ℜ𝔢𝔲𝔫𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔡
Tommy's mind was in shambles. His eyes were glued shut, unyielding to the young boy's will. He could feel it, himself dying, drowning over and over again in the obsidian prison which he had been trapped within. Tommy tried to scream but no words escaped from his throat. He could see him, Dream, Tommy could see the bastard in his mind. His taunting smiled, his glaring eyes, his lime green hoodie. Tommy could see him, standing over Tommy's corpse, a victor standing over his enemy.
Tommy wondered as he stared into the blinding darkness if it was supposed to be him standing over Dream like a proud, accomplished warrior. Should it be Dream dead, not Tommy? Why should Dream get to continue to live, after everything he had done, everyone he had manipulated, while Tommy died?
But why should Tommy live?
The young blond's mind was working overtime, but still Tommy could barely recognize what was happening. He felt as though he was falling, falling into an endless, bottomless void of darkness, a void which he was to never climb out of. He wouldn't be able to explain if someone asked him too, but in that moment he felt as if he understood the feeling perfectly.
Finally, after what felt like decades of falling into an inescapable prison of his worst fears, Tommy felt solid ground beneath his back. His hand hit what he believed to be concrete, or else it was some other form to solid rock on the ground. Tommy's head was foggy, his mind confused and not sending the messages to the rest of his body. As he struggled helplessly to make something move, anything, he began hearing voices.
The voices began to grow closer, and louder. Tommy began to panic. He was lying in an unknown, an unfamiliar place with people he didn't know, completely defenseless. But also. He was dead.
Despite his mind being in pieces, he instantly recognised one of the voices, and it didn't take long to realise the other.
Will. And Schlatt.
"Will?" Tommy asked weakly, but didn't actually know if the words had managed to escape his throat. Once again, Tommy tried to force his eyes open, to take in his surroundings and figure out what had happened, but his body was refusing him that. But Tommy continued to struggle against the invisible force which kept him down. Finally, after what seemed like hours of fighting for Tommy, the invisible force felt as though it had lifted.
Tommy tensed. His mind was racing, but it started to slow down when he felt a person's hand rest on his shoulder. Even though he couldn't see, despite the darkness surrounding him, Tommy knew Will was beside him.
"Will?" Tommy asked again, prying his eyes open. This time, his body obeyed his brain. Tommy flitched against the light, moving his hand weakly away from the ground to shield his eyes from the sky.
He could no longer feel solid ground beneath himself. Now, it felt like grass, soft and fresh. The sky above him was a brilliant blue, with stark white clouds spotted around. Will's hand still rested on Tommy's shoulder, the older boy smiling down at the blond boy. "Hi, Tommy," Will said, smiling. His eyes glittered with happiness, and Tommy felt instantly relaxed beside his friend.
Using all his strength, Tommy pushed himself into a seated position, Will helping slightly. His body ached, but that was probably to be expected after just being brutally murdered. Glancing around in an attempt to take in his surroundings, Tommy realised he sat in a grassy plains field. Memories began to flood his mind from exile, but Tommy did his best to ignore them. "Where are we?" He asked, wondering how he was still on the SMP. He died, he shouldn't be here. "Am I dead?"
"Yeah, you are. Sucks to be you, I guess," Tommy turned his head to see Schlatt, standing tall still dressed in his suit. His hands were in his pants' pockets, a grin plastered on his face.
"You're here?" Tommy inquired, "Guess I'm not in heaven".
"Asshole," Schlatt retorted, but Will stood between them before they had a chance to continue their bickering.
"That's enough," He said firmly, "Schlatt, we are happy that Tommy is safe with us. Be nice," Will waited for Schlatt's response, but the other man just shrugged and walked off. "Tommy..." Will said, kneeling down so he was now at eye level with the younger boy.
"I'm dead," Tommy said in slight disbelief, despite understanding what had happened perfectly. "Dream killed me. He actually killed me". Tommy didn't know what to feel. His emotions were jumbled, he wasn't able to pinpoint one thing he was feeling. Maybe he was feeling too much. Could you die from feeling too much?
Wait, he was already dead.
"Are we on the SMP?" Tommy asked, "I thought we were dead, I don't understand...." Before Tommy could work himself into a frenzy, Will interrupted him.
"Here, I'll show you," Will said, standing up and offering Tommy his hand. Tommy took it silently, and followed Will across the plains. Tommy knew from his time on the SMP that they were heading towards where L'manberg once stood, where most of the residents of the SMP lived. Towards where the prison which Dream was locked in stood.
"I died in Pandora's Box," Tommy said, starting to remember more of what happened, "Dream killed me when we were in the prison".
Will nodded. "I didn't see it happen, I was following around Technoblade. Schlatt was there though, for most of it. I think he left before you actually died, though," Will said casually, as he continued to head towards the land of the SMP.
"Schlatt was there?" Tommy exclaimed, "I didn't see him! How did he get inside Pandora's box?" Will didn't reply, just continued to traverse the plains. Tommy realised he wasn't going to get anything out of Will before Will had the chance to show Tommy what he wanted to show him, so Tommy kept his thoughts to himself for the rest of the journey.
***
It wasn't long before the two friends reached the lands of the SMP. For some reason, it appeared to be deserted, or at least where Tommy and Will were for the moment. Tommy kept an eye out for anyone he knew, but he couldn't find anyone. Schlatt had not appeared again, and Tommy was unsure what to think of it. Another thing that was troubling Tommy was if Mexican Dream was also in this spirit version of the Dream SMP. Tommy hoped for his own sanity that Mexcian Dream was not.
Will did not slow down as the two began to walk through the lands of their old home. Tommy kept becoming distracted by the small things, things he hadn't really realised before about his home, before his eyes fell onto his best friend.
"Tubbo?" He asked weakly, becoming frozen on the spot. His legs stopped working, and a cold feel washed over him like waves crashing down onto the ocean. Will didn't realise right away, but soon enough he also found Tubbo, and knew Tommy wasn't following him anymore. "Tubbo..." Tommy said, sadness welling up in his chest. He had momentarily forgotten about Tubbo, and realised there was a high chance his best friend was unaware he was dead. Slowly, Tommy approached his friend, but as he got closer, his sobs getting louder, Tubbo did not flinch. He made movement to indicate he recognized Tommy was even behind him,
"He can't see you," Will said, as Tommy watched Tubbo plant flowers around a small headstone. Tommy didn't reply, just reached out to touch Tubbo's shoulder. His chest felt as though it was about to burst, and when his hand splitted through his friend's shoulder as though he was nothing, Tommy fell to his knees. Will bit his lip and kept his distance. Schlatt had been useless when he had first died, and Will had to figure everything out alone. He was going to be there for Tommy, and give the boy as much time as he needed to get used to the fact that he was now dead.
Tommy sat at his headstone for a while, his tears becoming soundless and running down his cheeks without making a noise. Tubbo had left a while ago, Tommy didn't know where he had disappeared too.
Will had stayed with him, but at a distance. It wasn't until Tommy spoke when Will moved closer to the boy. "Nobody can see me. I'm not like you, not like Ghostbur," Tommy said, sniffling.
Will looked to the ground. "I'm not Ghostbur," He said. "Not anymore. It's hard, but you will get used to it. Besides, just because we are dead doesn't mean we can't see our friends. They just can't see us". Will shrugged, then smiled, "I have figured out some fun tricks while being here, though. I could show you sometime, if you would like".
Tommy turned away from his grave. He looked up to Will, smiling despite the tears running down his face. "I would like it," He said, as Will sat down beside him. Tommy rested his head on Will's shoulder, his knees to his chest. The two friends sat in silence as the sun began to set behind the headstone, and the day became overtaken by the darkness which night brought. For the first time in a long time, despite no longer being alive, Tommy was at peace.
***
(1600 words)
Old story layout got all messed up and the parts were all out of order. I tried to fix it up but it just wasn't working so I just decided to reupload it. How are we liking the new font titles? I thought they were kinda cool.
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