Until L'Manburg's Destroyed and Gone | Book Two of Love is a War

Chapter 19 - The Setup

Y/N POV

2 weeks spent practicing. 2. Weeks. And I still sound like absolute shit. Wilbur says I don't, but I don't believe him. Isn't he supposed to say that, considering we're... whatever we are? Enemies? Lovers? I don't fucking know. 

...

Okay, so maybe we haven't had that conversation yet, screw me! We've been busy, alright? Me going back and forth between Manburg and Pogtopia, playing the violin every second of every day, slowly driving myself insane- 

Wilbur planning on destroying L'Manburg, Techno grinding for the gear, Tubbo getting information, and Tommy... well, being Tommy; we don't have that much free time to sit and chit-chat. But we'll get there, hopefully, when things are less crazy. When L'Manburgs destroyed and gone. Everything will be perfect, and free... right? 

The day of the festival arrives faster than expected, and I wake up in Manburg with a pit in my stomach. Today is the day everything goes down, and I get the dress Dad insisted on me wearing, which is a beautiful brownish colour, similar to Wil's trenchcoat. That's all I think about as I slip into the dress, put my hair up, and stare at myself in the mirror. I don't recognize who stares back, the melonchony filled eyes of a worn, tired, violin player. That isn't me. I hear a knock at the door and turn. "Come in!" I call out, and Tubbo enters, a bounce in his step. "Morning Y/N! Are you ready for the big day?!" Tubbo asks, sitting on my bed with a bounce. 

"Ready as I'll ever be" I reply with a swallow, trying to drown my nerves as I glance at the violin sitting in the corner. 

"You'll do great if thats what what you're worried about! And if you're worried about the TNT, Wilbur's got it under control!" Tubbo says gleefully, and I smile slightly, infected by his enthusiasm. 

"You are strangely happy for a guy that knows his country is going to be blown up in a few hours."

"All good things must come to an end eventually!" Tubbo shrugs, hopping off the bed. "Anyway Schlatt told me to come get you to have breakfast and help set up." 

I sigh. "Alright. I'll be down in a few minues." I say. After Tubbo leaves, I look at myself in the mirror again. Putting on some concealer to hide my dark circles, and eyeliner and mascara, I stare. Better, but not quite right. 

 --- 

"Y/N!" Schlatt yells loudly as I enter the room, and I try not to flinch at the noise. Schlatt gestures at the wide spread of food at the table, a breakfast fit for an emperor. "Come, join me. Eat." he says, nodding at the chair across from him on the long table. I reluctantly sit as he pours himself a drink of wine. Him drinking this early is never a good sign. I stare at him until he glares. "Well go on now, grab some food." he snaps, and I hesitantly grab some chocolate chip pancakes off of a plate. "How's your piece sounding?" Schlatt asks as I swallow a piece of pancake. 

"It sounds good." I resspond quietly, and he nods. 

"It better be. It sets up the tone for the rest of the festival, so you better not fail this. I'd hate to make some... sacrifices to entertain the atendees." Schlatt says jokingly, but I could hear a hint of truth in his tone, and a dark glimmer in his eye. I swallow hard. 

"Yes father." I say quietly, and we continue to eat a bit in silence for a bit, only sound to be heard were the forks and knives scraping against the plates. 

"By the way-" Schlatt suddenly says, not looking up from his plate. "You wouldn't know of any... plots against Manburg happening today, would you?" Schlatt asks, and I freeze slightly, but will myself to act normal. 

"Not that I know of. Why? Have you heard something?" I ask, acting as if I didn't care at all about the answer. 

"Nope. Just wanted to make sure. Today needs to be perfect, after all." Schlatt says, finally looking up at me. I nod, unsure what to do or say. Then, I quickly finish my pancakes and excuse myself, heading out to help Tubbo, Niki, Fundy, Quackity, and the others set up the festival. 

Schlatt POV

As soon as Y/N leaves, I pull out my radio. I'm not surprised Y/N lied to me, just annoyed. She's always been a failure, after all. Even failing her own plans of secrecy, all spoiled by her worst nightmare. And now, they're about to be spoiled again. "Alyssa." I page into the radio, waiting for a response. It takes a few seconds until I hear a responce back. 

"Yes Mr. President?" 

"Please find and dismantle the button." I order, and I can hear Alyssa's smugness through the radio. Makes me want to kill her, stupid bitch. Thank god she'll be gone soon. I'll have no use for her after this.

"Yes sir. Anything else?" She asks, and I grin.

"Be ready at the festival. Things are going to get... interesting."  

Y/N POV

The area is covered in balloons and streamers, and the colours of our nation, with festivities and games being set up everywhere. Part of me is annoyed with the celebration, but the other side of me is happy that the citizens have something to celebrate after spending ages in misery with their new emporer. The work took hours; Niki, Fundy, Tubbo, and I working silently until we were all sore, but it was worth it to see the beauty of the area around us, and I knew the feeling would double when people start showing up. I tried talking to Fundy, but he was really off and quiet, so I left him alone. I know his relationship with Wilbur has been strained recently, and I'm likely a reminder of that, so I spent most of my time chatting with Niki and Tubbo instead. Soon people start slowly trickling in, and the smell of freshly baked goods from Niki's bake sale fill the air as people play games, hang out with friends, and have fun for the first time during this time of uncertainty. I find myself smiling, watching the boxing ring as people laugh, placing bets and have fun. Suddenly, I see a flash of a brown trench coat out of the corner of my eye, on one of the roofs of Tommy's towers. I smile, looking around to see if anyone is watching, before running towards it. 

A/N: Hey guys... it's been a while. A really long while. A really really long while. 2 years. Damn. How have you all been? Being honest, I didn't intend to leave this book unfinished, or all of you waiting on this cliffhanger, but the whole thing went down, and it felt weird, and I lost all motivation to write, and then I got lazy. I had, and still have the story all planned out in plot points. And for a bit, when I wasn't sure I would continue, I considered just posting those and fading away. But I'd remind myself how unsatisfying that would be, and how pissed off and annoyed I'd get when I got that for my favourite books. So I never did. Recently, I've been logging in to Wattpad to reread my favourite fanfics, and was shocked to see how many people read my books, and how many people still read them! It was a heartwarming thing to see, so I started rereading my own story and reminicing. Everything I would cringe at wasn't as cringe as I remembered (though I did cringe at some parts), but it all reminded me on how fun writing this was. I really enjoyed the writing, interacting with you all, and it was all so amazing. So I decided to start writing. And it felt like a family reuinion, and I realized how much I missed these characters. I wrote and I wrote, and thats how you guys got this and the next chapter. Originally, the whole festival was going to be in this chapter, but there's so much I wanted to include, so I hope you accept my apology, and trust I will (hopefully) write the third chapter s**n. Anyway, if you have any suggestions/things you want in the story, comment, and I'll try to incorporate it into the story. Stay safe, drink lots of water, eat, and remember we care about you <3. Thank you so much for reading, and I can't wait to see you in the next chapter!  

(Also special shout out to -Starry_Skies-, willnotfoumd, blvekaiiii, and all the people who continued to read after I left, and the og readers who'd like all my stuff back then (I remember you Kingggbobb and ImaShroom101). Yall are the goats. 

Word Count: 1475 words! :D