[Please read the a/n at the end, I have some important questions. Enjoy the chapter!]

The family had skipped their mid-day meal, all members going their separate ways to take care of matters. Phil to his office to draft letters to foreign monarchs, Wilbur went with Techno to the forest to examine the area of the attack, and Tommy went to the infirmary to stay with Tubbo whom was being treated by Niki. Within a day, Phil had written all the letters, and semt his fastest men to the neighboring countries. Wilbur and Techno had searched the area three times over, and found nothing but a scrap of red fabric snagged on a bramble, and the arrow that had scraped their brother.

As they rode back to the castle, night had fallen, and some of the only sounds they could hear was the clanking of the horses hooded on the cobble, and the sounds coming from taverns along the streets. When they arrived at the palace, Techno was in an especially bad mood, frustrated over their lack of findings during the searches. Tommy had given them a detailed explanation of the path him and Tubbo had taken, as well as the area they had been attacked, but the most they found was the arrow and the red cloth. Techno and Wlbur each carried one of the pieces of evidence, Techno the arrow, and Wilbur the cloth. Techno dismounted from his horse, Carl, and jogged into the palace, taking a straight path towards the infirmary. Upon entry, he could see a brunette head lying on a pillow, and a blond head resting right beside it.

He stepped forward, standing on the side of the bed as he peered down at his youngest siblings. Tubbo was splain flat in his back, but Tommy was curled on his side, fetus position, head resting on his older brothers shoulder. It was clear just from this how distressed he was, as were Wilbur and Techno. He set down the satchel that hung from his belt on the floor, and sagged into the chair, mostly likely the one Tommy had previously occupied.

He plucked the arrow out of his bag, turning it over in his nimble fingers. It was crafted of wood, the tip made of steel. The top was coated in a thin pink sap, emitting a sweet odor. It couldn't be told how much had gotten into Tubbo's system, but he knew they needed to find out who it was and fast. It was poison from the Fox Glove flower, or better known as dead man's bells and witch's gloves. Collapse, such as the side effect Tubbo had already showed was common, and if they didn't help him soon, worse, and more permanent side effects might occur. Techno stood from the chair, giving both his brothers a soft pat to the tops of their heads, before he stormed out of the room to talk with Phil.

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Over the next two weeks, Tubbo got worse. He started vomiting, having tremors, seizures, and sometimes was so weak he was bed bound. He ran a high fever and refused to let his family near him in case he got them sick, which Tommy was not happy about. Along with Tubbo's worsening conditions, volley after volley of monarchs flooded to the castle, per Phil's urgent request, and the castle hadn't been that full in a very long time. They were not only hosting the monarchs, but their royal guard, their personal servants, anyone they brought, and multiply that by ten, and that's how many people had arrived. The Antarctic Empire royal family were just waiting on two more arrivals before they held a mass meeting with all of the other monarchs. Techno had become so restless he was either sparring with the royal guard of the Antarctic Empire, or reading in his study.

Without Tubbo, Tommy became somewhat of a loose cannon, spouting off random curse words for no reason, tagging along with anyone that would let him, which usually ended up being Techno or Wilbur, or sitting outside Tubbo's door for hours on end. When Toby would fall asleep, Tommy would sneak in and see his best friend secretly, desperately missing him.

It seemed, outwardly, that Wilbur remained as he was before, but inwardly, Wilbur's mind was going a mile a minute. Techno had always excelled when learning poisons, and their matching antidotes, but he hasn't known any for foxglove. So, Wilbur set off to read every single book he could get his hands on to try and find it. He loved his siblings dearly, and seeing Tubbo slowly deteriorating in a bed broke him inside. So, he read, and read, and read, but nothing. The foxglove was not native to the Antarctic Empire, as it was too cold, so none of their records held the information they needed. Wilbur was beginning to lose his mind not only in worry, but in frustration.

Phil was busy beyond belief, not only dealing with the exchange of letters to foreign monarchs, but also preparing with the servants, not only the main palace, but all of the guest rooms they had, were being cleaned, prepped, adjusted, cleaned again, customized for the specific family, then rearranged once, twice, possibly three times. Phil was at his wits end, mentally, physically, and emotionally exausted. His family was falling apart without the bubbly sixteen year old prince around, and with the added stress of hosting majority of the royal families of the continent, peoples hardwiring was beginning to fry.

Tubbo felt like he was dying; he probably was. Day by day he got worse, and day by day he watched his family deteriorating around him, because of him. If he wasn't already dying, he wanted to. The seizures were probably the worst part. They hurt, and they scared him, a lot. After and during them, all he wanted was Tommy, but he didn't want to be the reason any of them got sick, so he braved them alone. Niki had been a great help during the last couple weeks, spending most of her time with him, helping him, comforting him. She along with Will looked through probably hundreds of books so far to try and help him, but so far, not a drop of luck. He just wanted this nightmare to be over.

❦ ❦ ❦

It took three full weeks for all of the monarchs to arrive, but finally, everyone had arrived in the frigid empire. Tubbo was still quarantined in his room, but the rest of the royal family were preparing in their own room for the congregation. It wasn't exactly obligatory, but everyone wore at least one peice of blue in honor of their empire. Techno had an ice blue tunic on, his iconic boar skull mask covering the top half of his face, Tommy had a deep navy blue cape on-- same design as all his others-- Wilbur had an ice blue winter cap; it was lined on the inside with rabbit fur, and Phil wore the full Antarctic Empire getup, for really no good reason but to be intimidating.

All four family members met up at the doors before entering the hall wanting to show a united front. All the monarchs and their associates quieted as the family strode into the room strategically splitting in groups of two and crossing the length of the hall, purposely passing each monarch as they went. When they reached the end, Phil sat in the great chair at the head of the table, Techno to his right, Wilbur to his left, and Tommy to the right of Techno. A single chair was empty in the entire hall, the one to the left of Wilbur; Tubbo's seat. The hall was silent, everyone waiting for Phil to begin, his family included. Tommy was under strict instruction to stay quiet, having a stern talking to before this congregation. With the reminder by his father of their last meeting he was allowed to, the punishment for an outburst would be worse than before.

Phil cleared his throat, opening the large file placed symmetrically perfect on the center of the table. He glanced up, slowly meeting the eyes of every monarch in the room, some queens, some kings, some princes and princesses. Some of the monarchs closest to his family was the neighbors along the borders, the kings of the Badlands, and the Triad. It was called the Triad because three kings ruled over the land, George, Sapnap, and Dream. The last two used their nicknames they'd been given as generals, as most people did. Techno for example, his name was Dave, but after he 'slayed' the boar, the people began to call him Technoblade, and the name just stuck, his own family calling him that per Techno's request.

Phil caught Dream's eyes, the only part of his face revealed from underneath the shadow of the long dark green cloak he wore, and the forever slightly unsettling white smile mask. Every time the monarchs had met there as always a cloud of tension that hung in the air, and considering another one of Dream's nicknames was 'Loose Cannon' Phil was never particularly excited. Focusing back on the situation, Phil glanced back at the files, before pulling out a small vial filled with a light pink liquid. He held it up high, enough for everyone in the hall to get a good look at the small vial.

"This... this is the poison that is currently killing my son. It is the extraction of a flower called the Fox Glove. Now, each of you have not already been assumed of the crime, but with the congregation, my family and I will figure out who did this... and they will pay. Fairly," Phil announced, and the hall erupted in a rage. Many monarchs were frankly offended that they were even being accused of such a crime. Tommy sat silently fuming, how could they be so selfish? His brother was dying and all they cared about was that they were being accused, but true to his word he sat silently, fingernails digging white crescents into his palms in fury. To everyone's surprise, it was Techno who exploded in anger. He stood so fast from his seat, the chair he sat in crashed to the floor, effectively silencing the room before his booming voice did it for him.

"You selfish pricks! A 16 year old boy is dying and all you care about it that we called you here to figure out a proper solution! Let's lay it all out on the table... Fox glove is not native to the Antarctic Empire, anywhere within our vast borders, so, we don't have an antidote. We've been patient for three weeks while our brother has been isolated away from us, but that wait is over. I will figure out who did this today, and I'll take what I want to get that information. So, let's cooperate before I take something no one can restore."

Tommy reached up and lightly gripped his elder brothers arm, "Techno...Tubbo wouldn't want this..."

Techno glanced down at his youngest brother, his face still set hard in stone, "It doesn't matter what Tubbo wants right now, it won't matter if he dies."

Tommy slowly released his hand and sunk slightly into his seat, a sad expression splayed on his face. He stared silently at the empty chair in front of him, missing Tubbo even more. Wilbur looked at his brother, meeting his eyes, nodding slightly. Techno drew his sword and placed it in front of him on the table, the purplish black surface shined under the morning light that poured through the windows. He smirked, which was a particularly ghoulish as all one could see was a shadowed smile and his jaw. "So... who wants to come and speak with the Blood God first?"

[A/n hi everyone, I wrote an a/n but it ended up being so long I just copied and pasted it onto an a/n chapter, sorry :( Hope you enjoyed this chapter!]