My Broken Family

|The Duel|

Everyone was on edge after the betrayal. But only one thing was on Tommy's mind. How can we win our independence? It's a very simple solution actually. You give up your life.

It was the first thing that came to mind. He wanted to make the people he cared about proud. He wanted his dad to look down at him from the castle in the sky and think, That's my boy! So, he was gonna get independence for L'Manberg. 

That led to him doing something irrational, though. He walked up to Dream and started yelling at him. Yelling at the masked man until Wilbur and Tubbo had to start holding him back. That's when Tommy finally snapped and yelled something he could come to regret.

"A duel! If you win, L'Manberg is still under your control! If I win, L'Manberg is a free nation!"

That made Wilbur let go of Tommy almost immediately. When Tommy looked his uncle in the eyes, he couldn't tell if Wilbur was disgusted or disappointed. Maybe it was both. He looked over to Tubbo, who was still limply holding him back. Fear shone in his brother's eyes. He could see Tubbo was scared. What Tubbo was scared about, Tommy had no idea.

Tommy could practically see the smirk that Dream had. Even if the man was wearing a mask, Tommy knew. He just knew. Tommy saw the red string again, the one that resulted in death. And it went right through his heart. He was gonna die during this duel. There would be no independence. He would lose another life. But there was no backing down now.

When they got back to L'Manberg, Wilbur started yelling his ear off. But Tommy didn't mind. It was quite comforting to know that before losing his second life that Wilbur was still being Wilbur. Tommy got everything he deemed important. That meant he got his green bandanna from Tubbo and he got the necklace with Cat and Mellohi on it. And with that, he walked towards the river. The river where he would die.

He kinda wondered if his blood would stain the water red. He also wondered who he would see after he died. Would he see that goddess again? Would he get to see his mother? He was quite curious.

When they arrived at the river, George handed him a few arrows and a plain bow. Tommy gave one last hopeful look at Tubbo before getting into position, his back nearly against Dream's. Gods above, how he wanted to kill that bastard! But Tommy knew, he would not be winning this duel.

1

Tommy took one step forward. He could feel Dream do the same. Gods, why did it feel like this was taking forever?! Why couldn't he get this over with quickly!

2

Another step was taken. One step closer to death.

3

Another step. Gods, why couldn't this hurry up?!

4

Another step.

5

Another step..

6

Another step...

7

Another goddamn step!

8

Why couldn't this fucking hurry up?! 

9

Another fucking step!

10

Fucking finally! Now he could get this over with!

He heard Wilbur say the words.

"Paces. Fire!"

He turned around and shot, knowing he missed. There was no red string going through anywhere on Dream's body. Was it just him or was the red string of death attached to him glowing brighter?

Dream fired his shot and it went directly through Tommy's heart. Tommy looked at Dream, a look of pride shining through the boy's eyes. He had accepted his death long before the duel even began. He threw the discs of Cat and Mellohi at Dream. He said his final phrase before losing his second life.

"The discs... for L'Manberg's freedom..."

And then he tripped into the water, his body limp from dying moments before.

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It didn't feel strange this time when he awoke here. He didn't see the goddess this time but he saw someone. He looked down. Why was he on a boat? Didn't he just lose a life? Was L'Manberg just a dream? Were the people he cared about just a dream?

He looked back up at the person, trying to identify them. When he saw the color of the clothes the boy was wearing, that's when it clicked.

"Purpled?! What are you doing on a pirate boat in the afterlife?!"

He got a nervous chuckle as a response. Purpled's bright purple eyes looked at him, guilt shining in them.

"Don't tell anyone but I've been finding different ways to walk the realm between life and true death. Anyone who loses a life that isn't their last, wanders this realm for some time before returning to their bodies. I've been dabbling in ways to come here without dying. And I've succeeded... a lot..."

Tommy sat there, shocked. You could come here without actually dying? How was that even possible? And how had Purpled figured it out?

He was snapped out of his thoughts when someone came marching towards Purpled. Tommy swore he saw a dog's tail...

The person that now stood in front of Purpled, quite literally barked at him.

"What are you doing here?! You haven't lost a life!"

And before he could hear the rest of the yelling at Purpled, he woke up in his own bed. He could see Tubbo sitting beside the bed along with Wilbur. They looked up at him, pride and joy in their eyes. But Tommy couldn't get the idea out of his head.

You could go to that realm without actually dying...