Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Philza’s breath fogged out in front of him as he walked over the frozen yard and climbed the stairs to his best friend's house. He pulled open the door, the emerald earring dangling among his slightly frosted hair. It shimmered as if it could tell it was coming near its twin.

Philza stepped inside and pulled off his cloak, yawning as he put it on its hook. He could hear Techno hammering away downstairs on an anvil. From the low pitched ringing of the metal, Philza would hazard a guess that the man was working on a new set of Netherite armor. Philza took the stairs down into the house and then the ladder to get to the basement.

He turned to see Techno working in one of his ragged sets of clothing that he didn’t mind getting dirty or set on fire. His sleeves were rolled back, sparks landing on his forearms without any affect on his demeanor. Philza doubted Techno could feel the sparks through all the scarring and his arm hair anyways.Techno’s hair was pulled back in a messy bun, a handkerchief wrapped around his mouth and goggles over his eyes as he worked with the glowing metal on the anvil. It was hot down in the basement. It always was. Philza stood back, his wings tucked closely. He knew better than most just how flammable feathers were.

Techno worked with the metal for another minute, finishing up what he was doing before setting it down to cool. He would still have to work with it a bit more before he began tempering it in the huge tub of oil in the corner. He turned and pushed his goggles up to his forehead and pulled the handkerchief off his face, his gloved hands leaving soot marks on his face.

Techno smiled when he saw Philza, his small tusks poking up into the shape of his lips.

“Phil!” Techno grinned, glad to see his friend.

Philza smiled and nodded to the beginnings of a breastplate that Techno had been forming. “That’s looking really good. When did you become a master blacksmith?”

Techno shrugged, pulling off his gloves and wiping his sweaty face, smearing the soot even more. “Eh, you know. ‘M just doin’ my best.”

Philza smiled. “Come on, let’s go upstairs. It’s hot down here.”

Techno grunted his agreement and he followed Philza up the ladder.

Once to the main floors, Techno scooted around Philza in the hall and made for the kitchen where he pumped a basin full of water so he could wash off his face and arms. Philza leaned against the cupboard next to the basin, watching as his best friend released his hair to wash that too.

“So, got any plans for today?” Philza asked. “Hopefully you’re planning on working a haircut into your schedule.”

Techno smiled out from his long hair. It was down a little past his shoulders at this point. “Awww, come on, Phil. You don’t like it?”

Philza laughed. “It's fine, I just don’t think it’s very practical for fighting.”

Techno paused in cleaning his hair, thinking. He started back up again and chuckled. “Guess you’re right. You wanna help me trim it tonight, then?”

“Sure.”

The two were chatting as Techno cleaned up when they heard the front door creak open. They both fell instantly silent. Techno quickly wrung out his hair and reached for an axe that was propped by the table while Philza pulled out his sword. The two stood still, listening. There was someone in the front room, walking around on light feet and going through the chests. Techno and Philza made eye contact and started walking toward the front room, creeping on silent feet. Techno went ahead of Philza, silent and deadly, his eyes set in a focused glare. He peered around the corner and saw a small body leaned over into a chest. The intruder stood up and tried to shove potions of healing into an overfull bag.

Philza leaned to look around Techno and recognized the small frame.

“Michael?”

The zombie pigboy froze, caught in the act. He slowly turned around, a sheepish smile on his snout. “Hi, Uncle Philza,” he said softly. He looked like he was trying to figure out how to put a spin on the situation to make himself look innocent.

“Where’s Ranboo and Tubbo?” Philza asked, putting his sword away. Techno still held his axe loosely.

Michael scoffed. “I dunno. They left me alone again. Looks like they can’t seem to decide if they want to smother me with love or abandon me altogether.”

Philza frowned at that.

“Ah, ran away from home, did ya?” Techno said, looking slightly impressed. His expression darkened in an instant and he growled, “But you have no right to steal from me.”

Michael backed up a pace and dropped the bag to the floor.

Techno stepped forward and crouched down, sorting out what stuff was his and what things were a part of Michaels supplies. He glanced up at Michael as he did so and caught sight of the boy’s expression. He looked sorry that he’d gotten caught, but not sorry for trying to steal. Techno’s eyes lingered on where that petulant expression petered off into the missing part of Michael’s face. The top left quarter of his face was missing, including the eye on that side. Michael saw Techno’s glance over his exposed skull and the boy pulled out a short scarf from the pile Techno made of Michael’s stuff and tied it around his face to hide the bone. He glared at Techno for a moment, his pig snout scrunched up angrily.

“Alright,” Techno said, standing with his stuff and dropping it into the chest. “Time to take you home.”

“No!” Michael yelled, his visible eye set with determination. “No. You are not taking me back. I don’t wanna go back and have ‘em coddle me and keep me inside forever. I hate being inside. I hate it there! You are not sending me back!!”

“Michael,” Techno sighed as the boy picked up his things again. “You can’t stay here. Tubbo and Ranboo are probably-”

“They don’t even know I’m gone,” Michael grumbled.

Techno rolled his eyes. “Still, you’re going to get in trouble when they find you anyways and you’re goin’ to drag me’n Phil into it while you’re at it.”

“Not necessarily,” Philza said, rubbing his chin. “I’ve seen how they coddle him, Techno. I think he should get a chance to go out and play around.”

“And how are we gonna get away with it?” Techno asked, raising his eyebrow.

Philza smiled and pulled off his hat to fiddle with the tassel hanging off one side. “Easy. We’ll say that I went over to visit and found Michael by his lonesome and that I brought him to hang out with us since the kid looked bored out of his mind. I mean-” Philza put his hat on and put on a look that Techno called his ‘old man eyes’- “We were going to leave a note, but we must have forgotten. No harm done, though.”

He dropped the look and grinned at Michael, who looked like he was fighting back a smile.

Techno gave Philza a hidden pleading look. He was always dramatic about someone joining in on their adventurers together and Philza waved him off.

“Wadya say?” Philza asked Michael. Michael pretended to think for a moment, though both Techno and Philza already knew what his answer was going to be.

“Yeah,” Michael finally said as casually as he could manage with his excitement trying to bubble to the surface. “I guess I could be fine with that.”

Philza gave an amused look to Techno, though Techno looked rather sour about the whole plan.

“Come on, then,” Philza said. “You’ll be helping Techno and I with the chores.”

“Chores!?” Michael almost wailed.

Techno rolled his eyes. “Ah, shuddup. It’s stuff you’ve never done before, so it’ll be interesting. We’re goin’ out to go fix some fences and collect wood.” Techno looked Michael up and down as he said, “Unless you’re too much of a wuss to join us.”

Michael shook his head. “No way! I’ll help!”

“Good. We’re gonna have lunch first.”

Techno went upstairs to find some clean clothes to change into as Philza helped Michael put his stuff back in his bag.

“Don’t mind him,” Philza said with a smile. “He gets grumpy when he has to share my attention.”

“Do not!” a distant voice yelled.

Philza cackled.

Michael put his bag on a hook by the door, standing on the tips of his hooves to reach. He turned and said Philza walked into the kitchen, his wings sweeping behind him. Philza pulled out a frying pan and started working on frying some eggs and dicing potatoes to cook with the eggs to put on some rolls Techno still had kicking around. Techno came down, tying his hair back again before he started helping with the food. He managed to conjure up some apples and quickly squeezed orange juice. An enderman poked his head into the kitchen for a moment before rubbing his eyes and turning.

“You going to bed, Edward?” Philza called, not even looking over his shoulder at the lanky being.

“Yeah,” Edward replied. “I hope that’s okay.”

“That’s fine. Sorry if we woke you.”

Edward chirped in response as he disappeared down the hall.

Michael watched them, his eyes on Techno. He frowned, thoughtfully., “Aren’t you supposed to be a piglin?” he asked Techno.

Techno glanced back and rolled his eyes. “Yes and no.”

Techno turned, leaning on the counter. There was a flash of light in his eyes and his face changed in an instant. He had a snout and his hair disappeared, replaced by short fur all over. The fur was missing in places where he’d been scarred. His hands had changed to something like Michael’s own, but his fingers were more articulated than Michael’s. Techno switched back and turned back to the oranges he was obliterating.

Philza set the table as Michael stared at his hooved hands, wondering if he’d be able to change like that. He’d seen Ranboo and Tubbo do something like it so maybe he’d be able to do it someday. After all, they were the ones who had been raising him for as long as he could remember. He just hoped someone would teach him eventually.

Philza sat down and Techno joined him, sitting down with a sigh and a pitcher of orange juice. Michael picked up his roll with the eggs and the potatoes sandwiched inside and took a bite. He closed his good eye, rather enjoying it. He opened his eye again to look at Techno and Philza. It had been a while since he’d sat and eaten with people. Tubbo or Ranboo would often come home with some food, get it set up for him, and then they’d be off again. They always seemed to be busy.

“So,” Philza said, “What do you like to do, Michael?”

“I like to draw…. And read,” he replied with a little shrug. “There’s not much else to do at home.”

“What kind of stuff do you draw?” Philza asked. Techno was pretending that he didn’t care, but Philza didn’t miss the way his friend’s ear twitched as he listened for Michael’s reply.

Michael took another bite of his roll, trying to decide if he wanted to respond or not. He finally sighed and put his food down before getting up and disappearing into the front room to rifle around in his bag. He came back with a home bound book and opened it, flicking through the pages until he found one that was suitable and turned the book to show them, one of his hands covering the left page so they could only see the right picture. The drawing was rather good. It was a sketch of himself on an adventure in the mountains. There was a sword in his hand and a huge grin on his face as well as an incredibly detailed eye patch. He had a dog with him and netherite armor, all colored with watercolors. He showed it for a few moments before snapping the sketch book shut.

“That’s really cool,” Philza said, impressed.

Michael flushed.

“It’s alright,” he muttered. “I guess.”

Techno finally decided he might just be forced to like this kid and said, “I like it too. Where’d you get the water colors?”

“From Puffy,” Michael smiled.

Philza and Techno both shared a smile. Everyone loved Puffy.

“You might have to show me how you do that,” Techno said, refilling Michael’s cup with orange juice. “I paint a little, but never got the hang of water colors. It looks like you’re already a master at…. What 15?”

“I’m 14,” Michael said, stroking his sketchbook. He opened it again and pushed it over to Techno so he could have a look at more of the doodles and pictures. Techno thumbed through carefully, Philza watching over his shoulder.

“You’re gonna go places, kid,” Techno said, finally passing the book back to Michael. The small pigman rubbed the back of his head.

“Maybe,” he sighed. “If Tubbo and Ranboo ever let me out of the house.”

The two friends watched him stare despondently out a window. Philza got up, taking the dishes.

“Well, let’s get out there. We’re only losing daylight,” He said as he deposited the dishes in the sink.

Techno nodded and disappeared into the house to find his tools. Philza handed Michael another apple to munch on before digging in his bag to find his own work clothes to pull on. Michael put his book back in his bag and strapped it on as the other two came back. “What are we going to be doing?” he asked, a bit of excitement taking the place of the childish annoyance from before.

“We’re goin’ to be replacin’ a fence out by the sheep,” Techno replied as he pulled on his snow boots. “You good with that?”

“No,” Michael said, puffing out his chest a bit to prove he was strong enough to do it.

Techno nodded and the three filed out into the snow, pulling their cloaks and work gloves on, Michael wearing an extra cloak that was too big for him and gloves that kept trying to slide off, though the huge grin on his face seemed to fit perfectly.

Chapter Text

The sheep pen was out behind the house and the sheep were all crowded together to keep warm in the chill wind that blew off of the mountains just a few miles away. Beside the pen, there was already a good stack of fence posts waiting to be put in. Philza got to work showing Michael how to put the new fence posts in around the old pen that would get pulled up when the new one was finished.
Techno muttered to Philza that he was going to cut a few more fence posts and took his heavy axe to a pile of tree trunks. He started chopping them into fencepost shapes and Michael watched, entranced by the weight of the axe and the power that Techno wielded it with. Philza dug holes in the frozen ground with that same strength.
Michael shook himself out of his daze and tried to help, but he couldn’t do much except hold the fence posts as Philza scooped the earth around.
“How do you two do that?” he asked, amazed.
Philza shrugged. “We just do. I’m sure that Tubbo and Ranboo have told you what godborn are, right?”
“.... no.”
“Oh,” Philza said, pausing in pushing dirt back into the hole around the post and pounding it in. “Well…. Techno, Ranboo, Tubbo, your Uncle Tommy, me. We’re godborn. We have powers that the people in the villages and whatever do not.”
Michael thought about that for a moment as Philza continued working and then asked, “Like the power that made L’manburg into a crater?”
This time, Philza froze, rather than hesitating. “Umm… yeah. Sort of.”
“If you can do that, why are you just digging the holes,” Michael asked. “Couldn’t you punch the ground and make a hole, or something?”
Philza latched onto Michael’s question, trying to forget the sounds of dogs in pain or the crack of lightning highlighting withers… or the sound of Ghostbur’s distressed voice when he saw L’manburg had been destroyed.
“Well, we could,” Philza said, still digging. “But that would use a lot of energy and I might miss and hurt the sheep. There are just some times where it’s better to use tools and mostly average strength.”
Michael grunted, unsatisfied. Philza shrugged.
Techno came over with another set of posts. He had caught the tail end of their conversation.
“Plus, there’s this problem,” he said, picking up a post and showing it to Michael. He took a couple steps away and set the point of the post to the ground. He focused for a second and then slammed his fist down on top of the wood. Instead of going into the frozen ground, the post splintered and shattered a small crater exploding into existence. The sheep bleated and backed away as the ground and air seemed to vibrate for a moment with the power Techno had used.
Michael stared in awe as Techno said, “Most things can’t stand the kind of pressure our power would put on them and every punch would disturb the sheep. The sheep are easily killed as it is. I don’t want to stress them out more and make it easier for a light breeze to obliterate them.”
Michael nodded, seeming to grasp the concept of it now.
The three of them worked on the posts. Michael tried to use the shovel, but wasn’t tall enough to get the right leverage. So he continued holding the posts for the other two as they worked. They worked their way around two sides of the pen when Techno declared it was time to go inside and get a hot drink and maybe some dinner. It was starting to get on towards evening.
The three trudged back, Michael sniffling a little with the cold.
Philza put an arm around the boy. “Thanks for the help, Michael. You did really we-” There was a shattering noise as something made of extremely thin glass and frigid liquid poured all over Philza. He yelled out as pain vibrated through all his tendons in response. He pushed Michael to Techno before going down onto his knees, the pain pulsing up into his head.
Techno turned and pulled Michael behind himself. He growled when he saw the witch standing just within throwing distance, a huge grin visible on her face.
Techno raised his axe in challenge and she took a few steps nearer, as if goading him to fight.
“Phil?” Techno said.
“Mmm alright,” the man panted, his wings pulled over his head showing all of the shiny black and white feathers.
“Good,” Techno said. “Michael, run to the hou-” That was when Techno heard the tell-tale sounds of an enderman teleporting behind him. One more teleport sound went off before Techno could look behind himself.
Michael was gone.
“Techno,” Philza growled, up on one knee, but still convulsing a little with pain. He was pointing at the witch, who was now running beside an enderman who had a small zombie pigman held captive in his lanky arms.
“Hurry,” Philza gasped out, and Techno was off like a shot, murder in his eyes as he raced after them.
Techno was careful to watch the enderman, but he seemed to be running along the witch. They obviously didn’t want to be separated by teleporting ahead. Techno ran faster, snow flying behind him, the wind stinging in his face. He transformed into his piglin look so his thick hide could protect him.
The witch gasped and panted as she ran and Techno could hear Michael yelling to be put down. The enderman looked back and, with fear in his glowing purple eyes, he reached back and grabbed the witch’s hand. The three teleported ahead again, the witch stumbling slightly and swore as they continued running. She was digging in her bag and Techno kept an eye on her as she pulled something out and turned, throwing it expertly at him. Techno dodged the round object and kept running. It only took a couple of seconds for him to realize that his long strides were no longer taking him anywhere. He stopped, growling at the retreating witch and enderman and went back for the ball. It was made of bone and painted with something magical and sticky. He hissed and chucked the ball far away. If you were caught in it’s range you would not be able to progress unless you threw it far enough away. Techno had no trouble chucking it into the mountains, the air vibrating with power as he did so.
He turned and continued running, this time making progress, though he couldn’t see where the witch or enderman went. As he came around a copse, he didn’t have to worry about that. There was a small hut up ahead and there was a purple glow pouring out through the cracks in the boards that told Techno there was a nether portal inside.
He barely slowed down as he came to the door of the hut and he rammed right through the door, the whole front of the hut splintering. The enderman and Michael were nowhere to be seen, but the witch was standing there, a potion at the ready. Techno knew in that instant that there was no way he was going to be able to dodge it. He could easily see that it was enchanted to splash farther than it would have otherwise.
Techno rushed the witch, hoping to keep her from throwing it, but she managed to get it shattered on his chest. Techno didn’t let that stop him. He rammed into her and they toppled down the stairs. The witch stopped, curled up as she held her broken arm, but Techno’s inertia took him right through the portal that stood open in the room. He slid to a stop on the hot netherack and twitched. He couldn’t stand up. He couldn’t breathe. His back arched and hunched against his will and all of his muscles and bones felt like they were being molded by an angry two year old, stretching and squishing him as if he would never reach the shape the kid wanted him to be.
Then, it all stopped. Techno took a deep breath and made a small moaning noise. He tried to get up but his arms wouldn’t work like they were supposed to. He opened his eyes and found that he was looking out past a snout that was much longer and bigger than he was used to. He took a deep breath again and felt where his chest was in relation to his back. That wasn’t right. Neither was the feeling of an appendage continuing out from his spine and laying between his legs.
He managed to figure out how his arms were built to bend and sat up, his legs curling strangely. He looked down at his barrel chest, the shredded rags of his clothes around his hooves, and could feel a tail swishing behind him.
Techno rolled his eyes. He was a hoglin. The witch had thrown a potion at him that had turned him into a hoglin. It could have been worse.
Techno stood up, stretching his legs and shaking his head, figuring out where everything started and ended and how everything worked.
As quickly as he could, he turned around, his tail nearly tripping up his back legs as he spun to the portal. He was going to need Philza’s help now. He was too clunky and confused to keep going now. And he could hear piglins nearby.
The witch stepped through the portal before Techno could take another step and she smiled as she stepped to the side and something exploded on the other side, putting the portal out and shaking the ground. Techno fell to the ground, unused to standing on hooves. The witch laughed and stepped forward towards him. “Where’s your godborn strength now?”
Techno got back to his feet and glanced over his shoulder as far as he could. The piglins, the people of the nether, were coming around a bend in the path and could now see the witch and the hoglin.
The witch called out to them in their native language and they started running forward, ropes and spears in hand. Techno grunted angrily and got going, quickly finding the rhythm his hooves were supposed to pound as he ran. The piglins were still after him. Some were on hoglins of their own.
Techno grunted with effort, his hooves slipping slightly in the ash and dust that covered the ground, but he still ran faster than the mounted piglins. He might be a hoglin now, but he was still a godborn of the god of war and strength.
They were coming up on a cliff. There was another piece of land on the other side, but it would be quite the jump. As his normal self, even he would not have been able to make it, but he was bigger, stronger, and had more inertia now. He pumped his legs fast, becoming more and more sure with each step. Finally, he launched himself over the cliff, looking down past his tusks for a moment to see the lava down below. He looked back up in time to land in a scramble, losing his footing and sliding slightly. He got up and shook himself off, looking back to see the piglins and hoglins stopping at the edge and mulling about anxiously. Techno snorted at them and squealed a mocking challenge before turning and running across the netherrack, avoiding fires and watching out for ghasts. He started ignoring the huge white creatures when they didn’t shoot at him. They usually knew exactly where to shoot when he was in the nether and there had been several times when he had come home with burns on his arms, it seemed the witch’s spell was acting as his camouflage.
Techno didn’t recognize where he was, though. He’d never been to this part of the nether and had no idea where he was supposed to go to find other godborn’s portals. And he had no way of telling Philza what happened or where he went. Techno finally stopped in a shallow cave to lay down and rest, panting from all the effort.
He watched lava drip from above and listened to the ghasts calling out to each other. Once he cooled off, he got to his feet and walked out into the open. Techno spotted some hoglins being led by a piglin and watched them for a moment. He shook out his mane a little and walked along, watching the patterns of cliffs and lava. His eye sight wasn’t as good anymore, though his sense of smell seemed much better. He soon found himself looking for a nether fortress out of habit. If he found a fortress with a decent amount of blazes there would most likely be a portal nearby.
The piglins and zombie pigmen walking around ignored him mostly. Some looked at him with a glint in their eye as they thought about catching him to be their stead, but he made sure no one for several miles around would try to act on that though by throwing a piglin brute over the edge of a cliff. Techno didn’t look to see if he had survived and the other piglins stayed away after that,
Techno wondering where Philza would come into the nether when he got over being poisoned. Techno would need to find him quickly. There wouldn’t be much that Philza could do against a whole pack of piglins intent on snatching him, especially if there were piglins guarding the portals.
Techno shook his head and continued looking, intent on figuring out his way around before worrying about Philza.

Chapter Text

It had taken Philza almost half an hour to crawl back to the house, his arms and legs giving out here and there as the potion still danced on all of his nerves with pufferfish for feet. He fell down the stairs once before he managed to reach the top and push open the door. He fell to the ground, shaking and crying out with a hoarse voice.
He heard someone rushing through the halls on long legs and then heard rattling in the kitchen before he was pulled into someone’s lap and a cold bottle met his lips. He drank it shakily, the chilly milk slipping across his cheeks as some of it spilled over, but the bottle was soon empty and he was lifted onto the couch and could finally understand what Edward had been saying.
“Philza? Are you okay? What happened?”
Philza couldn’t respond with anything more articulated than a gasp and shuddered. A blanket was tucked around him and Philza felt the pain start to evaporate. His eyes started to drift closed and he fell asleep as soon as the potion had worn off enough.
“Philza?”
The winged man breathed in deeply, startled from sleep. He slowly sat up, his hair wet with snow and sweat. He was so tired.
Edward was standing over him anxiously, another glass of milk in hand.
“Are you okay?” he asked, holding out the milk hesitantly. It took Philza a couple of minutes to realize what had happened. He moved to get up, but fell back on the couch, hurting and tired. He knew that Techno would probably need some help soon, but it was Technoblade. He’d be able to handle the nether for a couple of hours. Philza would probably get there in time to see that Techno was coming back, Michael under one arm and weapon in the other.
“There was a witch and an enderman,” Philza groaned, swaying back and forth. “They took Michael. I have to go.”
Edward hesitated as Philza tried to get up again but put the glass of milk on the reading table and slowly pushed Philza back down again, wrapping the blanket tighter around the godborn. Philza was so cold. He couldn’t help but snuggle into the blanket for just a couple of moments, curling his legs almost to his chest.
Philza didn’t know when he’d nodded off, but by the time he woke up it was dark outside and Edward was nowhere to be seen. Philza shook his head and jumped to his feet, slightly sore but mostly anxious. He quickly opened chests and spilled things on the floor as he grabbed items and stuffed them in his bag haphazardly.
“Idiot,” he muttered to himself as the crows cawed outside in the aviary behind the house. “Falling asleep like that. Techno’s never gonna let you live that down. It’ll go on the same list of achievements as the three month prison incident.”
Philza strapped his bag on and ran out of the house into the snow, the wind promising a storm, He slammed the door closed and called out to the polar bear sitting outside.
“Watch the house, please, Steve,” Philza called and the bear seemed to nod. “We’ll be back in a few!”
The winged godborn ran through the snow, his wings tucked close to his body as he followed the tracks Techno had left behind. It didn’t take too many brain cells to put together that Techno must have been at the dilapidated shack seeing as there was a huge hole smashed through the front of the building. Philza dashed through and squawked as he almost fell down the stairs. He could see bits of Techno fluff in the rough boards. He stepped down the stairs, his boots making soft clicking noises on the old wood.
At the bottom he could see the broken nether portal, the stone walls stained from the small explosion that broke it and groaned. He didn’t have enough material to put it back together again. He turned around and left the old building, running back to the house and grumbling under his breath. Three crows gathered over him as he ran. They cawed and squawked until Philza finally shouted, “Alright! Alright! You can come. Just stay out of the way!”
He almost regretted telling them that as they all squealed with glee, one landing on his shoulder and cuddling against his cheek.
He made it back home. Edward leaned out the window on the second floor, worry shining in his good eye and the bad eye closed against the wind.
“Philza!” the enderman yelled, his lanky arms bent so he could use his hands as a megaphone. “Where are you going!?”
“I’m going to look for Techno and Michael! We’ll be back!” Philza called back, his feathers streaming out behind as he ran. “Stay inside, Edward! It’s going to snow!”
“Be careful!”
Philza went back to his running. The portal wasn’t too far away. He dove through the one they kept open in a small cellar in the backyard. He came out the other side and right into an angry bunch of piglins, who had obviously been guarding the portal.
Philza just barely managed to roll to the ground to avoid a spear that had been heading to find it’s new home in his eyeball. He scrambled in between some piglins and was off in a flash. He could hear them shouting after him in their language, shrieking with outrage, their voices burying the sounds of the crows that got left behind. Philza yelled out a spear came flying past and left a cut in his arm. He hissed and continued running, the pain soon becoming insignificant. The cut would heal quickly. He tucked his wings around him to try and keep off any more projectiles.
Philza glanced back at the piglins. Some were already mounted on hoglins. Philza muttered curses under his breath and turned back to run faster. His wings twitched as the idea of flying came into his mind, but he shook his head and tucked his wings in tighter. He wasn’t going to fly.
Philza dodged around a column of lava, the heat making sweat slick down his hair and wing feathers as he ran. It wasn’t too long before he was running through a nether fortress, trying to find somewhere to hide. He pushed through zombie pigmen, avoided the shots of the Blazes, and still he could hear the piglins behind him. He came out on a cat walk that abruptly ended. He slid to a stop just before going over the edge and turned just in time for one of the piglins to slam into him and cause him to go over the edge. Philza fell, his wings still tight to his body. He didn’t even try to straighten them out as he fell. He reached out and managed to catch hold of a railing of a balcony a story or two down. His hands, slick with sweat, slipped and he only barely managed to grab hold of the edge of the balcony under the railing. He dangled there, nothing under him except the endless pools of lava.
He looked down past his feet, puffing loudly as adrenaline filled his body. He slowly started to pull himself up when a witch came out onto the balcony. She looked down at him and sneered.
“Why, hello there, angel,” she said with a smile as she leaned on the balcony and casually put her heeled foot on one of his hands. “Someone clipped your wings, did they?”
Philza panted, glancing between her and the lava down below. He wouldn’t lose a life if he died in the lava, but oh, it hurt and he didn’t want to lose the stuff in his bags and he really didn’t have time to end up at home and gather everything again. Techno and Michael might need him. It was obvious that they were probably in a lot more trouble than Philza previously thought. Something about being chased by 20 piglin guards tended to give a sort of hint to that.
“Listen,” he said, trying to ignore the way his voice cracked when she applied more pressure to his hand. “I’m just lost, yeah? I was on my way out!”
The witch laughed, throwing back her head causing her silver hair to fall behind her. She looked down at him and grinned, something sharp in the way she smiled. “You’re godborn. I’m sure a little dip in lava won’t be all that bad,” she said as she started to grind her sharp heel in his hand. Philza gritted his teeth, trying to pull himself up, but he just couldn’t. The witch stomped on his hand and he flinched in reaction, his free hand slipping. Philza’s wings spring out as his body twisted with the sudden change of balance. As soon as he looked down, though, his wings curled back in.
He heard the witch’s nasty laugh, saw the lava, felt the blood start to drip down his wrist, and then he fell.
There was a moment. A breath. A second, frozen with fear and approaching adrenaline.
His wings wouldn’t open. He couldn’t fly.
Philza had been so distracted by his wings that slamming into a solid platform made of muscle and coarse fur was quite the surprise, to be honest. Philza had the presence of mind to grab handfuls of hair, laying on his back and watching the silver haired witch shriek and squawk, piglins gathering around her.
Whatever had caught him landed with a jarring jolt. Philza didn’t like it when anyone called him old, but all of his bones ached at once. He managed to roll on the wide expanse of shoulders and look forward as the hoglin ran as if its life depended on it. Philza just held on, wondering if this was luck, if the hoglin had been sent by some god to help him, or if it was just planning on dragging him away so it could impale him and eat him. He’d seen pigs do worse.
The hoglin ran for a while, twisting and turning as if it was trying to lose anyone that might be following. It didn’t try to buck Philza off, so the winged man sat up a little straighter and kept an eye out behind them.
The hoglin did slow down eventually, puffing and swatting it’s tail back and forth. It finally came to a stop in a cave where water occasionally dripped from the stalactites. It was strangely cool in the cave and there was a good sized mud pool not too far in, though everything near the entrance was cracked and baked. The hoglin slowly sat down, causing Philza to slide off. Philza sat on the floor where he’d been deposited and stared around in shock and exhaustion as the adrenaline wore off. The hoglin stood back up with some effort and then flopped down in the mud. The hoglin rolled around in it, the mud slicking it’s fur down in some places and causing it to stick up like the most violent case of bed head in others.
Philza shook his head and stood up to collect some of the dripping water on his hands and lick it up, thirsty after his near death experience. He kept glancing at the hoglin, curious. The hoglin looked like a male, but there weren’t many visible differences between male and female hoglins so it was always hard to tell, especially since this one was now submerged in the mud. The hoglin stared at Philza.
“Thanks?” Philza said, confused.
The hoglin nodded and turned his head to scoop some mud up on his shoulders.
“What now?” Philza muttered to himself and the Hoglin looked at him with a very familiar expression in his eyes.
Philza stared at the hoglin and could almost hear what he was saying. “Jeez, Phil, stop being so dramatic.”
Philza wrinkled his nose. “Techno?”
The hoglin, Technoblade, rolled his eyes as much as a hoglin could and shook his head as if to say, “Good job, Captain Obvious.”
Philza groaned and leaned back on the ground, spreading his wings so he wouldn’t bend or pull feathers. “Is that a new trick you learned? Please tell me it’s a new trick.”
Techno shook his head with a grunt. Philza sighed softly.
“Cursed?”
A nod.
“Great.”
Techno rolled his eyes as if he thought his friend was being overly dramatic. He stood up and stepped out of the mud, laying beside his friend to let the mud dry out so he could crack it off before he made Philza get on his back again.
“Did you at least see where they took Michael?” Philza said, one arm over his eyes as the cool stone leeched the heat out of him and made the headache fade a little.
Techno shook his head and grunted. He stood up, the heat coming from the mouth of the cave drying the mud out quickly. He started to rub against the walls and the mud came off with dull cracking noises. Techno shook himself out and stood over Philza, snuffling at him. Philza peeked out at Techno and sighed. “Fine.” The winged man got up and jumped up onto Techno’s back, his wings flaring open with the effort but not actually helping. He got seated and tucked his wings in.
Techno started off before Philza was entirely ready and he nearly slipped off into the mud. Techno sniggered at him and continued on. They had to be a bit more careful now. The ghasts wouldn’t shoot at Techno anymore, but they would shoot at Philza. Philza kept his weapon in hand and an eye out for danger while Techno walked for the both of them.
The two didn’t acknowledge the fact that neither of them knew where they were going. Philza kept an eye out for danger and piglin patrols (Techno’s eyesight wasn’t as good anymore) and Techno picked out the paths, trying to find hidden roads to a likely place where they could find Michael. The real issue was that Techno could hide plenty fine, but Philza couldn’t so they had to keep to less traveled paths that never really led anywhere.
Philza finally acknowledged that fact as they pulled off the faint path to get some rest.
“Techno,” he said as he slipped down, his legs a bit shaky from traveling on a broad hoglin all day. “We need to be smarter about this. I know you’ve gotten nearly everywhere on brute strength, but I don’t think even you can take on a whole army of pigment, endermen, and witches.”
Techno scoffed as if he didn’t believe that statement for a moment.
“I think we should find a group of pigmen scouts or summat and then we can take them out and grab their stuff. They might have a map on them. I could at least put on some armor so I don’t look so foreign.”
Techno looked him over scathingly and nodded, grunting as he agreed on that one. Techno leaned down and started tearing up the small bit of foliage he could find on the ground to eat, seemingly without realizing he was doing it. Philza wondered silently if Technoblade would only become more and more like a hoglin until there was no sign of his friend left.
Philza sat down and pulled out some apples to chew through, passing one to Techno when he nosed over his wing to get at one of them. Eventually, Techno settled behind Philza and Philza leaned back against Techno, wondering where Michael was. The poor kid was probably confused and scared. He’d been grabbed and kidnapped, pretty much as soon as he left his home. Ranboo and Tubbo would never let him out of the house after this.
Philza shook his head, thinking about Ranboo and Tubbo. They’d both grown so distant recently. Techno wouldn’t admit it, but Philza knew he missed having fun with Ranboo. They’d gotten up to a lot of fun together.
Tubbo was a different story. Both Techno and Philza had a strained relationship with Tubbo. Techno didn’t trust Tubbo because he had become a leader of a government, something Techno despised with all of his soul. Not to mention, Tubbo had ordered Techno to be killed until his three lives were gone. They’d failed, not even managing to take one.
Philza didn’t know what to think of Tubbo anymore. He could still remember in his mind’s eye the sad little box he’d found Tubbo in. It had been raining. Philza could still remember the water on Tubbo’s face and the way the boy’s lip wobbled as he tried not to cry. He’d been so small. So easy to pick up. So easy to love.
That image was smashed apart by Tubbo’s smirking expression on an explosion scarred face. Tubbo smirking because he’d just ordered the hit on Techno and there was nothing Philza could do about it, trapped in his house and guarded every minute of the day.
Philza rolled over and closed his eyes, pulling a wing up over his head to shut out the lava light. No, Philza didn’t have the relationship with any of his kids that he once had. He didn’t even recognize them anymore. All he had left was his best friend and an enderman that watched the house when they were away.

Chapter Text

Michael was confused and scared, but refused to show it. The Enderman had brought him to a bastion. At least, he thought it was a bastion. He remembered Tubbo describing the place to him so he was fairly certain that was where he was.
The hallways were dark, made of stone that let very little light bounce or shine like it was supposed to. It was hot, too. Michael’s desperate attempts to break free and go back to the portal, turned into him trying to break free so he wouldn’t be pressed against the enderman’s warm side. He didn’t even remember where the portal was at this point, anyways.
“Hold still,” the enderman hissed, squeezing Michael a little so it got slightly harder to breathe. Michael squirmed but stopped when the enderman squeezed harder. He hung limply, his fur matted and grimy. He looked at the gold as they passed and sighed ever so slightly. He wanted down. He was starting to ache with the way he was being held.
The enderman turned another corner and a silver haired witch smiled at him. Michael stared at her long and hard. He thought that she might be related to the witch who had been running with the enderman earlier. She had stayed behind on the other side of the portal to face Technoblade. She was dead for sure.
“Endura,” the Enderman said respectfully, bowing slightly. Michael grunted from where he was hanged practically upside down. He reached out a hand to scratch at the enderman’s face, but the enderman straightened before Michael could do anything.
“Linus,” the witch said, nodding her shining head. “Where is Prue?”
“She stayed behind to deal with the godborn. She should be here after that. She didn’t tell me how long she would be.”
Endura nodded again.
Michael finally squealed with impatience, trying to slip out of Linus’s grasp.
“Let go!” he screeched.
Endura raised a finely arched eyebrow at the dirty pigboy. “That’s him?” she asked as she watched Michael struggle pointlessly, only managing to roll over in the enderman’s arms.
“Yes,” Linus said, grabbing both of Michael’s wrists with his long hands. Michael kicked, but there was nothing to hit. He tried to push down the tears that welled in his good eye, but they rolled down his cheek anyway.
“Put him down,” Endura demanded after watching for a moment. “You’re distressing him.”
Linus carefully lowered Michael’s feet to the ground and released one wrist, but didn’t let go of the other one, obviously afraid that the boy would bolt and he’d have to chase him down.
Michael would have kicked the enderman, except the witch was now kneeling in front of him, wiping away his tears with a silky handkerchief that she had pulled out of her soft black dress. Michael could now see the flecks of soot in her silver hair and could trace the silver details on her headband.
“I’m sorry about that, love,” she said in a sweet voice. “We didn’t mean to scare you, but the godborn wouldn’t have let you come if we didn’t do all that. Are you alright, dear?”
Michael leaned back with a glare, trying to tug his wrist free. “I want to go back, right now.”
Endura tutted and stood up. “Michael, dear, you’re where you need to be right now. Come along. The Warden wants to speak with you.”
Michael tried to dig in his heels, but Linus pulled him forward, lifting him everytime he got his hooves dug into a groove in the floor.
They passed barred windows and torches lit up with blue fire. Michael no longer voiced his objections to being dragged along, but still grunted and whined every once in a while when he was shoved forward. His mind was racing as he tried to figure out what was going on, but he just didn’t know enough to even make some sort of conclusion. He didn’t even know what a Warden was.
Linus and Endura stood in front of a huge door and Michael could hear pistons at work as the doors swung open. Inside, there was a female Piglin. She was huge. Michael had never seen such a powerful looking person in his life. She was even bigger than Techno. Michael wondered if she was a godborn.
The tall Piglin lady turned and looked at the three who had just walked in and her eyes lingered on Michael. Michael tried to shrink back behind Linus, but the Endernan kept him in place.
“Warden Talise,” Endura said, bowing a little. “We’ve brought him.”
“I see that,” the Warden said. She shooed away the zombie pig woman she had been talking to. She stepped forward and looked down at Michael. Michael started to hyperventilate, terrified by her stare.
Then, she smiled. It was a sort of scary smile, but it seemed genuine. “Michael. Welcome home.”
She shooed Linus and he dropped Michael’s wrist. The Warden crouched down and smiled at him even wider. He stared at her as she looked him over. Her eyes were warm and open. Michael couldn’t help but relax a little.
“Welcome home,” she said again. “We were so worried about you.”
“Worried?” Michael asked, confused.
The Warden nodded seriously. “The godborn took you away from us. We had no idea what they were going to do to you.”
“I….. came from here?” Michael asked, flabbergasted.
The Warden nodded. “The godborn found you and took you away when you were very very young. We’ve been trying to find you. We almost thought they had killed you.”
“Oh, they would never do that,” Michael said, jumping to his guardians’ defense. “They are very nice.”
“Nice?!” The Warden asked, confused.
“Yeah.”
The Warden considered this and shook her head. “Whatever the case may be, we’re glad to have you back. I’m glad to have you back, my son.”
Michael stared at her. “You’re my…. Mum?”
“Yes,” the Warden said, putting a hooved hand on his full cheek, her thumb stroking the fuzz there. “Now you can see why I had to bring you back, right?”
Michael found himself nodding, drowning in her loving eyes.
“I’m sorry for the rough treatment,” she said, taking his hands into her own. “Do you want to see the room I've prepared for you?”
Michael nodded and willingly followed the Warden, confused but feeling rather safe, for some reason. The heat of the nether felt familiar to him , now, rather than suffocating, and the soft sounds of hoglins made him feel comfortable and rather sleepy after everything that happened to him today.
“How long am I going to stay for?” he asked as she led him back behind the throne and through a hidden door.
She looked down at him and her smile washed away all his fear. “As long as you want.”
“So I can go home?”
The warden hesitated slightly.
“If you want to,” the Warden said softly, “Though, if you would like me to, I can teach you about your people before you go back.”
Michael nodded. That sounded like a perfectly reasonable thing to do, and he was curious anyway.
She led him down more hallways full of torches and Michael could see zombie pigmen. Some of them gave him a smile, others waved a little. Michael waved back and was starting to feel more at home with each smile he received.
The Warden turned and showed Michael through the doorway. This wasn’t a room. It was a small house hidden in the bowels of the Bastion. There was beautiful furniture scattered through the rooms, the carpets soft and long, brushing against his ankles, the lighting was warm and cheerful, and there were stacks of papers and drawing utensils in neat containers that shone in the light. Michael turned in a couple of circles, his good eye dancing over all of the gold leaf designs and little details on everything. There were even small veins of gold in the stones that made up the walls.
He turned to the Warden, awe in his voice as he said, “This is for me?”
“Yes,” the Warden smiled. “Of course. Anything for my little Prince.”
Michael felt like he had fallen into a fairy tale. He was a Prince? It appeared most everyone here cared for him in some way. They wanted to protect him and give him gifts and wonders that he hadn’t even imagined existed. There were even items in the room made of netherite. He had never been surrounded by so much wealth. Not only that, but it was all for him.
He turned to the Warden, delighted. He looked up at her and there was a joyful expression on her face.
“My rooms are next door,” she said, crouching again so he didn’t have to look up so far. “If you ever, and I mean ever, need anything, just find me or one of the witch sisters. They will help you. You’ve already met two of the witch sisters. Endura and Prue.”
Michael’s smile vanished. Prue must have been the first witch. She’d stayed behind to keep Techno away.
“Will…. Will Technoblade be okay?” he asked, wringing his hands together.
The Warden looked confused for a moment before it clicked. “Oh! That godborn you were with? Yes, he will be fine. Prue will explain everything to him.”
“What about Philza? The witch threw a potion at him and it hurt him?”
The Warden hesitated for a fraction of a second. “Oh, I’m sorry, dear. Prue was probably just anxious. She’s had very bad interactions with godborn’s in the past. I will talk to her about that. Philza will be fine. The potions never last for very long.”
Assured, Michael stepped up to a set of netherite armor. He ran his hand over a couple of the pieces.
“You can put that on,” the Warden said warmly.
Michael looked back at her. “You’re serious?”
She nodded.
Michael grinned. He rolled the armor stand behind the changing curtain and quickly stripped off his overalls and yellow sweater. He put on the clothing that came with the armor, dark colored fabric made from hoglin leather and mushroom fibers. He put the armor on, impressed by the workmanship. Netherite was powerful and light so a small Zombie Pigman could wear it without collapsing.
He came out, grazing his fingers over the detailing. He was pretty sure he’d put everything on right. When Tubbo and Ranboo were around more often he would watch them put on their armor all the time. It was one of his first memories of Tubbo, actually.
The Warden smiled brightly.
“You look amazing,” she said softly, a hint of pride in her voice. “I had hoped we got your measurements right but that’s always so hard when you can’t get very close.”
“You were spying on me?” Michael asked, looking up sharply.
The Warden sighed. “We had to make sure everything was ready for you when you got here. And we had to plan very carefully so that we could get you close to one of our portals.
Michael considered his whole situation for a minute when something clicked. “Wait! The door wasn’t locked this morning! Did you do that?”
“Prue did,” the Warden smiled. “She unlocked it. Though, we didn’t realize just how far you would travel before we could get to you. You were quite fast.” The last bit was said with quite a bit of pride.
Michael nodded. He felt warm from the compliment and just a touch shy now. He looked around the room again and the Warden smiled. “Come along, dear. I have someone for you to meet.”
Michael nodded and followed her, his feet in shoes that were actually made for him. He had gone most of his life without shoes so this was quite the strange sensation. Despite all of the interesting decorations and his new armor, Michael was tired. He would hate to admit it, but he really just wasn’t used to all of this activity.
The Warden seemed to notice. “Oh, I know you’re tired, love. You can go to bed after you meet your sister.”
“I have a sister?”
The Warden nodded, more pride glowing in her eyes. Her ears twitched as she said, “Yes, your sister. Her name is Talia. I think you will like her. She will be the one teaching you much about the world. I would teach you everything myself, but I do have a nation to run.”
A nation. Suddenly her comment about her ‘little Prince’ made more sense to Michael. Michael was lost in the rush of realizing just what he was a part of. Why had Tubbo and Ranboo taken him from this life? He was a Prince! He was a child of the Warden. He was loved and everyone had been worried about him and tried to find him and wanted to take care of him. Not to mention, the Warden had given him so much freedom already. If he wanted to right now, he could have asked for someone to take him home. But he didn’t want to. He was a Prince. He was going to learn things he never would have learned from Ranboo and Tubbo. They thought he was too fragile for that.
As the Warden crossed a bridge to another part of the bastion, Michael looked out. There was some sort of procession coming to the bastion. He paused, turning to get a better look. He took a step back as he realized what the soldiers were carrying on stretchers.
“They’re…. There’s so many,” he whispered, horrified.
The Warden looked out regretfully. “Yes,” she said. “There are.”
“How did they die?”
She looked down at Michael, anger now burning in her red eyes. “The godborn. I’m sorry you have to find out like this, love, but the godborns are trying to eradicate us. We are at war.”
Michael stared at the lines of dead, the carts of bodies, with horror.
“Godborn,” he whispered, taking a step into the Warden’s comfort. She put a hand on his shoulder, looking out on the warriors and the dead, eyes bright with hatred for her enemies.

Chapter Text

Michael couldn’t understand. He had met almost all of the godborn. He couldn’t picture any of them causing all of this destruction, but there was no way to ignore it. Godborn weapons could easily be seen in the occasional body. MIchael had watched Ranboo train with some of the other godborn and knew what kind of injuries one would take if they were to fight a godborn.
He even recognized one of the blades stuck through the skull of one soldier as Tubbo’s missing sword. There was no denying it. The godborn were killing piglins and Zombie pigmen alike.
Michael couldn’t stop crying.
The Warden had carried him back to his rooms and held him as he tried to wrap his head around what was going on. Why? That was the question that echoed in his mind. Why?
Michael fell asleep in the Warden's arms after he stopped sobbing. He never thought he would ever see that much death and destruction. He could escape his rushing thoughts, even in his dreams.
When Michael woke up, he was alone. He sat up and rubbed his eyes before looking around. Someone had left him a strange looking sandwich and juice, and his armor was back on the stand. He got up and took a hesitant bite from the sandwich. It wasn’t half bad. He stared at the floor as he ate. All of those dead bodies haunted him. Tubbo, his sweet guardian Tubbo, had murdered people just like him in cold blood. It had to be cold blood. These people were so nice.
Michael shook his head. No. There had to be a reason for it. Tubbo wouldn’t kill just for fun. Except…. Well Tubbo had come home covered in blood more often than a peace loving man really should.
MIchael covered his mouth with his hands, confused and feeling a bit alone. He heard a soft knock at the door and looked up to see it slide open. A young piglin girl stood in the doorway, dressed in a feminine set of netherite chainmail.
“You’re Michael, right?”
Micheal nodded, trying to hide his expression for right now. He didn’t know what to do with these emotions so he tried to bury them for now.
“I’m Talia,” she said softly, brushing a tuft of fur from her eyes. “I’m Talise’s daughter.”
“My sister?” Michael asked.
Talia hesitated and then nodded firmly. “Yes. I heard this was the case.” Talia fiddled with a ring on her pointer finger as she looked down. She looked back up and said, “Mother told me that I will be showing you around the Bastion and the town below. Will you be coming now, or later?”
“Now!” Michael blurted. He didn’t want to be alone.
He stood up, slipped on his armor and followed her. She walked carefully and kept glancing at him like she wanted to ask him questions but was afraid of overstepping boundaries. She looked to be about a year or two older than Michael.
“Are you next in line to be… warden?” Michael asked curiously.
“I am,” Talia said seriously, her head held high and her eyes facing straight ahead as if she suddenly had to prove it.
“That’s pretty cool,” Michael said. He wondered where he would fit in this hierarchy.
Talia only nodded. The two came out and crossed a bridge to another part of the Bastion. The Bastion was a lot bigger than Michael had even imagined and he could see staircases leading down into the bowels of the nether.
Michael looked up and saw the huge white beings floating above.
“What are those?” he whispered, startled.
Talia glanced up. “They’re the Ghasts.”
MIchael very nearly shrieked as he dove behind Talia, looking up at the Ghasts fearfully.
Talia watched him, a hint of amusement cracking on her face. “What’s going on?”
Michael looked up. “Ghasts shoot fire! From their mouths!” He stared up, wishing he had a weapon as the ghasts made soft noises above.
Talia smiled, the shapes of her tusks becoming prominent as her lips tightened across them. “Silly. Ghasts only shoot at godborn. They’re constructs made to protect us from the godborn.”
Michael paused. He stood up and watched as the ghasts flew around, ignoring them. He felt something deflate inside of him. “I’m…. I’m not godborn?”
“Why would you want to be?” Talia asked, disgusted. “They’re nasty and violent. Do you know how many of our people are orphans because of them?”
Michael felt that sinking feeling in his stomach again. “...I guess.”
Talia watched his expressions and shook her head. “Come on.”
Michael looked down at his boots, confused and lost. He was raised by the godborn, but he wasn’t one. The godborn kill piglins and zombie pigmen, but they didn’t kill him. They loved him…. Didn’t they? Doubts crept into Michael’s mind once more. Tubbo and Ranboo had always treated him more like a pet than a person. He wasn’t allowed outside unless one of the godborn was there to watch him, they delighted in every new ‘trick’ he learned, as if he were too dumb to really learn things on his own, and they made every choice for him.
It took all of Michael’s teenage pride to keep him from crouching down and crying in front of Talia. He decided he needed a distraction.
“Where’s the Warden?”
Talia sighed. “In a meeting with the war chiefs. So I’m stuck guiding you.”
Michael frowned. “Stuck?”
Talia raised an eyebrow at him. “What else would you call this?”
“Sibling bonding time,” Michael said firmly. He jumped up on the railing of the bridge, balancing carefully as he walked along, wiggling in a silly way as if he were about to fall off. Talia gasped, slightly horrified by his behavior but she quickly melted into giggles when he made silly faces at her while he was up.
He jumped down and bowed to her, still grinning. She managed to rein in her laughter and pushed him a little. He pretended to fall to the floor and Talia had to press her hands to her face to keep from laughing.
Michael stood up. “I can be fun,” he declared, brushing himself off.
Talia nodded ever so slightly at that statement.
“I guess I’ll put up with you then,” she replied and she turned, leading him on.
“The village is down there,” she said, gesturing to a dome of some kind down below. “It’s a bit tricky to get in, so pay attention.”
Michael nodded, intrigued as she took him back into the Bastion and let him down hall after hall. It only took a few minutes of walking for Michael to start getting worried. “How do you keep from getting lost!?” he finally said, exasperated as he found that all of the halls looked the same.
Talia pointed up at the ceiling and Michael could faintly see painted lines and swirls, like the vines that grew on the warped trees.
“You memorize the patterns,” Talia shrugged. “The pattern at the end of the hall here shows which way to go to get to Arien, the town.”
Michael shook his head, still worried. There was no way that he would ever be able to find his way through the bastion. It was just too big. Down they went, twisting and turning. Talia pressed a button and a hidden door opened up. She let Michael through before letting go of the button and stepping through as the door slid closed.
The hall they came out into was much more alive and much much cooler than anywhere Michael had been in the nether so far. There were plants in holders along the walls and Michael could see water dripping onto them occasionally. Michael recognized some of them as plants that Ranboo would try to cultivate in the garden, but would eventually wither and wilt because they had been forgotten and left alone for too long. Michael had always wanted to go out and help them, but he didn’t know how.
The hall ended in a simple sliding door.
“Please make sure that the doors always get closed again,” Talia said softly. “The water evaporates too quickly if it’s left open.”
Michael nodded and closed the door. He looked up and gasped. The dome was huge. There were buildings inside, each build facing the middle or the round space. There were people bustling about and Michael could hear the chatter and calling of the people living here in Aurien.
“This is the working district,” Talia said and Michael nodded. He had never seen so many in one place before.
“There are two other domes. The Garden is through a door on that side on the left, and the biggest dome can be found through the right side and that is where most of the homes are. We live in the Bastion, though. Everyone who is associated with the Warden lives in the Bastion.”
Michael nodded, a bit dazed. There were so many people here. They bargained and traded and talked and as hard as Michael tried, he couldn’t quite understand some of the conversations they passed. As they walked through the marketplace, people stepped back for Talia and nodded to her respectfully. She nodded back rather regally and Michael felt the people’s stares on him. There were stalls in the front of each building, showing off what was being created inside the shop. He saw quite a lot of netherite items on display.
“Where did you all learn how to make netherite stuff?” Michael asked, staring at a very nice pair of knives on display.
Talia scoffed, “We invented it.”
Michael glanced at her, confused. “I thought the godborn did? All of them are always wearing full sets of enchanted netherite.”
“Look,” Talia huiffed, seeming to get a bit impatient with him. “Believe it or not, but everything the Godborn have or know, they stole from us. The peoples of the overworld and of the nether were here first, even the godborn agree with that. They have killed us for supplies and they hate us for knowing more than them. They try to be the most powerful by stealing our knowledge, ransaking our villages, and taking our body parts to help with whatever cause they’re proclaiming. They are not righteous, and they are not heroes.”
Michael shrunk back. “Not all of them are like that,” he whispered.
“Oh, so you know of a godborn who has never killed one of us ‘monsters?’”
Michael hesitated and thought about it, but he remembered every story told by the godborn about various hunts and adventurers. He’d even drawn many of the tales. He had nothing else to do than to listen to their stories and remember them for when he was bored later.
“Well.. Philza and Techno live with an Enderman? His name is Edward and they were very ni-”
“I’m sure they’ve enslaved him,” Talia said with fire in her voice. “I will have to inform Talise so we can go rescue him later.”
Michael fell silent. With all that he had seen, he couldn’t even argue with the heiress. And everyone knew how much death and destruction Techno had caused. It was still whispered as late night stories or half mentioned, fear in the eyes of everyone who remembered the times when he let loose his fury upon them.
“Hey,” a deep gravelly voice said.
Michael looked up and saw a zombie pigman smiling down on him from a stall, the front of his jaw replaced with a metal plating that clicked when he talked. “Ye’re the Warden’s lost kid, eh?”
Michael nodded and the pigman reached down and brought out a scarf of some kind. It had a patch on it, much like an eyepatch.
“This should fit ye,” the pigman said. He came out from behind the counter and crouched to put it on Michael. The patch fit over his eye socket and the scarf wrapped perfectly in place and wouldn’t slip.
“There ye are. A present for ye. Welcome te the Nether,” the man said and he stood up with a grin.
“Thanks,” Michael said, surprised, touching the scarf.
The man nodded and went back behind his stall. “A pleasure, really.”
Talia was walking again and Michael had to trot to catch up.
“Who was that zombie pigman?” Michael asked, a bit embarrassed that he hadn’t asked the pigman himself.
“That was Jonathan,” Talia replied, looking at the stalls around her and fingering a money pouch. She paused and looked at him. “Wait, what did you call him?”
“A… zombie pigman?” Michael said cautiously. “He’s what I am.”
“No,” Talia said curiously. “You’re an Eanorn.”
Michael wrinkled his nose. “I don’t think we’re speaking the same language.”
“No, we’re not,” Talia said. “At least with the word Eanorn. I am speaking your godborn tongue so you can understand me. Most people know it in the hopes that we can use it to beg for our lives if need be. You will learn our tongue soon enough. You should remember a little of it if the godborn haven’t washed it out of you already.”
Michael had been wondering why he couldn’t understand some of the conversations happening in the market. “What does Ean-thing mean?”
“Eanorn means dead and reborn, roughly translated,” Talia replied. “Dead and reborn, but more like…. Lost and returned. You know what I mean?”
Michael nodded. “Yeah.”
He watched the Piglins and the Eanorn interact, selling items, laughing, bargaining, telling stories in a language he couldn’t understand.
It didn’t last too long, though. Talia had bought a bag of some sweet smelling dried herbs and they went back through the hall of plants and up into the Bastion. Talia was very quiet. Michael was too. He was trying to wrap his head around everything. He still kind of wanted to go home but after seeing everything he wasn’t so sure anymore.
“Do…. do you think the godborn would want to kill me if they found out that I’d been here and learned things?” Michael asked cautiously.
Talia looked at him, regret and pity in her eyes. “I dunno. Probably. I’m sorry, Michael, but you’re not one of them. Personally, I hope you never become one of them.”
Michael fiddled with the straps of his armor. “So… what would happen if I stayed?”
Talia glanced at the ceiling to check where they were headed and said, “You would be taught under the hand of the Warden. I have been promised the Wardneship, if I prove myself worthy, so you may become my right hand man, if you wish to.”
“That would be pretty neat,” he admitted. He fell silent again. He finally decided he would stay a while longer and learn as much as he could about this place. He might go back home to confront the truth there and get some answers, though he could see a prospect for a very good life here. That was a decision for future Michael, though. For now, he would enjoy what he had been given.

Chapter Text

Three crows flapped along noisily, chiding each other as they flew. They had lost track of Philza as soon as they had flown through the portal with him. The smallest crow had nearly been captured by one of the piglins but the crow with the white wing scratched at his eyes until he had run away screaming. They had wasted valuable time on that. As soon as they were sure that everyone was okay, they had lost track of Philza. Now, the birds flew looking for Philza. They had discussed just going back home to the aviary behind Philza’s house, but the portal had been destroyed and every portal they’ve come across since then has been destroyed as well.
The three landed on the back of a hoglin, muttering to each other. The smallest one huddled in on herself a little, staring out at the lava anxiously. The other two sat comforting her a little, preening her feathers.
The biggest crow sighed, bored by the lack of action and looked out across the landscape. His keen eyes caught sight of a scrap of pale green among the deep reds and blacks of the nether and he squawked at the other two. The three were in the air in only a moment and circled until they saw Philza riding on the back of a hoglin.
They joyfully dived and swooped, the smallest even shouldering aside the biggest to get to perch of Philza’s shoulder.
“There you are,” he said, surprised by being dive bombed by three joyful crows. Techno shook his head as the biggest one tried to land on his tuck. The biggest chided Techno angrily and Philza reached out and plucked him out of mid air, leaving him to squawk in surprise.
“That’s enough out of you, Apus,” Philza said seriously. The big crow shut his beak and glared at Techno. The white winged crow landed on Philza’s wing and preened her feathers carefully.
“By the powers, Hylia, how did you manage to wrangle these two all the way through the nether?” Philza asked her as the smallest nuzzled under his chin, her feathers fluffing until she was a fuzzy ball of black.
Hylia gave him a sort of shrug and Philza shook his head.
“Smol, I love you but can you stop that? It tickles.”
Smol slid over on his shoulder, her head down in a pout.
Techno gave Philza a look over his shoulder and Philza sighed. “I have about as much control over them as you do over those voices.”
Techno huffed, his ears twitching as he remembered the voices. He had tuned them and their incessant chatter out, but once reminded of them it took hours for him to tune them out again. Some of them said to squash the pathetic puff balls, others were screeching about Micheal, and there were a couple of them discussing the best way to eat an apple.
Philza stroked Apus, who was trying to wriggle free and squawked loudly every once in a while as Techno continued walking. The two of them had been trying to find a scouting party to steal from ever since they woke up, but they hadn’t seen anyone, yet. Philza looked at Hylia and sighed.
“Hylia, would you mind seeing if you can spot a scouting party around here?”
Hylia gave him a cool look before opening her wings and taking off, Apus complaining and squirming as he wanted to follow.
“Quiet down, mate,” Philza said to him as Hylia disappeared into the fog.
Techno walked on, ignoring the crows on his back.
Hylia came back without a sound and landed on Philza’s wing again. She gestured with her beak where to go and Philza tapped Techno’s side to let him know which direction. Hylia flew off again and stopped at the top of a ridge, ducking as she peered over. Philza slid off Techno and crouched, looking over beside her, his hat down on the ground. Techno laid down and grunted softly, annoyed that he couldn’t peer over the edge without being found out by his large tusks and mane.
Down below was a group of piglins and zombie pigmen making camp for the night. Philza counted about 8 of them. Easy numbers. The pigmen hauled flammable materials and laughed and teased each other as they got ready to settle in for some rest.
Philza was about to get Techno and ride down to raid the camp when he saw two piglins break off from the group, both acting suspicious. Philza narrowed his eyes and slid along the ridge, keeping an eye on them.
They finally came to a stop by a lava lake and the one got down on his knees. He held something out to the other and Philza saw something sparkling in his hands. It took a hot minute for him to realize what was going on.
The other piglin, a woman, covered her mouth for a moment before taking the shining object. She stared at it and then smacked the man in front of her teasingly, waving her arms about. The man rubbed the back of his neck before she helped him stand up and they put their foreheads and noses together, swaying as they embraced each other.
Philza swallowed thickly. He couldn’t help but miss his wife when he saw that display of emotion. It had been a couple of years since he had last seen her and he didn’t know when she would come back to visit him.
Something else rose within him, as well. These were people. They weren’t godborn, but they were people. People who hadn’t really done anything to incur his wrath. He felt something huff over his shoulder and realized that Techno was looking over him, risking getting caught to see what had his friend so entranced.
They slid back away from the ridge a bit and Philza sighed, putting his hat back on.
Techno sat looking annoyed. Neither of them would be able to bring themselves to ruin the little camp down there.
“I guess we can just steal a couple of things while they’re asleep,” Philza mused, holding Apus who had fallen asleep under Philza’s preening and pettings.
Techno grunted.
The friends and their crows rested and waited, listening as the piglins set up and settled down. Philza could hear them joking amongst themselves, teasing and laughing just like how Techno and Philza had when they were out in lands no one else had been to yet. Just like how they spent their evenings while out at war.
Techno listened. He knew what the piglins were saying. It had been a very very long time since he had been a normal piglin himself, but he still spoke the language. He heard the congratulations of the others to the newly engaged couple and soft murmurings of plans for the next day. It was rather soothing, actually. The piglins no longer felt like the enemy. The voices screamed for blood, but some seemed to agree with Techno. The piglins were people. Not particularly nasty people like half of the godborn were. In fact, the piglins were completely justified in their hatred of the godborn. How many piglins were dead just from the sport of killing?
Of course, this didn’t mean that Philza or Techno wouldn’t kill to defend themselves. They didn’t have time to die and then get respawned back in the overworld.
The two waited until the camp grew quiet. There was a guard on watch, but it was easy to tell they didn’t expect to be attacked this deep in the nether and the guard was soon curled up in a blanket and asleep.
Philza came over the rise, silent as he stepped through the ash on the ground. He already had some dusty netherite armor on. All he needed were some piglin packs and a cloak or two. Philza pulled on a cloak that had been left out and grabbed a netherite helmet quietly from where it lay beside a sleeping piglin. The piglin stirred a little, causing Philza to freeze, but the soldier just rolled over and went back to sleep.
Philza slipped on the cloak and tied his hat to his belt before putting on the helm. The rest of his armor would work just fine, even if it didn’t look like it was made by piglins.
He crept back over the rise and got on Techno’s back, the two riding off quickly with the crows flying above. Philza rifled through the packs he’d stolen and breathed a sigh of gratitude when he found a map. He opened it up and it took him only a moment to figure out how to read it.
“We need to go that way,” Philza said, tapping Techno’s side in the direction he meant. “There’s a Bastion that way with a city called Aurien.”
Techno grunted and changed direction. He had heard of Aurien. It had been a sleepy little town once. Techno thought it had been wiped off the face of the nether, though he couldn’t remember why he thought that. Did he visit that place and destroy it once? He couldn’t remember. The voices chuckled ominously.
The crows floated on heat waves, laughing with one another and keeping an eye out for something to eat. Philza and Techno came up on a huge wall of rock, built up over the years.
“This is the edge of Aurien’s land,” Philza muttered.
Techno rolled his eyes as if to say, “Do I look like I care?” He walked down the path to the huge boulder that stood in the way. Techno easily rolled it out of the way and walked through before magic returned it to its place. There was a lot more magic in the nether than the two had ever seen before. The witches must all have moved here, which would explain why all of the witch’s huts that Techno and Philza had found recently were empty.
There was more silence as they travelled on. Philza had tucked his hat under his cloak and stroked the tassels on it as he thought.
The landscape was strangely tranquil for a place covered in lava. Philza looked out at it through the helm that hid his face and he sighed a little. He wasn’t sure how he and Techno were going to get Michael out of here. They were powerful, yes, but there wasn’t much a godborn could do if there were hundreds of piglins trying to kill you at once. Not to mention there would probably be plenty of zombie pigmen. They had been getting more and more violent with each passing year.
The fog lifted a little as they walked and Philza could make out the shapes of the bastion, the domes rising up and lit by hundreds of torches. Techno couldn’t see it yet and kept his eyes on the path, the way marked by hundreds of thousands of hooves travelling it before. Philza quickly pulled on some thick gloves to hide his hands and pulled his wings in tight as a cart rolled down the path towards them. Philza could see a few piglins and zombie pigmen in the cart, laughing with one another. They looked to be merchants. The one holding the reigns of the skeleton horses gave a friendly wave to Phiza. Philza nodded in return, afraid of making some movement that would get them caught.
The cart continued on it’s way, rattling down the path. Philza let out a small breath. His disguise would work just fine if he kept his head down and his hands hidden. He wished he didn’t have to wear the helm and the cloak. Sweat trickled down the sides of his face uncomfortably as Techno slowed to pass through the gate. To be safe, Philza gave each of the guards a nod of thanks as they went through, but didn’t speak.
“Hey!”
Techno came to a stop and Philza twisted in his seat.
“You can pasture your hoglin over to your left,” the guard said cheerfully. “It only costs an ingot or two and we keep an eye on them.”
Philza nodded his thanks again and Techno continued forward. Philza slid off of Techno and considered their next move. He didn’t want to be separated from Techno and Techno was not about to be treated like some random steed.
Philza did see that some travellers led their hoglins through the streets. Philza studied the patterns and led Techno forward, following the courtesy rules that he observed. There were a lot of piglins and zombie pigmen here. Philza could hear the low pitched ringing of netherite and saw gold glittering in full pouches or being exchanged. Philza realized he would have to figure out where to start looking for Michael soon if they didn’t want to get caught.
Philza decided to walk by any guard outposts he could find, even if that meant there was a higher risk of getting caught. He listened carefully as he walked around inside one of the domes. He was pretty sure that Michael would make a decent amount of noise for them to find him.
They had walked around for about an hour when Philza realized he was getting dizzy. He cursed himself as he realized he hadn’t had anything to drink since that mud cave and, while that wouldn’t kill him for a long long time, it would make him dizzy and life would become unbearable quite soon, especially in this heat. Philza looked around, but he had no idea where to find water and the crows hadn’t come into the city with them so he couldn’t ask them to scout.
Techno noticed that something was up and quickly put 2 and 2 together. He led Philza over to a shaded stand covered in baskets of leaves. Philza shook his head and bought a few silently, careful to try and hide his hands and curl his fingers so the piglin wouldn’t know what he was. After getting the leaves, Techno found a quiet alleyway for Philza to take the helm off and blocked the alley with his body.
Philza wasn’t quite sure what to do with the huge succulent leaves, but they were cool. He took a hesitant bite out of one and was startled to find that they were all filled with water. He quickly sucked out the water and passed a couple to Techno who ate them.
It had been a long time since Techno had eaten the water leaves of the nether. It made him nostalgic and the voices seemed to echo from a far off place.
“Kay,” Philza whispered when he had enough water in his system to start thinking properly again. “We better keep going.”
Back on with the helm and back to searching. There seemed to be no end to the piglin city. Where would Michael be in a place this big and this busy?

Chapter Text

Ranboo reached for the door handle of the large house he and Tubbo had built with the help of Foolish. His long pinky shook with exertion as it tried to pry the handle open while all his other fingers were busy with his jacket, several bags, and a weapon or two he had yet to sheath.
His pinky strength proved enough for the task and Ranboo bumped the door open with his hip. He stooped a little through the doorway, even though it was tall enough to accommodate his full height including his horns.
“Michael!” Ranboo called out, setting everything down. He finally sheathed his two thin swords in their straps on his back and picked out bags he needed to put away. He stepped over the other bags strewn haphazardly across the floor and went to the kitchen to put everything away. He paused. Michael was usually pretty quick about coming downstairs when Ranboo called for him. Then again, the boy was becoming a teenager and, though Ranboo couldn’t remember being a teenager, he remembered Philza muttering about how moody they could get and how naturally they hated everyone during that time in their lives.
“Michael!?” Ranboo called again as he sorted through the food he’d brought home. He waited, counting in his head to 30 while he waited to hear the boy at least call back that he was busy, or something.
There was no sound throughout the entire house. Ranboo sighed. He was too tired for this.
“Michael! I really don’t have time to play hide and seek today. Quackity needs my help in an hour. Come eat!”
There was more silence and Ranboo huffed. He went up the stairs and looked around. There were a lot of rooms. Michael wasn’t in his bedroom, the play room, the viewing room, or any of the bathrooms. Ranboo stopped and looked down at a piece of art on the floor, the pencils and crayons still set around it on the floor. The picture was of Michael walking out into the world, a pack on his back and a dog by his side.
Ranboo stared at it for a moment, the silence ringing in his ears. Then it clicked.
Ranboo scrambled back towards the stairs, anxious and a little bit angry. Mostly anxious. He should have seen this coming. The door wasn’t locked when he got to the house today. Did he forget to lock it when he left last time? Was Michael lost or dead somewhere?
Ranboo’s brain wouldn’t work in his panic and he soon found himself running to find Tubbo. The first place he looked for his old friend was in the lab in the middle of the woods. Tubbo had been working with chemicals there for the last several months and rarely left. Ranboo paused slightly at the door. When was the last time he had actually talked to Tubbo? He shook his head and slammed through the door. He ran down a white hallway and turned, opening a door to Tubbo’s lab. Tubbo was startled by the banging of the door, but thankfully the chemicals he had in hand were both capped. Still, Tubbo was annoyed by the violent entrance.
“Ranboo!” Tubbo said sharply before Ranboo could get any words out. “What were you thinking, barging in like that!? What if I was doing something dangerous!?”
“Michael is gone!”
Tubbo froze. His ring seemed to burn on his horn. In that same moment he noticed that Ranboo wasn’t wearing his anymore.
“What?” he asked softly, putting his chemicals down. “What do you mean he’s gone?”
“He’s missing!” Ranboo said, pulling at his hair now and pacing in front of the counter. “I got to the house with dinner and he was gone. He’s not hiding in the house, I looked. The door wasn’t locked and there was a picture on the floor of him going out on an adventure. I think he’s left.”
“Where would he have gone?” Tubbo asked, stripping off his gloves and goggles and shelling out of his lab coat.
“I don’t know!” Ranboo practically wailed. “Michael’s never been outside without us so he might have just picked a direction and wandered. He’s probably dead already.”
“Don’t say that,” Tubbo said, a flip of worry awakening in his stomach. “Come on. Let’s get some help.”
The two ran out of the lab, Tubbo spitting question after question at Ranboo, most of which Ranboo didn’t have the answer to. They ran to the only person they could think of to help them. Puffy was out babysitting Foolish’s twins. The two children with golden skin and shark-like attributes ran around and brought her back flowers and twigs. Puffy laughed with them as they played around.
She looked up to see Tubbo and Ranboo running to her. She put her captain’s hat back on her head over her poofy hair and stood up, her ears twitching as she saw the worry on their faces.
“Puffy!” Ranboo called. “Have you seen Michael?”
“No, I haven’t,” she said, a bit surprised as they stopped in front of her, panting and wringing their hands.
“He’s gotten out of the house!” Ranboo cried, pulling at his hair again. “He could be anywhere!”
“Maybe he’ll wander back when he gets hungry?” Tubbo said, trying to calm Ranboo down a bit as the tall man’s ender particles started to multiply and swirl violently.
Puffy considered the two and sighed. “He’s not a pet, you know.”
“We never said he was,” Tubbo replied defensively.
“Not in as many words, but you seem to think of him like it. ‘Got out of the house.’ ‘Wander back home.’ He’s a teenager, not a stray dog. If I was in his place, I would want to get out too. When was the last time he’d been outside? When was the last time you two spent any real time with him? Kids need to spend time with their parents to develop properly, you know.” Puffy asked, reaching down and picking up Foolish’s daughter.
“We spend time with him,” Ranboo said. “We have dinner together.”
“Just dinner? What does he do in the house all day?”
Ranboo and Tubbo were silent. They couldn’t meet Puffy’s gaze.
Puffy sighed, the breath rattling with disappointment. Ranboo and Tubbo physically flinched at the sound. “That poor boy is out in the world getting to see things he’d never been allowed to see before. I don’t blame him for running away. Every kid wants to run away at some point.”
“Won’t he come back?” Ranboo asked. “The kids always come back, don’t they?”
“A lot of them do,” Puffy said, using her free hand to try and make Finley’s hair lay down. “But Michael doesn’t really have anything to return to, does he?”
A sob ripped through Ranboo’s chest and he fell to his knees, staring at the ground, drowning in disappointment and worry. Michael had run away, and he could see why. He couldn’t even be mad at the boy.
Tubbo, on the other hand, was incensed.
“You’re saying this is our fault!?” he asked, his voice shrill. “We spend plenty of time with him! We gave him everything he could want! We got him out of the nether and gave him a home, good clothes, good food, and this is how he treats us!?”
Puffy’s eyes flashed, her hair moving in a sudden wind, her anger making her seem much much bigger, threatening without even moving. Tubbo took a step back on shaking legs.
“I… I mean….”
“Tubbo, Michael does not owe you a single thing,” Puffy said, her voice low with outrage. “Not after the way you practically abandoned him. I know you’ve been spending all your time in the lab. Ranboo is the only one who has visited Michael in months and that’s only every other day. I can’t even go in because you two keep the doors locked. What sort of a childhood is that? Did Philza ever treat you that way, Tubbo?”
Tubbo looked everywhere except at Puffy. “I….”
“No. Not another word from you. Now, we need to find Michael, but he is not going back to that house. I will be taking care of him from now on. Let me call Foolish and someone to babysit my grandchildren and then we can start the search.”
Tubbo went to follow her, but glanced at Ranboo, who was hugging himself and staring at the ground.
“Are…. are you going to be alright?” It felt awkward to ask.
Ranboo didn’t speak, he just continued to shudder quietly.
Tubbo moved to put a hand on Ranboo’s shoulder, but Ranboo quickly shook him off and stood up, following after Puffy without looking at Tubbo, though Tubbo could see the steam coming off of Ranboo’s face from the tears that crept from his differently colored eyes. Tubbo found himself wondering, and not for the first time, what Ranboo’s other half was. Endermen couldn’t cry.
Puffy went into her house and picked up a charm that Philza had enchanted for her and Foolish to use. She brushed her thumb over it and then put it down. By the time she came out of the house, the three could see Foolish tall on the horizon. He threw something and then shrank down. An ender pearl landed in the grass and he was there in a flash.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, quickly looking at the group and picking up Junior who had rushed to him with a happy screech.
“Michael has gone missing. I need your help to find him. Who do you think I should call to babysit these two and Michele?”
“No, I’ll baby sit,” Foolish said. “I’m no good at tracking. Go get Tommy. He’s at his house right now.”
Puffy looked like she wanted to argue but sighed and agreed. She passed him Finley and herded Tubbo and Ranboo towards Tommy’s house, which was located only on the other side of a copse of trees. Puffy had chosen to live near him years ago to keep him safe and to help him recover from the trauma of dying. She was glad she did. He had needed quite a lot of guidance.
Tommy’s house was a construction of wood and cobblestone. He’d torn down his first simple hut and made a tower and then built a house around and under it. The top of the tower was about 40 feet high and the house sprawled out around it’s base, with flowers in the windows and doors open to let in the sweet breeze that was sweeping from the moores.
Tommy was standing on top, enjoying the wind in his hair. He saw the three approaching and grabbed his bow from where it leaned against the railing, sliding it on over his head and shoulder so he wouldn’t have to carry it and belting on his quiver as we went. Puffy looked like she had something for him to do. He grabbed a prepacked satchel from one of the armchairs and reached the door before Puffy did.
“Hey,” he said, leaning in the doorway. “You need me?”
“Are you busy?” Puffy asked a bit regretfully. She knew he had been wanting to relax today after all of the hunting and gathering he’d done yesterday to restock her pantry.
Tommy grabbed his red cloak from just inside the door. It was a bit of a short cloak, crooked in the way he put it on so his left arm was freer and hiding his quiver of arrows on his right hip.
“Naw, I’m free. I was just thinking about going out and finding something to do,” he said as he reached over and pushed a button, causing all of the doors, hatches, and windows to shut on his house. That bit of engineering was a gift from Sam. One of many gifts Sam had been giving him after trapping him in with Dream all those years ago. Tommy eyed Ranboo and Tubbo carefully, racoon tail flicking a little. “What’s up?”
“Oh,” Puffy said, still uncertain. “Michael has gone missing. He ran away. I want to find him and he’s going to live with me.”
Tommy looked down, licking his lips as he tried not to laugh at Tubbo and Ranboo in a bitter sort of way. He couldn’t keep his ears from twitching, though.
“Alright,” he said when he got hold of himself. “So you need me to track?”
Puffy nodded and Tommy saluted her. “Of course, Captain. Aye aye!”
Puffy smiled.
Tommy didn’t look at Tubbo as he passed him, his long strides taking him along the path to the house where Michael had been living his whole life.
Tubbo, in turn, ignored Tommy. The two preferred to pretend the other didn’t exist. One too many fallings outs had made them turn away from each other, Ranboo caught awkwardly in the middle.
Puffy had to walk quickly to catch up to Tommy and she hooked her arm in his. She murmured little things to him and Tommy’s smile lit up his face now and again, not quite as brightly as it once did before his exile all those years ago, but there was still light.
Tubbo wished he could find that light again in himself. As much as he tried to fight with Puffy earlier, the man didn’t have much life left, he felt. He let his hair fall in his eyes.
The trip to the house was over soon and Tommy found Michael’s tracks.
“Pigman feet are hard to miss,” Tommy pointed out. “They sink into the grass and dirt a little.”
They followed Tommy, who ran ahead for a ways and then paused for a few minutes in more difficult terrain, his sharp eyes taking in all of the clues left by Michael. It started to get colder as they hiked into the mountains.
“How’d he travel so far?” Ranboo managed to whisper eventually.
“He had a map, I think,” Tommy replied, though he looked a bit shifty when he said it.
“..... Tommy….. Did you give him a map?” Puffy asked.
Tommy sighed, running a hand through his hair as his tail twitched.
“Yeah. I did. I drew him one, once, when he asked. That was ages ago, though. Probably a full year ago. I think he’s headed to Philza and Techno’s houses.”
“How could you do that!?” Tubbo managed to cry out, despite the lack of feeling that had settled in his chest. “Why would you do that!? He’s probably died out here in the snow!”
Tommy scoffed and turned to look down on the curly haired man’s head. “What if he’d escaped without a map, eh? What if he wandered and got lost? Then he would be dead. At least he knew where he was going and how long it would take to get there.”
Tubbo turned away, angrily.
Tommy rolled his eyes and continued through the snow. It was easy to follow the tracks now.
The cabins of the emerald duo stood warmly in the snow, crows flying around the house and calling out to the visitors.
“See,” Tommy said over his shoulder. “He made it here. He’s fine.”
A dark figure came out of the house and a tall enderman ran out through the snow. He stood panting in front of them, a hastily grabbed coat slipping off his shoulders, boots untied.
“Edward?” Tommy asked, looking past the enderman, “Where are the others? Too lazy to come out and greet us, eh?”
“They’re gone,” the enderman said, pulling up his coat and wrapping his arms around his middle like an anxious mother. “Michael was taken by a witch and an enderman and they took him to the nether. Technoblade and Philza have gone after him. I don’t know where they are and none of Philza’s scrying bowls can reach him.”
Tommy stared at him for a moment, Puffy growing paler by the second.
There was no sound besides the crows. It was easy to hear Ranboo’s stifled sob of disbelief and Tubbo stared at his hands, shaking.
What had they done?

Chapter Text

Michael had never been taught to fight, though he found that he quite enjoyed it. Talia and Linus were teaching him how to use weapons such as enchanted bows with magic arrows that appeared out of nowhere, a sword that fit so well in his hand, it was as if he had been the one crafted to it rather than the other way round, and an axe, a small axe, but a devastating weapon none the less.
“Michael!” Talia said as the boy’s eyes drifted to the weapon in his hand, marveling at the beauty of it. “Pay attention. Linus is going to beat you.”
Michael snapped to, again, and blocked a blow from the tall enderman. The ender man was a good teacher. He never moved on too quickly, though moved fast enough to make it a challenge. It turned out that Linus was one of the Warden’s most trusted agents and the weapons master of the bastion.
“You’re watching my weapon, Michael,” the enderman said in a firm, guiding voice. He took a step back and went into the ready stance that Michael was now familiar with taking during a fight. “Watch all of me, understand? Watch the position of my hands and arms. Watch my eyes, the muscles in my jaw, my feet. They will tell you where I plan to go next. Once you see that, you can plan to dodge or meet me there before I can get a swing started.”
Michael nodded. “Okay. I’ll do my best.”
Linus nodded and started again. Michael tried to watch, but there was so much going on at once and he found himself tripping even before Linus started a strike.
“Dang it,” Michael hissed. He got up and picked up his weapon. “Sorry,” he said, half to Linus and half to the weapon that he so carelessly dropped.
“That’s okay, Michael,” Linus said. “You are doing remarkably well on your first lesson. Most other students would still be working on their battle stances. You truly are the warden’s son.”
Michael smiled a little, a hint of pride starting up in his chest. “Thanks.”
He got into a battle stance but paused. He lowered his weapon and looked at Talia. “You know, I’ve been wondering. If I am the Warden’s son, then why am I an.. Eanorn? She’s a Piglin and you’re a piglin. Shouldn’t I be one too?”
Linus glanced at Talia before putting his weapon away and standing to the side. Talia took a step forward to explain. “The Earnorn are Piglins that were brought back….. Here, I think it would be best to show you.”
Michael put his axe on the rack as directed and followed Talia as she made for the stairs that led back into the bastion. He was surprised when she paused so he could catch up and took his hand when he did. She let him down into the bastion and then even further down. Soon, the two were circling down a never ending cork screw of stairs.
“There are remnants of power here,” Talia said reverently as they continued downward. It was just the two of them. Linus had stayed at the top of the stairs, standing as if he wasn’t allowed to follow.
“What kind of power?” Michael asked in a whisper.
Talia shrugged. “We’re not sure…. Some of the witches think that it might be the same kind of power that created the godborn. But that’s just a guess. We figured out how to use it a long time ago.”
They reached the bottom of the stairs and Michael was already not looking forward to travelling back up them.
“That power can make Eanorn?”
“Yeah. Look.”
They came to an arched doorway and there were people inside. Witches knelt in a circle around a patch of ground that swirled with strange light, particles flickering in and out of existence. There was a dead piglin laying on the ground, a godborn weapon laying by it’s side as if the metal were recently pulled out.
The body began to glow with a sort of green light and sparked and popped. Michael looked away with a small grimace, his missing eye hidden under his new scarf seeming to pulse as if it were there. The light stopped and an Eanorn sat up, his wounds fringed with green plaque to seal the ages, just like Michael’s.
“I died?” Michael asked, shocked. “What happened?”
“I don’t really know,” Talia admitted. “Talise never told me.”
“Well, now I want to know,” Michael said, turning to her.
Talia bit her lip thoughtfully, her ears twitching under her neatly done up hair. “Well… she might be between meetings right now. If we’re fast, we should be able to catch her.”
Michael dashed back through the hall before Talia could and she laughed as she chased him. He grinned back at her over his shoulder as he started up the stairs. The joy in his sister’s face made him almost giddy.
Going back up wasn’t so bad, what with Talia chasing him and laughing and joking the whole way. They reached the top and Talia caught him, throwing her arms around his stomach. Michael and Talia sprawled out at Linus’s feet and laughed as if there was nothing else in this world besides the fun they were having.
Linus looked down at the two, his gruff face softening somewhat when he saw his two charges.
“Really, Talia,” he said, crouching and nudging her. “You should get off the floor.”
Talia untangled herself from the hug she had been giving Michael and cleared her throat, looking around as if she had just realized what was going on around her.
“Right,” she said, standing up. He bent and held out a hand to Michael. Michael took it and stood up, still grinning.
He looked at Linus and asked, “I want to talk to the Warden. Do you know where she is right now?”
Linus got a thoughtful look on his face, which always looked a bit like he was in pain. “Yes. She should be coming out of a meeting with the generals. They were in the Wither room.”
“Perfect!” Talia said. “We want to see if we can catch her between meetings.”
She turned, Michael’s hand still caught in hers. She paused and looked back uncertainly. Michael frowned at the worried look on her face.
“Linus,” Talia said, shuffling her feet a little. “We’ll never get to the wither room in time to catch her before she’s busy again. Could you….. Linus, would you teleport us there? If it’s not too much of a bother.”
Linus sighed at Talia.
“Talia, you know it’s against the regulations.”
“I know.”
Linus looked between Michael and Talia. Talia looked down and away, a bit sad and Michael pouted. He didn’t know what the regulations were, but he could tell that they wouldn’t be able to talk to the Warden because of them. At least, not until later.
Linus closed his eyes and gave a deep, chest rattling sigh.
“Fine,” he said softly. “I’ll take you.”
Michael jumped up and cheered and Talia practically vibrated with joy.
“Alright, alright, alright,” Linus said, looking as though he regretted agreeing with the two teens. “Each of you take one of my hands.”
Michael grabbed the right one and Talia took the left, half hugging the kneeling enderman’s whole arm.
“One, two,” Linus said with the thought of a smile in his eyes. “Three.”
There was a whoop and a strange falling sensation, and then the three were in the hallway in front of the wither room where the Warden and all of her generals were coming out of the meeting they had been having.
“Linus.”
The enderman looked up at the general who was speaking. The general was an armored wither skeleton, a light glowing deep in his eye sockets. Michael couldn’t help but shrink back a little when he saw the lights shift to look at him.
“You know that you aren’t to teleport in the bastion,” the wither skeleton hissed, a rattling behind each word.
Linus ducked his head when the warden towered over the skeleton.
“Garet,” the warden said, putting a hand on the skeleton's shoulder. “It’s alright. Linus is my personal attendant. Go and fulfil your duties.”
Garet simply nodded and turned to leave. The warden smiled at her children as Linus stood back up. Michael stepped forward, a grin on his face. The Warden gave her children a wry look.
“What are you two doing here?” she asked, smiling at both of them with love and pride in her eyes. “I thought you were supposed to be training.”
“I wanted to know how I died!” Michael explained excitedly.
He saw the Warden’s expression falter a little and he put his hands behind his back, looking down. “Er…. if…. I mean-”
“No, it’s okay,” the Warden said gently. “I have a lot of work to do and another meeting here in a few minutes. I can tell you about it later, if you don’t mind.”
We can do it later.
Those words echoed in Michael’s mind and he hunched a little, trying to force back the emotions those words brought. It was childish, but he couldn’t help it. All he could hear was Ranboo and Tubbo telling him that they didn’t have time for him. No one made time for him. Why would the Warden do so? After all, she had a whole Bastion and city to run.
“Kay,” Michael said in a very quiet voice, taking a step back.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to find the Warden crouching in front of him. She cupped his cheek and smiled.
“I promise I’ll tell you when I’m done with this next meeting. After this one, I’ll take the rest of the day off to spend time with you and Talia. I really have been too busy lately.”
Michael nodded and wondered if she would actually keep that promise. Tubbo often didn’t and Ranboo often forgot that he even made the promise in the first place.
“Talia, love,” the Warden said softly, turning to her daughter. “Why don’t you take Michael up to see the ghasts. I’ll be done in an hour or two. We’ll meet at the pool in the gardens.”
Talia nodded and took Michael’s hand. Michael hesitated, looking at the Warden. There was love and care in her eyes, but that didn’t mean she would keep her promises to him. Ranboo and Tubbo loved him. He could see it in their eyes. Or, at least, in Ranboo’s. He hadn’t seen Tubbo in a long time. And that was the problem. They loved him, but they never made time for him. Why would this be any different?
The Warden leaned forward and pressed her snout to his forehead in a gesture that he had never experienced. He quickly realized it was something like a kiss as she stood back up.
“See you two in just a bit,” she said before turning and striding down the hall to her next bit of business.
“Come on,” Talia said with a little smile. Michael looked at her, a little lost. She tugged his hand again and said, “I’m going to take you ghast riding. I think you’ll like it.”
She pulled Michael along, Linus following behind to make sure the two would be safe.
Michael followed and barely noticed when she had brought him to a platform. Talia dug around in a chest and eventually came out with a bowl of some strange sticky substance. She uncovered it and looked up and around, but Michael just sat down, staring in her general direction.
While she lured a ghast closer, Linus sat down next to Michael. Linus’s legs stretched out far in front of him. It would have been uncomfortable for the enderman to try and curl up as tightly as Michael was curled.
“Are you homesick?”
Michael looked at Linus and frowned a little. The enderman watched him with his purple eyes.
MIchael sighed. “No. I don’t think so….”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
Michael shook his head and watched Talia again. She had lured a large ghast over and the large round creature was licking up whatever was in the bowl, making contented noises. Michael watched, not particularly interested. He was suddenly being scooped up by Linus, who ignored his squawking. He reached up and put Michael on top of the ghast. Michael grabbed onto the grooves he could find as the ghast shifted a little. Soon, Talia was up with him having been helped up by Linus. She laughed at the look of fear and startlement on Michael’s face and scooted to be in front, offering herself as a handhold. Michael put his arms around her waist and looked down at the lava pits that suddenly came into view when the ghast floated out over the edge of the bastion.
Michael shut his eyes.
“Hey, come on scaredy cat,” Talia said, elbowing him. “You’re missing out.”
Michael slowly opened his eyes and looked out past Talia. There was lots of lava, sure, but the ghast was slow and moved smoothly through the air. He looked around and saw more than he could even see from the top of the Bastion itself. There were ancient carvings in the walls depicting hoglins and piglins. There were hidden gems that sparked here and there on the walls, untouched by greed and left as a beautiful part of the walls and cliffs.
Michael could see parts of the sprawling Bastion he’d never seen before. It bustled with life and he could see the three domes in the distance. They passed a nearby fortress and Michael could see Blazes, fearsome fire breathing creatures killed for their potion making ingredients, but the Blazes were being cared for by witches who stroked them with fire proof gloves and easily collected rods that had shed from their heated bodies. Michael saw piglins and Eanorn going into caves and coming out with stuff he recognized as ancient debris. He could hear people laughing, joking, teasing, and having a good time, especially as they floated over the three domes.
And all at once, Michael was hit with the sensation of being completely and totally home. Here, over a pit of lava, seeing an enderman waving at him and his sister as they rode a fearsome ghast. And he was home.
“Talia,” he whispered. “I don’t want to go back…. To the overworld.”
Talia twisted to try and see him, her braided hair brushing his snout as she looked.
“Then don’t.”

Chapter Text

Michael explored the garden in the third dome of Aurien with Talia while Linus sat on a bench in the middle, his eyes closed as though he was meditating or resting. The garden was the third dome. It was completely closed off and cooled by magic so all the plants could grow without scorching. Talia was in a different row. Michael could hear her singing a familiar lullaby in the language of the nether. He hummed it under his breath as he brushed the leaves of all the plants, the humidity sticking in his fur. There was a pool of water in the middle. It wasn’t too big, but it was still more than Michael had seen in days.
Talia stopped singing and poked her head between two potato plants with a curious smile. “You’re humming,” she commented. “Do you remember this song?”
“Yeah,” Michael nodded. “I mean, the tune at least. I really don’t remember any of the words or what they mean.”
Talia frowned. “You don’t remember any words at all?”
Michael shook his head.
Talia disappeared again and then came around to him. “Well, let’s fix that.”
She pointed to the potatoes and said, “That’s called a ‘korith.’”
She started to go through all of the plants, naming them. Then naming creatures in the language of the nether. She eventually got to godborn.
“Ithiar,” she practically spat the word as they came to sit by the pool while she taught him.
“Ithiar,” Michael said, trying the word just as he had with all the words to try and remember them. Some of them were familiar in his mouth.
Talia nodded. “Ithiar. It means ‘the hated ones.’”
Michael nodded, not quite meeting her eyes. An uncomfortable silence fell and Michael cleared his throat.
“So, what does the lullaby mean?”
“It’s a promise,” Talia said, staring into the water. “That the mother will do everything she can to prepare the child to be ready to….. Face the Ithiar when they’re older.”
Michael glanced at Talia and she was looking at him with an almost apologetic look in her eyes. He simply nodded. At some point, the Warden must have sung that to him. He recognized the song after all.
“Sorry,” Talia said.
“Don’t be,” Michael replied, looking her full in the face with a bit of a smile. “After all, if the godborn…. The Ithiar have been that horrible to you, then you have a right to call them that, I think.”
Talia searched his expression for a moment. “So you really aren’t going back, huh?”
Michael shook his head. “I’m not going back until I’m strong enough to get the truth out of all of them.”
“Spoken like a true son of the Warden,” Linus said, thoughtful with a hint of pride.
Michael nodded.
There was a soft sound as someone passed through the rows of plants to reach the pool at the center. Talia stood up and brushed off her pants in time for the Warden to come around the corner. She stood tall and steady, but as soon as she saw her two children, she seemed to relax. She took off the heavy band of gold she wore as a symbol of power and put it on the bench by Linus. She sat down next to Michael where Talia had made room and Talia sat back down, curling into the Warden’s side.
The warden put an arm around Talia and then the other around Michael, scooting him in closer. The warden let out a deep sigh and Michael relaxed in her hold.
“So,” the warden said softly, “Did you two have fun riding the ghasts?”
“Yeah!” Talia said, the last dregs of her royal facade fading. Now she was an excited teenage girl, glad to spend some time with her mother.
Michael nodded. “It was a lot of fun,” he said.
“I’m glad,” the warden smiled. “It’s been a long time since I’ve ridden a ghast myself. I need to fit that into my schedule somewhere.”
She chuckled and Michael watched her face, somewhat intrigued. She had fulfilled her promise. The Warden was here with Talia and Michael like she said she would be. She looked down as Michael, her smile curving around her tusks and the scars in her face wrinkling in a pleasant expression. The pride and love that shone in her eyes was something Michael wanted to bask in for the rest of his life.
The Warden pressed her snout to Talia’s head and then to Michael’s.
“I’m so glad to have both of you again,” she breathed, and she was no longer the warden at that moment. She was Talise, the mother of two children that she was very proud of and loved very much. She was reunited with her son who she thought had been dead.
Michael put his arms around her and snuggled into her side, that feeling of belonging filling him once again. This was home.
“Oh! Mum!” Talia said, pulling out of the family hug a little to look up at Talise. “You were going to tell Michael how he died, remember?”
“Right!” Talise said, surprised and grateful for the reminder. “Having to listen to General Garret rattle on for an hour made me forget why you came looking for me in the first place.”
Talise sat up a bit and crossed her legs. Sensing a good story incoming, Talia sat down in front of Talise, excitement flashing in her grey green eyes. Michael copied her, his fingers twitching for paper. In the past he usually drew while he listened to the godborn tell stories, never realizing just how dark those stories were and laughing at the tales of death that were no longer funny to him.
“While I was pregnant with you,” Talise started, “I was very busy and very stressed. As the pregnancy went, I could tell there was something wrong, but I couldn’t tell what. There was so much going on at the time. The Bastion was under threat of attack at all times, the godborn were getting more and more aggressive, and we just didn’t have enough people or witches to keep us safe.”
Talise shook her head mournfully. “ I was in the middle of a battle strategy meeting when it was time for you to be born. It was a painful birth. You came out the wrong direction and when you were finally out you were so small. You weren’t breathing.... I demanded that we bring you back to life. I didn’t care that no one younger than 10 had been brought back from the Goddess of Death. Bringing children back is…. Well, it’s supposed to be impossible. The witches started the ritual but I barely remember it. I had my eyes closed the whole time, desperately praying the Goddess would give you back to me Then I heard you scream and I knew that everything would be okay.”
Michael listened, mouth open and eyes wide. “I’m the youngest ever to be brought back?” he asked, startled.
Talise nodded. “The only child under the age of ten to be brought back. It was such a miracle. There are other gods, besides Death, but she is the only one I trust. She is the only one who has shown me mercy.”
“Kriskria,” Talia said with a smile, “Goddess of Death.”
“That’s right,” Talise nodded.
Michael smiled, feeling warm and safe thinking about the Goddess. Philza had spoken of her back when Michael was still living with Tubbo and Ranboo and he’d come to visit. Philza had always spoken of her lovingly, a distant look in his eyes.
“She gave us a miracle,” Talise said. Then a dark cloud covered her expression. “Then the godborn took you.”
Michael nodded. Talise had an almost anguished expression on her face, as if she were reliving finding out that her child had been taken by the godborn and Michael reached forward and put a hand on her leg. She seemed to snap back to the present and smiled, putting a hand over his.
“And I’m back now,” Michael said. “I’m safe.
Talise nodded. “Yes, yes you are.” She closed her eyes to relish the thought and then opened them again.
“Well, a Warden is always working,” she sighed. “I need to make sure some things get completed in the domes in time for the Water Festival. Do you two want to help me?”
“Yes!” Talia declared, jumping up as Linus stodd to hand Talise her crown.
“What’s the Water Festival?” Michael asked, excited as he stood up.
Talia nearly flipped out right in the middle of the garden. “It’s only the best time of the whole year!!!”
Talise laughed. “We actually planned your arrival so you could come and participate in the festival. It’s the one time of the year that we bring more water into the nether system. The witches open a portal and the water pours out. It’s the only way we can get enough water to support our growing population.”
“Yup!” Talia declared. “The witches pour out the water in this beautiful ceremony! And there are stalls with the most delicious food and the most interesting items and everyone just celebrates!”
Michael grinned. Talia’s excitement was infectious. “I don’t think I’ve ever been to a festival!” Michael said, excited. “I heard that the godborn used to have them, but they haven’t had one in years and years.”
“Seriously?” Talia asked, eyes wide, “They kill everything in sight, cage useful people, AND don’t have festivals!? How did you even survive?”
Michael sighed and shrugged. “I nearly died of boredom a couple of times.”
“Not anymore,” Talise laughed. “In fact, you may soon wish that you had a deal less to do. I know that I feel that way.”
“You know, I could help you with some of your duties,” Linus said in a sort of sneaky tone of voice.
“Oh, lava pits below and above,” Talise groaned. “Can you imagine Garret’s complaints if he found out about that one? I would sooner die than have to listen to him complain about you again.”
“I would be very sneaky about it,” Linus said, a bit of a smile on his face.
“Why don’t you just make him a high councilor?” Talia asked her mother. Michael noticed that they were holding hands but couldn’t remember when they had done that. Talise’s other hand found his quite quickly, as if it were magnetically attracted to his hand. He took hers and asked, “What’s a high councilor?”
“They’re members of a council meant to help the Warden,” Talise replied before answering Talia’s question. “And I can’t make him councilor because the councilors have to be approved by the other generals and some of them-” Talise coughed out something that sounded like ‘Rattlebones Garret’ - “don’t like Enderman because they’re not from the nether.”
“Well, that’s just foolish,” Talia declared, looking vaguely annoyed by that.
“I agree,” Talise said with a nod. “Though,” she glanced back at Linus, “I may have to take your offer, my friend. They’re piling it on thick and I really ought to spend more time with my children.”
Linus grinned as if he had won an argument they’d been having for months, his mouth widening across his face farther than Michael had ever seen someone’s face go besides Fundy, who had a fox face anyways. It was rather scary but in this context and with the humor sparkling in Linus’s eyes, it made Michael laugh.
Linus couldn’t help but smile a little wider at Michael. He managed to make his mouth smaller again, a wry grin still on his face and Talia asked her mother questions about the preparation for the Water Festival and what she could do to help.
Michael listened and smiled, squeezing Talise’s hand. She squeezed his hand back and glanced at him with a smile.
When they came out to the halls of the Bastion and walked past the servants, Talia and Talise straightened up and their hands came undone. Michael barely managed to keep an unmanly whimper from escaping when Talise pulled her fingers from his. He suddenly didn’t know what to do with his hands. He tried to match the posture of his mother and sister, but felt a bit like he was trying too hard.
“First, we must check in on the witches,” Talise said, her gold band back on her head. “We have to make sure that they are all set for the festival and have enough food and potion ingredients.”
Talia nodded and Michael bobbed his head too, his eyes longingly on Talise’s hand. He didn’t like the sudden change of demeanor.
Talise glanced down at him and seemed to notice where he was looking before he could change his gaze. Something softened in her eyes and she glanced at Talia. Michael looked at the servants passing and giving a bow and a wave occasionally. Talise took his hand again while he had his attention on the servants. He looked up at her and saw her other arm was around Talia.
She smiled at the two of them. “You know what, Linus is right. I need to relax.”
Talia smiled, though glanced nervously at a couple of guards. The guards did stare, but with warm smiles on their faces. Michael walked a little closer to Talise, allowing Linus to take place by Michael’s side and put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. This was right. This was as it should be. The guards and servants seemed to agree with him as they smiled and whispered cheerfully to each other. Talise was smiling as well. Warden and mother.
“What were you saying about the witches, mother?” Talia asked.
“Right, the witches. I know most of them enjoy a good salad, but I’m thinking we should pull out all the stops and make them some Spore Bread.”
Talia gasped, delighted. “Can I have some too!?”
Talise looked around conspiratorially. She grinned at her daughter and said, “The real reason I want to get them spoore bread is so we can steal it and eat it ourselves.”
Talia grinned and made a high pitched noise of excitement.
“Spore bread?” Michael asked.
“Lava pits! You’re going to love it! Trust me, never has there ever been any other bread made that could rival it!”

Chapter Text

The bustle of the city had increased. The sounds of the piglins and zombie pigmen had increased dramatically enough to wake Philza up. He lay there, wings curled around himself, blankets ignored. He was staying in a cozy inn found in the south dome. Techno was in the stables outside, probably still moping that he had to be treated like an animal.
Philza got up and shook out his wings. He gathered his things, tying his money pouch to his belt, his daggers to his belt and his arm, throwing the cloak over his wings, putting his tasseled bucket hat back on, and fiddling with the robes he got at the market. Turns out, he could pretend to be one of the travelling villagers from the overworld as long as he hid his wings and shadowed his eyes. Even his crows were accepted as a fine thing to have for a Priest from the Overworld. Philza assumed that they thought he was one of the priests of Kriskria, known for having some loosely defined magic and were allowed to travel freely anywhere as the provided funeral rites. Philza knew all kinds of funeral rites as the angel of death, so it wasn’t too far off from the truth.
He was just glad to have an excuse to take the helm off.
After gathering his things, Philza went downstairs. He nodded to the innkeeper who gave him a friendly smile.
“Sleep alright?” he grunted, wiping out a pot.
“Better than I have in a while,” Philza laughed. “Travel is all well and good, but the sights of the overworld and underworld cannot be topped by the friendliness of an inn, good food, and a bed.”
The hoglin laughed and nodded. “Truer words have not been spoken,” he agreed with a bit of a smile. “Planning on coming back tonight?”
“Maybe,” Philza shrugged, careful to keep his wings still. “We’ll have to see how today pans out.”
“I would suggest making that decision soon,” the innkeeper advised. “The water festival is in just a few days. Inn rooms tend to fill up quickly. Everyone for miles around comes to see the festival and participate in the market. Have you ever been here for a water festival?”
Philza hesitated. “I have not,” he said, turning fully to the man. “Though, I think it would be a good idea to have a room available.” Philza dug in his pouch and asked, “How much for five nights?”
“For a priest of Kriskia Herself, I’ll just take 3 ingots.”
Philza handed the money over and the innkeeper smiled. “Your breakfast and supper will be on the house.”
“Thank you,” Philza said with a little bow.
He turned and left the inn, circling around back to the pens. Techno was all ready to go, Apus, Hylia, and Smol waiting on his back. Apus sent up a racket and claimed Philza’s shoulder before Smol could.
Philza stepped through the gate and then got up on Techno’s back. Techno grunted and they left the pen. Philza sat up straight, his pendant clear to see against his dark robes. The pendant his wife had given him. Most priests of The Goddess of Death wore one, though Philza’s was more priceless than any of theirs made of metal or carved and painted wood.
Philza got looks and nods of reverence when the piglins and Eanorn (as Philza and Techno had learned they were called) saw that pendant. It made Philza feel closer to his wife than he had felt in a long time. He wondered where she was. Why she had gone so far away that he couldn’t visit her.
Techno easily maneuvered through the crowds, careful of the children running in the street. He rather enjoyed it. He didn’t know what a water festival was, but the kids wouldn’t stop talking about it as they had fed him hay through the fence of the pen. Still, this excitement in the air was infectious, rather than tedious.
Philza and Techno had worked out a system. Techno would pick out someone who looked like they would know a thing or two about what was going on here, accidentally bump them or find some other reason to stop, and then Philza would slide down and apologize and help and maybe ask a couple of questions. They hadn’t found out anything quite yet, but they were getting a lot more than they had just wandering and listening to the random questions, even if that more was a small offering of water leaves.
Philza passed stalls in the making, children running around with small toys shaped like hoglins, and bakeries cooking as if there were three hundred feasts planned. Philza lifted his nose to smell a nearby bakery, a smile in his eyes, when there was a loud crash behind them.
Techno whirled around faster than any normal hoglin could manage and Philza dashed off him and through the street, moving so fast he was worried his wings could be seen past his fluttering cloak.
A cart had toppled as those kids from earlier had run past and two of the three were pinned. Philza scooped the third out of the way as more of the cart came crashing down. The small piglin was screaming in his arms, reaching for his siblings.
Techno shoved through the crowd and stuck his snout into the mess, lifting the cart on his tusks. A child scrambled out and into Philza’s reaching arms. The third one was laying still and quiet.
“It’s alright,” Philza said, holding the two close. An Eanorn and a Piglin couple jumped forward and he let them take the children. Philza patted Techno and then crawled into the mess, the crows squawking and fluttering around on the ground behind him. Apus got ahead of him and stood on the child’s side, looking down at her with a tilted head.
Philza reached the small piglin girl and put a hand on her side beside Apus. She was still breathing. There was blood on her scalp and one of her arms was broken. Philza checked her spine before pulling her out of the wreckage of the cart. As soon as he had pulled her out, Techno chuffed and put the cart down. Philza set the girl on the ground and reached into one of Techno’s saddlebags, coming back with a potion, a small round container, and a golden apple. The girl’s breathing was getting rattley in her chest and she was only getting more and more pale.
Philza crouched over her. “Come on,” he whispered as he uncapped his potion of healing. “Come on. You can’t die yet. You’re only little.”
He pulled her head into his lap and then poured the potion slowly into her mouth, stroking her hair as people in the crowd shouted and someone cired. The Earnorn and piglin couple came to kneel on either side of their daughter. Each had an arm around one of their children and the other on their daughter’s stomach.
“She’s going to be alright, isn’t she?” the earnorn woman said tearfully, her lips quivering around her tusks.
“She will if I have anything to say about it,” Philza said firmly. He pulled out a small round container and cracked it open. He dipped his fingers in the paste and marked symbols on her forehead, whispering an ancient song in a language no one besides him and his wife could remember. The bleeding stopped and the girl gasped as she opened her eyes. Her arm was no longer broken and the cut had vanished.
“Eat this,” Philza smiled, holding out the golden apple. She sobbed and shook, grabbing onto his wrist and taking a small bite. And then another and another until there was only the core left. Philza threw the core to Techno who caught it and ate it easily.
Philza helped the girl sit up a bit better and the crowd gasped at how complete the healing was.
“Feeling better?” Philza asked, rubbing the girl’s back. She nodded and Philza found himself encased in a hug between her parents, her, and her siblings.
“Thank you,” the father breathed shakily. “Thank you”
Laughter and a bit of a cheer went up through everyone who had watched and Philza chuckled, maneuvering his wings carefully and hoping no one inside or outside of the group hug would notice them.
“That had to have been expensive,” the father said, leaning back to look at Philza.
Philza shrugged. “It’s alright. What use is supplies if you never use it?”
Techno snorted. Philza shot him a bit of a glare.
The woman wiped her snout and gave him a watery smile. “I’m Fiona, and this is my husband, Gilfore. Please, come to our house. I’d like to make a meal for you, at the very least.”
Philza bit his lip as Gilfore stood with his daughter in his arms. They needed to look for Michael, but their eyes begged him to let them repay him. He gave a small sigh and nodded, putting on a bit of a smile.
“Sure,” he said, standing up. Techno grunted and shook out his mane pointedly, but Philza ignored him. The crows took their place on Techno’s back, catering amongst themselves and preening after the excitement.
He led Techno through the streets as the parents fussed over their daughter. It reminded Philza of when he used to hold his own children, kissing scraped elbows and holding them close. His wings ached at the thought of them. Especially when his mind turned to Wilbur. Where was his little music maker now, he wondered.
Philza was broken out of his musings as they reached the house that belonged to the couple leading him and Techno. The kids rushed in first, running to grab things for their sister to make her feel a bit better after that whole ordeal. Philza patted Techno’s flank and his friend laid down next to the front door, huffing about having to wait outside. Again.
The crows waited with Techno, loudly keeping him company.
Philza stepped into the home and looked around at the basket of water leaves, the comfortable couches, the fungus growing in pots. It was comfortable.
“Here,” Fiona said with a watery smile. “Sit down.”
Philza took a seat, wings uncomfortably bent as he tried to hide them and sit without looking too strange.
Gilfore took their daughter to one of the back rooms to soothe her and Fiona quickly mixed something together in the kitchen and came back with a drink and a plate of vegetables for Philza. Philza took it and smiled. He sipped the drink. It was thick and creamy and tasted a bit like sweet ginger. The vegetables tasted like they were from the over world, but here seasoned much differently than what he’s ever tasted.
“Here,” Fiona said, holding out a pouch of gold ingots.
Phiza shook his head, hands up to ward her away from putting it in his lap. “No, I don’t need that, really.”
“Then how are we supposed to repay you for what you’ve done today?” Fiona asked, almost exasperated and painfully grateful. “You can’t possibly leave without something. Isn’t there anything we could help with?”
Philza chuckled uncomfortably, putting the plate to the side and cupping the drink in awkward fingers. “I mean, unless you know where a little Eanorn boy is, I don’t really need anything else.”
“Eanorn boy?” Gilfore asking, coming back out of the children’s room where Philza could hear them playing. “You mean the Warden’s son, Michael?”
Philza tilted his head. “How did you know?”
“Well, he’s one of the only Eanorn kids in the city,” Gilfore shrugged. “Plus, you’re a priest of the Goddess. You want to hear the story of the miracle of his rebirth, don’t you?”
Philza laughed, rubbing the back of his neck as if he had been found out. He was willing to accept an excuse when one was provided for him. “Of course. I didn’t think I would be found out so easily.”
It was hard to keep a calm front. Especially now that he knew he was so close to Michael. He had to stay calm. They weren’t out of the woods yet. But Michael would be home soon.
“Yeah,” Gilfore smiled, folding his arms. “That poor tyke. Reborn so young and then taken from his Ma before he could even speak. I’m so glad they found him.”
“My brother said he saw the Warden holding hands with him and her daughter,” Fiona said with a smile, “My brother works at the Bastion. He said he’s never seen the Warden so happy.”
That gave Philza pause. “Happy?”
“Of course,” Fiona smiled. “She found her long lost son and he’s home. Michael fits right in at the Bastion, my brother says. He goes everywhere with his sister and they’re always getting into mischief these days.”
“Can anyone go to the Bastion?” Philza asked, shaking off his confusion.
“Ah, new to the city?” Gilfore said with a little nod. “Yeah. You can go. Priests of the Goddess are always welcome. The Warden loves you guys.”
Philza nodded, intrigued. “I’ll have to stop by. There’s so much to learn about this place.”
“It can be a bit much,” Fiona said sympathetically. “Do you have somewhere to stay for the Water Festival?”
“I got a room at an inn for the next several days,” Philza said with a nod. “I’ll be fine.”
“Good to hear,” Fiona said. “Do you want to stay for a proper meal?”
“No, thank you,” Philza said. “I really best be off. I have some preparations I need to make for the festival.”
“Of course,” Fiona said, standing as Philza stood up, his wings sighing with relief.
“Thank you again,” Gilfore said with a nod.
Philza gave both of them a bow. “It was my pleasure.”
Philza came out of the house after a couple more goodbyes and got on Techno’s back, the crows taking to the air once again. His friend stood up and they were back on the streets, Philza whispering what he had learned to the other godborn.
Techno nodded, a bit of excitement in his eye. He gave Philza a cautious look and Philza nodded. “Right, I agree. We go in slow. I don’t know what’s actually going on in that Bastion, but we don’t want to ruin anything.”
Techno shook out his mane, glad that Philza understood his look. Philza shifted on Techno’s back and heard something in his cloak pocket clink. He reached in and pulled out that pouch of gold ingots Fiona had offered and stared at it. He gave a soft chortle and put it back in his pocket.

Chapter Text

Michael stood next to the Warden as she spoke with the three witch sisters, the leaders of the nether witches. He stood proudly, dressed in his netherite gear, a short sword hung from his belt and his eyepatch in place. The eyepatch was a bit of a crown at the same time; one half of it a strap with a heavy jewel positioned on his forehead and the other half a soft black fabric that covered his eye socket.
Talia was dressed richly as well, armor in and her own gold circlette in place. She had a crossbow ready at her side. Their mother was dressed much the same, armor wise, but her crown was more of a jeweled helm than anything.
MIchael turned his attention back to the witch sisters. He knew Prue. She was the brown haired youngest. The one who had brought him to the nether in the first place with the help of Linus. Endura was the beautiful white haired middle child who had wiped away his tears when he had first arrived, and there was Mortana. Mortana was the oldest. Michael hadn’t seen her before but she kind of scared him. Her hair was blacker than black. Her eyes were bright in her face as she listened to the Warden. Michael couldn’t help but shiver when her gaze landed on him occasionally. She was full of power. He could feel it humming in his hair, ringing in his empty eye socket.
“Mortana,” the Warden said, continuing on with the meeting. “Do the witches need any more supplies for the festival? I believe everything should have been delivered to you, but I’m always afraid I will forget something important.”
Mortana nodded her dark head, a smile tracing her lips. “We do. Your preparations have been more than thorough, as always.”
“We especially appreciate the spore bread you sent to us,” Prue put in, a grin lighting up her face. “That was a welcome surprise.”
The Warden chuckled. “I’m very glad you enjoyed it. It was a bit of an excuse to have some spore bread myself.”
Prue and Endura laughed and Mortana let another smile play across her lips.
“Everything should be in order,” Endura said with a grateful smile. “The celebration should go just fine tomorrow. I do hope the young prince enjoys it.”
Michael smiled bashfully and nodded a little.
“Thank you, again, for all you do, you three,” the Warden said, relieved. “I don’t know how I would pull all this off without you.”
“Of course, my dear,” Mortana said. “We appreciate how much you do for us in return. It is quite delightful knowing my coven will never want for anything while Aurien stands. This is the most wonderful host city we could ever want.”
The Warden smiled again, satisfied and content. “Thank you, Mortana. Now, I have another matter I would like to discuss. As much as I truly enjoy these meetings with the witch coven, I find myself running low on time. The generals don’t much like Linus so he cannot attend those meetings for me, so I must go and listen to General Garret rattle on for hours and ask you to bring magical matters to Linus. He will be serving as my second, whether the generals like it or not.”
“About time!” Prue said, interrupting Mortana who was about to open her mouth.
The Warden laughed again and she put an arm around Michael and her other hand on Talia’s shoulder. “I know. I should have given him some of my responsibilities earlier.”
“I agree,” Mortana said sincerely. “He is a good friend to have by your side. I’m glad you have made this decision.”
The Warden relaxed a little. Michael realized she must have been worried that the witches wouldn’t be happy with the change.
“Is there anything else you need, love?” Endura asked, tilting her head with a little smile.
“No,” the Warden said warmly. “Thank you. You three hold this city together, all on your own.”
Prue flushed, Endura grinned, and Mortana glanced away, eyes sparkling a little. Michael let a hesitant smile find it’s way onto his face. Endura and Prue easily returned it. Mortana gave him a small look of pride.
“Alright,” the Warden said, pulling Talia tighter into her side and smiling down at her. “We need to go get measured for new armor to wear at the festival tomorrow. I was thinking about having vine detailing in the metal this year. What do you think?”
Talia thought hard for a moment and then nodded. “Better than the flowers we had two years ago.”
“I agree,” the Warden laughed. She nodded to the witches who were on their way out. Prue waved back at them before leaving with her sisters.
“What’s wrong with flowers?” Michael asked, wrinkling his nose. He personally liked flowers. Especially flower crowns. They reminded him of when he was little and Tubbo and Ranboo were always around.
“Nothing much, usually,” Talia replied, wrinkling her nose.
The Warden laughed as they started walking through the halls. “They chose a gastly color to fill the etchings with. No one would ever say it to our faces, but we looked absolutely ridiculous.”
Michael smiled, trying to imagine it. He laughed when he did.
“Exactly,” the Warden nodded. “Now, Michael. Can you tell me which way it is to get to the armory?”
Michael looked up at the detailing in the ceiling. He had been asked this question tons of times over the last day or two to help him learn how to navigate the bastion.
“Let’s see,” Michael said, tilting his head to see all of the ceiling. “Is it….. Forward, two lefts and then straight on from there?”
“There’s a right between those lefts,” the Warden said. She pointed out a small carving in all the muddle above them. “See there?”
“Oh! Yeah!”
“That was good, little prince,” the Warden said. “You’re definitely getting better.”
Michael puffed out his chest and grinned. “Of course I have. I’ve got an awesome mum to help me.”
The Warden made a strange strangled noise in her throat and Michael stopped to look at her, worried that she was hurt. Her eyes were watering, but it didn’t seem like she was hurt. She hooked her hands under his arms and lifted him up to her chest. She cradled him and pressed her snout to his forehead. The teenaged part of Michael wanted to throw a fit about being held like a baby, but the other half was melting into the hug, stretching out for more attention.
The Warden held him and then moved him to sit on her shoulders. She reached and took Talia’s hand, stroking her thumb over her daughter’s knuckles.
“You two are the best thing that ever happened to me,” the Warden said lovingly.
Michael smiled and Talia trilled happily, walking closer to her mother’s side.
They reached the armory, talking and laughing, Michael wearing Talise’s helm and burying his hands in her thick curls, scratching at her scalp and making her hum happily.
The smiths looked up and many of them grinned when they saw the family playfully talking and teasing. Talise reached up and poked Michael in the side, making him giggle. She carefully knelt down and Michael reluctantly slid off so that the seamstresses and smiths could look him over.
“Are you really going to be able to get that much armor done before tomorrow?” Michael asked curiously as his mother crouched so someone could measure her head.
“We can,” the piglin working with Michael said. “We’re really quick. Besides, festival armor isn’t as thick or difficult to make as real armor. The longest bit is the detailing. Speaking of which,” the pigling looked over Michael’s head, “Talise. What detailing do you want this year?”
“Vines,” Talise replied, “And make sure the person coloring the etches isn’t colorblind this time.”
The piglin laughed. “We’re never going to live that down, are we?”
“Absolutely not.”
Michael laughed, Talia grinning right alongside him.
There was a knock at the door. Michael glanced back to see a small enderman standing in the doorway. “Warden,” he said, bowing his head respectfully and flicking his tail. “There is a priest of Kriskria looking to meet you. He said he will be staying for the water festival and wanted to see your son and learn of his story.”
The Warden nodded. “Tell him I will be with him shortly. We will meet him in the Throne room.”
The ender boy nodded and turned, closing the door behind him.
The measuring didn’t take too much longer. Michael put his chest plate back on as Talise finished putting all of her armor back on.
“Alright,” Talise smiled. “Let’s go meet the priest. Have you met a priest of Kriskria before, Michael?”
“I don’t think so,” Michael said, taking hold of her hand. “Are they usually fun?”
“Do you think the Goddess of Death is fun?” Talia replied before Talise could. Michael opened his mouth to respond and then decided not to. That felt like a trick question.
Talise chuckled.
They came to the door behind the throne in the throne room. Talise opened it and stepped through, straightening and slipping back into being the Warden. She came around the throne and smiled.
“Priest,” she said warmly. “Welcome to the Bastion. I hope your travels have treated you well.”
Michel came around and carefully placed himself beside his mother before looking up. The man in the throne room stood slightly turned as if ready to run if needed, his black robes sweeping the floor, the symbol of Kriskria clear on his chest, his blonde hair framing his stubbly face, a familiar bucket hat on his head and earring dangling from his ear.
“Thank you, Warden,” Philza bowed with a friendly smile. Michael didn’t miss the glance Philza threw to him, confused and concerned.
“I… Philza?” Michael found himself saying before he could think.
Philza froze, eyes flickering between the Warden and Michael.
“Philza,” the Warden said slowly. She narrowed her eyes at the man. “Not the godborn Philza.”
Philza gave an awkward laugh, pulling his hat lower over his eyes. “I… well…. I don’t mean to cause any problems….I….. um have a good day!”
Philza turned and bolted, his cloak flying up to show his black and white wings.
He disappeared into the halls of the Bastion and Michael took a step forward. Then a step back to his mother.
“Mortana!” the Warden called. There was a poof of soot and Mortana was there in an instant, the air around her crackling with energy. .
“Godborn?”
“Yes.”
“We’ll get him.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t hurt him!” Michael squeaked out.
“They won’t,” the Warden assured him. “I just want to know what he’s doing here.”
“Probably looking for me,” Michael said sullenly.
The Warden hesitated and put her arm around his shoulders. He buried his face in her side, torn again. He was happy. He was happy. Why did the godborn have to come looking for him? He was finally cared for.
“Prue didn’t tell Technoblade what was happening, did she,” Michael said, a sob bubbling in his throat.
The Warden crouched to hold him closer. “...No. She didn’t. We…. Michael, I needed you home, safe, by my side. They weren’t just going to give you back to me. The godborn take. They never, ever give back. And I NEEDED you back.”
“So you just took me?”
The Warden froze, her arms going stiff around Michael.
Michael realized what he had said. “No, wait-I don’t mean-I meant to say-”
“No, Michael,” the Warden said, leaning back to look at him. “You’re right. You’re right….”
Michael stared at her. He bit his lip. “You…. you wouldn’t leave me, though, right? They loved me so much but…. They…. I was alone all the time. I don’t want to be alone again. I don’t want to be trapped.”
“Oh, love,” the Warden said, voice scratchy. “I won’t trap you. I wouldn’t want you to stay if you’re not happy…. Do you want to go back to the godborn?”
Michael shook his head. “I like it here,” he whispered, eyes flicking to Talia who watched with her hands anxiously pressed together.
Talise leaned forward and pressed her nose to Michael’s forehead. “I’ll still show you the portal out of the nether. Okay?”
“Okay…”
There was a pop and Prue was standing in the throne room, an excited grin spread on her face. “I heard there were godborn in the Nether.”
“There are,” the Warden said softly, a hand on Michael’s head. He leaned into it.
“What are we going to do with them when we catch them?”
Michael closed his eyes.
“We’ll put them in the cells,” the Warden said softly. “Prue, you know the Endurian who lives in the godborn cabins?”
“Yes.”
“Would you bring him here, please?”
Prue deflated a little. “Okay…. I was hoping to help hunt down the godborn.”
“Next time, Prue.”
Prue brightened up and disappeared with another pop.

Chapter Text

“Techno! We need to run!”
Techno raised his head and snorted. Phil had been in there for all of five minutes and was already running out, guards, servants, and witches on his tail.
And Philza complained that Techno was the difficult one.
Techno turned and flicked his head back, his loosely tied lead releasing easily from the post. Philza vaulted onto Techno’s back as Techno turned and bolted out through the streets, the whoop of teleporting endermen and the shouts of guards just behind them.
Techno grunted loudly at Philza, wishing he could verbally chew his friend out and ask what had happened. Philza seemed to understand what he wanted anyways.
“I got in there alright. The Warden herself came out to meet me,” Philza explained, panting as he leaned this way and that to match the way Techno was running through the streets. “But she had her daughter and Michael with her and Michael blew my cover immediately.”
Techno gave another questioning grunt.
“Yeah, he looked fine. He was wearing netherite armor and…. Techno, he looks happy here.”
Techno jumped a cart and thought about the implications of that. They could take Michael by force, but if he was actually happy here they really should just leave him. He was safely in the hands of a healthy culture, the son of the ruler here, not the main heir which would save him some heartache later and, well, it was a good place to live.
“Yeah,” Philza said, reading Techno’s silence perfectly. “Let’s get out of here and then we’ll figure out if we should really do anything.”
Techno shook out his mane in agreement and carried them swiftly through the more empty streets, agile now that he was used to this form.
They were coming up on the walls now. Techno slid to a stop and Philza jumped off to guard against anyone coming on them while Techno moved the huge stone door. Techno got his tusks under the door and started to roll it to the side when there was a sharp pain in both of his sides. He grunted and tried to keep going but his legs collapsed out from under him and he shuddered on the ground. He could vaguely hear Philza screaming his name, but Techno was curling in on himself, pain wracking through every ligament.
Then, the pain stopped. Techno twitched his fingers and realized instantly what had happened. He got to his knees with a grunt and found that we wasn’t wearing any clothes and was covered in a hoglin hide. He shook his head, reaching out and grabbing at Philza who was crouched over him. He took hold of the knife Philza always kept in his boot and drew it.
“Phil,” Techno said, voice raw from the yelling he’d done as he’d transformed back. “I can’t push that.”
“You sure?”
“I’m sure,” Techno replied, cutting slits in the loose hide and strips so he could make a quick tunic out of it: neck hole, arm holes, something to tie it around his middle. That would have to be good enough. The rest of the hide they would have to leave here.
“You have to fly,” Techno said, tucking the knife into the makeshift belt he’d tied around his waist as he stood up.
Philza shook his head, eyes wide. “Mate, you know I can’t.”
There were some whoops and endurian guards stood at the open end of the passage that led to the gate.
“You have to,” Techno said, taking Philza by the shoulders.
Philza tried to open his wings, but they were frozen stiff, his feathers bristing and itchy as he thought about taking to the air and finding the pattern in the heat waves. It was something he used to enjoy. Something he would still enjoy if he deserved to fly again. He shouldn’t ever fly again. Not after what he did to Wilbur. Not after the way he’d accidentally abandoned his sons, sure that they were old enough and ready enough to take on the world themselves. They said they could. He’d been stupid enough to believe them. But maybe if he had bugged them and stayed with them they would have hated him for being overprotective. There really was no winning. He was destined to fail, to fail all of his children, to destroy everything they worked to achieve, to make them hate them, TO KILL WILBUR.
“Phil!! I need you here, man! If we’re not flyin’, I at least need your help fightin’.”
Philza gave a faint nod and looked up, reaching in his bag for a weapon. The Endermen were already on them, though, trapping them in, never coming close enough to be in range of an attack.
There was a bit of a laugh from above and a potion came raining down on Philza’s head. He collapsed to his knees, crying out hoarsely as a strange pulling sensation started up all over his body. Something flashed and Phil could see another witch, this one older with black hair and dark eyes. Techno came to his knees, struggling against powerful witchcraft that held him tight.
Philza squawked and bent over, everything aching and pulling this way and that. And then it stopped and he was covered in feathers, a huge, monstrous crow. He cried out, but couldn’t move. He couldn’t figure out his new joints quickly enough before he was bound in cord and his eyes were covered, making him strangely sleepy. He could hear the crows squawking and cawing angrily, but they were all eventually driven into hiding in Philza’s new mass of feathers.
Philza tried to struggle, but his legs were pinned under him and his wings were his arms and he couldn’t get them to unfreeze. He heard Techno yell out in anger or pain and Philza hoarsely hissed through his bound up beak.
Techno struggled to escape from his bonds and the magical cords burned in his skin. He eventually slowed his struggle, panting and glaring at the witches. The witch with silver hair appeared. She touched Philza’s forehead and the crow monster fell still, his bone like beak clicking as his head fell to the ground.
The witch came over to Techno, gave him a respectful nod, and touched his forehead. Techno tried to fight the magic, but it overwhelmed him and took him on a soothing river of magic, old music ringing in his ears. He relaxed and his eyes slipped closed without him even noticing.
…………………………..
Edward didn’t mind being alone, but he did this time. He trusted that Philza and Techno could get themselves in and out of trouble without much effort, but he was anxious this time. They had been gone for too long, and now there was a small group of godborn out looking for them as well. He couldn’t do anything to help, either, except to pack them a little bit of food and point them in the right direction.
Edward puttered around the house, looking for something to clean. He’d already cleaned everything, shovelled all the paths of snow, mucked out the aviary, taken care of all the animals, groomed Steve twice, and had run out of things to do. He had tried to sit down and just read, but his eyes were always drawn to the set of scrying bowls he tried to use every two hours to find Techno and Philza, though the magic of the Nether made it nearly impossible to scry for anything there.
Edward picked up the book again, sitting on the couch and looking at the sentences at the top of the page. He sat like that for a few moments before he softly swore.
“I’m going to lose my mind,” he whispered, burying his face in the book.
He sat like that for a few minutes, trying to think of something to do other than sit and worry. His ear twitched when he heard the snow crunching outside. He looked up, startled. More godborn? If it was more godborn then he might be in danger. No one was here to protect him and most of the godborn that wouldn’t try to kill him were in the nether at the moment.
He grabbed Philza’s daggers from the table, left out in case he needed to use them, and stood facing the front door, breathing heavily. People were climbing the stairs to the house, muttering to each other. There was a soft knock at the door. Edward stared at the door, silent as he listened. When someone called through the door to him, he flinched, hands shaking.
“Hey! We’re looking for an Enderman named Edward. Is he here? We’re friends!”
Edward stood indecisively. A female voice gasped and said, “What if they locked him up and he can’t answer us? After all, they wouldn’t let him wander around loose while they’re gone, right.”
“You may be right,” a male voice said, a rasp of an endurian accent following his words. “Can you get the door unlocked, Prue?”
“Can do!”
Edward hissed to himself and dashed through the halls and to his room. He couldn’t let the enderman see him. The enderman would try to kill him, surely, for the blasphemy of willingly giving his eyes to a godborn. It was plain to see what he’d done. There was an open chest of ender pearls on the hearth and Edward’s eyes were green from how many times his eyes had grown back after gifting his previous ones to Techno and Philza.
The front door opened and Edward turned three times in his room, trying to find a safe place to hide. He realized that he would have to go outside and grabbed his boots, shoving his feet into them and grabbing a jacket. He climbed up on his bed, daggers in one hand, a small bag of food in the other and he quickly picked a spot he could see in the yard and teleported there. He took off running, glad for the training that Techno had given him in keeping his balance after a teleport or a big jump.
Edward teleported again, looking over his shoulder fearfully. He heard a deep whoop of a teleport and a long black hand wrapped around his bicep. Edward struggled, shrieking and closing his eyes so the enderman wouldn’t see his eyes. He couldn’t teleport out of an enderman’s grasp, even if he could open his eyes to try.
“Calm down,” a deep voice said, a hint of worry and confusion in his voice. “We’re here to get you away from here.”
“Let me go!” Edward shrieked, but his adrenaline was starting to fail him and the enderman easily got a better hold of him. “Please, leave me alone! This is my home, let me go, please.”
“Hey, buddy, hey, calm down,” the enderman said. “Calm down. Calm down. Open your eyes. Look, I’m not going to hurt you.”
Edward shook his head, keeping his eyes closed.
“Woah,” a woman’s voice said as her footsteps crunched in the snow. “They really did a number on him.”
She came closer and put a hand on his shoulder where he was now pinned to the enderman’s chest. “It’s alright. We’re not going to hurt you.”
Edward tried to push the knife he was still holding into the enderman’s arm, but the witch noticed and plucked the knife from his grip. “Hey, none of that. We’re here to save you. We’re not godborn.”
“Let go,” Edward gasped.
The enderman pressed his cold fingers to Edward’s throat, feeling his pulse and Edward opened his eyes with a gasp, startled by it.
The enderman twisted to see his eyes. The enderman's eyes were natural, purple. He was seeing Edward’s green ones, proof of his betrayal to Endurian culture.
“Don’t kill me,” he whispered fearfully.
“They took your eyes,” the enderman said, voice shaking with immense sadness. “They took your eyes so often they’ve gone green.”
Edward realized what they were implying. “No! They didn’t! They saved me. Phil saved me and Techno protects me. They would never! I gave them freely-” Edward choked off. He had rushed to defend Philza and Techno so quickly, he had betrayed himself.
“Don’t kill me,” he whimpered.
The enderman and the Prue woman stared at him.
“We’re not going to kill you,” the enderman said sadly. He loosened his grip and turned Edward to face him. “I’m Linus. Our Lady, The Warden, asked us to fetch you. Michael mentioned you were here and we are here to free you.”
“I live here, though,” Edward said shakily.
Linus stared at Edward. “You really believe that, don’t you.”
“Poor thing,” Prue crooned.
Edward struggled a little. “Just let me go,” he whispered.
“I have orders,” Linus said, not unkindly. “We’re going to Aurien. It’s nice there, I promise.”
Edward stared up at Linus, green eyes wide. “Will I come back?” he croaked.
Linus opened his mouth and hesitated. Then Edward fell forward into the bigger enderman, Prue having put him to sleep.
“Let’s go,” Prue said seriously. “We have a lot of work to do with this one.”
Linus picked Edward up and curled his lanky form a bit to hold him better. “I wonder how much of it is actually brainwashing,” Linus whispered to himself.
“What?” Prue asked from where she was looking through Edward’s small bag of food.
“Nothing. It’s… nothing.”

Chapter Text

Talise picked up her glass pen and dipped it in ink again. She hovered the pen over the paper on her desk in front of her and hesitated. She stared down at the paper, biting her lip. She sighed and wiped the ink from her pen and set it down. She stood up and took off her armor and stuck it on the armor stand. She ran a hand through her short hair, tired. She kept seeing Michael’s distressed expression in her mind. Over and over again she could hear the confusion in his voice after seeing that Ithiar in the throne room. It broke her heart.
He had gone to bed about an hour ago. He was sleeping over in Talia’s room tonight. Talise was glad her daughter and son were getting along. Michael did not look like he should be left alone for the time being.
Talise turned as she heard someone teleport outside her door. A soft knock came through the wood only a moment later.
“Come in, Prue,” Talise said softly.
Prue opened the door, surprised. “How did you know it was me?”
“Because you’re the only witch who teleports everywhere like you don’t know how to walk,” Talise said, a slight teasing edge in her voice.
Prue grinned. “I like it, so what?”
Talise chuckled. She sighed and looked the young brunette over. “Why are you here, Prue? Did you find the enderman?”
“We did,” Prue answered, suddenly serious. Her dark eyes flashed with anger. “They really have him brainwashed, ma’am. He kept trying to get away from us and claimed that the Ithiar were protecting him, even though it’s clear they’ve been taking his eyes. I mean, his eyes are GREEN. No enderman chooses to give up their eyes to anyone. Especially not an Ithiar.”
Talise shook her head mournfully. “They’re green?”
“Yeah. And we found a chest with hundreds of eyes in it.”
Talise sighed, running a hand over her face, careful to keep from unhooking the gold caps from her tusks as she did so. “Where is he?” she finally asked.
“He’s asleep. He’ll probably wake up soon. Linus’s got him. Are we meeting in the throne room?”
“Lava pits, no,” the Warden said, putting her gold band back on. She grabbed her chest plate as she said, “If he’s as uncomfortable as you mentioned, I think it would be best if we went to the lounge.”
Prue nodded. “I’ll go tell Linus.”
She popped out of existence and the Warden finished putting her armor and jewelry back in place. She twisted at one of the loose bindings in her hair and sighed. She needed to be in bed, but this was more important. She stepped out into the halls and made her way to the lounge, giving passing servants nods in return.
The door to the lounge was made of warm colored wood from the surface world. The Warden opened it and came into the soft room. It was big enough for 20 people, but the positioning of all the furniture made it perfectly comfortable for only a few. It was a room that could easily expand for the party, even if nothing changed. The deep couches and chairs scattered on a thick rug with low lighting made it the perfect place to quietly rest after a long day. It was the most comforting room in the Bastion.
Linus had laid the newcomer on the most comfortable couch and the enderman had curled up, face pressed into the cushions and his hands as he slept. He wasn’t skinny or bedraggled. He was shorter than Linus and was still shaking off the complete lankiness of endurian youth. The Warden could help but reach out and brush back some of his curly bangs, gazing sadly at the scarring on the poor enderman’s face.
“He’s still young,” Linus said from where he slouched forward in his favorite armchair by the couch. “He should still be in his pod. He’s lost so much and still he wanted to stay in those cabins.”
“The Ithiar will pay for their crimes,” the Warden promised. “For now, we will rescue those that we can.”
The enderman took a deep breath as he started to come out of sleep and the Warden stepped back.
The young man opened his eyes. Sure enough, they were green from losing his eyes over and over. He looked at his hands, and then the couch, and then his eyes skittered up to see the Warden.
He whimpered softly and tried to curl in on himself. He closed his eyes and shook on the couch, apparently wishing he was anywhere else but here. Since the door was closed, the boy would only be able to teleport in the room as young endermen could only teleport where they could see. He was far from old enough to be able to even teleport to somewhere he knew well, nevermind teleporting somewhere he’d never been before.
“It’s okay, young one,” Linus said warmly, putting a hand on the boy’s leg. “You’re safe here.”
The enderman flinched and hissed, a soft endurian warble escaping his lips. His breath caught in his throat and he buried his hands in his hair, grabbing hold of the base of his horns.
“What did you do to my pod,” he whispered, eyes still closed and still trembling. “Philza and Techno. You killed them, didn’t you? You killed them and I didn’t even come look for them. They’re dead and no one will protect me.”
“Edward,” Linus said soothingly, but firmly. “They are not dead.”
Edward finally opened his eyes and gasped, relief flooding his expression. “They’re not dead,” he whispered as if it were the most beautiful thing he could imagine. “Thank the Goddess.”
The Warden crouched down to look into Edward’s face better and the joy on his face drained away. His tail curled around his stomach and he tried to sit up without moving.
“Edward,” the Warden rumbled. “I need to know. How do those godborn treat you? Please don’t lie. You’re safe here.”
Edward hesitated, not meeting her eyes. He slowly sat up fully, legs curled under him. He messed with his tail and slowly whispered, “They’re my pod. They take care of me. You have to understand, they’re not like the others. They make me clothes that fit me and keep me safe from rain and snow. They gave me good food, books, and company. I watch the house and their pets while they’re away, but they come back quickly. They never leave without telling me where they’re going. They don’t lock the door to keep me in and they don’t lock me out. Please, you have to understand. They’re my POD.”
The Warden watched his pleading expression, green eyes flashing with emotion. He seemed to be telling the truth but….
“Edward,” she said softly. “Your eyes.”
He hesitated, lips trembling and eyes darting for some sort of escape. He finally took a slow breath, putting his hand on his chest and calming himself down before he could work himself into a panic attack. He met her eyes, careful not to glance at Linus as he said, “I gave them of my own free will. I gave them in the beginning because I was scared of them, but when I realized they only wanted to take care of me, I just kept giving them. They don’t kill endermen so they didn’t have any eyes, which meant they were in danger from other godborn. And they protect me from the other godborn so…..”
He paused, pressing his fingers together and glancing at Linus for the first time since he woke up. “It’s blasphemy, I know,” he whispered. “But Philza saved my life and Techno keeps me safe and fed. I want to help them in whatever way I can.”
Linus watched Edward closely for a moment before a look of horror spread on his face. The Warden was startled to see so many emotions flick across her best friend’s face.
Linus finally settled on distrust, flickering back and forth in anger, and he hissed in the Endurian language,
Edward closed his eyes, gripping his tail tightly in fear.
Linus shrieked, standing up and towering over the cowering youth. Linus switched back to the godborn tongue and screeched, “What were you THINKING!?”
Edward whimpered. “They’re all I have,” he managed to squeak out. “Please. They’ll kill you if you hurt me. Please.”
“Are you threatening us!?” Linus snapped, tail lashing back and forth. The Warden put a hand on Linus’s shoulder but he shook her off.
“No,” Edward wailed, curling in on himself and looking up at the angered enderman. “I’m not! I promise! I just don’t want you to get hurt! I don’t want anyone to get hurt!”
Edward wrapped his arms around his stomach and groaned. He was an ashy color and shook like he was going to throw up. “I just want to go home,” he crooned, eyes closed again.
“Linus,” the Warden said before her friend could spit the hateful things he was thinking. “Go calm down in the hall. You’re not helping.”
For a moment, she thought he was going to explode on her, but he slowly deflated and nodded, not meeting her eye. He turned and brushed past her, slamming the door on his way out.
The Warden turned to Edward, looking the young man over. He was still curled up and shaking. He muttered to himself in endurian, rocking back and forth.
“You’re okay. We won’t hurt you,” the Warden said, crouching down to face him.
“He will,” Edward whispered. “I’ve gone against everything Endurian. He was so angry.”
“I won’t let him,” the Warden said softly. “But I do need to know, did the godborn ever hurt you?”
Edward bit his lip and slowly met her gaze. “Philza stepped on my tail once, but that was an accident.”
“Were there any other accidents?”
Edward shook his head. “I swear it.”
The Warden nodded. She wanted to see for herself. “Little one, we have the godborn here. They are locked up for now. We’re trying to decide if they’re a threat to this city and, if proven to be safe, we will release them. I want you to see them and talk to them so I can learn a little about them. They aren’t going to want to talk to me, but we want to see if they are safe. You have to promise me that you won’t try to get them out. I don’t want to have to lock you up. I know you don’t deserve it.”
Edward slowly nodded. The Warden held out her hand and Edward took it. She stood and helped him up.
“Follow me, please,” the Warden said as she opened the door. She glanced to her right and found Linus sitting with his back against the wall, cooling off from his rage. Edward came through the doorway and flinched back when he saw the older enderman.
Linus glanced up and then away, hands clenched into fists.
The Warden Put an arm around Edward’s shoulders and led him through the halls, deeper into the Bastion. She glanced up at the symbols on the ceiling and said, “The godborn. What do you think of them?”
Edward hesitated.
“It’s alright,” the Warden said softly. “I’m trying to figure out how much of a threat this Technoblade and Philza are.”
Edward nodded and softly said, “Most godborn are awful. I don’t really think Philza and Techno are… godborn? They don’t act like them. They’re not selfish and they only spar to keep their skills working. They don’t kill Endermen anymore, haven’t done it for years. Technoblade figured out how to cure villagers who were turned into Zombies. They only came here because they thought Michael was in danger.”
“He isn’t,” the Warden said softly, heart aching to think that anyone could assume she would hurt her son. “He’s one of us. Why would we hurt him?”
Edward shrugged. He couldn’t think of a response that didn’t sound like an accusation.
The Warden shook her head slightly. “I’m glad you are here,” she said warmly. “Michael said much the same to what you are saying. We were unsure if we should keep them locked up.”
“You should probably keep them locked up until you can explain everything to them,” Edward said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “You’ve been pretty hostile towards them so you’d probably get the same response back. Techno took on almost all of the other godborn when they had trapped Phil in his old house. They just get aggressive when they think they’re in danger.”
The Warden nodded. They were coming to halls that were narrower and darker. Guards were posted on every corner, giving a respectful nod to the Warden as she passed. Edward kept his head down, watching his feet as his bare claws clicked softly on the stone of the hallway.
“Kyto,” the Warden nodded to the guard standing by a heavy door.
He nodded. “Warden.”
He opened the door for her and the anxious enderman and the two entered. It was dark, but Edward could still tell they were in the dungeon. Something was softly crooning in the dark and the sound of soft clicking easily led them to the correct cells. The two at the end were very dark, one holding something big and feathery, and the other contained Technoblade, his red eyes shining in the darkness.
“Technoblade, Blessed of the Blood God,” the Warden said.
Techno only growled.
The Warden nodded. “I have brought someone here to talk to you, since you didn’t want to talk to me or mine.”
Techno rolled his eyes. Then, his eyes landed on Edward. The relief in his face was something Edward would never forget for all his life.

Chapter Text

“Edward!?” Techno asked softly. Then, the large man was on his feet and came to the bars of the cell, chains rattling loudly. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”
Edward shook his head and put his hand on top of Techno’s as the godborn clenched his fist around one of the bars. “I’m fine,” Edward said, “I promise. I was just scared for a little while….”
The Warden watched their interaction and nodded. “So, it’s true. The godborn do care for you.”
“Of course we do,” Techno hissed, eyes narrowing at the Warden. “Why did you bring him here? Are you going to hurt him to make us talk?”
“Why would I hurt him?” the Warden asked sharply, eyes flashing in the semi darkness. “Edward is one of our kind. He is an Enderman, not a godborn. We do not hurt our own.”
Techno watched her, tense and fierce. Then, he slowly relaxed. “Yours is a philosophy I can respect. If only all people had that same mindset.”
The Warden only nodded, graciously accepting the respect the godborn seldom gave.
“What now?” Techno asked. “If you’re not going to hurt Edward, and we’re still in cells, what is your plan?”
“It is as I said before,” the Warden said seriously. “I wish to only ask you a few questions. You are of the Blood God and I have heard tales of your wrath. I do not want to hold you here unjustly, but I must ensure the safety of the people in my city. Technoblade, you came here for my son Michael and possibly to destroy my people. Would I be able to convince you to hold off your judgment of us for a day or two, and then decide if we should be destroyed?”
Techno thought about it for a moment. He looked Edward over to make sure he hadn’t been lying about being hurt, glanced over to the dark cell that held Philza, and then met the Warden’s eyes again. She was certainly resectable. Techno knew a true warrior when he saw one and Edward didn’t seem all too edgy around her.
“That sounds like a fair deal to me,” he said with a nod. “Just as long as Philza and I are not restrained by magic or chains in any way while we are here.”
The Warden nodded. “I will get one of the guards to unlock you and a potion to change Philza Minecraft back.”
She put a gentle hand on Edward’s shoulder and then turned to grab a guard.
Techno watched her go before whispering to Edward, “What have you seen?”
“They seem nice,” Edward whispered. “They obviously don’t trust godborn, but who does?”
Techno nodded. He shifted his hand on the bar so he could put his thumb on Edward’s knuckles. “Glad you’re okay,” Techno said as the door opened and the Warden and a guard came in.
“Same to you. I didn’t know if you two were still alive. The scrying bowls wouldn’t reach you,” Edward said, letting a warble into his voice as he remembered his distress.
“I’m sorry we worried you,” Techno said, taking a step back as the guard opened the door to the cell. The guard stepped into the cell, his posture relaxed.
“Here, let me get that for you,” the guard said warmly. He undid the manacles around Techno’s wrists and stepped out of the cell. Techno stopped in front of the Warden and gave her a nod.
The guard started unlocking Philza’s cell, pulling off the blindfold. Philza crooned a little, waking up and Techno turned to watch as the guard helped Philza drink a potion. Philza started to screech with the pain of being transformed and the guard had to take a step back to keep from getting slammed into the wall by a wing. Edward, though taller than Techno, ducked into the godborn’s side, hands over his ears.
Techno put an arm around the enderman and waited. Philza finally got up, a large cloak of feathers clutched around him. He looked at his freed legs and hands and over to Techno.
“What?”
“If you didn’t sleep through everything, maybe you would know what’s going on, old man.”
Philza rolled his eyes at Techno.
“You are free to look around Aurien,” the Warden explained. “Michael is my son and I would ask that you respect his wish to stay with me if he so chooses. I do not want to start a fight with two of the strongest godborn in the realms, so I would like to show you that we do not wish to cause harm to those who show us no harm in return.”
“That’s fair,” Philza said, pulling the robe tighter around himself and stepping forward to make sure Edward was alright. When he found him to be okay, he turned to the Warden and asked, “Our supplies?”
“We have them,” the Warden nodded. “Though I would like to offer you new armor and bags as a show of good will.”
“I wouldn’t mind that,” Philza said, sharing a look with Techno, who gave a short nod.
The Warden gave a small smile in response. “You are guests here, then. You can leave whenever you wish to, though while you’re in the city, Kyto here will escort you.”
The guard who had unlocked them smiled and gave a short wave.
“This is mostly to make sure no one in the city tries to cause you any sort of harm,” the Warden said. “As you can imagine, we have not had many pleasant experiences with Godborn.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Philza replied. “So, I’m up to see about getting some armor…. And maybe seeing Michael?”
“Michael is currently sleeping,” the Warden said. “We have a big day coming, what with the Water Festival starting. He will join us when he wakes. In fact, after we get the two of you measured for armor, we should all go to bed. I am, of course, assuming you two would be interested in staying for the festival?”
Techno glanced at Philza and shrugged. Philza shrugged in return.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” the Warden said, a hint of a smile on her face. “Come along, then.”
They stepped out of the dark room just behind the Warden, who was speaking quietly with Kyto.
“What’s the plan, then?” Philza asked, wrapping his feathered cloak so it would hold better around himself.
“I’m fine to just look around. As far as I’ve seen, this city isn’t all that bad. I’m not inclined to burn it to the ground…. yet,” Techno said. That was a little bit of a lie. The voices were screaming about the injustice and indignity of being trussed up and thrown in a cell, but Techno easily reasoned his way through the muddle. The Warden seemed honorable and incredibly forgiving. Though, it probably helped that Techno and Philza hadn’t caused any damage to the city while they had been there.
Philza simply nodded, one arm around Edward who fidgeted with his tail nervously.
The Warden turned around and said, “Kyto here will take you to be measured and then will show you to your rooms. You can ask him any questions you may have. I really must be getting some rest in preparation for the festival.”
“Thank you,” Philza said graciously. Techno only grunted.
With that, the Warden started off down the hall and Kyto turned to the three of them. “Welp,” he said with a smile, “I’m Kyto. Nice to meet you. Like she said, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.”
“I actually have one,” Philza said as they started walking again. “What is this Water Festival all about.”
Kyto shot him a cheeky grin. “Take a wild guess.”
Philza rolled his eyes and Kyto said, “Our population here in the nether grows a bit too much for the water supply to sustain, so, with the use of magic, we introduce more water into the system each year to support our city. The festival bit of it all came around because who doesn’t want an excuse to get a couple days off from work, am I right?”
“I guess,” Philza replied.
Techno hummed. It was rather clever and he was impressed with the city even more now. They planned ahead for things like water supply. No wonder it was so large and well set up. It had been a long time since Techno had seen a city that was built with more than just a hope and a prayer. It made him a bit nostalgic, thinking back to times where he had actually had to come up with a solid plan to take down a nation, rather than just show up with a couple of withers and some TNT.
“It’ll be a lot of fun,” Kyto promised as they turned another corner, servants giving them a wide berth. “I’d like to show you around the domes. I hear that you’ve already explored a good deal of the East Dome and inner city. There’s a lot to see. The garden dome is especially nice, though it’ll probably be rather crowded during the festival. If you want to hang around after the festival, I can show you around in there. Ooh! Have either of you been ghast riding?”
Techno gave the piglin man such a befuddled look that Philza burst into laughter.
“Oh!” Kyto said, ears down in embarrassment. “Right! Godborn. You can’t ride the ghasts. Sorry…. That’s a great experience.”
“I’m sure it is, mate,” Philza said, still grinning at Techno. Techno shook his head with amazement as the guard stopped at a door and slid it open.
“Right,” Kyto said, “This is the measuring room.”
Philza followed Kyto through and Techno was about to when Edward, who had trailed behind the group when Philza let him go, grabbed onto Techno’s sleeve.
“What’s up?” Techno asked.
Edward glanced down and said, “I don’t want to be alone here. You know my eyes?”
“Yeah.”
“There are Endermen here that might try to kill me for breaking Endurian code.”
Techno’s expression relaxed a little, a hint of sadness in his red eyes. “I’m sorry we made you feel like you had to give us your eyes, Edward.”
“No…. that was my choice…. I just don’t want to be alone.”
“Then you won’t be,” Techno said with a nod. “Stick with me, Ed.”
Edward nodded and the two walked together into the measuring room.
There were piglins and Eanorn dancing around each other, some measuring, others getting measured. Philza was already standing on a box, wearing some sort of simple tunic as his arms and wings were being measured.
“Hey, there you are,” he said with a smile as someone examined his bucket hat and started color matching with metals and fabrics they had. “Thought you got lost, living compass.”
Techno snorted and got up on an offered box, his hastily thrown together tunic good enough for the purpose of measuring. Edward was given a tunic and pointed to a changing room to put it on. Kyto was talking with one of the ladies working with the feather cloak Philza had dragged in with him and she laughed at his jokes as he leaned on her counter.
Techno stood still as he was measured, the voices going quiet with interest as the seamstresses worked around him. Some of them looked at him with fear and awe, and others, the older ones, mostly, couldn’t seem to be bothered to conjure any emotions other than cool professionalism.
“Sorry,” Philza said as he managed to smack three separate people with his wings in the crowded room.
“I said back off,” the head matron of the room growled at the girls. “It’s their own fault for getting hit,” she told Philza.
Philza laughed a little. “I used to be a lot more coordinated with my wings.”
“Oh, do you not use them much?”
Philza fell silent and Techno stiffened. He could tell where his friend’s mind was. It was back in that dim, smokey room where everything changed for the worse.
“I got injured a while back so I couldn’t fly much. I haven’t been able to find the time to get back the muscles I need to fly,” Philza lied with a charming little shrug.
“Sorry to hear that,” the matron said, measuring around Philza’s chest.
Philza accepted that with a nod. There were a few moments of silence where some of the ladies knocked on the changing room door to see if Edward was done yet.
“This takes me back,” Techno said to Philza, trying to keep the older man’s mind from spiraling as it was wont to do when someone asked about his wings. “It’s been a long time since someone else has measured us and made armor for us.”
Philza looked over at Techno as someone measured his hands for gloves. They were really going all out on the armor. “Yeah. It has. Wasn’t the last time back when we were in charge of the Antarctic Empire?”
Techno thought about it and nodded. “Yeah. That sounds right…. Heh, if those other emperors could see where we ended up, they’d never let us live it down.”
“The other emperors are all dead,” Philza reminded him gently. “They’re probably rolling in their graves.”
“Probably,” Techno smiled as Edward came out of the changing room, standing awkwardly as the seamstresses started to measure him.
“Are you alright, Edward?” Philza asked with a small smile.
Edward nodded. “I’m fine….. When are we going home?”
“After the Festival,” Philza said soothingly. “Then we’ll take you home. We might come back if we need to, but you can stay home.”
“Okay,” Edward said as the matron helped Philza down off the box and offered him some more solid clothes he could put on until they got their new outfits.
Kyto turned his attention away from the seamstress. “You done?”
Techno shared a look with Philza, who had already put on the overshirt and trousers. It had been a long time since they’d been around people who had grown up in a stable environment. It was shocking to find there were still stable environments to grow up in.
“Yeah,” Philza shrugged.
“Let’s get you some rooms, then,” Kyto grinned. “Do you want to be in separate rooms?”
“No,” Techno said, no hesitation as he said it.
Kyto nodded. “Can do. Come on.”

Chapter Text

The soft knock at the door caused Philza to stir in his bed. He peered out from his curled wings and sighed. He crawled off the obnoxiously large bed where he, Edward, and Techno had been sprawled out on, still not touching each other despite their height, bulk, and wingspan.
Techno and Edward were still sleeping, Edward curled up a bit like an absurdly long cat and Techno sprawled out and snoring, laying on his back.
Philza shifted his wings, pulling them in close and opened the door. Kyto stood there with a bit of an apologetic smile. “Morning,” he said. “Sorry to wake you but I thought I would let you know that the heirs are awake. Michael was asking about you. I thought you might want to know.”
“Oh,” Philza said, surprised. “Thank you.”
The godborn glanced back at his compatriots and considered waking them up. He studied Techno’s posture and knew from personal experience that it wouldn’t be safe to wake him up for another hour, at least.
“They’re going to sleep for a little longer,” Philza said, turning back to Kyto. “I’ll be ready in just a minute though.”
“Sounds good,” Kyto nodded. “Your clothing should be done now. The armor will be ready a little later today.”
Philza nodded and stepped out of the room. He walked alongside Kyto as they went back to the room with seamstresses and smiths. As they walked, Kyto started telling Philza how to navigate the bastion, pointing out the detailing on the ceiling and corners. Kyto rambled on a little bit about a figure that looked a bit like a bird and then paused, glancing at Philza’s wings. “I heard what you told the Matron yesterday,” Kyto said, “How do you start building up muscle to fly?”
Philza hesitated, wings coming a bit tighter to his back. “Well, you start with jumping and flapping about. Gliding off of cliffs and such.”
“Oh cool,” Kyto smiled. “We can go up to the ghast platform later and you can glide off of that if you need to.”
“I think I’ll be fine today,” Philza said, smiling despite the goosebumps that formed along his arms. “It sounds like it’s going to be pretty busy.”
“Oh yeah, it definitely will. And probably tomorrow, too. The Water festival party can go on for several days at a time under the right conditions.”
“Sounds like a lot more fun than the festivals I’ve been to,” Philza said bitterly.
Kyto gave an awkward chuckle. “I’m… sorry?”
“Thanks,” Philza said softly.
Kyto held the door open for Philza as they reached the room where they’d been measured before they’d gone to bed.
Inside, there were seamstresses and armor smiths scattered around. Many were sleeping on the floor in cozy little piles. The only ones still up were working on detailing the last of the clothes on the counter.
“Ah,” the Matron said, looking up and giving Philza a grandmotherly smile. “There you are. Did you sleep well?”
“Perfectly fine,” Philza said, straightening up and smiling back. “I hope you’ll be getting some rest soon. It looks to me that you all were up too long.”
The matron laughed. “Oh, I’m perfectly fine. These others are all pansies. Now, do you like silver or gold jewelry?”
“Gold,” Philza replied.
The Matron nodded and stood up. She held out a black outfit to him. It looked like it was made from a comfortable, lightweight material meant to be worn under armor. He took the set and changed in the little closet. He came out and the Matron was directing piglins carrying armor. They soon had him suited up, his chestplate made to perfectly compensate for his wings and his full flap if he had any inclination to fly.
The metal was netherite, he could tell, but they’d somehow altered the color of the dark metal and detailed the grey plate with green leaves and feathers. After someone combed through his hair and just gave it a quick trim here and there, his bucket hat was given to him, freshly cleaned and the old frayed tassels replaced. He smiled as he put it on, stepping into the new boots, capped with more netherite. Soon, he was armored and the Matron was fussing around, pulling out gold chains to wear on his armor and around his neck. She pulled out a small box and handed it to him. He opened it to find his friendship emerald earring. He pulled it out, admiring the sparkle it had now, freshly polished. He put it in as they pulled out the last detail. It was a cloak made from his black feathers that he’d left with them after he’d transformed back from the crow monster he had been. They quickly attacked it to his shoulder pieces, the cloak slotted perfectly for his wings. He nodded his thanks and the Matron made him to a turn.
“Perfect,” the Matron said warmly. “Do you feel you’re missing anything? Is there anything you hate?”
“No, it’s incredible,” Philza said, impressed. He hesitated and said, “Well, there is something. My amulet?”
The Matron nodded and rummaged around, pulling out another little box and handing him the amulet he had received from his wife. He fiddled with it and the cold chain around his neck and attached them together. He stood proudly, wings perked and even slightly open.
The door opened and a sleepy Techno and Edward came in, followed by Kyto who had gone to go check on them.
“Morning, gouchy,” Philza grinned, impressed by today’s case of bed head on his best friend.
Techno growled and snatched his under armor outfit before going to get changed. Edward stood awkwardly until the Matron took pity on him and showed him to another room and gave him his own clothes.
Techno came out and sighed as he found he would have to let the smiths and seamstresses put his armor on. His set was made of leather, the dark metal etched with red vines. He was given gold chains, his earring, and topped it off with a red cape and a golden crown piece. Techno hummed as he put on the gold cuffs on his upper arm and shook everything into place.
Edward was put in some simpler armor, silver and purple being the main colors in his set. He fiddled with a necklace he had been given as Kyto popped back in with a grin. “Hey! The Warden and her children are ready for you guys. You done?”
Philza glanced at the others and Techno gave a faint, noncommittal nod, though Philza could see the intense look that had lit up in his eyes.
“We’re ready,” Philza said. “Thank you.”
Kyto grinned and quickly led them out of the room. Kyto rambled a little about how to navigate the Bastion and they reached a room, comfortably set up with a table and chairs, food set out on the table. It didn’t take any real searching to find the Warden, bent over so she could help Michael with his eye patch.
“Michael,” Techno said softly.
The boy looked up and a wave of conflicting emotions crossed his face. He looked to the Warden for a clue and found that she was smiling at the three Overworlders.
“Welcome,” The Warden said, standing to her full height. “I hope you slept well. Do your clothes all fit to your liking?”
“They’re incredible,” Philza said courteously.
“It’s been a while since we’ve seen you,” Philza said to Michael. “Are you doing alright?”
Michael nodded. He seemed to relax for the moment when he saw that they weren’t planning on demanding to take him home with them.
A small piglin who must have been the Warden’s daughter stared at them. She tilted her head a little as she studied Techno’s features and hummed to herself thoughtfully. “You two aren’t nearly as scary as I thought you would be,” she said.
“As far as we can tell, there’s no real reason to be scary, mate,” Philza shrugged. He glanced at Edward who was hunched over and was avoiding looking at anyone.
“Hey,” Philza said to the Warden. “Would it be alright if we took Edward home?”
The Warden took one look at Edward and her eyes flooded with sympathy. “Of course.”
She quickly clapped out a little pattern and a witch poofed out of nowhere. It was the one who had taken Michael and Edward in the first place. She stared at the godborn as the Warden said, “Prue, dear, would you mind taking Edward home. The other two will be staying for the festival.”
Prue tried to wipe her astounded expression off her face and nodded. She opened a little portal and Techno, with Edward practically clinging to his arm, poked his head through.
“You’re fine,” Techno said and Edward cautiously stepped through. When he saw the cabins, he ran to them and locked the door behind him, ready to start stress baking.
Techno came back out of the portal so Prue could close it.
“Would you like to eat with us?” the Warden asked, gesturing at the food on the table.
“Sure,” Philza shrugged. He sat down with Techno the Warden and the kids sitting across from them. The food was soon dished and Philza kissed his amulet before he started to eat. He was starving.
Techno ate a little slower than his friend. There was awkward silence for a minute and Philza could see Michael was struggling with some sort of decision.
“I’m not going back to the Overworld,” he blurted out suddenly.
Philza paused and looked up at the boy. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Michael said vehemently. “I’m staying here. I like it here.”
Techno and Philza shared a look and Techno shrugged. “Alright,” Philza said. “We would like to stick around for the festival if that’s okay with you, Michael.”
Michael thought about it for a moment and nodded. “Okay. That’s fine.”
“Thank you, mate,” Philza said before he quickly finished off his roll and had another water leaf.
“Do we have an itinerary for the day?” Techno asked the Warden.
“Well, you can stay with us for a portion of the day, though you will have to stay with Kyto at times when we must be left alone for certain ceremonies. There are plenty of things Kyto can show you, though, so you shouldn’t ever have to sit and do nothing if you don’t want to.”
“It’s going to be awesome!” Michael said, spearing a bit of meat on his fork. “There’s going to be a parade and we get to be in it! Then the ceremony will happen and we get really fancy cups and then we’re going to look around in the gardens and the market and there’s going to be a treasure hunt for me and Talia and it’s going to be awesome! It’s crazy! Tubbo and Ranboo always made it sound like festivals weren’t fun at all.”
Philza and Techno shared another look, Philza’s wings prickling, but he looked back at the boy and smiled. “Sounds like it’s going to be quite the day.”
“Yeah!” Michael said with a grin. “It’s awesome!”
Talia giggled, nearly bursting at the seams with her own excitement.
The Warden smiled at her kids, warmth in her eyes and Philza finally relaxed. She loved them and was so proud of them. He didn’t have to fear that Michael would ever be in danger with her around. Micheal had ended up in good hands. That made things a lot easier for the Emerald duo. That meant they didn’t have to try and figure out who should get to take care of the kid since they hadn’t been planning on returning him to Ranboo and Tubbo. Speaking of which.
“Michael,” Philza said lightly. “What do you want us to tell Ranbo and Tubbo?”
Michael paused over his food and sighed heavily. “I dunno. Maybe just tell them my mum found me and I’m living with her.”
“Kay,” Philza said, taking another roll. “Will do, mate.”
………………………..
The dark nether city rose from amongst the lava pits like a bad omen. It had taken a long time to get here, but they were almost to the end of their journey.
“Looks like the tracks head in that direction,” Tommy said, eyes glimmering in the lava light. Puffy’s face was set somewhere between anger and worry.
“In there?” Ranboo whispered, hands shaking a little bit.
Tubbo glared at the city from underneath his bangs. “They’re going to regret messing with us,” he hissed. “I’m going to burn this place to the ground.”
Tommy shared a look with Puffy. Neither of them wanted to admit it, but Tubbo had become more and more unhinged as they had travelled. Trying to get Michael away from him was going to be a very unpleasant task.
“How do we get in?” Ranboo asked, a desperate tone creeping into his voice.
“Probably through a gate,” Tommy said, pointing out an open one, letting some travellers in. There was a lot of traffic going into the city.
Tubbo set his glowing gaze on the gate, hands tightening around the axe he had brought. “Let’s get started.”

Chapter Text

Michael was having the time of his life. He stood beside his mother and sister in a beautiful chariot drawn by striders across the lava. People cheered from beside the lava pool, waving at the family of royals. Michael waved back, grinning with his chest puffed out to proudly display his newly made armor.
AS Michael grinned and waved, he was delighted to see so many people waving back. He twisted a little to peer around his mom and could see the silhouettes of Philza and Techno standing on top of a ghast platform. There was a witch or two with them to keep the ghasts from shooting at them.
Michael thought he could faintly see the bulkier figure wave at him and he smiled. The day had only just begun and it was already the best day of his life. Actually, every day that he woke up in the bastion with his sister and his mother was the newest best day of his entire life.
The chariot finally floated up to the platform in the middle of the lava lake. Michael looked up at the podium as his mom stepped off the chariot. Michael rushed to help Talia off and she giggled at her little brother trying to be a gentleman when he really had no idea what a gentleman was supposed to do.She took his offered hand anyways and they walked up to the podium behind their mother, whispering and giggling. They came up to stand on either side of their mother as she smiled behind the podium. There was a stone standing on the podium that seemed to amplify any sound made.
“My people,” the Warden started. Michael felt his breath catch in his chest as he heard her. The warmth and love in her voice was astounishing and overwhelming. The boy realized he would always have to share his mother’s love with his sister and with every single person who called Aurien their home, but he would never be angry about it. He never understood how much love could be contained in one being until that moment and he was glad that he was allowed to be included in that love.
“My people,” the Warden said after a moment’s heavy pause as she struggled to keep her emotions at bay so she could speak. “This festival is something that I have always hoped to see. We are safer in this bastion than we were last year, we have more crops than we really know what to do with, we have this chance to renew our water sources, we have grown closer together, and my son-” now her voice did break- “My son is home. My mothers heart swells with joy that I have him home now, that he is safe here now. I’m grateful for the two wonderful godborn who have agreed that he should be here with us and will ensure that he stays.”
There were uneasy murmurs in the crowd at the mention of the godborn, but the warden raised her hand. “I know. The godborn have not treated us well, but there are a few who still know kindness. Do not judge them too harshly for what they are. But, yes, my mother’s heart swells, but in my chest also beats the heart of a Warden. There are many who have lost their sons and their daughters to enemies, to sickness, to accidents. For that, I sorrow. We can only pray that the everloving Kriskria takes them and holds them close, the way that we wish to.”
The Warden fell silent, head bowed and eyes closed. Michael noticed everyone else was doing the same and quickly bowed his head. The silence stretched, but it wasn’t awkward. It was reverent and welcoming.
When the Warden continued, it scared Michael out of his reverie and he jumped a little.
“As ever, the godborn threaten us,” she said, putting an apologetic hand on Michael’s shoulder. “But we will forge on. We will not forget our roots. We will not forget the sacrifice of our elders and we will not forget who we ARE.”
A cheer went up in the crowd and the Warden didn’t wait for it to die down. She cried out with her people. “We are the builders of Aurien! We are the prodigy of the Nether! We are followers of Kriskria and we will prevail!”
The cheering went on and Michael found himself calling out and hooting, his mother and sister with him.
The cheering died down again and Warden laughed, panting a little. “Now,” she said, “Talia, do you have anything you would like to say to your future country?”
Talia shifted her feet a little and nodded shyly. She stepped in front of her mother, who put her hands on Talia’s shoulders.
“Aurien,” Talia said warmly, only a slight tremor in her voice proving how nervous she was. “I thank you for your kindness to me. I love walking in the markets and hearing your voices, hearing your stories. I hope that I’ll never forget them when it comes time to rule.” She hesitated and took a deep breath before saying, “I will do my best to learn to be the greatest helper and proclaimer of our cause. We cannot slow down. We can only grow.”
Talia nodded and stepped away. The Warden gave her a loving smile and turned to Michael.
“Michael, my little prince, do you wish to say anything to your people?”
Michael thought about saying no. He knew it would be okay to say no. He could see it in his mother’s face, but then he realized he wanted to say something. He nodded and stepped forward to the same place his sister had stood just a moment ago, his mother’s steady hands on his shoulders.
He smiled and said, “Hi.”
He paused at the chuckle that had risen up in the crowd, but it was in no way mocking.
“I am very grateful I found my way back here, even if I was kicking and screaming at first.”
Another chuckle. Michael grinned.
“I can’t wait to grow up here. Something tells me it’s going to be poggers!”
Cheers went up a bit at that, though some of the older generation looked confused.
The Warden chuckled and Michael stepped to the side so she could speak again.
“It is time,” the Warden said. “Coven, please grant us the water we so desperately will need in future times of progress.”
Witches set around the whole lava lake cheered and their voices melded into chanting. Three witches appeared around the podium and put up a shield as a portal opened above. Water poured down and Michael gasped and laughed upon seeing the water pouring over the shield. It rippled and shimmered, hitting the lava and cooling it, evaporating into the air to spread to the plants that surrounded Aurien. By the time the portal closed, the lava lake was solid, a good three inches of water sat on the surface of it all, and everyone around the lake was loudly cheering, all of them drenched by the steam that had rolled over them.
The warden took her children’s hands and walked through the water, grinning and laughing, talking to the people who had come up to meet them. Michael laughed too, and answered many questions about what the word poggers meant. By the time they finally got off the lava lake, at least twenty kids were shouting poggers at the top of their lungs. The Warden let go of her children and nodded to them. Talia grabbed Michael’s hand and took him to learn the importance of Aurien games, such as ‘The Floor is Ice’ and ‘Hide and Seek.’
……………………
It was hours before Michael, Talia, and the Warden met back up with Philza and Techno. The two godborn hadn’t done much. They had played some old board games they’d found, dragging Kyto, Linus, and Endura into an old game they used to play back when they were mercenaries before they ruled over the Antarctic Empire, repurposing other game pieces to fit the rules. Linus got unfairly good at the game and Endura was starting to suspect foul play by the time the Warden and the kids came into the comfy little room not too far from the ghast platform.
Techno grinned when he saw Michael and gave the boy a wave. “Hey there. That was a nice speech you gave.”
“You think so?” Michael asked, excited as he sat down between Techno and Philza. Philza was eyeing Linus and the cards the enderman had in his hands.
Techno nodded. “I’ve heard a lot of speeches in my life and that has got to be in the top five.”
Michael grinned.
The Warden smiled and sat down to join in the game, quickly picking up on the rules.
“Michael,” Talia said excitedly. “Do you want to go up and ride ghasts again?”
“Yeah!” Michael said, jumping up. “Can we go ride ghasts, mum?”
The Warden smiled as she was dealt a new hand of cards. “Go ahead. Remember to stick together.”
Both of the kids cheered and rushed up the stairs to the ghast riding platform.
Philza smiled as he watched them go and then turned back to his cards and the small round stones stacked on the table in intervals, the playing cards spaced in between the stones.
“That was a pretty speech from you too, Warden,” Philza said, playing his card and glancing at the large woman. “It’s been a long time since Techno or I have seen such devotion in a leader to the well being of their subjects.”
The Warden sighed, fingering her cards. “Ah, well. That’s just the sad state of the world these days. Hard to find people who really care.”
“It’s only hard if people aren’t given a reason to care,” Endura commented and Linus nodded silently, playing a card which gave him a huge head start in the new round of the game.
Techno grunted. “That’s a fair point,” he said, laying down a card hoping to negate some of Linus’s points. “Doesn’t change the fact that most people will leave you when met with a better option than what you can give them. Phil and I have seen that first hand.”
Kyto laid down three cards, defending the meager points he’d managed to scrape together so far. “That’s not what I’ve seen, though I grew up in this city. People round here are mostly nice folk.”
The Warden sighed. “Well, young Kyto, these two have been around a lot longer than any of us. They may know much more that we will ever learn about people in our meager life times.”
“Ah, don’t go saying that,” Techno said. “You’re making us sound old.”
“We are old, Tech.”
“Tch.”
Philza smiled and made an attack on Linus’s points, a little unsettled when Linus only smiled wider. “But anyway, Kyto may have a point. The people here have some sense of normalcy. They know what they can expect from life and are free to give their loyalty to others without much fear. I commend you in creating that environment, Warden, especially since I hear you are still under attack from godborn every so often.”
The Warden nodded, accepting the compliment graciously. “And I commend you as well. You are not as awful as one would think, for being a godborn. You have both overcome some hefty boundaries to be playing this very entertaining card game with us today. Something tells me that if you were younger men, we would not be having this pleasant chat.”
Philza and Techno both chuckled.
“That is true. In the past we had a tendency to attack first, contemplate the morality of our actions later,” Philza admitted. “Age has given us better moral compasses to follow, now.”
“More of a trial and error thing than a gift, if you ask me,” Techno muttered, popping down some point cards of his own.
Philza laughed at that and elbowed Techno, who elbowed him back.
The Warden grinned. There was a round done in silence, except for the occasional mutters and small outbursts of rage, usually directed at Linus.
“What would you have done with Michael if you had taken him from me?” the Warden asked the godborn as it was her turn.
It seemed that everyone at the table stopped breathing for a moment. Techno was the one to answer the question.
“Not sure. We definitely wouldn’t have given him back to Ranboo and Tubbo. They’re not particularly mean spirited, but Ranboo is neglectful due to his memory loss and Tubbo….”
The silence stretched for a moment before Philza cleared his throat and finished the sentence for his friend. “Tubbo hasn’t been the same since Ranboo was brought back to life. Let’s leave it at that.”
There was more silence for a minute before Philza hesitantly said, “He probably would have stayed with us or Puffy. Puffy’s a great woman, though she’s already dealing with a lot of kids and people who need her help, so Michael would probably have stayed with us. I’m glad that won’t be necessary. Michael seems very happy with you.”
The Warden gave Philza a smile and a nod. “I had hoped he would be. He is my son after all.”
Their conversation was interrupted by Endura, who stood up and chased Linus across the room as he had stolen her crop points, once again. When they had settled back down and Kyto stopped laughing, Techno put down some more defenses around his points, eyeing Linus as he asked, “If you don’t mind the questions, Warden, how was Michael taken from you?”
The Warden’s expression grew very dark. She considered the question for a moment and opened her mouth to answer when the group heard Talia scream from above. It didn’t take a mother to recognize that it wasn’t a play scream.
The Warden was on her feet and up the stairs in a moment, Techno and Philza just behind her. Linus teleported to the top of the platform just as they got to the top.
Talia was on the ground, her sword skittering over the edge of the platform as she cowered, a deep cut in her forearm.
Michael yelled, trying to pull his arm free. It took Philza a moment to recognize his adopted son. Tubbo’s eyes were wide and wild, anger seeming to seeth off of him in waves.
“Tubbo!” Michael shrieked, fear making his voice crack. Tubbo took one look at the group, fury flashing in his eyes when he saw Philza and Techno.
“He’s MY son,” he hissed, and Philza once again stood facing a son, out of his mind with everything the world had done to him.

Chapter Text

Tubbo turned, Enderpearl in one hand and Michael in the other. He threw the pearl, but Michael kicked Tubbo in the shin just as he did, throwing his aim off. Tubbo and Michael disappear and appeared on a thin bit of scaffolding where workers had been carving details into the nether ceiling that couple be seen while riding ghasts. Tubbo fell from the scaffolding, turning in air and throwing an ender pearl to save himself. He appeared on a nearby tower, laying on his back and out of breath.
The Warden was screaming, watching as her son dangled from a thin strip of wood, the space much too small for Endura or Linus to teleport to properly. Talia bit into her sleeve, tears streaming down her face but she dared not wince or look away for fear of missing what happened to her brother.
Michael dangled, gasping, tears streaming down his face and his knuckles stinging where he had scraped them on the boards. He tried to look over to his mother and could just barely make out figures holding her back and keeping her from trying to jump over to the edge. Philza stood, leaned on the edge, shouting at the others to hurry up and grab a ghast so they could get the boy, but it was clear to see that Michael was slipping.
Philza glanced at Tubbo, who was standing up and shaking his head, to Techno who had his lips pressed tightly together and gave Philza a swift nod, and then it was Philza, alone, in his own head.
A boy with curly brown hair and a beanie smiled at him in the depths of his memories. The boy smiled and reached behind him, a finger on a button and a sword through his chest. The moment was almost serene, in a horrid sort of way.
It was shattered in an instant by a young, thin, fearful voice.
“Mum!” Michael shrieked, slipping down one knuckle length. “Mum! PLEASE!”
No more time to doubt. No more time to mourn for a child that Phil had lost even before he knew he needed saving.
Philza took three conscious steps back, made a running jump, and was out over the lava fields below, the drafts tickling in his pristine, unused feathers. It was three moments of pure bliss before the strain on his muscles and Michael’s screaming interrupted his reunion with flight. He struggled his way through a couple of flaps, relying on the updrafts to carry him to Michael. Michael slipped a bit farther as Philza reached him and the winged man managed to grab him before Michael started falling. Which was very good considering Philza’s lack of control and atrophied muscles.
Michael held on tight as Philza tried to wheel back around and land on the top of the ghast platform, but no longer had the elevation to make it, nor the wing strength. He grunting and trying to keep his wings outstretched.
“Are you okay, Michael?” Philza asked, trying to ignore the stretching fire he felt in all of his flight muscles.
“Yeah,” Michael whimpered into his neck.
Philza spotted a small group of people waving at them from below. Puffy’s poofy hair and Ranboo’s horns were easy to distinguish, even while fighting to stay in the sky. Philza sighed and started to glide over to them.
“Hold on Michael, this probably isn’t going to be a very smooth landing.”
Michael held on tighter as Philza did his best to swoop on landing and get his feet underneath himself. He didn’t quite manage it and slid across the ground on his knees and falling onto his side, wings aching and burning. He was just grateful for his armor which kept him from destroying his legs on impact. He lay there for a moment before he heard Puffy talking to him in a distressed tone and Ranboo tried to pry Michael out of Philza’s arms.
“Thank goodness you're okay!” Puffy said as Michael and Philza both pushed Ranboo off. “Philza, I can’t believe you were flying!”
“Less flying,” Philza groaned, getting up and holding Michael close. “And more of a controlled fall, really.”
“Still impressive.”
“Michael,” Ranboo said in a wounded tone. “Come here. I wanna make sure you’re okay.”
“No,” Michael hissed, pulling away from Ranboo. “Get away from me!”
Ranboo flinched and pulled back. There was a small teleport sound and Tubbo popped into existence next to them.
“You got him!” Tubbo exclaimed, crouching to look at Michael who glared at the man. “Great job! We need to get out of here. Those beasts will be here soon!”
“Yes, you need to leave,” Philza said, standing up, letting Michael stand as well, pressed into his side.
Tubbo hesitated at the hard tone in Philza’s voice. “W…. What’s going on here, Phil?”
“You’re leaving and I’m taking Michael back to his mom.”
Something dangerous flashed in Tubbo’s eyes. “You’re going to take my son away from me? Did they brainwash you, Phil!? They’re probably going to sacrifice them to their stupid native god or whatever!”
Philza stiffened, He pulled Michael around so Michael could hide behind him a little and glared at Tubbo. “That stupid god you’re speaking of is my wife,” he said darkly. “And if you think that Michael’s own mother would kill him when they’ve gone to such lengths to rescue him from your neglect then you must have your horns screwed in directly to your brain!?”
Tubbo took a step back from Phil, eyes wide as he was faced with the protective anger that radiated from Phil.
The standoff was interrupted by Ranboo, who fell to his knees clutching at his horns with tears pouring down his face. There wasn’t much of his face left that was unaffected by scar tissue.
“Puffy,” Philza said quietly. “How about you take him somewhere quieter.”
Puffy nodded, knowing as well as Philza did that Ranboo was probably going to relapse in the major depressive state he’d fallen into right after he’d been revived. It wouldn’t do for him to still be here while Philza and Tubbo continued to argue.
“Phil,” Tubbo said in a dark voice. “Give him back.”
“I am,” Philza said, “To his true parent. I’m standing by this one, Tubbo. I suggest you back off.”
“Or what?” Tubbo spat, his glowing eyes flashing under his bangs. “You’ll sic your pig on me? I’m not scared of Technoblade and I’m certainly not scared of you, old man!”
Philza narrowed his eyes at Tubbo. “No. You’re not. And that’s my fault.”
Tubbo could help an involuntary shudder that ran through his body.
Philza released Michael’s hand and shooed him to the side a little. Philza opened his wings, which twinged annoyingly.
“It is my fault that you’re not scared of me,” Philza said darkly, stepping forward toward Tubbo while ignoring the blade the shorter man had pulled. “I’ve been too lenient with you. You being Tommy’s friend and all. You’ve gone unchecked for far too long. When was the last time you were truly afraid of me? L’Manburg?”
Tubbo gritted his teeth, falling into a slightly rusty battle stance and Philza laughed mockingly. There was a whoop of a teleport from behind him and a familiar laugh joined Philza’s. Techno stood beside Philza, a wicked grin shaped around his tusks as Linus quickly teleported Michael to safety, Michael’s face tucked into Linus’s neck.
“To think I ever thought you a proper foe,” Techno said, a sword lazily propped on his shoulder as he looked down his snout at Tubbo. “You’ve gone soft. Thought that all you had to know was science to get by? That was foolish of you, considerin’ you’ve tried and failed to fight us before.”
“So, mate,” Philza said lazily, drawing out his own sword which had been given back to him along with the armor. “What’ll it be?”
Tubbo stared at the two of them. “Why?” he whispered, visibly shaking. “Why are you doing this!?”
“Michael needs a real home now,” Philza said with a shrug. “I suggest you back off. If you play nice, the Warden might consider letting you see him in the future.”
Tubbo hissed but dropped his sword and backed away. He knew he wouldn’t win against Techno and Philza.
“This is not the end,” Tubbo growled. “I don’t know what made you think that you can mess with me, but you will regret this.”
Philza watched Tubbo leave, something breaking a little in his chest. It only felt like yesterday that Tubbo would run up to him with Tommy and give him a leaf as a gift. What happened? Where did Philza go wrong?
“Old man!”
Philza turned to see Tommy come out from behind a wall. He glared at Philza for a moment.
Here was another reminder of Philza’s failures. Techno put a hand on Philza’s shoulder when he noticed his friend’s wings reflexively curl in.
There was a long moment of silence before Tommy asked, “What. Got nothing to say to me?”
Techno opened his mouth but Philza beat him. “Hey, mate. I didn’t think you wanted me to talk.”
Tommy glared at Philza.
“What do you want, Tommy,” Techno asked, tired of the heavy silence. He really just wanted a moment to sit down and rest. The voices in his head were greatly exacerbated by Tommy’s presence and he was developing quite the headache.
“Why’d you do it, eh?” Tommy asked in a voice dripping with anger. “Why’d you give Michael back to those hoof lickers?”
“That’s where his home is, now,” Philza said softly.
Tommy looked disgusted. “Since when did you start caring about other people’s homes? Last I checked, you were more likely to blow up a city than to get all chummy with the enemy.”
“They’re not the enemy,” Philza said. “They-”
“Then who is the enemy?! Are we your enemy!? Just because you’re married to one of the gods doesn’t mean you’re any different from the rest of us, old man!”
“Tommy,” Techno said, voice nearing a dangerous tone. “That’s enough. He’s done his best.”
“OH? He did his best, did he? He failed so badly that he went and stabbed his own son! He betrayed me and Tubbo and you have the GALL to say that he tried his best?” Tommy laughed bitterly, running a hand over his raccoon ears, tail fluffed out in his anger. “Give the man a gold star, he tried his best. His sons are dying around him but he tried his best, di’n’ee!?”
“Maybe if you had sent me letter,” Philza suddenly cut in, wings springing open and eyes lit with a strange fire. “I had no IDEA what was happening to you and Wilbur!? I wanted to know! I tried sending you messages! Your mum tried to reach you. We heard nothing from you and then you suddenly send a message that Wilbur has gone off the deep end and it planning to end it all. Do you know how scared I was? Do you understand how painful it is to not know what’s happening to your family? To show up and find that your oldest is blowing up a city and will do worse things if he’s left alive? Don’t you understand?”
Tommy hissed. “You don’t know what it’s like. You condemned Wilbur to an existence worse than death on that godsforsaken train platform”
“Not my fault he didn’t want to move on. Kriskria was waiting for him but he never went.”
Tommy rolled his eyes. “Oh, the great Mumza. Always watching, always protecting. Where is she, then? Where is she when we need her?
Philza growled. He took a step toward Tommy when someone put a hand on his shoulder. Linus and the Warden had teleported down without him noticing.
“Think about what you’re doing, Philza,” the Warden said softly, a sympathetic look in her eyes.
Philza took a deep breath and relaxed as Techno put a hand on his other shoulder.
“I know you still hate me, Tommy,” Philza said softly. “But there’s still a seat at my table for you.”
Tommy scoffed and rolled his eyes before turning to run after Puffy and the others. Philza saw Puffy pull Tommy into a one armed hug and Philza’s heart suddenly ached. He wanted to be there for Tommy. When was the last time he’d given the golden haired boy a hug anyway? Why did they always make each other so mad all the time?
The Warden still had her hand on Philza’s shoulder. “That’s enough. Let’s get back and check on Michael, then.”
“Is Talia alright?” Philza asked, eyes lingering on the fog where Tommy had disappeared. “There was a pretty nasty cut in her arm.
“Yes, she will be fine. Five of the witches are already on it, bless their households.”
“What a day,” Linus commented.
“What a day indeed,” the Warden said with a wry expression.

………………………….
When Michael saw Philza, he rushed to hug the man who had saved his life. Philza caught Michael up in the biggest hug of his life.
“Hey, mate,” Philza said with a sad smile, holding Michael close. “You alright?”
“Yeah,” Michael sighed. He wriggled out of Philza’s arms and tucked himself under his mom’s arm.
“I’m so sorry you had to go through that, baby,” she crooned softly to him, holding him close. “Do you need to rest?”
“No,” Michael said with a frown. “I don’t want to miss out on the festival. Is Talia okay?”
“She’ll be fine,” Talise said softly. “She’s being healed right now.”
She looked over at Techno and Philza. “I hate to say it, but after all that, people will find out what happened. I’m sure some of the citizens saw a little bit. It might not be safe for you two to be here at the moment. I can explain it all, but not right now and I don’t want you two getting hurt after what you did for Michael.”
Philza nodded. “That’s alright. We can always come back later.” He wasn’t much in the mood to enjoy a festival anyways.
Techno knelt down next to Michael and gave him a bit of a smile. “Well, squirt. It was loads of fun seeing you again. When we come back next time I’ll have to remember to bring your sketchbook.”
Michael nodded. “I’d really like that.”
Philza knelt down and put a hand on Michael’s head. He trusted Talise to take care of him and raise him much better than any Godborn could. Michael smiled and the two Godborn stood up as Prue made a portal for them to go back home. With a bow to Talise, the two turned and disappeared into the portal.
Talise stared after them.
“And here I thought I’d never see eye to eye with a Godborn,” she muttered to herself. “They’re really something.”
Michael just nodded, hugging his mother’s leg.

THE END