Techno

Techno sat on the edge of the bed. The blanket was pooled around behind him, part of it resting lazily against his thigh. His shirt had been discarded against his pillow to allow him to unwind the bandages around his chest. He did so with the careful ease of someone who had been doing things like this for many years. Although this was his closest brush with death by far, it wasn't the most gruesome wound he's suffered. He could handle the pain and the blood dripping across his body like raindrops on carriage windows.

"I can't believe it took you so long to heal," Alex said listlessly, sitting in one of the chairs that had been pulled up to Techno's bedside. A multitude of people had sat there. He believes Phil was the one who pulled it over in the first place a couple of days prior, but other people have claimed the seat for themselves when they came to check on Techno. Tommy and Wilbur had obviously been there. Kristin came by a few times with new books for the two of them to read. Ranboo comes by every morning after he feeds Pearl, and Tubbo comes by every night after he's finished in the laboratory with Count Fwhip of Snowchester. Niki could by during the time when the two of them used to spar. There had even been a few occasions when Fool came into the room proper or when a soldier from the Antarctic Empire came to tell him something.

"I was hit by an ice attack. You two protect me from fire," Techno defended himself as the last bandage came loose. He threw it in the metal container placed at his bedside by the royal doctor who had been monitoring his progress. Techno didn't need the help of a medic because of his healing factor bestowed upon him as a Champion, but it eased some of Wilbur's worries. It was no skin off Techno's back if a professional came into the room every few days to see how the wound was closing up and estimating when Techno would be healed.

"Regardless, you are healing slower than usual. It must have to do with that beast's demonic energy interfering with our divine power," Steve muttered from the other side of the room. He was standing at the window, his form bathed in shadows because of the sun highlighting his form. Techno looked over his shoulder at Steve. It had been some time since he'd last seen the god. Alex popped in occasionally, but Steve had completely abandoned Techno after their disagreement about what to do with Fool, Tommy, and the other seraphim. Techno had been certain he would never see Steve again. He wondered why it took almost dying for the god to show himself again, or why they still haven't talked about why the two gods deserted Techno in the first place.

"I wasn't prepared for the hit. The next time I face the beast, I'll kill it," Techno reassured his companions. The Twin Flames, another name of the two parasites in Techno's head, were associated with fire and divine. The demonic beast that forged a contract with Scott was their exact opposite. Techno had the advantage of being physically stronger than Scott and having more experience. He would always be able to beat Scott in a fight, but that blast had been entirely from the demonic beast. A being with godlike powers could give Techno a run for his money.

"Blood for the Blood God," Alex hissed cheerfully, something inhuman glowing red in her normally green eyes. The phrase she spoke was something of a catchphrase for the two gods swarming Techno's head. Any chance for violence would have them giddy. No matter how different their personalities were, they both said 'blood for the Blood God'. It was creepy, Techno had to admit, but he was used to it. He always delivered, after all.

"Cringe," Techno tells her. She rolls her eyes at him. He knows an argument is about to start between them when he hears a knock on the door. All attention in the room swings to the closed door. Techno doesn't recognize the knock. Over the course of his healing period, he's come to associate certain knocks with the people closest to him. This was not one in his internal collection, and it seemed too early in the morning for it to be an imperial messenger. The knock continued once more, and Techno called out, "Come in."

The door swings open, cracking just wide enough for a figure to dart inside. Shrub stands against the door for a singular second. There's a determined look in her tuscan yellow eyes. Her hair is left untied around her shoulders. One of her hands is closed into a fist while the other clings to the doorknob. Her body language shows hesitation as she leans back towards the door. She looks around the room before her eyes settle on Techno. She takes in a sharp breath that he can hear from across the room before demanding, "I need an audience with your prince."

"Why?" Techno responds. Ever since he found Shrub behind the crates of food, she had been avoiding him. She still followed his orders during training, but whatever personal relationship they had before was strained. Techno wanted to put in effort to reforge the bond, but war didn't give him much time. He had enough to deal with. He didn't need to worry about a gnome. But now, she was walking into his room of her own violation to demand something that could not easily be given. An audience with any member of the nobility was tough to grant, but she specifically wanted to see the imperial prince, heir to the Antarctic throne.

"He's able to do something now that he wasn't able to do before," Shrub puts simply. She finally pushes off the doorknob to walk deeper into the room. Her strides are long and quick, and she's at his side in a matter of seconds. Alex sits up in her seat, peering at Shrub with an intensity that can only be obtained if the subject has no idea they're being watched.

"The prince is in a highly volatile state right now. He can barely control his powers," Techno warns Shrub. The imperial messengers that came by from time to time informed Techno that Scott was not doing super well. After finding out that he'd hurt both Gemini and Techno, he lost control of himself. He was staying at the palace in L'Manberg's capital, and last Techno heard, the palace was swathed in a wintry storm. His entire room had been frozen with thick sheets of ice. The soldiers guarding the place had to be switched often or else they risked getting frostbite. It was a mess, but no one could do anything about it. Scott had to figure out how to save himself, or else he was going to be destroyed by the beast now claiming his soul.

"I don't care. I need to see him now," Shrub reiterated. Techno looked her up and down. She was dressed for the occasion. She was wearing a thick black jacket that didn't fit her properly. Techno realized that it was probably because the jacket was Wilbur's, not Shrub's. Her pants, too, probably belonged to someone else. Techno wondered if they were stolen goods or if she was borrowing them from willing people. In either case, she didn't seem to be taking 'no' for an answer.

"I say you should take her. She seems pretty adamant. She'll probably go by herself if you refuse, and you wouldn't want her getting hurt, would you?" Alex said, leaning back in her chair. Steve was suddenly behind her in a mere blink of the eye. Steve was looking curiously at Shrub. When Techno caught his eye, the god of valor shrugged his shoulders uncharacteristically. Techno huffed at both of them in a manner that was entirely pig-like. Shrub gave him a confused look, but he didn't elaborate.

"Fine. I'll take you," Techno told her. He put his shirt back on, standing up on his weary legs. He took a few breaths before he began moving around the room. He put his thick red cloak with fur lining over his shoulders, and he pulled his pink hair into a loose ponytail. He opened the door for Shrub when he was finished. She gave him a grateful smile as she walked out of the door. Alex and Steve disappeared from the room as Techno was closing the door. Surprisingly, they weren't in the hallway. Techno was left with complete silence yet again.

Techno nearly growled in frustration, but he held back his instincts as he marched down the hallway with Shrub at his side. Techno waved off the servants that were eager to send Techno back to bed. Shrub assured them all that she would take very good care of Techno, and they seemed to believe Shrub's wholesome face. Techno wondered how all the servants would react if they saw Shrub fighting in a battle. Even when she wasn't possessed by Lilka, Shrub was a force to be reckoned with.

As they came to the stables to get a pair of horses, Techno turned to Shrub. He wanted to warn her one more time about what was going to happen if she went through with this. "Lilka is putting you in a lot of unnecessary danger. You can refuse her. It isn't too late to go back."

"Rest assured, Techno, this has nothing to do with Lilka. This is my personal request," Shrub told Techno as she climbed onto her wolf that she fondly called Mother Wolf. A servant handed Techno the reins to Carl, already prepared with a saddle and well-fed for a journey. It seemed that Shrub really wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer. Techno wondered if she would have taken Carl with her if he had refused her offer. Although it wouldn't have served any purpose, Techno didn't doubt that Shrub would do something as simple as that as revenge.

"And why is that?" Techno continued as they started riding. L'Manberg's palace and the Ravine weren't too far from Gemini's palace. Its accessibility was the reason the festival was being hosted there. With Carl, Techno could get there in a little over an hour. Other horses would take more time than that, but Shrub wasn't riding another horse. Mother Wolf was about as fast as Carl was with the stamina and fearlessness to match. The creature also had a fondness for Shrub. The beast was extremely loyal to her master, about as much as Carl was to Techno and Pearl was to Ranboo. Techno wondered idly if he would meet anyone else with an interesting mount.

"I'll tell you when we get there. There's no point saying it all twice," Shrub told him clearly. With that, she fell into a silent, contemplative state. Techno watched it happen- her body leaned down, her eyes drooped, and her lips pressed into a firm line. She was thinking about something with about as much intensity as Steve and Alex stared down people they wanted Techno to kill. Techno looked away from her, letting his attention drift to the horizon. His chest still ached with the pains of being hit by an icy blast, but it was more like a phantom pain caused by the fear that it would happen again. Techno wasn't scared of Scott, but he was wary of the prince. Scott didn't have control of his power. The storm clouds on the horizon that seemed to be getting thicker and darker the closer Techno got to them proved that Scott hadn't gotten any better.

Another emotion that stung him was worry, although he wasn't sure why that emotion exactly. Scott had spent a couple of days locked away in a lonely palace. No one could get too close to him or they would die from the cold. He had been stuck by his lonesome with nothing but his guilty thoughts. Techno hoped that if Scott saw that he was okay, some of the burden would be lifted from the prince's shoulders. If that happened, perhaps some of the storm would clear away. Techno needed Scott to get better. It was out of more than a sense of responsibility, but Techno couldn't put a name to it even if he tried.

Shrub shivered beside Techno as they crossed some sort of threshold between the early winter of the Crystal Cliffs to the blizzard conjured around the capital's palace. Shrub sat up straighter, braving the storm head-on. As far as Techno was aware, gnomes belonged to the autumn realm of the Wild Lands. Shrub could put up with some low temperatures, but she had never experienced something like this before. Techno almost felt at home. It was a lot like the permafrost empire that Techno called home.

"We can turn back," Techno told her as the wind began to strike them with the force of a punch. Techno patted Carl's neck to comfort the beast while his other hand maneuvered the reins to keep the horse steady.

Shrub tightened her grip on the fur around Mother Wolf's scruff. Her eyes narrowed as the palace became a solid landmark amongst the whirling winds. "I want that audience."

Techno shook his head, unsure if he admired her determination or pitied her foolhardiness. Carl and Mother Wolf continued their ride to the palace until they made it to the outer wall. Techno jumped down, and Shrub scrambled to follow him. Techno led Carl to a tunnel that led to a side entrance. It was sheltered from the winds, at least, so Carl remained standing there with Mother Wolf as their owners ventured deeper into the tunnel. Techno pushed open the wooden doors that would have been used for servants leaving and exiting. Shrub wrapped her arms around herself as she followed him. She was practically shaking as they marched forward. Techno wanted to ask one more time if she was prepared for this, but he already knew the answer. No matter how pale her skin was or how hard she was trembling, the determination hadn't deserted her. She was probably running on that to keep her warm. Maybe there was another reason why Lilka chose Shrub, not just that she was the last gnome but that she had the stubbornness to rival Tommy.

The side entrance leads to a side courtyard. It might have been a manicured garden once, but most of the plants had died from the drastic weather change. The stone path that led to an entrance into the palace was covered in ice. The thin sheets snapped beneath Techno's footsteps, and Shrub was taking advantage of the uneven ground to keep herself from slipping. She grabbed the back of Techno's cloak after she almost face-planted. Techno ignored the fact as they came to the stairs that led up to a wooden door. The metal was so cold that it practically burned against Techno's fingertips. He gritted his teeth as he pulled the wooden door open.

The difference between the exterior and interior of the palace was the wind. While the outside was drenched in the frigid air howling like banshees into the noon sky, the kitchen was dead silent. Ice covered every surface, but there wasn't a single strand of moving air. Techno felt like he was stepping into a wintry afterlife the moment the door shut behind him and Shrub, muffling the wind. Shrub breathed out a slow puff of light gray smoke, placing both of her fingers to her mouth to warm them up with her breath. Techno looked around before he found the door that would lead them up into the main palace.

They didn't stop to admire anything. Some part of Techno wanted to know about the place where Wilbur grew up, but he wasn't sure how long Shrub could survive in this place. Her steps were getting slower the longer they took to wander through the many hallways, blindly searching for the one room that housed the very heart of this storm. She pressed one against the wall to keep herself standing, slipping due to the slick ground and her rapidly depleting energy. She was shaking so much that she looked like a leaf in a hurricane. Techno eventually took the cloak off his shoulder to place on her. He usually used the divine energy in him to enhance his speed and strength, but he now used it to keep himself warm while Shrub clung to his cloak with her weak grip.

"Who are you?!" A voice demanded. A person wrapped in many scarves and jackets was standing at the entrance of a hallway with a spear in their hand. They could barely move in their current outfit, but they could probably take a few hits from a sword without getting hurt. Techno recognized the emblem of the imperial guard on the soldier's outermost jacket, however, and he lifted up his own seal to show that he was the Blade, a soldier of the Blood Church given a divine name. "Blade, sir, I- um... What are you doing here, sir? Who is this with you?"

"We need to see the prince at this moment. We have important news to share with him," Techno said with the full weight of his authority in his voice. The soldier hesitated, torn between following the orders of the Blade and keeping the two of them safe from Scott. The soldier finally relented, standing aside for the Blade and Shrub. Techno nodded at the soldier as he grabbed Shrub's wrist, practically dragging her forward.

The hallway, like everything else in the palace, was covered in ice. There were icicles hanging from the ceiling. The windows were completely glazed over. The snowflakes in the air were stuck in place, spinning in slow circles as they fell to the ground at a snail's pace. Techno moved some of the snowflakes out of the way as he led Shrub to the door at the very center of the hallway's left wall. Techno pressed his shoulder against the door before taking a step back. He took a deep breath, and he ran forward. With the entire weight of his body, the ice around the door snapped. The doors flung open with enough force to hit the walls right beside the door. Techno stopped himself before he went hurtling into the room, almost tripping past the door frame.

"What in the world are you doing here? Both of you need to get out right now!" Scott demanded. He had been pacing in the dead center of the room. The wind that had been building around him stopped the second he noticed the two people in the room. His pale hair was glistening like snow under sunlight, and his eyes were glowing like a lighthouse across the dark waves. Techno stared at him with something bitter rising in his chest. "I mean it, get out of here, both of you! That is an imperial order, Blade! I will have you dishonorably discharged-"

"You're the only one that can defeat Xornoth," Shrub said. Her voice was steady despite her weak figure standing against the door. She took a few shaky steps forward until she was standing between Techno and Scott. Techno's mouth snapped shut, and Scott looked like he'd just seen a bloodthirsty ghost. Shrub took a deep breath as the attention in the room focused on her.

"In Undergrove, I was given the name 'Shrub' by my parents. It's gnomish. I took the name Shubble when I attended Kinoko Scholar's Academia," Shrub said. She placed her hand underneath the collar of her jacket. When her hand came out, she was holding a silver medallion with an owl holding a scroll and a timepiece in its claws. The symbol was of the academy, but the silver color was only for honor students. It was a high achievement to become an honor student. The academy was already a school for the most intelligent people in the continent, so being an honor student was being the best of the best. Unfortunately, the silver color also meant that she never graduated. She dropped the medallion, letting it fall across her chest. "I originally studied alchemy. I... wasn't very good at it. All my potions had unintended effects. I was about to quit the academy."

Shrub took another step toward Scott. He didn't react to her getting closer, but Techno followed her actions to make sure that he could quickly get between Shrub and the prince if something went wrong. "I met another student. He saw potential in me, and he unlocked my ability to perform magic. I switched courses, and I became an honor student for my ability to create familiars and... and manipulate the weather."

Shrub lifted her open palm into the air. She closed her eyes, and sparks began to appear above her palm. The sparks gravitated towards each other before they became a sphere of light. Like the sun, the sphere released puffs of warmth that began to melt away the snow and reheat the room. Shrub threw the ball higher into the air as she let her arm sink back to her side. Scott looked shocked as he lifted up both of his hands to feel the warmth. Shrub breathed easily now that the room wasn't freezing cold. "He taught me one more thing. He taught me how to teleport objects. It's a fairly common ability. Any mage worth their stuff can teleport objects. The problems arose when we realized I wasn't actually teleporting objects. I was bringing objects from other world-lines into our own and sending stuff from our world-line into other ones. It was terrifying to learn this, but... but he saw some good in my ability."

Shrub grabbed hold of her medallion, squeezing it in her hands with a few tears appearing in her eyes. "That is why I was expelled from the academy. I was sending another student forward and backward in time to ensure the best present. Before I left for the swamps in Kinoko, he made sure I knew of one thing."

Shrub lifted up both of her hands. In a flash of purple and green sparks, a book dropped into her arms. It is a leatherbound book with gold lettering across the front in pristine condition like it had been recently made. That, however, was impossible considering the title was 'The Legend of Aeor and Exor'. There was only one copy of that book in existence, and it was older than the Antarctic Empire itself. Scott's eyes widened as he saw it, taking a careful step towards Shrub to get a closer look at the book that basically cemented the imperial faith of the empire, the one opposing the Blood Gods who moved in from the south a long time ago. The book as it stands today has many torn pages and places where the ink is too faded to read. Techno knows about the book, even if he's never seen it with his own eyes.

"Aeor and Exor were twin brothers who survived an event known as the purging. This was a moment when the universe decided to kill off unnecessary gods. The gods might have been dead, but their essence continued to linger in the world. Aeor and Exor mainly protected the elves of the Antarctic Empire until this essence corrupted Exor. The gods had a falling out, ultimately weakening each other to the point where they were barely alive. Exor managed to pick a suitable host to carry his spirit. Aeor did the same once learning what his brother had done. These hosts have continued to fight each other for generations. Xornoth is merely Exor's Champion for this generation. And you, Imperial Prince Scott are the Champion of Aeor. You must use the power given to you by the Wretched Wraith, a demonic beast, to defeat Xornoth and Exor once and for all. You are the only one who can," Shrub said, opening the book to a random page. Techno looked over her shoulder to see the images of the stags that Aeor and Exor were in their first lives. Although Techno has seen the two depicted as ruminants, the images have never been this crisp and detailed. Truly, this book was from the age of the Stag Gods.

"What happens if I can't control this power?" Scott whispers, looking at the artificial sun Shrub created with magic. She looks up at it, too, and Techno finds that his attention is drawn to it as well. It radiates with magic, of course, but there is also an aura around it that is so uniquely Shrub. Or, Shubble, Techno amends, realizing that she probably prefers that name.

"You have to try, Scott, because if you don't... we're all going to die."