Technoblade waited two whole weeks before confronting Phil about his weird behavior.

It wasn't something he enjoyed doing. Overall, one of the reasons their friendship worked so well - aside from things like shared interests and common goals and a history together that had irrevocably tied their past and future into a knot - was that both Phil and Techno had a very acute awareness of their respective needs for independence. Phil had his own things going on and Techno had his. Whether they shared those things, good or bad, was always a choice.

They shared more often than they kept things to themselves, spoken about in quick words exchanged on the porch before going off for the day or relayed in great detail while drinking tea on the couch in the evening. But whenever one of them did decide to hold onto a secret, it was always because of reasons that had nothing to do with trust. When Phil didn't tell Techno something, it didn't feel like a betrayal. They just could be comfortable having their own lives run parallel to each other and intertwine when wanted, not because of obligation.

But Techno had to draw the line somewhere. Phil's safety was a hard line.

Also, focusing on that was easier than focusing on Tommy still living in his cabin.

Things had been… fine, really. Everything was quiet and mundane and mind-numbingly domestic to the extent that Techno was starting to second-guess retirement. Sometimes he wondered if it would be worth it to move back to Hypixel for a while. Leaving the server behind and finding some excitement sounded like a two birds with one stone deal. Chat liked the idea, but they liked any idea that would lead to more bloodshed. Techno didn't crave violence, he just craved not having to be confronted with Tommy's strange mood swings and jumpy behavior and blank expression when anybody so much as breathed Wilbur's name within earshot.

He couldn't change the things that had happened. Techno couldn't do anything about the past.

What he could do was confront Phil and figure out why he'd been burning sage and oakwood relentlessly for the past three days straight. The smoke was messing up Techno's windows.

"I think I have a way to bring back Ranboo."

E
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Wait is he for real?
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Phil killed Dream and stole the book lol?
Ranboo pog
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Nice

Techno shook his head, though as usual, it didn't really clear it of Chat's insistent nagging. It might be closer to a physical tic at this point. There were a few different questions he could ask. What he settled on eventually was, "Without the book?"

"Without the book," Phil confirmed. "Dream isn't the only one who can mess with the powers of gods."

"Sure," Techno said. It's not like he wouldn't know, being connected to a deity himself and all that. But raising the dead was another matter entirely. That went above what most gods were capable of. Most, except maybe one or two. "You've asked Kristin?" he realized.

"You know how I told you I was having a hard time contacting her?" Phil asked. "Turns out the connection was fine, there was just some kind of… I don't know what to call it. Like a fucking interference on the line?"

"Weird," Techno said. Despite being the Blood God's conduit, he wouldn't pretend to know much of the other gods and their chosen ones. His own bond had never wavered, so whatever Phil was talking about had never occurred for him. Maybe it had something to do with the server specifically?

Infinite respawns but three impactful deaths that could kill you permanently… Techno always found that to be rather fishy. No other server he knew operated like that.

"It doesn't really matter. I've figured out how to circumvent it," Phil said.

"So you've been burning crap and lowering my property value to talk to your wife," Techno drawled. "That's great, Phil."

The joke drew a smile from the other man. Techno wouldn't voice out loud how relieved that made him. Between Tommy's behavior and Phil's weirdly glum attitude ever since Wilbur left (hidden well, but if anybody could see through Phil it was Techno), it was nice to see him grin so sincerely.

"Your property value is already shite, mate. You've got ghosts living across the road and cobblestone towers in your yard."

"I keep telling Tommy to knock it off."

E
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He started again huh?
Thought we got rid of that
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Isn't that good? He's back to his old self?
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He likes Techno again
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Techno likes him too

Techno absolutely did not like Tommy. He didn't trust Tommy. He wasn't Tommy's friend.

"So did Kristin tell you how to bring people back from the dead? That's pretty pog," he said. It hadn't really sunk in yet that this meant they could bring Ranboo back. Or it had, but how he felt about it was delightfully delayed.

Techno wasn't entirely sure how they'd go about this development either way so he would gladly shove any emotions connected to it into a box to concentrate on other things. He was fairly good at that.

"She can help us do it," Phil said. "If I can work out a way to fully summon her. There's a lot of materials that are hard to come by."

Oh, now they were going to summon the goddess of death. Sure, this could be Techno's life now.

Through the cabin's window - slightly obscured by the dense smoke of burning sage that lingered against Phil's ceiling - he could see Tommy. Not building a cobblestone tower. It would have been better if he was. No, he was sitting on the fence of Techno's doghouse, staring into the distance. The direction of the prison, of L'Manburg. The direction of Ranboo's shack, too.

"What do you need?" Techno asked.

"How much further is it?" Tommy complained behind them.

Techno sighed, hauling some of the wood higher up onto his shoulder. In the ideal world, they could have left Tommy home for this. But even a blind person would have seen them prepare for the ritual, so Tommy started to ask about it and Phil had told the kid exactly what they were planning. Predictably enough, Tommy wanted to be involved.

It's not like Techno actually cared whether Tommy was around or not - No, Chat, it wasn't like that. It really wasn't. From what he could put together though, what they were attempting to do would be pretty risky. Techno was worried about the distraction.

E
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Or worried about Tommy?
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Are we at the point where he'll admit that yet?
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I miss wilbur :(
E

"Just over here," Phil said, indicating a clearing a little way ahead of them. They were surrounded by trees on all sides. Phil had told them that Kristin's connection was more powerful in these woods. They were grown from her influence.

(Techno hadn't really noticed the random forest that had spawned around their commune seemingly out of nowhere. In his defense, he'd spent three months in prison and things had been pretty hectic since.)

"There's nothing here?" Tommy asked as they came to a stop. The snow was deeper, reaching up to their ankles. Nobody on the server would venture this far. Hopefully, that meant they wouldn't be disturbed.

The only person who knew what they were doing was Niki. Phil and Techno had informed her as a member of the Syndicate and as a friend. A friend of Ranboo's too. She did not have time to join them for the ritual itself but was both worried for their safety as well as pleasantly surprised at the prospect of having Ranboo back.

Techno didn't know if it was unfair to her, to get her hopes up. What if this didn't work?

"There's not supposed to be anything here, Tommy." Phil dropped his bags against a tree. "We need to get stuff set up. Can you get a fire going, Techno?"

"On it." Techno started to pile the wood they had brought, with bundled-up stalks of sage and lavender in between the branches. Phil was directing Tommy to collect some of the larger stones around. He laid out the items from his bag: totems of undying, emeralds, Ranboo's memory book…

Techno had gone and got it from Ranboo's shack. He'd had to riffle through Ranboo's stuff to find it - an action made slightly more awkward with Ghostboo watching him.

"Are you getting Ranboo back?" they had asked. "Is that why you need his stuff?"

Techno had nodded, grabbing the book from where Ranboo had left it buried beneath some supplies. He hadn't cleaned his home before being thrown into the prison, clearly. Techno didn't open the book to read it.

"I'm glad. You guys all want him back."

What would happen to Ghostboo - Techno didn't know. Using the revival book had killed Ghostbur. Or… send him away? Techno had no clue if this ritual would do the same on Ghostboo. He didn't think it would make a difference in their decisions.

When the fire was burning strongly, Phil started throwing some other stuff in it. They were powders of mixed-up ground and minerals. Techno had helped him farm netherrack, obsidian, and a bunch of other stuff. Phil had taken apart some chunks of their table in the Syndicate room too. Turned out the material it was made of came from Kristin's domain.

Techno placed an eye of ender in the middle, watching the glassy texture blacken and scorch.

"Stand back for this," Phil warned. Techno did as he was told, not much feeling like being vaporized by the Goddess of Death by accident today. He pulled on the back of Tommy's shirt to get the kid to keep his distance also. As tempting as it was to let Tommy suffer the consequences of his poor choices.

Despite how long Techno had been friends with him, he had never seen Phil invoke his patron before.

It was nothing like how Techno spoke to the Blood God. Every deity had its own rites, after all. So it made sense that Phil had to call upon his wife in a unique way.

While they watched in silent apprehension, Phil's words made the smoke bend and twist into strange shapes. His eyes seemed alight with a purple glow, though the concentrated expression on his face did not betray any pain. Techno trusted more than anything that Phil knew what he was doing. But as the very heat was sucked from the air around them through the cold touch of death, it was hard not to feel a trickle of anxiety.

Then that melted away when the smoke revealed the figure of a woman.

She strode forward with such joviality, immediately rushing to enclose Phil in her arms. The traces of decay hung heavily in the air and on her skin, yet it felt like it suited her, almost. Her grin was easy and kind. She held Phil's face and kissed his lips.

Techno would have loved to give them a moment to reunite - he did understand Phil did not get to spend a lot of time with his wife and all, seeing as they were from different layers of existence - but that was rudely intruded upon by Tommy loudly pretend-gagging next to him.

"Oh fuck, get a room you two!"

Techno snorted a laugh, breath coming out in a quick puff of white due to the cold. It made Phil pull away with a cackle and a few muttered curses under his breath.

"Hello Technoblade. Hello Tommy," The Goddess of Death - known to those who had the privilege of actually interacting with her as Kristin - looked at them. She grinned slightly at Tommy's expression. "I wish I didn't see you again so soon."

"What?" Tommy's frow burrowed. Phil waved it away.

"I'm afraid we don't have a lot of time for conversations. How long will you be able to remain?" He held Kristin's hands in both of his own, reluctant to let go even while rightfully pointing out they should be getting down to business.

"Long enough for this to work." She pulled away, looking around at the clearing. "I see you've got everything sorted. That should save us some time." She pulled her skirt up over her ankles so she could walk over to the items laid out and pondered them for a moment. Then she picked up the memory book and one of several totems. "So who is going to do the retrieving?"

"The what?" Tommy asked loudly. How lost he was with the situation would be comical if only Techno wasn't equally confused.

"We were on a time crunch so I didn't have time to really explain how this would work," Phil said.

"Ah, right." Kristin picked up something else from the pile. It was a netherite sword. One Techno hadn't seen before. "Well, simply put, one of you will have to die."

"Bruh…" Techno did not like the sound of that.

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TECHNOBLADE NEVER DIES
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Not it!
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Kill Tommy then
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"Die?!" Tommy repeated. "Fucking- What?!"

"Only for a little while," Kristin assured with that same smile. Like this was not a strange thing to request at all. For her, it might truly be the most normal thing in the world. "I cannot go into limbo to retrieve souls. But I can send one of you there. All you have to do is find Ranboo and bring him back."

"And you've always just-" Techno gestured vaguely with his hands, "been able to do this?"

"There was a lot of preparation, some conditions that needed to be met." Phil stepped forward. "We're not doing this lightly, Technoblade, trust me. But it will work. I'll go and-"

"Nah," he said. Phil blinked, perplexed.

"What?"

"You're not going." He stepped up to take the book and totem from Kristin's hands. "I am."

Phil didn't ask why. He knew Techno too well for that to be a mystery. He only nodded. "Okay."

"Are you being fucking serious right now?!" Tommy asked. Techno had half a thought that he might be trying to hide his panic over this entire plan under a veneer of anger to not let it show how scary this was for him. And despite not being very frightened by the thought of death itself, Techno could understand how for Tommy, this could put him on edge.

Just not enough to let it actually influence his decision.

"Yeah, it'll be fine. In and out of limbo, right? I've done it before." He held up the totem, the gold warm in his hand. Small gleaming emerald eyes stared back at him. "No big deal."

E
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But Technoblade never dies?
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Techno dies sometimes I guess lol
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It's fine, we trust Phil

Chat was right. Techno did trust Phil.

"We don't have a lot of time," Phil repeated. "Kristin?"

"Right." She stepped forward with the sword in her hand. "I'll give you a quick rundown of how this works. I'll have to kill you, but instead of sending you to your own limbo, I'm sending you to Ranboo's. That's what we need the book for, so I can form a connection. When you find him, make sure to touch him in some manner. Then when I activate the delayed totem it will bring both of you back. Simple, right?" Her lack of worry was a little reassuring. Though maybe Kristin wasn't worried because she couldn't die.

"I think I can manage," Techno said.

"Be quick about it," Kristin warned. "Time might pass slower on the other side, I can only keep the totem's powers at bay for a handful of seconds. So you don't have much time. Do you understand?"

Techno nodded. "No dilly-dallying. Easy."

"Good. In that case-"

"Oh hey guys!" Connor pulled on the rope in his hands, dragging along a very unwilling pink sheep that didn't look very keen on being in these woods. Animals probably sensed death even better than people.

"Connor?" Phil asked. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Oh, I was around. You know. Just around." He tugged on the rope again. The sheep made a choked sound but trodded after him into the clearing, hooves dragging in the snow. "Saw you guys headed off into the distance and thought 'Hey I wonder what those guys are up to!'"

"We're kind of doing something important here," Techno said. He still had the book and totem in his hands. Kristin held the sword. Connor did not seem fazed by the display.

"Yeah, you're bringing me back right!"

"What?!" Tommy's vocabulary was pretty much reduced to only that word and curses.

"You're bringing me back from the dead? Because Wilbur killed me and that wasn't very cool of him." Connor indicated the large gap in his chest. Huh, now that he mentioned it, he was a little pale. Techno really should invest in getting a newspaper delivered because he missed half the crap that happened on this server.

"We're not- We're working on bringing Ranboo back right now," he said. "Do you mind?"

"Oh no, you can just bring me back after." Connor knelt down to pet his sheep, sitting down in the snow. He didn't seem bothered by it. Maybe not all ghosts were affected by water the way Ghostbur and Ghostboo were.

"We don't really have time for this," Kristin said after clearing her throat. "Techno, are you ready?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. So what do I do?" He caught Phil moving behind him from the corner of his eyes but didn't get a chance to say anything before Kristin put her hand on his shoulder.

"Hold still."

She drove the sword into his chest swiftly, cutting cleanly through bone and muscle. Techno gasped, a physical reaction before he felt any pain. The exhale was forced out of him by the pressure, rather. Chat was screaming, shrieking. The sword pulled free again and Techno fell backward, into Phil's waiting arms.

It hurt.

It hurt so bad his entire body felt on fire.

Kristin touched him, maybe his forehead or some different part of his face. Techno's eyes closed and then there was nothing - no pain anymore. Not the sensation of the cold winter air or the snow clinging to his hair. It all fell away into oblivion.

For a few seconds, he drifted in it, blissful. Chat was silent. Or maybe Techno had finally found a place they couldn't reach him.

Then he was rudely shocked into awareness again by his body hitting the water.

His instinct was to freeze up, but that only led to Techno starting to sink. So he swam back up to the surface, heavy clothes dragging him down. He gasped for air when he broke free from the waves, looking around him. There was nothing in sight at first except more water in every direction. Not the most reassuring thing. Then Techno saw something on the horizon. The shape was too vague to make out, it might not be land. He didn't really know what else it could be though. And it would beat drifting until his body grew too tired to keep him afloat.

Techno swam against the current, cursing himself for not taking off some of his gear and armor. Who the heck would have expected him to be sent into limbo with all his baggage attached? Kristin could have at least given him a heads-up. The shape he was heading towards didn't seem to be growing any bigger. His muscles started to burn with the ache of pushing past his own limits. How much time did he have?

At least his body didn't bear the wound of Kristin killing him, or he would have drowned before getting anywhere near Ranboo.

Ranboo!

The shape in the distance, outlined a little more clearly against an endless gray sky, was a person. It was Ranboo. It had to be!

"-oblade?!" And that was definitely Ranboo's voice too.

Not in a position to call back, Techno tried to swim as fast as he could (maybe Kristin should have sent him with a boat, but hindsight was twenty-twenty and all that). When his hands finally curled against a rocky, unstable ground, relief washed over him. He didn't know how much longer he could have kept going.

"Technoblade?" Ranboo's voice spoke closer to him now, next to his ear. Hands reached for his shoulders, his elbow. Tried to drag him onto the small excuse for an island that could barely accommodate one person. Techno had a few choice words for Ranboo's brain if this was the limbo it came up with.

But all of that didn't matter. He'd found Ranboo.

"Technoblade, what are- how did you get here?!" Ranboo asked, all panicked and high-pitched. "Wait, did you die?"

"Long story," Techno said, scrambling to get out of the water though he couldn't really. He settled for grabbing hold of Ranboo's wrist. So tight it might hurt the enderman a bit, though there was time to apologize for that later. Techno wanted to hold on and never let go. "We're getting out of here."

"You came to get me?" Ranboo sounded so… Techno couldn't place it. His head hurt.

"I'm not here for sightseeing, Ranboo."

There was a lot more he should say, probably. About Tubbo and Michael and how Techno did his best after the prison break to get that whole mess sorted out. About how everybody else was also waiting for Ranboo back home. About how he wished he could have done this sooner.

About how much he missed Ranboo.

He didn't get the chance to. Everything was too bright and too much and his spine must be splitting into two.

All Techno could do was try to not let go of Ranboo, not when he was finally within reach again. And hope that it would be swift.

Tommy did not like what they were doing one fucking bit and he was not going to hide that.

He wasn't going to complain about it out loud either because man, he seriously doubted his opinion would matter for shit. Also, it's not like he… didn't want Ranboo to come back. They'd gotten off to a rocky start way back, but Tommy quite liked Ranboo. And Tubbo really liked Ranboo, so since Tommy also really cared about Tubbo he was kind of forced to care about Ranboo by default. Otherwise, that would make him a shitty friend. Plus, Technoblade was like a fucking mule. If he'd decided to do something, he was going to do it anyway. Ain't no changing his mind. Pigheaded, Wilbur would call that sometimes in the trenches of Pogtopia they dug for themselves and he would laugh about it.

That didn't mean having to see Technoblade get stabbed was fun.

Tommy had an embarrassing moment of simply staring in shock but he didn't think anybody noticed. Phil was there to catch Techno's body as it slumped and lowered him onto the ground. There was so much blood, pooling out of him and soaking into the snow. Turning the white into this disgusting shade of pinkish sludge.

Kristin reached out so she could touch the totem, covering Techno's fingers that were clenched around it with her own. She had her eyes closed, she was moving her lips but Tommy couldn't hear. There was blood stuck on her face. On her knuckles.

(The prison had obsidian walls that radiated heat and there was a constant dripping sound from the water that ran through the cracks. Tommy couldn't breathe and the fist that reared back to punch him in the face had knuckles covered in blood too.)

"Tommy!" Phil snapped at him. The harsh tone was unlike him, but it helped Tommy blink out of the image wavering before his eyes. "Potion, now." Phil nodded towards the bags.

Tommy tripped over himself in his haste to get it. He handed the regeneration to Phil, who popped the cork off and poured the liquid over Techno's chest. The stab wound quickly started to close up.

"How long?" Phil asked. Tommy didn't step back, kneeling there awkwardly. His tongue felt too big for his mouth, leaving him to swallow around it.

"Maybe ten more seconds?" Kristin answered.

The gold of the totem cracked with an audible snap. Kristin was holding it together by what Tommy could only assume was sheer force of will. Man, who the fuck was this lady?

"Is it working?" he asked.

"No way to tell," Kristin said casually. There was no sweat dripping down her face, not a single hair out of place. Then why did Tommy get the impression that this was costing her a lot of strength and effort?

"Come on," Phil muttered - but he was probably not talking to any of them. The pink sheep on Connor's - Ghostor's? - leash watched the scene impassively, bleating softly while he stroked it. Tommy wished he could go back to this morning when things weren't so fucking stressful.

Then, unable to be held back any longer, the totem shattered. Kristin pulled away, watching the sharp shards of gold cut open Technoblade's palm. The green glow was overpowering for a moment, and it made Tommy flinch back with a hiss. Then Techno's eyes snapped open with a strangled gasp. He looked like he was about to puke.

Yeah, if being revived with the totem was anything like being revived with the book, Tommy could relate.

Techno frantically looked around as he searched for something. "Did it work? Did it-" A cough broke up the sentence. He was shaking.

Tommy wanted to do something about that. He didn't, though.

"It worked," Kristin said. "Hm, we should have had the foresight of bringing his remains."

"Gross," Tommy spat. The mental image of Ranboo's half-decayed corpse was not one he wanted to get stuck with, thank you very much.

"I meant the ghost," Kirstin amended with a smile. She was really chill with everything going on here, huh?

"You're fucking weird," Tommy told her.

"So I've been told."

"I don't think you should get up yet, mate." Phil was (poorly) attempting to keep Techno from standing. Techno ignored Phil pushing on his shoulders in favor of sitting up. Pigheaded, indeed.

"I'm fine," Techno insisted. "We should go find Ranboo."

"What about me?" Connor asked bluntly.

Everybody just kind of stared at him awkwardly. Tommy was the first who could break the silence. "Who the fuck are you again?"

"Do we have more totems?" Techno asked loudly, probably to try and keep them from starting an argument or something. Tommy hated it when he did that.

"Yeah, I brought backups," Phil said. "Let's just- Let's bring Connor back quickly and we can be on our way?" He looked at Kristin, gauging if she was capable of doing this. She gestured him over, already picking up the sword she'd dropped on the ground earlier.

"I can do it," Techno offered, but Kristin shook her head.

"Sending you twice in a row would be too hard on your body. We'll need to have Phil do it." She handed Phil the totem and grabbed the potion in preparation of healing him up after. "Do you have anything we can use for a connection?"

"I have this sheep," Connor offered happily.

"It'll have to do." She took the leash from him too.

"This better be fucking worth it," Phil muttered as he stepped up in preparation for being stabbed.

Like with Techno, Kristin did it quickly and cleanly. She knew exactly how to drive the sword into Phil's body to pierce through it completely, the netherite coming out from his back covered in blood. Tommy wanted to look the other way but part of him refused. It was a gnarly thing, all bunched up in his throat where he could easily ignore it. She pulled the sword back out and used Phil's shoulder to guide him against her in the same motion, so she could gently hold him in a semi-embrace while he died. It covered her gown in blood.

Tommy frowned. Is that what people considered romantic or some shit?

Then he was distracted by a noise next to him, Techno trying to get up.

"What part of don't move do you not understand, bitch?" Tommy asked him, pressing down on Techno's shoulders a little harder.

"Being revived is not that big a deal," Techno said. Tommy was about to lose his shit.

"Can you- Can you just not be a dick about this? For five minutes?" His hands were shaking.

Why were his fucking hands shaking?

Techno looked at him, opened his mouth as if to say something, then thought better of it and closed it again. "Can you reach Ranboo?"

"I'm not leaving," Tommy said angrily. He was sick and tired of people cutting him out from-

"On your communicator, Tommy."

"OH!" Tommy fumbled for the device, glancing at Kristin and Phil while he had the chance. Kristin was stroking Phil's hair, keeping the totem in their interlocked fingers. It was already cracking. Connor was using a stick to draw in the snow, unconcerned. When he got his communicator out, Tommy rubbed his thumb over the faded stickers Tubbo had put on there ages ago. "Uh, what do I send?"

"Anything," Techno said. "I want to know if it worked."

"Kristin said it did." But Tommy did end up typing some words.

Then he stared at the screen anxiously, waiting for a reply. When he saw an indication that Ranboo was typing, he sighed in relief. "Yeah! Yeah, it worked."

Techno lied back down. "Good."

Tommy bit at his lip. "What was Ranboo's limbo like?"

"It was-"

Before Techno could answer, Connor screamed. Phil gasped and Kristin helped him sit down as he blinked his eyes open, trying to gain back his awareness after the crude revival. Connor - or the ghost he had actually become - was rapidly melting out of existence and his huddled form remained. Somehow, he was bursting from his own skin.

He was alive again.

(Tommy was very glad they had not brought Ghostboo.)

"It worked?" Phil asked.

"Looks like it," Kristin said with a smile. She pulled him close to kiss him again. Once more, Tommy mimicked a loud gag. Just because he could.

"We should go check up on Ranboo," Technoblade said, getting up. This time nobody stopped him. Tommy knew they should really not stay there. Then why did his knees feel frozen to the ground?

He couldn't tear his eyes away from all the blood that had soaked into the snow.

(He missed Wilbur, somehow. Funny. Seeing the blood made him miss Wilbur.)

"Tommy?" Techno's hand fell on his shoulder. Then, slowly, it moved down. A silent offer to help him up.

Any other day, Tommy would have shrugged it off.

Today, Tommy took it.

"Yeah, let's go."