Poplar St. (OFFICIAL WATTPAD UPLOAD)

Homecoming

He could feel it in the way Phil looked at him.

Quackity felt his teeth clench as they walked back towards the meadow. Phil hadn't spoken up since they'd run into each other, but the man didn't need to. Quackity was just a tool, just someone to fix the messes Phil had made.

Quackity hated it.

He hated it because he was a means to an end, which was all he'd ever been. He'd gotten a taste of freedom, a taste of serving himself and his own whims alone when he'd led the Butcher Army. Sure it had been short-lived, sure he'd gotten cocky and Techno had caved his skull in because of it, but it had been his idea.

The taste of being in control had never been so sweet.

Techno was in the meadow when they returned, and Tubbo was there too, feeding Michael—who was perched happily in Ranboo's lap—some applesauce. Ranboo looked exhausted and his skin was freckled with mild burns, but he seemed alright. Tubbo, on the other hand...

"Phil!" Tubbo remarked cheerfully, his voice slightly hoarse. "You're—"

His face screwed up in discomfort, and he broke into a coughing fit. He was even paler, the dark circles under his eyes practically twice as prominent, and his injured arm was tucked close to his chest like a songbird with a broken wing. The poor kid looked like he had a nasty flu.

"Oh dear," Phil said.

Quackity scowled as Phil rushed over to fuss over Tubbo. Techno, who was currently polishing his famed Orphan Obliterator clean of Dreamon guts, rolled his eyes.

Their gazes met for a split second too long.

Quackity sneered.

Techno narrowed his eyes, but stayed silent.

"You look even worse than before," Phil fretted, feeling Tubbo's forehead. "My gods, you're cold. Is your arm doing alright, Tubbs?"

"S'fine, s'fine," Tubbo waved him off. "I'm just feelin' a little under the weather, that's all—"

He broke off in another coughing fit.

"We're taking you to a doctor," Ranboo said, anxiously stroking the tufts of hair on Michael's head. "I don't think it's just Wither sickness."

"You do that," Techno grumbled dryly, pulling himself to his feet and slinging his sword across his back, and shoving a backpack at Quackity. "Here's your axe and your armor; I cleaned them up a little. I have to go back to my Pop and see if he pulled through. Don't contact me unless it's important."

Then he trudged off, muttering something about damn kids always causing problems.

Phil heaved a sigh.

"Well, I know where I'm going," Quackity huffed.

Phil, Ranboo, Tubbo, and Michael all stared at him expectantly.

"Eurus," he continued. "My hometown. Something's telling me I gotta go back. Something there'll give me answers."

———

They went back into the Nether.

It took a whole day to travel to the portal matrix that Quackity remembered stepping through long ago, even after finding a pack of Striders. Eurus was far to the north, and Quackity hadn't been back there in years. Phil had agreed they should go, mostly since Eurus was supposedly very close to some ruins he wanted to look at.

To be honest, he was nervous about coming home.

The sun was setting by the time they rented pack mules in the town outside the Nether portal to ride out to Eurus, and Tubbo was shivering, even though he was resting in the saddle flush against Ranboo's chest with Michael in his lap. He looked incredibly tired, too, eyelids visibly sagging. Fighting off monsters wasn't that difficult, thankfully. The road was right on the shoreline, and Quackity had enough water to deal with the occasional spider or zombie that wandered onto the well-lit path. They ended up having to sleep in shifts on the backs of their mounts, until finally dawn was shimmering on the horizon and the seaport that Quackity had grown up near was gleaming in the rising sun.