PRINCESS ANARCHY | DSMP

28. Victory or Death

   "WE WOULD LIKE TO SURRENDER."

   Nia stares at Dream once those words leave his mouth. The man in a green hoodie looks over the crowd of Pogtopians, standing at his full height. They exchange glances, confusion and relief crossing their faces all at once.

   "Schlatt is an idiot." Dream shakes his head. "I— well, I have something to show you," he says. "Follow me, Wilbur."

   Walking in the direction of a run-down van, Nia notices that despite Dream telling only Wilbur to follow, everyone else did so as well. Even her, in fact.

   They end up cramped inside, outside or on top of the van, spotting Schlatt inside. He discarded his armor at some point, the gear laying in the corner of the van.

   "Schlatt?" Wilbur speaks up, addressing the Manburg president. "Schlatt, what are you doing?"

   The President looks at Wilbur and then everyone else, a confused smile appearing on his lips. "What's going on?" he questions. "Is this a surprise birthday party?"

   Nia takes a proper look at the tall man in a suit. He's clutching a bottle of whiskey in one hand. He takes a swig straight from the bottle, convinced that nothing is wrong.

   She feels partly sorry for the man. She can sense it in her bones that Schlatt isn't okay physically. Not just because he's obviously drunk, but it's almost like she can feel his weak heartbeat, and the illness coursing through his veins.

   No amount of regeneration potions or golden apples could permanently heal his ailment

   "Schlatt, why are you— what are you doing in my drug van?" Wilbur tries again. "It better not be drugs."

   That brings out a few laughs, despite the horrible situation they've all found themselves in.

   "Fundy? Fundy, are you here?" Schlatt ignores Wilbur, despite the tall man with a beanie standing right in front of him. Instead, Schlatt searches for the fox in the crowd.

   Fundy steps out with a nod. "Yeah, I'm here, Schlatt," he says.

   "You," Schlatt growls, glaring at the fox. Clutching the whiskey bottle in his hands to the point of his knuckles turning white, he swings the bottle at Fundy. "You disappoint me, you little— you!"

   The fox blocks the hit with his arm, the glass breaking against the netherite armor.

   "Schlatt, you fucked up the country!" Fundy exclaims, his gaze set on the broken bottle first. He dares look up to stare into Schlatt's eyes seconds later, sighing. "You fucked up everything! You had a dream and I followed it . . . but you— you brought it downhill! Everything— you've— you ruined it! You ruined everything we had!"

   Fundy shakes his head, his face contorted in disappointment and anger. "I thought you were something! So, don't tell me I'm the one who's disappointing!"

   Nia looks around herself. The Pogtopians, the Badlands, Dream, Punz, Sapnap and Purpled are all present at the van, watching Schlatt slowly lose it.

   Something else catches her attention, however. That being the crow that she's seen just this morning. The same crow watches the situation unfold. Nia stares at it until it notices that it's been spotted.

   Only then does it decide to take off, flying toward the woods outside of Manburg.

   Nia takes advantage of the fact that she never fully entered the van. She exists inconspicuously, following the black bird into the forest. The princess doesn't go very deep before she gets to watch the crow land on someone's shoulder.

   It's a man with shoulder-long blonde hair, a green and white striped hat sitting on the top of his head. He wears a green jinbei, a dark cape draped over his back as if covering something.

   Nia watches the man nod as the crow seemingly communicates with him. Knitting her eyebrows together, she wonders who this person is, and what they're doing here, at the Dream SMP, in the middle of the war.

   She wants to leave eventually, feeling like an intruder on someone's privacy. But the man catches her eyes then, the crow on his shoulder staring right at her.

   He doesn't say anything. The man winks at Nia, putting his index finger on his lips as a sign for her to stay quiet. And with a smile, he disappears deep into the woods.

   All Nia can think, as if the leaves, wind and the rest of nature are telling her this information: It's not his time yet.

   Bewildered, Nia goes back to the run-down van, seeing that not much has changed. Everybody is still there, listening to Schlatt's tangent about Quackity.

   "Alright, that's it!" Wilbur exclaims, shaking his head. He holds his sword in one hand, pointing it at Schlatt. "Victory, or death. Eret, you remember this one."

   "I remember it very vividly," Eret concurs with a regretful sigh.

   "Y'know, if I die, this country goes down with me," states Schlatt, facing Wilbur as if he's not on the verge of death. One wrong move, and he can be easily struck down. But it doesn't seem to bother him in the slightest.

   "No, it won't." Tommy shakes his head.

   "Schlatt, any other last words, then? Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Wilbur ignores Schlatt's comment, just as well as Tommy's reply.

   Schlatt stays quiet for a moment. He doesn't say anything, merely looking around. He coughs then, covering his mouth with his hand.

   "Does anyone else smell toast?" he asks, bringing on a coughing fit. "I can't— I can't feel my arm."

   "Schlatt?" Wilbur comes closer to the President, trying to check on him.

   Schlatt starts hyperventilating, struggling to breathe. He ignores the presence of everybody around him, his eyes darting from one person to another in confusion. He squints his eyes at some, as if he's struggling to see them.

   "Schlatt? Just give us your last words," Wilbur presses, only to be ignored by the President.

   They watch him hyperventilate, and Nia looks at Eret and Technoblade, both standing on either side of her.

   "Is he having a stroke?" Eret questions.

   "Shouldn't someone help him?" asks Nia.

   "That would kinda defeat the point of executing him, wouldn't it?"

   As Technoblade says it, Schlatt collapses to the ground, hitting his head on the remnants of the floor that used to belong to the van.

Wilbur drops down to check Schlatt's pulse, his hand on the man's neck. Shaking his head, Wilbur looks at everyone fathered by the van.

   "What?"

   "Eh?"

   "Did he— did he just have a heart attack?!" exclaims Tubbo, bewildered.

   "Wait . . . does that— does that mean we won?" Fundy tilts his head to the side.

   "Yeah. We won," Sara smiles at him.

   "Oh, and another thing," Dream speaks up. "There was never actually a traitor in Pogtopia." The lie slides off his tongue so easily. Nia would've almost believed him.

   "Wait, but . . . I thought I was the tr—" says Wilbur, stopping himself mid-sentence. He admits to being the traitor in front of everybody. Though they completely ignore him, instead celebrating that Schlatt is dead.

   Manburg is no more.