Archive of Our Own ^beta

Winters in Logstedshire are surprisingly cold. Certainly not as bad as the tundras, but the ocean chill makes up for the lack of snow. The small kingdom moves sluggishly about their days, working, eating, sleeping. The winter chill has drained much of the land’s energy.

This doesn’t stop the children from playing in the snow, nor does it end the knights who go out to battle, the farmers who tend to their crops, and the palace from working away tirelessly for the good of their people.

In the center of this palace, sat behind a gorgeously carved dark oak desk, sits the young king. Forced to take over at a young age due to the passing of the former king, and the disappearance of his own heir. The blonde signs off another trade proposal between his and another land, it will benefit them, and hopefully, help to ward off the storm that is the Antarctic Empire.

An empire that changed from a peaceful reign to a sudden and bloody quest for domination, with plans to take the entire world under their sovereignty. No one is quite sure how the appearance of a new king created such a rise out of them, but other, smaller groups, have little choice but to surrender or work together to put up a united front.

Tommy refuses to let his people live under the cruel and unjust tyranny of the Empire, so he makes his peace with other lands and hopes for the best.

Tommy knows better than anyone else how cruel the empire is, after all. He lost a brother to it.

He often wonders how things would be different if his father and brother hadn't left that day, to try and reason with the empire. Perhaps Tommy would still be living foolishly, second in line to a throne neither he nor his brother had any blood relation to, happy and unbothered by the issues which were purposefully kept out of his sight.

He chooses not to dwell on it.

Finally finished reviewing the new proposal, he hands the paper off to an assistant before standing up.

He stretches, feeling the pull of his muscles until he’s satisfied, and heads outside.

The night air is crisp, he wraps a cape around himself as he leaves the palace walls, not wanting to catch a cold due to the weather.

He watches his people as they live their lives, working, playing, and enjoying the peace Tommy so desperately wants to protect. He knows he wasn’t made for ruling, never had been, but since the position was forced onto him, the least he can do is give his all. And he would, without a doubt.

He watches the town, the silent sounds of the kingdom enjoying the later hours of the day.

A tiny spark of light catches his eye.

Tommy doesn’t have a chance to react before the doors behind him slam open, knights stumbling out, people running. The tide of soldiers and panicked civilians leaves his head turning as he stumbles to keep up with what’s happening around him. Someone catches hold of him, pulling him back into the castle walls and the gates slam shut, sealing both their fates and those of the people left outside.

There’s an attack happening.

He can’t process, he struggles to keep up when he is pulled aside and back towards the throne room. His council lines the room, talking war strategies and debating how to deal with the situation at hand. All eyes in the room turn to him when he enters.

The silence suffocates him. All these people are waiting for what he has to say but he has no idea where he should even begin.

He pushes out orders, the usual requirements to defend against a siege, and tells them to do whatever they can for the people.

People stream through the rooms, working and running and panicking. From outside the walls, Tommy can make out the glow of fire.

The walls begin shaking, and Tommy knows very well that they won’t be escaping this.

He sees armor and sigils which don’t belong to his people, hears the screaming and smells the blood.

Tommy was never a ruler, and he was never really a fighter either, as much as he would’ve liked to be. He takes up a sword regardless. Tommy marches through the hall, towards the center of the mayhem. His advisors are trying to stop him, but Tommy shakes them off.

He’ll protect this place, no matter what.

He bursts into the main room, he looks around, only soldiers have been struck down, a blooming surprise spreads in him at the realization. His people are terrified, but very much alive.

There is a beast, in the center of the room. A tall, hooved pig-like creature. Shining netherite armor covers its body, and the thing's eyes glow a deep red when it turns to face him. Tommy doesn’t like how familiar those eyes are.

“Get out.” The king’s monotone voice booms around the room, civilians and soldiers alike flee in terror, leaving the castle gates and going out into the streets and disappearing. Because survival is the only thing that matters.

But Tommy will lose his life regardless, a king can not survive a coup.

He faces the beast with the familiar gaze, sword raised while it simply looks down at him in contemplation, the room is empty aside from them now.

The beast stalks forwards, and Tommy determinedly holds his place.

His sword is thrown to the side with very little care.

Tommy looks up as the king pulls his ax away from where he’d struck the sword, and Tommy prepares himself for a fatal blow, he shuts his eyes tightly, shoulders squaring and fists clenched.

It takes a few moments before he peeks an eye open.

The beast looks down, amused. Ax tucked squarely away in its hold.

“It’s been a long time, Theseus.” The familiar voice carries.

Because he knows this man, after all, when his father and brother vanished, only the late king was sent back.

“Fuck off.” He hisses.

Technoblade, fully piglin now, no longer in the midst of changing into a hybrid, leans down so that they’re about face level. “Hmmm, nah.” The hot breath is huffed out into his face.

Tommy takes a step back, annoyed, but Technoblade grabs his arm before he can pull back fully. His eyes snap up, the amused look on Techno’s face had vanished, replaced by something darker, more impatient.

They stand there for a moment, staring at each other. Then Technblade apparently decides he’s had enough because he stands up straight, still holding onto Tommy, and walks further into the castle.

Tommy yelps. “What the fuck are you doing!?”

Techno just grins, tugging him down the hall, back towards the throne he’d left what felt like just moments ago.

“The others are waiting.” His former brother states simply.

“The others?”

Technoblade doesn’t stop.

He gets pulled into the throne room again, and the scent of blood permeates the air. He looks up to see two figures standing in the center of the room. He knows them. Not like he knows Techno. But these two were around when he was younger, they visited and Tommy knew them.

Seems like Technoblade must’ve known them better since he chose to leave Tommy for them.

A renewed anger filters through him. What right do they have to come after this land? Why did they have to come back here and ruin everything, how much longer are they going to drag out his death? He shudders then. The thought of his corpse ending up like his father's before it was sent back haunts him. But they did it once, why wouldn’t they tear him to pieces like they did the last king?

He meets the emperor’s eyes. Philza is a proud, pretentious bastard. Why the fuck is he smiling at him like he didn’t just kill dozens of people.

Wilbur isn’t any better though. Cocky bitch with a shitty name.

Tommy snarls at them when they look at him.

Wilbur looks elated by it. He smiles from ear to ear and rushes forwards, but Technoblade quickly blocks Tommy off from the other man with a warning growl.

Wilbur backs up, slightly disappointed, so he resorts to leaning to the side to see Tommy, grinning wickedly at him. There’s blood dripping from his cheek.

“Hey Toms.”

That’s what the bastard had called him when he was younger. Tommy tries to kick at him, and Techno helpfully moves so that Tommy can wack him on the knee. Wilbur’s eye twitches, he clenches a hand over his knee, in clear pain. Tommy tries not to let the action make him too happy.

Wilbur glares at Techno, who just shrugs.

Philza, steps toward them and Tommy’s panic resurfaces. Fuck. This guy’s going to kill him. That isn’t great.

But the emperor stops right in front of him. “Hello, Tommy. It’s been a while hasn’t it?”

Tommy tries to make himself look bigger, which isn’t exactly simple with Techno still holding him tightly. Still, he puts on a prideful facade. He puffs out his chest and raises his chin, glaring at the winged man before him.

Philza inspects him, looking slightly confused, he turns to Techno before his eyes switch back to him, he backs away slightly. “Sorry mate, just thought you might’ve manifested by now.” He says simply.

Tommy bristles at the implication. He knows hybrids present young, that he isn’t meant to be one. The disappointment on the emperor's face still stings a bit.

Philza sighs. “Well, we’re just about finished here aren’t we? It’s time for us to head out.” The man adjusts the crown on his head, fixing it to seem proper and heading towards the entrance of the room. Tommy feels his gut twist. Are they going to gut him here? Or will they drag him back in front of an audience to send out a message?

He doesn’t really want to find out.

Not that he has a choice.

He allows himself to be tugged along through the halls, towards the front gate. He ignores Wilbur’s jeers and Philza's quiet reprimands and the way Technoblade’s eyes are fixed on him, observing, judging.

He wonders if his ex-brother is disappointed in him, in his inability to even fight back, in how easy it was for them to overrun the small kingdom.

He keeps his gaze firmly planted on the ground.

Once they pass the castle’s threshold, he looks up.

Fire licks away his home, Techno’s former home. The houses and streets are alight with the blazing heat, burning away the winter cold, There are no people in sight, neither of the Empire or of his own home, no, all of them have left to safer grounds. Somewhere they won’t be turned to ashes by the night’s end.

Tommy refuses to take his eyes away from the flames as he’s pulled down and away from them. Not even as some empire soldiers appear, as a carriage falls into his sight.

None of the Empire’s imperials pause, they simply load themselves onto the vehicle. Philza first, followed by Wilbur. Tommy is shoved in shortly afterward, manhandled so he sits opposite the emperor, diagonally from the crown prince, the first king. Finally, Technoblade enters. Positioning himself next to Tommy.

The piglin wraps his blue cape around Tommy, with a murmur of, “It’s gonna be cold.” he pulls the former king closer to himself.

Former, because what is a king without a country, and Tommy’s will be ashes by the time dawn arises.

He doesn’t pay attention to when they begin to move, too preoccupied with his upcoming fate, whatever it might be. The scenery he recognizes drifts away and he does the same, falling asleep in his captor’s arms.

He wakes for the first time to the sound of footsteps crunching on the ground, his body sways lightly as he’s carried through the frozen land. He peeks his eyes open but the overwhelming blinding white lights makes him shut them tightly again.

He shoves weakly at the person holding onto him. Making out Technoblade’s features through the blur. The piglin doesn’t so much as acknowledge his protest, continuing his walk, although his pace may slightly increase.

Awakeness slams into Tommy, he smacks again, hard this time, but it still feels pathetic. Tommy feels as though he’s been drugged, his every move and breath is sluggish and despite his great mental struggle he can do nothing to push past the muddy block in his thoughts, as though something is blotted out, if he tried focusing, a sharp pain builds up pressing against his skull.

He hisses in pain at another failed attempt.

Techno sighs above him. And shifts his hold a bit, until they can lock eyes. The piglin’s pupils are blown out. “Go back to sleep, Theseus, it won’t help you to be awake for this.”

The words are confusing, and against his better judgment, Tommy pushes against the headache to try and look ahead of them, a soft gasp leaves his mouth at what he spots. He’s never been to the Antarctic Empire, it was never his job, but he’s certainly heard about it.

A towering palace of silver and blues which stands at the center of a bustling city that snows all year round, the people live bundled in warm clothes, with steam and soft lights emitting from stalls and houses in a way that resembles an early winter morning all throughout the day.

If it didn’t feel like his head was actually splitting apart he may have found it charming.

He couldn’t figure out why everything felt so terribly woozy but he didn’t have long awake to think about it either. His last thought consisted of the realization that it should’ve taken them days to travel from his kingdom to their location, a tight dread suffocated him until black spots spread through his vision and returned him to darkness.

This time when he woke up the cold he’d felt the last few times he’d been conscious had been entirely wiped away. In fact, he felt overwhelmingly warm. Like his very soul was melting away, even moving was far too much effort for him at that moment.

His body was in pain as well, aches are soreness making every little movement he took near impossible.

He whimpered, squirming, trying to feel colder despite the heat coming from inside him.

He didn’t register a door opening, nor the footfalls near him until he was being pulled up and into someone. He protested weakly, the other person's body heat making him boil.

He could see, now, despite his condition.

He saw Wilbur, leaning towards him and taking up almost all of his field of vision. Behind him Emperor Philza sat calmly, not even remotely worried by Tommy’s state. With that, he could only assume the person holding him was his brother. An oddly powerful satisfaction coursed through him at that knowledge. Technoblade was with him, his family was with him, and despite having left for so long, he’d come back.

Despite the warmth, he leaned in, closer to his brother, a pleased rumble building in his chest.

Techno matched it with equal fervor, sounds, inhuman yet soothing spilling from the older hybrid.

An annoying coo dragged his attention back to Wilbur, who’d leaned forwards, gently tilting up Tommy’s chin and examining something.

“He’s got his baby teeth!” The man exclaimed happily.

At this declaration, Techno tilted Tommy’s head back, an incredible fondness in his eyes. Tommy didn’t understand, though. He had all his adult teeth in? He was quite certain of that actually.

Maybe these guys were all a part of some weird fever dream he was having. The passage of time had made little sense to him from the moment the first Empire soldiers walked onto his land, so this must just be a nightmare.

A nightmare where Techno actually cares for him, and didn’t abandon him and the kingdom to go play tyrant elsewhere.

Abandonment had sat heavy in his gut for years, keeping him cold and angry, but now, with Technoblade here, he didn’t know what to think anymore. He remembered the night before Techno and their father left, how Techno had promised to come back but never had. But he had hadn’t he? Only years late, many years too late.

He couldn’t quite speak, only grumble and writhe, a new wave of tiredness washing over him.

Techno pulled him closer at that, a smile on his face.

“Go to sleep, Theseus, I’ll be here when you wake up.”

This time, he didn’t doubt it.