Chapter Text
"You've got to be fucking kidding me."
"I'm absolutely not."
Puffy sat in silence beside Technoblade, Philza on his other side while Ranboo sat on hers. Quackity stood across the table from them, his hair standing on-end with outrage while Tubbo had one arm hooked in the crook of his elbow, as if ready to hold him back.
It had been a few days since she'd arrive here, the bitter cold of the arctic weather offset by the coziness of Techno's coven and the members of it. They'd gone out of their way making her feel welcome while they waited on Quackity's arrival, though Puffy wasn't quite sure to what end. She was fairly certain that the combination of Technoblade and her demonic blood would be enough to fight their way into the Badlands, even if it was full of corrupted and violent warlocks.
But if there was one thing she'd learned while she'd been living with the Syndicate, it was that Technoblade was something of a worrier, even if he'd go to great lengths to deny it.
Even with the knowledge of what Puffy's blood would do to him and the other members of the coven, he had insisted on calling on Quackity to negotiate aid, wanting to be extra sure of his own victory. She supposed it was why he was so prolific, even if the idea seemed almost contradictory. Techno was a force of nature unlike any other, and he insisted on planning every step of the siege, even beyond what Puffy might've considered obsessive.
"Oh, that's just Techno." Philza had assured her when she'd worked up the nerve to bring it up. "He worries about us. But don't let him know I told you that."
And Niki had giggled from her place behind them both, which had been distracting enough that Puffy had fully lost the thread of the conversation afterwards, but there they were.
Quackity was... not quite what she'd expected either, though she was starting to think that all of her ideas about the world outside the Badlands were more than a little skewed, based on everything she'd learned from the Syndicate. She was vaguely aware that Quackity was the leader of Las Nevadas, which was apparently a home to a slew of creatures Puffy had never seen before. Tubbo was some kind of were, though Puffy almost wanted to say he had some demonic blood in him if the horns were anything to go by, but... Foolish stood to the left of Quackity in all his golden glory, and though Puffy wasn't quite sure what exactly he was, it was clear from the air around him that he was very powerful. And to Foolish's left was... some sort of green sludge in the vaguest humanoid shape possible, crammed into a very moist-looking dress shirt and slacks.
A motley crew to be sure.
Quackity himself was also hard to parse, just from the looks of him, but the second he'd made eye-contact with her, she just knew.
Angel.
Or perhaps fallen angel was better, as it was clear whatever divinity he had now wasn't as potent as a true angel's might've been. There was something just the slightest bit off about it, something to the left of hair-raising, something vaguely familiar to Puffy and strangely enough Phil. Though she supposed she shouldn't focus too much on the supposed rivalry between angels and demons, especially if this was the help Techno seemed so pressed in recruiting to this. But Phil though... honestly Puffy couldn't tell if he was truly a fallen angel or just an angel with a very specific aesthetic. Either way, it was clear he was powerful enough to be a co-leader beside Technoblade, so he was nothing to sneeze at.
"The Badlands have done nothing but harm to our society as a whole in recent years. They've been trying to compromise the validity of Las Nevadas's right to exist as an independent society for years, and now I'm just to put all of that aside... for what? The plea of a demon I've never even met before?" Quackity spat, the feathers of his golden wings bristling and Puffy could feel herself doing the same, a growl climbing up her throat at such a blatant insult. Well, alright then. She'd wanted to be civil about this, but if he wasn't willing to do the same-
"Alright, alright, none of that, Q." Phil protested, raising a hand as if to hold Puffy back, which wasn't all that unwarranted. She couldn't see the expression she was making but she could hear Ranboo give a nervous little gulp from beside her, and Techno was standing rigid, though he was also trying his best to look nonchalant. "We're here for negotiations, not some eon-old rivalry that doesn't even apply anymore."
"Speak for yourself." Quackity grumbled, but he sat back down in his chair without protesting, crossing his arms in a huff and looking like he was pouting.
"Alright, I get none of us here are on the best of terms, but you're not exactly thinking logically here, Quackity." Techno sighed, reaching out to pat Phil's shoulder in thanks. "Why in the Hells do you think we want to try and infiltrate the Badlands? It's not like you're the only door they've been knocking at recently. And I know you were a little too busy sticking your head in the sand to know any better-" Quackity bristled at that too, but Puffy was starting to suspect it was just horrifically easy to get to Quackity. Or maybe Techno just had a knack for it. They way the two had been eyeing each other since Quackity arrived spoke volumes. "- But me and Skeppy used to be campaign buddies back in the day, and-"
"I've known Badboyhalo for longer than most people here have been alive." Phil added, tipping his head toward Techno with a mischievous little grin. "This is wildly out of character for the two of them."
"And I know you and Sam go way back, Q." Niki said with an air of uncaring that belied the weight the words seemed to carry, as most eyes seemed to suddenly rest directly on Quackity now. "Are you convinced Sam would pull something like this?"
"Maybe not the best direction to take this..." Techno muttered, looking a little off-kilter before he cleared his throat and continued. "We're just looking for a little helping hand if things go south. You know how warlocks can be, Quackity. They get carried away so easily."
"Hey, hey, let's keep my past outta this alright? I get it." Quackity snapped, before slumping in his chair, hands gravitating to his wings, beginning to preen them anxiously. "Can I get some time to discuss it with my crew? You're fucking- you're asking a whole lot from us, I hope you know."
"Yeah, I get it." Techno said agreeably. "That's why I didn't want to do it alone."
"Alright, yeah. I'll get back to you in like-"
"Make it no more than a day, mate." Phil cut in, smiling again when Quackity shot him a glare. "Sooner we come to a consensus, the sooner everything can be done."
"Well, that was something." Niki said after the Las Nevadas crew had filed out, leaving the others to lounge in their seats around the table.
"Definitely could've gone worse." Ranboo agreed, running their claws through the fluff of their tail absentmindedly.
"I mean, knowing what we know about Quackity, I'm surprised he even showed up." Phil said, shooting a curious look over towards Techno, who was stubbornly refusing to meet Phil's eyes.
"Nah, I'm sure it's fine."
"So, uh, what's the deal with all of you?" Puffy hedged, not quite sure how much of this she was even allowed to know, if any at all. It was clear they all had some sort of history with all involved. Well, maybe everyone save Ranboo, who just kind of seemed along for the ride, but Puffy was in a similar situation, with less information to boot, so... Well, information-gathering might not've been her strong suit, but gossip was definitely a pastime she knew well enough. "I didn't know you knew my guys that well-"
"Eh, you been around for a while and you meet all kinds." Techno said nonchalantly, balancing his chair on its back legs. "Even kinds like Skeppy. And he's known Bad for about as long as the two of them have been alive and kicking, so I at least know about the guy. Everyone else though..."
"I know you had a bit of a run-in with Sam when he was still doing his Dreamon- hunting business." Niki mentioned, and Puffy leaned forward at that. Dreamons had been a pretty big deal; even the denizens still in the Nether had heard about that whole fiasco.
Something about a Nightmare somehow getting their hands on an angelic or godly artifact, or something to that effect. It'd been strong enough for them to shift dimensions without a pact and run rampant across the Overworld. Puffy didn't know all of the specifics, but it had been quite the moral quandary at the time, considering the fact most demons couldn't even touch holy objects without getting smited in some form of the word.
But Sam... he'd seemed thoroughly uninterested in all aspects of religion last time Puffy had conversed with him about the subject, content to focus on his own machinations and inventions more than a holy war.
"Dreamon hunting? I honestly wouldn't have pegged Sam as the type."
"Oh, that self-righteous prick?" Phil snorted with a strange amount of derision, rolling his eyes to emphasize his clear disdain. "He got into every self-serving campaign in existence back in the day. Honestly the fact he even settled being a warlock to begin with seems a little out of character to me."
"I've never known him any other way." Puffy admitted softly, remembering the stern but soft-spoken centaur that had always treated her well. At least in the beginning, before his isolation became his most defining trait.
There was a moment of awkward silence before Ranboo stood, the legs of their chair scraping loudly against the rough stone floor and they winced at the noise. "Sorry, sorry. Does um, does anyone else want tea?"
"That'd be nice, mate, thank you." Phil said agreeably, patting Ranboo's hand where it was still worrying at their tail, and earning a nervous smile from them before they sped out of the room.
"Thank you all for doing this for me." Puffy said after a moment of silence, though she felt as though she were just repeating herself at this point. She felt as though she'd been thanking all of them since Techno had agreed to help her to begin with, but she didn't know what else she could do to convey her gratitude, what gesture might mean more to them than what little her words did. "I just- I appreciate it a lot."
"I mean, yeah, of course. You're not the only person here with skin in the game." Techno said, offering her a lopsided smile. "Now all we have to do is get all these other losers on board and we'll be set."
"You think Quackity isn't going to just walk out the second he's out of eyesight?" Niki asked with a raised brow.
"Nah." Techno said, and then paused. "I mean, probably not. I'm like... sixty-five percent sure they're still here."
"Those aren't great odds."
"Well, I can't say I know Quackity as well as I used to, but... he's a strange man, to say the least."
"Do you really think they'll leave?" Puffy asked, suddenly worried. She craned her neck to try and see if she could catch Quackity or his entourage outside, but just startled Ranboo as they came through the door, brandishing a tray of tea. They wavered nervously in the threshold before Puffy turned her gaze down, knowing they weren't a fan of being looked at so directly. After another moment’s pause they trotted over and began dishing out the tea to everyone. "I mean, we need their help right? What will we do if they leave?"
"Eeeeeh, need is kind of a strong word." Techno hedged, tipping his chair back a little too far before catching himself easily on the edge of the table. Phil nudged him with one elbow without looking, calmly taking a sip of his tea as Niki accepted her own cup from Ranboo. "I- alright, listen, we have allies outside of these guys that we can call on if we really need to. Like really need. Last-ditch effort kind of stuff. But I'm tellin' you guys, there's no need to worry-"
"But shouldn't we call them just in case?" Puffy fretted, worrying her own cup of tea as Ranboo poured themself their own and sat down with a soft sigh. "It's good to have back up right? And if you're not even sure if they're going to stay here-"
"Puffy?" a voice called from the front and Puffy hastily set her cup down just a little bit too hard in surprise. It was Tubbo, face not revealing anything, but he didn't look... upset, which was better than nothing, she supposed. "Can you uh- big Q wants to talk to you."
"Oh!" She said, even further surprised, frowning a bit as she glanced at the others. He hadn't seemed the most friendly during their talks, but she supposed he was still in Antarctic territory, so it wasn't like he'd try something, right? Or maybe a hit on her would function as a last "fuck you" or something. Ranboo looked about as worried as they always did, sparing glances towards the other three who all looked curious, but not worried necessarily. "Is that, like, cool with everyone? He's not going to strike me down the second we're alone, right?"
"He wouldn't." Tubbo was quick to reassure, but the others didn't look as confident, though still not worried. "He just- he wants a personal breakdown of the events leading up to all this, probably. Get the story from the main source and all that. Nothing too bad."
"Oh." Techno said, and though everyone else tossed him curious looks, he ignored them all and nodded at Puffy. "Go ahead, lady, you'll be fine. Stop lookin' at me like that Phil, it ain't my story to tell."
She stood, glancing back once more before following Tubbo out of the main hall.
The whole of Techno's Bastion was a marvel, so unlike anything Puffy had ever seen in the never or the Badlands. It consisted mostly of a smattering of close houses, made up of dark wood and alabaster walls, smoke spiraling out of almost every chimney. The main hall was in the center, a large building that she might've mistaken for a church if it hadn't been for the actual church right beside it, all shining blackstone and gold accents, the banner of the Blood God proudly displayed on the sides of the door. She watched as some of the Las Nevadas crew lingered outside, seeming to marvel at the falling snow, which she definitely couldn't blame them for.
It was a beauty unlike any she'd seen before, catching the yellow light of the nearby lanterns and campfires in the dark, so similar to the sparks of the Nether that it made her ache with a dull sort of homesickness.
Foolish caught her eye as she passed and gave a cheery little wave, catching the attention of the slime creature beside him who also waved, though somehow even more exuberantly. She gave a soft smile of her own and waved back, looking over the two, though she wasn't quite sure what she was looking for. They didn't seem overly affected by the cold, which definitely seemed nice, considering the fact she was bundled up to the point of near-immobility most of the time, not at all used to the frigid temperatures. They still wore their dress shirt and slacks, though Foolish had an intricately decorated mantle of gold and emeralds resting across his chest and shoulders, and before Puffy realized what she was doing her feet made a beeline straight towards them.
"Hullo!" She greeted easily, shaking her mat of curls to rest across her shoulders, trying to trap more heat.
"Why hello, Puffy from the Nether and Tubbo from Neutral Ground!" the slime- Charlie, she was pretty sure- returned, a little too loud for how close they were to each other, but it was fine. Tubbo smiled pleasantly at Slime and gave him a high-five that splattered some goo across the ground, though said Slime didn't seem fazed by it.
"Hey, how's it going?" Foolish asked,
"I feel like I should be asking the two of you that." She admitted, nibbling on her lip. "I definitely didn't mean to drag this many people into it, but-"
"Nah, don't even worry about that." Foolish dismissed with a wave of his hand, his golden skin catching the firelight just as easily as the snow around them did. "This was all honestly a long time in coming, I'm just glad it's Techno calling the shots here."
"What do you mean?"
"Well... let's just say Las Nevadas is kind of on shaky territory with basically everyone else, so if Quackity had been the one to retaliate like this first..."
"People are assholes." Slime finished cheerily.
"Oh." Puffy mused, a little surprised by that. Techno hadn't really seemed like the type to get hung up on something like old grudges, considering it had been him who had called on Las Nevadas for aid, but there was clearly a lot more about the relationships they all had with each other than she knew. Some shared history that complicated things somehow.
She supposed it shouldn't be such a surprising thing, considering how much of her time on the Overworld had been spent solely in the Badlands.
"You headed over to see big Q now? I think he mentioned wanting to get a little one-on-one with ya." Foolish continued, thrusting a thumb towards the guest home, and Tubbo nodded, wiping the slime on his hands on his pant leg instead.
"Yeah. You can go ahead if you want to, Puffy. I promise he's not going to try anything shifty."
"If you're sure, then..."
The guest house was a cozy little cabin, though maybe not specifically equipped to handle housing so many people at once, it was clear they'd made it work just fine, blankets and pillows strewn across the couches and floors, and one wet corner that Puffy didn't really want to think about. The warmth that greeted her as she opened the door was heavenly, or Nether-ly if she wanted to get technical about it, and she quickly closed the door behind her, eager to get out of the cold. She definitely wasn't used to such extreme weather just yet.
"Slime? Is that you?" Quackity called as he turned around a corner, pausing as he saw Puffy standing there a little awkwardly. "Oh, my bad, um... Here, have a seat."
He gestured broadly to the couch before he seemed to register the mess and then began frantically cleaning, picking up blankets from the couch to chuck down the hall, picking up cups and bowls left on the coffee table, puttering around quickly as she settled herself on a loveseat. He raked a hand through his hair, nearly knocking his beanie right off his head as he did another sweep of the room before pulling out a -pack of cigarettes, hesitating, then shoving them back in his pocket.
"Sorry about the mess, I'd normally have one of the others do this but it's- It's kinda like a vacation for them, I guess."
"I-it's okay. And I uh, don't mind if you smoke." She offered, not sure what else to say. 'One-on-one' time Tubbo had said, but she wasn't sure what for exactly. What, did he want her to recount her whole life story all over again? It felt like that was all she'd been doing since she left the Badlands.
"Nah, Techno would kill me if his place smelled like cigarettes, the narc." Quackity scoffed, lacing his hands together, elbows resting on the knees as he leaned toward her a bit. His hands were shaking, ever so slightly, and he seemed almost nervous for some reason, but Puffy couldn't fathom why that would be. She wasn't in any position to pose a threat to him or his group, and even if she was, she doubted she could do much damage to them on her own. "It's- actually, do you mind if we go outside? Sorry, I'm just- a bit stressed, I guess."
"Sure?" She said, following him as he moved further into the house, going up a flight of stairs before he opened the door to a balcony set to overlook the vast forest beyond. She shivered a bit, but grinned as her breath came out in great foggy plumes, curling up towards the sky as they dissipated. Quackity was quick to take out his cigarettes again and light one, taking in a deep drag before letting it out with a shuddering breath, leaning a bit on the railing as he did so. "Uh- better?"
"Yeah." He breathed, eyes half closed before they focused on her and he straightened, offering the box. "Sorry, did you want one?"
"Nah, thank you though. Bad was very insistent on keeping contraband out of his coven at all cost."
"Yeah, that definitely sounds like him." Quackity said with a shrug, and though his eyes were already half-lidded, he seemed even more tired in that moment than before. "I didn't understand why he'd suddenly... but the change seemed so gradual, even to me, and it's not like mortal beings are the most consistent anyways..."
He trailed off, and Puffy wasn't sure what to say to fill the silence, or if she should even say anything at all. Bad had been a wonderful friend to have in the beginning of their pact, was a good leader and even better diplomat, though she theorized that he'd only become that way to counteract Skeppy's antagonistic nature. She snorted a bit at the thought, trying to muffle the sound in her hand, but the memory of Skeppy getting kicked out of the council hall because he insisted on swearing in every other sentence had brought Bad on the verge of strangling him in his own frustration.
She missed them.
"So... was there a reason you wanted to talk to me?" She hedged after a moment, when it looked like Quackity was still lost in his own thoughts. He startled, shaking his head as he turned to her, looking a little shaken, though she couldn't parse why exactly.
"You were- sorry, you were a patron for Bad and them, right?" Quackity asked awkwardly, head angled away as in to ensure he wouldn't accidentally catch her eyes. "That must've been... I dunno. Not bad at least, if you're out here campaigning for them, right?"
"I mean, It was wonderful at first." She said, wondering why Quackity seemed so cagey all of a sudden. "That's why I'm even here at all. If I thought they were all just secretly dicks then I wouldn't have bothered to stick around for so long, and I definitely wouldn't be here, you're right about that."
"Well, that's something I guess." He muttered, taking in another drag of his cigarette, the end of it glowing bright enough to light up his dark eyes.
"Why? You know something else you think I should?" She tried, still not quite sure what his deal was, but Quackity rolled his eyes, blowing out a cloud of thick smoke and steam before snubbing out his cigarette on the railing.
"That's none of your business." He said with an air of smugness, waving a dramatic hand in her direction. "I don't give away details like that for free, Ms. Puffy."
"Ookay, jeez big guy. You got anything about your mysterious past that you would be willing to share?" She retorted, shaking her curls free of snow as she followed him back inside, edging closer to the crackling fire than was probably advisable, but eh. Priorities. "Seems like everyone around here knows more about my situation than I do."
"I won't pretend to know what you know." Quackity sneered, though it had less of a bite than what he seemed to be going for. "But no, I don't have anything to share."
"Guess I'll just have to ask Techno about it then." She said, following a hunch and was rewarded with Quackity whirling towards her, feather bristled defensively. So she'd been right, then; he and Techno did have some sort of sordid history between them.
"What the fuck- why do you even want to know? It's none of your fucking business!"
"I just, you know, have a vested interest in seeing you join us. For what I feel are self-explanatory reasons." She said plainly. "And Techno seems to think your assistance is vital to helping us succeed, and I can't-" She hesitated for a moment, voice catching, before she forced herself to continue. "This can't fail. Not if I can help it."
Her earnestness seemed to catch him fully off guard if his expression was anything to go by, and he slumped a bit in what she hoped was some sort of defeat to her point. She wasn't sure why he was so prickly to begin with, other than maybe old blood grudges, but he was right when he'd said it was none of her business. Even if she reeeeally wanted to know. Gods above, and she'd thought warlocks were mysterious; they had nothing on these guys.
"Alright, alright, you can stop looking at me like that now." Quackity huffed, pressing a hand to his face as Puffy stared at him blankly. She wasn't sure what 'look' she was giving him, but it certainly wasn't on purpose. "I just- I needed to hear it from you directly. Not that I think Techno would lie, but- it's complicated. I'll leave it at that. Some bad history I didn't want to see repeated. So now that that's out of the way, I guess... I guess I could talk to the others, try and get some kind of consensus."
"I- really?" She asked, before smacking a hand over her mouth. She wasn't sure what had made him change his mind, but she definitely didn't want to say or do anything that might make him change it again. "T-thank you! You have no idea what this means to me, I just- they were the only family I've known for the longest time. so I couldn't-"
"Believe me, I understand more than you know." Quackity said with a scoff, some of his sass returning. "Anyways, get the fuck out of here. Go- go tell Techno or something, I still have to talk with everyone else."
"Okay, okay." Puffy conceded with a relieved laugh, moving to the front door. She opened it but paused just before stepping out, looking out over the rest of the bastion as the snow fell. She turned back to Quackity one more time. "Thank you. Seriously."
"Sure." he said, his voice softer than she'd ever heard it. "Just- I don't know, consider it a favor from one patron to another alright? Now get the fuck out."
"Language!" She shouted with a laugh, feeling lighter than she had in months.
They had a chance.