Bird of the Sea

by orphan_account

Summary:

Scott finds out that Tommy is in danger and decides to take him to the Empires SMP. Tommy has many different things he needs to work through, but with a little help and understanding, the Empires SMP may just become his home away from home.

This fic was heavily inspired by Healing with the Hermits, so there is a little easter egg that references it! Read that book to find it!

 

(Lol sorry I'm new to writing)

Notes:

• For Tommyinnt_Simp.

Chapter 1

Scott was tending to the flowerbeds in the Peony Gardens of Riverdell, as he thought about the odd messages he’d been getting.

Messages like “Please help” or “He’s the only friend I need.” Sometimes he’d just get photos of a beach, or a hole that looks like a creeper blew it up. He originally thought it might’ve been Jimmy, as he lived near the sea and loved to pull pranks. But when he was sent more photos, he had no clue where it was. All he knew was that if that idiot sent one more text, he’d block the troll…

-BRING-

-BRING-

Scott was confused when his phone started ringing. He put the watering can down and pulled out his phone, and it was a call from Grian.
What could it be about? He only visited the server about a week ago. Maybe he forgot something.
“Hello?” Scott said, putting the phone up to his head.

“Hey Scott,” Grian replied. “Remember Tommy? That one kid who participated in MCC?”

Of course Scott remembered the kid. Tommy is the kind of person that you’d remember for the rest of your life, even if you only met him once. “Yes? What about him?”

“I- I haven’t heard from him lately. We’d always have weekly calls and he missed about two months of them.” Grian shakily said. It was obvious the guy was worried about him. Grian caught his breath before continuing on. “I know this may not sound like a big deal, but I know he’d tell me if he couldn’t call.”

Scott sighed internally. “So, what do you want me to do?”

“I was wondering if you could check on him.” Scott could swear he heard yelling in the background. “I would myself but I am really full of things to do right now.”

That was odd, Scott noted. Grian seemed extremely different from his usual self. Scott was sure that he’d pop over to the DSMP, see a war happening in the distance, and report back to Grian.

But suddenly, a thought struck him.

Hadn’t the messages started appearing two months ago? Grian said that Tommy was missing for two months.

Scott connected the dots. He had to get to the DSMP right now.

____________________________________________________________________________

What the fuck.

WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?

Pretty much the entirety of the world had been a victim to griefing. L’manburg was a giant hole in the ground slowly getting repaired, he could’ve sworn he heard something about Wilbur being dead, and Tommy was the worst part about it.

Currently he was going as fast as he could without injuring the kid. Scott had almost screamed when he saw Tommy the way he was.

Tommy, who once had a bright look in his eye, a devil-may-care smile, and incredibly messy blond hair, now was covered with dark, sticky blood, bruises covering his entire body, and two black eyes. But Tommy’s wings, the thing Scott was pretty sure Tommy was most proud of, HAD to be the worst.

Both red wings were delicately secured onto Scott’s back, but he could feel how broken one was. He didn’t know how Tommy could’ve been okay for so long without getting them fixed. The feathers were unkempt and dirty, so Scott thought Tommy never had the time to preen them, or didn’t know how.

Scott hoped with all his heart it was the former.

Scott sighed a breath of relief when he saw the exit out of the SMP. That relief quickly vanished as he saw DreamXD.

Scott hadn’t thought about that. He knew permission had to be granted to let minors travel between any SMP, so would DreamXD stop him?

If he did, he would fight him. God or not, Tommy needed help. Scott barely knows him, but he’s a kid. He shouldn’t have been left like this, so Scott would help.

That’s what surprised Scott when DreamXD simply nodded and stepped by, leaving the exit wide open.

Scott gave DreamXD a grateful nod, standing in the ender portal, as he got teleported into spawn.

Scott sat down to take a breather and to check Tommys pulse. He wasn’t a doctor, but the pulse was definitely weird. Luckily, with no public hospital for all of the empires, he stacked up on supplies just in case another empire’s ruler had injury. He even had a water tank for Lizzie!

Scott then picked Tommy back up again, and finally noticed how bony Tommy felt. When had the kid last eaten a full meal?

As Scott just arrived into his empire, Tommy stirred and slightly opened his eyes. Scott didn’t notice at first, he was busy walking through the twists and turns of the streets.

Tommy dryly coughed. “Who are you?” he whispered.

Scott’s heart broke. Alongside all of this, Tommy must either have horrible asthma or a horrible cold. If it’s asthma, the pollen in Riverdell won’t do him good.

“I’m Scott, Tommy.” Scott began. “Remember me? We were in a team in MCC once.”

Tommy looked slightly confused as Scott placed the kid down onto the emergency room bed. Scott had helped Grian recover from a broken wing before.

“I- I’m pretty sure I do remember.” Tommy whispered, before suddenly panicking, almost making Scott drop the plaster he was getting out of the cupboard. “I have to go home!” Tommy coughed. “He- He’s going to be so mad at me!”

Tommy tried to get up from the bed, but Scott gently pushed him down. “Tommy. You are in no condition to go home.” Scott soothed. “I’ll help you preen your feathers.”

“I-” Tommy recoiled back, before relaxing. “Okay. I guess they are a train wreck.” Tommy said dryly.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Scott asked, Gently washing the blood off the red feathers. If Tommy said no, Scott wouldn’t push. Scott guessed there was more than a basic mishap.

“I don’t want to tell you.” Tommy said sharply, wincing as Scott wiggled a broken feather out of the broken wing.

Scott expected that. Scott grabbed the plaster and began to slowly wrap the wing tightly, making sure it couldn’t fall off. This brought him back to older days, when Grian wasn’t as good at flying as he is now.

He still regrets using that to his advantage.

“Have you done this before?”

Scott looked back at Tommy. “Yes. Why?” Tommy pointed to the silver pair of wings on Scott’s back. “Oh, these? They're made of metal.” Scott smiled. “A friend of mine made them. You might meet him.”

Once Scott finished wrapping up the broken wing, he put the plaster away and looked back at Tommy. He was wheezing with every breath.

“Do you have asthma Tommy?” Scott asked. If the kid did, he’d probably need an inhaler.

Tommy started to look slightly uncomfortable. “Yes…” He coughed. “I had a purple inhaler for it- but I’m not allowed it anymore.”

Scott was horribly confused. Why would someone not allow a person with seemingly horrid asthma an inhaler? That’d be like not letting a sick person get treatment.

Scott turned and dug around in one of his medicine cupboards. He wasn’t a trained doctor by any means, but he could at least try to help.

He wouldn’t risk taking Tommy across servers anyways. He got permission from DreamXD to take Tommy, but what would the world think?

There! A basic purple inhaler. It probably is something similar to what Tommy has. “Hey, Tommy?” Scott turned around, to see the kid absent-mindedly fidgeting with his hands.

“Yes Scott?” Tommy replied. “I want you to have this.” Scott said kindly, handing Tommy the inhaler. “Since I can't get one from an actual doctor right now, I want you to use this.”
Scott then remembered something quickly. “If your coughing gets worse, stop using it.”

Tommy was visibly confused. “Why would you help me?” He coughed, grabbing the inhaler and using it.

“You're a kid who’s been left bloody and bruised, possibly for months, who wouldn’t help?” Scott softly replied, pulling Tommy into an embrace.

Scott needed to send Tommy to one of the other empires. He wouldn’t be safe here. Lizzie is his best bet right now, as her kingdom is harder to enter.

Scott sat there for a while, and didn’t notice that Tommy fell asleep before looking down. How could anyone let him be harmed? The Dream SMP must have been a nightmare for him.

Scott pulled out his phone, messaging Lizzie. Now he would just have to wait for her arrival.

Those assholes would pay once Scott figured out what really happened to Tommy, just they wait.

Chapter 2: The Prisma Palace.

Summary:

Hello everyone, I know this chapter is quite early, but being sick I didn't have much else to do. I will have much more time between this chapter and chapter 3, as I only had the plot written up to here so far.

Go to the end of the chapter for the rest of the notes.
Now, here is some fluff and bonding time between Lizzie and Tommy!

Tommy woke up with a start. Where was the tent? Fuck. Did Tommy get so injured that Dream had to take him somewhere else? He’d get in so much trouble!

Tommy heard someone entering. “I’m sorry! Dream, please, I won’t do it again!” Tommy cried, coughing loudly, then he looked up and saw Scott, visibly worried.

Right. He wasn’t in exile. He was with Scott. Tommy remembered a little about Scott treating him, but that was mostly a blur due to exhaustion.

“Tommy?” Scott began. “I want you to come with me.” Where was Scott taking him? Did- did Dream come for him? Was Scott going to give him back to Dream?

“I can’t keep you here Tommy. If someone went here to search for you, Riverdell would be the first choice.” Tommy breathed a sigh of relief. Scott wouldn’t send him back for now.
But who would he send Tommy too? Maybe that “friend” that built Scott’s wings.

“Have you heard of Lizzie? She also goes by LDshadowlady.” Tommy racked his brain for that name, it DID sound familiar. She might’ve been to MCC, but Tommy doesn’t remember her coming to it for a long time.

Scott continued on before Tommy could answer. “She has agreed to let you stay at her palace, and she is coming to get you.” By now the two were walking through the fields, and Tommy could see an ocean in the distance.

“Does she live near the ocean?” Tommy asked. He recalled one of the good times with Dream, where the two of them swam in the ocean together.

Scott laughed. “Lizzie’s palace rises out of the ocean!” Scott exclaimed.
“She somehow got her roof to be LIVE coral!”

“That’s so cool!” Tommy grinned. It felt good to genuinely smile. Getting live coral to not die is no small feat. He was very excited to meet Lizzie.

“What do we do now?” Tommy asked, as they arrived at a beach.

“We just have to wait for Lizzie!” Scott said, turning around to pull out some steak. “But as we wait, we should eat.” He continued, handing Tommy a steak.

Tommy just took a second to stare at it. When was the last time he had eaten? He couldn’t recall.

“Can I eat it?” Tommy asked. He knew that this wasn’t Dream he was talking to, but better safe than sorry.

“I- Tommy, of course you can!” Scott laughed. Tommy hadn’t picked up on the hint of worry in Scott’s voice.

“Thank you.” Tommy whispered, as he hungrily began to tear at the steak. It felt good to eat something so filling, and Scott was such a good cook.

As Tommy continued to eat, he hadn’t noticed the ten-foot tall woman hop out of a boat, until he looked up.

“Hello Tommy!” The.. blue? Woman smiled. “We haven’t formally met before. I’m Lizzie!” She smiled, holding out her hand.

Tommy shook her hand, still surprised. She DID look like Lizzie, but blue, ten feet tall, and having fins plus a tail, but other than that, this was Lizzie.

“Don’t worry, everyone reacts to me like this when they first meet me.” Lizzie said kindly, her tail flicking behind her.

“Are you going to be okay Tommy?” Scott asked, putting his hand on Tommy’s shoulder. Tommy flinched slightly, but calmed himself. They wouldn’t hurt him. “Do you have your inhaler?”

“Yes, I do.” Tommy replied, digging the inhaler out of his pocket. He still didn’t understand why Scott cared so much, but he was grateful.

Scott breathed a sigh of relief. “Do you remember what I told you, Lizzie?” He asked, turning to the hybrid.

“Yes. If his asthma gets worse, call you. If he gets hurt, call you.” Lizzie recited, slightly annoyed. “We went over this a billion times on the phone.”

Tommy felt a bit awkward that they were fussing over him, but he pushed that down, fiddling with one of his feathers.

“Are you ready to go Tommy?” Lizzie asked, motioning him over to an extra-large boat, as she began to walk towards it.

Tommy nodded, and began walking to the boat. “Wait!” Tommy turned around, and saw Scott running up to hug him. “Good luck, Tommy.” Scott said, patting Tommy’s back.

“Thank you, Scott.” Tommy replied, before sitting in the boat with Lizzie. “And AWAY WE GO!” Lizzie cheered, setting the boat off into the ocean. Tommy didn’t really like boats, but he just stayed quiet.

“Who else lives here?” Tommy asked. He only knew Scott, Lizzie, that one guy Scott mentioned, and Tommy also thought Joey might live here.

Lizzie looked back for a quick second. “Well, there’s me, there’s my husband Joel.” She began happily.

“Pearl, we used to be enemies but we’re good now.” Lizzie mentioned with a slight frown on her face. “The only guy here I suggest you avoid is Joey.”

Tommy was confused. Joey is the only guy they need to avoid? If he had asked this question to any of the DSMP members, they would’ve gone on a rant.

“Oh! My brother Jimmy lives near me as well!” Lizzie piped up. “He’s been married to Scott longer than I have been to Joel.”

“Do you have a sibling, Tommy?” Lizzie asked. Tommy didn’t know what to say, but then remembered how the fact he and Wilbur are brothers.

Why did they have to keep it a secret? Honestly, Tommy didn’t care anymore. Wilbur was dead, and Lizzie seemed trustworthy.

“Wilbur Soot.” Tommy said, looking at Lizzies shocked face. “Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Lizzie asked.

“We didn’t tell anyone outside the SMP to keep me out of the way of all the people who hate Wilbur.” Tommy muttered. He knew that wasn’t the truth. The WHOLE truth anyway.

He knew the secret was partly kept so that his family could abandon him easier. Tommy wasn’t mad. Tommy deserved it.

“Looks like we’re here Tommy.” Lizzie eventually said, guiding the boat into a dock. “I actually built most of this!” Lizzie commented as she helped get Tommy out of the boat.

Tommy looked up, and the sight took his breath away. The prismarine, the coral, everything about Lizzies palace was amazing!

“If you’d follow me Tommy,” Lizzie began, “I’ll take you up to the Prisma Palace, where you’ll stay!”

Tommy followed Lizzie up the Prisma Palace, really taking in how far up they were. Lizzie was going to hate him eventually. Dream always acted this way before Tommy screwed up.

As the two got to the top, Lizzie headed towards a water elevator. “There's a conduit down here, come down and I can introduce you to my axolotls!”

Then Lizzie looked back at Tommys broken wing. “Right…” Lizzie sighed, before coming up with an idea.

“I’ll get a bucket, and bring one up for you!” Lizzie said before diving into the water, leaving Tommy alone with his thoughts.

He hadn’t seen an axolotl up close before. Tommy had heard about them being slimy. But they must be cute, otherwise, why would Lizzie keep so many?

He read about axolotls in a book that Tubbo had bought. Tommy could remember Tubbo excitedly reading the book with Tommy, (Tommy helping occasionally when Tubbo found a hard-to-pronounce word.)

Tommy wondered how Tubbo was doing. Tubbo probably wasn’t wondering how Tommy was doing. They weren’t friends anymore.

It felt pathetic how he could count how many friends he had on one hand. Two, (Lizzie and Scott) Tommy wasn’t even sure liked him.

His stomach hurt just thinking about it. It was also hard to think about what might happen if he went home. Dream… may actually kill him.

“I’m back!” Lizzie called, hopping out of the water with a bucket in her hands.

“I found this little guy, isn’t he cute?” Lizzie cooed, showing Tommy the little axolotl in the bucket.

From reading he knew that this was the yellow variant, but it kind of looks a bit more golden. It was quite small, so it’s probably pretty young

“Hey Tommy?” Lizzie asked. “I haven’t named this one yet, do you want to?” Tommy looked down at the axolotl.

“How about Sharky?” Tommy suggested, watching it dip just below the water with its tail sticking out.

“That sounds like a great name.” Lizzie smiled, “Now, stay here and I’ll get a nametag” As Lizzie walked off, Tommy just watched the Axolotl.

It felt good to have a pet. Tommy reached out to try and pet it, and Sharky nuzzled up to Tommy's hand.

Tommy just kept petting Sharky, calmed by just being able to focus on something that wasn’t figuring out how to get food.

“Would you like to do the honors?” Lizzie asked, passing the nametag over to Tommy.

Tommy just held it in his hands for a moment. Taking it all in. He used the nametag on Sharky, and placed it down.

“Good!” Lizzie exclaimed. “Do you want to go eat?” Tommy had just eaten a whole steak about an hour earlier, but he still felt hungry.

“Sure.” Tommy sighing, grabbing Lizzie’s arm to help himself stand up. “I’ll go put Sharky back with his family.” Lizzie smiled, before quickly grabbing Sharky and slipping him neatly into that hole that Tommy was sure led to a habitat.

“Let’s go get something to eat.” Lizzie said, “Then we can replace those bandages.” Lizzie pointed to the soggy bandages on Tommy’s knees, which Tommy guessed got wet in the boat.

As the two began to walk, Tommy thought how this may not be so bad.

Notes:

I kind of imagine making the plot similair to the song Deviltown by Cavetown, but that remains to be seen.
There may be a bit more angst next chapter because why not, but I'll promise to you that there is definitely going to be a funny moment between Katherine and Tommy :)

I do hope you liked this, and if you want, you can suggest things you'd want to see in the book. Who knows, I may just add it in!

Chapter 3: The Village

Summary:

Hello everyone! Apologize for the wait. I have been quite busy. I hope I have written Tommy correctly, and I'll try to include more fluff next time so you all aren't TOO raw.

!!TRIGGER WARNING!!:
PANIC ATTACK

Tommy and Lizzie spent most of the day at the Prisma Palace, visiting the many lily pads dotting the surrounding area. Now it was getting dark, just as they arrived at Lizzie’s village.

“Welcome to the village!” Lizzie cheered as she and Tommy stepped one of the many giant lily pads that dotted the empire.

Tommy thought it was quite impressive, to get the villagers all out into the ocean. Tommy looked a little closer, and noticed they all were axolotls like Lizzie. None of them were a deep blue like her, though.

“What are we going to do now?” Tommy asked, watching as Lizzie rummaged through her bag.

“I want to come and get you something. You can choose something as well!” Lizzie smiled, leading him towards one of the many stalls.

Tommy looked at the surrounding stalls. There were some containing enchanted books, some with various armor and ores, but what caught his eye was the wool stand. It had a sheep pen attached to it, but they all were dark blue…

Tommy looked back again, and they all now were various different colors. Was he going insane? The teen couldn’t think about it for too long, as he had Lizzie now had stopped.

“Hello your majesty, what may I offer you today?” Tommy heard the yellow vendor say. Lizzie pulled out a couple emeralds.

“I would like one of your nautilus shell necklaces, please.” Lizzie said respectfully. Tommy could only wonder how she was able to switch into that royal personality so quickly.

Tommy watched as the vendor went into their small chest room, and walked out with a small frown. “I apologize, your majesty.” The axolotl vendor began, “I do not have any nautilus shells at the moment. I will have it ready in a few minutes.”

“You have no need to apologize.” Lizzie kindly replied. “Me and Tommy can wait.” The vendor looked towards Tommy, with a spark of recognition in his eyes.

“Isn’t that the kid from the news? Are you going to turn him in?” The vendor asked curiously. Tommy felt anxious for a second, and wrapped his wings around his body in fear.

Lizzie gently patted Tommy’s back, in an attempt to calm him down. This felt horrible, being the center of attention. “He is under my care, and I will not permit anyone to take him outside the kingdom without me.” Lizzie said regaly.

“Can I- can I sit down?” Tommy muttered, he felt a bit dizzy. “Of course.” Lizzie soothed, leading him towards one of the benches. “We have to wait for your necklace anyway.”

Tommy perked up. His necklace? Lizzie was giving him something so precious? The last time anyone gave him something that was worth meaning… was Ghostbur.

“Something on your mind Tommy?” Lizzie asked, noticing the far-off look in his eyes. Should he tell her? Lizzie seemed like she cared. She wasn’t going to turn him in, apparently. Surely he could trust her?

Tommy wouldn’t tell her everything. “I was just thinking about my friends back in the DSMP” He sighed, watching the village go about their day.

“Do you miss them?” Lizzie asked, letting Tommy lie his head on her side. “I don’t know.” Tommy muttered. DID he miss Ghostbur? Ghostbur was one of the only people to check on him.

“Do you mind if I ask you something?” Lizzie questioned. “Sure.” Tommy replied. How bad could a question be?

“I heard Scott found you in a pretty beat-up state, what was that from?” Tommy shuddered as soon as she had finished the sentence.

Should he tell her? Tommy felt that even if he said the name of his tormentor, something bad would happen. He didn’t want Lizzie to deal with his problems.

What would she even do? Would Lizzie try to go after his tormentor? Would she even care?

A part of him that Tommy wished wasn't there twinged with guilt for his tormentor. Tommy was bad, and deserved what he got. Tommy was happy when he was good.

Tommy still felt that everything was his fault. Lizzie was going to hate him eventually. Everyone did eventually hate him.

“I don’t feel comfortable telling you everything,” Tommy began. “But it was someone's fault.”

Tommy looked up at Lizzie, and jumped as he saw the frown on her face. Did he say something wrong? Should he apologize?

“Someone… Did THIS to you?” Lizzie hissed, seemingly angry. Tommy was getting anxious.

“Yes…?” Tommy muttered, shrinking back. Was something bad about to happen?

Tommy was about to apologize before Lizzie spoke up. “You don’t have to tell me who, but they are going to get a piece of my mind.” Lizzie said, half-jokingly, half serious.
The teen sighed a breath of relief. Tommy was glad Lizzie was being respectful with his boundaries. It made Tommy feel comfortable around her.

Out of the corner of his eye, he swore he could see the sheep in the wool pen all dark blue again, and the wool vendor yelling at someone.

Tommy ignored it. He just wanted to enjoy the peace and warmth of being embraced by someone that truly cares about him.

“I’m starting to think you were mistreated at the DSMP.” Lizzie muttered, looking as if she was thinking about things in the past.

“No- no, it was fine.” Tommy insisted. “I was- I was,” He stuttered, trying to describe his experiences.

“I don’t know.” Tommy sighed. Missing the saddened look on Lizzie’s face. Life in the DSMP wasn’t ENTIRELY hell. He had fun times.

But… Why couldn’t he remember them? Tommy thought as hard as he could, but he could only remember Wilbur blowing up L’manburg, Tommy being exiled… twice.

Schlatt, Wilbur, Technoblade, Sapnap, Niki, and HIM.

Everything Tommy tried to think of was just filled with sadness and pain.

The only thing being a light in the dark, was Lizzie and Scott.

“I can’t wait for you to meet everyone else!” Lizzie chirped, changing the subject. Tommy felt somewhat excited as well. Jimmy and Joel sound nice.

Tommy nodded. “Everything seems peaceful here.” Tommy noticed. “How are all the empires such good friends?” Tommy asked. Wouldn’t they argue a couple times?

“We.. weren’t always this friendly.” Lizzie sighed. “We weren’t all like this, but some of us had to be as fierce as I hear some of the DSMP members are.”

Huh. Tommy couldn’t imagine Lizzie killing anyone in cold blood. Maybe Tommy would learn more one day.

“Your majesty!” He heard the vendor from earlier yell. “Your necklace is ready!”

“Oh!” Lizzie stood up. “Wait here Tommy, I want to try it on you!” Lizzie ran off, and Tommy watched. Would it look good on him? Nothing really did.

Tommy winced in pain, whirling around, preparing to yell at whoever pulled at his feather. Turns out, it was a bunch of little child-axolotls. Tommy sighed.

“New person!” One chirped. “Look at his weird scales!” Said another. Tommy laughed. They were just kids, No need to yell at them.

“These are feathers.” Tommy said, stretching out his good wing. “Why is one of your wings broken?” One of the children asked.

Before Tommy could answer, Lizzie came back. “What are you doing here, children?”
Lizzie scolded. “You shouldn’t bother guests!”

“Sorry your majesty.” They all muttered, bowing, and then accidentally tripping. Lizzie giggled. “It’s okay, now go back to your kin!” She shooed, watching as they ran to play another game.

Lizzie turned back to Tommy. “Want me to put it on you?” Lizzie asked. Tommy didn’t like other people touching him, but this is Lizzie. “Okay!” Tommy said, turning around.

“Okay, I’m going to put it on now.” Lizzie said. Tommy hesitated, flinching at the coldness of her hands.

Tommy then recalled a time his tormentor almost choked him to death, and began to cry. Tommy began coughing loudly. He felt nauseous and cold and horrible.

“Stop! Please! I’ll be better!” Tommy cried, shrinking into the corner away from all the watching eyes. Tommy looked at his hands as they shook rapidly.

This had happened before, and Ghostbur had been there to calm him down and get him water. Ghostbur had helped him through the horrible time.

But Ghostbur wasn’t here.

Tommy felt like he was dying. The ringing in his ears rendered him pretty much deaf. Everyone must think he was insane. Who would help an insane person?

He thought he could hear someone talking to him. Lizzie? Tommy hoped it was Lizzie. Tommy thought that Lizzie might be the only one who would help him.

A blanket was suddenly wrapped around him. Tommy was too tired to react. He felt too tired to do anything.

Even that thought scared Tommy. Tommy wanted to be in control. In control to make sure that he couldn’t get hurt.

But right now, Tommy couldn’t do anything, as he just laid limp, as the person he thought was Lizzie took him away.

Notes:

That was a doozy of a chapter!

I have come up with the idea of doing a QnA with all the characters and me, were you can ask anyone in the story (or me) a question, and they will respond. The answers wouldn't reveal the plot and wouldn't be canon, I just thought it'd be fun.

I'm not going to pressure anyone to ask, I just feel like doing more than the base story for you all.
Thank you!

Chapter 4: Discovery

Summary:

"I feel like there are holes in my memory." Tommy sighed.

Notes:

I HAVE A PLOT
YAY
I'm very happy and honored about the more than 1000 hits, and all the kudos. Thank you!
Also, I swear the next chapter WILL connect to the empires SMP story.

“Okay. I’m going to put it on now.” Lizzie said. Lizzie was excited to see how the necklace looked on Tommy.

Lizzie winced as Tommy cried. “Stop! Please! I’ll be better!” As Tommy scrambled into a corner, The axolotl felt anger boiling inside her.

Whoever caused this trauma to poor Tommy had made a permanent enemy of the Ocean Queen. But right now, Lizzie needed to calm Tommy down.

When Lizzie began to approach Tommy, she heard someone running towards them. Lizzie was about to tell one of her subjects to leave them be, but this wasn’t one of her subjects.

Before her stood a man, in his thirties, but with something odd about him. He was quite gray, and very transparent. Looking very concerned with Tommy.

“If you don’t mind if I ask, who are you?” Lizzie questioned. There was a name that Lizzie thought she could connect to this mysterious person, but that would be insane.

“I’m Ghostbur.” The ghost said kindly. To Lizzie, it sounded like he was happy and about to cry at the same time. “I’ve come here to get Tommy back.”

“I cannot let you do that.” Lizzie hissed. “Tommy is very injured, and he needs to be taken to my palace.” As Lizzie finished speaking, She turned to make sure Tommy didn't hurt himself.

“At least let me come with you!” Ghostbur begged. “I’ve been so worried for Tommy, and I can’t just leave him now!”

This made Lizzie curious. How did Ghostbur get into the server without Scott interacting with him? If Ghostbur (Wilbur?) got recognized by Scott, Scott wouldn’t allow him near Tommy.

“Fine.” Lizzie sighed. The only reason she would allow Ghostbur to travel to her palace was because Tommy might want to see him.

Right. Tommy. Lizzie turned over to Tommy, scooping him up to head home. Lizzie was worried this was going to make Tommy more anxious, but he just laid limp, almost as if he had given up.

This made Lizzie and Ghostbur wince. Lizzie wondered if she could get information out of the friendly ghost. He didn’t seem like one to keep secrets.

“Is Tommy asleep?” Ghostbur asked. Lizzie was about to tell him to just look, before remembering her own size.

Tommy’s eyes were still open, he just didn’t seem to be taking anything in, not even acknowledging Ghostbur’s arrival. “I don’t think so, I think he just had a long day.”
For a while the two just walked in silence, as Lizzie processed the new information. She had also come up with a question to ask Ghostbur.

“Hey Ghostbur?” Lizzie asked, looking down before realizing that Ghostbur was floating next to her, at her shoulder level, his eyes on Tommy. “Yes, fish lady?” Ghostbur replied.

Lizzie sighed. “First off, my name is Lizzie.” She began. “Second off, before Tommy came here, who were you staying with?” Ghostbur didn’t seem to be the reason for Tommy’s trauma, so whoever was with them must’ve been.

“Well… me and Toms were on vacation with Dream, and Tommy lived in tnret!” Ghostbur giggled. “The reason it’s called tnret is because Tommy laughed at the name.”

That comment cemented Lizzie’s belief of Ghostbur’s innocence. Ghostbur seemed to love Tommy, much more than she presumed Wilbur had. Which means…

Dream.

Dream, based on the shallow impression Lizzie had been given, was very self-confident, succeeding in pretty much everything he did. Sometimes he was creepy, but not too often.

Lizzie smiled. She could have someone to direct her anger at. If Tommy’s pain had been caused by Dream, Lizzie would return that pain thousands of times over.

“We should hurry home.” Lizzie grimaced, marching on, not even waiting for the blue ghost’s reply.

____________________________________________________________________________

Ghostbur and Lizzie arrived at the Prisma Palace, Lizzie making a beeline for the nearest chair so that Tommy could sit down.

Lizzie placed Tommy gently down onto the chair. “Tommy?” Ghostbur asked, gently rubbing his back. He seemed confident in his actions, how many times had Ghostbur done this?

A second passed by, then Tommy flinched, recognition sparking in his eyes. “Ghostbur?” He asked, incredibly confused, before looking at Lizzie. “Weren’t- weren’t we just at the village?”

“Tommy!” Ghostbur gasped, reaching in to hug him. Ghostbur must’ve hugged him a little too tight, because Tommy broke out into a sudden fit of wheezing coughs, causing Ghostbur to let go.

Lizzie quickly pulled out Tommy’s inhaler, passing it to him, sighing a breath of relief as he quickly took it, but Lizzie was quickly confused when Ghostbur looked shocked.
“How did he get his inhaler back? Dre- I mean, it was taken!” Ghostbur said, surprised. Lizzie knew that Ghostbur was about to say Dream, but Lizzie didn’t have the time to be angry at the moment. The long, black item Ghostbur had in one hand caught her attention.

“What is that, Ghostbur?” Lizzie asked, peeking at the object. Ghostbur looked confused, before he looked at what was in his hand. “Oh!” Ghostbur exclaimed. “I almost forgot! I also brought Tommy’s chat, because he forgot them, and he never goes anywhere without them.”

“Them?” Lizzie asked, grabbing what she identified as a Nokia Phone away from Ghostbur. It was seemingly normal, except it kept buzzing occasionally, and multiple messages kept streaming past the screen. Lizzie couldn’t make out most of them, but Lizzie thought she could make out multiple of these strange messages asking where Tommy was.

“Oh! My chat!” Tommy piped up, turning over to where Lizzie and Ghostbur were sitting. Lizzie passed the phone over, and Tommy waved at the screen, then put it in his pocket.

“They can see you?” Lizzie asked, incredibly confused. “I wasn’t sure for a long time, to be honest. I THINK they can.” Tommy replied.

“Nevermind.” Lizzie dismissed. “I want to talk about what happened.” As soon as the words left her mouth, Tommy tensed up. But before he could shower Lizzie with apologies, Lizzie continued. “I really care about you, larva. I don’t want this to happen again.”

Tommy noticed the nickname. “Larva?” He asked. “Oh!” Lizzie jumped. “Larva is what axolotls call their young.” Lizzie blurted. “I’ve been calling you that in my head. I can stop if you want?”
Tommy looked as if he would explode with happiness. “It’s fine. I like nicknames.”

Lizzie smiled kindly at Tommy. “I want you to write a list of things I shouldn’t do. I’ll read it when you're done.” Was Lizzie going to mention Dream? Now that she thought about it, no. Her little larva had been through enough today.

Tommy was tearing up. “I… can’t remember many people who cared about me.” Lizzie felt horrible for her little larva. The next DSMP member she met would regret it.

“What about Tubbo? He cares about you.” Ghostbur asked, while idly passing Tommy what looked like a clump of blue dye. Lizzie had forgotten about Tubbo. She had seen the brown-haired goat at MCC, and at the after party she saw the two hanging out together, so Lizzie had come to the conclusion that the two were friends.

“Ghostbur… I think I’ve heard that name before, but I’ve never been friends with Tubbo.” Tommy muttered. Ghostbur and Lizzie shared a glance of worry and confusion. Lizzie hadn’t known Tommy well before he had arrived in the Empires SMP, but Lizzie was sure Tommy and Tubbo had been decent friends.

“I just feel like there are holes in my memory.” Tommy sighed. “I remember L’manberg ending, but I have zero clue on where it started.” Lizzie sat down next to Tommy, passing a notebook and pen to him. “Here, Larva.” Lizzie purred. “Write down anything that would make you uncomfortable, and I’ll make sure to not do it.”

“Anything? Even the required stuff?” Tommy asked. Lizzie didn’t like the sound of that. “I’ll decide if it’s required. I don’t want you to feel anxious around me.” Lizzie comforted, gently hugging Tommy. “I want to have a conversation with Ghostbur. Yell if you need something.” Lizzie said softly, standing up and motioning for Ghostbur to follow her.

Lizzie led Ghostbur to the other side of the Prisma Palace, still in view of Tommy, but out of earshot. “Are you going to stay here?” Lizzie asked, immediately switching to a responsible adult persona. “Eventually people are going to notice your absence.”

Ghostbur thought for a second, before nodding. “I want to stay here for at least a few more days.” Ghostbur began, “I’ve been gone for what seemed like a couple days before, it’ll be fine.”
He sighed. “Besides, I want to comfort Tommy and give him some blue. I’m his brother after all.”

Lizzie admired the Ghost’s persistence. “To be honest,” Lizzie muttered, sitting on one of the ledges. “I feel a mother’s love for Tommy. I want to make sure that he is never, ever hurt again.”

Ghostbur and Lizzie sat quietly, as a minute passed by. “I have an idea.” Lizzie muttered, breaking the silence. “If you keep quiet, I’ll let you send letters to Tommy when you go home.”

Ghostbur smiled. “Thank you fish-lady!” Lizzie rolled her eyes at the nickname. He seemed quite forgetful, Lizzie would let that slip by. “It’s nothing.” Lizzie assured him.

“You seem like a nice guy, Ghostbur,” Lizzie commented. “Tommy seems to like you, and I appreciate a kind soul.” Ghostbur smiled, but before he could reply, Tommy ran up, holding the notebook.

“I’m done!” Tommy exclaimed, giving the book to Lizzie. “I’m sorry if it’s long.” Lizzie laughed. “Don’t worry Larva.” Lizzie turned to Ghostbur. “Why don’t you go play some games with Tommy? You can do anything, but don’t leave the palace.”

Ghostbur nodded, giving a look that was much less oblivious than how he usually looked. “Come on Tommy, it’ll be fun!” He said, leading the teen away.

Lizzie watched as they left, and Lizzie then walked to the area where Tommy was seated. It was extremely obvious that Tommy was there, because everything was strewn everywhere and Lizzie could swear there were tiny pen doodles on the tables. It’s fine. Pen is washable.

Lizzie sat down, and opened the book. The handwriting was a little messy, but after looking pretty closely she could tell.
------------------------------------------------------------
I don’t like yelling. It hurts my ears. Please don’t yell.

I like to have my own stuff. I want my own little things that are mine and mine alone, please don’t take my stuff away.

Please don’t leave me alone. I hate being alone. Being alone makes me sad.

When you preen my wings, please ask if you can preen the broken one. I get scared if people touch my wings without asking, but because I trust you, you only need to ask about the broken one.

Please don’t hurt me if I make a mistake.

Please don’t hurt me if I eat without asking.

Please don’t be mad if I accidently interrupt you in a conversation.

Please don’t send me back to DSMP. Please.
-------------------------------------------------------------

The rest of the text was repeating itself, but Lizzie didn’t have to read it all to get the message. It was very obvious that some of the things Larva wrote were connected to Trauma.

Thinking back. Didn’t Tommy ask if he also needed to write the required stuff as well? He thinks this was required? What he wrote is things that an ABUSER would do.

Lizzie would make Dream pay, but she wanted to have a good day. Lizzie put the book down, and walked toward where Ghostbur and Tommy were laughing and playing.

Lizzie would remember that moment for the rest of her life.

Chapter 5: Festival, Pt 1.

Summary:

https://lingojam.com/English-AquarianTranslator

yes I decided that Lizzie and Jimmy speak Dnd Aquarian to eachother :)

Its spilt into parts because I didn't want conflicting themes.

Tommy woke up early, before the sun had even pierced the sky. He had another nightmare. Ghostbur was snoring next to him, so he quietly left. Luckily, Ghostbur sleep patterns weren’t a thing he shared with Wilbur, who was always up at the crack of dawn.

 

Because he was up, he could put himself to use. Tommy groggily crossed the bridge connecting his guest room to the rest of the palace.

He stumbled down into what he thought was a chest room, and was awed at the lilypads, coral, and, oddly enough, a glow squid named bert.

Tommy rummaged through the chests for a while, completely ignorant that Lizzie was approaching. “Larva?” Lizzie sleepily asked, causing Tommy to completely drop everything that he was holding. “What are you doing, it’s barely morning!”

“I couldn’t sleep, and wanted to be useful.” Tommy stared blankly, awkwardly picking up the food he had dropped.

“It’s fine. I’ll make you something to eat. Just, please go to bed.” Lizzie ruffled Tommy’s hair, earning her a huff of indignation. Tommy quietly went back to bed, almost slipping on a wet patch of the prismarine.

Tommy didn’t go to bed. He wanted to do as Lizzie said, but the growing fear of a nightmare was too much for him. However, eventually he did go to sleep. Not by his own accord, only because the tiredness had gotten to him.

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Toms! Food is ready!” Ghostbur said, somewhat shaking Tommy awake. “You almost scared the shit out of me, Ghostbur.” Tommy laughed. “Sorry! But Lizzie has an important thing to say!”

Hm. Tommy wondered what that was. As the two of them walked to a hastily-made seating area, where Lizzie was putting cooking supplies away, and was placing out a tablecloth for the table.

“I used the stuff you grabbed earlier this morning, Larva!” Lizzie chirped, handing him and Ghostbur some neatly-made pancakes that, as Tommy looked closer, he realized had sprinkles in them. His pancake even had a little smiley-face made of syrup on it, which Tommy swiftly removed.

“I wasn’t up earlier this morning.” Tommy confusily mentioned, looking at his pancakes. Ghostbur quickly injected himself into the conversation. “Tomm’ sleepwalks sometimes. Caugh’ him in the ocean once.” Ghostbur said through a mouth full of pancakes.

“Nevermind. What was the thing you wanted to tell me?” Tommy asked, politely pushing his pancakes away. He wasn’t hungry, but he’d eat if Lizzie told him to.

“Well, Scott sent me an invitation to a festival he was holding, he also said I could bring you!” Lizzie announced, before looking at Ghostbur. “Scott doesn’t know you're here, but I think we could explain why you are here, and not in the DSMP.”

Lizzie immediately turned to Tommy, noticing he wasn’t eating. “Is something wrong? Why are you not eating? Are you sick?” Tommy froze. That sentence took him back to a time where he had behaved well enough for his tormentor to get him dinner. Tommy instead had gotten a few punches when he said that he wasn’t hungry. Tommy didn’t want that to happen again.

“I- I’ll eat.” He stuttered, ignoring the problem and shoveling in food. He felt sicker and sicker with every bite he took. He didn’t want Lizzie to get upset, so he continued eating. Lizzie smiled, before continuing.

“I’m really excited for you two to meet everyone, they all are such nice people!” Lizzie smiles, before recalling something. “They also can be quite loud, so I got you some headphones.” Lizzie passed Tommy some plush dark-blue headphones, to Tommy they looked more like ear muffs, yet even more fluffy.

“We are allowed to bring one item as well,” Lizzie mentioned. “I’m going to bring the delicacy of the ocean empire: sea pickles!” Tommy laughed. Lizzies voice was always fun to listen to. It was light, always full of energy. It reminded Tommy of a young him, which he thought was ironic.

Tommy tried the headphones on, and was awed at the difference in noise. He could barely hear Lizzie and Ghostbur having what looked like a mini-debate, and he couldn’t hear any of the waves crashing against the palace. Tommys only complaint was that the headphones were a tiny bit wet, but otherwise, Tommy liked them.

“How did you get these headphones?” Tommy asked. They looked tailored in a way, yet some of the stitches were a bit weird. He could try to sew them up later.

“I made them!” Lizzie proudly stated. “I’ve heard humans put foam in headphones, so I put seafoam in them!” Tommy wheezed. He recently laughed a decent amount here and there, but never wheezing, laugh-so-hard-your-stomach-hurts laughs.

“I don’t think that kind of foam was what they meant, fish-lady.” Ghostbur giggled. That nickname made Tommy laugh harder.

“Swiftly moving on,” Lizzie continued, barely holding her laughter in, “I think we can get going now, and larva, don’t forget your inhaler.”

Tommy nodded, quickly running over to his bedroom to grab the inhaler, as he recalled what Lizzie had told him about the other rules. Joel, her husband, Jimmy, her brother, Joey, the guy she told him to avoid… Scott, and the guy who built Scott’s wings.

“I’m ready!” Tommy called, running back to Ghostbur and Lizzie. “Great! Now make sure to not strain your wings too much, and if things get out of hand, stay near Ghostbur.” Lizzie mentioned, as the party of three went down the long, spiral stairs.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The party of three had finally arrived in Rivendell. Tommy felt awkward being back there, but he was also excited to see Scott again.

“Hey Lizzie!” Someone called from ahead. Tommy looked over, and there stood a man with a green streak in his hair, wearing a purple robe. “Oceans Blessings, Joel!” Lizzie replied, running up to give Joel a hug, and a quick kiss on the cheek.

It took Joel a second to notice Tommy and Ghostbur, but when Joel did, he looked extremely confused. “This is Tommy, and next to him is Ghostbur.” Lizzie introduced, indicating to Tommy to come forward.

“So this is your husband, Lizzie? I thought he’d be taller.” Tommy said, poking fun at the idea that he was taller than the ruler of an empire. “I’m tall! I’m not short!” Joel huffed.

“Well, from my point of view, you're quite small.” Ghostbur giggled. Joel turned to Ghostbur, briefly alarmed at the blue ghost. “Have some blue, you look stressed.” Ghostbur chirped, passing the alarmed Joel three pieces of blue.

Joel quickly pocketed the ghost’s gift. “But seriously though, aren’t the two of you supposed to be in the DSMP? Why are you here?” Tommy shrunk into himself, the oncoming sickness barely being held back.

“Scott brought Tommy here. He had permission too, so don’t worry about it, he’s now staying with me.” Lizzie gently said, cutting off the conversation

Joel gasped, with slight glee, “Does this mean I’m a father?” As soon as he finished that sentence, he broke out into laughter. Tommy awkwardly laughed, getting slightly uncomfortable. Lizzie looked the exact same way.

“We should go to the festival.” Lizzie forcefully stated, leading everyone up a path, leading to a beautifully decorated area, with warped plank seats and colorful banners that Tommy presumed represented each empire. The only ones Tommy could recognize were Scott and Lizzie’s.

“Wow! It’s so pretty!” Lizzie gasped, quickly being drowned out by a barrage of voices. Tommy saw a man with a cod on his head, Scott, A ginger-haired woman wearing a purple witches hat, and someone that looked extremely familiar.

As everyone said their greetings, Tommy walked closer, accidentally tripping on one of the steps, drawing everyone's attention.

“Are you okay l-Tommy?!” Lizzie asked, quickly rushing over to help him up. “I’ve never heard of an elytrian who likes the taste of ground.” Tommy froze, and looked up, and saw a man with light-brown hair, who was dressed in, in Tommy’s opinion, quite skimpy clothes.

“Leave him alone, Joey.” Lizzie sighed, quickly flicking some dirt off of Tommy’s shoulder. Tommy looked around uncomfortably, “I’m okay.” He muttered, nudging closer to Ghostbur, before realizing he had gone off to speak with Scott.

“Well, this is the perfect time to introduce you all to Tommyinnit, who is currently in my care.” Lizzie formally spoke, her voice projecting over everyone.
“Over there is one of his friends, Ghostbur.”

Ghostbur piped up at the mention of his name, noticing everyone staring at him. “Hello! I want to get to know you all!” He chirped cheerily. “Have some blue, Scott” He said, quickly passing Scott around ten pieces of blue.

“Tommy!?” Hearing one of the people in the crowd call his name, a black-haired woman wearing a purple skirt emerged from the crowd, and Tommy wheezed when he realized who she was. It was Katherine, the woman that features in one of his most popular MCC quotes, Just killed a woman, feeling good!

Tommy thought it was curious that he couldn’t recall his MCC team that year. He thought Ghostbur MIGHT’VE been on it, but everything else was extremely fuzzy. “Hi Katherine-” Tommy sheepishly smiled, inching closer to Lizzie.

“Well, it’ll be nice to get to know you.” The man with the cod head said. “I’m Jimmy.” Jimmy introduced, smiling warmly. “Oh! Lizzie’s brother!” Tommy replied, as the crowd dispersed and everyone began moving to their seats.

“It ji nz piqjix?” Jimmy asked Lizzie in a language Tommy had never heard before. Tommy would ask Lizzie to teach it to him when they got home. “Sjav aq, zua tup ug e dmen!” Lizzie yelled, embarrassed. As Lizzie directed Tommy to a seat, Tommy thought how they kind of sounded like siblings bickering.

“I’ve brought pickles!” Lizzie cheered, placing pickles on each of the plates. This caused a chain reaction, where everyone began passing out food. Joey even stood on the table, and threw cookies everywhere, much to the guests' dislike.

Tommy had gotten things such as cookies, “Mythland Meat” which he wouldn’t dare eat, bread, and pumpkin pie. Tommy just quietly passed his plate to Ghostbur, who was eating like it was his last meal.

“Okay, okay, everyone in your seats.” Scott called, clinking his fork to the glass. “We have some important news for you all.” He said, giving a slight pass for the dramatics.

“The demon is gone! We’ve gotten rid of Xornoth!” Scott declared, causing an erupt of chatter. Tommy had no clue what this was all about. Maybe Xornoth was like… HIM.

“So in honor of our guests, and of our freedom from Xornoth, I wanted to do a community hotpot, were we all put something in.” Scott stated, motioning towards the cauldron to on the right side of the table, were Tommy was seated with Lizzie.

“I threw all mine on the floor!” One regaly-dressed man complained. Multiple people rolled their eyes at the statement. “So if anyone has something to put in the cauldron, you can do so over here.”

All of the empire rulers stood up and made their way to the cauldron, and Tommy decided to follow. He didn’t have anything to put in, but he didn’t want to be alone. Ghostbur followed him as well, and the two stood behind Lizzie and Joel.

“There’s no water in here!” A small mushroom-lady noticed, and Tommy thought about how he should probably learn their names.

Tommy noticed Joel pulling out an axolotl in a bucket, and it seems Lizzie had as well. “You better not put the axolotl in.” Lizzie quickly said, a hint of hostility against Joel, despite that the two were in an extremely positive relationship.

When Tommy refocused his attention back on the pot, he noticed that Joel had started throwing anvils in, making Tommy’s stomach churn. He noticed all of the other gross, inedible things being put in the cauldron.

“I think we should let that simmer.” Scott interjected, causing everyone to move back to their seats. “That looks disgusting.” Tommy heard Joel comment, and Tommy couldn’t help but agree.

As everyone settled down, a ginger-haired man that Tommy was pretty sure was named Fwip went to the front of the table, beginning to pace back and forth.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the salmon smiths in the Grimlands have been hard at work to create a POWERFUL vessel of all time.” Fwip began, causing a murmur amongst the crowd. Tommy couldn’t help but be curious as well. It probably didn’t apply to him, but that didn’t stop Tommy.

“The one crown to rule them all.” Fwip boldly said, pulling out a beautiful gold crown fitted with many different coloured jewels. Tommy didn’t know if it was just him, but he could’ve sworn a kind of power-hungry look was shared across the table. Tommy felt like something was about to go wrong, horribly wrong.

Chapter 6: Festival, Pt 2.

Summary:

Tommy tries to fly, People die, Ghostbur wont go bye-bye

Notes:

Uh, Hi people! I'm back! How is everyone? I finally have motivation and free time to write this next chapter!

I came up with crap tons of ideas for character details and plot points, and if you need to have a decoder for the whole color = emotion thing, check out the end notes. Or, you could go in blind, guess, and see how you did when the chapter finishes.

Gasps of awe emanated from the rulers, as the crown was placed upon the table, a glimmer caught from the sun making it shimmer.

“I’m here to unveil the ultimate power of the empires.” Fwip stated, he himself looked enamored with the crown. Almost as if… he were tempted to take it and run.

“Whoever wears this crown has the ability to make one rule all empires must follow.” Fwip announced. Tommy felt concerned. If they could make one rule, they could make it so that all the empires would be ruled by one. Everyone would disagree, but they would have to follow it.

…Right?

Tommy wanted to voice his concern of this choice, and looking at Ghostbur, he did as well. But it wasn’t their place to argue politics with kings, queens, and the like.

Tommy was surprised with himself. The old him would’ve yelled at how rubbish it was, he’d have sworn at people, argued, turned people against him, maybe lit something on fire. But now…

He was submissive, gentle, reserved. Tommy felt like people he knew would be surprised if he acted the way he did now. It was odd that Tommy didn’t know who.

Tommy snapped back to attention, just as Fwip was done with the terms and conditions. “Now, we all know who deserves to wear this,” He began. Tommy felt as if Fwip was referring to himself.

“So, If you believe you are fit to wear this crown, please step forward.” Fwip finished. Simultaneously, all the rulers stepped up and towards the crown. Even Lizzie brandished her trident. Was she, too, under the spell that the crown seemed to have casted?

“I knew it!” Fwip quickly chirped, scooping up the crown. All hell broke loose after that. All of the rulers began chasing Fwip, yelling that they needed to get the crown. Lizzie was at the head of the pack, gaining on Fwip whenever the man tried to take a breath.

Tommy recognized this kind of violence. He didn’t know how and where, but he knew he needed to run, hide, or fly.

FLY!

Tommy’s elytrian instincts kicked in. Tommy knew subconsciously that even if he could get off the ground, a crash was imminent. However, with people dying in front of him, Lizzie getting killed by her own husband, Tommy’s fight-or-flight instincts overpowered him.

Tommy made a mad dash to the cliff, not caring about his aching lungs and hacking cough, his wings flapping wildly as the wrappings had fallen off. The noise of chirping filled his brain. Tommy needed to feel the wind in his wings.

Then…

“TOMMY!”

Ghostbur grabbed Tommy by the waist seconds before Tommy would’ve jumped to his death. Now with flight being ruled out, all Tommy could do was freeze, and freeze he did.

Ghostbur herded Tommy to sit with him behind a giant red mushroom, tears burning his face, smoke rising into the air. Tommy, feeling like he had just been thrown a great distance, vomited up his previous meal, it grossly splattered his shirt and the ground near him.

“It’s okay Tommy, we can clean it up when we get back.” Ghostbur sweetly assured Tommy, taking an unused napkin and cleaning up the residue. “Here, take your inhaler.”

Tommy weakly took the inhaler and used it, his lungs opening but still leaving the gross taste of vomit in his mouth.

“T-Toms?” Ghostbur asked, shaken. He nodded in realization when Tommy didn’t respond. “N-no need to reply, Tommy.” Ghostbur sighed, sitting next to Tommy.

“Why won’t you come back to the DSMP?” Ghostbur asked. Tommy didn’t know what to say, so he just snuggled into Ghostbur’s shoulder, enjoying the odd warmth.

“I- I know you don’t like that Dream came with us for the vacation. But… surely that is better than this.” Ghostbur worried, looking over to where the fight for the crown was still occurring.

“How did you get so injured anyways?” Ghostbur asked, a tingle running down his spine when he realized that Tommy’s wing had almost been broken off entirely.

“I think that if you had hurt your wing a little bit more, it wouldn’t have been able to heal.” Ghostbur muttered. Grabbing the wrappings and re-applying them to the damaged wing.

The muttering slowly got quieter as Tommy relaxed, and slipped his earmuffs on that momma had gifted him. Not quite asleep, not quite awake. Just relaxed with familiar sights and smells.

______________________________________

 

Ghostbur sighed. He could get an answer to why Tommy always seemed so blue. But nobody would listen, and the one who does listen to Ghostbur is muffled out.
As if the mere mention of him triggered it, Alivebur suddenly interjected himself into the conversation, with a pretty flame red look on his face, Ghostbur might add.

“I’m going to kill – when I get out of limbo, Ghostbur.” Alivebur hissed. His form was even paler than Ghostbur’s, but with a slight gray taint. Ghostbur sighed. He had gotten used to important details being unable to be heard from Alivebur, but at this point it just seemed like a big “Fuck you!” From the universe. Things could be so much easier if he had gotten the details.

“You know that implies my death, right?” Ghostbur snarked. He could let out all his red at Alivebur. He’s a dead man anyway. Alivebur chuckled.

“Yes, Yes I do.” Alivebur laughed.

Ghostbur noticed Alivebur’s gaze softened when he looked down at Tommy. Still reaching towards his blond hair in an attempt to ruffle it playfully, even though he couldn’t interact with anything.

Alivebur was more of a Ghost then Ghostbur himself. He thought that was ironic.

“You know that I can still hear your thoughts, right?” Alivebur snorted. “I just feel bad for the kid, with all his injuries, trauma, and such. Like a normal human being. Are you going to do anything about him?”

Ghostbur felt green with himself. He had been sitting here, arguing with Alivebur, when he should be helping Tommy.

“You know, I can see his spirit drifting in and out of his body. He’s DYING, Ghostbur. And what are you doing? Having a tea party with an axolotl woman and her friend-ishs.” Alivebur snorted.
“And I thought you cared what happened to Tommy.”

Ghostbur was wrapped with red. “Shut up!” He yelled, grabbing the kid by the arm. All Tommy did was follow, his eyes tracked to the ground. Normal Tommy would always walk clumsy, his attention being on so many other things that walking usually came last.

Alongside all the memory problems… he hadn’t said much, but Ghostbur knew that look. That look of being somewhere else, and of not knowing where you are. The look of forgetfulness, confusion, and innocence that Ghostbur often had himself.

Tommy was forgetting things. Much more than Ghostbur. It seemed like anything before him in the Empire's SMP was a slowly fading blur. Ghostbur had been lucky to stick himself in Tommy’s memories before… before It might’ve been too late.

Ghostbur and Alivebur had noticed that the violence had seemed to die down. For Ghostbur, this was a relief. For Alivebur, it was a disappointment. Ghostbur was good at pretending the mind-reading went one way. He was good at playing “The oblivious.” Which, for some things, Alivebur says he is. Luckily though, shielding thoughts was easier for spirits then the stuck-in-limbo counterpart.

For now, Tommy was his first and utmost priority. Learning the background and who was at fault could come second.

“Lizzie!” Ghostbur yelled. Running towards the recognizable pink-haired blue-skinned person in the distance

Lizzie seemed incredibly gray for someone so carefree. Ghostbur thought that as soon as she laid eyes on Tommy, she’d drop everything to help him get home.

“Oh. Ghostbur.” Lizzie sighed. Running a webbed hand through her hair. “Mind taking Tommy home for me? You know the way.”

“I need some help getting him home, actually, Lizzie.” Ghostbur replied. “I have a bit of a low attention span, so I think I’d be good to have some aid.”

“I’m busy.” Lizzie snapped. Ghostbur gasped. He thought Lizzie cared about Tommy. Was a ruler who wore a shiny crown who made a single rule more important than someone who is pretty much your adopted son?

“Why? Tommy is in need of comfort! You know he has trauma. You think a cod pond is more important than Tommy?” Ghostbur cried. He turned around to check on Tommy, only to see him sitting with his back against a tree, his earmuffs protecting him from the argument that would’ve surely broken him.

“My own BROTHER has made a rule. I have to follow it! I could get in really serious TROUBLE!” Lizzie screamed. Ghostbur was crimson red, flame red, all the red. Tommy didn’t even seem fazed. Ghostbur was supposed to be the oblivious one here. Ghostbur wished he was. However, he wouldn’t swap positions with anyone.

“Tommy has been abandoned by so many people in his life.” Ghostbur said through gritted teeth. “Our own father, alongside others who have tried to comfort him.” Ghostbur didn’t know what he was saying. But he knew that Alivebur was feeding these words through Ghostbur’s lips.

Alivebur could gain slight control when Ghostbur’s emotions were at an all-time high. Why had he forgotten? Ghostbur couldn’t think as more words poured out from his lips like a waterfall. “Tommy was left with an abuser who convinced Tommy that he was his only friend. Tommy loved his abuser like family.” Ghostbur spat.

“I'm so utterly glad, because I know that after this incident,” Ghostbur mockingly stated. “That you will never, EVER let Tommy go untreated or without comfort.” Ghostbur said, his words laced with venom and passive-aggressive threats.

Or should he say,

Alivebur’s threats.

“I- Ghostbur-” Lizzie tried to say something. But neither Ghostbur or Alivebur wanted to hear what dumb excuse she wanted to say. “NO!” Ghostbur yelled. “Go catch some fucking fish or something. I’ll help the kid who might die at any point.” He cried, turning to grab Tommy. Who still didn’t acknowledge the utter chaos that had, and still was, ensuing.

Luckily, Lizzie knew when someone needed to have space, and didnt come and try to beg for forgiveness like some people would. At least Ghostbur could still keep some respect for the Ocean Queen.

“Wow, and here I thought Lizzie was decent.” Alivebur stated saltily. Ghostbur didn’t bother replying. He knew that this was around when Alivebur would have to spend more time in limbo. It wouldn’t be worth it to start a conversation just to be cut off in the middle of it.

As Ghostbur was getting into the boat, he turned around to make sure Tommy could as well, when he noticed Tommy was about to trip on a boulder poking out of the ground.

“Watch out, Tommy!” Ghostbur yelled, not realizing he raised his voice. He felt purple when he saw Tommy actually reacting to the noise, backing up and flinching.

“I’m sorry, Toms.” Ghostbur whispered, nodding in approval as Tommy meekly stepped into the boat. He looked towards Alivebur, who just looked longingly at the two of them from the shores of the beach.

“Yeah, Yeah, I know how much you want to be in my position.” Ghostbur said mockingly. Surprisingly, Alivebur didn’t shoot a mocking remark back, and he just nodded with acceptance.

“Take care of Tommy, okay?” Alivebur asked, and Ghostbur looked back, and felt orange when he realized Alivebur had a small tear going down his face.

“I will.” Ghostbur smiled, as he was yellow knowing that Alivebur cared about Tommy as much as Ghostbur himself did. If Alivebur did in fact switch spots with Ghostbur one day, he could head back to limbo yellow, knowing that Tommy was in good, (But slightly rough,) hands.

As Alivebur melted into the shadows, Ghostbur began rowing himself and Tommy out to the Prisma Palace, grimacing whenever water droplets fizzed against his ghostly skin.

Ghostbur was unsure about most things, but he knew from the bottom of his heart that he’d stay until he was sure Lizzie would care for Tommy, even if she thought that other things were more important at the moment.

Call it selfish, but somewhere, subconsciously, Ghostbur knew that staying with Lizzie would be thousands upon thousands of times better than being on vacation with Dream.

 

______________________________

 

Upon finally arriving into the walls of the palace, Tommy finally began speaking again, to Ghostburs delight.

“Oh. We’re already home?” Tommy said, seemingly not having realized what was going on.

“Yeah. Took a while too. It’s almost night.” Ghostbur stated, noticing the signs showing that Lizzie had been coming and going, alongside the chainsaw-like snoring that emanated from the Queen’s Chambers. Ghostbur would get Tommy to bed, and then figure out what to do from there.

Perhaps some research on the many ways amnesia could be inflicted on a person. Ghostbur knew it’d be inaccurate, due to his own situation, but Ghostbur knew it was the best place to start.

“You want some help getting to bed, Tommy?” Ghostbur questioned, noticing Tommy yawn, with his eyes closing, seemingly difficult to keep open.

“Could you get my axolotl for me?” Tommy asked. Ghostbur recalled that there was an axolotl sanctuary, but it was underwater.

“Uh, Toms, remember? I’m a ghost. I can’t go in the water.” Ghostbur said, realizing the depth of Tommy’s memory loss. The look on Tommy’s face, one of orange, was what confirmed this horrifying discovery

“I- oh, I’m sorry, Wilbur.” Tommy quickly apologized. Normal Tommy wouldn’t have apologized this quickly.

“I wanted to try something.” Tommy said, perking Ghostbur’s curiosity. As he watched over Tommy’s shoulder, Tommy rummaged through one of the chests in the guest room, pulling out a dusty guitar.

“I- I remembered you played a guitar some times to help me sleep.” Tommy admitted, gently placing the guitar into Ghostbur’s open hands.
“Sure, Toms.” Ghostbur cooed, letting Tommy lie on his knee, as Ghostbur fiddled with the tuning. He did have memories of playing the guitar, but whenever he tried to play the songs, it was like he was copying an even better player.

There was one song that he could play perfectly, and in his opinion, it fit the situation perfectly.

The l’manburg anthem.

Ghostbur quickly finished tuning the guitar, noticing that two sets of initials were engraved on the side.

L.D.<3 J.S.

He’d ask Lizzie about it later. When he wasnt so red at her. Ghostbur also assumed Lizzie was red at him as well.

“I heard there was a special place.”

He could feel Tommy nuzzle closer, humming the lyric with him to the best of his ability.

“Were men could go an emanticipate.”

Ghostbur noticed how he felt tired himself. Maybe due to the long day. When Tommy fell asleep, maybe he’d take a little nap himself.

“The brutality and tyranny of their rulers.”

“This place is real, you needn’t threat, with Wilbur, Tommy, Tubbo, fuck Eret.”

Tommy hummed in acknowledgement of his name being spoken, but nothing more. Damn it, Ghostbur thought this might’ve opened a conversation, but then again, Tommy was pretty tired.

“It’s a very big, but not blown up l’manburg.”

Ghostbur saw that Tommy seemed like he was asleep. Ghostbur would finish the verse, then put the guitar down.

“My l’manburg, My l’manburg.”

Ghostburs fingers left the strings of the guitar, almost as if they had given up from exhaustion as well.

“My l’manburg, My l’maaanburg.”

Notes:

Red = Anger
Crimson Red / Flame Red = Basically, a worse version of anger, Outrage
Orange = Surprise
Yellow = Happiness
Green = Horrifc, disgust, etc.
Blue = (We all know. But in case you don't,) Sadness
Purple = Fear
Gray = Annoyed

Boy that was a doozy to write. I tried to format Lizzie and Ghostburs arguement in a way that both of them are in the right, but it kinda came out shitty. If you want to ask me a question, comment it and I will reply ASAP

Chapter 7: Broken Promises & Horrid Deals

Summary:

Lizzie gets the shocking discovery that Dream realizes Tommy's location.

(Plus a special appearance from punz)

Lizzie was silently sitting at her desk in her main office, contemplating the events of yesterday. She had definitely been too harsh to Ghostbur, given that she couldn’t find any cod to rescue, and Jimmy’s reign didn’t even last too long.

But she mostly thought about how Tommy, her larva, the boy that welcomed himself into her life, could drop onto the floor, dead, at any given moment. She didn’t even know how she could fix it. Lizzie had a hard time figuring out regular human illnesses, but this was something Lizzie thought that even a human doctor couldn’t fix.

She also thought about the odd look into Ghostbur’s eyes during their argument. The friendly ghost that Lizzie thought she knew had an incredibly venom-laced look in his eyes that she had only been able to recall twice.

Once, during her time in the last life server, Joel had attempted to kill her, with Lizzie barely being able to escape, making Joel lose a life instead. She and Joel had gotten far, far, past that, but Lizzie occasionally still had nightmares about it.

The second time, Lizzie was the one with that insane look in her eye. She still regrets killing Pearl, but she had no choice. But the moments before Lizzie had killed Pearl, Lizzie could perfectly recall the look of absolute terror in Pearl’s eyes before she had done the killing blow.

“Your majesty?”

Lizzie looked up, and Sir Strawberry was standing before her, carrying the mail. “Ah, thank you. Leave it here and I’ll sort through it.” Lizzie dismissed, digging back into the books on disease and illness she had bought.

“Your majesty, a letter from outside the server was sent.” Sir Strawberry spoke, gently placing an envelope on her desk, before backing away and bowing.

“Odd. The only letters that arrive from outside the server are for MCC.” Lizzie muttered, grabbing the letter. “It was sent from the Dream SMP.” Sir Strawberry replied.

Lizzie froze. She knew that this was about Tommy. “You may be dismissed, Sir Strawberry.” Lizzie quickly muttered, before opening the letter, preparing herself for what could happen next. Her stomach was churning.

She opened the letter and began to scan through it. The handwriting was pretty fancy, and it had a smiley face seal on the envelope.

Dear Ocean Empress Lizzie,

I presume you know who I am. But in case you forgot, I am Dream. Nearly identical letters have been sent to each of the other rulers whom you call friends.

Two members of the server, Tommy and Ghostbur, have left the server. Tommy, being a minor, had no permission, and Ghostbur only left a couple days after.

And, the same exact day, an unwhitelisted player broke into the server. I presume it was connected to Tommy, as these two things couldn’t have been a coincidence. We attempted to track the mystery player's IP, but oddly enough, that didn’t work. However, we were able to track Tommy’s IP to the Empires SMP server.

I am not accusing you of harboring Tommy, I just want him back. He is supposed to be serving out his exile, and we cannot have a criminal running loose, can we? I’m sure you understand I am only doing this for the safety of your kingdom.

Which is why I’m offering a reward.

The first person to bring Tommy to me gets fifty netherite blocks, paired with a beacon.

If, in the unlikely case that you indeed do have Tommy in your care, I recommend you return him to me. I have no qualms with bringing him back by force.

Make your choice.

Regards,
Dream.

Lizzie freaked out. Would anyone tell Dream that she had Tommy? Was one of them writing a letter at this very moment? Was her empire going to war? Lizzie was about to go and prepare for the army, but then she had a thought…

Ghostbur.

He needed to know. Lizzie would try to talk to him, because both of them loved Tommy. Hopefully Ghostbur wasn’t TOO mad at her anymore.

“Excuse me.” Lizzie yelled to the guard standing at the front of the door. “Yes, your majesty?” The brown axolotl clad in armor asked, walking in. “You know our two guests?” Lizzie asked, and the guard nodded.

“Can you bring the ghostly looking one to me? He’s the one with brown hair.” Lizzie continued. Lizzie began clicking her pen, a thing she did when she was anxious. “Right away, your Majesty.” The guard exclaimed, quickly heading out of the room.

Leaving Lizzie alone with her thoughts, she scrolled through the possible people who may tell Dream. Scott was immediately off the table, as he was the one who had rescued Tommy in the first place. Jimmy and Joel were incredibly unlikely due to their relationship status…

Joey.

He had no qualms kidnapping one of her axolotls, how different is this? Joey is also incredibly vain and would probably love to take up the reward offer.

“Ahem.” Lizzie looked up, seeing Ghostbur. “Hi- Hi Ghostbur.” Lizzie responded. “Are you okay? You’re looking very purple.” Lizzie didn’t know what that meant, so she continued. “We have a letter from Dream.” She muttered, and Ghostbur looked as worried as Lizzie was when she found out. Lizzie passed Ghostbur the letter, letting him read it.

“Would anyone give him back?” Ghostbur asked, grabbing a chair to sit down. “I only think Joey would.” Lizzie admitted, her heart pounding in her chest. “Well, in the letter it specifies you only get the reward if you give Tommy over to Dream.”

Lizzie nodded. How did she miss that? She guessed she was pretty tired. Lizzie recalled waking up four to five times.

“We must have about a week before he writes the letter.” Lizzie reasoned. Ghostbur nodded. “If Joey or anyone else makes an attempt to kidnap Tommy,” Ghostbur said, “We could just keep Tommy with us twenty-four seven.” Ghostbur stated.

Lizzie nodded. Even if Tommy didn’t like that, eventually he would understand. “Ghostbur?” Lizzie asked. “Yes, Lizzie?” Ghostbur replied. “I’m really sorry about yesterday. What I said was uncalled for.” She apologized. He smiled. “It's okay. I know it’ll never happen again.”

Lizzie smiled, before yawning. Ghostbur giggled. “Maybe you should get some rest. I’ll help Tommy.” He offered. Lizzie nodded. “Thank you.”

Lizzie yawned, walking towards her bedroom, the axolotl guards following her, and stopping when they reached the doors. She laid down into the bed, almost immediately falling asleep.

But Lizzie felt in a way, as if someone was watching her…

_____________________________________________________________

 

“Ocean Goddess.”

Lizzie jolted up. She had awoken in a pool of warm water, and in front of her, an ethereal like goddess, clothed in black, stood.

“Me?” Lizzie asked, getting up to join the woman. They were around the same height, Lizzie being a few inches taller.

“Oh, my apologize. I forgot about your loss of memory.” The woman quickly said, before continuing. “I am Lady Death, and I used to be a coworker of your mother.” Lady Death explained, smiling.

Her… Mother? Lizzie knew that she would have a mother, of course, but anything else she knew about her mother was that she abandoned her and Jimmy.

“I understand your confusion. However, we can save that for later.” Lady Death stated, noticing the curiosity in Lizzie’s eyes. “We have a more pressing matter at hand.”

“What would be so pressing that Death herself would come and seek me out?” Lizzie asked, genuinely curious. All Lady Death did was laugh. “Don’t worry, it concerns us both!”

“So. It has come to my attention that a certain TommyInnit is under your care.” Lady Death began. Lizzie wanted to ask how she figured that out, but before she could ask, Lady Death kept talking.

“I have heard that you weren’t being responsible with him,” The woman uttered, drawing in a sharp breath. “However, the person that I got this from is unreliable. So, I will give you the benefit of doubt.”

“I’m sorry for you to ever have to think that, miss, but I know that I made a mistake.” Lizzie responded. “I can swear to you that for the rest of my life, it will never happen again.”

“But all these weird things are happening, and I feel like I’m losing control!” She exclaimed. “My kingdom may be going to war, Tommy may die, and everything seems to be going wrong.”

Lizzie sunk to the floor, her face resting in her palms. Images of a possible future flung around the Axolotl’s head.

Dream, brandishing a sword as an army of unknown people raced into the server.

Her axolotl army meeting them in the ocean, drowning the few unlucky boats that got too close.

Dream landing at the steps of the palace.

Lizzie watching helpless, as Dream dragged Tommy away, with Tommy laying limp. DEAD.

Blood.

Yelling.

“LIZZIE!”

Lady Death had crouched next to Lizzie, and Lizzie looked up, not realizing that she had started crying. “I’m going to need you to promise me one thing, Lizzie.”

Lizzie sighed. “What do you need me to do.” Lady Death smiled, patting Lizzie’s shoulder. “Dream is currently in possession of a book,” Lady Death began, a hint of anxiety in her voice, “This book has the knowledge for how to revive dead players.”

“And?” Lizzie asked. “I need you to take that book away.” Lady Death stated plainly.
“If Tommy were to be captured and returned to Dream, he’d use the book on Tommy.”

Lady Death sighed, and Lizzie noticed how angry she was. This must be quite the big deal for her. “And use it once, right?” Lizzie asked, despite knowing the answer.

“No. Hundreds, maybe thousands of times.” Lizzie stood up, stretching. “I understand. I’ll do my best.” Lizzie promised. “Thank you.” The goddess said.

And with that, Lizzie left her somewhat-peaceful dream, and back into her stressful life.

_____________________________________________

One / two weeks later…

Punz sighed, heading down to open the door, not expecting who’d meet him at it. Standing there, white mask grinning eerily at him, stood Dream.

“Ah, Hello Punz.” Dream politely smiled, “Mind if I come in?” He asked. Punz stuttered, not expecting HIM of all people to come. “Of course! Come in.” Punz laughed, leading him towards the seating area. Usually when Dream came to see him, he wanted something out of Punz.

“So, I didn’t expect to see you here Dream. I thought you were watching Tommy?” Punz said, attempting to start small talk with the man, however, Dream apparently wasn’t here for small talk.

“Let’s skip the small talk. Tommy and Ghostbur have gone missing.” He began, pausing for the dramatic affect.

“I’ve found the location of the two, and I need your help for a retrieval mission.” Dream stated. “How much for your services?” He asked, and Punz considered the situation, deciding he needed more information.

“Well, where are they? And how do you want me to get them back?” Punz asked. Dream nodded, probably expecting him to ask this. “Well, they are in another server, for one.” Dream said, “And, I need you to be incredibly stealthy, as I expect the place will be heavily guarded.”

Punz considered his options, before looking back up at Dream. “Ten netherite blocks, plus twenty emerald blocks, and you have yourself a deal.” He said, offering his hand for Dream to shake.

“Five netherite blocks and ten emerald blocks now, the other half if you succeed.” Dream shot back, Punz nodded, knowing he wouldn’t get a better deal. “Deal.” Punz said, shaking Dream’s hand. “Well, I’ll deliver the first part of the payment in an hour, just don’t have that stuff on me.”

Punz nodded. “I expect the details for the assignment will come with them?” He asked, internally sighing with relief when Dream nodded. “See you then.” Dream stated, leaving just as quickly as he arrived.

Punz sat down, considering the oddity of what Dream asked of him. Did he want Punz to return Tommy quickly, as to not get in trouble for losing him in the first place? But if that was the case, what about Ghostbur? Why was he gone as well?

Punz shook his head and decided to do something else while he waited for Dream to come back. He didn’t want to give himself a headache, anyways.

Chapter 8: The bird has flown the nest

Summary:

DRAMA!!!
BLOODSHED!!!
SOME ROMANCE!!!
BIRD OF THE SEA IS BACK BABY!

TLDR: My attempt at writing a fight scene + Me wanting this fanfic to end

Scott sighed anxiously as he surveyed all of the emperors, (or almost all of them,) who had gathered for an emergency meeting. It had been about two or three weeks since the disturbing letter from Dream, and Scott needed to know what everyone was going to do about it. He had a sneaking suspicion about who’d tell, and now that everyone was gathered, he was sure who did.

“I officially announce that this meeting will be started.” Scott began, causing everyone to get confused. “What about Joey and Lizzie?” Fwip asked, gesturing to the seats that would normally hold the ruler of the lost empire and the ocean empire.

“Well, that leads into my topic.” Scott politely stated, wanting to get through this as quickly as possible. “I presume you all have read the note sent from the Dream SMP.” He said, watching as all of them nodded. “Well, Joey has given out Tommy’s location to Dream.” Scott bluntly stated, watching as different expressions formed on the faces of his friends. Some seemed confused, shocked, but then others, (including himself) looked like they wouldn’t put it past Joey to do something like that.

“And so, as Lizzie is not going to give up Tommy, she has locked down her empire.” Scott sighed, rubbing his temples. He had been staying up for multiple nights, as like Lizzie, Scott didn’t want to give Tommy back. However, Scott considered his relationship with Tommy more as an uncle or brother relationship than a mother/father one.

“If Dream does eventually bring an army, I will prepare to attack as soon as he marches into the server.” Scott detailed, never being more serious in his whole life. He might even lead the charge himself. “Now, I know some of you are thinking I could just close the server.” Scott said, noticing some of the rulers nod. “Well, I broke into the Dream SMP myself, so I wouldn’t doubt it.”

“What I wanted to ask was what you’ll be doing in this event, and whether you’ll aid or not.” Scott plainly put forward, allowing the other members to speak for themselves.

“Okay, I’m just going to say, I apologize Scott, but I won’t be able to fight.” Shubble spoke up, all the other leaders snapping to pay attention. “Obviously, I would fight in self defense, but my army is barely an army.”

“I’m honestly with Shubble here.” Katherine also put in. “I’m personally worried. Wars inside of servers are extremely common, but a war BETWEEN them is unheard of.”

All the other rulers nodded in agreement, before Jimmy also spoke. “Lizzie is my seabling, it’d be disloyal for me if I didn’t help her.” He flicked his tail, and Scott smiled at him. He was glad Jimmy had a sense of loyalty, because he didn’t want it to be just him and Lizzie.

“I’ll also aid the Ocean Empire. I mean, Lizzie is my wife and Tommy is technically my son.” Joel also proclaimed. Scott didn’t think Lizzie had legally adopted Tommy yet, but it seemed like a possibility.

“What about Joey? What are we going to do with him?” Gem asked. Scott sighed, as he had forgotten about the man. “Well, when the conflict is over, he is going to get put to justice.” Scott comforted. “I know for a damn fact he is not getting away with this.”

“Scott?” Fwip asked. Scott turned over to Fwip, listening. “I know we haven’t been on the best of terms, but I’ll send your armies supplies.” The man stated gently.

“Tommy seems very happy with Lizzie, and I wouldn’t want that to change.” Fwip reasoned. Scott chuckled internally, it seems like half of the server had a soft spot for the kid.

“Well!” Scott exclaimed, moving on from the topic. “I officially declare this meeting dismissed.” He said, getting up from the table. “Joel, Jimmy, If you wanted to stay to talk strategy I’d be happy to let you guys stay.”

“I was thinking the same thing.” Jimmy smiled, reaching to hold Scott’s hand. Scott blushed lightly, slightly embarrassed that Jimmy was being romantic in a situation like this.

“If you lovebirds don’t mind, we have some warplanning to do! We don’t got all day!” Joel pipped up, and the two giggled lightly, embarrassed. “Alright, alright, let's get started.” Scott said, as the three men sat down again, they would need to spend hours planning.

Sometimes it made Scott laugh. He’d laugh, because all of this had started with a call from Grian. But here he was now, preparing to go to war for a kid he only knew for about two months. If he had the chance to go back, for this to never have happened, would he? Scott thought about it.

No, No he wouldn’t.

__________________________________________

Tommy mumbled to himself as he stitched together some of the old clothes he had found. It was a thing he had found grounding, especially in confusing situations.

Well, this was certainly one of them.

Lizzie had forbid Tommy and Ghostbur from leaving the palace, Tommy wanted to argue, but he didn’t get the chance, as she immediately went to do some important Queen things, leaving Tommy and Ghostbur alone.

Really, they weren’t alone. Axolotl guards were constantly following him and Ghostbur around, and even if they tried to be sneaky about it, Tommy would eventually notice them. He guessed having fins doesn’t really equal good stealth, and besides that, Tommy also had the feeling he was being watched, like a pair of eyes were piercing the back of his neck with their gaze.

It made Tommy slightly upset. I mean, he is third in command, a prince! A big man! He shouldn’t be getting ordered around like this.

“Hey Tommy!”

Ghostbur sat down next to Tommy, and he smiled. Other than Lizzie, his brother Ghostbur is by far one of his favorite people. Well, one of the only people he really got to spend much time with.

“Hey Wil! How are you? Is mum going to be here for dinner tonight?” Tommy asked, firing questions at Ghostbur.

“M- Oh, right, Lizzie. She is still preparing to fight seemingly, so I dunno.” Ghostbur said, ruffling Tommy’s hair. “I got you something.”

Tommy perked up, he always loved gifts. “What is it, what is it!” He chirped, leaning into Ghostbur as he pulled out a pair of shiny… discs. Tommy identified the discs to be Cat and Mellohi respectively. He had never heard them before, and was excited to. Ghostbur was looking at Tommy as if he was expecting him to say something, so he did.

As Tommy examined the discs he had been given, he could’ve sworn that there was a ruffling noise coming from his closet. Ghostbur didn’t seem to have noticed, so Tommy decided to ignore it for now.

“Thank you, Ghostbur. Want to listen to it with me?” Tommy asked, going towards the jukebox he had found a while ago. “Always love to experience new things with you.” Ghostbur seemed to look slightly disappointed as Tommy had said that. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No, no, don’t worry Big Man.” Ghostbur smiled, handing the discs to Tommy. He had decided to put Cat in first, to, y’know, go by alphabetical order. And as he put it in, he turned to go back and continue stitching, and talking to his brother. To enjoy the rest of his-

. . .

Wait.

Why was he crying?

Why did this music seem so familiar, yet foreign at the same time?
Tears streamed down his face, dripping onto the ground. Tommy didn’t think he had any connection to this disc, but his body was saying he did. “Toms, are you okay? Is something wrong?” Ghostbur asked, approaching to embrace the teen.

“Sorry, sorry.” Tommy quickly sputtered out, going to remove the disc from the jukebox. “I don’t know what happened there, but thank you for the gift.” He gratefully stated, going to place the discs in an ender chest.

“Well, no problem. I'm hungry, so I want to make dinner, anything you’d like?” Ghostbur asked, causing Tommy to notice how he felt extremely hungry. “Definitely! I feel like I could eat a fucking horse!” He chirped, causing Ghostbur to smile warmly.

“Alright, I’ll go start dinner, and get you when it’s done.” Ghostbur calmly said, leaving and closing the door behind him.

Tommy sighed, then went back to stitching a shirt, when a pair of hands clasped his mouth shut, Tommy froze, unsure of what to do.

“Don’t yell, I have a knife at the back of your head.” The person, who Tommy identified as male, muttered. Tommy turned around, and was greeted by a man with blond hair and blue eyes. Something about him seemed familiar, but not in a way Tommy liked.

How did he get into Tommy’s room? Surely one of the guards would’ve spotten him. Tommy also would’ve noticed if he broke through the window. As he thought about this, he winced when the needle accidentally pricked his finger, drawing blood, and he realized he had a weapon.

Launching off the ground, Tommy shocked the invader, quickly plunging the needle into his left leg, freaked out at how the man didn’t scream from the pain. Perhaps an assassin, trained and sent by one of the other kingdoms? Tommy guessed, but that didn’t make sense, the ocean empire was on mostly good terms with everyone, and even then, assassins weren’t common, as it took time and resources.

Tommy kept fighting for his life, dashing in to draw blood and then squirming away. Being scrawny, it was quite hard to grab onto him. However, the obvious power the other man had was quite obvious, when eventually he turned around, stabbing Tommy in the arm with the knife he did in fact have.

Getting up, Tommy retaliated by kicking the man, not noticing that the needle had fallen out of his hand. The only weapon he had. The older blond then threw a potion at Tommy, the teen’s nostrils were invaded with a bitter smell, as his muscles spasmed, and he began choking on air. The potion turned out to be instant damage.

He suddenly started coughing, his asthma flaring up at the worst time it could, most likely triggered from combat. Tommy fell back, hissing and writhing from the pain. This turned out to be a fatal mistake, as the intruder pulled out a shovel from his inventory, and aimed it at Tommy’s head, knocking him out.
_________

Punz coughed, waving away the fumes of the potion, looking at Tommy, knocked out, resting at his feet. Punz pulled out a splash potion of healing, and threw it onto the two of them. Dream wanted Tommy alive, after all.

However, something didn’t seem right to Punz, during the combat, he noticed the teen fighting with a fierceness never seen before. It seemed like Tommy’s past encounters with Punz hadn’t held him back at all, and he would applaud Tommy’s resourcefulness in a high-stress encounter. Did Tommy forget Punz? He didn’t believe it, Punz considered himself to be somewhat memorable.

He had to get out of there quickly, however, as the noise might attract guards. Punz broke the window that lit up Tommy’s room, and placed a water bucket on the side, watching it cascade down the side of the palance.

He grabbed his shulker box, (which he obtained just as he entered the ESMP,) and pulled out a large sack, intent on hiding Tommy in it, still leaving a hole for him to breath. Didn’t want the kid suffocating, otherwise he wouldn’t get paid.

__________

Punz panicked slightly as he reached the exit portal back to the server hub. When he had gotten in seeing distance, Punz noticed that guards had been posted at the sides, and a player was organizing them. Punz didn’t recognize who it was, but the player was wearing a cod on their head, which Punz thought was weird.

Anyway, Punz needed to find a place to hide him and Tommy, and they would need to wait out the guards.

The man sighed a breath of relief when he spotted a ravine, and took himself and Tommy down. He’d gather some iron to make shackles, and go and get food come nighttime.

However… something didn’t feel right.

Something was wrong with Tommy, and it was itching at Punz. He’d have to wait for the kid to wake up, but for now, he needed to bide his time.

 

Then finally, he’d get his answers.

Chapter 9: Beginning of the end.

Summary:

Lmao Punz is fuuuccked

Ghostbur sat in his seat, quite purple at the events that had just occurred, with two very loud people next to him.

Lizzie was sending out search parties with a flick of her tail, the groups of axolotls scouring the ocean searching for Tommy. If the kidnapper was still in the sea, they wouldn’t get away. Lizzie also was preparing messengers to head out to all the kingdoms, asking if they had seen the boy.

If Lizzie was red, Alivebur was flame red. The man had been yelling the entire time, trying to convince Ghostbur to go with one of the search parties so he could go too. Alivebur had also been berating Ghostbur, as the two had been the last ones to see Tommy.

“HOW could you have been so stupid!?” Alivebur exclaimed, pacing about. “We shouldn’t have left his side. I should’ve KNOWN - would do something.”

“I wouldn’t have left Tommy's side if I was the one alive!” He continued, Ghostbur covered his ears trying to keep his voice out.

“Ghostbur?”

The gray ghost looked at Lizzie, who had her hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay? You're crying!” She asked. Ghostbur hadn’t even noticed the smoke rising off of his face from the tears. “I know you and Tommy are brothers, so this must have hit you hard.”

Ghostbur tried to talk, but only was able to let out muttering as he could barely hear himself think as Alivebur was yelling. He wished Alivebur would shut up.

“Heard that!” Alivebur commented, taking a breath to “sit” on one of the chairs.

“I’m f- I’m fine.” Ghostbur finally choked out through the tears. “I’m going to go and scan Tommys room to see if we missed anything, alright?”

Lizzie nodded. “If it gets overwhelming, feel free to take a break. We will be searching around the clock for Tommy.”

Ghostbur made a thumbs-up, and then began to float away. He racked his amnesia-brain for possible suspects who’d kidnap Tommy. He reasoned it was most likely someone from the Dream SMP. Even though he only saw those people in a positive light, he’d have to look past that.

“I can help.” Alivebur slyly offered, walking beside him, well, more floating, but it didn’t matter too much.

“Everytime you say the name of anything important, I can’t hear it. It won’t help.” Ghostbur hissed, walking slightly faster as he passed by axolotl guards doing things such as yelling orders, moving supplies, and the like.

“Fine. I’ll help you find clues then, Casper.” Alivebur threw back, using the nickname that Ghostbur hated.

“But I’m just going to say. Tommy’s amnesia doesn’t make any sense.” Alivebur pointed out, Ghostbur sighed, praying he didn’t think Tommy was faking it.

“It is very real… but, he has mentioned things about the SMP in empires.” He continued. Ghostbur couldn’t help but agree. He recalled it clearly. “What are you suggesting?”

“Well, I guess next time we see Scott I can ask if something was off. He was the one to bring Tommy over, after all.” Ghostbur stated, pausing as the two came to Tommy’s door.

The two walked into Tommy’s room, and both of their hearts simultaneously dropped. They hadn’t seen the state of the blond’s room, as Ghostbur had only been told when one of the axolotl guards went to check on him.

The signs of a struggle were clear as day. Items were knocked off of shelves, clothes scattered around the room, the window was broken, (perfect size for someone to leave out of,) and when Ghostbur went closer, he noticed the water flowing down the side. The kidnapper must’ve broken the window, and water-bucketed down, Tommy in tow.

The worst thing however… was the blood.

It was everywhere. On the clothes, staining the walls, leading to the broken window.

Neither Ghostbur nor Alivebur wanted to know whose it was, but he prayed it wasn’t all Tommys.

“Ghostbur!” Alivebur quickly went in front of him, and the ghost stopped. “You’re about to step on glass.” He said, pointing down. Ghostbur followed his finger, noticing the glass. It looked quite circular in shape, and a cork rested right next to it.

Ghostbur gently picks up the glass, wincing as some of the presumed potion residue hits his skin. Alivebur sighs, watching as it sizzles through Ghostbur’s skin.

However, Ghostbur doesn’t care. He keeps looking, looking for ANYTHING. Anything that could give him a clue. That was when, very quietly, he heard a small beep. Turning his attention towards the source of the noise, it was coming from a chest. Inside was Tommy’s chat.

Well, they didn’t seem to be active at the moment. Two icons presented themself on the screen. One labeled “Go live,” and the other labeled “settings.” Lying next to chat was…

The discs.

Well, not THE discs. Those were still in the SMP somewhere. It made Ghostbur blue as he realized Tommy never got the chance to listen to them.

“Maybe chat might know something?” Alivebur asked, peering over his shoulder. “You should try and ask.”

“An actually good idea, thanks!” Ghostbur responded, half serious, half mockingly. He pressed “Go live” and waited.

As if someone broke a hole in a dam, the messages began flooding in. He quickly set the chat's speed to “slow,” and watched the messages.

“Neat. Never usually get to see the screen.” Alivebur commented. “Think they can see me?” He asked. Ghostbur ignored the question, hyper fixated on the various messages.

“Ghostbur??? Wtf happened to Tommy? It’s been so long since the last stream, I had to watch Lizzie! Wait, is this a lore stream? Dunno, the stream doesn’t have a title.”
Ghostbur gulped anxiously, praying they could hear him. “Do you guys know what happened to Tommy? He’s missing.”

“Defo a lore stream. Should we answer, I mean, don’t wanna ruin the drama kids rp. Guys they are literally asking. Someone send in a dono!”

As soon as that last message was sent, a robotic face appeared on the screen, and began speaking. “Lore pog! I mostly watch Jimmy, but I’m pretty sure I saw Punz on the server.”

Ghostbur, who at this point, was extremely tired from Chat’s energy, shut it off.

“Guess we have the answer now. Should’ve guessed it was Punz.” Alivebur commented. Ghostbur didn’t respond as his hands began shaking. He grabbed the discs and hugged them. He felt so… blue. More than usual. Like a blue the color of an ocean about to swallow him whole.

Ghostbur wished things were simpler. Easier to understand. However, it just seems like he and those who he loves are cursed. With every bit of pent up emotion rising, he began to cry. He didn’t care anymore about how it hurt him, he just needed to get rid of the blue.

The crying went on for a while, and Alivebur didn’t even attempt to shut him up. He just stood there, and sighed.

So the two sat in silence for what seemed like forever, contemplating what to do next. Whatever it would be, they were… unready.

But nothing could’ve prepared them for what would happen next.

_____________

 

Punz jumped when he came back into his hidey-hole in the cavern to a VERY angry teen. However, where Punz would’ve expected Tommy to yell, struggle, or at least attempt to bite him, the teen was just sitting still, staring at Punz with so much hostility and tension that you could cut it with a knife.

“So… um. Tubbo does actually miss you, y’know.” He nonchalantly stated, trying to defuse the tension to the best of his ability. Tommy only responded with a singular word, that solidified the idea that something was wrong with the blond.

“Who?”

Punz froze. Tommy definitely wouldn’t of forgotten Tubbo. Even if they probably weren’t on the best of terms, the two had been friends for years, longer then his time at the Dream SMP.

Something was definitely wrong, and Punz wanted to figure out what that was, and he certainly wouldn’t get the chance if he handed Tommy over to Dream.

“I’m not going to bring you back to the Dream SMP. Something is clearly wrong with you, Toms.” Punz shot back, turning to pull out some rations. He might be hiding for awhile, and he hadn’t packed enough rations for two.

“First off, rude. Secondly, I’ve never been to the Dream SMP.” Tommy muttered. Punz sighed. Tommy most likely had amnesia, or something of the sort. But then again, that wasn’t how amnesia worked. People don’t forget memories that far back.

“Well then, Tommy, what do you think your life has been like so far?” Punz asked, trying to make a little small talk.

Tommy sighed, definitely annoyed at Punz’s questions. “Well, I live in the Ocean empire with my brother, Wilbur, and my mom, Queen Lizzie,” Tommy paused, “who will definitely have your head on a spike once she finds you.”

Punz rolled his eyes. Tommy must’ve forgot about Phil, because now he thought Lizzie was his mom.

Punz then proceeded to turn his attention to Tommy’s wings, noticing how they were wrapped in bandages. Was that from an injuring in exile? Punz considered himself to be one of the only people who knew that Tommy wasn’t getting the best treatment in exile, but Punz hadn’t known it would be to that extent.

Punz took a pack of beef jerky and passed it to Tommy, who awkwardly opened it. “Thanks, I guess.” The boy muttered, before trying to eat. “No problem.” Punz replied.

That was when a small beep came from Punz’s communicator. He had also brought Tommy’s, and put it to silent as it was being blasted with direct messages from nearly everyone on the server.

It was a notification from discord, and it was… Dream.

Dream: Punz, you’ve been taking too long.

Dream: If you don’t respond to this, I am going to bring in a team to get you and Tommy out.

Dream: I have New L’manberg convinced that someone on the Empires server kidnapped Tommy.

Punz put down the communicator, unsure of what to do. Would he really? It would result in a conflict between servers! Something so huge, it might get gods involved. He was quite well-hidden with Tommy, sure, having gone so deep that they had reached deepslate, but all of the empires would be left fighting.

Another beep came from his communicator.

Dream: 3

Dream: 2

Dream: 1

It was at that moment that a flurry of messages popped up. Punz dropped his communicator in surprise, and quickly shoved it into an ender chest.

“You good, man?” Tommy commented threw the beef jerky he was eating.

“Yeah, I’m good.” Punz responded, moving into another room he had mined out.

A war was starting, and it was all Punz’s fault.

Now, he had to pay the price.

Chapter 10: Regarding the finale.

Hello everyone! Currently, the ending of bird of the sea is in the works. It will be much longer than all of the chapters, As I have multiple perspectives I wish to jump between. If anyone was interested, I may release an alternate ending after the finale comes out. The "Bad Ending" if you will.

And regarding my plans for after the ending of this fic, I have a list:

- I will possibly be recording a podfic with the creator of Healing with the hermits, whom inspired me to get an account on ao3 in the first place.

- A sadness runs through him has been put off for awhile, but after the ending of this fic, I will continue that one

- I may possibly branch out, coming up with a crossover fic of dsmp and a game that shall not be named. (A game with a world that has rain, if you will)

- School has been a bitch, I have the BASEF science fair contest at the end of march, so don't expect much around that time.

- Oneshots / A tumblr account may be on the horizon, as that shit is quick and easy to churn out

I am absolutely FLOORED with all of the support I have received. I originally thought my writing was sub-par at BEST, but seeing how many people I have gave joy, and even comfort, makes me glad. I will continue to write fics, and I hope I see some familair faces as I write more and more.

For now, I direct you towards Healing With The Hermits, as of Feb 23, 2023, chapter 40 will be out! (The real one, not the A/N)

Thanks,

FloppyCatto.

BTW: I got a tumblr now https://www.tumblr.com/blog/otherfloppiestcatto