A Rift Through Worlds (A Dream SMP x Hermitcraft AU)

Yet the end was the beginning

Bit of an oxymoron, innit?

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In the court room, Tommy sat next to Stress. Only Stress, him, Xisuma and their lawyer sat on the front row, Iskall pat him back as he went to the second, followed by the rest but two of the hermits. Helsknight and Evil X had stayed behind to guard the server from the person who had tried to injure the hermits and to also take care of Shroud. The members of the Dream SMP sat opposite of their side, Dream, George and Bad at the front with their own lawyer and of course the others followed in the other seats; there were four empty. One for Wilbur, one for Fundy and the other two for Philza and Technoblade. While Puffy was busy talking to the jury, Tommy busied himself with looking at those empty seats.

He didn't mind Fundy and Wilbur being gone; if anything, that was a given. How was a ghost supposed to get into the Main Hub? And Fundy had problems with Dream, probably, so that explained his absence. But Phil and Technoblade were still missing; they weren't in the room; they hadn't even bothered to show up. Tommy silently began to fume. He'd expected them to at least turn up to the most serious and important moment of his life -call it payment for all the shit they'd pulled against him and his friends on the SMP.

He had expected his own fucking father to be there -Phil didn't even need to be on his side, he just had to be there; for him and for no one else.

There was a hand on his back, small but not tiny but so familiar. He fully leaned into the arm behind him, pressed lightly into Stress' side despite how uprofessional the gesture might've been. He let her calm the storm that was brewing inside his chest for a few moments.

"They'll come, Tommy", she whispered reassuringly. She had noticed what he was worried about but how could she have not? Tommy hadn't tried to hide his emotions nor how intensely he was searching amongst the hoard of people.

"I'm sure they got caught up in something", Iskall piped up, moving forward and nudging his shoulder. "Maybe Fundy and Ghostbur needed help", he offered but Tommy shook his head defiantly with a small, trembling smile. He pushed away from Stress, opting for leaning against the desk instead.

The brunette's hand remained on his back for a bit. Her palm was splayed on his shoulderblades and warm, searing his skin with a heat he minded only a little. His skin was sweating and catching on fire but the embers were not burning hot yet. He could feel her eyes on the back of his head; the attempt at getting his attention in hopes of assuring him that Philza and Techno would come -if not both, then just Phil- but Tommy wouldn't give it to her in an obvious way. He was listening; Stress knew that he was and Tommy knew that she knew. Then the warmth was gone, the heat leaving to be replaced by an uncomfortable chill.

Dream was called up first. Beside him, Tommy could hear the shuffling of papers as Xisuma exchanged a few last words with their lawyer before the professional stood up to shoot the first bullet. The trial had officially began and Tommy wondered: power abuse versus kidnapping; who would fucking win?

And so Tommy watched as the admins of both servers entered a lawful battle of words and truths, glares sharp as daggers being thrown across the room. He watched and listened as both defended themselves with big words and confessions and clear or vague answers (Dream did that last one a lot). The lawyers were sharp with their questions, targeting their opponents with more or less success. Xisuma had nothing to hide, Tommy knew that, but Dream, on the other hand, did and so it was easy to pick him and his answers apart.

The whole ordeal seemed so surreal to Tommy, who smiled when Dream began to get flustered on the podium. Never had he dreamt of being in such a powerful position in a trial against his own abuser with witnesses that were for once on his side.