And So Theseus Fell (hiatus)

Like The Tide

No matter how hard he tried, or how much time he spent wandering through Logstedshire, Tommy couldn't remember what came after his second exile. The last thing he remembers is Tubbo telling Dream to escort Tommy out of L'manberg, then it's all blank. He sighs and pulls out the compass, and stares at the needle which points out towards to sea. One day he'll follow it, or at least that's what he promised himself upon realizing it wasn't a normal compass.

Tommy stands up and walks closer to the beach, and sits down near the water so that when the waves roll in he can feel the mist spraying off of them. It only stings enough to keep him from zoning out. The beach feels familiar in a painful way, and as he looks out into the ocean he feels lighter and for an instant, at peace for the first time in forever. He leans forward and looks down as the water rolls in, hoping to see his reflection. He's met with clouds and the grey sky, and the wind distorts the image as if the universe itself was frustrated alongside him. The water recedes, leaving tiny holes in wet sand which Tommy smooths out. Another wave will come and the holes will reappear, but at least for a few seconds the sand will be perfect.

The sound of the next wave coming ashore makes everything feel futile, but in a relieving way. On that beach, when the tide crashes, all that the world seems to consist of is Tommy and the water. The water teases Tommy as the clouds dance in the reflections, and without thinking, he plunges his hand in and splashes the water, sending saltwater and sand flying. He hears a sizzle and flinches, quickly whipping his hand back. He looks at it and watches as the flesh of his hand itself drips away and his hand just melts. He stares at it in shock, slowly backing away from the water until realizing; it's not that bad. Minus the horror in the fact that his hand has disappeared leaving a gradient from is arm into nothingness, it doesn't hurt or look gross or anything. Just like a drawing that'd been smudged away.

"Tommy?" So much for peace and quiet.

Tommy spins around and narrows his eyes so that they pierce Wilbur. "What do you want?" he spits.

"Well, Technoblade told me not to come looking for you, but I got worried with you being out here all alone."

"Oh, what a shocker on Techno's part," Tommy scoffs.

"He didn't want you to think you were babying him."

"Whatever. Go away, I want to be alone," Tommy retorts, waving away at Wilbur with his existing hand while struggling to hide the absence of the other.

"Tommy, your hand!" 

"I'm fine."

"You are literally missing a hand. Take this," he says, ignoring Tommy's distaste towards being helped. He pulls out a splash potion of regeneration and throws the bottle at the ground next to Tommy, creating a cloud of pink swirling smoke.

"Hey!" Tommy shouts as his hand reappears. "Fucker."

"I'm just trying to help you," Wilbur pleads. "Come back to the house, please?"

"Later," Tommy lies, staring out at the line where the water meets the sky, wondering why the compass wants to bring him there. "I won't be far behind, please just leave me alone. I need to be by myself."

Wilbur nods solemnly, despite Tommy not looking at him, and glides away defeated. "I'm not coming back," Tommy mumbles to himself once he knows he's alone.

Eventually, Tommy gets up and walks back up the hill to the bedrock structure spelling out "Drista." Another thing he can't remember. Is it a person or a thing? If he can't remember, it must be something good. Something that made him happy, at least at the time. Something about it feels recent, as if the structure was linked to something that happened shortly before he died.