Chapter 17: Reflections
Scenario: This is Philza reflecting on what happened after they blew up L'Manberg. Technoblade is not part of the SBI family dynamic in this, he's just Philza's best friend.
Philza Minecraft hadn't been here long, but for the amount of time that he had been here, he had been hurt a lot. Sitting at the table in Technoblade's house, he remembered when he'd found Wilbur in the room with the button, torn between blowing L'Manberg up, or leaving it. He had tried to convince his son to leave, to save L'Manberg, but he'd blown it up anyway. Phil remembered rushing forward, and throwing his wings out to protect his son. The explosion had hurt him, but he didn't really feel it. What he felt was the way his sword had plunged into his own son's back. He would never be able to un-feel that.
He remembered Fundy, how he'd been so mad at his grandson for betraying Wilbur, but eventually forgiving him, and offering him a place to stay when Eret forgot about him. And Ghostbur, how he'd almost felt like Wilbur, and the good times they'd had together. His friendship with Technoblade had stayed consistent, and for that he was eternally grateful. Techno never tried to bring up painful memories, and when he did, he always apologized.
Phil remembered how Techno had always ranted to him about Tommy, and how annoying he was, but Phil knew that they would eventually get along. And they did. Well, sort of. Phil had watched their friendship form, and then grow. He had only briefly thought about how Wilbur and Tommy had teamed up in sort of the same way, and how that had turned out, but he'd pushed that thought away. And now he'd discovered that he was a fool for being so naive to himself.
He'd seen Tommy and Techno off when they went to the festival, warning them to be careful and not to kill too many people. He knew that something would go wrong, but he never suspected that his youngest son would turn away from his best friend. When Techno had returned back without Tommy, Phil had felt a brief moment of panic, wondering where he was, and if he'd been hurt. But when Techno had explained it to him, Phil found that he only felt sympathy for Technoblade, and vowed to help him in any way. And if one of those ways was turning against his son, then he would do it.
And when the day finally came that they would destroy L'Manberg, to finish Wilbur's work, Phil had felt no regret, except that Wilbur had had to die many months before. He'd felt anger at the citizens of L'Manberg, especially when Jack Manifold had asked him why he hated the government so much. "Because I was forced to kill my own son, you idiot!" had been his answer, and he hoped that they would understand. But even if they didn't, he knew Technoblade understood. He'd always have Technoblade by his side. And Ranboo. For some reason, he knew he'd be able to trust Ranboo. He'd done his best to make him feel accepted, and not pressured to do anything he didn't want to.
Phil couldn't help but notice the parallels between Wilbur and Ranboo. Ranboo had informed him of his 'panic room' that Phil had pulled him out of, with the signs all over the walls, and he was reminded of the room with the button, and how Phil had pulled Wilbur out of that room in a different way. Phil had lost one of his ones to death, and another to betrayal. He vowed that he would never lose Ranboo to anything.
"Phil? Phil, there are a lot of endermen out there right now."
Phil stood up from the table and went downstairs. "Is that bad?"
"Well, not really, I guess. It's just...I don't know. I don't want to accidentally look at one."
Ranboo stood by the window, watching the snow fall over the plains. Phil came to stand next to him. "Is that why you don't like eye contact?"
"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of eye contact."
"Hm." They stood in silence for a bit, then Phil said, "If you don't mind me asking…"
"Oh, not at all. Go ahead."
"I'm just curious, why is it that endermen get so angry when you look them in the eyes?"
Ranboo shifted, then tilted his head like he was thinking. "Well, it's not so much that they get angry, but more protective."
Phil nodded. "And what are they protective of?"
"You see, endermen spend a lot of time teleporting, you know, so when they do that a lot, they find themselves getting lost, and sort of drifting away from reality. They hold onto dirt blocks because I guess it helps them stay connected to this world. And when someone makes eye contact, they become afraid that you're going to take their block away."
Phil thought about that for a while. "So, when they open their mouth and start making those noises, they aren't really mad?"
"No, not really. Just scared. And stressed. And confused. It's hard for them to remember who, where, and what they are."
"Hm." Phil told himself then that he wouldn't kill an enderman unless it was absolutely necessary. "So, you're half enderman, and what's the other half?"
"I...don't know. And if I did know at one point, I don't remember anymore."
"Well… That's alright. If you don't remember something that happened, you can just ask me from now on."
Ranboo smiled at him. "Thanks, Philza."
"Yeah, anytime. You want to help me build the dog house?"
"Oh, yeah, definitely."
"Awesome."
They walked outside with materials, chatting with each other, and Phil thought that maybe things would be okay for a while.
I wanted Ranboo content so I made some myself xd. also I don't actually know anything about endermen lol I literally just made that up XD