Hi, DTeam Wiki! It's me, Milk/CantThink/Alister and I have an announcement.
I'm leaving later today on a vacation with @YourFriendlyNoob3712. We'll be returning in about a month, and until then, The Icarus Theory will be postponed. I'm not quitting it, though, and if you've lost interest during the month, you can ask to be unpinged :)
If I'm pinged in any other posts, (fanfiction, fanart, etc...) keep pinging me, I'll do some catching up when I get back.
I'll miss you guys :D
Sincerely, Milk
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Long chapter
The public parts are now PUBLISHED on Wattpad! Read it here:
https://www.wattpad.com/story/338220134-the-icarus-theory
TWs for the chapter: brief mentions of death
Chapter Eight: Fire Beneath My Feet (is Burnin' Bright)
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"Hello!"
A surprisingly young man greeted them at the entrance to Kinoko Kingdom. Tommy had to admit, the powerful nation was actually very cute. Set in grassy plains, with stone paths, charming mushroom cottages organised cosily, and a large mushroom mansion in the centre, bordered by all sorts of strangely-designed buildings, Kinoko Kingdom looked like something out of a fairytale.
Karl Jacobs himself was the one to greet the foursome. He was rather pretty, having soft brown eyes, light freckles, and a warm smile, cinnamon brown curls framing his pale face.
Karl's attire, however, was... fascinating, to say the least. He wore a neat sweatshirt with bold colours; the sleeves clashed orange and cyan against a happy purple torso. An unfamiliar lime green spiral stood loudly on the front, sparking an interest in Tommy. Coloured goggles perched on Karl's head; it made him look like a science geek.
"Welcome to Kinoko Kingdom! We've been expecting you."
"We?" Tommy echoed.
Karl laughed awkwardly. "We're still waiting for Sapnap."
As he finished explaining, another person ran up to them. "Sorry I'm late." Sapnap grinned sheepishly, messing with his fluffy black hair. A white scarf served as a headband and kept his hair out of his eyes.
Tommy scanned him up and down. Piercings and finger rings gave Sapnap an edgy look. Black long-sleeve underneath a white tee that had a small flame symbol in the centre. Black pants and chequered shoes for running. A mid-length white cape had flame–patterned edges, and it barely covered the sword and knives strapped to his waist.
This was not a man to be messed with.
Sapnap slid his fiery-red eyes to Tommy. For a moment, the blues of Eden met the embers of Hell.
Embers of Hell...
Tommy snapped his gaze away and smiled warily. Sapnap offered an open, honest grin in return. Tommy knew better than to trust it.
"You must be Iris."
Karl's warm, welcoming voice brought Tommy back to the situation; He watched Purpled tense and nod crisply.
"And you three must be Theseus, Proteus, and—" Karl paused before Ranboo: "Lethe."
Tommy found it very suspicious that Karl knew what they were referred to as. Only a few hours ago, Purpled had told them to assume false identities for the sake of "their mission." How could Karl have known about them?
"Sapnap will show you around," Karl instructed them. "I'll be at a meeting with Iris. See you guys later!"
Purpled's eyes betrayed nothing as Tommy waved goodbye. He watched as Purpled and Karl left, talking in hushed tones. Then he turned to catch up with "Proteus," "Lethe" and Sapnap.
He had to be careful.
"Welcome, guys, to Kinoko, I guess. 'Kinoko' means mushroom, and we kinda have that little theme going on."
"Are they real mushrooms?" Slimecicle asked, eyeing the giant red and white toadstools.
"Yes, they are all real, courtesy of a friend of ours."
"Hey, Sapnap!"
A brunette girl waved at them from a few metres away. As she got closer, Tommy assumed she was a cat-hybrid from the small white cat-ear shapes on top of her head and the thin white tail behind her. "Hi, Tina," Sapnap greeted.
"Who are your little friends?" Tina was very cute and had a fittingly sweet voice. Wide brown eyes peered curiously at the trio.
"Hi, I'm Proteus, these are my friends Lethe and Theseus," Slimecicle piped up.
Tina smiled kindly at them. "Nice to meet you guys! I'm Tina Kitin. Are you travelers?"
"Are we travellers?" Tommy whispered to Ranboo.
"Yeah, we are," Ranboo replied for Tina. "We're just stopping by for our friend Iris to visit Mr. Jacobs."
Tina giggled. "Please call him Karl. He's only twenty-three, and 'mister' makes him sound old. We're not ones for formalities here."
Tommy decided Tina was nice. Still, there was something slightly off about Kinoko Kingdom. He pretended nothing was wrong as Sapnap's eyes bore into the back of Tommy's skull and continued chatting with Tina.
––
Tommy learned many things today, thanks to Ranboo's calm, persuasive manners, although it worried Tommy how easily Ranboo could lie.
Tina wasn't a Gifted; she was a normal being. She wasn't a cat hybrid either: Tina's "cat ears" were actually white demon horns covered with cotton to prevent them from hurting people by mistake. Her tail was a demon tail, and the features were white because she was an Edenvian, not a Voidling, explaining her sweet personality and angelic looks. She was one of the first citizens of Kinoko.
Kinoko Kingdom was a refuge for people during the chaos. Karl was the founder and started the nation as a tiny community centred around a library. It grew quickly during a "situation" in the Badlands. After the issue was resolved, many Badlands citizens chose to remain in Kinoko. Many travellers and tourists often stop by as well; Kinoko was known for its hospitality and intricate structures.
The whole while, Tommy was lost in his train of thought. This whole place seemed very suspicious, and so did Ranboo.
His suspicions were soon proven correct.
-- ｡°✩ ☾⋆｡°✩ ˚・--
Purpled and Karl walked in silence through the grass, until the latter pulled them to a stop underneath an old, argent willow. "Thank you for coming," Karl murmured gravely. "There's a lot we have to go over."
"Have any other Dream Team members been involved?"
"No, only Dream, as far as I know. Did anyone else besides Ember and Daemon show up unannounced at the Syndicate?"
"At around seven p.m., Zephyrus brought in his son Wilbur, referred to as Orpheus, to wait for the youngest sibling. I took in Tommy a little later. At around eleven p.m., Slimecicle and Ranboo arrived. Then Ember and Daemon came at around midnight."
"All four of you were at the Syndicate?"
"For half an hour. Tommy ran off and the Dream Team got inside a few seconds later. They've definitely come for us specifically."
A dark look was on Karl's face. "Do you believe what Callahan said? About Tommy and the others?"
"I have never doubted his judgment. But if it were to be true, we can't stop the inevitable, can we?" Purpled grimaced. "The Dream Team will catch up eventually. What I don't understand is what Tommy has that they want so badly."
"The Book of Revival."
Purpled's breathing stopped. "What? I didn't know it was real! And why would Tommy have it?"
The Book of Revival was the most powerful object in the universe. It's said the book connected mortals to gods and could grant the simplest non-Gifteds the divinity of Dream Exdi. The Book of Revival, true to its name, allowed one to bring others back from the dead. If it falls into the wrong hands, it could destroy the world.
"Tommy doesn't have it, his father does."
"Zephyrus has the Book of Revival? Why don't Dream take the book from him instead?"
Karl smiled sadly. "Zephyrus is the Angel of Death. He's much too powerful for Dream, or even for the entire Dream Team."
"But what about Ranboo and Slimecicle? What do they have to do with this?"
"Their job is to bring you two to the end. Your job is to keep Tommy safe. Remember what Callahan told you?"
Yes, I remember. And he hated it, but it was his job. "Thanks, Karl."
Purpled knew what he had to do, and like always, he hated it, but he lived by Quackity's rules. Rule number three was to create no emotional attachments, because of rule four.
Everything gets destroyed.
But as he and Karl returned to the trio, he couldn't help but wonder if it was really that bad to break a few rules now and then.
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"Hello? Sapnap? Tina?"
A young man in his twenties approached them with curiosity. He had a small frame, wrapped in a red cloak that clashed vibrantly with his pale blue shirt. A mushroom beret capped short brown hair. Clout glasses fashionably dangled from his belt. One of his eyes was blue, the other one brown. He didn't look pleased to see them.
"Hey, George!" Tina squealed. "Theseus, Lethe, Proteus, meet GeorgeNotFound! He was the first citizen of Kinoko Kingdom."
"Hi, George," Ranboo greeted shyly.
George scowled. "What are they doing here?" he asked accusingly, narrowing his eyes at Slimecicle and Ranboo.
"We, uh—"
"We're visitors," Tommy butted in quickly.
"Tommy, hi!" George's dark look melted away when he saw Tommy. "How've you been?"
"Hey George," Tommy replied happily. "I've been great, how about you?"
"I'd be better if I knew where the Book of Revival was," George shrugged casually. Tommy's subconsciousness screamed at him for help. A pale blue mist was settling around him, making it hard to breathe.
"The Book of Revival? I don't know where it is," Tommy answered honestly. "Might've seen it around before, though... Is it about to rain?"
"Maybe, the air's kind of heavy today," George agreed.
"Theseus!" Karl called, a few paces behind Purpled's brisk pace as the duo returned from their meeting.
Tommy snapped out of his stupor, confused. "Karl? Iris? What're you doing? Hey, this is my friend George! We were just chatting. He's cool!"
The expressionless calmness on Purpled's face gave way to anger when he saw George. "Karl! Why is he...?!" His eyes flicked between Tommy, Tina, Sapnap, and George. He marched up to Tommy and grabbed him by the wrist. "Let's go. We're leaving."
"You're hurting me," Tommy whimpered. Purpled said nothing as he led Tommy toward the exit.
"Purpled, wait," Sapnap started after them.
"I never told you my name!" Purpled snapped harshly.
"Purpled, let me go!" Tommy yelled, trying to yank his arm away. Purpled held on firmly, furious. Ranboo and Slime trailed behind helplessly. "Let go of me!" Tommy kept trying to break free, but Purpled didn't release until they were nearly half a kilometre away from Kinoko.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Tommy shouted when Purpled let go. Purpled glared at him without saying a word. Tommy grabbed him by the sleeve. "Talk to me!"
"Tommy, do you have any idea who that was?"
Tommy hesitated. "Yes, they're George, Sapnap, and Tina, obviously!"
"You said you were chatting with George, What were you talking about?" Purpled challenged.
"That's none of your business!" Tommy retorted hotly.
"Answer me."
"We were talking about—" Tommy started. Then he paused. What were they talking about? Something about a book? "We were talking about..."
"What?"
Tommy's eyes widened. "Shit, I don't remember!"
"GeorgeNotFound is also known as Glitched. He can warp your mind! You could've been killed, or worse!"
"Why?! I didn't do anything wrong!"
Purpled exhaled, frustrated He took off his mask and locked eyes with Tommy, dead serious. "They want the Book of Revival. And you can help them get it. Without you, they'll never get the book."
"What? But, how..."
Purpled stared at him, anger melting into... sympathy? "This mission isn't actually my mission, nor is it Ranboo's, or Slime's. It's yours."
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[Word Count: 2717]
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@Demonics.co @NoodleNotFound @Avalon2009 @YourFriendlyNoob3712
@BrookiePoo @Jasper's Demise @WINGS O' FIRE cereal @AVAfan12
Thanks for so many pings :D
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Next update when I get back
