Chapter Nineteen

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"You really should be resting."

I glanced over at Wilbur irritatedly and scowled. "I'm fine. I want to see him. Maybe slap him a bit. Or stab him."

"This is stupid. Rest is more important."

"Says the guy who got next to no sleep for nearly two weeks."

Wilbur huffed and crossed his arms, but he knew that he had lost the argument. I smiled as he simmered quietly.

It was already the next morning. The second Philza told me the news, I was up and out of bed, on my feet and ready to go. Then I was immediately back in bed again as pain overtook my body. Phil made me wait, rest for the rest of the night, before finally allowing me to go with him to visit Smiley the next morning.

As I stood at the base of the stairs leading down, I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread.

Smiley was dangerous. Smiley was unpredictable. Smiley couldn't be contained for long, and we all knew it.

I followed Phil down the stairs. Wilbur stuck firmly to my side, holding a fresh roll of bandages tightly in his hands. He had claimed that it was for me, in case my wounds acted up again. I got the feeling that he just wanted something to cling on to and was afraid of hurting me if he clung too tightly.

"I can't believe it," he muttered as we went. "Just yesterday, I was scared about dying. And now my killer is locked away already. Thank you, Techno."

"I didn't do it," I said with a shake of my head. "Phil did. I tried and failed."

"You didn't fail," our father said from in front of us, not turning around. The tips of his large wings swept across the ground like a fancy yet somewhat useless broom. "You weakened him. Really, you did all the work. We were just the cleanup crew."

I had to laugh at that. "Team effort, then."

"Never thought the great Technoblade would need a team," Wilbur piped up, a small smile floating onto his face.

"I don't, but my family is the best team in the world." I put my good arm around his shoulders, pulling him into a half hug. Wilbur shoved me away halfheartedly, though his smile had solidified. It felt good to see him smile again.

We reached the bottom of the stairs. Tubbo was waiting for us, looking bored out of his mind. Beside him stood Tommy.

"Tommy?" I asked in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," he retorted, folding his arms.

"I work here."

Tommy hesitated, then huffed. "Right. I just wanted to act cool, man. Try and play along next time, sheesh."

Wilbur made a small strangled sound. He looked like he wanted to laugh but also didn't want offend the boy. Understandable, but unnecessary. Tommy was always offended at something.

"I told him that we had caught Smiley," Tubbo explained. "You know, I figured he deserved to be in on it, since he's never gonna get over it if we leave him out."

He already knows him so well, I thought with a slight shake of my head. "Fine. But how do you know, Tubbo? Does word get around this fast?"

Phil cleared his throat, drawing our attention to him. "Actually, he was there with me when I caught Smiley."

That was new information to me. I glanced over at Tubbo for confirmation, unable to believe it until I knew for sure. The boy nodded and smiled widely, placing his hands on his hips.

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