Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sun has always been the most prettiest sight for George other than his flowers. Despite how it can burn your eyes and damage your skin, he still loved it.

The sun means a lot of things. It means hope, a new beginning, a new life. Sometimes it may also mean death. It depends on how you see life, really. But to George, it means a new day to look forward to. A new adventure. A new hope.

"You good?"

Those words seemed to taken George back. He looked beside him and smiled as he saw a worried face of a blonde child. He seemed to forgot where he was and what he was doing.

"Um, hello?" The little kid waves his tiny hands in front of his face.

"I'm fine," George assured. The kid let out a puff of relief, hands on his chest as if he almost had a heart attack.

"I thought you were.. I'm sorry if I ever said something to upset you. I didn't mean it. I promise," the kid said in a panicly manner, his right hands half raised.

George's hands immediately raised to the kids head, ruffling his hair. "You're good, little one," he cooed.

The kid let out a small smile which George replied with a bigger smile.

Silence enveloped them. Not the kind of silence that suffocates someone but rather a comfortable silence. In George's mind it was only him and this kid against the cruel world and he swears that he will do everything in his power to protect this kid.

George thought how stupid they look like—smiling at each other like the idiots they are.

"Tommy?"

George's head snapped to the side in alert. His panic fades a little when he saw a tall kid but he a kid could still be an asset to someone.

He quickly analyzed the new kid and he immediately knows that the kid wasn't an ordinary human—the black and white colour of his hair, two different coloured eyes, dog like ears and his tail that looks like a cupids arrow is a dead giveaway.

George made a mental note to ask Tina about this kid the next time he sees her.

"Oh! You're here!" Tommy leaped to his feet to pull the kid towards him. George smiled at Tommy's friendliness. He was pretty sure the kid just introduced him another kid named Tubbo about a week ago.

Tommy tried to put his hand on top of his friends head but gave up almost immediately and accepted the fact that despite his own abnormal tallness for an 8 year old, his friend is much more abnormally tall than him.

"Gogy, this is Ranboob," Tommy introduced lamely, boredly waving a hand at his friend. His energy seemed to disappear.

"Ranboo." The new kid—Ranboo then not Ranboob, the universe knows what George would have done if any humans actually named their kid Ranboob—smiled at him apologetically. George half laughed.

"And Ranboob, this is George—you're not allowed to call him Gogy," Tommy continued, repeating the gesture and ignoring Ranboo's correction on his name.

"Hi, Ranboo," he greeted with a smile.

"Hello," Ranboo greeted back. He looked shy, his tails are waving side to side and his ears are pressed down.

George was about to interrogate the kid when his phone rang very loudly. The two kids needed to cover their ears. George answered it in a hurry and said sorry to the kids before going off their radius.

He looked at the caller, it's his friend, as usual.

"Bad," he answered.

"King George!" Bad uttered his name in relief.

"What is it now?" George asked, rolling his eyes.

"Just to let you know, the whole palace is currently playing 'Finding George'! Everyone's so worried! They even went to Detention just to look for you, you muffinhead!" his friend exclaimed.

George sighed. "I've only been here for hours, Bad."

Bad sighed too. "Yes, but you've been gone for weeks." George did not respond, he doesn't know what so say anyways. "George, please, stop whatever you're doing," he begged.

George eyed the two kids play fighting on distance—or maybe not just play fighting because of the annoyed look on Ranboo's face as he teleports away each time Tommy's fist fly near him.

"I can't."

He heard a heavy sigh on the other line, he knows it's not only hard for him but also for his friend.

"Look, I don't know what you're doing but please, stop it before you get in serious trouble."

George ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated. "You don't understand."

"I know. But I want to, I really want to, George. I want to understand," the frustration in the voice is obvious.

"No," George said a little too fast.

"See!" Bad shouted out of rage. "That's the problem! You're not letting me understand!" he cried.

"Because you won't and you will never understand!" George shouted back. He cannot control his anger any longer. His emotions has been overflowing for so long.

No one will understand how the mortal kid is the only thing—person that's keeping him happy and sane. No one will understand how he felt so empty despite being surrounded by dozens of people. No one will understand how this kid means the world to him. No one will understand because none of them have ever felt this way.

"But never actually tried to make me understand!" Bad shot back. George became silent, tears from his eyes are escaping. "Tell me, George," Bad said in a calmer voice. "Did you fell in love with a human?" his friend whispered.

That question made George fell off guard. His tears came back to his eyes and his anger disappeared. He blinked three times and repeated the question in his head several times before speaking.

"What? Do you really think I would fall in love with a human? A human whom I helped creating?" George asked unbelievably, disgust leaking from his voice.

"Oh, I don't know," Bad replied in a mocking tone. "Maybe you're just saying that falling in love is cringe but you actually fell in love and you just don't want to admit it for the sake of your pride? I don't know. Why else would you be on Earth other than seeing your lover? I don't know," he continued in the same tone.

"Really," George deadpaned. "You know me better than that, Bad."

"Well, these past few years I feel like I don't know you anymore."

That statement stung his heart. Has he really been taking for granted his friend for that long? Is he being too selfish for wanting happiness of his own? George can't do nothing than sigh on these thoughts.

"You should go back."

"I'll come back after I'm done here. I always do in the end, don't I?" George replied.

"No, It's different. This feels urgent. They need you."

George raised his eyebrows. "What makes you say that?"

"Because the Gods themselves are also looking for you."

George made a confused face. "Why?"

He has never been important Ruler. For a God, he's a bit of a loner. He rarely interact with other Gods and prefers to be alone in his mushroom themed house deep in the forests.

"Beats me. Just go back and fix whatever's wrong in the kingdom so you can go back there to flirt with your lover for the universe knows how long and everyone will just think you're sleeping."

He rolled his eyes once again. "I will go back now and for the record, I don't have a lover."

"Whatever. Just go back. Bye." And Bad ended the call.

George sighed. Whatever the problem is in their realm seemed to be very important that they needed even him just for it. The other Gods always solves the problem without his help.

Or maybe they only just remembered that he's a God too.

George shrugged all of his thoughts away and walked back to the kids who is now arguing with each other over the smallest pebble.

"Tommy, you can't take a stone as a pet," Ranboo said with a bit of exasperation in his voice.

"I already did, dumbass!" Tommy retorted.

"But at least don't talk to it! Tommy, that's how you get mental illness!" Ranboo cried looking extremely worried.

"Oh, shut up you stoner!" Tommy snapped.

"I'm sorry—what?!"

Tommy paid him no mind as he held the pebble to his mouth and gave it a very audible whisper. "I'm sorry Mr. Pebbles. Don't mind that dickhead. He just really hates mother nature."

"Tommy, for heavens sake! Stop talking to the stone you'll damage your brain even more!" Tommy only made a face which made Ranboo look even more frustrated than he already is.

"Gogs said I can do whatever I want!" Tommy replied, sticking his tongue out.

That sentence made George's heart flutter but at the same time he felt responsible for the actions of his kid.

"Oh, for God's sake!" Ranboo shouted for the last time and then bolted.

"Fuck you! I will ki–"

George let out a small laugh. He held Tommy's shoulders, stopping him from chasing his friend and giving a death threat.

"I'm pretty sure I said 'you can be whatever you want to be', not 'you can do whatever you want," he said still smiling despite the kids attitude.

Other people would have not liked Tommy for his attitude but George is not a human. Though he's sure that some of the Gods would not like Tommy for it's attitude. Tommy may be rude sometimes, chaotic, curses, and sadist, but that's him. That's part of Tommy. And he will never do anything to change it. He loves the kid for who he is.

George found Tommy when he was just in his mother's womb. He was wandering in the world he helped creating when he stumbled upon a badly injured woman in the middle of the woods. Out of pity George took the woman and helped her. George learned that the woman's name is Clementine, she was an epitome of beauty with her gorgeous silky black hair, but she fell in love with the wrong man who was now hunting her down in desperate of killing her and their unborn child.

Unfortunately she died shortly after giving birth but before she left, she made George promise that he would protect her baby from Henry and other people who might hurt Tommy. She was the first human George ever cared for so he promised. And George would do anything to keep that promise fulfilled.

"But I want a pet," Tommy reasoned with a slight pout in his face.

"Yes, but pets Tommy," George with patience of explaining math to an over emotional kid. He stopped mid sentence to kneel in front of the kid and patted his head, "are supposed to be living things who can give you company even when you don't need it," he explained. "You can collect rocks, but you can't keep it as a pet and talk to it."

Tommy's eyes glimmered. "Pets can give you company."

George smiled proudly. "Yes, Tommy, it can."

The kid happily clapped his hands and started jumping up and down excitedly. "I'm gonna name my company; TommyInnit!"

George almost faceplanted. The kid did not completely understand what he said. He shook his head a little, still smiling. If this was another situation with another person, he would have lost all of his patience.

"That's not what I mean, Tommy."

"Then what does it mean?" the kid asked innocently, head tilted to he side.

"It means, someone to be with you. Like to talk to you, to play with you, or just someone by your side," George explained further.

Tommy looked intrigued learning a new word. "Like a lover?"

George resisted the urge to scream. He never felt the need to kill a word and make sure for it to not exist. With decades of practice he managed to keep his face smiling.

"Yes and no," he answered. Tommy looked confused than ever. "Yes, it's like a lover but it's less than that so no its not. It's just someone that's looking over at you."

"So–"

A loud noise coming from George's pocket cut Tommy off.

George closed his eyes praying to no one in particular to give him more patience. He's so close to going to Detention to visit Bad and end him right where he stands.

"I'm sorry, I need to answered this," he apologized to the blonde kid who's now covering both of his ears and nodding repeatedly. George took it as a go sign and distanced himself before answering the call.

"What now?" he answered in an angry whisper, not bothering to look at the callers name knowing it's only one person who knows his number or that even knows he has a number.

"You won't believe what just happened!" the caller said in an excited tone.

"What?" George asked boredly, too preoccupied to notice the difference of the voice compared to his friends.

"I made it! I'm inside! It's all real, Nick!"

"And?" George asked, uninterested.

"Oh. Are you mad that I didn't call you immediately? I'm sorry, there's just no signal here," the caller apologizes in a cherry tone but you can still hear the sincerity in his voice.

George has never been this confused in his whole existence. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"The plan! Nick, it worked!" he shouted.

"What plan?" George asked. He doesn't remember planning something named Nick with Bad or any plans in general at all.

"What do you mean 'what plan'? Did you bumped your head or something?"

"Bad, I genuinely have no idea what you're talking about," George admitted, shaking his head trying to remember.

"The plan! The plan we've been working on for years! The… wait." The caller is now as confused as him. After a minute of confusion between them he heard the caller sigh. "I called the wrong number didn't I?" he asked disappointedly.

"Wait, who are you?" George panicked. He wanted to slap himself for not realizing immediately that he's talking to a stranger. Bad's voice is soft but you'll know that he's a guy not a woman, meanwhile the strangers voice is kind of deep and manly, very different from his friends voice.

"You just realized?" the caller echoed. "Oh my god, you're dumber than Nicholas," he said in an amused voice. George had to remove his phone in his ears when the caller let out a loud wheezing laugh.

George's eyebrows crashed. "Me? Dumb? Oh, you're just as dumb as me for not saving your friend's phone number."

The kettle sound faded. The caller cleared his throat. "Fair enough," he admitted. "Anyway, my name's Clay but my friends call me Dream. You?" he suddenly introduced himself.

George looked bewildered. "I—what?"

Dream chuckled. "Don't you think it's cool to be friends with a stranger?"

Although the caller cannot see his face, George smiled sarcastically. "First of all, you have no idea who you're talking to. Second, you clearly haven't heard of the phrase 'stranger danger'. And last but not the least, I'm not interested in making friends."

"Ooh, feisty," Dream said. "Bit of a loner, aren't we?"

"Oh, shut up," George snapped. He has enough going on around him, he doesn't need another headache.

"What do you look like?" Dream asked shamelessly.

George laughed sarcastically. "Why would I tell you?"

"Well, I look like a God. I have green eyes, dirty blonde hair, 6'3, and I'm also white," Dream said ignoring George's reply. "The Gods outdid themselves." George can tell by the man's voice that he is grinning.

"Did I asked?" George shot irritatingly.

"I never said you did," Dream shot back. "I'm just sharing."

"You should've shared it with someone who cares," he scoffed.

"Damn," the caller whispered. "Fine, you win this time."

"Gogy?" said a voice beside him.

George looked just to see Tommy dressed in dirt from head to toe.

"I need to go," the kid said without even looking at him in the eye.

"W–What happened to you?!" George asked. He only looked away from the child for a minute and now he's covered in dirt.

Tommy shrugged and look at him dead in the eye. "Rough day."

"What does that even mean?" George demanded.

Tommy shrugged again. "Rough day, you know how it is."

Funnily enough, he actually don't know how it is and he's pretty sure doesn't want to know.

George can't do anything except to sigh. "Okay, go home and clean up. There's Mud Cake in the fridge. Tell Tina to email me her reports."

Tommy nodded and followed his orders.

He doesn't know what happened to the kid but he's not that sure if he really wants to know. Maybe it's better this way than to know something he will regret and definitely haunt him for eternity.

George was about to follow the kid and in a snap, he remembered that he's in a call with someone. He unconviently forgot to end it before attending to Tommy.

The line is quiet.

"Hello?" he said nervously and a wheezing laugh appeared. Turns out, the stranger's just on mute.

George immediately regretted it. He could've just ended the call.

"Gogy?" the caller echoed. "Who the hell names their kid 'Gogy'?" Dream laughed.

"Who the hell names their kid 'Dream' when the child is actually a nightmare?" George fired back which sobered up Dream at once.

"Touché," he said. "What's your snapchat, by the way?"

"Bold of you to assume I would tell you," George said despite not knowing what 'snapchat' is.

"You know, nothing's wrong with being nice," the caller said with an air of lecturing an over emotional child about life.

"You know, nothing's wrong with not wanting to doxx yourself," George replied in the same tone.

"You.." Dream stopped mid-sentence. George heard a lot of sounds in one; twigs breaking, leaves shuffling, voices calling, arrows shooting. 

"Where are you? In a forest?" George asked, brows furrowed.

"Maybe," Dream replied immediately. "I need to hang up. Need to parkour and shit. Be cool, you know. I'll call you again later or tomorrow."

George rolled his eyes. "Don't bother."

"Really?" the man taunted.

"Yes, I don't care about you," George said without even thinking. Luckily, the caller didn't take that as something weird.

"Whatever you say, sunshine."

George froze. No one has ever called him that or any nicknames except Gogy. The words and insults from his tongue disappeared.

"Oh, shit." George heard him whispered. "I really need to hang up. Bye."

With that, the call ended. And George was left alone, standing in the middle of a deserted park. Even if he won't admit it to himself, he's had fun talking to the stranger. But he knows better not to associate himself to a human. Tommy is an exception, the only exception—and that would remain forever.

Chapter Text

When George arrived in the Silver City he saw Guards everywhere. Searching for something—someone that they will never find. Gods have the ability to turn completely invisible to any creatures eyes, which means only Gods can see them.

George still doesn't know why the Gods needed him this much because by the looks of the messy City, it is urgent why. The Guards have this panicked and tired expression on their faces that states that they've been searching for him for so long indeed.

George wanted to end their misery but he can't be seen wearing human clothes; hoodie, pants, and black running shoes. It is forbidden to wear anything close to what human wears, for everyone who lives in this city have overcomed being human. The God also have an unspoken rule about wearing their formal attire when seeing each other for a meeting; white polo shirt, black pants, blue cape, golden crown with different gems, and clout goggles.

He entered the forests he lived in and was curious of why all of the beautiful birds and butterflies is not there to greet him, which they usually do. George walked faster, having a bad feeling about the forests' surroundings. When he reached his house, it looks normal. Nothing seems off on the outside.

George took a step forward and opened the door only to immediately step back out out of surprise.

His once peaceful adobe looks ransacked, to say the least. All of the books on his bookshelves is on the floor and even his bookshelves are moved as if they're expecting to see a secret room and a George sleeping peacefully on a bed. He's sofa is turned upside-down. Everything is out of place and is ruined. He didn't need to enter all of the rooms in his house to know if they're a mess.

Rolling his eyes, George flicked his fingers and all of his belongings is now back in place. He went to his room to change and took a few minutes eating a bag of flaming hot cheetos he forgot to give Tommy. He's just finished eating when his door flew open. George immediately threw the bag of cheetos in the back of the sofa he's sitting on.

"King George," a blonde boy with blue eyes—who vaguely reminds him of Tommy—with bow in his back bowed. He recognized him as Punz's—their Royal Guard—youngest brother.

George stood up. "Purpled."

"Your majesty, I am here to escort you to the castle where all of the Gods are currently waiting for you," the boy said, head still down.

Anxiety flew into George's veins. "H–How did they knew I'm back?"

"They don't, Your Highness. I have been ordered to come here everyday to see if you're back." He bowed his head lower while George let out a sigh of relief silently. "I am completely sorry for the mess you just walked into. The oldest child of the Goddess of Death has been coming here everyday to search the place, insisting you're just here somewhere sleeping peacefully."

"Technoblade?" George inquired.

The boy shook his head a little. "It's Wilbur. I've been trying to fix his mess everyday, I didn't know you would come back, King. I should've came earlier."

George felt a bit surprised to know that Wilbur is older than Technoblade. Honestly, Technoblade acts more mature than Wilbur and even looks more older. He probably should know more about his companions.

"No, It's not your fault," George says. "Do you have any idea what they need me for?"

"No, Your Highness. The Gods have been declining to tell anything to the people and even us; guards. But whatever they need you for, it is urgent."

"And why is that?" George asked, brows furrowed.

"Because they've sent every guard to desert their post and look for you. Currently, no one's allowed in, so, we have no idea about the current happenings in the Palace," Purpled answered that surprised George.

George stood up. "We should go now, then."

They arrived at The Palace and there is indeed no guards guarding the entrance. They entered the gate only to get immediately bounced off by an invisible—now visible—force field.

A man with black wings came out of the bubble. The Angel of Death himself is guarding the entrance.

"George," he uttered his name with a smile. Then suddenly he exploded like a bomb. "Where the fuck have you been? We've been looking for you everywhere! You've been gone for months, mate. Months! I kept visiting you before but everytime I come, you're not there! You little shit!" Philza shouted like the Dad he is.

"I want to remind you that I am not your son," George said calmly, not scared by the mad dad side of The Angel.

Meanwhile the young guard beside him is looking down, absolutely scared by the sudden attitude of The Angel.

Other than being the husband of the Goddess of Death and being kind, The Angel is known for being an ancient stressed dad—blame his kids—and being serious all the time. No one's ever seen him mad—except for Wilbur and Technoblade—he's always an understanding type of people—well, Angel really.

"But still!" Philza reasoned. "Now, where have you been sleeping you deep shit?" he demanded.

"Well, I found a hidden ravine somewhere north," George lied.

It's not really a lie, he did found a hidden ravine but given how different the time works on the other world he probably found that ravine over a year already.

"And I thought it's a calming place to sleep. Cold. Water rushing. Bird chirping," he added.

Philza sighed and George thought he did look like an exhausted Dad.

"Fine," Philza said unconvincingly. He looked at Purpled that's quietly looking at the sparkling silver ground with great amount of interest as if it's his first time seeing it. "Purpled, you can leave. Go somewhere. Do whatever you want to do. I'll take George," he said to him. "And, oh, I'll make sure you have a prize for finding nemo," he joked.

The boy looked confused while George is stuck between amusement and anxiety.

"Nevermind," Philza added quickly.

The boy said nothing, bowed his head and walked away.

"If they heard you, you'll be dead," George warned after the guard is far enough from them.

"I'm literally married to the Goddess of Death and is dubbed as The Angel of Death," Philza deadpaned. "I can't die, mate," he laughed.

"But you can still get thrown out," George reasoned. He don't understand how someone can be so calm about this matter.

"So? That still don't change the fact that I'm married to Kristin," he said.

"You'll turn into human." George stared at him.

"Correction, I'll be an immortal in the land of the mortal. Kristin will never let me pass through the veil if I ever die." Philza smiled.

George cringed and decided that it's time for him to change the topic. "Shouldn't we be heading to the meeting room now?" he asked.

Philza straightened. "Oh, yeah. Right."

Philza was about to hold George's arm when he jerked it away.

The Angel raised a brow. "I'm not gonna kill you, mate." George didn't looked convinced. "You need to get ahold of someone who helped creating the barrier to be able to get through," he explained.

"Whatever," he just said and held out an arm.

Philza only laughed before pulling him inside The Palace.

The inside of the place looks haunted. All of the hallways are empty. There's not even a single servant around. George felt goosebumps. It's his first time seeing this place look so empty. Even the portraits look scary as they walk to the meeting hall, no sound except for their heels walking on the glass floor.

When they reached the giant Golden door anxiety rose in George's body. He feels like this is his judgement day. Like everyone that is inside that Hall will the one to punish him.

But when Philza opened the door George's ear was filled with angry screamings. He flinched a little while Philza just sighed.

"– you will put up a Sally's portrait and you will put it up now!" Wilbur shouted.

Technoblade who's sitting beside him sighed. "Wilbur, please stop."

"No, Techno!" Wilbur snapped to his brother. "Can't you hear what they're saying? They don't want Sally's picture in the Hall!"

"Just quit it, dude," Foolish, their architecture—XD's friend said with a sigh.

"Wil, Sally's literally a salmon," Technoblade deadpaned.

Wilbur gasped, offended. "How dare you disrespect Sally–"

They kept arguing about 'Sally' while the others are watching them with amusement and some didn't bother to care.

Who's Sally? George asked himself.

Philza felt his confusion and started talking. "Sally was Wilbur's girlfriend." George heard the past tense in the sentence.

"Why would he want his ex-girlfriend's portrait in the Halls?" Before Philza can answer, George shot another question. "And why did they broke up?"

"Because Wil is still in love with her," Philza answered then added with a frown, "..for some reason."

"But why did they broke up?" George repeated his question.

"No idea, mate."

George nodded and another question came into his mind.

"Where is she now?" he asked curiously.

Philza stared at him for a moment. Not sure if the man infront of him is really interested or just annoying him but with George always sleeping, he probably have no idea about what they called 'The Sally Incident' was and plans to keep it that way for the sake of the man. But with the intimidating piercing stares of George, he gave in.

"Sally's dead," Philza just answered casually. "So don't mind Wilbur. He's currently going through the stages of grief, anger to be exact," he says even more casually.

George covered his mouth with a gasp. "Oh my god. I'm sorry." With that, Philza's having second thoughts again. "I'm really really sorry. How did she died?" George asked with sympathy.

Philza debated with himself for a moment but ended up considering it. Sooner or later George will know about the existence of his grandson now that the man will be more active as his role as a God

"She died giving birth," Philza sighed.

"Wilbur has a child?!" George shrieked. He must have been on earth too long to not know that the famous son of the Angel of Death have a kid.

Philza sighed. "A son, yes.." And then added in a low voice. "...unfortunately.."

George didn't hear it for he asked another question.

"What's the kids name?" he asked fondly.

"Fundy," Philza answered after a moment of hesitation.

George smiled. "That's a nice name. Who picked it?"

"Wilbur." Philza looked at Technoblade who's busy combing his long hair with his hands. "But Techno wanted to name him 'Theseus' but Wilbur insisted on Fundy. When Techno said it was a bad name, Wilbur denied it and started shouting about how he's the father and the only one who has the right to name the kid." Philza smiled. "So technically, he spedran the denial and anger stage."

Philza laughed but George merely smiled.

"But why 'Fundy'?" George asked suddenly.

For some reason, Philza laughed harder. "You'll know when you meet him, mate."

George smiled while watching Wilbur who is now fighting with Karl, their time controller. The man didn't look like a dad like how he's doesn't look like one. When his eyes averted to Technoblade, realization hits him hard in the skull.

"Didn't Techno said Sally's a salmon?" he asked a little too loud which made Philza flinch.

After another moment of hesitation, Philza sighed. "Yes, she is."

"Wilbur got into a relationship with a salmon?!" His shout is barely audible in the room due to the shouting of Wilbur who is now fighting The God XD.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Philza confirmed. "Yes."

"B–But you said she–"

"Yes, Sally's a salmon and she got into a relationship with Wilbur and she died giving birth to a fox," Philza said losing all of his patience.

Right now, George is the real living example of deep confusion.

"A fox?!" he shrieked. Philza didn't answered too busy looking at his plain black nails which he find so interesting at the moment. "But that's not even possible?!"

Philza ignored him again by playing with his wings.

"How the heck did Wilbur impregnated a fish and ended up having a fox son?!" George asked, hysterical.

Philza laughed miserably. "I don't even know, mate."

"Wha.." George laughed out of confusion. Philza joined him.

They both laughed out of denial, confusion or depression,  whatever you call it.

George feels like his head is inflating. He feels like he's known too much in a span of minutes. He started questioning everything he can question in his mind.

"Oh, they're here," Hannah, the Fairy God—who was watching Wilbur fight with amusement—is the one to notice their arrival.

Everyone's heads snapped into the doors where George and Philza are currently standing. Even Wilbur who was busy having a row with Eret, their Palace Guardian, stopped to look at their direction.

"Finally," Technoblade growled. "What took you so long, sleeping beauty?" he asked sarcastically.

George managed to keep a straight face despite the man's reference.

"What am I here for?" he asked instead looking directly at XD, ignoring Technoblade.

Then suddenly, everyone turned to look at XD who's sitting in the end of the table. George's brows furrowed. Looks like the other Gods too have no idea what they're here for.

XD cleared his throat. "You're all here due to important matters."

"I think we all know that," Foolish whispered. George and Philza is the only one who heard him.

"Wait, I thought we're here to discuss Sally's portrait?" Wilbur interrupted. No one bothered to pay him any mind.

"But first, why don't you two sit down?" The God offered. George and Philza sat down at the other end of the table beside Foolish and Hannah. "This is going to be a long discussion," Xd grinned.

"Then make it short," Philza said. "I have some dead souls to hunt."

"Yeah, just give us a summary," Technoblade agreed. "I kinda have some books to read."

"A wife to grief," Wilbur said with a tear George can't tell if fake or not.

"They didn't even got married," George heard Philza whisper to himself. "Or did they?" The Angel asked to himself unbelievably.

"Some loops to fix," says Karl cheerily.

"Flowers to bloom," said Hannah boredly.

"Places to build," said Foolish with a shrug.

"People to punish," says a voice George will recognize everywhere. His friend Bad. He's currently sitting beside XD.

"A kingdom to rule," Eret said.

"Guards to replace," says Punz, their Royal Guard.

"And I have a veil to guard," said a woman's voice.

George looked for the source of it and saw a woman in black sitting in a small table, eating grapes.

That must be the Goddess of Death.

George never really met the woman. The Goddess is so busy that even her own family rarely sees her. George can tell that the Goddess has a scary appearance and also a scary ability to kill immortals.

"Kristin?" Philza quipped. "Wait, if you're here then who's keeping the dead souls from escaping the veil?" he asked a bit hysterical.

Now that Philza asks it, everyone started panicking, even XD.

"Oh, Kristin," XD laughed nervously.

"Great," Technoblade said sarcastically.

"Mum!" Wilbur said with wide eyes.

"Oh, no.." whispered Hannah.

"Fuck.." Karl whispered.

While the others are too dumbstruck with the information to speak including George.

The Goddess of Death only rolled her eyes. "Puffy agreed to replace me for a while since Karl already told her what's happening."

Puffy is the Goddess of Life. With Kristin they balance the peace and harmony in all the existing realms. George remembers her as her 'mother duckling' since she always mother hen him. She's a mother and a friend to everyone.

With her words, everyone calmed down. It will be a huge problem to everyone if the dead came back to life and started ruining the peace that they all worked so hard on.

"Karl, you know what's going on all these time?" Bad asked, feeling betrayed.

The man in question nervously laughed . "I don't think I have the mental capacity to explain what happened."

"And I don't think Puffy has enough either," said The Goddess of Death. "That's why she volunteered to do my job. I think by now she's currently giving therapy to the souls who wants to live again," she added.

Hannah gasped. "Puffy? But that's impossible. She always has the positivity and guts."

Karl laughed. "Man, I know right? But how the hell are you going to break to the Gods that a mortal managed to break into our realm and to their layers of protective barriers?"

He stopped. Everybody stopped. No one wanted speak. Their brains still processing what the man said.

"I'm sorry, what?" George is the one to break the silence, his brain and ears does not want to accept the information given to them.

"I beg your fucking pardon?" Wilbur gasped.

"Wow," is the only thing that Technoblade said.

"And I'm out," said the Goddess of Death who disappeared with a pop!

"Kristin! Wait—No!" XD tried to stop her but she already disappeared. "What have you done?" he asked Karl furiously.

"This is your problem not mine and definitely not Puffy's," her voice echoed through the walls.

"Kristin! You need to help us!" XD shouted, everyone—except George—flinched.

Then Kristin reappeared floating infront of XD with both hands on her waist.

"No, I won't," she said with a voice full of authority. "This is your fault after all." She crossed her arms.

"A human, " she hissed. "Who created humans? You. Who started Project Humanity? You. Who suggested on giving them abilities insisting it would be fun to watch them play with it? You. Who took my revival book on Earth and accidentally dropped it? You. Who's too ashamed to admit to the other Gods that he's the one who lost the revival book? You. So don't you dare blame me for this."

She shot a glare at XD who can't even look the Goddess in the eye.

"And look, your human is playing with his powers. Now you watch ." She laughed dangerously.

"B–But that's just.. unfair," The God finally said. " They helped with Project Humanity too," he said looking at everyone at the table.

Kristin turned to look at them, waiting for a rebuttal.

"I only helped creating plants," said Hannah crossing her arms and looking at the Goddess of Death eye to eye to prove that she has no fault in this mess.

"And I only helped by putting some artistic style on some human's mind so they can build good buildings," reasoned Foolish. "I can't just sit here and watch humans build slanted buildings."

"I only helped putting some sense onto their minds," said Bad.

"I help by controlling their time too," Karl said, looking down. "I mean, yeah, that's kind of big but I only control their time, right? It's XD who actually created them."

Kristin snapped at finger at him. "Excactly! It's his fault entirely! You guys only helped by controlling humans and providing things they need to survive."

"But how about you?" said XD. Kristin raised a brow on him. "Humans are also your responsibility."

" Dead humans are my responsibility," she rephrased. "Last time I checked the human who's currently inside our realm is alive and well."

"How would you know?" XD asked.

Kristin shrugged. "I can feel it." She looked at Karl and smiled unexpectedly. "Hi, I know we haven't met before but could you please go back in time to see who has my book? I really need to get it back before humans started figuring out how to use it."

"Y–Yeah, sure," the stunned Karl said. "I'll be back in a minute or two, I–I guess.." He made a forced smile before pulling the sleeves of his hoodie revealing his silver watch. He adjusted the hands of it and dissappeared.

Now the hall is filled with silence and tension. Kristin is just floating in front of XD, looking at him. While XD is also doing the same.

"Kristin—"

"No.." a voice cut XD.

And it was Karl who just entered the hall, catching his breath. He looks so confused, and scared. George caught his gaze a second before the man suddenly collapsed into the floor.

"Karl!"

Hannah was the first to reach the laying man because of her wings. Next was Bad who bolted across the room. And then George and Philza.

They saw Hannah holding Karl in her lap. Whispering something to him. The look and Karl's face scared George. It was something new. A expression he never saw the man wearing before.

Karl was known for being a happy-go-lucky man who brings good vibes to everyone but right now he doesn't look like the Karl that everyone know. His eyes are opened and full of sadness, but at the same time it looks empty and not blinking at all. Body's shaking and his breathing are fast.

"What happened to him?" George found himself asking despite not really knowing the man at all. They've only talked at least 3 times.

"I don't know, do I?" Hannah snapped with  frustration. Bad was beside her repeatedly called the boy's name, obviously trying to snap him out of it.

"Hey, you alright, mate?" Philza patted Karl's cheeks. There's no response.

George clasped his hands infront of Karl's eyes. The technique always works with him having a staring match with Tommy.

Then as if on cue Karl's eyes blinked and moved, surveying everyone in the room and stopped at George's eyes.The man locked eyes with his and let out a small smile which made George feel very uncomfortable. The smile was full of sadness,  regret and remorse. Tears started erupting from Karl's eyes.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you," the man cried.

Then without a warning, Karl aggressively pressed his watch with his eyes closed then dissappeared like a bubble.

Hannah was left holding air. And everyone was left stunned by the mans performance. George feels like he just watched a soft ballad and was left speechless.

"Okay, what the fuck was that?" Wilbur panicked. He stood up and started walking in circles, hands buried in his hair. "I'm going insane. I'm going insane. I'm going insane."

"You are already insane," Technoblade said in his usual monotone voice. Then shrugged. "Eh. Looks like a glitch to me."

That made Wilbur stop and sigh. "Technoblade, glitches only happens on video games, this is real life, you're not on Minecraft."

"Boys, stop," Philza reprimanded. "This is not the time to fight. We should worry about Karl."

"What just happened?" said Bad who's just got out of being surprised and is now confused.

"That was probably a glitch," Punz answered, not looking worried at all. Wilbur looked at him irritatingly. "What? This happened before, a Karl went to me and said do not blame yourself . Do not blame myself for what? For finishing eating my soup?" he grimaced. "I went to Karl and he said that it was probably a glitch."

"But how can we be so sure that it's just a glitch?" Foolish demanded.

Punz shrugged. "We wait for the real Karl to appear."

"Which if he didn't?" says Philza.

"Then it's real and we figure out what happened." Punz said that as if it was as easy to do as sleeping.

"How?" Bad asked, head tilted in curiousness.

"Do you think I would know?" Punz stared at Bad unbelievably. Bad give him a look full of pity. George can feel himself mirroring the look.

"Oh, God. You're hopeless," Foolish said disappointedly.

"I'm sorry!" Punz shouted. "I'm sleep deprived, okay! I've only slept for an hour this month!"

"Why would you need sleep?" Wilbur asked him in full curiosity.

"Well, I don't know how to break this to all of you," Punz started very seriously. "But unlike all of you, I'm just a normal citizen with a totally normal soul." That actually startled a laugh out of Technoblade, but he stopped instantly when he realized that he's the only one laughing. "And I was busy playing the classic 'Finding George'." Punz looked at George, he replied a i'm sorry smile and looked away out of embarrassment.

They all went back to their seats and waited in silence. After a minute of weird silence the doors of the hall opened again, revealing Karl.

"A goat hybrid named Schlatt have it," Karl said as soon as he entered the room.

"Great." Kristin clasped her hands. "Whereabouts?"

"He's the current president of a country named Manburg in world 5, reality 3," Karl replied while walking towards the long table.

"Thank you," Kristin smiled sweetly at Karl, when she looked at XD the smiled disappeared. "So now if you may, I kinda have a very dangerous book to reclaim." She bowed and dissappeared with another pop!

XD looked at Karl silently. Actually, everyone is looking at Karl silently.

"I'm sorry. I can explain," Karl said to the furious XD who's just staring at him with both of his hands trembling.

"Then explain," XD said in a harsh whisper.

"Uhm, how do I start.." Karl played with his fingers. After a minute of thinking he looked at XD with pleading eyes. "Please?"

XD crossed his arms. "You brought this to yourself. Now, suffer."

Karl hesitated for a bit and started talking. Explaining to everyone what he saw and what will happen. Everyone was quiet. None dared to interrupt Karl. They're just listening carefully, wanting to catch every detail. It's almost past midnight when Karl finished explaining. Everyone leaned back into their chair with a sigh and a frustrated look on their faces.

George can feel a headache building. With all the information he got this day, his head wants to explode and his brain wants to have a break. He's gonna sleep after this. A very good one. He'll make sure that no one will find him so he can sleep peacefully. He needs peace, quiet and calm. The Gods can fix this without his help.

This is too much for me. .

Chapter Text

Turns out, George's plans did not work even in the slightest. They are now stuck inside the Palace. No one can go out even those who helped creating the barrier. A lot of them protests but none succeed, even Foolish who's XD's friend didn't managed to convince him into letting them—or atleast just him—out.

Right now, all of them are sitting in a circle in the cold floor of the ball room which they rarely use. There's nothing inside the room except for a broken chandelier that none of them bothered to fix.

They're all sitting with atleast 5 feet distance from each other making the circle big and wide.

George sat beside Bad while Philza is on his other side. Beside Philza there's Technoblade who's beside Wilbur. And beside Wilbur there's Hannah who got tired of flying and turned into her normal physical form. Beside her there's Karl who's just looking down at his hands beside Sapnap. And beside Sapnap there's Foolish and Punz.

"Man, this sucks," says Sapnap who arrived just before XD announces that they're going on lockdown. "I wish I just didn't tried to make it here." He tossed a fireball at Bad who reflexively catches it and dissolves it into his hands.

"Why am I here? I'm not even a God," Punz said, burrying his face in his hands.

"This is absolutely ridiculous," said Hannah who stood up and went to the windows to try and break it. "Where am I gonna meditate? At the floor?" she complained while banging the windows.

"That's not gonna work," said Foolish. "Those glass are non-breakable glass made by humans and probably enchanted by XD for more protection," he explained then he frowned. "Now I regret putting them up."

"How about the door?" asks Technoblade. "We could just break it down."

"Definitely not gonna work," Punz said. "I tried to break them before when my bother got stuck here. I'm pretty sure they're enchanted."

"I'm definitely stronger than you," Technoblade deadpaned. "No offense." he added last when Punz glared at him.

"That's made out of wood," Sapnap said looking at the door. "We would burn it to ashes."

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Punz shot. "They're enchanted. Fire resistance V."

"I mean, me and Bad's fire are not just ordinary fire," Sapnap said in a matter of fact tone. "I have the fire of the phoenix while Bad has hell fire."

"Fire resistance V means all types of fire," Philza says with a sigh.

"Who the hell enchants a door?" George complained. Wilbur looked at him with a i-know-right look. George hastily looked away.

"Yes, they're enchanted by XD himself and made by the strongest trees Hannah could find," Foolish confirmed. He glanced at the girl who's still repetitively banging the windows. She let out a small ouch. "Told you, that's not gonna work."

"Sapnap, could you just light the chandelier? It's so fucking dark here," said Wilbur.

Sapnap pointed at finger upwards and flames started erupting from it until the chandelier caught on fire. The ball room looks more vivid now. The interior of the room is so royal and formal. But none of those beauty caught the God's attentions.

"I like dark," Bad said in small voice.

"Don't you think that will fall?" George nervously asked while looking at their source of light. It's not just the candles in the chandelier that's caught on fire, It's the whole chandelier that's currently on fire.

"Nah, probably not," Sapnap dismissed it, waving a hand carelessly.

"So how are we gonna escape again?" Hannah said while settling down again with the group. She looked at Foolish. "Foosh, did you asked when he's letting us out of here?"

Foolish looked startled but immediately recovered. "Uhm, 2 days from now?"

"Two days?!" Wilbur and Technoblade shouted in unison.

George almost joined them but he mmanaged to stop himself just in time.

"That's too long.." says Philza. 

"Why would he stuck us here for days?!" Punz shouted. "My brother would die without me!"

"Uh, no offense," interrupted Technoblade. "But you're brother looks more independent than you, actually." Punz shot him another glare.

"Yeah, mate," Philza agrees. "And besides he probably has enough golds to buy food for like years."

"My brother don't have a job," Punz said, brows furrowed.

"Sure, mate," Philza laughed. George let out a small amused smile when he realized what The Angel meant.

Purpled has been in the Army for so long, he has been one of the most fastest to rise in their ranks. Despite his young age he proved himself to everyone, he really proved that age is just a number. Probably by now Purpled would be in rank 2 for finding George.

Philza calmed down. They're now sitting in silence. Not an awkward silence, just silence.

"What was going through his mind?" Hannah whispered, talking about XD.

"Well," said Foolish. They all looked at him. As XD's friend he's probably the one to know more than they do. "He thought one of us is a traitor."

"Excuse me?" Hannah shrieked, offended.

"Did he really think that we would bring a human in in our realm? Specifically, in our City?" George asked, words full of venom. Foolish silently nods and George laughed hysterically.

The God's true color finally appeared. XD thinks so low of them; the other Gods. As if they're not Gods too. George can see it by the way he doesn't care about all of them and not even bothering talking to them. Only seeing them when needed. It's like they were nothing. Like they were just a board in his chess game while his little humans are the chess pieces.

"I would never let in a human in our city," Punz said. "And I don't even think it's possible until this shit show started."

Technoblade huffs. "Because it's not. C'mon, do you really think one of us is insane enough to smuggle a human in our realm?"

"How can someone even manage to go through everyone's protective barriers without being noticed?" Bad asks, more to himself than to everyone.

"X thinks it's Wilbur," Foolish spat before covering his mouth. Wilbur's head snapped to his direction almost instantly.

"I am fully aware that I am insane but I am not that insane to even try," Wilbur said seriously.

"Why would he think it's Wilbur?" Philza asks, curiosity and danger flashes from his eyes. For a second George felt fear of the man but he immediately brushes it away.

Foolish hesitates for a bit before answering. "Since you three have spent a lot of time on Earth he think Wilbur fell inlove with a human and brought it here."

George managed—with great difficulty—not to frown. What is it with the sentence 'being inlove with a human' today?

"Ha!" Wilbur shouted out of amusement. "Would he really think I would betray Sally?!"

George caught Philza's gaze and immediately looked away.

"Let's just talk about other things," Karl spoke rather nervously. "I'm going to die out of boredom." He laughed then looked beside him. "Sapnap?"

Sapnap threw his hands. "I just wanna leave."

"I just wanna know what George and Philza meant earlier," countered Punz looking fiercely that the two man who's avoiding each others gaze.

"Karl's right, let's just talk ourselves out of boredom," Bad agreed, looking more bored every minute pass.

"Yes, something interesting," George agreed.

He would rather listen to them talk and grumble at each other than get consumed by the sanity eating silence. Each second he spends in this room, he feels like he's going insane.

"But what's interesting?" Hannah wondered.

"Sally!" shouted Wilbur. None bothered to consider it.

Everyone doesn't want to talk about Wilbur's girlfriend or wife or whatever the hell she is to Wilbur. They've had enough hearing him complain about Sally's picture not being on the wall. Even George who only just heard about Sally doesn't want to know more or he'll lose his mind.

"Government?" Technoblade recommends. George stares at him.

"What's government?" Hannah turned back to her fairy appearance to move closer to Technoblade. In her decades of living, she never heard such things.

"Uh, it's something that human created."

"Other than electricity?" Foolish asks.

George looked around and saw that the topic seemed to interest everyone except Philza, Wilbur, Karl. The three has spent more time on Earth than in the Silver City because of their big responsibility on Earth and Sapnap just looks like he doesn't want to be here.

"Yes," Technoblade answered. "So, basically, they created this group of humans and called them government," he started.

Wilbur rolled his eyes. "Don't go turning them against government now, Techno."

Technoblade snorted. "C'mon, they're not even humans."

"We know how much you hate government, but there's a line, Tech."

Technoblade leaned back onto nothing and crossed his arms. "They're Gods. We don't have government here. And will it hurt to inform them about what their little humans are doing?"

"Technoblade–"

"Wil, Techno's right. They're not humans, nothing will hurt," Philza said with a sigh.

Wilbur thew his hands upwards in a sign of surrender and stands up. "Fine. You guys talk about government and I'll just sit there in a corner grieving Sally."

He stood there for a moment looking at everyone, waiting for someone to stop and join him but no one disagreed, everyone was just staring at him back waiting for him to move. He let out an angry huff before moving to the corner close to the giant window.

"What were you saying again, Technoblade?" asks Hannah.

"As I was saying," continued Technoblade. "Humans created this group of people called Government. And the Government have the right to rule them, if the humans disobeyed the Governments law the humans that's part of the Government— Government Officials as what humans call them—have the right to lock them in a cell for how long they want to." George with everyone in the room gasped. "There's also this thing called death penalty. If the person in question did something that's really really against the law, the court can give them the death penalty."

"Death penalty?" Bad parrots. "They kill humans?"

"Yes, Bad. They kill humans," Technoblade deadpaned.

"What's a court?" Foolish asked.

"It's a place or humans who decides what's going to happen to person in question," Technoblade explained to them like a professor.

George has heard about these group of Government Officials but did not really bother knowing more than he should about them since he's raising Tommy in a forest. All he know about them is if you disobeyed their law, you'll be in serious trouble.

"But that's bullshit," Hannah comments. She turned into her human appearance to look at everyone. "We all created them as equals."

Technoblade pointed at Hannah triumphly. "Excactly! That's why I'm against Government!" He crossed his arms.

"How about if the Government disobeyed their law? What will happen to them?" Punz asked.

"If there's a proof and is released in public, they need to go into a hearing—that's what they call meeting with the court—and in that hearing they'll have a chance to prove if they're innocent. But.." Technoblade pointed a finger at Punz. "Most of them get away with it."

"What?" shouted Hannah. "There's proof! How the hell can they go away with that?!"

"Money," Technoblade answered. They all looked at him in disbelief. "In Earth, money can buy everything, even humans."

"Wait." They all looked at Bad who's in deep thinking. "If the Government, let's say control other humans. Wouldn't….. everyone would want to be part of the Government too?"

"Well, if you want to be part of the Government, you need to study. You will need to take a specific course in Collage; Political Science. For that, you'll need money. And you'll need to build a reputation first thing after you became of politician. You'll need to climb and climb until you get he position in the Government you want."

"And don't forget corruption," added Karl. "Most of the Governments are corrupt; they steal the people's money. They may be some Government Officials that's decent, but we'll never really know."

Most of the Gods started rumbling to themselves about government and how horrible it is, making a buzzing noise in the room.

"That's horrible.." Bad whispered beside George.

"Excactly!" Technoblade pointed out. "That's why I'm anti-government." He crossed his arms.

"So, you're trying to overthrow Governments on Earth?" Punz asked him with distaste. "Aren't you a reaper? Aren't you supposed to be rounding up dead souls?"

"That's kinda boring, to be honest," Technoblade replied with a shrug. "I prefer—"

Excactly what Technoblade prefer, they did not know. For that exact moment the chandelier above their heads suddenly fell into the floor creating a huge hole in the ground and a loud thud that shook all of them.

They all stared into the hole silently, still in the state of shock.

George felt his whole body give a shiver. That is what George has been dreading ever since Sapnap lit the chandelier. He mentally thanked the universe that these people he is with decided to have a very decent amount of space from each other making the circle they made big.

"So," Philza started making everyone look at him. "I guess the floor is not enchanted then," he joked. No one laughed. They all just stared at him making The Angel uncomfortable. "...what?"

"God, you're a lost cause.." Wilbur whispered, shaking his head. George mentally agreed.

"Excuse me?" Philza shrieked.

Wilbur ignored him, he stood up and fix his clothes like he normally do. When he finished, Wilbur looked at everyone pleasantly.

"Well… who wants to go first?"