stela's plot is gonna be so open and i'm not even gonna do anything about it lmfao, i'm so sorry.

Stela watches him with curiosity in her eye as he treads through the steep path leading from Technoblade's cabin to the Dream SMP through the nether dimension.

He looks around every now and then, shooting smiles at every pigman or piglin they pass, ignoring the deathly glares from the latter, as if the threat of them possibly attacking him doesn't matter to him.

He's unfazed by nearly everything. Not due to indifference, but due to his trust in every action, no matter how insignificant, that happens around him. Like he either knows it was meant to happen, or he thinks it's none of his business. He still has the wonder of a young teenage boy whose perception of the world is yet to be warped.

Stela has also noticed that Ranboo keeps a book in the inside pocket of his suit jacket, the leather cover being scratched on the front with the text: DO NOT READ. They've stopped several times already, just so Ranboo could note something down in it.

He's been mulling his thoughts over ever since they stepped into the nether, and Stela wants to ask him what's on his mind, but she's also not sure if he'd trust her enough to tell her the truth.

So instead, they've been walking mainly in silence, Ranboo throwing in a sentence or two, expecting answers no longer than five words, just so they're not engulfed by awkward silence. Besides the occasional sounds of piglins, pigmen and the cracking of fire.

Stela can't help but feel strange anyway. The boy before her reminds her of a cousin she used to have. Before she appeared near the Dream SMP, she used to live near a Stronghold. One of the few with an activated end portal.

Stela hasn't been honest when she told Sara and Nia that she doesn't know anything about DreamXD. Or, well, she wasn't honest because she didn't even mention her knowledge of the god. She pretended not to know him rather than relive a scarring memory. For she does know him. He was the one who kept the portal near her village active, after all.

But as her village has or had — she doesn't know anymore — an active end portal, they've had many visitors from the dimension. Including her father, and her cousin. She was allowed to visit the End as well.

The problem is, however, that she watched her cousin die; she failed him. The last time she had visited the End, she witnessed DreamXD pushing her cousin off an island into the endless void. A darkness that engulfed the boy, a darkness that would never return him back. He fell along with the rest of his family on that fateful day. Stela watched her father die.

They used to rule the End. It was their kingdom. Until DreamXD decided to take over.

Yet Ranboo stands before her. Unbelievably similar to her dead cousin. The only difference between her cousin and Ranboo is perhaps the fact that her cousin was a pureblooded enderman. Or that Ranboo has two horns and a mess of a hairstyle, while her cousin usually wore a crown atop his head and his hair was always well kept. Still, even with these physical differences, there is more painful resemblance.

"Are you okay?" Ranboo asks Stela. He stands next to her, they both stopped by the portal that will take them to the Dream SMP. She just hasn't moved since.

Ranboo is slightly taller than Stela. Her cousin used to be shorter than her. Not by much, however, and he was younger as well. It was certain the boy would outgrow her eventually. Especially with the physical training she had conducted for him.

She misses her cousin.

"I'm fine," says Stela, sparing a glance at Ranboo. She tries not to reminisce of the boy she used to care about. The boy she was supposed to protect. The boy she failed.

She wonders, though — has she been given another chance? Ranboo isn't her cousin, but perhaps she can make sure that no harm comes to this boy. Especially with the threat of Dream looming above everybody's heads. Perhaps she can protect this boy and make sure that his life doesn't end as soon as her cousin's did. He deserved to live a full and happy life. But DreamXD took that away from him.

Death chose Stela to be the guardian of the Revival Book, convinced that she would be the perfect leader of the Trix. Stela knows it's because of her willingness to do anything necessary in order to protect what she must.

"Are you sure?" Ranboo checks again.

"Yes, Ranboo." Stela nods. "Let's just get to L'Manburg, alright?"

"What do you mean a festival?" Stela arches an eyebrow at Sara, the two of them approaching the center of L'Manburg, where Fundy, Tubbo, Quackity and Ranboo are. Sara informed Stela that L'Manburg would hold another festival, as if the last hadn't scarred them enough with the amount of injured citizens, and the fact that the current President had nearly been executed.

"Tubbo and Quackity are organizing a festival," says Sara plainly. If only that wasn't the one part Stela understood quite clearly. "Fundy hasn't told me why, but he insisted I invite both you and Nia. Quackity wants Nia there."

"Why?"

The woman glances at the cabinet members of L'Manburg, her gaze latching onto Quackity. He has a scar over half of his face that he didn't have the last time Stela saw him. Then again, this is the first time she's seeing him after months. He still wears his classic beanie that sticks strands of his dark hair to his forehead, making him look much younger than he actually is.

"How am I supposed to know?" Sara questions, throwing her arms around. "I just know that they tried to execute Technoblade, which didn't work out, and now Quackity wants to kill Dream."

Stela sighs, her eyes fixated on Quackity until the boy feels her burning gaze and turns his head in her direction. He stares back at Stela, almost challengingly. Despite the silence between them, she can see Quackity's grudge towards her; bitterness reflecting in his brown eyes.

"They didn't succeed in executing Technoblade. What makes them think they can get Dream?" Stela inquires. She has a point that Sara agrees with, but the two of them also agree with the L'Manburgians that Dream is dangerous, and that he doesn't deserve to run around the world freely.

Sara shrugs. "I genuinely don't know." A sigh leaves the redhead's lips, "Nia usually sees master plans in all of these things."

"But Nia's not here." Stela shakes her head. "She's with Techno and Tommy, making sure that neither of them cause too much trouble."

"Oh," Sara says, like she just remembered something. "How's Tommy doing, do you know?"

"Alright, I think," Stela smiles, knowing Sara has a soft spot for Tommy. Just like Wilbur did. Just like almost everybody in L'Manburg does. She's seen how easily Nia became protective of Tommy, too. "He still acts like a raccoon, but both Nia and Techno enable him most of the time."

Sara laughs heartily at the thought, nodding. She's thankful that Tommy is doing well. Knowing that he's had to spend months in exile under Dream's supervision, having been exiled by his best friend, she can't imagine what mental state the boy must be in.

"He just needs someone to be there for him right now. Nia's doing a pretty good job. She's been trying to train him a bit again, just so he'd feel safer."

"That's good," Sara smiles.

"Mhmm."

The two women finally approach the four boys that are in charge of L'Manburg. Tubbo smiles at them both, just as does Fundy. They greet them cheerfully, while Ranboo acknowledgingly nods at both. Quackity has a hint of a frown on his lips, trying to cover his distaste of their presence.

"So, what's this festival for that we're supposed to invite Nia, too?" asks Stela, staring at Quackity specifically.

The boy shrugs. "Just a celebration of L'Manburg. It's been a while since we rebuilt the country, so it's about time that we celebrated it," he lies through his teeth.

Stela can sense it. She's just unsure of what his true intentions might be.

"Why is Nia important for a celebration of L'Manburg then? We all know she's an anarchist," Sara makes a point, earning a questioning eyebrow from Stela, who didn't expect the redhead to come at Quackity like this.

"She's not important," says Quackity at once, shaking his head. "I just thought you two would want her to be invited, too. Since she's a part of your trio or whatever."

Sara and Stela exchange glances.

"Right."

"Hey guys, what are you talking about?" asks a voice, high-pitched and echoey.

Sara turns toward the source of the voice, thinking it sounds somewhat familiar, only to be met with the face of a man she used to know.

"Wilbur," leaves her lips.

"I'm Ghostbur," he says. "But hi, Sara. I remember you. Alivebur had a lot of good memories with you," the ghost smiles.

Sara stares at the translucent man, her gaze fixating on the wound in his abdomen, the one that killed him. Many emotions cross her expression. Namely disbelief and sadness.

Ghostbur tilts his head to the side, examining the woman. Only then does he notice the yellow sweater she's wearing. His yellow sweater. Not the one he was killed in, but the one Alivebur gave to Sara on her last birthday; he remembers that day. "Oh, we're matching!" he says delightedly.

Sara holds back tears.

"Oh, shit. We forgot to tell you," Stela realizes.