some help right now, I hope I'm not asking for too much. I just need some energy to grow some warped forest plants, if that's not too big an ask '*

Tulie placed her hands on the ground, pushing some life energy into the rock. Immediately she felt the decay of her illness creep up her arm.
Oh. That was Dream's play, a scare tactic.

Unfortunately for Dream, he wasn't the first green a-hole she'd meet or the first manipulative bastard either.

There's a strange sound all around her, Dream suddenly shouted before getting cut off. Tulie's eyes shot open, she was surrounded by a very dense, mini Warped Forest. She could barely hear Dream trying to get through the dense foliage.

"From what I know, it's rare for people to ask for help, much less from someone they don't know."

Tulie shot backwards, back hitting the now fungus grass as her asleep legs tried to push her back.

In front of her stood a god. He wore a grey blue shirt with lavender buttons closing it on the right. Dark pants with lavender piping tucked into black knee high boots. A cape was pinned around his collar, falling over his left shoulder, the outside was a deep royal blue satin but the inside was vibrant ruby red velvet. An odd gold band encircled his head like a crown, wrapping behind his pointed ears, holding back his brown hair. He knelt in front of the fallen Tulie, hands reached out towards her but hesitating from actually touching her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He reached out one of his hands to help her up, which she cautiously took. Once she was standing he took both of her hands, looking at the bandages wrapped around her right wrist and the black that was creeping out from them. His eyes creased in concern as he gently dragged his fingers over the edges of the bandage.

"You're God of the Nether?" Tulie asked, looking him over. Part of her brain said that she should pull her arms away from him, but how gentle he was with her was a nice change from what she was used to now.

"Yes, and of the End. I'm Condifiction, One of the gods of the shrine you and your friend restored. We all are grateful you did, we had almost lost our hope on it being found."

Tulie tilted her head to the side
"Both of you have said that, that you're grateful that we restored the shrine. I'm starting to think there's more that we did."

Condifiction paused, before taking her right hand in both of his, holding it as if it would disintegrate if he wasn't careful.
"I believe Bizly tried to quickly explain but might not have made sense." Tulie nodded, Condifiction rolled his purple eyes and started explaining.
"The shrine acts like our tie to the mortal world, what allows us to extend our influence on the world. When the shrine was left abandoned there was no way for us to interact with the world, and we weren't really in a state to try and fight for the attention that we needed to stay. When you two fixed the shrine, you two became the path back to this plain of reality for us. Even as you did it unknowingly, you two became tied to the shrine as our followers."

"Bizly called us Priest and Priestess, what does that mean?"

Condifiction gave a huff of annoyance but quickly reassured Tulie who flinched at the sound.

"No, I'm not... that wasn't directed at you that was at Bizly. There is nothing too major that you both need to do as Priests. The main thing is offerings and sacrifices. I can see your eyes, Its not what you're thinking, there's a reason I said offerings too. They can be anything really: flowers, sea shells, crafts you make, even cool rocks, if you need some ideas. Leave them on the altars if you want them to go to one of us specifically or just in the shrine if it's for all of us. That's really all you need to do, seeing as you have the prayer aspect down."

Tulie looked around at the dense growth, nodding. Condifiction tucked a curl of her hair behind her, but starting to feel the pull to go back.

"You two are strong and caring. We are watching over you."

And then he disappeared in a swirl of purple and orange particles. Tulie stood still, stunned but with answers. That's when Dream finally broke through into the clearing. He was panting, his mask amplifying the sound to a scary level. Even if she couldn't see his real eyes, the stare of the two black dots felt like it was burning into her.

"I did what you asked?" Tulie stated, although it sounded like a weak question. Dream stood unmoving, the smile feeling more and more threatening, before he sighed in frustration. He couldn't say anything, she did exactly what he told her to do. With a frustrated huff, he pulled her out of the little forest that she(? she wasn't sure if she had grown it or if the god did.) grew and dragged her harshly back the way they came. Tulie let herself be dragged until she saw a gold nugget on the ground. She grabbed it,without Dream noticing what she was doing, but because she slightly resisted he kicked her in the ribs.

The cold air of the Overworld felt like stepping into a freezer. The sand aggravating the burns and abrasions on her body as she was tossed out of the portal and on to the beach. Dream turned around and went back into the portal without a word. Tulie slowly got to her feet, walking (Stumbling) over to the tent. Shroud looked up as she stumbled in, clicking in concern as she slowly sat on her bed, the burns turning a nasty wilted green.

"I'm alright Shroud. Dream is just a jerk. You've done a good job looking over Tommy." Tulie responded, trying to reassure the young hybrid. The burns looked really bad as she was more sensitive to the Nether, being a flower nymph, so what would normally be pink skin on a normal player was blackened green on her. She pulled out the nugget of gold from her pocket, looking it over, an idea forming in her head. But now she wanted to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How are they?" the injured god asked, awake for a few minutes.

"I only got to meet one, the girl was alone when she prayed, but she was so... shy? She was so skinny and bruised, just like Bizly said. Her right wrist was wrapped in bandages, but there was black creeping out from them." Condifiction told him, sitting next to the revived god. It had been two days since he'd met their Priestess in the Nether when she asked for help.

The red god's eyes widened in concern and he tried to sit up but he didn't have the strength, falling back in a coughing fit.

Condi jumped forward, a glass of water appearing in his hands.

He would have continued telling his friend about their followers, but Bizly ran into the room, something in his hand.

"You got an offering Condi! This one's really cool."

The blue clad god handed over the small trinket, the gold reflecting light of the sunset. It was a medallion with a Nether star and ender eye engraving, the back had a clip.

"What.. What is it?"

"I think it's a cloak clasp. It's beautiful." Condi deduced as he tilted it back and forth. It was clear that Tulie had made it, the imperfections making the offering more personal. She had put so much effort into it, to make it just for him.

"We've got some special kids."

Chapter Text

The Nether seemed to be against Dream as were most hostile mobs. Fire and lava were more prone to burn up and lash out at him. He could have sworn that he was attacked by a bear one day but that might be because of food poisoning. Someone had tampered with his food, that was the only conclusion he could come up with. But who?

Didn't matter, He still had kids to torment. However his progress in breaking them had seemed to slow, stalling out like a car on a hill. His thoughts turned to Tulie, he thought that making her dependent on him with her medication and playing on her loyalty to Tommy would have made her mold-able to a soldier, a weapon. But no, she had a stubborn resilience that he couldn't break. He cursed the guardian that she referenced so much. Dream's power came from being able to turn people's opinions, warping perceptions and manipulating the story. Tulie knew the logic of not caring about someone's opinion, going right up and communicating with someone if she thought there was an issue.

Dream couldn't lord control over her like Tommy because Tulie knew what friendship and love properly was. Not this connection on obligation that this world made it at times. And she kept reassuring Tommy of that.

Tommy, That boy was loyal to those he loves. Dream was counting on it.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Tulie made her way into the tent after seeing Dream properly leave through the portal, slowly as the wind picked up. There was a storm picking up, the rumble of thunder echoed over the waves of the sea. Tulie flinched at the sound, running her fingers over the worn canvas. It wasn't water proofed, barely even wind resistant, so the likelihood of it surviving the storm was looking infinitesimal. Tulie lifted the flaps that covered the opening of their tent.

"Tommy." Said blond looked over to her from his position curled up on his bed.
"There's a storm coming in. A pretty Violent one by the look and sound of the ocean. We should probably head further inland soon, or at least get to better cover soon." Tulie advised, wrapping her arms around her stomach, silently cursing her need for food while in human form. Tommy nodded, getting up and walking over to Shroud's hiding spot, knocking on it in a specific pattern. The trap door was pushed open with small hands, and the small hybrid was pulled into his dad's arms. Shroud pushed his face into Tommy's shoulder with a whine. Tommy's and Tulie's expressions contorted into ones of guilt.

They hadn't had much food recently, any farm they tried to build was destroyed either by Dream or some mob trampling the crops. Foraging was an option, really their only option, but they'd been less successful recently paired with Dream taking what they had collected today. The older two hadn't eaten in 5 days in Tulie's case and 4 in Tommy's, giving what they had to Shroud. That was two days ago.

Tommy rubbed his son's back while Tulie grabbed the small blanket out from the tunnel, shaking the sand off of it and wrapped it around the spider. The trio left the tent, making their way to the tree line. The storm was rapidly approaching, the wind was practically screaming, and the clouds such a dark grey they were almost black. Tommy looked to Tulie and back to the clouds.

"Do you think the Shrine would be safe?"

Tulie nodded, the structure of the Shrine had been intact for however long before they had found it. Now would be the test of the glass they replaced. They walked down the path, Tulie splitting off occasionally splitting off to pick some flowers to use as offerings. A large clap of thunder was their only warning of rain before the sky dumped literal buckets on the trio. They picked up the pace and took off for the shrine. That's how they looked as they ran into the shrine, soaking wet and shivering.

"That was unpleasant." Tommy commented, setting down Shroud and shaking out his hair. Tulie however didn't say anything, feeling refreshed from the rain on her skin. The cold would bother her less than Tommy, but that's hybrid versus flower nymph for you. Tulie wrung out her hair, the feeling of water dripping down her back made her uncomfortable. Shroud shivered under his blanket trying to keep himself warm.

The rain started going sideways from how hard the wind was blowing. Luckily the glass blocked the elements, which created a pocket of calm inside. And the day's warm air was still there, but it wasn't enough to keep them warm. Shroud's shivering kept getting more severe, Tommy released his wings and wrapped them around him like a thick blanket, attempting to still the shivering. Tulie laid out the flowers and started checking them for damage. She removed a few that were a bit to smushed to be offered in her opinion, then organized them into tiny bouquets for each altar.

Purple, Red, and Yellow Snapdragon paired with irises.
Nigella and the strange Passion flower
A singular Magnolia surrounded by blue Zinna.
Poppies paired with Yellow Crocuses.

Tulie looked over her bouquets, one last look between them and the other flowers she picked. She nodded, picking up the four bouquets and placing one on each altar.
Snapdragons for Condification, Nigella on Bizly's.
The Magnolia was left on the altar under the green part of the fresco while the poppies were placed on the repaired red altar. It felt right but she couldn't place exactly why. After placing them she walked over to Tommy and Shroud, sitting slightly away from them as to not dampen the older's wings. Tulie leaned her head back on to a column and closed her eyes, listening to the storm outside.

"Offerings?"
"MmmHmm."

Tommy shivered as chill crept through his soaked clothes, clutching Shroud tighter. "Do you think the Gods would be pissed if we lit a fire in here?"

"Where would we get dry wood? Everything's soaked."
Tommy hissed at that, knowing Tulie was right. Great, they had to fight off hypothermia on top of being hungry. Tulie rubbed her hands together, careful around the bandages wrapped her wrist that went down her arm. The pair fights sleep, knowing that sleep was more dangerous if they couldn't get warm. But their injuries, unhealed due to their lack of proper food, weighed down their eyes until their breathing slowed to an even pattern.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"They need help."

The revived god sat up in his bed, trying to get out of it, but was pushed down by a wave of dissiness. He felt cold, Too Cold.
Bizly and Condi ran in, quickly coming to the aid of their fellow god.

"What's Wrong?"

"It's cold. They're cold. They're practically freezing. We need to help them." He tried getting up again only to fall on the ground.

"Why didn't either of you catch him?" The green god asked as he walked in. His movements were stiff and his tail was curled around his waist.

"You can feel it too, right? They need help." The god on the floor said in response. Green nodded.

"Then go Help Them."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tommy felt very warm when he woke up, whatever he was laying on was warm and very soft.
And Breathing.

Tommy shot away from the warmth and looked down at a large wolf on its side, curled around Tulie's curled form. His wings flared in panic which increased when he realized that Shroud wasn't in his arms. The storm was still raging, so outside wasn't an option. Tommy's eyes shot around the enclosed area of the Shrine until he turned around, spotting the little spider in the arms of the God of the Nether and End. He'd met Condifiction when he'd brought offerings to the Shine alone one day.

Shroud was munching on a crunchy slice of toast while listening to a story being told by the god. Tommy's panic lessens as he sees his son safe and fed. His own stomach growled loudly from a delicious smell which caused him to wrap his arms around his stomach in embarrassment. Turns out the gods heard the sound and turned their attention to him.

"That's nothing to be ashamed of, Tommy." That was a new voice. Tommy turned to the source and was met with a new god.
He wore a white poets shirt under a brown and green vest which was neatly tucked into forest green pants and dark brown calf high boots. Green leather armor went around his upper chest and right shoulder and had an embossed heart in the center of the chest piece, trinkets of magic hung off chains which crisscrossed into pockets. The whole outfit was topped with a green cape that was embroidered with enchanting table language and particle swirls in many colors. Gold rimmed glasses framed his eyes under brown hair, out of which jutted two green horns and a wire thin halo crown. (Tommy only knew what that was called due to Tulie making some out of spare wire and some flowers to keep her hands busy while in L'manburg.)

Said odd god was holding out a piece of toast to him, which he hesitantly took and cautiously took a bite. Maybe it was the fact that he hadn't eaten in a while, but after that first bite he wolfed down the whole piece of toast like it was the best thing in the world. It was still warm, Tommy couldn't remember when he had last had warm food. The god chuckled in response, Tommy shrunk into himself with embarrassment.

"If you want another I can make you another. You seemed to like that one."

The wolf chuffed, apparently having been watching the whole time. Tulie let out a noise, turning on to her side and muttered something that Tommy couldn't make out, still asleep.

"Why are you two here?" Tommy asked, folding his wings to his back.

"One, there's three of us and Two, We are here because you were in trouble and as our Priest and Priestess, We protect you." Condi answered, letting the green god go back to whatever he'd been doing before Tommy had woken up. Tommy looked back to the wolf laying on the ground, now noticing the blue tint to its fur and black marking around its eyes.

Of course that's Bizly.
He's a god. Gods shape-shift all the time.

"We were safe-"
"If you consider freezing and starving safe, we're really going to have a conversation about your living conditions." Condi interrupted, letting Shroud down so he could go over to his dad. Shroud ran over, reaching up with grabbie hands and puppy eyes. Tommy was weak for that so he obliged. Shroud however had a plan, and started rubbing the top of Tommy's head, like he was feeling around for something. Tommy knew what his son wanted and so revealed his fuzzy raccoon ears and pulled his tail wrap around both of them. Shroud cooed as he ran his hands over the gold banded fur, reveling in the softness.

"Are you nearly done with that Charlie? I'm getting hungry."
"I'm nearly done Biz, the kids get first helpings though so you'll still have to wait."

"Don't let Tommy hear you say that, he will fight you on that." Tulie mumbled as she sat up, rubbing her eyes. The wolf- Bizly sat up, no longer the pillow for a sleeping youth but stayed close to her if she needed help. The black was still there, half way up her palm and creeping just up past her elbow. it had become worse over the days without food. The green God- Charlie as Bizly called called him and turned to them a bowl in his hand. Whatever was in that bowl smelled delicious, and both Tulie's and Tommy's stomachs growled loudly in response. Charlie gave a quiet laugh, and walked over to Tulie, offering the bowl of food to her. Tulie shook her head,
"Shroud or Tommy first. I can wait."

Charlie looked about to argue, but one glare from Tulie shut him down. So he walked over to Tommy and Held the bowl out to him.
"Promise it's safe. We would never consider hurting you two." He assured Tommy when the young man gave him a suspicious look. Tommy took the bowl and looked at its contents. It was full of beef stew with a lot of veggies, the source of the heavenly smell. Charlie walked back over to his altar which now had a large pot on top of it glowing from the bottom. He summoned another bowl and ladled out another portion before walking it over to Tulie who took it. The process repeated once more with a smaller bowl for Shroud, before Charlie sat across from them with his own serving.

"Where's my bowl?"
"Get it yourself." Bizly rolled his eyes and looked over to Condi who was serving himself a bowl. "Condi, Could you get me a bowl please???" Condifiction looked over at the wolf before reaching for a potion bottle that was strapped to his belt. Bizly jumped up immediately, his form shifting back to human,
"NO,NO,NO! Not the Shame Juice!"

Tulie and Tommy lost it, laughing at gods acting like children. Charlie smiled hearing the sound, knowing that they were safe now. Tommy relished the warm food, the toast was good but the stew... How long ago did he have a meal prepped like this? Tulie thought back to the days in the Cabin, with Sammi and Tim as the three of them watched Disney movies in the living room. She missed those two, hoping that they were doing alright with their families.

"So, what are you the god of, Charlie?" Tulie asked, continuing to eat as she waited for his answer. Charlie swallowed his mouthful of food before speaking.

"I am god of Food, Magic, Crafting and Smelting." Tommy looked at the god, closely looking at the god's cape.
"That would explain the enchanting table language on your cape."
"Galactic." Tulie chimed in as she ate a spoonful of vegetables which caught everyone's attention. Condifiction was the first to break the silence.

"How do you know that?"
"My Dad and I think two of my uncles know it. I'm familiar with the symbols." Tulie answered, shyly turning into herself from the attention. Charlie nodded his head, that made sense, kids are naturally curious and she probably looked over some books that her family members probably left out. Condi, who was sat beside Charlie turned towards the raccoon hybrid and little spider hybrid who was happily going to town on his bowl of stew.

"So how did you come across this little one?"
Tommy perked up and launched into the story of when Shroud had walked up to him as he was building his house with Shroud hissing and clicking additions that Bizly translated for the others. This led to a long conversation that went well into the night, over many topics with many laughs. It was the safest the pair had felt in a while.

Up in a different plain of existence, the last god relaxed on his bed, soothed in the knowledge that their Priest and Priestess were safe and cared for. He reached out and tapped a pot of soil next to his bed, a red poppy sprouting from the spot he touched.
He was getting better.

Chapter Text

Tulie sat in the flowers that surrounded the Shrine basking in the sunlight that warmed the meadow. Fall had finally settled with cooler mornings after cold nights. Wildflowers bloomed around her in an array of reds, oranges and yellows. Tulie could make any flower grow with a wave of her hand but she liked to keep with seasons, if not with species than in color at least. She liked fall, it was the start of togetherness season, the time of year for celebrations with those you love.

Fall fairs, Halloween celebrations, Thanksgiving(Yeah she's a Brit technically but she lived primarily with an American), Christmas and New Years made up the best part of the year in her opinion. All the traditions that made her feel safe and happy with her family. Yes, just her, Her guardian, Her Dad, and her two best friends.

But that was then, she was heck knows where away from her family, in exile on top of that now. She could only hope that they were looking for her and could bring her home. Maybe she could convince them to take Tommy and Shroud with her.

Tulie laid back, raising her hands to trace patterns in the clouds, letting her mind wander. The bird song was pleasant cut every so often by a crow's caw. Tulie huffed, sitting back up to look for the offending black bird. Crows mean Crow Father, and Crow Father is not someone she's on good terms with. To her left she heard faint snores, Tommy and Shroud asleep surrounded by red and yellow flowers. At least their sleep wasn't disturbed, they needed it.

She couldn't spot the crow, but she didn't feel like lying down again so she got up, careful to not disturb anything. There was a magnolia tree at the edge of the clearing, its branches grown in a way that made a dome of space, other branches grew low so one could climb on them. Tulie approached the tree, looking up at the white blossoms that dotted the deep green foliage.

Strange... Magnolias don't bloom this late.

Tulie reached up and brushed the closest blossom, thinking it over. Maybe one of the gods really liked Magnolias and so this tree bloomed year round. Yeah that made sense. Tulie had left a singular magnolia flower in a bouquet on Charlie's altar.

Was that violin music? When Tulie pulled her hand away from the flower, the music stopped. She could feel the spinny loading wheel in her brain going, but she just shook it out. No use in waiting for an answer of something so obscure. Tulie walked back to the shrine, picking some flowers as she went. An arm full of flowers later, she sat down next to the sleeping duo and started weaving flowers together. She liked working with her hands, it made her feel content to do things that were more detail oriented, like weaving flower adornments. Twisting together a set of white hydrangeas around some small sunflowers and gently placing the crown on Shroud's head, the white and yellow popping against his black curls.

Tulie looked over the flowers, tapping her fingers together in thought.
Sunflowers for adoration and loyalty, should those be paired with zinnias or poppies for Tommy?

She settled on red Zinnias, meaning respect and family honor. They paired nicely with the yellow sunflowers, and they reminded her of marigolds. She nestled the crown on Tommy's dirty golden curls, somehow not disturbing the older's slumber. She still had a lot of flowers and began work on a crown for herself, laying out flowers to pattern out what she wanted.

A sudden gasp of air caused Tulie's head to shoot up, trying to find the source of the sound. When she spotted a tall figure clad in red swaying in the center of the field she stood, flower petals falling from her skirt.

The man took a second to spot her even though she was only a few paces away, like he was dizzy or disoriented. But when his eyes did focus the biggest smile broke out on his face. He tried to take a step forward but nearly collapsed, being caught by Tulie running over. She slotted herself under one of his arms and helped him walk over to where she'd been before.

"I never thought I would see this world again. It really made me miss its beauty." He said as Tulie helped him sit among the flowers. He wasn't speaking loudly, but Tommy still woke, startled by the sound of a male voice. He slowly sat up, keeping Shroud comfortably asleep against his chest, and looked questionably at the new arrival.

"Who might you be, Big Man?" Tommy asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Man that nap felt good. The red guy laughed, his pug ears popping over his messy brown hair with a white streak in the front. He had pale skin and red eyes that, unlike Technoblade's blood colored eyes that held fire, were softer like that of red flower petals. The red cloak had black embroidery and details, velvet reinforced the edges and the slits for his arms. He had a black shirt under a red and gold vest, gold bracers wrapped around his wrists. Tommy assumed he was the last of the gods they served. The others hadn't said much about the last god other than he was too weak to make it to the mortal plane.

"I'm guessing the others didn't talk about me much?"

"Nope."

The god sighed, looking up to the sky before looking back to the two in front of him. "I'm Grizzlyplays. I am the god of nature, weapons and tools, and thanks to you, alive again." Tulie and Tommy's heads tilted, Grizzly got to admire their very different eyes. Tommy's eyes were slivers of the sky just as Condi had said and Charlie's description of cherry blossoms seemed so simple in comparison to the circles of pink set into Tulie's face.

"Alive again? What do you mean by that?" Grizzly realized that there was a lot of explaining to do that the guys conveniently left for him.

"We've got nothing but time big G." Tommy said, readjusting his flower crown so it wouldn't fall off his head. Grizzly nodded, looking to the sky again as he decided the place to start.

"It was the four of us. At first we weren't gods yet but there was another. He was called The Horned God and he tormented us by summoning natural disasters. It got so bad that Charlie tapped into his godhood for the first time to kill him. It only stopped him for a short time, he came back and tried to kill us with a volcano. It took all of us tapping into godhood to kill him, and even then it didn't fully destroy him. His influence is still there. When we tried making our own world, I must add it was very busted due to us just going wild with our new abilities, His apples seeped into our world. I got a little power mad and the others forced me to eat one as punishment. I fell all the way into the Nether, and as I did his influence corrupted me, twisting me against my friends. I wanted my revenge. They found me and we fought. It was brutal and I got too close to killing them. In the end it was another apple that did me in. Wounded and sitting in the center of Molympus I begged them to kill me. I gave Bizly a gun and he shot me."

The two "kids" looked horrified at hearing that. Grizzly was quick to reassure them that he asked the others to do it. Tulie's hands went back to her flowers, needing to focus on something other than death.

"I guess I just floated in a void like state, I don't know how long, but apparently Charlie made a bet to get me back. That void was draining my existence and funneling it to the Horned God. Because of that Charlie was able to bet his own existence to restore mine. He won the bet, and while I was freed, it didn't bring me back."

"What did? You're here now." Tommy asked.

Grizzly smiled as he looked at them. "You two."

Tulie dropped the in progress flower crown at his response. Tommy looked bewildered, how the fuck did they revive a whole ass god?

"One of you left a life vessel on my altar after you repaired it. I don't know where you got one or why you offered it up but my first memory back is waking up at the base of Molympus with a wilting tulip in my hands." Both Tulie and Tommy's eyes widened, realizing what he was talking about as they looked at each other. Grizzly looked between the two that were having a silent conversation, confused by their lack of said emotion. Tommy was the first to break eye contact. He readjusted Shroud against him and asked Tulie, "Do you want to explain or should I?"

Tulie sighed, folding her hands over each other before speaking. "I've never heard them called life vessels before, I guess that really is what they are. So this world has a rule of three deaths before one goes away for good. However, I don't fit into that rule because I'm not a normal "mortal" being. I'm a flower nymph of sorts and I'm tied to white tulips specifically. As long as there is a white tulip that I've cultivated, I can come back from any fatality. I often give them to people I trust, a very literal way of saying 'I trust you with my life'." Tommy pulled out his tulip, showing the flower to Grizzly "I left one in the altar for a just in case Dream went too far and I needed to replace Tommy's flower. I really should have remembered that shrines are never empty." Tulie leaned back, taking a breath after her long winded explanation.

"So you grow tulips?"

"Any plant really. Flowers are easiest but if it's a plant I can magic it." Tulie elaborated, flexing her hand which suddenly had a dark red cosmos on her palm. Guess they were in season. Grizzly looked in awe at the flower and picked up a thin twig, pushing his magic into it until he had a sprig of cherry blossoms. Tulie looked at the pink flowers in awe, surprised to see such delicate flowers up close this time of year. Grizzly smiled, tucking the sprig behind one ear of the young priestess. The pink popped beautifully against her white strands, making Grizzly tamp down thoughts of making her a whole crown of the blooms.

"Bizly shot you?" Tommy asked, still caught up on the fact a god killed one of their own.

"If he didn't, I would have lost control again and hurt them and the world at large. It was the best course of action, so I asked him to shoot me." Grizzly explained again, calming down the teen. Tulie went back to her flowers, listening to the two guys' conversation.

"How does a god get killed? Aren't they immortal?"

"Equal or greater force." Tulie chimed in, not looking up from the crown she was working on. Tommy turned towards her. "A god can only be killed by another being that is either its equal in strength or its superior. The only "gods" that are truly immortal are the eternal forces: Life, Death, and Chaos. Everything else filters down from them." Tulie elaborated after feeling their eyes on her, finalizing the crown with a final twist of stems.

"And you know that, how?" Tommy asked, perplexed. "My Guardian taught me."

"Right... The more I hear about your Guardian, the more I'm confused by them." Grizzly decided to interrupt right then, voicing his own confusion.

"You two aren't siblings? Also how does your Guardian know that?"

Tulie smiled and shook her head. "Tommy and I aren't siblings. I'm not even from this world originally, I used to live in a cabin in a different world with this teen who found me while she was working and took me home with her. Later my, well one of them, Dad got dragged home and we've lived there ever since. Well, until I was transported here."

"I have two brothers and a dad, but one's dead and the other hates my guts. I haven't seen my dad in years. Tulie is the closest thing to a sister I have." Tommy added, leaving out the fact that his dad had killed Wilbur. Tulie reached out and took his hand, rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb.

Shroud woke up and rubbed his eyes, then looked wide eyed at the god sitting across from him. He tugged on Tommy's shirt before hissing in a questioning tone. "He's friendly, don't worry. You don't need to bite him." Tommy laughed as he reassured his son. Grizzly tilted his head in surprise.

"You can understand him?" "Yep. Years of emotional attachment made it easier to decipher." Tommy confirmed, " His name is Shroud and he walked up to me while I was building my house and we've been practically attached since then." Shroud nodded, clicking a greeting to the god. Grizzly smiled at the young spider in response.

"Tulie, you never explained how your guardian knows about how gods work." Grizzly asked. Tulie freed her hand from Tommy's and started on a new crown.

"They know a lot of things. They are pretty powerful and they read and experiment a lot. They've met so many different creatures and beings that I would be surprised if they didn't know things like that." Grizzly took the explanation, knowing that more information would come from more trust.

The day was perfect. The afternoon sun amplified the colors of the world and warmed the air to a comfy degree, It was almost enough to make their problems nonexistent. Grizzly sat with them, talking with them about anything they wanted, catching up on what he was missing while he recovered his energy. Tommy regaled him with stories of L'manberg with Tulie adding in her perspective on occasion.

The more Grizzly heard about this "Dream" the more he disliked him.

As he stayed on the Overworld with them he could feel his head start to spin more and more. Curse his impatient urge to see the two people that brought him back to life.

A tap on his shoulder brought the god out of his spiral. He looked up to see Tulie had shuffled over on her knees, holding a flower crown in her hands woven from poppies and daffodils. It took him a second to realize that the crown was for him. He lowered his head slightly, with Tulie took as permission to place the crown on his head, adjusting it so his ears popped over the top.

The moment that the crown touched his head, a rush of energy flooded through him. It was pleasant, feeling like his whole body was submerged in a hot spring and received a massage. His eyes shot up to Tulie, who for a split second looked different. More ethereal. Eyes of pure white, light blue dress made of tule fabric covered in stars, a flower crown woven with delicate jewels. But it passed quickly, Tulie's dirt and soot stained overall dress and skin colored with bruises and cuts in varying states of healing replaced the perfect image. Tulie looked down at him, catching the god's eyes.

"You okay Grizzly?"

Grizzly shook his head to clear himself, making sure to not dislodge the crown. "I'm good, great even. But I don't mean to cut our time short but, I should probably go back to Molympus, I kinda left without telling the others." He sheepishly admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

"We probably should head back to our place as well." Tommy said, standing up. Shroud wanted to walk on his own so he wiggled free of Tommy's grip and stood at his side. Tulie and Grizzly stood up as well, the latter noting that he wasn't dizzy after he stood. Tulie pressed three more crowns into his hands before stepping over to her friend's side. The trio waved good bye as they walked away and Grizzly watched them go until they disappeared in the treeline before taking his leave in a swirl of red light. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"He wasn't at full health, he couldn't have left!"

"Have we checked Everywhere?"

"Who last had eyes on him?"

"I don't know Charlie, who did?" The other gods were worked up because their friend was missing. They had nearly up-heaved the entirety of Molympus to find him, they all feared that he'd been taken again.

They were about to drop to the Overworld to look there, but that's when they saw their friend standing at the door way into their throne room, wearing a flower crown and carrying three more. He also wore a very sheepish smile, looking up at his fellow gods through his white streak. Charlie rushed over to Grizzly, wrapping him tightly in a hug.

"Was it worth it?"

"Absolutely, they are both delights."

Chapter Text

Grizzly smiled to himself as he placed the fall garland around the top of his throne, smiling as the fall colors blended so beautifully with the reds, golds, and whites. Bizly was lounging on his throne, half asleep and half shifted into an animal form. Condi was doing stuff off in the Nether, something about portal damage. Charlie was rolling a dice in his fingers while looking over a thick book. 

The Hallow's Eve celebration was fast approaching, their priest and priestess were starting preparations, or they should have.

"Have any of you heard from the kids? They said they would meet us at the shrine to learn more about Hallow's Eve." 

"Now that you mention it, They're late. That's... odd." Charlie noted closing his book. Grizzly fidgeted with the edge of his cloak, nervous. 

"Did Condi say what he was doing in the Nether or did he just dip without-" He started before being cut off by Bizly shooting into an upright position, a look of panic on his face. 

"Biz? What's got you wired more than a creeper ready to explode?"

"Help." That got their attention, with Charlie and Grizzly quickly moving to either side of Bizly's throne. 

"Which one asked?!" Bizly shook his head grabbing the other two and teleporting to the shrine. When the trio arrived the shrine was vacant except for a little black spider hybrid with black curls and a little red sweater. Shroud's little hands were clasped together and his eight eyes were tightly shut. Bizly carefully walked over until he was kneeling in front of the young creature. He placed a hand on Shroud's shoulder causing the spider to look up at him, a little fear in his ruby eyes. Weither it was from the god or from why he was asking for help worried him. 

"What happened?" He asked, removing his sunglasses. Shroud immediately started clicking and hissing, waving his hands around as he explained. Bizly watched him intently, his mouth pressed into a thin line. The other two gods watched from the side, unable to understand spider speak. 

Bizly understood all mobs and creatures as it was his domain, Condi could understand all Nether and End creatures for the same reason. The other two had one that they could speak with. For Grizzly it was wolves, dogs were always his favorite. 

Charlie, for some unknown reason had claimed, of all things, slimes. Something about it being his brand? The others just chalked it up to Charlie being Charlie. 

Shroud finished his story, a pleading look in his many eyes edged with tears. Bizly nodded and stood, turning to the other two. 

"Shroud came here alone. He said that Dream hurt Tommy and something is wrong with Tulie. Neither of them are moving much, but in his words, "there's a lot of red and black and not in a good way." "

Eyes widened in panic, all of the gods had the same thought. Grizzly shifted in wolf form and took off into the forest, followed shortly by Charlie melting into slime and melding with the ground to move faster. Bizly shifted into the form of a bear and gently grabbed Shroud by the sweater and placed him on his back, with a growl of "hold on." took off after the other two. 

Charlie got to the camp site first. It was too quiet which only set his heart on edge. After shaking the sand that still clung to his form after morphing back into human form, he quickly walked over to the tent, meeting Grizzly at the entrance. Both pulled back the flaps of thin fabric, gasping at what they saw. 

Charlie rushed over to Tommy's... what must have counted as a bed, where the teen lay unmoving, covered in bruises and blood in varying stages of dry. Some were still actively bleeding. The god pressed two fingers to the side of his neck, pleading with the universe that they weren't losing him. 

Grizzly was bedside by Tulie doing the same. Her body was in a similar state, her bruises were colored differently and her blood stained her clothes green. But what scared him more was the black creeping up her right arm and worryingly her right leg. On her arm it was past her elbow and half way up her upper arm, but on her leg it crept up past her knee and was carving its way up her thigh. Her leg also looked broken with her ankle sitting in an odd position and knee looking dislocated. Added to the worry was the black fluid staining the front of her shirt and overall dress, with traces of the same color on her mouth, chin and back of her hands/ wrists, like she had wiped away the stuff from her mouth. 

Tulie's pulse was faint and erratic but there. Grizzly breathed a sigh of relief and dropped both his hand and head. 

"She's alive, how's he?"

"Alive, barely." Charlie grimaced, his hands shaking as he brought them up to work on a spell. Bizly arrived just then, having gone slower but with as much urgency as the other two because he was carrying their littlest worshiper. Immediately, he grimaced at the sight, letting Shroud down before shifting back to humanoid form. 

"What happened?" He asked, his hand clenching in rage that something had befallen the two. "How bad is it?" 

Grizzly gently got his arms under Tulie's limp body and pulled her close, resting her on his lap. Charlie dropped his hands, letting the light of his magic fade as he rubbed a hand over his face. 

"Bad. It's... a lot of damage. He hasn't eaten properly in days and there's more injuries that aren't from this." He managed to get out. "Shroud did the right thing by getting us." 

"Let's get them to the shrine, or somewhere, Anywhere but here." Bizly asserted, picking Shroud up again, wiping the little hybrid's eyes, and letting him bury his face in his hood crease. Charlie worked on picking up the very lanky teen without aggravating his wounds. He managed, but when he stood up all three gods gasped. 

Tommy's wings, normally white and lightly gold with red accents, were nearly unrecognizable. 

Feathers were torn, broken, twisted, or missing in patches. Slashes leaked blood that painted what was left of them in dark shades of maroon and crimson. Some were so deep that bone was visible, some were broken. 

Whoever attacked them targeted his wings. 

The thing that embodied his youthful, joyous energy,

Destroyed.

Charlie held him tighter, anger flaring as shown by his eyes and horns briefly glowing green and his tail twisting aggressively. 

"That's not right. He's a kid."

"They all are. Shroud saw his only family get beaten, that's nothing that he should have ever seen." Grizzly added to Bizly's statement. He stood up and walked out of the tent, holding the small form like she was made of glass.

A swirl of purple and orange particles surrounded the arriving form of Condifiction, who quickly walked over the other three. 

"What happened? I just felt all three of you panic then have that be overtaken by fear and anger, what set all of you off that...much..." The god trailed off as he saw the state of the three in the arms of his brothers. 

They didn't acknowledge the smell of fire and the rise in temperature. 

They didn't have much time to acknowledge it, as Tulie started coughing. 

Coughing up black sludge. Hard.

Grizzly Panicked Immediately. 

He dropped to the ground, propping the young girl up and leaning forward so the sludge would come out, trying to keep her from choking on it. He didn't care about the stuff getting on his clothes or hands, he was more worried about her. The black bubbled from her lips and down her front, staining everything. 

After maybe five minutes, which felt like hours, the spew of sludge finally stopped. Tulie's breathing evened, albeit shallow. Her body stilled, no longer convulsing like a branch being climbed on, and all the gods breathed a sigh of relief. Grizzly wiped Tulie's face with the edge of his cloak before standing back up. 

"Let's Go. Before they get worse." 

The four gods walked into the forest, afraid to magic travel out of concern for their Priest and Priestess's injuries. The two had a long road of healing ahead. 

Dream returned that night to find a scorched campsite with very little left of the tent or of the two who should have been in it. He frowned under his mask. With the injuries they had, they shouldn't have been able to move. 

No big deal, if Tommy tried to go to anybody, he'd either be killed or turned back over to Dream.

And Tulie...

Without treatment she didn't have much time left. 

Chapter Text

Ranboo was sure that he was in the right place. He stood on the beach looking at the burned remains of a tent, checking his memory book that he had gone to the right place. 

Dream had told Tubbo that Tommy was fine, content after Tulie had joined him. Tulie, the little girl who played with flowers, decorating the windows, doors, and various garden beds around L'manberg. She would sit with Tommy listening intently to the music from the jukebox, saying it reminded her of home. Her fingers would twitch like she was playing a guitar.

She was the one to help him with the journal, and teach him some flower meanings.

She was good, so He remembered her. 

Dream had said they were happy, just busy. But recently there had been radio silence from Dream, no one had even seen him recently. No new information about the exiled pair, no sign of them having left their exile either.

But there was no sign of the embodiment of sunlight or the flower that grew in its light. Ranboo wandered around aimlessly, calling out his friends' names. "Tommy? Tulie? Are you around?" 

"Who are you?" 

Ranboo whirled around at the sound of a voice he'd never heard before and was met with a stranger. His fluffy brown hair surrounded a pair of green horns and the glasses he wore reflected the light of the sun. He stood with his arms crossed, clearly staring down the ghost. 

"I'm Ranboo. I'm a friend of Tommy's friend Tubbo. Have you seen him? Tubbo sent me to check on him and Tulie." Ranboo answered, moving closer to the stranger. The stranger tilted his head to the side, the light shifting away from his glasses showing off his green eyes. 

"You were sent here? Do you have any clue of what's been happening to them here?" 

Ranboo looked at the stranger, not understanding what he was asking. 

"I... Don't... We were told that Tommy was fine and happy after Tulie joined him here. What do you mean "what's been happening to them here?"" 

"And who told you that?"

"Dream did. Is there-" Ranboo cut himself off when he saw the expression on the other's face. It was twisted into a grimace of anger and sadness. "Did something happen to them?" 

The stranger dropped his arms, flexing his hands as he looked off to the side, his thin tail (which Ranboo just noticed) was thrashing back and forth, leaving tracks in the sand. He thought he heard the other mutter "So he's a liar on top of an abuser." before he flicked his hand out to the side. Suddenly he was holding a rather large emerald in his hand and he walked over to Ranboo, grabbed his arm and put the emerald in his hand. 

"Go to whoever is in charge and show them this." He instructed as he looked Ranboo right in his eyes, "If anyone wants to see them ever again, they will do what's right." 

And with that the green clad stranger turned and walked away, leaving the tall, dual colored teen alone on the beach, the only proof he'd been there was the marks in the sand. 

Ranboo looked at the emerald in his hand, bringing it up to his face. He tilted the emerald in the light and froze when images flashed in his head. He needed to find Tubbo and maybe Philza. He made a quick note in his book before taking off back towards people. If what he'd seen was true, Dream had done something that was unforgivable. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Charlie walked back to the clearing after meeting with Tommy's "friend of a friend" on the beach where they'd found their priest and priestess unresponsive and had hidden them away from any eyes within the clearing of their shrine. They had wanted to take them both to Molympus to heal them in the greatest safety they could provide but to do so would make them a part of the pantheon. 

Not to say that the idea hadn't crossed their minds...

Grizzly was walking back to the Small cabin that they had built to let Tommy and Tulie rest in, flowers in his arms. Charlie huffed a silent laugh, knowing that Grizzly was a big old softy for the two of them. Granted they all were, but Grizzly most of all. The green god walked over to the house running his hand over the wood, feeling the enchantments he'd incorporated into the structure to keep prying eyes away. He walked into the small house, hanging his cloak on the hooks by the door, and rolling up his sleeves to start cooking. 

The cabin itself was two stories, sorta. They had built a second floor loft to let Tommy have a proper nest area to rest in. The blonde was currently up there, still unconscious three days later. Shroud had also made a space up there having been told to be Tommy some space as his body was slowly piecing itself back together. The gossamer threads of webs hung down from the loft's balcony, evidence of the small spider hybrid going between the two members of his family. Tulie's "room" was surrounded by big windows both on the wall and ceiling, to let in as much light as possible. Charlie had worked hard on the softest blankets to tuck them into, making sure they were safe. 

The sound of a door shutting brought Charlie's attention back to the front door and Condi knocking the nether dust off his boots and cape. 

"You couldn't do that outside?"

"Maybe, but I wanted to check on them sooner rather than later."  

Charlie rolled his eyes. 

"Anything?" 

Charlie shook his head causing Condi to huff in frustration. When the green god turned around, he was met with four ruby red eyes staring at him upside down, scaring him for a moment before causing him to laugh. 

"Spooked me good there Shroud. Can I help you with something, little spider?" 

Said hybrid gave the god a toothy smile before flipping down from the web he'd been hanging on to land on the counter. "Do you want to help me?" Shroud nodded, reaching his hands out in a grabby hands motion. 

Tulie's eyes slowly opened to a rather bright environment, her throat and mouth sore and the rest of her body in varying amounts of pain, the most in her right arm (which was normal) and right leg (which wasn't). The flower blinked her eyes a few times, the world getting clearer each time. She was in a warm bed in a very nice room, lit by the many windows that looked out into the edge of the woods and up into the slightly cloudy sky. Honestly it was a nicer place than most of the other places she'd stayed while being here. Tulie twitched her fingers, feeling the blankets under and covering them, warmer than she'd been in a while. 

When she tried to speak her voice box couldn't make much more than a very quiet squeak. Her throat protested the noise, soreness spiking into a brief flare of pain. Tulie tested if she could move her head without pain, she could, and moved her head to the side, looking out to the woods. It was quiet, some faint kitchen noise from the other side of the room, maybe past a door frame. 

She shouldn't be here. Dream had been withholding the potions she was needing in place of the medication she should be taking. Slowly getting weaker falling into more and more vivid hallucinations, a later symptom of the disease, she had thought that it was it. Dream had caught them walking to the woods while Tommy's wings were out and had gotten angry, yelling that they were trying to leave before attacking them.

Tommy had jumped in front of Dream's attack first, Yelling at Tulie to go while also keeping Dream's attention away from Shroud who was in her arms. Tulie did, for a minute, until Dream threw his ax in her direction. It caught her in the right leg, causing her to drop the small hybrid as she fell. 

"Get Help." 

After sending Shroud away everything got blurry and painful, at some point she had gotten herself and Tommy back to the tent, tearfully crying at seeing her best friends sitting on her bed waiting for her, before puking and passing out on her bed. She briefly remembered coming to, just barely, to a blob of red cradling her before the world went dark again. 

So where was she now? Did her Dad and Guardian finally find her just in time? Was she finally home? She had been planning a renovation to her room for a while before she was... she still wasn't quite sure how she got to this world. 

There were steps coming from the other side of the room, so Tulie turned her head towards them, causing their source to pause. The fluffy brown hair and green eyes gave her hope for a second. 

"Emi?" 

Charlie shook his head, Tulie's eyes blinking once more, clearing up her vision a bit more revealing the glasses and horns that she couldn't recognize before. She was safe, but not home. 

"Who's Emi?"

"My Guardian. I thought you were her for a moment. But you're not." She mumbled, turning her head back the other side. Charlie didn't know how to respond or feel about that statement. "I should be dead. Decay should be destroying the world with rot and corruption." 

Charlie felt concern flood his body at that, letting it flow into the bond he shared with his brothers. 

"Who's Decay?" The god of magic asked, quickly walking over to the prone girl taking her left hand and kneeling down next to her. 

"I... My illness, the reason I drink potions. A long time ago, in the aftermath of a battle with a wither, I found a lash on my wrist. Over the next few days the infection spread and it made me see things that weren't there, I could feel me slipping away and having to fight for control of my body. My Parents had to fight the thing I turned into. It wasn't like a dark alter ego, it was a different entity entirely and all it did was destroy. In the end, Emi, My Guardian, ended it by destroying my form, pushing me back into a bulb. When I grew back however the infection, the disease, was still there. I have to take a medication to keep me healthy and stable. 

It's not to be messed with, Decay is literally the embodiment of its name. It rots, corrupts, and destroys everything." Tulie started crying during her story, still questioning why she was still alive, or thinking that this wasn't real. Charlie clutched her small hand tightly, his concern growing. 

Grizzly ran into the room, Condi and Bizly on his heels. 

"Flower..." Grizzly breathed out, emotion running thick in his voice. He walked over to her other side, gingerly taking her right wrist in his hands, looking at her with tears in his own eyes. 

"Is Tommy okay?" Tulie asked looked between the gods, searching for any sign that she had hurt, or worse killed him. 

"He's fine, just resting upstairs. You woke up before he did." Condi answered, calming her fears. Tulie nodded, accepting that information. 

"I think you should know, We burned what was left of your tent. Dream can't track or find you here." Charlie added, Grizzly brushing hair away from her face as Tulie's eyes slowly closed. 

"Rest easy, you're safe here."

Chapter Text

"Now hold on a minute.-"

"There is nothing you can say in your defense here, God jewels are not lairs and they cannot be faked. You did all those things to them, you cannot deny any of it." Technoblade growled at the masked man kneeling in front of him in the center of L'manberg. 

Ranboo had run to Tubbo first after his experience at Logstedshire, shoving the emerald into his hand and telling him to look through it. Tubbo's tears didn't stop even as they ran to Technoblade and Philza, the boy was still choking down sobs as the pair had stood on the door step of the biggest threats to their country. But even if they may be enemies, the older two were Tommy's family, his brother and father. They should know what was happening to their son and brother. 

That led to now, Dream kneeling in front of Tubbo and Techno, Ranboo and Philza behind them, the latter holding the incriminating emerald. A crowd had gathered as rumors and information spread, many people with mixed feelings about both Tommy and Dream gathered to watch. 

"You lied to us. You would abuse them then come back here and say they were perfectly healthy and happy." Tubbo quietly started, but his volume increased as he continued. "I handed Tommy over to you and let you convince me that Tulie was a threat and needed to be exiled too. You used their isolation to get away with the absolute worst things." 

"Even if you want to argue that Tommy Has crimes to answer for, Tulie doesn't. The only thing she has "dragging her down" is her loyalty to her friends, something very few here actually respect." Techno cut in, stepping forward and grabbing the masked man by the front of his hoodie, pulling him up slightly. "She has been nothing but kind, generous, and amicable. She didn't deserve any of what you did to her." He shook the kneeling man to emphasize each word before dropping him as he stepped away. 

Dream slouched as he hit the ground, trying to stabilize his brain after being rattled by the massive piglin hybrid. Tubbo took a stabilizing breath, giving Ranboo's hand that was on his shoulder a squeeze before stepping forward, commanding attention. 

"DreamWasTaken, while acting as monitor to two exiled persons repeatedly abused, both physically and mentally, both prisoners and lied about their health and well being to officials when asked."

"Not to mention the knowing medical abuse by withholding lifesaving medicine of a minor." Techno cut in, his growl becoming prominent at the end as his fist clenched. There were a few gasps in the crowd, but Tubbo continued on to the sentencing.

"For your crimes both named here and those others have against you, I sentence you to life in Pandora's Vault." Tubbo glared at the tormentor in the white mask with barely contained fury. "Get him out of my country." 

Sam and Quackity moved from where they were in the crowd, Quackity pulling the last of Dream's inventory as Sam restrained him and started pulling him away. Dream then realized that this wasn't a gag and no one was going to help him, even as he stained against the restraints and yelled at people who turned their backs on him. Technoblade turned to face the president, blocking the retreating form of Dream. He nodded toward Philza who came closer. 

"We'll start looking for Tommy and Tulie, hopefully they got away and are still alive somewhere, hiding. But would they be allowed back here if we brought them?" The dark winged man asked looking at the other pair with eyebrows raised. Tubbo nodded,

"They have suffered more than they ever should have, their exile has been lifted."

Techno and Philza made their departure soon after, Phil offering the emerald back to the younger pair to which they both shook their heads. Tubbo kept his composure as he turned around, indicating Ranboo to follow him, and walked towards his office. Once the door was shut, that composure broke down immediately, the smaller practically barreling into the chest of the taller one. Ranboo wrapped his arms around the shoulders of the now sobbing goat boy, who even in his break down put an arm between his face and their chest to keep his tears from soaking into his clothes and burning his friend. 

"Why did I believe that- that Bastard when he- he said they were fine!" Tubbo stuttered out through sobs, the strain of holding it all in finally snapping now that he wasn't in the public eye. Ranboo rubbed his shoulders in an attempt to comfort, not knowing what to say in response. 

"Tommy probably hates me now for *hic* letting this happen." 

Ranboo slowly started moving them over to one of the chairs, pulling the crying boy down with him. 

"But you're making the right choices now to help them, right? You weren't telling Dream to hurt them and now you've put a stop to it."

"Is it enough though? Did I act too late? They might be dead somewhere-"

"If Tommy and Tulie were dead, we would have gotten a message from the global chat, yeah? They are out there, hiding like Phil said." Ranboo cut Tubbo's self-deprecating statements, firmly placing a hand on the goat's head, gently rubbing around the horns that were starting to poke out of the brown curls. Something he remembered calmed him down, same with Tommy was the same way, just with his ears on the top of his head. 

"We can go look with Technoblade and Philza tomorrow after you take a rest. You've been working yourself ragged being president and this has exacerbated the built up stress. You need a rest." 

Ranboo encouraged Tubbo to get a rest, their main idea being a nap. But for now the smaller teen kept crying, albeit quieter with the sobs getting further apart. The taller kept at their task, rubbing his friend's head and back until his breathing evened out to a slow rhythm. 

"I feel like shit."

"That's what happens when you get dropped at the gates to the afterlife by a mask wearing maniac." 

Tommy groaned as he was gently helped into a sitting position in his soft nest, the softest he'd had since leaving his dad's home. Bizly was changing his bandages, being extra careful around his wings while working on his back. The sound of the door quickly opening drew both their attentions, causing them to lean to look over the balcony railing. 

Charlie and Grizzly were covered in a mix of sawdust and glue (tree resin?) Bizly couldn't hold back the snort that devolved to laughter and it felt that Tommy was the same way. 

"What happened to you two?"

"We made a set of crutches!" Charlie called out, holding up the pair of wooden rods made out of smooth, light colored wood, polished to a shine. 

"And how did that involve you both getting covered in sawdust?" 

"Spooked by a creeper."

...

"You're Both Gods!"

"That Doesn't Mean We Are Immune To Getting Jump scared!"

Chapter Text

Grizzly watched as Tulie pushed herself on the plank swing that Bizly had hung up from a tree between the shrine and the cabin. Her blue cloak wrapped tightly around her blocking the cold breeze of the newly settled winter. A month and a half had gone by and the two were healing at a great rate. Physically at least. 

The two "Mortals" were on a more stable and consistent diet than they had been for a while before they had their brush with death, which help speed up their healing, but the mental tole had left much deeper scars. Cheesy but true, you can't really toss health potions and good food at the mind and expect to fix it within a few days. 

Tommy still had nights where he didn't sleep due to nightmares, or times where he would be unresponsive where the gods couldn't even touch him for fear of making him spiral more. Those were the days where only Tulie and Shroud could be around him.

Tulie reacted differently. She would space out, eyes unfocused and hazy as they stared at nothing. Other days she wouldn't get out of bed or curl up in a pile of pillows and blankets in a sunny spot and not move for hours. Charlie had started ditching his cape, fearing the block of green would remind them of Dream. But it didn't, at least to Tulie, who he'd found holding on to the disposed cape like it was a beloved blanket and he didn't have the heart to take it from her. 

Today was a good day though, Bizly and Condi were helping Tommy with some flying practice to stretch his wings and strengthen his mussels. Something about the cold air was supposedly helpful? Grizzly hadn't paid enough attention when they were walking out. He was more concerned for the white haired flower being out in the cold. Her leg was not healing as fast as it should, she still needed her crutches because she couldn't put weight on her right leg. Charlie feared that there might be some permanent damage to both her ankle and knee joints that they couldn't fix. Tulie didn't seem too bothered by it, only bummed that it now was a struggle to get down on the ground and then get back up.

So instead they walked around the clearing, following Bizly and Tommy in the sky for some time before the young hybrid swooped down, scooped Shroud from Condi's shoulders and took off out of sight, Condi running after them on the ground. Tulie had taken to using crutches very well, but there were problem with her right wrist where there were days she couldn't move her hand, had trouble gripping anything. Charlie had run himself silly trying to make a new set of crutches that wouldn't need her hands. The ones she was using now were the most recent design. After seeing the others disappear into the sky they walked around for a bit more before pausing at the swing.  

"I can't wait to see the swing in the spring, have the ropes covered in vines and in full bloom. It will look straight out of a painting." Grizzly commented walking closer to the swing, wrapping a hand around one of the ropes. Tulie hummed in agreement, looking up into the sky to try and spot Tommy flying. 

"We've wanted to put one up in the back yard but Emi couldn't figure out how to do it without eventually hurting the tree so instead we have the swings on the porch and the ones hanging under the one of the trellises." She responded using her left leg to push herself back and forth. "We tried getting things to grow on it but nothing ever stuck around for long." 

"Well, can't try it now. It's too cold to keep something alive that isn't year round now." 

"Yeah, Spring is going to be beautiful after all this snow."

The two let the silence that only really comes with early snow fall surround them. The wind picked up a little, pushing more clouds into the sky. Grizzly looked up, analyzing the color and shape of the clouds. 

"We're gonna get more snow soon, maybe tonight." He commented, dropping his gaze from the sky back to the young priestess. Tulie hummed, reaching down to grab her crutches and standing up. The pair made their way back into the cabin, knocking snow off their boots before they entered. Grizzly immediately removed his outer cloak but Tulie kept her's on, one arm folded underneath the fabric like she was holding something and walked over to the couch. Grizzly sighed,

"What did you bring in?" 

Tulie sheepishly smiled and pulled her arms out from under the fabric, revealing a tiny blue fairy-esque creature the size of a small doll with a set of small feathered wings clinging to the hand and arm cradling it. The tiny allay opened its eyes, revealing two white marbles swirling with light grey, an unusual trait for the tiny creatures. 

"When did you stash that?"

"He was cold, I couldn't leave him out there." She explained, placing a hand on the top of the allay's head. The little creature let out a quiet pleased note at the affectionate contact, eyes closing and smiling. Grizzly smiled at that, his heart melting a little at the scene. 

"Well if you're going to keep him around, he'll need a name." He offered, taking a seat next to her on the couch. Tulie tilted her head, considering the idea. She turned back to look at the allay, bringing her hand up so they were face to face. 

"Do you have a name already, little buddy?" She asked him, looking him in the eyes. The allay shook his head, but when he opened his mouth a melody came out in a language neither of them understood.

                                "  !¡∷╎リᓵᒷᓭᓭ  "

"Okay, so can I give you a name then?" The allay nodded. Tulie thought for a moment, thinking hard about what would be a fitting name for the little creature. Her eyes lit up as the perfect name came to her. 

"Callum. It means dove, like his wings." 

Callum brightened at the new name, flying up and around, an eager and excited melody flowing from him as well as more of that strange language. 

                                "  I ∴ᔑᓭ ⊣╎⍊ᒷリ ᔑ リᔑᒲᒷ ʖ|| ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ !¡∷╎リᓵᒷᓭᓭ  " 

Grizzly smiled as he watched the scene, delighted with the smile on Tulie's face, only distracted when he heard the door open. He turned his head to face Bizly, Condi, and Tommy with Shroud hugging his front brushing their outer layers of snow and wet before hanging them up on several hooks. 

"How was flying? We saw Tommy take off and you two chase after." 

"Tommy was flying circles around me. No matter the bird wings I chose he was too quick." Bizly groaned, dragging his feet on his way to the couch before flopping on it with a huff. 

"I'm just that much of a Big Winged Man." Tommy boasted, putting his hands on his hips. Shroud hissed from Tommy's shoulders raising his hands and making motions of flying. Condi chuckled a little. walking over to a soft chair next to the couch. Grizzly looked over at him. 

"Tommy is almost fully recovered physically. Only a few hiccups from scar tissue but those will fade with stretching. How do the crutches work?" Condi supplied to the red god. 

"Fine. I think. She seems to not be bothered by them. Her joints are holding up alright, but that is a time-will-tell situation." 

Callum came speeding back over, inspecting Tommy and Shroud who had sat down next to Tulie. 

                              "  ⎓∷╎ᒷリ↸ᓭ 𝙹⎓ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ !¡∷╎リᓵᒷᓭᓭ? ∴⍑ᔑℸ ̣  ↸𝙹 ╎ ᓵᔑꖎꖎ ||𝙹⚍?  " 

Tommy pointed at the Allay, looking at Tulie with a question in his eyes. Tulie shrugged, bringing a hand up and whistling a note to call Callum to her. 

"This is Callum. I found him outside when he came up to me shivering from the cold. He's mine now." Tulie explained, Callum making a chirp like noise in agreement before speaking in his strange language.

                              "  ╎ℸ ̣  ╎ᓭ ᔑリ ⍑𝙹リ𝙹∷ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ʖᒷ ᓭ!¡ᒷᓵ╎ᔑꖎ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ⍑ᒷ∷ ⍑╎⊣⍑リᒷᓭᓭ.  "

Tommy accepted the new creature in the cabin, reaching a hand to rub Callum's head. Shroud looked at the doll-like creature with wonder, holding a hand out to shake with the allay, something he'd seen all the older people do. The smiles on their faces reassured the gods that they were doing the right thing. 

"Where's Charlie?" Grizzly asked looking around the cabin for his brother, but the green god was nowhere to be seen. 

"We thought he was in here. He wasn't outside when we came in." Bizly answered rubbing his eyes under his sunglasses. Condi looked between the group before sighing and standing back up.

"I'll go check Molympus." He tells the others before disappearing in a swirl of lavender light and orange sparkles. 

Condi walked the halls of Molympus, looking for the green clad god. His pointed ears picked up on some violin music coming from down the hall in the direction of the medical quarters. The god of other realms followed the harmonious melody till he came to the source.

Charlie was asleep on one side of a bed, holding a hand of what looked to be a young girl resting on the bed. Looked like... the horns on her head and the severe discoloration around her neck and mouth gave her an unnaturally large and twisted mouth. She was alive, breathing at the very least. Condi shook Charlie's shoulder to wake him up. 

Charlie bolted up, blinking the sleep out of his eyes as he stared at the other god, groaning as he picked the bridge of his nose. 

"Charlie, Who is that?" Caondi asked, pointing to the girl in the bed. Charlie looked back to her, brushing some multi-color hair away from her face. 

"My daughter." 

Condi's head flashed with images of a different world; a science lab, rats of various kinds, and a young blonde girl hiding behind a dirty and beaten Charlie. 

"She died, but she's here. I don't know how but I'm not going to deny myself this." 

Condi looked sadly at his brother, placing a hand on his shoulder. Charlie had gone through hell to bring back Grizzly, part of which had been finding a girl to care for in the ruins of the world he'd been dropped in only to lose her right near the end. It was part of the reason that Charlie had been so protective of their new followers. 

"Are you alright to come back down?" Charlie shook his head. 

"Maybe after she wakes up, When I can for certain she's okay." 

Chapter Text

"I am a real Human person and not a puddle of sentient goo that is pretending to be human to learn about humans." 

Tulie really was trying to keep her laughter contained, but between the befuddled and resigned look on the duck hybrids face and the slightly derpy look on the green god's face, it was an uphill battle. She took Charlie's offered hand and shook it, picking up that the god was trying to keep a low profile. "My name's Tulie. I work in decorations and service at Las Nevadas, which really means when I'm not gardening I'm running drinks and food to our guests. I take it you're going to be working with us?"

"This is Slime, I found him in a hole." Quackity introduced, completely oblivious to the knowledge that Tulie already knew the new guy's name. 

Why was Charlie down here? To keep a closer eye on their Twelve year old priestess who was working in a Casino of course. It's not the safest environment for someone of her age. 

Two months after their exile had ended, people came looking for the duo to make sure they were alright. To keep their influence safe the gods left back for Molymups so they wouldn't be treated as hostile, but promised to keep an eye on their Priest and Priestess after they left. 

So when they found out Tulie was going to work at a casino, Grizzly nearly ran off Molympus and had to be restrained by Bizly and Condi. 

Charlie found a compromise, slipping out of godhood once again to keep a closer eye on her while she worked. He found her trying to not laugh hilarious. 

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Tulie from the Lost Cabin. I hope we see a lot of each other while we work." He said in a preppy voice, genuinely excited. Out of all the gods, he loved studying humans and hybrids while they interacted with each other the most, so he was the best choice to keep a personal eye out on their flower. 

"Tulie, Slime is going to work primarily at the bar and on the floor, so he'll need to be in proper uniform if you could Pequeña tulipán?" 

"Right away Boss!" Tulie gave the casino owner a two fingered salute before grabbing Charlie's arm and walking out of the office. She led him down through the back hallways, ending up in an area that was floor to ceiling with different styles of uniforms. Tulie raised her arms and spun around, presenting all the options to the mortal god. "So, the major question now is what's your favorite color? I saw it on Duck Duck's face that he already likes you, so you get color in your uniform." 

Charlie rubbed his hands together, looking at the uniforms presented. "I mean you know my color scheme, What do you think would look good on me?" 

Tulie tapped a finger against her cheek looking over the selection of greens before snapping her fingers, grabbing a white shirt and a pair of dusty green slacks, whistling over her shoulder. Callum came speeding around the door frame, hovering next to Tulie as she gave him instructions. 

"Can you find the suspenders and ties that match the pants please?" 

The allay bobbed with a nod and flew to the other side of the room looking over said items. Charlie took advantage of the privacy to start asking questions. 

"Why work at a casino? You're too young to even get into one normally." 

Tulie paused, looking at socks, debating whether black or green socks would go better, before responding,

"It was more so about where the casino is located. Being in areas where plant growth is limited actually slows the progression of the disease. I originally came out here to visit with another guy called Foolish, he's something else when it comes to building, because I wanted some pointers and tips so I briefly stayed with him. Then Quackity came calling and asked for some help growing plants to decorate Las Nevadas. That was when I realized the slowed progression of my disease. One thing lead to another and now I work here, and I'm happy, not worrying about my disease. He keeps an eye on me to make sure I'm not getting harassed." 

"Well, let's make it two pairs of eyes on you." Charlie stated, taking the shirt and pants when she held them out to him to try on. Callum flew back over, holding the suspenders and two ties, a normal neck tie and a bow tie. 

He picked the normal tie, much to Tulie's disappointment. 

"So do I get a room here or what?" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Working a bar in a casino was much more interesting than expected, in Charlie's opinion. Because you got to see both the best and the worst in people, more of the worst, booze and gambling being less than righteous habits. But it was kinda fun. Charlie learned how to gamble, taking up Quackity's offer that Tulie would often turn down. These skills would have been perfect for dealing with Schlatt back when he'd been an active problem. 

Tommy found out Charlie was working there through world chatter, and became a frequent visitor of the "entertainment capital". Both knew that this was the gods's way of making sure they were okay and said nothing of it in public, only talking about things in private, when only their ears were listening. 

Charlie thought they both looked good, healthier than when they started working on the shrine. Tommy's clothes had only minimal amounts of dirt, he did try to make an effort to keep his appearance tidy. His shirt and pants were free of rips and blood stains and intact shoes. His blonde curls would catch the setting sun, finally properly clean. 

Tulie's whole outfit was replaced with her work uniform. A white short sleeve button down shirt with a dark blue skirt that went down to her knees, Las Nevadas embroidered in glitzy font underneath a print of a royal flush on one side of the skirt. Black socks tucked into shiny Mary Janes the same shade of blue as her skirt, black fingerless gloves and blue suspenders finished the outfit. Her white hair was held back by a rotation of accessories: A flower crown (black, red and white of course), dice barrettes, or a black head band with rhinestones cut to look like card suits. That one appeared on her nightstand with a sprig of cherry blossoms, a gift from Grizzly. 

Often, Tommy would chill by the bar, a non-alcoholic drink in his hand and chatting with Charlie while he worked. Tulie went back and forth, placing orders and running them out to tables, popping in and out of the conversation while she worked. 

That was the set up on one particular night, the house was bustling but not packed. A good night because it wasn't too crazy. 

"It's nice seeing Big Q happy, even if it's only temporarily." Tommy commented while leaning against the bar. Slime leaned over sliding a finish drink over to a patron. 

"What do you mean Tommyinnit from the Lost Cabin?" 

Tommy's mouth twitched at the name/title that Charlie used while on the job as a weird character quirk, before elaborating, 

"I don't know the specifics but he was in a relationship with two other people, but they split up and it really broke him. He wasn't the same after that but now, he's got something he built from the ground up he looks better." 

"Humans are pretty resilient beings, they can come back from anything." 

"How people come back from things can make a big difference however." Tulie chimed in, jumping up onto one of the tall bar stools. 

"Care to elaborate Tulie from the Lost Cabin?" Slime asked, handing her a water with lime. She took a long drink, draining a third of the glass before continuing, 

"People can break, not always in a physical way, but in ways that affect someone none the less. When someone is broken in that way they have a choice about going forward." Tulie started explaining, bringing a hand up and growing vines like tentacles to reach into the bin for the glass she knew was broken (not her fault, another worker had dropped it but she was the only one on staff who could safely pick up the pieces.) 

"The main choice is how they put themselves back together in the aftermath. They can either put their peices together in the original orientation," She moved the pieces so they looked like the whole cup again, "Or they can turn their shards outwards." she continued, and the shards turned around, remaining in the silhouette of the cup but the sharp edges were angled out, ready to cut the hand of anyone who tried to grab it. Charlie looked perplexed staring at the cup,

"Why would anyone choose the second option?" Tulie shrugged her shoulders,

"It's easier, also a defense tactic. They don't want to be hurt again so they set defenses to not be hurt again. That's what Quackity did, but he's realizing that it's only hurting himself and those who are trying to help him." 

"But you two are the first alignment? You seem to be mostly back to what was normal before we met?" Slime asked, going quiet on the second half. 

"We had a support system in you guys, something Duck Duck didn't get. There's also the fact that physical wounds are a better way to clarify the wrongness of a situation." 

"Yeah, Big Q was hurt by people who should have been there for him, we were hurt by someone who has only been kind to us under the pretense of getting something from us. It's easier to heal back to alignment or something close to it." Tommy added, playing with his glass. 

"That brings up a good point, Just because someone manages to pick up their pieces and put themselves together again doesn't mean they go back to being perfectly who they were before. The changes, no matter how minute, are still there. They don't mean weakness, but if you were to strike while the mend is fresh you could break them further." 

"HEY! Drink girl, We Need To Order!" Someone called from off in the casino, causing Tulie to sigh and slide off the chair. 

"Back to work Tulie from the Lost Cabin." Slime waved with a smile as she finished her water and walked back onto the floor. 

"Help, Guys I'm gonna need hel- CHARLIE HELP ME! HELP!!!!" 

"Please let me go sir, you're hurting my ar- AHHH!" 

Charlie vaulted over the bar hearing a scream that could only be the white haired Priestess. He booked it to her weaving around poker tables and slot machines as fast as he could. 

Some asshole had grabbed her by her right wrist, twisting it in his hold as another jackass tripped her, causing her to fall due to her bad leg. Charlie saw red at the tears in her eyes. He punched the guy holding her with no hesitation, grabbing her before she could fall all the way to the floor. The other guy swung at the god, catching him in the cheek and causing to stumble back. 

It took every ounce of control to keep his form the same and not smite these fools where they stood. But that might leave stains on the floor and he couldn't do that to Quackity. 

"Think you're some kind of hot shot, bar boy? She gave us the wrong drinks, I was just teaching her a lesson." 

"What made you think that grabbing a kid for a simple mistake was the right course of action? It's very busy tonight as people keep moving from place to place while ordering different drinks, you can't hold her to a harmless mistake." Charlie growled out trying to keep his cool. 

"If the bitch can't handle simple things like this, she shouldn't be working here." The guy who Charlie punched stood back up, blood pouring out of his nose, clearly broken. Did he always look a bit like Schlatt? Similar mutton chops. 

"That still doesn't give you the right to hit her!" 

"And who are you to stop us? You barely have any meat on those arms." The second guy taunted, unbothered by the threat. He swung at Charlie, catching him again in the same cheek, slightly higher than the other impact, snapping his glasses at the arm. It knocked him down due to the startling nature of the hit. Tulie tried to stand up to cover him only to receive another kick to her bad leg, causing her to fall again. 

"I wouldn't mind a piece of her if she wasn't so broken." Slime was fully ready to beat this jackass into the ground, Quackity's floors be damned, but the sight of brown hair with a white streak and a low voice gave him both pause and relief. 

"Raise a hand to either of them again and I will make your descent into hell even more painful than it already is." Grizzly growled putting a hand on the shoulder of the guy. His red eyes sparkling with fiery anger as his grip on the dude's shoulder tightened, giving weight to his threat. His normal attire was replaced with a dark red trench coat and black shirt, a black beanie with an embroidered sword wrapped in poppies covering his head (and by proxy, his ears). He stared down the pair of dicks until a group of security people finally ran over and strong armed them out of there, presumably getting banned for assaulting Quackity's favorite employees. Grizzly immediately knelt down and grabbed Charlie's glasses from the floor, frowning at the break, before handing them over to their owner. 

Then he wrapped an arm around Tulie's shoulders, gently pulling her up to a sitting position to check her over. Aside from a slightly green bruise on her face from the floor and green tears making trails down her cheeks, she seemed otherwise mostly fine. She curled into him, hiding her face against his chest. Charlie properly sat up, rubbing his cheek while looking over his glasses, blindly reaching out to grab onto Grizzly's coat. 

"Thanks."

"I meant what I said. No one raises a hand to you." 

"I get the sense that this is redemption for the fight we had back then? You know that we forgave you for it, it was our fault originally." 

"Maybe, but I feel better promising that." Grizzly admitted, standing up and helping Tulie up as well. But when her legs made contact with the ground, her right leg immediately gave out under her, causing her to sway before being supported by Grizzly on one side and Charlie on the other. 

"Where's your chrutches?" 

"In my room, between the nightstand and bed." 

"Do you want to go back there?"

Tulie nodded her head, wanting to nap off the stress and knowing she could, Quackity was most likely watching the cameras because of how fast the security got there so he'd understand. The two gods headed away from the main floor, moving to the elevators then waiting on them. Grizzly left them, bidding them good bye to keep the charade going a little longer, so he couldn't go into the employees only floors. 

Charlie helped Tulie walk down to her room, helping her with her key when she couldn't hold it properly, making him worried about if her wrist was strained/bruised. She immediately flopped on the bed once she got close enough. 

"Do you want me to stay?" 

Tulie nodded into her pillows reaching a hand out towards the god, He gave a smirk and sat beside the bed, taking Tulie's hand, gently rubbing over the blooming bruises on her wrist. 

Chapter Text

"He's been rambling off and on about you two and "the book" for two weeks now. He's also not eating unless given information about you, which is bizarre."

"So how long has he been starving?" 

"... well..."

"Sam, Do Not Fucking tell me you've been giving that bastard details about Me and Tulie! The fuck were you thinking?!" Tommy got loud, slamming his hands on the desk. Sam wouldn't make eye contact. "I get you have a job to do, but seriously does it come at the cost of our privacy?!" 

He breathed out loud, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. "At least reassure me you didn't tell him anything about where we are living?" 

"No, but even then he can't get out. But there's a new issue and that's kinda the reason I'm here." Tommy looked at the creeper hybrid, indicating that he could keep going. "He's been rambling about life magic and how Tulie is the only person who has it? Something along those lines. But the thing he keeps muttering to himself. He's stopped eating, which I get you don't care about, but is demanding that you two visit before he eats again." 

Tommy rolled his eyes, cutting Sam off. 

"He wants to use us for something, He knows that Tulie has much more control than I do and is good at the waiting game. SO he needs me there as a control measure to get her to use her magic or whatever."

"Tulie has magic?"

"Yes, she's a flower Sam. Have you not noticed that her death count is past three?" 

Yep, the count was now five, most recently due to having been burned in a lava pool. Purpled, trying to get back at Quackity decided to drop the duck hybrid's two favorite employees into lava, burning them to a crisp. 

Tulie later appeared in Quackity's office, growing from the tulip placed on his desk but to keep up appearances (and because he was really badly burned) Charlie had to return to Molympus. Last they had heard he was still on bed rest from his burns, having a mortal form was more vulnerable than their godly ones. 

Tommy sighed again, pinching his nose bridge in frustration. 

"I think I know what book he's talking about. I'll talk with Tulie about it, her judgement on this would be better than mine, but if she says no, let him starve."

Sam pulled the lever that pushed the platform forward and parted the lava door to Pandora's Vault, sending them off. Both faced each other and lowered their heads, one last prayer before facing the monster behind their nightmares. 

"Ready?" 

"I don't think I could ever be fully ready for something like this." 

The pair stepped off the floating platform into the obsidian room, the sole occupant facing away from them in an orange jumpsuit. 

"So, you've finally come to see a friend in prison."

"You are not our friend, Dream. You know why." Tommy stated, stepping in front of Tulie as Dream turned around, keeping his arms behind his back. Tulie made herself look taller, less afraid. 

"But I've been asking to see you two everyday since I got in here. I must be considered a friend for you to come." 

"Believe me, we aren't here out of any sort of compassion. We're here because you claim to have something that you shouldn't have." 

Dream's head tilted to the side, his cracked mask hiding his expression, as he hummed in response. 

"I see. So you've come for the book, for your own use?"

"It shouldn't be in anyone's hands, much less yours. Cheating death out of its souls only causes problems in the long run." 

"And you would know that Tulie? The one person here who has more deaths than anyone else." Dream remarked swinging his head around to face her, taking a few steps over to intimidate the young flower, stopped by Tommy getting in his way. Tulie took a breath and rebutted Dream's unstated claim.

"Death's rules about plants are different that they are for normal beings, death and life are a looping path." 

Dream tilted his head back, leaning away from the pair. Tommy looked back to Tulie, who nodded that she was okay, the lava behind her making her hair glow. Tommy nodded back and swallowed, turning back to face the mad man. 

"You know why we're here so hand the book over, if it's even real." 

"Oh it's real, but thinking that I would hand it over is surprising. I have the power to bring anyone back with it. Why would give that up?" 

"Because you can't handle it. Reaching into death is something that always has consequences." Tulie answered, crossing her arms. 

"I can handle it!" Dream insisted, his mask of sanity starting to slip. Tommy scoffed,

"Sure, because claiming to have a book that can bring people back from perma-death is a hallmark of sanity." 

Dream finally snapped, punching Tommy in the face, causing the teen to reel back clutching his nose. He then grabbed Tulie and flung her at the hard wall. The girl slammed into the volcanic glass hard, falling like a rag doll to the floor. Tommy swung back at Dream, connecting with the older man's shoulder. He retaliated by slamming his elbow into Tommy's chest, knocking the air out of his lungs. 

"Oh Tommy, don't taunt someone who could play with your soul like a yo-yo. Pulling you back and forth from death and life." 

Tommy glared at the mad man, clearly fed up with his self aggrandizing talk. "Sure Dream, As if that's a threat to me."

Dream deflated, making Tommy smirk, knowing that he was getting under his skin. Tulie stood back up, leaning heavily against the wall as she watched the two guys. Dream looked up at Tommy, cracked mask staring at the skinny teen unmoving. 

"You should take it as a threat." 

Neither had time to react as Dream lunged at Tommy, tackling him into the far wall and raining punches on to him. Tulie, in a panic ran over and jumped onto his back, wrapping her good arm around his throat and pulling back. It worked in getting him off Tommy, but instead Dream just backed up and slammed into the wall, crushing Tulie's chest and loosening her grip. He grabbed her arm and tossed her on to the hard floor, cracking her head and shoulders on the floor. He stood over her, one foot on her bad wrist slowly increasing the pressure until the sound of bones cracking started. Tulie whimpered in pain and started pulling at the leg pinning her down. 

Tommy growled and lunged at Dream, tackling him off Tulie and scratching at Dream's neck with a flurry of swipes, slipping into a slight haze of protective instincts. Tulie scrambled away as best she could with her now freshly broken wrist. Dream finally fed up with their combined insolence and decided to end this. 

First, he grabbed the fuzzy ears that had popped out of his golden curls and yanked his head backwards, pulling him a yelp out of the young hybrid. Next he flipped their positions, pinning Tommy underneath him. Tommy cried out at his wings flexed from where they should have been but couldn't because of being pressed against the floor. Dream started beating the absolute shit out of the un-defensive hybrid underneath him, landing his fists anywhere he could reach. 

Tommy started screaming,

but no one was coming

 Dream kept taunting him.

Tulie tried to pull Dream away from Tommy again, but Dream kicked her already bad knee, dislocating the joint again and sending her back into the corner. The mad man turned back to his primary victim, who was now covered in blood and any visible skin was darkening with fresh bruises. Tommy was wheezing, the effect several broken ribs starting to poke into several vital organs, but was trying to back away from Dream in the few moments he was distracted. 

"Where are you even trying to go?" 

"DREAM DON'T PLE-" 

Tommy didn't get to finish his cry as Dream slammed down his Final blow putting his whole body weight behind it. Tulie watched in horror as Tommy's body went slack, his arm dropping to the side and the light leaving his eyes. 

"Common Tommy, giving up  this   quickly?  This    isn't     like        you-" 

Dream's taunting was slowly replaced with a high pitched ringing as her vision slowly trailed down to her hands and knees.

Black creeped out from the injured areas, much faster than ever, in-pace with her racing heart beat.

Tears started welling up in her eyes, spilling down her cheeks. 

She was going to die in this obsidian prison.

And her family would never know what happened to her.

The thought alone caused her to vomit, spewing black fluid in from her mouth and nose. As she watched the dark puddle grew on the ground, she realized she had one more thing she could do. 

"Dream." She started as she shakily tried to stand up. "Give me the book." 

Dream looked confused, tilting his head. She reached out a shaky left hand towards him, "You wanted to test if it would be easier for me to use it. I think if I do it quick enough there won't be as severe consequences." 

Dream nodded, agreeing with her words, and produced a seemingly normal book. 

"I knew separating you two would be the way to get you to bend."

Tulie gripped the book, feeling the life twisting within the book that wove itself and wrapped around death, the cover embossed with an Ouroboros. She brought her broken wrist on top of the cover, dragging black goopy fluid down the cover, letting the decaying magic eat into the book. She looked straight into Dream's eyes through his mask, 

And threw the book into the lava blocking the entrance

Dream freaked out, running over to where the last remnants of the book were turning to black ash. Tulie kept her eyes down, seeing her right leg become more and more numb and black from the rot finally taking over in the absence of her natural magic to keep it at bay. The mad man turned around to the nymph, grabbing her around the neck and pinning her against the wall. 

"WHY THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT?!?!" He screamed as he tried to choke her as an intimidation tactic. The black goo dripping out of her mouth fell on to his hand, starting to burn and tingle like acid when it eats away. He should have seen that as the warning it was supposed to be. 

His mask was broken off his face with one swipe of her hand, smearing more of that black sludge across his face. He then doubled over from a puncture to his gut before getting stabbed in the neck, the wounds immediately feeling like they were infected, burning and pulsing in time with his heartbeat. He dropped to the ground, looking up at Tulie. Or the decaying form of her. 

"Because no one should have that kind of power. I said that. You didn't listen." She rasped out, the skin around her neck where he tried to choke her darkening to a sickened wilted green. The joints that were broken had twisted thorny growths slightly slick with his blood. Most of her body on the right side was black and looked rotted, her clothes stained with black sludge dripping from her face and some of her bleeding injuries. She leaned over the man writhing on the ground. 

"Now you suffer my fate." More fluid dripped from her on to his body. "Rot with the bodies of your victims who still beat you." 

And with that she limped way from Dream, collapsing next to Tommy's body and reaching her arm to him as she lost consciousness, her last tears dripping green.

The Council couldn't hold it together when they finally found their priest and priestess. Condi dragged Dream's barely lucid form away from where he'd crawled toward the pair but not making it far. 

Grizzly and Charlie knelt beside their bodies, Grizzly's hand couldn't stop shaking as he tried to gently brush Tulie's hair out of her face only to come away with several strands caught on his fingers. Charlie pressed a hand to Tommy's neck trying to find his pulse, any sign of life. But there was none.

Both were gone.

Bizly had silent tears streaming from underneath his sunglasses, his fists clentched as he couldn't take his eyes off of them. 

"They said they'd be okay."

Charlie didn't know how to respond to Bizly, his own cheeks bearing tears that were quickly spilling over. 

"If anyone deserves it, it's them." Grizzly blurted out, trying to wipe blood from Tommy's face. "They went through to much, only to die at that monster's hands. They don't deserve to just die in the same cell as him." 

That was quickly agreed upon by the others. Bizly turned around, facing Dream as he coughed up black sludge and stared blankly back. 

"You two Take them and start the whole magic process. I'll grab the allay and Shroud and head back after we're done here."

"What are you gonna do?"

"What he fucking deserves."