Tubbo pov

There was a lot of work cut out for him. Luckily, he had Quackity and Fundy, and later Tommy, to help him rebuild the nation.

It was a strange thought to think of himself as the President. He was the president of a nation that was not standing, blown away by explosions.

Tubbo had to remind himself that it wasn't about the physical land, but about the mindset. L'manberg lived on in the hearts of its citizens, even though Wilbur had destroyed it. He had definitely done a number on it.

Thankfully, Tommy would be by his side as Vice President, assisting him through the big shoes he had to fill. The previous shoes had been filled by a madman and a man corrupt with darkness, so Tubbo didn't know where his path would lead.

Hopefully, his path wouldn't follow the former presidents.

Or end in the way the others had.

Quackity's humming and the sound of a guitar pulled him out of his thoughts, refocusing his eyes.

Him, Fundy, and Quackity were gathered near the edge of the crevice that was L'manberg. The two others were slightly behind him, one strumming his guitar while quietly singing the anthem. Tubbo stood inches from the edge, staring out at the destruction.

It wouldn't be so quiet if Tommy were here, but he was out somewhere, probably doing something he shouldn't be doing. His best friend had left the Embassy before Tubbo was even awake. But if he were here, he would've enjoyed the song.

The sound of the song brought back memories, making emotions bubble inside of him. Peaceful days that were filled with bumblebees and brewing stands circled his mind. He missed the old days when he and Tommy would run around, laughing.

When Wilbur was alive.

Tubbo pushed away the thoughts of his old friend. He couldn't grieve fully yet. Not when he had a nation to rebuild.

Tugging on his new suit, he turned to face the small government that was accompanying him, "I think we should start by cleaning up the debris. Then we can deal with the water."

Quackity's hand paused above the strings, the last note slowly fading. He pushed the guitar off his lap to stand, "Alright," He turned to walk away but paused, "Uh, Tubbo?"

Before Tubbo's eyes followed Quackity's, he noticed how Fundy tensed. The boy's orange ears twitched with emotion.

When his own eyes landed on the sight, Tubbo gasped.

Facing the other way, was Wilbur ... kind of.

His previous trench coat was replaced with a bright yellow sweater and black pants. His red beanie remained atop his dark curls.

But he was see-through.

A ghost.

"Wilbur?"

The ghost turned, a confused look on his grey face. A softness had taken the place of pain and madness on his face. No scars or deep bags remained, death having taken them.

"Oh, hello!" Where his legs used to be, was now just a swirl. He floated above the ground, making his way towards the group with a confused but cheerful look.

The three glanced between each other, not knowing what to do. Fundy looked the most distraught. He was still grieving his father, hidden away from everyone else.

Even if the boy had basically disowned his own father, he still grieved his death.

But now, Wilbur was here.

"Hey, guys!" Wilbur repeated his greeting, giving the group an enthusiastic wave. It was slightly discomforting to see Wilbur acting like this after being so closed off and insane for such a long time before his death.

This person was someone completely different from the one that had died.

"What's up?" Quackity spoke for them with a hesitant voice.

"Oh, nothing, just having a good day. What are you guys doing?" Wilbur spoke as if nothing had happened, ignoring the destruction and the fact that he was now a ghost.

Quackity glanced back to Tubbo, struggling for an answer, "We're cleaning up this mess."

Tubbo cringed. That wasn't the best answer to tell the ghost, considering he was the one to create the mess and after all, he had just died.

A gloomy look replaced the cheerful one on Wil's face, "I'm sorry about that." His dull, dark eyes roamed around the pit behind them, "Silly me."

Once again the group glanced between each other as a tense silence settled around them. Tubbo never had time to grieve, and now he wasn't sure if he was supposed to.

Wilbur was here in front of them, so why should he grieve? But something was different about the entity. There was a calmer, kinder demeanor to his movements and language.

No more was the distraught man who was once a brother figure to him.

The ghost's face brightened once more in the silence, "Since you are rebuilding this place, could I have a plot of land to build on? I won't cause any trouble, I'm not like Alivebur."

Tubbo tilted his head in confusion, "Alivebur?"

"Yes, Alivebur is the one that made this mess, is he not? I'm Ghostbur, someone different from the one you knew." He gave them a small smile, "I can't remember much though. My only memories are good ones."

"Oh, okay. Yes, you can have a plot, W- Ghostbur." Tubbo gave his old friend a smile, trying to make the ghost happy. It seemed to have worked cause Wilbur smiled back, turning around.

Questions raced through his head. How was he here? Why was he here?

But Tubbo pushed them away for now. They were best for another time.

He picked up Quackity's guitar, "May I play while you all work?"

"Sure, Ghostbur." Quackity nodded, giving Tubbo one last look before walking towards a pile of debris.

Fundy didn't say anything, only walking in the other direction to do the same.

"Wil- Ghostbur, do you remember doing this?" Tubbo asked gently, sweeping his hand towards the great pit.

Ghostbur tilted his head in thought, "No, I don't. My memory is a little off, I'm sorry." A sad look appeared on his face when he couldn't remember.

What happened to the Wilbur that had led a nation through war? This person was so soft in comparison.

"It's alright. Don't worry about it. If you need anything, I'll be around."

A merry tune followed Tubbo as he pulled out his pickaxe, walking towards a pile of rock and dirt. Well, Wilbur's musical skills had remained with him, despite his bad memory.

As Tubbo worked, he thought. In a way, it was comforting to have Wilbur back, even if he was different from before, both physically and mentally. Wilbur had been so cold towards him when they were in exile, even though Tubbo was only trying to help him.

But now Wilbur only seemed to radiate kindness and warmth.

Even though he found comfort in his friend being back, he wasn't sure how Tommy was going to react.

-

y/n pov

The Nether was terrifying.

Literal fire raced through my veins and snapped to my will, but the place through the purple portal still scared me.

And it was hot as shit.

The minute we had stepped into this realm, I had pulled off my navy hoodie to wrap it around my waist. Thankfully, I had been able to put my armor into the ender chest, but I still sweat in my simple black t-shirt.

Sam had somehow kept his own sweatshirt on, not even mentioning the heat. His cheerful expression didn't falter, talking to me enthusiastically.

We now stood in the volcanic part of the Nether, a Basalt delta biome. The sound of lava crackled from below the spike of blackstone while we hacked away at it with our pickaxes. Magma blocks were one of the light sources we used to see through the ashy air.

This biome was almost suffocating with the ash-filled air, as well as with the heat. On top of that, you were almost blind walking through it. Thick lilac fog blocked our vision, making it impossible to see the jagged terrain.

"So I take it that you don't come to the Nether often?" Sam said from the other side of the spike, the sound of rock breaking following his words.

I did the same, breaking more blackstone, "Nope. I try to stay out of it."

"Why are you scared of it? You literally have fire powers. You're probably immune to the lava." His voice was teasing.

"Uh, who says I'm scared of this place?"

The sound of swinging paused as his head poked around the corner. A playful smile was on his lips, "Y/n, ever since you stepped through the portal, you've jumped at every pop of lava. And your head has been on a swivel in this biome."

I rolled my eyes, trying to focus on not falling. The ledge we stood on was tiny, making it harder to swing my pickaxe, "It doesn't scare me, I'm just being alert."

He laughed but quickly clamped his mouth shut. A disgusted look appeared on his lips as he began to cough.

"Are you alright?"

He said in between breaths, "I got ash in my mouth," He cleared his throat, trying to get the dusty particles out. "I guess I deserved that." He smiled once more, disappearing around the spike.

We continued to hack at the stone until we met in the middle. Our bags were almost overflowing with blackstone, but it wasn't close to what Sam would need. If I wasn't sore already from the war, I would be carrying this bag.

Before we moved onto the next mountain, Sam placed down his ender chest. He first dumped his own blackstone into it, then took mine to put in. The materials disappeared into the universe, awaiting when the chest would be opened again.

We jumped to the next spike, careful not to fall. I teetered on the edge of the next one for a moment but Sam balanced me. He glanced around quickly, eyeing our surroundings.

He had done this for every spike we had been on. Thankfully, we had yet to run into the threat he was looking for.

In this environment, magma cubes were the deadliest mob. Being able to hop across the lava and jump extremely high, they could take us out in a second.

When he deemed it was all clear, Sam moved to his side of the stone, preparing to collect more. I moved to do the same, "So, how long have you known Dream?" I said, making friendly conversation.

"A very long time. I moved here shortly after the Dream Team did, back when Alyssa still lived here."

I had faint memories of Alyssa, but I hadn't known her well. She had moved away about a week after I showed up, wanting to explore the rest of the world. But when I had met her, she seemed extremely nice. She had even come back for the ball but left immediately afterward.

It baffled me how I had never gotten to know Sam before the wars. He had been here before me, yet I hadn't talked to him longer than a few sentences.

"How have we not become friends sooner than this? We were both here before all hell broke loose."

"I don't know. We definitely should've talked sooner though. What I've gathered from talking to you for the past hour, you seem pretty cool."

I laughed, "You do too, Sam."

We fell into a comfortable silence for a bit, the only sounds being the lava and stone breaking. I kept my tired senses alert, trying to listen for the flop of a magma cube.

"Y/n, do you know why Dream wants to build the prison? I know he told us already, but I feel like there's another reason for it." Sam broke the silence with his question.

I had been thinking the same thing, but I lacked an answer. Dream hadn't mentioned the prison before today. Apparently, he had been thinking about it for a while though because he had told Sam about it a month prior.

"No, I don't. I agree though, he was acting weird when he was telling us about it. I've known him for so long, and he's never been that serious." Well, besides when he had been filled with darkness, but that was over. There was no reason for him to be like that.

I wiped a bead of sweat from my forehead with the back of my arm as I continued, "Even when he's fighting, he has a sort of confident air around him. But today he just seemed ... cold."

Sam hummed in response. He paused his swinging once more, turning to face me, "Does Dream have any powerful enemies?"

I thought for a second. Sure, Dream had enemies like Tommy and originally Schlatt, but there were only two people who matched or even passed him in power. They weren't his enemies though.

"I mean, he has enemies, but none are as powerful as him. Techno holds the same power, but I don't think they're enemies," I hesitated, "And well, I technically am more powerful than Dream, but we're definitely not enemies."

Sam lifted his hand to his chin in thought, "Hmm, okay."

"Why?"

"Well, what you just said kind of disproves his reasoning for the prison."

He was right. No one truly threatened Dream or us. So why would he need the prison?

The masked man continued, "That makes me think that there's definitely a deeper meaning behind this build. The prison is built to keep things in and out. It will be impossible to escape."

My thoughts were aligned with his, "Or to get in."

He nodded, "If there are no enemies to put in that threaten him, then-"

I finished for him, "Then he wants to keep something safe from the outside world."

We stared at each other for a moment in disbelief. There were only two things that Dream cared about deeply enough to put in an inescapable prison. Our friends and me.

Sam shook his head slowly, "You don't think?"

I clamped down on my wandering thoughts. Dream wouldn't put me in there. He knew I could defend myself, and that I would be fine on my own.

"No. Definitely not." I reassured Sam, but my voice sounded false.

We both heard the unsure waver in my tone. Neither of us knew the true reason why Dream was building the prison. But I wasn't sure if I wanted to know the truth.

A smack broke our intense silence, coming from the fog to our right. Both of us whipped towards the sound, mirroring movements. In seconds, our swords were drawn as we tried to gaze into the thick fog.

The sound continued in that direction but our visions were still blocked. I felt too vulnerable in this place, unable to see threats and calculate my defense.

Suddenly, Sam yelled, "Move!"

My eyes darted around to find where the threat was coming from, but I was only met with ash and fog. I stepped back towards Sam, but it was the wrong way.

Instead of coming from our sides, the creature came from above. I saw it seconds before it landed on me, backing out of its path in a hurry.

Another smack happened and a large magma cube landed where I had been standing seconds before.

Molten lava dripped from the cube in thick blobs. Its bright orange and yellow eyes peered at me from the center of it, fire burning inside of them. I would've thought it was cute if it weren't trying to kill me.

It jumped again, trying to land on me. I broke apart from Sam, the two of us moving to either side.

When it landed again, we moved in sync. Our swords stabbed into the side of the gooey creature, sinking. As I dug my sword deeper into its side, the heat around my hand intensified as it came closer to the magma.

It squirmed for a second, but then disappeared in a poof. Two smaller squares replaced its place before us. They gave us the same look that the other had, seeking to kill us.

Before they could hop towards us, Sam and I took them out with our swords in one swipe.

When I thought it was over, four tiny ones appeared.

Despite their harmless appearance, I didn't take the chance. I swung my sword them without hesitation, making them disappear as well.

"Well, if you weren't scared before, I bet you are now." Sam laughed.

"I hate those things." I muttered, picking up my discarded pickaxe.

Sam picked his up, but placed it in his bag, "I think that's enough for today. We can head back home now."

Relief flushed through me at his words. I quickly pocketed my own pickaxe, but kept my hand on the hilt of my sword as I sheathed it.

"Maybe when you need help again, I can help with getting redstone. In the overworld."

He laughed again, "Alright, that sounds good."

-

Even though it was summer, the air felt cool compared to the Nether when we stepped out. I had never been so thankful to see green grass before after I had been staring at red and black.

But as Sam and I made our way down the stairs, heading towards the Community House, someone was moving around in the building. Their build was unlike anyone that lived around here and we couldn't see their features.

We gave each other a look of confusion. Neither of us knew anyone that was that tall.

I pushed open the oak door of the brick house, stopping just inside the door. There was enough room behind me for Sam to wiggle in, but he came to a halt as well.

The tallest person I had ever seen stood in the house, looking around in confusion. He was facing to the side, so from my angle, his face looked all white with a piercing red eye. His hair matched the color of his skin, curling over his ears. Like Techno's they came to a point at the end.

There was a crown on his head as well, shining against his pale colors. It nearly touched the ceiling from his height. He wore a dark suit with matching black shoes.

When he turned to face us, my eyes widened.

Instead of his skin and hair being all white, it was split down the middle of his face. The other side of him was all black, including his face, hair, and hands. His eye was also different, green replacing the red.

When he noticed us, he jumped in fear, making a sound like a yell. The noise sounded exactly like the one an enderman would make.

"Woah, I didn't see you guys come in. Sorry," The strange boy laughed nervously, looking at the ground. Now that I could fully see him, he looked about the same age as Tommy and Tubbo, a teen.

I gave him a warm smile, trying to soothe the nerves pouring out of him, "Sorry for scaring you. I'm y/n," I gestured my hand to Sam who stood slightly behind me with a matching smile, "And this is Sam."

The boy's nerves calmed slightly, "I'm Ranboo. Um, I just moved here and I was trying to find some people, but everyone seems to be missing."

"Well, Ranboo, you're in luck. I have nothing to do so I can help you move in or give you a tour. How does that sound?"

He visibly relaxed at my welcoming demeanor, "That sounds great if it's not any trouble."

"It's no trouble at all. I remember moving here without any friends, so I know how it feels. Don't worry though, you'll make friends fast." I winked at him, "And you've already got one."

Before I left with Ranboo, I turned to Sam, "Did you need any more help?"

He shook his head, "No, I'm good." He smiled at Ranboo, "Nice meeting you, kid." Sam walked towards my house, probably to talk to Dream about the plans for the prison.

"I'll start by giving you a tour, follow me," I told Ranboo, guiding him out the door, onto the Prime Path.

~~~~

yessss i finally get to write about ranboo's character :) I've been waiting for this one lol

RED ALERT ONLY THREE PARTS LEFT TILL BOOK TWO

I KNOW I SAID IM POSTING LESS but I'm so freaking excited for book two and I have a break next week from school, so updates will be more frequent😏

But after break then I'll be posting every other day

have an awesome day :) stay safe and get some water