Logstedshire was quiet. The only sounds around were the waves of the ocean, rustling of the leaves and cracking of the campfire in front of Tommy. In the distance he could hear the wailing Nether Portal and some animals. The night was dark and clouds covered the moon. The only light was coming from the campfire and the few torches.

It was cold and Tommy was freezing. The campfire provided warmth, but it wasn't enough as the flame was small and slowly dying, just like he was too. He was slowly dying as well.

He hated being exiled. He pretended not to know why Dream had done it, but deep inside he knew that his existence and knowledge was a threat to Dream. He knew too much – more than anyone else on the server – and therefore Dream couldn't risk having him around the others where he could reveal the truth.

       Then, speaking of the devil, Dream appeared through the portal. Tommy gritted his teeth and looked away.

"Don't you want to greet your dear friend?" Dream asked, tilting his masked head. Tommy didn't look at him.

"You're not my friend," he wanted to say, but didn't.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Dream stopped in front of him. "It's rude to ignore your friends, don't you know?"

Tommy didn't say a word. He was already having a bad time and didn't want Dream to make it worse.

"Tommy," Dream's tone was warning. He clipped the mask's straps open and moved it out of the way to stare at Tommy with his emerald green eyes.

Tommy refused to look at him. He didn't want to meet those eyes. He knew that anyone else would have been absolutely freaked out seeing Dream remove his mask, but he wasn't. He had never told anyone on the server, but he was the only one who was actually familiar with Dream's face.

"I'm your friend. We've seen a lot together, c'mon, you can trust me!" Dream forced Tommy's head up with his hand.

Tommy pulled his head away. His behaviour was starting to really annoy Dream. The latter picked up his mask and put it back on. "Fine, you give me no other options."

Then, from his inventory he pulled a familiar object. Tommy's blood ran cold. Dream chuckled, running his finger over the Wither skeleton skull. He knew exactly what memories he had awakened in Tommy, and he knew that it was from time far before L'manberg.

"I'll have to go, but I'll leave you some company~!" he taunted while placing the soul sand and skulls on place. "See you!" he waved as the monster began awakening.

-----

       Tommy was frozen, the memories playing in his head, stopping him from acting. The Wither was staring at him with burning eyes. Then it attacked, and Tommy ran. He couldn't fight back, he was too scared. Scared because of the memories.

He tripped on something and fell face-first on the ground. He raised his hands to shield his face from the skulls that flew to his direction.

Suddenly the Wither let out a wail and the attacks stopped. Tommy opened his eyes to see a woman with long raven hair in front of him.

She turned around with worry in her caramel eyes. Tommy's breath hitched. He didn't remember when someone had last looked at him with genuine worry in their eyes. Then why did this stranger look at him like that?

"Are you alright?" she asked, offering her hand towards him. He took it and let her help him up.

"Yeah.." he mumbled.

She frowned. "What are you doing here all alone?" she asked, looking around.

"Oh.." Tommy seemed bothered. "I was exiled from the rest of the server.." he answered. Her eyes widened in horror.

"What? Exiled? Who dares to exile a child like you?" She seemed extremely shocked and angry. Tommy flinched. He didn't like the anger. She noticed his reaction. "Oh, I'm not angry at you. I'm angry at whoever has abandoned you," she quickly assured.

"My name is Aphmau. I'm the Lord of Phoenix Drop," she quickly introduced herself.

"Tommy.." Tommy mumbled his name. Aphmau offered him a soft smile. It made his heart skip a beat, he didn't remember when someone had actually smiled to him like that.

"Hey, I have a habit to collect abandoned children. I have too sons at home. One is still young and the other is a very old ghost stuck in a child's body. Would you like to come with me? I could promise you a new home." Tommy was shocked. Was this stranger offering him the thing he had dreamed of ever since his own had collapsed years ago.

"You don't even know me.. And I'm not that much of a child anymore, I'm 16," he said, not wanting to fall for this stranger so easily.

"I know that you need my help," she argued softly. "I saw an angel with huge purple wings and eyes surrounding it. It told me to come here and get you."

That made Tommy froze. An angel surrounded by eyes for eternity. He had seen that in his dreams. He didn't know who it was, but there was always something familiar about it.

"Will you let me help you?" Aphmau asked, offering her hand towards him. "I promise you that I can give you a life you deserve. As a Lord and a mother is my job to make sure my people and children are happy."

"Fine, it's not like I have anything left here anyways.." Tommy mumbled and took the hand. He really wanted to get away from everything, so maybe this would be a good opportunity for him.

"Let's leave this place then. Is there anyone you'd like to say goodbye to before we go?" Aphmau asked, glancing behind her, where Tommy saw a Nether portal -looking white portal. He was surprised that he hadn't noticed it before.

"No. There's no one who cares about me," he answered. Aphmau frowned before doing something that completely shocked Tommy.

She pulled him into a hug. She was way more shorter than him, but it didn't seem to stop her. He felt tears forming in his eyes. He didn't remember when someone had last hugged him really meaning it. Maybe it had been his oldest brother before he had been taken away 12 years ago, or then Sally when she had lived with him and Wilbur before disappearing, or it could have been Dream back when everything was still alright all those years ago.

"I will care about you," she quietly promised him. "I won't let anyone hurt you." Even though Tommy had just met her, there was something familiar behind those words. He knew he could trust her, but didn't understand why.

"Let me take you home," she whispered.

-----

       Above the duo, watching, were two people. A woman with long raven hair and white dress. Next to her was a man with strawberry blonde hair and purple cloak. Millions of purple eyes were watching over them, but those went ignored.

"Are you sure that this will be a good idea?" she asked him with a doubtful look on her face as she watched the two below them enter the portal.

"Lady Death won't help me with him and I can't just watch him suffer.. He means the world to me," he answered, holding back his tears. "Promise me that she'll take care of him?" he asked.

She felt pity as she heard how desperate he was. With a sigh she answered: "My daughter has a kind heart. She won't let him down."

"Then I'll trust her with him, thank you so much. I can't even begin to explain how much this means to me." He got down on his knees and bowed for her.

"Please, do not bother with such actions," she soothed, crouching down to be on the same level with him. "I am not your Goddess, you don't have to bow down for me." She ran her hand through his hair.

"I do not worship Lady Death.. She might be my mother, but she isn't my Goddess," he answered. "As long as she speaks against him, I won't listen to her." He looked down.

"But that doesn't mean that you should worship me. You are your own God, and a Watcher as well," she answered softly. "As the biological brother of my daughter's new son, I will accept you as my grandchild. Therefore I will be required to help you when you need it," she instead decided.

"That would be too much," he frowned.

"I insist," she said. "You came to me and therefore I won't turn you down. You asked me to protect your brother, but clearly he isn't the only one who needs help."

"Can you promise me that one day I'll get him back..?" he asked quietly.

She lifted his chin up with her soft fingers. "I promise. He just has to find himself first," she promised with a warm smile on her lips.

-----
   
       Tommy's eyes widened. The world was filled with things he had never seen before. There were blocks, items and animals. He was absolutely stunned by the beauty of this new world he had been taken to.

"What the hell is this place?" he blurted out, looking around with wide eyes.

Aphmau chuckled at his reaction. "This is Ru'aun region and we're near Phoenix Drop. It's my village," she explained while leading Tommy out of the forest onto a path that took them towards a gate.

"We're about to enter the village. Do you want to meet everyone today, or would you like to meet just a few people today and the rest when you have settled in better?" she asked him as they reached the gate.

"The latter sounds better," Tommy admitted quietly, kinda afraid that she would be angry at his decision, but instead she just smiled.

"Alright, then I'll take you to your new home right away!" she hummed before turning to look at the gate.

"Dante! Brian! Open the gates!" she shouted up to the guard Tommy hadn't noticed before. Soon the gate lifted open and in front of them was standing a young male with blue hair and guard armour.

"Welcome back Lady Aphmau! I didn't even see you leave!" The guard seemed a bit bothered by that as Aphmau led Tommy inside the walls.

"Don't worry about it Dante," Aphmau confronted him with a soft smile on her lips. "I left without anyone noticing, you don't have to worry, you haven't failed," she ruffled his hair.

"Alright, but who's that?" the guard, Dante, asked, glancing at Tommy with a curious look painted on his face.

"This is Tommy. I'll introduce him to you later," Aphmau hummed. Tommy glared him behind her, not quite sure how he should react.

"It's nice to meet you Tommy! My name is Dante, I'm one of the guards here in Phoenix Drop," Dante introduced himself before turning to Aphmau. "It's getting dark, Lady Aphmau. You should get going back home," he said.

"We'll get going. Goodnight," she answered before leading Tommy further into the village.

-----

       "This is your new home," Aphmau said as they stopped by the house on the hill. Tommy looked behind him, taking a moment to adore the view of the beutiful village below them.

"It look nice.. And very purple," he pointed out and furrowed his brows.

Aphmau chuckled, "Purple is my favourite colour."

Then she stopped and glanced toward the docs to their right, Tommy followed her gaze. "That ship there belongs to Lady Katelyn from O'Khasis. The powerhouse of our region. I suggest avoiding it since we don't know what she's exactly up to.." she warned, seeming clearly bothered.

"Alright," Tommy nodded. Aphmau smile to him before turning back toward the house.

She pulled the door open and stepped in, Tommy following behind. He was surprised by the amount of decoration. There were so many items he had never seen before.

"I'll be introducing you to my two sons and my friend who lives here and helps me take care of them while I'm out doing Lord-business," Aphmau explained before calling out three names: "Levin! Malachi! Zoey! Come introduce yourself to our new family member!"

Soon down the stairs on their left came a blonde toddler, a ghostly toddler and an elf. The children looked really excited and the elf had a warm smile on her face.

"This is my new son, Tommy," Aphmau gestured towards him. "Tommy, these are Levin, Malachi and Zoey," she continued, gesturing towards each of them.

"Welcome Tommy, it's really nice to meet you and I hope you will like it here!" Zoey smiled to him warmly. He was stunned by the kindness and could only quickly mumble a "It's nice to meet you too."

"Hey!" Levin waved with a huge smile on his small face. He seemed really excited, but also tired, which wasn't surprising considering how late it was.

"It's nice to meet you," Malachi hummed. He too seemed excited.

"The boys would love to get to know you, but I think that they really need some sleep now," Zoey chuckled softly, picking up Levin. "You don't mind if I go put them to sleep, do you?" she asked from Tommy. It surprised him, but he shook his head.

"Wonderful, you can talk more tomorrow," she hummed before taking the young ones back upstairs.

"You're probably tired as well. Let me take you to your room. It's downstairs next to Zoey's," Aphmau decided and began leading him down to the basement of the house. There she showed him the right room.

"This is your new room. I'll let you settle in. You can let me or Zoey know if you need anything." She pulled him into a hug. "Sleep well."

"You too," Tommy mumbled, still shocked by the kindness. Aphmau smiled to him before turning around. Then she stopped, having remembered something.

"Oh, the chests there are filled with stuff. You can look through them and take whatever you like," she pointed out before waving him goodnight and disappearing upstairs.

Tommy made his way to the chests. There he found a book. He stared at it for a while, thinking if he could find use to it. He took it and returned to his room.

"Writing a little message wouldn't be bad.." he mumbled to himself. Then he wrote a name on the cover of the book. A name he hadn't heard in years.

Hey,

It's been years since I last saw you. I don't remember much of you, but I miss you. I hope that you're alive and doing well. I'm alright now, I hope. I've been through a lot since you left, but now I think that I have found a place where I can be free.

Yours,
Tommy.

-----

       There was a soft knock on his door. He lifted his head and called out: "Come in!"

Zoey opened the door with a cup in her hands. "I thought that I could bring you a warm cup of tea before you go to bed. Do you want it?" she asked, offering the cup towards him.

His curiosity perked. He didn't remember when he had last had something special to drink, so he nodded his head. "Sure. It would be nice."

Zoey smiled and settled the cup on the nightstand next to his bed. "I'll be in my room next to yours. Sleep well." She ran her hand through his hair and pulled him into a quick hug before backing away from the room.

Tommy picked up the cup of tea and took a sip. It tasted incredible, nothing like he had tried ever before. He picked up the book again and began writing another letter.

Hey Tubbox,

I hope that you regret your decision to exile me, bitch! Yesterday I would have still blamed you for it, but now it has led me into something that seems like a nice new beginning. I haven't forgiven you yet, but I'm not that angry anymore.

I hope that you're doing well in L'manberg, or whatever is left of it. I hope that everyone there is doing well, Ghostbur, Techno, and everyone else.

Oh, and you're missing out a lot! Tea is fucking poggers!

Yours,
Tommy.

       With the book under his pillow he fell asleep. And for the first time in a long time he actually slept well and without nightmares.

-----

       Sleeping peacefully, Tommy didn't notice the figure forming behind his bed. They carefully stroked his hair and smiled.

As they were about to leave, they notice the book peeking from under the pillow. It had their name on it, so they carefully opened it and read the message.

With tears streaming down their face they looked at his sleeping figure and whispered, "I miss you too.." And with that they disappeared, leaving the book where they had taken it from.

Words: 2836

[5.8.2022]

The rewrite is here with some brand new lore! Also, this story will be updated on Fridays. If I run out of time because of school and such, I might skip some weeks updates.