I Can't Remember

[14]

Wilbur looked around. His neck craned to see anything other than the oppressive darkness of the train station, but in vain. The young man tried to concentrate. He could hear a distant guitar. That wasn't there before. Some loud swearing. Well, he assumed it was loud, it sounded muffled to him.

Wilbur knew what this meant. He was still partly in the real world. It was all supposedly a dream, probably only half existing. He wasn't back... there. At least not permanently.

"Well of course it's not permanent!" Exclaimed a voice. Wilbur turned around to face the person. Blood drained from his face. He felt lightheaded, like he needed to sit down before he fell. Right in front of him was the man who had led him to the worst time of his adulthood.

"Wow handsome, not a single thing to say? Man, I knew I left people speechless with my words, but this is a new one!"

Annoyed by his words, Wilbur managed to grit out some words.

"What the fuck do you mean by that?"

"By what?" The man said innocently.

"Why is it obviously not permanent?"

"Because, Wilbur, you're not going to stay in the land of the dead while your physical body is alive."

Wilbur clenched his jaw at this. He wanted to find something to punch, or someone. Even still, he pulled shyly at his serves and kept an unfocused gaze on the ground.

"This is stupid, i never even saw you in limbo.." he whispered. Suddenly, his eyes glazed over with a newfound emotion. Rage. "There was no one! No Tommy, no Friend, no Schlatt!!! No way this is a dream!" He screamed. Jschlatt smirked. It was fun to have his playthings back.

"You're right, you're right. Or are you?" Jschlatt got close to Wilbur's face, so close that Wilbur had to physically stop himself from flinching away. He laughed loudly, walking backward and waving his arms around, as if welcoming him.

"The gods have decided for you, President Soot! You belong here. In limbo. Unfortunately, your body doesn't think so, and there's only so much the gods can do. But the book, oh, the book! You have no idea what miracles it is truly capable of! Though, who am I to assume? I mean, you have seen how it works."

Wilbur shivered. He tried to stop himself from shaking. He couldn't let the other man see.

"What book- look, if you're going to talk to me as if I'm not in a dream could you please at least make sense?"

"You know what book, Wilbur. Don't pretend," said jschlatt, suddenly very serious. Wilbur looked away, deciding that the faraway bench on the train station was more worthy of his attention. He had forgotten how outlandish and dramatic schlatt could be.

"The..."Wilbur started. jschlatt nodded excitedly in reassurance.

"The book... of revival?" Wilbur finished hesitantly.

"Yes! That's it! You can use it now, Wilbur, the power is in your hands. you can do this, and you can do it better than Dream." Jschlatt exclaimed. The genuine excitement in his voice made Wilbur's skin crawl.

Wilbur hesitated again.

He remembered all the friendships he was trying to fix.

He remembered visiting Tubbo and Ranboo, and playing with their son Michael. (He was so much like Fundy, why couldn't he have his little champion back?)

He remembered Niki, looking more confident in herself than ever. (She had even opened a bakery, god her cakes were delicious.)

He remembered Phil and Technoblade, his old family. Finally seeming like they gave a damn about what happened to Wilbur. (They had somehow become closer to him the longer he was dead. How was that even possible?)

And finally, he remembered Tommy.

He remembered his antics, now subdued with hesitance in his heart.

Every joke he made was half-hearted, every mockery was in fear, and Wilbur knew who caused it. Dream. But he had tried to confront the man, he had seen the prisoner lose his memory. No one to hurt now.

Wilbur couldn't just hurt a man who didn't even recall fucking up Tommy as he did! He was mad, but not heartless.

No. He wouldn't use the book. It was a nuisance at best, and a threat to all their sanity at worst.

And he said so to schlatt.

"Wilbur, you naive boy! You can talk to dead people, you can talk to me!" the older man spoke. He rested his hands on Wilbur's shoulders. Wilbur tried to shrug them away but they wouldn't budge. "Don't you realise? This is the biggest thing you can hang over their heads!"

"I don't want to do that," Wilbur pleaded, looking around the station. This was the last place he would achieve his goals. Goals of tranquility. "I'm trying to live a peaceful life, S-"

"All that power, all that respect! You can have it back! You can have it all back, Wilbur just let me..."

A maniacal grin took over the man's face.

"Let me show you how"

[01-11-2022]