'Hurt... everything hurts...'

Techno's body felt like it had been crushed by an entire mountain, while also being lit on fire, yet also like it was dumped into the icy lake near their home.

'Cold... why is it so cold? Where am I?'

His ears were still ringing with the same annoying tone. Prime, his head hurt like hell. Did he hit something with it? Probably. At least he managed to get his friend out of the way... right?

'Phil... where is Phil? Did he escape in time?'

Despite his body protesting against the action, he tried to lift his head or even just open his eyes. He has to make sure the blonde is alright, no matter what his body demanded right now.

When he did open his eyes, he didn't saw any trace of the red Netherrack or lava or fire... just... darkness. A weird kind of darkness where he could still see shapes floating around in the distance. Is he... is he blind? Did the explosion blind him? He looked down to try and see if he can make out anything on his body. To his own suprise, he was greeted with the sight of two hands, connected to two arms... and a human torso. He changed back! Finally he looks normal again!

But... if he can see his body just fine... then why is everything else so dark? And where the fuck is Philza? "Phil?! Can you hear me?! Are you out there?!" He got no response, just his own echo. This place was making his skin crawl... what is going on?

"Technoblade?"

He turned around when hearing the unfamiliar voice and was greeted by the sight of a woman, standing a couple feet away. Her hair was dark and falling in flowing waves over her shoulders, small glittering stars appearing in it every now and then. Her clothes had different shades of dark purples and black with small golden details. A pair of large golden wings sat on her back and a familiar shaped golden pendant sat at her neck, almost looking like it was glowing.

"Uhhh... Hello?" The woman just looked at him, not looking happy to see him. "You shouldn't be here... not yet at least." "Not yet? What's that supposed to mean? Who are you? Where am I?" The woman smiled a bit. "Of course you would be confused. Everyone is when coming here for the first time."

That only confused Techno more. Why can't she just give him a direct answer! "Where exactly is here? And who are you?! Tell me! How do you know my name!?" The woman shook her head, laughing a bit. "You really are just like how he described you..." Okay. Enough with the riddles. His patience was growing thin and her laughing at him wasn't helping! "Alright Alright. No more jokes."

The woman smiled and walked closer to Techno. "My name is Kristin. I am the goddess of Death. And you are dead, that's why you are here." It was like a knife to the chest. A cold knife, right in his heart, the cold slowly spreading through his body. He's... dead? The explosion killed him?

"I know. It's a lot to take in. Everyone reacts the same way when hearing the news." She placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort the Piglin hybrid. "Phil... what about Phil? Is he alright?" "Yes. You saved his life while giving your own." A wave of relief washed over him. At least his friend was safe. That was the most important thing right now.

But now that his mind was no longer focusing on Philza, a ton of other questions came up. "But... I got executed before. I didn't see you then. Why now?" "Your totem only allowed you to die for a second before reviving you. Your spirit was still on its way here when you were yanked back into the living world." "Oh... I see..." He started looking around, trying to see if anything else would appear out of the darkness surrounding them.

"So this is it then? I'm just... in here now?" Guess that would explain why Tommy said Wilbur went crazy. Well... even more crazy. If this is what death looks like... it's quite lonely. "Oh no. This is just a kind of 'In-between' layer between the living world and your final resting place. All souls enter this place first, so I can then guide them towards their designated final resting place. But you won't see yours just yet."

Now that caught his attention. "Why not?" "You won't stay here." "But I thought-" "I won't let you die. Not yet." Again with the not yet. Does she know something he doesn't about future events? Probably, she's a goddess after all. "So you will send me back? Why?" "There are still things you need to do. Important ones that should not be erased from history because of an early death. I swear, someday I will take this crazy man's life myself if he keeps interfering like this... none of this was supposed to happen."

A crazy man? What was she talking about... unless... the smiley on the bridge. "Dream?" For a second, she just blankly looked at Techno, debating if she should go on. "I've already told you far too much. It's time for you to go." Suddenly his body began to feel weird, as if it was torn apart and then pulled back together. He groaned in pain while looking at Kristin one last time.

"Say hello to Phil for me please."

Then everything went black as he lost consciousness.

~~~~

Phil was hunched over the hoglin's body, sobbing as he cradled it's head in his lap. He did this... it's all his fault. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... please... wake up..." But the body stayed limp, no heartbeat, no breathing. Just blood still flowing from many wounds. It was a miracle that it was still in one peace and not torn to shreds from the explosion.

"Please... wake up..." The words kept repeating itself like a broken record, but they just wouldn't stop leaving his mouth. The sound of the explosion, the screech of pain... he still heard it. And it was all his fault.

A small noise caught his attention. It was coming from the hoglin. Confused, he wiped his tears away to get a clearer view of what was going on. The noise slowly grew louder. It's sounded like... hissing? Then smoke started to rise from the massive body. It was just a little bit at first, but then it grew and spread over the hoglin's whole frame.

Phil watched as the body slowly started to change. It grew smaller and thinner, until it was just a little bigger than himself. And when the smoke finally cleared again, his heart stopped.

"T-Techno?!"

The limp body in his arms was undoubtedly the one of his missing friend that he had been searching for this whole time. "It can't... it was him... this whole time..." But that also meant that Techno was now... "No... nononono." He started shaking him again, a new wave of tears spilling. "Techno! Wake up! Don't do this to me!"

This time, he did get a response. A pained groan left the hybrids throat as his body gasped for air. His lungs felt like they were on fire, his body like it was crushed. But he was alive. "Oh by Prime, Techno!" The winged blonde pulled his friend into his arms, careful to try and not hurt him more, even if that was not possible with the current state of his body. "Don't you dare do this to me ever again! You scared me to death!" A tired laugh left the Piglin. "Sorry... didn't mean to." He tried to move, but his body just hurt to much.

"Here. This should help." Phil held a golden apple to his lips. Even if it hurt, he took a few bites, chewing until he felt the pain slowly fade away when the regeneration started to kick in. "Thanks... much better." Techno sat up and moved his arms a little. "Prime it feels good to have my body back... It was so annoying to not just tell you it's me." A chuckle escaped his friends throat. "I can imagine. Let's get you home and into a bed. The next few days you will stay in bed and rest up." The pink haired man laughed. "Alright Dad." Phil rolled his eyes and helped Techno get up. "Yeah yeah. Be careful that I don't treat you like my actual kid."

Laughing, they made their way to the Nether portal. "Oh yeah. That reminds me. I have a message for you." Phil looked at him with confusion. "A message?" "Yep." Techno grinned and climbed up the small hill with his friend.

"Kristin told me to say hello for her."

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And that concludes this short story! I hope you liked it! I may do a second one, as the 'Cursed AU' as the artist of the animatic put it received an additional animatic in which Philza turns into a monster instead of Techno. So I might do a short story for that one as well.

But for now, this is it!

Now I will focus back on the 20 unfinished short stories I have in my other book. Yay...

Bye bye!

Jedi_Raptor <3