Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He used to have a family once. A family that loved him and that he loved in return. He had a home, dreams and goals. But that was then. This is now. 

Now, the only thing he has is old memories, an emerald earring hanging from the chain in his neck and a flag of an old fallen empire, forgotten in the endless abyss of time, around his waist. It's old now, torn apart by time or his own failure to persevere it. 

Now, he wakls among hard gravel and dead roots, breathing in the toxic air around him like it's nothing. Because it is really nothing to him. 

He's waking around where no man ever should. Because he's not a man. He's immortal and immortals are much more durable than men. Thought even immortals would usually dread to walk through this corner of the world too. 

The toxic air and red vines, still poisonous to this day, would only take minutes to drive someone crazy. Dark faces, red veins and eyes field with madness. But not him, never him. He prays it wasn't like that. He never wanted it to be like that. 

An exhale escapes him, the sharp movemen making his lungs ache even more. Who would have thought that something as common as breathing could be so hard. Every single breath feeling like a thousand knives being plugged in him. He keeps waking away, he has a job to do. 

He didn't came to this godforsaken place for fun, he has a mission. So he walks with purpose past the vines and what is the remains of a few bodies that are yet to be retrieved, probably never will, the air thick with their unpleasant smell. 

Instead he wakls to the heart of the place that was once the capital of an empire. Everything is unnaturally quite in a way that would put terror in a man's heart. But he's not a man, so he keeps going. 

The place itself is in bad condition. Everything is falling apart, every building, every pavement, every streetlight. The only thing that is less torned apart is the large mansion in the end of the main street. Thought this is more because of what that place is housing. 

All the entrances have been shield down to the smallest hole. So he reasonably thought it would be harder to find a way in, after all this place has become the prison of one of the largest threats humanity has ever known. So, one would assume that it would be hard to break into the old building. It's not though. There's a window that's not sealed as good as the rest. 

He's inside within minutes. What he looks for is underground and it's not hard to find a way down after he's already made it inside. 

He just follows the red withered vines as they go down and down. The deeper into the ground he goes, the more uneasy things get. The vines are getting thicker and thicker to the point where it's impossible to not step on them anymore. The air is not much better either. A foul smell creeping up his nostrils with a thin layer of bust coming from anywhere he touches. 

Finally, after endless tunnels and broken staircases he finally reaches his destination. The room is dark, the only light coming from the flashlight he had brote with him. Lastly, in the center of the room, where all the vines come from is the heart of the empire as they call it. 

Thought he can't see it. It's shield under tons of a bark martial knows as crying obsidian. All the vines having been cut from the root. That's what he's here for. The crying obsidian. 

It's a rare material. One could find regular obsidian in every volcano that exists. But crying obsidian can only be found in one place. That's because it was created by a God of creation with unlimited power and only one purpose. To trap something inside it forever. 

Now he's been tasked to take some of that valuable material. So without time to waist he pulls out his pickaxe from his bag pack and starts the long and careful proses of piling the edges of. It's a delige process, one he's been practicing for a while. One wrong move and he could unleash something terrible back to the world. That's the last thing he wants right now. 

But he sees it though like he usually does. After hours of careful digging he finally has gathered enough. So he puts his pickaxe away and gathers all the small pieces in a equally small bag. it's not much, but that's the amount he was told to collect. With his job done he puts everything in his bag pack, then turns around, walking out of this hell as fast as he can. 

The clim back up is no easier than the clim bown. He would argue it's actually even more difficult. Every step is heavy, every slip feels like a threat and every breath is thick with with toxins, dust and other things that he doesn't want to know what they are. He just wants to get out of here. But it's slow and agonizing. It's like walking out of hell itself. 

Eventually, after what feels like days though a glance at the sky would tell it's only been hours, he makes it out of this hell. He chakles at the irony. He could walk through a thousand hells and make it to the other side, but never his hell. No, he's been stuck in there for centuries, with no view of the other side. 

He grimaces as the thought makes his chest hurt, his ears ringing with distant shouting, noise filled with the smell of bodies...No. No it's just the bodies infront of him that are smelling not... their...He shakes his head trying to push his stupid thoughts away but the feeling still remains. A feeling of endless pain, with a cruising weight.

He would never admit it, but he he wakls out of the area half running, without looking back. He wakls and wakls, until he finally makes it to the boarder. It's guarded, of course. Mostly for the safety ot those how wander too close than anything else. It would have been an inconvenience had he been anyone else. But after centuries of hiding and shniking though every place possible, he could say he's an expert. He has to be. Most immortals do, if they want to exist without attracting attention. So it's not hard passing through the border undetected. 

Afterwards, he wakls to the nearest street and starts hitchhiking his way back. Normally, this is not an ideal way of traveling, he knows that. Who knows wether or not the driver plans to actually take you to your destination or they have other intentions. But his only other option is walking. So he's willing to risk it, not that it matters anyway, there aren't many things left is this world that could hurt him. 

                                                        ---- * ----

It takes Tommy two days to go back. After hitchhiking his way to a city, he takes the bus for the rest of the way.  He takes a lone seat trying to make himself as small as possible. He doesn't want to attract anyone's attention, especially when he's carrying a very important package in his bag pack. Fortunately, noone seems to notice him. Thought being left alone with his thoughts for so long is not the best idea. 

The ruins of the empire reminding Tommy of an other fallen empire. One with sapphire colours instead of red, with a heart that didn't give madness to everyone unlucky enough to get too close. One made with love and care rather than grid and hunger. But in the end it didn't matter how different those two empires were. They both fell in the end by the hand of the same God. 

The bus stopping fortunately brings him out of his thoughts. It's the last stop.  With a heavy breath Tommy gets up, as he does so, he stretches his aching back. A souvenir from over two thousand years of existence, chronic back pain. 

He exits the bus, finding himself in the dark of a small city at the east side of the world. It's hot and isolated. It's also the furthest he can go with a vehicle, the rest of the way he has to walk. So that's what he does. 

He passes though small buildings with limited street lights. There aren't any people out, at least Tommy doesn't see anyone. It's quite, but not in a erae way. There's still life in the silence. Small things. Like someone's snoring, coming muffled thought the walls of their house, same stray animals here and here, the air conditioning left open to keep people cool though the hot night, or the television someone left open. 

Thinks don't change much when he leaves the city, walking through the open dessert. They're still little things giving the night life. The sound of the wind passing through dry bushes, the insects crawling around and the wild animals hunting for their next pray. 

Eventually just moments before sunrise, Tommy reaches a location where tall hills spring up from the dessert. Hidden between them is an old fortress. The exterior looking like it's been abandoned for years, although he knows that's not the case. 

He pushes though the old thing with ease,  having been taught how to get in decades ago. Everything is as one would expect from the entirety of the building. Old, abandoned, crumbling. But it has a secret hiding in plane site. 

With confident steps he walks to a room with no windows. There he neels down, grabbing a rusty metal chain from the floor and pulling it up. The floor opens to reveal a stone staircase leading down into the ground. With no hesitation he jumps right down, letting the hatch close behind him with a loud crush. 

As he is swallowed by the darkness, he pulls out the flashlight again and starts walking down the narrow hallway Infront of him. It's not long before he finds himself Infront of a thick metal door, a small flickering light at the top of it. It's a site he has grown familiar with the past century. What he's not familiar with is the new small camera were the code numbers were. An annoyed exhale leaves his lungs and he runs a hand though blonde hair as realisation hits him. Why? why? why? He was here five days ago, why the fuck did he change the door again?! 

An annoying fact about the owner of this place is that he has the habit of changing the way one can enter this base very often. Constantly finding new ways to make it more secure and difficult to break in. Ok, maybe part of the reason he does that is because Tommy has been breaking in unannounced every few decades to ' borrow ' things. 

After looking at the door for a few moments a small red light comes from the camera. Tommy takes a step back. Then he watches as the light turns green, with the door opening following soon after. He pushes though immidiatly, finding himself in a entrance room. The door closes behind him as he wakls further inside.

Despite the way the fortress was left looking abandoned, this place looks anything but. The walls, the floor the ceiling are all clean to the tea. There are bright lights all over, with boxes, wires and some furniture scatter around. It's messy, but in a pleasant way. A way that makes it obvious that this place is lived in rather than abandoned. 

Then Tommy sees him. Seating in the centre of the room hunched over his desk is is an other immortal, the Inventor God as the call him. Thought he only knows him as Sam. 

" What the hell Sam?! I was here five days ago why did you change the door again?!" 

The man in question raises his head from his work, eyes filling with relief as soon as he sees him. " Tommy! You're ok!" 

The blonde scoffes. " Of course I ok Sam, how do you think I am?" 

It's a rhetorical question. They both know that Tommy would have been ok, that's why Sam asked him to go in the first place. Still, no matter how many centuries past the other immortal seems to always be worried about Tommy. Which is stupid, Tommy is nearly invincible. Sam isn't though. So really Tommy should have been the one to worry about Sam, not the other way around. 

Before they can progress their interaction, a loud bark cuts through the air.  Tommy doesn't have time to flee as a giant dog slams on him, sending him to the ground. 

" No! Fran no! bad dog! Bad!" He yells as the dog in question clims on top of him, liking his face. Tommy puts his hands Infront of him, trying to shiel his face. " No get off! stop! SAAAAAAAAM!" 

Sam, the traitor, just laughs. "Come on Tommy she's just happy to see you, don't be so cruel" 

"I don't care. I don't like her!" Tommy complaints ad he finally manages to get the dog off him. 

As he's getting back up he takes off his bag pack, throwing it in the ground in between him and the other God. 

" Here's your obsidian bitch." 

Instead of getting up the God whistles. In a flash Fran, who was running excited circles around Tommy, leaves his side, waking up to the bag pack, grading it with her mouth and taking it over to her owner. 

After waiting a moment for Sam to look inside, Tommy speaks again. 

"So, I did my part of the deal. Now it's your turn." 

Without lifting his head up Sam's face insanely falls. It's funny, how quickly the atmosphere of a room can change in an instant. Before, the air was litght, playful. Now, it's heavy. Tension radiating from both parties, with the underline off a centuries old arguement. One, that's on the back of all their conversations, one they usually end up in. 

" Tommy..." 

" If the next worlds coming out of your mouth isn't the information you promised to give me, I don't want to hear it." Tommy cuts his off before he has time to say anything that would send them in an other argument. 

The God looks at him for a long time. Tommy glares back at him. They are silent, even Fran seems to have sense the chance in the atmosphere, staying silent as well. 

The blonde immortal watches as Sam's face goes though multiple emotions. Anger, frustration, exhaustion, sadness. Finally he runs a hand though his green hair, living a defeated breath. 

" Snowchester. In the north part of the capital... but Tommy..."

His final worlds make the boy immortal puse from where he had already started to walk out. 

"This is most likely a dead end. You know that right?" 

"No." Tommy responds, hands curling into fists. "I don't know that, you don't know that." 

" Tommy..." The other God pushes " It's been centuries..." 

" That doesn't matter" 

"Tommy...I..." 

" Goodbye Sam." Tommy cuts him off before he can continue. 

With that he exits the room, not looking behind him. He doesn't even notice the loud noise of the door closing, he just keeps waking, lost in his own head. 

It's most likely a dead end. That frase circles in his head over and over again. He desperately doesn't want to believe that. But evry single other time invades his mind taking over his thoughts. All the times he got his hopes up, all the times he thought that this is it, this is the one. Only for him to be violently crushed when nothing comes of it. Feeling like he's been droken to a million pieces, then forced back together and made to keep going as his body was crumbling, his heart bleeding. 

But not this time, this time it's going to be different. How many times has he said that to himself already? Always proven wrong in the end. Every single one, is the answer. 

He shakes his head, no don't think about it now. He can't afford that, because then he would start to understand that what he's most terrified of might be true. He's already caught himself slipping in the past decades, he can't do that. How could he do that? How could he even dare of even thinking of abandoning them. Of stooping the search. How could he stop? What would he do if he does? He has nothing, nothing to look forward to. He's alone. 

The hot air of the dessert hits his face and Tommy realises he's outside. The sun is rising in the horizon, painting everything gold. He takes a deep breath, trying to calm his raising heart, then keeps waking. Snowchester a bit far from here and he doesn't have time to waist. 

                                                           ------*------

Gods are weird creatures. That's the conclusion Tommy has made over his long experience. 

Mortals looked at this small group of immortal people how were stonger, faster with the ability to survive things that would have killed anyone else and they name them Gods. They put them on a pedestal, building stories and legends, building temples and shrines. Then giving offering and prayers asking them to solve whatever problem they have. As if it's that simple. 

Because the truth is, Gods aren't Gods. At least not by the definition mortals have put on the word. They might have adopted the name after centuries of being called as such, but they don't answer prayers, they can't even hear them and they most definitely can't solve mortal problems. They can't even solve their own. 

Thought there is a truth in the tales about them. Like their 'godhood'. It is a fact that most immortals are connected to one element of existence. Like the Inventor God , or the God of thunder for example. They all have something. Sometimes it's easy to tell, like the Fire God. Being resistant to fire, being able to summon it and control it in some capacity. While others, it's more difficult. Like the Goddess of Chaos, were one has to wait for years before noticing a pattern of chaos following them where ever they go. 

Tommy would admit that after centuries of existence he still doesn't know what kind of God he is. It's not like godhood comes with a manual or a narrator explaining what type of God he is. So he doesn't know  and he really doesn't care. He never asked to be one in the first place. But here he is now, immortal. 

Snowchester is a small nation in comparison with other ones. It's a small isolated place at the North. Mostly field with villages, it's port capital being the only large town. He would be lying if he said that the cold climate of Snowchester didn't bring him a bittersweet sense of nostalgia. He can't help himself it's too similar to his home. The cold, the white of the snow falling on the land like a blanket. The ice that floats on the sea. That's why he is usually avoiding visiting this place. It's all so familiar and so new at the same time. 

Last time he was here it was tenn years ago. He knows he shouldn't be back here so soon. If people recognise him they would immediately notice how he hasn't aged a day since a decade ago. Fortunately, Tommy didn't talk to a lot of people back then. Also, what he looks for is outside of the capital city, inside the forest that surrounds it's north end. So that's where he beelines to. 

The forest is beautiful. The conifer trees covered in a thin layer of snow, branches stretching upwards, trying to steal whatever limited sunlight shines through the gray clouds. The few striks of light that escape them shining like stage lights. The snow glimmering like diamonds wherever they touch. A few animals can be seen here and there despite the cold climate. A bird singing, some squirrels running through branches, a fox sniffing.Their small sounds giving life to the forest. 

Tommy finds himself mesmerised by the site. Yes, he has seen a lot of beautiful things in his long long life but not all of them were this... peaceful. He is suddenly overwhelmed with a feeling of ease, something so rare for him. It feels like this place has lifted whatever weight has been crushing his all those years, offering rest. 

It's quiet here, he thinks as he slowly sits down, resting his aching back against the snow. After a second of taking in everything around him, the view of graceful trees, golden sunlight, diamond snow, the singing of the birds with the smell of leaves in the air, Tommy realises he wouldn't mind laying there for forever. If he could just literally freeze this forest in time it wouldn't be that bad. 

And for a moment time does seem to stop, the universe seeming eager to fulfill this wish of his, if only for a moment. Tommy takes full advantage of that. Burying himself in the moment. 

As he lays there a small sound escapes his lips. First as a gentle humming, then the words made their way out as well. It's an old poem, a lullaby, one he hasn't let himself remember from centuries. Every memory from before, crushing him with pain. Even the happy ones end up making him hurt knowing that this story doesn't  have ending. But this lullaby seems to escape the walls of his memories, making it's way out of his mouth and into the world. 

                                                           -----*-----

In the distance, a boy makes his way through the forest. Dressed in an heavy jacket and tall rain boots. The bag in his shoulders ready to be field with firewood for his chimney. He doesn't really need to bo that, they have plenty already, but he was just in a fight with his grandmother and he needs to get the boiling anger out of his system. 

The walk though the forest is peaceful as usual. Tubbo knows this forest like an old friend, every tree seems to remember him every branch seems to greed him. He knows this trail, this rock side, this small cliff. He knows what kind of animals live there. 

So he wakls with ease though the woods, this forest doesn't scare him. He glances around, looking for what tree to cut, he already is in an area where wood cutting is allowed so the only thing he has to do is choose one. 

Finally,  he sets his eyes in particularly young tree. It's small and it wouldn't be difficult to cut it in pieces and carry it home. With his mind set, he moves towards it axe in hand ready to strike. But he doesn't. 

Right as he's about to deliver the first blow, Tubbo is field with the sensation that he's not alone. He pauses, turning his head around, seeing noone. But after a moment he realises he can hear someone. It too far away to know what is being said, but it the unmistakable sound of a human voice. 

Curiosity getting the better of him, Tubbo lowers his axe as he begins to follow the direction of the mysterious voice. Now, going after a strange voice in the middle of the woods isn't a good idea, but Tubbo is seventeen, right in the age where he thinks he's invincible, and he knows this forest. There's nothing scary here. 

But when he takes a turn he's greeted with a rather unusual picture. There in the snow laying down like he's sleeping, is is a young boy who doesn't look any older than Tubbo. He's singing, his voice smooth and gentle. But Tubbo can't for the life of him understand what he's saying. The boy singing in a language foreign to his ears, yet beautiful. 

That's not the only strange thing about the blonde strange boy though. He's laying on the snow with nothing more than a light long brown coat, shorts that reache his nees with what looks like a old rag around his waist and tall boots. By all accounts he should be freezing. on contrast though he looks relaxed and at ease. That's the first thing that makes Tubbo wary of him. 

Tubbo is not naive, he knows the stores. Stories about creatures that look human but aren't. Even though most of the world has stopped believing in those stories, there are plenty who do. Tubbo being one of them. 

He just always thought that if there were gods in the world, why wouldn't there be other mythical creatures as well. Looking at the blonde boy now he feels like he's proven right. He doesn't know how he knows it, that boy is not human. 

Suddenly there's something different in the air around and Tubbo realises it's because the boy has stopped singing. The silence that follows is suffocating.

Even though the boy sees to still be as relaxed as before. 

Looking at the site infront of him again Tubbo sees lines off  bright light falling on the boy with locks off hair more golden that the sun itself. A soft face with rose cheeks from the cold and a small frown on it. He looks like he belongs here, amongst the smooth snow and tall trees with light shining down on him. He seat there perfectly still, the only evidence of life being the slow breaths he takes in contrast to Tubbo's own who have began to get rapid. The teenager being overtaken by a scary feeling, like he's somehow trespassing, witnessing something noone is supposed to see. 

Tubbo then waches as the boy stirs, then opens his eyes. Tubbo is then met with ice blue eyes starting right at him, right into his soul. He doesn't know how long they stare at each other, they could be standing there for years and Tubbo wouldn't know it. In the end the blonde boy brakes the silence. 

"... Hello..." 

His voice is as gentle as when he was singing and he sounds a bit confused. 

Before Tubbo can master an answer they're interapted by the loud sound off a bird flying above them. It's a crow as black as the night sky casting a equally dark shadow wherever it goes. The blonde boys reaction is instantaneous. He's eyes go round and he's up on his feet in a blink, running after the bird.

After, Tubbo would wonder what would have happened if the had followed the boy. What would have been if he got to talk to him. Would he have hurt Tubbo? Or would have they just talked? would they have been friends? 

But Tubbo would never know the answer to those questions. Because Tubbo never followed the blonde boy. Part of him feels guilty about it, like he's betraying a promise he doesn't even remember giving. 

He goes home that evening with a conflicted mind and no firewood. He seat amongst his family for dinner, slowly regaining his usual bright attitude, surrounded by people who love him and he loves in return. 

He loves, and he's being loved back.

By the time he goes to bed that night he doesn't even remember why he was mad at his grandmother to begin with. It was probably something stupid anyway. So he says goodnight to all of his family and heads to his room. 

There he stays awake in bed for hours thinking about the strange boy in the woods. He didn't tell any of his family about this encounter, no. Somethings are meant to be left unsaid. Sometimes some things are not meant for others to know.

And some things are just not meant to be...

Chapter Text

Tommy has never runned faster in his entire life. He can barely see the landscape Infront of him, eyes locked on the crow in the sky. Running after it like a desperate animal.

He was shocked to see the bird. Crows might be a common animal  and nothing more, but to him? A crow can mean the promise of a home. Because it might be just a bird, but what if it's one of hers? The sound of a smoothing voice, locks of brown hair and a dimple smile overtake his mind. He wants to ask, he wants to ask so bad. Mum?

He follows the crow out of the forest and into the adge of a fjord. He nearly falls over it, catching himself in the last second. Then waches with horror as the crow keeps flying over the water, flying high amongst the clouds and into the the setting sun. 

"Wait!" Tommy yels, helplessly stuck on the ground. " Come back!" 

Please don't leave me. Please don't go were I can't follow! I'm alone...

His whole body is shaking, breaths becoming more rapid by the second. He takes a step back as realisation crushes him like a mountain. The door in his mind, were he locks all the things he doesn't want to face breaking open. He has guarded that door for over two thousand years, but now he can't stop it from opening, no matter how much he tries. They burst out like dark shadows, filling him with the realisation of his worst nightmare. 

They are gone. They are gone. You can't find them. You never will. Because they are not in this world anymore, they are dead.

A scream cuts through the air, disturbing the land around it. Every living being in it's vicinity running away in fear. Because what kind of monster could make such a terrifying sound? But it not a monsterthough. It's an old God, who was far too young when he was forced to stop being a child. 

He screams and screams and screams and screams and screams and screams and screams and screams and screams and screams and screams and screams and screams and screams and screams and screams and screams and screams and screams and screams and screams and screams. 

Then he falls to his knees, bending forward until his forehead meets the ground. Then he keeps screaming, with hands on his hair, pulling so hard that locks off golden are being ripped out. He doesn't notice. All he sees and hears are the shadows in his mind surrounding him, whispering the cruel truth. 

They are dead, they are dead, they are dead, they are dead, they are dead, they are dead, they are dead, they are dead, they are dead, they are dead, they are dead, they are dead they, are dead they, are dead, they are dead, they are dead, they are dead, they are dead, they are dead, they are dead, they are dead, they are dead, they are dead, THEY ARE DEAD!!!

It hurts. 

Tommy doesn't know how long he spends there. His mind a mess as everything comes crushing on him like a tidal wave. He thinks of his family, of all the things he would never get to do again. 

He thinks of his father's laughter, loud and booming. He thinks of his mother's smile soft and gentle, with dimples on both sides. He thinks of his brother's voice, smooth calming and about his other brother's eyes, shy but field with so much love. He'll never have that again. He will never have his family again. 

He always knew deep down. It's obvious to him now. He must have realised it after the first couple centuries. If anyone of them had still been alive they would have found him already. Tommy didn't make any effort to hide himself back then. So it would have been easy to look for a young boy with golden hair and blue eyes, with a old flag always around the left side of his waist. Who would tell to anyone who listens that his name is Tommy and he's looking for his family, also mentioning that he likes crows. He would say that to everywhere, to the point where he was turned in a fairytale for kids. 

A fairytale called 'The Lone Prince' about a price as bright as the sun who lost his his kingdom alongside with his family, now forever walking the earth alone looking for their ghosts. A sad fairytale but it was very popular back then and if any of his family are alive they would have heard it and it wouldn't have taken them long to realise who the prince was. After all his father used to say that there's always a bit of truth in tails and legends. 

He should have known then, but he couldn't face it. So instead he build a boor and locked the truth behind it, hoping that it would go away eventually. It never did. It never will. 

Tommy wishes he knew how to make this better, the aching in his heart tells him he can't. he puts one of his hands there feeling the wound that lays beneath his shirt. It's as old as his immortality, having gotten it the day everything went wrong, the day he lost everything. 

Don't worry a low voice whispered in his ear you'll bleed out soon enough.

Lier, Tommy thinks now, you lied, you always lie. 

Suddenly that thought fiels him with rage. He lifts his head from the ground looking at the now dark sky. There are no stars tonight. He finds that fitting. He takes deep breaths, his face twisting into something ugly, as the picture of a certain God cames to his mind. 

A merciless God with green eyes and a rotten heart, at least that's what the tails tell. But Tommy has known him, only for a moment but he has, so he can say that his father was right, there's always a bit of truth in tails and legends. 

He's the reason Tommy is here right now. He's the reason Tommy has been miserable for centuries. He's the reason his family is gone. His hands curl into fists on the ground, face turned in anger. 

Suddenly adrenaline runs though his veins and he gets up in seconds, turning around and leaving this place. He has a new purpose. He has a God to find. 

                                                            -----*-----

Finding a god is not as easy as one might make it sound. Especially when it's a God like him. A God who lives in secret, moving the chest pieces from the shadows. Yet, Tommy knows a way. It's a long shot but it's the only one he's got. 

There was a other God once, centuries ago. A God of knowledge. But this God isn't amongst this earth anymore. Killing a God is rare, difficult but not impossible. Thought they is a catch. A God may die, but their godhood can't just disappear after their death. It has to go somewhere. Most times it goes directly to the person who killed them, an other god since only a God can kill a God. Not always thought, sometimes if the dieing god is has enough strength they can choose who gets to have their power. It could be anyone from a fellow God to a simple mortal. 

If a mortal gets the power, they become a new god, if a God gets it then they become something known as a Primal God. They are stronger and even more indestructible than other immortals. Like Gods of gods. 

So, when the God of knowledge died, They spread their power to their believers. As a result, a small percentage of the population was gifted with visions of knowledge. That's what Tommy is counting on as he makes his way back to the capital of Snowchester. 

It doesn't take his long to find a church dedicated to the God of knowledge. It's remarkable, how  humans still build churches and worship a God they know is gone for ever. 

Tommy doesn't expect to find the place open when he walks up the stairs of the main entrance. It still has lights on but they usually leave those open so that the extravagant stained glass can be seen. Yet, when he gets infront of the large hardwood doors there is a paper pinched on it explaining how the church is going to remain open all day and night for this week. 

That's suspiciously convenient, though he is about to enter a place where the priest is able to know things they shouldn't be able to. That's the whole point. 

As soon as Tommy enters the church he's overtaken by the smell of burning candles. The place isn't as big as most churches, yet still large. The patterned floors are made of marble, while the walls and ceiling are made of mostly dark stone. All the lights are designed to look like the old candle lights that were used before electricity. Which really does make it seem like the place was forgotten by time. It brings Tommy a sense of nostalgia. 

Despite being really late in the night there are a couple of people occupying some of the praying seats. They are quite, minding their own business and Tommy decides he doesn't want to interrupt them. So he makes his way to the left side of the church and starts walking close to the wall, as to not disturb the people with his presence. 

As he does so his attention is drawned to the wall and the paintings that fill it. They are paints from the life of the god the church is dedicated to. Usually most of them would be legends that noone could really tell if they are truth or not. But not here. With the ability they were given the followers of the God would have visions of the past, present and future and some of those visions were of their god's life. So after centuries and after the internet, those priest could communicate with each other. thus, they now know almost the entire story of their God. 

He looks at the paintings. It's unsettling seeing the face of an old friend framed like that. like they are just a supernatural figure rather than a actual person. Tommy knew this God. He had met him only a couple of decades in his immortality. Eret had helped him a lot with how to live in the world as an immortal. They were always calm, always there trying to make things a little better and Tommy... 

Tommy was angry. He didn't want anyone to make things better because they couldn't. The only thing that could make things better was to find his family. That obviously never happened. He remembers yelling at Eret back then, it was a heavy argument ending with Tommy gathering his thing and leaving. 

Now he stops at the end of the room looking at the back wall and at the giant stained glass. In it he sees his old friend, standing in the middle of the glass, taking most of the space. While small pictures of the most important events of his life surround him. 

The God themselves are dressed in an elegant dress, their pure white eyes sawing proudly with a golden crown on their head. A far contrast to what they actually looked like. When Tommy knew them, they were wearing white shirts with simple long skirts and a black cloth over their eyes, so they wouldn't attract attention. Nothing like this figure infront of him right now. 

He keeps looking at the stained glass, to the small pictures surrounding it's edges. Then Tommy sees something that makes him shiver. There in the down left corner there is a figure of what looks to be a young boy. A boy with blonde hair and ice blue eyes, dressed in blues and grays. 

It must be a coincidence, tries to tell himself, they couldn't have known. But that's their whole thing isn't it? To know. Tommy goes to stand infront of the figure, the figure of himself, in the clothes of his empire...

" Oh, hello young man. Is there anything I can help you with?" 

A gentle voice puts him out of what would have probably been a meltdown. Slowly he turns his head to the side, looking at the priest of the church. She's wearing simple robes with her ashy blonde hair loose. 

Tommy doesn't respond immediately. He tries to collect himself instead straightening his aching back, only saying a simple 'hello' when he's recovered enough. 

" So, how can I help you?" She asks again. moving to the side to tend to the burning candles behind him. Tommy turning his body so he can still see her as she keeps talking. 

" It's really late so I'm assuming you couldn't wait until morning to come here. But don't worry I'm sur-" 

Her words die in her throat as she turns around to face him. Face going pale, eyes wide as she looks at both Tommy and the stained glass now behind him. 

Even though it's not a realistic paint he knows the resemblance is obvious. 

"I..." she startls with her words " Let's get somewhere more private." she ends up saying, turning around to walk to one of the side room of the church, with Tommy following close behind. 

She closes the door once they are both inside a small office room, the morden desk and lump on top of it a clear contrast to the rest of the buildings asthenic. 

" You know how I am." Tommy says then. It's a statement not a question, his voice coming out hoarse from all the screaming he did earlier. 

The priestess expression falters a bit at that. " I don't know as much as you think I don't." 

" But know who I am, you recognised me."  he insists. 

The priestess sighs " I only know you're the Phantom God and that you would be coming to this church at some point this week. " 

Ah, so that explains the 'open all night this week'. But he doesn't address that.

" Name's Tommy..." he says instead. 

He always hated that title ' Phantom God '. It's one mortals gave him a long time ago. It was inspired by the story about 'The Lone Prince' when it  become popular. Compering him to a ghost, still lingering on earth, looking for someone he will never find. 

" Right..." the priestess responds. " Is there anything you need from me?"

Tommy looks her dead in the eyes as he says his next works " I want you to learn and tell me where the God of Creation is." 

He gets it all out in one breath, knowing fully well what he's asking. Then he watches as the priestess face changes tenn deferent emotions and colours. 

"You... what?...why?!" 

It's a reasonable reaction Tommy supposes. A after all the God of Creation is more feared than loved, even amongst other gods. There's a reason they call him  'The Hunter '. 

" That's noone of you business." He responds coldly. He starts panting his foot on the ground. This is taking too long, he's growing impatient. 

The priestess seems to realise his mood, taking a breath to collect herself, then looking at him with a serious expression. 

" I can try looking for him. But you should know I might not be able to find him..." 

"... Because when you try to purposely look for knowledge, instead of letting it come to you, it's like trying to navigate through a sea storm. You have no idea where the current will push you. I know. " 

Tommy interapts her, in a slightly mocking voice, still hoarse. He knows that there is no guarantee he's getting the information he wants. He has already gone to countless other priests like her over his long life, asking about his family. Noone of them were successful, but Tommy would tell himself he had just gotten unlucky when the priests never manage to get anything. Now he knows that it was because there was nothing to there to begin with. 

The priestess gives him a small smile " Alright then." she says going one corner of the room to sit on the floor  Infront of a small shrine of the god she worships. 

" So... the location of the God of Creation, right?" 

" Yeah " 

" Okay " she whispers. closing her eyes with a deep breath. 

The next few minutes are quite anticlimactic. Tommy is just seating awkwardly to the side in silence. He's sure that things are more interesting on the priestess side though. 

Minutes pass. Nothing happens. Tommy takes a disappointing breath, thinking it's over. There's a time limit on how much someone can look for knowledge like that and that time has almost passed. 

Just then the priestess takes a sudden breath. Before Tommy can ask what happened he fells it, an unpleasant presence, making all of his hair rise. He quickly gets into a defensive position, drawing a dagger out. He courses the fact that it's not socially acceptable to walk around with weapons anymore. 

The light of the lantern flickers then closes abruptly, filling the room in darkness. Beside him then priestess makes squishy sounds and it takes Tommy embarrassingly long to realise, it's because she's choking. 

Then it's over as sudden as it started. The feeling of the ominous presence leaves the room, the light turning back on and the priestess....

She bends forward, taking deep breaths, a hand around her own throat. 

" What the fuck happened?" Tommy asks putting his dagger away and going to kneel beside her. 

" I...I s-...saw him....!" she manages to choke out between breaths. 

Tommy's eyes go wide. " You found him!... Where? Where is he?" 

" No..." she says terror creeping in her voice " No l-... I didn't-.... I didn't find..." 

She looks terrified, eyes wide field with horror. " He... he... he saw me!" 

A sob escapes her " He saw me! Their not supposed to do that.... But he did. Then he...he put his hand on my throat..." 

She doesn't continue, breaking into sobs. Looking at her now Tommy can see bruises forming around her throat, shaped like hands. Anger fiils his once again. 

" So you don't know were he is." It's a statement. He wants to bash his head onto a wall out of frustration. 

" I... I only saw him being surrounded by black stone..." 

Black stone.... Tommy can work with that. He has worked with far less clues. He excels, relieved. Then remembers something he should have asked from the beginning. " Are you ok?" 

The priestess shakes her head " physically I'll be fine. Mentally.... I think I vacations." 

Tommy lets out a dry laugh " You go do that." 

Then he gets up offering a hand to her, which she takes. 

"Well thanks... and I'm sorry for... you know..." He blurts out as he's putting his hands on the pockets of his raincoat. 

The priestess looks at him for a moment before responding " I really don't think you should go after him. It's dangerous..." 

Tommy scuffs "Danger is my second name. I'll be fine." 

With that he begins walking out of the room, but not before the priestess speaks once more. 

" I wish you all the luck in the world, Phantom God." 

He stops at the door, when without turning to look at her he says " I already told you. The name's Tommy." and with that he leaves the room, leaves the church. 

He tries again with different priests. Hoping that they could provide more information. They don't though. Every time goes similarly to the first one. One priest is even thrown backwards into a wall by an invisible force. That's when Tommy stops trying going to them for help, instead trying to work with what he has already. 

It's not enough. Black stone, a foul smell, cold. There are so many places that could fit that description and Tommy is impatient.

Every day that passes without finding the God he's after, he gets more agitated, his anger brewing. It's getting more difficult to control it by the second. The fact that the more time passes the more he feels like the God is messing with him isn't making things any better. 

It's like there are eyes on him at all times, laughing at him, mocking him. Sometimes he can feel them so intensively, that he feels like if he turns around and throws his fist in the air he will hit the bastard's face. 

The breaking point comes when he's walking around a city, seeing a church dedicated to the God of Creation. Tommy stares at it, expression dark. It's been a couple of months now after Snowchester. Tow months with no progress. Before, when he was looking for his family, he could handle the absence of progress. It was all for them, he could wait as long as necessary. But he's not looking for his family now. No, he looks for the asshole who destroyed his life.  Hates him. 

As he looks at the church infront of him, an idea forms in his head. If the God doesn't want to be found, then Tommy will give him a reason to. 

That night, when everyone has left the church, Tommy goes. It's not hard, braking in and showering the whole place in gasoline. Then once he's back outside he takes a lighter and throws it inside, watchin the the building being engulfed in flames. 

That becomes his new strategy now. He spends the rest couple months burning down churches of the God of Creation. They are not many despite how old and well known the God is. A lot of people are afraid of him. 

So he burns church after church and when someone tries to rebuild some of them, he goes back and burns them again. 

He finds some sort of satisfaction by destroying those places. But it's not enough and it never lasts for long. So he gets even anger. Yet, no matter how much distraction he causes, the god never shows himself. Which makes him even more frustrated. 

Finally, he gets to the last remaining church. It's an abandoned one. The people of the small town not wanting to worship the God anymore, yet too terrified of him to destroy the church. Tommy doesn't have that problem. He stopped being afraid a long time ago. 

He wakls inside the decaying building, his footsteps echoing through the empty room. Every surface is curved in a layer of dust, every wall is field with spider webs. There is no sun shining though today. It's hidden behind clouds, with rain starting to run down. 

Tommy stops infront of the large stained glass at the end of the church. It's similar to the others the God of Creation standing tall in the center, small pictures of his life around him. 

Tommy locks his gaze on his. The unnaturally green eyes of the figure seem to mock him once again and Tommy fumes. 

" You fucking bastard! Saw yourself!"  he screams at the glass figure. 

" Fucking saw yourself! What's wrong, are you afraid of me or something? ARE YOU AFRAID OF A LITTLE BOY?" 

He knows he's not a little boy by any account anymore. Tommy is over two thousand years old. But he will always look sixteen. 

" What the fuck did I bo to you?!" he yells now. 

" What the fuck did I ever do to you? Why did you do that?" 

Why did you destroy my life? Why did you make me live eternity alone? 

There tears forming in the corners of his eyes that he refuses to acknowledge. Instead he starts breaking the place apart. nocking over chairs, then picking them up and throwing them around. Breaking everything that can be broken, all while he screams for the God to saw himself or cursing him. 

" You bastard!" he yells as he's throwing small objects he finds at the large stained glass, aiming for the God. Yet in a cruel twist of irony he always misses him. Breaking everything around him instead. 

" I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I....." he breaks into violence sobs then, not having the strength to hold them in anymore. He falls down, hands around his knees. His cries echoing loudly though the church. Yet noone can hear him. The heavy rain drowning his sounds. He wishes it would drown him too. 

Tommy has no idea how long he spends there. It could be hours or it could be seconds. He wouldn't know, too lost in his own head. 

He's so lost that he doesn't realise the new presence in the church until someone is seating right next to him. When he snaps his head up in alert he immediately relaxes. It's just Sam. 

The fellow God stays there, with Farn on his side, who takes one look at Tommy and slowly approaches him. She then rubs her head agains his knees, trying to make him feel better the only way she can. Tommy turns away.

" Get your fucking dog Sam." he's tries to sound distant but his own voice betrays him coming out small and broken. 

" We both know it's not about Fran Tommy. Don't take it out on her."  

His voice is gentle, quite and he does get Fran away from Tommy despite his words. 

" You knew didn't you?" it's not a question, even though Tommy frames it as one.

  " You knew it was going to be a dead end, you tried to tell me." 

Sam exhales " Yes, I did. I tried telling you many times. But you never wanted to listen." He sounds sad, his words not at all carrying the aura of ' I told you so' 

Tommy lets out a dry laugh. " Well, it's over now. I know their dead now.... I know I'm alone..." 

" You... you're not alone Tommy! " Sam trys, "You have people." 

Tommy scuffs and it's ugly " Like who? You?" 

He doesn't see the way Sam's face flinches for a second.  " I will always be here for you, for whatever you need. I'll-" 

" What if I don't want you to. " Tommy interapts him. 

" Look, Tommy..." the other God starts " I know it's hard right now. I know you are upset-" 

" Upset?!" Tommy interapts him once more, getting into a standing position, hands curled into fists. " UPSET!?.... I'm not upset Sam I'm in PAIN!" 

" I'm in pain and there is nothing you can do to help!" he yells. " How could you help me? Can you bring them back Sam? Can you?" 

The man in question, who has also gotten to his feet looks at him with a sad expression that makes Tommy want to punch him. " You know I can't. But that's not the only way there is! There are other ways to make it better!" 

" Like what? Replacing them? Like you want to do with your son?" He spats out, then waches as Sam's eyes blow out in shock. 

" Wha-?" 

Tommy's next worlds are field with as much venom as he can master " I am not your son Sam. Stop trying to replace him  with me." 

Tommy knows that's how Sam sees him. It's in the way he's always concerned about him, even though he knows Tommy is going to be okay. It's in who he always tries to make sure Tommy takes care of himself, how he does that for him when Tommy can't or refuses to. It's in the way Tommy has caught Sam looking at him when he thinks he's not watching, same way his  father used to look at him. The way a parent looks at their child. 

In an instant Sam's face shuts down, expression unreadable and when he speaks his voice is disturbingly neutral. " You are grieving right now. So I'm going to pretend you never said that. " 

" Oh really? What if I say it again then? What are you going to do about it?" A small voice in the back of his mind tells him that he's talking it too far, that he's crossing a line that was never ment to be crossed. But the anger is louder, so Tommy keeps going. 

" You are replacing your son. You are replacing your son with me!" He yells.

" No..." the other god insists " That's not what's happening. Stop saying that!" 

" No Sam that's what you are doing!" 

" Tommy stop."

" You are replacing him!" 

" Stop!" 

"YOU ARE A BAD FATHER SAM!!!" 

"TOMMY SHUT UP!!!" 

Sam's words echo though the church, voice seeming to shake it's foundations. They both go silent after that. The only sounds being their heavy breathing, the pounding rain from outside and Fran's cries. The dog having retreat away from them, looking scared. 

" Go away..." Tommy says in the end, voice low. 

Sam stares at him for a moment before turning around and starts to walk towards the exit, Fran going to follow him. Then he stops at the entrance, turning to Tommy. 

" Don't go down this path Tommy. It's will only bring you more pai-" 

" GET THE FUCK OUT!!!" Tommy screams, grabbing a rock and throwing it at the other God, it only misses him by a few inches and this time Sam leaves, him and Fran disappearing into the rain. 

Once he's alone Tommy breaks again. Falling down and curling in a ball of misery. He hates it. He hates feeling like this. He hates his life. But there is nothing he can do about that and that what's worse. 

He has to live with that pain for the rest of eternity. No escape, no way out. Just him and the memories of what could have been, with pain as only companion. 

He wishes there was a way to make it better, but he doesn't know how and he just sent away the only person who was willing to help him.  Now he really is alone and this time he did this to himself. Not some merciless God. It was him, he did this. 

As the tears keep falling, he feels the green eyes on him again, observing him. Tommy doesn't have the strength to do something about it anymore. Instead he lays on the floor, sobbing until sleep comes to him. 

Tommy falls asleep knowing that the nightmares will follow soon. 

Chapter Text

Year 0

The first thing Tommy notices when consciousness comes to him is the pain. Awful, aching pain. He makes a wounded sound as he curls up on himself.  He hears someone's voice, but it's distant, unrecognisable. All he can focus on is the pain. It feels like his whole body was broken apart and them put back together. Everything hurts, every breath feels like a stab, his back killing him. He grasps again.

" Tommy?"

  The voice is clearer now, he can understand that's been said, he recognises the voice.Then realisation hits him like a mountain. He's not supposed to be awake, he's not supposed to be breathing, he's not supposed to be alive.

Tommy seats up like a lightning bolt, nearly colliding with the person crouched over him. He looks around, he doesn't recognise the landscape. He does however recognise the frozen mountains in the distance, his home. Or what's left of it.

" Tommy, how are you feeling?" the person beside him asks and when he turns his head, Tommy is looking at the First General of the Frozen Empire.
She looks like she's been though hell. She probably has. Her red hair are loose and even more of a mess than they usually are. Her armour and clothes are dirty with blood ash and dirt. Her eyes look tied.

" I should be dead." it's the only thing Tommy can say, because it's true. He should be dead. He was stabbed in the heart, he shouldn't....

He puts a hand on his chest, finding bandages covering it. He rips them apart, despite the General's protests, then he finds it. Right above his heart a stab wound, deep enough to kill him, yet it didn't. It doesn't make sense. His breaths start to get uncomfortably faster and faster. He looks at the General once again with wide eyes.

" Why the fuck am I not dead?"

" I don't know...I-"

She doesn't get to finish her sentence because Tommy abruptly gets up and starts walking around the field they are in. It's a beautiful place, with dandelions and tulips, green grass as well as a forest close by. The sun is shining covering everything with golden sunrays. A clear contrast to what is happening on Tommy's head right now.

I should be dead, I should have died I... I don't understand. He's pacing around the field hands running through his hair, trying to make sense of it all. He thought he was going to die. He had laid there on the floor of his home, bleeding out as the sun was rising. It doesn't make sense.

"Why the fuck am I not dead?" He asks again this time to noone in particular. Yet the General answers him anyway.

"I don't know..." there's a long pause after that, to the point that he's convinced she doesn't have anything else to say, but apparently she does.

"...But something tells me you do."

Tommy turns to look at her. Her green eyes during him. He turns away immediately, he doesn't want to look at any green eyes right now. He doesn't want to look at anything that would remind him of him.

"I..." He doesn't know what to say to that. Because the truth is more complicated. Yes, he knew his parents were immortal Gods, that him and Wilbur inherited part of that immortality. That's the thing though, they were only half-immortals. They may never die of old age, they may survive most injurys, but a stab in the heart should have killed them. Their parents make it very clear that they are not immune to all wounds. Yet, here Tommy stands, staded in the chest and very much alive.

"How long was I unconscious?" he asks instead, taking a better look at his surroundings and realising just how far away they are from the border of the empire. He doesn't see any any horses around, only a small carriage, that the General must have pushed herself.

General looks at him for a moment, it's obvious she knows what Tommy is doing. Avoiding her question. She lets him get away with it though.

"Seven days." she puts a hand though her tangled hair. "Fuck I thought you were dead for most of that time!"

"Then why did you keep carrying me?"  Tommy asks wrapping his hands around himself, trying to distract himself from the distant sound of yells and screams that still echo in his head. Everything coming back to him now that he's fully awake.

The General looks at him with complicated expectation that he can't read. "I... When the Empire fell there wasn't much time to do anything other than run."

She looks away then away from their frozen home and onto the green landscape infront of them. "wanted to give you a proper burial." Her tone is dry as she speaks.

Tommy looks at her, confused "Why?"

At that she turns her gaze down "I promised the Empress I'll keep you safe..." she whispers, voice full of guilt.

Tommy copys her, felling a small inch of guilt too. It must have been horrible, caring around the body of a person you were supposed to protect.

" I thought you died." She says after a while, the implication in her voice clear, she wants him to explain.

Tommy sighs. He doesn't find any reason to keep it a secret anymore, so starts explaining, about his parents immortality and about his own.

"Yeah, that makes sense..." is the only response he gets from the General. There were always rumours about the Empress and her family not being completely human. So her reaction is expected, especially since the General already had her suspicions.

Thought it puts a thought throw Tommy's head. If he survived, why wouldn't the rest of his family have done so as well? He was only told of their deaths, he never saw a body. The God of Creation did say he killed them himself, but he also told Tommy he was going to die soon, after he started him. He lied once, so why would he have lied to him again?

The more he thinks about it, the more sense it makes to him and the more sense it makes, his heart is field with something warm and dangerous at the same time. Hope.

In an instant Tommy makes his way over to the small carriage, looking inside for the things they have.

"What are you doing?" the General asks as she's watching him.

"Seeing what supplies we have" he answers with talking his head off his work.

"Why?"

"Because, if made it out alive that means there is a chance my family did as well. I need to find them." he says it so naturally, as if it's the most logical thing in the world.

"But..." the General starts "...the God Hunter-"

"Is a fucking lair." Tommy cuts her off coldly "I can't trust anything he says. Now are you going to help me or not?"

She stares at him for the longest time before saying " I promised your family I'll protect you and I have failed at that..."

Tommy resist the urge to roll his eyes at that. The whole place was falling apart and she is just a human. It's not her fault.

"... but a promise is a promise..." she continues, coming to stand right next to him. "...so I will keep trying my best to protect you for as long as I can."

Somehow Tommy manages to smile. "Alright, now stop being dramatic and let's get going."

"Going where?" she asks with a raised eyebrow.

"I..." Tommy doesn't have an answer for her. He has no idea whe to start looking, no clue, no lead, nothing. He only knows that they are definitely not in the Empire, with it being the way it is right now. "I'll figure it out."

The General chakles. "How about we go find new clothes and supplies while you are ' figuring it out '. Oh and take a bath!" She suggests, going infront of the carriage to start dragging it forward. Tommy goes to help her.

They find a small village three days later, where the rest for a while. The people are whiling to help them, having head about the neighbouring Empire's fall from other survivors.

They get new clothes, more supplies and place at the inn to rest. Not for long thought. Tommy is eager to start the search, so a few days later they leave the village, going to look for his family.

Those first few years are hard. They have to constantly take random jobs every now and then just so they can afford to buy new clothes, food or a place to stay. Tommy learns how to do a lot of jobs during that time.

They have depressingly vague leads that never go anywhere. Tommy feels worse and worse every time that happens. The General tries to comfort him, with low success. The fact that after a few decades, her old age is starting to get in the way isn't making things better. Unlike Tommy, who still looks like a teenager, despite being over fifty years old.

She keeps flowing him through. No matter how much it must hurt her body to travel for miles a day, sleeping on cold ground most of the time and eating undercooked food. She never complains despite all this.

Tommy makes the decision while they are at a town by the sea. It's a beautiful place. With the waves splashing on the beach and the small cozy houses all around. He sees how the general makes friends with a few people there. She has always made friends wherever they went, then leaving them for ever, always flowing Tommy. He doesn't want to do that to her this time.

So he leaves. Alone, in the middle of the night when everyone is peacefully sleeping on their beds, leaving only a small letter behind for the general to find in the morning which reads:

Thank you for staying with me for a long as you did. I will never forget that. I will never forget you. And don't worry I'll be fine, I promise.

I wish you only happyness,
Tommy

Year 97

"Five gold." the butcher says

Tommy's eyes go round "Are you fucking serious? Five gold? For one rabbit?"

"That's my final offer boy" the man responds colby.

This is theft! Tommy thinks. "I saw you sell two of them for two!" he complains.

The butcher looks at him with discast "For someone like you, it's five for one."

Tommy stares at him, seriously considering punching the guy right in his stupid red nose. He just leaves instead, picking up a fight in this place would be a bad idea.

Still, he's fuming at the mouth as he walks down the street. He knows what the butcher ment when he said 'for someone like you', someone from the fallen empire.

It's been almost a hundred years but people still remember the Frozen Empire, who used to be the most powerful nation back then. Now, it's frozen ruins. There were survivors of course. But they were not treated kindly by the rest of the world. The people in the small village he and the general stayed in the begging were the exception.

Most people looked at what happened and decided that the empire and everyone who lived in it, was cursed. That death and misfortune would follow them and their descendants wherever they went. So, they they were treated like parasites, that grew in their fields, and killed their harvest.

Even after almost a hundred years, they still believe that and they still remember what the flag of the Empire looked like. That's why Tommy was treated like that, he had a flag of his home around his waist, it's a bit dirty and ripped but still recognisable enough. He could avoid that by simply getting rid of it, but he can't. Tommy can't let go, even if he knows it only makes things worse for him.

He got it from the General, apparently she has used it to gather some supplies as she was fleeing in the chaos. His chest hurts a bit at the memory of the woman. She must be dead now, unless she somehow managed to live over the age of a hundred, which is not something that happens with mortals really.

"Troubled steps you have, young man."

Tommy stops from where he was walking down the street, looking around. The town he's right now is a big one, with stoned roads, steady houses and fountains. The people fill the streets, loud, carefree. Going about their days as usual. Then he looks to the side, finding a person seating on the ground. They pose like a beggar, which seems logical considering the black cloth around their eyes is probably an indication that they're blind. Their appearance though doesn't much that. They wear a clean white shirt with a long skirt and a red cloak. Their clothes are clean and free of patches.

"Uhh... are you... talking to me?"  Tommy asks. The blind person nods.

"I'm sorry for my lack of discreet, I just couldn't help but notice."

That's an other strange thing about this person, they talk like royalty. Briefly, Tommy tries to remember if there was a kingdom that fell, or exhaled it's ruler recently, but can't think of a single one.

"Okay." He says instead "What the fuck do you care?"

The person smiles. "None at all. I was just wondering if you would join me for a meal at the inn, just a few steps down the street."

Tommy, taken aback by the offer. Why does this person want to eat with him? They don't know each other. If anything, they should be wary of him. If he was someone else he could take the opportunity to robb them.

" Ugh.... do you always invite strangers to eat?"

"Sometimes" they answer "So, do you accept my offer?"

Tommy is reluctant "Are you like serious? What if I was someone else, who would have taken the opportunity to steal from you?"

"But you are not someone else." The blind person states confidently.

"Ughhhh.... Sure.... why not " Tommy agrees in the end, one because he's curious about this person's motive and two because he's kind of hungry. Even though starvation would not kill him, it would still hurt until he eats something.

"Excellent!" The person is on their feet in an instant. "In that case, let me introduce myself. I am Eret."

"Tommy..."

"Nice to meet you Tommy. Now if you would follow me...."

With that they start walking down the street. Tommy, panics for a moment, thinking that the person, Eret, Would bump into someone, considering they are blind. Yet, that never happens. Eret walks down the street with grace, not hitting a single person. They walk with their head held up and their back straight. They look like true royalty. Tommy straitens his own back, feeling a shot of pain hitting him at the movement and follows the strange person.

Soon enough they reach the inn Eret was talking about, taking a seat in one of tables at the far corner. The place is full of travelers as well as townsfolk, drinking and eating away, their laughter and shouts filling the room.

It isn't long before someone comes to take their order, Tommy orders some rabbit stew, just to spite the guy who tried to scam him earlier.

"So..." he says as soon as they are left alone again. "...why do you want to eat with me?"

Eret gives a small smile "I just thought we could have a nice meal together. Since we are both immortals"

Tommy's jaw drops at the confection. "Wha-" this person is also immortal? How did he know about Tommy?  "What- Keep your voice down! What if someone hears you?"

"That's not a concern." is their only response "You need to relax. Thinks are not as bad as you think they are."

Tommy doesn't know what to say to that. This whole time he's been trying to hide his immortality, having been warned by his parents what could happen if people knew what he was.

Tommy would discuss the matter only by the olive tree at the castles yard, were they were far away from any unwanted ears. Then he would discuss it with the general, but only in the middle of the forest, away from people. Now, Eret is throwing it around in the middle of a busy inn. Tommy feels like he should worry a little.

"Besides..." the other immortal continues "... this is a good place to be in, as you will see."

"I don't understand...."

"just listen." Eret says. Reluctantly Tommy does.

The place is full of people, all chatting at the same time. So first he doesn't get anything important, just half conversations about those peoples lives and problems. One farmer complaints that the harvest wasn't good this year, some parent worries about their rebellious teenager while some hunters discuss the lack of animals they noticed during their last hunt.

Tommy doesn't understand what is the point of this "I don't.... understand"

"Keep listening... " Eret encourages.

There is a woman worried about dad luck because someone she knows said they saw a boy from the frozen empire waking around town. Oh yeah that would be Tommy. further down the room a man is daydreaming about his wedding and the hunters are still concerned about the lack of animals in the area.

"....ver happened before in my twenty years of hurting!" one of the older ones exclaims.

"Did someone poisoned their water streams?..." a woman hunter asks "... but I checked them yesterday and the water was fine!"

"And it's not just the animals!" a third hunter adds "The farmers' crops have been dieing to. No explanation! They just are.... "

"What could cause all of these things to happen?" an other one asks.

"What ever it is, it's nothing good I tell you!" the hunter that looks to be the oldest one amongst them says drinking a sip of his bear.

"Are you suggesting that something sinister is happening?" 

The oldest hunter sighs. "I've never seen it in our town before, but when I was young, younger than you, we heard stories about animals disappearing and corps dieing around a nearby town, right before The Hunter arrived" he whispers the name, as if the mention of it is enough to course a man. Around him, his fellow hunters dissolve into silent panic.

Tommy feels his breath hicks and he intuitively puts a hand above his chest, the stab wound underneath suddenly stinking. He looks at Eret with round eyes. "You knew, didn't you?"

Eret nods " I realised that a couple of days ago. I knew you wouldn't know about this since you never occupie yourself at a public space. So I thought I should warn you... and teach you how get information at the same time."

Tommy should have become suspicious then. He should have wondered how Eret knew all those things. That he avoids being in public, that he didn't know about The Hunter coming in town and that they knew he was an immortal. But Tommy is so overwhelmed by the information that the man who destroyed his life is so close than everything else passes though unnoticed.

Eret keeps talking in smooth quiet voice off theirs " It is quite the irony. He who created all is withering nature and scares all living beings in his wake."

Tommy doesn't answer him still in shock. He is unsure on what he wants to do. On one hand he wants to stay and face him. Oh he wants to fight him. To make him hurt just like he made Tommy hurt. On the other hand, the thought of seeing him again, those unsettling green eyes, that terrifying smile, that horrible voice, the voice of his nightmares, makes Tommy want to run away in the opposite direction and never look back. Why is he coming here in the first place? Is he just passing by trying to get to an other location or he is here for him? Here to finish the job.

There is a reason why most people fear the God rather than love him. Instead of making a name for himself as the one who created all, he chose to be known as the God Hunter. A God who hunts down other gods to kill them and steal their powers in order to make himself more powerful. Legend has it that the first God he did this to was his own brother. Tommy feels sick at the idea of that.

He's then violently brought out of his thoughts by the food they ordered being served to them. Eret wastes no time as they begin to eat their meal immediately. Tommy just stares at his, then he stares at Eret. How can he eat after that like nothing happened? He voices this question, the other immortal merely smiling.

"Why wouldn't I enjoy a nice meal?" is the only answer Tommy gets.

He resist the urge to eat his own meal at first. He felt like he was going to throw up anyway. But after a bit of polite encouraging from Eret and the protesters of his own hungry stomach, he yields. The stew is good and it eases his hunger.

"Alright" Eret announces as soon as he's done. "Let us leave now!" with that they get up and start walking towards the exit. Tommy looks at them with pure confusion for the first few seconds before quickly getting up and starching his aching back before running after them.

"The fuck?" he starts as he catches up with the other immortal. " Go where? And who said I'm coming with you?" Tommy demands. Eret just kees walking with a smile on their face, not answering him. "The fuck?! I'm talking to you, bitch!"

They both keep going like that. Eret walking down the road, head held up with Tommy hot on his heels, yelling curses at them and demanding explanations he never gets. It's only later when he notices they are now in a small dirt road surrounded by feilds of golden crops, the town long bihind them, that he realises what Eret has done.

"You!... how did you...?! You bastard!" he ends up saying. Eret just smiles again.

"Me? I did nothing. What could a poor blind person like me ever do. You're the one who followed me outside the town." They respond in a playful tone, before continuing to walk down the road. "By the way. Since we're already so far out of town, let us go the next one over. Maybe we will find something useful there!"

Tommy fumes with range and embarrassment at being played so easy. Still he follows Eret, cursing loudly.

That's how Tommy's friendship with Eret starts. They spent years together. Tow immortals roaming the land. Eret teaches him a lot of useful things. How to get information from others without making himself known, how to blend in with mortals so that he doesn't have to avoid public spaces, which makes Tommy a little uneasy since he was mortal himself a hundred years ago. They don't help Tommy with searching for his family though. Tommy hadn't noticed back then but it was obvious later. Eret never tried talk him down from following a lead, but they never engaged him either nor did they tried to help to look for new leads.

Instead they would nod and follow Tommy quietly, dropping saddle hints that this might be a dead end, which it always turned out to be. Tommy would be too busy to notice in the beginning and he would regret it for the rest of his life. Maybe if he had realised it earlier things would have gone differently, maybe Eret wouldn't have been....

But Tommy noticed it at the worst possible time instead and it was the day of his one hundred and twenty three years of age. He hadn't selebrated his birthday for over a hundred years at this point an he wasn't planning to, but Eret had other plans.

That's how Tommy woke up that day expecting to eat some simple breakfast and continue following his most recent lead. A musician with unimaginable talent with brown hair and eyes over the neighbouring kingdom. So Tommy picked himself up from bed stretching his back that was hurting him more than usual today and got dressed quickly. He looks himself in the small mirror the room he was given at the inn has.

He still looks like a sixteen year old, thought his eyes look much older but noone ever questions that, they just assume hes tied, which is true. Tommy lifts his hand to touch the small emerald that hungs from his neck. There's an identical one somewhere out there and he will find it, alongside the person that's supposed to have it. He squeezes it one last time, then he lets go,  going down to find Eret.

He finds them already seating at a table in a corner waiting with their back straight head tilted towards the window. They look like royalty in a way Tommy was never able to. His family all had that too. That air flowing though them, it made them look important. Because they were.

His mother was The Empress of the Empire and she carried herself with grace, enchanting people with her appearance, something that his brother Wilbur inherited through and through, even from a young age he would look like the crown prince that he was. Then there was his father and Techno, who despite not being royalty it wasn't hard for them to blend into that image. With Philza marrying the empress, they new how to appear loyal, even if Techno would complain about it every chance he got.

Then there was Tommy. Who, from the beginning was loud, obnoxious, borderline rude sometimes, all things that are not associated with being a prince. No matter who much he tried he always felt like he was doing something wrong. Because no matter who much he tried, he wouldn't be able to act how his tutors here advising him to. Which was fine at first, Tommy never cared about rules all that much and his father had reassured him multiple times that he doesn't have to act like a prince if he doesn't want to.

But then Tommy got older and he began to realise that even if he's not the crown prince like Wilbur, the people would still have expectations for him. So he tried to act more formally and 'prince like', he wanted to prove that he could be someone. That never happened though, because Tommy failed, because Tommy is not...

"Good morning friend."

Thankfully Eret brings him out of his thoughts. "Morning..." he responds going to join his companion at the table. He never understands how Eret does that, how they seem to know when Tommy is losing himself in his thoughts or how they know to bring him back to reality. He should have questioned it, he should have, but he couldn't. Because Eret was the first person beside his family that he was close to and also immortal and questioning them might mean that Tommy would lose them. Tommy doesn't want that, so he chooses to stay ignorant.

"Ready to head out after breakfast?" Tommy begins immediately after taking a seat. "I'm really hopeful about this one, this time it could be It!"

He rumbles about the new lead, Eret just nodding along, until their breakfast arrives. Tommy hadn't ordered anything, but after a whole decade of traveling together he and Eret had agreed that whoever gets up first would order for the both of them.

When he goes to eat his plate he freezes, because infront of him there's a chocolate cake, it's small but it looks delicious and he makes some quick calculations realising what day it is, Tommy's eyes go wide. He lifts his head up to look at his companion, who is starting back with a neutral expression. 

"What the fuck is this?" he demands in a low voice.

Eret visibly flinches at that, which is something he has never seen them bo in their tenn years of knowing eachother. "I just though you deserved something nice for today."

Tommy looks at the cake, then at Eret and finally he lets the question slip f his lips. The question that is bound to destroy it all.

"I never ner told you when my birthday was. So how did you know?" he demands, staring daggers at his friend, who looks shaken, yet an other thing that is out of character for them.

"Tommy please... if... if you don't like it we can just move on and-"

"NO!" Tommy shouts, slamming his hands on the table, nearly nocking the cake of.  "No Eret! You don't get to avoid the question! Answer me! how did you know?!" The whole inn is starting at them now. He doesn't care.

Instead of answering Eret lowers their head, looking at the floor, even with their eyes covered under the black cloth the guilt in their face is painfully obvious.

"Please..." they whisper "don't do this..."

It's too late. Tommy is getting too angry to think clearly, as all the thinks that did not add up with his friend come to mind, the picture finally forming in his head.

"The day we met.." the younger immortal stars "How did you know I was also immortal? Who did you know I didn't know about The Hunter? How did you....?"

There are so many hows Tommy wants to ask, so many things Eret knew with no logical explanation as to how they learned them. Then Tommy realises there is as other question he should be asking, a question he should have asked a long time ago.

"What are you the God of, Eret?" his voice comes out low, dangerous, dreading the answer.

Eret sinks lower in their seat, which only makes things worse. "ANSWER ME!"
Tommy demands loudly, the people on the room slowly starting to get out, sensing danger.

Eret stays silent for a few more moments, Tommy getting ready to scream at them again but his companion speaks. Their voice is low, field with shame, and it's the answer Tommy was dreading.

"Knowledge..."

It's one word, one simple word that makes Tommy's world shake. He takes a step back, looking at his friend with horror. Tommy has never felt this sense of betrayal before. He has never had someone he was so close to betray him in such a way.

"Why?" Is the only thing he can say. "Why the fuck did you bo that?" he ignores the tears that are forming in the corners of his eyes. "Why did you not tell me? You knew! All this time.... YOU COULD HAVE HELP ME FIND THEM!"

He screams the last sentence and it echoes though the walls, he then reaches froward grading Eret by the collar of their shirt, shaking them.

"Why the fuck did you not help me!" Even now his 'friend' chooses to remain silent.

"Where are they?" Tommy demands then, realising that they must know, they have unlimited knowledge after all, which only makes it hurt more, because they knew. They knew and never said anything. That hurts more than all the lies.

"Sometimes..." Eret finally breaks the silence, still not looking at him "...the truth is not what we wish to hear..."

Their words stung him like a blade and Tommy gerks back as if he's been burnt. He stares at Eret with wide eyes, then shakes his head, tears running down his cheeks.

"No, no, no, no, NO!" He says over and over again, as if that would change anything, as if that would make everything okay again. It doesn't, so Tommy runs.

He runs away from the inn away from his companion, away from the truth he's not yet ready to hear. That was the first crack in the door of denial he had so carefully build and even though it would take almost two thousand years for it to finally brake open, the first crack had been placed that day.

                                                     .   -----*-----

He reaches the neighbouring kingdom a week later. It's easy to ask for directions about the musician from there, after all their reputation has grown vast.

Tommy finds them in a small city soon after. They seat in a small stall with a guitar in their hands, their voice like honey, captivating anyone who hears it. It's not Wilbur. They have brown hair, brown eyes, a talent in music and that's were the similarities end. This person infront of Tommy, is not his brother.

He wants to scream. The person who he thought was his friend had betrayed him and now his most recent lead turned out to be false, again. Tommy stays amongst the crowd of people gathered around the musician for a while, pretending....

Then he's off. He wakls far away until he can't hear the music anymore, then ducks into an alley. Leaning against the wall slowly sinking down as he lets the disappointment fill him. How long does he have to bo this? It's exhausting. The disappointment, the saddest, the loneliness. He just wants his family. But he has to keep looking, he can't give up on them. Tomorrow, he thinks, tomorrow I'll start looking again. He's tired now, so with that thought in mind he closes his eyes and falls asleep right there on the alley.

The nightmare is one he's grown familiar with over the years. The bad thing is, he never realises that it's not real until he wakes up, so evey time is as scary as the first one.

It always the same sequence. Tommy wakes up in the middle of the night in his old room in the castle, to screams coming down the hall. He jumps awake and grabs the small axe he always has underneath his bed. Then he runs out the room and into the hallway. It's dark, but the screams are loud. He looks for his family. He finds them all further down the hall calling out his name.

"TOMMY!!!" His father yells at him and Tommy throws himself in his arms, axe forgotten to the ground next to them, he doesn't need it when his family is around.

"What's happening?" Tommy asks as soon as he pulls away from the embrace, taking a better look at his family. His mother is right beside them holding both Wilbur's and Techno's hand by each of hers. They look worried.

"Someone is attacking the castle, me need to go!" His father explains, grading him by the hand as they all begin to run down the halls.

They take turn after turn, but the castle never seems to end, like they are trapped in and endless loop, with no way out. Tommy's terror rises in his throat the more time passes, always looking up bihind him to see if they are being followed. He never sees anyone, but he always has the felling that there is a monster chasing them, just around each corner and if they slow down for even a second, it will catch them.

The walls of the castle seem to close in on them, menacing shadows lurking in every dark corner. Somehow, Tommy's hand slips out of his father's grasp, he screams for them to wait, but they don't. No matter how much he yells and pleads his family keep running, too fast for him to catch up.

"Don't stop running Tommy!!!" His father yells at him as they despair down the hallway infront of him. "Just keep running! Keep running and never stop! Don't stop running Tommy!!!"

Tommy does run. He runs and runs throw endless hallways, screaming for them to wait, to answer him. He wastes time looking through every room he passes for them, he never finds them with the monster getting closer and Tommy getting tied. Would it really be that bad if he lets the monster get him? He's tired, he wouldn't be able to run for long anyway. No, he can't, he has to find his family.

So he keeps running, even when he can hear his pulse up in his head, his lungs burning like a forest fire and he can no longer feel his legs. That's when he finds himself in the throne room after a turn and when he looks at the floor his world breaks.

There in the middle of the room, is his family. But they are not alive. They are laying down on the floor, their blood painting the white marbles crimson. His father and mother are locked in a tight endurance, his mother having bandages around her torso with blood coming through them, while his father is covered in arrows and spears, like he was shot out of the sky, his dark wings bending in unnatural ingles. Beside them are Wilbur and Techno, his older brother's. Wilbur is laying with his back on the floor, dead brown eyes looking at the ceiling, there's a dagger on his chest. Next to him, Techno is laying on his side one hand outstretched towards Wilbur, his throat red.

The monster's screams echo though the room, loud and ugly, It makes Tommy blood freeze before releasing, it's not coming from the monster, it's just his own screams.

He falls to his nees infront of them, his body heavy with more grief than any person was ever designed to handle, reaching out his hands to touch them, then always retrieving them last second. He can't touch them, if he does then it would be real, then they would be really gone.

Distantly, through the sound of his own screams he can hear the monster enter the room. He needs to run, his father told him to do so, he needs to get away. But he's tiered, like the life has already been drained out of him.

Then the monster gets him.

Tommy wakes up screaming, taking a few minutes of heavy breathing to realise that it was just a nightmare. It wasn't real, just a stupid dream. This isn't how things went down, he never saw his family die nor did he ever saw their bodies. Because they are not dead, he tells himself, they are still alive you just need to find them. That's the only thing that keeps him grounded.

After he calms down he looks outside of the alley and realises there is a commotion happening down the street. Needing a distraction from his nightmares, Tommy goes to see what's happening.

He finds a crowd of people gathered around the entrance of a church, the priest and his assistants trying to calm them down and failing to do so.

When Tommy checks he realises that this church belongs to The God of Knowledge, he  considers turning around and not think about it again, but his curiosity gets the better of him. The fact that maybe he still cares about Eret even though the God lied to him for years, might have something to do with it as well.

So he pushes his way through the crowd, until he finds himself standing right infront of the priest, who is too busy trying to claim everyone.

"Hey!!" He yells though the crowd, "What the fuck happened?!"

At the sound of his voice the priest turns to look at him, eyes going wide as soon as he does so. "I...." he starts "l... Let's just go inside." With that he grabs Tommy by the arm dragging him inside, much to the protests of everyone else.

Once they are inside, the doors closed behind them Tommy frees himself from the priest's hold, taking a few steps away from him and further inside the empty church. "Okay, What the fuck is happening?" he demands.

The priest just looks at him like he's a ghost. "I... I don't.... You are a God!" he exclaims.

Tommy takes a step back "How do you- You know what? Never mind that, just tell me what's happening!"

The priest takes a moment to answer, like he's measuring his words very carefully before saying them. "The God of Knowledge is dead."

Dead. That last word circles in Tommy's mind again and again, because, no....no, no, no that's not true! They are not dead! They are a God they can't die!

Oh but they can. A cruel voice reminds him. Primal Gods are the ones that can't truly die, everyone else...

Eret wasn't a Primal god, but they are being hunted by one. The God Hunter, was always close behind them all the years Tommy was with them. Yet, Eret always avoided him. So, why didn't they now?

Thought Tommy never asked how his friend died, it's obvious they were killed by a Primal God, that's the only way a God can die, and the only such God is The Hunter. The one who kills other gods to take their powers, the one who destroyed Tommy's life and now the one who killed his friend as well.

Tommy doesn't remember walking out of the church, he doesn't remember going back to the alley he slept in last night, he doesn't know if the priest said anything to him at all. He he stopped seeing and listening the moment the words 'dead' reached his ears.

Now he finds himself leaning against the walls of the alley, as small sobs escape him. Then they get stronger, until Tommy is full on crying violently. Because he still carded about Eret, even if they had lied to him, Tommy still cared.

I did I killed him? Is the thought that haunts him. Because Eret should have escaped The Hunter, they are the God of Knowledge, they should know how. But they didn't. Tommy can't help but wonder if he had something to do with it. He finds it hard ro believe that Eret dies to the God they had so carefully avoided for years a week after Tommy leaves, to be just a coincidence.

"I'm... I'm sorry!" Tommy sobs, hugging his knees thigh. "I'm sorry.... I'm sorry!"

Year 245

He never expected much from his life, there wasn't much to expect there in the first place. He wasn't born to royalty, or even the son of a lord, no he was was just the son of a baker.

He never complained about the life he was born in, but he new to have realistic expectations about it. He would live a simple life, one that would not be the inspection for grand tales or music ballads. He's not important enough for that. No, he will live and he will die just like everyone else, his life and
death inconsequential to the grand scheme of things.

Still, Quackity would rather not die in his early twenties, fighting in a war he had no say whether or not he wanted to participate in.

"This is BALLSHIT!" he yells as he examines the spear he was just given this morning.

They didn't bother giving him or the rest of them anything else. No armour, not shield not even a bit of training. They are treating them like pigs to the slotter.
Quackity really doesn't want to die, not yet. So he yells and complains loudly.

Most people ignore him, either too busy processing their own potential death, or they just can't help him even if they wanted to, after all in this part of the camp is filled with people who hadn't even held a weapon before, people who aren't important. Still, he keeps yelling.

"Who the fuck am I ever supposed to use that" he complains pointing to the spear in his hand.

"Use the sharp side to stick it to the other guys head, genius" a flat voice answers him.

When Quackity turns his head to look at the person, who insulted his intelligence, he sees a young boy. He's seating on a rock, sharpening an axe that looks to be heavier than him. His blonde hair are up in a ponytail and if he were to let them loose they would reach his shoulders.

"Of course I fucking new that you asshole!" he spats at him.

"Could have fooled me'' the boy responds, not even looking up for his work.

Quackity huffs "Oh, okay! Why don't you tell me more about how to use this thing since you know so much?" even if the boy insulted him, he's desperate, he will take advice from anyone.

At that, the boy finally turns his head to look at his with eyes as blue as ice and when the early morning sun  touches his hair they look like they are made out of pure gold. A clear contrast to Quackity's own dark hair.

"Fine" He says after staying at him for a while. "Show me your fighting stance"

Quackity does so, immediately the boys face cringes. "You are doing it wrong" he announces. Before Quackity can complain that, yes obviously, that's why he asked for help, the boy continues.

"Turn your body sideways, this way you'd make a smaller target. Now wide your legs a bit more and put most of your weight on the back one, that would make it harder for people to throw you down."

Quackity, follows the boys instructions the best he can. He spends the next hour or so, listening as  the blonde tells him some basic forms for a spear.

"How bo you know all this?" he asks as he's trying to practice. The boy, looks away from him.

"My brother and father taught me."

There is something in the way he said it, something sad, that Quackity stranslates to, don't ask more questions about this. So he doesn't, instead he nods and keeps practicing.

He doesn't get to practice for long in peace though, as someone else starts  praying really close to him. Quackity turns to look, finding a young man around his age kneeling on the ground. His brown hair shining in the light of the sun.

"Can you stop?" Quackity spats at him. "I'm trying to do something actually useful here! It's not like any God would help you! They have abandoned us to our own fate."

The man opens his eyes, looking at him "We all have different ways of preparing for battle, this is mine." He responds in a calm voice before he goes back to praying.

The blonde boy let's out something that could have been a laugh. "Even though praying guy over there has a point, he's right..." he says while pointing at  Quackity. " You shouldn't waste your time like that. Gods can't even hear prayers."

"How the hell do you know that?" Quackity turns to ask the boy, who just glare at him.

"How do you know they have abandoned us to our own fate?" he spats back at him.

Quackity raises his hands in surrender. "Okay, fair point man" then he looks at the spear he's holding.

"Still..." he says in a low voice " It's not going to be enough to survive...." he really doesn't want to die, not yet. He has so many things he wants to do first.

The boy scoffs "Just go to the back lines and you'll be fine"

They spent the rest of the morning there, Quackity practicing with the boy's advice, who is sharpening his axe and the other guy praying. The sun levels them, as the clouds cover it completely, living everything shadowless and gray.

It's not long after that, when the horns sound, signaling the start of the battle. Quackity feels his whole body tense up. This is it. He really hopes he makes it.

"Well..." the boy starts getting up from the rock "Time's up"

Quackity takes a deep breath, getting mentally prepared for this. Then he notices that the brown haired man is still on the ground praying. Quackity doesn't know why, but he goes and grabs the man, lifting him to his feet. The man in question lets out a confused noise, but doesn't try to escape Quackity's hold.

As he drags them both to the back he notices that the boy is walking the opposite direction, towards the front lines.

"Hey!" he yells at him, "Back lines are that way!" he poits to the right direction.

The blonde boy turns to look at him "I know, you genius"

"Then where are you going?" Quackity asks " You said it yourself, the back lines are the safest option!"

The boy raises an eyebrow, "No.." he corrects him " I said this is the safest way for you. I'm going to the front"

If Quackity didn't believe the boys was suicidal before, he does now. Why would he want to go to the front? it would be a slaughter there. Part of him wonders if the boy used to be the child of some lord who fell for whatever reason. It would make sense, given how he clearly knows how to fight yet he wasn't with the rest of the highborns and of course the old flag he has around his waist, that is not one he recognises.

"What's your name then?" Quackity ask, "So I know what to write in your gravestone."

The boy actually laughs at this, "That would never happen" he's smiling when he says that, but the tone of his voice is bitter.

Then he disappears amongst the crowd of soldiers getting ready. Quackity keeps looking at the spot the blonde had disappeared for a few more moments, before snapping out of it and heading to the back lines.

"That was a weird kid" the brown hair man beside him comments. Quackity disagrees with that statement. He wasn't weird, he was hurting.

                                                        -----*-----

Tommy has no excuse for how he got himself into this situation. He could have just passed through this kingdom unnoticed, with noone even looking at him twice. He had no specific business in the kingdom either. He wasn't following any lead at the time. He hadn't found a new one for two years now, so he was just wondering the world hoping to stumble upon one. Instead he got himself in trouble with a local lord.

It wasn't Tommy's fault. The guy was being unreasonable to a kind fisherman, so Tommy stepped in and defended the poor man. The lord's response was to make sure Tommy was drafted to war, his thought process probably was that Tommy would die during the battle. Unfortunately for him, Tommy can't die.

He cuts through the battlefield like he belongs there, like he was born for war. He wasn't, but he was trained by some of the most fearsome warriors the world had ever seen. That, combined with his immortality made Tommy nearly unstoppable.

He doesn't use a shield, he doesn't have to. He's too fast, too agile, even with the heavy axe in his hands that he swings like it's as light as a feather. Wounds that would make anyone else unable to fight or killed them are a minor inconvenience. No, the thing Tommy worries about the most about is the rain.

It's heavy, turning the ground unstable to stand on and clouding his vision. It's uncomfortable, the combined smell of rain, wet ground and death producing a foul smell, with Tommy wishing he was the God of Weather so he could just snap the rain away. But he's not the God of Weather, so he has to fight through this storm.

The battlefield itself is in chaos. The diffence line of both sides has fallen so now they are all mixed together. Tommy cuts through the enemy soldiers like it's nothing. He would have felt guilty about it once, because he knows that most of those people were dragged here against their will. But Tommy has lived for so long, has seen so much death, he's almost gone numb in the idea of it.

Part of him feels guilty for that. He's changing. He's no longer the Tommy him family new, he's not the Tommy who would feel uncomfortable at the idea of taking a life. It makes him wonder, would his family recognise him if they saw him? Even if he's changed? Would they still love him?

An other soldier comes for him, Tommy being drought violently out of his thoughts and berley having enough time to dodge, then running his axe through the man, cutting him in half. The surrounding soldiers who saw what happened have the mind, to stay away from him. But that doesn't matter, because there's always a soldier who didn't see Tommy cutting a man in foul armour in half with just one swing. They only see a young looking boy and assume he's a easy target, only to regret that decision moments later.

So that's how the first part of the battle goes. Tommy cutting down people, naïve enough to attack him, while he tries his best to not slip on the wet ground or a dead body. At least the sound of pounding rain hitting steal armour drowns most of the screaming.

Tommy doesn't know how long he's been fighting for. It feels like days, though he knows it's only been a few hours. He looses track of time as the brutality of war unfolds in front of him. The thought of the dark haired man, that Tommy never asked the name of, briefly crosses his mind. The way the battle has developed, the conflict would have reacted the back lines by now. Will he survive this conflict? If not, how long will he last?

But Tommy doesn't have time for those questions, he's in the middle of a war he needs to focus. The battle rages on with the heavy rain falling all around them. Tommy fights soldier after soldier until he finds himself in a clearing digger that he expected and when he looks around he sees that the only other person in the middle of that clearing is a tall man from the opposing side. He's dressed in light armour with clothes that used to be white but now they are convert in blood and dirt.

As if he feels Tommy's eyes on him, the man turns to him. Then he freezes, looking at Tommy with confusion. So Tommy takes the opportunity to charge towards the taller man. He's fast, but the man is also fast, too fast, his long black hair, wet from the rain, moving bihind him like a viper. He avoids Tommy's attack easily, then strikes him in return, the blonde berley having time to dodge the man's sword with his axe, the dark blade still cutting through his upper arm. Tommy grits his teeth as he takes a step back, his opponent however doesn't give him time to recover as he continues to throw blow after blow to his direction. Tommy berley bodges any of them. Looking at the tall man as he slowly starts to that realise he's looking at a God.

Tommy doesn't even have time to process this information before the man, no, the God, somehow grads him by the collar, throwing him back. Tommy flies throw the air for a second before crushing on a rock. Everything goes dark for a few moments. In the back of his mind he wanders if that would be enough to kill him. After all only a god can kill an other god. But he quickly realises that's not the case. If he was to die, he wouldn't have been thinking right now, it would have been an instant death. So the fact that he can think and feel the excruciating pain running throughout his whole body is a clear indicator that he will survive this.

So with a painted groan Tommy slowly opens his eyes. He must have been unconscious for a while, The white clothed God having moved on to killing other soldiers. The blonde groans as he picks himself up. His head is spinning fast, but he manages to get up and beeline towards the other God, who looks at him with  shock as the realisation finally hits him.

"That was rude!" Tommy chokes out when he is close to him. Before the other god can respond to that, Tommy charges at him. The man, berley manages to dodge his attack.

The rest of the battle falls onto the background around them as their focus constraints on each other. Two Gods, engaging in this dance of death, unable to really hurt the other. So they just fight, clanging their weapons against each other, manoeuvring out of the way of deathly hits, like they are dancing.

Noone dares to interrupt them and Tommy loses track of everything around him, his opponent might not be able to kill him, but his head still rings and bleeds from earlier, the whole back of it painted crimson and he would like to avoid an other injury of that extent.

The battle rages on all around them, as does the rain. They go on and on the person who has the upper hand in this fight constantly changing. Sometimes it's Tommy, throwing heavy swings at the other God, other times he's forced on the defensive as the white clothed man gets the upper hand. Hits are land every now and then, both sides getting injured by the other, yet they keep going. It's a game of who's going to make a mistake first and Tommy refuses to be tat person.

He doesn't know how long they've been fighting at this point, but suddenly his opponent stops and looks around. Tommy should have taken the opportunity to strike him then, he should have, but he notices it too. Spinning his head around he realises that the battle is over. Then he grimaces at the state of it. The entire field is covered with bodys from both sides, only a few soldiers left standing, most of them wounded.

The rain itself had miraculously stopped, the heavy clouds retreating to reveal the seating sun over the mountains. Even with the battle over it's still chaos. People trying to save the wounded, others trying to pick themselfs up, while others are fleeing in the chaos, lords and knights amounts them.

There are no victorious bells, no cries off victory. In the end, there was no victor. In the end noone came out on top.

Tommy lets a heavy sigh escape him. Even after all this time this part never gets easier. But when he turns his head back, he realises that his opponent is gone, already waking away from the battlefield.

"Hey!" Tommy yells as he sprints after the man. "The fuck you think you're going?!"

The man, has the audacity to ignore him. He just keeps waking away, which only makes Tommy even more frustrated.

"Hey,  fucker, I'm talking to you!" no response. he tries harder "Did the rain damage your ears, asshole?"

The God just keeps waking, not even turning to agnowlege the other immortal who's standing right behind him at this point. So, Tommy tries an other tactic.

"If you are not going to fight me, then at least let's talk!"

That, manages to get a response out of the man "What on earth would we have to talk about?"

He doesn't even turn to face him, but Tommy takes the opportunity to keep talking anyway. "I don't know. But you are a God, I'm a God, so I think we have things to talk about!"

Tommy knows how weird this is. Wanting to strike a conversation with the person who threw you on a rock, but Tommy had also sliced the taller man on the face later during their fight, living an ugly scar behind. So Tommy would argue that they are even now.

The other God scuffs "Oh, yeah! We are both cursed with immortality! Doomed to watch helplessly as everyone and everything around us withers away eventually. Such a fun topic!"

Tommy huffs at the response "Well, you don't have to say it like that."

The God goes back at ignoring him once again after that. But Tommy doesn't give up. So he keeps pushing.

"So, what are you the God of?" He is never making the mistake of not asking that question right away again.

"What are you the God of?" the man turns the question on him.

"Don't know..." Tommy answers truthfully.

At this the man finally turns to look at him, his long hair, tucked in a low ponytail, whipping like a lash. "What do you mean you don't know?" he asks the confusion in his voice evident.

Tommy shrugs, "I mean I don't know. It's not like immortality cames with instructions"

"How old are you?"

"Tow haunted and sixty-one." Tommy responds without missing a bit.

The man looks shocked, "Gods, you are a baby!"

"I'm not a baby you, bitch!'' the blonde shouts at him.

"Well, you are to me" the taller man argues.

Tommy crosses his arms "Okay, how old are you then?"

"Er... around one thousand and five hundred?" he answers.

"Around?"

"You stop keeping track of small numbers after a while" the other God says flatly.

"Sure, whatever you say..." Tommy says,

"So, what's your name again?"

The man narrowres his eyes at him, then, without saying anything, he turns around and keeps walking. Tommy huffs at the sight of the man continuing to ignore him.

"It's a simple question!" he pushes, "What? do you not have one?"

"Of course I have a name!" the taller man says as he continues to walk away, Tommy right bihind him.

"Okay, then what is it?"

"I'm not telling you my name"

"Why not?"

"Just because!"

"That's not an answer!"

"Oh my god, just live me alone!" the man protests with frustration.

"Just tell me your name man," Tommy insists, "It's not that hard!"

At this the other God starts to completely ignore him. Tommy keeps pushing. He doesn't know why he is sticking to the man's side. Maybe annoying him is a extra payback for throwing him onto that rock, his head still feels funny after that.

"Hey! Hey I'm talking to you dickhead!" He then proceeds to kick the man on the back of his lower leg, making him stumble.

"YOU ANNOYING CHILD!" the man finally snaps, turning around like a lightning bolt and grabbing Tommy by his nearly loose ponytail.

"HEY! let me go!" Tommy yells at him.

He struggles trying, and failing to get out of the taller man's hold, cursing him the whole time. The man just looks at him like he's one moment away from throwing him on an other rock, until his gaze goes down and his eyes go wide.

"I know that flag..." he says in a low voice, field with disbelief.

Tommy's eyes darken. "Let me go" he says in a threatening tone.

The man does and Tommy takes a step back as soon as he's free, trying to cover the flag on his waist with his vest, he can't, it's too short. He feels the other God's eyes burning at him. He wishes he could just disappear.

"You are the Phantom God..." he whispers.

Tommy snaps "Don't call me that!"

It's a new name mortals have began to call him, baist on a tale about him that has become popular the last century. Tommy hates it. He hates that name. He hates that tale any evening they both represent.

Before the other God can respond there is a painted scream coming from bihind them, attracting both their attention. When they turn their heads towards the sound they see two people making their way out of the battlefield, just a few metres away from them. Tommy recognises them. One of them is the dark haired man from before that Tommy had shown a few basic fighting forms and the other was the brown haired man who was praying next to them. They survived, thought berley from the looks of it.

The brown haired man looks fine, just a few bruises and small cuts, nothing serious if he takes proper care of them. The other one though, is lining heavily on his companion, head turned to the ground, using only one of his leg.

"Hey!" The brown haired man says in an enthusiastic voice as his gaze lands on Tommy. "It's you! You made it!"

At this his companion lifts his head to look. "Shit man" he exclaims as soon as he sees him. "What are you made of?"

"Spite"  Tommy deadpans walking towards them. "What happened to you?"

"His leg is hurt" the brown haired man answers him "I patch it up the best I could, but I don't think it's enough"

There is worry in his voice that makes Tommy grimace. He looks around then, finding that the fellow God is hasn't moved from his previous position.

"Hey" He yells at him. "Do you know anything about wounds?"

The God looks at him "Why? He's going to die one day anyway"

"Dude!" Tommy responds to that "What the hell?". Bihind him he can hear the two mortals muter the words 'that's harsh' and 'fuck you too' each.

"Fine!" Tommy tries before the other God can walk away "If you help him, I'll leave you alone, okay?"

The God raises an eyebrow. "And if I refuse?"

"I will follow you and annoy you for the rest of eternity!" Tommy announces folding his hands. The God sighs in diffet, as he makes his way to them.

"Lay him down, let me see the damage."

They do as he says, laying the injured man down on the ground. The God then leans over his leg and takes off the bandages, inspecting the wound on his lower leg.

"Well?" Tommy asks, the god answers him without lifting his head. "The wound is infected" His tone is cold, deprived of all emotions. "He can survive this, but we need to cut the infected leg."

"WHAT!" the dark haired man shouts in shock trying to get up.

"Is there really no other way?" his companion asks.

"Not if you you want him to live" the God deadpans, then he asks something unexpected. "What are your names?"

"I'm Karl" The brown haired man answers,then looks to his companion "and this is Quackity."

Then the God looks to Tommy with an expectant look. "Oh! Tommy" he responds, guessing that that's what he wanted. He was right apparently.

"Tommy, Karl, hold him down"

"NO, NONONO!" Quackity starts to protest, "Is fine! I can't even feel it anymore, it's fine!"

"That's a bad sign" The God says calmly as he cleans his sword.

Quackity stops talking after that comment, his eyes going wide with terror. They then wait for the taller man to clean his sword and before Tommy can make a comment about who they need fire or alcohol for the woepon to make sure the leg would not get infected again, the God lifts his hand, his palm going up in flames. The are all too shocked to react as the God puts his sword through the flames of his palm. When he's finished he flicks his rist and the flames disappear.

"Okay, hold him still" He says not waiting for a response as he lowers his blade, but before he starts cutting he looks at Tommy. "You don't have to watch this"

Tommy looks him in the eyes as he replies "I've seen worse"

The God then nods, as he starts the process. It doesn't take long, but it's ugly and painful, if Quackity's screams are anything to go by. After it's done though they spent a lot of time trying to keep the new wound clean and stop the bleeding. When they are done with that too, they lift Quackity up and start walking away from the battlefield.

They stop after the sun has completely set, in the middle of the forest. They decide to camp there from the night and take their separate ways at dawn. The forest is quite, unusually so, the only sounds coming from their little camp. It's not actually a camp, just a small fire burning with the four of them gathered around it. Quackity is laying on his side on the ground still flinching in pain even in his sleep, Karl is right next to him asleep as well, which leaves only Tommy and Sapnap awake.

The God had finally shared his name as he was setting the fire. Surprisingly, the two mortals that accompanied them didn't ask questions, they seemingly just accepted the fact that the Fire God is amongst them now. Maybe the fact that they had just gotten out of a devastating massacre might have something to do with it.

Regardless, they are all here now, hidden under the trees, the fire as their only light source. Listening in to the sounds of the night in the forest. It's nights like this when Tommy finds himself wonder if this is how it was like for Philza and Technoblade. They used to leave on the road before coming to the Empire. He wanders if this is what it felt like, the small sounds of life all around them, the warmth of the fire, the gentle breeze, carrying the smells of the forest. He hopes to get an answer soon.

"You care too much" Sapnap's words get him out of his thoughts.

"What?" Tommy asks in confusion.

The fellow God gestures towards the two mortals. "You care too much. Just a bit of advice. Don't get attached to things you can loose. It would only make eternity harder to manage" his voice is low as he speaks and Tommy can recognise the grief hidden behind it.

"You sound like you have already lost someone" he confronts him.

Sapnap has his gaze locked in the fire as he speaks. "One of my best friends, he was mortal" his eyes are distant as if he's a million miles away.

"One of?" Tommy questions, "Was there an other one?"

The God's gaze darkens at that. "He's dead to me."

Tommy coils a bit at that, his tone as scary.

"Actually you know what?" Sapnap asks after a moment, his voice sounding moments away from breaking. "Forget what I said earlier. Don't get attached to anything at all, you can still lose them"

"That sounds lonely..." Tommy whispers.

"Well..." the other God replies, "that's the curse of immortality"

They go back to silence for a while, until Tommy speaks again "Hey.... sorry about your face..."

Sapnap looks at him, one of his hands going to touch the giant scar across his face. It's not the only one he has, but it's definitely the largest.

"Nah, don't even worry about it" he responds, letting his hand drop.

"That's always a big risk when you get in a fight with someone"

Tommy chakles, "Now you would have a souvenir to remember me" he jokes.

Sapnap laughs at that "Oh yes, a constant reminder of that one time I fought a feral child!"

"I'm not a child!" Tommy protests.

"Sounds like something a child would say" the other God teases.

They keep arguing like that for a while after, until Tommy falls asleep leaning on a tree trunk. He wakes up hours later, to the warmth of morning sun and quiet chatter. When he opens his eyes he sees, his three companions gathered together at the fire, talking to each other.

He seats up, straightening his back that aches, he needs to stop sleeping like that, and gets the attention of his companions.

"Hey!"

Everyone pauses what they were doing to look at him. Karl greets him with a kind smile, Quackity tries to do the same but his smile isn't as bright as his friends and Sapnap just nods at him.

"So, what are you doing?" the blonde asks, reaching his hands up to redo his ponytail that had gone loose during the night.

"Making breakfast!" Karl announces, "Do you want some?"

Tommy accepts, finding himself eating with his companions early in the morning. They chat a bit, mostly him Sapnap and Karl. Sometimes Quackity would join in the conversation, sometimes he would be silent, staring at his amputated leg. Tommy can't blame him, he supposes it would take a while for the mortal to accept his new reality.

After they finish eating they began to get ready to move their separate ways. After all, that's what they agreed upon. Tommy needs to go back to looking for his family, this war had sidetracked him enough. Karl and Quackity need to go to their homes and Sapnap needs to go back to.... whatever the Fire God is usually up to.

However when all is set and done, Tommy notices that Sapnap is getting ready to leave towards the same direction with the others. The blonde can't help himself to ask.

"You guys are going together?"

They all look at him and the fellow God answers. "Yes, asked me to help them get home"

"And you said yes?" Tommy asks with a raised eyebrow, remembering the conversation they had hours ago.

Sapnap shrugs "I don't really have anything better to do" then he asks a bit hesitantly "You.... want to join?"

Tommy is taken  aback by the question, not expecting it at all. Does he want to join them? He had fun talking to them, they are all dissent people, but a tightening in his stomach prevents him from saying yes. He can't afford any more distractions, he needs to start looking for his family again. It's been so long, too long, he needs to find them.

"Nah man" he answers with what he hopes is a convincing smile "I have shit to do"

The other God smiles "See you later then" he says, going to help the others who also say goodbye.

So Tommy leaves the forest alone, living his three companions to keep going on their own. He will never see two of them again and it would take centuries for him to find the third one.

Year 480

Tommy finds himself travelling through a forest again. There are small roads and trails that he follows across the area. An area that is noticeably empty of all human life. The road through the forest used to be very popular, but a few years earlier people reported a monster in humanoid form, taking residence in this very forest, so humans stopped using it. Not Tommy though, Tommy doesn't care about monsters. He's already come face to face with the worst monster there is and somehow survived. No other monster can scare him after that.

There is a saddle peaceful quite amongst the forest as the God passes though that it's doth comforting and disturbing. Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary every time Tommy checks though, so he keeps going. He knows that if there is indeed a monster, they wouldn't be able to really hurt him, still he would like to come out of this forest in one piece, so he stays vigilant. It's confusing, Tommy can feel eyes on him but there's noone there. He begins to wander if he's finally loosing his mind. It's been almost five hundred years, it would make sense. But he soon learns that's not the case yet.

It starts when he stumbles on a fallen tree branch, nearly falling to the ground and it's then that he hears it. A laugh, muffled but real. So real that he's sure he is not imagining it.

"Who's there?" he yells, spinning around to find noone there. But he's sure now he didn't imagine the laugh, so this time he keeps looking.

The forest has gone quite now. Not a single sound to be heard, except Tommy, who continues to look around now with his axe infront of him, in a fighting stance. There is definitely something wrong here, he can feel it and it's not just the quiet of the forest, the blonde can feel eyes on him, so intense it feels like they are during him.....No, wait. His coat has actually caught fire!

"WHAT THE FUCK!!!" he screams as reaches over to take off the coat, dropping his axe in the process.

Now the same laugh can be heard again, this time louder than before. Tommy,  throws the coat on the ground and starts stomping on it, trying to put the fire out. When it's finally gone out, he picks it up to observe the damage, a large hole in the middle of it. Tommy is furious, he had to bargain with a grumpy old man for a whole hour to get that coat and he quite liked it.

He turns around with rage to yell at whoever did this "Hey! You own me a new coat ass-"

But as soon as he turns around he sees a person right infront of him, just inches away from his face. Tommy screams in suprise falling to the ground. The other person bursts out laughing and it's the same laugh as the other two times.

Tommy stares at her with wide eyes. She looks like a young teenager, with her youthful face and long dirty blonde hair separated in two low braits. She's hunging up side down from a tree branch, which is probably why she was on eye level with Tommy since she looks to be shorter.

"Haha! You should have seen your face!" she laughs, clutching her stomach as she rocks back and forward.

"What the fuck?!" Tommy shouts, from the ground he's still seating in. The girl just keeps laughing. "Hey! Stop laughing!"

"Sorry'' the girl finally speaks "But your face is too funny. It looks like a tomato"

"Wha-?" Tommy is left speechless at that comment.

"Who the fuck are you?" Tommy asks as he's getting up from the ground finally.

"Oh!" the girl exclaims falling from the tree, landing gently on her feet "Oh, I'm Drista! What's your name?"

Tommy, is taken a bit aback by her response. A person with the appearance of a girl, alone in a forest rumoured to house a monster, who had somehow light fire on his coat? Yes, definitely a God. Which is why he had expected her to say that, since Tommy had asks 'Who are you' and not 'What's your name'.

"Uh... Tommy" he answers.

The girl, Drista, snorts "You don't sound so sure"

"Well, I am!" he protests, then he points a finger at her "And you, own me a new coat!" he says, lifting his other hand to show the damaged cloth.

Drista shrugs "Okay, l can just steal a new one for you"

Tommy takes a step back "Steal? NO, nonono you are not stealing anything!"

"Then how am I supposed to get a new coat?" she asks, genuinely asks, not  messing with Tommy.

"Buy one!?" Tommy yells.

"How? I don't have money!"

Tommy freezes in place, mouth half open, "Wha- how... What? How do you live then?!"

Immortals still need money, for clothes and food, even though they can't starve they can still get hungry and prolonged hunger is a horrible way to live, Tommy would know, from personal experience. They also need money in case they want something else that requires payment, like a place to stay on a new woepon or literally anything!

"By stealing" Drista answers him, like she's saying something completely logical and Tommy is the weird one.

"Well, you are not stealing a new coat for me!" Tommy announces picking his axe up from the ground, the other God just raises an eyebrow.

"So, I'm not getting you a new coat?"

"Oh, nonono, you are getting me a new coat!" he says, grabbing the girl by the wrist and dragging her through the path. "When we get out of the forest we are going to find the closest town or village. Then you are going to find a work there and use the money from that work to buy a new coat!"

Drista groans, "But that's so boring! I don't want to work!"

"Well, too bad!" Tommy snaps at her "You are working!"

"No I'm not"

"Yes you are! End of discussion!"

"pff, you are lame" Drista says in the end.

Tommy notices that no matter her protests she made no move to free herself for his grasp nor did she tried to stop walking. She just keeps letting Tommy guide her through the path, complaining about how boring working is and how much easier it would have to just steal a coat instead. He tries his best to ignore her, but she is too loud and obnoxious. Tommy thinks he might be getting a headache.

"What kind of God are you?" Tommy finds himself asking when they are almost at the outskirts of the forest. Mostly as an attempt to make Drista stop complaining.

At this unexpected question though she goes silent. Tommy turns his head  to ask if she's okay, after all this is the first time ever since he met her that she has gone silent. But she starts speaking again before he does.

"What kind of God are you?"

Tommy huffs "Don't know"

His annoying companion raises an eyebrow "You don't know?" then she looks at him up and down "Are you sure?"

"I... yes!?" he responds confused. What the hell was that supposed to mean?

The other God huffs "Well, I don't know either!"

"You are lying!"

"I don't lie Tommy" she says it with so much confidence that he almost believes her. But there is something else in her tune, something Tommy recognises from himself, something that he can only translate to 'don't push this any further'. So he doesn't. He had promised to himself once that he would never make the mistake of not learning what God he's speaking to again. But he thinks it's okay to let it go this time, after all he has no plans to stay with her for long, just long enough for her to get enough money to buy him a n coat.

It doesn't take them long to find a town. It's close to the forest so they are walking around the small market by mid afternoon. Even at this hour the place is busy. People are still walking around doing chores or running errands. There children playing and there is even a couple street performers scattered around. The sound of loud chatter fiels the area as the two Gods make their way through the crowd.

"Okay..." Tommy says when they reach the center of the market, turning to look at his shorter companion. "...now go find a work"

Drista looks around for a moment without moving her feet, then her gaze returns back to Tommy "Yeahhhhh... I don't want to do that... so why don't we just go the a clothing shop right there an-"

"No! No stealing!"

"Oh come on!" she protects and it sounds like a child throwing a tantrum.

"No stealing!" Tommy insists

"Ugh, you are boring!"

"And you are a child!"

Drista huffs at this, " I'm older than you!" she says, putting her hands on her hips.

Tommy crosses his own arms "You are not acting like it!"

"I'm still older! And you are younger!"

"I... that's not even the point of the conversation!" Tommy protests, throwing his hands up on the air.

"It is now!" the other God announces.

"No it's n... Go get a job!" he yells pointing around

"No" Drista deadpans

"Oh my- Uhhgg!" He puts a hand through his hair in frustration.

Gods, this is exhausting! He just wants a new cloak, that is not stolen. It shouldn't be this hard!

He shakes his head "Just... just follow me" he says as grabs Drista by the wrist again, taking her to the closest shop that catches his eyes.

It's a bakery. The baker looks nice, with a nice smile and kind eyes. It doesn't take a lot of convincing for the him to take Drista in, as a helper for the bakery. Tommy himself finds a job soon after in a blacksmith. Forging isn't his best skill, but it's good enough for him to get haired.

So that's how Tommy spents the next month. Working on the blacksmith, sleeping in the local tavern and of course trying to stop Drista from creating chaos every time he makes the fatal mistake of looking away for just a second. Until finally, Drista has gathered enough money to buy him a new coat.

Normally, she should have gathered that money much sooner, but Drista had caused so much damage to the bakery, nearly lighting it on fire once, that the banker had to cut from her payment just to cover the damages. He probably would have just send her away if Tommy hadn't introduce them as poor orphans with no money and no parents.

Nevertheless, it's over now. They are walking down the road, living the town. Tommy with a dran new coat and Drista with, hopefully, having learn a lesson about lighting  other Gods' clothes on fire. Hopefully.

"Soooo.... what are you going to do now?" she asks all of a sudden. cutting the silence between them.

"Don't know..." he answers truthfully.

He had tried to look for a lead while he was working on the blacksmith. He had learn over the years that blacksmith's are also good places for information. That's where a lot of hunters or travelers would go to reaper their weapons and they always have some interesting stories to tell. But unfortunately, none of them was a potential lead. Tommy tries really hard to not show his disappointment.

"What about you?" he says instead.

"I think you should focus on finding out what kind of God you are..." his companion says as if she didn't heard him.

Tommy chuckles "Look who's talking"

"I'm serious Tommy..." Drista continues in a very serious tone.

It makes Tommy stop. Drista has been many things ever since he met her but never serious. He turns to look at her. She's walking along the dirt road, her hand outstretched to touch golden crops, her steps so light they don't leave any footprints. She looks back at him with her big mismatched eyes, one green and one purple.

"....you are four years away from turning five hundred. You need to know what kind of God you are"

Tommy freezes. He looks at his companion with wide eyes, because he never told her his age. Drista would just say again and again how she's older and he would he would doubt it since she's acting like an actual child most of the time. But Tommy can't see a child now. No, the only thing he  sees is is a goddess, who's probably much older than he thought.

"How do you know my age?" is the only thing that leaves his mouth at the end.

"I knew your parents. You kinda look like them, so I recognised you immediately" she responds not looking him in the eyes, instead focusing on the road ahead.

That explains it then. If she knew his parents and who they were, then it wouldn't be difficult to guess his age. They were loyalty after all, they had a public life. But what got Tommy was Drista says he looks like both his parents. All of his life people would always say how much Tommy looked like his father. Noone ever said that he looked like his mother as well before. Tommy finds it strangely comforting. Weird since he struggles to see it, but comforting. But then he's left with a realisation that he knows who Drista is. There is only one God that knew both his parents that could fit that description.

"You are the Goddess of Chaos..." he blurts out without realising it, until the words have already left his mouth.

"Suprise?" she says in an awkward voice, shrugging.

It all makes sense now. Her personality, her tendency to get into trouble or destroy things. Tommy actually feels kind of stupid for not figuring it out earlier.

"Sorry about the city..." he says in the end.

Drista looks at him with suprise for a moment before answering "Ah, you don't have to.... it was a long, long time ago"

Well, it was a long time ago that's for sure. The Golden City was the first big city the world ever knew. It was a utopia for the people back then. They had plenty of food and water, all the resources for them to not just survive, but also live. A proper paradise, where Gods and mortals walked amongst each other without hiding. It's ironic that this place was founded by the Goddess of Chaos. But as most things in life, it didn't last. The Hunter attack one day and burned it to the ground. Forcing the survivors to leave.

"Still... sorry" Tommy says again.

His companion smiles at that. "Thanks"

They don't talk again until they reach a crossroad. It's almost sunset, with the sun painting everything with it's colours, making everything turn golden. The tow Gods stare at each other, both silently agreeing to part ways here, it's for the best, they both have different goals, yet they hesitate. It's weird, Tommy only knows her a month, but it feels like centuries. Sure, she might be annoying and drive him crazy but he enjoys spending time with her at the end of the day.

"Well...." Drista is the first to break tge silence. "Nice knowing you"

She offers a hand, Tommy hesitating for only a moment before extending his own to meet hers.

"Nice knowing you too..." he says "I hope we meet again"

Drista smiles "Oh, definitely. Good bye Tommy"

With that she starts walking away. Tommy waches her as she disappears down the path. Only then does he turn around to walk his own pathAlone, with no lead, but with a smile on his face.

Year 892 

Life is cruel most of the time. That's the truth Tommy has come to realise after almost a thousand years of experience. Life is cruel. Field with heard aches and tragedys and even though there are good moments in it. Moments that shine brighter, but fade faster. Then, other times, life things it's funny. But it's not, it's definitely not! Tommy thinks as he's running through the dense forest, a crowd of yelling people chasing him.

An arrow scratches him on the side of his legs, making him stumble as a painted gaps escapes him. He manages to not fall somehow, so he keeps running, but with a limp slowing him down now.

The crowd bihind him are relentless at chasing him. Even after he had run far inside the forest where people don't usually go. The place being to dark and dense for most. But the villagers don't seem to be giving up anytime soon.

Tommy grits his teeth. That's exactly what his parents were warming him about when they said that it would be best for mortals to not know about their immortality. Noone knows how they would react to such information. They could react like Karl and Quackity did, excepting the fact without questions or they could react much more aggressively. Like, for example, panic and start chasing Tommy around with woepons and fire, trying to see if Gods can be killed, for example.The stakes for what could happen if people reacted negatively are too high, so it's not worth the risk unless there is no other option.

In Tommy's defence he didn't reveal himself willingly. An old traveller just happened to be in the village tavernat the same time he was in. She just so happened to remember Tommy from where he was travelling through her village a couple of decades ago. With Tommy looking like he didn't age a day, because that was exactly the case, it wasn't hard to put the pieces together for the villagers. Then panic followed.

That's how Tommy ended up running through the forest with the whole village after him. If he was any other God maybe they wouldn't have reacted like that. If he was a God of Weather they might had asked him to bless the weather in favour of their crops. If he was the God of Wealth they might have asked him for riches. But he's none of those things and noone wants the Phantom God around. Dispute the world having forgotten about the Frozen Empire, thinking that the few tales of it that survived are made up myths, they all know of the Phantom God. Even though the tale of the wondering prince is almost forgotten, the idea that the Phantom God is an omen of distraction and grief is still popular.

Maybe Tommy is the God of Misfortune. That would make sense considering how his life had unfold in the last eight hundred years.

He doesn't know how long he's been running. But it's getting harder and harder to keep going. The forest is thick and dark, his clothes are constantly being tangled in bushes and branches while his arms and legs are being torned apart by those same things. On top of all of that he's injured.

He has serious wounds on his torso and leg where the arrows hit him. If he was a mortal he would have fallen to the ground by now. But just because he's not going to die from those wounds doesn't mean they don't affect him. He might not be able to bleed out but he can pass out from the blood loss. Which is going to happen soon based on how light headed he feels.

He curses under his breath. He doesn't want to fall into the hands of those villagers, who knows what they would do to him. They might not be able to kill him, but Tommy knows they're thinks worse than death.

Finally, his luck seems to run out when he trips on a bush and falls to the ground. He lets out painted sobs as he tries to get up. Every inch of his body feeling like a thousand needles have been inserted inside his skin. He needs to get up though, if he doesn't the villagers would get him. Tommy tries, he really tries to get up, but he can't. It's too painful and he has lost too much blood. He's tired. Would it matter if they get him? Would it really be that bad? Maybe he could just lay there and fall asleep and if life takes pity on him he will never wake up again. Yeah, he thinks, that doesn't sound so bad. He could finally rest...

"Don't stop running Tommy!!!" His father's voice echoes in his ears. Saying the exact same thing he says on his nightmare. "Just keep running! Keep running and never stop! Don't stop running Tommy!!!" 

Tommy knows it's not real. He knows that it's it's his mind being delirious from the blood loss, but he doesn't care. He gets up anyway. Because his dad told him to.

It's torture. The pain is unbearable, all the arrows that are still stuck in his skin making every move feel like he's getting shot all over again. He ends up crawling to the base of a tree and using it's truck to force himself up. He manages to do so, but he can't stand on his own and has to lean heavily on the tree for support.

His breaths are heavy, sounding like a dieing animal. He tries to lift his axe as the villagers are almost infront of him now, but he realises he doesn't have his axe anymore. Tommy can't, for the life of him, remember where he lost it.This is it, he thinks, he can't even go down with a fight.

The villagers are infront of him now, woepons raised ready to struck his with them. This is going to hurt. Tommy closes his eyes, braising himself for strikes that never come. Instead, he hears the villagers let out panicked screams as he hears their footsteps running away rapidly. He dares to open his eyes, only to see the last of the villagers disappear behind the trees in the distance. That's definitely not Tommy's doing.

Then he feels someone's eyes on him. When he turns to look Tommy sees what must be the tallest person he ever saw standing a few feet at his side. They are tall, very tall with a long dark cloak that covers them up completely. They stay still, not moving from their position and Tommy can feel their eyes locked on his, studying him. Then after what felt like eternity they speak. It's one word, just one, whispered with disbelief and hope at the same time.

"Philza?"

Tommy snaps his head around, looking rapidly between the dark trees, heart pounding in his chest. Is he here? Is he really? did he..?

"Dad?" Tommy grasps out before everything goes dark and the ground comes to meet him.

Tommy has come close to death two times in his life so far. Two times when by all odds, he should have died. The second was when a God put a dagger in his chest and left him to bleed out, which never happened. The first one was when he was six years old.

He was in the loyal gardens with his family, enjoying the rare occurrence of all of them being able to be together. His parents were usually busy with the responsibilitys of the Empire and Wilbur had less free time ever since he got older and his studies doubled.

He was sparing with Techno, who was winning of course while Phil and Kristin were sitting underneath the olive tree with snacks and water layed beside them watching the two sparring. While Tommy had wondered off at some point. He honestly doesn't remember what make him walk away to the small bridge with the river that passes though the castle. He doesn't remember how he fell. But he remembers the fear and panic he felt when he realised he was in the water. He remembers his family screaming his name.

He doesn't remember how he got out of the water. He only remembers waking up in his room. Wilbur having fallen asleep beside him on the bed while Techno was at a corner just staring at him and Philza sitting on the other side of the bed. He gave Tommy a kind smile when he noticed his youngest was awake.

"Hey there Tommy. You gave us quite the scare"

"Sorry..." he said weakly.

His father's slime, while remaining, changed to something Tommy didn't have a name for yet. "It's okay Tommy. As long as you always wake up, it's going to be okay"

Tommy nodded "Okay"  he had said, with a the naivety and blissfulness that comes with being six. "Then I will always wake up!"

"I know you will" Phil said, reaching over to gently put his hand through his son's hair.

"I know you will..."

So Tommy wakes up again. Even as his body aches and his head spins, he wakes up. Just like he promised to.

He has to blink his eyes a few times before being able to see his surroundings. He's inside a small bedroom. Not one he recognises, it's dimly lit, the only source of light being a few sunrays coming through the thick curtains of the window. The only furniture inside are the small bed with a bedside next to it a big chest and a chair with Tommy's few belongings on it.

He stays on the bed for a few moments trying to remember how he got here. he remembers being chased by those villagers and then the tall cloaked person drove them away. They had also said something, a name.

Tommy's eyes go wide as he remembers exactly what name was spoken and sits up from the bed, wincing in pain, but it's not as bad as it was before. Looking down at his chest, his wounds are cleared and covered in bandages. Tommy frowns. Who helped him?

Then looking down at his chest he notices something else. His emerald is missing. Panic fills him as he frantically looks around. He can't loose it, it's the only thing he left! He can't...

He finds it. It's sitting on top of his other stuff on the chair. Tommy gets up, walking fast towards the chair where picks up the necklace and puts it back on. The blonde excels in relief as soon as he feels the familiar weight on his neck. Then, he finds a new shirt next to his stuff. He puts it on and heads towards the door. He stops right infront of it, putting his ear up to it, trying to hear if there is anyone else on the other side. He can hear distant voices, two of them. Okay, maybe he could take them out if things go south. Maybe.

Taking a deep breath, Tommy opens the door as quietly as possible. He finds himself a a long hallway in what looks like a small cabin. It's made out of dark wood, patterns curved on every surface. Looks like whoever lives here has a lot of free time. He looks on his right, the voices are coming from that direction, just down the hallway.

Tommy is limping as he makes his way towards the sound, his leg not fully healed yet. But it's definitely better than it was before. His torso is in a similar situation, it still hurts, but it's better.

The voices are getting louder the closer he gets, until he can finally understand what they are saying.

"...ver would have left him alone" one of the voices says. It's the same voice tha had spoken his father's name.

"I know. I knew him too" an other voice answers and it's one that Tommy has never heard before.

"That's why we need to ask him!"

"He's probably not going to want to talk about it!"

It sounds like they are hanging an argument, probably about him. It seems like one wants to ask Tommy some questions while the other doesn't think he would answer them.

"I know, okay? I'm not going to push him but I need to ask!"

"Ask me what?" Tommy finally makes his presence know, appearing bihind the corner.

The two men turn to look at him with surprise, it seems like neither of them had heard him coming, too focused on their argument. They are seating on a table in what looks to be a kitchen. It's small and cozy, with plants scattered all over the room and dark wood carved with intricate patterns, just like the hallway.

The two men across from him are starting at him for a moment before the taller one speaks.

"Oh you are awake!"

Tommy locks his eyes on him and can't look away. Because this is the most unusual man he has ever seen in his long life and he has seen a lot of strange folks before.

He's tall, taller than the average height, with horns coming out of his forehead, while his skin is as black as the the clothes he is wearing and his eyes are a white void. He looks incredibly intimidating, a clear comparison to his voice that is  one of the kindest voices Tommy had ever heard. He looks terrifying yet sounds kind, that confused Tommy and he didn't like being confused, so he didn't like him. His friend was just as confusing.

By all accounts he looked like a normal human. With bright blue hair and eyes and avenge height. but the tone of his voice had something dangerous in it. something that makes Tommy want to put his gard up around the man. So, tow men, one who looks dangerous but sounds like the most kind hearted person in the world and the other who looks harmless but sounds dangerous. What a weird buo.

"Yeah, I'm awake" he responds "And who the fuck are you and why did you kidnap me?"

He knows that whoever they are, they helped him and he's not ungrateful for that, but they also brought him to a strange house without asking him, which is technically kidnapping.

"Would you have rathered we've left you out to suffer through your injuries in the cold dark forest?" the blue haired man says with mockery in his voice.

Tommy narrows his eyes at him, noticing how he had said 'suffer through your injuries' instead of 'dieing' . So they must know he's immortal.

"It's still a kidnapping" Tommy insists.

The blue haired man scuffs " Well, you are free to leave if you wish. Good luck waking through the forest with that limp"

"Skeppy!" the taller man scolds his friend.

Skeppy looks away "Sorry" he mumbles quietly.

The taller man then takes a deep breath and turns to look at Tommy with a smile.

"Sorry about that. It seems seems we didn't make a good first impression. Can we start over?" he asks in such a genuine tone that Tommy finds himself nodding.

"Wonderful!" the man exclaims, clapping his hands together. Next to him Skeppy rolls his eyes at his friend but doesn't say anything.

"Well, I Bad and this is my friend Skeppy!" the tall man, Bad says.

"Name's Tommy" Tommy says.

"We know" Skeppy deadpans, earning a side glare from his friend.

"You do?'' the blonde questions.

"We knew your father" Bad answers immediately.

Ah, so they are also Gods.

Tommy looks at him "You... said his name. Back in the forest"

At that the man gives him a sad smile "Yes. I... I thought you were him for a moment. Sorry" he sounds apologetic, as if he knew that he was crushing Tommy's hope by saying that.

He was right, he did. Tommy had hoped that Philza was indeed there. That he was here right now and was maybe resting on an other room. But no. It was Just Tommy.

He lets out a disappointed sigh. He should really stop hoping so much. All it does is bring him heartache again and again. But he can't help it, no matter how hard he tries. Tommy can't stop hoping.

"I'm sorry..." Bad says again and Tommy doesn't have the energy to tell him it's not his fault. It makes sense, Tommy always bare a strong resemblance to Philza and now that he has grown his hair longer, the resemblance is even stronger. So it's easy to mistake him for the man in the beginning.

"Come on, sit down. I'll get you something to eat"

Tommy does so, slamming into a chair opposite of the two men, looking down at the table while Bad goes to bring him food. He cames back soon with a bowl of cottage that smells like heaven. Or it's just that Tommy hasn't eaten a good meal in a while. He only hesitates for a moment before starting to eat. The two men watch him in silence, which is awkward but fortunately Tommy finishes my meal fast. He wipes the corner of his mouth with his sleeve. Something that a prince definitely shouldn't do, but he's not a price anyone. He leans back on his chair and looks at the two men across the table.

"So. What do you want to ask me?"

The men look at each other, a silent conversation going on between them before they turn to look at him.

"We... we wanted to ask you about your father" Bad says hesitantly.

Tommy tries to keep a neutral expression. "What about him?"

"Well..." Bad starts "...we were just wondering... and you don't have to answer! But we just..."

"We were wondering if you know what exactly happend to him" Skeppy cuts Bad of, clearly irritated that his friend is taking so long to ask.

"Skeppy!" Bad yells at him.

Tommy is just looking at the empty plate infront of him thinking. Does he want to talk about it with these two? He berley knows them. But it's been so long since he hat talked to anyone about this. The last person he spoke to about his family was Drista and that was centuries ago.

"I'm not sure" he says in a low voice before he can stop himself. The two men stare at him.

"So you didn't even hear anything?" Bad asks hesitantly.

Tommy creimases "The... the Hunter said he was dead. But he always lies and I never saw him or any of them... you know" he can't bring himself to say the words, so he hopes they understand fortunately they seem to do.

They both nod, Bad having a sympathetic expression on his face, which doesn't make Tommy feel any better, it might actually make him feel worse. He sure sure prefers Skeppy's more neutral expression.

"Well, you could definitely be right about that" Bad agrees "The God of Creation will only say the truth if that truth is convenient to him"

"Still..." Skeppy comments "... it's out of character for Philza to not look for someone he cares about. Especially family"

Tommy visibly cringes. He has obviously wondered about it. If his family are still out there somewhere, which they are, then why hasn't Tommy found them found then yet? Why haven't they found him? He can blame his own inability to find his family on the bad luck he definitely has. But still, it's been too long. Tommy shakes his head and chooses to do what he had been doing all along. Not think about it.

"Well, he is probably looking and we just haven't found each other yet" he says in a stiff voice, glaring at Skeppy.

The man glares right back at him, but before he can say anything his friend speaks.

"I'm sure that if they are out there they would be looking for you"

"They are out there" Tommy snaps and he doesn't know if he's trying to convince them or himself.

An other crack.

He can't do this. He can't stay and talk about it any longer. If he does the door in his head will crack open. He can't let that happen. He can't do this.

Tommy gets up  fast and turns to walk away. He ignores Bad and Skeppy's protests as he makes his way to the front door. He puts a hand on the handle and opens it.

The morning smells of the forest fills his lungs, the forest is the same one he was last night. Thick dark wood trees spread for miles, as far as the eye can see. The small cabin Bad and Skeppy are living at is build at the middle of a small clearing, the morning sun barely visible bihind the tall trees. Tommy runs through them. He runs and runs but he doesn't fo too far. Skeppy was right, he can't go through the forest with his limp.

He falls to the ground, but manages to catch himself on his hands and knees. He stays there, breathing heavily, trying to ignore the thoughts that invade his mind. Don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about it....

He doesn't know how long he stays there, trying desperately not to spiral, but suddenly he can hear there are footsteps approaching him. When he turns his head, he sees Skeppy walking towards him. He immediately turns his gaze back to the ground. He doesn't want to talk to him. But the blue haired man seems to not care, because he keeps coming towards him, until he stops a few feet away.

They stay silent for a moment, Tommy breathing heavily and Skeppy just standing next to him, like a silent shadow. Until he finally speaks.

"Look, I'm sorry I shouldn't have upseted you like that..." he stays and the word 'upset' it's even close at describing what Tommy is feeling right now, still he doesn't interapt him.

"...I know I can be an asshole sometimes. It's something I'm working on. But this is not an excuse, so I'm... sorry"

"You didn't come here to apologise on your own, did you?" Tommy comments still not looking up from the ground.

Skeppy chakles "Nah, you are right. Bad threatened to kick me out of the house if I didn't set things right. An empty threat really, but still, he's right. I should apologise"

They go back to silence for a few seconds before Skeppy speaks again.

"Look, you don't have to forgive me, but please, stay. Stay until your injuries are healed and then leave. You don't even have to see me if you don't want to! I'll just go out for a couple of days, to hunt or whatever. Just stay"

"Why do you care so much about me staying?" the blonde asks, finally looking up at the other immortal, who smiles at him.

"Well..." Skeppy starts "Because if Kristin and Philza are still out there and they find out that I had their kid here injured and sent him away before those injuries can heal. They are going to hunt me down and kick him ass"

Tommy actually laughs at that. It sounds like something his parents would do. Skeppy laughs along with him. When they both stop the blue haired man takes a few steps forward coming to stand right next to Tommy.

"Umm... so" he's hesitant in his words, Tommy only now noticing that he has something hidden bihind him. The paranoid part of Tommy, the part that has fought in too many wars, screams that It's a weapon and Skeppy is about to stab him with it. While his most logical part says that if either Bad or Skeppy wanted to kill him, they would have done it while he was inconspicuous.

"There's.... Something I should give you..." he says as he finally reveals the object bihind his back.

Tommy's eyes go wide, his breath cotch up on his throat. He knows this sword. He knows that hilt, the end of it shaped as a crow's head, with two sapphires for eyes, the shame shade as it's original owner. He knows that blade, thin, thinner than most and as dark as the night sky. His father's sword.

"Where did you did you find this?" he asks, ignoring the way his voice sounds moments away from breaking and how tears are forming in the corners of his eyes.

"On a blacksmith shop a couple of centuries back" Skeppy replies.

"I just... couldn't leave it there. I think you should have it now"

He kneels down offering the sword to Tommy. He hesitates at first. But he takes it in the end. Tommy holds the sword between his hands, seeing his own eyes reflected on the blade. He stares at his own reflection until a drop off water falls on the blade infront of him. For a moment he thinks it's raining until he realises that it's just him. He is crying.

Tommy sods, unavailable to stop. His hands dig into the sharp edges of the blade, bleeding. Skeppy doesn't try to stop him and Tommy keeps crying. He wants his dad. He wants his mum and brothers. He wants them all to embrace his, he wants them to wipe away his tears and speak words of reassurance to his ears. He wants them to take all the pain away like it was just a bad dream and it's over now.

But they can't. Because they are not here. Because this isn't a bad dream. This is real. Tommy is living in a nightmare, that would only end once he has found his family. Whenever that might be.

                                                          ----*----

He stays with Bad and Skeppy until he's fully healed, which doesn't take long and he doesn't make Skeppy leave the house like the man had offered. Then, when he's finally recovered, he gathers his few belongings, now having his father's sword to replace his axe that he lost somewhere in the forest.

"You should really get an other woepon for now" Bad advices him "Philza's sword is unique doth in shape and technique. You are going to need to learn how to fight all over again if you want to use it"

Tommy nods, promising that he will. Then he bits them doth goodbye and leaves the forest, not sure where he's headed. Well, he thinks to himself, that's a later problem.

Year 1056

The docks are never quite. There is always some commotion going on, even in the middle of the night. There might be a ship coming late, or salers preparing the ship during the night so that they can set sale with the first light. Tommy would know. He's been working here for almost a year at this point.

He didn't mean to stay. He had come here on a ship expecting to move further into the main land. But then he met Ranboo. The tall boy had been working on the docks under a cruel man to pay of their parents' debt to him. Unfortunately for Ranboo and conveniently for the man, Ranboo had memory problems. They had found a way around it by documenting everything down on a book but the greedy man they were working for had found that book and wanting to keep Ranboo working for him, probably for forever, tossed it to the fireplace.

That's how Tommy found Ranboo a few minutes after that, crying in a dark alley. They didn't have enough money for a new book so they were going to forget everything in a couple days. They suspected that the man had bone the same thing before with a different book, but they couldn't be sure.

Tommy had been filed with anger at the injustice of it all. So he had grabbed Ranboo and taken them to a bookshop where he used whatever little money he had to buy the boy a new book as well as some inks. Who cered if this ment that Tommy wouldn't be able to afford sleeping on a tavern for the night? Ranboo's memory was more important.

The boy was looking at him like Tommy had just given him the whole world on a silver platter. Considering his memory problems and how important a book was to them, Tommy might as well have. They couldn't stop thanking him for this. The God had just rolled his eyes and told him to just write in the book already. Which they did. Tommy sat with them as they rapidly wrote down everything they could remember. But what got Tommy was the last part they wrote down.

Your boss threw the previous book on the fire to make you forget who much you own him. He's probably going to do it again....

Those last words stuck to Tommy's head. He's probably going to do it again....
He couldn't just leave after that. knowing it would happen again. So the very next day Tommy got a job under the same man as the boy. His plan was to make sure something like this didn't happen again or if it did happened, Tommy would have enough money to buy Ranboo a new book again.

So that's how he spent the next year. Working for a man who does not deserve the power he has and making sure he doesn't try to scum Ranboo again. So far it was working perfectly. Which ment the man hated Tommy with every inch of his being and wasn't trying to hide it, but Tommy couldn't care less.

Though his current situation is less than ideal. The blonde doesn't care that his boss hates him, but it sure has it's consequences. Like for example, he would make sure Tommy is stuck on the night shift more often than not and it's not hard to guess why. This is when the most work accidents happen, in the dark of the night where it's hard to see what's happening and even harder to find someone if they happen to fall in the dark waters of the harbour.

If Tommy had a coin for every time someone took a dislike to him and tried to kill him by putting him into a dangerous situation with the hope that he will die, he would not only have had enough money to pay off Ranboo's debt, but enough to buy the man's business and kick him out.

Unfortunately, the man seems to have grown tried off waiting, because he was the one who was pushing Tommy off the deck, not the wind. Tommy doesn't scream. There is no reason to, whatever noise he makes would be downed by the manic storm going on around them. The other people on the deck just around the corner would not hear a thing, the man is not going to say anything and Tommy would be pronounced dead the very next morning, when they fail to find him. They would deam him a work accident and move on.

For a moment, Tommy wonders what would happen if he doesn't swim ro the surface, if he lets the lets the sea drag him to it's bottom and stays there. He wonders what it would be like starting there forever. Down in sea floor, with floating past memories as his only companion. It's almost tempting, but a thought crosses his mind.

He's never going to let Ranboo go. Tommy realises as the waves swallow him whole. He wants to keep them as his slave forever. Fine, he thinks as he sinks deeper and deeper into the water, guess we are doing this the hard way.

He swims out of the harbour and hides into the small forest right outside the town. He checks to see if both his flag and necklace are intact, grimacing when he notices that there is a new tear on the flag, he's going to have to patch it up later. For now he stays hidden in the forest.  It's hard, staying hidden and leaving Ranboo alone on the hands of that man. But it's necessary for his plan to work. He has to let the man think he's won. Just be patient Ranboo, hope is not lost yet, I'm coming...

He goes out again when night has fallen, sinking into town without anyone noticing, a skill he has acquired after one thousand years of living. He visits Ranboo's room first, silent. He finds the boy curled up in a ball at the corner of his bed, which is just a glorified pile of rugs. It looks like they had cried themselves to sleep, their book nowhere to be found. So the monster didn't even wait a day. With newfound determination the God levels his sleeping friend, heading towards the, man's office.

Sure enough, he finds his there seating on a chair counting his cions, coins he's willing to kill for. what a stupid reason to kill. There are so many other reasons a person could resort to taking an other life. Money is definitely not a good reason. The greedy man doesn't even lift his head for the money infront of him when Tommy creeks the door open slowly.

"It's the middle of the night. Whatever you want can wait until the fucking morning" the man says, still counting the coins, he probably thinks Tommy is one of his other workers.

The God doesn't say anything, he just walks inside, closing the door bihind him with a loud, Bang!

The man lifts his head at that and Tommy waches as his face goes from announce to to supervise and disbelief in seconds.

Tommy smiles, "Hello" he says leaning his head to the side. "I just wanted to say that throwing me into the sea to drown was kinda rude of you. I would like compensation for that "

The man only stares at him for a few moments before going back to his usual cold demeanor.

"How dare you accusing me of such think!  Your trip and fall on your own and now demand money for me? I should  call the soldiers and have them throw you in a cell for that accusation!"

"But you did push me" Tommy says in a calm voice he had learn from Techno.

His brother would always keep calm under most circumstances, when Tommy had asked why, Techno had answer that he should always act clam like he's already won the argument and he knows it. Tommy can count the amount of times his brother lost his calm on the palm of his hand. Now Tommy is using that exact tone. But he's not just pretending he's already won, he has, the man just hasn't realised it yet.

"Who do you think the soldiers are going to believe?" the man asks with a cocky smile "A lowlife rat like you? Or a respectable man like me?"

Are they going to believe a boy with no money or influence or a man with both of those things?

Fortunately for Tommy, he would not have to find the answer to that question today. Because Tommy is not a 'lowlife rat' he an immortal God. He has never cared for it much in the past. He never asked for it, never wanted it. For him, immortality was a cruel curse and an inconvenience most of the time. But it did had it's benefits at times, like now.

"You are not going to call the soldiers through" he states calmly.

The man scuffs "And why would I listen to you?"

"Because I'm a God"

The man looks at him for exactly tree seconds before laughing. It's a deep laugh, that betrays how this man hasn't laughed in a long time before now.

"I can prove this to you very easily" Tommy points out, reaching to take a dagger out of his belt.

Now, this is something he knows his family wouldn't approve of, but they are not here now and Tommy doesn't just need to prove his immortality to the guy, he needs to scare him as well. So he raises the dagger, turns it towards himself and pluges it into his own chest.

It hurts.

It hurts and burns and bring back memories of a day Tommy wants to forget. It's for Ranboo, he says to himself again and again, trying to stay grounded.

The man has grown quite, not laughing anymore. The blonde takes the dagger out with a hiss, blood spills on his clothes as well as the floor and he watches the man's face taking an expression of pure horror as he realises that Tommy is not falling down, he is not dieing. Tommy thinks it's one of the most satisfying things he has ever seen.

Suddenly, the man gets up, probably trying to run away, but Tommy had seen this coming. He closes the distance within seconds, plugging the knife on the desk right between the man's fingers who let's out a scream.

"I'm not done with you yet" he glares up at him "Sit back down"

The man obeys, shaking like a leaf, a clear contrast to his attitude a few moments ago. It's usually the most cocky men that are the most cowardly of them all.

"Now..." Tommy stars, leaning closer to the man. "... you are going to go to Ranboo tomorrow, say that their debt has been paid and let them go"

"But... but they haven't paid it!" the greedy man tries to argue.

Tommy tilts his head to the side "You are going to say it anyway. After all, lying is not hard for you, is it?"

The man stays silent.

"I've lost count of how many people tried to kill me..." the God starts.

"... they are all six feet under now" well, except for one, but that's a later problem.

The man gulps trying to lean away. Tommy doesn't let him as he continues.

"If you don't let Ranboo go tomorrow, or if you try to hunt them down later, there is no rock in this world to hide you from me. I will find you and when I do it's going to be your blood on this dagger, not mine"

The man nods and Tommy finally let's him go. He takes a deep breath and starts walking towards the exit. He's going to pass out soon from the blood loss, he needs to lay down quickly. But before he opens the door he turns to look at the man again, who is still frozen in his seat looking as pale as a ghost.

"Also..." Tommy stars as he opens the door "... I quit!" with that he's out of the office.

The next thing he remembers is waking up on the side of the road by a stray dog sniffing him. He shoos the dog away and seats up. It's morning, he realises. He better get up and see if the man let Ranboo go or not.

The harbour is in chaos. The the storm had left a lot of damage that the people are still trying to fix. People are running up and down the area transferring supplies and new materials. Others are fixing the damaged decks and there's even a ship that sank within the harbour. That's going to be a pain to clean up.

Yet, through the whole crowd of so many people, Tommy can't find the unmistakable figure of his friend. Which means they are not here. He would have seen them if they were, because Ranboo stands out with their appearance. Being taller than most people, with mismatched eyes of green and red and of course their hair. Originally black. but half of them have been turned white due to stress.

But Tommy doesn't go unnoticed either. People are looking at him with weird expectations, others with fear and it takes him longer than it should have to realise it's because he never changed clothes. He's still wearing a shirt and pants that have his own dry blood all over them. He must look like a ghost. One person tries to offer him help, but he declines.

He knows that rumours would start spreading, he doesn't care. Let them have their stories, after all, it's been a while since The Phantom God had a new tail attached to him and even though Tommy doesn't like that title he knows he's stuck with it. That's not going to be the hill he dies on.

In the end Tommy does find his friend. They seat on a small lone deck, away from the rest of the harbour, with a small bag clutch tightly in their hands. They stare into the morning sun completely unaware of Tommy approaching them.

They do notice him eventually, turning their head towards him when he gets close enough. Then they freeze. They look up at Tommy with wide eyes, full of suprise and hope. The God smiles.

"Hello" he says casually and doesn't really have time to do anything else because Ranboo is up and squeezing him into a fierce hug within seconds.

"I thought you were dead!" his friend half cries, face pressed on his hair. Tommy chuckles.

"don't worry..." he reassurs him, "... it's never my time to die"

"H-how? What happened? Oh Gods you are bleeding!" Ranboo asks leaning away from the hug to look at their friend.

"I'll be fine, now you need to tell me if mister big head let you go" he calls the man by the nickname they had given him, inspired by his big head, both metaphorically and literally.

"That.... was you?" they asks, Tommy practically being able to feel their thoughts running as they figure it out.

The blonde smiles, satisfied " So he did. Good"

But his friend seems more confused than happy. "What.... did you tell him?"

Tommy stares at them, stares a those mismatched eyes that have only ever looked at him with kindness. He wants to say the truth. He could do that, even if Ranboo doesn't take it well, they are too good hearted to try anything bad. They are Tommy's friend, he doesn't want to hide from them anymore, and if they don't take it well, at least Tommy has made sure that they are out of this bad situation.

"Oh Ranboo.... you are in for a long, long story...."

So he tells them. He tells them everything about his life, only living out some of the worst parts and some other details that he doesn't want to share with anyone, for now at least.

As expected, Ranboo freaks out. They pace the platform up and down hands going through their hair as they try to digest Tommy's story. But in the end, they calm down and as his to take them with him. Tommy did not expect that, when he asked why, his friend gives him as simple, yet confusing answer.

"Ever since I met you, my life has become better than ever. You got me a new book, you helped me with work, you got me out of my parents' debt! I don't think I can even repay you for all that, but I want to try to help you, like you helped me."

Then they smiled, more wide and truthfully that Tommy had ever seen before.

"Also, I spent my whole life in this harbour. I would like to spend the rest of it exploring the world"

So that's what happened. Tommy and Ranboo started wondering around the world, looking for leads on Tommy's family. They got a few, but as usual they never fot them anywhere.

It was nice, not being alone for once and Ranboo made everything funnier. They travelled everywhere together, from hot desserts to frozen mountains and dense forests to crowded cities. Ranboo keeped a journal with their adventures on a different book, saying they would like to publish it one day.

They did actually. Towards the end of their life, when they where too old to travel anymore and had settled down with Tommy on a town. There they managed to publish their book, the story of their live, leaving their own mark in history. Even centuries later their book is considered a classic with a lot of people knowing about it.

The funniest part about it is that later, people would believe that Ranboo had a perfect memory and that's why they were able to document their travels in such detail. But that wasn't the case. In reality, Ranboo was constantly taking notes out of fear of forgetting.

Their memory actually became worse and worse the older they got. To the point where they would forget their own name. But never Tommy. By some twisted fate, Ranboo would forget everything, except Tommy. They would always remember their friend. Tommy would wanted to cry every time Ranboo called out his name but then ask for their own.

Ranboo died, on a summer night, living their mark on history, which in return immortalised them in a way Tommy did not know was possible before. He buried his friend on a flower filed, planting a simple allium above their grave, and every time Tommy would pass through a bookshop and see his friends book, he would smile.

Year 1120

Tommy liked festivals. Even back when he was small he enjoyed them with all his heart. All these dancing, the music, the food and the feeling of happiness radieting on the air. They were a source of happiness, celebration and that's why Tommy hadn't attended one in over a millennium. How could he celebrate when his family is not here? Tommy really didn't mean to stay in town long enough for the summer solstice festival. But it's been so long and Tommy really, really likes festivals. Part of him feels guilty about it.

He's walking down the street, a nearly eaten loaf of bread on his hand. He passes though the crowd of people celebrating. There are flags, flowers and food everywhere.The smell of flowers and freshly cooked food fill his nostrils. People are climbing on rooftops to throw petals on the streets, both children and grown ups are playing games. People dance, people sing. It's enchanting, straight out of a fairytale.

Tommy finishes eating the bread as he blends amongst the crowd. He doesn't interact with any of them though. He just passes through them, though not unnoticed. Some strangers greet him, a couple of kids collide with him as they are playing and an old lady offers him a yellow flower.

"Just like your hair" she had said.

It's almost sunset when Tommy sees him. They haven't seen each other in centuries but Tommy recognises him immediately. He's sitting on a large rock on a small field, just outside the main road. He's not looking towards Tommy's direction, so he never sees Tommy get closer. He only agnowleges him when he sits down next to him.

"Hello" Tommy says, with a wide smile, glad to be seeing a familiar face after so long.

"Hey Tommy" the God of Fire answers.

They go into silence for a few moments, both having too much to say after so long, not knowing where to start. In the end it's Sapnap who breaks the silence.

"You changed your hair" he notices.

Tommy runs a hand though his hair on instinct. When he had first met Sapnap he had shoulder length hair that he usually had up in a ponytail. Now they are shorter again, not as short as he used to have them, but short.

"Your hair is still the same" he comments, seeing the fellow God's long slick hair, with the same long dangs at the front.

"What can I say?"' Sapnap responds, "It just suits me"

Tommy chuckles, "It makes you look depressed actually"

He meant it as a joke, but his friend responds seriously.

"Maybe I am..."

Tommy looks at him, realising that he does look sad. An expression of pain on his face.

"Wanna... talk about it?" he proposes hesitantly, not knowing how the other man is going to take that suggestion.

Sapnap stays silent for a long time, staring at the ongoing festival infront of them, before finally speaking.

"Do you remember the two mortals we met together?" he asks in the end.

Tommy nods.

"I got attached..."

That's it. Three words and Tommy doesn't need to hear anything else. Because they were mortals and it's been nearly eight hundred years since then.

"Who did it happened?" he finds himself asking.

"In their old age, peacefully" the Fire God responds, "I never let anything dad happen to them again... I protected them"

He clenches his first at the last part, voice beep. There is definitely an untold story here. Hidden bihind a hall,Tommy only being able to peak through it through a tiny hole, that doesn't give away much. Though he knows better than to ask about it. So he asks something else instead.

"Was it worth it?"

"Yes" Sapnap answers almost emediately, "It was worth it"

Tommy nods in agreement, thinking about the general, Eret and Ranboo. Their deaths hurt him, Eret's most out them. But he can't imagine a world where he did not meat them. He doesn't want a world where he doesn't meet them.

"What about you?" his friend asks.

Tommy excels, "I got attached to a mortal recently"

"What happened?"

"I protected him too...."

Silence falls between them after that. Both remembering people long forgotten by now. The festival is still going strong infront of them, people laughing and singing. Tommy looks down at the flower still between his hands. He makes his decision.

"Okay, get up!" he says to Sapnap as he does the same.

His friend looks up at him with confusion.

"Wha- HEY!"

He doesn't get to finish as Tommy grabs him by his upper arm and forces him up.

"It's a festival!" Tommy announces with a cheerful tone. "Neither of us can be sad during a festival! They are supposed to be fun!"

With that he drags the God of Fire into the crowd of people. They spent the rest of the day and most of the night together, celebrating amongst the people. They dance to the music, they by food and play some of the festival games.

Sapnap takes place in a fighting game, which he wins, obviously. Tommy draggs him to a drinking competition, the Fire God had been hesitant at first saying it wouldn't be fair since Gods are much harder to get drunk. To which Tommy mentioned how then that means, him winning the fighting contest was not fair either and Sapnap stopped talking after that. Tommy smiled victoriously.

The festival ends after midnight. People still have jobs to go to the next day. Now the only ones left outside are a few people, who are heading towards their houses and of course Tommy and Sapnap.

They sit at the small field they were before. Sapnap is half laying on the ground, one elbow supporting his upper body while Tommy is right beside him arms around his knees. They watch as people disappear inside their houses and the lights are being shut one by one.

"It's getting late" Sapnap comments.

"Yeah..."

"Are you going to go to a tavern?"

"No..." Tommy responds "... I don't have enough money for a room. You?"

His friend shakes his head, "I prefer laying under the stars"

Tommy understands, if he didn't had his back pain he would spend every night outside as well.

They stare at the night sky, field with stars, his mother used to point at a different consrilatoin and tell their stories. 'Thiis one is about a princess, got stolen at a young age..... and this one is about a lengetery warrior...."

But as he's looking at them he sees it. A shouting star. It's up there for just a second, then it's gone for ever.

"Hey, did you see that?" asks

"The shouting star? Yes" his friend answers, looking up at the sky as well.

"They are beautiful aren't they?" he continues, "Yet, they burn out ao fast. Blink at the wrong moment and you'll miss their beauty"

"Like mortas" Tommy comments after a few minutes of thinking.

the God of Fire turns to look at him, the giant scar on his face that Tommy was responsible for fully visible now.

"What?"

"The shouting starts" the blonde clarifies, "Their lives are a blink compere to ours. But they are beautiful while they last"

Sapnap looks at him with an expression that Tommy can't understand, roo many emotions taking place at his friends face at once, making it unreadable.

"How do you do that?" he asks in the end.

"Do what?"

"Tommy..." the other God starts, "...you just compared mortals to shouting starts. Something worth looking forward to...so how do you so that? How do you make everything so... positive?"

Tommy looks at his friend, not knowing how to answer that. Truth be told he hadn't noticed he was doing something like that.

"I don't know... it just happens..."

Sapnap shakes his head with a chuckle " you know, if you weren't infront of me right now, hearing you say those things... I wouldn't believe you were real...I wouldn't believe that someone like you could exist..."

Tommy frowns, "What do you mean?"

But his friend only smiles, "get some rest Tommy..." with that he lays completely down on the grass and closes his eyes.

Tommy lays down after a moment as well, but doesn't sleep. Instead he stares at the sky, Sapnap's words echoing in his head.

I wouldn't believe you were real...I wouldn't believe that someone like you could exist.

Tommy can't, for the life of him, understand what that means...

Year 1378

Tommy meets Sam at the worst time of the man's life.

A deadly plague has taken over most of the world. There is panic, terror and chaos going on all around. The pleaces that are not infected, have closed their borders and stopped trading with the infected countries, which have gone on complete lockdown.

Noone can rume free anymore. Going from town to town or in and out of one requires approval of the local lord and they also have to be put on mandatory isolation for a few days first, to make sure they are not sick.

Tommy is helping take care of the sick on the second hospital of the town he got stuck when the lockdown happened. He wanted to help and though it would be better to be him than someone else. Tommy has gotten sick when he was young, but it's been centuries since that, he hasn't gotten ill ever since. He's most likely immune to all diseases and if he's not, then he will live. He would be in pain for a while for sure, but he will live.

Tommy always lives.

The hospital he's working on isn't really a hospital. It's a church of the Goddess of Death, remodeled last minute to work like a hospital, because there real one couldn't fit all the ill people anymore. It's ironic, to have a hospital running on the church of the Goddess of Death. Her dark gaze on the stained glass looking down at the people as they fight for their lives, but it was the only building that had volunteered to host the ill, so they didn't have much of a choice. Sometimes Tommy finds it hard to fucus on his work with his mother's eyes staring at him through the glass.

Sam comes to the church on a winter morning, cradling a sick boy on his arms. Beginning for someone to help him. Tommy recognises him immediately. Sam was making a living by repering or building stuff for people, while sometimes would invent his own devices. Now he's at the front of the church, green hair a tangled mess as he holds his son close.

"I realised he was sick this morning. He said he wasn't feeling well last night, but I didn't want to believe.... please! You need to help him!" he practically beggs them.

Two people come and take the boy inside, Sam goes to follow them but Tommy who had been watching from the side this entire time, steps in and stops him.

"No" he says, bloking the man's way.

"I can't leave him!" the father protests.

"If you step inside, you might get sick" Tommy points out.

Technically he could get sick outside as well, but the chances are astronomically higher inside the church.

"I don't care" he answers, trying to get in again, but Tommy once again stops him.

"What about your son then? Do you care about him?" the blonde asks, his tone a bit more loud than he probably should.

"I... obviously!" the green haired man protests.

"What if you get sick, die and then your son survives? Huh?" Tommy argues.

"What would happened then? who is he going to go back to? Are you going to leave him an orphan?"

"I... I'm not...." the man scrambles on his own words, clearly not having think about Tommy's point at all before.

"Look..." the God starts, "...if it makes you feel better, you can come outside every day and I will give you updates. But. Do. Not. Go. Inside. You need to stay alive so that your son has someone to go back to!"

Very few people survive the plague, but that's not something the man needs to hear right now.

Sam stays frozen for several moments. Clearly on dilemma on what to do. In the end, Tommy's logic seems to win is his head because he backs up. Tommy lets out a relived sigh.

He spends the following days taking care of the boy. He has other patients to look after too, but he often finds himself coming back to check on him. He's small, so small and he curls up on a ball on his makeshift bed. Unfortunately, he's not the only child they have in here.

The God goes at the entrance of the church once a day where he sees Sam standing at the opposite building, waiting. Tommy would shout at him than his son is still alive and Sam would nod. Sometimes he would leave immediately after that, other times he would linger for longer.

Tommy realises that the boy is going to die on the fourth day. After he pukes all over the bed and the puke has blood in it. Too much blood. He doesn't tell Sam, he can't find the will to. He just lets the man hope. Maybe he's making it worse than way.

Sam's son dies at the tenth night of his sickness. Tommy is there the whole time. Holding the boys hand and running his hand through his hair. It's ugly and painful to watch. But Tommy never leaves. He stays. He stays to wipe away his vomit and to put cold cloths on his forehead. When the boy asks for his father, Tommy lies and tells him that he's coming.

At some point, Tommy looks up from the dieing child straight into the eyes of his mother's stained glass. He had never prayed before. Never found reason for it, since the Gods can't hear prayers in the first place. For the first time in his long life, Tommy prays,  to Death herself.

Please mum. Please.... if you can spare one, spare him.

But his mother can't hear him.

The boy dies soon after. Tommy doesn't even realise he was crying until they took the body away. He's going to have to tell Sam tomorrow. He doesn't want to do that.

In the end, Tommy doesn't have to say it. Sam gets it the moment he sees Tommy's face that morning. He must look like hell.

"No!" Sam cries infront of the church, "Nononononon, No!"

He falls to the ground, screaming, tearing his clothes and pulling his hair out. He's not the first person Tommy has seen react that way, it happens at least once a day when people are informed that their loved one didn't make it, and unfortunately he won't be the last.

Tommy doesn't see him again until the plague finally ends.

People stop dieing by the thousands, the lockdown ends and people try to start living again. Trying to put the droken pieces back together.

Tommy is walking down the street, heading to leave the town, when he notices Sam's workshop. It looks abandoned and from what he has heard, noone has seen it's owner ever since his son's death.

it's not hard to break in. He doesn't know what make him want to take a look, maybe it was the face of that boy, haunting him, just like so many other faces of people he failed.

Tommy wonders around the shop for a while, sees dusty surfaces and half finished projects. What gets him is that most of those unfinished projects are children's toys.

He keeps wondering around the place, living the shop and going into the living area that is accessible by a door. That's where he finds him. Laying on the floor, unmoving, with hallow eyes. Tommy thinks he's dead for a moment, before Sam slowly moves his gaze to look at him. He doesn't do anything else. Doesn't speak doesn't move, he just lays there on his stomach, one hand out stretched infront of him, holding an old wooden horse toy.

Carefully, Tommy approaches the man, kneeling infront of him. Sam berley agnowleges him.

"Hey..." Tommy says softly, "You need to get up..."

Sam doesn't seem to hear him.

"Came on man. You can't stay here forever"

"I wanted to die...." Sam finally responds. his voice is low and hoarse, as if he hasn't used it in a long time.

"... But I'm still here....Why am I still here?" he sounds  dead inside, he probably is.

"Who long are you laying here?" Tommy hears himself asking.

"Since I lost him..."

Tommy takes a sharp breath as his suspicion is being confirmed. This is cruel, he thinks, this is too cruel. Sam's son died tow years ago, if he has been laying there ever since and he's still alive, then there is only one explanation. Sam is an immortal. He's immortal and it has to be resent because he doesn't seem to realise it yet.

"Sam.... you can't die"

"How do you know?"

So Tommy explains. About Gods and immortals, about himself, thought he doesn't get into detail like he did with Ranboo. Sam listens to him and when Tommy is done, he gets up. After two years, Sam gets up. Then he goes to the kitchen, grabs a knife and pluges it in his chest. Tommy doesn't try to stop him. He just waits as sam falls to the ground, his knees unable to hold him up any longer after so long of not being used. When Sam passes out from the blood loss Tommy goes to clean his wound and rap it in bandages.

When the new God wakes up a while later. He looks at his chest, then at Tommy. He sighs.

"That sound have killed me..."

"It sounds have" the blonde agrees.

Sam leans his head back to look at the ceiling, "So what am I supposed to do now"

"I don't know...." Tommy says, ".... but you could come with me"

It takes days to convince Sam get up again. Tommy doesn't know why he cares so much about a man he berley knows. All he knows is that he doesn't want to leave him like that. He can't possibly imagine that sam is going through. The grief and pain of losing a son. No parent is supposed to outlive their children.

But he gets the man to follow him in the end. They travell together for years. Sam is mostly silent at the start. Always sad, always quiet. Fortunately, he gets better as time passes. He starts smiling again, he starts laughing. Tommy smiles and laughs with him.

Eventually, Sam starts talking as well. About a lot of things, but mostly about his son. Tommy learns everything about the boy. His first words, his favourite colour, favourite food, what toys he liked to play with.

"So time does heal all wounds I guess...." Tommy says once, as they lay the ground of a forest, staring ip at the sky.

"It wasn't Time that healed me Tommy..." Sam responds, with a look Tommy would only now it's true meaning when it's too late.

"What?" Tommy looks at the fellow God, confused.

Sam only slimes "Don't worry about it..."

Tommy stays with Sam for decades, until he decides to leave. It's when the man wants to find a permanent place to settle down. Which makes sense, he's an Inventor God, he needs a large place for his inventions, something he can not do if he's constantly moving around. Tommy helps him find one.

A fortress in the middle of the dessert, recently abandoned. He helps the other God build his base, then he says goodbye and leaves. Though Tommy finds himself going back to the place again and again, every now and then. To the point that he uses it as a storage place, where he leaves stuff he can't carry everywhere or he doesn't want to lose. Sam even gives him his own space in the base that he calls 'Tommy's room'.

It never felt like home, but it was the closest thing to one, Tommy had since his first one was destroyed. He should have been more grateful....

Year 1560

Tommy groans as he berley avoids his opponents trident. He spins around and tries to end it by putting his blade on her throat, but his opponent is too fast, dodging out of the way and taking a few steps back.

"Not bad!" she says, "You are getting better at this!" 

Tommy grins as he gets into position, this fight is not over.

"Oh? Are you finally going to admit that I'm just as good as you?"

"Don't be ridiculous Tommy. Of course I'm better than you"

His opponent states as he charges towards him again. Tommy expected that. What he did not expect was for her to switch weapons, from her trident to to twin blades at the last second.

Fortunately, he's been training with his father's sword for centuries now, so he's able to block both blades. It took him only a decade to master the technique Philza's sword required, but that wasn't enough. Tommy could win against any mortal even without having mastered any techniques. No, the real threat was other immortals. Because when two people are on the same power level, with the same skills, the one who has the advantage is the one with the most experience. Tommy was lacking on that when it came to his father's sword. So he would practice.

"Shit!" He yells as his opponent's blade slices the side of his cheek, making him bleed. fuck, that would leave a scar. Tommy had gotten too many of those over the centuries, mostly from battles.

"Ha!" his opponent exclaims victoriously, "Do you yield?"

"Never!" Tommy responds, getting ready for attack again.

"Your funeral!" his opponent announces as she prepares for Tommy's strike.

Tommy charges at her his blade raised. His opponent blocks it by switching to an axe. They keep fighting for a while after, they green field that surround them as the only witnesses. In the end Tommy manages to nock his opponent on the ground, putting his blade on her chest.

"Do you yield?" he asks.

His opponent rolls her eyes, "I was going easy on you anyway...."  Drista says, but they both know she's lying.

"Sure...." Tommy offers her a hand to help her up which she takes.

They do this quite often. Drista had offered to help Tommy practice and he had agreed. On one hand it's a good thing practicing with Drista. Being the Goddess of Chaos, makes her unpredictable, so if Tommy can hold his group against her, it means he can hold his group against most immortals. On the other hand, he doesn't enjoy having a new bruise or scar every time he fights with her.

They take a break from fighting after that, seating on the tall grass and watching the clouds above. There are too many of them and they are getting too grey. It's going to rain.

"Hey, Drista?" Tommy asks after a while.

"Yeah?"

"So..." he starts, "... you can shrink this right?"

"I can" the Goddess confirms, sounding curious.

"So, what if during a fight, you take your trident, shrink it last second and then..." he makes a stabbing motion with his hand.

"Stab them in the eye?" his friend asks, amused.

Tommy nods, "Yes! exactly!"

"sounds interesting"

The go back to silence for a few minutes, looking at the greying clouds above. Drista, could probably use her chaos powers to stop it from rain, make it sunny even. Her powers are kind of weird, or Tommy  just doesn't understand them completely and is too embarrassed to ask, especially after all those centuries.

"So how is your search going?" his friend asks at some point, "Anything promising?"

It's a rather sensitive topic, even more so after all those centuries and Drista knows it. So she rarely asks this question, but she does ask someonetimes.

"Not really..." Tommy answers.

Thinking about it he never had any promising leads, just someone with a vague resemblance that Tommy convinced himself was...

He shakes his head, he doesn't want to think about that. If he does the cracks on the door would get even bigger than they already are. So h gets up instead.

"Let's have an other round" he suggests perhaps with more urgency than necessary.

Drista doesn't argue, she just follows him as they stand up and go into position.

He's more aggressive this time. Letting all of his anger and distraction out with each swing. Drista managers to block all of them, through not as easy as usual. It did start raining at some point, Tommy barely realises it, too focused on the fight.

Drista comes towards him with her trident. Tommy raises his blade and....

There is a fork inches away from his face. What the fu-

"Hah! you were right! it's a good strategy!" the Goddess exclaims enthusiastically.

"Wha- that's not fair!" the blonde yells at his friend as he gets away from the fork.

"You suggested it! I'm just following through!" she argues.

"Not against me!" Tommy complains.

"You should have clarified them" Drista says, with a wicked grin and a victorious look.

"Oh you fuc-!" You would have thought that after centuries of knowing her Tommy would have gotten used to her antics and attitude. But no, that's probably something only the god of patience could do, if they existed. But Tommy doesn't really mind.

Every time Drista would annoy him, Tommy would forgive Wilbur and Techno for snapping at him or sending him away. Because he knows now, that it didn't mean that they loved him any less, like he thought at those moments. No, nothing could make them love him any less.

Year 1700

Tommy realises that something is wrong when he's at a tavern. He notices that he hadn't been looking for a new lead for too long, not searching. He sometimes skips one or even two meals a day and he barely manages to make himself get out of bed every morning. He knows that something is wrong with him, but he's too tired to do anything about it. He's too tired to do anything really. Which doesn't make sense at all because Tommy sleeps a lot during that time, more than he had ever since he lost his home.

Eventually, he can't even bring himself to go to work. He knows he should, he needs the money, but he just can't. The thought of getting up, going outside sounds too hard and staying in bed is so easy. He looses his job eventually and gets worse because of that. Now that he has nothing to do, he stays in his room all day, only going down sometimes for food and even that seems to take too much out of him.

His money runs out, naturally. So he has to leave the tavern and by that he means that the owner practically kicks him out. He wonders around for a while, before sitting down under a tree on the side of the road and just never getting up again. He stays there, unable to find the will to get up. People pass by daily, most would ignore him, some would ask if he's okay, but noone would linger for long. Except for two.

The first one, Tommy doesn't notice immediately, they just stare at him from a small distance, not talking, just looking. Tommy lifts his head, feeling their gaze on him. They wear a long dark cloak with the hood up, covering their face completely.

"The fuck you looking at?" the blonde asks.

The person does not respond, they just stare for a little while longer until they leave. Tommy forgets about them soon after.

The second person was a lady with a basket full of flowers. She knees Infront of him her long curly brown hair touching the ground.

"Here...." she says pulling a couple of cookies out of her pocket.

"Not hungry " Tommy responds, his own stomach betraying him by making an unholy sound of complaint.

The woman raises an eyebrow, still holding the cookies towards him.

"Fuck you..." the blonde responds, still, he takes the cookie. He doesn't feel like eating, but if it gets her out of his hair, then whatever.

He takes a bite and has to use all of his willpower to not show how much he likes it. Then he takes an other one and another and another, trying to ignore the satisfying look the woman has on her face. It's not his fault, those cookies has no right being this delicious.

"Okay..." the woman says after the fifth cookie, "... I know my cookies are great, but how about some real food?"

Tommy narrows his eyes at her, "Not hungry" he lies.

She doesn't seem to believe him, "Why don't you want to eat?"

Because it's too much. Because I can't find the will to. Because the thought of food makes me want to throw up even though I'm starving....

"I don't have money" he says instead, hoping that the woman would just leave him alone in his misery.

She doesn't, "I can pay for you" she offers,

Tommy sighs, "I don't want to own you anything"

He says, which is true. He doesn't like owing favours. It feels too much like someone has a leash on him and Tommy doesn't like that feeling.

"You won't own me anything" the woman reassurs.

"Why do you even care?!"

"Because I've seen you lay here on the same position for the past three days" the woman responds,  the seriousness in her voice evident.

"So what?" Tommy scuffs, "That's even the point?"

At his words the woman riches for her basket, pulling out a white chrysanthemum, offering it to Tommy.

"If you would accept food from me, then please accept this"

He hesitates before taking it in his hand, observing it. White chrysanthemums have a lot of different meanings. Like grief, loss of s loved one and mourning. Tommy doesn't like the implication of that.

"Why?" he asks dryly.

"I know that giving up sounds so easy and that keep going feels too hard, but you have to. They wouldn't want you to rot away"

Tommy's face darkens "You don't know anything about me!"

The woman gets up, "I've seen that pain on your eyes a thousand times over, I know what it means. They would want you to live"

With that she leaves, leaving Tommy alone again, with a flower and an empty stomach. He looks at the chrysanthemum in his hand. He hates it. Why does something so beautiful has to symbolise something so ugly?

                                                         -----*-----

His mother used to say that when you hit a dead end and no matter what you do you cannot find a way out of the problem, you should take a break, bo something else for a while, get a new perspective on things and then then you will see the solution you weren't able to see before.

So that's what Tommy did. Clearly, his quest for his family had been unsuccessful for more than a thousand years, so obvious he was doing something wrong and needed a chance. That or that the reason he hadn't found his family yet was because they were not in this world, because they were....

No! don't think about that!

So after the weird interaction he has with the flower woman, he decided to take an actual break from searching to clear his head. It painted him to do so, felt too much like he was turning his back towards his family, but he had too. He needed to find his energy and motivation again and if taking a break is rhe only way to do it, then Tommy would take it. Even if it hurts some days.

He finds a small cabin in the middle of the woods, away from everyone and makes it into a home. He fills his days with rebuilding the place at first, slowly, one step at a time. Then he tries to find things to do that would get him out of bed. He learnes how to sew, making his own clothes, growing his own food. Sometimes, in a particularly good day, he would even go for a hunt.

It's slow and it takes years, but Tommy manages to not have to convince himself to get out of bed each morning. Looking forward to the next day again.

"okay..." he says as he sits down on the wooden floor after having breakfast, "Today is going to be a good day Shroud!"

Shroud barks in response, it puts a smile on Tommy's face. He had found the dog while he was out hurting a few years back. The thing had just refused to stop following him, so Tommy took him in.

He has to admit, part of why he got better was because of Shroud. That dog gave him motivation to get up and do things when he couldn't find it in himself.  When Tommy didn't feel like getting up, he did anyway. Because he needed to feed Shroud and then he needed to get food in order to do that. So slowly he found the will to get up again. Now he doesn't need to motivate himself anymore.

"What do you think I should play today?" he asks as he messes with his guitar's strings. He had found it inside the cabin and it actually took him a while to decide that he wants to learn how to play. Teaching himself how to play was a difficult process. He tried to remember his brother's movements whenever the older boy would play for him, but it didn't help much when he tried to do it himself. He made it in the end though, that's all that matters.

Shroud just looks at him, Tommy smiles even wider and starts playing. He's not as good as Wilbur, but he doesn't mind. Playing the guitar always makes him feel closer to his big brother. Like he can feel his presence in the room, watching him. That thought brinks his a strange feeling of peace.

Those years he spends on that cabin are some of the happiest ones in his life. Away from the world and it's problems, with a simple routine to keep him grounded and of course Shroud to make everything better. Tommy would always look back at those moments with a bittersweet smile, because unfortunately, like everything else except him apparently, they don't last.

The worst part is, Tommy has noone to blame for it. It wasn't a disease or an attack or even an accident. It was just time itself. Shroud dies from old age after living a long, long life. Tommy buries him on the small garden next to the house.

Later, much later when Sam would get Fran Tommy would resent her. Not because she reminds him of Shroud, but because Fran is not an actual dog. Sam made her, she's a machine. Designed and constructed to look and act like an actual dog down to finest detail. Sam had put all of his skills into creating her and as long as he can fix or replace her damaged parts her will always be here. That's the real reason Tommy doesn't like Fran. Not because she's too clingy or too loud, but because she will live for ever. Why does Sam get to keep her while Tommy couldn't keep Shroud?

He stays in the cabin for exactly one day before he decides he wants to leave. He can't stay here, at least not for now, when the absence of Shroud's barking is defining. So he gathers some of his stuff and leaves.

He promises to himself that he will come back soon. A promise he breaks. Not he wanted to, but because the moment he stepped out of that forest the problems of the rest of the world caught up to him.

Year 1978

For someone who doesn't like wars and battles, Tommy sure gets dragged in them a lot. He doesn't mean to. It's like he's been pulled to them like a piece of metal being pulled by a magnet.

Tommy exiles as the truck carries him and the other new recruits towards the training camp. He really thought he could avoid this war. Over the resent years most countries have made it illegal for people under the age of eighteen to be drafted. Though Tommy is definitely well over eighteen, he still looks like a boy in his late teens, which he used to his advantage, saying he was fifteen to the authorities. He was hoping that the war would have ended in three years so he wouldn't have to be drafted, but he was wrong.

He tried to go into hiding. Unfortunately they got to him before he could. So, now he is heading to war ounce again. He is really tired of this. The other people on the truck who are laughing and chatting excitedly about going to war aren't making things any better.

Most people were drafted when the war started so most new recruits are eighteen year olds, with only a couple of older people that used to be doctors or police officers who got left behind at first because someone still needed to do their jobs.

Maybe Tommy should have become a doctor, to avoid being drafted. Though he he doesn't really have  actual medical knowledge, unless the plague wants to come back. He should have taken Sapnap's offer when the God offered to teach him medicine and healing. Then again, considering Tommy's luck, he would have been drafted as a medic anyway.

The people opposite of hom in the truck brush into an other round of launching and can't help but glare at them. He used to be excited about war too, back when he was an actual sixteen year old. Only having known war through glorified tails and songs.  Then he lived it and realised just how ugly war really is.

"What are you glaring at , huh?" one of the people had noticed Tommy's glare.

"Nothing" the blonde responds, but he's gaze is still looked on them.

"It's just the first time I've seen pigs so eager to be taken to their slotter"

That makes the group erupt into chaos.

"Oi! Watch it!"

"Did you just call us pigs?"

"What? you don't want to go out there? Are you a chicken?"

"Don't you want to fight for your country you coward?!"

Tommy keeps staring at them. What is he supposed to say? That he had fought in too many wars already? That this is not his country? That he had fought for his real country and lost everything?

"You have no idea what war is really like" he says in the end.

The group scuffs, "Oh and you do?" one of them asks, "Look at you! you barely look like an adult!"

Technically I'm one thousand nine hundred and ninety-four

"Yeah!" an other one agrees, "You look like a fucking kid! I bet you can't even grow a beard!"

Well, he is right about that one, but not in the way he thinks...

"Careful!" an other one of them says in a mocking tone, "Look at all the scars on his face. Maybe he's a member of a gang and has a pocket knife hidden in his pocket!"

If by pocket knife he means a two thousand year old badger, then yes.

"Hey! cut it!" the man seating next to Tommy says, crossing his arms.

"Why are you defending him? He technically called you a pig too!"

The man next to Tommy smiles, "Well I am a pig. The boy is right, we are all pigs to the slater. You are not going to become heroes. Most likely you are going to die and become just  one more body in the number of casualties. You will be buried in a nameless grave, thousands of miles away from home. If you bo survive on the other hand, you will most likely be creplled. If you get out of there in one piece physically, your brain would definitely not. And you would send your days, grieving what you lost in this war. So, yes I'm defending him, because he's right to not want to be here. It means he's more clever than any of you. Because he understands the gravity of the situation"

The truck goes silent after that. Tommy can't help the smile that comes to his face. It's been too long since someone had defended him like that, thought Tommy can do it himself.

"What's your name? I'm Jack" the man next to him, Jack, asks turning to face him and offering a hand.

Tommy shouldn't. This is the worst place to make friends. It would only hurt him in the long run.... Tommy shakes Jack's hand with his own.

"Name's Tommy "

Jack smiles, "Well Tommy, I think we are going to be friends!"

                                                  .    .   -----*-----

Against his better judgement and lack of self prevention, Tommy befriends Jack.

Tommy has to admit, he enjoys the man's company. Jack is in his early twenties and he was a police officer before, that's why he got drafted so late into the war. Tommy likes how grounded the man is. Serious, yet he knows when is the appropriate the to crack a joke, and his jokes are good.

They train together in the military centre and get out with high marks. Jack because of his former experience as a police officer and Tommy because he's a nearly two thousand year old immortal who's taken part in more wars that any human ever should, immortal or not. 

They end up becoming scouts for their unit. Their job is to go ahead and scout the area, looking for hiding places or enemy soldiers. Tommy prefers this, than actually marching with the others.

He knows it's a dangerous job, he's not a fool and he uses all of his skills to walk around undetected. Jack would call him a natural every time and since Tommy can't say that it didn't come easy to him, that he has had centuries of practice, instead he would say something obnoxious along the lines of 'Of course I'm a natural! I'm better than everyone!' and Jack would laugh.

That's how they spent the next three years. Fortunately, they are good at their job and have made it in one piece so far.

They meet Nikki near the end of the war. She's a scout like them. The problem is that she's from the opposing side, technically an enemy. They had come across each other inside of a forest, both parties trying to cross it to see if it's safe for their units to pass through.

They did start shouting at each other at first until she run out of bullets. Apparently she had come across  other enemy scouts earlier today from a different unit that Tommy and Jack's and spend most of her ammo killing them.

So she surrenders. Jack still tries to shout her, but Tommy stops him.

"It doesn't matter..." he says in a tiered voice. He's tiered of this, dispute who much he enjoys his friends company.

Then he walks up to Nikki who holds up a army knife.

"Hello, I'm Tommy"

She looks confused at first, still holding the knife, as if that would do anything against Tommy.

"Wanna camp with us for the night?"

"What?" both Jack and Nikki say at the same time.

Tommy shrugs, "I said what I said. Walking through a forest at night with no lights is a bitch" He doesn't know why he cares about a person he doesn't know, a person who is also the enemy. Well, that's a lie he knows exactly why. It's her hair, they are pink just like Techno's.

He ends up setting a small camp on his own. By the time the sky goes completely dark, Jack gives in and goes to sit next to Tommy, still glancing at their 'enemy'. Nikki relents when the food is ready. She comes to sit opposite to them, pulling out her own can food to cook.

"You look too young to be in the army" Nikki comments later, looking at Tommy.

"I look younger than my age..."

"You can say that again. You haven't changed a bit since me met!" Jack says.

Tommy tries to hide the grimace on his face. Jack is not the only one who has noticed that even though to them Tommy is supposed to be twenty one, he still looks like a teenager. It worries him. How long until those random comments turned into suspicion. What would happen then. He cringes as he remembers the villagers reaction from back when he met Bad and Skeppy. Would they react the same way? Tommy really doesn't want to get shot. Bullets, even though won't kill him, are a pain to deal with. They are so hard to get out, which he has to do unless he wants his wound to heal with the bullet still inside and send him waves of pain every time he moves.

"What can I say?" the God says instead, putting on what he thinks is a convincing smile, "I'm perfect at any angle"

That earns him a smack on the head by Jack and small chuckle by Nikki.

"Are you always like that?" she asks.

"All the fucking time!" Jack fake-protests, "I swear he's insufferable!"

"Hey! you would have been dead ten times over if it wasn't for me bitch!"

"Hard to believe" Nikki deadpans.

Tommy looks at her with the most offended expressions he can master,

"Excuse you, bitch! I'm the sole reason this man is still breathing and I will NOT be insulted like this!"

they both laugh, Tommy himself having a hard time contacting his grin. They spent the whole night like that, insulting and messing with each other. At some point Jack and Nikki get up and start dancing to a song they both happen to know, Tommy just stays seated watching them. They almost forget about the war, about how they are supposed to be enemies. Until the sun comes up.

"We should get going" Jack says, the others agree but make no movement.

They don't want to go, because they know what would happen later today. Their units would fight and they would have to take part in the fight too.

"Well...." Nikki says, finally getting up, "... Thanks for not killing me, and for.... this" she gestures at the camp on their feet.

"No problem..." Jack responds hesitantly.

"Hey... " Nikki starts before leaving, "If...if you survive this war, me should meet!"

They both smile at that. "Sounds nice..." Tommy says.

Nikki smile as well then, and starts walking back towards her until. The others do the same, the blonde sparing a last glance at her. It would be the last time Tommy would ever see her.

-----*-----

"...-ack.....Ja-.... JACK, GET UP!!!"

Jack groans as he's being violently pulled up from the ground. His head hurts, his vision spins and his ears are killing him.

"GET THE FUCK UP!!!"

The former police officer manages to lift his head to look at the person who is dragging him upright. When he sees a familiar mop of golden hair sticking out of a damaged helmet he relaxes a bit. It's just Tommy. Not an enemy soldier attacking him. Just Tommy, his friend.

After that realisation everything else seems to come back on Jack's mind like a boomerang. They were fighting, shouting enemy soldiers, hoping they aren't Nikki and trying not to get shot in return. Then suddenly, airplanes had come from above and threw explosives on the battle field, one of them landing close to them. Fortunately, it wasn't close enough to cause them any serious injuries. Unfortunately, it was close enough to nock Jack out for a while and damage his ears. His left one is the only one that currently works, while his right hurts so much that he is tempted to rip it out.

"DOWN!!!" Tommy yells next to him as he drags them both to the ground again, both narrowly avoiding a round of bullets coming from the enemy.

Jack curses under his breath as his head spins at the sudden movement. He bends forward and vomits on the ground. He hates this. He wishes this war would just end already. He can't take it anymore, all the killing the chaos, the suffering.

It's been too long since he's slept on a normal bed with no bugs and enough blankets to keep him warm. He has forgotten the taste of all foods except the frozen, barely cooked, possibly expired food cans. He can't remember when was the last time he slept soundly through the night. He's exhausted, he just wants to go home.

"...'on't...t- think I c-...an keep doing.... this man..." he manages to say through the explosions and the yelling, his words a bit slurred.

"SHUT UP YOU CAN!" Tommy shuts at his as he picks both himself and Jack up, trying to get them to some safer location. Which almost makes the former police officer chuckle, there is no safe place in the middle of a battlefield.

Still, his friend seems determent to find one.

Jack doesn't know how much time passes until he is able to fully regain his conscience again.His right ear is still killing him, but his left one is working so at least there's that. Tommy has dragged them behind the ruins of an old house. The blonde  using one of the windows to fire his weapon on the opposite side. Jack joins him.

Jack doesn't know much about Tommy's past. His friend refusing to to say anything specific, but Jack suspects that Tommy had killed before coming here. Even Jack, a police officer, had never taken a life before being drafted. He had found himself in dangerous situation a few times while on duty, but none of them escalated to this point.

Some of his colleagues weren't so lucky. Jack has seen it. The reaction people have when they first take a life. They will panic, they will feel terrible, even if it was self-defence. But that wasn't the reaction Tommy had when he shot someone dead for what should have been the first time.

They were on their first scouting mission and had come across two  enemy soldiers outside of an abandoned farm house. They all raised their guns ready to shoot, but Jack did the one thing one should never do in a situation like that if  they want to get out of it alive. He hesitated.

He knew he shouldn't, but couldn't help himself. This would have been his first kill, yet an other reaction to not having taken a life before. Most people hesitate. Tommy didn't. The boy shoot both of them dead in seconds and never thought about it again. That's not the reaction of a person committing their first kill. No, that's the reaction of a person who has killed before and has gotten used to it.

"RETREAT!!"

A general's voice reaches Jack's ears as he realises that they are losing the battle. The enemy is closing in on them, the airplanes still dropping expensives down on them. Jack curses under his breath. It would be really hard to get out of this alive. Jack doesn't want to die.

"COME ON JACK! WE NEED TO GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!" Tommy yells as he pushes him forward. The former police officer does so.

He doesn't know much about his friends life, but it must have been a hard one. With how he has probably killed before and the way he can stay calm under the current chaos. Maybe he was part of a gang.

They navigate through the battlefield, nearly avoiding a few rounds of gunshots. The kneel and crawl their way to safely, trying to ignore the dead or dieing bodies all around. Jack's ears still hurt and there's still a feeling of vomit in his mouth. He should have paid more attention to his surroundings, instead of focusing on himself.

"JACK!!!"

Jack is then being pushed violently and he falls forward his elbows hitting the ground hard. Gunshots ring in his still working ear. Too close. When he turns his head, it's like time itself stops for a moment.

Tommy is falling, his helmet falling off to expose golder hair as red dots leave his chest. With an unimaginable sense of horror Jack realises that Tommy had been shoot.

"TOMMY!!!" he screams as he crawls to his friends side.

The blonde is laying with his back on the ground, hands on his chest and stomach were multiple bullets had hit him.

"Shit!" Jack curses as soon as he sees the damage.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" the former police officer yells at his friend. He pushed Jack out of the way, he took the hit for him. He.....

"They were gonna hit you...." his friend says, trying and failing to hide pain in his voice.

"So you decided to take my place?!" he yells again, this time with more worry that actual anger.

"It's okay.... I'm going to be fine..." the blonde says, voice weak.

Jack holds back a sob, "T-Tommy.... you are going to die!"

Even saying it feels wrong. It feels so wrong....

Somehow, Tommy smiles, looking up at the clouded sky.

"It'.. 'ever my tim' to die..."

With that his eyes drift close, his breaths  getting weaker. Jack is field with dread. He bends over his friends limp form, using one hand to pat his cheeks.

"No! Tommy, Tommy, wake up! You can't go to sleep here!"

"...'ot sleepi'...'g..." Tommy's words are slurred, his skin has turned deathly pale.

"TOMMY OPEN YOUR DAMN EYES!" Jack hears himself yells.

His friends face cringes on pain.

"Too 'oud...." he whispers.

"Shit, sorry..." jack sobs, leaning closer to his friend.

"I won't yell again, I promise just.... just open your eyes... please.... open your eyes...."

But Tommy never does.

Jack doesn't remember what happens after that. His memories begin again when he's at the medical tend, a doctor taking care of his injuries. They try to test his hearing but it's hard, because all jack can hear are Tommy's choked sounds as blood was dripping from his mouth....

                                                            -----*-----

The war finally ends two months later. Tow months, they had almost made it, they were almost out. But in the end only Jack lived to see the other side.

They never found Tommy. His body lost in the chaos and distraction of the battlefield. So Jack had to stand over an empty grave, identical to so many others that shared the same fate.

"I'm sorry..." he whispers, " I should have protected you..."

Jack was older, he should have been the one to protect Tommy. Not the other way around. But in the end, it was Tommy who died protecting him.

He tries to find Tommy's family when he gets back. The blonde hadn't said much about his life, but he had mentioned a family, vaguely thought. In the end he finds nothing. There aren't even any papers or information about Tommy before he was drafted, as if he didn't exist before the war.

After failing to find anything, Jack goes back to his old life of being a police officer. But he can't. He lost sixty percent of his hearing on that battle, he can't hear anything from him right ear has stopped working and he has lost tenn present of his hearing on his left ear. So he was excused on permanent leave.

He goes downhill for a while after that, not knowing what to do, or if he even wants to do anything. He ends up falling low, no purpose, no meaning. Until one day he was a wake up call.

What the fuck am I doing with my life? He asks himself after waking up hungovered from drinking himself to sleep for the last two days. Tommy didn't lose his life so that Jack would waist his, by rotting away in a small dirty apartment. So Jack gets up and tries to put his life back together.

It takes him years. Sometimes he would get better, while some days he would go back to his previous state of despair. It's a long process and not a linear one. One day he would have taken two steps forward, then the next he would go back tenn steps. But he keeps going, even after the days that he felt like giving up, that there was no point.

In the end he makes it. Tenn years after the war, Jack has finally put his life together. He took, every job he could get and settled to opening his own hotel after a while. Now, that hotel is one of the most famous ones in the country and Jack named it after the boy who saved his life. He even has a picture of the two of them, that they took five months before Tommy's death,  on the reception desk.

It's in one of the good days, when he's sitting in the lobby reading a newspaper that he sees her. It takes him a moment to recognise her. With how she's wearing a long dress instead of the army uniform Jack had met her. With make up on as well as different hair. They are still pink and that's the whole reason why he had glanced over the paper in the first place. People with pink hair are rare.

"Nikki...?" he asks, both disbelief and excitement in his voice.

Nikki who was just about to talk to the receptionist turns towards him, her face lighting up as soon as she sees him.

"Hey! Here's the guy I was looking for!" she says in a sweet voice.

What are you doing here?" Jack questions as he's coming towards her.

"I was looking for you, like I just said. We promised to meet each other after the war remember?" She answers chearfully.

Now that Jack is right infront of her he can notice that there is a scar going through her right eye, one he hadn't noticed from looking at her left profile before now.

"Yeah.... I remember..."

He really did. He had tried locating Nikki a few times over the years but was unsuccessful and it seems like she only found him first because of hotel's growing fame.

Nikki smiles at him and Jack smiles back. Life is not perfect. It's cruel most of the time. It gives you anything you would ever needed to be happy, then takes it away violently, with no remorse or sympathy. But sometimes.... it gives some of those things back.

Year 2043  present

Getting drunk as an immortal is hard, but not impossible. Tommy hadn't attempted it before, except that one time on the summer solstice festival with Sapnap, but he doesn't really count that since his purpose wasn't to get drunk back then, but it is now.

He doesn't have barrels of alcohol in his disposal, so he finds an other way to get his hands on large amounts of alcohol. He goes on a store that sells those drinks, buys one, then drinks it as he walks to the next store to do the same.

He knows he shouldn't. That isn't a temporary solution to his problems and that it would actually make everything worse but he can't bring himself to care. Especially not today....

His family is dead, he can't beat up the person who took them from him, because the asshole would avoid him like the plague apparently and he just turned away the one person who was willing to help him.

So yes, he's getting drunk.

Tommy had regreted his interaction with Sam at the church almost immediately after the other God had left. He didn't mean to say all of those things, he didn't mean to go this far. Yet he did and now Sam hates him, or at least he should hate him. Tommy was cruel, saying things that weren't true, just because he was hurting.

Why does he have to hurt everyone he loves?

Tommy doesn't know how long he goes on like this, buying alcohol and getting drunk, regretting every resent life decision that has led him to this moment, until he eventually runs out of money. Now that he can't buy more alcohol, he can feel the weight of it all crashing down on his ten fold. It's too much.

He would never read along side his father again. He would never dance with his mother. He would never listen as Wilbur plays the guitar for him. He would never spar with Techno. They would never seat for dinner together, all five of them. He would never bicker with his brothers about the most insignificant thing. He would never have to pretend he's disgusted every time his parents would flirt infront of him and he would have noone to wipe away his tears, telling him everything is going to be okay, after a nightmare or to turn to when he's lonely. Because they are gone and Tommy is still here.

Tears fall from his eyes as he goes down the pavement, struggling to walk on a straight line. It's dark with the first shins of light just starting to appear over the horizon. The treet is empty, the only other person outside is a woman, who looks to be going back to her house after a night out with her friends.

Friends. Tommy wishes he had those too. But half of them are dead and they rest are scattered around the globe. Would they even miss him if he's gone? Would they even notice?

Maybe it's better this way. This way they don't have to see Tommy in this state. Like a ghost who has lost its purpose, unable to rest in peace. Maybe they were right to call him the Phantom God. Tommy died along with his family. His body just kept working. Dragging the corpse of his soul with it.

A truk is approaching the road with speed. Tommy knows it's not going to work. He has survived far worse than that. But he feels so numb.  He need to feel something, even if it's pain. So he throws himself infront of the truck.

If I can't have them in life, please let me join them in death....

But the universe seems to hate him. Because Tommy survives.

Chapter Text

It didn't take long for Tommy to regain his conscience again after the crush. One thing he has noticed throughout his life is that the more time passes the more invincible he becomes to all injuries. An injury that would have put him out for a few hours now would only last a couple of minutes, same with the blood loss. He can stay conscious far longer now, even after having lost most of his blood. 

Which means that right now, he can feel everything. All the pain that runs through his body. It feels like every single one of his bones are broken and he can feel his blood pouring out of his body. He's so painfully aware of everything. 

That's what he wanted wasn't it? So why does he still feel unsatisfied? Like a canvas someone had left unfinished, unknowing whether or not they want to finish it. So he stays in a dusty corner, rotting away. 

Tommy groans as someone gently touches his shoulder, turning him to lay on his back. The sky is still mostly dark, the sun hasn't fully come out yet. Someone is leaning above him, he doesn't recognise them, but they look worried, so something bad must have happened. Tommy tries to lift his head to see what could have caused the person above him to panic, but they push his head gently back on the cold road. 

"Don't try to move!" the person says, with a trembling voice, forcing Tommy's attention on them. 

Oh. It's the woman who was walking on the opposite side of the road. She looks petrified as she has her phone in one hand, the other on the side of Tommy's face. She's talking with someone on the phone, the volume is not loud enough for him to hear the other end of the line, he can only hear woman's frantic voice. 

"...me? Can you hear me?" 

It takes a while for Tommy to realise she was talking to him and not the phone. He was distracted, looking up at the sky noticing....

"There are no stars here..." he says weakly. 

"What...?" 

There are no stars here. 

Tommy feels tears running down his eyes. The woman is still hovering above him, checking his wounds and talking to the phone. She's trying to help me, he realises. It's not worth it, noone can help him. He lost centuries ago, he just only now realised it. 

Let me go, he thinks as the woman tries to patch his wounds with her jacket, Just let me here to rott...

But she doesn't and soon enough the ambulance arrives. That's when Tommy realises that she was talking with a hospital this entire time. He tries to resist at first, when the paramedics try to carry him into the ambulance. His movements are weak. 

"No..." he mumbles.

Until one of the paramedics asks something that makes him stop. 

"Did someone hurt you?" 

The way she says it, she's not talking about physical damage and Tommy... Tommy tells the truth.

"Yes..." 

Finally Tommy admits the whole truth. His family is dead and someone hurt him. That's it. Those were the two truths he didn't want to admit, even to himself. But it's too late now, the curtains have fallen, the stage has closed. It's over, Tommy can't run away anymore, he can't ignore it. 

He stops fighting the paramedics after that. Instead silent tears fall from his eyes as they get him to a hospital. They put his under anesthesia at some point, so he wakes up hours later dressed in a hospital clothes, with all his injuries patched up, laying on a lone hospital bed.

He grimaces, not from the pain but from the fact that he woke up in the first place. Why does he have to always wakes up? Because you promised to.  He had promised that to his family, so that they won't worry about him. But they are dead, it doesn't matter if he wakes up or not.... so why does he still do it? 

From outside he can hear the doctors speaking about him. How it's a miracle he's still alive and that there's probably something off about him. They want to put his through some tests. Tommy should leave, before they do that and realise exactly what is off about him. But he can't find the will to. 

Instead he turns on his side and watches out the window. He falls asleep eventually, he doesn't feel like doing anything else. When he wakes up again hours later, he feels someone's gaze on him for bihind. He doesn't need to look to know who it is. 

"How did you get past everyone?" he asks looking out the window. 

"I... didn't. I teleported myself here..." Drista answers as she starts walking towards his bed. 

Tommy makes a small sound, "Yeah... 'should have realised that..." 

"It's okay..." the Goddess says sitting on the edge of the bed. 

"So..." she starts after a few moments of silence between them, "Want to tell me why you thought this was a good idea?" 

She is serious, addressing the issue directly, she may not name it but it's obvious that she's referring to. Drista is rarely like that, so it means that she's upset. Tommy didn't mean to upset her, he didn't mean to upset anyone. Yet he did. 

Why do I always hurt the people I care about? 

"Tommy...?" she asks again. 

The God, exiles "It was my birthday yesterday..." 

"Tommy..." his friend says, "I know you don't like your birthday but-" 

"I turned one year older..." he continues, still looking outside the window, towards the clouded sky. 

"That's.... that's how it usually.... works?" Drista says confused. 

Then, Tommy lets the dam gates open, "A year older than he was.... a year older than he would ever be...." 

His father was younger only to his mother and Philza died at the age of two thousand and fifty nine. Yesterday was Tommy's two thousand and sixty birthday. He has lived longer than his own father. 

On one hand it's normal for children to outlive their parents, but Tommy's parents were immortals so he was always under the impression that this would never happen. Yet it did. Tommy doesn't even have the energy to do anything about it anymore. He can't even cry, all his tears have dried out. 

"You knew didn't you?" he asks his friend, "That they were gone" 

"Yes..." Drista answers, she sounds guilty. 

"Why didn't you ever tried to tell me?" 

"Tommy... if I had said that to you any of the time we crossed paths, how do you think you would have reacted?" 

Tommy stays silent, because she got him there. If Drista had said anything earlier, Tommy would have most likely sink deeper into denial and turned her away just like he did with Sam. 

"Sorry..." he says, not knowing what else to say. 

"It's okay..." 

"It's not though...none of this is okay" 

"So you have to make it okay!" his friend exclaims. 

That makes Tommy turn his head to look at her for the first time this entire conversation. He frowns. 

"How do I even begin to do that?" 

His friend smiles, "Well I have something in mind, but it requires you getting out of bed" 

"I can't do that" He berley has enough energy to talk to her, getting up is out of the question. Yet, his friend seems determent. 

"Of course you can! Here I'll help you" 

With that she stands on the bed with her shoes and reaches a hand out to Tommy. 

"I can't..." he repeats. 

"Do you trust me?" Drista asks him. 

Tommy nods. 

"Then you can. Come on now!" 

Hesitantly, Tommy takes her hand. She helps him up and out of his bed. He's surprised he can stand on his own legs, seeing how tired he feels. 

"Okay let's go!" his friend announces, but Tommy stops her. 

"Wait!" 

He goes to the corner of the room where his stuff are and takes the emerald, putting it back around his neck. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the flag anymore, nor any of his clothes. They hospital must have thrown them away after they took them off him, given how bad ofa condition they must have been in. 

Tommy feels an extra layer of loss at that. This flag has accompanied him for over two thousand years. Now it's gone. Just like everyone else. 

"Ready now?" 

Well, not everyone I guess.

"yeah..." he responds. 

"Good! let's go!" 

"How are we going to do that?" Tommy asks. It's going to be hard getting out of the building undetected. They could also fight their way out, but that would be a mess that he doesn't want to deal with. Instead of answering, Drista just smiles and it's a smile Tommy does not like. 

"No. Nononono.... you are not teleporting us out of here! No way!" 

The Goddess of Chaos grins at him wickedly. "Come here Tommy!" 

"Stay away from me!" the other God says as he tries to avoid his friend's hands, reaching out for him. In the end he fails. 

Drista grads him by his upper arm and in a moment they are gone. Tommy hates teleportation. He thinks it's cool yes, but he hates the feeling it gives him when he goes from one place to an other. It's like every cell in his body is taken apart and then put back together in the new location. It makes him want to throw up and his body feels like there are thousands of ants running on him, stinging him. 

"We're here!" his friend exclaims. 

Tommy hadn't realised he had closed his eyes. So he smells and feels the place before he sees it. It's a flower filed. The smell of the flowers piercing his nose and the cold breeze going through his hair like a gentle touch. The sun is shining no clouds on the horizon. It's a beautiful place. 

"So... what now?" he asks after a few moments of looking around. there's nothing but open fields for miles, with frozen mountains in the distance. 

"Now we have fun!" his friend says in a booming voice, "You like snow, don't you?" 

Tommy frowns, "Yeah but.... there's no snow here" 

Drista just smiles, "That's easy. I'll just make some!" 

"Isn't that like... against the rules?"  

Immortals don't really have an active community, usually they just accidentally cross paths every couple of decades, but they have all agreed that it is better to not get the mortals attention to themselves, unless of course they have no other option. 

The Goddess of Chaos, turns away from him screaming, "Who cares about the rules?" as she snaps her fingers and a cloud of snow appears above the flower field, with snowflakes raining down. 

Tommy waches as Drista proceeds to cover everything in white puffy snow. She could have just teleported them to a place that already had snow, yet she chose this. He can't deny the beauty it creates though. The way the flowers and grass decorate the snow, how greasefully the snowflakes dance in the air until they fall gently and become one with the rest. Drista had even created polar lights above them, the sky mow a colourful sea. 

"What are you looking at? Come on!" his friend yells at him from the bottom of the valley, a wild smile on her face. 

Hesitantly Tommy stars walking down the hill he was on. Then, he stripes, falls flat on his face and starts rolling down the hill until he stops right infront of Drista, who starts laughing maniacally. 

"Fuck you" Tommy says as he steadys himself on his elbows. "This sucks, I want to go back" 

"Nah... that's not going to happen" his friend announces putting her hands on her hips, "You are stuck here with me now!" 

Tommy growns. He's too tired for this. He just want to lay down somewhere and then never get up again. Is this such an impossible thing to ask? 

Apparently it is, because Drista proceeds to force him up again instead of letting him become one with the ground. Then Tommy is hit with a snowball to the face. He just exiles slowly as his friend launchs at his misery. Then she does it again. 

"Would you stop?" the God asks, mind announce in his tone. 

"You have to hit me back first!" she says with a laugh. 

"Drista...." 

But Drista just throws an other snowball at his face. With a grown, Tommy gives in, bending down to grab a handful of snow, lazily throwing it towards her direction. He misses, by a lot. 

"That was pathetic..." his friend deadpans. 

That makes Tommy frown as he proceeds to throw an other snowball an her. He misses again but this time he came closer to hitting her. 

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" 

With that they start throwing snowballs at each other. It feels like a chore at first, Tommy just wants to hit her once and be done with it. But slowly he forgets that that was his original goal. Slowly he starts.... having fun? 

It's weird, there's still a tightening in his chest, but it's not as noticeable anymore. Not when all he can focus on is trying to hit his friend and avoid getting hit by snowballs. He starts laughing at some point as they run through the snow covered field, his bare feet touching grass and snow. 

For a moment there is no pain. There is no past looming over him like a dark cloud. There is only him and his friend having fun, as the snowy field unfolds around them and the polar lights dance above them. Tommy could have stayed in this moment forever.

But just like everything else, the moment ends. 

"Yes!" Tommy exclaims as he finally manages to hit Drista. 

"Pff... I let you do that" the Goddess says, crossing her arms. 

"Yeah sure thing..." 

He falls back on the ground, the thin layers of snow and grass making his fall softer. He lays there, in a field of snow and flowers watching the colourful sky above, the polar lights mixing with the clouds creating a breathtaking scene. 

Somewhere along the way, Tommy had forgotten who beautiful the world could be sometimes. Yes, the world is filled with suffering and greed. Were people have to live through hell and back, with a few moments of happiness in the middle. Though those moments aren't meant to last, they are worth the suffering. They are worth everything. 

Tommy thinks he would have done it again. If he had the choice to go back and relive everything without being able to change a thing, he would have done it. Not because of the pain and suffering, but because of the good times. 

Tommy would give everything to see his family and friends again. He would give everything to have dinner with his family, or talk with Eret or travel with Ranboo or share a meal with Jack... or annoy Sam. Even knowing it won't last, even knowing he couldn't change how things would go down, he would do it again, just so he could see them all one last time.

"Better now?" Drista cuts his line of thought. 

"Yeah..." 

He is better now somehow. The tightening in his chest is still there but, it doesn't feel like it going to suffocate him anymore. It's just there, present but not overwhelming, just like his back pain. 

"Good..." his friend says, "You deserve to be happy" 

"You are such a sap Dri-" 

He never finished his sentence, because when he looks at his side are Drista is supposed to be standing, the Goddess is nowhere to be found. Instead next to Tommy is a new cloak. 

"Of course..." he mumbles as he sits up, reaching to take the cloak in his hands. 

Drista had made a habit of gifting him a new cloak every time they meet, she promised she buys them and Tommy choses to believe her for the sake of his own sanity. He smiles as he drapes the cloak around his shoulders, looking up at the sky again. He takes in the view one last time before getting up. He has one last thing left to do. 

A person walks through a field of flowers and snow, his golden hair shining in the light of the sun, icy blue eyes full of life for the first time in over two millennials. 

A God, a soldier, a boy.