George pov

George's breathing was heavy as he ran, regret filling him.

He regretted running with Quackity. He regretted leaving her to fight by herself.

This is all my fault, he thought, if I hadn't let Quackity agree to the deal, this wouldn't have happened.

He reached the house, stumbling in through the front door. Dream and Sapnap were lounging in the living space, sharpening their axes. Dream looked up at him, pausing at the strangled look on George's face.

"What happened?" Dream stood, walking over to George, who was attempting to catch his breath.

George ignored his question, responding with his own, "Where were you guys?"

"We were watching the election from afar and left when we heard Wilbur won. We got bored." Dream shrugged, concern taking over his face, "Now answer me, what's wrong?"

"Schlatt won, Quackity made a deal to give away his votes." George stood straighter, glancing between the two, "Schlatt exiled Wilbur and Tommy."

Sapnap walked over to them, "So? Who cares about them anyway."

Dream suddenly went still when he remembered something. Or someone.

"Where's y/n?"

George looked away, shame filling him.

Dream grabbed onto George's arms, shaking him lightly, "George answer me."

"She was fighting Schlatt when I ran." He said quietly, looking up at his friends.

Suddenly, the ground shook violently. The three grabbed onto each other, trying to stay upright.

When it stopped shaking, the three exchanged a glance and ran out the door.

-

Dream's pov

They reached the podium, watching from atop the building next to it.

The area was in chaos.

People were shuffling around, glancing warily at the soldiers who stood empty-faced along the walls. They showed no emotion, no human within. They were purely formed from Schlatt's powers.

And then at the end of the chairs, a large black circle sat. It was void of any color, darker than a cloudy night sky. It was as if all the light was sucked out of the walls.

Suddenly, there was a piercing shriek. Dream's bones shook from the sound of it. He knew it was her, every fiber in his being sensed it.

He went to stand, but George and Sapnap held him down. He struggled against them, trying to reach her. He needed to get to her, she was hurting. George shook him, pointing towards the circle.

The circle dissolved, revealing two figures, standing side by side. One of them was Jschlatt, standing tall, cradling a bleeding arm. He had a cigarette poking out of his menacing smile.

The other figure was her... except it wasn't.

She stood completely still, a black gown now flowing around her. She seemed paler, her hair darker than before. Like the darkness, her gown and hair seemed to be void of any light. And she had a dark smile plastered on her face.

Something broke inside Dream.

He had lost her.

Schlatt's booming voice pulled him out of his thoughts, "Does anyone know where Tubbo is?"

Tubbo peaked out from behind a tree near the walls, "I'm here." He said in a small voice. Schlatt walked up to him, pulling him up onto the podium. Y/n followed silently, her movements not quite human.

Quackity, who was previously watching slyly from the podium, backed away from the group as they came near. His confident smile disappeared when his eyes laid on y/n.

"Wilbur soot and Tommyinnit are merely a memory of L'manburg now. A relic of the past, a reminder of the darkest era this country has ever seen." He put extra emphasis on darkest, as if the man didn't wield darkness himself, "We are entering into a new era of L'manburg. Who wants lower taxes?"

Cheers from many of the people arose, not caring of the soldiers or darkness that was lining the area.

Schlatt continued, "I'm gonna fill the fountains with Hawaiin punch too, how do we feel about that?" More cheers followed.

Tubbo stood nervously, glancing over at y/n every so often. Even Quackity seemed nervous.

Schlatt turned to Tubbo, who shrunk back at the eyes that followed. From atop of the building, Tubbo's eyes were silver-lined. "I love this guy," Schlatt slapped him on the back roughly, "I want you as my Secretary of State, Tubbo. As my right-hand man!"

Tubbo merely nodded, a slight shake in his hands. Schlatt leaned into his face, "I need you to do something for me Tubbo. I need you to find Tommy," He paused for a moment, "and kill him."

Tubbo took a step back, bumping into y/n. She grinned down slyly at him, making him take a step away from her. Any warmth or sympathy that would've been there was gone.

"And my new weapon, y/n, is going to join you."

He couldn't take it anymore. Something protective and angry rose in him. Schlatt had taken her from him. But there was something empty filling him as well.

The three stood, creeping back down the building.

He had broken his promise to keep her safe.

-

y/n pov

The world felt so much darker and colder.

I couldn't control my movements or powers anymore.

The darkness had taken me over.

I just hoped Dream would keep his promise, to keep me away from them.

-

Surprisingly, some small part of me was left untouched by the darkness. I didn't have any control over myself but I could see what was happening around me.

I felt trapped, broken.

I had failed them. I failed Tommy and Wilbur. I failed Dream, Sapnap, and George. Now I may never get to feel happy with them again.

It broke me.

I had also failed Tubbo, who I was now walking with through the forest. He hadn't said anything to me, or the thing that possessed me. I moved differently now, smoothly.

When I tried to reach for my magic, it was trapped in a box inside of me. The darkness consumed the box, allowing it to manipulate the magic.

"Um, where do you think they are?" Tubbo said quietly, looking anywhere but at me. I could feel the fear rippling off of him, fear that fed the darkness.

I smoothed a wrinkle on my flowing gown, staring at him, "I'm not sure. But we'll find them." My voice sounded foreign, colder than before. Tubbo visibly flinched at the sound of it. If I could've moved I would've too.

I could sense the sadness inside Tubbo. He was hurting, from the exile, from the fear he felt towards Schlatt. The human part of me didn't blame him, at this point I was terrified of the man as well.

But I was angrier than anything else. The horned man had taken away my life, my happiness. Not only mine but almost the entire SMP's as well. He uprooted our lives, bringing strange gods and darkness into our once peaceful lands.

All of a sudden, whispers flooded into my mind,

Return to L'manburg with Tubbo. Immediately.

It was Schlatt's voice, but it sounded colder. How had he sent words into my mind?

My body stopped, latching onto Tubbo's wrist. He flinched, staring at my hand, "C'mon Tubbo, we gotta go back to L'manburg." My voice turned warm, but there was an edge to it. He didn't say anything, just blinking rapidly. When the thing inside me noticed it said, "Do you miss Tommy?"

I knew it was just trying to get Tubbo to trust it, for later. He hesitated for a second before responding, he nodded.

Before we could talk about it more, we reached the edge of the forest, facing L'manburg.

The human part of me broke even more.

People were beginning to take down the walls. Small chunks were missing along the east side, the ballroom was completely gone.

I was never in favor of the nation, after all, I had fought for it to be taken down. But after they had their victory, seeing the walls getting taken down, hurt. The walls hurt more than I expected.

Tubbo's hands were shaking as I dragged him towards where Schlatt and Quackity stood watching the construction.

"Ah, welcome back you two," Schlatt said, spreading his arms.

"Schlatt what's going on?" Tubbo said, staring wide-eyed at the walls. Something inside of him broke, those walls had kept him safe. They had contained some of the happiest moments of his life.

"We are tearing down the walls, and all the members of L'manburg are required to help." Schlatt shoved Tubbo towards the walls, throwing a pickaxe into his hands, "So go on Tubbo."

Tubbo didn't move, glancing between the walls and the tool in his hands. I could see the defiance in his eyes, but he didn't act on it.

The thing inside of me saw it too, and when he didn't do anything out of line, it responded with pride. It was proud of Tubbo for not standing up for himself. I was disgusted with it.

As the boy started to walk away, two people stalked up to us. One walked angrily in front of the other, getting in Schlatt's face.

It was Niki and Eret.

"You have no right to do this!" Niki said, jabbing a finger angrily in Schlatt's face. I was surprised, seeing the change in her character. Her delicate face was flushed as she continued yelling at Schlatt.

I stepped towards them, drawing Niki's attention to me. Her eyes saddened slightly, but then the sight of the new me seemed to fuel her fire, "How could you do that to her!" Niki waved her hand at me, "She didn't deserve this!"

Schlatt just smiled at her before looking at me, "Y/n please get these three to work."

Niki gaped at him, Eret coming up protectively behind her. The girl planted her feet, staring Schlatt dead in the eye before saying defiantly, "No."

Tubbo took a step towards them, shaking his head for Niki to stop. He was scared she was going to get hurt.

Schlatt's face turned angry, beckoning me over. I stepped to his side, whispers filling my head,

Show them some fire.

The demon in me obeyed, snatching my magic. I tried to keep a hold on the magic but the darkness snatched it from me with ease, like taking candy from a child.

Even the magic tried to run from it's grasp, fleeing to the back of my mind. But the darkness was able to grasp it.

Schlatt's voice was cold when he spoke again, "You will do what I say or I will raise your taxes. And you'll have to deal with her." He pointed his thumb at me.

With that, flames danced from my fingertips. The three's eyes widened, backing away from me.

Shock froze me when I looked at the flames. Instead of the gorgeous ruby and gold flames that usually appeared, black and silver flames were in their place.

The whispers continued,

Show them more.

The darkness complied, grabbing more magic.

A dark wind whipped around us, black icicles appearing from the ground in places. And when it reached for my plant powers, instead of life there was death.

The grass died around my feet, spreading towards them. They took another step away, fear dancing in their eyes.

The darkness drank up the emotion, feeding on it. It craved more, growing stronger from their fear.

The three turned, sprinting back towards the walls, pickaxes in hand.

I glanced at the two standing beside me.

Quackity had a hint of fear in his eyes, averting his gaze.

Schlatt was giving me a proud look, darkness mirroring my own, "Well done, darling."

~~~~

Ooooh 2 chapters in one night. I'm on a writing spree hehe.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I have big plans for the next few chapters hehe, have a good day!