So I found this child in the woods and asked "is anybody going to adopt this?" and then didn't wait for an answer.

Chapter 1 Chapter Text

The forest was unforgiving when the sun set, that was something well known by the residents of the SMP. Dream was cruel as he was merciful, and while the mobs would not leave you dead forever he made no move to stop you from experiencing the pain of respawn should you be caught in the woods at night.

Apparently this applied to young children, as well.

Wilbur had been walking by the forest border, just outside the newly established L'Manberg. He still could feel pride burning in his chest and the pen in his hand from where he signed the peace treaties.

But this was not something he had planned.

Just inside the forest was a small lump, and a closer look revealed the lump to be a child— no older than 10. Wilbur couldn't tell if his hair was brown, blonde, or maybe even white, it was so fully covered in dirt, and his skin was stained with blood.

"Wha— hey!" Wilbur calls, quickly kneeling beside the child and searching for any sign of reaction. "Hello? Can you hear me?" He asks again, and when he doesn't get a reaction he shakes the child's shoulder gently, setting the back of his hand against their forehead after a moment. Slightly warm, likely from the chill of the woods and the scrapes littering the child. "Hello?"

The kid twitches and groans, curling around his injuries, but doesn't wake.

Well, at least they're cognizant enough to react to anything. Wilbur glances around quickly for anything they might have dropped or anyone who might be nearby, but finds nothing. He takes a breath and carefully scoops the child into his arms, trying not to jostle their injuries, before speed walking back toward the gates of L'Manburg.

The kid groans as he's jostled, but remains resolutely unconscious even while being jostled by Wilbur's steps.

"Fundy! Tubbo!" He calls as he enters the premises of L'Manburg. "Med prep!"

"What?" Comes Tubbo's voice from where he was reading in the Camarvan. He pokes his head out the window and his eyes widen at the sight of someone in Wilbur's arms. "Yessir!" He calls, saluting in a habit they all got in from the war. He dashed back into the van, getting a set of potions running and pulling out the supplies they already had left over from his ender chest.

Wilbur lays the kid on an unused bed, and he whimpers in pain. Now that he's getting a closer look, Wilbur can see signs of spider and zombie bites, probably a scrape from an arrow grazing him, and even some burns on the back of his legs from a creeper.

Tubbo rushes back out with an awkward armful of potions and dropped them beside the kid. "I grabbed everything, I didn't know what you would need."

"Thank you," Wilbur replies, taking a regen potion and carefully tipping about a third into the kid's mouth just as a stabilizer, in case there was anything terrible he couldn't see.

Fundy dashes into the van, rubbing his eyes and blinking but with a bucket of water. He looks at the kid in surprise before quickly kneeling next to him and grabbing a clean cloth, dipping it into the water and beginning to clean the wounds dutifully.

"Thanks, Fundy," Wilbur murmurs, pouring a bit of an instant health potion on an absorbent cloth and patting it onto the cleaned wounds in Fundy's wake.

Both nod as Wilbur patches up the wounds. It seems all superficial, luckily. Just scrapes and bruises. He just was beaten up and sleeping it off.

Wilbur sighs in relief at seeing the wounds clearing up easily. Once he finishes, he gently runs a hand through the kid's hair to get it out of their face.

"Dismissed," he says softly, "if you wish." Fundy nods, his ear twitching as he yawns and heads back to his place. Tubbo gives a worried look to the kid before he leaves too, only after making sure Wilbur would let him know when the kid woke.

The night went easily enough, with some groans and grunts as the kid shifted in his sleep, but nothing worrying.

When the sun rose the kid was still asleep, but soon enough his eyes fluttered open.

"H-huh?" He mumbles. "Where am I?"

Wilbur stays at the kid's side throughout the night, eventually settling into a light doze on the chair beside the bed as he waits.

He blinks awake and the sound of movement, and quickly snaps to attention, leaning a bit closer to the kid to make sure he was noticed (and to check for any lingering injuries).

"You're in L'Manburg," Wilbur explains with a gentle voice. "I found you passed out and wounded in the forest outside. How are you feeling?"

"I'm—" He winces, "I'm alright. Who are you? And where is L'Manberg?"

Wilbur's eyes widen a little bit at the lack of recognition— he figured word had gotten out about them considering all the hardship they had to go through. He schools his expression into a kind smile, though.

"I'm Wilbur Soot. L'Manburg is located just outside the Greater Dream SMP, we recently gained independence. Are you new to the server?" He asks.

The kid blinks. "I— No? I was... I was just in the forest... I had been at..." he pauses before shaking his head. "and then I was somewhere else. I had to run... the monsters were scary."

"They are for sure," Wilbur agrees supportively. "You got a bit roughed up, but we healed most of them for you. Go ahead and let me know if anything still hurts, alright?" He leans back and stretches a bit before flashing a smile over. "What's your name?"

"Clay," Clay responds easily. "Was— Did you find anyone else in the woods with me? My friend Nick— I had just been with him before I was in the forest."

"I didn't see anyone..." Wilbur replies, a bit concerned at the notion of another kid left out there. "I did make sure to look around. If you're feeling up to it, we could go check after breakfast? The forest should be safe now that it's daytime."

Clay nods rapidly. "Yeah!"

"Sure thing." Wilbur stands, offering a hand to Clay to help him up. "We can go grab a bite to eat first. Tommy might already be awake, but don't trust any food he offers you." He leans down slightly in a conspiratorial whisper. "He's terrible in the kitchen."

Clay laughs behind his hand as he takes Wilbur's hand and follows him. His eyes go wide as he looks at the city around him with ill-concealed awe, especially at the tall walls. "Wooooow!"

Wilbur gets a proud little grin at Clay's awe at his city. His L'Manburg.

"This is L'Manburg. The walls keep us safe," he explains. He sets a hand on Clay's shoulder and gently guides him in the direction of the under-construction kitchen. "This way."

Clay nods and bounces after Wilbur, eyes still big as he looks over the walls. Wilbur is right, it does feel safe within these walls, he likes it, but at the same time he feels the itch in his chest to go out, to see the rest of this land he suddenly woke up in.

Wilbur laughs at the kid's exuberance, barely wrestling down the urge to fluff his hair—only because they met just five minutes ago and he's not sure how Clay would take it. He doesn't seem too touch-averse, at least, which is a good step.

They arrive at the kitchen only to find a blonde crouched beside a fire pit, the flame of which is at least twice as large as can be recommended.

"Tommy," Wilbur starts, somewhere between amused and deeply disappointed, "what the f*ck are you doing?"

"Making food, bitch," Tommy shoots back without turning around, instead focusing on the thoroughly-charred meat skewer in his hands.

Clay blinks. "Bitch!" He laughs.

"Wh— no, Clay—" Wilbur tries to cut that off but, really, it's not like he had the cleanest mouth either.

Tommy turns around at the unfamiliar voice, bright blue eyes narrowing at the kid. "What the—? Who the f*ck are you? Where did you even come from?"

"I'm Clay." Clay nods, standing tall and looking up at Tommy. "And I'm not supposed to trust you."

"Wh— HEY! I AM PLENTY TRUSTABLE I WILL HAVE YOU KNOW," Tommy yells.

Wilbur tries to hide a snicker behind his hand— but only in spirit, the laugh is still clearly audible. "Tommy, you're literally holding the result of your failure as we speak."

"It is not a failure!" Tommy whines. "It is 'charred' or some sh*t! Extra flavor and that, innit?"

Clay blinks and squints at it. "I can do better and I'm 9."

"I could punt you right now," Tommy threatens.

Clay looks up at Tommy with big, glassy eyes. "You'd hurt a kid?"

"Without hesitation," Tommy replies instantly.

"And you'd only avoid jailtime because you're a child yourself," Wilbur teases, resting an elbow on Tommy's head, who squawks and jabs him in the side with his char-stick. Wilbur doesn't react, just looking to Clay with an easy grin. "Would you like some toast and honey?"

Clay blinks before he beams. "You have honey!?"

"We do!" Wilbur laughs. "I'll get that going then." He slips his elbow off Tommy's head, mussing the hair in the process before going and cutting some slices of bread to set by the fire.

"It's the best f*cking honey around," Tommy boasts. "Tubbo collects it himself, of course."

Clay's eyes are massive and happy as he bounces. "I haven't had honey in years! I can't believe you guys have a whole bee farm!"

"Well Tubbo's obsessed with the things, I'm sure he'd show you if you even imply liking them," Tommy explains. "He talks about it enough even to those of us that don't care, after all."

"Don't lie, Tommy, you encourage those rambles," Wilbur chides.

Clay's too busy bouncing and babbling about honey to really listen to them. "I can't wait to tell Nick! He loves honey!"

"Who's—" Tommy starts before getting cut off by Wilbur.

"Well, hopefully we'll find him," Wilbur replies patiently. "Here, do you want to help drip it on?"

Clay blinks. "I can? You're not worried I'll use too much?"

"There's plenty, don't worry," Wilbur encourages. He tugs a piece of bread away from the fire and onto a plate, fetching a bottle of the syrup from the chest nearby and offering the pair to Clay.

"Apparently with beekeeping you have to harvest it every day or they get sick," Tommy inputs. "So we have so much of the sh*t, 'cause Tubbo doesn't want the bees to get hurt."

Clay smiles and absolutely drowns his toast with the honey, but his grin is so wide none of the elders mention it as he greedily shoves the bread down his throat like it would vanish if he didn't.

Wilbur strategically averts his gaze, preparing another piece of toast with a much more conservative amount of honey upon it. Tommy takes a bite of his... creation... and barely keeps himself from audibly gagging at the taste. Wilbur manages to keep down a laugh as he watches the teen force himself to keep down the terribly-cooked piece of meat. This is the penance of pride.

"Would you like some toast, Tommy?" Wilbur offers after the ordeal. Tommy grumbles a bit but eventually mutters a yes, and Wilbur gives him the already-prepared slice before making another for himself.

Clay finishes up his toast quickly, before he picks up the plate. "Where should I wash this?"

Wilbur waves a hand lazily. "Just toss it somewhere, Tommy'll clean up later."

"What?!" Tommy squawks. "I will not!"

Clay blinks, and looks at the dish in his hand confused. "But I ate from it? I should clean it up?"

"The price for almost burning down the kitchen," Wilbur dismisses.

"There's barely a f*cking room to begin with!!" Tommy whines.

"And I would like what is here to stay that way," Wilbur replies. "Your turn with the dishes." And with that he deposits his own plate onto Tommy's, callously.

Clay blinks again, and sets the plate down on the table warily. When it seems that they really do mean for him to leave it there he visibly relaxes before turning to Wilbur. "Can we go to the forest?"

"Going out this early?" Tommy asks.

"We want to check the area where I found Clay last night," Wilbur explains. "Sure thing, let's head out."

Clay nods and follows Wilbur. That pull in his chest only grew the closer to the outside he was, and he found himself running towards the trees after they left the wall.

"NIIIIIIIICK!!!" He calls loudly. "NIIICK!! WHERE ARE YOU!?"

"Stay in sight!" Wilbur calls, keeping a slightly more relaxed place as headed toward the place he found Clay the night before. He gestures to where the grass is still flattened from where the kid had collapsed. "This is it."

Clay looks around for hours, he doesn't stop until the sun is high in the sky and Wilbur pulls him to the side for lunch, collapsing into Wilbur's arms tiredly.

"It didn't take him too... whatever brought me here didn't bring Nick with me..." Clay sadly mumbles.

Wilbur rubs Clay's back soothingly. "I'm sorry. He might have ended up somewhere else on the server, we could ask around?" He squeezes Clay in the hug slightly. "You're welcome to stay with us as long as you need," he offers, "We're glad to take care of you."

Clay gives a wet smile and nods. "Thank you..."

"Of course," Wilbur replies. "Let's get back, I bet everyone else will be up and eager to meet you."

Clay nods as they walk back to L'Manberg. Wilbur had been right, everyone was very eager to meet him and were all very kind. Clay decided he liked Wilbur, Niki, and Fundy the most, though Tommy was fun to mess with.

Chapter 2 Chapter Text

A few weeks had passed, and Clay had gotten used to living in L'Manberg, though he forever mourned that Nick was there to see it with him. Nick would have loved the walls and how tall they were.

Clay was walking on the outside of the walls, just taking a stroll, when a voice pulled his attention.

"Clay?"

Clay's eyes shoot up as he looks the person up and down in confusion before it clicks.

"N-Nick? But you're— No, you can't be." He shook his head.

Sapnap rushes over and carefully looked over Clay. "It's me, Clay, look." He says, taking off the bandana and showing Clay the inside.

"To Nick... Smile... It is you!" Clay sobs, throwing himself into Sapnap's arms.

"Yeah, it's me. How— How are you nine again? What— how is this possible?"

"I... I... what? But I've always been this age?" Clay asks.

Sapnap sighs and groans. "I— Alright, long story short, but just a few weeks ago you were twenty one. How long have you been here dude?"

"Just a few weeks... I've been staying with Wilbur."

"Wilbu?" Sapnap gasps. "Are you safe?"

"Huh? Yeah! Wilbur's really nice."

"I... You know what, fine. I know you can handle yourself. I'm going to try and figure out what happened, okay?"

Clay nods, before pausing. "Wait—I told them I was looking for you, why didn't they tell me?"

"They only know me as Sapnap, now. They wouldn't know my name is Nick."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh," Sapnap laughs, before ruffling Clay's hair. "Stay safe, alright? I'll be back before you know it."

Clay nods, and waves as Sapnap rushes off. No clue where. Clay continues his walk before returning to L'Manberg.

"Welcome back," Wilbur greets warmly, ruffling Clay's hair as the kid comes over next him. "Have a nice walk? The weather really is lovely."

Clay pushes up into the affectionate fluff like a cat. "Yeah! I found Nick!"

"Really?" Wilbur asks, eyes going wide. He glances behind Clay, almost as if expecting someone else to stand there. "Where? How is he?"

"He's good! He wasn't with me in the forest because he was already here! In the SMP!"

"He was?" Wilbur repeats. "I hadn't heard anything about it, I'm sorry."

"He said you didn't know his name was Nick, so it's okay."

"Oh. Do you know what I would know him as?" Wilbur asks, although there was really only one option... Purpled was the only person close enough in age that he could imagine Clay possibly knowing.

"Sapnap!"

Wilbur freezes at that. "What?" He asks, fighting to keep any reaction locked deep inside.

Clay nods. He recognizes the hesitation in Wilbur's tone, but refuses to acknowledge it. "Yep!"

"Oh... you're sure?" Wilbur asks. "I just want to make sure he's not lying and taking advantage of you, you know. How would an adult like him know you, anyway?"

Clay nods. "It's Nick— he has the bandana I gave him." He says firmly. "You can ask him if you want to."

"...Maybe I will," Wilbur responds. He sighs and pulls Clay into a hug, pressing a light kiss to the top of his head. "I just want you to be safe, you know? Sapnap was one of the ones to fight against us in the war, so I'm wary."

Clay nods. He heard a lot about the war, about the "Dream Team" and the history of the SMP. He wondered how Nick met Dream and George, and why he hadn't introduced them. Was he one of them, back when he was twenty one? He didn't want to know. Not yet at least.

"I'm okay, I promise! I can take care of myself! I know how to fight!"

"Okay." Wilbur pulls back and gives him a tight little smile. "I... just be careful. And tell us if anything happens, alright?"

Clay nods. "Mhm, I will Dad."

Wilbur lets out a sound somewhere between a gasp and an 'aww', pulling Clay back in tightly. "If you call me that I will cry," he warns with a bit of a laugh.

Clay flushes as he realizes what he said, but the potential is too much to give up. "Sorry, Dad."

Wilbur laughs louder that time, giving a squeeze before letting go and standing. "C'mon, then, you silly kiddo."

He texts Phil that night, heart still warm and fuzzy from all of his interactions with Clay.

>So I might be a father

>i thought this had already been established, wil
>ive met fundy, hes a joy

>No but like
>Again

>...goddamn it wil

>Oh you do not get to speak like that to me Philza "Chronic Adoption Problems" Minecraft
>I'd honestly be a bit surprised if you haven't picked up another yet

>you misunderstand
>how dare you not tell me the instant you got them
>i have so much spoiling to catch up on

Wilbur laughs loudly, shaking his head at his father's antics before going to bed for the night, missing the message which appeared as most people slept soundly.

Clay jolts up from his bed and looks around wildly.

"What happened?" He asks. "Why— Loud— something loud."

Wilbur shifts at the noise, barely opening his eyes enough to peer over at Clay's figure sitting up across the room. "What's wrong...?" He murmurs, still mostly asleep.

Clay blinks confusedly. "A... didn't you hear it? A... dumm sound..." Clay tries to replicate.

"No...?" Wilbur says. He yawns. "Maybe it was in your dream?"

Clay blinks... it definitely wasn't, but he's not dumb enough to pick this battle. "Maybe..."

Wilbur nudges back down into his pillow. "Don't worry, if something happens Tommy will yell very loudly."

Clay chuckles, and looks up to Wilbur. "Um... someone new is here... right? Who are they?"

Wilbur frowns and pats around on his side table, eventually landing on his communicator and tossing it over to Dream. "Look on world chat."

Clay blinks. "Ph... P... Hnng."

Wilbur gives a little muffled sigh into his pillow. He has to actually deal with this? Why can it not wait until morning. But, if it was that important to Clay... he pushes himself out of bed and plops himself beside him, squinting at the bright screen.

"I need my glasses..." Wilbur mutters, trying to read the most recent command log. "...oh. Philza." He makes a face. "Does that mean I have to.... no, he showed up at f*ck o'clock in the morning himself, he can suffer for it." He ruffles Clay's hair messily. "It's fine, don't worry."

Clay scrunches up his face as Wilbur fluffs his hair. Wilbur seems to really like whoever it is... I wish they'd get here sooner.

Knock knock.

Clay turned to look at the door, puzzled. It's f*ck o’ clock, why is someone...

Wilbur glares at the door for a long second before sighing and pushing his hands through his hair. He goes and unlatches the door, not even bothering opening it before going back to his bed and flopping upon it.

A comparatively short figure with a striped green hat and some dark shapes on their back opens the door and steps inside. They laugh at seeing the tail-end of Wilbur's drama, closing the door behind them. "Hey mate," he greets with a gentle, if a bit tired, smile.

Clay looks up at the new figure. "Hi?"

Phil waves at him but gets cut off from speaking as Wilbur breaks in. "There's no reason this can't happen in the morning. Shut up."

Phil laughs, and it really reminds one of a bell chiming. "Right then, I'll take the couch. We'll talk tomorrow, I guess? Well, technically today, I bet," he offers Clay, walking over toward the couch.

Clay shakes his head. "No no, I'm smaller. I'm on the couch." He says before sprinting over, ducking under Phil's arm and curling up with his blanket on the couch. "Mine."

"Oh, uh," Phil watches as the kid scoots past quickly. "You sure, mate?"

Clay nods resolutely. "My couch."

"Alright then. Thanks." Phil sits on Clay's bed and nudges his shoes off, setting the bag he brought with him next to them before laying down. "Goodnight," he calls, getting a pillow thrown at him from Wilbur for his trouble.

Chapter 3 Chapter Text

They sleep the rest of the night away and, like any other child full of energy, are woken up at dawn.

"WIL, WIL, WIL!" Clay cries happily as he bounces and flops on top of Wilbur. "Daaaaaaaaaaaadddd wake upppppp!"

Wilbur groans at the assault, pushing Clay off of him only slightly gently. "What."

"Wake up!" He beams. "Your friend is still here!"

Phil laughs from where he's sat up at the commotion and is stretching. Wilbur whines and waves vaguely in his direction.

Phil nods and stands, carefully extending and stretching what Clay can now see in the daylight as two big, fluffy, gray wings. He smiles at the kid. "How 'bout we get breakfast going, let Wil get a few more minutes of shuteye? You'll have to show me where the kitchen is."

Clay nods and fluffs Wilbur's hair quickly before rushing out towards the kitchen.

Phil chuckles at the antics, following at a more casual pace and closing the door carefully on his way out. Ah, the energy of a youth.

Clay bounces in the kitchen, already shuffling around. He's making toast with honey, because honey is good, and nobody can tell him otherwise. If they do he'll tell Tubbo and the two of them will pout and look sad until they feel bad.

"Do you want some toast with honey Mister?" Clay asks politely.

"That sounds lovely. Do you make it yourself?" Phil asks encouragingly.

"The bread? Yeah! I don't make the honey though, that's Tubbo's bees." Clay explains as he puts Far Too Much Honey on the toast and hands Phil a plate.

"Thank you," he says, graciously taking the plate. "Say, have you ever had tea?"

Clay nods. "When I was little, yeah. But it's been a really long time. Miss Merryweather really liked it."

"That sounds nice. I like tea too, so I always keep some on me," Phil explains, setting down an ender chest and pulling out a little metal kettle and a package. He goes to the sink and fills the kettle before setting it on the fire and pulling out a couple of mugs from the shelves to have at the ready.

He takes a couple bites of the toast while waiting for the water, pulling it off as it begins to whistle and putting two tied bags into the mugs before pouring water on top of them. "This is your dad's favorite blend, though I've always been partial to hibiscus myself. Maybe we can try that one another day, if you're interested." He sets a couple plates on top of the mugs. "You have to let them sit so all the flavor settles right," he explains.

Clay nods. "Miss Merryweather said that if it was too humid the tea wouldn't taste as good. She made sure she always did it properly. She never let me do it though."

Phil nods. "It's a pretty picky thing, so you want to do it right if you can. But the only way to learn is experience, so maybe you can do it one of these other days if you want?" He leans his elbow on the table and grins somewhat conspiratorially. "If you end up liking doing it, I bet Wil would really like the surprise one day. He likes the stuff, but says it's too much work to do himself."

"That would be really fun! Thank you Mister!"

"Sure thing, mate," Phil replies with a grin. This kid really was just the cutest, huh. He takes the plates off the mugs and the aroma hits them both. He pulls out the handcrafted teabags carefully and gives each a stir, leaving the spoon in Clay's cup for if he wants to use it and scooting the mug over to him. "There you go. Tell me what you think. It's okay if you don't like it that much, everyone has different tastes." He blows on his lightly before taking his own sip and relaxing.

Clay takes a long sip and sighs happily into the cup.

"This is really yummy."

Phil grins. "I'm glad!"

They just sit in silence for a little bit, finishing their toast and drinking the tea.

"Say..." Phil leads, "I never caught your name, I don't think."

"Mm!" Clay hums. "I'm Clay! Nice to meet you Mister."

"Clay," Phil repeats. "That's a nice name! I'm Philza, but you should just call me Phil." He offers Clay a hand to shake. "I'm Wilbur's dad."

Clay took the hand with a smile. "Nice to meet you Mister Phil!" He grins. "Does that mean you're kind of like my grandpa?"

"I guess! You'll make me feel old if you go around calling me that, though," Phil jokes.

"I won't then, I'll just call you Mister Phil."

"Just Phil is fine, mate. We're family, you don't need the 'mister'," Phil explains.

The door to the bedroom opens and an exhausted looking Wilbur comes sliding out, sitting next to Phil and slumping against the table. Phil laughs, though it turns into an offended squawk when Wilbur sits up just enough to steal Phil's mug of tea and start draining it.

"Hey!" Phil protests. "Get your own!"

"You're the reason I woke up so much last night," Wilbur complains. "This is the tax of your sins."

"I don't think that's how that word works, Wilbur."

"Do I look like f*cking Technoblade? Leave me alone," Wilbur fires back.

"f*cking!"

A moment of silence. Wilbur groans while Phil bursts out laughing. He turns a mirthful eye to the kid.

"Sorry Clay, kids aren't really supposed to say things like that, but you had to go and get stuck with a family who doesn't know how to censor themselves for the life of them," Phil explains, still chuckling. "So I really can't fault you for it."

Clay grins. He knows. Mister Mastif swore a lot too, but it's so fun to swear and see the adults be confused and laughing.

"Okay Mister Phil, I won't say the f*ck word anymore."

"That's the spirit," Phil laughs.

Clay beams. "Are you going to stay for the campfire tonight? Dad said he'd tell me the story about the princess and evil doctor Jared!"

"'course," Phil replies. "I figure I'll be staying for about a week."

Wilbur yawns loudly. "A week? Don't you have, like, plants to take care of or something?"

"It's all automated for this part of the season," Phil waves off, "and meeting your son is way more important than any of that."

Clay grins happily. "Dad, can we play outside later? I want to climb the trees."

"Sure, whatever," Wilbur agrees. He frowns after a second. "Actually, I have a bunch of paperwork and stuff I have to sign. Phil can take you, though, and I can come join once I'm finished up?"

Clay turned big pleading eyes up towards Phil without any hesitation.

Phil chuckles at The Face™️, leaning back in his chair. "Hey, no need for that, you want to save your best weapon for when you need it most. I'd be glad to take you, spending time with you is why I'm here anyway!" He tilts his head slightly. "I have a bit of an idea for once Wil joins us, though. Especially if we're going tree-hopping."

Clay claps his knuckles together—it's silent, but he's still getting the energy out. "Yay!"

Phil smiles contentedly. "In the meantime, show me around the city! I've never been here before," he explains.

Clay nods, and happily takes Phil on a tour of L'Manberg, telling him where everyone lives, and even calling Fundy his brother.

By the end of the tour, they've picked up both Niki and Fundy who are joining them when they climb trees. They hop around exploring the woods for a few hours, eventually leaving Niki and Fundy in the dust (somewhat apologetically).

Phil encourages Clay's parkour, easily keeping pace and scoping out the path ahead due to his wings, though those said wings get a good bit of leaves and twigs caught in some of the feathers. Clay learns that Phil spends a lot of time traveling and exploring in his world.

Once they get back to the field by L'Manburg, Wilbur is sitting there waiting for them. He has a harmonica in his hands and is just generally being annoying with it, playing through a variety of songs. Clay bounds over happily, arms and knees littered with a few new bruises but a smile so blinding the sun shies away.

"Are you gonna sing the songs Dad?"

"I will cry," Wilbur warns as is custom whenever Clay calls him that out of the blue. "And I dunno, it's kind of hard to sing with something in my mouth." In a mischievous way to prove his point, he puts the instrument in his mouth and blows hard, making a racket.

Clay bursts out in giggles at the sound, flopping over into the grass. He feels a raindrop on his nose, he hopes he imagined it.

Phil sits next to them with a grin, wings folding vaguely next to him as he brushes out the loosest bits of debris.

"I would've brought my guitar if I realized you wanted me to be doing that now, kiddo," Wilbur explains. "But maybe we can do something."

Clay bounces back up and gets comfortable in the grass. "You're the best musician in L'Manburg, Dad!"

Wilbur laughs and rolls his eyes. "Some would argue I'm the only musician in L'Manburg."

"I thought Fundy was taking piano lessons?" Phil asks.

"He was going to, but then we realized that no one on this server has a piano," Wilbur explains with a chuckle.

"Doesn't Nap?" Clay asks. "He always said he'd get one once we settled down."

"Well, he didn't say he did when we asked everyone, at least," Wilbur replies. "And tensions were already starting to run a bit high at that point."

Clay hums sadly. He doesn't like that Nick and Wilbur aren't friends but he can't really change that. Another drop of water lands on his shoulder.

"Are you gonna play the music now though Dad?"

Phil glances up at the darkening clouds consideringly. Wilbur nods and raises the harmonica to his mouth...

Only to make a discordant sound as a drop of rain lands directly on his nose and startles him. He also looks up at the sky threatening to begin truly pouring on them. "I think we need to go in, actually, sorry kiddo. Don't want to get caught in this storm."

Clay glares up at the clouds before standing up and yelling at them. "f*ck OFF, I WANT TO LISTEN TO DAD PLAY MUSIC!"

As he speaks, the sun seems to shine brighter, and the clouds begin to fade until only a bright blue sky remains.

Clay beams at Wilbur, looking up at him expectantly.

Wilbur and Phil both watch the sky clear with wide eyes, meeting each others' astonished gaze for just a second. Wilbur pushes a laugh through, reaching over and ruffling Clay's hair. "I've told you so many times, I will cry," he points out before sharing another look with Phil. He sits back and takes a deep breath, getting his performer persona on and giving Clay a cheeky wink before starting the opening riff of the song.

Clay bounces along happily to the tune, and the birds chirp louder than before. One even lands on Clay's shoulder, and he gives the little bird a tiny nuzzle before returning to contently listening to the song.

That night, late under the cover of darkness and sleep, Phil talks to Wilbur as they sit in the living room, Clay long since passed out in his own room.

"Mate, earlier with the clouds, you know what that was, right?" Phil asks.

"Something powerful. Much more than I knew he had," Wilbur replies. He squints. "I should know it, but the specifics are escaping me right now..."

"It was an admin command, Wil. To be able to command the very reality around us is something only an admin could do."

"An admin—?" He cuts himself off, eyes widening. "But— Phil, what does that mean? We already have Dream... I won't let him take Clay away from me."

"I'm really not sure. Admins don't talk much about what they can do, but you have to tell Dream about this. If he finds out on his own... World owners generally don't take kindly to hiding such a thing in their land."

"I..." Wilbur sighs. "Okay. I'll go speak to him tomorrow... I have to make sure that we're safe, after all. That's the whole point." He takes a deep breath before giving Phil a hug. "I'm glad you're here," he mutters into his shoulder.

Phil wraps large wings around his son. "Of course Wil, I'm here for you as much as I am my new grandson."

Chapter 4 Chapter Text

The next morning, Wilbur gets up about an hour after sunrise. After eating with Clay and Phil (though both of them had been up before him, stupid early risers), he brushes his hair and gets into uniform. He had been phasing out the constant wearing of it over the time Clay had been with them. It was hard to keep up with washing it every day after all, and there wasn't much of a benefit when he hardly left the walls himself.

Today was important though, so he pressed the coat and shirt and pants to make sure they were professional before suiting up. He adorns the tricorn hat and checks himself in the mirror for any inconsistency, nodding satisfactorily when he finds none, before turning on the spot and striding out to find Clay and Tommy. Something about the familiar weight of the uniform made his steps begin to roll and his back straighter, chin up as he walked.

Clay has been sitting with Tommy for quite a while, and the two had already gotten playful insults out of their systems and were just relaxing together.

"Dad?" Clay asks, "Why are you wearing the fancy uniform?"

Wilbur gives the two a proud little smile and pats Clay lightly on the head. "I have a meeting to go to. The uniform makes sure I'm respectable," he explains before turning to Tommy. "I should only be a few hours, but I'll message if it ends up taking longer..." or if anything goes wrong, is the unspoken continuation. "Keep an eye on everything while I'm gone. L'Manburg is under your responsibility, second."

Tommy straightens where he sits and snaps off a salute at the order. "All will be well, sir!" Wilbur nods and Tommy relaxes again, leaning back against Clay. "Who're you meeting, anyway?"

"Dream," Wilbur replies, and Tommy's eyes narrow but Wilbur presses on before he can get a word out. "As an admin, not as part of the Dream SMP. There shouldn't be an issue."

Clay blinks in confusion. He keeps hearing about Dream, supposedly Nick's new best friend. "Can I come?" Clay asks.

Wilbur looks down at him, hesitating for a moment as he considers.

"Not today," he eventually decides. "This meeting is pretty important. But depending on how everything goes, maybe another time."

Tommy makes a face, poking Clay in the side. "You don't want to see Dream anyway, he's just a dumb green bitch."

Clay nods, sad but understanding.

"Okay, I just want to meet him... if Nick likes him so much he's gotta be nice." Clay says, entirely ignoring Tommy.

"We'll see," Wilbur allows before standing. "I'm off, then. Don't burn the country down."

Clay nods and laughs. "No promises!"

Tommy leans over and 'whispers' very loudly: "I know where the flint and steels are."

Wilbur shakes his head fondly but leaves the gremlins to their (hopefully ineffective) plotting and begins the trek to the community house.

The walk is quiet, but Wilbur is... not that pleased when he enters the community house.

A table has been set up to the side, but instead of Dream sitting at the head, George sits instead, reading a book.

Wilbur pauses at the entrance, looking around for Dream before reaching out and knocking on the doorframe to get George's attention. "Hello."

George looks up at the address and sets his book down.

"Hi Wilbur."

"I need to speak with Dream. Is he in?" Wilbur asks, somewhat stiffly.

George shakes his head. "No, you'll have to deal with me. I'm running admin-side right now."

Wilbur pauses at that, masking most of his conflict at the difference. "...Fine," he goes with, taking a step further in. "May I sit down?"

Chapter 5 Chapter Text

>your brother has a new kid go spoil the f*ck out of him
>he's cute

>I hate this family. I want a divorce. Familial divorce.

>suuure mate

Technoblade was having a nice time. Some tournaments, a lot of farming. He was even getting into a new hobby!

But no, now apparently Wilbur Soot had decided that one small person was not enough and got another. Honestly, how was he the only one with sense in this entire family? But now he has to go and join a new server (ew, socialization) and meet the kid (ew, child).

Clay shoots up again as Technoblade joins.

"There's the sound again!" He calls to Wilbur, "Like when Phil joined!"

Wilbur blinks, surprised, pulling out his communicator and laughing at the message. "Huh."

>What are you doing here??

>For legal reasons, I am not allowed to say.
>Where are you.

>Look for the big wall

>I see a big wall and it's been .02 seconds.
>I cannot break the big wall.
>What is this, adventure mode? Why is it like this.

Wilbur gives another laugh. His brother was just the same as always.

>Get out of spawn then just follow the path

>What.
>Okay I finally escaped.
>Where now.

>just follow the prime path

>The what. I do not see any paths.

>It's there

>North, South, East, or West, Wilbur Soot? Don't be obtuse with me.

Clay blinks. "I'm bored, do we have to wait so long for him?"

"Heh??"

Clay turns to look at the door, and tilts his head curiously.

"WHERE DID YOU EVEN COME FROM?!" Tommy continues yelling from outside.

"Dunno. Why are you so loud?" A monotone voice shoots back automatically.

Wilbur raises an eyebrow before realizing what must've happened and sighing, shaking his head. "We'll need to chat later," he tells Clay before standing and going to open the door. "Technoblade!" He greets with a grin.

"Wilbur," Techno returns, letting Wilbur give him a hug but not returning it, just looking past him into the house. "Why did you have to end up on a weird server? This is definitely your fault, somehow." Wilbur just laughs at the accusation.

Clay peeks out from where he's hiding behind Wilbur.

Techno looks down at the kid. "Hallooo," he greets, only slightly awkwardly.

Clay waves with a small smile. "Hi Mister."

Wilbur laughs at his brother's awkward misery. "This is Technoblade. He's my older brother," he tells Clay.

Techno waves back slightly.

"So does that make him my uncle?"

Techno makes a bit of a face and Wilbur laughs. "Technically! But then Tommy would also be your uncle."

Techno scoffs. "That's a terrifyin' thought. Tommy should not be allowed that much power. An' kid, I don't really do things like that just by default. You'll have to prove yourself," he explains.

Wilbur shakes his head with a chuckle, jabbing Techno in the side. "Stop threatening the kid."

Clay sticks out his tongue at Techno happily.

"Tommy's my older brother though!" He explains. "And if you're so big and tough then fight me!"

Techno raises his eyebrow while Wilbur bursts out laughing.

"I have a strict policy of only murderin' orphans or adults," Techno explains, hint of amusem*nt in his tone. "And you appear to have a father right there."

"Uh-uh!" Clay shakes his head. "Don't murder me! Just fight me!"

Techno squints. "...Not gonna lie, kid, I don't think that would be an even match."

Wilbur hums. "I mean, he's not completely useless. If he wants to..."

Clay nods happily, and puts an exaggerated fighting stance. "Spar! Spar! Spar!"

Techno sighs. "It's been five minutes and I'm already... Do you even have a sword your size?"

Clay nods happily and rushes off to his room to grab his stone sword. He has better ones (though he didn't tell Wilbur about those), but the stone one will be good for sparring.

"Here it is!" He grins.

Techno turns to Wilbur. "I assume you have a sword that isn't fundamentally terrible?"

Wilbur thinks. "Tommy might have a sparring sword you'd like. I don't really keep them around." He looks down at Clay. "Could you go ask and/or steal one from him?"

Clay nods and bounces off, coming back with a similar stone sword to his own. He holds it out to Technoblade with a grin.

Techno takes it carefully, weighing it in his hand and taking a couple practice swipes. He leads the group out onto the lawn, looking across to Clay. "Ready?"

Clay nods, and darts forward—is... no, that's normal speed, right? Nevermind, not a time to worry about this. Clay swipes his blade at Techno's arms.

Techno parries easily, staying on the defensive at first to try and judge Clay's skill level.

Clay moves quickly the whole time, glaring and jumping from side to side, going in circles around Technoblade. Sometimes he jumps in for a strike, sometimes he just waves his sword around to get attention.

Unfortunately, Clay eventually trips on a stick and has to roll over, but is still on the ground. He squeaks, and... something weird happens.

Techno can barely see them, but there are definitely particles hovering just above his skin. They're dark gray... what effect was that again? Weakness? He didn't hear a splash potion or anything...

Techno squints, because of course there's shenanigans. Best to just rush, then, don't give a chance for any weirdness. He dashes forward and keeps Clay down, putting the tip of his sword to the kid's chest. "Point," he calls.

Clay groans, but he pushes the sword aside and stands. "Again!" He grins, already jumping in. He moves close to press his sword against Techno, and the two of them end up in a battle of strength, pressing their blades against one another.

It should be easy— Technoblade is twice this kid's age and size, but while he's gaining ground it's... a lot harder than normal.

Techno lets out an even breath, moving to sweep Clay's feet from under him. Whatever shenanigans were going on, Techno definitely has more experience here.

Clay squeaks as he's thrown off his feet, just barely rolling back to standing. "Meanie!" He jokes.

"It's a duel, what were you expectin', flowers?" Techno shoots back, pressing his advantage.

Clay tilts his head. "Maybe? There's some over there!" He points. There... definitely were not flowers over there earlier, but Clay is. Wait. Where is the little gremlin?

Drat, using his lack of attention span against him. Techno gets in a ready stance to react to whatever the kid pulls and spins, searching.

"HIYAAH!" A loud shout comes from behind him, and by the time Technoblade reacts the kid has bonked him in the back with the stone sword. "I got you!"

Techno stumbles forward, but sighs. He turns and looks at Clay. "You did. You were doin' something funky, though."

"I was?" He asks innocently, even tilting his head slightly to the side with big, confused eyes.

"Yeah. Potion effects, disappearin', enhanced strength, I'd bet," Techno explains, crossing his arms.

Clay blinks. "I don't have any potions? Dad doesn't like me to grab them in case I grab a bad one."

Techno nods. "I mean, it's worth learnin' how to tell them apart, but. I didn't hear anything gettin' used, but they were definitely there."

"I think I know why," Wilbur breaks in from where he's been sitting and watching on the side. "I'll explain later."

Clay looks between the two very confusedly, before shrugging. "Do you like me now, Techno? Am I big and strong like you?"

Techno chuckles and puts a hand on Clay's head. "Big might be stretchin' it. We'll work on it, kid."

Clay presses happily up into the hand with a happy grin. "Yay!"

Techno shakes his head and gives a sigh. "Wilbur, really. Of all the traits you had to take from Dad it was the compulsive adoption?"

Wilbur squawks a laugh. "Hey!"

Clay giggles into his hand. "It's not his fault! He found me in the woods!"

Techno turns his gaze over to the kid. "Yeah, and you want to know where Philza Minecraft found Wilbur?"

"Technoblade don't you dare—"

"Passed out inside a rusty fridge in the woods," Techno finishes with no regard for Wilbur's long sigh.

Clay laughs very loudly at that, even falling over onto the ground.

Wilbur throws his hands up. "So what would have me do, leave him? No!"

"Look, I'm just tellin' it as I see it. 'Most people rejected his message, they hated him because he told them the truth,'" Techno quotes.

Clay giggles and bounces up. "I'm gonna go see the bees!" He shouts before he darts off towards the beehives. Wilbur isn't all too worried since Tubbo probably will be there.

Techno watches the kid leave before turning to Wilbur with a raised eyebrow. Wilbur sighs.

"He's an admin," Wilbur explains, and Techno lets out a noise of understanding. "But I don't think he knows and I don't really want to tell him because... I don't want him to try and take advantage of it or anything? I feel like he would just try to figure out all he can do with it, and I don't want that. If he starts doing more, Dream might get upset."

"Ah," Techno replies, nodding. "I get that... but the powers are clearly bleeding out. Some sort of trainin' or something would be worthwhile, I think."

Wilbur hums. "Maybe... but Phil's busy again, and the only other option is Dream, who hasn’t been around..."

Chapter 6 Chapter Text

George was sitting in the community house, reading a book, like he liked to do sometimes. He was on the roof of the building, resting in the light of the sun when he heard the door slam open.

George looks down the stairs and sees Sapnap—not unusual, but he doesn't exactly feel like dealing with chaos right now so he won't make his presence known.

That is, until he sees Sapnap press on a series of blocks in a specific order, and the door to Dream's secret admin room opens up, which Sapnap runs into.

When George follows, he sees Sapnap, clearly distressed, tossing books and papers around wildly, muttering to himself.

"Sapnap?" George calls, closing the door behind him to make sure no one else finds it.

Sapnap jumps as George speaks, whirling around to meet George's eyes.

"Hey," George greets. "What are you doing?"

"I—" Sapnap stutters, "The kid, admin— In L'Manberg, you know him right?"

"Clay, right? Wilbur came and talked about him," George replies easily, trying to see where Sapnap is going with this right now.

"Yeah, yeah. Clay. I—" Sapnap breathes heavily. "I've gotta... I've been trying so hard to fix him, but—"

"Fix?" George asks. "So he is Dream, then."

Sapnap nods quickly, turning back to look at papers. "I don't know what happened, but he's 9— and he only remembers being 9. He only knows me as Nick, he doesn't know that Sapnap exists at all. He's just gone back to when we were on the run together, just... I think it's just a few months before we met you."

"I see... that does explain it," George replies. "I wasn't sure whether this was intentional on his part, so I didn't ask."

Sapnap shrugs. "I don't know why it happened, but I can't find anything in his journals that make sense. It's— It's all so weird and I know I'm not an admin but I should be able to understand more of this! I can understand some of it— he, he has personal diary type things, and I understand those because they're full of personal references but— but the other half of them are nonsense and I can't— it'll be my fault if he's stuck like this because I can't figure out how to fix it!"

"Sap... hey," George soothes, stepping closer and putting a hand on Sapnap's arm. "It's not your fault either way, alright?"

Sapnap shakes George's hand off of him. "No— No he trusts me, he trusts me to help him and this isn't helping him!"

"Sapnap," George insists. "Look at me, yeah? What have you been trying to do in here?"

Sapnap's breaths are laboured when he turns to look George in the eye. "I'm—" He chokes on a breath, "I'm trying to figure out what caused this."

"Okay," George replies. "Here, sit down. You're alright, everyone's alright. Breathe. We'll figure it out."

Sapnap takes deep breaths, 4. 7. 8. "I just... Dream wrote down everything, but I can't understand half of his writing. I don't know what to do."

"Alright. Let's work this out. What have you got so far?" George asks, calm, supportive.

"Dream was scared of... something. He was writing all normal then it got weird, look," Sapnap explains, opening up the diary in his hands and flipping to the most recent pages.

It's getting harder and harder to control, I'm not sure if I can do it anymore. I'm getting nervous. 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110010 01101100 01100100 00100000 01100011 01101000 01100001 01101110 01100111 01100101 01100100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101001 01101101 01100101 00101100 00100000 01110111 01101001 01110100 01101000 01101111 01110101 01110100 00100000 01101101 01100101 00100000 01110101 01110011 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101101 01101101 01100001 01101110 01100100 01110011 00101110. I'm scared. I have to do something.

George leans over his shoulder, squinting through his goggles. "Binary..." he whispers. "Give it here."

Sapnap hands over the journal without much resistance, though he's still clearly worried.

George runs his hand along the words as he reads, mumbling under his breath. "Literally, it reads 'the world changed the time, without me using commands'... but there's a bit of implications. Hm," he muses, but gives Sapnap a little smile. "I know some coding stuff, you know. You should've asked me to help from the start."

Sapnap curls up in shame. "I... I thought I could do it. I didn't want to bother you."

George lets out an exasperated little sigh. "Didn't you think I'd want to help him too? Dumbass." He sits down and keeps flipping through the book. "Come on, then. Let's brainstorm. I bet there's something we can figure out."

Sapnap nods, face still slightly flushed with shame. "If..." He pauses, reorganizing his sentence, "Do you think we need to go to the other room?"

George looks up, then back down at the coded text. "Probably. This stuff is so personal that... yeah, he didn't want anyone to stumble across it. We'll probably find more over there."

Sapnap nods. "I refreshed myself on how to get there a while back, so I can take us when it's a good time."

George nods. "Are there any other books here that had stuff like this?" He points to the code. "If not, we can probably head over now."

Sapnap nods, and pulls up one book. It's entirely glitched out, and it's even somewhat difficult for George to make out. He is able to tell that the book is old, though, from before the SMP.

George takes it gently and flips through it briefly. "Well, let's bring it along and then start on the other place. We want to get this figured out as quickly as possible, yeah?"

Sapnap nods. "Yeah. You've seen the log, right? There's more commands than normal being used. I don't think Dream knows that he's an admin right now. He didn't back when we really were that age..."

"That makes sense, then... Yeah, we definitely should move quick," George replies. "I know Dream avoids using commands too much for a reason."

Sapnap nods. "He teleported me the other day, too. I think he's doing it instinctually, like he did when the server was really new, remember?"

"Oh, yeah..." George trails off as he thinks. "He did, didn't he? Gosh, feels like such a long time ago."

Sapnap chuckles. "Yeah... Remember the time he accidentally sent us both to creative after you fell?"

George laughs. "Oh, yeah! I forgot about that one."

Sapnap sighs fondly. "I just want Dream back, you know? He's a cute kid and all but..."

"Of course you want him back," George replies soothingly. "He's Dream. Nostalgia can only take you so far. I want him back too."

"Yeah... Come on, we need to get moving. You remember how far the second room is." Sapnap nods, walking off towards the Nether Portal.

George laughs. "For sure. I mean, it keeps it safe at least."

"Yeah. Just sucks that we have to travel like, thousands of blocks over the nether roof into the middle of nowhere though."

George sighs and stretches. "For sure. If there's any time I'm salty about the End lock, it'd be this sort of thing. I hear Elytra make long distance traveling so much better."

"Yeah. But I mean, Dream's very firm about that rule, so..." Sapnap shrugs as they get to the roof. "Time to walk." He sighs.

The walk is long, and Sapnap checks his coordinates every few seconds. A few hours of walking later, he stops. "This should be the right place." He says, feeling around on the bedrock. "Aha." He says, finding a trap door textured to look like bedrock, opening up a hidden room with a nether portal. Sapnap slips through, and appears in the secondary admin room.

The room is large, open, and cluttered. Books are laid haphazardly, and on the other side of the wall Sapnap sees two buttons hidden behind glass, one labeled George, and one Sapnap. Administrative buttons, set up to transfer operating abilities to one of them in case of emergency.

Sapnap looks at the books around him and groans, he can hardly understand a quarter of them. They're mainly just the glitched mess of text like the clips in Dream's diary.

George stretches and sighs. "Well. Best start looking, I guess." And with that he grabs a stack and begins to skim. "Any keywords you noticed come up a lot I should be looking for?"

"Look for recent fears. Something about control."

"Alright." George curls up on the chair and begins pouring through the pages for any leads.

The pages are a mess, and George finds that, while he understands the words, Dream writes in personal references. When he groans about one of them, Sapnap easily explains, and they end up in a tag-team plan where George translates a page from binary to Dream-Nonsense, and Sapnap translates the Dream-Nonsense to English.

Eventually, they're able to piece it together.

With more people and more activity in the world, Dream gained more and more power, and was starting to no longer be able to separate his will from the server's, and was accidentally editing the world around him without wanting to. He split himself in two, and hid part of his powers away, and with only half his code, George guessed it caused him to re-set to half his age with half his memories.

"So we just need to get the other part back? Wouldn't the two pieces just... stick back together by now?" Sapnap asks.

"They would, unless there was something stopping them..." George muses. "And the easiest way of that would be..... separate dimensions."

Sapnap's eyes widen. "Didn't Dream explain why we couldn't go to the End once? He said— something about unfiltered code?"

"Yeah," George replies, standing and flipping through a couple separate books. "The End is the closest to a world core, and the Void is basically pure code. So that would mean..."

"Glitches. Dream has to have put his other code somewhere in the End to hide it amongst the glitches."

George lands on a page of theories about the End and leans forward. "'The dragon is a manifestation of the world's loyalty. Dangerous, but loyal'," he reads before turning to Sapnap. "That has to be it. If we want to get the other half back, we have to go to the End."

Sapnap nods. "We've been before, we can do it again. Killing the dragon is easy enough, right? I mean... all the other ones we killed were entirely mindless since Dream turned off his connection with the world around him, but it'll be basically the same thing, yeah? And— and if it's about loyalty, maybe the dragon will just let us have the other code since Dream is loyal to us?"

"We'll have to see," George replies, closing the book and sending Sapnap a determined smile. "I wouldn't put it past Dream to have messed with the AI somehow, but we have to at least check it out."

Sapnap gives a firm nod back, and reaches into his bag, pulling out an ender chest. "I have a few eyes in my chest— just in case Dream ever let us go to the End. We can try and figure out where the portal is before we go get more materials."

George nods. "Let's move, then."

Sapnap throws a pearl in the air, and they run after it. With all their practice, finding a stronghold, and the portal within, doesn't take too long. Sapnap writes down the coordinates.

"Do we want to get our stuff and do this now? We'll need to move fast— the achievement will give us away..."

"No reason not to go now—we have armor and swords, and we know how to do this," George replies confidently.

Sapnap nods. "I mean, sure. Let's go." He says before quickly inserting all the Eyes of Ender and jumping into the portal.

They spawn underground, and dig up easily enough. The fight goes like normal—seems like Dream didn't mess around with the AI that much. The dragon does shoot more fireballs than normal, which sucks, but that's alright.

They get the dragon down and the normal fanfare plays, experience rains from the sky, and the dragon egg appears on the portal out.

Sapnap looks around. "Where's the code?"

George puts a hand to his chin as the experience swirls, looking around. "I mean... if he wanted it to be really unreachable he could just go through one of the little portals. But that doesn't seem like his style." He looks around at the pillars before settling his gaze on the portal out— or more specifically, the dark egg sitting atop it inconspicuously. "He would go for the most special thing, wouldn't he?"

Sapnap nods, and walks up to the egg. He punches it once. Instead of teleporting like it normally would, the egg begins to crack, before falling into two pieces.

Dream's mask sits inside.

"What? Well— at least we know he's been here," George points out, leaning forward. He grabs Sapnap's hand before it grabs the mask, tapping his goggles to switch them to the code-sensitive mode. "It's definitely a source of supercondensed code."

Sapnap grumbles, and pulls out a scrap of leather from his bag before picking it up. The edge of the leather seems to glitch slightly, but it seems to hold fine. "So, what? We just bring this to the Overworld and it fixes him?"

"It should work... we might have to bring it to him directly, it's a very solidly-crafted vessel, looks like," George muses.

Sapnap groans. "Let's just hope it fixes itself when we walk through the portal."

George pauses, staring at the mask in Sapnap's hand thoughtfully. "Are you sure... are you sure we should?"

"Why wouldn't we?"

"Well... Dream separated himself for a reason, right?" George begins. "And, as far as I can tell... 'Clay' has been happy where he is."

"But—" Sapnap pauses, "But the server needs Dream..." He looks away. "I need Dream..."

"I know, but..." George crosses his arms uncomfortably. "We should at least explain it to him. Give him the option."

Sapnap sighs. "Fine. I don't like it... but... fine."

"Thank you." George smiles, turning to the portal. "Should we head out, then?"

Sapnap doesn't say anything, just jumps through the portal, reappearing at his house. He walks the short distance to the community house, where he knows George's spawn is set.

"Anything look different?" Sapnap asks, gesturing to the mask he still held in his leather-covered hand.

"It's pulling..." George watches the code roil, barely clinging to the form of the mask as had been demanded by Dream. He points to where it seems to be drawn, "that way. That's toward L'Manburg, right?"

"Yeah. So it's trying to go back."

"Yeah. Makes sense, really," George explains. "I doubt the code likes being split like this." He turns to Sapnap. "We should go talk to him, then. I haven't before, but I'm assuming you have? Leave the mask with me and bring him somewhere we can talk privately, we don't need Wilbur listening in."

Sapnap nods. "I can do that, yeah. I meet with him often— he still remembers me as Nick from back then."

"Perfect. You do that then," George orders, holding his hand out for the mask.

Sapnap hesitates, but hands the mask over.

He makes quick work of going to L'Manberg and knocking on Wilbur's door. He's not supposed to be inside the walls, but Wilbur had given him temporary access as long as Clay wanted him around.

There's a couple minutes until the door opens, Sapnap can hear a bit of a rustle and muffled talking throughout the rooms. Wilbur eventually opens the door, open posture straightening as he sees who's behind the door. "Hello, Sapnap. What are you here for?"

"Do you mind if I take Clay out with me? I found a really cool pond I think he would like." Sapnap lies easily.

Wilbur squints at Sapnap for a moment... but they have come to a tense agreement. "Clay!" He calls over his shoulder. "Sapnap's here!"

"YAY!" Clay yells happily as he bounds over, throwing himself into Sapnap's arms. He's always been so touchy. Sapnap never minds.

"Hey Clay!" Sapnap grins. "Want to see a secret with me?"

"Yeah!!"

"Then let's go!" Sapnap grins.

"Okay! Bye Dad!"

"Bye, have fun," Wilbur returns. "When can I expect you back?"

Sapnap shrugs. "Before sunset at the latest. I'll get him back to you before mobs spawn."

"Alright, sure," Wilbur allows, stifling a yawn and rubbing at his forehead. "Be careful out there, Clay." He waves and closes the door, seeming distracted.

Clay waves as Wilbur shuts the door. He's been busy lately with the election, so Clay's not too worried. He turns to Sapnap.

"Where are we going Nick?"

"To the grove I found, George is meeting us there." He says, shooting a message into chat at George.

"Yay! I get to meet George! He's your best friend isn't he?"

"One of them, yes," Sapnap agrees happily.

They walk, and by the time they arrive George is, in-fact, sitting on a bench in their secret grove, hidden away and nestled within dark oak trees.

George sits with the mask resting safely on his lap, though he is tracing the edge and trying to figure out the patterns in the code. He looks up when the code starts pulling much more actively, waving at the two figures.

"Hey Sapnap. And you're Clay, right?" He asks with a polite smile.

Clay nods happily. "Mm-hm! It's nice to meet you, Mister George!"

George laughs a bit. "Just George is fine." He glances at Sapnap. "That was a bit faster than I expected. Wilbur didn't give you any trouble?"

"Dad's busy with the election," Clay explains.

"Yeah, what Clay said. He looks about ready to fall over."

"Mmhm... Phil and Techno say they'll come over after he wins and make sure he rests," Clay smiles.

"Really? Huh," George replies. "Well Clay, did Sapnap tell you what he brought you here to talk about?"

"Mm-mm," Clay shakes his head, "Just that it was a secret."

"Right, well—" he raises the mask carefully for Clay to be able to see, "—do you recognize this?"

Clay looks at it carefully, and green eyes widen. George sees numbers flash just behind the lens.

"I— That's... me?"

"It is," George agrees. His gaze shifts over to Sapnap. "I didn't actually ask, how much have you told him?"

"Nothing." Sapnap explains. "Only that he was 21 before this."

George sighs. "Make it harder on all of us, why don't you. So, Clay, basically... Dream is the admin of this world, yeah? And you are Dream, but only back when he was nine or so. He split himself up for some reason. Basically, this mask contains the other half of your code."

Clay looks at the mask. "Huh. Cool. Wait— does that mean I'm an admin?"

George sits in silence for a long moment before turning to Sapnap judgingly. "Really?"

"What?! I was leaving that up to Wilbur! He's basically Clay's dad now so it's not my job!" Sapnap whines.

"You really were going to trust Wilbur Soot with something like that? Sapnap," George admonished. "We fought against him for a reason, you know. Honestly." He sighs and turns back to Clay. "Yes, you're an admin. You've been giving commands to the server basically since the split happened."

Clay blinks, then purses his lips. "Is that why Nick always ends up next to me when I have a nightmare?"

Sapnap groans. "Yeah, you teleport me out of bed."

"Anyway. You are an admin with half the memory and training you are meant to have. We don't know entirely what this will do, but... servers aren't meant to function like this. If you put on the mask, you'll be whole again. You'll be Dream," George explains.

Clay looks at the mask, and looks at George. "Will... Will I remember everything? Will... Will Wilbur still be my Dad?"

"I... don't know," George admits. "We don't really have any way to tell."

"Can I think about it first?" Clay asks shyly, looking down at his feet.

George sends Sapnap a 'told you so' look. "Of course. The two of us are capable of keeping the server running, so there's no real pressure."

Clay nods. "Okay..."

Sapnap fluffs Clay's hair and boops him softly on the nose. "I promised to get you back to your Dad, but if you want to be a little crazy, maybe you could try out one of those admin commands and bring yourself back?"

"Sapnap!" George chastises. "Clay, listen. You need to try and limit the amount of commands you use, alright? The world isn't meant to be messed with as much as you have been. Alright?"

Clay nods. "Alright, I'll try... But I didn't even know I was doing it..."

"It's not your fault Clay, promise. George is being a fun-killer even if he is technically right."

"I— sorry, yeah," George replies. "I didn't mean to blame you, I just meant to be careful and try to be better now that you know. Okay?"

"Mhm, I will. I don't want to hurt the world, she's really nice." Clay smiles.

George blinks. "She?"

Clay nods. "Mm-hmm! Sometimes she tells me when blocks are wrong, I thought everyone could hear her?"

He shakes his head. "It's definitely not... just proof that you're an admin, I guess." He sighs and leans back on the bench. "Would you like the mask, or would you like us to hold onto it for you?"

"I'll take it." Clay says after a moment's thought. "I have a chest in Dad's house that nobody opens so I can always have it near me."

"Okay," George agrees, wrapping the mask carefully in the leather and holding it out. "Be careful with it, okay? It's very important to keep safe."

Clay nods firmly. "I'll protect it! I'm big and strong now because Techno has been training me!"

George laughs lightly. "Sounds good."

Chapter 7 Chapter Text

To say Wilbur was exhausted between all the preparations for the election was an understatement. Despite this, when he wakes up the day-of, he can't help but have a spark of hope and excitement in his heart.

"'morning, Clay," he greets with a tired smile, ruffling his hair. "You excited for today?"

Clay happily nods. "Yeah! I get to see you win the election!"

Wilbur laughs. "For sure! Well—" he amends "—there's still every chance that the people voted otherwise. And if that happens, we follow the rules and accept it, yeah?"

Clay pouts, but nods. "'Democracy is a staple of L'Manberg'" he recites.

"Exactly," Wilbur agrees with a proud grin. "That said, let's go win this thing. Can you go get my coat and hat?"

"Mhm!" Clay says, running over to get Wilbur's official L'Manberg uniform coat and hat. He has his own little hat too— though no coat, he didn't want to take off his hoodie.

Wilbur takes it graciously and suits up, adjusting his cravat and cuffs, brushing through his hair to look perfectly professional. He gives Clay a proud look at the little hat secured on his head, reaching over and adjusting it with a nod.

"Today is a good day," he asserts. "The official beginning of the Soot Administration, and the securing of an era of prosperity for L'Manburg."

"Yeah!"

A loud knock sounds at the door, Tommy not bothering to wait for a response before slamming the door open.

"ARE WE READY TO WIN, BOYS??" He yells, already dressed in his own L'Manburg uniform. "CAN I GET A POGCHAMP?!"

"POG-CHAMP!" Clay calls back.

"f*ck YEAH, POG. f*ckING. CHAMP!" Tommy yells.

Wilbur doesn't even chastise him for the volume, just giving a big laugh. "That's the spirit!" He looks between them satisfactorily, before giving a sigh and rubbing his hands on the coat with a sheepish grin. "I'm getting a bit of stage fright, to be honest."

Clay happily boops Wilbur on the nose. "It'll go great Dad, promise!"

Wilbur laughs and picks Clay up briefly, raising him up in the air in the spirit of fun. He quickly puts the kid back on his feet with a huff, though, grinning and brushing his hair back into place. "You are too big, you know that? Tooooo big. I thought you're meant to be my little guy, huh? Whatever happened to that?"

"Techno's training me Dad! So I'll be biiiiig!! I'll be stronger than you one day!" Clay beams.

Tommy grins, throwing an arm around Clay's shoulders. "I'd bet you're already stronger than Big Dubs, Lil C! He's pretty weak, you know." Wilbur makes a sound of offence, but can't keep the smile off his face.

"Uh-uh! Dad's really strong when he wants to be! I bet he could pick you up!"

Wilbur laughs and shakes his head. "I really couldn't—Tommy's got too big a head for that one," he retorts, whacking Tommy on the shoulder before turning to the door. "Besides, we have an election to win, boys. Come on, we don't want to be late!"

It's Tommy's turn to make a sound of indignation at the jab, though he quickly shifts into giving a laughing salute. "Yes, sir! Let's do this!!"

Clay bounds after them. "I HEARD THERE WAS A SPECIAL PLACE!"

"Where men could go and emancipate!" Wilbur and Tommy follow, though Wilbur waves them to quiet down as Tubbo runs over with a grin. "Hello, Tubbo."

"Hi, Wilbur!" Tubbo greets, uniform a bit ruffled as he comes to a stop before them. Wilbur gives another smile and adjusts his lapels.

"Tubbo!" Clay beams, jumping over and hugging the boy, messing his suit up all over again. "Are you excited to see Dad win??"

Tubbo grins back. "For sure, big man, for sure! Today's gonna be a great day!"

"Oh, oh, Wilbur, Tubbo's got something to show you though—" Tommy breaks in, grabbing Wilbur's elbow. "I just want to let you know, Tubbo has made a huge underground and has provided us with— with drugs, in case things go south, so, here you go," Tommy explains, pushing a couple bottles into Wilbur's hands.

Wilbur turns them over, looking at the potions. "Is this invisibility?" He asks.

"It's Tubbo's, not my—!" Tommy rushes to explain, but Tubbo grabs Wilbur's other elbow and starts pulling him toward the lake.

"Yeah yeah, Wilbur, let me show you the entrance real quick—so if things go south, there's just somewhere to run," Tubbo explains.

Clay looks up with big pleading eyes. "If things go bad am I allowed to break the rules a little?"

Wilbur hesitates, sighing and patting Clay's shoulder lightly. "I'd rather you don't. Just stay safe, alright? But it'll be fine, don't worry."

Clay gives a little nod but he's already decided that rules don't count when someone's in danger.

"Okay, do we need to go to the podium?"

Wilbur takes a deep breath and adjusts his hair, nodding. "Right. Let's go. Whatever happens..." he looks around at the boys standing by him and gives a genuine smile. "Just know that I'm so, incredibly proud of all of you. Of all of this. L'Manburg is a special place, of that I'm certain, all the more so because we all have made it that way."

"Oh, man, you're getting all sappy," Tommy complains. "Come on. Let's just go f*cking win it already!! I want to rub it in Big Q's face!"

"Yeah!" Tubbo cheers.

Clay grins and pumps his fist in the air with a woop.

The group approaches the podium, hearing the tails of the conversation of whatever the competition was talking about before they arrived.

Quackity and Tommy immediately started shooting insults at each other as Tubbo split off to sit in the crowd's area, but Wilbur's attention zeroed in on the horned man waiting in front of the microphone.

"Hello Mr. Schlatt," Wilbur greets somewhat stiffly.

"Hello," the businessman returns easily.

"I didn't know you were serious about this," Wilbur replies. "I thought you wouldn't have stuck around."

"Oh, no, I came early Wilbur," Schlatt explains with a dangerous hint of a smile. "I took my position at the podium."

Wilbur is about to say something, but his attention gets stolen by George's appearance behind Quackity, and then Fundy standing at the other side of the podium. The nerves of the whole thing, of the results book burning a hole in his pocket makes it all a blur, to be honest.

"Shall we get on with it, then?" He breaks through the chaos as everyone fans out to their positions on the stage, Fundy and Niki to his right; Tommy, Quackity, and George to his left; Clay behind Tommy and Schlatt standing ominously in the back corner. "I just need to say that—tonight is the inauguration. Yeah? We're not just deciding who wins tonight, we're also inaugurating the winner. So what I'm thinking, how this should go, is that once we announce the winner, we all go down into the audience and whoever it is takes their place at the stand. And we then listen to their first decree as president!"

He sighs and turns down to the audience area.

"My fellow L'Manburgians," he addresses, "thank you for coming here today to watch a historic moment! The passing over of the presidency for the first election of L'Manburg. I have with me the election results of the four parties." At this he draws out a thin yet high-quality book and shows it. "So without further ado I want to go through the election results."

"With nine percent of the vote," Wilbur continues, opening the record of the election, "in fourth place, is Coconut 2020."

Fundy and Niki cheer, and everyone laughs at the antics.

"Hey Fundy, good work man," Tommy calls. "Everyone is proud of you."

"Thaanks, Tommy," Fundy replies, rolling his eyes a bit.

"With sixteen percent of the vote," Wilbur calls over the raucous, "coming in at third place... is Schlatt 2020."

There's general astonished hubbub at the news, but Wilbur turns to look at Quackity. "Well, that's two parties left, isn't it? This leaves the two major front-runners as the final option here. And I will say—" he turns back to the crowd "—in second place, with thirty percent of the popular vote is... led by..." he's drawing it out for suspense now, "the party leader Quackity. SWAG 2020. Meaning!" He calls over the yells that immediately start up. "Meaning that the winner of the popular vote, by forty-five percent, is POG 2020." Cheers abound, but Wilbur does his best to push through them. "Listen, listen! Stop celebrating—please, stop, please—Tommy, we won," he explains in an aside before raising his voice again. "Listen, listen!"

"We did it Wilbur!" Tommy yells, but Wilbur presses on with his speech.

"Two nights ago, on the night of the election," Wilbur explains, and Schlatt begins to laugh from the back. "After the announcement of Schlatt 2020 and Coconut 2020... Quackity made a deal! With the leader of Schlatt 2020... Mr. J. Schlatt stood behind me." He gestures at the horned man. "Quackity said that, no matter what happens, Quackity would pool SWAG 2020 votes on with Schlatt 2020 votes. POG 2020 got 45% of the popular vote... meaning that the coalition government of Schlatt and SWAG 2020 got 46% percent of the vote!" Uproar takes the stage and crowd. "Meaning that tonight, ladies and gentlemen—on Tuesday, the 22nd of September, 2020—Schlatt 2020 has been inaugurated!"

Wilbur turns to Schlatt, meeting his clear, ambitious grin. "I want to say that it was an honor competing against you, but I—please, Schlatt, step up to the podium," he tells him, taking Tommy by the arm and leading the both of them down into the back of the crowd to watch the new president at work.

"Wha—" Tommy stammers. "Wilbur—Wilbur are you sure? By one percent, Wilbur?"

"Yes... Tommy, we're citizens tonight," Wilbur explains. "Just—listen to Schlatt."

"NO!" Clay cries quietly, sobbing into his hand. He stays on the podium, hiding behind Quackity in the wings.

"That was pretty easy. And you know what I said, the day I got unbanned from the DreamSMP, and the day I said I was running... an election that I won by the way? I said; "Things are gonna change". I looked every citizen of L'Manberg in the eyes and I said; "You listen to me... this place will be a lot different tomorrow." Let's start making it happen. My first decree, as the president of L'Manberg- the EMPEROR! of this great country-! Is to REVOKE the citizenship of WilburSoot, and TommyInnit! Get 'em outta here! Get 'em outta here! You're no longer welcome!" Schlatt yells.

"No!" Clay screams, running out from the wings of the podium and trying to sprint to his father.

"Clay, stop!" Quackity calls, grabbing Clay around the torso and holding him tight. "It's not safe!"

"DAD!!!" Clay shrieks, pulling against Quackity's arms.

"sh*t, what the f*ck—" Quackity curses as his arms twitch before they go slack, too weak to hold their own wait.

"DAD!" Clay screams again before running after Wilbur. An arrow ends up shot in his direction.

Both Clay and the arrow vanish.

Clay appears somewhere else, and blinks the darkness from his eyes before looking up. Wilbur and Tommy are next to him, still running. "Dad!"

"Clay?!" Wilbur turns to him with wide eyes, quickly grabbing his son's arm and pulling the both of them behind a large tree. He kneels to make sure they both are hidden firmly, as Tommy notices and presses against another tree, looking back for anyone following them. Wilbur is breathing heavily, but his grip on Clay's arms is tight out of worry. "What are you doing?!"

"I-I'm sorry! I told you I'd break the rules I— I know I'm not supposed to but I had to be with you!" Clay sobs.

"You have to be safe!" Wilbur snaps before forcing himself to take a deep breath. "Just—go back to L'Manburg, Clay," he orders, voice monotone. "They won't hurt you—stay with Niki, she can take care of you."

"NO!" Clay yells, "I can help!!"

"I'm not arguing with you right now!" Wilbur snaps.

"Wilbur, there's—" Tommy starts, and Wilbur releases Clay abruptly and stands.

"We have to go— we have get up and run, come on Tommy, we can't let—we can't let Quackity know where we are," Wilbur commands, starting to sprint further into the woods.

"RUNNING ISN'T FAST ENOUGH!"

Clay whips around to see Punz standing with an arrow, released directly towards Wilbur.

"NO! STOP!" Clay screams, and the arrow disintegrates into particles.

"What the— nope, nope, f*ck this." Punz says before pearling away.

Wilbur looks back with a somewhere between somber and resigned look on his face, but keeps running. He's stopped talking. Tommy follows, though he does keep pace with Clay and make sure the kid is keeping up enough. Tommy begins talking, trying to cope.

"This is— are you f*cking kidding me? What the f*ck? This, Wilbur, your own son betrayed you!"

"I know," Wilbur replies dully.

"We— We gave up literally everything for that country and they— I gave them my disks, Wilbur! I— and now it's all gone. And Tubbo—!"

"We are unwelcome in the Dream SMP's land and we are unwelcome in L'Manburg," Wilbur notes. "We literally are in the wilderness now."

Clay pouts, "Why— Why can't we stay in DreamSMP?"

"Because— f*cking Dream—" Tommy seethes.

"It was one of the conditions of L'Manburg's freedom. By making our own nation we absolved ourselves of the welcome of the Dream SMP," Wilbur recites.

Clay's eyes get watery. He's— But— but he's Dream, isn't he?

"Isn't— Isn't Nick one of the people in charge there? He could let us in!"

"No," Wilbur replies. "They wouldn't— doing so would sully L'Manburg's name, to just run back drying at the littlest inconvenience. We—this is our consequence."

Clay looks down sadly and nods. "O-Okay... I—" He hums. "Dad...? Can... can I break an important rule? Just this once?"

Wilbur slows, and the others stop with him. He glances the way they came, just to make sure there wasn't an active pursuer, before looking down at Clay. "What rule?"

"T...The one that says I'm not supposed to use admin powers," Clay mumbles, just barely audible in the silence of the forest.

"You—" Wilbur cuts himself off, staring down at Clay as he process what exactly that means. "We'll talk later. What exactly do you want to do."

"I wanna ask the world to find me somewhere safe." Clay says.

Wilbur pauses, thinking, and Tommy pulls on his sleeve.

"Wilbur, that would be—"

"Fine."

Clay nods, and flops to lay down on the ground, shutting his eyes.

Where can I go that's safe?

To him, he's just thinking, but it's... Loud Thinking. Connected to the ground beneath him.

Clay shoots up, code flying behind his eyes.

"This way," He says, half in a daze as he runs to a seemingly random wall. He grabs a pickaxe from Wilbur and digs into the wall before digging down a bit, into a completely concealed ravine, suspiciously empty of mobs. Wilbur spots some loot laying on the ground, showing the mobs were recently killed. He wonders if it was the world or if it was Clay. He wonders if there was a difference.

"Does— Does this work Dad?" He asks.

Wilbur looks down into the darkness, beginning to feel increasingly exhausted from their escape and detached from the whole experience. "It should work as a refuge," he replies. "We need— beds. Food. A workbench and chests. We—" he breath hitches and he leans against the wall, forcing the air through his lungs. "We have nothing, now."

"Wilbur..." Tommy mutters, concerned.

"I can go back and get things!" Clay offers. "Please please let me help? I'll be super careful!"

Wilbur turns his gaze over to Clay after a second and sighs, kneeling and opening his arms. "Give me a hug," he asks, and presses his forehead into Clay's hair once he successfully has an armful of child. "I still think you should stay in L'Manburg," he mutters.

"I'm not leaving you," Clay mutters into Wilbur's chest. "I'll stay there some of the time but not forever."

"Fine," Wilbur allows, knowing he can't really stop Clay. "You can visit us—if you're careful. But you need to get back now, before they get too concerned about you. We'll be okay out here."

Clay nods sadly, "I'll let Niki know you're okay," He says before grabbing Tommy in a hug. "Watch out for Dad for me, okay Tommy? You know how silly he can get about not taking care of himself."

Tommy gives him a squeeze and a grin—not quite as bright as his usual one, but a clear attempt at normalcy. "You got it Lil C. I'll take care of Wilbur, don't you worry. You stay careful, and maybe keep an eye out for Tubbo, yeah?"

Clay nods. "Mmhmm, I won't let anyone hurt Tubbee."

"Alright. Good luck," Tommy replies, sending him off with a pat to the back.

"Make sure they don't see you reentering," Wilbur warns, his attention on his communicator.

Clay nods. "I'll be really sneaky."

"Good. Go."

Clay rushes off into the wilderness.

"NO!" He gasps behind his hands as he sees the walls being torn down. He runs over to Niki, who is standing with Eret on the prime path, chatting quietly.

"Niki?" He asks. "What— What happened?"

"Clay?" Niki asks, eyes going wide and quickly kneeling to grab his shoulders and check him over. "Oh my god, are you okay?! Where have you been?"

"'m sorry, I didn't wanna leave Dad. I went with him and Tommy until they found a safe place to hide for now."

"Wilbur and Tommy are safe?" Niki repeats. "Oh, thank goodness."

Eret smiles ruefully, adjusting their glasses. "I wanted to catch them and offer assistance before they left, but they moved so quickly, and... Let them know that I can offer them sanctuary, if needed," they request.

Clay nods. "Mmhm, I will... They said they don't wanna go to the DreamSMP tho, even though I said Ni—Sapnap would let us in."

"I... can unfortunately see why," Eret replies. "Still, the offer is there."

"Are you going to be staying in L'Manburg, Clay?" Niki asks.

(In a ravine across the forest, Wilbur Soot stares at his communicator and wonders how things could go so wrong.

But there's one that has to be ensured before he can sit down and figure it out...

>Sapnap, I've sent Clay back to L'Manburg. You weren't at the election, but I need you to check on him. Whatever differences we've had, I know that you will look out for him even though I cannot. You will not be able to contact me at this number if anything happens
>Also, I know you went and told him about being an admin. No one else would have. Whatever, just make sure he is safe from Dream if your illustrious leader takes offense)

Clay shakes his head. "Uh-uh, I'm gonna move around. I'll be with Nap sometimes, and I'll be in L'Manberg sometimes, and I'll be with Dad sometimes."

"That's good, that makes sense. I think Wil will need someone on his side, so I'm glad you'll do that," Niki replies sincerely. "Just be careful... I think Schlatt is going to be making a lot of changes soon."

(In the darkness of the cave, stone against probably-metal rings out. Communicators are made to be practically impervious, as they are the keystone to a Player's contact with the outside. Water, lava, electricity—it has safeguards against almost everything.

However, not even the greatest of engineering can hold up against the fury of a loving man scorned.)

Clay looks down sadly. "Mister Schlatt is scary, he reminds me of bad people."

"I'm sorry, Clay..." Niki responds sadly. "His first decision wasn't... too popular, for sure, but I don't know what he'll really be like. I'd just be a bit cautious, okay?"

"Mhm... I'll try and stay away from him."

Niki nods. "That should be fine." She tilts her head and offers Clay a hand to hold. "Do you want to go back to my bakery for now, or do you have plans?"

"I... can I go see Nick?" Clay asks, curling his hands into his chest.

"See Sapnap?" She asks, just to confirm. "I haven't seen him around today. If he could come pick you up, that would be better... with all the excitement, I don't think it would be good for you to go wandering around."

Clay nods, he wishes he had a way to talk to Sapnap but he doesn't have a communicator... why can't Sapnap just be here already—?

"Clay!"

Clay whips around and sees Sapnap just a few blocks from him.

"NICK!" He cries, and runs to hide his face in Sapnap's chest.

"Shh, it's alright, I'm here. You know you're not supposed to teleport me like that though." He whispers.

"'m sorry,, didn't mean to."

"It's alright, you're alright Clay."

"Can— Can I stay with you and George tonight?"

"Of course you can, Clay." Sapnap soothes, and looks up at Niki and Eret.

"What happened?" He asks. "Wilbur sent me a... frankly worrisome message earlier but he didn't give me any context."

"You weren't watching in on the election?" Eret asks. "I figured you were from a distance..."

"Schlatt... Schlatt won. He's the president of L'Manburg now, and he's doing all these things—" Niki tries to explain, upset.

"He exiled Wilbur and Tommy," Eret replies. "I tried to catch them before they got too far, but... well, they probably wouldn't have wanted anything to do with me anyway."

"It was horrible," Niki said. "They— Punz and Ponk were shooting at them. I honestly wasn't sure they were going to..."

Sapnap curses under his breath. "I was busy with server-side stuff. Didn't get a chance to watch."

"Luckily, they seemed to get out unscathed," Eret says. "Schlatt has appointed Tubbo to finding them as the Secretary of State, and they're unwelcome in L'Manburg until further notice. I would have tried to do more, but as the situation was... my hands were tied, from a political standpoint." Their voice is heavy with regret at the way the day had gone.

"Yeah. You're right, politically you can't do anything. None of us in DreamSMP can. It's... Yeah." Sapnap mumbles. He hoists Clay up with a grunt. "I'm taking him back, he needs rest. Stay safe, you two?"

Niki nods. "We will. You too, both of you."

"Tell us if anything happens on your end," Eret requests.

Sapnap gives a firm nod, and shuffles Clay in his arms. He realises that Clay has fallen asleep and gives a small smile before walking them back to his place.

Chapter 8 Chapter Text

Clay wasn't sure he liked being in L'Manberg right now. L'Manberg, he reminded himself. It will always be his Dad's land. Not Manberg, not Schlatt's.

But Schlatt was always everywhere it seemed, and Clay had been lucky (read: accidentally asking the world for help) and avoiding him.

But his luck ran out.

He was in the market, buying some sugar for Niki, when Schlatt and Quackity rounded the corner.

Don't get him wrong— he liked Quackity! He was really nice to him when he used to babysit, but now that he was with Schlatt, Clay was scared.

"Hey, Clay!" Quackity smiles and walks over. "How have you been?"

"I've been alright," Clay sheepishly replies, eyes glancing between Schlatt and Quackity every few seconds. "I'm getting Niki some sugar so we can make a cake together."

"That's poggers dude!" Quackity smiles. "Have you met Schlatt yet? He's really cool once you get to know him."

"Oh— N-No. It's— It's nice to meet you Mister Schlatt." Clay lies.

"Hey, haven't seen you around much," Schlatt responds, looking down at the kid and mentally cursing Quackity for making them stop for no reason. There was work to be done for this godforsaken country—but, whatever, the situation was already here. "You're Clay, right? Wilbur's brat?"

Clay squints, but... well. He hasn't had the years to un-learn fear of authority like Dream had.

"Y-Yessir. Wilbur adopted me." Clay shyly says, looking at the floor.

"Hey Schlatt, no need to be mean to him, Clay's a real good kid." Quackity interjected.

"Sure, fine, whatever. Blah blah have fun, run along and all that. We've got sh*t to do, Quackity, this country ain't gonna run itself," Schlatt responds callously.

Quackity turns to Clay. "One second Clay, I'll be right back." He says, before pulling Schlatt to the side.

"Schlatt, you need to be nice to Clay— trust me on this one man."

"Why?" Schlatt demands. "I'm serious Quackity, I have bigger things to be worrying about than your charity streak."

"Clay is an admin, Schlatt! The least of your worries will be his overprotective family if you actually manage to piss him off." Quackity reprimands.

"An admin?" Schlatt repeats, eyebrows raising. "How the hell did Soot get his hands on one of those?"

Quackity shrugs. "I dunno man, Clay was here before me. Clay bein' an admin is the worst kept secret in L— In Manberg. He uses his abilities all the time without realizing it."

"...huh," Schlatt muses, just keeping himself from glancing over at the kid. "You realize how rare that is, right, Quackity? Admins are a big deal for a reason."

"Yeah, I know man, that's why you gotta be nice to him. If you make him mad I'm pretty sure he'd accidentally write you out of existence. You saw him at the inauguration- he hit me with some crazy amount of weakness without even tryin', my arms were limp for half an hour. So be nice to 'im and maybe he won't f*ck up Manberg because his Daddy's mad, yeah?"

"Fine, fine," Schlatt waves it off, though there's a considering glint in his eye as they turn back to Clay. "Sorry kid, the stress of taking care of this f*cking place has been getting to me."

"It's okay Mister Schlatt. I know that running a country can be hard." Clay placates.

"Yeah, it is. I bet you saw plenty of that with Wilbur, huh," Schlatt muses. "Still, I feel bad. There anything you want I could get you to make it up?"

Clay hums, and shakes his head. "I don't think so, I gotta get back to Niki. She said that Eret was gonna meet up with us outside the border later to teach me about leadership," Clay beams for a second before he pulls himself back. "I'm sorry Mister Schlatt, maybe next time?"

"Sure, works for me," Schlatt replies, waving him off. "Have fun, or whatever. Though if you ask me, Eret doesn't know all that much about leadership. Gotta go to an expert like me for that, not just some appointee."

"Maybe you could teach me at some point? Tommy used to call you The Businessman before you joined the server," Clay asks, pulling his very best puppy face. Schlatt may make him a little uncomfortable, but he's being nicer now, and Tommy used to speak so highly of him that he just had to try and learn from him.

"Hey, maybe. We'll see what you think of it, not everyone can be successful with money, after all," Schlatt responds, slipping a little into boasting.

Clay beams more openly that time. "Thank you Mister Schlatt!"

The town clock rings.

"Oh no! I'm late— I needed to be at the castle a few minutes ag—"

Clay vanishes.

Quackity looks at the spot he had been with surprise for maybe half a second before shrugging. He's gotten used to it by now.

Schlatt, on the other hand...

Schlatt stares at where there had been a child, raising his eyebrows and letting out a low whistle. "Damn, he really is... that would be a good thing to have on our side, especially if Dream ever bothers to show his stupid face again," Schlatt points out. "Good move pointing that out, Quackity. Maybe you're not completely useless after all."

Quackity gives a self-satisfied smile. "Kid already likes me, I used to baby sit him. I bet I can get him to come around often enough to butter him up. And I wouldn't worry much about Dream, he's been gone for so long by now I think he might have just gotten bored and made a new server."

"That would be useful. And either way, doesn't hurt to have a contingency plan lying around."

Quackity cringed at the implications, but didn't say anything. He's been around Schlatt far too long to make such a mistake. He just gives a grin and a salute. "Yes, sir!"

It was the night before the festival and the trees shook their leaves and the torchfires crackled. Everything should be tranquil, but Wilbur was pacing the bottom of Pogtopia, muttering to himself.

Try as he might, he can't get his revelation out of his mind. Are we the bad guys? he asked Tommy, and he didn't know if he could honestly say they weren't...

But more than anything, he couldn't get the image out of his head. Clay, in the crowd. Clay, looking up at the podium. Clay, excited grin growing as he hears about Schlatt's plans. His son had just happened to be in town for the day, just happened to be visiting Tubbo and Niki and—

But he'd been around them so much more, lately, hadn't he? Wilbur could scarcely remember the last chance they had to just sit down, none of this hanging over their heads... others not interrupting.......

And then after the announcement, in all the excitement as he and Tommy snuck away, he saw... he saw Schlatt going over and ruffling Clay hair, and acting so 'kind'. He saw that, and he also saw the maniacal, twisted glint in the president's eye, though Clay hadn't. He couldn't let that be, he couldn't let Schlatt take another thing, he couldn't let all of them—!

Wilbur lets out a long sigh, adjusting his black shawl and looking up at the lanterns hanging from the ravine's outcroppings. The ravine his son had gifted him as a place of refuge, of safety. His son. Had given him, and then all the rest took advantage of it as a place of operations. Took Clay's generosity for granted.

He couldn't let them get away with such a thing. He couldn't let little Clay get used, get taken like that.

He lets out a low chuckle, plan coalescing in his mind as all the bitterness toward the others (not at Clay though, never at his dear Clay) swirls through his mind. He sneaks over to Tommy, tugging the communicator from his grip (he was such a heavy sleeper, how convenient) and sending a message.

>This is Wilbur. I'm cashing in on whatever debt or affection you hold to Clay. Keep him away from the festival.

Wilbur reads it over before sending it and pulling up a different conversation so Tommy wouldn't notice. A dark smile spreads across his face.

They would not have dear Clay any longer. He would make sure of it.

Chapter 9 Chapter Text

Sapnap looks down at his communicator.

A message from Tommy— No. Wilbur.

Keep Clay away from the festival? Why?

Sapnap doesn't want to ask. He looks to the other room where Clay is fast asleep. He'll take the two of them on a trip tomorrow. To a far area where it will just be the two of them. Far away from the main server. Safe.

Wilbur does not sleep that night. Instead, he collects and prepares. Winding up with only four stacks of TNT, significantly less than he would wish... but strategically placed, it could still do a hefty amount of damage. Enough to make a statement, to tear their hopes away—

He digs beneath Manburg, gritting his teeth at the lack of familiar walls as he approaches but soothing himself that it would all be over soon. He laces the country with his spoils, targeting the podium, the audience, the white house, that damned flag—

It's fine. It will be fine. He hooks it all up with a bit of careful redstone Phil (or maybe Fundy? Wouldn't that be ironic) taught him ages ago, and hooks it all up to a button just out of sight of the country itself, but easy enough to get back up and watch it all fall apart.

He stumbles back into Pogtopia as the sun rises, exhausted, gunpowder and redstone flecking off his fingers but a satisfied smile on his face. They will pay.

Sapnap wakes early. Earlier than Clay, for once.

"Hey Clay, there's a really cool event happening a few villages over, why don't we go?" Sapnap asks after Clay wakes up.

"But the festival is today?" Clay asks.

"I know bud, but this only happens once a decade. There will be more festivals here."

Clay hums, but nods. He wanted to go to the festival, sure, but he knew the firm undertone in Sapnap's voice very well. Sapnap wasn't budging.

"Great! Pack up, let's go." He says with a grin. He pulls out his communicator and opens up a chat with Techno.

>Tell Wilbur I did what he asked.

Techno squints at the message lighting up his communicator—god, he really needs glasses—and raises an eyebrow but shrugs. He has to go check on his brothers anyway.

Making the trek from his hidden underwater base over to Pogtopia is easy enough, though he is surprised to see Wilbur already awake and seemingly ready to go. Tommy, on the other hand, appeared to have just rolled out of bed (and maybe down the stairs, considering just how disheveled he was).

"Hey Wilbur," he greets and raises the communicator's screen. "Sapnap said to tell you he 'did what you asked'. Kinda weird, not gonna lie."

Wilbur just laughs, though the tone is somewhat off in a way neither of his brothers can quite place. "Oh, there was no question. Don't you worry, Technoblade," he assures.

Techno raises an eyebrow at Wilbur's behavior, but, whatever. "Festival's today. You goin'?"

"Oh, we might be around..." Wilbur muses with a distant smile.

"We're not f*cking invited though," Tommy breaks in. "And there's not much that's even going to be happening, anyway. Other than Tubbo's speech, I guess... we've got no reason to go."

"We'll see," Wilbur hums with a secretive little smile.

Techno squints at the weird behavior but excuses himself, laughing that he would go hang out with people who weren't losers and actually got an invitation. Tommy yells, but Wilbur just gives a deceptively calm little wave.

>Wilbur's acting weird. Do you know what's going on?

Sapnap looks at his communicator and looks to the side. Clay is distracted enough.

>Somethin, but not 100% sure. He's paranoid as sh*t though. Not sure how much he's told you.

>Hm. He was implying something was going to happen at the festival today. Long term, I think he's been upset about the kid being away so much, but that's nothing concrete. He's been getting stranger the longer this exile is going on, though.
>All the more reason to abolish the government posthaste, I guess. Anarchy pog.

Sapnap chuckles.

>Anarchy pog.

"Let's go Clay!" He calls, before they walk out, and walk away from (L')Manberg.

The festival... goes. After the games and all, Tubbo gives his speech... Wilbur shifts the call onto him when he sees the genuine excitement and joy on the faces of the citizens.

(He ignores how the teens' faces fill with terror as he tells them his plan. They will understand.)

And then Schlatt reveals the whole purpose of the event— Tubbo's execution. And Tubbo doesn't say the phrase, he didn't call for the terrorism of his country, but as Schlatt's manic speech echoes and the walls go up around the teen (the child, why are they all so young) Wilbur is still scrambling off the roof and running back behind the podium to where the button lays inconspicuously.

Or where the button should be. Where is it? Why can't he find it?!

Tommy screams from the roof and fireworks blast and Wilbur can't help but feel a little piece of himself break as he realizes that's another child on their last life.

It's a blur, but they end up back at Pogtopia and Wilbur sets Tommy and Techno in "the Pit" and good, maybe they can feel a fraction of this pain and see how everything is being torn away from him.

It doesn't matter, in the end, Techno leaves as he always does these days and Tommy sulks with Tubbo and Niki (when did she get here? Clay will like that—no, she can't have him, she can't take him too—)

Wilbur is left alone at the bottom of the dimly lit ravine, the only sound being the faintest echo of rushing wind from upstairs. He's alone. (Why is he alone? Isn't he meant to have people at his side? Isn't that the point of caring so much?)

Sapnap brings a sleepy Dream home at the end of the day.

>Is it safe to bring Clay to Pogtopia? He wants to see Wilbur.

>I mean, I left a couple hours ago but I think it should be fine. They didn't seem too liable to cause actual murder at anyone other than me.
>Fair warning though. Today was a mess for everyone involved, I don't know exactly how they're all taking it.
>Definitely a better option than Manburg though.

Sapnap hums, and shakes Clay's shoulder.

"Hey Clay, got word that it's alright to take you to Pogtopia."

Clay blinks sleepily, but grins. "Let's go now, I want to see Dad."

Sapnap sighs, he expected this but still. "Alright, let's go."

The walk is long, and Sapnap leaves Clay at the door, but things seem to go fine.

"Dad?" Clay calls into the ravine. "Tommy?"

Clay finds Tommy, Tubbo, and Niki sitting by the entrance, mostly just quietly vibing with each other. Tubbo is half passed out on Tommy's shoulder, and Clay can see bandages all along his arm and one half of his face. Tommy is messing with his communicator, and Niki is running a hand along her skirt.

The two more aware ones look up at Clay's entrance, and Niki perks up. "Clay! Hello!"

"Niki? You're in Pogtopia now?" Clay asks, looking around nervously. "Where's Dad?"

"Yeah, it's, uh, it's a long story..." Niki replies with a sheepish smile.

"Downstairs," Tommy spits out. "Best to f*ckin' stay away from him, though. Contrived bastard."

"Huh?" Clay tilts his head. "Is he okay?"

"I don't know!" Tommy snaps. "Seems to have come out of this sh*tshow pretty f*cking well, to be honest!"

"Tommy!" Niki chastises. "It was stressful for everybody, you know Wil—"

"I know that he'd rather get his own selfish f*cking goals than bother saving Tubbo, is what I know," Tommy hisses, waving Clay away harshly. "Whatever. f*ck off."

"I'm sorry..." Niki apologizes to Clay.

Clay shrinks back, thoroughly confused, but he scuttles off to find Wilbur.

"Dad?" He calls as he runs downstairs. "DAD?"

Wilbur eventually slid down the wall beside the stairs and fireplace, and now sits watching the embers and smoke curl through the air. He barely hears, or feels, between the torrent of emotions.

He recognizes the muffled yells, though, and forces himself back enough to look around, noticing Clay running above him after a moment. "Clay..?" He calls back, voice just a bit raspy.

"Dad!" He calls, rushing over. "What happened? Tommy was really mad, I'm sorry I wasn't there—" He babbles.

"Shh, shhh," Wilbur soothes, reaching up to stroke Clay's cheek with a hand before pulling the kid to his chest. "You're fine, you did exactly what you were supposed to do..."

Clay collapses into Wilbur's chest. He doesn't cry, he's just exhausted and was supposed to be asleep hours ago. "'m gonna stay with you more... don' want you to get hurt..."

Wilbur holds him tight. "My little foundation..." he murmurs, a soft smile appearing besides himself. "Don't worry, I'm just fine. I'm glad you're here now."

Clay nods into Wilbur's chest with a yawn and slowly falls asleep, curled up into his Dad's chest.

Chapter 10 Chapter Text

Niki has slipped back into (L')Manburg in the dead of night, quickly ducking over to her bakery and attached house, intent on collecting everything that was there. The last thing she wants is for Schlatt to get any of his grubby mitts on her things.

Clothes, makeup, trinkets, baking supplies... anything she saw and had even a remote attachment to went into the bag. After a moment of hesitation she enters Clay's little "guest" room, clearing it out as well. She didn't usually go in without permission, she knows how important privacy is, but... well, Schlatt really is just awful.

As she makes her way through the closet, she reaches a little circular leather package. And she didn't mean to snoop, really, it just— the leather covering fell off as she was lifting it to put in the bag.

Her blood goes cold as she stares at a familiar white porcelain with a simple black smiley face. She's frozen, for a second, before wrapping it back up and putting it near the bottom. Later.

Later comes when she returns to Pogtopia, most of the group dead asleep as the moon glides through the sky. Wilbur, however, is awake, sitting in what seems to have become his favorite spot, staring into the flickering campfire.

"Wil?" She calls. He turns after a second and she offers a nervous smile. "Um, can we talk for a second? I found something I think you need to— it's about Clay."

Wilbur straightens at the name— the only thing he ever seems to truly care about these days. He inclines his head. "Yes, of course. What is it?"

Niki pulls the leather covered mask from her bang. "I found this in Clay's room." She says, handing it over to Wilbur.

Wilbur takes the item carefully, feeling a buzz of power from whatever it was even through the covering. He lifts the leather carefully— and gasps slightly as the cover falls to the side and reveals it.

"This is—" he stammers, entranced by the way the firelight gleams off of the curved mask. "How— in Clay's room? How could he have gotten..."

"I don't know. It was hidden really well too..."

"How— do you think—" Wilbur muses, glancing up toward the room where Clay was sleeping at the moment. He looks down at the mask and inspects it. "It doesn't seem like... a copy, or a fake. But Dream would never let this go."

"I don't know— all of the possibilities seem... so unlike him. Both Clay and Dream."

"Indeed... I—" Wilbur breaks off, staring at it for a few seconds. Holding it feels electrifying and dodgy, a bit like keeping a grasp on a condensed storm. "Do you think—no, but—do you think he killed Dream?" He whispers. "Took his powers?"

"I... I don't know much about admins but I don't think that's possible," Niki mumbles, "The taking his powers part at least... We... we haven't seen Dream since... since just before Clay arrived."

"You're right— you're right," Wilbur replies, feeling faintly breathless. He stares at the mask for a few seconds longer before converting it again and handing it back to Niki. "Keep it with the rest. We won't tell him we know. But this—this is interesting. This changes everything," he tells her, a bit of an ambitious grin growing on his face.

Niki knows that look by now.

She doesn't like it.

"I— I need to bring it back to my house, if he goes looking for it and it's moved then he'll know someone found it. Will you be alright here?"

"What? Yes, yes I'll be just fine, Niki," Wilbur responds, turning back to the fire and putting a hand to his chin. His attention quickly drifts somewhere else, somewhere Niki can't follow, though the smile stays. "It'll all be just fine..."

Niki's learned not to talk to Wilbur when he's like this.

"Alright. Call me if you need anything," She says, before she makes her way back to L'Manberg to hide the mask again.

She doesn't notice ram-gold eyes watching her as she walks out.

"Hmm..." Schlatt hums to himself and squints as he makes his way to Niki's house. The door is unlocked, so he lets himself in. It's easy to tell that the owner had packed away all her things and run off... but why was she coming back?

All the doors, except for one, are shut tight. A little sign above the door reads: Clay's Room.

Schlatt enters. The room is barren.

A leather parcel sits on the floor, hidden under the drawers. It's only with his enhanced vision in the dark that he notices.

"What's this? Oh—" Schlatt murmurs as he slips the leather off. "Oh."

Schlatt considers it, gears turning in his head as he connects dots and figures out what exactly this means.

So that's where the elusive admin had gone... hidden in plain sight, huh?

He covers it back up and slips it into his inventory, making his way back to the White House. It wouldn't do for anyone else to stumble across it, after all. He needs a way to approach the kid about it anyway. Yet, he can't keep a thoughtful, plotting grin off his face as he slips back through the halls and into his room.

Clay knocks on Schlatt's office door. One thirty on the dot, weekly economics meetings.

"Mister Schlatt?" He calls, "May I come in?"

"Clay, yes, come in, come in," Schlatt greets with one of his easy grins. "It's good to see you."

Clay gives a grin as he enters, "You too Mister Schlatt!"

"Go ahead and sit down," Schlatt orders, stacking the presidential papers he's been working on and setting them to the side. He pulls out two glasses from where they're stored underneath the desk, puts an inch of a rye whiskey in one for himself and pours a nice apple juice in the other, sliding the juice across to Clay. It's routine, at this point. "We can go ahead and pick up around where we left off last time in a bit, but I actually had something I wanted to talk with you about first."

Clay tilts his head to the side. "What is it?"

Schlatt sends Clay a sharp smile before reaching down and unlocking one of the drawers of the desk, pulling out the leather parcel. "I found something interesting the other day," he leads, keeping the package out of sight as he unwraps it carefully, "when we were cleaning out Niki's place." He places the mask on the table and purposely slides it to be perfectly in the middle of them. The slightly eerie white and black smile seems to loom in the room, catching the light. He keeps a careful watch on Clay's expression through all of this.

Clay's eyes widen with a little bit of fear, but mostly surprise.

"Oh— Oh that's really- uh- Interesting Mister Schlatt! What is it?"

Schlatt laughs slightly. "Oh, don't play coy with me. You and I both know what this means. My only question is why you haven't acted on it, Dream."

Clay looks down in a mix of shame and shyness. "I don't remember being Dream. And I'm pretty happy just being Clay."

"Really..." Schlatt responds, keeping an open posture and tone. "Look, I don't really care one way or the other. But it seems strange to me that you'd give up so much influence when you could do so much with it."

Clay shrugs. "I mean I have a lot as it is, you taught me that. 'Cute kid face gets you far.'" Clay recites.

Schlatt laughs. "True enough, true enough. Well, I just thought it fair for you to know." He picks up the mask and rewraps it, offering it to Clay afterward. "You should probably keep it on you. Think of it as a... Deus ex Machina. Put that on and you'll take control of whatever situation you're in—it's not smart to have something with that much power just floating around." He pauses and hums, thinking. "And, fair warning, I'd put a pretty large bet on Niki knowing as well. She was acting pretty suspicious, and all that."

Clay nods, thinking through the situation.

If Niki knows... Dad knows.

He pales slightly but he shakes his head, and takes the mask. He hides it away in his bag.

"Thank you Mister Schlatt."

"Sure. Just keeping full transparency, here," Schlatt explains, taking a sip from his glass. "Now then, where were we? Real estate, I think."

Chapter 11 Chapter Text

The ravine that was Pogtopia bustles with nervous energy on the night of the 15th. Quackity and Tubbo rush around the bottom, preparing potions and whatever armor they can, occasionally sitting down together and drawing out possible plans of attack. Tommy bustles in and out, running above ground occasionally, a bundle of nervous yet determined energy. Niki was mostly absent, tucked into her room and preparing food. It's what she was good at.

Clay had been more out of Pogtopia recently, unsettled by Wilbur's different demeanor (though he couldn't put his finger on what was off) and just the general energy that came with the apparent upcoming battle. So he came by occasionally, but did stay with Sapnap a fair amount.

The kid was here now, though, and Tommy couldn't just let this opportunity slip past. This wasn't something which could just be put off or ignored.

"Hey, Clay," Tommy calls as he leans into the kid's room. "I need to talk to you, big man."

Clay turns from where he had been reading a book. "Yeah?"

"Look, man, you— hold on, I've just got to—" Tommy comes in fully and sits down across from Clay, rubbing his hands across his face. "You know about tomorrow, yeah?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Look, Clay—" Tommy takes him by the shoulders and looks at him earnestly. "Tomorrow is war. So you need to stay away from it, no matter how things go, or— god, I just f*cking can't—" He sighs and lets go, curling in on himself. "Things are gonna be sh*t, alright? Just— just stay off. No matter what people— even if Wilbur— god, who even knows about Wilbur at this point, man."

Clay pauses. "Where else would I go?" He asks quietly.

"I don't— I don't know, man!" Tommy complains. "Tubbo's trading hall, maybe? That's good and far enough away! Probably. I just— look, Clay, I know that you're attached at the hip to Wilbur half the time but you've gotta understand, you can't— you can't be, right now, it's not safe."

"I—" Clay stutters, but he knows a losing battle when he sees one. "I'll stay away from the main fight."

Tommy sighs. "I— good. Good, that's good. And we'll— we're going to win it back, don't you worry! But if things do go wrong, just— stay away from Wilbur. He's not alright, he's not the president—the man—he once was. Alright?"

Clay nods, but Tommy knows well enough that he's lying. Clay's tells are obvious once you get to know him. It's all in the facial expression.

"Clay, I'm serious," Tommy insists, leaning forward with hard eyes. "Wilbur plans to blow it all up. You will get caught in the crossfire if you try and f*cking— stick around, or put your nose into this sh*t. Life doesn't discriminate like that."

Clay knows he wouldn't.

"I won't be in L'Manberg's borders."

Tommy sighs but figures that's the best he can get. "Fine. I have to go prepare. If anything happens go to f*cking—Sapnap, I guess, I know you two have some sh*t going on."

Clay nods. "I will... I'll try to be safe."

"Good," Tommy replies, standing and leaving with a tired wave.

Tommy was very distracted, so Clay didn't have much trouble grabbing his communicator when he was busy.

>It's Clay. Can you come to the SMP? Everyone is worried about Dad.

>ill see if i can, might take a little bit, im kind of stuck atm. whats going on over there?

>War. Tommy says Dad is going to blow up his country.

>what???
>ill be there as soon as i can. be careful m8

>ill try, please hurry

Chapter 12 Chapter Text

The 16th. The day of reckoning.

Fundy revealed himself as a secret agent. Technoblade showed them the vault. They discussed and prepared to head out, each saying their last words for each other.

Wilbur seemed a bit detached from all the proceedings, floating around and just watching them scramble with a soft smile.

("Look, Tommy, at the end of the day, if this doesn't go well... I'm gonna blow the place to smithereens."

He pretends not to see the way Tommy leans back, pretends not to see the clear fear on his face as he shakes his head. It doesn't matter.)

"Clay, come here," Wilbur calls as the group splits apart and psyches themselves up for the last moment before they march. His gaze is gentle as he beckons his son to his side.

Clay walks over and looks up at his dad. "Mm?"

Wilbur kneels and cradles Clay's face in his hands, an adoring smile on his face. "It'll all be over today. One way or the other. I know you'll be careful, you're such a smart kid. My little foundation." He laughs lightly. "I just want you to know— this is all for you. Everything— anything."

Clay nods and gives his dad a big hug, burying his face in his chest. "You'll be safe, yeah? I don't want you to leave me."

"Of course, of course," Wilbur promises, holding Clay close. He pulls back just enough to press their foreheads together. "For you, Clay... the world," he whispers.

Clay pulls Wilbur's forehead down and gives it a small kiss. "Good luck."

Wilbur smiles before standing and turning to follow the army. He hangs at the back, armorless, and tries to let the others lead. It was their plan after all— but he can't quite help occasionally throwing out orders like he did so many months ago during the original revolution.

Punz seems to be the main powerhouse against him, but between everything he really can't stop them. He calls for a nervous ceasefire, glancing around, then leads them to the Camarvan.

Schlatt dies, to be brief.

They win, and Wilbur keeps his same detached smile throughout the bit of presidential roulette. He excuses himself after ordering the flag to be fixed, and makes his way to the back room as Tubbo's awkward speech takes up the air.

It's quiet, down here. He lets out a long sigh as he reaches the dimly lit, cold stone box.

"What are you doing."

Wilbur's eyes widen and he straightens from where he's leaned against the wall, not quite daring to turn around. "Phil?"

"Where are you?" He calls. Wilbur isn't sure where the voice is coming from— Phil isn't here, he left him! Like everyone else did...

"Phil where are you..." he whispers. "I— I wasn't doing anything, and we just made Tubbo president! We um, we elected Tubbo president, and we won! We won the war, and Schlatt's gone, Schlatt's gone Phil so it's um..." he trails off, turning to the button and running a hand through his hair. Why does he feel so scrutinized all of a sudden, he's not doing anything wrong!

"I'm in... L'Manburg, there's um, you wouldn't know, I don't think you've been here, but it's— the area around— it's complicated, you know, geography and that, it's—"

"Mm. Yeah. In L'Manberg, you said."

Wilbur whips around to see Phil standing at the doorway to his little room.

"Phil?" He breathes out, shifting nervously before bringing a hand to his face. "This, this is... L'Man..." he can't bring himself to finish and laughs a little bit. "Okay, I will admit... do you know what this button is?" At Phil's confirmation, he turns to stare at it, and the scribbles nearby. "Have you heard, the—the song, on the walls, before?" He asks, ghosting a hand over one of the lyrics. "I was just saying, I made this whole point, and it was poignant, and it was that—that there was a special place. But that's, it's not there, anymore, you know, it's not..."

"It is there? You've just won it back, Wil. You've won back your home for you and your boys, it's all back now."

"But it's not, Phil!!" Wilbur yells, pushing Phil back from where he had tried to soothe his son. "It's not worth anything now because places don't f*cking matter— all it has done is take them away from me! All it and every person who cares about it has done is try and take him away! And I have been here— I have been here, like, 7 or 8 different times I have been here—!" The sound of fireworks and steel echoes around them from aboveground, and something seems to shift in Wilbur as he looks up. "They're—they're fighting, they're fighting—"

Phil sighs deeply. "And you want to just blow it all up? Risk everything. Clay texted me last night. He's worried about you."

Wilbur sighs, turning back to the button and resting a hand over it. "Yeah... I do, I think, I..." He curls over it slightly, hiding his face and the tears which seemed to be rising unbidden. "Of course he did, he's... oh Phil, he's the best thing that's ever happened to me and they're all going to..." He sighs. "I don't even know if it works, I don't even know if the button works anymore, Phil. I could... I could press it, and..."

"You've fought so hard for this land back... Do you really want to take that risk? There is a lot of TNT potentially connected to that button..."

Wilbur is silent for a moment, staring... thinking... He gives a sigh. "Phil... there was a saying," he starts, thinking about it all. Memories come unbidden— of the good times and the bad, and all the moments where Clay was pulled away, kept away because of all of this seem to come to himself most clearly. He thinks back to where it all started, and wonders if the traitor saw the same corruption he does now.

"By a traitor, once part of L'Manburg... I don't know if you've heard of him, Eret?" He sighs, centering himself and his willpower. "They had a saying, Phil..." He looks to Phil with a sad smile, mourning what L'Manburg was meant to have been and raising a salute to the hope he once had.

"It was never meant to be."

Clay felt the explosion before he heard it.

Screams. Cries. Wails entering his brain through where his feet were firmly placed on the floor, begging him to help them.

He put the mask on his face before he recognized what he was doing.

One second he was Clay.

The next he was Dream.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!"

The explosions stopped at his command, barely managing to explode enough to reveal the room Wilbur and Phil were in, and some of the surrounding area before being defused by the will of the world itself, though the air was full of dust still settling.

Wilbur doesn't hear Dream's yell, ears ringing from the blast. He takes a deep breath, lets it out. Staring at the carnage—incomplete, yet beautiful. "My L'Manburg, Phil... and my son. If they would take him—" Wilbur is beginning to yell, now. "—then I shall take what I gave to them! My unfinished symphony, forever unfinished!"

Dream turns to Wilbur. A spark lights in his eyes. "...Dad?" He mumbles.

He turns to the crowd.

"Someone explain. Now."

Wilbur does hear Dream's command that time, and his gaze snaps over to the figure in green, to that haunting smile—

He stumbles back and raises a hand to his mouth, eyes going wide as he connects the dots. "But— the mask was— Clay...!" He desperately sweeps the crowd he can see for any sign of his son, but finds nothing. "No— no!" He screams, falling to his knees with tearful, horrified eyes unable to look away from the dust-filled air.

Dream turns to look at Wilbur, who's sobbing. His heart aches— he's still processing the memories.

It was years ago for him.

It was yesterday for them.

Part of him wants to see Wilbur as the enemy commander... but a much louder part is screaming Dad. He doesn't know what to do.

Wilbur eventually wrenches his gaze from the destruction, turning his head toward Phil and squeezing his eyes shut, hand securely over his mouth and desperately trying to stifle the sobs. It doesn't work.

"...kill me, Phil," spills from his lips. "Phil, kill me, Phil—" he shoves the diamond blade Tommy had forced upon him that morning into his father's hands "stab me with the sword, murder me now, kill— kill me, do it!" He stands and grabs Phil's collar desperately even as the older tries to step away. "Kill me Phil, murder me! Look, they all want you to!!" He cries, sweeping one hand toward the crowd.

Phil shakes his head, wings flaring in agitation. "I can't—you're my son!" He yells back. "This— no matter what you do, I—"

Wilbur beats his fist against Phil's chest, impossibly broken inside. "Phil! This isn't—" he takes a shaking breath and forces his voice back to level. It just breaks, instead. "Do it," he whispers, he urges.

Dream can see the moment Phil's resolve breaks, and he raises the sword.

"NO!" Dream shouts, throwing out a hand. The sword dissolves in Phil's grip.

Phil can't help but let out a relieved sigh at the blade's disappearance, but Wilbur rounds on the source of the shout.

"WHY?!" He screams, broken. "I know you want it, I know because you're f*cking angry enough to take him! Stop f*cking around, Dream!! Let me go! Let me go!"

Dream floats over (when did his feet leave the ground?) and kneels by Wilbur. He puts his mask to the side, though Wilbur is too busy sobbing into his hands to notice.

"You said you wouldn't leave me, Dad. You promised me the world."

Wilbur screams. He hardly notices his knees having failed him again, how he's on the ground again. "You motherf*cker, you motherf*cker, just stop— stop playing games, stop f*cking—" he breaks off into sobs, unable to handle what he perceives as the situation.

"Oh..." Phil murmurs, realizing what must have been the case. He kneels beside his son and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Wil..."

Wilbur doesn't respond, taken as he is by grief. Phil looks up to Dream, urging him closer.

Dream moves closer, and puts a hand gently on Wilbur's shoulder.

"Look at me, Dad. Look at my face. And tell me you don't recognize me. That I'm not your son."

Wilbur sobs a couple moments more before they abate enough for him to wipe his eyes ineffectually and look up at Dream. He looks up and stares, and—

It is familiar. Older, a strange echo, but so, so similar to the child he had taken painstaking care of for months.

Another sob escapes him and he covers his mouth to muffle it, prideful despite it all. He keeps staring.

"I don't understand," he chokes out.

Dream pulls Wilbur into his arms and holds him tight.

"Dream is an alias. My real name is Clay."

Wilbur pushes his face into Dream's—Clay's—chest and grips his back like a lifeline, a new wave of cries coming up unbidden. It was a strange reflection of the nights Clay had woken up, sobbing from one nightmare or another. Just flipped.

"I thought— but you—"

"I didn't have my memories at the time. It feels like it happened a decade ago... but... after that, you'll always be my dad." Dream whispers into Wilbur's hair.

"Clay," Wilbur sobs, grip somehow tightening on Dream. They sit like that for a while, Wilbur unable to calm himself down.

In the downtime, Techno had made his way down the side of the small crater and put a hand on Phil's shoulder as they watched the scene. As Wilbur begins to quiet down, sobs fading more to hiccups, Techno sighs.

"Well, I was goin' to do this whole speech about how governments are bad, or whatever, but now that just seems insensitive," he says. Phil just chuckles and shakes his head while Wilbur gives a muffled laugh and turns his head just enough to peer at his brother.

Dream chuckles dryly. "Maybe later."

"Maybe," Techno agrees, looking down at the pair. "We should probably think about headin' out of here regardless."

"The dust can't be good for our lungs," Phil agrees, "and it would just be nicer to be somewhere comfortable."

Dream waves his hand and the dust settles.

"I'll admin abuse just this once. We can go... anywhere you want. Pogtopia, Niki's..." he pauses to think. "I could bring you to my house, anywhere."

Wilbur is silent, leaning against Dream's chest dully. His energy is spent.

"Anywhere that's safe," Phil replies, wincing as he stretches his wings a bit, assessing the damages.

"Not Pogtopia, that wouldn't be good for his mental state," Techno warns. "And Niki's is too close."

"Mine, then. It's far away. Do... do you want to walk or should I ask the world to help?" Dream mumbles. It's such a weird feeling.. just a few minutes ago he was so strict on his usage of commands but now... now it feels natural to interact with the world like an admin should.

"I mean, I can walk, but..." Techno looks down at Wilbur, who is limp aside from the occasional hiccup.

"Just get us out of here," Phil replies.

The dust swirls slightly, and when it settles the four of them are gone.

Instead, they're sitting in a... surprisingly cozy living room. There's no windows, so Techno presumes they're underground. Wilbur and Dream stay hugging on the carpet in the middle of the room, while Phil is placed on the couch and Techno by the doorway. He can see a hall if he peeks through the threshold with a few doors on either side— all closed.

There's not a speck of dust in the room, even though Dream hasn't been here in months. Dream's the only one who can feel the world pulse around his safe haven, keeping it pure and clean for him.

"Nothing can hurt us here." Dream mumbles.

Techno nods and surveys the room, going to join Phil after a second, who relaxes back into the couch. Wilbur hardly reacts, just snuggling a bit closer to Dream at the change in air temperature.

"It's alright," Dream awkwardly soothes, "I'm back. I'm here."

Wilbur is silent for a few moments longer. He always shuts down when terrible things happen, it's just what happens every time.

"...so that's why you were so attached to Sapnap," he whispers eventually, voice hoarse.

Dream nods. "He's been my best friend since we were six. I didn't meet George until I was ten."

Wilbur chuckles drily. "Did they know?" He asks quietly.

"Yeah. Sapnap told George. I didn't... know what was going on, though. Not really. Sapnap told me, but..."

Wilbur hums lightly. "I'm sorry..." he whispers, eventually.

"For what?" Dream asks, confused and kind.

"Mm... dunno," he admits, voice getting fainter. "Felt like it needed to be said. Everything, maybe? I haven't been... I don't know."

"It's alright. You're alright Dad."

Wilbur chuckles, reaching up to weakly pat Dream's cheek. "I've told you, I will cry..."

"And I always say it anyway because it's true," Dream smiles softly. His own eyes are glossy with tears.

Wilbur laughs and goes to wipe Dream's tears away gently. He's smiling. It's a weak smile, an exhausted one, but it's genuine. His hand eventually falls and rests on Dream's shoulder instead.

"Rest, Dad. You're safe here. I'll still be here when you wake up," Dream softly urges.

"M'kay... you too," Wilbur replies, closing his eyes and leaning against Dream's chest, fully trusting. "Goodnight, son," he whispers, barely loud enough to make any noise.

"Night, Dad," Dream whispers.

Chapter 13 Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Dream sits on the edge of the small crater of L'Manberg. He takes a deep, slow breath, pulling his legs up to his chest, and moves his hand carefully. Blocks reform behind his movements, filling up the holes and leaving blooming flowers on top of freshly created grass. They can rebuild.

But they don't need to leave a bomb-site.

He turns as he hears footsteps from behind, giving a gentle smile and moving his mask to the side as Wilbur, Phil, and Sapnap walk towards him.

"Hey, man," Sapnap greets first, grinning and taking a seat beside him, bumping shoulders.

"It's looking nice," Phil compliments, looking out across the miniature crater.

Dream bumps Sapnap back with a soft smile. "I thought it should be filled up. If it's rebuilt or not, well, that's up to D- President Soot," He sutters.

"I'm not President anymore," Wilbur reminds softly. "More like cabinetman."

"Cabinet member Soot," Dream awkwardly amends.

"Not that it matters," Sapnap teases. "That's not what you actually want to call him, right?"

Dream weakly slaps Sapnap's shoulder, face bright red.

Sapnap cackles.

Wilbur gives a fond smile, stepping close enough to ruffle Dream's hair. "It's okay," he murmurs. "I know we've both been busy and haven't really gotten a chance to talk, but..." he chuckles awkwardly, shrugging. "It's okay."

"You're sure? Not gonna be... weird if I keep calling you Dad like I'm still ten?"

"Only if you want," Wilbur quickly backpedals. "You-- It's probably weirder for you than me, so I don't--"

"I do want," Dream interrupts. "It... It's still weird but... I firmly believe I'm a better person because of you being a father for me."

"Ah," Wilbur says. "Well... I don't mind. I think it... helps, honestly," he mumbles shyly. "For me to remember that you're both."

Dream hides his face, clearly shy, but he leans over and rests on Wilbur's side.

Wilbur smiles and kneels down to wrap his arms around Dream. "I like what you've done with the place," he murmurs. "It's much nicer than... how I left it."

"I just filled the holes with grass and flowers," Dream chuckles. "Come on, give me a real idea to make."

"Maybe... a pavilion?" Wilbur murmurs. "Tubbo was thinking of a raised, wooden platform and letting the bottom fill with water. So, a gazebo, maybe...? With ivy around the pillars?"

"That would be pretty," Dream hums, moving his hand, which starts glowing green and shifting the ground.

Wilbur shifts so that he's holding Dream gently but also able to watch.

Dream smiles and leans into Wilbur's hold as he works.

It's fascinating. He hasn't seen Phil do anything like this, either.

"You're really good at this," Wilbur murmurs.

"I'm... very in tune with my World."

"I know," Wilbur says. "You always were so... active."

Dream snorts. "Yeah. Yeah, I was quite an active little admin. And I didn't even know I was doing it."

"That's partially our fault."

"I'm the one who erased my own memories," Dream refutes.

Wilbur sighs and sets his chin on Dream's head.

Dream leans into the touch as he finishes commanding his world to create a beautiful grassy gazebo with a beautiful aquarium underneath.

"It's beautiful," Wilbur praises. "Everyone will love it."

"I'm glad. I caused a lot of pain to this land, I hope this makes up for it."

Wilbur shakes his head. "You didn't..."

"Don't try to make it nicer just because I'm your son," Dream chuckles. "I blew this land to sh*t."

Wilbur hums, looking around. "I only see one crater here. The one that I caused."

"Cause you guys already filled the ones I made," Dream says, rolling his eyes.

Wilbur chuckles. "Like father, like son?" He offers shyly.

Dream snorts. "Like father, like son, bombs away."

Wilbur turns to look up at Phil. "What, Phil, do you have some great terroristic past to tell us about?"

"Well..." Phil trails off, laughing softly.

"I thought everyone had heard the stories," Dream snorts. "You don't kill the dragon without a past like that."

Wilbur laughs, surprised. "Wait, really?"

"I might have thrown a few air strikes around in my time?" Phil offers, shrugging.

Dream snorts. "Yeah, sounds right."

Wilbur chuckles. "I didn't even know."

"You're a politician, not a fighter."

"I guess," Wilbur agrees. "Although, I think I'll be taking a backseat to most of it... Maybe we can go traveling together, or something. I don't know. I never learned what 'Dream' enjoys."

"Manhunt," Dream says shyly. "That's what I enjoy."

"You'll have to teach me."

"Not sure you'll be all that good at it, but alright," Dream chuckles.

Wilbur smiles gently. "Probably not. But I'll get to spend time with you."

"Hah, you wish. I'd be out of there in seconds. Manhunt is a survival game. I try to get to the End, and you try to stop me before I do."

"Ah," Wilbur chuckles. "Well, we'll see. Maybe if Technoblade was with me, I'd have a chance."

"I can see it," Dream hums. "If Phil's up for it though I think we could start with you and him, then we swap to you and Techno."

"Maybe so," Wilbur agrees, squeezing Dream's shoulder. "Later, though. I think we're both still recovering."

Dream nods. "Agreed."

Wilbur sits there for a second before pushing himself up to standing and offering Dream a hand as well.

Dream jumps up and takes the hand, smiling. Wilbur smiles back, leading Dream over to the structure he just created.

Dream smiles, looking over his work.

"I'm glad," Wilbur murmurs. “That this happened. That you showed up in that forest.”

"I am too... You're important, Dad."

"As are you, Clay," Wilbur agrees softly. "My son. My son."

"Family," Dream nods.

Notes:

Thank you so, so much for reading, and I really hope you liked the ending! This fic is our most subscribed-to one by a long shot, so it's been really nice to see everyone's interest in it.
As always, obligatory plugs for our other fics and discord, we would love to have you as we continue sharing our writing.
The next fic will be starting in November, and will be more of a high fantasy AU setting. If that interests you. :)
Signing off, I hope you have a lovely day. See you next time!

So I found this child in the woods and asked "is anybody going to adopt this?" and then didn't wait for an answer. - TearsOfAStarling, ambibii (2024)

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

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Chapter 3

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Chapter 4

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Chapter 5

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Chapter 6

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Chapter 7

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Chapter 8

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Chapter 9

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Chapter 10

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Chapter 11

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Chapter 12

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Chapter 13

Notes:

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