Work Text:
Dream slowly opened his eyes to find himself on a soft bed. It was so unusual than the rough dry blankets from the Pandora Prison, his eyes shot open and he sat up with unsteady breaths. He was so unfocused, his line of vision fogged up. Memories of the dread, losing the last picture of his friends, forgetting kind human contact... the torture... he pleads for help... Quackity's dull eyes and Sam's emotionless mask as he begged and begged for anyone to make it all stopStopSTOP -
"Dream! It's okay!" A voice gently reassured him as a warm grounding touch held his shoulder, catching him off guard. The young teen looked around blindly, trying to see the source and he whimpered as all he could see was blurs. This person by his side seemed to recognise his panic attack and softly whispered, "Just take deep breathes, Dream... A deep inhale... 1... 2... exhale... like this..." He felt his hand gently raised towards a firm surface and could subtly feel the rising and falling of it.
It took Dream so long, a time that felt like aeons before his line of sight cleared and he could see the familiar blonde sitting beside him, green striped bucket hat on his head and understanding blue eyes meeting his own green eyes. Taking a calming breath, he spluttered softly, "P-Philza?"
"Hey mate," the elder spoke fondly while a welcoming smile grew over his lips. "It's good to see you up and about... You had me worried there..."
"W-What... What happened?" Dream hesitantly asked while allowing Phil's large hand to manoeuvre him up onto a soft pillow. "I... I don't remember much... What I do is... T-Technoblade visited? And... And... And he asked for a bell?"
This brought out a soft chuckle as Philza said, "Typical Techno..." while rubbing circles onto Dream's trembling back. "During another visit, Techno managed to escape and forced the syndicate to move forward quicker than planned. Fortunately, despite making the Syndicates image bad, nobody was hurt so I take it as a win..."
"B-But... The Syndicate? Huh?... I-Isn't Ranboo a part of it?" Asked slowly the brunette while searching through his messy memory for the right facts. "T-Then what about Tubo and Michael. He can't just leave them and go as a Wanted Criminal?! He doesn't deserve that! You shouldn't have done that! I wasn't worth it!" At this point, Dream was tearing up and Philza had a sad look in his eyes.
For whatever reason, Phil's silence made it all break down and Dream began to cry. Without his mask, having been destroyed by his torturer, his sorrow was clear on his pale scarred face and his messy unkempt brown locks shielded him from the world. Philza, seeing any broken and abandoned child, slowly sat closer and wrapped his arms and wings around Dream while whispering soft kind, reassuring words to Dream. And this continued until Dream slipped off into the arms of Morpheus, unknowing that a certain piglin hybrid was watching from the doorway with a dark expression.
Once tucking Dream back in, Philza turned to his eldest son with a quirked brow. The will he read from the hidden chest had entailed his plans too. do things smoothly but after returning, the first thing Techno had done was go on a warpath towards Pandora Prison, unleashing multiple Withers at him in succession. He personally took Quackity's second life and threatened the entire Server to not hurt Dream. It was clear something had changed between the duo throughout the three months they were trapped together. Phil himself seemed to have a hunch but needed confirmation.
After gently caressing away his new child's tears, he stood up and faced the pink-haired teen. "I understand if you're serious, Techno... But he won't be the same person he used to be..."
Techno blinked twice before grinning weakly. "Should've known you could see through my intentions..." He pushed a few strands of his loose fringe back before eyeing the elder teen on the bed. "I know... and that's why I want to protect him... forever..."
Philza's wings ruffled slightly before leaving the room, allowing his son to watch guard over the injured one while closing his eyes. As the Angel of Death, he could sense any magic regarding Life and Death and the room was filled with it since both the Blood God and the Necromancer of Lives were in that very room. 'This will change things severely...' He thought darkly with a grim. smirk before lowering the brim of his hat and stretching out his wings to lift off, needing to scout the perimeters.
Technoblade eyed the young brunette beside him while his memory of his 1-v-1 against Quackity flashed through his mind. 'He stood across the battlefield, gripping his crossbow with firework bullets tightly and his sharp teeth gnashed against his teeth. His rage was overflowing at the sight of Quackity's taunting back at the prison cell. Sure he aced all dainty, but deep down, he was seething at how scared Dream seemed ay Quackity's advancement and he wanted to end it all now...
"Where's the Lil Dreamy? Oh, wait... He's just a doll now, ain't he? That loser can't do anything now that he knows he has no allies, no friends or underlings! He's nothing !" Cackled the Las Nevadas leader with glee, having his voice only heard by his opponent with the battle commencing around him.
Technoblade switched his crossbow with his signature diamond sword and lowered his centre of gravity while lifting its tip with a snarl. "You take that back, Quackity... Dream is ten times the person you could ever be!"
"Hah?! You want to compare me with that... monster? That lunatic? That shrivelling, disgusting, piece of shit?" Quackity sneered out loud with a look of insanity glimpse through his eyes. "I don't care about Dream, Techno! As long as he's dead, that all that matters! And I don't think he can live much longer with how much energy he used to beg! You should've been there, Technoblade! It was amazing! Blood for the Blood God? That thing can provide just enough before you can burn up his corpse! He's nothing but a rap doll of meat that barely even stand on his own - hell he can't even remember his friend's faces after I've done with him!"
Technoblade saw red at this moment. Quackity's words were just too frustrating to hear. His taunts were getting to him and the voices in his head were screeching BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!' and NO MERCY!. And finally, he ripped out an ender pearl and tossed it sharply at his feet before appearing before him and launching himself into battle. His mind was into the battle, ignoring his surroundings and forgetting where he was walking. Their fight was dragged until Pandora's centre and when he snapped out of it, his hooves held Quackity over the pool of lava... the very thing he destroyed the last evidence of Dreams past life. And he glared with pure hatred into the pale face of his enemy...
"You should've seen this coming, Quackity... Blood... for the Blood God..."
And with that, he let go... and took the 2nd Canon life of Alexis Quackity....
T echnoblade snapped out of his flashback to soft whimpering and his eyes widen insight of Dream struggling in his blankets. He gently held Dreams fragile hand and gasped as his broken fingers tightened around him while he cried in his sleep, "Don't leave me here... Please... Techno...."
And in the empty house.. to nobody's ears... Technoblade gently pressed his lips to Dreams forehead as he replied ever so softly, "I will never... I promise... Dream..."