Hey, Admin Anesthesia here. This was something I started around the November timeframe and just finished today. I'm so proud of myself, this is so good :). I hope you liked it as much as I did. I promised angst with a happy ending and a happy ending is what you'll get. Sorry that I made SBI assholes in this fic. This is 11k words if you guys were wondering. It’s longggg.
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Summary: Clay "Dream" Schlatt wants to protect his little brother, but finds it hard to do when he has to do it from a distance and without any suspicion. Toby "Tubbo Minecraft" Schlatt wants to find out who his real family is, but finds it hard to do when the only two people who know are people he doesn't trust. Jonathan Schlatt wants to be a better father for his sons, but finds it hard to do when both distrust him with a passion, both for very different reasons.
Trigger Warnings: Mention of Abuse, Alcohol, Death
Content Warnings: Swearing
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Clay “Dream” Schlatt hated the way he looked. From the way his horns were always just noticeable enough and the way the scars on his face from broken glass were permanent, he hated every part of it.
Everything about him reminded him of his father and he hated his father. The only things he liked about his appearance were his emerald green eyes which he had inherited from his dead mother, and his hair, just dark enough to remind him of his long-lost younger brother but light enough to not remind him of his father.
When Dream was 6 years old, his mother had died of an unknown illness, leaving Jonathan Schlatt as the sole guardian of him and his younger brother.
At first, Schlatt was a good father. He always was when his mother was still alive. But then Schlatt turned to alcohol and things got worse.
Soon enough, there started to become a lot of constants. Constant yelling. Constant smell of alcohol. Constant empty bottles. Constant noises of glass breaking.
As time passed, it got worse. And when Dream was 9, he knew he had to get out of there. He was still a child, but he knew. He packed essentials, a bee plush he had gotten Toby, and took his 4-year-old younger brother and ran. He never stopped running until they were out of range of the house and village.
For a small child, Dream knew that he couldn’t take care of himself, let alone take care of a 4-year-old, so he went to a place that he had heard the village talking about.
A house where an immortal resided. An immortal hybrid that took in helpless children. Philza Minecraft.
For a small child, Dream also knew it was unsafe to stay with his brother and that it was unsafe to keep their birth names. So he formulated a plan to leave Toby at the doorstep of Philza’s house with a faux name.
Finding his way to Philza’s house wasn’t hard. Trying to quiet his brother down in order to leave him was.
Toby seemed to know what was going on as soon as Dream set him down in the box from the way Dream was also putting pieces of paper in the box.
“You can’t go, Clay!” Toby started to cry.
Dream tried to quiet his brother down, “Shhh….you’re going to wake the people up in the house if you don’t stay quiet.”
“I don’t want you to go!” Toby whined.
“I’m sorry, Bumblebee. This is for the best. I know you don’t like it. I don’t like it either, but I don’t know what else to do. It’s scary with Dad, right? But it’ll be even scarier if you come with me.”
“Why can’t you stay with me?” Toby asked.
Dream gave a small smile, “Because Dad’s going to hurt me if he finds you and me together. You don’t want that, do you?”
Toby sniffled, shaking his head.
“I need you to be a brave soldier and smile for me, okay?” Dream asked his brother, “I know you’re scared, but there’s a nice man who will take care of you while I’m gone, okay?”
“But I want you to take care of me.”
“I want to take care of you too, but I promise you that they will keep you safe. And that I’ll find you again, okay? I’ll come back and I’ll take care of you when it’s safe.”
“When will that be?”
“Soon.” Dream lied, ruffling his brother’s hair. “Please, Toby?”
Toby nodded, “Okay…you promise?”
“I promise I’ll come back for you.” Dream replied before giving Toby his bee plushie, a photograph of the two brothers together, and a name tag, “Now…until I come back, I need you to pretend your name is Tubbo, okay?’
“Why?’
“Because it’s safer that way.” Dream swallowed the lump in his throat, “Promise me.”
Toby nodded, “I promise. What’s your name going to be?”
“I don’t know…”
“Can it be Dream?”
Dream chuckled, “Sure. My name will be Dream.”
With that, Dream started to stand up, forcing himself not to cry.
“I love you, Bumblebee. Be good.”
“Love you too, Clay.” Toby waved, “See you soon.”
“Soon.” Dream murmured as he ran out of Toby’s sight before coming back to make sure that Philza found Toby and brought him in.
Dream lived off of berries and learned his place around the woods until he could come across another village where he resided and made friends with GeorgeNotFound and Sapnap.
Despite him moving on with his life, he found himself starting to hide parts of him as he grew older. When people started to ask about the scars on his face, he started to wear a mask. When his horns started to grow, he tried to cut them off. And when that became too painful, he started to wear a hoodie to cover them.
At first, he used a plethora of colors, but he started to narrow it down to one color. Green. His brother’s favorite color.
Living with his friends meant that he started to learn new things. How to fight. How to hunt. How to collect resources. How to survive.
Then, when he turned 18, he decided to explore the world with his friends. Going on manhunts, playing around, learning more about the environment. He did everything he could ever possibly think of.
But there were times when he missed his brother. When he wondered how Toby was doing.
It especially hit him hard whenever he would pass by a flower biome, always stopping to observe the bees and smell the flowers. He always picked one and put it into an exploration book. One that he could one day give to Toby if he passed by Philza’s house.
It never came as he decided to settle down in a server with his friends.
At first, the server was uneventful. It was just a place where everyone got to have fun, but then Dream had the mistake of inviting TommyInnit Minecraft. Why was it a mistake?
Short answer: TommyInnit was a pain in the ass. He found every way to try and get under everyone’s skin, especially Dream’s. Then, Tommy asked to invite a couple of friends. To be more specific, two of his brothers.
Dream thought nothing of it until the first day he saw the two brothers. Wilbur Soot Minecraft and Tubbo Minecraft.
Then, Dream knew why Tommy’s surname had sounded so familiar. Staring at Tubbo Minecraft’s eyes to see the baby blue eyes that he thought he’d never seen again reminded him of how he had given Toby away to Philza Minecraft.
The moment he made eye contact with Tubbo, he wanted to tell his brother everything, but soon enough, he found out Tubbo didn’t even remember anything about his family. Didn’t remember anything about Dream, and so Dream let it be.
No matter how much it hurt him not to be able to share that brotherly connection with Tubbo, he let it be because he knew that it would only hurt Tubbo even more if he told him. They were separate people with separate lives and separate families now.
The separation between the two continued to grow as Tubbo followed Wilbur’s lead in creating a new nation separate from the SMP, L’manberg.
And when Schlatt found his way to the SMP, Dream knew there was no way he could tell Tubbo now. That he had to fight harder to protect his younger brother and pray to DreamXD that Schlatt didn’t recognize him or his brother.
He found himself helping Tubbo in the most subtle ways, whether that was distracting Schlatt and Quackity while Tubbo was out, killing any mobs before they could grab Tubbo’s attention, or even just making him smile with flowers he’d plant throughout the SMP.
It was the best he could do. A brother’s love never dies, he guessed.
+++++++++++++++++++
Tubbo Minecraft didn’t hate the way he looked until he started growing horns. It was around Schlatt’s presidency. He knew that hybrids usually didn’t start showing signs of not being human until around his age, but he was so frustrated because he didn’t want to think about goat hybrids. He didn’t want to know that he could be one when he only associated hate with goat hybrids because of Schlatt.
It was easier to hide because he hadn’t cut his hair in a long time and his baby horns could stay hidden in the mess he called his hair.
As he started to grow more and more into a goat hybrid, he found himself searching for answers through his past. He found himself wanting to know more about his family and wanting to know why he was left in a box for Philza to find.
However, since they were in the middle of a bubbling revolution, Tubbo couldn’t focus his efforts on finding them. He promised himself that he would after they had overthrown Schlatt. Everyone had planned the festival and Tubbo couldn’t wait.
Things took a turn for the worst when he found himself trapped in a box that Quackity had made. In a panic, he looked around, hoping for someone to come and save him.
“Take him out, Techno,” Schlatt smirked as Techno loaded his crossbow with fireworks.
Tubbo’s eyes widened in fear as he shook his head, “Techno, don’t do it.”
“I’m sorry.” Techno mouthed as he looked around, trying to stall, “What? Do you want me to take him out to dinner?”
Tubbo felt grateful for that bit of stalling, although he knew at the end of the day, Techno couldn’t have saved him. Not without committing treason and getting ganged up by the entire government. And even then, someone else would take care of Tubbo. Someone less remorseful.
He looked around to see anyone that could help him. Wilbur was gone from the area Tommy was currently standing, clearly frozen in fear. Everyone else was stunned and Schlatt egging Techno on wasn’t helping Tubbo’s situation.
And then he met eyes with someone in the shadows. Although he was very hidden, Tubbo could make out the facial features of the man. The emerald green eyes, the scars on his face, the cut horns on his head, the panic on his face. And then Tubbo breathed out a name that felt so natural to him.
“Clay.”
Then in a moment, he felt the world stop as Schlatt whipped his head to Tubbo, the man in the shadows to disappear, and Techno apologized as he let go of the cocked crossbow.
Tubbo covered himself as he waited for the impact, but it never came.
When Tubbo had opened his eyes and uncovered his ears, there was a lot of chaos, but he hadn’t died.
He looked around to see Technoblade bloodthirsty and starting to kill everyone in the audience, he saw Tommy angry at Techno, and he saw Schlatt yelling at Tommy, but he didn’t see his blood. He didn’t see any injuries, in fact, he couldn’t even see himself.
Then, he felt someone tugging on him, choosing to stay silent. Someone had saved him.
Tubbo decided to trust and let the person guide him to a safe place. A little hideout.
When they were out of the chaos, Tubbo could literally cry with happiness. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
The person reached for a bucket of milk and Tubbo was surprised to see Dream, the man he learned to dislike through the many wars he fought against him. Despite despising him, he couldn’t be happier to see the green hoodie and the smiling mask he wore.
“Don’t thank me.” Dream scoffed, “Thank Techno for stalling.”
“You still saved me,” Tubbo replied as he took the milk bucket Dream offered him. “Why’d you do that?”
“Yeah, well…I’m not a heartless monster like Wilbur and Tommy paint me to be.” Dream sighed, “I thought you would have some common sense and not stand there while they were boxing you in, but I guess you’re still an idiot.”
“Hey!” Tubbo pouted, “I’m not an idiot.”
Dream admitted, “Alright, fine, sorry. You’re not an idiot. You’re actually one of the smartest kids I’ve ever seen. I’m just a bit frustrated that I had to go save you. I had to fake the death message and everything or else Schlatt would’ve been on my ass.”
“You can do that?”
“Well…I have connections.” Dream hummed, “When you go out of that door, you have to promise never to come back here, and to promise you will never tell anyone you still have 2 lives left. Not Wilbur, not even Tommy. No one. It’s for your own safety.”
Dream had real concern in his voice and suddenly, Tubbo was remembering someone else saying that. They were telling him that it was for his safety that his name was Tubbo and that it was for his safety that they couldn’t stay together.
He didn’t remember much, but he felt his heart hurt in longing.
“Bumblebee?” Dream raised an eyebrow as he looked towards the teen, “You okay?”
Tubbo nodded, ignoring the growing headache and ignoring the nickname Dream had called him, “…Yeah, sorry, was just thinking about something. I promise.”
“Good.” Dream gave Tubbo a stern look that was very similar to how a mother would scold a small child, “Don’t try that again.”
Tubbo nodded, “Thanks, Dream.”
“Anything for you.”
Tubbo felt Dream was acting a bit off than he usually was with his normal banter not present, but Tubbo brushed it off as Dream’s adrenaline from saving him.
Before Tubbo could reach the end of the doorway, Dream stopped him, “Hey, Tubbo, can I ask you a question?”
“Considering you just saved my life, yeah…”
“Who were you calling Clay? I heard you say that name before I enderpearled in to save you.” Dream asked.
“I…don’t know.” Tubbo replied, “I saw a man in the shadows watching the festival. He was a goat hybrid too and…I don’t know, I guess I just uttered the first name that came to mind.”
“Alright…” Dream nodded, “Thanks for letting me know.”
“Yeah…” Tubbo started to walk backward, “I’m gonna go now.”
“Oh yeah, the former L’manchildberg team will need your attention.”
Tubbo sighed, shaking his head. He didn’t bother correcting the man.
When he went back to Pogtopia, he was expecting a flurry of questions, but instead, he found Tommy mad with rage over “killing” Tubbo. Keeping his promise to Dream, he kept his mouth shut, but he couldn’t help but want to stop the sparring between the two. Tommy got pretty hurt and Tubbo spent time patching Tommy up while trying to tell his best friend that he forgave Techno.
Tommy didn’t understand, Techno didn’t care, and Wilbur thrived on the chaos. That was the worst part of it all. Tubbo was watching all his brothers go insane from the idea of not having power over L’manberg and that scared the shit out of him.
On top of that, he wanted to find out more about the man in the shadows, he wanted to know why Dream went through the trouble of saving him, and he wanted to know why Schlatt had given him the most surprised look as he whispered the name Clay. He wanted to know who this Clay was and why he didn’t remember him.
It was three days after the festival when Techno had come up to him alone. “Hey, kid.”
“Hey, Techno.” Tubbo nodded as he continued renovating Pogtopia.
“I hope I didn’t scare you at the festival.” Techno replied, “I knew that someone was coming to save you, but I could only stall for so long. I saw the death message.”
“It’s fine. I already forgave you.” Tubbo brushed it off, “You had to do what you had to do. Otherwise, you’d be committing treason and you would’ve lost your life.”
Techno sighed, looking around before he lowered his voice into a whisper, “So…how did Dream manage to save you? And fake that message?”
“I don’t know. He says he has connections to fake the death message, but from what I know, he teleported to where I am, used an invis pot on us and his shield, shielded us, and then teleported us out.”
“That’s sick.” Techno grinned, “But I really hope you’re alright. I’m sure it was terrifying.”
Tubbo snorted, “Yeah, no shit. But…you’re not going to tell Tommy, right? I promised Dream that I wouldn’t.”
“Course not.” Techno replied, “Thanks for being a good sport about it.”
Tubbo nodded, knowing that they’d be having a different conversation, had Dream not come to save him.
As Techno walked away, he looked back at Tubbo, “Oh, by the way, if you need ailment for those horns growing in, I think Dream has some.”
Tubbo’s hands flew to his horns, fluffing up his hair a bit more so the horns weren’t noticeable. “Thanks…”
Techno snapped and threw finger guns at Tubbo before walking away.
With those words, Tubbo knew he had to get to the bottom of his family and find out who he really is.
+++++++++++++++++++
Jonathan Schlatt hated the way he looked until he saw his two grown children. He hated the way he looked because it showed him how sad of a mess he was until he stumbled his way into DreamSMP.
When he had met Dream, he found it weird that Dream had hidden underneath a mask and a faux name, but then he saw Tubbo. He knew those starry eyes and he saw the way Dream looked at Tubbo and put two and two together.
The sons that had run away from him, run away from his abusive behavior were right under his nose this whole time. Toby and Clay were back with him again.
But he knew things would never go back to the way they were, at least not the way he knew it was.
So he pretended that he didn’t know Dream and Tubbo were his children. He pretended to not notice the distractions Dream put out for Tubbo to stay a spy. He pretended to not notice Dream emptying out his alcohol for water. He pretended to not notice the way Tubbo was starting to grow horns. He pretended to not notice Dream taking off his mask and staying hidden in the shadows during the festival. But he couldn’t pretend to not notice Tubbo whispering Clay’s name when he was executing the boy. He couldn’t pretend to not see Dream’s panicked expression as he tried to save his younger brother, only to be too late and only save himself.
He knew that Dream would be pissed off at him, so Schlatt did the only thing he knew how to do: drink it all away.
Holding the bottle to his lips, he let the alcohol come into his system only to curse and realize that Dream had replaced that pack with water. He knew it was for the best and he was glad that Dream was still trying to help him change, but he missed the taste of real alcohol and not having to pretend that the water was beer.
He saw Dream start to walk past the caravan and he knew that this was the one and only time he would get to talk to his son alone.
“Clay!” Schlatt called out.
Dream froze, gripping the blade he had sheathed.
“Sorry, do you prefer Dream?” Schlatt asked, “Either way, I know you heard me. You can’t run from me forever, son.”
Dream sighed, walking towards Schlatt, “What do you want, Schlatt?”
“What? Not even a warm welcome to your father.”
“You lost that privilege 12 years ago when you stopped being a father and started being an alcoholic.” Dream remarked coldly, “What did you need?”
“I want…to get better,” Schlatt admitted.
Dream scoffed, “Yeah right. You were awful to us then, you are awful to us now. There is no way I would think you’d change.”
“The truth is, I wouldn’t.” Schlatt admitted, “But I’ve been trying to change recently. You don’t think I’ve noticed you switching the alcohol for water? You don’t think I haven’t noticed Tubbo sneaking around? You don’t think I don’t know that Toby doesn’t know that you’re his brother and it’s killing you? I want to do better because I’ve been a shitty man and a shitty father. I want to be someone you can look up to, and if not that, then at least someone you can forgive.”
Dream crossed his arms and Schlatt could feel the eyes pierce through him.
“You never cared before and you tried to execute Toby.”
“I didn’t get to see how much you truly cared about Toby. But now I do. He doesn’t even remember you and you’re still risking your life for him because you care so much about your brother. I want to have that with you. I want to be able to protect you like how you protect Toby.”
He knew Dream wouldn’t forgive him. He was waiting for the arguing to come, but it never came. Instead, Dream gave a defeated sigh and told Schlatt to get rid of the bottles.
“You’re willing to forgive me?” Schlatt asked, hopeful.
“Forgive you? No. But I’m willing to believe that you can change because had this been years ago, you would’ve already killed me.” Dream muttered, “I’m going to check on my brother.”
As soon as Dream had walked away, Schlatt got to work with clearing out the empty bottles and pouring the alcohol bottles out and replacing them with water. He promised Dream that he would change and change he would.
He loved his sons, despite it being hard to show it.
It was hard some days when he was going through withdrawal and other days, it was easier. It was becoming easier and easier every day and soon enough, he was off alcohol. He had been clean for about a month when he saw Tubbo walking around.
“Tubbo! Tubs! My right-hand man!” Schlatt smiled at the teen, “What’s up?”
“Schlatt,” Tubbo replied with a cold expression.
“Ouch, why so cold, Tubbo?” Schlatt grinned as he slung an arm around the boy, “Walk with me, Tubs.”
Tubbo stiffened up, doing as he said, “Last time I checked, you were ordering Technoblade to execute me.”
Schlatt sighed, “A bit of an oversight on my part, son. Sorry about that, I just got so many, you know? But I’m getting better. I stopped drinking.”
Tubbo became suspicious, “Why? And why are you telling me this?”
“Look, I’m sorry, son. For every shitty thing I’ve done to you. During this presidency…and before. I haven’t been okay for a long time, but I’m okay now. I’m getting better. And I’m telling you this because I need someone to share my goddamn success with because it’s been hard. But I’m doing it for my son.”
“Who’s your son?” Tubbo asked and Schlatt could see the fear in his face. Schlatt knew he couldn’t tell him.
“Not sure if my son wants everyone to know that information, considering I’m one of the most hated leaders.” Schlatt replied, “But if you’re so worried, it isn’t you.”
Tubbo nodded, pretending to hide the relief. “So…that’s all you wanted to talk to me about? To share your success about how you’re getting better?”
“Yeah.” Schlatt grinned, “But…also because I noticed that you’re transforming. You’re becoming a hybrid. Doesn’t it hurt?”
Tubbo winced, “It’s really that noticeable?”
“Nah, kid.” Schlatt snorted, “But…as a goat hybrid myself, I can sense one of my own kind.”
“I see.” Tubbo nodded. “It doesn’t hurt that much.”
“Don’t lie, kid. I went through that transformation, I know what it feels like. Come on, I can show you how to make some ailment for it.”
Tubbo followed him warily and Schlatt asked, “What were you even doing in the SMP land anyways?”
“My horns were hurting and Techno mentioned that Dream had some ailment,” Tubbo mumbled.
“Well…look at the bright side: instead of you having to ask Dream all the time for some, you can learn how to make it.”
“What would I need?”
“Some berries, any kind that’s red, some herbal flowers which you can find just outside the SMP area, and…some water.”
“How would I make it?”
“Crush up the berries, toss it into a pot with the flowers and let it boil for a few minutes. Once it’s soaked, it should smell nice and that’s when you can use it on your horns. It should ease up the splitting headaches and it should strengthen your horns a lot faster. You can also use it for anything else that’s growing, or even just for cramps. It works for anything that hurts. If you don’t have any materials to make a healing potion, this should numb the pain until you can gather the materials.”
“Thanks…Schlatt.” Tubbo nodded as he watched Schlatt cook the ailment before giving it to him.
“No prob, bud. Promise me you’ll stay safe.”
“Why…are you acting so weird?”
“I’m supposed to act nicer to everyone that comes near me.” Schlatt winced, “Is it that bad?”
“Reel back on the kindness.” Tubbo smiled, “But thanks. I don’t think anyone else could’ve helped me with it. Especially since my dad’s not here and Techno’s transformation was very short-lived and he didn’t feel any pain.”
Schlatt felt his heart pang with a twinge of jealousy, but he pushed it down, “Thanks, kiddo. Let me know if you still need help with the ailment. Sorry for…trying to kill you.”
Tubbo gave him a genuine laugh and Schlatt felt his heart melt. He forgot how beautiful his baby boy was when he laughed.
It was then that Schlatt realized that this is what he wanted to do. He wanted to improve. For Dream. For Tubbo. For himself.
+++++++++++++++++++
Clay “Dream” Schlatt hated the way he acted. From the way he collected TNT to the way he manipulated others for his own benefit.
It reminded him too much of the way his father used to act. Of course, Schlatt was getting better, but he would never know the way Dream was hurting because of him. He just hoped that Schlatt could one day learn to be the dad he always needed but never had.
Dream collected TNT. Too much to be considered normal. He did it as a fun pastime because he was impulsive. He had it just in case there was another war, in case there was another battle, in case there was another anything. All he didn’t know though, was what Wilbur Soot Minecraft was going to offer to him in exchange for stacks of TNT.
“Look, it’s my favorite person, Dream!” Wilbur grinned. “Thank you so much for coming to see me at Pogtopia.”
“What do you want?” Dream asked, annoyed. He had been in the middle of picking flowers to surprise Tubbo with when he had received a letter from Wilbur to meet him as soon as possible.
“You’re so uptight, Dweamie.” Wilbur chuckled, “Sit! I have a proposition for you.”
“Make it quick. I have somewhere to be.” Dream replied coldly. Factually incorrect, but he knew the way Wilbur talked meant the plan was sinister, and as much as Dream loved a bit of chaos, he wasn’t down for anything that could put his family in danger. And as much as he hated his father, Schlatt was getting better. He was trying. He could become a good president soon enough and he knew that Schlatt would take Wilbur and Tommy out of exile soon after.
Wilbur tsked, “Alright, alright…I want you to give me stacks of TNT. I need it for a project I’m currently working on.”
From what he’s heard in whispers, he knew that Wilbur wanted something to do with Manberg and he knew that TNT never meant anything good.
“And why would I give you that?” Dream put it bluntly, “Because right now, you’re making it really easy for me to walk out of this deal.”
“So impatient too, Dweamie-Weamie.”
“Don’t call me that.” Dream hissed.
“What do you want, Dream? I can give you anything. Diamonds? Got it. Emeralds? Harder, but I can get it for you. Netherite? Might take me a while, but I can get it for you. Tormenting Tommy? I won’t like it very much, but I can still get it to you. Anything you ask of.”
Dream stiffened, “No thanks.”
“What? I know you love chaos.”
“Stacks of TNT? First of all, what makes you think I have that? Second of all, what makes you think I’d want the SMP blown up? You’re going crazy, Minecraft.” Dream stood up, about to leave when Wilbur makes a final offer.
“What if I promise you your family’s safety?”
Dream stopped in his tracks, “And who, pray tell, are my family?”
“You know…Sapnap, George, all your friends.” Wilbur grinned. “Or maybe even someone else? Like a brother, sister? I can protect them from harm if you ever invite them here.”
“My friends can take care of themselves.” Dream muttered coldly, “And I don’t need protection for my family when I don’t have any.”
“Oh, don’t be like that. I’m sure there’s something you need from me.”
Dream sighed, taking the leap, “Can you protect Tubbo with your life?”
“Oh, did you take a liking to my little brother?” Wilbur teased.
“Is that a yes or a no?”
“Absolutely I can.”
“Then, you’ll find yourself 5 stacks of TNT richer tomorrow night. Meet me here, same time. Don’t be late.” Dream replied coldly.
“Yes, sir.”
Dream sighed as he enderpearled away, looking back worryingly to wonder what would happen once Wilbur got his hands on Dream’s TNT. A promise could be broken but materials could not be taken back.
Soon enough, he found himself manipulating Wilbur through the chaos in order to try and protect Tubbo. He knew it was wrong and he knew he would only be hurting Tubbo more, but he couldn’t stop. He guessed Schlatt and him weren’t so different. They were both shitty people who made shitty mistakes.
And when he found himself numb over how Tubbo referred to Tommy as a brother because they grew up together, he consulted Schlatt. And Schlatt offered him the best advice that he could’ve given to a situation that couldn’t be helped: try to be there for Tubbo now.
And when he went crying to Schlatt about how fucking terrified he was of not being able to protect Tubbo, Schlatt offered to teach him necromancy. At first, Dream had denied it, but as the rebellion continued to stir, Dream’s anxiety got worse and soon, it took over his body and he accepted. He learned all the tricks and how to bring back the dead.
“That way, if our Toby dies, you can just bring him back to life.” Schlatt smiled, “Or I can. And everything will be okay.”
Dream nodded as he allowed Schlatt to wipe his tears away.
He was getting the father he deserved.
He hoped one day, Tubbo would get the same.
+++++++++++++++++++
Toby “Tubbo Minecraft” Schlatt didn’t hate a lot of the things he did until he hated the way he found out who he was related to.
It was a normal day when he had been walking down the SMP and had run into Dream. At first, he had jumped from the sudden appearance of the man, but then soon calmed down enough to ask Dream what was going on.
“Too bad, you’re going to have to.” Dream muttered as he pulled Tubbo towards him. A flaming arrow flew by, barely skimming his ears.
Tubbo winced, cupping his ear.
“I’m so sorry.” Dream apologized, “I’ll give you something for that later, I just need you to run.”
Tubbo didn’t trust Dream much, but he also didn’t want to die, so he allowed Dream to drag him to a safe place. Besides, he owed Dream a favor for saving his life.
Once they were safe though, Tubbo demanded an explanation. “What the hell, Dream?”
“I’m so sorry.” Dream sighed, heaving for air, “I found out that there are people hunting all goat hybrids because of Schlatt. Schlatt’s in hiding somewhere and I don’t know where, but until then, there are hunters trying to come out for all goat hybrids. I needed to get us into a safe place.”
“What? How do they know I’m a goat hybrid? Only Techno and Schlatt know that I’m a goat hybrid. How do you know? I haven’t told anyone, not even Tommy.”
“They know everything, Toby.” Dream sighed, adjusting his mask as he went to grab an ailment from the shelf.
Tubbo started to really look around, “Where…are we?”
“My secret sanctuary.” Dream replied, “The place I came to when I first escaped my home and the place I built my home when I first settled in the SMP.”
“You…had to escape your home?”
Dream’s face darkened, “My father was not a good man, Toby. He still isn’t. He’s trying, but it doesn’t change the shitty things he’s done.”
“I’m sorry, Dream.”
“Well…no matter.” Dream sighed, motioning for Tubbo to sit down, “What’s in the past is in the past. Now…this’ll heal your slightly tinged ear.”
Tubbo sat, gripping the sides of the chair as he let Dream put the ailment on the ear.
“I know, I’m sorry, Bumblebee, it’ll be done in a minute and then I can give you a lollipop. Just a little bit longer.” Dream mumbled.
“Dream…?”
“Hm?”
“Why do you keep calling me Bumblebee? And Toby? You know that’s not my name.”
Dream looked up, sighing as he ran his fingers through his hair, “I think it’s time you know the truth, Tubbo, about your family.”
Tubbo raised an eyebrow before he saw that Dream’s hood had fallen off. He saw Dream’s hair for the first time. Not only that, he saw the horns and the goat ears on the man.
Tubbo gasped, “You’re…one too. That’s why you were running. You were running from them. You were trying to protect the both of us.”
“Yeah…and word of advice: don’t try to shave your horns. I tried doing that. It didn’t work and was very painful.”
“Oh…I’m sorry.”
“No matter, here’s the lollipop I promised you.” Dream muttered as he gave Tubbo the treat.
“Is there anything else I need to know about you?”
Dream sighed, “Yeah…”
Dream had hesitated, but soon, he had taken off his mask, and there, Tubbo saw the man in the shadows he had seen on the day of the festival.
“…Clay?”
“Hey, Tubbs.” Dream gave a weak smile. “Do you remember me?”
The longer Tubbo looked at him, the more he could remember.
He remembered the way he was scared of his father. He remembered the way that his older brother used to hold him tight when he was scared. He remembered the way that his older brother pretended he wasn’t scared to protect him. He remembered the way he was reluctant to leave his older brother when they escaped. He remembered the way he promised his older brother that he’d always go by Tubbo until he met him again. He remembered the way his older brother promised him he’d always go by Dream until he found Tubbo again.
He remembered everything.
Then he remembered the things Schlatt and Dream had done, despite knowing Tubbo was their family.
“Oh my god.” Tubbo covered his mouth with his hands in horror. “I’m related to the two most hated people in the SMP.”
“Are you upset about it?”
Tubbo thought back to everything and didn’t remember a time when Dream tried to hurt him and when he was about to, he always tried to prevent anything from being hurt. In fact, Tubbo looked back and in every place he checked, Dream was always the second person to make the move towards violence. He was always reluctant.
“No…not really.”
Dream gave a small smile before frowning, “I’m sorry, Bumblebee, that you have to go through that. And through the fact that…you know, you’re related to the two most hated people.”
“It’s okay.” Tubbo replied as he curled up into a ball, “It was never your fault and it never will be.”
“It never will be yours too.” Dream replied, “You can tell anyone about your family now that you know, Tubbs, but just promise me one thing.”
“What?”
“Promise me that no matter what, you will stay safe. I don’t care what happens now, but I escaped all those years ago to keep you safe. I gave you up all those years ago to keep you safe. And it still applies now. Everything I’ve ever done was to keep you safe, so at least be safe.”
Tubbo sighed, “I promise, Clay.”
“Thanks, Toby.” Clay gave a small smile before he put his mask and hoodie back on before going out, “I’m going to make sure that it’s safe for you to go back to Pogtopia.”
With that, he left, only coming back once he was sure that Toby could be safe, and even then, escorting him back to Pogtopia.
Once he came into the ravine, Tommy had immediately rushed over to him, “Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you, big man.”
“I just found out who my true family is.”
“No way, really? Who?”
“Dream’s my brother and Schlatt’s my father.”
“No way.” Tommy scoffed, laughing, “You’re kidding right?”
When Toby had shaken his head, Tommy couldn’t help but laugh again, “Oh, that’s ridiculous. Don’t worry, Tubbo. Although you’re related by blood, you’ll never be like them.”
Despite Tommy being correct, Tubbo couldn’t help but feel hurt.
Tommy sighed, “Man, I don’t understand how you’re related to that…”
He tread lightly on the words, stopping himself before he said it, but Tubbo knew what he meant.
“Go ahead, say it.” Tubbo replied, “Tell me. Tell me that my brother is a monster.”
“I didn’t mean it.” Tommy sighed, “I’m just frustrated.”
“With what? He hasn’t laid a finger on you since you got Techno on our side. He’s supporting us now. He’s doing everything to help us from the shadows.”
Tubbo didn’t know why he was so defensive of Dream now, but there was a part of him that burned with the fire of wanting to rekindle the lost relationship between him and his brother.
“It doesn’t fix 2 fucking years of having to deal with that, Tubbs. And just because he hasn’t hurt me recently doesn’t mean much, especially in the span of things. He’s a bad person is all I’m saying.”
“Woah woah woah, what’s going on here?” Techno asked as he walked up towards the quarreling two.
“You don’t know what he’s been through. He’s taking it out in the only way he was ever taught.” Tubbo replied. “Sure, it doesn’t make it better. It shouldn’t invalidate your feelings, but you need to know where he’s coming from. That he doesn’t know any other way to discipline because he wasn’t taught any other way.”
“Alright guys, step back a little. I’m sure you two just said a few things that the other interpreted differently. Why don’t you two breathe and say sorry to each other?” Techno said, trying to defuse the argument brewing between the two friends.
“What do you mean by that?” Tommy asked Tubbo, ignoring Techno.
Tubbo was about to say something, but immediately stopped, “Nevermind.”
“You can’t just say that and then take it back! You usually say that-”
“I know what I usually say, but this is Dream’s secret. It’s not mine to tell and it’s definitely not one for you to know if Dream isn’t ready for you to find out.”
Tommy groaned, “What is it with the Schlatt siblings and their cryptic messages?”
“What is it with the Minecraft siblings and their need for attention, their need to be better than everyone?” Tubbo shot back.
It was so low that even Techno felt hurt at that.
Tubbo sighed, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I know there was a part of you that believes that.” Tommy crossed his arms.
“I just...I know that it’s hard for you, but I’m trying to get my brother to change.”
“You’re not doing a really good job of it.”
“I’m sorry, Tommy. Don’t you realize that I can’t control my brother? He makes mistakes and I know that he needs to make those mistakes to continue to grow. So I can only guide him towards the direction. Otherwise, I’d be just as bad as my father controlling us. Besides, I just found out today.”
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, they say,” Tommy mumbled under his breath, but Tubbo heard it.
“You think I’m a monster?” Tubbo asked and Tommy knew he went too far, but he couldn’t go back.
“Woah, woah, both of you, calm down. We can talk about it later.” Techno started.
“Well, did you ever try to actually help him? Could you ever help him?” Tommy asked.
“You know as well as I do about what goes on during the war. It was horrendous, but if you’re calling me a monster, I guess it takes one to know one, doesn’t it?” Tubbo snarled.
“Oh, Tubbo, thank god you have blue eyes, otherwise I wouldn’t know who the evil brother was.”
His voice raised a bit, the line echoing in the cave.
And that was the final straw.
Tubbo felt his rage increasing, “You have no right to say that when you and your brothers have tried to kill me on multiple occasions. At least Dream never fought just to kill. At least my brother fought to defend.”
Tommy faltered for a second as he started to debate what to say next, but he was left speechless.
“That’s what I thought,” Tubbo muttered as he walked out of Pogtopia.
+++++++++++++++++++
Jonathan Schlatt hated the way he acted, especially when he was self-sabotaging.
Life was getting bad again and he felt the temptations of wanting to drink again come back harder than usual. He resisted it, though it got harder every day as everyone started turning on him.
Especially with that scare of his people rising up to kill all the goat hybrids. He remembered going into hiding, just praying that his boys were safe. He knew Dream and Tubbo could defend themselves, probably more than he could defend himself, but faced with the anger of a thousand villagers, he wasn’t sure.
However, he couldn’t help the relief flood into his face when he saw Dream had come back with Tubbo in hand. He couldn’t help but feel the fatherly instincts kick in as he went to embrace Dream and he couldn’t help but be happy over the fact that the truth was out. That they were all a family.
However, he knew that he wouldn’t win the revolution. He wouldn’t win anything in fact. He knew that there was war brewing and if he wasn’t careful, Dream would soon turn and he’d be all alone in his time of passing.
So he did the only thing he knew how to do. He drank.
But Schlatt wasn’t one to break promises, so he filled up all his alcohol bottles with mocktails. Drinks just enough to get the kick, but not enough to actually break his sobriety streak.
It was the day of the revolution that he found himself downing drink after drink of these mocktails.
He remembered seeing his son disappointed in him. He remembered everyone crowding the van. He remembered everyone pointing weapons at him, ready to kill him. he remembered everyone telling him how much of a failure he was. He felt everything becoming dark and he knew that the stress had finally gotten to him. His heart was hurting and he knew it was his time to go.
But then, he heard himself mutter something he thought he’d never say. “Toby, I don’t want to die.”
It seemed to catch everyone off guard as his youngest son crouched down by his father.
“Dad…”
“Hey, Bee.” Schlatt smiled, “Where’s your brother?”
“Here.” Dream replied as he knelt down beside him.
“You two are so beautiful and strong and smart. I’m so proud of you. Do you know that?”
“Yeah…Dad. I do.” Dream replied, tsking as he looked at the empty bottles, “But I thought you promised me that you’d make me proud.”
Schlatt just gave a small smile, “Please…I know it’s my time to go. I know that I’m going to die. I know that whatever time I have limited is going to be spent in this crappy drug van drinking away all my life problems as everyone I’ve ever loved turns on me and watches me die. Just grant me one more thing.”
“What do you want?” Dream asked, clearly upset. Not over the fact that Schlatt was going to die, although he suspected Dream WAS a bit upset over it.
Clay seemed more upset over the fact that he trusted Schlatt to not drink and here Schlatt was, pretending like he was drunk.
“One last drink with the two of you.”
“I can’t drink yet.” Tubbo hesitated.
“Don’t do it, Tubbo. You don’t know what he put in them. Maybe he poisoned them.” Tommy started.
Schlatt snorted, knowing that was very unlikely. “Come on….one drink.”
Dream sighed as he grabbed two bottles, “One thing for my miserable old man. God…the things I do. Come on, Bumblebee, drink up. I’ll sober you up immediately after.”
“Thank you.” Schlatt smiled weakly as he grabbed a bottle.
He brought the bottle up to his lips, watching the other Schlatts do the same, Dream taking his mask off and hiding his face so only the Schlatts could see him. As he let the sweet syrupy flavor overtake him, he watched the faces of Dream and Tubbo.
“I love you two so much. You’ve made me so proud. I’m sorry I wasn’t a good person, but you two are better than I could ever dream to be.” Schlatt smiled as he felt everything go dark one last time.
Then, he heard the painful screams from his sons and knew that his time was up.
+++++++++++++++++++
Clay “Dream” Schlatt didn’t like the way he sounded until his voice kept reminding him of his father. All the good and bad of his father.
He knew that people were treating him and Tubbo differently since they found out that the two brothers were sons of Jonathan Schlatt.
While everyone else was celebrating the loss of the tyrant, Clay and Toby had to deal with the loss of their father. The father that was trying hard for them.
The father that never broke his promises. The father Clay wished Toby had gotten to experience. The father Clay wished he had gotten.
Dream knew he could easily resurrect Schlatt with all that was happening, but he knew that isn’t what Schlatt wanted. Schlatt got the ending he wanted, and it wouldn’t be fair to take that away from his father.
“Bumblebee? Is that you?” Dream asked as there was a knock on the door.
“Yeah.” A muffled voice replied, clearly sad. Dream rushed to open it and let Toby fall into his arms.
“What’s wrong?”
“Wilbur and Tommy don’t trust me anymore. They say, ‘Once a Schlatt, always a Schlatt.’ I don’t know what to do. I didn’t know where to go.”
Dream sighed, pulling his brother into a hug, “You can always come to me, okay?”
Tubbo nodded, “Thanks, Clay.”
Dream smiled, “Hey, look at the bright side. Manberg’s gone and L’manberg’s back.”
“With Wilbur, whom I remembered you gave 5 stacks of TNT to, and Tommy, whom I remembered you stealing his disks.”
“Uh-huh.” Dream snorted, “Well…I did all that to protect you.”
“Stealing Tommy’s disk?”
“…okay, maybe a little bit was to mess with Tommy.” Dream snorted, “But…the point still stands. The thing you were fighting for is finally yours again.”
“They were going to make me president, you know…”
“That’s amazing-“
“But then they found out I was a Schlatt and said that they didn’t want another Schlatt tyrannical rule.”
“Huh.” Dream frowned, “You know what, I’m not going to waste my energy on trying to knock some sense into them.”
“…Clay?”
“What’s up, Bumblebee?”
“I miss Dad.”
“Me too, Toby. Me too….” Dream sighed as he took off his mask to show the hurt underlying his eyes. “He was just becoming a better father, too.”
“It isn’t fair.”
“I know.”
“And now…Wilbur and Tommy hate me.”
“They don’t hate you.” Dream tsked, “They hate me.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
Dream exhaled a laugh, “You’re funny, Tubbs. I’m a bad person. Dad was a bad person. You, on the other hand? You are so full of sunshine and good. I watched you grow up for three years. Throughout all of it, you were loyal to the ones you considered brothers and you trusted everyone. Even me. You are the light of good in the family’s darkness of evil. You and Mom, actually. You took a lot after Mom.”
“Do you…remember her?”
“Not really.” Dream breathed, “All I know was that she loved us and she loved Dad. That’s all I need to know. I’m sure she and Dad are finally together again.”
“Yeah.” Tubbo sighed, “But…I know they hate me because they hate you.”
“How so?”
“They told me that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. That you were a monster and the fact that I defended you meant that I was too. That since we had the same blood, we were exactly the same.”
“Don’t listen to them.” Dream scoffed, “You and I are two different people. Whether that’s good or bad, I don’t know, but they shouldn’t think that of you. Especially since they are your brothers.”
“You were my brother first.” Tubbo replied, “You sacrificed everything to keep me safe. All they did was keep me company.”
“They were there when you needed them. I wasn’t.” Dream replied.
Tubbo sighed, “Yeah, I know. I just…I feel so hurt that they don’t accept me just because of the person my father was.”
“Are you sure they meant it? Or was it just in the heat of the moment?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Then maybe you should talk to them. If they apologize, then you know that it was in the heat of the moment. And if it wasn’t, it’ll be okay. Either way, I’ll be here, ready to hear whatever you want me to say.”
“Thanks, Clay.” Tubbo gave a small smile, “You know…your voice reminds me a lot of Dad.”
Dream had never thought about it until now, but he guessed it was true. He picked up a lot of mannerisms from Schlatt, especially in the way he talked, and he felt his heart break a little. The only reminder he would have of his father was his voice and Dream didn’t know if that was a good thing or not.
He watched his little brother walk out of his home, only to not come back for the next two weeks. He guessed that things went well at L’manberg, but he couldn’t find the effort to try and get up to check. He didn’t find himself wanting to go to his father’s funeral, nor did he find himself doing anything. He just found himself huddled up in his room, talking to himself in hopes that he could continue to hold onto the only memories he had of Schlatt.
Schlatt wasn’t a good person or a good father to him, but he was trying near the end and Dream liked that. And no matter how much he said he hated the old man, he didn’t. He knew where Schlatt was coming from, and Dream could forgive him.
He just didn’t want to forget Schlatt.
It was into his third week of isolation that there came a knock at the door. Begrudgingly, Dream asked who it was before getting up to go open the door.
“It’s…Toby.”
Dream cringed, knowing the concern in his little brother’s voice meant he was in for a scolding. He hesitated in opening the door.
“Listen, I know that you probably don’t want to talk to me, but I’m worried about you. I haven’t heard from you in a long time, and even Sapnap and George say they can’t make you open the door. I know you’re upset over Dad’s death, but you need to face the world. It’s really scary out here, but you’ll have me out here. The world sucks, but I’m coping because I have people who care about me. You do too.”
Dream sighed, curling up into a ball by the front door.
“…if you don’t want to say anything, that’s fine. I’ll be out here until you open up. Things on the SMP have been wild. Techno found out about his brothers going behind his back and forming the country again, so he went to assassinate Wilbur to get some sense into him. However, before he could, Philza Minecraft stopped him. You remember him, right?”
“The immortal…the one that I had given you to take care of.” Dream murmured.
“Exactly.” Dream could hear Tubbo’s smile through the door, “Anyways, Phil stopped Techno, but then Wilbur didn’t realize Phil would be there because he planned a suicide mission that would kill both him and Techno. It didn’t work, instead causing a whole explosion to go out through the town. I told you it was a bad idea to give him 5 stacks of TNT.”
Dream gave a snort.
“Anyways, we’ve been rebuilding the town and we’re going to put Wilbur and Techno in time out for now. Tommy’s taken over as president and is going to seek his discs out soon, so you better lookout. Or at least give them back.”
Then silence befell the two for a few seconds before Tubbo picked it back up again, “I never forgot you, Clay. Nor did I with Schlatt. I just wished so hard to. I wanted to forget that you left to protect me and hopefully forget you enough that it wouldn’t hurt as much to think about what would’ve happened had we stayed together. I convinced myself that everything I remembered about you and Schlatt was just a dream. But then…I found something in my pile of boxes the other day.”
“What is it?” Dream asked, his voice barely a whisper.
“The bee plushie that you bought me. When I first arrived at Phil’s, I never let go of it. It was only when Phil forced it out of my hand to put it in the wash that I decided it was better to put it in the attic.” Tubbo sighed.
Dream took a deep breath before he stood up and finally opened the door for his brother. Tubbo fell back, as he was leaning against the door and was clearly not expecting Dream to open it.
“Jeez, Dream, you look like a mess.”
“I know.” Dream rolled his eyes.
Tubbo gave a small smile, “It’s okay, I’m here now to help you through it.”
Dream shot him a forced smile, “Great….thanks.”
Tubbo threw the nearest pillow at him, “Alright, don’t do that tone with me.”
There was a genuine laugh, something that sounded too similar to Schlatt’s, that made both brothers genuinely smile.
+++++++++++++++++++
Toby “Tubbo Minecraft” Schlatt didn’t like the way his voice sounded until he realized that it had aspects from everyone that he had ever loved. From the Minecraft brother’s weird quirk of annunciating certain syllables to the speed that the Schlatt’s liked to talk at.
However, many didn’t agree, especially Philza Minecraft. When Phil had first entered the server, he was glowering with rage towards the twins. He gave them an hour-long lecture about why it was a bad idea, and still, Wilbur pressed the button.
Phil couldn’t shield everyone fast enough and it ended up that Tubbo became the only one to die in that explosion that day. Tommy had screamed, thinking that it was the end of Tubbo’s last life, but when Tubbo had come back, he had to explain that he was given an extra life without saying it was Dream who saved him that day.
The moment that Tubbo was back into Phil’s arms, Phil asked him one question.
“What’s wrong with your voice?”
“Wh-what do you mean?”
“You’re talking slower. Why are you speaking like that?”
“I’m talking the way I normally talk.”
“No, Tubbo, now that I think about it, you have been talking a bit different. You’ve been talking exactly like that son of a bitch we called a tyrant.”
Tubbo faltered a bit and then realized that he, in fact, talked at the same speed as Dream and Schlatt. He had been so focused on everything else that he hadn’t realized that he adapted their speed of speaking to keep a bit of them close to him at all times.
“Tommy told me you found out who you’re related to. Is that why he sounded so upset when he told me you were related to Schlatt and Dream?”
Tubbo inhaled a sharp breath, “Yeah. He thinks I’ve become a lot like them ever since I found out.”
“Well, he isn’t wrong. You do sound different and you do act differently. You sound a lot more mature.”
“Thanks.” Tubbo exhaled in relief, “I thought you’d hate me because they were related by blood to me.”
“I would never. You grew up with us and I know that although they were your blood, we were there for you when you needed us.”
“Yeah.” Tubbo nodded.
“I’m glad you’re safe, Tubbs.” Phil ruffled his hair.
After that reaction, Toby decided not to tell Phil anything else, like his real name or his nicknames, or anything about his past life that he remembered. It was better that way. Not only that, but he also decided not to mention his second death to Dream. He knew that Dream would freak out and go all berserk on the Minecraft family, which is what he didn’t want. He also never wanted to see Dream’s broken face as he realized that Tubbo broke the promise to always be safe.
It was about three months later after Dream had finally gotten out of his house that Tubbo would find himself in danger again. He hadn’t realized that Wilbur still had a lot of TNT left, and he didn’t realize that Wilbur still was convinced that the only way to solve a problem was to kill the two people in the problem. Techno and he were at ends, always trying to decide the fate of L’manberg. It had been too late when he had realized it.
Wilbur was in the middle of fighting with Techno when Tubbo tried to split them up.
“Guys, I’m tired of fighting. Please…why can’t we work it out diplomatically?”
“Shut up, Schlatt. You’ve never done anything good in your life to help L’manberg so why would you now?” Wilbur hissed.
Tubbo shut his mouth instantly, knowing that in a few minutes, they would apologize and pretend like they weren’t at fault, but would still think that Tubbo was exactly like Schlatt.
He didn’t believe it was a bad thing, but he hated the way that others thought it was.
Tuning back into the conversation, he saw Wilbur’s smirk.
“Oh yeah, if you really think that, Techno, I think you should try me. Press a button and show that I’m better off dead.” Wilbur hissed at his brother.
Techno gave a look, “I’m not stupid, Wilbur. You don’t have enough TNT to blow us up. You haven’t been collecting it after you used all of it.”
“Who said that I used all of it?”
With that, Tubbo’s eyes widened and he yelled one thing before he saw Wilbur press the button.
“HELP!”
He didn’t know who heard it and covered himself for impact as he let the explosion come around him. The explosion didn’t hurt at all. However, the buildings crumbling onto him did. They hurt so much and Tubbo knew that it was his time to go. He was so young, but he always rushed headfirst into danger, hoping to protect his family. Who would’ve known it would be that same family that would cause him to be at the end of his life?
“Toby, Toby!” He heard someone’s voice. It was Dream.
“Clay.” He weakly whispered as he struggled to find him.
“Tubbo, what happened?” Dream rushed over to him, “You’re hurt, oh god. We need to go back and heal you. You don’t have to lose another life.”
“Dream…it’s okay. It’s okay.” Tubbo gave a small smile, “I did everything I could to keep myself safe. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise.”
“No, no, don’t say that.” Dream replied, “I’ll get you out of that pile, and then we can heal you. You don’t have to be in your last life. It’s fine.”
“I have something to tell you.”
“Whatever you say, it can be done after we get you out.” Dream replied, “Here, drink this.”
“No, no, Dream. You don’t get it. Nothing you do is going to save me. It’s only going to delay the inevitable.”
“Okay, it’s fine. Then I’ll protect you even more than before and I will make sure you don’t get into this mess again. I can’t lose you, Toby. I already did once.”
Tubbo felt the tears prick his eyes, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“I’m already on my last life. Wilbur blew me up a couple of months ago. I didn’t want to tell you because I knew that you’d go after him.”
“No, that can’t be possible. I’ve done my best to protect you. I can’t lose you again. When’d he get to you?”
“When you were grieving for Dad. It’s not your fault. It’s mine. I was in the pit of danger.”
Dream took a deep breath, “It’s never your fault, Tubbo. It never will be. You’re just a kid, how would you know?”
“Because I was raised in war.”
“You were never taught right from wrong because of that.”
Tubbo sighed and Dream sat down next to the boy as he had given up trying to get Tubbo out of the crushing weight of the pile.
“You’re…sure that you don’t want me to rescue you?”
“No…after this, I’ll be protected with Dad and I’ll be waiting for you. I’ll be okay and no matter what happens, I’ll always love you.” Tubbo gave a small smile, “Thank you for doing everything for me, but it’s time you started living for yourself, Clay.”
He wiped a tear from his brother’s face.
“Don’t you see, Toby? I have been living for myself. I experienced everything before I settled to the SMP and when I found you again, protecting you gave me the purpose in life I was looking for. I don’t know how I could go on.”
“Try, for me?”
His older brother sighed, nodding, “I promise, Tubbs.”
“Keep my bee plushie safe for me.”
“I will.”
“I love you.” He whispered. “Thank you for being the best brother I’ve ever had.”
With that, he closed his eyes, and everything faded to black.
+++++++++++++++++++
Clay “Dream” Schlatt hated the way he couldn’t let things go until his little brother died. When his little brother died, he stopped caring. He spent his whole life trying to find Toby only for him to be taken away by the very same people that he was supposed to trust.
With anger fueling his every move, he drew his sword and stormed into L’manberg, trying to find where Wilbur Soot Minecraft was.
Every townsperson shrank in fear at the sight of him, but they all pointed him to where Wilbur Soot Minecraft was.
As he walked up there, he saw two other people surrounding him. Philza and Tommy.
“Dream Schlatt. It’s nice to see you. What are you doing here?” Wilbur smirked.
“You promised.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m not sure what you’re referring to.”
Dream felt as if Wilbur was almost mocking him.
“Oh…you know what you did Wilbur.” Dream scoffed, “You killed my brother.”
“Well…he was only a casualty in the end. Besides, he told us that you had the ability to grant him extra lives. I’m sure that you can do that again.”
“Wha…what are you talking about?” Dream exhaled a painful laugh, “I never gave my brother extra lives.”
“Wilbur, what is he talking about? What do you mean you killed Tubbo? No, you told me that he’s just off hanging out with Dream today. Dream, what did you do to my brother?” Tommy growled.
“I could say the same to you.” Dream glowered, “Last time I remember I promised you 5 stacks of TNT in exchange for safety to my little brother. Now, I see that you have used 3, and my brother is gone, so either…you suffer the same fate…or you pay the consequences. It’s whatever you want.”
“Woah woah woah, calm down, mate. I’m sure whatever happened is a misunderstanding. Tubbo was healthy and alive the last time I saw him.”
“No! You don’t get to tell me what is a misunderstanding.” Dream yelled, “You do not get to tell me that I didn’t see the boy I tried so hard to give a good life to get crushed to death in front of me. You do not get to tell me that when my brother’s last words were how I was the best brother he could’ve ever gotten. You do not get to tell me that when I watched every single one of my family members die in front of me.”
The tears threatened to fall, and fall they did as Dream soon felt something cold roll down his cheek.
“Tubbo…” Tommy breathed, “Wilbur, what did you do?”
“I got rid of that little pest, once and for all.” Wilbur scoffed, “It wasn’t my intention, but overall, it was a good thing I got rid of him. You were too attached to him, Tommy, and this gives us an upper hand on Dream.”
“How could you?” Dream shook with the fury of a thousand suns.
“Wilbur, he was your brother. Why?” Philza looked defeated.
“I don’t let people get in my way, father…and Tubbo was in my way.”
“God…how could you? You make me sick.” Tommy scoffed, “That was my BEST friend. He was my brother.”
Dream sighed as he gripped his sword tighter, “You have a choice, Wilbur. You need to choose one.”
“What’s the worst you can do?” Wilbur smirked as he took out his sword, “Because it sure ain’t as good as mine.”
With that, Dream lunged for an attack, only for Wilbur to quickly dodge it.
Wilbur’s fighting, however rusty, was good. Good enough for Dream not to hurt him.
The thing about Dream, though, was that Dream was a hacker filled with the darkest magics. Dream wasn’t going to revive his family members when they had passed away with everything they wanted to do fulfilled, but he could harm someone with all the knowledge he knew and harm he did. He wore Wilbur down through cuts and small wounds that he managed to make all over Wilbur’s body.
Then he overpowered Wilbur. Right before he was going to plunge him in the heart, Dream asked, “Any last words? To your father or to your brother?”
Wilbur smirked, “It was never meant to be.”
With that, Dream rolled his eyes, plunging the sword into Wilbur’s heart, and pulled it out, sighing as revenge was finally served. Long deserved revenge.
“WILBUR!” Tommy shrieked as he finally caught up to the two, “No, no, no, Dream, what did you do?”
“Easy. I did the same thing to Wilbur that he did to my brother. I killed him.”
Philza came over, his eyes filled with fury, “And do you believe that was the right thing to do, boy?”
“I believe it was the best thing to do for me. I don’t care what you guys think, I know that I needed to do that for myself. To move on.”
“That was my son.”
“And?”
“He had brothers who loved him, a country who cared about him, townspeople who adored him, a son that trusted him, and more. Did you really have to put everyone through the same mourning you have to go through with Tubbo?”
Dream replied with one word. “Yes.”
Tommy looked up, clearly angry with tears streaming down his face, “You motherfucker. Wilbur wasn’t a good person, but he was trying and he was my brother. You KILLED him!”
Tommy shook as he grabbed the same sword Dream had killed Wilbur with. “Face your consequences now.”
Dream threw his head back and laughed, “Go ahead, Tommy. Go ahead and kill me, but if you do, just know that every secret on how to revive the dead will die with me.”
Tommy faltered as he thought about it, but Phil took the sword from Dream and smiled, “It’s a good thing I know a little bit about resurrecting then.”
And then the world turned black.
When he opened his eyes, he saw the goddess of death smiling at him.
“Hello, my child. My name is Kristen, and I’m the goddess of death. It’s time I brought you home. Home to your family.”
Dream raised an eyebrow as he stood up. He wasn’t wearing a mask anymore, nor was he wearing a hoodie. He was in comfortable clothing where he found himself comfortable without having to hide his face and his horns. He followed the goddess of death and allowed her to help him through everything.
It was days of walking and days of traveling. Throughout it all, Kristen asked many questions about his life, and about the people he came across. She was good company.
They came across many clearings of many different areas, but at the end of the day, they came to his sanctuary.
“This is my sanctuary. What are we doing here?”
“CLAY!” He heard a voice that he hadn’t heard in a long time.
He turned around and smiled with tears in his eyes as he saw his mother with her green eyes and light hair.
“MOM!” He cried as he pulled her into a hug.
“What’s going on out here?” Another voice asked.
Clay looked up to see the one and only Jonathan Schlatt with a genuine smile he hadn’t seen in ages.
“DAD!”
“Clay….” Schlatt gave a smile as he went to hug him, “It’s nice to see you again, although I would say this visit was too soon. First Toby, and then you?”
“Toby’s here?” Dream asked hopefully.
“I’m right here.” Tubbo smiled as he appeared behind Dream, “Did you keep your promise?”
Dream snorted as he pulled out something from his pocket. The bee plushie.
“Better than you keeping yours.”
Kristen smiled at the family, “My work here is done. Welcome home, Clay “Dream” Schlatt.”
“Thank you.” Dream smiled as he looked at his family.
He missed them so much. Though things had changed, he knew he had all of eternity to finally experience what being a part of a family was. He couldn’t wait.
————–
Notes that weren't in the fic but I wanted to include:
- Dream becomes disappointed when he finds out that Schlatt starts drinking again, but once he tastes the mocktail, he knows that Schlatt was just pretending and that Schlatt's drink was probably poisoned by one of his workers, so that's why he died.
- Dream knows that Schlatt died on his own terms and doesn't want to revive him because of that.
- Dream thinks that Tubbo had so much more to live for, but he knows that Tubbo would hate him if he came back to live just because Dream wanted it.
- Phil knows stuff about resurrection because his wife (Kristen) is the goddess of death and taught the immortal
- Techno detaches himself from Wilbur and Tommy as soon as they regain power in L'manberg
- When Techno is not mentioned, that's because he's on his retirement arc
- Dream thanked Philza when Dream came out of his mourning for taking care of Tubbo
- Philza doesn't believe it's a life for a life, so that's why he gets upset over the fact that Dream killed Wilbur and his anger causes him to kill Dream
- No matter how much bad Dream did, he was still a young adult and Kristin believes that if he got time to be a child that he would be a better person, so she gives him that opportunity in the afterlife
- Kristin knows that Schlatt did bad but she knows that Dream wants Schlatt with him, so she gives that wish to Dream
- Shaving horns = cutting them off (or at least trying to)
- Dream and Tubbo's mother is not a hybrid (regular person)
- Tubbo's hybrid transformation is still transforming (he'll continue in the afterlife to transform into a full goat hybrid but then his age will be frozen once he's done transforming)
im surprised that so many people in dtblr are barbie fans like me, and i love that you guys started putting your favourite barbie movies in the tags. i actually have many of the classic barbie movies on DVD and will occasionally bust them out to watch for fun, so im glad that no one here is "too old" for that.
also, for those wondering, ive actually thought about using multiple different barbie movies for an au, but the one i became fixated on was a dteam centered "princess charm school" au!
the idea is that i follow the original movie plot, but im tweaking details and using dsmp characters (with only a few made-up characters to fill in the blanks). patches even makes an apearance! i have a bit written out for the characters, but not a lot, which ive put below the cut.
also, @veyette, hope you enjoy!
This isn’t a real-life world; it’s a mash-up of real-life, the DSMP world, and the Princess Charm School world.
*
World Building
Magic is real!
Magic is mostly in the form of magical or supernatural animals, land, or objects – you don’t see people doing a lot of magic unless their family had magic, or they hold a magical position (yes, I’m talking about the magical princess trope).
*
Royal Crafter’s Academy
Royal Crafter’s Academy is a boarding school where royals, nobility, those with families in service to royals, and the ultra-rich go to school.
The school is mixed, so both girls and boys go to the school.
The school covers the high school grades, from ninth to twelfth, ages thirteen to nineteen.
It’s basically like any normal boarding school, but it has well funded facilities, and, oh yeah – ✨magic✨.
Royals, nobility, and the rich come from other kingdoms and countries to attend the Academy because it’s that good.
There’s definitely a hierarchy within the school – with the royals at the top, and those in service to the royals at the bottom.
*
Bad Sinclair (Alexandra Privet)
The new headmaster of Royal Crafter’s Academy.
He was a previous student of Crafter’s, courtesy of his parents, who were a Lord and Lady.
Bad is the youngest headmaster of the school ever, having taken the position at the age twenty-five.
He adopted the late King Exdee’s cat, Patches, after the royal family passed away in a car crash.
Bad cares about Dream a lot because while others see someone unworthy of being at such a prestigious Academy, he sees a kid who was down on their luck and now has an amazing chance. He gives private lessons to Dream because he believes Dream has potential, and he sees them work because Dream’s grades improve and he becomes happier at the Academy.
Deanna Greene (Miss Willows)
She was kicked out of her home at sixteen and started working soon after. She built a life for herself and became an independent woman.
She was only twenty-three when she found a baby on her doorstep and made the decision to adopt him and name him Dream, because she loved him so much.
Deanna started seeing a man in her early thirties, hoping for a future together, but then she became pregnant, and he ghosted her. She decided to keep the baby but fell ill soon after she gave birth. She hated it, but she had to let Dream start working really young to help make ends meet.
Dream Greene / Clay Craft (Blair Willows)
He was adopted by Deanna Greene, who found him on her doorstep when he was barely a year old.
Dream helped raise his baby sister and tried to look after his mother when she fell ill after her pregnancy.
He became a waitress at “Craft Café” and has been working since he was ten years old to help his adoptive family keep their apartment.
His adoptive sister, Drista, entered him in a lottery without his knowledge, because she wasn’t old enough to do so herself. The lottery was for the chance to go to the Royal Crafter’s Academy, a boarding school where royals, nobility, and the ultra-rich went to school.
Dream wins the lottery, which shocks him and excites his sister.
At the urging of his mother and sister, Dream accepts the invitation to the academy, hopeful that it can lead to a brighter future for his family.
Dream struggles a lot at the Academy:
Many people – including many teachers – don’t believe that he deserves to be at the Academy because he comes from a “sketchy” background and he’s not of nobility or money.
He was thrown into a completely new school, doesn’t know anyone, and also doesn’t know the content he’s been given. He’s learning everything for the first time, meanwhile everyone else is already ahead of him.
He immediately makes enemies with Technoblade, the heir presumptive of the throne, in physical education class after he beats him in a game, which definitely sets the mood for the rest of his stay at the Academy.
But Dream overcomes these struggles:
Bad, the headmaster of the Academy, is Dream’s first and biggest supporter. Bad believes Dream has potential, and just because he doesn’t have the right background doesn’t mean he can’t become one of the best students the Academy has ever seen.
Dream is funny and kind, and is quick to make friends; Sapnap, his roommate, and George, someone who lives across the hallway.
He eventually learns that he is actually the lost Prince Clay, son of the late King Exdee, who was thought to have died in a car crash years ago when he was just a baby.
With the help of his new friends, George and Sapnap, and a rival-turned-friend, Technoblade, he is able to reclaim his throne.
Exdee Craft (Queen Isabella)
The late King of the Prime Lands.
He was well loved by his people and peers; Exdee was known to be generous and fair as a ruler, but stern.
Married Penelope Miner, the older sister of Philza Miner, a lady in waiting.
Had one son, Clay Craft (Dream Greene), who was the spitting image of him.
George Lore (Isla)
The son of a Count and Countess, George takes school very seriously and is trying to follow in his parent’s footsteps.
You can often find him studying the library (he’s studying, he promises; he’s not trying to lure Patches into his lap with treats), or huddled away in his bedroom, actually studying.
George was standoffish to Dream at first because, like everyone else, he didn’t believe Dream deserved to be at the Academy, and that his spot was wasted on him. He thought Dream would be a slacker and eventually drop out.
George is surprised when he realizes he’s wrong about Dream, who proves that he’s a good student when George finds him studying early into the morning and pulling all-nighters just to catch-up on class curriculum. George offers to tutor him, to help, and the two quickly become attached at the hip, making Dream and Sapnap’s duo a trio.
George is also surprised to find out how cool Sapnap is, even though he’d believed Sapnap was a poor student and unambitious.
No, of course, he isn’t actually friends with Sapnap, stop being stupid.
Patches (Prince the dog)
Patches used to live with the royal family before they were all killed in a car. Her former owners were King Exdee and Queen Penelope.
Patches was just a kitten when his owners died, and Bad adopted her.
After sixteen years, when Dream arrived at Royal Crafter’s Academy, Patches immediately recognized him; Bad was very confused when Dream commented about how sweet Patches was, because she’s usually very shy and doesn’t like new people.
Patches roams the Royal Crafter’s Academy on her own free will, and can often be found in the library where it is quietest, or more recently, in the residence building by Dream’s room.
Philza Miner (Dame Devin)
The brother-in-law to the late King Exdee, Philza went to school to be a lord in waiting; but when the time came, no one picked him – not even Exdee, who married his older sister.
Philza became resentful of the royal family and became a power-hungry schoolteacher at Royal Crafter’s Academy.
Philza orchestrated King Exdee’s death at the hands of a car crash, in hopes that his oldest son, Technoblade, would inherit the crown. He tried to live his dreams through Techno.
Philza almost instantly recognizes Dream as Exdee’s lost son, Clay, who was the rightful heir to the throne. He’d be blind to miss the resemblance – Dream is the spitting image of his father. So, he tries to sabotage Dream at every turn, hoping he leaves the academy.
Sapnap Brantley (Hadley)
The son of a super rich racer; his father put him into the Royal Crafter’s Academy because he wanted Sapnap to be successful. He didn’t anticipate Sapnap almost getting expelled multiple times and being put on academic probation.
Sapnap is very grateful that he’s at such an amazing school, but all he really wants to do is skate and play video games. He doesn’t care about diplomacy or money or learning how to be a leader.
Sapnap would say he’s “chill” with a lot of people at the Academy (except for maybe George Lore, who he thinks is a stuck-up ass), but he doesn’t have any real close friends. He’s excited when he eventually gets a roommate, Dream, the lottery winner, and the guy doesn’t think Sapnap is an idiot for not having huge dreams or future plans. In fact, the two hit it off really well and become quick friends.
Oh, if only Dream wasn’t completely infatuated with George; but Sapnap is a good friend, and he’s willing to put up with the guy if Dream wants them all to be friends.
What are you talking about, no, of course not, Sapnap is not warming up to George; no, he doesn’t actually want to be friends with him!
Technoblade Miner (Delancy Devin)
Son of Philza Miner, with his first wife.
The heir presumptive of Prime Lands.
Techno has a good heart, but is arrogant and prideful due to his status, skill, and money. But as soon as he realizes Dream is the rightful heir to the Prime Lands, he decides to help his rival now turned friend reclaim his throne, going directly against his father.
Is later picked as Dream’s lord in waiting and right-hand man.
Dream's worked for the Emperor for as long as he can remember. He's the best there is--a manhunter like no other.
A manhunter who trained for years. Who never got a childhood. Who wants nothing more than to just run for the sake of it, rather than the sake of the hunt.
Too bad there's no escaping the Emperor and Dream would rather live chained than die free... at least that's what he thought. Then he's sent to kill three traitors. Then he meets Sapnap and George and Bad. Then he realizes maybe there are some things worth dying for. (Friendship being one of them.)
_____________________
Enjoy Manhunter!Dream who doesn't really want to be a manhunter, a George who would rather be sleeping, a Sapnap and Bad who just want to go home to the Nether, and one very done Punz. Ongoing, 269k words.
*** ** * ** ***
Chapter 12 (Sapnap pov):
Dragons protect the things they love, even if they are little more than glorified monsters.)
(He would happily become a monster for Bad.)
Chapter 27
“Bad, George, take Skeppy, get as far away from here as those stupid cuffs will let you, and hide. That’s an order, all right?” Punz says, voice low, and even when the loyalty charm has no reaction to Punz’s words—Q the only one with any hold over it—George still finds himself nodding in agreement. Then Punz turns back towards Dream, unsheathes his sword, and orders, “down, Dream. On your knees. Right now.”
Dream tilts his head, snorts, and says, “you know, Punz. I noticed something funny earlier.” Then, eyes narrowing, “you lost the receiver for my collar, didn’t you?”
And, as Punz goes absolutely sheet white at the words, George is struck with the feeling that he might have to watch someone die today. He hopes the carnage stops with Punz and Q, but looking at Dream now, he has a bad feeling it won't. Dream looks like he could kill the entire world without feeling a drop of remorse and the mere thought makes George's blood run cold.
This isn’t the Dream George remembers. This is a monster.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Summary:
"Is this what you wanted? For everyone to unite? Like this? Against you?”
“United against me is better than divided and alone,” Dream said, a practiced rule.
“No,” Sam snapped, “You can’t do this, Dream, you can’t do this to them. They’re people, not your fucking toys.”
“This is the only way.”
Sam snarled, getting close to his face. “Go fuck yourself you fucking demon. I should have never built this shit for you. If I knew what I know now, no God damn amount of money you could’ve paid me would’ve gotten me to do this for you. Fuck you.”
---
AKA: An exploration into the possibility of EVERYONE getting locked in Dream's prison. A day in the life of Pandora's Vault, where Dream makes the rounds and visits his family, united, together, just like he always wanted.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Summary:
What if you were God and you destroyed the world? What if you turned everyone you loved against you and dug your heel into the ground until all that was left of the earth were craters and graves?
And what if you were allowed a reset? What if you could look out on the carnage and choose to start over with a clean slate, where nobody remembered your past actions and nobody could hold you accountable?
Would you do what you did before? Or would you do everything in your power to prevent a repeat of your past mistake?
Dream's trying for the latter, but people won't stop leaving him.
---
AKA: An AU taking place during Dream SMP 2, where the world's a clean slate and nobody remembers the events of the first SMP except for Wilbur and Dream, who are desperately trying to keep things peaceful.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Summary:
Twenty-two times Dream absolutely did not act like a human in front of his people, and one time he didn’t have to worry about that.
(And while doing so starts wars, ends wars, lets people sleep on him, contributes to some pranks, causes mass destruction, rebuilds monuments, and saves a pet or two.)