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I heard there was a special place
Where men could go and emancipate
The brutality
And tyranny
Of their rulers
Well, this place is real
You needn’t fret
Wilbur’s voice echoes around the small room, the soft daybreak light shining through the windows of the small house on the hill, overlooking the nation he helped found. In his protective arms lay a small fox-human infant, his blue eyes wide as he observes his father who is softly serenading him. The rest of the room is filled with the soft glow of the early morning, lighting up the shadows under Wilbur’s eyes.
Fundy held mainly human characteristics, taking after his father a good amount besides fox ears and a tail, something he assumed Sally was responsible for. Maybe not directly, but when you fall in love with an anthropomorphic fish the results of that love tend to be surprising.
The fox had woken him up with his screams, tears streaking down his face from some unknown dream. Even though this was the third day in a row this had happened, Wilbur still held a small, tired smile on his face as he sang. His voice was scratchy and rough, not quite warmed up, but it accomplished the task of quieting his son.
He was the only one who could, singing the beginning composition of a song that spoke of freedom, something he believed wasn’t possible until they gained total independence from the Dream SMP.
His soft orange ears turned to Wilbur as the tears dried, finally stopping crying as the tones soothed him. His tail stopped twitching against Wilbur’s leg as the man calmed his child, finally finishing the last few new tentative lyrics of the anthem. Wilbur’s rough lips caressed his soft skin as he pressed a kiss to his forehead, Fundy yawning adorably.
“My little champion.” Wilbur speaks softly, not wanting to break the serenity of the now quiet room. The room grew lighter, Fundy’s small eyes blinking quickly as the room lit up.
Wilbur stood up, turning away from the window to protect the boy's eyes, smiling wider as Fundy stared up at him without distressing light bothering him. His whole world lay in his arms, the warmth of love washed through his body as he observed the one thing his world centered around.
May these words be the first to find your ears
The world is brighter than the sun now that you're here
Though your eyes will need some time to adjust
To the overwhelming light surrounding us
“Dad! Dad!” Fundy’s voice calls from down the path, Wilbur turning to look at the now child, his tail swishing excitedly as he clumsily runs towards him with his cupped hands held in front of him.
“What do you have there, Fundy?” Wilbur asks, his toddler son now standing in front of him, his ears twitching as he observes his father.
“I found a mouse but I think it's hurt!” His child opens his pudgy hands, quickly showing a scared mouse with a large gash in its side. Fundy quickly covered the gap again, his innocent eyes showing distress. “We have to help him!”
Wilbur’s mind is tossed back to bandaging the wounds of the other people under his care, fighting for a cause they barely understood. They had succeeded in gaining some independence from Dream, but at a large cost. They came out with numerous injuries, some the healing potions even struggled to fix. His memories are tainted bittersweet of that day of separation, the haunted look never leaving the eyes of those under his care.
Wilbur shakes his head to clear it and gently lays his hand on his son's warm head, his ears silky and his red hair soft. “Of course champion, I will show you how to fix him, yea?”
I'll give you everything I have
I'll teach you everything I know
I promise I'll do better
This day found Wilbur standing on his front porch, watching his son who played in the front yard of his house. The sun was high in the sky, summer winds blowing across the land of his country. He knew soon that Eret would be coming by to pick Fundy up, he had a meeting to attend today with his Vice President and Administration so Eret had offered to watch him. Wilbur trusted Eret with his son completely, they had been nothing but kind and would take care of the fox boy happily.
“Take that!” Fundy cried, using his stick to smack the dummy in front of him. At the age of seven years he had grown interested in swords, knowing his father used one to protect himself.
He had become determined to learn how to use it, Tommy had heavily encouraged this interest by sparring with the boy, promising Wilbur that it would be good for the boy to learn to defend himself. Wilbur worried about this sudden interest, not wanting any harm to come to the boy who held his heart.
After Sally left Fundy was all he had, the man didn’t know what he would do if he lost him.
He knew one day Fundy would leave his home to forge his own path, but the thought terrified him to his very bones. One day, Fundy will leave the safe border of L'Manburg’s walls where Wilbur would no longer see him daily and could no longer protect him.
Just as that thought crossed his mind the gate of his fence creaked, the tall figure of Eret stepping through. Their kind faces smiled as they approached Fundy, dropping to their knees to embrace the fox-boy. Eret’s regal face turned to observe Wilbur, offering a comforting smile.
Eret always seemed to know when things were bothering people, Wilbur shuffled his feet a touch, the anxiety of his thoughts rushing through him. Fundy’s stick dropped to the ground as he leaned back, chattering excitedly to Eret. The pair stood up, Eret towering above the small boy yet regarded him with such adoration, they listened to every word that spilled from his mouth.
Wilbur knew Fundy was safe with Eret, but one day when he left that gate he would not return. Eret captured his son’s hand in theirs, leading him back out the gate that held all of Wilbur’s focus.
Wilbur hoped that day was later rather than sooner.
I will always hold you close
But I will learn to let you go
I promise I'll do better
I will soften every edge
“Are you sure you want to do this, big man?” Tubbo asked Wilbur, standing at his side in the colours of their nation they had built, staring down at the presidential election Wilbur had drafted a week before.
Wilbur’s determination wavered, his very foundations begging him to not do this. If this failed, he would be giving the reins of L'Manburg to someone else, but if it worked, it would cement the government he had built to the rest of the server, the one he had built from the ground up.
Tommy stood at his other side, his hand resting on the handle of his axe. For once, the loud blonde was quiet, the situation dampening all conversation in the room. Wilbur almost craved the blonde to say something obnoxious, to quell his fears, but he knew they all shared the same thought.
This could go very, very badly.
His resolve shook, before his logic won out, this would prove to Dream and the others that he raised this nation properly from the ground, that it would be ruled with democracy. His eyes caught the picture frame he had placed on his desk to remind him of what was important, his son smiling back at him from the glass.
It had been a wonderful day, L'Manburg had planned a picnic for Fundy’s birthday, the whole country coming out to show support. Niki and Eret brought along wonderful baking while Tommy and Tubbo prepared the area, stringing ribbons everywhere around a soft blanket Niki had sewed for the event. Eret had taken Wilbur and Fundy’s photo right after the fox had blown out the candles, smiling happily as everyone celebrated him. This photo reminded him what he needed to protect, his mind made up he faced the two who had stood by his side through everything.
“Do you know what we have that they don’t have?” Wilbur asked the two boys standing in front of him, returning to the present, before continuing without letting them speak. “Comradery, we have a righteous cause, we have an area to defend.”
Tommy and Tubbo glanced at each other, before turning to Wilbur. They nodded their heads in unison, then Wilbur leaned down to sign the document. He had hoped to whatever gods were listening that this was the right decision, that this is the best option for Fundy to be safe and for their nation to be secured.
He just hoped this would not be a reflection of last time, when blood was spilled and innocence stripped from the children in front of him .
I'll hold the world to its best
And I'll do better
With every heartbeat I have left
I will defend your every breath
And I'll do better
“...TO REVOKE THE CITIZENSHIPS OF TOMMYINNIT AND WILBUR SOOT!” Schlatt’s voice tore through the loud speaker to all gathered, the first presidential speech as the new leader of L'Manburg.
The words echoed around the broken man, now exiled from his own country, as he gazed in horror at the man who stood on stage, and by Schlatt’s side; Wilbur's own son and Tubbo. Niki stood by the two teenager's side, her lovely face echoing the horror he felt inside.
Survival instincts kicked in as everyone turned to face him and the blonde boy who shouldered the punishment with him, their faces a mix of confusion and awe at what was said.
“Tommy, we have to go.” Wilbur told him urgently, glancing quickly to grab his arm, leading the reluctant boy away from the stage and surrounding area. His eyes caught the blue ones of his son on stage, Fundy looking just as confused and hurt at the proclamation as he felt.
On the stage Quackity and Georgenotfound were loading their crossbows, staring at the two men standing accused. Wilbur knew he had to leave to save himself, but what would be left of Fundy when he saw him next?
One arrow pierced the chair to his side, he tossed one last reluctant glance at his now teenage son before he turned to run away. His heart felt like it was being shredded, the presidential loss and now separation from his son was agonizing. Tommy moved to join him finally, being chased away as screams and cheers rang through the air.
'Cause you are loved, you are loved more than you know
I hereby pledge all of my days to prove it so
Though your heart is far too young to realize
The unimaginable light you hold inside
“WILBUR!”
A voice broke though Wilbur’s circling thoughts, the walls of the ravine he now called home felt like they were closing in on him. His emotions pitched south again, the drowning feeling threatening to pull him under until a face he had not seen in months broke his gaze with the stone wall.
His teenage son stood in front of him, his face pinched in determination with shadows in his eyes.
“Fundy?” Wilbur asked, doubting his own vision. This was the first time he had seen Fundy in months, the fox teenager had been working for Schlatt for too long at this point.
Wilbur had given up hope that Fundy would come back to his side, that anyone would. Why would they? His fractured mind had slowly been convincing him of drastic action over logical thinking. Everyone turned and switched sides so quickly, at the drop of a hat, what loyalty did he even hold with anyone or anything anymore. Why did he even care about regaining the leader position of the country that had shunned him?
Pogtopia felt less and less like a sanctuary, more like a prison. Wilbur hadn’t seen sunlight in days, he spent the last many hours standing in front of the plans he pasted to the wall. Slowly his mind had become more single focused, losing sight of everything else around him, thinking only of destruction.
“Wilbur!” Fundy’s voice snapped him out of his spiral, his eyes turning to face the blue eyes of his son, one who no longer even called him father.
Fundy was out of breath, fire flickering in his eyes as he huffed, glaring at the one who once cared for him. After composing himself, he stood tall, his tail fluffed out behind him in indignation, his hand holding a tattered book out to Wilbur’s scarred one.
“Read this.” Fundy growled, as the book left the fox’s hands into his own Wilbur’s eyes saw the title stamped on the front, A Spy’s Diary.
I'll give you everything I have
I'll teach you everything I know
I promise I'll do better
I will always hold you close
The stone walls surrounded Wilbur once again, wooden signs scattered throughout with the L'Manburg anthem scrawled on them in messy handwriting. A button glared at Wilbur from the wall, begging to be pressed. His own control room surrounded him and it felt suffocating, the signs mocking him as the freedom felt like a lie.
One of the people Wilbur swore to protect was murdered by one who Wilbur thought was a friend. Technoblade had left Pogtopia that day speaking of a festival Schlatt was throwing in celebration of Manberg, hiding the true reasons until after Tubbo was trapped in a concrete box. Wilbur had planned to blow the whole country sky high, his nation was unrecognizable to him now.
If he couldn’t have it, no one could.
But when he tried, the button failed.
As he pressed it again, knowing it wouldn’t work, his mind drifted back to the ones who used to surround him, who cared. Wilbur wasn’t sure what had happened recently, but the distance between himself and them felt insurmountable.
Fundy was so far from his own reach he barely recognized his own son again. Staring at his failure he made a resolution to himself, to focus completely on finishing this symphony which surrounded him, regardless of what others thought.
But I will learn to let you go
I promise I'll do better
I will rearrange the stars
Pull 'em down to where you are
Wilbur stood again in front of that fateful button, knowing that once he pressed it, it would do its task as intended. He spent hours laying redstone and TNT under every inch of L'Manburg, he knew it would work.
Things would finally be better, the pain that wracked his heart would finally quiet as he removed his problems from reality. The urges would quiet as fire and explosions ripped through the country he once would die for, but he no longer cared about besides it's destruction. Screaming and fireworks echoed around the hill he stood under, no one knowing where he was.
Tommy had desperately begged Wilbur to not do what he was planning, to not blow this entire country sky-high. A small part of his brain pleaded with him to agree, but the larger, more apathetic part won one. Nothing sparked any sort of emotion from him anymore, the only thing keeping him grounded was the dark anger towards the country that mocked him, resented him, exiled him, and left him to die.
What even was the point anymore, of a nation that couldn’t protect its own citizens? What even was the point of community if eventually everyone stabbed each other in the back? They had stolen the things he cared for the most, his son, his people and his country, all irreplaceable.
Wilbur barely trusted his own judgment anymore, Technoblade being revealed as the traitor was the last straw. Wilbur had spent so many months trapped deep underground with his own thoughts, with people he thought were friends but revealed otherwise.
If he can’t have L'Manburg and a sense of belonging, no one can. With that single sentence crossing his mind, he slammed his scarred palm into the button.
I promise I'll do better
With every heartbeat I have left
Philza stood over the corpse of his son, unable to prevent the self-sabotage that led him to this point and regretting every moment he wasted arriving. Fundy had sent him a letter, begging him to come talk Wilbur out of the irreversible plan he had concocted deep within the earth. Philza knew Fundy and Wilbur had fallen out, but the boy was so desperate in his wording Philza had rushed without a second thought, a deep feeling in his gut knowing his life would forever change with what he found once he arrived.
Wilbur’s blood pooled around his own cooling body, his son's body, Philza let out a sob, dropping the reddened sword beside him. He dropped to his knees, sweeping his son into his arms for the last time. His wings folded around him, sticking to the ground and becoming soaked in the lifeblood of his descendant.
Wilbur finally looked at peace, minus the large wound opening his chest cavity to the air he almost looked to be sleeping. His face showed more wrinkles, scars and wear than the last time Philza saw him all those years ago, bags heavy under his eyes, but he could still see his own features mirrored on the face in front of him.
His vision grew blurry as a shaky hand closed Wilbur’s eyes, painful sobs ripping from his own throat as the realization of what just happened flashed through his thoughts. He leaned down to press his forehead to Wilbur’s, wishing with every fiber of his being that he could reverse everything that just happened.
Another voice matched his sadness, Philza looking up to meet the eyes of the red-headed boy Wilbur had written much about. Fundy regarded him with such intense hatred, the weapon that killed his father laid at Philza’s side, clearly showing the man’s guilt.
Before Philza could say anything, Fundy fled the destroyed room, the young man disappearing as quickly as he came.
I will soften every edge
Hold the world to its best
Ghostbur floated near the fox man, they stood at the end of the pier holding fishing rods together. Every once and a while Fundy would look at him with such crushing sadness that Ghostbur’s chest clenched with worry, what had happened to this boy for such a pained look to be tossed his way?
Ghostbur wasn’t sure what had happened, he couldn’t remember anything that would cause the man to be so damaged. Fundy kept giving him such distrustful glances, he kept everyone at such a distance, Ghostbur worried for the fox as he watched him interact with those around him. The fox man was pushing everyone away, with snappy words and leaving for long times without a word to anyone.
Fundy acted as one abandoned, not letting anyone close in the fear they will just leave again. Philza, who was always kind to the ghost, treated Fundy with such dislike, Ghostbur had many more questions than answers about everything surrounding the man.
At that moment, Ghostbur knew he might not be able to remember the past, but he would do his best to break the walls Fundy had erected around himself.
I'll defend your every breath
I promise I'll do better
Wilbur stood once again in Pogtopia’s entrance, the place that had robbed his sanity and trust. He frantically practiced the apology he had thought of to give to Niki, believing she was somewhere deep in this place that caused him so much pain. Eret had kindly directed him this way, their conversation still heavy on his mind as he stared at the walls he once called refuge.
Pogtopia started as a new hope, a new plan, and ended with him blowing a crater in the ground the size of some of the buildings. He had been left to his own thoughts deep within the pressing walls of this ravine for too long, reflecting back on everything that had hurt him and those around him, twisting his own mind against him.
As he descended the stairs for the first time in years, his mind spiraling over the thoughts and memories that this place brought back, he worried how much he had hurt others.
He had apologized to a few people already, Eret’s words still running rampant in his brain as the air grew heavier. Wilbur knew he should accept some would not forgive him, even hate him, but his heart ached at the thought.
Had he really caused so much damage he could not be forgiven?
Wilbur would go down in history as both the founder and responsible for the destruction of L'Manburg, he made that realization when Eret pointed it out, the man was grappling with this fact still as he finally reached the bottom of the stairs. It felt like such a final act he had already performed, was there any redemption to be done for a man so soaked in blood and gunpowder?
“Wilbur?”
His thoughts broke as he met the eyes of the one who once was his whole world, the blue eyes regarding him with such distrust it felt like a knife in his gut. Fundy’s ears pinned flat to his head as he glared at the one he once called father, sneering as he spoke again.
“What are you doing here?”
I promise I'll do better
With every heartbeat I have left
I'll defend your every breath