𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙩𝙮-𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙚

ᴠɪᴇɴɴᴀ
ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀᴢᴀ

Reaching the plaza is a different feeling completely then in the van. Inside the van, it was dark, and the air was tense, but out here, it feels like the air was cleaner. It felt like the air wasn't polluted with the overhanging glume that we all though was going to be a bloodbath, that we all thought was going to turn the world upside down, forever unsettled, but it didn't. And I could not be more happy for that fact, but it all just seems.. off.

I see my friends, old and new embracing like they hadn't seen each other in years. And I see the earth regain the color it seemed to have lost all those months ago when Jschlatt became president. I see the flowers turning towards the sun, the wind blowing softly, the water growing it's plants. I see all of this color, all of this light, all of this warmth, but I can't help but feeling a pit growing deep within my stomach.

I can't put my finger on it, my mind not letting me trace over it with my tongue as it passes over my lips, leaving behind no trace of it ever being there to begin with. I don't know why it still feels like the air is suffocating me softly, so soft that I can't even tell that I'm dying at all. This feeling is not pleasant, making sure it is not easy to breathe.

It can't be this easy to take back L'Manburg, can it?

ᴡɪʟʙᴜʀ
ᴇʀᴇᴛ's ᴄᴀsᴛʟᴇ

The cobblestone walls around me are tall, filled with nothing but space. I falter around the hallways, feet snagging on each other as I begin calling out the name of a man I once considered a friend, a brother. I follow the twisting turns that made up this maze of stone and wall, finding many different doors that lead to smaller hallways.

"Eret!" My voice echoes, carrying all the way around the castle and back to my ears. "Eret I know you can hear me!" No answer. The only noise I hear in this damn place is my goddamn footsteps bouncing off of the walls. I can't stand this much longer.

All I wanted to do was tell Eret he was right, right about it all.

Back in the original war, back before L'Manburg was just L'Manburg, and the Dream City was just the Dream City, Eret was a traitor. He became a spy, and ultimately became a reason we all lost a life a few days before the end of the war, before Tommy dueled Dream for L'Manburg's freedom, our independence from Dreams rule forever. Eret said one thing when he led us to that damn room, the room filled with obsidian and dark stone that smelt of burning coal.

And I remember it vividly, I remember it as it haunts me from afar, the dark and pained look in his eyes, behind his glasses. as he said it.

"Down with the revolution boys, it was never meant to be."

And all I wanted to do was tell him he was right, this was never meant to be at all..

Two large doors stops me from continuing down the hallway I currently stood in, a dirt and grime trail leading straight from it, some drops of red mixed in. The trail followed right under the door, and I guessed this was the throne room, where I hoped Eret was at. I smile as I go to the doors, pushing them open.

I never would've guessed that I would find the remains of the man I had come all this way to see, surrounded in a pool of his own blood. I stare at the body, staring into his cold, dead eyes that seemed to glow white from where I was standing. I wonder how long he's been here, alone, soaked in blood.

"Oh..," I whispered to myself, my voice breaking at the end. "I guess you're gone then.." My feet sound too loud as I walk softly to my old friend, and crouch down, knees coating in the blood. Eret's sunglasses are missing, and I was correct about his eyes almost glowing white, not colored his normal grey. It's because they were literally frozen over in the brightness, though, it seems faint due to the sunlight filtering through the windows and cracks on the door. His crown is missing too.

My knees feel cold, and my body colder, though I can't explain this emotion I'm feeling. I'm just feeling. I feel angry, I feel scared, I feel regret. I feel lost, I feel lonely, and I feel everything at once.

Eret may have been a traitor to L'Manburg, but so was I.

I smile looking at my friend, not a happy smile like Dreams was earlier, a sad, empty smile. I lean back onto my feet, resting on my heels as my pants soak in the cold, red blood. I want to shout, cry out to the gods for doing this to Eret. I want to break my knuckles on the cobblestone walls, take my anger out on the closest thing that could bring peace to my raging fire of emotions. I didn't want to leave this room without some sort of answer, some sort of closure.

Closing my eyes, blocking out the bright light coming from the sun. I feel the water welling up behind my eyelids, feel as the tear fell from my face and splattered on the floor, disappearing in the red sea below it. I find Eret's face, and gently close his eyes with my fingers.

He deserved, at least, to rest peacefully.

Minutes pass, maybe a few, and I stand. I finally move after staring at the dead body that was once a good, kind friend of mine, of Tommy, of Tubbo, of all of us. He may have betrayed us all in the end, but he was still present in all of our hearts. He always will be.

I move towards the door that opened up into the hallway, red footsteps trailing behind me as I do, I want to look back, I want to bury Eret, I want to do something. Just something. Not leave him behind in this big, empty castle until he's discovered again by someone new. I don't want to stay any longer then I have to though.

So I don't, and instead I leave towards Manburg, towards the one thing that Eret would have wanted. I convinced myself that this, this is what Eret would have wanted. I head to the button. And this time, I will not make excuses. This time, I will not hesitate.

This time, I will blow the damn place to all fucking hell.

𝟷𝟷𝟹𝟿 ᴡᴏʀᴅs