"One day you will look to the stars and realize that you are one in the same."

Years ago things were better. Far better. His new son was finally born, everything was bright. It felt as though he were in heaven. He had it all, three talented sons and a wonderful wife. It was surreal, straight out of a dream. Sometimes it felt too good to be true. Of course, it would be stressful at times.

He was Philza Craft, the emperor, after all. He had his job but he always made time for his family. He'd drop anything for them. It didn't matter where he was or what he was doing, if they called, he'd come. Nothing was better than watching his sons grow and holding his wife. It made him feel fuzzy, and the good kind.
The first time he felt 'fuzzy' he wondered if he was poisoned. But he wasn't.

It felt as though it would never end. The laughs, playing, being silly, even the arguments! He cherished them, good or bad. It was his family, they came before everything, everyone. If he had the choice between the empire or family, he'd choose family.

Every time the twins would do something silly, every time his youngest ran around, every time his wife smiled, Prime, it felt so surreal!

But it all came crashing down...

His wife became sick. At first, it was no big thing. It looked like the common cold, completely normal for the snowy biome they lived in. But when she didn't shake it off within a couple of days, he started to worry. Just a bit. It lasted more than a week, it was fine.
But it only became worse.

They tried everything, not even the best could help. Or the best of the best! No one. They hoped for some kind of miracle. Something to save her, people always said 'it gets worse before it becomes better', he hoped they were right.

It seemed like they were right! After about a month she was standing again! Walking again! Though she was still weak she was better, an improvement. She walked around with him, occasionally stopping to catch a breath. When they finally got outside their boys stopped playing. They ran to her, instantly hugging her. It was nice again. Things looked up again.

But in the middle of the night, she passed. When they heard what happened they rushed in. Phil was first to hear, he'd been sleeping in a different room just in case he got sick. He ran into the room, he checked, no pulse, no heartbeat... Nothing. He dissolved into a mess, holding his lost love. His dead love. The twins came next, scrambling next to him.

His piglin son was quiet, he just watched. Unmoving. His human son held onto his father, not sure who he was trying to comfort. His youngest was last. He was only three, he didn't understand. Three-year-olds don't understand death, they only understand the pain. Watching them made him cry.

His youngest crying seemed to snap Phil out of it. He looked over, through blurry eyes. He looked at his sons. Nothing would ever be the same... He needed to calm down, he needed to tell them that everything will be okay, even if he was lying through his teeth.

He breathed in sharply, pulling in his twins and gesturing for the guard to hand over his youngest. He held them close, trying his best to calm them.

"Everything will get better..." He told them. It wasn't what any of them needed to hear but it would hold them up, even by a few threads.

×××××

It had been a year. They were starting to heal again, starting to smile. It was slow, but it was better. Before, at any mention of the wonderful woman who loved the emperor and her children, they'd break down. Now it only happened occasionally.

The youngest had been their light. The smallest had noticed the missing mother figure but slowly forgot. He was only three when she died. Now he was four, causing chaos, playing. He'd been the one to help pull them all up. Help them escape from their mind prisons, he did it unknowingly.
They found ways to cope with themselves, a way to calm down. Slowly but surely they were freeing themselves.

"Let's play Hide and Seek!" The human child said one sunny day. The sun was out, reflecting against the gentle white snow that still coated the ground. The other two agreed. "I will count," He jumped, "I can only count to twenty so you better run!" The human giggled, covering their eyes with their gloved hand.

The piglin took off immediately. The youngest couldn't run as fast as his brother so he ran the other way, towards the outside garden. It had many plants, only ones that could survive in the snowy biome were here. He hid between the Evergreen trees and the stone wall surrounding the castle. He giggled, quickly noticing a gap in the wall, just big enough for him to fit.

With his child logic, he crawled through, thinking there was no way they could find him. He ran into the woods, deep. He didn't know if his older brother was still counting or not, he didn't know how high twenty was! He could only count to seven, which was already pretty high for him.

And after (what felt like) an hour, trying to get away from his older brother and jumping at every sound someone saw him. "Oh hello, little one," the small child jumped, turning to the owner of the kind voice. It was a goat lady, maybe around eight feet tall. She wore a dark purple gown with a strange symbol on it. She was covered head to toe in trimmed white fur. "I'm Toriel," she crouched down to the boy's height the best she could.

"What is your name?" Toriel tipped her head to the side. The boy looked at her then puffed out her chest, "I'm Theseus!" He said proudly. Toriel blinked, Theseus? It took her a second to realize where she had heard that name before, her books.

Readers, you may be wondering, 'How do you not know he's the prince', well, it's because it is a tradition not to reveal the child's name and what they look like before the age of five. This only applies to the royal family. So even if young Theseus were to tell someone who he truly was, no one would believe him.

The goat monster chuckled at the boy. "Where are your parents young one?" She put her hands in her lap. Theseus went still, "Parents?" She mistook him the second she heard that. "Oh my..." She put a hand over her mouth. "How old are you?"
"Four!" He held up his fingers, which showed three.

Toriel picked up Theseus, he didn't struggle, he just looked at her. "There is no way I can take you home, I have eight kids and they will probably accidentally hurt you," she thought allowed, beginning to walk. "But there is a cart going straight to Larnwick, it's a long ways away but..." She trailed off, looking at Theseus again. "Don't worry young one, I'll send you somewhere safe. A child should not live alone, in the forest, with no parents,"

And he was off...

×××××

At first, Philza thought it was some prank the boys were trying to pull, they could manipulate their expressions with ease so that didn't help.

It was when they started to cry he knew that they had lost their younger brother. They said they were playing Hide and Seek but they couldn't find him, even if they called.

So here the emperor was, looking from the skies, trying to find his golden-haired son but to no avail. No matter how many laps around the castle and the grounds, no one could find him. He was frantic, adrenaline coursing through him. Where was he? Was Phil a bad father? Was it his fault?

He became snappy to anyone he came across, he just wanted his son. He hoped the little child was hiding somewhere in the castle. He was desperate. He couldn't lose his son. Snow was falling from the sky, covering up any tracks. No evidence of where the youngest went.

Guards were interviewed, some said he was last seen in the garden. They check and they found the hole the four-year-old crawled through. It had a piece of his shirt. The emperor left no time to breathe, already scouting the woods, but nothing turned up. It was like he never existed.

Phil had another breakdown.

The boy was gone...

His boy was gone...

×××××

12 years later...

He fucking booked it down the alleyway, he couldn't be caught, not after all the planning, all the late nights he stayed up to practice running, learning about the map of the town. He couldn't hold back, he couldn't go back.

Adrenaline coursed through him like a title wave as he made distance between him and the orphanage people. He'd tried this once before, but that was before he started planning. He was slower then, he didn't know the map then. But now, now he could run circles around them! He raised his arms, flipping them off, pride welling up in his chest. He was gone like the wind.

He practically threw money at the person who made sure everyone had enough gold to get on a cart. He did, the perfect amount. They let him on. The orphanage people tried to explain to the person he just threw money at seconds earlier that the boy was part of the orphanage and needed to come back. They basically told the people to shove it.

He grinned, throwing them the bird one last time, they left. Who would want him as their son anyways?

He leaned up back against the cart's wooden railings. It was just him in the cart to go to Antarctic City. Him and some crates. The way there wouldn't be too difficult.

×××××

It had been a smooth ride, at least so far. He looked up, the stars were beautiful, they were better to enjoy now that he was free of that orphanage. He didn't plan on going back.

It was terrible there. They punished you for every little thing, even if a single crumb was on the ground when you were finished cleaning would get you sent to a room where you had to write or read. You were by yourself in a small room and couldn't do anything for what felt like, and most likely were hours. And by Prime he hated it, everyone did.

They didn't particularly like half-breeds either. They preferred their humans but by law, they must include half-breeds. He never knew where he fit, because sometimes he was treated as a human and other times like a half-breed.

He had strange tattoos on his back that looked like wings, they grew with him. Some suspected he was an avian but no one could prove it. He tried everything to see if he could get the wings out but, of course, nothing happened. When he was younger he would dream that he learned to fly and that he flew far away and found a family that would love him.

But his time was up. Most people would go for a child that was eight or younger, after that, your chances become lower. He was fifteen, nearly sixteen. He gave up on that dream, though he wishes he still had hope. A part of him wants to go back, just in case, someone wanted him. But he knew otherwise.

He was going to start a new life, in Antarctic City. He heard stories about how nice people were. Not to mention it is one of the safest places in the entire empire.

He also vaguely remembered that he used to live here. At least he thinks he did, it's what his files said. He remembered the goat lady, she took him to what she thought was a safe place. He could barely remember his actual family. He remembers yellow flowers, he used to love them. He remembers crying but he wasn't the one crying. Being held, feeling warm with who held him. Small fragments of his toddlerhood.

He wonders what happened, how did he end up with that random goat lady? It didn't matter. Though he couldn't help but think of her, maybe if she still lived in the Antarctic City he could say thank you, for helping him. She found him, alone, in the woods. If he was alone overnight he might have been dead. He knew she cared for him, despite knowing him for a few minutes, she was like a mum.

Something about seeing her as a mother figure hurt a bit. He knew her for a few minutes, but did that matter?
She gave off that motherly aura, calm but assertive, strong. If he ever got the chance he'd say thank you, for looking after him for those few minutes that they knew each other.
The nearest orphanage she knew of was days away, in Larnwick. She didn't know much about it, only that it was an orphanage. Perhaps if she had known what happened there she would have looked for other places for him.

He hadn't noticed he'd been crying till a tear hit his hand. "Oh," he whispered out, wiping his face with his arms. Prime, he felt weak. The only person who would see him cry was the driver, but they didn't seem to mind. But he didn't want to cry anymore so he looked up. He watched the stars twinkle against the dark blue sky. It was nice.

×××××

He felt the cart stop. It woke him up. He looked around, they were in a new town, most likely to transport more people. He stretched his arms. White clouds started to gather in the sky again. That only meant one thing, snow. As long as it wasn't going to be bad he didn't have to about a delay.

He sat in the cart for a while longer, nobody came. Eventually, they set off again. He sighed as they went further and further away.

"Hey wait!" He heard someone yell, it was directed to the cart he was currently in. They kept repeating 'wait' as they ran up to the cart. The driver stopped to let them catch up. "So sorry that we're late." said the one with purple eyes. "It's okay, hop in." The driver said kindly.
The two strangers got into the cart before telling the driver it was okay to move again.

The man with purple eyes leaned back, winded. He wore mostly purple, a colour hard to come across, especially in dye. He had dirty blonde hair and was around (maybe over) six feet tall. He had a mask but it was pulled down, he also had a bow and a few arrows. And a sword.

The other guy was a bit... Odder. Enderman hybrid of some sorts. Half of him was black and the other white with grey freckles. He wore a simple shirt, jacket, pants, and shoes. Though he wore gloves. He looked a bit tall. A bit was an understatement, he looked to be over six feet tall. Nearly seven? He had horns and... Was that a tail?
He didn't carry and weapons on him, unlike his friend in purple.
The enderman looked at him. One eye was green and the other was red. So he had heterochromia... He remembered reading about that when he was in trouble one day.

The enderman just stared at him, it was off-putting. He wanted to ask why the other was looking at him like that but decided against it. He waved a bit, trying to silently say, sorry for looking at you and your friend, just don't stab or shoot me okay?
He turned away but he could still see the enderman watching him out of the corner of his eye.

"Ranboo, when we get there we should go straight to JSchlatt, I'm sure he has some Chorus Fruit for you. If not then we'll have to head to the Badlands." The purple coloured one didn't bother to open his eyes. He felt the enderman, Ranboo, finally look away. He felt like he could breathe again.

"Tubbo said that he's been keeping a stash just for me." Ranboo looked at his friend. The purple one only hummed. He looked relaxed for the first time in days. The orphan boy kinda wanted to know their story but that was rude.

He remembered having Chorus Fruit for the first time. The first time he tasted it he was surprised, the inside was sickly sweet, not to mention it was gooey. The second time he had it- it was not ripe (how most preferred it), it still was a bit gooey but didn't melt, it was sour. Overall it was okay, he'd prefer it over many kinds of foods.

The only reason why he got to taste Chorus Fruit was because his class had to learn about other cultures, what they ate and wore, how they went along with their lives. He was a bit disappointed that there was not much about avians, they were (and are) a secretive bunch and the only known Avians are the Emperor and one other guy who was a duck, though most think he doesn't count. The duck guy could talk to ducks and had wings but not all the other avian qualities. Unfortunately.

"Hey you," the purple guy looked at him. "What's your name?" He asked. Shit was he in trouble? Did the Ranboo guy say he was weird or something? "It's... Just call me Tommy." It wasn't his real name, Theseus was, it always felt a bit fancy and everyone just calls him Thomas or Tommy. The purple guy raised a brow but didn't push. "I'm Purpled," He pointed at himself, "and he's Ranboo," he pointed to the enderman who waved at Tommy.

"So," Purpled clapped, "why are you heading to the city?" He tilted his head. Ranboo bobbed his head silently letting his friend know he was paying attention. Tommy shrugged, "Better life?" He found that to be better than saying 'Running away from dickheads'.
"Yeah, Larnwick is a shitty place. Pretty though." Ranboo chimed in. Tommy assumed he read the maps. Tommy nodded. It was beautiful but when you got to know why it was so nice you come to like it less.

"What about you two?" Tommy decided it was his turn to ask. "We're hoping a friend of ours has Chorus Fruit, we're trying to get it before their ripe." Purpled responded. "And then?" Tommy rested his head on his arm that was on the cart. "We don't know, we just kinda... Wander?" Ranboo spoke up this time. "Is it fun?" Tommy asked.
"Sometimes." Purpled said.
"Sometimes?"
"We don't enjoy pain,"

Tommy nodded, he probably shouldn't ask. It could be personal. He turned away. Not long until they finally reach the city. He has nothing planned. He has enough money for food for a few months and some extra money he might use for clothes. He had stolen this money from someone who was probably too rich to notice. He could only get so far though so he hoped that he could help people out and get food or money. He could get a job but he wasn't sixteen yet so it was illegal, but he could lie. Though he was leaning more towards the smaller things.

It snows all the time, surely someone needs a porch cleared.

×××××

It took about two days. The driver would stop every chance they got to let their horse rest. The driver was kind enough to give them food, even though they never asked.

Ranboo and Purpled would tell Tommy some of their adventures. One time Ranboo had underthrown something called an 'Ender Eye' and it teleported him inside someone's house because the window was left open.

Tommy also found out the two of them were only seventeen and had been traveling since they were twelve. Ranboo has memory issues and only remembers bits and pieces of the time before he was twelve. They didn't talk about what happened before then but he could tell that it was a touchy subject.

Tommy ended up telling them a lot about his life. He left out some gory bits, some things he's seen, and bad people he met. He kept it as joyful or as light-hearted as possible. It was nice to get to know the two travelers. So when they parted ways it was a bit sad. He was tempted on asking them if he could join them in traveling but he also wanted to stay here. Maybe one day, if he sees them again, he'll ask. Maybe.

He thanked the person who was driving the cart. They said it was no problem and that they hoped to see him again. Then Tommy left.

There were many people in the Antarctic City. And as the stories said, they were all very kind, patient people.

Unfortunately, the night was falling and he had no place to stay, he didn't want to ask, that would make him look weak and he didn't want pity.
So he settled with buying some blankets and sleeping between two buildings.
He couldn't find any community of people that didn't have a home to go to. So it was just him.

It started to snow around midnight, the temperatures falling quickly. It was colder than he expected. But he knew he'd be okay.
It was just cold. He promised himself to buy some food and stuff to keep him warm. He'll also have to find an easy way to get money or food. It didn't matter, both would help.
Shoveling snow and moving crates was something he knew he could do already.

With that, he closed his eyes and drifted off, filled with Determination.