Tommy's light snores echoed through the dark hallway as I crossed it from my room into his. The house sat still and quiet after my fight with Dream.

I pushed open his spruce door lightly, tiptoeing into the room. A warm smile crept onto my face despite my recent emotions at the sight of Ghost and Tommy cuddled up together.

Tommy's red bed was also pushed up against his window, and he was facing away from it with Ghost pressed against his chest. The teen's arm was draped over the wolf with his wings tucked behind his back under the covers.

When I looked closer, I could see something softly glowing against Tommy's chest. I crept closer, and gently picked it up to get a better look.

It was a compass that looked exactly like mine for Techno, except a small tag hung off of it. The compass was connected to a chain that Tommy wore around his neck.

The tag was paper and had Ghostbur's quick scrawl on it,

Your Tubbo.

Tears almost slipped free for the millionth time that night at the sight of the tag's target. The needle was pointed straight towards L'manberg, where Tubbo was sleeping.

I gently put the compass back down and nudged Tommy's shoulders. He muttered some nonsense and just sleepily batted my hand away.

"Tommy, c'mon. I need to show you something," I whispered, already standing.

Ghost lifted his head and happily got up for me to pet him. Tommy was a little slower than the wolf, grumbling about being woken up. He lazily pulled the sheets off and wrapped Wilbur's coat around himself.

"I need you to look at the ground until I say, okay?" I said as we walked down the stairs, towards the front door.

He nodded, still half-asleep. When we stepped outside into the thick snow, he obeyed and kept his eyes on the ground as we trudged towards the mountain opposite of the one we sat on earlier.

We reached the top, the clouds just a little above our heads. This mountain was taller than the other, which provided a great view of what I wanted to show the teen.

"Why are we up here, woman?" Tommy asked grumpily as I motioned for him to stand in a certain spot.

"Just a minute," I said, and moved next to him. "Okay, now look at the sky."

He raised his eyes from the ground and his grumpy demeanor completely vanished. An awestruck look replaced it, his eyes widening with surprise and amazement.

I smiled and raised my own head to see the surprise.

The midnight sky was alive with brilliant streaks of color from the Northern Lights. Teal, purple, and blue mixed together to paint over the stars and galaxies beyond. The shafts of light twirled and danced like they were living.

We were high enough to almost reach out to them and run our hands through their soft colors.

"Holy shit," Tommy muttered, astonished. I heard some shuffling and I looked over to see him sitting on the ground, staring at the sky.

Purple and green reflected in his blue eyes as he stared at the sight before us. Ghost's white fur was a soft blue and teal from where he laid next to Tommy.

I sat next to the two, Ghost curling up in my lap. He watched the sky as well, just as breathless as us.

"It's really a sight isn't it?" I hummed, looking at the lights.

"I've never seen anything like this," Tommy said. He was now wide awake after seeing the lights.

"I haven't either. It's beautiful."

We fell into silence for a few minutes, just enjoying the scenery. This may be a regular thing to happen in the North, but neither Tommy nor I had seen anything like this. Neomi was probably in control of these lights with her powers.

"Tommy, we need to be careful when Techno isn't with us," I said, tearing my eyes away from the sky and breaking the silence.

He peered at me, curious. "Why?"

I took a deep breath and averted my eyes. "He's the one who almost killed me." Tommy opened his mouth to say something but I raised a hand for him to wait. "And I know he's dead set on finding us."

"Wait, wait. Dream, the guy who loves you, tried to kill you?" Disbelief was clear in his voice. I nodded, and he looked at the ground. "That bastard."

The incident replayed itself in my mind, and I thought about my recent encounter with Dream.

He had that same look in his eyes that he had the moment he swung the sword at me. Something evil was lurking in him, and he either welcomed it with open arms or was trying to battle it.

"Tommy, do you want to talk about what happened in Logstedshire?" I asked gently.

Tommy hesitated and I noticed his wings ruffle slightly, a nervous habit that he was developing. He pulled the green bandana off his wrist and held it in his hands.

I knew that Tommy had a hard time opening up about what had happened, he always had.

But Tommy turned to me and opened up.

"He was there to watch me every week," Tommy's voice cracked and became unsure. "I thought he- he was my friend. But then he would take all my items and drop them in a hole to be blown up."

That explained the mess I had seen when I was there with Puffy. Broken bits of swords and armor had been mixed with dirt.

"Dream told me that you didn't want to be my friend anymore. That him and I could be best friends, that we would live together forever."

I turned so I could face the teen. There was a confused look on his face, combined with pain. "You know I tried to get to you right?"

He nodded, still not meeting my eyes. "Why did you not come to my beach party?"

"What?"

He turned back to me with an angry look on his face. "I had a beach party and nobody came! Only Dream came and he was late! Ghostbur promised to send out the invitations."

Oh, right. The invitations.

"Tommy, I never got an invitation. Dream took the invitations from Ghostbur and never handed them out to anyone."

His blue eyes lowered back to the snow, the anger melting away with realization. The teen was too innocent and young to have to go through this.

When he didn't say anything else, I continued, "No one got the invitations. And when we tried to visit, Dream would stop us. When I tried, I almost died, multiple times."

"Is that why Tubbo didn't visit me?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah, and Dream's controlling him, as he controlled you." I looked back up at the sky with a hard expression. "Dream's trying to get into everyone's head for power."

I placed a hand on Tommy's arm. "You can't let him in Tommy. Don't let the threads wrap around you."

"You saw the threads too?"

"He tried to pull me into the new prison with them."

He nodded, not saying anything else. I could tell we were reaching the limit of what he wanted to say about exile.

In the silence, my thoughts began to swirl. They returned back to the parallel between the look in Dream's eye in the moments of fury and malice.

The cloudy look in his eyes was familiar. I had seen it somewhere else, from before he had become who he is now.

That's when I realized why I recognized it.

I suddenly grasped Tommy's arm, drawing his attention. "Tommy, we need to go and see someone. I have an important question."

"Who is it?"

"You'll understand when we get there. It's hard to explain." I stood, reaching out a hand to help him up. "But, I need you to do something to get us there."

He took my hand and stood, looking down at me with his height. Ghost rose from his spot, leaving indents in the snow.

"What is it?"

I smiled and looked up at the bright lights. "I need you to fly us up there."

He looked up at the sky, uncertain. "Y/n, I don't know if I can-"

"You can. Trust me. It's not far," I said, pointing at the lights. "You just need to get us high enough to touch the lights."

For a second longer, he looked up at the stretch he would have to fly. It wasn't that far, considering how tall the mountain was and I wasn't that heavy, but Tommy had never flown while carrying someone.

I placed my hand on his shoulder, reassuringly. "If we start to fall, my wind will catch us. But you can do this Tommy."

In response, he nodded and stretched out his wings in a determined way. I sent Ghost back to the house and motioned for Tommy to wrap his arms under my own.

He did so, and tilted his head to the sky. His wings began to flap back and forth, the cold air whooshing around the two of us.

To help his takeoff, I called wind and ran it under his wings. Soon, our toes lifted off the ground and we were nearing the bright lights.

Tommy let out a victorious whoop, his face alive with color and a bright smile. This was the happiest I had seen him since he escaped exile.

So I screamed with him, watching as the world got smaller below us. My wind may be able to carry me like wings, but nothing would ever be as amazing as the feeling of wings beating behind you, raising you higher.

We reached the lights and our world exploded in greens, purples, and blues. The lights swirled with sparkles and soft whisps.

I grasped at the light, and felt the tug of another realm open up before us. There was a person there, waiting for us.

I looked over my shoulder at Tommy. "Let us fall."

"What?!"

"Trust me, we won't get hurt."

He stared at me in disbelief for a moment and then reluctantly let his wings stop their beating.

We began to fall, Tommy's screams right in my ear. But, as we fell, the world began to slow and change.

The bright colors wrapped around us and pulled us into another world. The lights became so bright that the two of us had to close our eyes.

Thump!

The two of us landed softly, in a heap with tall grass surrounding us. I opened my eyes to see the Northern lights had been replaced with the permanent colors of a sunset in pastel orange and yellow.

I pushed myself into a sitting position next to Tommy, feeling the familiar breeze brush my face. My hair was once again unbound like my first trip here, and my body felt energized and calm in my navy hoodie.

"Where the hell are we?" Tommy said, sitting up. His face looked healthy, with no bags under his eyes or the pale color of his cheeks.

I smiled and looked towards the cliff where I had sat with Wilbur. "We are in a place between death and life. It's where we gods and goddesses can go."

"Hold on, you're a goddess?" He asked flatly.

I waved a hand dismissively and stood, the tall grass stopping at my waist. "I'll tell you about it later. For now, we have another goddess to meet."

He stood as well but froze. "That's why we're here?" His voice was shrill with surprise.

I just laughed, walking towards the cliff edge and the person who stood watching the ever-lasting sunset. "C'mon, she's been waiting to meet you."

We walked through the thick grass and lilac plants, careful not to step on the blooming flowers. The dark oak forest below the cliff came into view, the canopy's bright green colors shining in the light.

The woman faced away from us, her golden gown of light flowing gently in the wind. Her honey-colored hair was unbound as usual and her hands were clasped in front of her tall form.

I could feel the nerves and curiosity pouring out of Tommy as we neared her. His wings rifled and a few feathers fell to the dark soil.

When we stopped just behind her, she turned with a dazzling smile on her face. Her welcoming demeanor washed over us, instantly soothing Tommy's nerves.

"Hello, y/n," Noemi said, pulling me into a warm hug. "I'm sorry I haven't been able to see you. We've been very busy with some ... incidents."

She pulled back from me, and turned to Tommy. He stared at her wide-eyed, his mouth hung open in disbelief. "And I've been very excited to meet you, Tommy. I've heard many great things about you from Wilbur."

He snapped out of his disbelief at the sound of his brother's name. "You know Wilbur?"

"Yes, I've played many card games with him in the afterlife. He speaks very highly of you." She laughed warmly. "I'm Noemi, the Goddess of Light."

Even if he didn't show it, what Noemi said warmed Tommy's heart.

Noemi turned back to me, a solemn look appearing on her delicate face. "I apologize for not intervening in the Nether a week ago. I tried, but he somehow stopped me from getting there."

"It's alright, Noemi. I actually came here to talk to you about something involving Dream. And Tommy," I gestured to the teen. "Has experienced Dream's powers as well, so I thought I should bring him."

Tommy stepped closer to the two of us, stopping the conversation. "Woah, woah, pause. So you're both goddesses, and I'm somehow here with you?" We nodded and he continued, "Does that mean you're both more powerful than Dream?"

"Well, we don't really know," I said.

"Why not?"

"Dream is the God of Chaos, so he has some powers. But he's a lower ranking god."

Tommy motioned with his hand for me to elaborate. "Meaning, he's powerful but he has less magic than us. But we don't exactly know what his powers are, other than the invisible threads and a shadow form."

"So why are we here then?" Tommy said, looking around at the peaceful scenery.

I turned back to Noemi, seriousness falling around us. "I noticed something today, Noemi. The look I saw in Dream's eye is the same as when he was possessed by the darkness during the duel against Tommy."

I forced the question to come out of my mouth, even if I didn't want to hear the answer.

"Does that mean the dark gods are back and are controlling Dream?"

She hesitated, her lips pulling into a thin line. "You see, that's the incident we were dealing with. The dark gods aren't back, but that doesn't mean they can't develop again."

Anxiety spiked in the air, and my heart began to thunder in my ears. The magic in this world tried to calm my pulse and usher the fear away.

"You stopped the dark gods from rising again as a whole. You got rid of every dark magic that was known. But you didn't know about the darkness that was developing in Dream."

"What?" Tommy and I said in unison.

"When he made the deal with us, there was a chance that he could fall to himself and his hunger for power. The darkness that greed makes is different from the magic produced by dark gods," She sighed, running a hand over her flowing gown.

"So that's the price? Dream paid the price and became possessed by darkness made by greed?" My words sounded strained.

She nodded, a concerned look on her face. "He let the power and greed fully submerge his mind in that type of darkness."

"He can develop into a dark god, and he's already on that road."

~~~~

ngl kinda didn't like this chapter, but it's fine lol

anyway if you celebrate easter, happy Easter! If you don't celebrate it, I hope you have a good day too!

stay hydrated and safe homies! make sure to eat something and take your medicine if you have any :)