Art by @/bottledblu on Twitter!
⚠️ Warning: This chapter contains mentions of sexism. Please, read at your own risk.
I need to make an upload schedule or something- It's been another month since my last chapter 😅
1st Person POV -
"Tubbo...?" I looked at my friend with widened eyes. He looked completely different.
Instead of his classic oversized green shirt and jeans (or the L'manberg uniform), he wore a suit. His hair was getting longer and small horns began to peak out of his head.
"Y/N! What are you doing back here?" Tubbo says worriedly. He looked frantic and kept surveying the area.
"I came for a visit. Why, is something the matter?" I tilted my head slightly.
"People are still mad at you- Just.. follow me!" Tubbo grabs my hand and takes me down to the docks. After a bit more running we end up at a small cave. Confused, I look at Tubbo.
"Niki? Are you here?" Tubbo calls out into the cave. Shortly after that a girl walks out.
I recognized her from the festival. I never really got a chance to speak with her.
"Another girl? That's right you're Y/N, it's so nice to meet you properly!" Niki immediately notices me and gives a wide smile. She holds out her hand.
Smiling back, I take her hand and shake it. "It's so nice to meet you too, Niki."
"Here, please come in. I'll bake something for you guys!" Niki steps aside for us. I look at Tubbo with an unsure gaze. He nods, telling me it's alright, and we both walk into the cave.
"Welcome to my bakery! It's still a work in progress, so mind the mess." Niki then ties an apron around her waist. "How about I bake a cake?"
"A cake? That sounds nice." I nod at Niki who gives me a wide smile. She quickly gets to work. Tubbo and I take a seat at a nearby table.
"So Y/N, I wanted to talk to you." Tubbo finally speaks, his face turning serious. I look at him and slowly nod.
"Alright, but why did we come here? Why couldn't we talk where we were?" I ask.
"Sorry to intrude- But I can't help but overhear." Niki apologizes, "To answer your question, we can't really speak out in the open. Schlatt or Quackity might overhear."
"She's right. And we're gonna discuss something that neither of them can know." Tubbo sighs.
"Oh... alright then." I straighten my posture and give him my full attention.
"I don't know if Wilbur had told you, but he's asked me to be a spy for Pogtopia. 'His spy on the inside' as he put it." Tubbo says.
"No.. he hasn't told any of us about this." I shake my head. It made sense however. Wilbur had been keeping himself busy, and wasn't telling us anything about what he'd been doing.
"I was lucky to have run into you then. I found out some stuff about you, actually." Tubbo breaths in deeply.
This peaked my interest. "Continue.."
"Schlatt- he's been very fascinated with you. He found out about that rule in the book. Remember? You signed a contact saying you wouldn't step foot in L'm- I mean.. Manberg."
"Wilbur and Tommy hate that wretched name." I grumbled. "But yes, I know what you're talking about."
"He's been going through the process of getting that rule removed. He wants to meet with you. I'm genuinely concerned Y/N." Tubbo shakes his head, his eyes squeezed shut.
I didn't know what to say. Why was he so focused on trying to find me?
"You need to steer clear of Schlatt's path. I don't know he plans to do when he finds you, but I'd rather not know." Tubbo looked at me. His eyes were so telling, he was really concerned.
"Is Schlatt really that dangerous of a man? I mean, at the election he just watched the whole thing go down. Sure he looks intimidating-" I began to voice my opinion on the matter. Wouldn't it just be better to get the whole thing over with? To see what he wants?
Niki quickly adds to the conversation, cutting me off. "Sorry, but there's more to Schlatt than you know. He targets me and treats me unfairly cause I'm a woman. He's lied to so many people in order to get his way." Niki puts the cake in the oven, shutting it and taking her apron off.
"Wait- he treats you unfairly because.." I trail off, thinking about what Niki had said. The more I thought about it the more angry I felt.
"Which is why we can't have him finding you. I was almost caught betraying Schlatt before you ran into me and he acted like he was gonna kill me. He's a dangerous man." Tubbo taps his fingers against the table nervously.
The smell of strawberries and cake batter filled the room. Niki was mixing frosting and cutting fruit.
Tubbo sighs, slumping into his chair. The poor boy had dark circles under his eyes. Not only was he stressed, but he seemed incredibly tired. Schlatt was overworking him.
"Niki! Are you in there?" A booming voice suddenly interrupts the silence. Tubbo flinches quickly straightening his posture.
"Schlatt!" Tubbo whisper yells, fear in his eyes. He looks at me in a panic. "You have to hide."
Niki quickly grabs my hand and leads me towards a chest. "Coming Schlatt!"
"Hide in here, okay? Sorry I don't have any better places.." She whispers before opening the lid. I hesitantly step in and lay down. The chest could barely fit me as Niki closes the lid. She slightly props it open so I could breath, and quickly walks to the entrance of the cave.
I could barely see much, but I was able to make out the figures of the three. Schlatt enters the cave and begins walking around. He was surveying the interior of her bakery.
"Tubbo. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be working?" Schlatt begins to interrogate Tubbo, his words filled with pure anger. I couldn't stand the tone of voice he used while addressing him.
"I was getting hungry, so I decided to take a break and get something to eat." Tubbo cautiously chose his words. He shuddered under Schlatt's fiery glare. Goosebumps prickled up my skin. I was scared that Schlatt would catch on.
"Who allowed you to take a break? Cause I surely didn't." Schlatt smirks proudly, having caught Tubbo disobeying him. Tubbo's eyes widened and he looked away from his gaze. Nervously, he replied.
"Quackity let me.." Tubbo muttered his excuse, his fear causing him to grow quiet. Schlatt scowls before muttering a curse underneath his breath.
"He has no authority to do that. Fuck, whatever." Schlatt huffs before turning away from Tubbo.
"Is there something you need?" Niki asks, her pure hatred and disgust evident in her tone. Schlatt looks down at Niki like she was some kind of pest. I felt my blood begin to boil.
"Don't speak to me that way." He spat out. The air was tense and heavy, Niki and Schlatt were exchanging death glares.
"And yes, I'm here to collect your taxes." Schlatt grins menacingly and holds his hand out. Niki looks at him with pure surprise.
"This is incredibly informal but fine. Let me get your money for you, sir." Niki's voice was overflowing with sarcasm as she stepped away to grab her bag. She rummages through it before pulling out some money. She counts it briefly then shoves it into Schlatt's grasp.
"There." She says before crossing her arms. Schlatt chuckles a bit.
"Oh no, I'm gonna need more than that." He gives her an ugly grin. Niki's eyes widen.
"But that is the exact amount I gave you last time!"
"I've decided to raise your taxes. 100 more should be enough." The sound of his foot tapping echos through the room, his hand extends once more.
"100 more?? But that's impossible! I don't have that much." Niki seemed desperate. She was attempting to voice her concerns in hopes that Schlatt would say he was joking, or maybe change his mind. Yet nothing came from Schlatt.
"This is completely unfair! You can't do this!"
"Oh, but I can Niki." He pauses. "I'll tell you what, if you hand over the bakery it will fulfill this month's tax payment." Schlatt chuckled at this as Niki gasped.
"You're being totally unfair! You're a dirty tyrant Sch-" Niki began. A noise filled the air. Tubbo flinched.
Schlatt had hit Niki. He slapped her across the face. The color from both mine and Tubbo's faces had drained. We were petrified. I was furious.
I couldn't hide any longer. Without another thought I burst out of the chest. My hand was hovering over my sword and I glared at Schlatt. The entire group turned towards the noise.
"Get your filthy hands off of her." I spat out. My eyes glares daggers in Schlatt's direction, who simply looked amused.
"Niki! Harboring fugitives now, are we? This is getting interesting." Schlatt laughed.
How could he find this funny? I grasp my sword tightly and pull it out of its scabbard.
"Fuck you." I hissed. Schlatt held his hands up in surrender sarcastically.
"This wasn't how I would imagine we would meet again after all this time Y/N." He shook his head.
I stopped dead in my tracks.
Again?
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1,562 words, unedited