!! DSMP ONESHOTS !!

Always You

(Part 3 of 'Phil?' and 'Ghostnoblade' !!)

Phil noticed how forgetful the ghost of his friend was.

The ghost never seemed to remember which stories he told already. But honestly it didn't matter, Phil would never get sick of the stories. So long as Techno was still there, telling them. It didn't matter if Techno were to retell the same story over and over again. All Phil really wanted was to hear his voice because as long as he could hear Techno, the man would never be gone.

"Techno"

"Yeah?"

"Do you.... Do you have any good memories?"

The spirit thought for a second, the smile fell from his face and he frowned.

"Not really, I don't remember many things that were good... My life wasn't really good"

Phil felt the tears threaten to fall again. He didn't know why though. He already knew that Techno didn't lead a very good life even before he met everyone they now knew. Techno was dealt shitty cards from the very beginning.

"Well, what do you remember other then the things you've told me? "

"My mom"

"Your mom? You never told me about her when you were alive. You never really mentioned your parents, just that they were dead"

The spirit looked sad now. Phil was worried but he knew this next story wouldn't be all too happy.

"They... They weren't good Phil"

"W-what? What do you mean?"

"she tried to kill me, to get rid of me when I was really little before I met you and before anything m good ever happened to me"

"Why did she try to kill you?"

"I don't know, I never figured out why. I got so mad at her Phil. I didn't want to die and I didn't know why she wanted me to"

"What happened to her?"

"I don't know"

"What about your dad?"

The spirit had a much different reaction to the mentioning of his father then to his mother. When his mother was mentioned he seemed angry and confused. When Phil mentioned his father he physically recoiled in his seat, like he was trying to hide or protect himself. It made Phil angry to think of what had caused him to react this way.

"You don't have to talk about it.. it's ok"

————

"What was your first good memory?"

The ghost smiled to himself. Now seemed much more relaxed then when talking over the bad memories. Phil just stared fondly at the ghost, sitting on the edge of his seat as if doing so would make him hear the man better.

"When I met you Phil. Do you remember that?"

Phil smiled.

"Of course I do"

Phil had met Techno in a colosseum.

Phil had been thrown in there as a way to serve a prison sentence. He couldn't say exactly why he was serving a prison sentence, that memory was lost by time, but he did remember meeting Techno. He would never forget the day. Techno was no more then maybe 14 at the time. Phil knew Techno was in the colosseum because the king viewed him as a monster but he didn't exactly know why that came about. All he knew was that Techno was likely the strongest person in that damned place. Maybe it was him surviving to spite whoever made up the lies that put him there but it didn't matter.

The colosseum is where he got the moniker 'The Blade'. They were given weapons to fight their opponent with during each round. Techno always went for the exact same blade, to the point where it only ever appeared during his matches.

Phil had found a way to escape the colosseum but it didn't feel right to leave the one person he befriended behind. So Phil brought Techno with him. At the time Phil was not much older then Techno was so it wasn't weird going with him. Eventually Techno had to part with him but not before giving Phil an enchanted compass of some sort. Phil didn't know how he actually created it, there were some things that Techno never told even him. Phil's compass led to Techno and Techno's led back to Phil. As long as they were both alive then it would lead them back to each other.

It wasn't even set to a specific place, it was set to them. No matter how much they moved since that, they would always lead to each other.

Phil absolutely cherished that compass, he'd actually attached it to a necklace Techno had given him. Long ago the actual charm on the necklace had fallen off and been lost. Now the compass remained with him at all times. Even if it couldn't track the spirit of his dead friend and was now useless in terms of finding Techno.

It served as a good reminder.

————

"Phil, what was I like when I was alive?"

Phil choked on his tea, it had been a few weeks since the spirit of his friend had shown up and he never expected that the kind spirit would ask that. He probably should have anticipated it. Anyone would get curious after a while.

"Why?"

"Because whenever I see other people, other then you and Niki and Ranboo, they look at me like I'm a monster like the king who put us in the colosseum. Am I a monster Phil?"

Phil felt like crying for the billionth time since Techno came back. Just the look on Techno's face absolutely broke him. He cupped the ghosts face in his hands, ignoring the golden tears staining his hands and the clear tears running down his own face. Honestly he didn't think he'd ever get used to how cold techno's skin was. In life Techno was always very warm to the touch because of his nether origin and now he was very cold.

It was unsettling.

"Listen to me, you never say that again"

"But-"

"You are not a monster, in life or now. Techno, what you did to them... you didn't do it alone we did it together. You don't think I'm a monster because I'm not and you aren't either"

"Then w-why does it feel like I was?"

The spirit stared unblinking at Phil. Golden tears pricked the corner of Techno's white eyes. Phil wiped them away gently.

"They think of you as one but I know you aren't"

"You know or do you think I'm not one. They're different things Phil"

"Both, you are a person Techno. You could think, you could feel you could-"

"Monsters can do those things too Phil"

"You weren't a monster, Techno"

There was a silent 'but I am' at the end of Phil's sentence. Phil wanted this conversation to end, he wanted to switch topics but he couldn't allow himself to do so until Techno believed his words.

At first Techno's return felt like a fever dream, like heaven to Phil. He got his best friend back.

Now it was plain torture from the universe, it was punishing him for killing Techno. For tossing him aside for nothing more then a few items of material wealth and the notion that he might do something bad. This conversation with the ghost mirrored one of the conversations he had with a young Techno. Techno who had no one to turn to, the Techno who believed he was a monster that should have died the day his mother tried to kill him. It took him so long to convince the young impressionable boy that it wasn't his fault the way the king or anyone else treated him because of stupid rumors.

Now the same conversation came back to bite him in the ass.

(1282 words! It's been edited my dudes)