This chapter has no crack. If you're here for the crack and not the plot, ignore this chapter.
Just for this chapter, loops are arranged in chronological order.
96.
Tommy shot up with a scream.
"W're safe," Tubbo slurred, hooking an arm around his chest and dragging him back to the floor. "G'to 'leep."
"Sleep," Ranboo agreed drowsily. Michael continued to snore, oblivious to the world.
Tommy forced himself to take deep breaths, eyes tracing the ceiling of the pillow fort. His heartbeat gradually evened out as the last traces of his nightmare slipped away. He didn't remember much of it-- just a terrible sense of loneliness.
He turned his head to the side, staring at Michael. The piglin boy was lying on his side, arms wrapped around a bee plush Tommy had made for him. Ranboo was half-curled around him, one arm slung over the child and the other half-buried in a mountain of pillows.
They're okay, Tommy reminded himself. They're here. We're here together.
He slowly relaxed, melting into the thick blankets piled beneath him. Tubbo made a muffled noise and shifted closer, his arm tightening around Tommy's shoulders. Tommy rolled his eyes.
Clingy bitch.
He reached over and tucked the blanket a bit tighter around Tubbo, then let his eyes fall shut. He'd be alone again the next time the loop reset, but he'd enjoy this easy friendliness while it lasted.
97.
When Dream had gone on a mining expedition, he hadn't expected to stumble across an underground cavern. The place was huge and completely enclosed, with no tunnels in or out aside from the one he'd dug. He wasn't quite sure where he was in relation to the aboveground SMP, but he was pretty sure this place was located under inhabited lands. Strangely, nobody seemed to have discovered it yet.
He raised his torch higher, inspecting the walls. Underneath the thick layer of grime, he could see the outline of uniform stone bricks. Scraping away the layer of dirt on the floor revealed the same thing. He revised his earlier thought; this wasn't a cavern, it was a room. An old room that had been abandoned for quite a while, but it definitely hadn't formed naturally. Strangely enough, the entire place was devoid of life; the room was bathed in darkness - perfect spawning conditions for hostile mobs - and yet there wasn't a single mob in sight.
Dream adjusted his grip on his pickaxe, ignoring the chill that slithered down his spine. He advanced further into the room.
The withered remains of what might have once been pillars jutted out of the floor at regular intervals, built from the same stone as the rest of the room. They appeared to have been destroyed rather than worn away with age; the tops of the ruins were jagged, like the pillars had been smashed to pieces. Chunks of rubble strewn over the floor cemented that theory.
He was about thirty feet in when he saw it. A thin string the color of redstone, nestled in the cracks between two stones. He squatted down to inspect it, only to realize that the string had no visible end-- it continued on into the darkness, originating from somewhere out of the bubble of light from the torch.
Dream rose to his feet. More strings appeared as he moved further in, gradually growing thicker. It wasn't until they'd grown to the width of his ankle Dream realized what they were - vines. Crimson vines as thick as his leg, flourishing in a lightless room. The arrangement suggested they were all growing from a central point - a point that Dream was approaching.
Something glinted in the torchlight. Dream froze in his tracks, but when the object did not move, he moved closer. Whatever it was, it was huge. He lifted the torch a bit higher-- and stared.
"What the fuck is this?"
It looked like an egg. A blood-red egg three times the size of a grown man, with vines sprouting from its base. He'd never seen the thing before, and yet. . .
"You look familiar," he muttered, eyes narrowing. Where had he seen it before?
"Oh right," he realized. Bad had shown it to him back in December, before the whole shitshow with Tommy and the discs. He'd basically forgotten about it after spending two years in prison, though in the blurry memories of his escape, he thought he'd seen red vines on the ground. There weren't any in the arctic, though, so maybe he hadn't. He'd been pretty out of it.
ᗪ尺乇卂爪．
Dream whipped around, slashing his torch through the darkness. "Who's there?!"
ᗪ尺乇卂爪 山卂丂 ㄒ卂Ҝ乇几．
"That's me, yeah," he muttered, eyes darting back and forth. "Who are you? Where are you?"
乃乇卄丨几ᗪ ㄚㄖㄩ．
Dream turned around. No matter how hard he looked, the only thing he could see was--
"Are you the egg?"
ㄚ乇丂．
Dream let out a huff of disbelief. "Okay," he said. "You're-- sentient. You're a sentient, giant talking egg."
ㄚ乇 ֆ．The Egg (apparently) hummed. 山卄卂ㄒ 丨丂 丨ㄒ ㄚㄖㄩ ᗪ乇丂丨尺乇 爪ㄖ丂ㄒ， ᗪ尺乇卂爪 山卂丂 ㄒ卂Ҝ乇几？
Dream blinked. "I-- what?"
山卄卂ㄒ ᗪㄖ ㄚㄖㄩ 山卂几ㄒ？
Dream hesitated. He had absolutely no reason to trust the Egg, but-- it was just an egg. Harmless-- it couldn't even move. It wasn't like the Egg (or whatever the fuck it was) would remember anything he told it next loop. And he-- he really wanted to talk to someone. By the time this loop started, he had basically no friends or allies left.
". . . I want a lot of things," he admitted. "Mostly just-- to get out of the loops, for one. And to become a better person."
ㄒ卄乇 ㄥㄖㄖ卩 ֆ？
"Yeah. Time loops. I've gone through. . . ninety, now."
山卄ㄚ ᗪㄖ ㄚㄖㄩ 山丨丂卄 ㄒㄖ 乇丂匚卂卩乇？
"I'm trapped. I don't-- nothing I do matters anymore." He laughed. "Hell, I could slaughter everyone on this server and-- and next loop, they'd all be walking around again. I could become friends with everyone on the server and next loop we'd just go back to being enemies." He took a deep breath. "I hate it. It's. . . it's. . . it hurts, when I wake up and-- everything's back to the way it was."
The Egg remained silent for a moment. 丨 丂乇乇, it said at last. 丨 山丨ㄥㄥ 千尺乇乇 ㄚㄖㄩ．
Dream's heart stilled. He could barely breathe, overwhelmed by a rush of hope. "You can. . . you can do that?"
ﾌㄖ丨几 爪乇，ᗪ尺乇卂爪．丨 山丨 ㄥㄥ Ꮆ丨ᐯ乇 ㄚㄖㄩ 卂几ㄚㄒ卄丨几Ꮆ ㄚㄖㄩ 山丨丂卄 千ㄖ尺．
The statement should have set off alarm bells in his head, but. . . he felt like he could trust the Egg. No, he knew he could trust the Egg. It had no reason to harm him. It was just trying to help. It was being a good friend. He wanted that, didn't he?
Dream was distantly aware that his torch had gone out, but he couldn't think past the pounding in his ears. The Egg was glowing, effusing the room with scarlet light. It was powerful. It would help him. Dream took a breath.
"What do I have to do?"
~~~
"Tommy!"
Tommy stopped in his tracks. "Dream."
"Hey," Dream said. He sounded-- happy, almost. "Can I talk to you?"
Tommy sneered, turning around with a fuck you on his lips. And froze. "Oh," he breathed. "Oh shit."
Dream smiled, oblivious to his sudden wariness. "Hi, Tommy."
Tommy ran through a quick mental checklist. Red eyes? Check. Red clothes? Check. Deranged smile? Check-- though the last mark probably had less to do with being an egghead and more with the man's mental stability (or lack of it). "Lemme guess," he said. "You're here to take me to the Egg?"
"Yes," Dream said, then did a double take. "Wait, you know about the Egg?"
"Yeah," Tommy muttered. He eyed the distance between them, trying to gauge whether he could make a run for it. "It was a. . . big thing, while you were in jail."
Dream's smile faltered slightly at the mention of the prison. He recovered quickly. "Then-- then you know how amazing it is?"
"I wouldn't say amazing," Tommy hedged, inching backward. He couldn't outrun Dream, but the Egg had definitely affected his intelligence, much like how it had affected Bad's. Maybe he could trick him into letting him go? "It made Tubbo cry."
"The Egg can give you anything you want."
"Right, and I suppose the Egg can give me women."
"The Egg can give you all the women you could--"
"I'm gonna stop you right there," Tommy interrupted, fighting back a visceral reaction. Dream was an egghead and trying to bribe Tommy with women. Tommy wasn't sure whether he should burst into hysterical laughter or start screaming. Either would be an appropriate response to the situation. "I'm not going to the Egg, Dream."
"Hear me out," Dream pleaded. Tommy took another step back, only for Dream to step forward. "It knows how to break the loops, Tommy. It can get us out of this."
"No," Tommy snapped. Dream probably hadn't been Infected for as long as Bad was-- maybe he could reason with him. "Look, I'm not-- I've seen the Egg, and it doesn't do shit. It's lying, Dream-- It can't-- it can't get us out of the loops."
Dream narrowed his eyes. "You don't know that."
Tommy scoffed. "You know what happened to Bad? He was the one who found it in Loop Zero-- ended up serving it because the Egg took Skeppy and Bad thought the only way to get him back was to join him. He ended up hurting a whole bunch of people and lost most of his friends-- all for the Egg. It's a fuckin' manipulator, Dream. It's using you."
Dream scowled. "The Egg is my friend," he snapped. "It wants to help me."
Tommy laughed. "If it really wanted to get you out," he said, "wouldn't it have done it by now?"
"These. . . these things take time."
"Yeah? But now it's just yelling at you to kill me, ey? The only other looper."
Doubt flickered across Dream's face. Tommy pounced on the opening. "The Egg doesn't want to help you," he insisted. "It's lying. It's using you to get more power. You know that, you're just too much of a pussy to admit you got tricked."
Dream's axe wavered. "I. . . I don't-- gah!"
Tommy took a step back as Dream hunched over, dropping his axe in favor of clamping his hands over his ears. Church Prime was nearby; if he ran now, while Dream was distracted, he could probably stay ahead of Dream long enough to get to safety.
Dream went still. Tommy made an executive decision and bolted.
He was maybe halfway down the Prime Path when he glanced back, only to speed up when he saw Dream bearing down on him, eyes blazing crimson. "YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS!" he shrieked, hoping against hope that someone would hear him.
"Come with me," Dream called, sounding slightly strained.
Tommy flipped him off and ran even faster. The Church was in sight now. He just had to make it another hundred feet or so and then--
A low whistling noise filled the air. Tommy threw himself sideways just as a bundle of TNT landed where he had been standing moments before. The resulting explosion knocked him flat on his back. He ruthlessly stomped down the memories that were trying to resurface and staggered to his feet, shaking his head in a futile attempt to rid his ears of the ringing noise. Dream was approaching with broad strides, clearly confident that he had trapped Tommy.
Unfortunately for him, Tommy had a habit of unpleasantly surprising people.
He reached into his inventory, grabbed the first thing he could find, and hurled it at Dream before booking it. The moment the Holy Lands were within reach, he lunged forward, landing on the grass and rolling with the fall. He hastily pushed himself to his feet and stood, ignoring his screaming muscles.
Dream stopped in his tracks, mere inches from the border of the Holy Lands. His gaze flitted across the Church before landing on Tommy. He shifted his grip on his axe.
Tommy stepped back, well out of axe range. "No fighting on the Holy Lands," he reminded him.
Dream glared but complied, lowering his weapon. "Tommy," he said. "You're making this difficult."
"Yeah, well, that's what I do, innit?" Tommy snarked. "Make everything difficult."
"The Egg can help us, Tommy. It can get us out--"
"And even if it could, we'd be stuck under its control after we're out. No freedom there."
"It doesn't control us."
Tommy raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? Then what was that little show back there?"
"It was. . . talking to me."
"Seemed to give you a headache." When Dream remained silent, Tommy sighed. "Look, Dream-- just-- no. Leave. I'm not gonna join your shitty egg cult-- I've been recruited way too many times, and it never turns out good."
"It's-- it'll be different," Dream said.
Tommy scoffed. "Look, no means no. What part did you miss? The n, the o, or the silent 'fuck off' in the middle?"
Dream's eyes narrowed. He stepped forward and Tommy readied himself for another chase, accompanied by some grand spiel about the Egg.
It never came. Dream froze, face going blank. Slowly, he took another step forward. The crimson in his eyes suddenly seemed less prominent.
Tommy blinked. What was happening?
"I. . ." Dream frowned, shaking his head. "The Egg-- it's. . ."
"Bad," Tommy said bluntly. His eyes strayed down to Dream's feet, which had crossed onto Holy Land. Due to Dream's early disappearance and Tommy's meddling, the Egg hadn't been discovered and the Eggpire hadn't formed. The Egg might have been weakened by its lack of followers, so maybe it was more susceptible to everything Prime-related - even the Holy Lands.
Something flickered across Dream's face. Tommy revised his earlier assessment-- the proximity to the Church might be a factor, but some part of Dream also appeared to be fighting the Infection. All Tommy had to do was give him another push.
"It's lying, Dream."
"It'll get us out," Dream repeated, sounding less like a human and more like a broken record.
"Which it hasn't done," Tommy pointed out. "I bet if I killed you right now, you'd just wake up in the past again."
"You're. . . lying," Dream said. It came out stilted. He frowned and shook his head, like a dog trying to rid itself of a gnat. When he looked up again, his eyes were a solid crimson. "You're lying to me. Making me doubt. The Egg doesn't like that."
"Yeah, well, the Egg can go fuck itself."
Dream looked sad. Wait, no, that was wrong. He looked disappointed, shoulders pulled back and disapproving stare affixed on Tommy. Tommy had felt that stare many, many times in exile.
"I'm sorry about this, Tommy," Dream said. He was using the 'it's for your own good' voice. Fuck. "But when I bring you back, you'll see. The loop won't start again. The Egg ended it."
Tommy took a moment to process those words. A moment too long, apparently, because suddenly there was netherite in his neck and then agony agony ag--
98.
He opened his eyes to see Dream disappearing in a puff of smoke.
Tommy stumbled, the axe slipping from his fingers. "Oh shit," he gasped, staggering forward even as he raised his hands to his throat. "Shit-- fuck-- Dream! Dream, you-- you fucker-- what the fuck is wrong with you?!"
There was a moment of chilling silence. And then Dream howled.
The crowd gathered behind Tommy collectively flinched, several falling back into fighting stances. Tommy paid them no mind. "DREAM!" he shouted.
The screams tapered off into retching. A cold pit formed in Tommy's stomach. "DREAM," he shouted again. "DREAM, CAN YOU HEAR ME? IS IT STILL THERE?"
"In my--" there was a crash. "Nonono I did it again I'm sorry please no get out get out get OUT--"
A hand landed on Tommy's shoulder, burning hot. "Tommy, what the hell is going on?!"
"Later," Tommy snapped. "Get down here, let us help--"
Dream hissed. "No-- shut up. SHUT UP--"
"Tommy," Sapnap snarled.
"FIGHT IT, DAMNIT!" Tommy shouted. "IT'S FUCKIN' WEAK RIGHT NOW!"
Dream's ragged breathing cut off with a hiss. Tommy gritted his teeth.
"Fuck it," he muttered. "Who's the fastest person here?"
"Tommy--"
"Dream got-- Infected," Tommy snapped, scrambling for a way to explain without telling them about the timeloops-- they didn't have time. "By a-- by a brain parasite, fuck, I don't know what the fuck it is but it changed his thought process and shit-- killing him snapped him outta it, but if we want to keep the thing out of his head, we need to dunk him in Prime water."
Several people went pale. "He's. . .?" Puffy asked.
She was cut off by a loud thud above them. "Shit," Tommy cursed, rushing forward and vaulting onto the platform. It rose under his weight, accompanied by the rumble of redstone.
The moment his head cleared the top, he assessed the situation. Dream was lying on the floor next to the bed he'd respawned from, curled in a ball and fingers tangled in his hair. His cloak was a familiar dark green, but Tommy wasn't reassured.
"Dream," he said loudly. The man jerked, head raising just enough for Tommy to see one eye - stretched wide and pupil shrunk, darting wildly back and forth. The iris oscillated between toxic green and pale crimson.
So the Egg could reach across loops. Even worse, it could reach across deaths-- which meant that if Tommy just killed Dream or threw him in the prison, he'd come back next loop still Infected and still determined to kill Tommy and/or drag him to the Egg.
Tommy took a deep breath and shoved down his rising panic. The Egg's hold had obviously been weakened, though Tommy wasn't sure if it was because of the loops or because Dream had been on Holy Lands. Dream was actively fighting it now, though, so that was a bonus. Either way, there was still a chance he could fix this.
"Dream," he repeated. "I can get you to Church Prime, but I need to know if you're gonna stab me."
Dream managed a jerky shake of his head. Tommy strode forward and yanked him up, slinging an arm over his shoulder and letting the man use him as a crutch. His skin crawled with discomfort, but he reminded himself that this was better than having to deal with an Infected Dream hunting him down for the rest of the loop. They somehow managed to make it onto the platform without any issues. When it started moving, though, Dream nearly fell over, forcing Tommy to yank him back up.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"Figh-ting," Dream grunted. "Doesn't-- like that."
"Yeah I bet it doesn't," Tommy muttered. The others were in sight now, but still out of hearing range. Tommy lowered his voice. "Listen, I told the others the Egg possessed you or some shit and killing you woke you up, so stick to that story this loop-- unless you want to get tossed in the Vault again."
Dream shuddered, head lolling. "You lied."
Tommy blinked. "I-- of fuckin' course I lied, what else was I--"
"We're back again, you made me-- no-- shut up--"
Ah. He was talking to the Egg, not Tommy. "Ignore it. It gets worse the more you talk to it."
The platform had reached the bottom. Tommy wasted no time dragging the other looper forward, thrusting him straight into Punz, who stumbled at the sudden weight. "The Church," Tommy blurted. "Dump-- dump him in the waterfall, hurry or--"
Punz was gone before he'd finished talking. Tommy swallowed the bitter taste in his mouth, shoving away a memory of the mercenary's blank expression as he slid a sword into Quackity's back. Punz had never been on their side, had he?
"T-Tommy?"
Tommy flinched and whipped around, meeting Tubbo's gaze. His friend twitched, gaze darting from Tommy's shaking hands to his face.
"Are you okay?"
Okay? He was the furthest fucking thing from okay.
"I need to check on Dream," was all he said. He was the only one with knowledge about the Egg at this moment in time. He needed to see if it was really out of Dream's head. Needed to, because if it wasn't-- if it was still there, the loops would get a whole lot worse.
"Tommy--"
"Sorry, Tubbo." He brushed past him, stumbling towards the portal. "I need-- it's important--"
"Wait," Sapnap said. Tommy rounded on him with the fiercest glare he could muster, but Sapnap stood his metaphorical ground. "What happened?"
"I told you already--"
"You told us he got infected with a 'brain parasite'. That--"
"Look, I'll fuckin' explain later," Tommy snapped. "When this is over, we can hunt down the Egg and burn it to ashes, but right now I need to make sure it's not still in his head."
"Egg?" Tubbo asked, but Tommy was distracted by Sam, who had appeared on his left, eyes concerned.
"Tommy, you're in no shape to travel through the Nether. Let us handle this."
"I'm the only one who knows what we're dealing with--"
"So tell us."
Tommy bit back the urge to scream in frustration and whipped around, storming towards the portal. Someone attempted to grab his arm but he shook them off.
"I'm going to the fucking Church," he snarled, and leapt into the portal before anyone could stop him.
~~~
The first thing Tommy saw when he entered the Church was Dream, drenched to the bone and collapsed on a pew beside the waterfall. Punz was sitting on the opposite end of the pew, gaze fixed straight ahead and sword lying across his lap. His eyes flicked to Tommy as he entered. "I put him in the waterfall. He's semi-coherent now."
"Can he still hear it?" Tommy demanded.
"It's very quiet," Dream rasped.
"So that's a yes. Fuck."
Punz eyed the waterfall. "We didn't try drinking it. Is it safe?"
"Yeah, drinking it might be better." Tommy glanced at his inventory, then at Punz. "Bucket?"
Punz wordlessly produced a bucket, dumping the water it contained onto the carpet of the Church before handing it to him. Tommy scooped a chunk out of the waterfall and held it out to Dream, who took it with shaking hands.
They watched in silence as Dream took several gulps of water, then shook his head. The last of the red tint faded from his pupils.
"It's gone," he reported. Punz sighed and closed his eyes, only to stiffen when voices became audible in the distance.
Tommy went still, his heart racing. He wasn't ready. Judging by Dream's expression, he wasn't either. Punz took one look at them and stood, stashing his sword in his inventory.
"I'll stall them," he said. "Five minutes sound okay?"
"Ten," Tommy said.
"Ten," Punz agreed. He turned and stalked out of the Church.
The silence was deafening. Tommy looked anywhere but at Dream, staring at the window to their left like it offered all the secrets of the universe. He remained tense, half-expecting Dream to attack him. Dream, for his part, was just as uncomfortable, fidgeting as the silence grew more and more strained.
"Here," he blurted, thrusting the bucket towards Tommy and nearly dropping it when his muscles reminded him that there were consequences to respawning (and being Infected, on top of that). "I, uh, don't need it anymore."
Tommy snatched the bucket from his hands, grateful for a distraction. He hurried over to the waterfall and tipped the bucket over, pouring the remaining water out.
"I'm sorry," Dream croaked.
Tommy stilled, knuckles white around the handle of the bucket. He didn't turn around.
Dream closed his eyes. "I'm sorry," he repeated. "I know an apology isn't worth anything, but. . . I get it now."
"Do you?" Tommy asked stiffly.
"I do. Tommy, I-- I wasn't your friend. I lied to you. I hurt you because. . . because I enjoyed it. Not because you deserved it. It was-- it was abuse. I abused you."
Tommy stared down at the carpet, trying to sort through the whirlpool of emotions in his chest. On one hand, hearing Dream acknowledge what he'd done was the final confirmation-- the last vindication that let him know he'd been in the right all along. But at the same time, Dream could be lying. Trying to manipulate him into working together.
"You did," he said at last.
"I'm sorry," Dream murmured. He sounded sincere. Just like he'd sounded sincere when he told Tommy he was his friend.
"You're sorry," Tommy repeated, turning around.
Dream ducked his head, hiding his expression. His face was an open book-- probably why he wore a mask. "I am," he affirmed.
"I don't believe you."
"Okay," Dream said. He looked away from Tommy, picking at the hem of his hoodie. "I-- yeah. That's fair."
Tommy stared at him.
Dream took a deep breath. "I wasn't lying in those messages," he said. "I'll. . . leave you alone. Give you space for as long as you want."
Tommy snorted. "Yeah? And what brought on your sudden change of heart?"
Dream opened his mouth. Closed it. Picked a string off his hoodie. "I. . . looked at what I did from. From an outsider's perspective."
So that's all it took. All it would have taken Dream to stop being such a dick was some basic human empathy. Tommy gritted his teeth.
"This better not be another lie, Dream, or I swear--"
"It's not," Dream promised. "I-- you don't have any reason to trust me, but-- really. I'll stay as far away from you as I can."
Right. Well, the only way to figure out if this was a lie was to test it. If he was faking, he'd probably crack and hunt Tommy down before twenty loops had passed. If he was genuinely apologetic. . .
Tommy shook himself. "Can you still hear the Egg?"
Dream blinked at the non sequitur. "I-- no. No, it's gone."
"Then I'm leaving. You can explain what happened to the others."
Tommy stared at Dream, waiting for the other man to protest or reach out. Dream stayed where he was. "I'm not stopping you."
It felt like a trap. Tommy kept his eyes on Dream even as he retreated towards the door. Dream just laid back against the pew and closed his eyes. He was letting him go.
Tommy all but fled the Church, his pulse pounding in his ears.
99.
"Listen, can I. . . can I ask you about something?"
"Go ahead," Puffy said. Tommy clasped his hands and looked down at the floor.
"So there's this. . . this person. He hurt me. A lot." He bit the inside of his cheek, fiddling with his fingers. "He tried to kill my friends. He tried to kill me. "
Puffy remained silent. Patient. Tommy let out a huff, glaring down at the floor. He sank a little further into the plush chair he was sitting in. "He's trying to do better now. Or, at least that's what he says. He-- I told him to stay away from me. And. And he's respected that. Fuck, he even apologized to me." He ran a hand through his hair. "But I don't-- he apologized, he's trying to do better, so everything's fine, right? I should just-- stop bitching and forgive him--"
"Tommy," Puffy said firmly. Tommy slowly looked up to meet her gaze. "Just because he apologized doesn't mean that you have to forgive him."
"But he's better now," Tommy muttered. "He's trying."
"Forgiveness depends on you," Puffy said. "Do you understand? Not him. You. Forgive him when you feel ready."
Tommy snorted. "And if I never feel ready?"
"Then never forgive him." At Tommy's startled look, she frowned. "You don't owe him anything, Tommy. He hurt you in the past, and maybe he's starting to become a better person, but that doesn't mean you have to forgive him."
Tommy gnawed on the inside of his cheek. "Okay," he started slowly. "I. . . I get that. But there's. . . there's a bit more to it. It's-- complicated, but-- we're. We're kinda stuck in this situation where-- where I gotta-- ugh."
Puffy waited patiently as he buried his face in his hands and took a few deep breaths.
"Okay," he said at last. "So-- hypothiclly--"
"Hypothetically," Puffy corrected.
"Hypothetically, if, like, someone was trapped in-- a room. With. With someone who hurt them a-- a long time ago. And they both need to find a way out, and-- and it looks like the only way they can do that is if they work with-- him -- wh-what do they do?" He glared down at his hands. "Fuck-- this is a terrible analogy."
Puffy hummed. "Would they die if they stay in the room?"
Tommy hesitated. "No, but. . . they'd lose their freedom. And they'd be stuck with the guy that made their lives living hell."
Puffy stayed quiet for a long, long, moment, rolling her pen between her fingers. At last she sighed. "Normally. . . I would say that the decision is completely up to them, but that's not what you're asking, huh?" At Tommy's nod, she bit her lip, tapping her pen on her chin. "If I was in that situation. . . personally, I would try to get out as fast as possible."
"So you'd work with him."
"I don't know," Puffy admitted. "It all really depends on what the person did to me. If I was desperate enough, I'd work with them-- but only as a last resort. I'd-- I'd try to find my own way out first."
Tommy nodded. "I-- okay. Yeah. That makes sense. Thanks."
Puffy hesitated. "Tommy. . . working with someone doesn't-- in a desperate situation, working with them doesn't mean you have to forgive them."
Tommy blinked. "It. . . doesn't?"
"No. You work with them because external factors force you to. There's no forgiveness in it." She straightened and met his gaze with a firm, gentle stare. "I'd make it clear to him that I don't forgive him, and that I wouldn't take any of his bullshit. We'd both be stuck together, and if we need to work together to get out, then we're on equal footing. He wouldn't have any power over me."
Tommy stared at her, mouth hanging half-open. He sat back and swallowed a few times, trying to remove the lump in his throat. "He. . . wouldn't have any power over you."
"He wouldn't."
Puffy knew the situation probably wasn't hypothetical at all. But she also knew Tommy, knew that if she pushed, he'd just clam up and refuse to talk further. She was a therapist right now, and her main concern was helping him work through his trauma, not push him deeper into it. The best she could do was offer him some advice and wait until he trusted her enough to approach her. Though if things got out of hand. . .
Tommy knit his fingers together. "Thanks," he said quietly. "I. . . I think I just. Realized. A lot of shit. So yeah. Thank you."
Puffy smiled, recognizing the gratitude in his voice. "Glad I could help." She turned back to her clipboard. "So. . . same time next week?"
"Mm." Tommy shifted in his seat. "Wait, actually-- can we, uh, postpone? Just for a week or two? I think-- I need to figure some stuff by myself."
Puffy nodded. "Does the 14th work? That's in three weeks."
"Yeah, that's fine." The teenager grinned at her, and though it didn't quite reach his eyes, there was genuine warmth in it. "Thanks again, Puffy."
"It's no problem," Puffy assured. She pushed herself to her feet and stretched, letting out a satisfied sigh as her back cracked. "Well, that's it for today. Next appointment in three weeks, but feel free to drop by anytime you want, 'kay?"
Tommy raised an eye. "Even at two in the morning?"
Puffy side-eyed him. "Emergencies only," she declared. "A girl needs her beauty sleep."
Tommy smirked. "Of course, Captain. Whatever you say, Captain."
100.
"No, that's not-- that's not--" His head ached. "I don't understand. It's not-- why? What's happening? Everything's different."
There was a loud thud behind him. He whipped around, startled, only to trip over carpet and bash his hip against the corner of his desk. "What--"
The intruder raised one hand, even as he tried to push himself off the floor. He was covered in ash and sported a bloody gash across the front of his chest. "Hi. Sorry. I'm the one that got you into this mess."
"You're hurt."
The man choked out a wheezing, weak laugh, and hobbled over to sink down against a wall. "Yeah. Probably have ten minutes, fifteen if I stretch it. Do you-- ugh -- do you have a regen potion?"
A pause. "I, no, but-- wait, I can-- I can get you one. Um--"
"Then don't worry about it. 'M not gonna last for much longer anyways. Thank Prime you're here though, there might still be a chance to f--" he shifted, then let out a pained gasp. "--f-fix it."
"What. . . what happened?"
"Things. Bad things." The intruder let out a labored wheeze. Blood dribbled down his chin. "I'll give you the main points, grab something to write with. Th-there's a lot you'll have to do."
Loop Notes
98.When burning the Egg failed to damage it, they covered it in obsidian. Thankfully, it didn't cause anymore problems that loop.
99. Maybe things aren't completely hopeless.
100. At least he got a proper funeral this time.
✌︎👎︎☞︎✌︎👎︎☝︎✌︎✠︎✠︎☝︎✠︎✌︎☞︎👎︎✌︎✠︎✌︎👎︎✌︎✠︎👎︎✠︎☞︎☞︎☞︎✌︎☞︎✠︎☞︎✌︎☞︎☝︎✌︎☝︎☝︎✠︎✌︎☞︎✌︎✌︎✌︎☝︎☝︎☞︎✌︎☝︎👎︎☞︎✌︎✌︎☞︎☝︎✌︎✠︎☞︎☞︎👎︎☞︎☞︎👎︎✌︎✌︎👎︎✌︎☞︎☝︎👎︎☞︎✌︎👎︎✌︎✠︎👎︎☝︎👎︎✌︎👎︎✠︎☞︎✌︎✌︎✌︎✌︎✌︎☞︎☞︎☞︎✠︎
Alphabet/Substitution Grid (5 x 5, left to right, top to bottom): ☜︎✠︎☠︎🏱︎✈︎❄︎💣︎☞︎✋︎☪︎☼︎💧︎✞︎👍︎☹︎✌︎👌︎⚐︎😐︎☝︎👎︎✡︎🕆︎🕈︎☟︎
Keyword: FUNERAL