A rundown house sat in the middle of the woods. It looked familiar. Tommy had seen it before, but yet he wasn't sure where. The woods looked really familiar too. Phoenix Drop, he could tell. He was inside walls.

The air was cold, quite alarming. It was supposed to be a warm night. What was he doing outside anyways? The cold wind breezed past him, rustling the leaves. Then he came to notice the little boy standing by the house.

His eyes widened when he recognised the blonde hair and familiar clothes. He tried to take a step further, hurry to make sure the young one was alright. But before he could do anything, the boy collapsed and everything shattered around them.

-----

     Tommy woke up in cold sweat, breathing shakily. His body was shaking. Why was he this shocked? The night was at its darkest hours. Clouds covered the Moon and stars.

He pushed the covers off of him and rushed out of the room. Something was wrong, he could tell. But he didn't know what it was. So he rushed outside.

He stopped the moment the door closed behind him. Malachi was standing by the playground, looking into the distance.

"Malachi." The ghost flinched, spinning around. He was like a deer caught in headlights. "What's wrong?" Tommy demanded, stepping closer and crouching in front of the smaller.

"Levin woke up and went outside.. I tried to follow him, but he disappeared into the woods.." the ghost explained, eyes shining with tears that were threatening to spill. He was scared.

"Go back inside. I'll go get him back." Tommy wrapped his arms around him. His eyes shifted to the woods behind Malachi. He didn't want the ghost seeing the dark creature staring them between the trees. "I'll bring him back safely," he promised before lifting Malachi up. He kept the ghost's face buried in his chest to keep him from seeing the creature.

After releasing the technically younger – actually older – boy to the house, Tommy turned towards the woods, shutting the door behind him. He rushes towards the darkness, wrapping his fingers around the handle of the netherite dagger on his belt.

"Who are you?" he called out, trying to find the creature again. Nobody answered. He furrowed his brows and looked around, keeping his eyes open.

Then, before he even noticed, he had made his way to the house from his dream. And in front of the house, was standing Levin. Just like his dream.

"Levin!" Tommy called out, rushing towards the younger. But he couldn't reach him before the boy collapse on the ground.

Tommy carefully picked him up, making sure he was alright. He didn't see any wounds. Levin had just.. passed out.. With no reason to be found. It was strange. Tommy didn't like it.

-----

     Tommy returned Levin back to his bed. Malachi seemed relieved to see that they both were okay. Now it looked like Levin was just sleeping, and Tommy really hoped that was the case.

"What exactly happened?" Tommy asked with a frown full of worry on his face. He was still a bit creeped out by everything that had happened, especially the dream.

"I don't know.." Malachi admitted, looking worriedly at Levin's sleeping form. "I just woke up to the sound of Levin getting up. I tried asking where he was going, but he didn't answer. Then he went outside and disappeared into the woods.."

"That's really odd.." Tommy frowned, running his hand through Levin's hair. "Should I stay here until the morning incase something happens?" he asked, tilting his head.

Malachi seemed to brighten up a bit about the request, "Would you really do that for us?" he asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah, I can sleep on the floor–"

"You can take my bed," Malachi chimed in before Tommy could finish. "I can share a bed with Levin. My bed might be a bit small for you, but it's still probably better than the floor," he explained. It warmed Tommy's heart.

"No, you can–"

"Please!" Malachi cried out, jumping out of his bed and rushing next to Levin. "You're not going to sleep on the floor!"

Tommy chuckled, "Fine. Thank you for borrowing your bed to me. I appreciate it." He smiled.

-----

     Tommy woke up to the smell of smoke. The screams of agony echoed through the air. It didn't take longer than seconds for Tommy to recognise L'manberg, or rather what was left of L'manberg. His brother, Techno, stood before him – and for a second it looked as if Techno had been there to protect him.

It was November 16th.

Tommy refused to look up again. He knew that everything was gone. Everything they had built together, all of it was gone. His eyes burned – he blamed the smoke, but the tears rolling down his cheeks just minutes later told a different story.

L'manberg had already been theirs. But now it was just Wilbur's unfinished symphony, blown to the smithereens. Tommy felt so empty. His brothers, Wilbur and Techno, had betrayed him and the nation they had built together. Why had he ever trusted them? He should have never trusted them, not after they both abandoned him alone.

But yet... He loved them, deep inside him. They were still his brothers. And he really did wonder, did they love him back?

"Why are you doing this?" he asked, finally looking up to face Techno.

"Anarchy is always the best option. And you've seen how big of a mess your country has become. This is for the better Theseus, don't you see that?" Techno crouched in front of him, softly running his hand through his blonde hair.

"We're just trying to protect you."

"Protect me? Wilbur's dead and the country we built is gone! That was my fucking home!" Tommy flinched back when Techno reached to wipe the tears from his face with his thumb.

"Don't you see? The history is about to repeat itself! Why did we come here? Just so you could replace one tyrant with another! Theseus, open your eyes and look around. Is this really what you wanted?" Techno laughed at him. Tommy felt anger boiling inside him, he clenched his fists. Now the tears of sadness were starting to get replaced with tears of anger.

"So, as I said Theseus: 'If you want to be a hero, then die like one'. If you really want to change how this will turn out, go ahead. Go there and fight. I won't stop you. But we both know that you can't win. L'manberg has no tomorrow. It will all end today." And with that Techno turned his back towards him, turning to look at the destruction his Withers were causing, smile on his lips.

"You're wrong.." Tommy whispered.

"Whatever you say," Techno hummed, amused.

Tommy pushed himself up from the ground and rushed towards the chaos. He wasn't about to let L'manberg down.

L'manberg was his home. It was his only home. It was where he had felt loved again, only for it all to be proven fake now. No one had actually loved him. It had all been just a lie. He saw it now as his country, his brother's unfinished symphony, was going down in front of his eyes.

He had felt pain before, but never anything like this. He had given everything for L'manberg. He had thought that L'manberg would be where he would find actual happiness again, and so it had seemed like, but then the election had taken it all south.

From the corner of his eye he saw Dream. The masked man was watching the chaos from the shadows. He felt more teats threatening to spill. Quickly he turned around. Dream isn't who he was anymore, he had to remind himself of that.

Then he froze. L'manberg was gone. Everything they had built together, was gone. It all, every, single, piece. And it would never be the same again. Now he finally saw the crater in its whole glory. He saw the war, the Withers, his own father crying by his brother's body, everyone fighting while crying out in pain. This was what his home had become.

He was frozen, stuck on staring towards it all.

From his previous placement behind Techno he hadn't seen it all, but now he knew. He couldn't hide the truth from himself anymore. No lies would cover what was standing before him now – or rather what wasn't, the old L'manberg wasn't.

No one heard his pained cry over the sound of Withers. He fell on his knees, holding a piece of the torn flag in his fingers. It was warm from the fire that had burned most of it to ashes. Dust burned the open scars in his hands, blood staining the piece of cloth.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Dream asked, crouching down next to him. The mask was smiling, now it seemed even more sadistic than before. "Everything is burning down, for anarchy! Aren't you happy about that?" he tilted his head.

Tommy's breath hitched. "No... Please don't..." he begged. He didn't want to be reminded of it. He wanted to forget it.

"Does it" – Dream stopped, Tommy could feel him smirking under the mask – "remind you of something?"

Tommy felt sick in his stomach. He covered his ears. He didn't want to hear any more of it. But Dream's hands were on his, softly pulling his hands away. (It was the complete opposite of what Tommy remembered him doing before.)

"Remember when we used to do it? Fight for anarchy? With Withers and End crystals?" The images flashed before his eyes. He couldn't hold back anymore and vomited on the burnt ground before him.

"No..." The taste of vomit burned his mouth, almost making him want to throw up again. "I never... I never fought with you..." Tommy whimpered, trying to cover his ears, but Dream didn't let him.

"Oh, Tommy! You're so naïve, still after all these years. Can't you see that I'm your only friend? The only one who actually cares for you! You thought you had other friends, but oh... Look at what they did to your L'manberg."

Tommy squirmed out of Dream's hands and ran. He almost fell into the ashy ground, but managed to keep his balance. He had a war to fight. He had to save what was left of L'manberg. No matter what, L'manberg still meant the world to him.

-----

     Tommy shot up in Malachi's bed. The memories of L'manberg flashed before his eyes for a few more seconds.

The sun hadn't risen yet, it still remained hidden behind the horizon. Tommy sat up and leaned against the wall behind him. He stared out of the window, an old melody slowly filling his mind.

"I heard there was a special place. Where men could go and emancipate. The brutality. And tyranny. Of their rules. Well, this place is real. You needn't fret. With Wilbur, Tommy, Tubbo, fuck Eret. A very big and not blown up L'manberg. My L'manberg. My L'manberg. My L'manberg. My L'manberg."

The flag he had wrapped around his left arm really caught his eye now. The flag he had once carried with pride was now just a reminder of L'manberg and how it had fallen.

He let his eyes slowly shift to the world outside. Phoenix Drop was nothing like L'manberg. It was his new home. It could never replace L'manberg in his heart as L'manberg had been what he had built by himself with his loved ones.

But there was something that came to his mind, something he realised: if he became a guard, he could help protect everything and everyone he loved. He could protect Phoenix Drop. He could protect his family. (And maybe if he one day returned, he could help protect his actual family too, only if he ever came to forgive them.)

He hadn't been able to protect L'manberg, and still to this day he felt terrible about it. But now, if he became a guard, he could actually protect Phoenix Drop. And no, becoming a guard didn't just mean learning how to fight, no, he already knew that. Becoming a guard meant learning a lot more than just that. He had to be able to fight without letting his emotions control it. Power meant nothing if you didn't know how to control it.

He decided that he would become stronger, for Phoenix Drop and everyone there. And for L'manberg.

Words: 2082

[16.11.2022]

Of course I had to write something for November 16th. For the rest of the year updates might be really slow because I have a bit bigger project for my ao3 that I want to post daily kinda as a Christmas calender or something like that, it's basically just an excuse to do another daily writing thing like Goretober.

My ao3 is Shado89 if someone wants to see more of my works.

But well, I'll go see what I can do about that upcoming project of mine. See you!