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Eret stared at the place the ghost had once been. They thought that it had worked better the second time and that the ghost would be fine, but Ghostbur still hadn't come back from when Phil killed him. Considering this was the second time they'd tried this, maybe it wouldn't work, and Ranboo had been right to be concerned about attempting this multiple times.
Hell, the first time Ghostbur had simply come back after a minute of them panicking that they'd accidentally killed the ghost for good. Then rambled about how it was dark and cold. He really didn't know what that meant. Phil had suggested a totem might have to be used, which they didn't have at the moment, and the only person who did was Techno. They'd simply tried again without the totem, and it didn't seem to be working. Ghostbur definitely should be back by now, based on both his and Phil's research. Maybe this meant that it was working, and Wilbur would be back like they wanted him to be.
"It shouldn't be taking this long." Phil murmured.
"I know." Eret muttered, stepping closer to Phil, who was standing in front of the shrine with the sword still in his hand. Maybe Wilbur would be back whenever the flash of light they were supposed to see would show up. If it ever would, which it didn't seem like it was going to at this rate.
"Should we go?" Ranboo asked nervously, looking around the ruins of L'manburg and the quickly built but decent shrine.
"No, he'll be back eventually." Phil said, put his sword in his scabbard. They were going to be waiting a while then.
Eret tapped their foot against the ground, starting to pace around the ground. Surely, this couldn't take that long. Both Phil and Them had thoroughly researched this beforehand, and yet everything that could go wrong seemed to go wrong. This shouldn't be going so wrong.
Eret stopped as something pulled at their gut, and they stared at the place that Ghostbur had been when he disappeared. There seemed to be a light emitting from it. Which was just as expected. So either Wilbur or Ghostbur would be coming back right now. Both Phil and Ranboo seemed to have not taken note of it, so if they were the only one who could see it, that wouldn't be too great. It could mean a number of things if that was what was happening. That would mean something went wrong, and that wasn't good.
The light continued to grow, and neither Phil nor Ranboo acknowledged it like a normal person would. Which really wasn't good. Eret kept looking between them, hoping one of them would react and that this wasn't just Eret going crazy. That was certainly an option, and it wasn't one that they liked.
The light burst in quite a spectacular display like it had earlier, and they covered their eyes. Even though their sunglasses were shielding them, the light was still bright enough that it hurt his eyes. They heard a curse, and when they blinked away the light, they saw a ghost standing where Ghosbur had been.
The problem was that it didn't look like Ghostbur, and they were pretty sure it wasn't.
It looked very much like a real Wilbur Soot. Well, as real as a transparent ghost can look. Despite Phil looking right at Wilbur, he wasn't reacting like someone normally would. Eret got the sinking feeling that they were currently the only one able to see Wilbur. Which wasn't really good. That meant something went incredibly wrong, and there was some other force at play.
"Fucking hell. Stupid train station. Why the hell am I transparent? Am I still a goddamn ghost? Fuck." Wilbur groaned, walking up to Phil and waving his hand in front of Phil's face.
Phil didn't give any reaction, and Erets gut sank. Oh, Wilbur was going to hate this.
"Phil? Dad? Philza, can you hear me?" Wilbur asked.
"This is definitely taking too long. Do you think we really did it this time?" Phil asked, turning back to look at them.
"Unbelievable." Wilbur muttered.
Wilbur looked like he did the day he died. A long trench coat that was caked in the dirt of Pogtopia, and the yellow sweater they almost never saw him out of. The beanie wasn't there, but they could see it shoved in Wilburs pocket. They knew that something had gone wrong with the revival, and now, for some reason, Eret might be the only person who could see Wilbur. The actual Wilbur, not Ghostbur. They guessed that Wilbur was still a ghost, just less floaty because the guy was standing on the ground. Which wasn't good.
"What if Ghostbur or Wilbur doesn't come back?" Ranboo asked. That was a fair question.
"I don't even know who the fuck you are." Wilbur said, glancing at Ranboo before looking at Tubbo and Fundy who were behind them, watching everything go down.
They'd almost forgotten about Tubbo and Fundy. The two who were just there watching it all happen. They glanced behind them and yet they also gave no indication that they could see Wilbur. They looked back towards the ghost and made eye contact with Wilbur who narrowed his eyes at them. Wilbur had to know something was up with them.
"Can… you all not see him?" They whispered their question, and knew that Wilbur connected the dots almost immediately because he let out a groan. One that no one else could hear.
Phil and Ranboo turned towards them, and Phil asked, "What do you mean?"
"Wilbur," Eret gestured to the side of Phil, "He's next to you, and he's still a ghost, but it's- Okay, he's flipping me off now."
Eret sighed and ran a hand over their face. When they decided they were going to try and resurrect Wilbur that was for the purpose of doing the right thing and hopefully trying for another chance at forgiveness, they weren't expecting to have to be the only one to talk to Wilbur. This was going to be an absolute mess.
"What?" Phil asked, whirling to the side and looking at where Wilbur was even if they were sure that Phil couldn't tell where Wilbur was. He looked almost panicked, which Eret guessed they could understand. Phil had essentially just lost his child for the second time, and now might not be able to get him back.
"Yeah, look, clearly this didn't work. Let's regroup tomorrow and discuss the other option. Maybe get some woodland mansion maps, and go on a loot run. That should help fix this before anything too bad happens." Eret said. Then they could put this mess behind them. At least hopefully.
"What the hell is going on? Did you all build a goddamn shrine for me to bring me back? Why am I still a ghost?" Wilbur asked, walking forward with a finger pointed at Eret. As if they were the cause of this.
"Because we didn't have a totem." Eret answered. "We will soon and then it should work."
"Is he talking to you?" Phil asked.
"More or less." Eret said.
Wilbur walked off to the edge of the crater, and looked down into it. He clearly didn't want to deal with them. Which was just fine with them.
"Well… Alright. That sounds like a good idea. We… we should get some rest. I'll look up some more on it tonight and see if anything new arises. You keep an eye on him if you're the only one who can see him. Me and Ranboo can try to find some maps." Phil said, pointing at them.
They would have protested that it was a horrible idea to have them do that considering Wilbur still seemed to hate and distrust them. But, they were doing this so Wilbur would trust them again, so they supposed they should. After that everyone left, either quietly or they'd slipped off without Eret noticing. They didn't really care because right now they had to get the ghost of Wilbur to listen to them. Which might be impossible.
Wilbur was staring at the bottom of the crater, standing at the edges of the ruined L'manburg. So, ever the wonderful person, Eret walked up to talk to Wilbur. The ghost seemed so out of it staring at the crater, his eyebrows creased like he couldn't understand how this happened. That would hopefully mean that they could get an actual conversation out of him.
"Surely, I didn't do this. I did not have enough TNT to do this." Wilbur muttered, although it seemed like it was more to himself.
"No. They rebuilt after you blew it up, and then Dream, Techno, and Phil blew it up again a few days ago." Eret said, wiping their nose as the smell of ash and smoke was still present in the area, and it was even worse when you walked up to the edge of the crater. Wilbur probably wouldn't be able to notice, Ghostbur hadn't been able to smell.
"Techno?" Wilbur asked, seemingly not realizing that he was talking to Eret for half a second, so he wasn't pretending to be angry. Or maybe Wilbur got genuinely angry whenever talking to them.
"Yeah, I don't know what's up with that. I couldn't tell you, I think it was some favor that one of them owed the other. I genuinely don't know." Eret said.
"So I take it no one still talks to you. You're just off doing whatever you do alone." There was almost a hint of jest at their expense in Wilbur's voice.
There it was. Wilbur had realized that it was them and now he was going to shit on them for a while. That's how it always went.
"Yeah, I guess. Now, you're gonna have to go with me or get lost with no one to talk to. C'mon." Eret said, turning away from the crater and walking towards the path that would take them to their castle.
They weren't really expecting Wilbur to follow, but after a few seconds, they heard the sound of light footsteps. Ghost footsteps they supposed. That was probably going to get very annoying very easily. That was the one thing about Wilbur. He'd always hated being alone. Even in passing, he at least liked being near people even if they weren't talking. Then again, They would probably look insane if they tried to talk to Wilbur while walking towards their castle, considering only they could see Wilbur, but that wasn't anything new.
The walk was mostly silent, with Wilbur silently brooding next to Eret and moping around about his apparent misfortune.
"Y'know why the hell were you there?" Wilbur asked. "I guess I can guess why the others were there. They were important to me, and I remember faintly Tommy being there the first time you guys tried that stupid shit before I got thrown back into limbo. What's up with that?"
"Well, Wilbur, despite what you might think. I do want to be back in good graces with you, and revival seemed the best way. Me and Phil had been researching ways to bring you back for a while." Eret answered his question. Hopefully, Wilbur would leave it at that, and they could continue with the walk in silence.
"So what? You thought bringing me back to life would make me grateful for you and then forgive you of all past sins?"
"I'm trying, Wilbur. Alright? I know I fucked up, but for fucks sake, I screwed up once and nobody will let me forget it despite how much I try to make up for it. Yes, most people would be grateful that someone at least tried to bring them back to life. Not a lot of people wanted to try to revive you. Tommy included." Eret said, looking at Wilbur with a sharp glare.
"I suppose, but you serve no purpose in it." Wilbur said, looking at the dirt underneath his nails. The Tommy comment seemed to have been a blow to his esteem.
"I actually do. The only reason that even remotely worked was the shrine for you." Eret made sure to emphasize the second part.
"Yeah, and well, I know Phil built that-"
"Wilbur," Eret interrupted, "Kindly, where the fuck would Phil have gotten a L'manburg flag?"
“What are you trying to say that you of all people built a shrine to me so that I could be brought back to life?” Wilbur asked, scoffing slightly.
“Yeah, I did actually, because it increased the chances of you being revived. I don’t know why this happened but it did, so now you’ll just have to deal with it until we can get you into a physical body.” Eret said. They'd been working on this for days and yet Wilbur was diminishing their progress on literal necromancy. This was why the guy could be absolutely annoying sometimes.
“I don’t have to follow you. I could go bother other people.”
“Then do that.”
“No, you’re the only one who can see me, so I’m going to bother you about it. I am your issue now.” Wilbur said rushing ahead of them, floating slightly in the air as he did so. The guy seemed surprised by that, and managed to float further up in the air than he had before.
Ghosts.
Eret rolled their eyes and walked around Wilbur. The guy wasn’t helping him right now. The best option might be to just ignore him, so they continued to walk down the path and Wilbur had shut up so that was good. It was certainly strange to have the actual Wilbur back, even as a ghost, because Ghostbur had trusted them. The quick switch up had unnerved them a little but there wasn’t much that they could do about it. Well, there was and that was reviving him so he'd get out of their hair.
The castle was in view now and Wilbur frowned. Eret knew that Wilbur had never really been inside, so they were prepared for the onslaught of jabs against the decorations. Namely on the fact that there was nearly nothing in the halls and the only thing that was properly decorated was the library.
“There's something new.” Wilbur said, pointing off into the distance towards the museum.
“Yeah, that’s the museum. There’s nothing in it right now but a map.” They answered. Mainly because they had just finished the main frame of the entire building and had started to carve out a basement section, but the time that they could work on that was few and far between. Wilbur didn't comment on it further luckily.
Because they were nearing the castle, some of the settlements of the kingdom had started to pop up. A vast majority of the people that had lived on the server had been in L’manburg and they’d all left when it was gone. They weren’t sure where they went but not many people lived here.
“Looks barren.” Wilbur commented.
“Always has been. I’m the only one who really lives over here. It gets lonely at times but you get used to it.” Eret shrugged. “At least no one will bother you.”
“You will.”
“Well, I’ll try not to, but I can’t promise that I won’t.” They said.
“Your promises mean nothing to me anyways.” Wilbur said.
Eret gritted their teeth. Wilbur had always been rather upfront about people he didn’t like, and that was usually the only thing that he’d tell you. He seemed to not be able to admit anything but hatred. It seemed like a horrible way to live to them, but Wilbur just did what he wanted. Even after his very obvious mental decline in Pogtopia, and after he’d become a ghost apparently. Some people don't change.
The two of them passed under the arches of the Castle, and Eret managed to lead Wilbur to a guest room with little complaint. Wilbur arched an eyebrow at them, and they sighed.
“Ghostbur slept, I assume you do as well.” They said before leaving the room.
There really wasn’t much else to say about the situation. So, as it was late, and they’d been working on this all day, they went to the kitchen and got themselves something to eat. Wilbur should be able to find it so that he could get some food. Ghostbur ate, but that was because he liked the taste of food, not because he needed to. At least they were pretty sure Ghostbur hadn’t actually needed the food. They hadn’t ever actually asked.
They did have to clean up some things in the library before they could go to bed, although Wilbur had briefly scared the shit out of them by just appearing in front of them when they turned the corner. They would get used to that hopefully by the time Wilbur left.
“Do ghosts eat?” Wilbur asked.
“I don’t know, they might. Ghostbur did, but that was mostly because he wanted to.” Eret said, moving away from the library and towards their own bedroom. They just needed to try and get some sleep at this point. One should never try to deal with Wilbur while sleep deprived.
Wilbur didn’t follow them, and they were allowed to go into their bedroom alone. They got dressed in their pajamas and laid down on their bed, staring at the ceiling, not bothering to get under the covers yet.
This was absolutely insane. By all means that shouldn’t have been possible, and yet it had happened anyway. That hadn’t even been a possibility expressed in their research. This shouldn’t be possible, and yet it was, and now they had to deal with it. Eret respected Wilbur, he was a man that had a huge amount of power, and was able to protect it better than a lot of people could’ve. Even when they counted themselves, because all they were was a scapegoat for others' decisions. Yet, they could never get Wilbur to respect them for what they've done. All Wilbur saw was a mistake that was from years ago.
This could be an issue they dealt with in the morning. They were tired and about to lose their mind over trying to figure out how this had happened. It was just time to get some sleep.
Eret took off their sunglasses and placed them on their bedside table. They hoped that Wilbur wouldn't try to wake them up in the middle of the night because this was going to be a bitch to explain. Hell, the last time someone had seen his eyes had been Tommy months ago, who'd promptly just screamed. Not a very fun reaction.
Sleep didn't come easy, but it never did here, but they were pretty sure that by the time morning arrived that they'd gotten some amount of sleep. Maybe up there in the hours. Four or five. Which was good for them. They didn't normally get that much sleep.
Eret got out of bed, rubbing the gunk out of their eyes blinking at the ghost in the room. They weren't sure how Wikbur got in there but he was in there now which was certainly interesting. Ghostbur hadn't been able to phase through walls, and they were sure they'd locked their door last night. Glancing at the door told them it was wide open and Wilbur had just let himself in. Like he needed to wake them up to tell them something.
Wilbur was still staring at them. There wasn't any clear emotion, but they'd take anything over bitter jabs. That had been particularly annoying.
Eret picked up their sunglasses and walked around Wilbur going to get clothes for the day. The best option was to just ignore it.
"How long have you had those?" Wilbur asked, sounding flabbergasted as he went after them.
"My whole life." Eret answered. They were quite used to the blank, and glowing white eyes that they sported, but that didn't mean everyone else was. That was kinda how eyes worked, you had them your entire life. Unless you were Quackity.
Their eyes were associated with what might as well be the devil to anyone that wasn't religious. They'd gotten used to just not telling anyone this.
"What? How? No. I'm getting sidetracked. Quackity is here." Wilbur said. "He wants to talk to you."
"It's six in the morning." Eret said, glancing at the wall before looking back at Wilbur. Had Wilbur just invited a random person over? How had Wilbur even talked to Quackity?
"Yeah, well, he might have a solution and explanation for our issue. He's got a ghost hanging around him as well." Wilbur said.
"Schlatt has a ghost?" Eret asked, gathering a nice enough set of clothes for meeting up with someone that had suddenly shown up at their castle at six in the morning. "And, Quackity couldn't be here any later in the day?"
"I'll let you deal with that." Wilbur said, laughing a little, instead of giving them a response.
Wonderful, Wilbur had accidentally caused an issue for them and now they had to deal with it. Exasperated was too little of a word to describe what they felt. Eret was already so done with dealing with Wilburs hatred of them. They'd forgotten why they'd just started avoiding Wilbur even when just trying to atone for what they'd done. There were some things that you just couldn't fix, they supposed. But, they were stubborn and were determined to fix this.
Still, they forced Wilbur out of their room and got changed. Normally they would've worn something a little better, but this wasn't a diplomacy meeting. They weren't required to wear anything too high end, but that definition had certainly changed over the years.
A simple skirt and a poet's shirt. The best of both worlds. They had a small cape on as well, only draping down to the middle of their back so that their arms would keep warm. A fairly simple outfit. At least to them. Likely not to others.
They slipped on their sunglasses and left their room. Most people knew to wait in the library, and just as they'd hoped Quackity was in there, sat at the table waiting for them. Wilbur stood off to the side seemingly talking to thin air. Another ghost that they couldn't see. Quackity looked nearly dead, and exhausted, glaring near where they assumed Schlatt was. But, Quackity almost always looked exhausted, and ever since his run in with Techno, he always looked near death.
Quackity looked at them and grimaced, "So, I heard you're in the same boat I am."
"It appears so." They said, pulling up a chair across from Quackity. It seemed they were not bothering with formalities.
"I think I'd rather have someone who hates me." Quackity muttered. "Shut up."
They could tell that it wasn't directed at them, "Believe me, when I explain how this happened, you really don't."
"So you know how this happened? Why am I here? Schlatt, you asshole."
"Well, let me retract my statement. I don't know why or how it happened, but I know the events that happened leading up to it that could've caused it." Eret restated. That made more sense.
"Oh, that- yeah." Quackity yawned. "This shits a mess. You get used to it, though. Some people call you crazy. Y'know, it's just something you live with."
"Quackity, people already call me crazy. I don't wish to give them another reason to call me such." Eret said.
"Just have them look at your eyes." Wilbur commented.
"That's a low blow, and you know it." Eret hissed towards Wilbur.
Wilbur gave them a smile and started floating upside down, seemingly excited by what he'd figured out how to do.
"Yeah, well, what's your story?" Quackity asked, putting his boots on the table. They were going to ignore that.
Eret told Quackity about the attempts to revive Wilbur. Both of which hadn't gone successfully, and then the second time this had happened. They tried to give as much detail as possible, hoping that one of those things would at least be able to help Quackity figure out and tell them what had happened to make this happen. It had seemed like a freak coincidence, but if it happened to two of them, maybe there was something else going on.
Quackity seemed to mull over what they'd said before asking a question, "Did Ghostbur eat anything before you did the ritual a second time?"
Eret furrowed their eyebrows, trying to remember, "Yes, he ate the salmon."
Wilbur gave a quick, worried glance towards Eret the moment they said that. Mainly because it hadn't really been Ghostbur, who was attached to the salmon shifter, but rather Wilbur, who had been.
"Did you catch the salmon?"
"Yes?"
"Is there any chance your blood could've been on the salmon?" Quackity asked.
"I mean, I cut myself on the fishing hook, but that's about it." Eret answered. It had been such an insignificant moment that they'd forgotten about it.
"From what I understand, that's how this happened. I didn't know it could go the other way around, but it clearly can." Quackity gestured to Eret, and then to where the pair of ghosts likely were.
“What do you mean by that?” Eret asked.
“It’s something to do with blood. I know that much. When Schlatt died, I had some shame in admitting this. A bunch of us looted his body before we buried. Oh, shut up. You don’t care enough to get revived. Yeah, a bunch of us looted his body, and I took his heart and ate it. Gross, I know, but that’s what happened. Whatever magic shit happened after that, I don’t know, but I could see Schlatts' ghost after that. I didn’t realize it until a couple of days after he showed up.” Quackity explained.
“So, Ghostbur ate the fish.” Eret said, putting a hand on the bridge of their nose. “And, then he accidentally ingested my blood, causing him to somehow have the regular Wilbur be a ghost, and make it so only I could see him.”
“Pretty much.” Quackity said.
“And you woke me up at six in the morning for this?” Eret asked, looking at Wilbur in brief annoyance. They supposed that they were already waking up but still this wasn't a conversation they had to have at six in the morning before a long day of presumably going out to find woodland mansions so they could get totems to do this properly.
“You seem like the type of person to be up with the sun, I thought you were already up.” Wilbur said, already testing their patience for the day.
“No, if I'm ever up this early, it's either because I couldn't sleep or I didn't sleep." Eret sighed. "Whatever. It's fine. Is that all you needed to tell me?"
"Pretty much. I was heading home and figured I'd stop by because Wilbur found Schlatt like an hour ago." Quackity said, taking his feet off the table, and standing up.
"Alright. Well, I suppose it was good to see you." Eret plastered a fake smile on their face as they ushered Quackity out of the room.
Wilbur was still talking to someone in the corner, so they supposed that Schlatt would be here until he decided to leave. Which Eret was fine with as long as the two didn't do anything.
They left the library, only slightly regretting leaving Wilbur and Schlatt to their own devices, but it wasn't like they could cause too much damage except to each other. The two hated each other almost as much as Wilbur hated them. At least, that's what they observed the last time the two had been together. Which was when Schlatt had a heart attack.
They got a ping from their communicator and checked the message quickly. Hopefully, it was the plan for today. It was from Phil, which was a little surprising because to be honest, they'd been anticipating having to go on their own for the mansions as Phil didn't really like governments even if they had the same goal of reviving Wilbur right now.
Philza: hey, ranboo got a map. meet us at the nether junction on the roof. tubbo will be there, too.
That was good enough for them, and the sound of shattering glass echoed in the background along with the sound of cursing. Which wasn't good.
Maybe they could just leave Wilbur here with Schlatt. Yeah, that seemed like a good way to have their things broken, but then the two would occupy each other. Wilbur could probably stay here.
Yeah, the two would be fine. They couldn't cause that much damage, could they?