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Rose Tea

Chapter Eight [Techno]

It was quiet, at the mansion. After the night's earlier events, the thugs were reported to the local guards and Techno was cleared of any evil intent due to the winged man, whom they all learned was called Phil. Phil led them up the hilltop to his abode. The mansion was now brightly lit and the two kids lay on a plush lounge chair fast asleep. The idea of a bed was forgotten to them. They had knocked out before Phil was even able to offer them a room. Wilbur hovered by an open window and looked outside while Phil carefully tended to the wounds that adorned Techno's body. His overalls were ruined with blood and he had many gashes from where knives had slashed him, not to mention the sword wound on his hands from Phil. The pain was numbing to him now.

The silence was thick amongst them as Phil carefully disinfected and wrapped his wounds. Techno had a lot of thoughts running through his mind as they quietly sat on a different lounge chair from the one the two kids were sleeping on.

Techno had a chance to properly get a better look at Phil. From this morning's encounter to just an hour ago, both were times that were difficult for him to properly see Phil. To be honest, he looked tired, his hair was long and unkempt, his clothes were ruffled and not to be rude, stained with an assortment of colors and smells. And Techno had a pretty big nose, he knew a bad smell when he smelled one. Phil was up there in bad smells with the orphans probably on top, but then again those two were orphans whereas Phil had access (probably) to clean water.

It wasn't really his place to judge him. Given the state he and Wilbur found him in this morning half-drunk and delirious...the man had probably something worth causing him to be in that state. He glanced over at Phil's right arm as it trembled with each attempt to carefully disinfect his wounds. Techno could only guess what kind of reasons would lead a man to act the way he did.

"Thanks...for the help," Techno said at last to break the silence.

"No problem mate...to be honest...I was actually looking for you two, but I didn't think I would find you two so late at night."

"What for?"

Phil paused his work, "I ended up doing some looking around after kicking the two of you out. I really did think I had hallucinated you two until I found this journal in my father's old study."

Wilbur turned around at the mention of a journal, he floated back towards them, "What did it say?"

"Well," Phil looked away with a sheepish look, "It's mainly indecipherable. I could only pick up on a few things," he cleared his throat before tying up the bandage on Techno's hands. Techno felt the padding and slightly flexed his palms before wincing just a little bit. It would be annoying to get used to, but the sooner they healed the better.

"That's ok!" Wilbur grinned, "We can just try to figure out the rest of the text," He pumped his fists into the air.

"Um...," Phil scratched the back of his neck and looked away, "That'll probably be impossible," Phil stood up and beckoned for the others to follow him. Techno limped behind Phil and Wilbur floated closely behind. Techno glanced back at Tommy and Tubbo as they quietly slept before exiting the lounge and softly closing the door.

The three of them traveled quietly down the hall until Phil stopped in front of a large spruce doorway. He pushed it open to reveal a spacious study, the only place Techno could see that actually looked tidy and clean, unlike the rest of the mansion that was still layered in dust. Techno realized when they had arrived at the mansion earlier that Phil lived alone with no servants. And given the size of his home, he was surely someone massively rich enough who could easily hire the staff to care for such a large mansion, but as for why he didn't...Techno didn't pry. Everyone had their reasons.

The study had bookshelves on either side of them covering the entirety of the wall with books in every available space. The back wall was a dark red with a painting hung high on the wall, the painting depicted a family. A younger Phil with black wings tucked neatly behind him as he stood at the forefront of the painting with his right hand comfortably resting on the hilt of a sword attached to his hip. Behind him were who Techno figured were his parents, a kind-looking couple with green eyes and average looks. There was nothing particularly striking about the couple.

A pristine desk of smooth oak stood further into the study in front of the wall with the painting. Techno noticed a book lay on the desk.

"Come in," Phil said. Techno hadn't noticed he was still standing in the doorway. He limped into the study, Phil closed the door behind him. He walked over to the desk and pushed the book Techno noticed earlier in their direction, "This is the journal I was referring to." Wilbur reached out to it but his hands passed through it. He frowned.

"I wish I could consistently touch things, it doesn't make sense why sometimes I seem to be able to and other times I can't," He sighed.

Techno did the honors instead and opened the green journal, "Pft–" He clapped a hand over his mouth and winced with the jerky movement.

Phil hung his head and sighed, "As I was saying before...it's mainly indecipherable."

The journal was covered in drawings. But not fancy illustrations that were done by a skilled artist with careful hands...Nope. Instead covered in drawings of obscure and colorful random squiggles that could have only been done by a child. Techno flipped through the journal and noticed that every page was covered in the same way.

"No!" Wilbur panicked, "Who could have done such a terrible thing!" Wilbur desperately tried to grab the journal but to no avail.

Phil coughed and looked away, "I'm afraid this was probably my doing...I was quite an illustrious child when I was first brought to this house."

Wilbur collapsed to the ground and mimicked pounding the floor with his fist (since there was no audible noise of a fist hitting the floor), "We were so close to some answers. If only I could just remember something!"

Phil dragged the journal closer to him and flipped through the pages, "As I said before, there are some bits I did happen to catch that may be of interest," he stopped on a particular page that was dog-eared. He spun the book towards the two of them and pointed to a particular line on the page. Wilbur and Techno leaned in.

Thanks ... ... gen...sity ... ... va... ...fa...tor, ... Wilbur, ... ... to ... sea temple ... ... great ease.

"Th-that's me!" Wilbur looked up and pointed at the book excitedly, his earlier panic discarded in favor of joy. He smiled at Techno and Phil, "At least I think it is–no, it has to be me."

Phil nodded, "That's what I thought since it mentioned your name but this was recorded over 300 years ago."

"300 years ago? By who?" Techno asked, "Who wrote this," he added.

Phil walked over to the shelf on the left and scoured the shelves, his fingers trailing across the bindings of the books before stopping on a dark blue book. He pulled it from the shelf, "How much history do the two of you know?"

"I've pretty much forgotten my memories and they would probably be about 300 years out of date even if I did remember."

"I don't really care much for human affairs."

"So not much," Phil sighed and brought the new book over and placed it on the desk after opening it to a specific page. The first thing Techno noticed was the illustrated portraits of three figures. Techno recognized them faintly as the people from the painting Wilbur had looked at in the basement of the mansion.

"These three are core figures in the Aschen Empire's history. Little over 300 years ago, the three of them were selected to slay a terrible beast that threatened danger upon the kingdom at the time. The three of them made a name for themselves due to their immeasurable skill and accomplishments over the course of their adventures."

"Does it mention me anywhere?" Wilbur asked.

"Not from what I recall," Phil shook his head. Phil turned back to the journal, "This journal was written by Dream, or so I've been told. Actually, this is the family house passed down to Dream's descendants after he was awarded a noble title and territory for his accomplishments."

"Then you're his descendant," Wilbur clapped.

"Well, actually, no, not technically. My parents couldn't have children. I'm adopted," Phil flexed his wings slightly, "Part avian as you can see."

Techno quietly stroked his chin. He could piece a bit of a theory together with what he'd learned, "So these three guys are some legendary heroes that knew Wilbur as hinted by Dream's journal," He snapped, "Perhaps they killed you!" Techno turned to Wilbur who frowned and stared at him with an unamused face, "What? It could be a possibility," he shrugged. He was only half-serious.

Phil picked up the journal and the other book and beckoned for the two of them to follow him. They left the study behind and returned to the lounge. Techno noticed Tommy had shifted his position, his foot was now propped on top of the lounge chair and his hand laid across Tubbo's face. Tubbo's brow was furrowed uncomfortably, but neither seemed to move from their slumber as Phil closed the door behind them again.

"You have a journal of your own right? I remember your friend Tubbo carrying a book on the way here. He mentioned it was yours," Wilbur nodded as Phil walked over to the lounge chair that the two kids were sleeping on. Techno took a seat at a small table. He held in a sneeze as the dust was disturbed from the table.

"You really should consider hiring a maid if you're gonna have guests like this," Techno rubbed his snout.

Phil chuckled softly as he found the journal Tubbo had been holding on to, still clasped in his hands. He gently pried it from the kid's hand before making his way over to the table with Techno and Wilbur.

"So what did this journal say?" Phil asked.

"A certain someone didn't actually read it," Wilbur gave Techno a pointed look who chuckled in response.

"Guilty," was all he said.

Phil opened up Wilbur's journal which crackled with age. The three of them peered over the book and its message. Phil read it aloud.

To the one chosen by fate itself to restore balance to the world. I beseech you to take upon your shoulders the weight of justice and right the wrongs of the past.

When you read this, I know not, but I only hope it will not be too late. Take with you the company of our trusted friend and help him as he helps you.

Retrieve what has been carefully stored and defeat the sleeping evil. Assemble a team for which you can trust. Your journey will be long and arduous, but we have faith you will be able to defeat what we could only stall.

The Dream Team

Phil turned the page, but it was blank, and so were the following pages after.

"Heehhh???" Techno said. He leaned closer to the book, only pausing to wince at his momentarily forgotten injuries, "That's all that's there?? Couldn't they be more specific?? Bunch of lousy, lazy heroes or whatever can't even tell us what we're supposed to stop!" He sat back in his chair and groaned with displeasure.

Phil sat and hummed to himself while stroking the stubble on his chin. He opened up the history book and flipped through it quickly. "When I was a kid I read every book about them. I aspired to be like them and go on adventures across the kingdom like them and though these three have mainly faded into myth and legend now, they are still considered to be important to the prosperity of our kingdom," he stopped flipping on a page detailing the heroes' adventures and famous tales, "But I've never heard of an enemy they didn't defeat."

"See here," Phil pointed to the page, "The legend that got them started as heroes was the quest to defeat the Ender Dragon, as it's now called. During this time, the kingdom was threatened by tremors and quakes as a foreign dimension began to invade our world. It was some phenomenon that was theorized to be caused by stars aligning and the two worlds nearly merging on a dimensional line scale.

"The main power source of the world was the dragon that lorded over that dimension, so several teams were selected to vanquish her, but only the Dream Team, as we know them now, succeeded."

Techno nodded and pretended to understand the stuff about dimensional lines and stars aligning. Sounded like mumbo jumbo to him.

"However, following their success they were awarded titles or elevated in existing status since George was already from a noble family at the time. The team took on more quests as requested by the royal family then. Their conquests included: the Guardian of the Ocean Monument, defeating grand witches, conquering dungeons that dwelled deep in the earth's surface, battling hellish monsters, and more."

"But all of those tales are told to be victorious. There is not a single one that is mentioned as undefeated or anything of a similar nature."

Phil turned to Wilbur, "That would leave you then, mate. As mentioned in your journal, you must have been a friend of theirs, so it's possible only you could know what evil they are referring to."

Wilbur quietly floated. He peered down at the 3 books all on the table, his messy, curly hair was curled around his fingers as he pondered in silence. Techno could see how his brows furrowed and his lips were gently abused by his teeth. His eyes flicked from one book to another in slow succession.

"I...I don't know. I don't know why I can't remember anything. I know had a faint memory come back to me yesterday about the mage Sapnap. He was showing me the escape spell he cast, which is what lead us here, to you. But other than that I haven't had any more flashes." Wilbur slumped forward and ruffled his hair in frustration.

"It's all right mate, we could start with the other part mentioned in your journal," Phil said.

"The things they stored?" Techno said. The journal mentioned something stored away, but it didn't describe what they were.

"Yes," Phil flipped through the history book again, "I have a theory. After defeating the Ender Dragon, the royal family of Aschen awarded more than just titles to the three of them. Money, land, and weapons one could only hear about in legends were also given to them. The weapons were specially crafted and enchanted, then blessed by The Church of Eon. They are highly treasured, unique items."

"So then you think we need their weapons then in order to defeat this 'sleeping evil' or whatever. Right?" Techno said.

Phil nodded, "From what we've gathered so far, I believe so. Dream was gifted with an axe forged in hell fires that was hardened to be stronger than diamond. Sapnap was gifted with a staff designed by The Church of Eon; it was able to wield all magic types. And George was gifted a sword sharper than steel and a shield stronger than obsidian, it was taken from the royal treasury."

Phil paused and then cleared his throat, "The issue then becomes getting these weapons... A lot of time has passed since they were alive. The Staff of Eon, which is Sapnap's artifact was formerly passed down to the Head Royal Mages over time, but it was stolen several years ago," Phil faltered for a bit. Techno noticed the slight flinch of his wings and his right fist clenched ever so slightly.

He blinked and continued on, "All efforts to recover it have failed. George's artifacts, the Sword and Shield set of Duality were returned to the royal family by George's wishes after he passed. He instructed for them to only to be given to a knight worthy of them. And Dream's Axe of Valor was passed down in this family until about 70 years ago I believe, in my grandfather's time. It was sold discretely."

Techno was impressed by Phil's knowledge. He wasn't sure where he had gathered all this information from, but he wasn't going to question him either.

"What!" Wilbur shouted, "Why would he ever do that! To sell something so priceless!"

"Our family been on the decline for generations. Honestly, since the Dream Team's era, there have never really been any other remarkable people to appear, not even from their descendants. They say strength is born from hardships, but Aschen has been very peaceful for the past 300 years since their time.

"The pressure to produce strong and talented people weighed heavy on this family and as those skills seemed to decline the struggle for influence and power grew," Phil sighed as he closed the history book.

"See, that's the thing that's wrong with humans," Techno said, "Always trying to be better than everyone else and fighting over useless things like status."

"Techno!" Wilbur looked over to Phil with concern.

"He's right though," Phil clutched his right arm, his thumb running over the scarred skin, "It's like a plague that consumes humans and beast folk alike."

"Look, um, let's just think about what we can do now," Wilbur floated in between everyone and held out his arms calmly, "Maybe you know some information about who the axe was sold to. Since the axe seems like the easiest one to obtain right now."

Phil nodded, "Yes, however, I think this should be a topic for the morning. It is getting very late into the night. I think it will be best to sleep for tonight and continue the discussion in the morning," Phil stood up from his chair.

"Of course!" Wilbur responded, "I'll stay here and keep an eye on the boys, "I don't think I'll need sleep."

"Techno," Phil gestured for Techno to follow him, "I'll show you to a guest room you can use."

"Thanks," Techno slowly stood from his chair, the bruising and the cuts were really beginning to hit him in full swing.

"Oh, and Techno," he paused to look back at Wilbur, "Thank you for your help so far, I know I kind of forced this all on you, but it really means a lot all that you have done, I know I can count on you now, and I'm sorry for ever doubting you." Wilbur smiled warmly at him.

"Heheh, yeah, no problem," Techno half-heartedly smiled. He hoped it didn't appear obvious, but it didn't seem Wilbur noticed, or if he did he didn't show it as he continued to smile warmly at him. A part of him felt burdened by the ghost's kindness, he didn't feel deserving of such words.

Wilbur looked down at the books still on the table and clapped once with a huge grin.

"Finally! We have a real lead! Make sure to get lots of rest you two, tomorrow we head out and I want you in your best condition!" Wilbur pointed at Techno and Phil before flying somersaults into the air, "I'll keep trying to remember a memory or two so that maybe we can learn a little bit more of what to do."

Techno heard the sound of the two orphans shifting and murmuring and Wilbur quickly slapped his hands to his mouth, "S-sorry, hehe," his laugh came out muffled, but the excitement could not be contained as it practically spilled from the way the ghost quivered in the air.

"Come on Techno, you must be tired," Phil waved for him to follow and the two quietly exited the lounge as the night continued to drift slowly by.

~~~~~

Word Count: 3495