You stand upon the obsidian grid, preparing your crossbow and standard bow. You would be protecting Dream with your life. Techno had the ground, but you were in charge of the sky. You had made a promise. And you were here to keep it.

L'Manburg. Well. It had gone downhill—a lot, actually—since Tubbo was put in charge. It was no longer the nation that inspired you to do good, to be better than you were. Now it was a nation without a backbone.

And if you were honest, Tubbo wasn't a bad person—quite the opposite, actually. He was simply a teenager shoved into a stressful situation that wasn’t meant for someone his age. You didn't blame him for making mistakes. But that didn't mean you held the same affinity for the nation you once did.

You looked around at your friends, running about frantically, trying to prepare themselves for the battle that's already started. The massacre that was about to take place. You only wished that they had stood a chance. You sighed as you looked out over the view. This would be the last time L'Manburg looked even somewhat respectable.

"(Y/N), are you ready?" You hear your brother's smooth voice and you turn to look at him, nodding.

"Ready as I'll ever be..." you trail off, adjusting your armour and pulling out your bow, looking out for anyone starting to tower up.

"I'm glad you're on my side again. Last time was quite... unexpected. I hope you will not betray me again, especially not after that deal we made.'' You look down. Messing around with the totem of undying in your pocket, rubbing it like a genie's lamp, despite knowing it was not quite that powerful.

"Of course I won't. You're my brother—as much as it pains me to say it sometimes," you tease, trying to lighten the mood. He pulls your helmet down on your head, chuckling, before going back to fiddle with the redstone.

You go back to guarding. Seeing someone start to tower up, you prepared yourself for what you were about to do; get out your bow and snipe them from where they climbed. You really hoped they were okay, whoever it was, and you started patrolling the grid. Looking over L'Manburg. Phil's house, the execution stand, everything. It would all be gone soon. You could only hope the people made it out unscathed. You knew they likely wouldn't, Techno was a powerful man. A good friend if you had his trust, a dangerous enemy if you didn't.

Your attention turned to Tommy. That boy has gone through so much shit. A war, then he was exiled, his big brother went insane, he fights another war, and his land is blown up, his dad killed his brother, his best friend exiled him from the nation they built, he was manipulated by your brother, he finally escapes to Technoblade, they seemed to get along for a bit before Tommy went back to Tubbo—an unwise choice, in your opinion. And here we are, his third war, the 3rd time L'Manburg gets blown up. You almost pity the boy.

Almost.

He's your enemy now. You suppose he always was. You’d deluded yourself for a small while, thinking that those people actually cared about you. You know that they didn't. No one ever cared. Only Dream did. Dream and his friends.

And you betrayed them...

Now it was just you and Dream. You and Dream against the world. You glance at the Withers that were popping into view. There was certainly a lot.

Part of you longs to throw yourself in front of a Wither, to protect your old friends. You still care about them. But you shouldn't. Caring is what gets you hurt. Dream has told you this so many times. Why don't you ever remember?

Yet.

As you look up and spot the familiar yellow sweater, the blue stained, slightly see through fingertips... you long to go see him. You look back. Dream and Techno have this. You yell something about chasing someone to the masked man before speeding off after the ghost.

It didn't take you long before you caught up.

"Oh! Hello, (Y/N)! Would you like some blue?" Wil...Ghostbur says, placing some blue into your hands, the dye staining your skin a shade of lapis and smiling happily.

"Oh! We match now! How lovely!" He sang cheerily, doing a little spin as he floated. He couldn't really fly more than a couple feet off the ground. But still, it warmed your heart. Distracted you from the events going on in the background.

"Hello, Ghostbur... how are you doing?" You ask. Smiling softly. You're smiling. You often forget, but Wilbur cared about you, Ghostbur cares about you. He reminds you that the others care too... it was a shame you hadn't seen him in a while. Maybe if you had, you could have solved matters peacefully instead.

"Oh! I'm doing quite well! I'm actually on my way to see Friend! Would you like to join me?" He asks happily. You freeze. Hearing the first few explosions.

"I... don't think that's a good idea, Wil. There's some bad things happening out there right now. Bad things that... really hurt people." He looks confused.

"There's— there's a war," you clarify. And he blinks. Frowning.

"Is that why you're wearing armour? Who— whose side are you on? L'Manburg, right?" He asks—although who is he kidding, of course you're on L'Manburg’s side! You ditched your brother for it before, you'd do it again! The look on your face didn't reassure him much. But he was sure.

"I... I'm sorry," was all you could muster. Looking at the ghost one last time with sorrow before running back.

There was a nation that needed to be blown up. To be covered thrice over in Soot.

You knew that conflict would keep arising as long as someone wanted power and they didn't have it. And you were prepared to deal with it as it came.

But for now, you had to keep your end of a promise to Wilbur, to keep your deal with Dream.

"Here's to my L'Manburg," you say, looking out as the TNT starts leaving craters. The ashy air coating your lungs, making you cough.

"Wilbur’s unfinished symphony, forever unfinished." You nod. Looking to Dream. Your business with him is not yet finished as the two of you disappear through the smog, the smoke—

—and the Soot.

[Word Count: 1080]