SAHLO FOLINA < tyler joseph x reader >

< 1 >

It was composed of nine, circular towers and a surrounding city. The city was divided into nine equal districts, but the towers weren't the same height. The taller the tower, the more powerful the Bishop who lived in it.

The taller the tower, the scarier the Bishop.

The more controlling.

Each Bishop controlled one district with varying degrees of iron fists. I was lucky enough to live under Keons. He was the nicest, compared to the rest. The lesser of nine evils.

Either way, I'd never been happier than the moment I escaped the gray, oppressive Dema.

I escaped with my brother, Josh, and we joined a group on the outside - Trench - called the Banditos. We helped people escape from Dema, slowly growing all the while. I thought that maybe one day we could get enough numbers to take down Dema itself. It was a far-fetched dream.

But something was coming I never would've guessed. Something that would change everything - me, the Banditos, Dema.

That something was Tyler Joseph.

<><><>

"Well, aren't you glowing this morning," Josh said sarcastically, sitting down next to me in front of the fire. I glowered up at him, bags under my eyes.

It had been a sleepless night for me, listening to the calls of nocturnal animals near by and Debby snoring a few sleeping bags away. I sighed, managing enough energy to throw a quip back at him. "You're not exactly a shining star either, Bed-Head."

He mussed up his hair with his left hand, grabbing one of our makeshift bowls with his right. "Doesn't matter what it looks like if it's under a hood," he said.

"But it's not," I replied in true smart aleck fashion.

"But it will be after I finish eating my breakfast. Patience, Y/N/N."

"Yeah, yeah," I mumbled, turning back to my own breakfast.

We sat in silence for a while, eating as others sat around the fire and talked. There was too many voices to make out anything they were saying, so I mostly looked at the perch next to the fire.

A vulture - that I named Spencer - would typically hang out there randomly throughout the day and would roost there regularly at night. There were other vultures - and other perches - but I never named them (though others had).

Suddenly, one of the leaders - Graham - ran over to our small group. "There's an escapee, out in the canyon. Nico's heading for him on a horse."

We all jumped up and went to see what he was talking about; no one's ever escaped without our help before. At least, not that we knew.

Sure enough, there he was. I couldn't make out anything about him from that distance, besides the fact that his hair was brown. Nico was a ways away from him, but he was catching up fast.

We watched as he caught up with him and stepped off the horse, then put his hand around the escapee's neck. He took it away, but the escapee didn't move. Not until Nico got back on the horse and started heading back to Dema. He followed.

"Petals," I said instantly. Graham nodded at me, and we all grabbed as many yellow petals as we could. We had bags of them in camp, along with yellow tape; the Watchers couldn't see yellow, and it made the Bishops weak - at least a little.

We put up our hoods, bandanas, and/or masks, then went back to the cliffside. Both the escapee and Nico looked up, and we started throwing petals.

The horse reared back, nearly throwing Nico off. The escapee stopped walking, looking up at us.

He looked at me.

I looked back, and I kept throwing petals until there were none left in my hands. The others ran out, too.

Then, the escapee ran.

He sprinted away from Nico, running as fast as he could. Nico went after him, but it looked like he might make it.

Then, he tripped and Nico was next to him, ready to take him back to Dema. I turned to find the path off the cliff and to the ground, going to save him. Josh stopped me. "You'll never make it in time, and even if you did, that's Nico. He's too powerful."

"But what about him? The escapee?" I asked, even when I knew he was right.

"We'll go back for him," Josh said. I nodded, and we watched as Nico took the escapee back to Dema.

••••
•DEMA DON'T CONTROL US•
-Jay