tw// blood, death, mass death, arguing

The light of day flooded over the steppe that had set up their camp early in the morning. Tommy had been woken up by Wilbur tuning his lute in the crisp morning. Dew made everything that was left out in the open a little damp and chilly. Tommy was the one to figure this out between him, Jack, and Tubbo as he stood up and bonked his head against a pole that held their tent up and proceeded to get soaked by the water that rolled off the water-resilient linen.

Wilbur must have seen it happen because he chuckled, but when Tommy looked up to glare at him, he was looking back down at his lute with a hidden smile. Across from him, Phil and Techno were sitting around the long burnt-out logs on the fire they gathered around the previous night. They were laughing about something or other.

"Hello, Boys," Tommy greeted, yawning and stretching his back out then walked over beside Wilbur and sat down.

The three all muttered something about good morning to the boy. "What's the plan for today, Phil?"

"Ah, we're headed towards another city but we're a good day's travel away so we'll have to get a move on soon. Though if we get to the town today, we'll make it to the capital tomorrow," Phil said merrily.

"Oh wow," Tommy said, he hadn't realized they were so close to the capital. "And then? What will we do when we get to the capital?"

"I figure we'll stay a night or so and see what has been happening. I sent a letter by bird way back before we left so I assume the Good Captain will be aware of our arrival and our mission and will be prepared for us," Phil told him, "Once we get to planning with the Captain, we'll plan our strike."

"So we're going to be greeted by a feast?" Wilbur said with an almost excited smile, "Oh, how I miss well-prepared food."

Techno deadpanned stared at him, being the main preparer of foods, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Wilbur rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Phil, who nodded, "Probably. I'm a minor god visiting their city, I wouldn't expect much less from them," He said casually.

"God, that's weird," Tommy muttered.

Phil wheezed, "I forget about it too until we walk into a city and people act like I'm the best thing since sliced bread."

Techno patted him on the back, "Ahh that's because you are." Phil smiled at him.

"Geeze, how long have we been on the road?" Wilbur asked.

Phil did some math on his fingers, "Ehh- two weeks from the palace to the coast, five days on the sea, and it's been what, three days since we landed? And we've got two ways left. Today and tomorrow." Phil rambled on, "We've been traveling for three weeks."

"God, that means it's three weeks back," Tommy said, already dreading it. "Yeah, I'm definitely going to enjoy that feast."

"It's probably going to be a whole gala type thing," Wilbur added.

"We can only hope," Tommy grunted.

Within the next half hour, everyone else had emerged from their tents and the family around the dampened-out fire had gone back to start helping to collapse the tent. After three weeks, you get pretty good and collect all your tents and materials in a timely manner. Tommy laughed when he looked back at him all those weeks, it took them well over an hour to get it all together, and not to mention getting it all onto their horses.

By the end of the hour, they were saddled up and Phil was telling the group about their pace and the city they were set to meet by the end of the day. They all seemed to be buzzing with the news, they were really almost done? They really hadn't run into any problems except for in the very beginning, they were all impressed with themselves.

They started out, Phil led the herd to start off with as he usually did. The horses seemed refreshed, all happily trotting amongst each other as they went on. The hills and ditches were easily conquered as they grew closer to the forest that they had seen on the horizon. They kept to the field as they cantred through the morning haze, all relaxed in the silence.

Occasionally a songbird could be heard cooing from the forests and of course the thundering of a herd of horses and the crisp grass that crunched under their hooves, but otherwise, it was silent. But Tommy didn't mind it today.

As the day got warmer, they all started chatting more but they were still quiet. Tommy silently galloped beside Deo and Big Q as they went through vast pansies of fields, it was just a chill day for everyone. They were all focused on the travel and not as much on all the little things.

When the sun had slowed to the center of the sky, the group stopped for a brief lunch break near a river again to let their bodies and steeds rest and recover after the hours of speedy riding up and down hills. Dream, Bad, and Sapnap were the ones sent out to hunt that day and they returned. George and Deo had successfully set up a small fire to cook it over and Phil had Tommy and Tubbo prepare the geese they brought back and then he cooked them.

"You found these geese in a reasonable place, right?" Deo asked Dream with a small smile towards Tommy.

Dream looked at him with his smiley porcelain mask and shrugged, "I mean yeah, there's a lake in the forest over there, why do you ask-"

"Ah, just always a good idea to make sure you know where they come from," Deo said vaguely. Dream just looked at him and cocked his head before walking back over to his friends.

Tommy and Tubbo chuckled a little at Deo's reference. Tommy had to remind himself that the majority of the party wasn't around during that; hell back then Phil, Wilbur, and Techno weren't even aware that they were traveling some miles behind them and Tommy and Tubbo had no idea that Deo was shadowing behind them, that was about two and a half weeks prior to where they now stood.

Phil cooked the geese that the Dream Team had brought back in quick succession and the party ate it all up quickly. Luckily they were pretty hearty animals and the duck fat was always convenient for later efforts.

George and Wilbur, who were sitting on the edge of the hill watching their horses graze and frolic, finished their portions and went out and started wrangling them all up and they were off once again. Jack and Eret had gone over to the stream and filled up some buckets to put the fire out and Skeppy searched around and picked up anything that had been dropped and once again, they were off.

They mounted their steeds like they had done tens of times prior, checked over their belongings one more time for good measure, and they were off once again. They had stopped right where the plains and woods seemed to finally merge with no escaping it so now they trotted more carefully over exposed roots and pebbled, overgrowth paths.

A large river cut through the forest. It looked wide but not too deep or strong. They had crossed streams and rivers before but it always took some time. Phil sent Skeppy and Techno, two of the taller members of their party, to see how deep the water was. They reported back and said the horses would probably have to swim across it.

Phil sighed with a slightly frustrated sigh. He looked back at the mounted party and then forward to the river. "But the current's okay?" He asked.

Skeppy nodded, "Easy current, just deep and slippery, it's all rock, no silt."

Phil nodded and looked back at everyone, "Alright, how many of you have crossed rivers on horseback and how many of you have waterproof bags or linens?" He asked.

As it turns out, crossing rivers on horseback within the party was a practically lost art. Techno, Deo, Eret, and Jack were the only ones besides Phil himself who had attempted such feats.

"Alright, it's pretty easy; first we'll cover all of our stuff with the tent fabric, especially anywhere you have food 'cause that'll just get nasty," Phil told them. "Just be careful, it'll be slippery and your steed may not want to, but we'll get the more confident guys upfront to show the rest how."

They nodded and a few people dismounted and started unpacking their tent linens. Tommy and Tubbo only had the one between them so they had to get a little creative in what they used.

"They might try and play or roll with you like they do when we cross normal streams, just be firm with 'em and don't let 'em do that," Phil instructed. "Try not to get the tack wet, I know it's more what the horse and river do, just be aware and we'll be ready."

Everyone nodded and finished wrapping up their gear. Most of it was water resilient anyways in case they had to go through a rain shower, but some things they just covered up anyways. Tommy, George, and Techno were all elected for having brave or level-headed horses who would pass over easy and show the rest the way, of course, led by Phil who was the most familiar with crossing rivers.

They entered the river carefully, one by one of two by two, carefully departing from the river's bedrock to swimming. The horses only had to swim for a few seconds before they reached the other side, but that was where the problems began.

Most of the horses had special grip shoes for harsh climates like this, but some didn't have shoes at all. Usually, this wasn't a problem, you don't run into a lot of gravel in the middle of a forest, but it can make their grip on rocks falter a little more.

Half of the party had made it across as Bad and Skeppy were exiting the water. Skeppy's horse didn't have shoes, it slipped in its attempt to get up which freaked the horse out. Bad's steed began to freak out because its friend was. Eret was crossing behind them and his horse started spooking as well which caused a chain reaction to all the horses in the water.

Bad, in a moment of clarity, used his horse's momentum to push it up the hill and grab Skeppy's reins and drag the spooked horse up behind him. As soon as Skeppy's steed touched dry land, it calmed down as if nothing had happened. Skeppy tried to push himself back up onto the horse but proceeded to fall off the other side.

"Oh god, are you alright Skeppy?" Techno called over to him.

Skeppy carefully sat back up off the group and held up a thumb, "Yep," He grunted, clutching his side, "I'm made of rocks."

Techno huffed and rolled his eyes and kept walking. "Is everyone else alright over there?" Phil asked over the river.

Eret gave him a shaky thumbs up like Skeppy, but he had stayed on his horse and was now continuing down the river. The rest of the party was a lot more careful and slow, but eventually, they had Skeppy back up on his horse and everyone across.

"Alright, generally, a pretty good job everyone," Phil told them all with a slightly concerned smile. "I think we'll be alright now, just gotta make sure all the horses are alright after that slip and we can unwrap and then we'll start drying them off by running to catch up on time," Phil told them.

It didn't take long for them to get back into it, the horses were all alright and they were proficient in packing up. Tommy grabs some oat bars that he and Tubbo often shared and offered one to his friend who gladly took it.

Once they were all comfortable, they started off with a gallop through the woods. They followed the rather overgrown path, but getting swiped by a branch was better than running smack into a tree (Tommy would know).

They traveled quickly for the rest of the day before Phil brought them to a stop. The roads became much more defined and they could see wagon and horse tracks that lead up the road. They still had closer to two hours before the sun dipped under the horizon which would give them all plenty of time to get themselves into a tavern and maybe look around a little, after all, it was supposed to be a pretty nice village, being a day's travel outside the capital and all.

Phil led them up some hills. Tommy thought it was strange that they didn't see anyone or hear any buzzing that they would usually hear it only a mile outside the village or so, but perhaps they just had an early curfew because of the attacks on cities.

There was a little stream that seemed to filter out from the city but it seemed clear, maybe a little muddy, but they would be alright. Everyone walked their horses to the stream but none of them seemed to want any of it. Tubbo slinked down from his horse and scooped up a handful like he usually did.

But he stopped. It caught everyone's attention. He coughed a little, hitting his chest a little to clear the cough out. Tommy cast him a curious look. Tubbo seemed confused as he took another handful, but coughed it up once again.

"You alright, Tubbo?" Phil asked with a slightly nervous chuckle, clearly unnerved by the kid's reaction to the seemingly fine water.

Tubbo looked up at him and beckoned him to come down to him. Techno insisted on doing it and slung himself onto the ground and kneeled down beside Tubbo. He did the same as Tubbo, shoveled the water into his mouth.

A look of concern flashed over his eyes as he took another, smaller sip. He nodded and looked up at Phil. "Blood," He said, "There's blood in the water."

Phil looked at the stream, taking a closer look this time. He froze, the river wasn't muddy, no it just looked like that because of the evening light. No, the river had streaks of blood running down it. Phil was already a good few yards ahead of everyone, he pushed his horse up the hill and looked down into the valley where the city lay.

He stopped short.

Tommy saw his face drop into a terrified look he had never seen on the older man, even in the worst situations, he had never seen such pure fear. Techno saw it too.

"Phil is everything alri-" Techno started, jogging up to his father as he looked over the ridge, he got cut off as well.

Tommy ran up beside them on his horse, as did as many people that could fit onto the ridge overlooking the city.

But they weren't met with a city. No, they were met with a horrendous sight that Tommy would never be able to get out of his mind as long as he lived.

The entire city was in ruins. All the wood was charred, barely anything still stood. Nothing stirred whatsoever.

Tommy looked over the ruined streets and buildings, the village was massive, it had crippled and broken stone walls that were supposed to protect it that stretched on forever. Thousands of people must have lived in the city, but now there was nothing. No inhabitants, no livestock, no nothing. Just soot and the overwhelming scent of charred death. Tommy felt his heart stop and blood rushed in his ears.

One thing stood out to Tommy, one thing that was left behind.

Giant, dusky, dark purple crystalline structures sprouted out of the ground. The image of the footsoldier that collapsed in Phil's arms way back in the palace was as vivid in his mind as it was when it actually unfolded in front of them.

Everyone around him reacted in the exact same way, beside him, Tubbo breathed out a quiet murmur that almost broke Tommy. Because he was right.

"We're too late."

At first, there were a few gasps, but when they faded out it was just silence. Everyone was silent for what felt like years for Tommy, even their tuckered out steeds stood at attention in the horrendous ruins of a once-grand city. The reality of their adventures setting in like cold hail pelting down on them.

Phil didn't say anything as he urged his horse down the hill. It didn't want to and Tommy understood why, he didn't want to either. He didn't want to see all the crippled and bruised bodies that he knew lied at the bottom of the valley. Men, women, children, livestock, pets, everything. Dead.

Phil couldn't get his horse to march down the hill, every time he tried to push the steed forward it got antsier and Phil didn't want to risk the horse throwing him so with a frustrated huff he cast himself down onto the ground.

He looked back at the rest of his party, "Jack and Big Q, please stay with Tommy and Tubbo and the horses, everyone else, I want you to come with me," he demanded.

Everyone looked to one another, weary, but they didn't want to disobey Phil'Za now. They slowly dismount their steeds and hand them over between Jack, Big Q, Tommy, and Tubbo. Two sides of Tommy's mind were fighting, one side was yelling at him to stay with Tubbo and Jack and Big Q, to stay safe and keep away from the danger, but the other side of him was yelling at him to go with his family; Phil, Wilbur, Techno? They didn't know what they were walking into, what if something was still down there?

Tubbo was staring bullets into the back of his head, he knew exactly what Tommy was thinking as he looked over to his brothers. Tubbo grabbed Tommy's hand and pulled his eyes off of the party descending the slope towards the ruins.

Some time passed before Deo walked back up the slope, somberly and slowly. Tommy looked up at him, "Did you guys find anything?" He asked hopefully.

Deo didn't meet his eyes but he shook his head, "No. No, there's no living thing still left down there."

Tommy shuttered, "Oh..." He muttered, nodding to himself.

"Phil says you all can come down, he doesn't think the horses will go far now, they're tired," Deo told them.

The four who had been silently perched on the top of the hill nodded and started down the hill after Deo. The horses watched them and actually decided to follow after them. Heard animals, Tommy mused.

Deo led them down into the town, Tommy almost had to take a moment as he walked through the streets. Tommy wasn't sure the difference between charred bodies and charred logs, so he decided he didn't want to know. Deo and Jack continued forwards like he didn't see anything unusual, it unnerved him. They had probably seen villages like this a thousand times over, they were not like him.

They are led to the rest of the group, Phil is silent, he's just deep in through, rolling one of the murky purple crystals across his palm as he leaned against one of the few support poles still standing. Techno cleared his throat beside him, "There's nothing left here," He said darkly, "We need to get the horses and find a quiet place to set up the camp for the night."

The group nodded and slowly turned back around. Tommy stood with Phil as he continued rolling the crystal across his hand. They were both quiet, Tubbo stood still beside him.

The rest of the group migrated back towards the horses. Tommy watched them, the horses had followed them over the ridge and now sat around grazing cautiously, ears perked and waiting for any unusual rustle or creak.

Tommy turned his back on them for just a moment and opened his mouth to say something to his father before he was cut off by an ear-piercing scream. The three of them, Phil, Tommy, and Tubbo all shot back around towards the group. Wilbur sat on his knees, his wings frailly draped over him, making Tommy assume he was from whom the scream originated.

Tommy, Phil, and Tubbo all ran over as quickly as they could, Tommy kneeled down to Wilbur as he made it over there and shook his arm, trying to get him to look up.

In front of them, all of the horses had spooked at the sound except for one. The one stood, eyeing them curiously. It wasn't one of their horses, Tommy knew that. It was a ghostly white and it stared directly at Wilbur and Tommy with eyes as dark as a starless sky.

[Pale White Horse by The Oh Hellos]

Wilbur was still curled in on himself, his arms shaking as he slowly looked up. "Wilbur? Wilbur!" Tommy cried to him, shaking him, but Wilbur stared right through him, towards the horse. Neither broke eye contact. Wilbur started singing softly.

"Down they fell like the children of Eden." He sang quietly, "Down they fell like the tower; as the land relinquished her ghost."

"Heed the sirens, take shelter, my lover. Flee the fire that devours, but the sight held me fixed like a bayonet against my throat," He continued, "Neither plague or famine tempered my courage, nor did raids make me cower; but his translucent skin made me shiver deep within my bones."

The wind picked up all around them as it started to drizzle lightly. Wilbur looked up, his eyes glowed a faint, pupilless white, "It was a pale white horse," Now Phil softly sang it too, "With a crooked smile. And I knew it was my time."

"It was the raging storm of a foreign war. And a face I'd seen before," Phil hummed quietly, that verse without Wilbur. He looked at the horse.

"Wha- What does that mean?" Tommy asked into the tense air, he cats his gaze back to Phil, still eyeing the horse with caution and worry, "Phil? Phil, what is that?"

Phil shook his head, "It's an omen; A pale white horse foretells of a betrayal," He said. The party's eyes darted around, everyone staring at the people around them, keenly aware of what Phil had implied.

Wilbur was finally able to stand himself up with the help of Techno, leaning most of his weight onto his much larger friend, his eyes closed tightly shut and his soft wings curled in around himself. "What comes will come, we have no choice in the matter," Wilbur spat, drawing attention to his frail figure. "Someone grab the damn horse, we'll see what it knows in the morning. Just- get the tents up," Wilbur demanded.

A few people muttered something about Wilbur being crazy, wanting to question the horse? It was a horse for god's sake, but they listened. After all, he was the one who had just spoken out a prophecy on the ruins of a town that only days prior was bustling with life. They had no control over the matters before them.

They proceeded with Wilbur's words without any further hesitation. Tommy stuck by Wilbur's side as Techno slid away to speak with Phil, no doubt to plant mistrust in his head, not on purpose of course, but Techno was always weary. Always waiting for someone to turn on him, it always scared Tommy just a little, sometimes he wondered if Techno really even trusted him.

Wilbur usually slept in a tent by himself so while Tubbo was setting up their tent, Tommy took to setting up Wilbur's for him since his eyes were still tightly shut and his whole body was still reeling from its experience. When Tommy had actually been forced to learn or when Techno had decided to chat his ear off about something or other, Tommy learned that sirens were supposed to take prophecies like Wilbur had, why was he reacting like he was? Did he see what was going to happen? Did it hurt him? Did it drain him? Tommy had so many questions but clearly, Wilbur was in no situation to answer them.

They set up camp near the edge of the forest. The thick dark clouds had made their presence well known, blocking out the evening light and drizzling down over the party. Deo had gone around the camp with big lanterns and strung them out carefully so that they could all see as they built the tent.

There would be no fire tonight, no joyous tunes or story exchanging, just the bitter taste of distrust and cold. Wilbur seemed to give Tommy the smallest smile when he told him that he had built his tent for him, but Tommy missed his usual batter and witty remark; even if he would have probably said something about the tent collapsing in on him and killing him in his sleep.

Everyone was excused to their tents, no one really wanting to stay out in the dreary weather for long. Tommy and Tubbo laid beside each other as they usually did, happy to have each other warmth but both cold in the silence that hung throughout the camp. At some point, late at night, Tommy heard Techno, Wilbur, and Phil speaking briefly, but Wilbur couldn't seem to get his words out enough for anything meaningful to have been said.

Tommy drifted off into uncomfortable, dreary, damp sleep that sunk into his bones.

When morning came around, nothing much had changed, except for something that felt off in the pit of Tommy's chest.

Tubbo was still sound asleep beside him and he didn't hear any noise except for an occasional footstep and whispering. Why was whoever up trying to be quiet? It didn't make sense, nobody really cared because you either woke up or slept through it, no one was that considerate.

Tommy slid the dagger out that he kept under his pillow. After their run-in with the goblins, Tommy wouldn't sleep without it. Tommy silently crept over to the mouth of the tent with pushing out a little space that he could look through without being seen.

It seemed to be early in the morning, the lanterns were still providing most of the light and the sky was still overcast, but in the center of the camp, Tommy saw Eret, Deo, and Jack all standing together, muttering to one another as they looked at the translucent white horse that stood watching them at the edge of the camp.

It all happened too quickly, something glinted in Deo's hand and he jumped towards the horse. Within a moment blood was pouring out of its neck, Tommy wasn't even sure it could bleed until it was rushing down his... friend's? Hand.

No, Deo was most certainly not his friend. If Tommy understood what this meant, if the horse died they would have no way of knowing who is fated to be their betrayer... Well, Tommy assumed they didn't mean for him to see this, it became obvious.

Tommy didn't know what to do- he just screamed. He let out the loudest, most bloodcurdling scream that he could muster, and it was all he could get out. He couldn't fathom words, his mind was running a hundred miles a minute.

Tommy scrambled out of the tent, the three's attention snapped towards him. He was incredibly outnumbered, he just had a dagger, the three of them now all showed off their main weapons now. Tommy looked between the three brothers, eyes darting wildly between the three, but of course, he couldn't see where they were looking from under their opaque glasses.

"D.. Deo?" Tommy stuttered quietly, looking at him with wide terrified eyes, Deo seemed to flinch away under his gaze. "Jack? Eret?" Tommy said, barely above a whisper.

"We've gotta take him out," Eret insisted. He looked down at his sword, then in a blink of an eye, he charged towards Tommy.

"No- no no, what the fuck-" Tommy sputtered out, looking between the people he thought of as his friends, now surrounding the dying corpse of one of their only clues. "You three- Why? What?" Tommy tried to continue but Eret made his move. Tommy couldn't react quick enough, he just braced himself and closed his eyes, but the sword never came.

Deo stood over him instead, having knocked Eret's sword out of his hand and onto the ground a few feet away from them, and turned back towards Tommy. Tommy didn't know what to do so he just folded down into himself, he just assumed Deo wanted to kill Tommy himself.

"You're a fucking scoundrel!" Tommy cried up at Deo.

"What the fuck is going on out here?" A new voice entered the commotion, Phil. All around them, people started emerging from the tent.

Tommy had his eyes closed but he heard some scuffling above him, he opened his eyes just a little and saw Techno, having knocked Deo to the ground. Tubbo scuttled out of the tent behind him and ran over to Jack who was looking down at the dying horse with a horrified expression.

"Somebody better fucking answer me," Phil called out again. Eret looked at him and tried to charge at him, but was quickly stopped by Dream, holding his sword out in front of Phil and easily stopping the raging man and in one swift movement, knocked him out. Deo and Jack cast alarmed looks to one another before dealing with their own problems.

Tommy didn't really care what was going on, all he knew was that Deo, the man Tommy considered his friend, had just slaughtered the horse, spirit, whatever the fuck it was, and he wasn't supposed to do that. He was sitting up across from him, Techno in between them, his sword being directed at Deo's chest, and Deo was clutching his hands over his eyes as his hand moved around the damp ground trying to find his glasses.

Tommy grabbed Deo's glasses off the ground and held them tightly in his hands. "You fucking bastard," Tommy breathed out. Tommy looked at the glasses in his hands, he felt tears start to form in his eyes, and his vision blurred.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARD," Tommy screamed this time, "ALL THREE OF YOU," Tommy said, looking between the three brothers, but he caught the entire party's attention. Techno stepped out of the way between him and Deo, staring at Tommy curiously, still keeping his sword on hand.

Beside Jack, Tubbo is crying from stress and fear and Jack himself is just sitting there, looking at the horse, still horrified, he looks over to where Phil and now Wilbur was standing, not meeting their eyes, and muttered to them that the horse was dead.

[Where Is Your Rider? By The Oh Hellos]

Tommy marched up to Deo, who had his hand over his eyes and he didn't move his head up to look at Tommy, "Why won't you look at me in the fucking eyes you coward," Tommy hissed.

"Tommy, I'm sorr-" Deo tried to croak out, looking up in the direction where he thought Tommy was standing, his hand still covering his eyes.

"SORRY DOESNT FUCKING CUT IT FOR SHIT LIKE THIS, DEO!" Tommy continued, flailing his arms around, "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU THREE?"

"Tommy, could you please-" Deo tried to get another sentence out

"Was it you 'mid the fire and the ember?" Tommy cut him off, speaking his words with a steady beat as he let out a low, cynical laugh, "Were you there to bedevil and beguile? See, your face wasn't quite as I remember, but I know that wicked shape to your smile."

Tommy continued, "Bury me as it pleases you, at sea, or deep within the catacomb, but these bones never rested while living, so, how can they stand to languish in repose?"

Deo responded quietly, barely above a whisper, "He has thrown down the cavalry as gravel sinks and as the stone founders underneath the sundered sea of red and reed," Deo looked back at the corpse of the horse, or whatever it was. Its already transparent body was getting more and more so, "The shadow of Hades is fading, for he has cast down leviathan, the tyrant, and the horse and rider."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Tommy spat at him. Techno kicked him softly in his side and muttered for him to let Deo continue.

"He will hold with all of his might the armies of night, still as boulders laid to the side 'til we pass by. He has hoisted out of the mire every child, so lift your voice with timbrel and lyre-" Deo paused for a moment.

"We will abide, we will abide, we will abide," He and Jack mumbled in unison.

Tommy looked between the two in confusion, then looked over at Phil who's eyes were just searching around aimlessly. "Just give him his glasses back, Tommy," Phil told him stoically, shaking his head.

Tommy looked at the glasses in his hand again, their golden wires and obsidian lenses made Tommy want to crumble them in his hand, "No! He'll just fucking kill us! He already fucking tried it!"

"Plus why does he fucking need them?" Tommy demanded, "They're just stupid glasses, I don't even know how he sees out of them so they're not for his actual vision."

"No, I di-" Deo was about to argue before he gave up, "Just give me the glasses, I can prove this is all just a misunderstanding-"

"'Misunderstanding' My ass! You don't just do this shit on a whim or whatever the fuck you're implying!"

"Tommy," Wilbur's voice cut through, "Just give Deo his glasses."

Tommy narrowed his eyes at Wilbur, but gave him and tossed them down into the dirt in front of Deo. He fiddled around with them in his hands and slid them over his eyes, finally looking up to the crowd around him, looking a little taken aback by how many people there were.

"I-"

"You're a murderous bastard, Deo! How long have you been fucking planning this? Since you met up with your brothers? Since before we even left?" Tommy accused.

Deo raised his hands up and went to defend himself but Tommy cut him off, yet again, "Actually, I don't even want to hear another word out of your scummy mouth, you bitch," Tommy said, grabbing the dagger he had brought off of his belt, but his hand was stopped from getting any closer by Techno, who held a firm grip on his arm.

Phil cleared his throat, "Tommy, let Deo speak," He demanded. Tommy looked at him like he was crazy but Phil's stern glance stopped him from arguing any further.

"I- I don't really know where to start," Deo began, thinking over it all before continuing. He cast a glance back to Jack who was giving him a worried glance and of course, the unconscious Eret.

"The three of us, Me, Jack, and Eret are the Gorgons," Deo announced. All but Techno, Phil, and Wilbur looked shocked and taken aback by the statement, a few people muttering questions under their breath.

"What the fuck does that mean?" Tommy spat out.

Deo almost laughed a little, Techno, still holding Tommy's arm back, explained for him, "Remember the old stories about the people who could turn others into stone and had snakes as hair?"

Tommy thought for a moment, "Yeah- But wait, isn't that what is on Deo's shield? And wait, weren't they women?"

"We're hundreds of thousands of years old, Tommy, you think we care about gender?" Jack called out, having scooted himself closer between his brothers.

Tommy shrugged, "Fair enough- Wait- how old?"

"They've been around about as long as I have," Phil cut in. Tommy looked incredibly confused.

"We can explain more later, just- you all just need to know that," Deo said, frustration ebbing at his voice, "Look because we're supposed to be beings of great evil or whatever, with enough power it's possible to temporarily... mind control? Take over? I don't know how to describe it but I think that's what happened."

"That sounds like a stupid fucking excuse," Tommy said down to him.

"Tommy! Use your fucking brain here! What are we going to fight against?" Jack asked him.

"Some big bad evil guy," Tommy stated.

"And what did Deo just saw could influence us?" Jack continued.

"Some big bad evil guy- Okay well look what you did anyway! It's all for nothing, the horse is dead and you got found out. Plus who knows how long you guys have been like this?

"That was a one-time thing!" Jack exclaimed.

That seemed to set some people off, accusations flew left and right, Jack and Deo desperately tried to defend themselves, but their voices got drowned out as more and more people joined in on the verbal stoning.

Someone tried to charge at Jack, Phil cleared his throat, making everyone fall silent and still once again, eyes training on the high king.

"I believe you, Jack and Deo. But I recognize the weakness you bring to our party, especially as we get closer and closer to the darkness, we can't have you pulling something like this again and possibly injure or kill one of us," Phil said stoically.

"You two and your brother are excused from going any further along with us."

Jack and Deo looked between each other and to Phil. Everyone muttered things around him, "Sir-" Deo tried to speak up.

"My words and decisions are final," Phil told them. "I would like for you to leave as soon as Eret wakes up."

Everyone sat in silence around Phil, staring at him in surprise. But Jack and Deo nodded and turned their gazes to the ground. Jack stood himself up and walked over to Deo to help him up, who almost fell as he rose from the ground, having been sliced down the side by Techno when he thought he was attacking Tommy. Tommy fought back the urge to help him, no, he had betrayed them.

"Everyone else, please pack your bags and ready your horses, we should be in the capital city by dusk if we get a move on," Phil said sternly, nodding and walking away. Tommy wasn't quite sure what to do. He looked up and saw Jack helping Deo towards where their stuff was set up, leaving the unconscious body of Eret on the ground, he guessed there wasn't much for them to do about that.

Everyone began packing up, Tommy wasn't even sure what he was supposed to say in a situation like the one he was in, he just cast a sorry look to Tubbo who returned it as they went to get their horses. When they got back with them, Eret was up and had returned back over to Jack and Deo who was done packing up and saddled up. Tommy didn't return any of their glances over towards him.

They left without a word, Techno followed them some ways just to make sure, Techno probably wanted to bid them farewell, he had grown close to Deo and had by no means disliked any of the others, but otherwise, Tommy figured it would be the last time he ever laid eyes on them.

Something hurt in his chest. He truly felt betrayed, Deo and Jack were his two closest friends besides Tubbo and now they were walking out of his life with handfuls of mysteries that would probably never be solved. They would probably forget about him. Centuries probably passed like a blink of an eye to them, what made this different. After all, Tommy was only human.