The long awaited continuation of the objectively most popular series in this book! I hope you guys enjoy! It's short but it'll lead to the epic conclusion

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It was cold. A kind of chill that settled in his bones, that froze away at his soul. It was the ice that clung to his skin. A sharp wind that knocked you around, sneaking into the crevices of his clothes. He pulled his hood down lower, testing the limits of how far his clothes could stretch, but it wasn't enough to lessen the pain. Winter had come to steal his life like a devil coming to collect a soul. Even worse, a heavy guilt settled at the bottom of his stomach. His cells were screaming for energy from food, but bile would rise up in his throat every time he so much as looked at the food. He could try to shove a little down, but it wouldn't stay there for long. Since he was trying to run away from people chasing him, he decided that he couldn't waste time puking. Plus, his dry heaving was so disgustingly loud that even he flinched at the sound. It would be better for his survival if he waited to eat until after he got to his destination.

Tommy looked behind him. His footsteps had disappeared beneath the snow, and he had washed off most of the blood that was stuck to his skin. Tommy couldn't see any color besides the white of the snow and the dark brown of the trees. Sometimes, a green leaf that had been fighting for survival would float down before getting caught up in the fast-moving currents of air. Tommy couldn't bear to look at any more of those leaves. Would he end up like them? Cut up by the bladed wind, swallowed whole by the frigid cold, covered in the snow beneath his feet? Tommy knew he couldn't survive forever out here, but surely he would find something before the worst of the storm came. Tommy had to make it to a town or to Techno's cabin before nightfall. He wouldn't last after that. Once the sun dipped behind the horizon, Tommy wouldn't have any chance at survival. He would be just like that leaf that fought so hard to live only to be taken when its strength gave out.

Tommy kept climbing up the mountain side. All things considered, the snow and wind weren't too awful for someone who lived in these sorts of climates. If someone was adapted to the temperature, and wearing the appropriate equipment, they might even call this the equivalent of a light, summertime thunderstorm. Tommy, unfortunately, was not one of those people. Not only was he ill prepared, but Tommy felt everything- emotions, the weather, pain- much more vividly than the average man. There might have been an explanation for this, somewhere in the recesses of a genius psychologist's mind, but Tommy didn't need a reason to know it was true. The mountain's version of spring was coming to claim him like the Snow Queen taking Kai to her icy fortress.

Rather thankfully, the cabin in question came into view. Tommy's face illuminated with joy as he began running towards it. His legs pushed against the snow like someone trying to run through shallow water, but Tommy refused to let himself keel over. Even with his goal in sight, Tommy knew that if he fell down, he would never get back up. Tommy didn't stop running until he reached the steps of the cabin. He slammed into the snow covered wood, almost getting his foot stuck as he scrambled on all fours to reach the porch. His limbs felt like heavy weights that tried to drag him down the stairs, but he managed to get to the top at near record speed. Tommy sat down before the door. He reached for the golden doorknob, fingers fumbling with the mechanism before he could finally turn it. Unfortunately, he was met with resistance that meant the door was locked. Tommy groaned out loud as he fought with the handle several more times. He could try for a window, but they were either too small for him to squeeze through or too high up for him to easily reach. Tommy pounded on the door a solid few seconds, but bruising pain started to form around the edge of his fist. Tommy closed his eyes to think of an option. The sun was starting to sink below the treeline, and Tommy knew that he didn't have much longer until the night consumed the winter wonderless-land. Like the warm embrace of a friend, a faint melody began to ring in Tommy's head. The boy's eyes snapped open to look down at his hands. Surely, he could use his powers to... he didn't want to knock the door down... so he needed to... the lock! He could disperse the air molecules in the lock until they moved the bolts into place inside the box. It would take a lot more skill than Tommy thought he was capable of, but it was the only thing he could think of at the moment. If he didn't want to freeze to death, he would need to be better.

Tommy clasped both his hands around the lock. He took deep breaths as he focused the music of Mellohi. The power danced around his limbs, spiralling down his arms until he could feel it in his fingertips. That was the easy part. What came next was directing the energy. He had a vague idea of the bolts inside his mind. He could sense the air molecules, already vibrating around like drunk preschoolers. Tommy pushed the air around, knocking it around like he was playing a game of pool. He imagined that Mellohi was like a small stick. There were some sports terms Tommy could throw around, but what he imagined he was doing was using this stick to hit the atoms. Because of the laws of physics, the atoms rammed into the opposite direction, and Tommy hoped his aim was good enough to hit the bolts. Manipulating Mellohi wasn't actually that bad. It was definitely his precision that was lacking. He kept trying to hit the bolts, and he rarely succeeded. But he was getting a few hits in. For what felt like hours but was really a few minutes, all the bolts had been moved out of the way. Tommy cheered for himself, letting Mellohi dissipate into the cold breeze around him. He pulled the door open, running inside and slamming it shut behind him.

The interior was cozy, Tommy noticed. There was a fireplace that had a few dying flames trying to stay ablaze. There was a loveseat with a reclining chair as there wasn't much room for more. A glass coffee table was between the seats and the fireplace, some dusty books strewn across the surface. Further back was a kitchenette with a bar. A window above the sink overlooked a snowy meadow that faded into the shadows of a dimly lit forest. Tommy sat himself before the fire, rubbing his hands together as he soaked in what remaining warmth the fire was providing. He didn't hear Techno come down the stairs, but he saw the metal of a Netherite sword glint in the dying firelight. Techno looked ready to slaughter whoever intruded upon his nature retreat, but his eyes widened in surprise when they met Tommy's. The two kept staring at each other in silence for a long moment. Techno lowered himself to sit beside Tommy, placing the sword on the ground between them. The silence was tense. Neither boy was particularly good in social situations, one monotone and seemingly uncaring while the other was awkward and loud. They had opposite problems, but the conclusion was the same. It led to situations like this where they didn't know what to say.

"I need to get to L'Manberg," Tommy whispered. There were a million things he could have said. He could demand an explanation for why he was abandoned. He could explain how he came from another dimension where he accidentally destroyed everything. He could break down about how XD and Herobrine could have died trying to protect him. He could tell Techno how much he missed the pinkette, how often he reminisced about the good memories and how much time he spent agonizing over the bad ones. He could tell Techno about the list of things he had yet to apologize for. There were a lot of options before him that would lead to emotionally charged conversations that he didn't have time or the mental capacity for. "I know what the Mob is doing... I have to stop them."

"That isn't your responsibility. You may have powers, but you never accepted this destiny. You don't need to stop them. The others know what they're doing," Techno shook his head. There was a lot that Techno could have said. He could explain why Tommy had to be sent away. He could tell Tommy how difficult the decision was. He could tell Tommy that he would rather have the blonde angry with him for all of eternity than dead. He could tell Tommy how depressed Wilbur had gotten, or how Phil had thrown himself into his work to distract himself. He could tell Tommy about how they won the MCC competition, but no one cared since he wasn't there with them. He could tell Tommy how distraught Ranboo was, how Purpled had barely been seen in weeks, and Tubbo had been so deep in denial that when Niki finally made him understand, he had been sobbing for an entire hour.

"You don't fucking know the shit I know, Techno. A long time ago, I did something really fucked up. I... Well, it doesn't matter what the hell I did, anymore, now does it? Everything is fucking gone... I won't let this place fall to the same fate. I will fucking save everyone in this shitty town. You can help me or you can stand in my way, but there isn't a fucking thing you can do to save me now," Tommy said, determination strong in his voice. He didn't quite remember his original world, but there were vague feelings that he could place into a picture into his mind. He could almost see the face of his best friend, Deo, when they were happily free and he could see Dream's hands covered in the blood of one of his friends as their blue jacket was torn up on the floor. He remembered seeing the brilliance of space, the glittering stars and fiery sun... all of it being pushed away from him. He had been holding a body, but he wasn't sure of who. Herobrine had wrapped his arms around Tommy's neck, pressing down on a nerve to knock Tommy out right as the world faded into a shimmering white as he was taken to another world. There was a certain beauty of all his moments of agony that he could remember. There wasn't enough that he had a cohesive story of what had happened that fateful day, but he had enough proof that Herobrine hadn't been lying when he told Tommy what had come about.

"Theseus... no matter what you did, you don't need to do this now. You are not defined by the mistakes of your past. I know that you wouldn't have done something that awful without a good reason, if it even was as awful as you make it out to be," Techno shook his head. Tommy laughed without any humor. He had destroyed an entire universe. He had killed billions of people within seconds because all of his friends had been killed in front of him by the people who had abused him for a good two years. The only thing that kept Tommy going was that the universe was going to die, anyways, because of the reality anchor. Tommy wondered if Techno would be preaching how good he was if Techno knew the truth of what Tommy did. It was probably this humorless laugh that made Techno grab onto Tommy's shoulders. The blonde tried to raise his fists, but Techno hugged him instead of slamming his head into the coffee table. Tommy melted into the embrace. He had been wanting this since he had been sent away. Techno continued talking. "No, don't do that. You are a good person. You haven't done anything that can't be forgiven. If you want to fight the Mob, I will help you because Prime only knows you'd get your ass beat otherwise, you child."

"I am not a child," Tommy said, burying his face into Techno's shoulder while tears began streaming down his cheeks. He had spent many nights of his life, before and after meeting the people of L'Manberg, wishing and praying that someone would hold him in their arms while telling him that he was good. So many cold nights alone, wondering who would care if he faded away that very moment. "I'm going to protect this... even if it's the last thing I do."