After the rush of emotions wore off, you could feel your mental exhaustion kick in. By the time you met with Dream and settled into your room, you passed out on the bed until dinner. At dinner Tyche was more enthusiastic than normal, gushing about all that she wanted to do in the upcoming week. While it made you happy, you also felt a bit guilty. Did she know that you might have been kicked out today? Did she know that you argued for your life? You didn't want her to worry about that.

In the back of your mind, you worried about what it would be like when the war started. It was selfish to get so close to Tyche and then disappear... you needed to stop thinking about it.

After dinner you headed straight to your room, ready to take a nice shower before reading yourself back to sleep. Dream made jokes as he escorted you there, seemingly back to normal after last night.

Despite the long nap you took earlier, it only took you about an hour to fall back to sleep. No nightmares followed you that night, only a quiet, peaceful dream of your parents.

The next day you were woken up by your green friend, who didn't provide much information except "Get ready. Dress like you're running a mile."

So you did, dressing into a more athletic outfit as your mind raced about what you were going to be doing this morning. You were starting to doubt if yesterday even happened or not. Maybe the Elders really decided that you didn't deserve to stay here and they were going to run you out today. Or maybe they're testing your strength to determine whether or not they should actually keep you here. You hope not because it's been a while since you trained. Several years, in fact. The last time you remember doing any physical training was when your dad taught you basic defense moves.

After changing and a bit of procrastination, you emerged from your room with a nervous smile.

Dream stifled a laugh when he looked at you, bringing his hand up to cover his mouth (although there was no point to that since he was already wearing a mask). "Why do you look so terrified?"

Your expression turned into one of annoyance, glaring at Dream. "Why do you think? You made me think something was wrong!"

Dream shook his head, still giggling under his mask. "You need to stop being so anxious. We're not here to kill you or anything."

"I know that," You defended, "But that doesn't mean there are others who aren't."

Dream shut up at that, his hand dropping from his mask. "That's why we're going to start training today. Techno suggested starting yesterday but someone was too busy sleeping the whole time."

You shot him another annoyed look. "You weren't  the one that had to argue for their life yesterday."

Dream chuckled, "Not going to have much of one of you can't defend yourself."

You gasped at his statement. "I can defend myself just fine, thank you."

"We'll see about that," He sang, starting to walk down the hall.

You followed him, grumbling small insults under your breath.

•••

Tyche let out another exaggerated sigh, staring at the boring ceiling in disappointment. Once again she was told she couldn't join her uncles as they explored the Nether. She understood that her dad is afraid of letting her go after the last incident (even if he doesn't admit it out loud), but she couldn't help but be disappointed as she was stuck inside, staring at the dark red ceiling.

"Dad."

"Yes?" Technoblade responded, looking at Tyche from his desk. She was laying across the armchair, her legs dangling over the armrest.

"I'm bored," She complained.

"Then read your book."

Tyche whined. "I don't wanna."

"Then what do you want to do?"

"Explore the Nether?" Tyche tilted her head to glance at her dad, catching his disappointed gaze.

"Tyche," He warned.

"Fine," The little girl sighed, "What's (Y/n) doing?"

"They're training with Dream."

Tyche's head popped up, "When do they finish?"

Technoblade squinted at his daughter, confused why she seemed so excited about that. "I don't know. Sometime soon, I suppose."

Tyche sprung from the chair and ran to her dad, pulling on his arm. "Then we have to make them some cookies for working so hard!"

It might have been just an excuse to have some treats before dinner, but Tyche also wanted to get out of her dad's office and do something other than sticking her head in a book.

"Tyche, I don't know how to make cookies."

Technoblade didn't budge from his desk chair, making Tyche frown at him. "But I do! (Y/n) taught me."

"They did?"

"Mhm! When we were in the overworld (Y/n) taught me how to make their cookies."

Normally, Technoblade's mood would sour at any mention of Tyche's kidnapping but seeing her so excited about baking you cookies made him laugh.

"Okay, okay," Technoblade said, pulling his arm carefully from Tyche's grasp. "Let me finish this one and then we can go to the kitchen."

•••

To say you were a bit shabby at self-defense would be an understatement. With the moves Dream was pulling, everything you learned from your father was useless. He was relentless, throwing you down onto the ground with all of his force in one second and then instructing you to get up in the next. He only allowed you to take a couple more sips of water until you were back on the mat, thrown to the ground, and pulled every which way.

"I thought you could defend yourself," Dream teased as you came in contact with the ground again.

You groaned, your back screaming at you after so many times landing on it.  "I can," You argued, "But it's been a while and you must have superhuman strength."

Dream rolled his eyes under his mask, offering his hand out to you. You took it graciously, trying to ignore the throb in your back as he hauled you from the ground.

"Well, whoever trained you didn't do a great job."

The comment took a few seconds for you to process. All the playfulness drained from your face as you harshly pulled your hand away from him.

"He did just fine," You responded coldly. After the words slipped from your mouth, you felt regret bubbling in your stomach so you added, "I just need to warm up a bit."

Sensing the change in your mood, Dream dropped the subject and decided to end the session for the day. "Let's stop here for now."

"Huh? But we've only done hand-to-hand."

"I don't trust you to wield a weapon, you're too clumsy. Plus, this is only the first step. I'll set up a plan based on what we did today. We'll be training every morning."

"Great," You sighed under your breath, causing Dream to chuckle.

"Go shower and get something to eat. Also, get some sleep tonight, you look like you need it."

You hit Dream's arm playfully before walking with him back to your room.

While you were walking, a thought from yesterday popped back into your head. "Oh, yeah. I had a question about yesterday."

"Hm?" Dream inquired.

"One of the Elders referred to Technoblade as 'Blood God' yesterday. What does that mean?"

"Oh, I thought you were fibbing when you said you knew nothing about Technoblade before you showed up here."

Your eyebrows furrowed at him, "Am I supposed to know that?"

"I thought it was common knowledge in the overworld," Dream shrugged, "Or at least told as an old folktale."

"I don't remember hearing one that mentioned a Blood God," You admitted, closing your eyes to remember the stories your parents told you. There weren't a lot of stories, it was mostly just general information about the Nether.

"Well, I'll just say that it gives Techno an important reputation," Dream elaborated, "It's also a reason why some people thought you were only here to gain something. They thought you were going to try and take advantage of Techno because you saved his daughter."

"Huh?" The noise slipped from your lips, "Take advantage? Is his reputation really that meaningful?"

"Well, it's one of the reasons why he's in charge of a lot of things in the Nether, so yes. I feel like it's not my place to mention any details about it. If you want to know more, you can just ask Techno about it."

You nodded your head, thanking Dream for explaining it to you. It made you think about this whole situation from a different perspective. If Technoblade was as important of a figure as Dream explained, then of course people would be wary of your presence. Was Tyche also well known in the overworld? Is that why the Greshams kidnapped her?"

Your thoughts were interrupted with a flick to your forehead. "Stop thinking so much," Dream scolded, "Take a shower and rest for a bit."

You scowled at him but ultimately took his advice, taking a shower and trying to focus on other thoughts. Dream wanted to take you to Bad tomorrow to make sure that your training wasn't pushing you too hard. Although you felt completely fine, albeit a bit sore, you didn't decline the offer. It's been a while since you've seen Bad so you could take that time to catch up with him.

Your mind also traveled to your parents, the dream you had, and then ultimately to the book still stashed in the bottom of your bag. It would be a good idea to pull it out again and maybe do some of your own research about the Nether. Plus, the book has some good memories that you wouldn't mind reminiscing about.

After taking a shower and cleaning up again, you met with Dream outside your door, planning on taking a nice stroll around the fortress. It was going well, the two of you making a light conversation until you crossed by the kitchen doors. A loud bang echoed from behind the wooden door, along with a familiar yelp.

Upon hearing the voice, you instinctively threw open the door and rushed in, looking for Tyche to check for injuries.

What you were met with was not an injured Tyche.

"I said not to touch that, Tyche. It's hot," Technoblade scolded, moving a pan to the side was an oven mitt.

"I didn't!" Tyche defended before adding on, "Not like it would have done anything anyway, I'm half piglin."

"But you're half human too," Technoblade reminded her, "And you're not fire-resistant."

"We don't know that," Tyche mumbled.

"...What is going on here?" You finally questioned, making Tyche's head swing to look at you.

"Awww! You ruined the surprise," She whined.

"Surprise?"

"I made you cookies!" Tyche beamed, skipping towards the pan Technoblade set on the counter. "I used the recipe you taught me a while ago."

Tyche grabbed one of the cookies from the pan, lifting it to her mouth to get a bite of it. Technoblade quickly swiped it from her hand. "Don't eat that, you'll break a tooth."

Tyche's face bloomed a dark pink, pouting at her dad. "Dad, stop," She complained quietly before sheepishly looking at you. "I might have messed it up somewhere."

You smiled warmly at her, trying your best not to chuckle at her reaction. "Well if you'd like I could help you make a new batch," You looked over your shoulder at Dream, "If that's okay?"

Helping Tyche bake cookies meant you would have to cut your stroll short, which Dream didn't seem to mind, motioning for you to go on.

"Yes!" Tyche beamed, "Can dad also join? He doesn't know how to bake cookies either."

You glanced at Technoblade, catching him sending a wide-eyed look to Tyche in warning. She ignored it. "Of course," You replied, "After all, cookies are my specialty."

Tyche cheered. "Did you know, my dad's specialty is baked potatoes?" The little girl spoke as if he wasn't standing next to her. "It's like the only thing he knows how to cook."

"Tyche," Technoblade warned again before turning around to throw away the bad batch of cookies.

While he was busy doing that, Tyche leaned towards you, a teasing smile plastered on her face "He gets embarrassed about it."

You shook your head at her antics and got busy grabbing all the supplies you would need to bake your cookies. Meanwhile, Tyche strolled back to her dad and continued to try and like fun at him. How Technoblade is able to deal with it every day is a mystery. You love Tyche but she has a ton of energy seemingly all the time and it's only gotten more and more abundant the more you've been here.

"What's this?" You picked up a white jar.

"That's the sugar," Tyche answered.

"No, that's the salt," Technoblade corrected her.

"What? It's sugar!"

As Tyche began to argue, you opened the what and took a pinch of the powder, tasting it to confirm your suspicions.

"Definitely salt," You declared.

"Tyche, how much of that did you put in the last batch?" Technoblade asked.

Tyche's only response was, "I thought it was sugar."

•••

I love this chapter. Maybe it's just that I got to explore the dynamic between Tyche and Technoblade but they're so cute together that it warms my heart. I hope you all liked this one too <3

I see all of your comments and theories (thank you so much for commenting, I really enjoy reading them!), including when Dream asked if the Reader knew Technoblade. I know some of you think that the reader is Tyche's long-forgotten biological parent. Interesting theory. Is it true? Hmm... we'll get to Tyche's background soon!

You're welcome to comment as many wild theories as you want! Who knows, one of them might be true.

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful day/night! Take care of yourselves and drink water.