Hers still wasn't awake. Sam had taken him out of the prison, assured her that he would be okay and left them alone. Hers had been healed but she didn't want to leave. So instead she stayed curled up into her bonded's side. She had failed, she swore she wouldn't let him get hurt again and she failed. She had allowed him to be brought to the brink of death, narrowly avoiding its grasp. He deserved a better hallow than her. Her bonded's friends had come by, she had heard them. They spoke to Sam, peaked in at her bonded, still asleep. They had greeted her, she hadn't responded. She had allowed their friend to get hurt, they should be mad at her. She could sense their hallows watching her. They knew what she was now, there was no denying it.
They hadn't been back for less than two minutes before Sam had asked her to confirm. The message declaring Dreams death had been seen server wide. There was no hiding who she was or what she did. She had disobeyed hers, and he would be upset and she was supposed to make things better damnit. Sam said she wasn't in trouble, just that he needed to know what happened. She had just shaken her head. He had left her bonded to die, he could wait to hear about it from the victim of his failure.
For now Zephie would wait.
Sam wasn't sure what to do. He had heard someone he didn't recognize screaming in the cell, and he could only assume it was Zephie. The kid never so much ad spoke to him but now she was screaming at the top of her lungs for his help.
"SAM SAVE HIM PLEASE HES GONNA DIE!"
Who could she have been talking about? Surely not Tommy, if Tommy died because of him he would never forgive himself. But when he entered the cell he was met with a truly gruesome sight. Not an inch of the walls weren't covered in blood. There was a help in the corner that he refused to look at, and curled up around Tommy was Zephie.
She was crying and when he had tried to speak with her she had just curled in tighter. If he tried to pull her away she held on tighter. He needed to get her to focus.
"Zephie, right?" She looked up at him, her face was covered in blood as well, she nodded.
He managed to convince her to let him help. She didn't say a word after she had finished screaming. His communicator buzzed once but he ignored it. Right now Tommy needed him.
"Who are you?" Tommy said, very much so confused.
Because there was a girl sitting in front of him. She looked about his age, maybe young and definitely shorter. She had silver hair and was looking at him with wide eyes. She didn't speak, just shrugged.
"You don't know? How can you not know who you are? Do you not have a name?" She was still staring at him. She shook her head and pointed at him.
"My name? I'm Tommy." But she just shook her head, her body language read 'I knew that already' so what did she mean. "Do you mean- you mean I pick your name?" She nodded and smiled.
"What are you?" She wasn't normal, she seemed to radiate heat in waves. It was nice.
She reached over and Tommy repressed the urge to flinch. She tapped a place right to the left of his heart and then dragged her finger back, tapping once in her collar bone. A thin trail of light had followed her fingers, and despite what most seemed to think he was not stupid. He knew a soul bond when he saw one, and he knew where hallows kept their souls. He did actually bother to research the things.
"Your my-?" He didn't bother finishing, Zephie nodded enthusiastically and smiled wide. Then she dove into a hug, and everything in his mind screamed Safe She will protect you Safe
And oh, what he would give to believe it.
When Tommy woke up he was not on a cold obsidian floor. This was a nice surprise because it meant he was out. Well maybe not all the way, but he wasn't in the cell with Dream anymore. What was less nice was the fact that his head pounded. And then the last thing he noticed was the very small, very warm thing pressed into his side.
"Zeph?" He felt them press further into his side. He could feel his shirt getting wet "Ah, Zeph why are you crying?"
He didn't open his eyes but he didn't really need to. Zephie would talk to him. "Hurt."
That got his eyes to open, lantern light was filling the room but he didn't bother to take in his surroundings. Instead his eyes shot to the silver haired kid at his torso. "Did they hurt you?" It didn't really matter who or why, if someone hurt Zephie there would be hell to pay.
She looked at him confused and shook her head. "Hurt you." Oh, well if that was all.
"Oh that's okay. I'm alright. I'm just happy you're not hurt." He said, but Zephie's face turned to something of confusion and terror.
"Not okay. Hurt you! My job- my job to protect. Failed." She had broken down into tears again and sat up. Tommy would rather she go back to hugging him.
"No no no, sweetie you didn't fail." He sat up as well, but instantly regretted it when his head spun and he squeezed his eyes shut again. This did not seem to help Zephie's mood as she began to cry harder. "Hey no, Zeph I need you to look at me.
She did, but was still crying. She tried to rub the tears from her large blue eyes to no avail. She sniffed a few times before looking at him again.
"You did not fail, alright. Dream would have killed me if it wasn't for you. In fact he might still try to, but I've got you to protect me." But to his surprise Zephie looked horrified and dropped her head. He knew that look. That was the look he made whenever he had pissed someone off and feared punishment. "Zephie, what's wrong? What happened?"
Zephie started to shake and looked down at her hands. She started to clasp and unclasp them. "Zeph?" She just hung her head lower.
And then it hit him, "Zeph you didn't?" But Zephie just broke down completely. Tommy fumbled for his communicator that was sitting on a table next to him. He flipped back a bit.
Dream was killed by Zephie Hallow
Was proudly displayed on the screen. Well I guess this would make people stop thinking she was his girlfriend now. And that took care of any previous security issue. But Dream was dead. The person who tortured him was dead but he couldn't be happy about it. As much pain as he had caused him he didn't know if he wanted him to die.
He sighed, "Zephie, I am not mad at you. I would never be mad at you for protecting me. I would never be upset at you for that okay?"
She sniffed a few more times. Zephie was meant to protect him but she was also really sweet. She definitely wasn't taking the idea of killing someone well, no matter the reason. But she wiped her eyes again and nodded.
She suddenly looked like she remembered something and dashed off to the doorway. Now that he was actually looking he realized he knew this room. He was in Sam's base, in the room he had specifically installed for when Tommy didn't feel like walking home. Zephie had banged on the door a few times before returning to his side and curling up against him again. "Ah, Zeph."
Sam came to the door quickly and looked relieved at seeing Tommy sitting up. "Hey Toms, how are you feeling?"
"My head hurts. Other than that I feel pretty okay." This was true. He knew he had other injuries from Dreams horrible attempt at murdering him, but he couldn't really feel any of them.
"Make sense, you were pretty beaten up but most of your injuries were healed by potions once we got you out. You still have a concussion though." This made sense, Dream had only hit him a few times before Zephie had stepped in. Come to think of it.
"What about, Zeph?" She said she was okay but when Dream threw her she hit her head on the opposite wall hard.
"She's fine too. She had a bump on her head and a few strained muscles but she was okay. Hallows can heal themselves anyway so those barely lasted a day."
Okay that was good. That's good. Zephie had unfortunately inherited his terrible lack of care of oneself. He had seen her walk off major injuries before but a bonded can worry.
"That's good."
Two days had passed since he had woken up. And Zephie had not slept a single one. He didn't know if she had slept while he was unconscious but based on the bags under her eyes he was guessing the answer was no. He had finally convinced her to take a nap but only because he swore to stay with Sam nearby, so she would be able to get to him if something went wrong.
Zephie, thankfully, seemed to trust Sam. Which was more than he could say for anyone else. She also seemed to trust Fran, he knew hallows didn't typically like each other or interact unless necessary but Zephie was unique. She seemed more social from the beginning than most hallows became in their lifetime. But he had caught her petting Fran a few times since they got here. Whenever he saw she would stop, despite his insistence that it was fine.
Now Zephie was asleep in their room. He peeked in on her every ten minutes to ensure she was actually sleeping and not pretending just to make him happy. He felt a hand rest on his shoulder and fought the urge to stiffen. When he turned it was just Sam everything was fine. He nodded to the next room so as to not wake up his sleeping hallow. Tommy followed.
"What's up?" He said casually.
"Tommy I think we need to talk about Zephie." It was hard to read Sam with his mask on but Tommy could tell he was nervous.
"What about her?" He didn't like where this was heading.
"Well first off, why didn't you tell anyone she was your hallow?" Sam sat down. Tommy sat across from him.
"Safer. You've probably noticed a lot of people want me dead, or worse. If Zeph gets hurt I'm not sure what I'd do. Originally it was cause of Dream. Wherever he was coming during- during exile I had to make Zephie go hide in the woods. I didn't want him to try to use her against me."
"Makes sense. But how is she human?"
"I don't know, she chose it I guess. Techno said it just happened sometimes. That despite how hard we work to deny it, humans are still animals or some shit like that. And therefore open to hallows as a form." Techno had given him a full explanation while he had been there. He even mentioned someone else he had met that had a human hallow.
"Okay, now… Tommy what are we gonna do?" He said reluctantly.
"I don't know what you mean. There's nothing wrong Zephie." She was perfect thank you very much.
"Tommy she killed a person-"
"To protect me. What would you throw Fran out if she bit someone in order to keep you from being murdered?"
"But Tommy Zephie didn't just bite- or hit someone. Do you know what I saw when I went back to the cell after I got you out? There wasn't even a body there was a pile of shredded parts piled in a corner, not even all of him was there. I had to give George and Sapnap a shoebox full of pieces to bury. She didn't kill him; she shredded him alive."
That was a bit concerning, but honestly Tommy had been expecting her to do something like that for ages now. "And? What do you suggest I do?"
Sam hung his head, "I don't know."
Tommy fought to keep himself calm. If she got upset Zephie would wake up, and she was just starting to trust people. This hurt far worse than a betrayal of his own trust. Because this was breaking his hallows very fragile trust.
"Can I make something clear to you?" He kept his voice calm and stood up slowly. "I would rather haul my ass back to exile than see Zephie get hurt or be separated from her. So if you want to do anything to Zephie, you'll have to deal with me first. She's my hallow, and my responsibility, so I can decide for myself whether what she did was wrong or not."
"We're never gonna talk about this again clear? Especially not in front of her. She's starting to trust you, I'd hate to see what would happen if you betrayed that." He stormed back to his room. He was quiet when he made it to the door though. Zephie was still asleep.
'I think my bonded is a bit misguided.'
Zephie glanced at 'Sams' hallow. Fran was that her name? She raised her eyebrow expectantly.
'But he does truly care about yours. I think he just needs to be shown the proper way to do it."
Zephie nodded. She didn't know 'Sam' well enough to trust him completely, but if he wanted to protect her bonded she would be grateful.
'How do you suggest I do that?' Zephie said without moving her mouth. Hallows had their own language to speak to each other no matter what creature they took as their form.
'I think you're gonna have to figure that out yourself' Fran responded, tilting her head. Zephie hesitantly reached out and scratched her fellow hallow behind the ears. She seemed to appreciate it. Maybe Zephie could be okay with this.
"Sam?" The man in question jumped, man was she good at being quiet."
"Yeah?" Zephie never talked to him. The only time he had ever heard her speak was when she had been screaming for his help.
"I…" she looked uncomfortable. Maybe she just didn't like talking. "Thank you. For protect my bonded." Her English was broken, hallows had their way to communicate so she was probably still adjusting to being able to speak.
"Oh. Well your welcome. You did a pretty good job yourself." She flinched. And just shook her head while staring at her shoes. Sam remembered Tommy buying them and insisting she wore them instead of going around barefoot all the time.
"No. Failed." She sounded upset.
"I don't think you failed. And I know Tommy doesn't. Your bonded really cares about you ya know?"
She nodded. But continued looking at her shoes. She left a minute later. Maybe Sam could be okay with this as well.
This was not good. Where was Fran and Zephie when you needed them. She was never gonna forgive him for this. He had promised to keep Tommy safe and now all four of them were toast. Tubbo and Ranboo didn't look much more confident than him. Their hallows and already take a beating from Bad's hallow, an elk named Muffin. Apparently the eggs mind control stretched to its bonded's hallows as well. Good to know.
Tubbo's hallow attempted to multiply to swarm its attacker. But Ant's Siamese matched it with its own hoard and purred happily as it destroyed the clones. This was not good at all. Now they had Tommy at sword point, questioning how he had killed Dream and escaped prison. Tommy kept insisting that it was self defense and he didn't want Dream dead and he hadn't told his hallow to attack him.
Now Bad said that the egg was demanding Tommy's death, and that they would kill him with no one to save him now. Tommy was forced to beg for his life and Sam couldn't do anything. Punz and Ant had backed him, Tubbo, and Ranboo into a corner. Ranboo was cradling his own hallow who had managed to hold her own until Ants hallow had begun multiplying. Now she was missing an eye and had been knocked unconscious.
But then Bad made a fatal mistake, he slapped Tommy to try to get him to shut up. Sam knew what was coming now. And it would not be pretty.
"Tubbo, Ranboo listen to me." He whispered to them. Their eyes snapped to him. Sam could hear shouting and barking overhead. "I need both of you to press into the wall as far as you can. You will stay behind me and it would be best if you close your eyes. We will remain silent until I tell you it's safe. And no matter what, Stay Away From Tommy."
"Sam what's happening?" Tubbo asked. But he did what he was told. Sam shook his head. He was just hoping that the three of them wouldn't be dead by the end of the day.
There was a deafening crash as the other side of the room and the obsidian and door leading to the egg was ruble. Puffy's ram had just shattered the thing but he was only focused on the very angry teenager with wild silver hair. Fran bounded over to get between her bonded and the attackers but it didn't matter. Because as soon as Zephie's eyes locked onto Bad, hand still raised from where he had slapped Tommy, everything went to hell.
"Sam?" Puffy had come in about a minute after the battle had ended. Honestly it wasn't much of a battle, more of a massacre. He immediately shot her a look that he hoped read as 'Be quiet!' But the damage was done. Because the slightly feral hallow that had been curled protectively around her bonded had heard her. Zephie's eyes were clouded and filled with rage. She began growling, a sound that reminded Sam of a taser. But thank Prime, Tommy had reached up a hand and snagged the back of her cloak when shew moved to rise.
"No, she's a friend." Zephie did not seem convinced but stopped growling and went back to trying to bury herself in her bonded as the clouded appearance faded from her eyes.
"S-Sam?" Ranboo whispered behind him. He had been so focused on not moving that he had almost forgotten who he was protecting.
"Yeah, I think it's safe." He stepped aside and immediately scooped up Fran. She was unharmed, thank Prime. In her rage Zephie had seemed to either not notice or not care enough about then to turn her attack on them.
Ranboo immediately took off Tubbo close behind to get medical attention for their still wounded hallows. He could see the tear tracks on their faces. He felt a bit like crying himself. Puffy rushed over to him.
"Sam what happened here?" She looked at the remains of the room, Sam's gaze followed hers. There wasn't much left and once again, the walls and floors were stained with blood. Ants hallow was on the ground twitching. Its owner would be fine, all three had lives to spare. Zephie had been merciful enough to not kill anyone else's hallows, or maybe she was just waiting for them to die on their own. Regardless Sam scooped up the severely bleeding cat. Its ear was missing a chunk and there was a massive slash running down its side. He pulled gauze from his inventory and began wrapping the injured cat.
"I'll tell you what happened, Zephie saved us. Bad and his group of egg worshipping crackheads tried to kill us. And Zephie stopped them." When he was done he forced some healing potion down the cats mouth. Luckily potions worked on hallows.
"She did this?" She looked around the room again. He heard her gasp and could tell she had caught site of the quickly fading bodies, or what was left of them.
"Mhmm. It was terrifying. But it's my fault. I didn't protect them."
"Not Fault." Zephie grunted and Sam looked at her. She was still firmly being held by Tommy but leaned back a bit to let herself be heard. "Did Protect Bonded, Thank you."
"Yeah Sam, if you, Tubbo and Ranboo weren't there I'd have been dead a while ago." Tommy said. He did not seem any more inclined to let go of his hallow. In Fact he buried himself deeper midway through speaking.
Sam smiled at them. Even if he didn't feel like what they said was true. "Hey Zephie. I know you don't want to but I need you to let go so I can check you both for injuries."
She grumbled but extracted herself from her bonded's hold. Other than being coated in blood, and small scratches she seemed fine. Sam wondered if she had faster healing abilities than an average hallow. Tommy was alright to, only small bruises and one red mark from where he had been slapped. He nodded and rewrapped the two arms around each other. Prime knows they both needed the comfort.
Bonded Safe. She had forced through her head hoping that he would believe her. She was covered in blood that wasn't hers. But her bonded was uninjured. She had come in time. The demon had slapped him but he was otherwise safe. She had given vengeance for that. She was now firmly wrapped in her bonded arms. He was still shaking but was holding onto her tight, she appreciated it.
"Zeph?" He finally seemed aware enough to actually speak to her. He had whispered it but she heard it clear as day. Zephie stopped herself from purring in response. She had a human form, behave like it. So instead she nodded into her bonded's torso.
"Are you okay?" Always more worried about someone else. But she nodded again to ease his concern. You okay? She thought, hoping he'd understand her.
"Yeah, I'm okay I think." He was still whispering, maybe he didn't want the ones in the corner to hear.
"Sam?" Someone said behind her, and Zephie growled at them. If anyone else tried to hurt her bonded she would not hold back.
She moved to rise but her bonded grabbed her cloak and pulled her back down. "No, she's a friend." Come to think of it she did recognize this human. They were a friend of 'Sams' and had provided the Ram hallow they had used to get in here. She promptly went back to cuddling. If there was no threat physically for her to attack she needed to address the psychological damage that had been done.
'Sam' was speaking to the woman with the Ram. And then he said something utterly ridiculous. That this was his fault, that he had failed. If she was not allowed to say she had failed neither could he. "Not fault. Did protect bonded, thank you."
Her bonded agreed with her and she was grateful. Then Sam said something else to her, and while he was right she did not want to move, she detangled herself anyway. When he was done he let them go back to cuddling which Zephie was more then happy to do. Then her bonded stood. He was still holding her and she wanted to protest, but she was exhausted. Her fit of rage had left her with no energy left, and if her bonded wanted to carry her she would let him.
Safe was the last thing that went through her mind before she drifted off.