Chapter Text
Techno was sure he was on the right path.
Definitely sure.
Pretty sure.
Maybe sure.
Okay, maybe not so sure.
“Easy boy easy,” he said to Carl, the horse letting out a whine at the shadows of the trees. “Bruh relax,”
Then again, he couldn’t blame Carl for being spooked. The tree branches were sharp and tall, stretching up to cover the sky like arms. The ghostly wind howled through the woods and Techno swore he saw red eyes peaking out from the bushes.
Fortunately, they were almost out according to the map.
If he was reading the map right, which he totally was.
“Ah here we are,” he said as they got to a fork in the road. He looked up at the two paths, both continuing to wind into the forest.
The right path looked even darker than the current path, the branches completely devoid of leaves and the path barely used. By contrast, the other path had a bit of light peaking through it and the plants were starting to turn green.
Techno choose the obvious choice according to his map.
He choose the path to the right.
“Bruh relax, it’s a shortcut!” Techno said as Carl tried to back up from the path. “Listen, I’m the one with the map so I decide where we go,”
Techno continued to read the map as Carl trotted down the path. He barely seemed to notice the way getting darker and he definitely didn’t notice Carl shaking with fear.
“Heh?” Techno muttered to himself as he turned the map around in his hands. “I could’ve sworn that was a shortcut,”
Then, he heard howling.
Well, that wasn’t a good sign.
He looked up from the map and saw eyes peeking out from the bushes and growls coming from all sides.
That really wasn’t a good sign.
“Carl go!” Techno yelled as he whipped the reins and Carl galloped off along the path. Techno looked behind him and saw wolves, their teeth sharp and their mouths open and ready to bite.
“Shoot!” Techno yelped as he ducked to avoid a wolf that had tried to jump onto the cart. He gave it a quick kick, sending it tumbling off onto the ground.
Her grimaced as the cart hit a bump in the path, reaching up and making sure his crown was on his head.
“Stay on the path!” He tried to tell Carl but the horse veered off the road in a panic.
Suddenly, they were rushing right through the trees. Techno could barely hold on to the reins and he certainly couldn’t see due to ducking under all the branches.
“Carl! Slow down, slow-”
He was cut off by a huge thump of the cart rolling over a log and that was the final straw that broke the precarious balance Techno had on the cart. With a yell, he was flung off onto the ground.
He let out a hiss as he fell, rolling into the bushes as he heard the wolves run right past him.
“Bruh,”
That was the only reaction he could think of as he slowly got to his feet, wincing from the aching all over his body.
He shivered, wrapping his cloak around him, and started walking through the dark woods.
The best case scenario was finding the path again but he had no clue where it was.
“Carl?” He yelled into the woods.
He continued to slowly limp his way through the woods until he finally saw something different.
The silhouette of a castle stood out in the sky, tall and dark.
At this point, Techno was perfectly willing to break in.
He stumbled out of the woods and to the the large gates of the castle. The gates themselves were metal, the bars turning green from rust.
Was this place abandoned?
It sure sounded like it from how the gates creaked as he opened then.
However, as soon as he was through the gates, they suddenly slammed shut.
“What the?” He said, turning around and letting out a sigh.
“Oh come on,” he muttered as he tried to pull his stuck cloak out from the gate. He tugged hard and winced as he heard the tear of fabric.
Great, Phil was never going to let him live this down.
He walked away from the gates, leaving to torn piece of fabric suck in it.
He looked up at the castle as he approached. It was huge and old, the dark stones covered with cracks and moss. The gargoyle statues made him shudder, large teeth and claws looking ready to tear him apart. There was no light from the windows, not a sign of a candle or chandelier.
If this place was as abandoned as it seemed, it was a great find. Techno would have to come back here to show Phil.
He approached the huge wooden doors, pushing them open. They creaked as he pushed, like they hadn’t been moved in years.
“Hullo?” He said into the castle.
It was dark, way too dark for him to see. He moved along the wall, the stone cold to the touch.
“Uh sorry for breaking in but in my defense you can blame my horse. Trust me, I don’t wanna be here either,”
Well, now the silence was just getting awkward.
“Will c’mon it’s the first person we’ve seen in ages!”
“You can say hi as long as you’re willing to deal with The
Master,”
“Will! C’mon she’s such a-”
“Oh are you scared?”
“Pft no! No way am I scared!”
Techno could hear voices coming from around the corner but he couldn’t see them. He quickly walked forward and peeked his head around it.
“Heh?”
There wasn’t anyone here. Just a blazing fire and a comfy chair beside it.
“Not suspicious at all,” he said but the fire did feel nice against his cold skin. He slowly walked forward, finally able to see with some light.
It surprisingly looked far better on the inside than on the outside. While there was dust and the carpet did look a bit ragged, the floor and small table beside the chair was still clean. Paintings of fruit bowls and flowers hung on the wall and fancy vases were on the fireplace stand.
Where were all the servants who had to clean this place?
Techno walked to the chair but he did notice a book laying on the small table beside it.
He picked it up, looking curiously at the cover.
“The biography of Wilbur Soot: The Best and Most Handsome Musician to ever live,” Techno scoffed as he read the title out loud. “Seems a bit full of himself,”
The cover of the leather book showed a man in a golden frame. He was in a fancy room, sitting in a chair with a guitar in his hands. A table was beside it, with a bowl of fruit on it. Bookshelves stood beside him but some of the books were sprawled on the ground, oddly enough.
It looked perfectly pretentious but Techno supposed he could give it a read. A very good cover though and very realistic.
Kinda creepily realistic as Techno looked at it.
He shrugged and sat down in the chair.
“YOU MOTHERFUCKER!”
He shot up from the chair, looking around for the source of the yelling. He held the book out, ready to throw it.
“Who was that?”
“Down here dumbass!”
He looked down at the chair and there was a stuffed raccoon. It was blonde with button eyes and a red bandanna around its neck.
Of course, the main thing was that the stuffed toy was very much moving.
“You fucking sat on me!” The toy said, waving its paw angrily at him. “Bloody hell, I’m gonna get a fucking tear again!”
“You-you can talk?”
“Yes I can fucking talk!”
Techno threw the book at him.
The raccoon let out a frightened chitter, dodging it and hopping onto the table.
“Listen man chill!” The racoon said, holding up its paws. “How about we just talk this out? I’m Tommy and that’s Wilbur,”
“You’re pointing at the book,”
“Yes, well he can talk. Duh,”
Tommy sat the book up and the man on the cover had moved from sitting to standing up with crossed arms and an annoyed glare.
“I don’t appreciate being thrown,”
Techno just stared at them, feeling his face go pale as he walked over to the chair.
“Whoa big man!” Tommy yelped as him and Wilbur hopped off the chair.
Techno sat down, running his hand across his face.
“You alright man?” Wilbur said, looking up at him with concern.
“No because I’ve clearly died and gone to purgatory,”
“What? No we’re not-well me and Wilbur aren’t dead. I don’t know about you though,”
“He’s clearly not dead either!” Wilbur said with a sigh. “Alright, Quackity,Tubbo! Get this man some tea!”
Techno looked up to see a tea cart rolling on it’s own towards them, carrying a light green honeypot, a tea pot shaped like a duck with roses painted on it and a tea cup shaped like a duckling.
“And here I thought you were kidding about a human,” the honeypot said as the tea pot poured some tea for Techno.
“Tubbo, my man, would I ever lie to you?”
“What about that time you said a bear was in the castle?“
“…Other than that time!”
Tubbo and Tommy continued to playfully bicker while Techno sipped the tea.
“Oh! Do you like my bones good sir?”
Techno’s eyes went wide as he spit out the tea.
“Tubbo, stop freaking him out,” Quackity said with a sigh. “Honestly, you’re worse than Wilbur,”
“But how do we know the honey inside me isn’t my bones?”
“Because you didn’t turn into honey! You turned into the pot!”
“Whoa whoa wait,” Techno said, holding up his hand. “Turned into? Were you all human?”
The four of them went silent at that, glancing nervously at each other.
“Well, you see-”
Quackity smacked a wing around Tommy’s mouth.
“Listen, how do we even know we can trust this guy?”
“Uh guys?” Tubbo said with a nervous clink of his lid.
“You’re so cynical Quackity,” Wilbur said with a scoff. “This could be our only shot,”
“Guys seriously I think we should-”
“Says the man who can’t actually play the guitar,”
“Well, at least I didn’t break up with a clock and a candlestick-”
“You pompous-”
Suddenly, the fire went out.
Techno saw a huge shadow, almost covering his entire body.
Then, he heard a loud, terrifying roar.
“WHO DARES ENTER MY CASTLE?”
Techno gulped as he got up to see a beast.
A huge wolf beast standing on her hind legs, taller and larger than the wolves outside in the woods. Her teeth were sharp and large and her brown eyes were the only human thing about her. Her black fur blending into the dark, wild and untamed.
With a snarl she leaped forward on all fours, getting right up in his face.
“Why are you trespassing in my castle?”
Techno winced backing up from the beast.
“No I swear I got lost and I just needed a place to stay. Look one night and I’ll be out of your hair-I mean fur,”
“A likely story!” She said as she stalked forwards. “You’re just here to stare! To mock me!”
“No I wasn’t here to harm you but,” he said, slowly feeling around the mantle. “That was before you started yelling at me,”
He quickly grabbed a vase and swung it at her, running away towards the entrance.
He had to get out of here, away from the talking objecys and that terrifying beast.
With shocking speed, he heard her leap over him and slam down in front of the front doors.
“HOW DARE YOU!” She yelled, her sharp claws slashing him and causing him to fall on the ground. “I AM THE MASTER OF THIS PALACE! YOU WILL NOT DISRESPECT ME IN MY OWN HOME!”
She walked up and grabbed him by the cape, dragging him along the floor. He kicked on the floor, trying to grab anything to stop her.
“Wait, where are you taking me?”
“To the place where all intruders should stay,”
“In a less cryptic way maybe?”
“To the dungeons is where you’ll stay!”
+
“And done!”
Phil proudly looked down at the homemade bread, inhaling the delicious scent of it.
“Yup, looking good!” He said as got out a knife, flour staining the handle as he cut a slice.
It was kinda a tradition at this point. Any time one of them left to go to a tournament, the other would make them something.
Most of the time it was Techno going off alone, so Phil had gotten very good at making bread.
He popped open the lid of the blueberry jam jar, scooping out some with his knife and smoothly spreading it on his bread.
He took a bite and let out a sigh of contentment.
Yup, he’d nailed this one.
Then, he heard the familiar tapping on the glass window.
“Alright alright I’m coming!” He said, grabbing another slice and then opening up the window.
Two crows flew right in and he threw the bread on the ground, watching them as they peaked at it.
“You greedy little shits,” he said as they devoured the bread and he took more bites of his own slice. “You only get one, remember?”
The crows quickly finished it off, flying up to him with caws of delight.
“See you guys next time?” He said as he gave them both pats on the head. The crows cawed again and flew right out the window.
He poked his head out and watched them fly off, away from the small village to parts unknown.
He reached a hand out to them.
What must it be like to be a crow? To fly wherever your heart desired, seeing everything you could from the most amazing view?
With a sigh, he leaned his head on the window.
The bread had been a good distraction but he was already feeling lonely.
He could invite Eret over but he’d already come over for breakfast.
Wouldn’t it be weird to just invite him right back?
He walked outside, book in hand. Hopefully Dream wouldn’t come over and he could read in peace.
However, when he walked outside he saw Carl running towards the house.
“Mate, you’re back early! Dream is never going to let you hear the end of-”
Then, his voice trailed off and his face went pale as he dropped his book in shock.
Techno wasn’t there.
Carl galloped up to him, leaves stuck in his mane and panting so hard Phil worried the poor thing would pass out.
“Carl, where’s-where’s Techno?” He frantically checked the inside of the cart, hoping Techno has just taken a nap in it.
His worry only grew when he saw no sign of Techno anywhere.
Phil knew what he had to do. He didn’t even think twice about it.
He unhooked Carl from the cart and hopped into his saddle.
“Go! Take me to him!” He said as he straightened his hat.
Carl immediately set off down the path, leaving a trial of dust behind him.
Phil really hoped he wasn’t too late to save Techno from whatever trouble he had gotten into.
If he didn’t, well he didn’t even want to think about it.
All he could do was get there first.
+
The ride there was long, going down a winding path. The wind was howling the whole way, chilling Phil to the
bone.
It felt like every second was precious, like a clock was ticking down on Techno’s life.
Fortunately, Phil had always been pretty good at beating the clock.
“Bloody hell,” he muttered as Carl approached a large metal gate, behind it a dark castle. “How the fuck did Techno stumble across this?”
He walked over to the gates, noticing a glint of something red hanging off it.
“Mate, what have you gotten yourself into?” He said as he took the scarp of fabric out of the gate with a frown. He stuck it in his pocket and made his way into the castle.
It was fortunate he’d brought a lantern, seeing as the castle was dark as night inside.
“Techno?” He yelled into the castle, his voice echoing through it.
He slowly walked through the castle, the lantern light making long shadows on the wall.
“Over here!”
He saw a flash of yellow from a doorway and he ran over, looking inside to see spiraling steps that led deep down.
He looked around in confusion, not seeing anyone around.
“Mate?” He yelled again as he went down the steps.
He got down the steps to a hall of cells, each one empty.
He must be in the dungeons.
“…Phil?”
He let out a gasp of relief as he followed where Techno had spoken.
“Techno! Oh bloody hell what happened?”
There he was, stuck in a cell. A cloth was wrapped around his arm and he shivered in there, his cloak wrapped around him. He let out a cough, wincing and holding his arm.
“Phil? What are you doing here?”
“Well, a certain horse let me know you can’t read a friggin map,”
He expected Techno to protest the teasing as he messed with the lock on the cell, trying to see if he could break Techno out.
Instead, Techno looked outright panicked.
“Phil, you’ve gotta get out of here,”
“What? And leave you here?”
“Phil, you don’t get it. I’ll get myself out,”
“Oh yeah sure your coughing is very sneaky,”
“Phil, I’m being serious here. You’ve got to go before she comes back,”
“Who’s she?”
Then, he felt goosebumps on his arm as he saw a shadow on him.
He slowly turned around to see her, covered in shadow but clearly massive and angry.
“Were you trying to break him out?” She said, her massive, sharp teeth bared at him. Phil let out a yelp, backing up against the cell door.
“Yes, please I’m sorry for breaking in but he’s hurt! He needs to go home!”
“He should’ve considered that before he broke into my home!”
“Well how long is he going to stay here?”
“For the rest of his days!”
“No!” Phil said as Techno looked horrified at it. “You-you monster!”
The Beast turned to him with a growl, looking ready to pounce.
Phil racked his brain, trying desperately to think of a way out of this.
Then, he had an idea. A really bad idea but it was the only one he had.
“Let me take his place,”
They both stared at him in shock.
“You’ll-you’ll take his place?” The Beast said, sounding so utterly confused at it.
“No, he’s-he’s not,” Techno said, grabbing onto Phil’s wrist. “I’m perfectly fine, the very epitome of health,”
Techno then proceeded to cough some more.
“You understand what this entails right?” The Beast said, both of them ignoring Techno’s protests. “You’ll never get to go home,”
“…Yes, I understand,”
“…Fine,”
She slammed open the cell door and shoved Phil in. Then, she grabbed Techno by the cloak and dragged him away.
“Let me go!” Techno yelled. “Let me-Phil!”
Phil barely realized the gravity of what he’d done until Techno was gone.
He was alone now, forever trapped with that monster.
He didn’t even get to say goodbye.
He was never going to see Techno again.
All he could do was sink to the ground and cling onto the scrap of fabric, trying not to let tears spill out.
+
Techno was still stubbornly fighting as he was dragged outside.
The Beast tossed him into a carriage, despite it not having a driver or horses.
“Take him back to his village,”
Techno stuck his head out the window.
“I’ll come back!” He yelled at her as the carriage drove away. “You tell Phil I’ll come back and I’ll make sure you don’t live to see another day!”
The Beast watched the carriage go and walked back into the castle. Her ears twitched as she heard the patter of cloth paws.
“I know you’re there Tommy. It’s rude to spy,”
“Well, I was expecting a thank you after all. Maybe a promotion, I dunno,”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because I led that man to the dungeon,” he said as he leaped onto her shoulder and held on to her fur as she walked back to the dungeon. “Now all we need is that mushy stuff, Wil can do it,”
The Beast slowly picked him by his scarf and held him in front of her face, her teeth bared in a growl.
“YOU DID WHAT?”
With a snarl, she dropped him on the ground and stalked off in a huff.
“Master, wait hold on!” She heard Tommy yell as he jumped from the candleholders on the walls. “Maybe he could break it! Is he your type or not?”
“The problem isn’t him!” She said, causing Tommy to lean back. “He is handsome! But look at me!”
She looked in a cracked mirror, at her black fur and brown eyes. Her terrifyingly tall figure and all the hideously unhuman parts.
“How could anyone love me if I look like this?”
With a roar, she ran off on all fours and left a speechless Tommy behind.
“I told you she’d be pissed,” Tubbo said as he came out of a door.
“Oh shut up Big T,”
Tommy hopped down, leaning on Tubbo with a sigh.
“It’s just-it’d be nice to see your face again,”
“Well, that’s awfully nice of you,”
“Only so I can actually see some variety!” Tommy said, trying and failing to cover up the soft moment. “I’ve only seen Wilbur’s face for years! Years Tubbo!”
“Well, even if he doesn’t break the curse at least things will be more exciting,”
With that, Tubbo leaned over and spilled some honey right on Tommy’s head.
“You fucking bitch!” Tommy yelled as Tubbo’s lid clinked with his laughter. “This is never going to come out! If I get eaten alive by wolves it’s your fault!”
As the two continued to bicker, they both tried to ignore one crucial thing. The thing all the servants and The Beast herself knew very well.
The rose had almost lost all its petals. Phil was their last hope.
If they didn’t fall in love, then the curse would never break.
No one knew exactly what would happen if that last petal fell and no one wanted to find out.