The next few days were uneventful for the most part, trekking through various biomes with no trace of Dream anywhere. They would've gone through the Nether, but Phil didn't think that Techno could handle it, since he struggled to kill a mere zombie an hour beforehand.

Eventually, they stumbled upon a civilization nearby a field of flowers. The oddest thing about it was the mushroom-like buildings.

Where are we, in Smurf village?

"Oh, Techno, Phil, it's nice to see you two!" A person said as he walked out of a house.

He had raven hair and dark eyes. He wore a white bandana around his forehead that has been discolored over time. He wore a white t-shirt with a flame design on it, with a black sweater underneath. He wore black sweatpants as well as black shoes. He looked young, mid-twenties at the latest. It was then that Techno noticed the wedding band around his finger, paired with one purple gem and one green gem.

"Hey, Sapnap!" Phil greeted. "Uh, is Karl here? I'd like to talk to him."

'Sapnap' paused for a moment. "Technically, yes, he is here, though he doesn't remember much anymore. I managed to get him to remember as far back as founding Kinoko, but even that took a while. Why do you need him?"

"We're looking for Dream, and we were hoping that one of you knew where he ran off to."

Sapnap nodded, hesitantly walking into a large building. Techno and Phil followed, marveling at the large library. In the middle sat a man. He looked about as young as Sapnap, maybe younger. He wore a purple hoodie with a green swirl on the front. He had brown hair and eyes, the shade just slightly lighter than the leather of the book he was reading. He wore a similar ring to Sapnap, except it had a singular red gem.

"Ruby." The voice said. "Rubies represent fire."

Sapnap walked up to the man and whispered something in his ear while pointing toward Phil and Techno. The man nodded, closing his book as he got up. He walked towards the two men waiting for him.

"Phil, Techno." He nodded to both of them. His voice was lighter than Sapnaps. Softer. "Follow me."

The two men did, following the stranger.

"Is this that Karl guy you were talkin' about?" Techno whispered to Phil.

"Yeah. He lost his memory completely a few years ago, and the entire land visited him and found his library. Those books are some interesting reads, I'll give him that." Phil explained. "That happened shortly before the fifth and final war."

"We're here," Karl said, opening a large quartz door with a purple swirl on it instead of green.

Inside the door was a large quartz room. In the middle stood a statue of a man wearing a beanie playing guitar, a flag made of marble behind him.

Along the walls were bookshelves upon bookshelves, all filled to the brim with various books, all having the same author.

Karl Jacobs.

They all seemed to be part of a series since each of them started with "Tales of the SMP", followed by the title.

"So, what brings you two here?" Karl asked, sitting down on a large blue beanbag.

"We were hoping that you knew the whereabouts of Dream," Phil explained. "You see, Techno isn't from around here. Or at least, this one isn't. He's from an alternate universe. What was it, the 'Other World' or something? In any case, we need Dream's blood to create the portal, and we have no clue as to where he could actually be."

Karl hummed. "Do you have the book?"

"Uh, yeah, right here," Techno said, opening his bag and grabbing the book, handing it to Karl.

Karl flipped through the pages before landing on the right one. He then eyed the gemstone hanging from Techno's ear. "Can you give me that earring real quick?"

Techno tensed up, grabbing hold of the item. "Why...?"

"Just trust me."

Techno looked at Karl directly in the eye before begrudgingly taking the earring off, dropping it into Karl's open palm.

"Thank you. Now, Techno, this earring has been passed down through your bloodline for centuries, starting with Sir Billiam III, if I'm correct. You hear voices in your head, correct?"

Techno nodded.

"That's because of your heritage. Not only was Billiam tied with the Egg, a primordial being that is most likely a sort of god, but he was also the son of a demigod and a human, so..."

"So in technical terms, I'm related to a god?" Techno asked. "So I can go home?"

Karl shrugged. "Do you want to go home?"

Techno paused, thinking the question over.

Of course, he wants to go home. He missed Phil and his brothers and his nephew, as annoying as they all were.

But at the same time, he felt home here. Like this was where he was meant to be his entire life.

"You can always visit them, you know." Phil brought it up.

Techno sighed. "I'll sleep on it. It's getting late, anyway."

Phil nodded as Karl took them to a spare room in the library.

~<•>~

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