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Of all the things Tommy was known for—his stubbornness, his self-confidence, his loud personality—he had to say that his claim of being “the biggest man in all of L’Manburg” was the most important to him. He swore by it at least once each day, and at some point his claim on the title became a matter of pride.
So, when his claim was put to the test, of course he was going to try to prove himself. Even if that meant sneaking into the old, abandoned palace that used to serve as the capital of the country, but had since been reduced to little more than a faint memory of what used to be.
Thankfully, he wasn’t alone on this adventure. His friends, Tubbo and Ranboo, had insisted on coming with him to make sure he got out safely. Well, really Tubbo had insisted and Ranboo had been peer pressured into joining them as well, but the result was the same.
Or, mostly the same.
“Are you sure I have to come with you?” Ranboo asked for what had to have been the millionth time as Tommy pushed through the overgrowth that used to be the palace gardens. “Maybe I could be a lookout? Surely we need someone to be a lookout.”
Tubbo groaned. “For the last time, Ran, it’ll be fine. The palace isn’t actually haunted, it’s just a myth. Besides, you already agreed to the bet and if you back out then we all take the fall.”
Tommy carefully pushed a thorny branch away from his leg, turning back to look at his friend. “Ranboo, you’d better not back out on us now. We’re literally in the gardens and we haven’t seen any ghosts yet. It’ll be fine.”
Ranboo sighed. “I don’t like this.”
Tubbo patted him on the shoulder sympathetically. “It’s only an hour. We’ll be out in practically no time.”
Ranboo nodded in agreement and the three of them continued their path to the entrance of the palace.
The palace had been abandoned for about ten years at that point, which may as well have been Tommy’s whole life. He had only been six when the palace had been stormed by a group of rebels who wanted nothing more than to destroy the monarchy. They succeeded in their mission, if only because of the king and queens’ own foolishness. The monarchs were so confident that their people loved them that they never bothered to prepare for such an attack, which ultimately led to their demise.
Since then, the rebels had taken over L’Manburg, though their rule wasn’t any better than the monarchy had been. They had raised taxes to fund their own selfish desires, which put thousands of people onto the streets, and reduced funding for organizations like the orphanage that Tommy, Tubbo, and Ranboo lived in.
They had also implemented a strict curfew, which the trio was unashamedly breaking. That was why they couldn’t take any source of light with them through the gardens, which resulted in them tripping over the overgrowth more than once.
Thankfully, once they were inside of the palace, they would be able to light the lanterns that they had brought with them since they would be concealed for any of the curfew guards’ watchful eyes.
As they reached the grand door of the palace, Tommy couldn’t help but look up in awe of the once-great building he was about to enter. Even if it did turn out to be haunted, it would be so cool to explore—and maybe he could even snag any riches that got left behind.
Tubbo grabbed one of the double doors’ handles, and gestured for Tommy to grab the other. Then, together, they pulled the doors open just enough to allow them to slip inside. The old hinges squealed at the motion, making Tommy wince.
“Woah.” Ranboo breathed, stepping ahead of Tubbo and Tommy and entering the palace. Tommy followed, his curiosity piqued.
Once he was inside, he understood Ranboo’s awe.
The entrance hall on its own was enormous. The floor was made entirely of marble and had an intricate design to it. The walls had intricately carved arches, and under each arch was a gorgeous tapestry bearing L’Manburgs colors. The hall led to another room, but had staircases on either side with woven rugs draped down the stairs.
Of course, the palace had been destroyed in the attack; the tapestries had been burned and torn, the floor was covered in dust and rubble, and the arches had long, noticeable cracks running through them. Even the windows above each arch were shattered, the glass shards scattered across the floor.
Despite the state of disrepair, the trio couldn’t help but stare in awe at what used to be.
“Could you imagine living here?” Tubbo asked, walking up to the least destroyed tapestry, feeling the fabric in his hand. “This was probably worth more gold than I’ve ever seen.”
Tommy shook his head. He never had and never would live in a place this beautiful, he was sure.
“If this is what the entrance looks like, can you imagine the rest of it?” Ranboo asked.
“We should explore,” Tubbo suggested. “We’re stuck in here for an hour anyway. Why not make the most of it?”
Tommy nodded in agreement. “I’m going to look upstairs.”
“I want to stay down here, but I don’t want to go alone,” Ranboo said, looking at Tubbo. Tubbo sighed.
“I’ll stay down here with Ranboo,” he said. “We’ll meet back here once the hour is up?”
Tommy agreed and the trio split up, Tommy going up one of the staircases and his friends going through the large doorway between them.
Tommy followed the long hallway for what felt like ages, gaping at all of the tapestries, paintings, and statues along it that must have cost multiple fortunes. He even looked through a few rooms, finding a music room, a craft room, and what looked like a changing room.
Eventually, his wandering was stopped by a doorway. He paused for a moment, unsure whether he should wander so far. Then, he shrugged his nerves off and pushed the doors open.
Inside was a living room, with a door open ajar on either side. The living room was completely destroyed, though Tommy could make out beautiful tables, sofas, and pillows from the mess.
He carefully stepped through the rubble and towards the door on the right, pushing it open and peeking inside.
It was a bedroom, for what must have been a twelve or thirteen year old if the decor was any indication. In the corner, next to a toppled wardrobe, was a guitar, strings snapped and neck broken. There was sheet music strewn across the floor along with pillows and blankets. Chairs, tables, and a sofa were either destroyed or tipped over on their sides. The only thing that had been left untouched in what looked like cruel mockery of the child who had once lived there was the bed. It was still made neatly, pillows fluffed to perfection, and it had one small plush toy resting on it—a blue sheep.
Tommy set his lantern down, making sure to keep it away from the flammable paper, and approached the bed. He carefully reached for the toy without disturbing the sheets it rested on, and brought it closer to him.
He didn’t know anything about the royal family other than the king and queen’s reign, which is why he was shocked to feel some sort of familiarity as he examined the plush toy. He hadn’t even known that they had a child—or children? So why did he feel as though he remembered this toy that he had never seen in his life, which belonged to a child he never knew of?
Tommy frowned at the toy and set it back down where it had been on the bed. He didn’t want to disturb the child’s things any further.
He picked up his lantern again and exited the room, this time crossing the living room to go inside of the other bedroom.
The second room was just as destroyed as the first, though fewer things were broken, instead toppled over. Tommy set his lantern down by the door, stepping further into the room.
It looked like it belonged to a child maybe six years old. There were three open toy boxes, their contents strewn across the floor. The wardrobe was open enough to reveal clothes made for a small child.
Just like the other room, the bed had been left undisturbed. Atop it rested a small cow plushie.
This time, Tommy couldn’t begin to shake the familiarity of the room. Even if he didn’t know why, he recognized it. He knew which toys went into which box, how itchy the clothes had been, and that the cow plushie’s name had been Henry.
Tommy picked up his lantern and stumbled backwards out of the room, nostalgia and confusion hitting him like a truck.
How did he recognize this place? Why did it feel so familiar all of a sudden?
Pride be damned, he couldn’t do this. He had to leave.
Tommy ran back through the halls, trying desperately not to trip on the rubble as he failed to recall where he had come from. There were too many twists and turns and he didn’t know which he had taken. He decided to just brute force it. He’d find his way out eventually.
Of course, he couldn’t get that lucky. Instead, he found himself stumbling down a staircase and into the palace ballroom. He stumbled to a stop in front of the four thrones, wildly looking for an escape.
This room was familiar, too, but not in a good way. He squeezed his eyes shut before realizing that he’d get nowhere if he couldn’t see.
When he opened his eyes, he gasped.
He was looking at the ballroom from the perspective of a six-year-old, watching as adults laughed and danced and mingled from the smallest of the four thrones. Next to him sat a thirteen year old boy, with a golden crown atop his curly brown hair and his face forced to be pleasant while his eyes stayed wary.
The music playing was pretty, and Tommy wanted to dance, but the boy next to him set a hand on his shoulder, urging him to sit still. He pouted but listened to the older boy.
Suddenly, there was a loud noise, and the doors were thrown open. Chaos erupted as armed rebels forced their way inside, screams ringing through the ballroom.
Tommy felt his heart race and he looked to the older boy for help, noticing him crouched to Tommy’s level and he realized that they had all stood up.
He couldn’t hear the boy through all of the commotion, but he could make out most of what he said.
“Tommy… run… summer house…”
Suddenly, the boy’s head snapped to the side and his eyes widened. He grabbed Tommy’s hand and began to run, but something broke their grasp on each other. Tommy whirled around to see what had happened—
And he was back in his sixteen-year-old body.
“Tommy! What’s wrong?”
Tommy whirled to the side to see Tubbo next to him. He jumped back, startled. When had he gotten there?
It didn’t matter. “We have to go, now.”
Tubbo gave him a confused look. “But the challenge—”
“Now!” Tommy said, running towards the exit. It took a moment for his friends to follow him, but they did.
Soon enough, they had left the palace behind, therefore losing the bet. Tommy couldn’t care less, though. He was too confused and overwhelmed by what he had seen and felt. And the conclusions he had drawn from it, especially the last vision….
He didn’t know what to think.
Because if it had been true… If the familiarity had been real, if the vision had instead been a memory….
Did that mean he had been a prince?