"For me?"

Tommy stared wide-eyed at me, curiosity and nerves pouring out of him. His hair was a bit ruffled underneath the green turtle shell that was strapped under his chin.

I smiled, handing over the gift I had made for him. We were leaving for the Green Festival in a few minutes, but Tommy needed to be armed in case things went south or the potions didn't work.

"Holy shit," He murmured, clutching the new sword in his hands.

The short sword was simple but integrated parts of Tommy's personality. The grip was gold with bands of ruby at the top, just above where Tommy was now tying the green bandana as its middle grip.

White steel spread out in the carving of wings as the guard. I tried my best to match the color of his own wings, as well as the tips of his feathers.

I had stayed up late into the night designing the sword with Techno and then collecting supplies to mold the sword with my powers. It was Techno's idea to add the wing guard.

The sword wasn't able to hold magic or glow as my own did, but there was a faint glimmering in the ruby shards from the drop of light I added into it. Hopefully, that one drop could cast a protective shield around him from the darkness.

"Do you like it?" I asked as he lightly ran his fingers over the smooth steel of the blade.

"You better after how long we spent shaping the wings," Techno muttered, only half-serious.

After handing Tommy the blade, I walked back around where Techno was sitting in a chair and began braiding his hair. It grew faster than my own hair, now almost as long as it was when I first met him.

Tommy stood from the fireplace in our home, wildly swinging the sword at imaginary enemies. It was like an extension of his arm, perfectly weighted and made.

"It's bloody amazing!" Tommy shouted, replacing the diamond sword in his sheath with the new one.

I smiled, feeling relieved. The nerves were beginning to tingle in the back of my mind.

"Alright, let's hope this festival doesn't end like the last one."

-

"Tommy stop moving your cape. They'll hear us." I hissed, casually swinging my elbow in the direction where I hoped the teen was.

Tommy grunted, my guess being correct. In return came a swift slap on my arm. "Shut up, woman. They'll hear us."

I rolled my eyes, settling back onto my stomach. Green grass tickled my hands from where we were laying on the hill in an army-crawl position, the wood charms slightly digging into my wrist.

All of us were invisible, only the faint particles of the potion indicating that Techno and Tommy were still next to me. As well as the brush of Techno's boots pressed against mine and Tommy's bony elbow digging into my ribs.

"Stop arguing and focus," Techno huffed, his head slightly above mine.

"Sure thing, big bro," Tommy mocked but quieted down after.

When we were leaving the North, Phil had waved goodbye to us like it was our first day of school instead of going to an execution. After, we swiftly crossed the ocean, drank potions, and settled on the hill overlooking L'manberg.

We had been laying here for a good two minutes, watching the government of L'manberg meet on the wooden bridge just in front of the homes. The teal water sparkled below in the midmorning sun.

Decorations hung from the houses in bright banners and festive lanterns. People were milling around behind them, seeming to be at ease and enjoying the event with fizzy drinks and desserts.

But when I peered closer, I could sense the buzz of anxiety floating off of them like the swirls that came from potions.

We were all anxious, tightly wound, waiting for the guest of honor to arrive.

Dream was about fifteen minutes late, Tubbo finally commencing the start of the festival without him after guests were grumbling about waiting.

I could tell Tubbo hadn't wanted to start without Dream there, after all, he was the reason for this event. Now, the president fiddled with his red tie and adjusted Ranboo's own tie for him, who was standing next to him.

"If this bitch doesn't show up, I'm going to get some of that cake down there," Tommy whispered, his voice directed at the table of desserts down below.

The dessert table was filled full of plates with cakes, cupcakes, and pies all from Niki's bakery. Each made my mouth water, especially the pumpkin pie.

But when I spotted Niki in the crowd, something seemed off about her. She seemed unhappy, less cheerful than usual.

I made an effort to find the back of Tommy's cape and clutch it, making sure he wasn't about to expose our location. "We can make cake later, Dream just got here."

Tommy shifted, facing the way my own head had heard the hurried footsteps coming from.

Dream rounded the corner, almost stomping in an angry way. His mask covered his entire face, tufts of hair poking out over it from under his hood.

He seemed as normal as he could get, except for the fact that he was wearing all of his netherite armor and his sharp ax was held in one of his hands.

Tubbo rushed forward, stopping just in front of him. "What's going on?"

Dream just shook his head slowly. "Tommy messed up."

Techno and I both snapped to look in the direction of Tommy's invisible form, Techno's pink braid whipping my head from the movement.

"I didn't do anything," He whispered quickly, confusion apparent in his voice.

"You don't know what he did?" Dream asked seriously, drawing our attention back to the sputtering group.

A chorus of no rings out. It seemed like Dream didn't believe them, just continuing to shake his head and spread his hands.

"Follow me!" He said above the confusion, walking away from L'manberg.

By now, the guests had stopped talking and were paying attention to the outburst. Whispers spread among them, behind hands in a secretive way.

Techno moved next to me, his hand fumbling for my own. Once our hands were connected, I grabbed Tommy's and we all stood, trying not to lose each other to invisibility.

"Let's follow them," Techno whispered, beginning to lead us after Dream. We moved at a fast pace, walking alongside the L'manberg government off the path, trying to stay ahead of the crowd behind us.

As we moved, the government tried arguing with Dream and asking him what Tommy had to do with anything. But Dream wouldn't budge, just continuing to lead us down the Prime Path.

Before I saw anything, the scent of gunpowder and the sound of rushing water sent my instincts on high alert.

But not even those hints could prepare my heart for the sight in front of us.

The Community House was gone, completely and utterly destroyed by the hands of explosives.

Stray bricks had been thrown into the once clear and beautiful coral reef below the house, crushing bits of now dead coral. The water from the aquarium on the open top floor cascaded down the sides, drowning the old home.

This had been one of the earliest buildings here. My first home before the Dream lands were even called that.

And now it is gone.

All three of us had halted behind Tubbo and his group, the festival attendees scattering around us to see the wreckage. People could easily brush against us and expose our location, but my eyes were glued to the damage.

Smoke wafted off of the house like steam from a cooling cake, stinging my eyes. My eyes began to water, not just from the smoke.

The place where I had bonded with George, Sapnap, and Dream is gone. All the memories engraved into the crafting table floor and in between the bricks.

Gone.

Even the place where we would sit to watch the stars on clear nights, the roof, was destroyed.

"Tommy did this?" Tubbo asked, his voice thick with strain.

Dream stood in front of us all, the waterfalls of the aquarium just behind. "Tommy blew up the Community House."

People burst into a frenzy of questions and accusations directed towards Dream. No one understood what was going on, myself included.

Tommy's hand was tight around my own, either out of guilt or fear. But deep down, something murmured to me that this wasn't him.

Tommy hadn't done this.

Dream stepped inside the waterfall, all of us following. Several people climbed up to what remained of the roof to watch from above, Sapnap included.

Even from a distance, I could see the same emotions I was experiencing flashing on his face.

Heartbreak, confusion, loss.

I walked through the small opening of water, stepping inside of my old home. It looked as bad as it did on the outside in here.

Ash was everywhere, water completely soaking the few crafting tables that made up the floor. It felt so much smaller in here.

Dream stood in the middle as people formed a circle around him. "We were this close to peace! I trusted you guys for once, ever!"

Tubbo stepped forward defensively, with Fundy and Quackity backing him. "This has nothing to do with us!"

Ranboo loomed over Tubbo with his tall form. "Why us? L'manberg has nothing to do with this!"

They were all talking at once, but I heard Techno lean over my head, whispering to Tommy, "Did you blow this up?"

"No!" Tommy said back, keeping a tight grip on my hand. I squeezed his hand once, in reassurance, getting a squeeze back.

"Tubbo, you still have one of Tommy's discs! You're still affiliated with him!" Dream practically shouted back at the president. "This was the oldest building here! Tommy has to pay for this!"

More arguments arose, people talking over each other. This was a mess, a chaotic mess.

Of course, the festival didn't go as they planned.

Since when did festivals go right?

"Look, Tubbo, I need Tommy's other disc to enforce his exile," Dream said, silencing the stream of voices. "I won't blame L'manberg if you give me the disc."

Tommy went still next to me. He knew this was bad, that the one thing he had been fighting for was on the line.

A war was raging inside Tubbo, the distress clear on his face. He didn't want to give over the disc, not when it was one of the only things he had left of his best friend.

But L'manberg's future was at stake.

Foolish was right, everything had changed. Beginning with the destruction of this house and only more was to come.

I could almost feel the tall presence of DreamXD hovering over Dream's body with his snow-white hands on his shoulders. Evilness twisted with the ash and smoke in the air.

"No!" Tommy shouted next to me, breaking free from my grasp. The potion wore off of us all, gasps igniting in the crowd.

My form stopped flashing, revealing my Antarctic outfit and sword slung at my side. But I set my jaw and ignored the stares in my direction.

I had forgotten that some people hadn't seen me in ages.

Tommy ran into the circle, with me quick on his heels. I wasn't going to let the teen go far by himself, not when Dream was right there.

"Tommy?" Several people asked, another set of people saying my name. Techno was a little behind me, eyeing Quackity closely.

"So you are here," Dream hummed, a quiet fury building.

Tommy ignored Dream, slowly spinning so he could face each person. "I didn't do this!"

"Tommy, you messed up!" Dream shouted, getting a step closer to us. "This looks like something you would do!"

I stepped in line with Tommy, pulling my sword from its sheath a bit. Dream stopped in his tracks, his mask looking between the two of us.

"Tommy didn't do this!" Techno raised his voice, eyes turning to him. "I know I'm not the most reliable person, but my brother wouldn't lie to me!"

"He lied about burning down George's house!" Dream shot back.

"He would lie to you, Dream! But he wouldn't lie to me!" Techno yelled back, standing up for his brother. "He wouldn't lie to either of us." He gestured between himself and me.

Dream just shook his head again, turning back to Tubbo. "Just give me the disc."

Tubbo's eyes darted around to all of us, settling on me for a second. I could hear his heart racing, on the verge of giving up from the stress of it all.

I shook my head a tiny bit, saying no. If he gave up the disc now, it would only give more power to DreamXD and it would fracture Tommy's friendship with Tubbo.

Tommy stepped towards his best friend, ignoring Dream. "Don't give it to him, Tubbo."

Tubbo's face was pale in the autumn light as he looked up at Tommy. His eyes darted to an ender chest that had survived.

Tommy noticed, moving in front of it. "You've done all these speeches as president about how I was a bad friend, but you won't even stick up for me. Right at my lowest point."

He took a step forward, his pain surfacing from what Dream had done to him. He lowered his voice, "Do you know what he did to me in exile?"

This set Tubbo over the edge, his face exploding with emotion. "I thought you died!"

"Tubbo, just trust me!"

"I did trust you once, the first time all of this happened," Tubbo's face became grave. "I won't make the same mistake twice."

I could feel the tension snap like a whip. Something inside Tommy rose up like a wounded animal that had been hurt one too many times.

A vein in his temple ticked and I stepped towards him, extending my hand in comfort. But he brushed me off, getting closer to Tubbo.

"You betrayed me." The wounded animal was done being hurt, and it was going to bite back.

Faster than I think Tommy realized, words he hadn't thought about, rushed over his lips.

"The discs were worth more than you ever were!"

A gasp left me, as well as most people surrounding us. Even Tommy seemed to rear back from what he had said.

Maybe the wounded animal had bitten too hard.

Tubbo's face shattered, but immediately he placed a shield over it and set his jaw. He marched up to the ender chest.

And to my horror, he pulled out mellohi and placed it right into Dream's hands.

~~~~

things start picking up now homies >:)

I'll include a drawing of tommy's sword in the next update

have a wonderful and fantastic day, make sure to get some sleep and to stay hydrated! Love u all! And remember that you are loved and my dm's are always open