Chapter Text
Technoblade and Philza immediately felt out of place as they entered the end realm’s castle. Philza had been here a couple times in his past lives but it was mostly for exploration purposes, never interacting with any of its inhabitants.
The both of them could feel the stares of the enderman, sensing the “earth energy”, as Edward liked to call it, radiating off their bodies. In the clusters of enderman, Techno spots a particularly tall one with a crown placed on its head. He drags Phil along, both of them now taking long strides to catch up with the one that bore the crown.
“Excuse me.” Technoblade tapped the taller’s shoulder, making the enderman jolt.
The enderman turned around quickly, his crown now slightly crooked. Based on the size and shape of the crown, Technoblade could tell he was the prince. He held a more clumsy than elegant aura. The boy gave the both of them an awkward smile, bowing slightly. “I’m assuming you are Technoblade,” he gestured towards the piglin hybrid, “And you are Philza?” He turned towards Phil, tilting his head as he awaited an answer. Philza nodded, both him and Techno bowing in return.
“Ah, no need to bow! I’m not really one for formalities...” He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly before stretching out a hand. “My name is Ranboo!”
Phil’s eyes softened and smile widened and he took the younger’s hand. Techno reached out, taking a firm grip on the latter’s hand as he shook it. He too was smiling slightly but his face dropped back to its old expressionless demeanor as he spotted Ranboo’s parents in the distance.
He thought it was a bit odd that they weren’t wearing crowns but rather, gems that had been implanted into their foreheads. “The endermen have their own way to show royalty as do we, it’d be better to not question it,” Philza whispered to Techno as he fixed his posture, the both of them now standing proud as the tall, alien-like creatures approached them.
“We are so glad you both could make it to our humble gathering!” Techno looked up at the enderman who had spoken, she wore a jet-black dress. It suited her.
He then eyed the other enderman who was setting down his drink. He took note that he had on a suit that matched the color of this wife’s dress.
“The pleasure is all ours…. um..” Phil started, trailing off as he didn’t know the full names of the royals.
“Ah, here, we enderman do not possess names! You can just refer to us as Lady and Majesty.” Lady clasped her hands in delight, her arm still intertwined in the crook of her husband's elbow. “I’ve heard that it isn’t quite the same in the overworld, you creatures sure do come up with unique names to refer to each other as! How peculiar…”
“And Ranboo?”
Lady tilted her head, side-glancing her husband. “Who?”
Phil glanced at the shorter enderman who in turn shook his head lightly, distraught clearly written on his face. Getting the hint, Phil let out a strained laugh at himself, Techno looking at him confused.
“Oh, my apologies, I must’ve been thinking of someone else!” Phil covered a hand lightly over his mouth as he faked a smile. “How should I refer to your son as?”
His Majesty spoke up, his voice deep in comparison to his wife’s feather-like voice. “You can call him Prince.” Techno raised an eyebrow at the man's aggressive tone, watching as ‘Prince’ tried to shrink his lanky body.
Also catching Majesty’s tone, Philza was suspicious but nodded along to the enderman anyways. “Alright, hello Prince.”
Prince smiled, but it wasn’t a genuine one like before. Philza could see the hurt in his eyes, his name being stripped from him as a King could be stripped of his title.
Phil shot the boy a look of sympathy, ruffling the set of gray feathers on his back. The royals bid the both of them adieu, dragging their son along with them. Although it was slight, Techno could see how the boy tried to resist following his parents, watching as they entered a private room away from the public eye.
He nudged Phil slightly, jutting his chin over to the large doors in which the royal family was located. Having the exact same idea, the both of them made their way over to the elegant doors.
They were noticeably taller than the ones back at the Antarctic empire, mostly to suit the tall inhabitants that lived in the cold castle.
It was strange to say nonetheless. There were no guards at the entrance of the doorway when there usually would be at least one accompanying the royal family.
“I can’t believe you would tell them such a thing Prince.”
Techno halted in his tracks, placing an ear to the door to hear more of the conversation. He winced a little as he heard a small crash, the sound loud in his ears as it echoed through the empty hallway.
Technoblade assumed that the noise couldn’t be heard from the ballroom as the people in there swayed and chattered with each other to no end. He yanked on the cornflower-colored cape Phil wore over his wings, dragging the smaller man over to the door, and motioned for him to listen as well.
“Earthly names are not for your status to bear, what an embarrassment that would be to our empire!” Phil widened his eyes.
“Indulging in these worthless things, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.” The harsh tone dripped venom as the cold words spewed from Lady’s mouth. Phil furrowed his brows, what was so wrong with a kid wanting an actual name?
He couldn’t make the rest of the conversation, the three of them speaking to each other in enderman. A language that Phil hadn’t quite mastered yet.
The only thing that Phil heard, now being able to make out parts of the conversation were the words, “disgusting Antarctic folk.” The tone was enough to make Phil’s blood boil, no matter how forgiving he might be.
Without even so as a warning, he burst through the door, shell-shocked at the sight in front of him.
Techno stopped at the door frame. Now he knew what the sound of something shattering was.
It was a glass vase that was brought upon the teenager's head, purple blood still slick on his face and a visible gash on his forehead.
Techno felt his netherite axe start to form under his palm, rage binding his vision as he lurched himself towards the two tall endermen. Philza blocked the sight with his wings, not wanting the younger to see what was going to happen to his parents.
But the younger didn’t even seem fazed, his head hung down as he ghosted his fingers over the fresh wound. He flinched as Phil tried reaching a hand out but immediately relaxed and let Phil’s thin hands run over the wound, treating it.
Ranboo peeked through the broken feathers of Phil’s wings, smiling at the sight of his parents unmoving on the floor. He watched as their blood seeped into the cracks on the ground, a mess that the maids would have to clean up later.
Not that he cared anyway, he’d be long gone before they could even think to question him.