A frown sets on Stela's lips as the sentence leaves her mouth. Her face contorts in distaste, not fond of the current owner.

Nia nods. "I know it's not the best, but he's the next safest person to have the book. He hasn't officially said that he has it, so I'm pretty sure he won't give it to us. Frankly, I don't think he'll give it to anybody."

"Trying to get the book from Dream could prove to be a pain in the ass," Sara sighs, shaking her head. "I don't trust Dream with the book, though."

"He's gonna use it against the people in the Dream SMP," Stela states matter-of-factly. "But he doesn't necessarily need to use it for that."

"Exactly." Nia nods.

"I still don't like Dream having the book." Sara shakes her head.

"Me neither," Stela concurs.

Nia nods in tacit agreement. She's conflicted. Scared to voice that she's wary of Dream while knowing very well that her distrust in the man is valid. He hurt Tommy more than Nia knew the first day he'd appeared at Techno's house.

She's visited them a few times before, and every time, she would find Tommy hiding in Techno's cellar, where Tommy had made his home — a safe space — terrified because any new visitor could be Dream, who's probably looking for him.

To distract himself, Tommy started building a tower made out of cobblestone. It's one similar to the tower he'd built close to Pogtopia, and Ghostbur told Nia that Tommy's towers are dear to the boy. Then, the ghost of Wilbur offered her some blue. (Nia hasn't told Sara about Ghostbur's existence yet.)

Stela eyes Nia, her lips pursed. She can sense the inner battle the princess is going through. The enderwoman shrugs, averting her gaze to Sara.

"No matter how much we dislike Dream, he's probably the safest person to have the book right now," she says with a sigh to ease Nia's uneasy mind. "He won't give us the book, but we also know that as long as it gives him a sense of power, he won't give it to anyone. He'd probably protect it with his own life."

Sara bites the inside of her cheek, humming disgruntledly. "It's still kinda strange, isn't it? The god connected to the book is called DreamXD and now Dream is in possession of the book."

"Perhaps in some weird and fucked up way, he was always supposed to have the book," Stela notes, cringing at the thought.

"But why would Death want a literal maniac to possess the book?" Sara questions with an arched brow. She and Stela both know about Tommy's exile. They don't know the details — nobody does, really — but they know he was exiled.

"We were created to protect the book," says Nia, shaking her head. "But we're gonna have to settle with Dream having the book right now, because we don't have any other options. I don't think we have anything that could make him return the book to us. Killing him won't do anything, unless we want the book to be lost forever."

Not to mention Nia wouldn't be able to kill Dream. She'd have to excuse herself out of the endeavour.

"Okay, are you sure Dream has the book, then?" Stela checks one more time, and Nia nods.

"What if we're looking at the wrong person?" Sara wants to believe that the book is in somebody else's hands.

"Then only time will tell," Nia sighs, running a hand through her hair.

Nia watches a tall boy walk around Technoblade's cottage with confusion written all over her face. She stares at the boy whose skin color is perfectly split in two, one half black and one white, making him an unnatural hybrid of an enderman and something else. She's seen him before in L'Manburg. His hair is fluffy, matching the color of his skin, two horns sticking out through his curls, making his pointy ears stand out.

The princess draws her blade, wary of the boy, wondering if he came for Technoblade with the butcher army again. Luckily for him, Technoblade notices Nia from a window and runs out of the house before she gets to attack Ranboo.

"Nia, Nia, he's fine!" the piglin calls, panic lacing his voice.

Ranboo turns around to face Nia whose sword is held high, ready to attack. She looks him in the eyes. One red and one green. They're so young. He can't be younger than Tommy, if not older.

Nia widens her eyes at Ranboo, slipping her sword back into its sheath. The half-enderman boy glues his eyes to the ground, uncomfortable. He's not fond of people staring at him, Nia realizes shortly after. Understandably so, for a part of Ranboo is an enderman.

"Sorry," Nia mumbles, approaching the cottage. Techno and Ranboo are outside. Tommy is nowhere to be seen.

"It's alright," Ranboo shrugs. "I've been threatened with death by Techno a bunch of times already. But I also gave him all of his armor back, so I think we're fine." The boy overshares, explaining the somewhat positive relationship with the anarchist that stands next to him.

"Aren't you with L'Manburg?" Nia questions with a raised brow.

"By extension, I guess, but not really," says the boy. "Tubbo is my friend, so I stick with him. But I would say Tommy and Techno are also my friends, we've been spending time together, they're really cool."

"Wait, how long have you been visiting?"

"A while." Ranboo shrugs. "Just so you know, I didn't really agree with the whole butcher army thing. It's just that Tubbo was my only friend, so I did everything he asked of me."

Nia glances at Technoblade. He nods.

"Ranboo is alright," he says.

"He's been visiting this entire time, and I didn't know about it?" Nia asks, her head tilted to the side. Technoblade rubs the back of his neck with an awkward smile upon his lips. "I— Ranboo, I don't mean this in the wrong way, of course. It's just that I've been coming here a bunch and I've never come across you before."

"Well, now you have," the boy grins at her.

"Oh-okay," says Nia, her brows furrowing.

"Nia! Hello, woman! My friend!" Tommy appears by the door of Techno's cottage, a wild grin decorating his lips. He waves at her while putting on a warm coat. His hair is mostly hidden under a beanie that clings to his head askew. "Are you coming on the adventure with us?"

"Adventure?" Nia glances at Techno and Ranboo, her eyebrow raised. "What adventure?"

Technoblade chuckles awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "Well, you know, we're going to look for wolves."

"Why?"

"Techno wants to form a hound army," Tommy informs Nia with a grin. "It's gonna be really cool. Can you imagine all those wolves attacking Dream? Or maybe not, he's still my friend. We're just— we're just gonna be getting my discs back. Those wolves will be intimidating and growling and barking, and it'll make Dream give me back my discs, and everything's gonna be great."

Nia purses her lips, her eyes trained on Techno. "Really?"

Technoblade waves his hand before her face. "We— uh, we haven't worked out the details of everything yet. We've just agreed to getting back his discs from Dream and some minor terrorism."

"Really?" Nia repeats herself, nodding.

"Not of L'Manburg, I hope," Ranboo chuckles.

"Sure, yeah, no . . . not L'Manburg," Techno lies, and Nia bites her bottom lip, choking down her laugh.

With her eyes trained on all three boys, she can't help but smile. Considering their goals and beliefs, one would assume this group would simply be unable to work. And yet, here they are, standing before Nia. Tommy, Technoblade and Ranboo.

It's one hell of a dysfunctional group.