Family Jewels | Dream Smp Royal AU

Chapter Twelve, Just Do It

   The sound of the door slamming shut startled me awake. I nearly fell out of my bed as I struggled to untangle myself from the bedsheets. "Techno? It's pretty late?" I heard Phil say, obviously just being awoken from a nap. He yawned as I opened the door quietly.

    "I know, but Dream insisted on looking for Y/n and Opal at night. And since he's in the area I just decided to stop by." Techno plopped down in a chair at the table, Phil taking the seat next to him. I slipped down the stairs until I could peek through the railings without being spotted.

   "Where's he searching?" Phil asked, resting his face on his hand.

   "I think he said some house in the forest, said it belonged to Opal's grandmother." My heart froze, grip on the rails growing tighter as Techno continued. "He had raided a place where Opal used to live and found it circled on a map." Phil scoffed, slumping forward.

   "Sounds like a trap."

   "Yeah, but I didn't want to rain on his parade." The two kept talking mindlessly as I sat there, panic starting to infest my chest. If Opal was going to trap Dream, he'd be severely under-prepared. He didn't even know half the things I'd discovered, a severe disadvantage.

   She'd kill him.

   The thought made my blood run cold, and drove my feet to climb the stairs again. I walked into my room, staring out the window into the dark abyss outside. If all of the cousins and siblings were alive, it'd be nearly impossible to beat them all. My older sister, Garnet, when she was just a kid she was as strong as our mom. No doubt, with the ability to heal most--if not all--wounds, she'd be unstoppable. I anxiously paced the length of my room, hands twisting up the fabric of my pants. I shouldn't feel bad, Dream tried to kill me, but the gnawing sensation in the pit of my stomach made me feel sick. Who else was with him? What if Tommy, or Tubbo were with him?

   I grabbed the mask from my bag, slipping the leather straps around my belt. I had to stop the massacre that was about to occur. I pulled on my coat and grabbed my ax. For a brief moment, when I looked at the ax, I didn't see my reflection. Instead, I saw the image of a scared girl, hiding in a closet as she heard the screams of her family around her. She was trying to close her eyes and open them in hopes it was a bad dream, but the screams seemed to go on for eternity.

   I shook my head and walked to the window. Now was not the time. I looked over at my nightstand, briefly. The necklace XD gave me sparkling in the dim light of the lamp next to my bed. Just in case, I thought, grabbing the necklace and clipping it around my neck.

    I pushed open the window as quietly as I could, jumping down. Phil and Techno's conversation didn't stop, and I sighed. Carl was tied up at the side of the house, munching on some hay left out for him. I untied his reins and he looked at me, neighing. I shushed him as I mounted him. He bucked slightly, and I tried to calm him down by patting his neck gently. He stopped moving around and neighed, loudly.

   Techno and Phil stopped talking and I cursed under my breath. I squeezed my legs against Carl's body and he started to run. I glanced back, finding Techno staring at me from the door, wide eyes decorated by confusion. I turned around, whispering an apology. I'd return him safely, I told the Techno in my mind.

   I steered the horse towards a patch of forest, where my childhood home was. If it were up to me, I'd choose never to go back to that dilapidated old thing, but now there was no choice. Either I remain in my room, knowing people were dying and I could stop it, or go to my gorey roots to stop another massacre from happening at that home.

   Carl ran into the forest, jumping over fallen trees and ducking under low branches with ease. I lowered my head, looking towards the clearing that I knew had the house. I pulled back on Carl's reins a bit away from where the trees would stop, where he'd hopefully be safe. I jumped off and tied his reins around a branch.

   I grabbed my ax and took a deep breath. I was going to betray my family again. But it had to be done, or else Drista would never be safe.

   I walked towards the treeline, and held onto my ax tightly. Dream, Wilbur, Tommy, Tubbo, George, and Sapnap, all there, all facing my once departed cousins and siblings. All of them, except Lavender. I looked around, spotting her just a bit away from me, staring at the interaction as well.

   "Hey, Lav," I said, walking towards her. She looked at me, a solemn look in her glossy eyes.

   "Hi, Y/n," she whispered, voice hoarse. "Why did it have to go like this?" She sniffled, wiping her eyes. "Why couldn't we all just be a happy family and live here forever?" Lavender wandered over to me and laid her head against my shoulder. "We didn't do anything wrong, did we?"

    "No, we didn't do anything, you didn't do anything." She seemed more upset by this, hands grabbing at the back of my shirt.

   "Then why did they come for us?" she cried. I dropped the ax and wrapped my arms around Lavender. I hadn't given a hug to her in so long, I hadn't given anyone in my family a hug in so long, over a decade. "I don't wanna be like this, I don't wanna be dead and alive, I don't wanna have to hurt other people. I didn't wanna stab that girl, I promise I didn't, but I wanted my family again," she sobbed, "I just wanted to be happy, like everyone else."

   "I wish I could turn back time and stop everything from happening," I whispered, throat tightening up as tears started to form in my eyes. "Every day I woke up and wished I was just living a dream, so I could hug you again." Lavender muffled a loud sob into my shoulder, tears soaking through my shirt. "Gods, I would die a hundred times over if it just meant you would be alive and happy, along with everyone else." I took a deep breath, untangling myself from her arms. I suddenly felt cold again, lonely.

    "But we can't," I told her, my hand cupping her face. "You're dead, regret is the only thing tying you here."

   "I just wanna see my mom again," Lavender wept, "it's been so long..." Lavender grabbed the ax off the ground and handed it to me. "Kill me." I stared at her, shaking my head.

   "No."

   "You have to," she insisted gently. Memories of that day bubbled up in my head again, prying the bloody ax out of Coral's small hands, having to walk over body after body of everyone I loved.

   "No, no, I can't," I whispered, shaking my head. Lavender lifted my hand that held the ax, pressing it against her neck.

   "I'm already dead."

   "I--I'm so sorry Lav, I love you," I cried quietly.

   "I love you, too."

   Blood splattered against the ground, and I dropped the ax. I stared at my stained hands and clothes, then at Lavender's head. I tore my gaze away from her, burying my face in my hands. She wanted me to do this, she wanted me to kill her. I looked up at the stars, tears cascading down my face. She was up there, in the realm Kristen made for souls such as hers, she was hugging aunt Amethyst and everyone else who died in that home.

   "Y/n!" A voice screamed, Opal's voice. I grabbed the ax again and tried to wipe my tears. But they still kept coming. I walked out of the forest, and everyone looked back. They had fought already, but Dream was the only one beat up. He was standing in front of everyone, sword at the ready, facing Garnet, who's eyes softened as I passed. I couldn't look at her though, all I saw was Lavender's soft gaze before I killed her. That's right, I had actually killed her.

   Opal didn't look like herself, her hair was unkempt and blood trickled down the side of her neck. Her eyes were wide, and she stared in my direction. She held a bow and arrow, pulling it back. "You..."

   "Shut the hell up, save your villain speech for someone who didn't just have to kill their little cousin." I raised my ax, glaring at her. "I'm going to kill you for making me do that."