#void!kristin

“I’m fine guys, see? The void didn’t-” the man stopped midway through consoling his crows as he turned midair and locked eyes with Kristin. He looked just as surprised to see her as she was to see him. He nearly started falling towards the void again, but quickly caught himself and hovered above Kristin. The crows circled around the man, cawing in a mix of alarm and excitement.

“Hello,” Kristin called out, a little unused to speaking but excited to have the chance to. The man let out a startled squawk in response, nearly unbalancing himself in the air but still managed to stay aloft.

“You can talk?!” the man cried out in surprise. Kristin tilted her head to the side in confusion.

“You can talk,” she said pointedly. The man let out a laugh, shaking his head in mild embarrassment.

“Good point. I just… didn’t think you were real. Thought my mind was playing tricks on me or some shit,” the man replied, still chuckling a bit. Kristin laughed along with him, and the man’s expression turned into something both mildly terrified and hopelessly endeared.

“What’s that look for?” Kristin asked, head tilting to the side in confusion. The man flushed slightly, and the crows’ caws took on a more teasing tone.

“Your laugh is uh- kind of unsettling, echoing through the void and all. But it’s also kinda charming in a way,” the man said with a bashful smile. The crows’ caws grew louder as they seemed to heckle the man, and he swatted at them in annoyance, muttering something about how he was not blushing.

“I think you’re kind of charming too,” Kristin said sweetly. That sent the crows into a tizzy, and the man’s expression lit up with a grin. Kristin decided she liked seeing the birdlike man smile.

“My name’s Philza, most people call me Phil though,” he said, reaching out his hand for half a second as if he intended to shake Kristin’s hand, but then promptly realized that he couldn’t even see Kristin’s hands. She chuckled good-naturedly, then drew herself up from the void to be more level with Phil. He was much smaller than she had thought, in fact her hand was bigger than his whole body.

“I’m the Queen of the Void, but if I were to know any people, they’d call me Kristin,” she replied, holding out her hand to Phil. He flew back a bit in surprise, then gave a sheepish smile and reached out to awkwardly pat her finger instead of attempting to shake her hand.

“It’s lovely to meet you- hold on, let me find an opening up there to rest on, my wings are getting tired,” Phil said, beginning to glide away.

“You can rest on my hand if you’d like! I promise I won’t pull you into the void, you’re the first person I’ve spoken to in… well, ever, I think,” Kristin offered, holding out her hand palm up. A few of Phil’s crows flew to rest in her hand, cawing up at her in greeting. Phil looked a little skeptical still, but seeing as his crows were alright, he flew down to sit cross-legged in her palm.

“Thank you. I get tired a little quicker when I’m away from the sky,” he explained.

“Then why come down here at all?” Kristin asked. Phil shrugged.

“I was exploring, saw an opening to the void and decided to explore. In all my traveling, I’ve never seen access to the void through the Overworld,” he replied.

“But you’ve seen the void before?”

“Yes, when I was very young. The place I came from was just an island in the void.”

“Then why are you here? In the ‘Overworld,’ as you put it,” Kristin asked. Phil frowned in thought, a dark, mournful expression taking over his face for a few moments before he shook his head. “It’s… a long story,” Phil said, something dark taking over his previous cheerful tone.

“You don’t have to explain if you don’t want to, I didn’t mean to pry,” Kristin said hurriedly, something in her stomach twisting uncomfortably at making her new friend upset. Phil patted her hand reassuringly, giving a weak smile.

“It’s alright, I just don’t talk about it much… mostly because I don’t have many to talk about it to. Anyway, something… bad had happened, on the island. I don’t remember much, but what I do know is that people had come in big ships and attacked my home. Myself and some others managed to fly away to try and escape through the portal the people had made to get to our world… but I was the only one that made it out before something happened on the other end, and the portal shut down,” Phil explained, the smile he had managed before slowly slipping off of his face as he talked. One of his crows resting on his shoulder hopped over to nuzzle his cheek, and Phil gently scritched the bird’s head with a wistful smile.

“I’m very sorry to hear that. It’s terrible, what happened to you,” Kristin said, wishing there was something more she could do than just offer condolences. Phil merely shrugged.

“Not your fault, not mine either. It just… happened, I guess. For a while I tried to find a way back, tried to relight the portal or find a different one- but no luck. Decided to just travel and explore instead,” Phil said.

“Sounds like a rather lonely adventure,” Kristin replied.

“Oh it’s not that lonely, I’ve got my crows after all. They just sorta started following me around- I’m pretty sure they think I’m a giant crow, since they call me ‘Dadza’ sometimes,” Phil said with a chuckle. The crows squawked indignantly, seemingly arguing among themselves and with Phil.

“They talk?” Kristin asked, frowning as she listened to the crows a little closer, but couldn’t make out any words amongst the chaos.

“I mean… not exactly, but I do understand what their caws mean,” Phil explained. Kristin raised an eyebrow.

“So… you are a giant crow, then,” she said with a wry smile. The crows ceased their argumentative cawing for a moment to look at Kristin, then back at Phil, before they started a ruckus of excited caws.

“Look what you’ve done, you’ve gone and encouraged their chaos,” Phil huffed, crossing his arms and looking very disgruntled as a murder of crows hopped and fluttered around him, cawing in excitement all the while. Kristin couldn’t help it- she laughed.

“Sorry. I did think you were a bird when I first saw you down here,” Kristin said sheepishly.

“Well… you’re not wrong, I am birdlike in some ways, but I think a giant crow is a bit of an oversimplification,” Phil replied.

“What’s wrong? Where’s Phil?” Kristin asked, head turning to try and follow the bird’s panicked flight. The crow let out a warbling, mournful cry. Kristin couldn’t understand what it was saying, but she knew now that without a doubt, something was wrong… and something had likely happened to Phil. The crow swooped down and grabbed a lock of her hair in its beak, trying to pull Kristin to the tunnel entrance- not that she needed much convincing to leave now. She flew up to the entrance, grabbing the edge and pausing only for a moment before hoisting herself out. Her domain tried to follow after her with inky tendrils, causing the crow to squawk in panic. Kristin stood at the tunnel’s edge, a little unused to feeling something solid beneath her, and looked to her domain with a soft smile.

“Stay here, I will call on you if I need you. I won’t be gone forever,” she soothed the void, letting a tendril curl around her wrist. It didn’t speak, per se, but she could sense the feelings of concern and care it sent out, wishing her well before the tendril uncurled and sank back down into her domain below. She gazed at her domain for a few moments, before the crow cawed insistently, swooping down to pull at Kristin’s hair again.

“I know, I know. Let’s go,” Kristin said, turning her back on the void and making her way up through the tunnel. Torches lighted her path up to the Overworld, until she saw moonlight peeking through twisted tree roots. The crow flew ahead of her, cawing even more persistently now that it was outside. Kristin made her way out past the tree roots, momentarily distracted by the grass beneath her feet and the reflection of the moon in the lagoon before her. She turned to look at the lightning-scarred tree behind her, a house up in its gnarled branches. She looked back to the lagoon, and noticed a little shack diagonally across from the tree on the other side of the water. Then past the shack, she saw them. A caravan of sorts, with a chain of carts and people shouting. The crow flew towards the caravan, hovering in midair to look back at Kristin. With a determined nod, she followed the crow.

They made their way through a spruce forest on one side of the shack, the trees giving them cover. The crow perched in a tree on the outskirts of the small forest, and Kristin hid behind the tree, watching the caravan with a horror-stricken expression. A group of people she didn’t recognize were herding a menagerie of hybrids- a few hybrids that Kristin recognized, a few she didn’t. Among the ones she didn’t recognize were a slime hybrid, a fox hybrid, a boy seemingly made of stars, and a small man perched on the shoulder of the star boy, all inside one of the carts of the caravan. Another cart had a tank filled with water, and Kristin watched as a girl with axolotl-like features was unceremoniously dumped into the tank. Two more men were trying to corral a blaze hybrid, a bee hybrid, and an enderman hybrid into another cart- and Kristin’s heart dropped at the last group of hybrids. The ones she recognized. Tommy was trapped in a net, being dragged towards another cart as Wilbur struggled against the hold of two men on either side of him.

“Stay put, phantom. Or the birdie here gets it,” one of the men said, flicking out a knife and holding it to the throat of the last figure Kristin recognized- Phil. His wings and arms were bound to his body with some sort of netting, and two men were holding onto his shoulders- one of them doing it one-handed to hold the knife to his neck. Wilbur’s eyes flashed green, but he stopped fighting against the men holding him back.

“Hey! Be careful with that one, he’s an elytrian. Haven’t seen many of those in years,” one man, possibly the leader of the group, said with a cruel grin.

“Only because hunters like you hunted my people down!” Phil said viciously, straining against his bonds and the men holding him back. The man only grinned.

“Oh I know. That’s why when I heard rumors of a winged man around this place you call Ringlake, I had to see for myself. And not only have I caught myself an elytrian, but a jackpot of other hybrids. Guess I have you to thank,” he said, and Phil’s expression dropped, face going pale. Anger boiled in Kristin’s veins, and she started to move from her hiding place- until a ruckus of commotion stopped her.

“One of the fucking hybrids is loose!” one of the hunters cried. Kristin watched from her place in the shadows to see Wilbur, free of the men that were holding him and eyes glowing a vibrant green. He shoved one hunter away from Tommy, who was still trapped in a net. The hunters that were holding him before lunged at Wilbur, but he winked out of existence before they could reach him, causing them both to tumble face-first into the dirt. He shimmered back into existence with a smug grin, which quickly turned to a determined frown when the hunter he had shoved before scrambled back to his feet, sword drawn. He grabbed a sword from one of the hunters lying face-first in the dirt, taking a protective stance in front of Tommy. The hunter ran at Wilbur, their blades clashing as Wilbur managed to hold him off. The swords strained against each other as the hunter tried to push Wilbur back, but he merely turned invisible again, causing the hunter to stumble forward. Wilbur appeared behind him, slashing at the hunter a few times before going invisible once more, the hunter swinging his sword in a wide arc out of frustration. Wilbur came at him again from out of nowhere, but this time the hunter managed to shove him onto his back, pressing a boot to his chest and holding him down as he raised his sword again.

“No!” Kristin cried, running out into the open, unable to stay hidden any longer. Everyone froze, gazes snapping to her. A curious and intrigued expression came over the lead hunter’s face, before a grin took its place.

“What’s a pretty thing like you doing out here?” he asked, voice sleazy and making Kristin bristle in discomfort. Phil snarled at the man, trying to lurch forward against the two hunters holding him back. Kristin smiled fondly at Phil’s protectiveness- it was sweet, but not needed. The smile turned sinister as she looked to the first hunter, pleased to see him pale a few shades underneath her gaze. She unfurled her dark wings, and mentally reached out to her domain far below. The temperature dropped suddenly, and inky blackness rose from the thin ravine that gave Ringlake its name.

“You will die first,” she said simply, her voice echoing with raw power. The lead hunter tried to scramble backwards, but she hardly gave him a chance to scream before a tendril of the void lashed out, grabbing him and pulling him down, down, down into her domain below. The hunter pinning Wilbur down was next, and she relished in his scream as a sickening crunch was heard when a tendril grabbed him. One of the hunters holding Phil was smart, choosing to try and run away- but he wouldn’t escape. A tendril grabbed him and pulled him down to the depths of the void, while the one who foolishly held onto Phil with his knife still drawn was plucked up and thrown far away, Kristin not bothering to look where his body landed. The rest of the hunters surrounding the other hybrids were plucked off one by one, either dragged down or thrown far from Ringlake. She didn’t care if the ones thrown survived or not- if they did, they could spread the message that Ringlake was not to be touched. The lake and the people who lived in and around it were her domain, just as much as the void was.

“Kristin?” a voice asked, tone soft and edging on mildly terrified. Kristin blinked, letting the void sink back down to her domain as she turned to face the source of the voice- Phil. A mix of awe and terror was clear in his expression, and a few final flares of anger shot through Kristin as she saw the way he was still bound by the netting, feathers rumpled and sticking at odd angles through the net. She should have made those hunters suffer more for even touching Phil and the rest of her family- but all was said and done, at least they were safe now. She called upon the void one last time to reach out and slash through the netting. Phil stumbled to one side in surprise once he was free, watching the tendril of the void sink back into the thin ravine.

“Are you alright?” Kristin asked, stepping forward and reaching out towards Phil a bit timidly. There was no denying the stillness and silence that hung in the air, and Kristin wasn’t sure how to feel about it. They were safe now, couldn’t they see that? Kristin’s worries were soothed when Phil rushed forward into her arms, holding her tight. Kristin all but melted in relief, one hand going to comb through his ruffled feathers and unable to hold back the smile at the relieved coo she got in response.

“I’m alright now, thanks to you,” Phil said softly. He pulled away but didn’t go too far, linking arms with her as the two of them turned to the rest of the hybrids. Wilbur had helped Tommy out of the net, while the blaze, enderman, and bee hybrids helped the axolotl girl out of the tank. The bee and enderman hybrid looked closer to Tommy’s age, while the blaze hybrid and axolotl girl looked a little closer to Wilbur’s age. The star boy, who was helping the slime hybrid, fox hybrid, and the small man out of the barred cart with a blast of starlight, looked around Wilbur’s age as well. She couldn’t quite figure out the other hybrids, all of them physically being much smaller than the rest of the kids, but that didn’t necessarily mean they were younger. She locked gazes with the star boy, who looked curious instead of terrified, unlike the three hybrids clustered around him.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“That’s my mum!” Wilbur piped up, before Kristin had a chance to respond. Kristin chuckled fondly at the resulting bewildered expressions of the group.

“You can call me Kristin. I’m the Queen of the Void,” she clarified.

“I’m Scott, a starborne. Thank you for saving us- me, Fundy, Charlie, and Sneeg have been held captive by those hunters for a while now,” Scott said, gesturing first to himself, then the fox hybrid, then the slime hybrid, and then the small man on his shoulder as he listed off names.

“I don’t see why you couldn’t have done your starbolt thing sooner,” grumped the fox hybrid, Fundy. Scott frowned at his shorter companion.

“Well then the hunters would have shot me and made me go supernova, taking you guys with me,” Scott reprimanded. Fundy muttered something incomprehensible, but shrugged in defeat. Scott gave a smug grin in response, and Sneeg jumped down from Scott’s shoulder to continue heckling Fundy along with Charlie. Kristin couldn’t help but smile fondly at the display, already hoping that the group of hybrids would stick around Ringlake.

“Are we not gonna talk about how when Philza looked into the void and the void looked back, he decided to marry her?” the bee hybrid piped up. The enderman hybrid smacked him on the arm, while the blaze hybrid shook his head and the axolotl girl giggled.

“Tubbo,” Phil said reproachfully.

“He is surprisingly correct,” Kristin said with a shrug.

“The first person who looked back at me when I looked at them was Ranboo! Does that mean I get to marry him?” Tubbo asked, looking to the enderman hybrid beside him.

“Mate, you’re a little young to-”

“You can’t marry Ranboo, you’re my best friend!” Tommy said incredulously, interrupting Phil.

“Ranboo being my husband doesn’t make us not best friends!” Tubbo retorted, crossing his arms and hovering above Tommy. Ranboo just stood behind them, gaze flicking between the two boys with blatant confusion.

“Boys, you can marry whoever you’d like when you’re older,” Phil said, trying his best not to laugh.

“I’m okay to wait to marry Tubbo,” Ranboo replied with a shrug. Tubbo cheered, and Tommy instantly began whining about losing his best friend to a “fuckin’ enderman.” Kristin shook her head, and looked to the blaze hybrid and the axolotl girl- who had jumped into a nearby pond during Tubbo and Tommy’s bickering.

“You two must be Jack and Niki,” Kristin said, remembering the names Tommy had mentioned the other day. Niki popped her head up from the pond, nodding excitedly.

“Ayup, void lady,” Jack said with a wave.

“Thank you for saving us!” Niki exclaimed, tail splashing excitedly behind her.

“Of course! One of Phil’s crows came to me in distress, I had to come up here and save my family,” Kristin said firmly.

“Aww, that’s so sweet! Wil and Tommy are lucky to have a mum like you,” Niki said with a grin. Kristin blinked in mild confusion.

“I was including you, Jack, Ranboo, and Tubbo in my definition of ‘family.’ And if Scott and the others want to stick around, they’re more than welcome to be family too,” Kristin said, voice sweet but also leaving little to no room for argument. The group of hybrids- minus Wilbur, Tommy, and Phil- all took on various expressions of surprise and confusion.

“Kristin, I think we need to talk about adopting people we just met,” Phil whispered, amusement clear in his tone.

“You still haven’t given me a good reason as to why not!” Kristin teased back with a grin. Phil laughed, shaking his head.

“I mean, if you guys are alright with it, I’d like to stick around here. I don’t exactly have a home anymore, I was taken by hunters not long after my meteor crashed around here,” Scott said, casting a sad glance to the stars before looking back to Kristin and Phil with a shy grin.

“What is it you said before, Phil? We don’t really adopt people, they just sort of find us?” Kristin said with a smug grin. Phil sighed, but couldn’t hide the fond grin on his face.

“I think that means you guys can stay,” Wilbur said with a laugh. Scott cheered, and immediately began chatting with Fundy, Charlie, and Sneeg about where they could build their homes. Niki and Wilbur joined in on the conversation as well, offering space around the lagoon. Jack, Tommy, Tubbo, and Ranboo started talking about a potential place where every hybrid could gather together, no matter their advantages or disadvantages. And as Kristin watched the group fondly with Phil, she realized something about the people around her. It made sense- Kristin was the void, meant to pull people in. But instead, Kristin had pulled together a family.

-

End Note: credit to zapekan6000 on twitter for inspiring the wilbur vs hunter fight scene! link to their animatic here

“Being here with you makes me think of home. As a kid I used to fly above the void with my older peers as we dared each other to touch it,” Phil commented one day.

“You would taunt death for fun as a child?” Kristin asked, bewildered at such an idea.

“To be fair, I taunt death for fun even now,” Phil said with a laugh. A few crows squawked in disapproval, but he brushed them off with a smile and wave of his hand.

“I hadn’t noticed, with how much you’ve dived towards my domain,” Kristin said dryly. Phil laughed again, shaking his head. A comfortable silence settled over the two as they watched the ebb and pull of the void.

“Can I ask you something?” Phil piped up after a few moments.

“Sure.”

“So… you’re the Queen of the Void. You talk about the void like it’s something you rule over, but also can’t exactly control. But it also seems like you’re part of the void, or you’re at least made up of the same stuff as it. What I guess I’m trying to ask is… how does being the Queen of the Void work?” Phil asked. Kristin frowned in thought while Phil and his crows waited attentively for an answer.

“I both am separate and part of the void. I am usually formless, except for when I choose to take shape- I only chose something resembling a human because you were something resembling a human, but I could have easily picked a crow’s form if I wanted to. I drew upon the void to take shape, but that isn’t an entirely accurate way of putting it, since the void is shapeless to begin with. But in terms of how being Queen works… asking if I can control the void is like asking you if you can control your own heartbeat. Your heart is part of you, certainly, but it’s not something you control, it just beats on its own. The void is like that for me in a way. It is part of me, and I am part of it, but I can’t control it. But at the same time, I am entirely separate from the void, and the void is separate from me,” Kristin explained. Phil looked absolutely bewildered, while the crows didn’t seem to comprehend what Kristin had said at all.

“I think I get it. My brain hurts, but I get it,” Phil said after a long period of silence.

“That’s alright, I guess it is a little mind-boggling. I’ve never had to explain it to anyone before, since to me it’s all I’ve ever known,” Kristin said with a shrug. Phil’s brow furrowed in concern.

“You’ve only ever been here? But you know about some things from the Overworld, I haven’t had to explain as much as I thought I might have to,” Phil said, head tilted to one side in confusion.

“My knowledge is not as limited as you might think. And it’s never occurred to me to try and leave the void. It’s not exactly ‘home,’ at least in the way you talk about home, but it’s where I reside. I’ve been content here,” Kristin replied, almost equally as confused as Phil. Should she want to leave the void, leave everything she had ever known?

“I guess that’s true. It just… sounds lonely,” Phil said softly, peering up at Kristin with a sympathetic smile. Something in Phil’s expression… it sent her heart fluttering. And seeing as she didn’t usually take on a physical form, this sensation was something Kristin was unused to… but she didn’t think she minded it.

“I didn’t know loneliness, I suppose being alone was just something I was used to, like both being the void and being separate from it. But I think I could identify the feeling of loneliness now,” Kristin replied. Phil’s soft expression twisted with confusion.

“What do you mean?” he asked. Kristin let out a laugh, almost missing the fond look Phil gave at the sound.

Kristin was interrupted by her reminiscing by an echoey scream from above. She immediately drew herself up from the void with wide eyes, and for a brief, panicked moment, she thought the scream belonged to Phil. But the owner of the scream sounded younger, almost like a child’s voice. A translucent teenager suddenly tumbled through the ceiling, screaming all the while until he landed in Kristin’s outstretched hands with a muffled thump.

“Oh! Are you alright?” Kristin asked, frowning in concern at the strange ghostly kid in her hands. A ratty blue cloak was thrown over the kid’s near skeletal form, his bright yellow sweater contrasting from his gray skin. An actual skeletal tail was curled around the teen’s wrist, like he was trying to comfort himself. The kid looked up through a mop of brown hair, pitch-black eyes flashing with green as he met her own equally dark ones.

“What the fuck?!” the kid cried, starting to shuffle backwards in her hands.

“Well that’s not an answer,” Kristin said with a laugh. The kid’s face went paler than it already was at the sound of her laugh.

“I-I’m fine. Who- Who are you, exactly?” the kid managed to stammer out.

“I’m Kristin, Queen of the Void. What’s your name?” she asked cheerfully.

“Wilbur Soot. Uh… king of accidentally phasing through bedrock, apparently,” he said, scowling up at the ceiling. Kristin laughed again, relieved to see Wilbur crack a smile in response instead of seeming nervous like before.

“I’ve never met anyone who could phase through bedrock,” Kristin commented. Wilbur’s tail uncurled from his wrist and lashed behind him excitedly.

“It’s cause I’m a ghost! Well, phantom, technically. I’m supposedly related to those screechy guys who don’t like it if you don’t sleep, but I don’t really see the resemblance,” Wilbur explained with a shrug. Kristin blinked in confusion, about to ask for clarification on the “screechy guys,” but a voice called from above before she was able to speak.

“Wil? Are you down there?” Phil called out.

“Yes! Did you know there’s a giant lady underneath your house?” Wilbur shouted back.

“Well I sure hope so, I’m his wife,” Kristin replied before Phil had a chance to answer.

“You’re his what?! Phil, you married the Queen of the Void?!” Wilbur demanded, glaring angrily at the ceiling, seemingly upset that Phil hadn’t told him about Kristin. The only answer Wilbur got was a cackle of laughter from Phil, and admittedly Kristin was a little confused. She definitely was starting to like this kid, but what puzzled her was that Phil also seemed fond of Wilbur. Where had this kid come from? And how did Phil end up getting close to him?

“Phil, how do you know Wilbur?” Kristin asked. A sigh that mostly consisted of fond laughter was heard from above.

“I’ll explain in a bit. I haven’t quite finished this tunnel yet, I’ll have to come down the long way around,” Phil said, before Kristin heard a muffled flutter of feathers, presumably meaning that Phil had flown off. Kristin looked back to Wilbur, who was still glaring angrily up at the ceiling. He brought his knees up to his chest, folding his arms over the top of them. He rested his chin on top of his arms, and his tail curled around his legs. He seemed to be pouting now, and Kristin couldn’t help but huff out a laugh of amusement.

“Can’t believe my mum is the Queen of the Void and Phil didn’t tell me,” Wilbur muttered. Kristin blinked in surprise. She didn’t recall having a son, nor did she remember Phil saying he had a son. However, Wilbur seemed to think otherwise… could he be Phil’s son? Wilbur had said something about being a ghost, maybe Wilbur was from Phil’s previous home in the islands above the void. But from what Phil had told Kristin, he had been a child when he was forced to leave his home. So how could Wilbur be Phil’s son? Besides, Wilbur didn’t seem to have wings like Phil’s. And Phil certainly didn’t have a bony tail.

“I’m sorry, did you just say ‘mum?’” Kristin asked, wondering if she had misheard. Wilbur’s head popped up, eyes flashing green in alarm as his tail curled tighter around himself sheepishly.

“I uh… nevermind!” Wilbur squeaked, cheeks turning a peculiar shade of blue that Kristin realized must be his way of blushing.

“I’m back and ready to explain!” a voice cried out. Kristin looked over to see Phil swooping down to perch on her hand next to Wilbur. A few of Phil’s crows were with him, one of them landing on top of Wilbur’s head and cawing in greeting. Wilbur smiled up at the crow perched in his hair, tail slowly unwinding from around himself.

“So… I see you’ve made a friend!” Kristin said brightly. Wilbur looked sheepish again, and Phil chuckled fondly.

“I met him a little while ago. I had meant to introduce you to him once I finished the tunnel, but Wil got ahead of me. Both the tunnel, and him, were supposed to be a surprise,” Phil said, sitting next to Wilbur and playfully nudging him. Wilbur only turned a deeper shade of blue, burying his face in his arms and dislodging the crow from his hair. The crow squawked in disapproval, but gently flew back to land next to Wilbur, nudging at his leg affectionately.

“Oh, don’t embarrass him more than I already have,” Kristin admonished with a smile. Wilbur hesitantly peaked up at Kristin, while Phil tilted his head to one side in confusion.

“How have you managed that?” Phil asked.

“He referred to me as ‘mum,’ and I asked him why,” Kristin explained. To her surprise, Phil looked just as embarrassed as Wilbur.

“Ah. Well, you see- I told Wilbur that my crows call me Dadza, and he seemed to take a liking to that nickname and started calling me ‘dad’ too, and I just sort of let it happen? And I might have mentioned being married, and referred to you as ‘Mumza,’ but I realize we haven’t been married that long, but Wil’s a good kid and-”

“Phil?” Kristin interrupted with a soft smile. Phil’s mouth snapped shut and a flush came over his face.

“Yes?” he asked with a timid smile.

“I think Wilbur’s a good kid too,” she replied, looking to Wilbur with a smile. Wilbur still looked rather flustered, but he smiled brightly at Kristin. That is, until he turned to glare at Phil.

“You didn’t mention that Mumza was the void, Phil,” he said, tone starting off as accusatory but Kristin could hear the smile creeping onto his face. Phil outright cackled, stretching out his wing to wrap around Wilbur and tug him closer to ruffle his hair. Wilbur giggled, swatting away Phil’s hand but not moving an inch from being nestled at his side. Kristin’s heart fluttered fondly at the sight of them in her hands. They were an odd family- the Queen of the Void, her elytrian husband, their phantom son, and a murder of crows- but Kristin knew even then that she wouldn’t trade them for the world.

-

It wasn’t long before another change came to Kristin’s once bleak, dark domain- now filled with light and life. The tunnel from Phil’s home to the void was complete, and both Phil and Wilbur were being strangely insistent that she stay put for a little longer while they went back up to make sure it was safe for travel. Not that she minded- she wasn’t sure if she was quite ready to travel up to the Overworld yet, but at the very least she was happy that Phil and Wilbur had an easier way of visiting her now.

“You still haven’t told me where we’re going,” a voice whined from above, one Kristin didn’t recognize.

“We’re going to meet Mumza!” a chipper voice replied, undoubtedly Wilbur.

“Phil still isn’t my dad, big man,” the first voice grumbled back.

“But you said we were like brothers! So that means Phil’s our dad and Kristin is our mum!” Wilbur answered matter-of-factly.

“You’re so weird. Why’s Phil’s wife all the way down here anyway?” the voice asked, and it wasn’t long before Kristin saw a head of unruly blond hair poke in from the newly-made tunnel entrance. For a brief moment, she thought the kid was Phil, before he tumbled down with a shriek, slowly drifting down to the void below. Kristin blinked in surprise. It wasn’t the first time someone had tumbled down into her domain, but it certainly was the first time that someone had fallen slowly. Kristin soon saw the reason the boy fell slowly- there were white feathers tipped in red growing from his arms, almost like wings. Kristin also saw tufts of feathers where the boy’s ears should be, patterned similarly to the ones on his arms. She drew herself up further from the void, reaching out her hands to catch the child. Phil hopped down into Kristin’s outstretched hands as well, carrying Wilbur. A few crows were flocked around Phil as well, cawing excitedly at Kristin and the people in her hands. Once Phil set Wilbur down next to the new kid, Kristin noted that he was much younger than Wilbur was.

“Philza, your wife is HUGE!” the kid gasped, open-mouthed as he stared up at Kristin. The crows squawked in amusement, hopping around the kid and flying up to perch on his shoulders.

“Tommy,” Phil said disapprovingly, while Kristin couldn’t help but giggle.

“Phil, this child you’ve brought me is small!” she teased right back, enjoying the responding chorus of laughter and caws from the crows, as well as the kid’s (Tommy’s?) resulting irritated expression.

“I’ll have you know that I am massive,” he muttered, feathers puffing up in irritation.

“A massive pain,” Wilbur said with a grin, playfully elbowing him. The kid looked about ready to shove Wilbur into the void, while Phil was (poorly) hiding his smile behind his hand.

“Could I maybe get an introduction?” Kristin asked, before the situation could escalate any further.

“This is Tommy. He and Wilbur sort of latched onto each other. Wilbur wanted him to come meet you down here… so I guess we have two kids now,” Phil said with a fond chuckle. Kristin smiled, nodding in approval.

“And he’s a bird, like you. I like him,” Kristin said definitively. Phil muttered something about how he still wasn’t a bird, but Kristin just smiled brighter. She wasn’t quite sure what it was- maybe it was how much Tommy seemed like Phil, how much Wilbur seemed to like him, or maybe it was some deep part of herself that just knew, like how the void was a constant and absolute certainty- but it was like Tommy was meant to be part of their little family. Their family had been fine as it was before, but Tommy somehow filled a gap that Kristin hadn’t even realized was there.

“Lady, I don’t know you,” Tommy said bluntly. Kristin couldn’t help but laugh again, while Phil looked on in fond exasperation.

“I’m Kristin, Queen of the Void. And I can’t explain it, but you just… fit. Like there was something missing before that’s now been found. That’s all,” Kristin said softly. Tommy seemed to consider this, before leaning over towards Wilbur with a hand over his mouth.

“Wil, our mum is fucking creepy,” Tommy said in a frankly very audible whisper. Three different exclamations happened at once, as well as a ruckus from the crows.

“Tommy!” “Aww, you said our mum!”

“Should a child be swearing?”

“Wilbur and Phil swear,” Tommy pouted.

“I’m more concerned about you being rude to Kristin,” Phil said with a laugh.

“Phil, your wife is a giant void lady. My description is acc-ur-ate. No offense,” Tommy said, sheepishly turning to Kristin.

“None taken!” Kristin said brightly. Tommy grinned up at Kristin, and while she had always found Phil’s smile bright, he had some stiff competition with Tommy. The kid could radiate sunshine, and Kristin wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest.

“You still haven’t admitted that you called Kristin ‘mum,’” Wilbur teased with a massively smug grin. Yet again, Kristin was reminded of Phil. There was no mistaking the fact that they were family, even if it wasn’t by blood.

“I thought crows were supposed to bring shiny things, but instead you keep bringing in children. How many more should I expect?” Kristin teased, her own smile likely mirroring Wilbur’s- she was his parent too, after all.

“I don’t mean to keep bringing in kids, they just kinda-”

“Does this mean Tubbo and Ranboo get to be my brothers now? What about Jack and Niki?” Tommy asked, interrupting Phil. He looked up at Phil expectantly, and he laughed nervously.

“Like I was going to say- I don’t exactly take in kids, they just sorta find me. Wilbur and Tommy are the only ones I’ve ‘officially’ taken in,” Phil explained with a sheepish smile.

“Well, why not take in the rest of those kids then?” Kristin offered with a grin.

“You don’t have to take in Ranboo if you don’t want to,” Tommy piped up. One crow cawed at him disapprovingly, to which Tommy responded by sticking out his tongue at it.

“Kristin, we can’t take in every lost hybrid kid- or really just any kid I come across,” Phil said with a laugh. Kristin tilted her head to one side with a frown.

“Well why not?” she asked. Phil’s hands gestured uselessly for a moment or two, before he dropped them with a sigh.

“We’re just two people, Kristin. And you live in the void, I’m not even sure if we could get Niki down here, she can’t leave the water- well, maybe if we…” Phil trailed off, muttering to himself. Kristin looked to the opening in the ceiling, where the tunnel to Phil’s house was. Then she looked at the boys in her hands. Phil and his crows, with all the adventures he’d had, the adventures that she wanted to join him on. Wilbur, the phantom hybrid who had stumbled into her life and despite his apparent aversion to sunlight, brought nothing but light and laughter with all his stories of the Overworld. Then the newest one, Tommy. Like Phil and Wilbur, he seemed to bring light into Kristin’s otherwise dark existence. If there were others out there- Tubbo, Ranboo, Jack, and Niki- then who was she to leave them above, in a world where she wasn’t there for them if they needed her? Hell, how could she stay in the void when the current members of her family were already without her most of the time?

“Then I guess I’ll have to come up to meet her. And the others. And for you,” Kristin said, smiling despite the way anxiety coiled in her stomach. Phil’s expression softened, his rambling ceasing almost immediately. He spread his wings and flew up to Kristin’s eye level, reaching out for a moment until he pulled his hand back with a sigh. Wordlessly, she raised the hand Wilbur and Tommy were sitting on up towards the tunnel entrance. With only some mild bickering between Wilbur and Tommy, the two of them (and the crows) clambered out of her hand and to the tunnel above. Once the boys were safe, Kristin shrunk herself down to Phil’s size to take his hands.

“Kristin, I- we don’t know if you even can leave the void. And if you can, what if it hurts you to be away from it? I can’t- I-” Phil stopped mid sentence when Kristin let go of one of his hands to instead reach up and put a hand on his cheek. He leaned into the touch, a sound resembling a coo escaping his lips unbidden.

“But being down here hurts you. The skies are your home, and I want to soar through it with you. Someday,” Kristin said, adding the “someday” as a bit of an afterthought. As much as she wanted to see the Overworld, there was a lot of residual anxiety that was hard to let go of.

“You are my home, Kristin,” Phil murmured softly,

“And you’re mine. I want to be able to experience it with you,” Kristin said firmly. A ridiculously sappy smile spread over Phil’s face, and he reached up to clasp his hand over the one Kristin had resting on his cheek.

“Well if you’re sure- I’d love to fly with you whenever you’re ready,” he replied. Kristin smiled, a bit misty-eyed, and leaned up to kiss his forehead. When she pulled away, Phil didn’t let her get too far by leaning his forehead against hers.

“Tomorrow,” Kristin said softly.

“Tomorrow?”

“Come back tomorrow to bring me to the Overworld. I just need a little time to mentally prepare,” Kristin explained with a smile. Phil squeezed the hand she was still holding, and his other hand let go of her hand on his face and reached out to brush a lock of hair behind her ear.

“Only if you’re sure,” he murmured. Kristin let out a small laugh, then closed the little distance between them to pull Phil into a soft kiss.

“I’m positive,” Kristin said, voice barely a whisper but no less steady and sure. Phil kissed her again, pulling away with a breathless giggle.

“I love you,” he said, grinning widely. Kristin was absolutely sure her smile mirrored his, and she let go of his hand and dropped the hand on his cheek to instead hug him tightly. Phil returned the embrace easily, wings shifting to wrap around Kristin. He didn’t have to worry about staying aloft, not while Kristin held him.

“I love you too,” she murmured into his ear.

“You think they’re done talking?” came a rather loud whisper from the entrance above. Kristin pulled away the slightest bit to meet Phil’s fondly exasperated expression, and she giggled despite herself.

“Shh! I think they heard you!” came another not-so-quiet whisper, unmistakably Wilbur.

“We can still hear you,” Phil called out, stealing one last kiss from Kristin before pulling back and flying up to the tunnel entrance with a wink. Kristin shook her head with a laugh, returning to her typical towering size.

“You boys gonna head out?” Kristin asked. Tommy poked his head out, frowning.

“Aww, already? But we didn’t even get to talk to you much, Philza hogged you the entire time!” Tommy protested.

“She is my wife, mate,” Phil scoffed with a laugh.

“Well she’s my mum!” Tommy shot back. Tommy seemed to realize what he said the instant he said it, face flushing slightly.

“Aww, you called me mum again!” Kristin chirped, beaming with pride.

“No I didn’t!” Tommy insisted, retreating back into the tunnel enough that his head was no longer poking out. Some scuffling was heard, and soon Tommy came tumbling through the opening, feathered limbs slowing his fall. Kristin quickly brought her hands up to catch him, and he landed with a soft thump.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

“WILBUR FUCKING PUSHED ME!” Tommy shouted, scrambling to his feet and glaring up at the ceiling. Tommy was met with laughter from Wilbur, which was soon cut off with a surprised shriek of Phil’s name. Wilbur fell from the opening soon after, Phil’s laughter following him.

“Your bird instincts are showing again,” Kristin teased Phil, after she had caught Wilbur as well.

“What instincts?!” Phil demanded, flying down from the entrance to perch on Kristin’s shoulder.

“The ones where you throw our kids off things so that they can fly,” she replied with a grin. Phil frowned but flushed in slight embarrassment, his crows flying down to heckle him.

“I’m not even a bird!” Wilbur protested. Tommy gave some quip in response, starting another bickering match between the two- but frankly Kristin was too busy with the feelings of safety, home, and love that seemed to flow alongside the void to really pay attention. She hoped that those feelings would increase tenfold the next day, when she finally visited the world of her family.

-

“Kristin!” Phil’s voice called out, moments before he dove down from the opening from the Overworld. Kristin shot up from the void to meet him in her more Phil-sized form. Phil took her hands and gently spun the both of them in the air, surprising a giggle out of Kristin.

“Well hello to you too,” she said, still giggling.

“Hello,” Phil said, voice almost trilling like the bird he denied he was as he leaned his forehead against Kristin’s.

“You came alone today, I see,” Kristin commented, noticing the lack of crows clustered around him.

“Yeah, kinda weird not having them squawk whatever nonsense is on their minds, but I told them to stay behind today. There’s something I wanted to talk to you about,” Phil said, seeming a tad nervous. Kristin gently squeezed his hands and smiled.

“Of course, talk away,” she replied.

“I once told you that this place made me think of home. Of the home I once knew, that is. And for a long time, I thought that I would never find home again, that I would just always travel and explore and never settle down… but I was wrong. Wherever I’m with you- that’s home to me. What I’m trying to say is… I’d like to spend the rest of my life with you, if you’ll have me,” Phil said softly. Kristin couldn’t keep the adoring smile off of her face if she tried- not that she would want to anyway.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. The void may be my domain, but the idea of home never occurred to me until I met you. I could never picture my life without you somewhere in it now,” Kristin replied, leaning her forehead against Phil’s. Phil brought up a hand to gently rest on her face, thumb brushing absentmindedly across her cheek. He leaned in to steal a quick kiss, and was grinning with an adoring look in his eyes when he pulled away.

“I love you,” he murmured, like it was a treasured secret he wanted to share with Kristin and Kristin alone.

“I love you too,” Kristin said, her voice sure and unrelenting as the void itself. Phil laughed, unable to keep the pure joy and happiness from bubbling out as he spun himself and Kristin in the air again.

“I don’t know how we’re going to make this work, I’ll have to build something up at the opening, or maybe you can come up to the Overworld with me, but I’d hate to keep you from your domain- but we’ll figure it out. As long as I’m with you, I know it’ll work out,” Phil said softly, but no less determined.

“Well I don’t want to keep you from the sky either,” Kristin gently admonished.

“Don’t be silly, when I’m with you my heart feels the same as it does when I’m soaring among the clouds,” Phil said with a lopsided grin.

“It’s not your heart I’m worried about,” Kristin said with a giggle, playfully poking him in the chest. Phil squawked in mock offence, flying backwards and trying to look aghast- but couldn’t keep the fond grin off of his face.

“I’ve been ATTACKED by none other than my future wife! What a cruel, cruel world!” Phil said laughing all the while. Kristin flew after him, laughing as well- unable to keep her heart from soaring when Phil referred to her as his future wife. Although- the “future” part was rather short-lived, as it occurred to both of them that there wasn’t a need for any sort of ceremony. It wasn’t as if either of them had anyone to invite, Kristin not knowing anyone but Phil, and Phil being separated from his home long ago. So there was no need for a big ceremony- they were in love, and wanted to spend the rest of their lives with each other. That was enough to be husband and wife right then and there.

-