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The day before the world ended, Techno found himself back at a place he'd never thought he'd be again. Not after how he'd left.
The Craft family farm was set firmly in the middle of nowhere. Aside from a small town of about forty residents a good fifteen minutes walk away, the only thing for miles was endless, dead-looking grass and the occasional stand of windswept trees. The farm itself was quite at home in its isolation; it was as though it had simply grown from the ground itself, all muted colors and simple structures.
Despite the five or six years since Techno had seen the place, it looked almost exactly as he'd remembered. Two buildings - the house and a barn - plus a few fenced-in areas for various animals. Some of them were outside now, in fact; it was still about an hour until sunset, so they'd probably be brought in for the night within that time.
A few cows grazed by the fence that lined the walk and he nearly tripped over a chicken on the way to the front door. It squawked indignantly at him. He ignored it, because something felt... off. Everything was pretty much like he remembered, except-
Well. Perhaps it was too much to expect Floof to still be around. The little dog had already been pretty old when he'd left.
He swallowed hard, the thought suddenly flooding him with emotion. Better just get this over with.
... for some reason, he couldn't quite bring himself to knock on the door. He'd had the whole hours-long journey to prepare for this, for seeing his family again, but- what if they hated him now? What if they kicked him out? He was at the least sure that Phil wouldn't immediately jump to violence, but the weight of his father's potential disappointment in him was almost worse.
A cackling laugh, faint, cut through the otherwise still air, and Techno turned towards the barn, squinting. Two figures sat on the roof. Now that he'd noticed them, their voices drifted through the air. Apparently Tommy and Tubbo hadn't changed much, either; Phil was always telling them to stop climbing on the roof after the time Tommy fell and broke his arm.
Then the conversation paused, and Techno realized they'd probably seen him. Too late to turn back now. Without giving himself more time to reconsider, he pushed open the door.
If the outside had been pretty much like he'd remembered, stepping into the house felt like stepping back in time. It was every single day of his childhood, walking into the house after a long day of wandering the fields to the smell of fresh bread and dinner cooking on the stove, and suddenly he was torn between wishing he really could go back to that time and wanting to run as fast as he could in the other direction.
There was a series of high-pitched barks, and Techno instinctively looked towards the sound, gaze landing on a little white dog sitting by the fireplace, tail wagging furiously. He seemed (rightfully) upset that Techno wasn't petting him right this second.
"Nice to see you too, Floof," Techno said softly, crouching down beside the small dog and giving him some scratches behind the ear. Floof barked again, apparently satisfied, and then barked again for good measure. He seemed more tired than he used to be - maybe that was why he was inside, instead of being out terrorizing small wildlife.
"Dinner's ready in about twenty minutes," called a familiar voice from the kitchen. Techno stood quickly, brushing specks of dirt from his pants and straightening his shirt sleeves. "Make sure all the animals are inside by then."
"I wasn't plannin' on stayin' for dinner," Techno replied, walking over to the kitchen and leaning against the doorframe. He shoved his hands in his pockets to hide how they were shaking.
It was somewhat of a consolation to see that while he apparently wasn't as prepared for this as he thought, Phil was even less so. He'd been stirring a pot of something and now stood completely frozen. There were a few seconds' silence; Techno had just come to the realization that maybe he should've called ahead or something when Phil dropped the spoon he was holding, rushing over and wrapping Techno in a crushing hug.
"Thank gods you're okay."
"Sorry about not callin'," Techno said awkwardly, doing his best to return the hug. Phil had inadvertently trapped one of his arms.
Phil waved that off almost immediately, stepping back from the hug and going to stir the pot on the stove again. "Shush, mate. We can talk about that later. You're staying for dinner, right? Tubbo and Tommy have a lot to tell you."
The hint was far from subtle, but Techno shook his head regardless. "That's... I don't know if I can."
"If it's about whether or not we have enough food to go around-"
"It's not that," Techno interrupted. "Just- can we talk for a minute?"
Phil turned off the burner, giving him an unreadable look. Considered it for a few seconds. Then said, slowly, "You're not here just to see us, then."
It was phrased like a statement, but Techno wasn't sure if he was supposed to interpret the words as a clarification or an accusation. He just shook his head. "I wish I was. You're gonna want to sit down. It's... it's a lot."
-----
The day before the world ended, Tommy's brother came home.
Tommy was sitting on the roof of the barn with Tubbo when they saw him walking up to the front door. He'd arrived in a car, the same one Tommy had seen driving away in the middle of the night several years back, dust rising in the wake of the tires.
He didn't look around at all, just went straight for the house. Tommy elbowed Tubbo to make sure he'd noticed what was going on, and Tubbo elbowed him back, and it devolved from there into rapidfire poking until Tommy couldn't help but laugh.
Techno looked over at them, then, from where he'd been paused at the door, and - as if he'd decided something - disappeared into the house a second later.
"Hurry up," Tubbo said immediately, tugging on Tommy's arm and clambering towards the door that led back down to the loft. "I wanna hear Phil yell at him."
"Phil's not gonna yell at him," Tommy argued back, but followed regardless. "He's too nice for that."
"Unless Techno's not staying."
"True- alright, I've gotta see that."
Despite the lighthearted bantering, Tommy could barely hear a thing over the sound of his heartbeat in his ears as the two of them scrambled to get down from the roof. He hadn't seen Techno in years, after all. The last he remembered of his brother was the muffled argument that made its way through the walls of the small house. The door slamming. Techno's car driving away as he stared out the window of his bedroom.
Phil never told him what, exactly, the argument had been about, but he'd seemed resigned to the fact that Techno might not ever come back. Tommy had held out hope for the first few weeks- months, maybe. Time was hard to keep track of. Every day of his life seemed to blend together, with no changes to mark the fact that years slipped by.
At least, there weren't many changes. Techno hadn't been there for long enough that Tommy had gotten into the habit of remembering his life in two parts: before and after.
Maybe that was a little dramatic. He'd tried explaining it to Phil, once, and gave up the explanation halfway through because he felt silly. There were other things to life. He still had his dad, and his other brother (Tubbo was adopted, so while Tommy would say Tubbo was his younger brother, Tubbo would insist it was the other way around). And there was Floof and the cows and the chickens and the farm itself, and all of that was just as important.
Still. Techno had always been an inspiration, sort of, though Tommy never would've admitted it. He had goals and worked towards achieving them. Where Tommy couldn't have begun to imagine living life anywhere other than the farm, Techno wanted to be anywhere else. He was just so- so excited about life. About the possibilities it held.
Really, it shouldn't have been a surprise when he left. Tommy had just hoped he'd be old enough to go with. Though, of course, that would've meant leaving Tubbo, and Tommy could never do that. Maybe it was for the best that he hadn't had to make that choice.
It made him wonder, though; why was Techno back?
He hadn't quite come to a satisfactory conclusion by the time he and Tubbo were bursting through the front door. Floof started barking, as ferociously as such a tiny dog could manage, and Tommy called, "We're back!" just to add to the chaos.
"Did you get the animals inside?" Phil called back from the kitchen.
Tommy and Tubbo exchanged a glance. Whoops. "Funny you should mention that," Tommy started, only for Tubbo to interrupt with, "Is Techno here?" Which was a brilliant change of topic, actually.
There was a brief pause, then Phil said, "You know what- come here for a second, boys." He sounded a lot more serious than he had just a second ago.
For a second, Tommy almost wished he'd just gone and done his chores instead of trying to get out of them. It sounded like they were in trouble. Still, it was too late now, so he walked over to the kitchen, Tubbo trailing behind.
Phil and Techno were both sitting at the kitchen table. Techno was leaning on the table, arms crossed, studiously examining the wood grain on the tabletop. He looked- different. More tired, maybe. He was wearing a light jacket over some sort of uniform. Official-looking, as if he'd joined the government or something.
Phil beckoned them over, gesturing at the chairs. "Go ahead and sit down," he started, then Techno shook his head and he corrected, "Nevermind. This shouldn't take too long."
Neither of them looked particularly excited to share what was going on, so Tommy decided to just ask. "What's going on?"
"Well," Phil began slowly, "Techno was just telling me about his new job."
"I'm workin' with the nuclear power branch of a research facility, about a hundred miles north of here," Techno explained. "Wanted to drop by, see how things are goin'. Tell you about some-"
"I'm sure they won't be interested in the finer details," Phil interjected, almost pointed. "It would probably go over their heads."
Techno hesitated, but just shrugged. "Maybe so. They're basically children, right?"
"I'm not a child" Tommy interrupted, because that was simply false. "I'm seventeen. And a half."
Techno snorted, breaking into a small smile. "The extra six months is very important, I'm sure."
"It is," Tommy insisted.
"Still a child."
"I'm already an adult," Tubbo boasted. "Turned eighteen last month!"
Tommy scoffed. "As if- you're literally younger than me."
"Am not!"
The banter was familiar, but as much as Tommy wanted to enjoy the moment, something still felt... off. Phil and Techno were both dancing around the issue at hand, neither apparently wanting to just say whatever it was. Surely they'd been talking about something more serious than Techno's new job.
"So what's actually wrong?" He asked, and suddenly the mood dropped.
He was expecting Techno to say something. Techno wasn't good at hiding things; he'd avoid the question, or change the subject, but actual lying? That was a lot harder for him. Besides, if it were something important, he was a lot more likely to be straightforward about it.
However, it was Phil who spoke up, after a few tense seconds during which he was giving Techno a look that just screamed help me out here. "Nothing's wrong."
That was absolutely the wrong answer. Everyone knew it was a lie. Tubbo was the one to call it out, though.
"Well that's bullshit," he said bluntly.
Techno sighed, sending an exasperated look to Phil. "It's nothin' you need to worry about just yet, alright?"
"We're not kids anymore," Tommy argued back. "You can tell us things."
"This isn't about you being kids," Phil said gently. "It's... it's more complicated than that. And what I meant was, it's nothing serious. Techno was just catching me up on some things, and we were discussing some of it."
"We were talkin' about whether or not I should stick around," Techno added.
Tubbo inhaled sharply "You're coming back? For good?"
"Maybe," Phil corrected. "We're... still figuring it out. Like I said, it's nothing serious, and not anything to worry about. There's just logistics an' shit, and it's a whole mess." He waved a hand vaguely as if to indicate the "mess".
And Tommy wanted to believe it. He really did. He wanted to think that this was actually what they'd been talking about, that Techno might be staying with them again. That everything was fine.
But the thing was... both Phil and Techno were still hiding something. It was obvious because both of them were really fucking bad at lying, and when Techno had mentioned possibly staying longer, Phil had gotten this look that said he'd been caught off-guard.
It was fine, though. It was fine! Because if this was something really important, Techno would've told them.
"Is that a chicken runnin' around out there?" Techno said, craning his neck as if to look out the window.
Tommy could easily see out that window, and there was not, in fact, a chicken, nor any other animals. Phil turned to him and Tubbo at that, though. "That reminds me- you didn't put the animals away yet, did you?"
"We've still got, like, an hour left 'til sunset," Tubbo complained. "Can't we stay and talk a bit?"
"Nah, we got this." Tommy turned to leave, pulling on Tubbo's arm and hoping he got the hint. "C'mon!"
-----
Techno heard the door close behind his brothers, but waited for a few long seconds to see if they were faking it. When he was sure they'd left, he turned back to Phil. "You're gonna have to tell them."
"Not yet, mate," Phil returned, almost pleadingly. "Just- we haven't gone over all the options, have we?"
"We don't have options." Techno wished he'd brought something along with him. Some picture or graphic or calculation to show that the world was quite literally on fire, and by the next morning, may well be completely destroyed.
As it was, Phil still seemed so conflicted - almost infuriatingly so, given that it wasn't just his life on the line. "We can't just pack up and leave, mate. You know how much this place means to me. To us. This is the only home Tommy and Tubbo have ever known, and-"
"And whose fault is that?" Techno interjected, feeling a sudden surge of anger. "You didn't have to keep us all out here. You could've gone and lived in a city or somethin'. This place doesn't mean anything, and it's not worth dyin' over."
"Who says we're going to die over it?" Phil snapped back. "You show up after five years, claiming the world's ending-" he broke off, looking away. The silence stretched for a few long, telling seconds. Then he continued all at once, "I'm not mad at you. Not for leaving. I need you to know that. But you can't just do- this, alright mate?"
Through the window behind Phil, Techno could see the silhouettes of two teens climbing onto the roof of the barn. He elected not to mention it. Instead, he took a deep breath, trying to push away the overwhelming emotions. He was not going to cry over this, not now.
"Look, I get it. It's a lot. But I wouldn't be here if I didn't think it was worth takin' seriously."
"It takes the end of the world for you to come home, does it?"
Something about Phil's response - offhanded and sarcastic though it was - set off some instinctive reaction in Techno, because that was the thing about Phil. He always had just the right words to say at first. He wasn't mad at Techno for leaving, of course not! ... he'd just make a passive aggressive comment about it two seconds later, and make Techno feel bad.
And the thing was, maybe Phil even believed what he was saying. Maybe he didn't realize the conflicting messages he was sending. But the effect was the same either way, and Techno was fucking tired of it, because this was exactly why he'd left in the first place.
He stood abruptly, pushing the chair back from the table as he did. "Right. Forget I said anything."
"Techno-?"
"I didn't come back because of you, anyway," Techno continued, cutting off Phil's apparent confusion and trying not to feel a twisted satisfaction when the words clearly hit deep. "I'm here in spite of you. They deserve to know what's goin' on before it comes and destroys everything."
He didn't specify who he was talking about, but Phil seemed to understand anyway. "You're not telling them, are you?"
"That's up to you. We're gonna be pushin' our luck if we wait much longer. The flights aren't gonna be there forever, and it takes a few hours to drive to the nearest evacuation center. Either you tell them, now, or I will."
Through the window, the sky was slowly starting to turn a brilliant red with the sunset, the dying light catching the smoke from fires as yet unseen. It would be quite pretty, Techno thought, if not for the oncoming destruction it signaled.
Phil stll wasn't responding. Techno had thought he'd at least be able to make this decision, but apparently not.
He was about to turn and leave - cut the last ties to this cage, this home, abandon his own father to the fate he'd chosen for himself - when a quiet voice said, "Tell them. I'll... I'll have to think about it more, but they should be able to make the choice for themselves."
It was more than Techno had hoped. He nodded, though Phil was staring at the table and couldn't see him. "You still have a car?" He'd seen it in the driveway but waited until Phil acknowledged the question regardless. "Right." He had the directions to the evacuation center written on a piece of paper, and took it out now, laying it on the table. "In case you don't decide before we leave."
"Thank you," Phil said simply, and that was that.
-----
"Dude, look at the sky," was the first thing Tubbo said on reaching the roof.
Tommy batted as his ankle; he'd stopped before getting off the ladder and was still in the way. Tubbo dutifully moved out of the way so he could get up, pointing at the sky as if Tommy could've missed it.
The horizon was a brilliant shade of red, and while the sun hadn't yet set completely, Tommy found he could look right at it without hurting his eyes. It hung as a red disk in the sky.
"Woah."
"It's so pretty, isn't it?"
Tommy nodded, temporarily at a loss for words. He'd never seen anything like this, not in all the years he'd lived on the farm, all the sunsets he'd watched from the roof of this very barn.
They sat there together, the two of them, watching as the red sun fell slowly towards the distant mountains, a faint glow spreading across the horizon. It felt like a sort of sacred moment. Like a sign. Tommy wasn't superstitious or anything, but this was something special, he could tell.
Maybe when Techno was done talking to Phil, he'd join them on the roof and they could watch whatever was left of the sunset, or stare up at the stars for a few hours. Tommy liked telling stories about the constellations to Tubbo, like Techno had once done for him, but it had been too long since he'd heard the originals, and Tubbo always accused him of making shit up.
Or maybe Phil would tell them to get off the roof.
Either way, Tommy was sure that today marked the start of the next chapter in his life. The future seemed as bright as the blood-red sun.