Good Things Never Last

Chapter 67

Pulling on my enchanted netherite armour, I decided that there was a more pressing issue at hand than my hallucinations. I had a war to win.

Sighing, I slowly made my way out of the ravine to find the group charging over a hill covered in glowing purple armour.
"Let's get L'Manburg back baby"
I chuckled to myself as I joined the bunch, running over and jumping onto Techno's back.
"Let's fucking go"
Techno let out one of his monotone chuckles as he hoisted me further onto his back, looping his arms around my legs so he was giving me a piggyback.

With that, we were off. It was the group of us against the world, and nothing was going to stop us. As we approached the bridge, I heard Quackity start to yell from the front of the group.
"So anyone wanna own up?"
"Oh yeah, who's the traitor guys? Tubbo is it you?"
I snickered at Tommy's childishness as I watched Tubbo rapidly shake his head, earning a laugh from everyone else.
"Righty, let's go beat some ass"

Our group cheered as we ran over the railway. Well, they are. I'm still clinging onto Techno's shoulders. As we approached enemy territory, he gently let me down, and I gave him a grateful smile. That's when the first arrow was fired. It zipped through the air, narrowly missing Techno's long braid of pinkish hair, which he had let me do at the bonfire the night before.

All of our heads snapped in the direction of the arrow, and we were greeted with the sight of the opponents, who stood tall on Eret's tower, each of them aiming a bow down at us. They all fired in unison, leading to us all raising our shields to block the shots. It was like it was raining arrows as we slowly approached the tower, everyone huddling close for protection.
"We need to storm the tower"
I just nodded in agreement as we all dashed through the door. Surprisingly, none of our opponents were able to land a single hit as we did.

I quickly scrambled up the ladder as I began to hear the muffled yells of confusion coming from Schlatt's side. I paused at the opening to the floor they stood on, silently drawing my axe as I heard a floorboard creak from my right. Nodding quickly at the others, I pounced. I managed to launch myself into the air and tackle the unknown individual to the ground, earning a groan of discomfort, while my teammates did something similar on the other ladders.

When I finally looked up, my eyes locked with a dull pair owned by the white bone mask. I found myself frozen as I took in the blond coated head to toe in glistening armour. Our eyes connected for only an instant before I rolled off my opponent and jumped to my feet, readying myself in a fighting stance. Yes, I considered Clay a friend, but war was war, and he was once again on the wrong side. Dream slowly dragged himself to his feet, but he didn't pull his axe. Instead, he dropped his mask to display his emerald eyes and closed his left one softly before revealing an ender pearl.
"See you on the battlefield princess"
And with that, he disappeared.

I looked around to see the rest of the opposition pearl away as my allies drew their bows and began to rain fire on them like they'd done to us a couple of minutes before.
"We're not gonna win a war from up here, are we?"
I heard a hum of agreement as I pulled out an ender pearl and threw it to the ground about a hundred feet below.

Moments later, I stood on the grass with my team surrounding me, scanning the area for the enemy. They all seemed to appear at once as we sprung into action. I quickly went to load my crossbow, grabbing a firework from Techno's pocket, before hearing a twig snap from behind me. I spun around and came face to face with a raven-haired young man. He was dressed entirely in netherite, which gleamed in the dim light of the sun set behind him. His hair was tied back by a white bandana that fluttered in the breeze with his hair as his hazel eyes met my own.

"Sap, I don't want to fight you"
I took a step forward while lowering my slightly, but not enough to leave me undefended.
"Well I don't want to fight you either Y/N"
An idea quickly flashed through my mind as I re-strapped my crossbow back on my back before drawing my axe once more and standing in a defensive stance.
"What are you doing?"
I watched as he pulled his blade tentatively, his gaze never leaving mine. I walked up towards him, making sure my voice was quiet and unheard by everyone except Sapnap.
"There's a traitor on my side and I can't let them think it's me, so just go along with it okay?"

He swung his sword at me once I'd finished, taking me by surprise, but my sword immediately moved to meet his in a clash. He took a step back before slicing his sword again, which I easily blocked. I stumbled back a couple of paces as Sapnap 'overpowered me'
"How could you! I thought we were friends Sapnap!"
He just rolled his eyes as he walked closer to me while I scrambled away.

At this point, our fight had attracted the attention of several others, who were all looking in our direction every few seconds to see what would happen next.
"So did I Y/N, so did I. It's not my fault you ran off with those scumbags"
I scoffed as I drew my axe back over my shoulder and prepared to swing.
"They threw me out Sap. I had no choice. And you stood and fucking watched like it was nothing. Like I wasn't losing everyone I ever had right there and then"
Sapnap was lost for words as I finally swung my axe, slicing into the centre of his shield.

I continued walking forward, taking him by surprise.
"I trusted you. I trusted everyone now that I think about it. And no one was there. No one was there when I needed them the most"
I let the forced tears of frustration start to well in my eyes as he stepped back and fell off balance. With the hilt of my axe, I shoved him back, causing him to lose his footing completely and tumble to the floor.

I lowered my axe, keeping my gaze fixed on Sapnap while he frantically looked around for someone to save him. I was surprised when his eyes stared up at me, frozen. When I shifted my head just a little, I saw he wasn't staring at me, but rather behind me. A cold object came to press up against my neck as my eyes widened in terror, silently pleading with Sapnap for help.
"Well well well, what do we have here, princess?"
It wasn't the voice I expected to hear. This one was darker, colder, and more dangerous. I hadn't heard his voice in a long time, not since I overheard his argument with Dream.

"What do you want Punz?"
I winced as more pressure was applied to the sword's blade, causing it to pierce the first layer of my skin.
"Just to finish a job you failed to complete a couple of years ago, that's all"
I watched as his knuckles turned white, tightly wrapped around the hilt of the sword.
"Punz what are you-"
"Sapnap, she was about to slit your throat if I hadn't stepped in. If anything, you should be thanking me right now"

Sapnap quickly jumped to his feet, raising his hands in surrender.
"Right, you're right, thank you. But don't you think this is a little extreme..."
"It's a necessary precaution. Plus one less enemy would make stuff a lot-"
"Punz what the fuck are you going I told you to go look for... get your fucking hands off her. Now"
His voice was low and stern as the blade against my throat was pulled away, leaving me to stumble over my feet slightly. I swiftly whirled around, not having a care in the world as I quickly raised my hand and brought it down against Punz's cheek, creating a brilliant scarlet mark as the sound reverberated throughout the battlefield.

"Punz what the actual fuck are you doing, I thought we agreed-"
Punz shifted his gaze to the masked man before striding closer to him, their faces only inches apart.
"No Dream, we didn't agree on anything. You've changed. She's made you soft. Where's the murderous lunatic gone that I used to call my friend? He's hidden deep inside of you because you're too scared you'll scare her away. If you really cared for her, he would too Clay"

I sent Sapnap the side-eye to try to ask what the fuck was going on but he seemed just as surprised as I did. Dream took a step forward, ready to respond when I heard a set of quick footsteps. All our heads turned to look towards the direction of the sound, where we saw a panting Ponk.
"We found him"