Tommy dutifully follows behind his older brother. He can hear Tubbo's quick footsteps behind him, and Shelby's voice echoes as she walks down the hallway. Tommy listens half-heartedly, pressing the box he brought as a gift against his chest. He feels a little silly and completely out of his depth. For as many balls and festivals that he's been to in his lifetime, including a few Summer Hunts mainly spent in his mother's embrace, he has never qualified any of them as a party. At least, not a party in the way that high schoolers would have thrown in the other world. Tommy had never been to one of those parties, and he certainly hasn't been to a private affair with a group of close-knit people. He didn't have friends or siblings that would have given him the opportunity to do that, and his parents didn't have friends or siblings either that would constitute a family party.

This was Tommy's very first party (in his own views), and he had decided to bring along a present. He thought it was a spectacular idea at first. Gift-giving was a fundamental part of close relationships. More to the point, he was a prince. He could afford to buy the entire capital a present, so he understood that buying a gift now wouldn't be a difficult matter. He was positive that he could get something special for his friend. He eventually picked out a cozy blanket, deciding that it was just the sort of homely gift someone would bring to what amounted to a house-warming party.

He feels embarrassment crawl through his body as he follows in between two people who did not bring gifts. Thinking about it now, maybe gifts are really only given during birthday parties. Tommy's face grows warm as he lowers his head, trying to hide his red cheeks behind the box he was still carrying. If only Tubbo hadn't been the one to pick him up. Wilbur surely would have told Tommy that bringing a gift was unnecessary or even inappropriate. Tommy bites the inside of his cheek. What is done is done, but he still feels anxious about the whole ordeal.

"This is my room," Shelby confirms, pushing open the door to a room in a hall near the attached annex that the ministries work out of. Shelby's had the room for a few weeks now, but she only recently decided that she was done decorating. She invited Wilbur, Tommy, and Tubbo to visit her new quarters to admire the hard-work she's put into making the place look respectable. Tommy was so excited to go to the party that he ended up making a foolish decision. At least, Wilbur and Shelby haven't started whispering and laughing about him yet. Tommy looks over his shoulder at Tubbo's dopey smile. Tubbo won't make fun of him, not when he realizes Tommy is genuinely distressed.

"I decorated this room myself using magic," Shelby explains as the two princes and the duke's son walk into the room. An imperial guard slips into the room as well, standing right beside the doorway. Shelby does not glance at the guard as she shuts the door behind her. With the door shut, magic flourishes all across the room.

Like most drawing rooms, the space is dominated by a sitting area with two navy blue couches on opposite sides of a small table facing each other and an assortment of matching chairs. The rest of the room is left to the host's discretion, and Shelby has taken that invitation in stride. There are frosted crystal pillars holding up the roof along the dark green walls. Vines with pale blue flowers grow across the walls, each blossom nearly as large as Tommy's head. Tommy follows one of the vines all the way to the roof, and he nearly drops the box in his arms. Through illusory magic, the roof looks like the surface of a lake with fishes, plants, and geodes. One of the fishes leaps out of the water, and instead of falling to the ground, it defies gravity to merge back into the water.

"Look over here," Shelby calls. Tommy stops staring at the roof to see the little duchess standing in front of the large windows. She snaps her fingers. A storm begins to rumble on the other side of the glass, heavy rain pouring down and lightning blazing to life. It takes Tommy a moment to remember that they are in the Antarctic Empire. It does not rain. Although he wants to run, Tommy uses the more graceful approach of making long strides until his face is right next to the glass. He looks down at the ground, and he finds an expanse of thick, green foliage instead of rising snow banks. Shelby taps the glass, and the image shifts again. A heavy wind blows away the storm, and sand spills across the wetlands. Tommy can see familiar architecture rising in the distance. Since they are so far away, Tommy is unable to determine how accurate the palace is, but he knows those spires as the ones from the Badlands. "Master Gemini helped me make this. It uses pictures from an atlas to recreate the places using illusion magic. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to figure out how to get imaging in real-time. It's my next big project, though."

Shelby smiles at Tommy, and her gaze lowers to the box in his hands. Tommy blanches, his previous merriment forgotten. He feels an excuse bubble in his gullet, ready to spill forth. Shelby's smile never wavers. She takes the box from his hands. She sets it on the ground, and as Tommy joins her, he notices that her floor is covered in flower petals. At least, it looks like flower petals. Although they shift underneath the weight of the entities on top of it, they aren't real. Tommy brushes his fingers against one, seeing it move but only feeling the carpet underneath.

This momentary distraction makes it impossible for Tommy to make an excuse and take back the present. Shelby has already undone the ribbon holding it together. She pulls the lid off the box, and her lips form a perfect 'o'. Tommy's face flushes even more. He reaches to take the box away, but Shelby pulls the blanket out with careful hands. She runs her fingers along the fabric. Tommy feels increasingly stupid. The daughter of a duke would have as many blankets as she could ever want. This was a pointless gift.

"I love it. Thank you, your highness, Prince Theseus," Shelby tells him, pressing part of the blanket against her cheek as she bundles it up between her skirt and chest. Tommy wants to tell her that her gratitude is unnecessary, but she quickly looks up at Wilbur with a pout on her face. "How come my best friend's little brother got me a gift when my best friend did not?"

Wilbur laughs awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand and avoiding Shelby's glare. Oblivious to their potential fight and Tommy's embarrassment, Tubbo throws his arms around Tommy's shoulders from behind him. Tubbo presses his cheek against Tommy's with a bright smile on his face. "Because Prince Theseus is the bestest friend ever!"

Tommy laughs, taking Tubbo's hand into his own. He glances at his friend. "I fear you have me beat, little duke."

"Aww, they're so adorable!" Shelby coos, standing up. She throws her newly acquired blanket at Wilbur. The prince does not dodge, instead becoming the stand in which Shelby hangs her blanket on. She nudges Wilbur over, and he collapses onto one of the couches. He starts to pull the blanket over the side of him as Shelby sits beside him. The two of them share the blanket. Shelby pats the space beside her. Tommy and Tubbo glance at each other, and they start heading towards the couch. Tubbo tucks himself into Shelby's side, and Tommy sits beside his brother. Wilbur smiles at Tommy, running a hand through his hair with a gentle force that persuades Tommy to lean against his brother's chest.

"I brought snacks for everyone," Shelby explains, flicking her fingers toward herself. One of the plates that had been carefully arranged on the table floats in the air. It lands on her open palm, and she lowers it into her lap. There are small, square cookies across the surface of the ceramic plate. Shelby hands one to Tubbo and takes one for herself. Wilbur picks up a handful with his fist. Shelby glares at him, but Wilbur gives her a sheepish grin, opening his palm towards his brother. Before Tommy can reach for a cookie, Wilbur is picking one up and holding it up to Tommy's face. Tommy opens his mouth to explain that he isn't a child, but Wilbur takes the opportunity to feed Tommy the cookie. The blonde glares at his older brother, but he eats the cookie because Shelby brought the snacks and they are delicious.

"How are your classes coming along, Theseus?" Wilbur asks, eating a few of the cookies out of the palm of his hand.

Tommy knows that this is a trap to get him to open his mouth again, but he doesn't want to seem rude by not answering. Tommy presses further against Wilbur's chest as he answers. "It is going well. I am enjoying my time there, and my teacher is good to me. She has taught me a great many things. I-"

As Tommy suspected, a cookie is placed in his mouth. Tommy's nose scrunches up as he chews the cookie. He believes there is chocolate in the cookie. Tubbo fills the silence Tommy's cut-off answer left. "I do not go to class, but I've been doing work with Master Fwhip. There are so many things I want to build! I want to make a device that will pulverize the ground and allow me to find precious metals quicker."

"I have class. I am not having nearly as much fun as you or my dear brother are, little duke. I have been learning to manage the capital city. There are a multitude of people in the city, all with their own desires and expectations. I pray every day to Lady Death and the Lord of Blood that I might succeed their wishes," Wilbur explains. Tommy did not know that Wilbur had already begun managing the city. He seems awfully young to be doing so as he only recently turned thirteen years old. Tommy wants to help Wilbur out, but he knows that if he does anything beneficial for the capital, people will begin to suspect that he's vying for the position as heir.

"I know that you will do great deeds in the name of our capital city. You have done so well thus far. All the workers and servants sing your praises when they are given the opportunity," Shelby tells him, taking his hand into her own. She smiles at him, and Tommy stares at the friendly smile. There was a time in his life when he thought that saving her wouldn't be worth it, that it would get in the way of his happy ending. Right now, leaning against his brother, hearing Tubbo happily munching on cookies, seeing Shelby's grand expression, underneath a blanket he brought as a gift for his first party, Tommy decides that he wants to preserve her life. He will find a way, no matter what it takes. There has to be some solution, something Tommy is forgetting from The Ender Prince.

"I will be attempting to get a familiar soon. It is one of the beginning rites to becoming an Imperial Mage. Though I am buzzing with anticipation, I am quite nervous about it. My mentor, Master Gemini, was able to summon a familiar using an egg shard from the End, one of the Lost Realms. To do something like that... Master Gemini is truly wonderful. I can only hope that I will summon something just as impressive," Shelby tells them, a hint of worry in her voice. Wilbur squeezes her hand. Tommy meets Shelby's eyes, giving her a promising smile. He already knows that she's going to be one of the greatest mages of all times, so he knows that even if she doesn't summon a familiar, she's going to be fine. That being said, Tommy doesn't know what Shelby ends up summoning. If The Ender Prince told him, Tommy doesn't remember.

The door creaks as it opens. Everyone's attention dart over to it. No one is opening the door, but a woman stands at the threshold with her arms crossed over her chest. She wears a saturated green shirt with a white fuzz interior, some of the balls showing underneath the hem. She wears a jacket of the same material and color with golden buttons underneath a dark purple shawl. Her feet are slid into purple boots, and her hands are covered by brown leather gloves. Her red hair is braided with a dark green ribbon. Her green eyes glance around the room as she stands there, one of her hands going up to push the singular lock of her pure white hair behind her ear... Tommy's eyes widen when he notices that her ears are pointed. As an added bonus, purple gemstones climb out of her hair like small antlers. Tommy has never seen an elf before, but he knows that this woman has to be one. That, or she's a very rare hybrid.

The woman steps into the room. Similar to how Shelby's presence affects the atmosphere of a room, the light in the room seems to be influenced by the woman. A purple tint is cast over it, and the geodes in the lake above their head glows even brighter. The flower petals underneath the woman's feet become the same purple color as her shawl. The woman gestures vaguely toward the door. The door starts to close, and the jester darts in before it completely shuts. He gives Tommy a wink as he sidles up beside the imperial guard. The guard does not give the jester any attention even as the jester puts his elbow on the guard's shoulder to prop himself up.

"The Imperial Mage, Gemini Tay, greets his imperial highness, Prince Wilbur, his highness, Prince Theseus, his grace, Little Duke Tubbo, and her grace, Little Duchess Shelby," The woman says. She rises up from her bowing position to lower herself into one of the cushioned chairs adjacent to the couch the four friends are resting on. Gemini uses a similar trick as Shelby to bring a teacup and saucer to her awaiting hands. She smiles at Shelby, speaking as she prepares her tea how she likes it. "Trust me, Shelby, your familiar will be as special as mine is."

As Gemini begins sipping her tea, Tubbo throws himself against the arm of the couch. He gazes up at her with wide, innocent eyes. Gemini smiles at him, as Tubbo seems to lean impossibly closer to her. "Can we see them? Please, please, please..."

Shelby grabs Tubbo to bring him back to her lap. Gemini laughs instead of getting upset. She taps a gloved hand against her chin thoughtfully. When she is finished considering it, Gemini snaps her fingers. Out of thin air, a creature appears, landing on the arm of the chair Gemini is sitting in. Tommy leans onto Wilbur's chest to get a better look at the creature. It is a lithe creature with four limbs and two membrane wings covered in black scales that seem to absorb all the light in the room like Philza's wings do. The draconic creature has pure purple eyes that seem to stare at everything in the room at once. Although it is the size of a hunting dog, it moves around like an agile cat.

Ironically, a cat also appears, landing on the back of the chair. It is made from amethyst gemstones. It moves around like a real cat, but the translucent nature of its composition makes it difficult to focus on. The cat curls up on the top of the couch, licking a front paw with a gemstone tongue. Tommy cannot tell if he is fascinated more with the dragon from the Lost Realm or the cat made from crystals.

Gemini pets the top of the dragon's head, eliciting a purring noise. Gemini leans closer to the group of four, whispering softly as to not disturb the dragon's docile state. "This is Violet. As Shelby explained, I summoned her using a shard from an egg from the End dimension. The shard is something the imperial family has had for many generations. I was able to acquire it as part of my contract."

Tommy looks into Gemini's eyes. He looks back at the horns on her head. There must have been a reason why Gemini would leave the protected cities of the elves to become the Imperial Mage of an empire her people don't like. There is no present or future conflict with the elves, but Tommy knows that there have been some in the past. Did Gemini become an Imperial Mage just for the shard from the End? Was there more to the contract, or a reason why Gemini needed to leave the elves?

"That's a gem-type earth elemental!" Tubbo points out, pointing at the cat from where he's settled in Shelby's lap. His eyes are as wide as saucers, and Tommy thinks his best friend is adorable.

"You're right. This is Kurthran. Earth elementals are not common in the empire. I wouldn't say they're rare, but you won't meet many people contracted with one. Gem-type elementals are what I would call rare. I found Kurthran when I was looking into a magical anomaly in a geode in the mountains," Gemini explains, tilting her head back to look at the cat. While her attention is divided, Violet leaps from the arm of the chair to the arm of the couch. Tubbo makes an excited noise, but Violet passes him over to settle in Wilbur's lap. The prince startles, but he gently places his hand on the Abyssal's muzzle. Tommy watches Violet settle comfortably, the tail twisting out to latch onto Tommy's wrist. Violet's scales feel like a snake's, but they are somehow warmer.

"Violet," Gemini admonishes, but she doesn't force the Abyssal away from Wilbur and Tommy's care. The dragon preens under their attention. Gemini rolls her eyes, sighing fondly. "Right, well, as I said before Violet came from the Lost Realm known as the End. Though we do not have many records of the End, we are able to confirm that it is a series of isles in an endless void. We believe the End worships a deity known as the Ender Dragon, though it is difficult to tell in what capacity. Some speculate the Ender Dragon is a god, others believe her to be a queen. It could be a guardian title that is passed down instead of a literal dragon. We really don't know.

"There might come a day when we can know more. Although there are barriers between the realms, they are not heavily forced. One example would be our tsaritsa. Just as Violet came from the End, the tsaritsa came from the Nether. The heavens have called neither of them home, so we can assume that it doesn't matter if a few entities slip through the cracks. In fact, since we don't know why the barriers were erected in the first place, it could be believed that the heavens no longer care if they come crumbling down," Gemini explains. Tommy glances at the jester in the corner of the room. He winks at Tommy again, but the prince is not sure why that is this time. He has suspected that the jester is from a Lost Realm, but is that what the wink is implying? Or is the jester confirming Gemini's assumptions about the heavens not caring?

"It is only by the goddess of death and the blood god's mercy," Wilbur says, removing his hand from Violet's muzzle to place it against his heart. Wilbur closes his eyes, and Shelby and Tubbo copy his actions exactly. Tommy's hand twitches, but he is unable to fully commit to a worshiping act of two gods he doesn't believe in. In fact, the names leave a sour taste in his mouth. The blood god was the one that forced Techno's contract with Steve, resulting in that whole mess with the water elementals driving him insane. It is a group of rebels who zealously believe in the goddess of death that ended up killing Kristin.

Gemini meets Tommy's eyes. Her gaze grows sharper, noticing, analytical. Tommy almost breaks the moment to ask her not to mention it to anyone. It would be bad news if someone finds out that the youngest prince does not care for the two patron gods of the empire. Gemini tilts her head to the side, the unnatural expression falling away to reveal another happy smile. "Their mercy could be one aspect of the tsaritsa and Violet remaining here in the empire."

Gemini glances over at the jester, waving her hand to him. The jester does a cartwheel as he approaches. He falls to his knees in front of the Imperial Mage. She shakes her head at him with a humored smile. "I invited you for a reason, jester. This is my apprentice's party. You must liven it with some music."

"I do not-" The jester begins, but silences himself when Gemini holds out his guitar towards him. The jester smiles at her, taking his guitar into his hands. He stands up, rocking on his feet. He looks to the guests he is meant to entertain. "A song was requested of me, so a song my precious party-goers will get."

The jester strums a few chords, and he begins to sing a merry tune about a young boy making a fool of himself to win the heart of the fairest maiden. Tommy listens, feeling Wilbur's laughter underneath his ear. Soon, the details of the song become fuzzier until all he can hear is his brother's heartbeat. Tommy closes his eyes, sighing softly. He likes this.

—

"Don't," A voice calls behind Ranboo. He looks away from the mushroom creature to find George standing at the end of the road. He is wearing casual clothing instead of the academy's uniform. His hat is still firmly on his head, however, casting dark shadows over his face and making his eyes glow beneath the rim. Ranboo shudders as those eyes land on him.

"I'm not- I wasn't-"

George says nothing as he walks past Ranboo. He leans down far enough to put his hand out. The mushroom creature waddles onto his arm, hugging George's forearm. As the creature closes its black eyes, it makes snore-like noises and soft clouds of smoke blow out of its mouth-like hole. George twirls his gloved fingers through the smoke. "This is not an earth elemental. It is a familiar. It is my familiar, and it would have attacked you had you touched it. Unlike other enemies you might have faced before, my familiar would not have fought you. It would have released this smoke, knocking you unconscious. With your mind defenseless... anything could happen to you. There are many strange creatures in Kinoko."

"I-I'll keep that mind, thank you," Ranboo says, looking down at his hands. He tries to ignore the way George's soft, neutrally toned voice drones into his mind. Flashes of memories of the people he's fought before bubble to the surface. Most of them disappear, but the ways involving Dream snag against the rim of his mind. Ranboo is unable to push them down, and he fears that George can sense them all.

"Good. You have proven to be a cautious, cowardly person before. Retain those qualities, and you may yet survive long enough to understand what the end of your journey should look like," George explains, beginning to walk away. Even though he's insulted Ranboo by calling him cowardly, he has the sort of voice that makes it impossible to take his words as anything but fact. Ranboo shudders. George is like his familiar in that sense- an enemy type Ranboo has never faced before. "Though, between you and me, even when you discover why you've been journeying so far, you'll never make it to the end... Not if I can help it."

Ranboo prays that one isn't a fact.