Upon the Ruins of a Broken World II A Dreamsmp AU

Bright Light

"Tommy?" Wilbur asked, looking down on him. "Are you scared of the dark, mate?" 

Tommy stood before a dark alleyway, his older brother already in the shadows. Wilbur was not afraid of the dark. 

Tommy nodded timidly, watching his brother with vibrant blue eyes. 

"Tommy, there is nothing to be scared of." Wilbur said, stepping from the shadows and kneeling in front of his eleven-year-old brother. 

"Tommy, the dark isn't the thing you are afraid of."

Tommy gazed into his brother's glimmering eyes. Wilbur was so sure of himself.

"Then what am I afraid of?" He asked softly. 

Wilbur smiles lovingly at him and pulled him into a hug.

"The dark is a place where you hide all your fears, Tommy, a place where you can't see but also can't be seen." Wilbur whispered.

Wilbur stood, holding Tommy's hand and walked towards the alley, towards the dark and what lurked within it. 

"You don't have to be afraid of the dark, Tommy, you don't have to be afraid of anything." Wilbur said confidently. 

"Because you are Tommy, my brother and you have a spitfire for a spirit. Nothing, not the fears you have, not the dark, not the unknown, nothing can come close to you if you are strong." 

"How can I be strong?" Tommy asked, halting right before the shadows. 

"If you believe, Tommy, believe that you can defeat your fears, triumph," Wilbur looked at Tommy and winked. 

"Then you can do anything."

"Do you believe in yourself, Wil?" Tommy asked, looking up at his brother. 

Wilbur sighed heavily before nodding. 

"Yes." 

Tommy still looked uncertain.

"Tommy, just believe in yourself. You are capable of so many great things." Wilbur said softly.

Tommy glanced between his brother and the shadows. Then he stepped forward, into the dark.

>>—–—<•0•>—–—<<

Tommy felt a tug on his arms and a brutal wrench on his heel. He sunk further into the dark, dragging Phil into the shadow. 

"No." He breathed. He would not let them take him. He was not afraid of the dark. He was not afraid of the void.

Was it just him or did the cavern lighten slightly. No. It was becoming brighter. 

He could see the walls, the floor, the ceiling. The abyss was vanishing. 

Tommy kicked at the hands, feeling them lose their grip on him. Sliding from him as if his skin was covered in oil. 

He was not afraid. 

He kicked at them viciously, earning cold screams of pain. They were letting go. Phil was pulling back now, Tommy's arm appeared in the light, then his head, then his shoulders. 

Slowly, straining, Phil pulled him from the tunnel. Only when Tommy's tail pulled through do they both collapse on the light. They lay there, heaving and panting. 

Finally, Tommy didn't know how much later, Phil sat up and looked at him worriedly. He had thought the man would show fear or anger, but Phil simply waited, calm.

"I don't know." Tommy muttered sitting upright, careful to keep his body parts away from the darkness. 

"I think I do." Phil said. 

Tommy looked at him questioningly at that.

"I think we should talk about your... ability."