#FairFerreFare

[infinitethree]

Hello Eret Prime! I don't think alot of people ask you alot of questions, so I'll ask one! What's it like hearing about all the other Erets out in the multiverse?

The scene opens with two people seated at just outside a cafe. The signage indicates that it’s A Slice of Heaven, which is Niki Prime’s cafe/bakery. It’s run by her, Baque–the Quackity from the T3’s swapped world–and a few other versions of Niki. Various Bads also help with baking, particularly muffins.

The two that are being focused on, though, are Eret Prime and Ferre. The latter is from the same world as Baque and is the swapped version of Eret.

Eret Prime pauses mid-sip of their tea, and slowly sets their cup back down. They're aware that something--multiple somethings--have been asking questions to people. They're also aware that, technically, only the T3 have an obligation to answer those questions.

Given the relatively harmless nature of this one and how unclear a lot of things are about the askers--especially what or whoever they may be--Eret feels it far safer to answer than risk starting things off on a hostile note.

Ferre raises their eyebrows at the pause.

“A question, from our unseen…guests,” Eret tells them. Ferre makes a noise of understanding, straightening up slightly in their chair. “Do you want to pick this up later, then?”

Eret shakes their head. “No, no, it’s…probably something you could answer too, if you want. They wanted to know how I feel about hearing about other Erets.” They give a small smile, and gesture slightly at the version of themselves who swapped roles with Fundy. “Some are pleasant surprises. As unhappy as I was that for Ferre, things happened the same way, sort of…it’s been very interesting to learn what was different.”

Said person grins. Tone light and playful they say, “The Alphabet Mafia is stronger than ever. Our sinister work is never done.” “I would hardly call a queer support group-slash-club sinister, but sure,” Eret points out, his own smile growing.

Ferre waves a hand dismissively, “The sinister part is making it sound ominous to outsiders. It’s fun to see how they’re stunned by how mundane it really is.” Eret laughs, adjusting the sunglasses that they wear. Ferre shifts their own back into its proper place out of habit.

“Though, really, nothing is mundane about a group that multiple Was-Taken brothers are in. Meetings get a little…chaotic.” Eret’s polite phrasing makes Ferre laugh. “Chaotic is an understatement. I’m still amazed Theo never murdered us all, back on the SMPza. Our Niki being an active member should have, by all rights, been a death sentence. And yet…”

Eret picks up where they trailed off. “And yet, he decided to stick around despite not really getting being aromantic or asexual. Which I had to explain to him, because Day had tried numerous times and failed. He still reminds me that he owes me a life debt for getting Theo to understand it. I’m…reasonably sure it’s a joke. Probably.”

There’s a shrug from the swapped version of the monarch. “Day was and still is strange. Though he certainly…makes more sense, knowing what we all know now.” There’s regret in Ferre’s tone, and they place a hand over their necklace. It’s nothing more than a plain chain with a very simple wire-wrapped ear cuff threaded onto it. The beads are telling; amber, prismarine, and emerald, along with one in black glass and one in orange glass.

Ferre still mourns that they lost the friendships they had made with Daedalus, Orpheus, and Atlas over Fundy’s betrayal. It hadn’t mattered that Ferre themselves was in the dark; they were pulled away from all the same. Sometimes they feel angry about how unfair it was; how they hadn’t known anything but was punished for it all the same. In the past, that anger was vented by pulling away from their adoptive older brother.

Fundy is gone now, though; he was one of the many victims of the Egg. It’s still a miracle that Ferre themself wasn’t dragged into it as well. They had never imagined that it would be Theo, Day, and Vio who rescued them. Them, Baque, and Jeste–or, before they changed names, Quackity and Punz.

The only other person who had been left was Niki. And, well…Ferre wasn’t thrilled that she met a bloody, violent end. Of course they weren’t; Niki had been a friend. But…Niki would have died no matter what they did. There was no way she wouldn’t; the T3 had been very, very clear about that.

There had only been a question of if the remaining three would stay and be infected, doomed to wander the server as it decayed and fell apart around them…or go back with the three of them to a place of peace.

They had all had some pretty severe doubts about how peaceful it actually was, but there wasn’t much of a choice.

It had been an…adjustment. To put it mildly. It wasn’t even the absurd details like a god having been murdered there or the existence of two time travellers that had been the worst part. No, no; the hardest thing to adjust to was Vio. The alien was frequently teased and poked fun at in little ways that, honestly, would have gotten just about anyone killed if they had tried it on the SMPza. But here, it was just…normal. It was simply another baffling facet of Sanctuary, that it all started with Vio deciding to turn it into a decent place out of spite.

It was still hard to wrap their head around. The same was true to Baque and Jeste, though admittedly Baque’s struggle was more with learning that, apparently, Vio would frequently lament not being able to get certain baked goods from the swapped Quackity.

Eret, who had been quiet for a few moments as Ferre was lost in thought, spoke again. “I’ve heard about some…interesting worlds. There was one where everyone was an animal; the T3 took pictures of all of them. I was a ferret. That seemed like it was one of the better worlds they’ve been in.”

And that was a huge understatement; it wasn’t uncommon for the Was-Taken family to sequester themselves within their home. While none of them went into detail about the exact reasons why, it was widely known that they were almost entirely due to Day’s trauma responses to what were phrased as ‘bad worlds’.

The monarch continues, “An odder one was one in which the local Eret absorbed Herobrine’s powers and became an unstoppable god. That was…strange to hear about. On the less odd side of things, though…I believe an early one was that Tommy and I co-ruled the Greater SMP area as joint monarchs. Even when I first heard about that one, it made a strange sort of sense; Tommy is, seemingly across all iterations of himself, capable of greatness. Just look at the empire he’s created with Make It Sew, or even how he was a core member of the original Reformation Team. I’m glad he’s doing so well and relieved we’re on good terms now.“ They smile a little at the thought.

It had taken a lot of counseling for them to get to that point, but it was well worth it. There would never be the same trust that there had been in the early days of L’manburg, but that was to be expected. That Eret and Tommy could have civil conversations–or, well, mostly civil; Tommy was still Tommy–was in, and of itself, nearly a miracle.

The same could be said of all of Sanctuary. How impossible, how improbable, that a place like it could exist at all. A version of the Dream SMP where disputes were settled with pranks or talking, where wars ended in everyone covered in glitter and laughing, where Tommys and Dreams and countless others who once drew the others’ blood instead hung out or caused only minor mischief against each other.

A place without the threat of explosions or exile, one with a community that sprawled across countless chunks. No canon lives, mandatory therapy, and the end being freely open to all who wanted to go. There are games and clubs and events and countless hands extended in support. It’s a refuge, an oasis, a sanctuary.

A home.

“So…my feelings are mixed, I suppose. The same as most complex things are,” Eret finishes. Ferre nods. “I agree. It’s nice to hear about the good, and disappointing to hear about the bad. If nothing else, it’s a relief that the other versions of us are rarely a part of the reason the T3 show up. Or, if they are, it’s as part of a larger group. I prefer that to countless worlds in which we’re the…villain, for lack of a better phrase.”

#EretPrime #FairFerreFare #long post #ChronoTag #Ferre's tag isn't super significant #it's just that it popped into my head #anyway hi guess who's been fucking WRECKED by the bullshit that is the weather #I'm like .5 seconds from joining Vio on his anti-snow rants #barometric pressure changes (aka rain/snow/storms/etc and fronts) really fuck me up #so this has been sitting in my drafts forrrrrrr longer than I care to admit #because it's literally just...back to back weekends of snow #it's nonsense and I hate it #Asked&Answered