Sleepy Fantasy

Chapter 24

"Thank the heavens you're back," Ranboo ran up to them as Phil led them into the throne room. "I don't think he's doing too well, whatever Tommy did has really affected him."

"Techno!" Wilbur called as he ran past Ranboo to the open bedroom door, he needed the confirmation that his twin was alive. Inside the room Techno was sat by the dim fire, he stared at the flames, frozen in place. "Tech?" He flinched when Wilbur sat by him and hugged him, tears wetting his tunic.

"Will," Techno breathed, the word barely audible. He expected Wilbur to be a ghost, not the human in front of him. "How?"

"Let's just call it a miracle," Wilbur smiled, using his sleeve to wipe off his tears.

"He-he betrayed me," Techno looked down at the ground, he thought Tommy was with him, that Tommy was one of the few people he could trust.

"Well I guess we're all learning that he's no longer the Tommy we knew," Tubbo said, his voice was still horace and the once faded bruises on his neck had reformed as if he had just been injured.

"What did he do," Ranboo asked, needing to know if they needed elixirs. With Tommy he had learned that the boy had nearly photographic memory, so the effects of him messing with others minds were still unknown.

"He messed with our minds," Clay said, his voice wavered and for the first time Sapnap saw a different side of him. This wasn't the defensive, guarded Clay he knew.

"I died, all over again," Wilbur whispered, this time it was Techno that hugged him. New scars decorated his face and neck, scars from long gone wounds.

"Don-don't you have to talk to this council," Clay looked at Drista.

"Yes, I do," she straightened at the mention of the council.

"I should come too," Techno started to stand up, but his knees buckled from underneath him. "I made some grave errors in judgment."

"You're in no position to stand, I'll come," Ranboo said, "my word will be just as good as Techno's."

"But it won't," Techno said as Wilbur helped him stand up, "I put myself into this position, I'll get us out."

"Here," Phil set Tommy down on the bed, "I'll go get that staff, make sure he doesn't wake up."

Ranboo then realized something at the mention of the staff. "This is great! Without that staff Tommy probably can't go anywhere. If he wakes up he can't escape."

"What do you mean," Clay asked.

"Tommy's been partially paralyzed from the waist down, the staff had been enchanted to give a boost to the holder's legs," Ranboo explained.

"That'll work," Techno recalled the past week. As he did he kept finding thoughts that weren't his, but they almost seemed like his. The attack on the Northern Palace would kill hundreds on both sides, and if he were to leave the manor unprotected the king would be able to attack them, over take the manor, and kill the young creatures that lived there. If he wanted to kill Drista and the human royal family he could have sent an assassin or gone himself. He wanted to stop the war, not keep it going.

"I've got it," Phil came back in with the staff. Techno adjusted his cape, took the staff, and looked over at Drista, he knew what he had to do. He didn't want to but right now the best thing to do was to get this power off his shoulders. Then, he could be free to do what he wanted, without anything restricting him.

"Okay then, let's do this," Drista said, part of her worried that Techno wouldn't change anything and her sentence of treason would stand. Silently she followed Techno, taking in the throne room, worried that it might be the last time she saw it, and entered the council room.