Ivory – xxxiii ; All In
Created: 10.23.22
Finished: 10.24.22
Edited: 11.22.22 / 12.24.22
Published: 12.24.22
___________________
Trigger Warning: flashbacks(full, visual and auditory), panic attacks, symptom similar to todd's paralysis(pftt todd:D), violence, wounds, cuts
Word Count: 3622..i giv up at this point
A/N: Yikes, its almost Christmas..haha, Merry Christmas to those who celebrate- I am sleepy right now and its like 3 or 2 in the morning. I won't be uploading or writing any Ivory related since its the holidays. I'll probably publish again once I get back home. I apologise I cannot give a gift a chapter that is something Christmas related..but I can give this: You guys are allowed to ask me questions, whether related to the story, or about me, but I'll most likely answer questions about the story. Questions about the plot, the characters, mysteries, potential plotholes, you know, something that bugs you and you want to know why this and that happened. The ending of this chapter is enough to raise some questions already, at least..it would be if I was reading it hahaha- I'll make a separate place for the questions, later..once I wake up. As for now, enjoy this chapter^^
Edit: I was frantically looking for my glasses, took me a while to realise they're still on my face..I need to sleep
______________________________________________
___________________
"Is that..Tommy?"
It's not real. No way. This has to be a joke. A prank. Techno and Phil lie, Tubbo and Ranboo cannot be trusted either. This isn't Tommy, he's not Tommy- He's not prepared for this-
"Tommy- Bless the gods Boo got ahold of you- I'm- I'm sorry for leaving you behind-" Tubbo emerges from the small crowd and grabs Tommy's thin shoulders.
Tommy barely reacted out of shock, his eyes still at the strangers, who also froze in seeing him. Who are these people?
"Other than abandoning him in the middle of nowhere, there are a few things I'd like to discuss with you, Tubbo." Phil's voice is usually calm, but on this one, it's more of a booming one.
Techno's mask hides his glare, his hand at his sword, ready to attack in case anything goes wrong.
Tubbo's sharp eyes stare back at Phil, competing his gaze against him, "I'm willing to be interrogated. I have my reasons."
Phil didn't like the fact that Tubbo let Tommy live in a house with little to no security, not to mention lie about keeping him in Snowchester.
As for leaving him behind in the bench, led to him going missing temporarily, his feathers almost ruffled out of stress, wondering where he could have gone,
"Lower your temper, people. We have guests to please." Techno's voice is surprisingly more lulling than a growl..he sounds tired,
"Tubbo and Phil, take your arguments inside. Quackity and Sam, you can have him, but do know my eyes are on you. Ghostboo-" He stops, realising he didn't think this one through, as Ghostboo waits for his order with his usual beam plastered on his fading face, "Just get Michael or something. I don't know, be a dad you're supposed to be."
That struck a chord in both Tubbo and Ghostboo.
"Oh. Of course." And with that, Ghostboo disappears on a whim, and the others slowly enter the mansion now that everyone is finally here.
oOo
"This place seems appropriate as a meeting room." Quackity murmurs, finding the architecture of this build familiar.
If he's right, it's been made by the hands of Foolish's, judging by the designs and his signature craftsmanship,
"The place's kinda useless to be honest..I don't get why we paid Foolish to do all this really, but I guess it has some use now." Tubbo murmurs, figuring that this place would be fixed up to make it more suitable for their meetings.
He can't believe that this is happening; a small syndicate, just to take down Dream. It's like in the Disc Confrontation all over again. Despite having different sides and ideals, they band together to take down one person..Dream.
Sam sighs heavily, and keeps quiet, more eyeing Tommy the whole time. It scares him, the way his eyes stare, he breathes, and his posture, not to mention his hair.
He looks dead, he looks so dead it's terrifying- "I can't believe that's Tommy.." he murmurs under his breath, so no one could hear it but himself, but Quackity managed to listen,
"As much as I hate to say this but...Tommy's never a good actor, so he couldn't pretend all this..It's..really him, Sam." He replies, his voice may be sharp, but doubt echoes his tone.
What if this isn't him? What if it's all just a bad dream?
"Alright mates, since I'm going to deal with Tubbo for a moment, Techno, would you mind escorting them somewhere?"
The piglin narrowed his eyes but followed, urging Quackity, Sam and Tommy to follow him. Tubbo is left alone with Phil.
Although keeping a brave stature, he's quivering inside, being around with an enraged so-called Angel of Death might as well be called hell.
"While they're going to have a talk with Tommy, why don't we make something for tonight's meeting. eh?" Tubbo couldn't say no, and he isn't sure if he should be relieved nor terrified.
As for the other four, they take the stairs, Techno taking the lead with Tommy by his side, the others following in tow.
Quackity tries to distract himself to the infrastructure's designs so he wouldn't feel much seeing Tommy. He shouldn't let his feelings affect him. Isn't that one of the rules?
Sam meanwhile, feels heavy, whether by his armour or by what he feels, upset that he let Dream do this to Tommy. He isn't sure if he should even have a conversation with him.
He isn't sure if he's supposed to be here at all.
It's probably best if he left and stayed home..he misses Fran.
"This room seems decent." Techno comments with a few nods, his calloused hand twisting the doorknob to open the door.
The room looks alright, it's similar to the rest of the rooms out there, but this one in particular calls to Techno - might be the voices' choice or something,
"Alright. One at a time, might be overwhelming if both of you get in. You two decide who gets in first" He tells Sam and Quackity, as to which the two nod in understanding,
His attention goes to Tommy and takes a knee down to face him, "Hey, it's been a while since I've seen you."
Tommy blinks and looks up to face Techno. He doesn't recognize his face since his mask is in the way, but the voice.
Is it Ares?
He reaches a hand on the mask, which makes Techno slightly confused, "Sorry, kid, gotta keep the mask on." He leans closer to whisper to Tommy, "It's funny to scare people sometimes with this, you know."
Tommy's lips raise up a bit, and his body shakes, like holding a laughter. That little action, Techno couldn't help but smile underneath,
"Alright, Theseus..be brave for me now. Those people, you used to know them." He points at the two people quietly conversing, the shorter one holding a coin on their palm,
"By the looks of your face, you don't remember them..and that's alright." He pets Tommy's hair, trying to make him look neater.
He looks like he fell; filled with dirt, weeds, and petals, "You'd figure it out. You always do." He takes a fist to the door, and slowly slams it so Tommy wouldn't flinch by the noise,
"If they did any funny business with you, just make a noise. You'll be staying close to any walls, so you'd be able to hit it if they do something bad. Just in case." The voices are making him antsy, more than usual.
His safety is his priority, he's his friend after all, "You got that?"
He nods. He listened.
-
o
O
o
-
"I'm heads, you're tails." And with a flick of his thumb, the coin flies off with multiple flips vigorously through the air, as Sam watches it with a tilted head.
It lowers down and the duck catches it with his hand and opens it to reveal his calloused palm.
Heads.
His eyebrow raises, "Oh well." The other frowns, "Oh well indeed."
Techno gets up after petting Tommy and orders one of them to get to the room already.
Quackity readjusts his tie properly and with a breath, he gets in but momentarily stops by the bigger guy in front of him,
"You mess with him, you mess with me. You got that?"
His heart beats rapidly, sweat rolling down his cheek. No, do not let him know you're afraid.
Quackity narrows his eyes, repressing the haunting memories of his death brought by this maniac's hands, "I hear you." He squeaks out, keeping his voice steady and getting in.
Techno nods, and looks at Tommy, "Remember what I said. He does something suspicious, you make a noise at the door, and I kill him again alright?"
Tommy takes a while to nod and soon gets in.
Once the two are inside, Techno reluctantly closes the door, keeping them inside. Sam watches it all by the behind, his meek figure remains quiet.
.
.
.
"Tommy."
The eburnean haired boy lifts his head up, seeing Quackity. He looks so mighty, and confident..poised..and in control.
He looks like he's the one who can hurt someone first, and knows who would live if the two ever-
His foot takes a step backward making a soft noise, at least he didn't hit the door, Techno would have burst in and cut Quackity in half, "Careful, Tommy. You wouldn't want the conversation to end early and kill me. I just want to talk to you."
Quackity can tell he's nervous, who wouldn't be? Who wouldn't be anxious being trapped in a room with you and a stranger?
A stranger?
Quackity softens his look, does Tommy..not remember him?
"Tommy..do you know who I am?" Tommy looks at him again, takes a good look at him, and shakes his head.
"You talk about sacrifices!"
"WHAT HISTORY?!"
"The only thing I know about you is that you're the reason I di-"
(little info: quackity is not aware of karl's losing memories due to time travelling. Its just like a vague deja vu that hes been in this situation before, but he doesn't know what. Just to let u know.)
Taking a deep breath, he smiles lightly, trying to not look as hostile as he usually looks..but that doesn't seem to be helping.
He put on an intimidating mask for so long it's difficult to remove, "My name is Quackity. We have been..friends for a long time now. You welcomed me..sort of, you kinda didn't like me not being British, but still, you kinda treated me well."
His smile seems genuine, nostalgic of the memories – it calms Tommy, who now stares at him with interest,
"Through all the shits going on, we managed to..you know, keep our relationship afloat. Despite L'manburg, despite..erm..Schlatt..Doomsday..even when we moved on with our lives, we knew that we got each other's backs. You were loud, an annoying kid. But unlike anyone, you have morals, you know what's right, for you and for everyone. It surprises me that even as young as you, you have standards."
Taking a deep breath, he looked up at him after rambling, "When he broke out of prison, I looked for you..I knew how much he's a danger to you, and you weren't safe, and my gut was right.."
Quackity frowns, "I hated that I moved on without looking for you again. After that day, I gave up and figured you ran away to hide, I didn't bother asking other people. I went and continued progressing my country, preserving my legacy..little did I know you were tortured every day, beaten up and killed..and revived..that bastard."
Tommy tilts his head a bit, mostly confused as to what he's saying, at the same time, has the idea that this guy knows him.
He must have forgotten who he is again..why is he known by a lot of people?
"I wanted to talk to you that day...about how you are doing, knowing well that it would have been a worse feeling, your worst enemy just out there and ready to hurt you.."
Techno wouldn't do that again, right? He moved on,
"I wanted to make sure you're safe..and reassure that..you're always..always welcome in my country, Tommy. Las Nevadas welcomes you anytime."
Las Nevadas?
-
-
-
-
-
crack.
-
-
-
-
-
He feels the sand underneath him, the blazing heat above him..where is he?
He looks up and sees two people arguing. He can't hear what they're saying, it seems so muffled..so far.
His vision goes clearer and he can now tell that one of them is the person with him right now, the other..he doesn't..know.
"Woah it looks cool-" He looks beside him and widens his eyes seeing himself smiling. He sounds so loud, so young, so...different from him.
His hair is so alive, and his eyes are so blue. He could jump happily, and smile brighter, he doesn't know how to do that. How did he-? "It looks cool-"
"TOMMY, SHUT UP!-"
He falls under something once more and he doesn't know what. All he knows is that he can't breathe, and he needs to get up.
Soon he notices that everything around him is dark but blue, so he presumes it might be water..He swims up with difficulty and reaches the surface, holding onto a mixture of stone and sand.
He hears it again, those noises..those annoying muffled noises and now he knows why. He can see Quackity on the other side of the lake, on the top of a wall, arguing with someone, someone he doesn't recognize.
Confused, overwhelmed by the noises, he tries to cover his ears, despite being drenched and cold. He feels sick, he feels weird, he feels-
"Good job opening your eyes and not realising that this guy is just using you, Tommy! As he has all this time!"
"You're just letting this guy use you! You are just letting him emotionally manipulate you! I- I heard what you told him, Wilbur! Good job! Good job, you're repeating the same tactics and he's falling for them!"
"You used his hotel! The one thing Tommy's trying to do was a failure."
"Good job, Tommy. Good job, Tommy! He's just gonna bring you pain. He's just gonna bring you suffering!"
"Tommy, look at me!"
He looks up at this unfamiliar man in front of him.
That brown coat, yellow turtleneck, his brown hair with a bit of white hair at his front locks, his chocolate eyes- no- now crimson- it bleeds- It hurts to look at it-
It's blurry.
His head.
I can't see who it is.
Everything is noisy.
I'm drowning.
"The one thing you tried to do when I was gone, Tommy, was to make that hotel and it failed! It failed! You are in the right place!--"
"He's gonna bring you all the same things, Tommy! Okay? Remember! WHO DESTROYED L'MANBURG, TOMMY!?--"
"YOU ARE IN THE RIGHT PLACE, TOMMY!--"
"WHO DESTROYED L'MANBURG, TOMMY!?--"
"WHO RUN AGAINST YOU?! WHO LAUGHED AS WE WERE EXILED!?--"
"Think about that for a second, Tommy!"
"WHO CHEERED AS WE WERE THROWN OUT OF OUR NATION THAT WE BUILT! WE BUI-!"
-
-
-
"Tommy!"
Tommy covers his ears, wheezing hoarse as he runs towards a corner and curls up into a ball, tears drenching his face as well as the floor.
Quackity doesn't know what to do but felt surprised by what happened. But the shout caused the enraged piglin to slam the door open, seething.
The quacking duck knows well, he fucked up,
"Techno, let me expla-"
"I don't think making Theseus cry's part of our agreement, Quackity." He tightens his grip to his sword.
The other only retreats, grabbing his axe and shield to defend himself, but knows well he's no match for him,
"You're dead to me!"
Quackity shrieks in panic once his shield hits the blade of Techno's axe, but it almost sliced it in half, he's genuinely fucked- He's genuinely fucked!-
Tommy worsens his silent cries, watching the two fight, at the same time terrible memories playing right back in front of him.
It's a tight passageway, the two are fighting..wasn't that pickaxe meant to be a sword?..but the fight's happening in the mansion..right? Then why?-
There are voices screaming on the edges of his ears: laughing, mocking over and over- it's scary- it hurts-
It feels like his head is going to burst, he wants to die- he wants to leave-
Sam frowns, entering the room from all the commotion.
He should be concerned seeing Quackity's fearful eyes once more about to meet his demise to the same man that gave him the scar, but his attention is more on Tommy.
He kneels due to his high stature, trying to reach him, "Tommy?..Hey..it's okay..You're gonna be alright.." It doesn't look like he's listening.
His one hand on his shirt, tightening his grip, the other on his left eye..he looks like he's in pain, even though no one is hurting him, so Sam figures it might be a flashback,
"Tommy..It's over..what you're seeing..it's not real.. You're..here, you're here, Tommy..I'm.." He sighs,
"I'm sorry, after everything I did. I..You didn't deserve that, all of it. I'm going to make things right. I'm going to make things right for you.." He gulps, his hand reaching out to touch him,
"So please, Tommy..It's me, Sam. Come back. You're not there anymore."
It's dark.
He feels trapped.
This is not home.
He looks up and sees a dark room, a lava fall lights the room, warm too.
He could hear someone crying..it was soft.
Walking closer, he can see a person in armour, clutching someone tight in his hold. There's someone in the corner, but too blurry to see..although the smiley face is certain.
Squatting close to see who it is, it's him. He's the kid being cradled by this man's arms, and boy does he look bloody.
His face couldn't even be recognized, signs of being beaten up are all over his body, especially his- He eventually feels squeamish and looks away, already finding this situation disconcerting.
The other guy though, he looks familiar, he's that guy who guards in the prison right? The warden?
His name..what was his name?
Sam?
"Tommy?" He opens his eyes and realises he's in bed. Since he feels like his body is stuck against it since he can't move again, he gives up struggling and wanders his eyes towards someone that called him.
It's him, "Hey, Tommy. Hope you're doing alright..You passed out from your panic attack, so I kinda brought you here instead."
Tommy blinks, barely remembering what happened, not that he's bothered to recall it all in the first place.
He looks intimidating due to his size, but he seems gentle..strange combination, "Techno almost killed Quackity..had to intervene the two, but Techno really went feral. I don't think he's seeing Quackity at this point but red. We ended up calling Phil and Tubbo. At least it didn't end badly." He exhales,
"The meeting is still going to happen though, and we'll end up staying here for the night. I don't mind, I don't..exactly have a schedule."
When he sits down, the bed creaks lightly, Sam looks down on the floor, unable to stare at Tommy, "I suppose I'm livin' in denial all this time. I can't accept you, Tommy. I can't accept that he did this to you. It's all..It's all my fault, isn't it?
"If I was more responsible, I could have kept him in prison forever. I could have stopped him, I could have stopped him from hurting you. But I couldn't..I didn't look hard enough, I fled..I left..I tried to forget everything. But I don't think I should when you are hurting, it's not fair...and it's not right."
Tommy tries to sit up with a flinch in pain, Sam stops him, "Stay down, Phil told me it might be your muscles stiffening, which is why it hurts.."
Still, Tommy strives to sit upright but he looks like it's a struggle to at least do so, but Sam didn't stop him,
"Even when you're quiet, you still got your obstinance..It's been forever since I last saw you, Tommy..ever..ever since I threatened you to never come back to the prison, or else I'll kill yo-..I was terrible back then."
Frowning, Tommy notices something different about him.
In his flashbacks, his mask enables people to at least see his eyes; his eyes that bear emeralds floating amidst the void..if he remembers them right.
This one covers up his whole face, he wonders why.He slowly reaches out for his mask, but Sam quickly stops,
"What are you up to?" He asks timidly, but still it holds authority as to which Tommy flinches and backs off,
"Oh, sorry it's just..This is just..what I look now. New mask and all that." Something feels wrong, he doesn't know, but he feels-
.
.
There's a need to remove his mask, there's a need to see his face again, and so he reaches forward again, more cautious and holds onto it.
This time, Sam no longer tries to stop him, he seems helpless. Tommy takes this as a chance to take it off and he wishes he'd rather not.
A scar is glazed across his face, where his one eye no longer functioning, damaged by the hit. It's almost similar to Quackity..in some way.
Tommy gulps silently and puts down the mask. Sam looks at it and gives a smile, "I hope you accept my apology. Know that I have come here to avenge what he did to you. I want nothing more but peace after this..cuz goddamnit you can't live in this server without getting killed for fuck's sake--"
The edges of his lips release a few steam, as well as noises that sound similar to creeper. Come to think of it, he does look like one,
"You go out there, and be a fuckinn living example not to fuck with me-"
"I'll let you go. I will let you go..after you die."
A slash. Pop. Where did his eye go????
Tommy touches the scar, hearing unfamiliar voices in his head, whose memories do those belong to?
"Sam. Time to go n- Wh- T-Tommy-" Tommy looks at the door to see who it was, and it's him. It's that duck guy with a scar on his face too,
"He's awake, hey Tommy- I'm sorry for upsetting you- I didn't understand what you're going through, I should have known I'm sorry."
Sam quickly places the mask back and turns his head at him, "I'm sure he forgives you. Let's go."
Gently, Sam pats Tommy's hair before getting up and leaving. Quackity watches him go and looks back at Tommy,
"I too need to attend this meeting, if you'll excuse me." He gets up but Tommy quickly grabs hold of Quackity's wrist,
"Ack that- hurts- Tommy, let go..I have to g-" Quackity tries not to sound impatient, but then he notices Tommy looking down on his arm..his bandaged arm, "Oh- Oh this is nothing..Nothing for you to worry about."
He doesn't need to know that Techno hurt him. He doesn't need to know.
And so, he tries to get away from Tommy's grip but he won't budge, he could always pull away from his weak grip, even if it hurts, yet he didn't, "Tommy..I need to go."
Slowly, Tommy raises his head quietly to face Quackity in the eye, unblinking ones staring back at the shaking one,
"T-Tommy?" Quackity raises his brow in question, as the other takes a good long look of his face before letting go entirely.
Other than finding that moment strange, Quackity keeps a smile for him anyway, "I'll see you later, Tommy." And like Sam, he leaves too.
As Tommy is left alone in the room, trapped in the bed. He clutches his left eye, wondering why it hurts.
It's probably nothing.
Nothing.