︵ . . CHAPTER NINE ❜ ━━━━ ₍ 🥀 ₎
the festival
It was hours away from the incoming Festival that would take place in the country of Manberg. Rexha proceeded to resume with her morning training, the only difference was that it wasn't Tommy who came to her that morning but instead, it was Wilbur himself.
The tall man stood from a good distance, not wanting to get in the woman's way as she proceeded to slice and kick through Technoblade's already ragged training-targets. The sight of her reminded him of his own brother, even back when they were little, he was always up and about to practice his swordsmanship with a wooden sword in hand.
"You're not Tommy." Rexha began, not evening batting a direct eye contact with him as she twisted the hilt of her sword to slash her target's head off.
Wilbur's shoulder shook as he chuckled in a casual manner, "Obviously, I'm not."
"Cut to the chase, I'm busy." She let out a deep sigh.
A scoff trailed from his lips as he brought his arms to his chest and folded them. "God, you remind me so much of Techno back when we were younger. Good thing, she always there to stop us from fighting." Wilbur shook his head at the memory of the past that resurfaced in his mind.
"You're gonna blow up Manberg, correct?" Wilbur looked at Rexha in surprise. He was just about to tell her that.
The woman paused, before turning around with both hilt of her swords tightly in her grasp as she eyed Wilbur. "I know what you did, you and Dream."
"How did you know that?" Wilbur furrowed his brows together.
"If it's one thing that Dream would like to erase in history, it's L'manberg. Not that I have any problem with that at all, actually."
Rexha shrugged her shoulders, a smile gracing her lips. "It's not my story to end, but yours. So, who am I to judge? I've done already the same with Exousia. We're not so different from each other if you think about it, Soot."
"What will you do after L'manberg blows up?" Wilbur interjected, changing the subject.
The woman merely stared at him, "Schlatt will fall out and hide once his power has been taken from him. Only then will I take action to take him out."
"You'll kill Schlatt?" Wilbur's face became pale as he shifted uneasily with the fact that this woman had no hesitation with her motives.
"What makes you think I can't? A person can easily kill a man with the right motivation."
Rexha clipped both of her blades back to the cincher of her waist before picking up the black cloak that was left scattered on the ground. "He didn't hesitate when he killed my mother, so why should I?"
She walked towards Wilbur and placed a hand on his shoulder as she looked up at him with those dread-filled crimson eyes. Rexha hung her head as she pat the fabric of his coat. "Good luck, Wilbur. The Festival awaits us."
𓆸
With golden grace, the horizon's halo arrived. The crowd erupted in applause as they awaited the emperor of their great country's speech for the Festival. The three of them hid in plain sight from a structure, Tommy and Wilbur stared with contempt as Rexha remained apathetic and guarded on position as she continued to observe from afar.
Schlatt stood proud and still on the podium, Tubbo and Quackity by his side, completely oblivious to the hundreds of explosives stacked beneath them. He proceeded to commence with his speech, silencing the cheer and applause of the entire crowd gathered before him. Rexha didn't bother paying attention to his speech but instead allowed each word to slip from one ear to the other.
"Without any further ado, I raise Tubbo, my right hand man, to the microphone."
She only paid attention after Schlatt finished his speech so Tubbo could deliver his. Rexha straightened her posture, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword. She sensed his uneasiness as soon as he cleared his throat to begin talking.
"Good afternoon, ladies and gentleman."
Tubbo grasped the microphone in his hands. "A wise man once told me, that L'manberg was like a lettuce. There's so many layer of tasty and healthy goodness, and once you wash off all the caterpillars and worms off the surface, it's a pretty goddamn good meal."
"Schlatt has successfully washed all of the insects off our great nation. And with that, he's allowed the goodness and tastiness to shine through."
Rexha couldn't help but cringe and kiss her teeth at Tubbo's words. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like you to look around at what we've built today. Look at each other. All of this, thanks to democracy and the leadership of Jschlatt. Our people have been beaten down by rulers and dictators for so long. Now, we are finally free!"
"Goodness my ass." Tommy commented as he rolled his eyes in which Wilbur shook his head at.
"Free to elect who we want. Free to live how we want, and most importantly, free to go wherever we want without the confine of those huge black walls. So with that in mind, I would like to thank everyone for coming to this wonderful event.." Tubbo buckled for a second, the uneasiness getting to him as he took a deep breath.
"Let the festival begin."
Tommy, Wilbur and Rexha began their move as soon as Tubbo gave his code, however something did not exactly go as planned.
To everyone's surprise, a wooden fence-like cage had fallen from the ceiling of the podium and imprisoned Tubbo like a caged goat inside. Tommy gasped, helplessly glanced at Wilbur and Rexha only to find out that Rexha was all he had left before looking back at Tubbo. Wilbur had already fleed from the scene to continue with his own motive.
"Schlatt?" Tubbo instantly became pale as grasped the wooden poles that caged him. "What are you.. what is this?"
Schlatt knew all along that his own right hand man was the traitor.
Tommy scowled as Rexha proceeded to watch the scene unfold before them with her eyes hardening into a glare.
"I know what you've been fucking up to Tubbo."
Schlatt's voice boomed with anger, causing the poor boy to stumble on his own words. "W-What I've been up to?"
Laughter filled Schlatt's throat as he turned away from Tubbo and faced the crowd with arms stretched out in the air to express exaggeration. "What have I been up to he says! You've been conspiring with the tyrants, the fucking idiots that we kicked out of this country Tubbo!"
Tommy helplessly grasped the fabric of her black cloak as he glanced at her in a frantic. Just like his best friend on the podium, he too began to stumble on his words both from fear and worry. "Rexha, Tubbo is.. He's going to.."
Her heart began to pound against her chest for the first time as she witnessed Schlatt and Tubbo's exchange. The sound of gasps and unease from the audience caused wild emotions to resonate within her.
Rexha's pupil twitched as Schlatt grasped the microphone. "Technoblade, please come up here for a second."
Tommy watched as their comrade took a stand, rising from his seat with his netherite axe in hand. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. "He's on our side, he wouldn't betray us." Questions and thoughts began to flood his mind with unease as he tried to convincing himself.
Technoblade made his way up the podium to stand along side Schlatt and Quackity without a word. The salmon haired man glanced at Tubbo who was mouthing pitiful pleas to him.
"Um, I don't understand?"
Awkwardness washed over him as soon as he realized that dozens of eyes were directed at him and everyone else at the podium. "What do you want from me?"
Tubbo began to vocal his pleas towards Schlatt but the dictator did not heed to his words Instead, he chuckled and found amusement in his helplessness. "Tubbo, as the enemy of the state and as a perpetrator to those awful, awful people that you've been helping."
"Techno, if you would be so kind—I need you to take out this traitor for me."
A succession of gasps erupted from the podium audience as the tyrant turned to the Blade himself, who appeared to be reconsidering his demand. Technoblade turned to face Tubbo who with tearful eyes, cried out help to him. "Techno—listen to me. Techno, please you don't have to do this! You don't have to listen to what Schlatt says!"
"Come on, Techno. We have a tight schedule today." Schlatt trotted beside the salmon haired man, his words beckoning him to submit like a devil to a man in temptation, watching his shoulders tense up at his words. The heavy atmosphere sent Technoblade into an array of mixed emotions, the pressure was on for him.
"DO IT, TECHNOBLADE. DO IT."
His breath hitched as his hands firmly grasped the staff of his netherite axe. Was it just him or was the air getting thicker and thicker as seconds passed by?
At that exact moment, Tommy cried out and grasped Rexha's hand in distress, completely at the woman's mercy. "Rexha! Do something please!"
The image of her mother replaced Tubbo's appearance. Sensations of Deja Vu clouded her mind in complete rage as she watched the wooden cage hoist up to give Technoblade an opening to commence with Schlatt's absolute order.
Something within Rexha completely snapped just from the sight of Technoblade raising his axe. The woman involuntarily pulled her hand away from Tommy and leapt from the building they were perched from. The black fabric of her cloak rippled behind her as she bolted through the crowd, ignoring the frightened and surprised looks she received from the people that backed away from her in fear. With her identity on the line, she unclipped her netherite swords from her waist, bringing the two blades into play to lunge herself up on the platform from the front with ease.
Right as Technoblade brought his axe down, Rexha stepped right in and thrusted both swords without any hesitation. The collision of blades eerily rang in their ears. It was just as she had expected from the Blade himself, he was strong. But with the adrenaline rushing in her veins, Rexha had successfully sent Technoblade a good distance away from Tubbo with her untamed strength. Her crimson eyes glared deep into the whites of his hog mask.
"What do you think you're doing?" Her voice completely devoid of emotions from such anger.