Chapter Text
He watched it happen.
The moment the steel was thrusted forward was when Wilbur’s head whipped around, right at the right time to see the blade sink into an unguarded chest, running through with a slight scraping sound as it grazed across a rib. The body fell backward with a thud, a gasp accompanying the sound the blade made as it hit the dirt.
Wilbur screamed, his heart drumming and his head skipping layers and layers of knowledge that were embedded in his head to keep him alive. He reached desperately forward, not even processing the distance that lay between him and the fallen soldier, just trying to get his momentum running, trying to move forward.
He didn’t get there. Arms grabbed his side and pulled him back, stubbornly maintaining the weight that he tried to use to move forward, keeping his heels digging into the dirt. He couldn’t even look back to try and figure out who was holding him back, his vision was zoned on one thing and one thing alone.
The bleeding form of his little brother.
“Wilbur-” the person behind him was trying to say, “Don’t- Phil will handle this- Wilbur-”
Wilbur gasped, suddenly reminded that he needed to take in air, all of it having left him. He still clawed forward, fighting against his restraining force. He had to get to Tommy, he had to see Tommy. He had to make sure it was going to be alright.
If Tommy wasn’t going to be alright, Wilbur would have no chance of ever being so again.
A pair of feet landed on the grass with a faint squish, the field moist with the blood of the fallen around them. Phil was already dropping his sword to the side, running up to Tommy’s form with desperation and frantic concern.
“Let- let me go-” Wilbur struggled against the hands that held him back. They didn’t relent, only tugging him closer against a broad chest, his arms pinned tighter to his sides. He didn’t like the feeling of being restrained.
“Stay here, Wil,” Techno almost commanded, his grip squeezing as if to assure him. Wilbur could only suck in the air more desperately. “Stay here.”
“But-” Wilbur bit out, watching as Tommy squirmed painfully under Phil’s touch as the man studied the gushing wound. Oh , gods , it was practically flowing out of him, a river of crimson with none of a river’s power or beauty. “He’s-”
“I know,” Techno’s voice gripped him stronger than his arms did. “Let Phil handle it.”
“That’s my brother ,” Wilbur pulled forward, Techno leaning back to keep him in place.
Phil was moving him now, Tommy’s pale limp form. His eyelids were fluttering, his chest heaving as struggled to find oxygen in the air. Phil was holding him in a sitting position, Tommy’s head held in his hands.
“Tommy!” Wilbur shouted against the relentless wind, it didn’t let his voice travel any further than his own ears.
Tommy’s eyes were open again, tears were leaking out of the shockingly blue irises. Normally his face would be such a deep shade of red, embarrassed for even letting others assume he was hurt. Now, his skin was pasty, almost gray as Phil talked to him in low whispers, speech that couldn’t be heard from the distance. Wilbur lurched forward again, trying to get to his side, trying to help.
It just caused them both to go down, knees sinking into the dirt. Techno’s arms came more tightly around him, something like a hug, but more forceful. Wilbur bent over on his knees as Techno’s arms kept him there, tears streaming down his own face in time with Tommy’s.
He watched Phil brush against Tommy’s cheek, a painful smile tugging at his lips as he said something Wilbur could only guess at.
Tommy smiled bitterly back, fingers losing slack from where they had been gripping Phil’s arm.
“Look away, Wil,” Techno demanded this time, lacing his words with urgency. “Close your eyes.”
“No!” Wilbur clawed at the ground. Dirt found a home under his fingernails. “
Tommy
!”
“
Wilbur
,” Techno pressed the words until they were eating at Wilbur’s soul. “Look away. You don’t want to see this.”
“That’s my brother .” Wilbur let out a sob, his eyes watering far too much for his vision to be useful. He kept trying to blink it away, just for it to refill.
“Trust me on this, Wil.” He could feel Techno’s chin digging into his shoulder. “You don’t want this image replaying in your head.”
“Let me see him,” Wilbur clawed at his arms, not caring if they bled. “ Please , please .”
His eyes cleared enough so he could see Phil press his forehead to Tommy’s. The hand that Tommy had been gripping dropped into slack fingers next to him. What had been sporadic breaths fell into barely a twitch, and then… nothing.
The boy’s eyes were still open.
Wilbur let out his soul in a scream, dropping limp into Techno’s arms. He heaved without letting his eyes wander to any place other than Tommy.
Phil’s face was dripping. He only managed to lift a hand up to Tommy’s eyes and close them.
Wilbur was sobbing, not getting any air in between them. His vision dropped away into blackness, but the grip on his sides was still there. Techno held him up, even if they were practically already laying on the battlefield’s patchy lawn.
Time passed in minuscule measurements. Nothing was right about the world at that moment. Wilbur’s chest felt strangely hot, but there was a pressure that didn’t relent right over where his heart was. Sounds buzzed together until there was nothing to discern out of them.
He was rocking side to side the next time he phased into reality, knowing it wouldn’t last for very long until he was out again. He watched Phil whisper some things against Tommy’s forehead before laying him down, bringing his arms to rest over his chest, his hands folded around a wither rose.
That must have been why Phil carried them with him all the time.
Phil looked up behind him at the gray sky, fogged over with ash from the distant fires of the more prominent battle. His wings spread around him, and they made Tommy’s hair bounce when he lifted up into the sky.
He flew straight up, as if he was approaching the sun, his feathers beating in time with Wilbur’s sporadic heartbeat. He swallowed down the coppery taste in his mouth as Phil reached heights that were dangerous enough that the air had to be getting thinner. That was when he stopped and spread his wings to either side, and the world erupted.
Phil emanated an aura that could only be described as a darkened glow. Everything in his vicinity went dark, and the wind picked up faster than it had been before. Wilbur felt a sensation rush over top of him and Techno. They shivered at the same time.
People began to drop. There were no screams or yells. It was silent as they tumbled over into the grass, dead where they stood as the energy washed over them, only visible in the absence of light that rolled over the hills. Wilbur saw the distant army tumble to the ground together, a whole wave of people gone, knees buried in the grass.
Wilbur felt nothing.
He was on the ground when his mind decided to take in his surroundings again, blinking up at the darkened sky. His hand pulsed from where circulation had been cut off, fingers still gripping his skin with calluses that could only belong to Techno.
Wilbur glanced to the side, knowing exactly which way to look to find his little brother, lying too still, too stiff in the grass. Phil was standing at his feet, eyes closed. A different figure was crouched at his side.
“Mum?” Wilbur just barely croaked out, alerting Techno to his awareness. Wilbur ignored him, trying to reach out to his mother as she heard him through the winds.
She carefully looked back down, pursing her lips until they went white.
Her fingers carefully unwrapped the veil from around her hair and face. The fabric turned opaque in her hands, seeming to lengthen. She draped it across Tommy’s form, saying something to Phil as the man’s eyes opened again. They were red, bloodshot almost. Wilbur was sure he was no better.
His mother smiled back at him in sympathy, and then she pulled quickly at the veil.
Black feathers clouded his vision, crows erupting from the spot Tommy rested.
His body was gone. So was his mum.
Phil raised his shoulders up defensively as he walked over, crouching in front of Wilbur with no emotion left on his face, an icy coat left on top of a small lake during winter.
“We’ll see him again,” Phil croaked, meeting his and Techno’s eyes. “I wish I could tell you when.”
Wilbur laid his head back down in the dirt and craved to go with him.