Resurfaced

Chapter 7

*Casually writes fanfics*

Extracurriculars: Hey, can I- *punches me in the face*

Academics: *Drop-kicks me across the room*

Me: lands on my keyboard and accidentally permanently deletes half of my one-shot and part of my chapter* WHAT THE HELL?!?

Anyway, enjoy the longest chapter yet!

________________

Phill sighed, resting his weight on the fancy wooden desk in front of. Papers littered his vision, each one representing another thing that he had to take care of. Decisions he had to approve, announcements he had to make. His head ached, and every fiber in his being protested as he picked up another paper, this one about the hybrid tolerance laws being ignored in the northern provinces. There was a standard procedure for this if only he could remember it. What he wouldn't do for a break.

The main doors to the workroom suddenly flew open with a bang, startling the Avian Emporer. Phill looked up expectantly, knowing there were exactly three people in the world who could enter his private office like that. Well, four, but Tubbo would never. It was Tommy, who had somehow gotten his shirt and hair all messed up already.

"Phillza! Hey big man!" Tommy said cheerfully as if it was a complete surprise he found the older man here, in his office, especially when the teen had obviously been looking for him. Phill suppressed a laugh.

"Hey mate? What's up?"

Tommy tilted his head at that. "It's like, 3:30? Don't we have the big all importing meeting in like 30 minutes? Will sent me to remind you." Phill looked over at the clock. Was it that late in the day already? Well, at the very least this was that distraction he had been longing for. He pushed his chair back and stood up with a grunt, stretching his raven wings out as far as he could in the enclosed space, wingtips bruising either wall and blocking a good portion of the light that streamed in through the stained glass windows.

When the feathered appendages were settled in a resting position on his back once again, he turned to the teen in front of him. "It's time for that already? Okay, I'll be there. You run to your room and change into something respectable, please. And comb your hair for Prime's sake!" The last part was called after the retiring figure that was Tommy, who seemed to have dismissed himself as soon as he was told to do something in true Tommy fashion.

Phill took his seat at the head of the table, and while he had always insisted on being treated just like everyone else in the castle, that was a rule that was only half followed. He had to dismiss several servents and at least three of his personal guard to wait in the hall or return to their rooms so he could have some space before the start of the meeting. Wilbur sat in his seat, having some kind of staring contest with Tommy, who was across from him. It was immature and quite unprofessional, but it was keeping both of them occupied in a relatively calm way and Phill knew that was almost more than he could ask from the boys. Technos seat was empty, the piglen brute having said something about a "security breach" but Phill knew it was more about escaping social interaction than anything else.

At the other end of the table was the leader of the Hermits, XisumaVoid, and three of the hermits who had been elected to represent their group. In a custom-built wheeled chair to the void walkers left was a man who had been introduced as Scar. Like many of the hermits, he had sustained major injury in- whatever the Prime happened to them- and was rendered unable to walk. To the foreign admins right was an odd man by the name of Joe Hills, and the only person Phill had ever met who could out-word-smith Wilbur. The remainder of the hermits were scattered around the castle, though after seeing the bond between them for only a few hours the Avian emperor knew without a doubt that most of them were in the hospital wing with the most dangerously injured among them.