Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Grian had Scars all over his arm. Not the ones he got from battle, though he had plenty of those, little Scar faces drawn all over his arm.
He sighed looking in the mirror.

Curse hermit challenges.

"Come on, Gri!" Mumbo pleaded. "It'll be the last time we'll ever get to do it this season! The other participants are also there waiting!"

Grian refused right away. No, Mumbo, I'm not making hermit challenges the last thing I do on season 7."

"Come on, Grian, it'll be fun- I promise!" Mumbo tried to convince the other.

"..."

"'Come do Hermit Challenges', They said," Grian grumbled, clearly regretting the fact that he agreed to come. "'It'll be fun', They said."
He had given up on washing them away, it didn't work.

is communicator beeped. He sighed a final time, before turning it on.

< XisumaVoid > Alright, can everyone gather at the shopping district?

< XisumaVoid > We're going to be having our last meeting about the season finale

Grian got out of the room and flew out of his mansion to the "basement" part of his base, and swooped over to the nether portal, and went in. He came out on the other side, or the dimension known as the nether, and flew over to the shopping district's portal.
Going through, some other hermits have already arrived early. Grian walked out of the portal area, and looked around at the other hermits. A few of them noticed him and waved hello, while the others weren't really paying attention. Grian nodded at them, and joined the waiting crowd.

Moments later, he felt a tap on his shoulder, and looked up to see Scar. "Hello, Grian!" the taller one greeted.

"Ah, morning, Scar!" Grian turned and waved. The next moment, he noticed Scar's face shifted a little. He lowered his arm, and that's when it hit him.

"Grian, what are those things drawn on your arm?"

He had totally forgotten about the hermit challenges. He quickly hid his arm from view. "I-it's nothing! Just something from hermit challenges-"

"Wait, are those things my face-?"

"Hi, Etho!" Grian quickly changed the topic so he didn't have to endure even more embarrassment. He waved at Etho, who just walked out of the portal. Etho briefly waved back, sniggering as he caught a glimpse of Grian's arm.
"Stupid hermit challenges," Grian grumbled under his breath .

Luckily for him, he didn't have to talk about it anymore, as the next second, Xisuma spoke up. "Now, everyone, may I have your attention?"

Everyone immediately focused on Xisuma, listening to what he had to say. "I thank everyone for coming here today. As you all know, we're moving to season 8 in only 2 days from now, so, like I've said before in chat, I've gathered you all here for a brief m..."

*Beep*

Grian flinched as he heard his communicator beep. Not the player communicator on his wrist, but his other one he had safely tucked away in the back of his pocket. Making sure nobody noticed, he backed out of the crowd and went behind everyone, before pulling it out of his pocket and reading the latest message.

"Seriously!? Now, of all times?" Grian mumbled, seeming very annoyed by whatever he read.

"Grian? Are you good?"

Grian silently cursed to himself when he realized he said that out loud. He quickly hid the communicator back in his pocket before turning to Stress, who he hoped was the only one that heard him. "O-oh um- yeah, I'm fine." He chuckled. "Well- I have something important I have to do on another server- can you tell the others that I'm sorry for leaving early?"

"Oh. Is that so? Well, then don't worry, luv, I'll tell everyone if they ask."

"Alright, thanks, Stress." Grian forced a smile, before turning around, and getting out his communicator to log out.

Grian left the game

Chapter Text

"Wait, where did Grian go?" Mumbo was the first to notice the message in chat. It was still only the start of the meeting, and Grian suddenly left the server.

"Why did he leave?" Impulse said, as confused as everyone else.

"Grian said he needed to do something on a different server." Stress answered. "It's probably something urgent, seeing the way he acted."

"Wonder what server it is," Mumbo murmured to himself, more thoughtful than anything. "I'll ask him when he gets back."

The hermits all generally seeming to accept that explanation. None of them thought any more of that, it seemed like a pretty good reason. Mumbo would occasionally visit a singleplayer world, and Iskall would sometimes visit Vault Hunters SMP. Grian just seemed to disappear whenever he felt like it, because Grian did whatever Grian wanted.

"Anyways," Xisuma continued, "we have 2 new members joining us next Season. They both have gained quite a reputation outside of hermitcraft, and I thought they'd fit this dysfunctional family rather well. Anyone any guesses?"

"Please say it's not GenerikB," Bdubs murmured, knowing Xisuma had offered an invite once before. GenerikB just never accepted. Thankfully. Joe had agreed with him before that he could be manipulative at times, even Xisuma admitted that at one point, but he didn't like being negative about people. Bdubs was one of the few people who'd actually known him personally, and found that he used to be nice, but he was a lot different now.

Long story short, Bdubs didn't want Generik to come back.

"Why did I think any of you had a life outside of Hermitcraft?" Xisuma sighed jokingly, rolling his eyes. "I invited PearlescentMoon and GeminiTay. They'll be waiting in the new world when we get there. On technical news, we'll be moving to 1.17, however I've run a bunch of tests to make sure the whitelist and border stay intact, so there won't be any uninvited guests that come in."

"Were there any attempts to get through the border this Season?" Cleo asked, looking at Joe and Xisuma.

"We had a couple from Hels and EX, but none from anyone else. At least none that got past the first border, none others would've been recorded.

"No hackers or... Anything else?"

"None that are competent."

"You would've thought they'd have tried to get in at least once."

"I'm not sure, maybe the server improvements worked? I only added them at the start of Season 6, and there's not been anyone getting past the first layer since then." Joe added.

"Probably. It's not something you need to worry about though, me and Joe will take care of it." Xisuma ended the discussion, before turning to the other hermits. "Well, I guess that's the end of the announcements. Well, let's all meet here again tomorrow, same time, for the events. Thank you for coming, everyone."

.

..

...

..

.

Joe knocked on the walls of the towers as he walked in. "X? Are you there?" He heard paper ruffling from inside, a sign that Xisuma was indeed in there. Doing what, Joe didn't know.

"Come in!" X called, his voice sounding tired and exhausted.

Joe walked into the room, instantly noticing that it seemed messy and uncared for. That made sense - it was the admin room, where Xisuma did adminy stuff. It was rarely cleaned up and all the paperwork was scattered everywhere.

"Good Afternoon, Joe."

"X, when was the last time you slept?" Joe sighed, being already pretty used to seeing the messy room.

"Let me think..." Xisuma trailed off. "Maybe last week? Or two weeks ago-? I mean-" He quickly regretted saying that as Joe groaned and facepalmed. "A couple days ago, I swear-"

"X, how many times do I have to tell you to take care of yourself?"

"About 1000 before I actually start to listen." Xisuma responded in a joking manner, but immediately wanted to retract his previous statement seeing how serious Joe's expression seemed.

"If that's what it takes, so be it." Joe looked around the room again, the disappointment in his voice very obvious, before staring directly at Xisuma, who gulped. "Would it be pointless if I told you to sleep?"

"Joe- I still have to configure stuff for preparations to move to the new server, and there are still a lot of bu-"

"No buts." Joe cut him off quickly. "I can do all of that, you go to sleep."

"But-"

"No. Buts."

Xisuma finally sighed in defeat, standing up from his chair. "Fine, I'll go to sleep. Are you sure you can handle all the work? I can just do it all in the morning-"

"I can, X, you don't need to worry. Just sleep."

Xisuma nodded silently as he walked to the door and exited out of the room, closing the door behind him. Joe waited a few seconds until he heard another door creak open and close, a sign that Xisuma was going to sleep. "Thank god." he sighed, before turning to Xisuma's work desk and looking at all the paperwork and to-do lists. This was going to be a long night.

.

..

.

Joe looked at all of the admin panels he had up.

All of them showed statistics and code, plus stuff he needed to fix and bugs that needed to be removed. He sighed once again, typing in some sort of code to fix the current bugs that he found. There were a lot, but that was to be expected with the upcoming update and the adjustments they were still working with with the proximity mod.

He also checked a lot of the files and logs, reading through them to see if there were any weird codes or if some things seemed wrong and needed to be fixed, although he often just scans over them.

He opened one of the logs files, reading through it like he did with the others, he barely noticed anything wrong, but then he did. It was a small thing, nothing that many people would notice, especially Xisuma in his sleep deprived state.

It was only 2 lines of code, but when read carefully, seemed very suspicious.

[If [code: allow entrance [player] (*****)]=True]]
        add [player] (*****) [Set Firewall Access=True]

"What's this...?" Joe mumbled to himself, noticing it. "A firewall access to an unknown person...? It's not public either, so they're only on the Whitelist while they're logged in. That explains why Xisuma wouldn't have picked it up." He examined the code for more time before sighing. "I guess it's best not to touch it for now... I should inform X about this when he wakes up. Looking into the player isn't a bad idea though. I would like to know why their name is censored."

After that, while keeping that file open, he just continued to fix the things needed fixing and continuing on.

.

..

.

The admin room door creaked open, and Xisuma walked in. "Why are you up?" Joe sighed, not even turning. "It's still 3AM, you got 4 hours at most. Probably less."

Xisuma chose to ignore the question. "Have you found anything concerning or anything bad?"

"I-" Joe sighed, deciding to let Xisuma stay up for a bit. "Yes. Small line of code, it's only 2 lines long, but it looks pretty suspicious. See here."
He pointed to the already opened file, gesturing for Xisuma to look at it.

Xisuma walked over, and read the code for a bit. "...Firewall access for an unknown player? That's concerning. Especially as the person who wrote it seems smart enough to keep them unnoticed. Heck they managed to hack in to even add the line of code, that's smart enough." He said, mostly to himself. "I can't tell if it was added internally or externally, most likely externally."

"Can we find out who added it?"

"We could try tracing down whoever wrote it, it'll be difficult, but I could try."

"You could." Joe suddenly said. "But you can't since you need to go back to sleep."

"I- Joe this might be important-"

"Sleep."

Chapter Text

Xelqua joined the game

Grian wobbled a bit at the brief dizziness, a short lasting side effect of joining a server. He then smiled, feeling a strange sense of comfort in being there. He knew he was safe from being caught there, smiling as he spawned into the corridor. He hummed a tune as he walked through the spawn point halls, looking around the beautiful place.

"This place really is mystical, but I wish the call wasn't so sudden." Grian sighed to himself.

"Oh, there you are, Xel!"

Grian turned to whoever called him, smiling as he already recognized the voice. "Good day, Zyno." He greeted his co-worker/partner.

"You know, it's really been a while since you've last been here in person." 'Zyno' responded as he walked besides Grian. "Been busy with that server?"

"Mhm. Keeps me entertained enough though." Grian replied. They walked out of the spawn area, and out to the beautiful outer dimension. The correct term for it in minecraft biomes would probably be 'Shattered end islands'. A lot of islands were floating around, big and small, and the void was really visible from up high above. Semi-modern buildings and bridges connect islands to islands. Ordinary players would put it down to some form of glitch, due to the nature of the terrain generation, and the inhospitable nature of the already usually inhabitable dimension. "Although I'm glad to be back, I don't really appreciate the very sudden call."

"I can agree, it was pretty sudden." Zyno looked around the dimension, still interested in it even after living there for more than 5 years. "Usually there's a notice or two before getting called. I wonder what Jaxa has to say - has to be important for this short notice."

"Is the HQ still in the same place?"

"Oh right, you haven't been here in like 3 years- yeah, it's in the same place."

"It's certainly been a while, I can never be sure. Jaxa thought me returning here would be too risky, so I just never really visit often, and report only through messages and calls to you."

"A lot has changed since you left, I can tell you that." Zyno told him as they walked up the stairs/bridge leading to the upper part of the realm.

"I can imagine, 3 years is a long time." Grian replied as they walked into the main HQ building. As they walked in, the Watcher at the reception desk immediately took notice of them.

"Ah, welcome back, Zyno, and- ah! Xelqua! It's been a while since you've visited." The watcher greeted them friendly, then straightened up, seeming to be trying to act more formal. "Heading to the information division again? The head's office, to meet Jaxa?"

"Yep." Zyno responded to the watcher at the desk.

"Well, go right ahead, Jaxa is expecting you." The watcher gestured to the stairway next to the desk.

"Thank you, Yiera." Grian said, before leaving with Zyno and going up the stairs. Going through the right halls, they eventually made it to the Information division HQ.

"Hey, it's been a while since you've been here, right?" Zyno spoke up, starting another conversation. "Last time you came, you didn't have the chance to even come here."

"True." Grian nodded. "I still remember my first time going here and meeting Jaxa. Oh boy, was it awkward."

"Mhm, I also remember. I was also there, remember?"

"Oh yeah, I remember."

.

..

...

"Ah yes, the new recruit, Xelqua." The girl watcher was sitting behind the desk. She was the head of the information division, Jaxa. "Come in!"

Grian nervously walked forward as he opened the door, walking into the office, and meeting face to face with one of the most important watchers in the realm.

Jaxa kept mostly a casual and straight face. "Sit down, there's a chair for a reason, you know?" She joked, and giggled at how Grian reacted, before straightening up. "Ahem- sorry, sorry, you may sit down. I'm a professional as you can tell."

Grian nodded briefly, before sitting down, facing Jaxa. Besides them, there was one other watcher in the room. They were sitting besides Grian, but just kept quiet, possibly just to be polite or because they were just nervous

"Oh come on, what's with the tense atmosphere? Lighten up a bit!" Jaxa chuckled. "Alright, let's get down to business. First of all, I guess I should introduce myself, even though you probably already know who I am." She said briefly, before introducing herself. "I'm the one and only, Jaxa! Also known as my player name, Pit, the chaos bringer and war creator! Head of the information division, nice to meetcha!" She hummed, seeming surprisingly chirpy as she finished her intro. "Now, why don't you both also introduce yourselves to each other? Yes, Zyno, I already know who you are, but please introduce yourself to the new guy."

'Zyno' coughed a bit, before introducing himself. "Hello there, I'm Zyno, also known by my player name, SB737 - SB for short. I'm part of the information team and front-line fighter. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Xelqua." Grian gave a small nervous smile. "My player name is Grian. I'm still pretty new here, so I'm not sure what I am..."

"It's fine, you did great! You'll get used to this eventually." Jaxa hummed, continuing the conversation and shifting the topic. "Now, let's actually talk about why you both are here. Zyno, I assume you know roughly why, right?"

"Is this another mission?" Zyno replied to the question with another question.

"Exactly!" Jaxa responded. "Xelqua, we're assigning you to a special mission. You'll be spying on a server for us, and Zyno will be here to help you collect information."

"A... spy mission?" Grian repeated.

"Yep! Basically, you'll be a sort of double agent. You'll play on the server and act like a normal player, but then, everytime you can, you report everything to your partner Zyno here. He'll probably be messing about in his singleplayer world, but will always respond to your messages if necessary."

Zyno didn't speak up, but only nodded and flashed a confident smile towards Grian, who still felt a bit nervous about this. "...What server will I be watching over?"

"Ah, I was waiting for you to ask that." Jaxa smiled, getting a folder from the rack of countless unread files. She opened the folder, and presented it to him. "The server you will be watching over is called 'Hermitcraft', a fairly small but protected server. Though it should be fairly easy to get into if you just act as a normal new player."

Grian looked at the files in the folder, noticing a few player files and a list of the additional codes. It was filled with a few pictures of the members, and basic information about it, including analysis on their daily schedules from the previous 'seasons'. Details about the latest 'seasons' seemed to be lacking.

"So... what do I have to do?" Grian asked, excitement seeping through him even though he was reluctant to admit it at that point.

"Simple stuff, really." Jaxa responded. "You just need to tell us information about the members, maybe even their inside codes and stuff. Info is easier to get if it is achieved internally, after all. And Zyno here can help you if you need to hack into anything, although I would guess you already know that basic stuff since you're an ex-admin. Basically just obtain as much information as possible about the server without them suspecting you, that's all."

"But surely they'd pick up on it-"

"Then make sure they don't. Worm your way out of it, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it." Jaxa replied quickly. "Well, that's basically all you have to do for this mission, you just have to keep an eye on the server and make sure they suspect nothing. Do you have any more questions?"

Grian shook his head, "No, I understand."

"Alright, good. So now, the million dollar question." Jaxa said. Do you accept the mission?"

"..." Grian sighed, before nodding. "I do."

...

..

.

"Time really flies by, huh?" Zyno mentioned as they walked through the Information Division HQ corridors.

"Mhm, True." Grian gave a brief response. They walked around the corner.

"Also, I just noticed but-" Zyno suddenly said. "What are those drawings on your arm?"

Crap. He totally forgot about them.
"What can I say, I'm a scarred man." He sighed, not wanting to talk about it more.

"Server stuff, I'm guessing?"

"Mhm."

Zyno paused for a minute, turning to him. "Do you like them? As in, would you choose to hang out with them if given the chance."

Grian stopped for a minute, thinking about what he should say and what he thinks. "I mean... I guess they grew on me a bit. I don't really have a fixed opinion about them, but... It's hard to be part of a server like that without some form of friendship appearing in the process."

"But do you care for them?"

"..." Grian thought about it, not really knowing what he should say. He was supposed to be just a spy, but it would be a problem if he started caring. Care would make him hesitate when it came to it, and he knew that it wouldn't be long. He couldn't afford to get attached.

As he was about to answer the question though,they finally reached Jaxa's office. Zyno knocked on the door , and Jaxa's voice was immediately heard from the other side. "Come in bitches! I've been expecting you."

Zyno opened the door, and inside the room was Jaxa, along with another unfamiliar brown haired watcher sitting beside her. Jaxa was also wearing a scarf, something new to Grian, since before, she didn't wear one. She seemed a little bit more tense than usual, meanwhile the other watcher seemed to be busy doing some paperwork.
Huh. They seemed to be actually responsible - something Grian certainly wasn't, Zyno only showed when in battle and Jaxa was rarely ever seen acting serious without having her casual joking attitude.

"Welcome back, Xelqua, it's been a while since I've seen you, and hello to you too, Zyno." Jaxa greeted the two as they entered the office and took a seat. "You must be wondering why I called you both here today." Her tone was a bit more tense than usual, which immediately indicated that this was indeed a serious topic.

"It's the first time I've been back in years, so I'm guessing it's something important about the mission?" Grian said, sitting on his chair. It was bigger than he remembered, indicating that stuff did change while he was away. It had been 3 years.

"Right, that's correct." Jaxa replied, seeming a bit nervous to tell the news.

"You seem a bit tense, Jaxa." Zyno mentioned it in a friendly yet still formal manner. While they did get along well, Jaxa was his superior, officially, magical strength might be a different business.

Jaxa was about to open her mouth, but then someone else spoke.

"Just tell them, Pit, there's no point in delaying it, it'll only cause more of a shock." The watcher besides Jaxa finally raised her head and spoke for once in the meeting. The first thing anyone would notice is that they're mentioning Jaxa using their player name instead of codename, which indicated that they were close in some way. They also looked significantly older than her.

Jaxa sighed, nodding. "I know you've been on Hermitcraft for years at this point, but... Y'know, every good thing has to come to an end."

Grian took a moment to process what Jaxa just said. "...What do you mean by that?"

"Well... to put it simply and literally...

"You'll need to destroy the server now."

Chapter Text

"This is it, season 8," Mumbo said, peering over the hole. He was incredibly excited for Season 8, as despite being one of the younger hermits, he was one of the ones who'd been there longest, being invited by Xisuma for Season 2.

"Umm, there's probably some important information I'm forgetting, but oh well. We're limited to just this continent, and we have 2 new members of this dysfunctional family down in that hole," he laughed, pointing at them. Pearl peeked out, smiling as she glanced back at Gem. "Now once Pearl and Gem have gotten out of that hole let's all introduce ourselves for their benefit! Then say something interesting about you so I can blackmail you all. Now Xisuma, you start!"

"I'm Xisumavoid, Xisuma or X for short," X said, struggling to keep a straight face. "And an interesting fact... Ah- I have a brother?"

"Next!"

"Hey! I'm Bdubs and I'm one of the few members of this server to have a healthy sleeping schedule!"

"Name's cub, and I used to be a pharaoh!"

"I'm a creeper."

"I'm Etho and I used to be part of a server called Minecrack with a couple other people here!"

"I'm FalseSymmetry and I'll steal your kneecaps!"

"Hi, I'm Gem and I'm super excited to be a part of this server!"

"I'm Impulse, and my favourite colour is yellow!"

"Hallo, I am Iskall and I like palm tree."

"I'm Jevin and I'm a slime."

"Name's Joe, I have glasses."

"My name is Keralis and I'm gonna be the richest hermit in this entire server!"

"Hello everyone, my name's Mumbo and this season I'm gonna be an economist. I'm also a spoon."

"I'm Pearl, and I used to be part of a server called Evo with Grian!" Mumbo turned to Grian, who blanched, just standing stiffly.

"Howdy folks, I'm Rendog, and I'm a hippie!"

"It's GoodTimesWithScar here, or Scar for short! I have a hat!"

"I'm Stress, I like flowers! I'll also rip you apart if you try hurt my friends."

"Name's Tango, I'm a literal demon from hell."

"I'm Wels, and I have a brother called Hels who I totally roasted in a rap battle!"

"I'm XB, and I can't think of an interesting fact."

"Hello, I'm Zedaph and I like sheep. And science. But mainly sheep."

"I'm a zombie bitches."

Everyone turned to Grian, Mumbo tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention. He jumped, smiling but still seeming disconnected. "Sorry, zoned out for a minute there. My name's Grian, or Grain, or literally any other variant autocorrect can come up with, trust me, I've heard them all. Uh, I like building?"

"That's boring," MUMBO NOT MAMBO AUTOCORRECT Mumbo complained jokingly.

"I've started a total of 10 wars?"

"10?!"

"Pathetic. I've caused 20."

"It isn't a competition, Doc."

"It's definitely a competition."

"You're not helping Impulse."

"Glad I can be of service."

"Who do you think will cause the first war?"

"I vote Scar."

"I have a hat, you can trust me!"

"You can definitely not trust him, he stole everyone's clothes on 3rd life."

"But I have a hat this time!"

"And I have a lightsaber."

"Really?"

"Unfortunately not."

"Oh. I wanted one."

"So did I."

"Moving on," Xisuma cut in, glancing at Grian. "Let's all just split off and do our own things. Remember, singleplayer sleep is on, Bdubs, and that I've preloaded a bunch of chunks in the end. Have fun, and try not to lag out the server Mumbo."

Mumbo grinned, watching the others run away, but decided to wait for Grian. Neither him or Pearl had moved, actually Pearl hadn't moved since she'd heard his name.

"Should I leave you two to talk?" Mumbo offered hesitantly, both of their heads snapping towards him.

"There's nothing to talk about," Grian snapped, releasing his clenched fists as he moved to walk away.

"Yes there is!"

"Dwelling on something that happened 3 and a half years ago isn't going to change anything!"

"I thought you were dead for those 3 and a half years!"

"Well I'm sorry to disappoint."

Pearl looked back at Mumbo, who'd just been standing there through their entire exchange. "Sorry, I shouldn't push for it immediately. If you don't wanna talk about it, that's fine," she responded quietly. And then she left.

After a moment, Pearl was completely out of view, but the awkward atmosphere stayed between the remaining two.

"Are you two good?" Mumbo nervously asked after a bit.

"Yeah." Grian said, though he didn't sound certain himself. "Now come on potato boy, we have bases to build!"

.

..

.

"Have you got any plans for this season?" Grian asked, mining up some cobble.

"I'm gonna be a pacifist," Mumbo announced, grinning.

"Oh yeah? And what does that entail?" he asked, smiling at the idea.

"I'm not going to kill any mobs and I'll replant all the trees! Stuff like that!"

"Uh huh, what about players?" Grian laughed. "I don't want to think about the loopholes there."

"I'm not gonna kill any players either - not that I want to," Mumbo grinned. "You got any plans?"

"Nah," Grian lied, organising his inventory. "I'm gonna get the dragon egg, about as far as my plans have got. I mean, whoever controls the egg controls the server, right?"

The moustached hermit laughed. "Of course one of the first things you do in Season 8 is try to gain control of the server," Mumbo responded lightheartedly, not realising how close to the truth he'd hit. "What is it between you and Pearl by the way? Like, you two clearly know each other, and she said something about you being dead."

Grian went still, debating what to say.

"It's... Complicated. I prefer not to talk about it." It wasn't a complete lie, just twisting the perspective slightly. But then, he immediately changed the topic to avoid further discussion, "Anyways- about that peace, love, and plants thing you mentioned earlier-"

.

..

.

They started setting sail even more towards the north, and after raiding a shipwreck, finding buried treasure, and declaring a possible future war, they stumbled upon a very unfortunate swimmer in the water.

"Wait- Is that Scar-?" Grian came to a realization, already beginning laughing.

"If it is- I can't see past your massive waffle."

Scar's voice grew louder as they sailed nearer, Mumbo greeting him with a cheerful hello.

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" Scar was breathing heavily. "I, I've been in the ocean for so long."

"Hop on," Grian responded, struggling to hold back laughter. "Can you stand on the boat?" When Scar managed to get on, Grian started moving, knocking him off. Grian and Mumbo were both laughing hard as they raced off without him.

The three of them found a geode with Cleo, where Mumbo began mining up the geode, where Grian found the first loophole in the peace love and plants thing. Grian collected a bunch of ores, where Scar quickly died to a skeleton. Grian couldn't help but laugh. Mumbo and Grian soon left, leaving Cleo alone. They made their way as far north as possible, finding the edge of the island.

Scar surprised them both by appearing moments after they arrived, sweaty and out of breath. After finding the 'Northest North', they doubled back a bit, raiding a village on the way. They then had a conversation on the differences between American English and British English, but little did they all know they were speaking Earth English. Groundbreaking stuff.

Then they made fun of American accents.

After finding the right area, Mumbo placed down a bench, marking the area. Scar proceeded to place a torch on it, Mumbo quickly placing a boat as well. Then a Scar, followed by a purple bed. Then another boat. Then a grindstone.

"This is the most iconic starting of a village I've ever seen," Grian stated proudly, standing back to look at it properly. Mumbo clambered into the top boat, with Impulse on the bottom boat. "This is the best totem."

"This is uncomfortable actually," Mumbo added. Grian placed another boat above the grindstone.Then another white bed, followed by a boat was placed, leaving now 4 boats. Impulse at the bottom, followed by Grian, Mumbo with Scar at the top.

"You know that this is a bonding moment everyone," Grian laughed. "You don't just hop in a bunch of stacked boats and not be bros for life, okay."

Grian placed a sign, hearing Mumbo mention the Boatem Pole, grinning as he scribbled it down. He froze for a second when Pearl began running in, realising his plan of just avoiding her wasn't going to work. He quickly slipped back into Grian mode though, his face returning back to the grinning, happy face it was before.

"Hello! People! There is civilization!" Pearl called out, waving while she ran towards them.

"Don't say anything, don't say anything, get on the boatem pole." Grian ordered. "Somebody get her a boat!"

"Wait- wha-?"

"Wait wait wait wait I'm crafting a boat- I'm crafting a boat!" Mumbo repeated as he quickly reached for the crafting table.

"Wait wait wh- what is this-? what do you m-"

"There's no time to explain, there's no time to explain!" Grian grabbed the boat that Mumbo had crafted and scrambled to place it on top of the already tall pole. "Pearl- there's no time to explain, get in the boat."

The others also started chanting for Pearl to get in the highest boat. Albeit confused, she still compiled after a bit and quickly clambered onto the top. Everyone quickly got back to their positions on the pole, and after that, they let out satisfied 'yay's.

"You're now part of the Boatem for life." Grian told Pearl from underneath, a small grin unconsciously creeping onto his face. "This is what Season 8 looks like, everyone."

.

..

...

..

.

It was always interesting when they had to move worlds, because that meant that they had to start all over from scratch and get all of their gear and resources again. This meant that at this time most of the hermits are either resource gathering in the mines, making farms, or building their starter base.

Grian, however, already had something in mind that he needed to do first. Get the dragon egg.

But before that, he of course did need resources, and so, he started speedrunning doing that first and foremost.

He briefly went and planted some crops, went on a mining session, went to the nether for a little, did some brief spyglass exchanges with Impulse (Aha! Wither duo-), and made a skeleton spawner together.

But then, before he could continue on, there was a little encounter with some other neighbors that he found... a bit concerning?

He was just walking past the boatem pole, when he swore he saw two figures in the distance near the ocean. He quickly got out his spyglass, and saw the two figures looking back at him with one as well. They were wearing cod heads as a disguise, but you could literally tell from a glance that it was Ren and Doc.

He raised a brow. What are they doing here?

The pair of suspicious cod people then approached him.

"You guys just scared me a bit," Grian chuckled nervously when both of them were in earshot range. "Er... what are you two doing here, exactly?"

"Nothing to see here, dude," Ren replied, meanwhile Doc seemed to be examining the area. "We're just sort of... looking around, going on a tour."

"O...kay?" Even though Ren said that with a lighthearted voice, he felt a little nervous for some reason.

After that, the cod-headed wolf brunet made a confused comment about the boatem pole, before the two ran off, leaving a Grian filled with suspicion. He was about to ask himself what are they planning, but then he witnessed Doc stealing a goat from the mountains near the village. There was another weird telescope exchange, before Grian realized he was getting off track, and quickly went back to his plan.

He went into the nether to find a fortress a minute later, a plethora of things on his mind.

.

..

.

He opened another door, groaning in annoyance as it also led to nowhere. It felt like he'd been stuck in this god forsaken stronghold for ages, and yet the end portal was nowhere to be seen. He was starting to get really frustrated.

He went back out into the stone tiled hallways, grumbling some quiet complaints.

Finally though, he reached the portal room.

With an exasperated sigh of relief, he started placing the ender eyes in. He shivered a little while doing so, the action felt so familiar, yet distant.

He placed the last eye, and the portal immediately lit up, a starry and seemingly endless rift forming inside of the frames.

He froze a little, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, before jumping in.\

.

..

.

The air of the new dimension felt dry, but oddly comforting to his skin. He opened his eyes, and saw that he was now inside an end stone box.

He inhaled the slightly toxic air of the end, before quickly getting out his pickaxe and started mining out of there. After a few moments, he was out, and he could see the end island in all its glory.

He, of course, had been here multiple times beforehand, usually with other hermits when going endbusting, but it's been an awfully long time since he actually went to fight the dragon. It felt nostalgic, almost.

He quickly snapped out of his train of thought as he saw the Dragon starting to fly down on him, roaring loudly. He quickly got out his bow, and shot the dragon before it got too close. The dragon double-backed in pain, which was quickly healed by the crystals, and Grian took the time gained to immediately rush for the first tower, which was low enough for him to hit it with a bow, and a single arrow caused it to explode, damaging the dragon.

One.

Now, he had to tower up for the next caged one, which would prove a difficult task when the Dragon was still trying to get him. He began going up 3 blocks, but then, the dragon charged for him. He quickly switched to his sword, and slashed the dragon as it was just in contact. The dragon growled, their wings wounded, causing them to retreat back a little to heal up.

This gave Grian enough time to tower up and shoot the crystal in front of him. He also shot two others which were in range.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Now, the Dragon was charging at him again, and this time, he had nowhere to go from up there. He got knocked off before he was able to react. And now, he was falling.
It was as if the world became a blur of slow motion as he fell. He was ready to hit the ground. He then could just go back from his respawn point and enter the fight again.

But then, he remembered, no one was watching.

And he suddenly got an idea.

He was just about to hit the floor of endstone, but then, a dash of wind flew, and he swept off the ground, flying back in the air as a pair of light purple wings with vibrant purple tips suddenly sprang from his back. This was going to make the fight significantly easier.

He flew up, and then soared down slowly near the middle of the island in a spinning motion, firing three arrows in the air, each hitting its own crystal.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

He landed back on the ground, before jumping back up and landing on another caged crystal, shooting an arrow into through the gaps before retreating back as it exploded.

Eight.

He swooshed through the air, before letting himself glide back down a little to shoot the next one.

Nine.

He landed on the tower of the now exploded Crystal, and aimed his shot at the last remaining crystal. He let the arrow shoot, but then, he suddenly felt a hit from behind and let out a scream of pain as the dragon knocked him down, and once again he was free falling off to the ground, and this time, he hit it.

Ten.

The last crystal was gone, but now, you could almost say the same for Grian.

He landed on the ground, somehow alive, and let out a scream of anguish. It seemed like his wings took most of the fall damage for him, but it still felt agonizingly terrible. He was barely able to wobble himself back to his two feet, almost tripping down again as he stood, regaining some of his composure. His vision was blurry, and he could very well feel himself bleeding.

But, despite that, he decided to continue fighting. He can't back out now.

He aims his bow up, and eyes the dragon. And then he shot.

He reloaded, he aimed, he shot, he reloaded , he aimed, he shot.

Over and over again. The process was the same, with the occasional need to dodge charges from the dragon.

The Dragon's health chipped away, little by little, slowly but surely. And then, Grian finally landed the final shot, and with a growl, the dragon disintegrated in mid air, dropping the bunch of exp orbs, and he could see the dragon egg spawn in at the top of the bedrock porch.

He may have been badly injured, but it didn't really matter for him as he took out his piston, and slowly dragged himself over to the bedrock portal.

He got what he came here for.

Chapter Text

"Thanks, man!" Impulse said, thanking the moustached brit for un-oxidizing the copper on his starter base. "I probably gotta get some - honey comb, right? - to wax it."

"Yeah, yeah." Mumbo nodded in confirmation. "And then it'll stay."

Two of the boatem members were just chatting between their base, exchanging casual laughs and giggles.

"Very cool, good to know," the brunet stated lightheartedly.

"Yep- Tips with Mumbo." The other man laughed.

"Yeah, exactly." Impulse smiled. "Nice 1.17 tutorial, I needed it-"

"WELL I'M SORRY THEN! WHAT DID YOU WANT ME TO DO? JUST SOMEHOW HELP YOU ALL OUT EVEN THOUGH I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHERE I WAS MYSELF?"

Both jumped as they heard distant shouting. They turned to see two other boatem members, screaming at each other at the top of their lungs, near Grian's base.

"I don't kNOW?" Pearl argued back, her voice sounding uncharastically loud. "MAYBE AT LEAST TRY TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WORLD? YOU KNOW, SINCE YOU WERE LITERALLY THE OWNER OF IT?"

Mumbo and Impulse glanced at each other, hesitant on whether or not they should try to intervene.

"OH YES, BECAUSE I WAS ALWAYS THE GREATEST OWNER, WASN'T I?! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THEY DID TO ME AFTER?"

"OH I DON'T KNOW, BUT CAN IT BE ANY WORSE THAN WHAT THEY DID TO THE WORLD!?"

"YES PEARL, IT CAN!" There was silence for a few seconds, while Pearl and Grian stared at each other for a moment. Then, Grian averted his gaze.
"...So you value the world above me, huh? You don't care about me, I get it."

"I- Grian, that's not what I meant-"

"Forget it, you wouldn't understand anyways. You don't care about me, that's fine."

Pearl looked somewhere between wanting to cry or retort, but was struggling to find what to say. Grian, on the other hand, had a blank expression, but from the tone of his voice you'd think he felt hurt.

Something sounded slightly off to Impulse, but he put it down to the heightened emotions in the situation. He didn't know what the two were arguing about, but it seemed pretty crucial and important to the both, and yet, he knew he needed to break it off before it escalated.
"Heyyy!! G-man!" Impulse said as cheerily as he possibly could, deciding to intervene and pull Grian out of that situation. "Am I allowed to show you something-? I just finished the skeleton spawner earlier, maybe you want to check that out?"

Grian nodded eagerly, glad to be out of that conversation, and approached the brunet, now ignoring the obviously also shaken up Pearl. Pearl had only just joined, and Impulse didn't really know much about her except that she was stubborn and clumsy, but for now, he just wanted to make sure that the first day of the new server wasn't immediately going to be the end of it, he didn't want it going downhill that fast.
He briefly glanced to Mumbo, silently telling him to maybe check up on Pearl, before turning to go with Grian to the spawner.

The second Grian was out of Pearl's view, he seemed slightly more relieved, although his breathing was still shaky.

"You okay, G?" Impulse asked once they neared the spawner.

"Yeah... I'm fine." Impulse wasn't convinced by the statement, and Grian didn't seem too sure in his words himself.

"If you say so, I guess... but I just want you to know that, whatever happened, I'm here to listen if you ever want to talk about it."

The other stayed silent for a little, but eventually nodded. "...Thanks."

Impulse faintly smiled. "Anytime."

He glanced over the shorter hermit, before realising that there were hints of blood seeping onto his jumper - which admittedly was harder to notice due to its colour. It was even more evident on the backside, where it was trickling down to his trousers.

He froze. "Hang on- are you injured?"

Grian shrugged in response, not seeming to care that much.

"Can I see-? I won't if you don't want me to, though, I just want to make sure you're alright."

Grian hesitated for a second, before reluctantly nodding. "Fine- but not here."

Impulse nodded in agreement and continued walking, his concern only slightly eased by Grian's willingness.

"How's the season going so far for you?" He asked in an effort to break the silence.

"It's going alright, I guess. I just really wasn't expecting-" Grian suddenly cut himself off mid sentence.

"Expecting what?"

"...I just didn't think Pearl would be here, not after what she-" Grian cut himself off again. "...Nevermind."

Impulse was tempted to push further, but after the amount Grian had already divulged (intentionally or not), he thought it's best not to pry any further. The silence continued until they finally reached the spawner.

"Did you hear about last season, when I made that spawner under Scar's snail?" Grian sniggered to start another conversation as they walked down to the skeleton spawning area.

"The story was all over the server, Scar insisted that the spawner wasn't there before, but it clearly was if you found it." He hummed.

"I mean, it's not as if it just magically appeared out of nowhere - plus it's Scar we're talking about, he probably just missed it." Grian laughed.

"Do you think magic's even real?" He randomly asked to keep the casual talk going.

Grian seemed to hesitate for a brief second, but then talked again in a light-hearted tone. "Nope, but Scar thinks so. Admins don't use magic, they use coding, which is like, 90% of his argument. But even if admins did use magic, I doubt his so-called 'Magic crystals' would suddenly work."

Impulse held back a laugh. "Scar believes in tons of old myths, doesn't he? Like the seers or something."

Grian's expression flashed for less than a second, whether it was out of recognition or trying to hold back a laugh, Impulse couldn't tell.

"Literally, every story like that is just to keep young children from wandering too far away, he probably would still believe it. He's so gullible." This time, Impulse didn't laugh. Maybe it was the slight hint of malicion in Grian's voice, but that was probably just his imagination. He forced out a nervous chuckle.

"Can I just check your wound? Mostly for peace of mind really," Impulse said, changing the subject as they reached the spawner area.

Grian hesitated, his eyes flicking around uncertainly, as if for reassurance. "Fine, whatever."

His breath coughed when Impulse pulled up the jumper. Impulse's eyes widened as he took in the amount of blood, cuts, and bruises just barely hidden underneath the clothing, some were even moderately deep wounds. All of them were bleeding.

"What the hell-? What happened-?" Pure panic evident in his voice. "And wait- how did you even do that-? How could you just walk around normally, 'cause that's gotta really hurt!"

Grian shrugged again, but this time, he winced slightly. "Ender Dragon fight happened- and it does hurt, I'm just a good actor."

"Were you just planning on walking around with these-? Why didn't you try healing up or treating these?"

"Well- I was gonna," The shorter muttered. "But then Pearl said she needed to talk with me - and she 'needed to talk now', so I just quickly changed clothes so it wouldn't look like I just came from a warzone."

Impulse just shook his head, sighing. "We need to get you healed up, like- right now, before you lose too much blood."

"Now-?" Grian repeated, blinking. "But, you said you wanted me to take a look at the spawner-"

"Your wellbeing is more important than the spawner!" Impulse stressed. "Just- let's go to my starter base real quick, I'll patch you up."

"I'm fine!" He hissed as Impulse started lightly dragging him by the arm.

"No you're not! You're my friend, and I am not going to just leave you to bleed to death."

After he said that, Grian tensed up for a second, but stopped struggling. With a sigh, he just quietly nodded.

Chapter Text

"W-what?"

"Yeah- I know this is really sudden." Jaxa sighed. "But the higher ups have deemed the server and the people in it as threatening, and want them gone."

Grian went silent. From beside him, Zyno shot a questioning look.

"...But you don't have to make a move immediately, though," She continued as it seemed Grian wasn't going to - or just simply couldn't - answer. "You have until the end of the month to make a first move, so you can take your time to plan your steps and stuff."

If he had gotten this order 3 years prior, he probably wouldn't've thought nor hesitated too much. But now, he felt as if he couldn't move, his heart silently shattering as he thought of it.

But yet, he knew. It doesn't matter whether or not he wanted to. He had to do it. That was a fact. He was a watcher, and he's bound by the creed.

He slowly looked back up at the shorter watcher, and nodded. "I'll do it."

.

..

...

..

.

But maybe saying that was a mistake. At least it felt like one to him.

His thoughts were still going on and on like a trainwreck as he now walked out of the Watchers HQ alongside Zyno after a brief meet up, who had the same questioning look from yesterday.

"So- we're supposed to meet with a new recruit around the outer islands, right?" He said to his partner.

Zyno nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Apparently they're going to help us on the mission."

They started travelling through the realm. The more they walked out of what was considered the 'main realm', the more shattered and unbalanced the islands became. The only thing that stood there were small food and drinks joints, and what seemed to be small buildings. Bridges were getting more and more common.

"This is the spawn point." Zyno said as they reached the place.

It was a small, but sturdy island. A Magic circle stood in the middle of it, and surrounding it was some end rocks, with ancient runes paved into them.

Grian remembered his first experience here, when he was teleported here after just joining the watchers.

"They're supposed to be here any second now." Grian muttered, looking back at his notes from watcher comms. "We should probably just wait."

After a few seconds, the circle sparked up. Magic, alongside galactic letters filled the air, and the letters on the runes lit up.
On cue, two figures appeared from the middle. At first, they were just purple silhouettes, but then, the area flashed, and now two watchers stood in the middle of the previously empty magic circle.

"Good evening, Xelqua, Zyno." The taller watcher greeted the two, a faint smile forming between their mask. They gestured to the other watcher. "This is Axvier."

"Yo!" The much younger, and shorter watcher smirked. They had bright yellow blond hair, and underneath the watcher robes, they wore what seemed to be a white and vibrant red t-shirt.

Grian's lips twitched with a smile at the upbeat attitude coming from the new recruit.
"Hey Avxier! My name's Xelqua, he/him - I heard you were helping me and Zyno with our mission?" 

Avxier nodded eagerly.

"Zyno, he/him," Zyno introduced with a grin. Avxier looked as if he was about to jump up and down with excitement.
"C'mon, children," He then sniggered. "Lets go do mission prep and paperwork."

Both Grian and Avxier glared, before groaning at the mention of paperwork.

"Can't we just do all that boring stuff later?" Grian grumbled.

"I'd assume you'd want to save the server destruction for later, but okay." Zyno shrugged. Grian froze - he'd completely forgotten that that was the mission.

"No- I didn't mean I wanted to do the mission immediately!" He quickly said.

"Hang on, so you actually do care about them?" Zyno raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong with caring?" Avxier mumbled, suddenly seeming very uncomfortable. "Please don't say you're going to be like Dream and all 'attachments are weakness'." 

Zyno shrugged slightly.
"Nothing wrong with attachment, it's just that Xelqua was sent to a server with full knowledge that the end goal was it's destruction. Getting attached to the members would just make it harder on him."

"I didn't say that I didn't know that!" Grian huffed. "I was just asking why we can't just do something fun for once, like maybe tour the realm or something, I wasn't even talking about the mission!"

Zyno hesitated for a second. "I mean, we probably could just show Avxier around a little later. But don't think this gets you off the hook - we'll be having this conversation later."

"We don't need to have 'this conversation'," Grian snapped. "I'll have you know, I already arranged a plan, and I already have everything needed to destroy the server."

"I don't doubt that, I just doubt whether you could actually go through with it."

"Of course I could! I know my mission parameters, they wouldn't have sent me if I wasn't ready."

"Or maybe it was a test of allegiance, to prove your devotion to the cause. 3 years growing attached to a server and the members, then killing them all."

"That's not what it is!"

"HEY!" Avxier shouted, getting the attention from the two of them. "So you are two just ignoring me and having an argument right in front of me now? I don't appreciate that very much!"

Grian laughed, silently glad for the potential change in topic. "What's your name, Avxier? I mean, formalities and stuff, we're supposed to only use Watcher codenames, but I can barely pronounce my own as it is, let alone yours! Nobody's gonna punish us for using real names, not unless it's on a mission or in a meeting. It's the same with Galactic."

"Well, I'm glad you asked!" The younger watcher chuckled. "The names TommyInnit, then! He/him, you?"

"I'm Grian," Grian replied.

"SB."

"Either of you involved in servers and shi-?"

"Watch your profanity." Grian reprimanded almost instinctively, tone suddenly threatening and reminding.

"The fuck does that suppose to mean?"

"Language!" 

Tommy pouted. "You sound like Bad. Spoilsports- wait a minute, can you say this for me?"

Tommy grabbed a piece of paper from thing air, and also a pen from that same air. He briefly scribbled on it, and the two senior watcher glanced at each other shortly, sharing the same confused look. He then finished writing, and handed the piece of paper over to SB.

Grian leaned over his shoulder, sniggering when he saw what Tommy had written.

"So f*cking awe-" SB cut himself off when he realised what Tommy was doing. Grian burst into laughter, taking a few breaths to calm down.
Tommy wrote another phrase on the same piece of paper before handing it over to Grian. It read 'Alpha kenny body'.

"I'm not falling for that," Grian warned. "I'm taken." 

SB raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Well, technically I had a partner in high school I never broke up with..." 

Tommy snickered quietly. "Is that just so you can say you're technically not single on valentines day?"

"Maybe?" 

Tommy snickered again. 

"Look, don't tell me you've never done that!" 

Tommy opened his mouth to respond, when a massive boom could be heard.

The three all turned to the source of the noise, and it didn't escape Grian how Tommy hid behind him, and how his eyes widened at the sight of them.

Two new people just entered the realm, two people that definitely didn't look like watchers nor inhabitants of the realm.

One wore a green jacket, and had a mask obscuring their face, the mask itself having some sort of smiley face. Despite that, he wasn't smiling.
The other had long fuschia hair that was tied into a mildly messy braid. They also wore a shining golden crown, and an elegant royal robe.

Grian glanced back at Tommy, who was hiding behind him and looking rather fearfully at the greener figure, before glancing back at the two intruders.
He admittedly interact with that many players outside of hermitcraft and the watcher realm, but even he could recognize the duo as Dream and Technoblade.

Chapter Text

The Watchers in the room all grabbed various weapons, aside from Tommy. Purple magic ran through the room like electricity, all directed at the two intruders.

"Oh relax, we're not going to harm you," Dream drawled, dropping his weapon onto the floor. Nobody in the room relaxed, all still fixed on Techno. Dream rolled his eyes.

"Fine, Techno isn't going to harm you." A few of the Watchers relaxed at this, but none of them put down their weapons. Dream momentarily glared at the other, until reluctantly, Techno dropped his sword onto the floor and put his hands up, rolling his eyes as he did so.

Most of the Watchers put their weapons away after that, however it would be a mistake to think any of them were off-guard.

"It's very simple," Dream's smirk was almost audible from behind the mask. Grian and Zyno locked eyes, mostly in confusion as to Tommy's reaction. He was still hidden behind Grian, desperately clinging to him. "We're just here t-"

"We're here for my brother," Techno interrupted, to which Dream raised a brow. "Seeing as this homeless blob enjoys theatrics so much, it's taking far longer than it should." Dream's jaw locked, like he was restraining himself from saying something. "Believe it or not, I'm not keen on the idea of another incident, but if that's what it takes." He shrugged, leaning over to pick up his sword again.

Weapons were aimed at him again.

"Oh, relax." Dream sounded exasperated more than anything. "He just said he's trying to avoid another incident, I'm the one you should be worried about."

At that point, Grian could get a fairly accurate assessment of his character; narcissistic, confident, didn't get on with Techno but was working with him out of either fear or respect, needed people to fear him for validation. Was probably the reason Tommy came here - from experience people who joined the Watchers were either running from something, wanted revenge or simply had nothing else left. For him it was the last one; he had nothing to go back to after- that.

"Who's your brother?" A voice came from the crowd, coming from the watcher that was besides Tommy when he entered the realm.

"His name's TommyInnit," Techno replied nonchalantly. "Stupid red and white shirt, smile scar on his neck, joined fairly recently I would say. I know he's here, before you say you don't know who he is." Tommy shook his head violently behind Grian's back, flinching when Techno stepped forward.

"The hell you even want him for?!" Grian shouted, a wave of anger rushing through him. "Back off!"

"To be honest, I just want to make sure he's ok, hasn't got himself killed yet." The light, amused tone he'd carried throughout seemed even more prominent with the words. "I'm assuming he's fine and doesn't want me here?"

"Just leave, he's just fine with us." Grian's voice was harsher than he'd expected. Somehow he'd become attached to the other gremlin child within the space of 20 minutes, but he felt an urge to protect him.

The taller figure didn't flinch. He also didn't seem that offended, just mildly amused. He locked eyes with Tommy behind Grian, who was shaking his head frantically, before going back to the dirty blond again.

"That's understandable, have a great day." Techno disappeared, leaving just Dream. The other Watchers were all slightly surprised, but relaxed, resting their weapons down, which seemed to irritate him further.

"Come on Tommy, come back home," Dream tried to convince in desperation. It was a vast contrast to the mocking, confident voice he'd had when he'd first arrived. His plan was falling apart now that Techno had gone. He was looking at Tommy, who had now drawn to Zyno. "Your dad misses you."

"The fuck he does," Tommy snorted, taking a sharp intake of breath. "Come up with more convincing arguments next time." Dream clenched his fists, but reached for his communicator on his wrist and typed in coordinates.

"You can't escape me forever, Tommy," he threatened, his calm demour returning. "Wilbur says hi." With that, he pressed his communicator again, and disappeared in green sparks. Whatever confidence Tommy had conjured up seemed to disappear, and he began clinging to Grian's arm desperately.

There was silence for a few seconds, as if they were expecting the two to suddenly reappear into the area. When nothing happened the following seconds, everyone fully relaxed and put their weapons back.

"They're gone now, you can come out." Grian said to Tommy, who at this rate was probably going to tear his arm off with how hard he was clinging onto him.

Tommy breathed a sigh of relief, and finally let go.

"Before anything, though, come with me." The other watcher suddenly said, towards Tommy. "You need to go and sign some things in the HQ."

The boy tensed up again, and turned to Grian.

"You'll be fine, it's not that bad." Grian shrugged, trying his best to calm him down.

He still seemed hesitant. He looked from Grian to Zyno, before following the other watcher.

"Well, that was something." The dirty blond spoke up after a bit, and Zyno nodded in agreement.

"Wasn't expecting them to be the ones who arrived," He laughed. "I mean, we get a lot of pissed off families from time to time, but nobody usually just straight up joins the realm."

Grian hummed in reply. "I probably should get going now-"

"No, no. Not yet. We need a mission report first," SB interrupted. Grian groaned in response, knowing he couldn't get out of that. "Any players causing problems and stuff like that need to get filed."

Grian froze at the reminder of Pearl. He probably should report that.
"Fine," he conceded. "Might as well get it over with."

SB seemed surprised at how easy it was to get him to agree, maybe sensing that there was an issue, but didn't say anything. They made their way to a more secluded area, with a reluctant Grian in tow

SB brought up his Watcher Comms, and clicked a button on the side, lighting up holograms in the air. He scanned through the database, eventually opening a folder labelled 'Xelqua', where there were a few folders. He clicked on one, and inside were three files, one labelled 'Player Server Data', another labelled 'Evolution SMP', but the one SB clicked on was labelled 'Hermitcraft'. He also brought up the mission report form on a different screen.

He ran through the usual questions, most of which didn't have complicated answers. Mostly asking if there have been technical changes, or player changes the Watchers were unaware with. Grian paused on one of the last questions.
"Is there any threat to the mission, your identity or the Watchers?" SB looked up when Grian didn't answer.

"Can you look at the list of players, and look at the latest ones?" He eventually asked, avoiding saying it outright. SB nodded, switching onto another screen and searching the database.

"Ah- GeminiTay and PearlescentMoon, right? There's nothing off about that?" He shrugged, turning to face Grian. "Are they causing issues?"

"Cross-reference them with other servers, specifically the ones that there's been missions to." SB frowned but complied, typing in a few commands. Realisation settled onto his face when he saw the first server that showed up as a result, and the highlighted member 'PearlescentMoon'.

"Evolution SMP," he stated. "That was destroyed, nobody should've been able to escape."

"Exactly," Grian nodded. "She knows it was the Watchers who destroyed it, and knows I was there, but I don't think she's put the pieces together. She's definitely a risk though."

"Wait," SB interrupted. "Did you actually see her while the destruction was happening?"

Grian thought back, which wasn't something he often did. Despite being the one to cause the destruction, he still was upset by it. Still got nightmares about it.
"No," he eventually said. "But she couldn't have gotten out, we blocked entry and exit to the serve- oh."

They both turned to each other at the realisation.

"Oh."

"On the positive side," SB eventually continued, "She never saw you causing any of the destruction if she wasn't on the server at the time. As long as you have a good excuse as to how you survived. Worst comes to worst, you'll just need to eliminate her first."

Grian nodded, some level of guilt in his mind, but he managed to push it back without much thought. "Do you mind keeping an eye on her server log?"

"I'll let you know of any developments," he agreed. "I'm also going to look into her history, see if I can find where she's been. Theoretically she should've been picked up if her name was on any public registers in the first 6 months after Evolution, however it's not perfect, and again, only public registers. Stuff like hypixel, DreamSMP, Hermitcraft, personal servers etc wouldn't show up because they have player registers private."

"So if she knew about it, it would've been easy for her to wait out the 6 months."

SB nodded in confirmation.

"We still need you to fill out the final section of the form," he reminded, causing Grian to groan.

"Oh come on, I thought I'd managed to avoid that," he grumbled lightheartedly, smiling slightly at SB. "What's the next question?"

Chapter Text

Grian joined the game

Mumbo jumped at the buzzing in his pocket, like he had every time he’d had a notification for the past few hours. He was waiting for Grian, as Impulse had told him he’d been hurt earlier.

He walked around for a little, and eventually spotted the shorter hermit near his van starter base.

“Morning, Grian!” He greeted as he approached him, trying to act as normal as possible.

“Oh- Morning, Mumbo!” The gremlin seemed mildly surprised, but a small smile settled onto his face the next second. “Anything new?”

“Nothing much,” Mumbo replied, trying to keep his smile as natural as possible. “Want some tea?”

Grian burst out into laughter at that, doubling over. He winced slightly, but managed to cover the expression fairly easily. 

“I drink tea, darling,” Grian sniggered, straightening up in order to take the pressure off the wound. If he was being honest, he’d forgotten about it during his time in the Watcher realm. He’d been exaggerating it to Impulse anyway, so he’d be more likely to be suspicious about Pearl. Push suspicion onto her as subtly as he could. Worst come to worst, he pull some sob story about how the Watchers had tortured him, and how he was a victim in this situation. Maybe even add a bit of self blame, that ought to convince them.

“Hmm? Where’s that from?” Mumbo frowned, struggling to place the reference.

“Nevermind, something from outside this server that I watched,” Grian brushed off. “And sure, I’d love that!” He could sense Mumbo wasn’t being genuine - advantage of his abilities. Could sense stuff like that, but he could also sense concern. Strange.

Mumbo smiled with relief, bounding off to Treeza with Grian slightly behind. Inside, Mumbo had a teapot, next to a kettle that was currently boiling. Mumbo sat down on one of the chairs, gesturing at Grian to sit down. Holding back sniggers, Grian obliged; there were a few seconds of silence before Grian spoke.

“So…” He started, fiddling with a piece of bluetac. “Whatcha wanna talk about?”

Mumbo simply shrugged in response.

“Anything? I dunno, what do you think of Pearl and Gem?” Part of Grian wanted to scoff - I mean, really very subtle there. If he was being honest, Mumbo probably wasn’t trying to pry: he was a fairly straightforward, upcoming man. He was the sensible one of the pair.

“Gem’s nice, not really talked with her though. Decent builder from what I’ve heard,” Grian shrugged. “Gem is great after all.” Mumbo burst out laughing, the gremlin following suit.

“I don’t even know who started that,” Mumbo managed to choke out through his laughter.

“Impulse maybe?” Grian shrugged. “Apparently he’s building a mega factory on another note - looks incredible.” Part of him wanted to tell them not to put much work into it, as it’d all be destroyed within the month. But then they’d try to evacuate. Maybe a few days before he destroyed it, he’d lock them all in, leaving them no escape for their final few days. The whitelist wouldn’t be a problem, he’d hacked that ages ago. They’d never picked up on it. It was funny honestly.

“I swear though, Pearl’s builds are insane, whereas I’m here with a caravan,” Mumbo laughed, grabbing the now squealing kettle and pouring it into a teapot.

“She used to be better with colours though,” Grian mused. “Her texture work is impeccable as ever though. 7 sugars please.” 

Mumbo glanced up, raising an eyebrow. “2,” He said firmly, dipping a teabag into the pot. “We don’t need you being any more hyper than normal.” 

Grian pouted. “Please?”

“No.” Grian sighed, resting his head on his hands. “It’s just annoying, why does she have to be here?” He realised only when seeing Mumbo’s confused expression that he’d said too much. 

“You do realise that whatever happened with you and her, you can talk about it if you want?” 

Grian almost sighed in relief, he seemed to have taken the trauma assumption. It was easy enough to play that route.

“I know, it’s just…” He trailed off. “She’s just a reminder of everything that happened, and I really don’t want to talk about it.” He laughed bitterly, accepting the mug of tea and taking a swig, before grimacing. He then grabbed the sugar bowl, and added an extra 5 spoonfuls of sugar.

“That’s fine, whenever you feel comfortable.” Mumbo took a sip from his own cup of tea.

“Thanks,” Grian smiled, adding another few spoonfuls of sugar. “Maybe I will, just give it time.” He took another sip of tea. “I probably should be on my way, lots of stuff to do.”

“Clearly,” Mumbo mumbled, before replacing it with a grin. “Cool! Drop by anytime you want more tea.” Grian smiled, nodding in agreement.

“Keep your sugar well-stocked,” he added, grinning as he left the caravan. It was only as he left that Mumbo realised how strange that interaction actually was. Had Pearl done something to Grian? If so, was it a good idea having her on the server? 

No, they shouldn’t think about that. Wait until they learn the full context. Better plan of action, though Grian did seem fairly traumatised from it. He'd mentioned once to him about how high school had put him off similar servers and knives for life, maybe Pearl was linked to that?

No, let Grian have his privacy. Stop trying to analyse every little thing, he'd tell Mumbo when he was ready to. Whatever it was, it couldn't be that bad. 

Fireworks cracked in the distance, dragging Mumbo back into reality. He should probably start working on his armchair. Apparently it looked very 'sus' according to Grian, something that confused Mumbo. Did he mean sustainable? 

Probably not, but that's what he'd go with for now. 

.

..

.

Grian landed roughly, cursing at the lack of rockets. There wouldn't be any creepers until night, and that was hours away. At least he wasn't completely in the wilderness - he was fairly near Bdubs mountain. He'd just walk there and use the height to fly back to Boatem. 

He really should've checked, he mused on the walk. He'd just gotten too used to exerting his abilities and forgotten basics such as enough rockets for his elytra.

It was as he began to clamber up the mountain that he saw Tango. He glided down towards him, landing almost directly next to him; Tango jumped in surprise before laughing. Grian looked up, speechless for a second as he looked into the underneath of the mountain.

“And what is that?” Grian sniggered, a grin making its way onto his face. 

“It’s Fifi!” Tango responded, trying to keep his face as straight as possible, but ultimately failing to keep the smile off his face. “Every mountain needs to have a troll underneath.”

“Right,” Grian smiled. “What if the troll breaks out?”

The bright blond seemed to ponder it for a second, before shrugging, a wide grin on his face.

“Well- gotta head back to Boatem now,” The smaller eventually muttered. “Keep the troll under control!”

“Will do!” Tango cackled. “Don’t worry about it!”

And then, with a plastered smile, Grian began walking away.

Chapter Text

Zedaph hummed in concentration, laying out his results in front of him. Interesting. They were completely dumb, mostly notes on how villagers reacted to weird situations. If he was being real though, all his experiments were dumb. 

He glanced down at his communicator when there was a vibration, noticing a message from Mumbo.

< MumboJumbo > seriously guys, 

< MumboJumbo > is this a prank or something? 

< MumboJumbo > i won’t even be mad if it is, but has anyone seen grian lately

He took one or two looks at the string of messages. Not a moment later, people started replying.

< Tango > Haven’t seen him in a while

< Tango > Why?

< MumboJumbo > not to alarm everyone but i think he might be missing

< BdoubleO100 > grians missing????

< MumboJumbo > so no one has seen him

< MumboJumbo > well this cant be good

< Tango > I saw grian last like a week ago

< Tango > Has anyone seen him this week?

< iskall85 > nope

< cubfan135 > haven’t seen him in a while

< impulseSV > same

< impulseSV > do you think he’s just out on another server

< impulseSV > or

< MumboJumbo > i don’t think so

< MumboJumbo > he didn’t tell me anything about that

< Tango > should

< Tango > should someone tell X about this? 

< MumboJumbo > is he not looking at chat atm

< Tango > I don’t think he is

< joehillssays > dming him rn

< joehillssays > i don’t think he has his comms on him tho

< impulseSV > is anyone near x's starter base? 

< impulseSV > he's probably there

< joehillssays > not getting any response from him, can get to his base quickly tho 

< MumboJumbo > yeah could you please

< joehillssays > nearly there

< joehillssays > found him

< Xisumavoid > Wait, so when was the last time we saw Grian? Wait, so when did anyone last see Grian?

< MumboJumbo > had tea with him just after he’d logged in, seemed kinda off though

< MumboJumbo > that was about a week ago

< Tango > Think I saw him about a week ago too

< Tango > Was maybe half an hour after he joined though

< Tango > Not really sure, wasn’t keeping track

< Xisumavoid > And nobody’s seen him since?

< impulseSV > nope

< Xisumavoid > Alright, I’m going to DM everyone telling them to meet at spawn in half an hour. I’ll DM Grian as well, just in case.

< ZedaphPlays > Should we make our wary there now?

< ZedaphPlays > *way

< Xisumavoid > Sure.

Zedaph turned off his communicator, attempting to grab some wings before remembering he didn’t have any yet. It was one of the annoying parts of a new season, but at the same time it was what gave each season a sense of value.

He sighed as he grabbed a stack of mutton (no need to question where he got that from) and began to trek towards spawn. Apparently Pearl had built something there, an egg or something similar, though according to Impulse she’d initially built it with oak wood, which Zedaph found quite funny.

After about 20 minutes, Zedaph found himself at spawn. There was already a group of about 10 people there, including Mumbo and Xisuma. Mumbo was glancing at his communicator repeatedly, bouncing his leg up and down as he did so.

“Hallooo! Mumbo Jumboni!” Iskall greeted, riptiding out of the ocean. Despite the cheeriness, his voice shook slightly, a dull tint to it. “He’ll arrive in a bit laughing about how it was all a prank, you’ll see.” Mumbo smiled slightly.

“Yeah, I’m sure he will.”

Not all of the hermits ended up arriving within the next 10 minutes, but they ended up with about 15. When the time limit was up, Xisuma coughed to get everyone’s attention.

“As many of you are aware, Grian has not been seen in around a week,” Xisuma began, hints of nervousness creeping its way into his synthesised voice. “And it is with this, and the fact that he still registers as online, that I believe it’s necessary to declare him missing. Are there any volunteers for a search party?” 

Zedaph’s insides clenched upon the mention of the word missing. It sounded so harsh, and so finite . Finite. That was a cool word. That musing distracted him from his frozen state, prompting him to raise his hand like those around him.

“Alright, Scar and Pearl, if you can search around Boatem and the rest of the North, from where the big eyes crew are based up, would that be OK?” The two nodded in agreement, Pearl slightly after Scar. “Iskall, if you and False want to work together and search the area in the west, from maybe Gem’s base onwards? Impulse, you can team up with Zedaph and search the south area of the continent, y’know, from where it separates. Then I can work with Joe and Mumbo around the middle area of the continent. I’ve positioned you in fairly familiar areas, search every little crevice. For the time being, let's assume he’s on-continent and hope that gets us somewhere.” The remaining hermits nodded, albeit some with slightly more hesitation than the others. Those who hadn’t volunteered for a search party had wandered off, leaving just the 9 of them remaining.

“Hey Zed,” Impulse whispered, causing a grin to form on Zedaph’s face. “Does this mean I get to see your base?” Zedaph laughed slightly, instantly shutting him down.

“God no. Not unless you want to be experimented on.”

“What if I do?” Impulse sniggered.

“That can be arranged.” Zedaph smirked slightly, maybe if he made a maze, except it had no exit…

“Earth to Zed,” Impulse murmured, waving a hand in front of his face. “Do you have elytra?” Zedaph shook his head. “Well luckily for you-”

“This better not be a commercial for soar-eye or whatever,” Zedaph warned. Impulse sighed dramatically, grabbing a pair of wings and lobbing them over at Zed.

“If you’re so hard to swing.” He then threw a bunch of rockets at Zedaph, which he had to bend down to catch. Zedaph slipped on his wings and got his rockets prepared, beginning to build a dirt tower upwards. “It’s a win for the no-no-wings club!” Impulse shouted, just as Zedaph began to take off towards his base.

Zedaph’s breath caught slightly upon seeing the Season 8 world for the first time. The trees making up the forest waved in the wind, with the July sunlight peeking through the gaps. It seemed to stretch on forever, and while you could get that feel from just walking through it, seeing it from so high up gave it a completely different feel. 

"First flight awe?" 

Zedaph was dragged back to reality by Impulse's voice. 

"Just a bit," he admitted. Impulse laughed from slightly behind him. 

"Wait until the cold kicks in." Rockets burst as Impulse zoomed in front, and Zedaph raced to catch up. Despite the circumstances, elation rushed through him at the sheer speed. It was as they neared Zedaph's base that the joy gave way to the cold, and the temperature finally hit him. 

Impulse sniggered. "You might wanna put on a jumper!" he called. 

Zedaph nodded, forgetting that Impulse likely couldn't see him as he messily landed on the mountains near his base. 

"That! Was! Awesome!" Zedaph shreeked, punching the air with each word. Impulse smiled at his friend, a slight tinge of guilt hitting him upon remembering why they were there. Zedaph didn't seem to pick up on this, and Impulse didn't want to drag him back to reality, instead choosing not to interrupt. 

"Iskall's just upset at the sudden loss of members," Impulse laughed. "Care to show me around? I doubt he'd have been kept captive in your basement for the past week, but it's still a good idea to check." Zedaph's face faded into a grim smile as he nodded, breaking down the door and waving towards the door. 

"After you." 

.

..

.

"No sign of him anywhere in this section of the continent," Impulse sighed. They'd reached the break in the land, and no luck. "Maybe he just left and nobody noticed?" 

"Actually, I've made a hypothesis," Zedaph began, before being cut off by Impulse's burst of laughter. 

"Oh, I see," Impulse managed to get out through his fit of laughter. "Please share your esteemed knowledge with us, Scientist Plays."

"That he, quite possibly, isn't on this continent." 

Impulse laughed again, but this time with a bit more hollowness to it. "Unfortunately, I believe that might be the case." 

Movement and small murmurs could be heard nearby once Impulse had stopped laughing. Zedaph's mind instantly flicked to who was searching that area, before spontaneously calling out. 

"Oi! Jobosuma!" Impulse turned to look at him with surprise. 

"Do I want to know what that was?" he laughed, a slight hint of unease in his voice. 

"Joe, Mumbo and Xisuma," Zedaph explained. "Jobosuma." 

"Now that ," Impulse snorted. "Sounds like a ship name." This time it was Zedaph who burst out into laughter. 

"God no. Let's stick with Grumbo for now, shall we?" Impulse was saved from having to answer that by Xisuma responding. 

"Zedaph! Impulse!" Zedaph and Impulse glanced at each other, before Impulse took off from the ground. Zedaph built a dirt tower and propelled his way over to where the movement was. He broke through the leaves, landing in front of a surprised Joe. 

Impulse arrived a moment later, with significantly more grace.

“Any luck?” Xisuma asked. Impulse and Zedaph shook their heads. “Us neither,” he then admitted.

“He’s never done anything like this before.” Mumbo bit his lip. “What if something’s gone really wrong?”

“Have you tried tracking his coordinates yet?” Impulse asked, hesitating slightly. While it was possible, none of them liked to think that it would come to that.

“I have,” Xisuma admitted. “I even got Joe to try, no luck. But it still registers him as online.”

“I checked the public hub records,” Joe added. “Even asked the admins if we could have access to some of the private records. No trace of Grian in any other server, or his player tag, or his entity trace. Last time he went to another server was-” Joe frowned at his communicator. “A week ago. But there’s no record of him going to a public server, just him entering the hub, exiting, then returning a few hours later before coming back to Hermitcraft. That’s odd. He never used to do that.” 

“Hang on a minute,” Zedaph interrupted, frowning as he tried to collect his thoughts. “What about the chat logs? Couldn’t you track his last known coordinates from his last message?” Xisuma turned to Zedaph, his eyes widening. Mumbo and Impulse looked hopeful, the 4 of them peering at Xisuma’s communicator before he opened the admin screens wide. 

There were dozens of lines of green code on one side, which Xisuma brushed away, navigating his way to the logs. 

“I’m filtering it to just the joining and leaving messages to get to the rough time he sent his last message,” he narrated, clicking a bunch of buttons. It was in English, but using fancy computer sciency words that Zedaph didn’t understand. “Now if I just scroll a tiny bit, then-” Xisuma paused, his expression sinking. Anger, or maybe shame, filled his face. The four watching frowned as they tried to find what had caused the reaction. 

Zedaph’s mouth fell into an ‘oh’ upon finding it, glancing at Impulse for reassurance. He looked back at the screen for confirmation, dread filling his stomach.

Evil Xisuma has joined the Game

Chapter Text

Grian groaned, his neck stiff from the position it had been in for the past few days. He once again cursed the so-called ‘Evil X’ that had taken him captive, considering that it had been about 3 days now. He was sore, and his wrists were rubbed red from the rope. He fervently wished Watcher magic actually included healing, as he’d been complaining to Zyno and Jaxa about for a long time, but he had to settle for slitting the edges of the rope and giving himself slightly more room. He could use his powers for something more concrete, like getting himself out, he didn’t want to raise suspicion. Besides, ‘Evil X’ could be a vex or something with some form of magical prowess, and he’d been warned to avoid angering those since he’d joined the Watchers, fresh out of high school.

Apparently if he angered them or revealed he was a Watcher, he could start an interspecial war.

While it sounded vaguely fun, the higher ups would kick him out of the Watchers or worse if they’d learnt how it had happened. Moral of the story: only use your Watcher abilities to ease your capture, not to escape. Never reveal yourself as a Watcher - rule 1. 

Well, technically rule 2, but considering rule 1 was only speak galactic and use the chosen names and nobody listened to that, it might as well be rule 1.

It was during this train of thought that Grian saw his communicator buzz. Nothing new, it happened every time someone sent a message. This time however, the communicator had a slightly purple aura about it. Grian perked up - Zyno was trying to contact him.

Grian lunged for his communicator, his fingers barely skimming the edges of it. Pulling himself back, he lunged forward again, this time managing to get a proper hold on it.

Suddenly, his communicator began ringing. Now Grian could see that it indeed was Zyno, who’d sent a message asking for an update. Fiddling through the rope, he accepted the call, praying that ‘Evil X’ didn’t come back. 

“Xelqua, status update.” The harshness of the galactic cut through the silence, and while it took a second longer than it should have to translate, Grian responded in fluent galactic.

“Not good SB, incredibly not good. In the sense that I can get out just fine, but since I’m having to obey ‘Watcher protocols’, I can’t.” The relief in SB’s voice was evident.

“That’s good, I was growing concerned that you had checked in.”

“Careful, SB,” Grian teased. “Someone might think you care.”

“Oh, heaven forbid.” Sarcasm filled his voice. “Are you still on the Hermitcraft server?” The communicator crackled slightly.

“Yup, pretty sure I’m just off the main island,” Grian responded, glancing around the barren room as if there would be clues there. “Not much chance of them being any help any time soon though.”

“What would you expect, Grian?” SB asked, the eyebrow raise audible. “They’re just players.”

“I dunno,” Grian shrugged, ignoring the hope still in his heart. “Thought they might provide some use.”

The other sighed, but decided to just continue. “Well, in any case. What happened?”

“I think I might or might not have been kidnapped.”

SB went dead silent.

“You what. ”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “I’ve been locked inside this very ominously empty room, and tied up to a chair. I don’t think this classifies as a good thing.”

“Can you get out?”

“Well- like I said, that would require me using magic, and the rules don’t allow me to.”

He could hear intense typing on the other end, followed by a question. “Who kidnapped you? Was it one of the members?”

He tried recalling the event. “Not sure, probably not.” Grian stated after a bit. “If I remember correctly his name was evil… something.”

“What?”

“Evil… Exusma? Ersuna? Xisuma- yeah- Evil Xisuma.”

“Isn’t Xisumavoid the head admin of the server?” SB asked again.

“Yeah, he is- though this guy looked different, probably some sort of evil alter ego. The ‘evil’ in the name sorta gives it away.” He sort of cringes at the thought. Who in their right mind would name themselves ‘evil’-

“I’ll look at the data to see if I can identify them.” The watcher on the other side said. He heard more typing, and some ominous but recognizable sounds of the opening of magic holograms. “In the meantime- why did they kidnap you?”

“That’s what I wanna know.” He murmured grumpily. 

“So have you not talked to them or interacted? Have they said anything to you?”

“Not really, and I’m starting to think that they’re just gonna leave me here to starve.” And he sort of had the right to think that, considering he had literally just been thrusted into this room with no context, known goals, or anything whatsoever. The door of the room had a very small window, and he would only be able to see the player’s name tag from outside. Frustratingly enough, he’d just been sitting there for the past few days, with literally no food, human contact, or anything except a bottle of water. If he weren’t a watcher, he’d honestly probably be dead right now.

“Probably not, most likely they want something from you.” SB stated.

Grian heard more clicks and magic keyboard typing from the other side of the communicator, and then, a pause.

“Oh.”

“What?” Grian asked, equal parts curious and frustrated at the lack of information. “Did you identify them?”

“ Xanthus .” SB muttered, realisation evident. 

The name- was it a name ? It sounded like a name. Grian had never heard of it in his lifetime, but the way SB said it made it sound like he should’ve.

“Wh-?” Was the only thing he could muster in confusion before SB elaborated.

“The person who kidnapped you is an Ex-watcher.” He explained slowly. “Evil Xisumavoid, watcher codename Xanthus.”

“Huh.” Well this could either severely complicate or simplify matters, depending on a lot of factors. “Really?”

“Yeah.” More clicks. “It says here that he refused orders from the higher ups to protect a server- hey- he was also sent to destroy the same server as you!”

“So he was ordered to destroy hermitcraft like I did but failed?” Griam summarized the conclusion he came to. Part of him wanted to ask why he hadn’t heard of him before if so, but he also knew not to question Watchers.

“Yeah, pretty much.” SB agreed. “So you should be free to use your m-”

Grian did not need to be told twice. In a blink of an eye, a faint purple aura glowed, and the rope that held him in place previously glowed with flame, before suddenly crippling into ash.

“So, you good?”

“Yeah, don’t worry about me.” He replied simply. “I think I might have a plan.”

And a plan he had.

“Nothing dangerous, right?” SB asked, resigned. 

“Risky, maybe, but trust me on this one.” A badly covered up snort could be heard. “I’ll message you in a bit, if it goes well, if it doesn’t, then welp.”

“Side note, if it goes badly, feel free to remind him that he’s classed as a rogue Watcher and can be taken in by the council at any time.” SB added, presumably typing something up.

Grian hummed. That information could prove to be useful.

“Gotcha.”

He hung up, and just then, he heard footsteps. A small smirked formed on his face.

Oh, this was going to be interesting.

Chapter Text

X, Impulse, Mumbo, Scar, False and Iskall crept towards EX’s supposed secret lair.

“It says that it should be around here somewhere,” Xisuma murmured, looking into the holograms of his comms as they walked.

Mumbo nervously glanced around the place as he followed. They were outside the main continent, in some sort of forestry location. “X, you sure this isn’t a trap?” He asked, little effort to mask the uncertainty in his voice.

Xisuma hesitated before answering. “Pretty sure, but we’re prepared for the absolute worst. That’s why we have False, cause she’s scary enough for all of us.”

“Thank you,” False said, half sarcastically, half amused. She rolled her eyes light-heartedly. “Y’all are just wimps.” 

X sighed but replied in an equally sarcastic manner. “Hey, look, it’s not every day that your supposed evil brother just suddenly appears and kidnaps one of your friends. Though I do have some embarrassing stories I can use against him if it comes to that. There’s one involving him and a stapler that’s quite funny.”

“That’s nice and all, but we should be there now.” Impulse announced nervously, looking back at the mapped holograms and the area, “Any plans?”

“Scar, don’t bump into anything. Stick with Iskall, they’re not so clumsy-”

“I don’t like this trust you’re putting on me, X,” Iskall murmured.

“You’ll be fine, trust me. Iskall and Scar, you search the top floor. False and Impulse go for the basement, me and Mumbo can take the ground floor.”

“How do you know there’s a basement?”

“Trust me, he’s melodramatic enough to need a dark basement.”

“Alright then, let's do this.”

“Stay on comms as much as possible, I’ve linked them up to headphones so you should be good.”

They all nodded in silence. They looked upon the not-so-hidden entrance on the mountainside.

“So- we’re going in?” Mumbo mumbled.

X kept silent as he touched the rubble of the rocks. “Unfortunately, yes.” He sighed, before turning around. “If you see him, don’t engage, stay safe, and most importantly, stay alive.”

“Well, that’s terrible for me.” Scar muttered, but no one really heard him, everyone was pouring most of their attention to the task at hand, and everyone was feeling an equal amount of tension.

Reluctantly, they finally entered the base.

.

..

. 

X had to remark that it was considerably better than what he had expected. First off, he didn’t expect his brother to actually have proper building skills, like damn, quartz? Terracotta? It looked far better than he thought it would. He had to give him credit for that.

But looks don’t really matter much when you’re trying to infiltrate the area to look for your friend which your brother supposedly kidnapped. And that was exactly what he was doing.

He walked around the pretty spaced corridors of the lair, a nervous Mumbo just following behind. They tried to keep some level of sneaky, trying their best to listen for any external noise, counting footsteps and making sure theirs aren’t noisy.

“I feel like a spy,” Scar whispered over comms. “It’s like I’m back in season 7 and raiding the vault.”

“That vault was terrible,” Mumbo added, though his voice had significantly less humour in than the others.

“All we need is superhero music,” Iskall added.

“Dun dun dun-” Impulse started, pausing. “Wait, that’s Star Wars.” Scar burst out giggling.

“Scar, in the nicest way possible, shut up, please,” False whispered sharply. “You’ll give our locations away if he’s inside at the moment!” There was silence for a minute or so, apart from shuffling and footfalls as they all made their way deeper into the base.

“We’ve found some ventilation shafts,” False said. “Should we go in?” There was silence for a few moments until Xisuma replied.

“Maybe one of you goes in, the other doesn’t?”

“I’ll go,” Impulse volunteered. “False can fight her way out of situations, I can’t.”

“That’s good,” Iskall whispered. The sound of ventilation shafts opening and closing could be heard, as well as Impulse’s echoey breathing.

“Ow!” Scar’s voice was loud, far louder than everyone else’s. 

“What’s wrong?” Mumbo asked, his voice thick with concern. 

“I swear I was sparked by something purple,” Scar whispered.

“That’s weird,” Xisuma noted. “This entire place feels thick, something’s off,” he mused. “Anyone else getting that vibe?”

“I mean, it’s a very creepy base,” Iskall whispered. “Maybe that’s what you’re getting?”

“I’m kinda picking up on that too,” Scar whispered. “Probably nothing though.” Murmurs of agreement could be heard from the comms, though when Xisuma glanced at Mumbo, he seemed frozen. Maybe with fear?

“I think I might’ve found something,” False whispered after another 10 minutes or so of searching. “Think Grian’s in there. Basement level, 2 rights, a left then on the third corridor on the right.” Mumbo instantly perked up, taking off in a run towards the stairway. 

“Got that,” Xisuma whispered, following Mumbo but quieter. Repeating False’s instructions mentally, it didn’t take him long to arrive at the door False, Impulse and Mumbo were fiddling with. Mumbo was messing about with the redstone in the wall, carefully redirecting the course. He let out a sound of relief once it was done, and the door swung open. False led the group, now complete with Iskall and Scar, into the room.

It looked empty at first glance, but in one of the corners, was a curled up Grian. His hair was messy and greasy, and while initially he looked in terrible condition, upon closer inspection he seemed mostly unwounded. Even where he was tied up, his skin was fairly healthy, even decently clean, safe for a few rope burns. Scars were covering his arms, but the Hermits had seen those before, and clearly weren’t new. 

These observations however were all subconscious, as Xisuma was preoccupied with getting over to Grian and freeing him of his bonds. 

Xisuma gestured for the other Hermits to stay back while he made his way over to Grian, first reaching for his neck to check his pulse. Relief flooded through him when the pulse seemed not only steady but pretty strong. Stronger than most sleeping pulses.

Still cautious, however, Xisuma put his ear to Grian’s mouth, relieved once again when his breathing was stable. He checked the sides of his head for any form of trauma, but other than a couple of bruises, there was nothing. 

Taking one final look over, Xisuma couldn’t see any blood or any serious injury other than bruises. He looked back at the Hermits and nodded, setting to work untying the rope. It was badly tied - likely done in a rush. Had EX been eager to leave before.

“Just bruises,” he said, turning back to the other Hermits. “Steady pulse and breathing.”

“Oh thank god,” Scar breathed, laughing with relief. 

Even though not voiced, the others visibly shared the same amount of relief. 

Iskall gave Mumbo a short pat on the shoulder, who while still seeming shaken up, was sighing with a small smile on his face. Mumbo walked over to the Admin and unconscious Grian, while False and Impulse watched from a bit of a distance.

“Hey, Gri?” Mumbo asked quietly, lifting Grian’s hand. “We’re getting you home.” Upon the skin-to-skin contact, Grian’s eyes flung open, his breathing becoming erratic. Relief flooded through him upon seeing Mumbo, his entire body relaxing against the wall.

“Oh god- I thought you were- I thought he’d come back-” Grian stuttered, struggling to get his words out.

“Who’s ‘he’, Grian?” False asked quietly, the rest of the Hermit’s registering in his brain.

“I do- I don’t know, but he looked s-slightly like you,” Grian whispered, pointing at Xisuma. “Except some- except something was wrong.” He closed his eyes in an effort to refocus his breathing. “I think he said his name was Evil something.” He tried to push himself up from the wall, staggering to his feet.

“That’s EX alright,” Xisuma confirmed. “Evil Xisuma, he’s my brother. Been a pain in the ass for a while, forgot to check whether he was on the server this season.” Grian gave a shaky nod, clutching onto Mumbo’s arm for support. 

“Can we just get out of here fast and you all explain later?” Grian whispered, stumbling forward with the help of Mumbo. Xisuma nodded, clicking a few buttons on his communicator and sending a message.

< Xisumavoid > Meeting at spawn ASAP, we have Grian

“Come on then, let's get out of here,” Xisuma smiled, supporting Grian’s other arm as they stumbled out of the base.

None of them noticed the grin on Grian’s face as he looked back, locking eyes with a certain red armored figure.

Chapter Text

Jevin landed with surprising grace on top of the spawn egg, his gaze automatically searching for the red-sweatered gremlin. He was relieved when he saw him, and with surprisingly few injuries as well. Apart from being slightly shaky on his feet, he looked perfectly fine. 

“Is everything okay?” Jevin asked, turning to Xisuma. “Nobody hurt?” 

“Nobody hurt,” Xisuma confirmed. “It went surprisingly well, easy enough in and out.” Jevin sighed in relief, his gaze turning to the rest of the people there. Pearl was staring at Grian, head tilted, seeming to be muttering something under her breath. Grian seemed unaffected, staring coolly back. However the second Pearl looked away, Jevin could’ve sworn his gaze turned murderous.

In an effort to interrupt this, Jevin walked over to Pearl, a smile on his face.

“Hey Pearl! How’s it going!”

Pearl’s head moved to face, seemingly surprised.

“Going pretty good, glad Grian’s back,” she smiled, genuine relief on her face. As far as he’d been able to tell, Pearl and Grian had known each other for a long time - before Hermitcraft certainly - it was only natural she’d be so concerned. The strangely familiar but also antagonistic relationship between them was strange, and one none of the Hermits seemed to understand, least of all Jevin.

“You’ve known him a long time then?” Jevin voiced his thoughts aloud.

Pearl nodded, an almost nostalgic look on her face. “Too long arguably,” she laughed. “Met him when we were kids, drifted for a while before he invited me to his server. Then- nevermind.” She stopped, seeming to have said more than she intended.

“It’s fine, I don’t mean to push,” Jevin hastily added, glancing over at Grian. Grian was staring at the two of them with an air of suspicion, that he soon masked when he noticed Jevin looking. Part of Jevin wanted to register that as odd, but he was probably just on edge after Evil X.

“It’s fine, it just got complicated,” Pearl brushed off, forcing a smile. “Nothing we could do to stop it. Anyway, enough about me. How’s your base going? Got any plans?” Jevin couldn’t help but notice how much she was avoiding the topic but chose not to bring it up.

“Planning on doing a slime-esque base,” he explained. “The glass’ll be a pain to grind though.” Pearl paused, searching through her inventory quickly.

“I have some lime glass in my inventory if you want that,” she offered. “Just to get you started.” Jevin smiled, grabbing the glass she was holding out, turning it over and frowning.

“This is blue,” he stated, slightly confused. Maybe she was colour blind or something.

Pearl laughed, seeming slightly put off by that though.

“Right, sorry,” she apologised, blinking a few times. “Colours are hard.”

Jevin was saved from answering by Xisuma coughing to get all the Hermit’s attention.

“Alright! Hermits! I’d just like to say, I’m so glad we’re all safe. False, Iskall, Impulse, Mumbo and Scar volunteered to come on a rescue mission for Grian, which evidently succeeded. No permanent damage has been done, but I think it’s best for all of us to be cautious still. As I’m sure you’re all aware but I regret to confirm, it was Evil Xisuma behind all of this.” 

A shrinking sense of dread began growing in Jevin’s stomach (if slimes could even have stomachs). He’d met Evil Xisuma a couple of times over the years, and it had never ended well. He’d tried to destroy the server in his earlier days but seemed to have gotten less serious over the years. 

“Who’s Evil Xisuma?” Gem called from the crowd, and it hit Jevin that most of the newer Hermits wouldn’t know who he was.

“Well, as his name suggests, he’s my brother,” Xisuma explained, with a certain level of reluctance. “Except, y’know, evil.”

“Isn’t that a bit judgemental?” Pearl asked quietly, but still drawing everyone’s attention. “I mean, who started calling him Evil Xisuma? It makes it seem like he’s nothing but a worse version of you?”

Xisuma hesitated, before shrugging. “It’s what he chose to call himself. Besides, he’s lived up to the name a lot over the years. Got himself into a bad crowd young, never left.”

Pearl nodded slowly, seeming to accept that as an answer. It had been a question Jevin himself had debated before, but at the end of the day, EX chose to call himself that. 

“Anyway, me and Joe are going to carry on attempting to locate him, but he’s very good at hacking code and the likes. Just stay alert, that’s all you can really do. Try not to go places without telling people, that’s it really. Stay safe. That’s all.” 

The hermits broke out into conversation, apart from Grian, who brushed off Mumbo and began to walk away, unnoticed to most of the other Hermits. Jevin frowned, breaking out into a run to catch up with him.

“Hey! Grian! Wait up!”

Grian turned around, surprise on his face. "Hey Jevin," he replied dully, forcing a smile onto his face.

"Are you really going out alone, literally just after we got you back from EX?” Grian paused for a second, hesitation flicking across his face.

“I dunno, I just kinda wanted to get away from people,” Grian shrugged. “Was getting kinda claustrophobic over there. You can come with me if it makes you feel better.”

This time it was Jevin who hesitated. Eventually, he just shrugged. “Sure.”

A smile broke out over Grian’s face as he bounded forwards into a forest. Jevin started running after him, unwilling to lose him. After a while, Grian seemed to tire - though considering it was the hyper gremlin that took quite a while - and he and Jevin settled into a comfortable walk. It was then that Jevin noticed how isolated they were.

“So,” Jevin started, trying to form some kind of conversation. “Read anything recently?”

Grian looked surprised when Jevin spoke, but didn’t seem uncomfortable. “Nah, I listen to audiobooks. When I say audiobooks, I mean 7. On repeat.”

Jevin laughed, not sure why he was surprised. It was Grian, of course he did something like that.

“So how are those 7 audiobooks?” He asked, grinning.

“Same as always. Not listened to them recently. Been a bit preoccupied with the new season,” Grian shrugged. “You?” Jevin glanced back, now completely unable to see any forms of life. It was unsettling, but if Grian was with him, then hopefully they’d both be safe. 

“Not a book person,” Jevin shrugged. “Can’t remember the last time I read something.”

“Well this isn’t a very good conversation topic,” Grian laughed, suddenly stopping in a clearing. Jevin glanced around, not noticing anything in particular except a pool of lava. The only thing noticeable was scuff marks around the lava, which looked fairly fresh.

“Is there something here? Why’d you stop?” Jevin asked, confused. His confusion grew further when Grian turned around with a certain giddy energy to him, despite him trying to hide.

“Do you mind looking over there?” Grian asked, a nervous look on his face contrasting the giddiness from earlier. “I dunno, it gives me bad vibes.”

Hesitantly, Jevin complied, stepping slightly closer. “It looks normal. Nothing wrong that I can see,” Jevin shrugged, looking back at Grian who was wringing his hands. 

“Step closer,” Grian instructed.

Still uncertain, the slime stepped forward, frowning as he noticed something.

“It’s not warm. Normally when you go near lava, it feels warm, this doesn’t give off anything. I wonder if…” Jevin trailed off, tilting his head at the lava. 

Despite his common sense, there was an indescribable urge to just step closer, just a bit, just touch it. All he needed to do was touch it, just to satisfy his curiosity. He stepped closer, against every instinct telling him to run. The unease was overruled by just the impulse to see what it felt like.

It was as Jevin was on the edge of the pool, hand reaching towards it that he snapped back to reality. What the hell was he doing? 

He glanced back at Grian, confused when he wasn’t there. He turned around, seeing Grian to his other side, and all of a sudden he felt a violent push to his side, which turned into a shove.

He gasped out in surprise, tumbling backwards into the lava- no, it wasn't lava. He knew that now. Bubbles escaped his mouth as the substance weighed him down, sinking, sinking, sinking.

Purple and green swirled around, as his vision faded to black.

Chapter Text

Grian put his comms away, grinning as the sound of footsteps came nearer. He leaned casually against the table, skimming EX’s file.

The door swung open.

“How’d-” The synthesised voice sounded confused. Grian took that moment to notice how similar his voice was to Xisuma’s - them being related was perfectly plausible. A quick search of the file confirmed this, twin brothers.

“Please don’t ask me how I escaped, that’s so cliche,” Grian looked up. “You’d be better off asking why I’m still here and not run off, or why it took so long.” A confident smile made its way onto his face accompanying the scoff.

“Who are you?” EX demanded, looking around the room. Despite the posture, Grian could sense a slight hint of unease.

“Now, that is the right kind of question,” Grian smirked, straightening up. “And one I would’ve expected you to know the answer to. I’m offended. You kidnap me but don't even know who I am - now that’s just rude.”

“You’re clearly someone new to the server,” EX started, attempting to regain control of the situation. “Otherwise you wouldn’t provoke me.”

“I might be new,” Grian drawled. “But I wouldn’t say I don’t know you.”

He paused, giving in to the temptation. “Xanthus.”

Grian resisted the urge to laugh upon sensing the range of emotions racing through him at the moment. 

“If you’re one of them ,” EX hissed, stepping forward. His fists clenched and unclenched, as if he was trying to control himself. “Then you don’t know a single thing about me.”

“Don’t I?” Grian raised an eyebrow. “I know how much you hate us, claim we manipulated you.” Grian snorted at this. “Which for starters feels more like you’re the manipulator, trying to cast the blame onto us. Yet you never used this excuse on Xisuma, or any of the Hermits for that matter. Why wouldn’t you tell your twin?” 

EX twitched, debating a response.

“It’s complicated,” he snarled, towering over the shorter hermit. Grian looked bored despite the physical advantage, fiddling with a string of purple magic in his hands.

“I’m sure it is,” Grian replied sarcastically. “Maybe he’d see through your lies? Or you never told him you were part of the Watchers - much more likely. Claiming you were manipulated would mean having to admit that you joined us, something that would only end up with more blame on you.” 

Once again, EX took a while to respond. “It’s not an excuse. I was manipulated, but I still did it.” The aggression seemed mostly to have given way to a mix of fear, and maybe guilt?

“Guilt,” Grian hummed. “Interesting.” He looked up, a smirk on his face. “Now, I have two options. I could turn you into the Watchers, or I can get you cleared off their hit list. Because as a rogue watcher, you’re still wanted, but I can change that.” Grian pushed EX out of the way, hopping off the table and starting to walk to the door.

“Wait,” EX called out hesitantly. “What do I have to do?” 

Grian turned around, a satisfied smirk on his face.

“I need you to help me deal with something.”

.

..

.

Grian rinsed his hands in the sink, cleaning off the green and blue goop covering his hands. Hints of red and purple swirled in the basin, for a second, before he turned the tap off. 

He quickly dried his hands, a grim smile on his face as he reached for his watcher communicator. He opened up a conversation with EX, sending a quick message.

< Xelqua > Any complications?

< Xelqua > Remember our deal, Xanthus

Grian rehung the towel, stepping into the main area of his starter base. He sat down, blowing out the Watcher screens. He opened up Pearl’s player file that he’d gotten SB to send over, starting to scan her player code for anything suspicious. He was interrupted by EX responding.

< Xanthus > I remember the deal, I don’t need reminding

< Xanthus > No, there’s not been any complications. Do you not have that much faith in me?

< Xelqua > Just checking in. 

< Xelqua > Do you want to switch to a VC so there isn’t as much evidence?

< Xanthus > I’m not the one scared of being found out.

< Xanthus > If you find it necessary though

Grian took that as an invitation to go ahead, pressing the call button and marking Pearl’s file as read. There were a few moments of silence after EX picked up, but Grian waited patiently for the first few seconds.

"Hello?" Grian asked, frowning slightly in concern. The brief concern was alleviated when EX responded.

"Yes?" The voice came over slightly staticy, but still clear enough to hear with ease. 

"The Hermit's were completely convinced you'd just been keeping me there. They're ridiculously easy to lie to," Grian snorted, waiting a few seconds for a response.

It was slightly staticy, but still easy enough to hear.

“Yes?” EX replied, irritation in his voice. “Was there any need for this call?” Frustration began to bubble in Grian’s stomach, but he knew that was what EX was aiming for.

“Maybe I just wanted to talk to you,” Grian responded, trying his best to make his voice sound joking and not giving away the exasperation in his voice.

“Aw, you miss me?” EX laughed. “Didn’t know I made that much of an impact.”

“Don’t flatter yourself.” Grian raised an eyebrow. “Not sure having to kidnap someone so they remember you is a good thing.”

“Says the Watcher. Isn’t your whole thing meant to be trying to stay unnoticed - you wouldn’t think I was the one who defected.”

“Touchè.”

There were a few moments of silence in which neither Grian or EX knew what to say, until eventually EX spoke up.

“So why are the Hermits getting suspicious now? It’s clearly a new thing.” The question caught Grian off guard, but he supposed EX would’ve picked up on the suspicion at some point, he just didn’t know when.

“Sorry, not allowed to say,” Grian responded, grinning. Not technically true, but would get on EX’s brain. “You’re still classed as rogue, y’know. You’re dangerous.” The last words triggered slightly more of a reaction, despite his best efforts to hide it.

“Oh, am I?” He laughed, a hint of bitterness creeping into his voice. Grian shrugged.

“You tell me.”  There was yet another bout of uncomfortable silence, which Grian eventually decided to break. 

“Can you handle cleanup?” 

“Huh?” EX sounded confused.

Grian sighed, exaggerating the exasperation.

“Jevin cleanup, the slime, remember? God, keep up.” He scoffed. He hesitated when EX didn’t reply, instead adding something else.

“What, you need me to come over there and help? Because I will, it’s just inconvenient for me to rearrange the meeting.”

“You asking me out on a date?” EX snorted, returning to his snarky comments as usual.

“I take it that’s a no?” Grian asked, amusement in his voice.

“I’m not that incompetent, Grian ,” EX spat. “I can handle basic cleanup duty; I managed to kidnap you in the first place.”

“You sure?” Grian laughed. “Let me know if you need a dustpan and brush. Though I suppose that wouldn’t really work on slime.”

“Oh no, I can’t get my own ‘dustpan and brush’,” EX responded sarcastically. “Oh wait, I forgot. I’m dangerous according to you lot.”

“And I’m risking my position by even suggesting getting you pardoned,” Grian lied. “Count your blessings, Xanthus. You dug your own grave.”

“That’s not the only grave I’ve dug.”

Grian resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow.

"I'm sure Jevin's very grateful," Grian replied snidely. “And your threats need work,” he added offhandedly. “I’ll be off now, SB’ll kill me if I’m late to a meeting again.” Part of him wanted to make a joke about how Mumbo would be later, but that likely wouldn’t go down well. 

Grian clicked the ‘end call button’, panic racing through him when he noticed Scar hovering at the door. He couldn’t have been there long, he would’ve noticed. Few seconds at most. He couldn’t have heard much. If he had to, could he really kill Scar? 

“Who was that, G?” Grian couldn’t help but be relieved that Scar hadn’t heard who it was. How had he been so careless? “Was he threatening you?” 

Grian shook his head.

“Nah, it was an… old friend,” He deflected, hoping Scar would stop there.

“What was their name?” His brain rushed through as many names as he could, spitting out the first viable name that would fit.

“Taurtis,” he rushed out, realising only after that Scar might actually crosscheck who he was, or worse, tell Pearl. Damnit . Though, he could just bullshit his way through anything else, say something dumb about how he’d got Taurtis out, but Taurtis had gone undercover? Pearl ought to believe that. The Hermits were gullible enough.

“Cool!” Scar didn’t seem to question it any further, a smile appearing on his face. “So, how you doing?”

Grian forced a smile onto his face, pushing away the panic that had overtaken him earlier. Scar was straightforward enough not to care about it. “I’m doing pretty good, y’know, considering...”

Scar’s smile wavered a little. “Yeah, I hope you’re recovering well after- that mess. Anyways, I should be off!” Scar grinned apologetically. "Starter bases to build, clothes to steal, that sorta thing."

Grian choked out a laugh at the second part. "We're not doing that again." 

"Try and stop me. Seeya!" Scar took off and, seconds later, promptly crashed into a wall.

Grian burst out laughing, returning to his communicator and logging out. 

Chapter Text

“So, Av-ick-sier, Av- Ax- A-vi-xier, Avxier?” Jaxa began, before grimacing. “God, I can’t pronounce half of these names to save my life- anyways, why did you decide to join the Watchers, Tommy?” 

Tommy shifted uncomfortably, seeming to hesitate a lot.

“Any answer’s fine, Tommy, I’m just curious more than anything.”

“Mostly to, um, get away froma certain someone on my server,” Tommy mumbled, avoiding Jaxa’s gaze. "They've been... a bit of a dick to me and my friends for the past couple of months."

Jaxa hummed with acknowledgement, tapping a finger on their desk.

“Okay, that’s understandable,” Jaxa smiled reassuringly, but at the same time blatantly forced. “There’s been a couple other Watchers who’ve said similar.” They paused for a moment, brushing their hair out of their eyes. His attention diverted when he realized that it was significantly shorter, having been cut to a more masculine style.

“Your hair-” Tommy said hesitantly.

“Oh, that,” Jaxa laughed. “Result of multiple gender crisis- crisi? I dunno, and mild peer pressure from a friend. What was I going to ask again?” They frowned, struggling to remember. “Ah! Right - how are you doing?”

“Uh-” Tommy seemed confused by the question. “I’m doing okay?”

“That’s um, that’s good,” Jaxa mused, seeming to be struggling to come up with anything to follow up with. “Just ‘cause I don’t want anyone to be really upset by something that’s avoidable.” They paused again, before laughing slightly. “Oh god, I sound like one of those HR advisers, please let me know if you ever want me to shut up.”

“You don’t want people to be upset,” Tommy paused, trying to work through what they’d just said. “But you’re part of a creepy stalker organization?” 

Jaxa winced. They laughed nervously “Right- Um, that’s a big flaw in my argument. Shut up.” 

Tommy sniggered.

There was a silent pause. Jaxa opened their mouth, before closing it again.

“I mean, are you sure? ‘Cause like, you can talk to me about anything , you know that Tommy, right? You know that, hm.”

“Yeah, I just, I just don’t feel like I’m actually doing much here.”

“Well that’s fine Tommy, that’s fine. I mean, you’ve always wanted to join the Watchers from a young age, right?”

“...No?” The taller raised a brow, much more confused.

Jaxa seemed unaffected. Their head tilted slightly, “But you’ve heard of them, right? Surely Phil would’ve told you. Phil’s your father - am I allowed to reference your father? I mean, surely Phil would’ve told you?”

“I don’t- know?”

“Are you sure? I mean, your memory’s not any better than mine and mine’s shit at the best of the times.” They laughed. “Are you sure? If you think about it.”

“No.”

“Oh. Really? I mean, because he’s certainly heard of them. He was very strongly against them, I mean, you hate Phil, right?”

Tommy no longer had any clue of what was going on, speaking of which, what the fuck is going on?

"Well- no?"

“But I mean, it makes sense. Of course you’d hate him. Any normal person would. You wouldn’t like him after everything. He destroyed your country with Dream and he killed your brother - why would you like him?”

“That’s not his fault-”

“Isn’t it though? Because I mean, when you think about it, it really is. Wilbur might’ve begged for death, Phil physically stabbed him, y’know? I think that’s something you should bear in mind, of course you’re free to make your own judgement on him, I just think. You seem to be rather… forgiving? Of him. I mean, after everything he’s done to you, everything he’s put you through. I mean… Why wouldn’t you hate him?”

“Because he’s my father.”

“Are you sure he never told you about them?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

Despite how Tommy denied everything, They've remained insistent. Very insistent.

“Really though? Are you really sure? He’d have told you about it at least once, we’re not that well kept of a secret.”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

“You could’ve missed?”

“I mean- I don’t think so.”

“You’re probably not just remembering it Tommy. Phil would’ve told you about it at some point if he was a good father, as you claim he was.”

Tommy hesitated for a moment. “Phil was a good father.” He stated, though it started sounding a bit less sure.

“How many times do I have to repeat it? No, he wasn’t, you moron. Get a grip, he was manipulating you his entire life. Like Wilbur manipulated you. And you were oblivious about that until the end, so…”

Tommy was about to reply, but then someone else in the room coughed, announcing their presence. They both turned at the same time, and he sighed in relief, meanwhile Jaxa paled.

A figure stood by the half open door, hand still on the handle, other hand holding a stack of papers. Though their expression was deadpanned, her tone was sharp. “Am I interrupting something here?”

Jaxa shrunk back into their seat, before awkwardly laughing. “R-Rachel! You’re back early!” 

The older watcher seemed unimpressed, and instead raised a brow. “Care to explain what the hell I just walked into?” 

“Nothing- nothing , really!” Jaxa shut off whatever Tommy was going to say. “We were just having a nice , formal discussion-”

“That’s a fucking lie.” The icy glare Zeichi gave did not lessen in the slightest.

She continued, relaxing into her usual posture before the younger could object. “Anyways, enough of this tomfoolery, you have other visitors waiting.”

Zeichi walked into the room and pushed the door back, and right behind her, Zyno and Xelqua followed.

“Ah- Xelqua, Zyno! My two most favourite watchers!” They straightened up. “Wassup? Here to discuss the mission, right?”

“Yeah,” Xelqua replied as he and the other sat on the seats in front of the table, just right next to the other blond. “Did you hear from Z-”

“Yeah, Zyno told me about the recent developments on your end.” Jaxa paused. They paused for a moment. “So, how’s EX holding up?”

“He looks just fine to me.” The dirty blond shrugged. Hang on, there’s two dirty blonds. Fuck. The one with the red top- oh wait. Shit. The shorter one- hang on a minute. 

You know what, whatever, you know the one.

“Good to hear,” Jaxa chuckled. “Haven’t seen that bitch since the day they ran away.”

“You knew him? What was he like back then?” 

Meanwhile neither party noticed Tommy, who was not following with the conversation at all, just waiting for an explanation on what the actual fuck they were talking about.

“Quite timid, spite and anger towards their brother was what kept him going. They were reluctant to hurt him in the end though. He ended up bailing at the last second, as you heard.”

“How long ago was that?” Grian asked, also completely failing to notice Tommy’s ever growing confusion

“Eh, probably 5 years ago or whatever.” Jaxa shrugged. “He ran away just a month or more before you came along. Rachel was the one dealing with that mess.” 

“Hang on-” Tommy started, before Zeichi completely cut him off.

“That’s why you don’t get people with previous connections.” She rolled her eyes. “Never ends well.”

“It’s not my fault,” Jaxa deflected. “Nobody objected, I just saw it as an opportunity.”

“I get why you’d just let him through,” Zyno shrugged, glancing at Grian.

“Wait- so who broke up with who?” Tommy finally was able to ask, and the room immediately went deadly silent.

“ What? ”

The silence was broken by Jaxa and Grian, simultaneously.

“Wh-” Tommy repeated. “You guys were the one talking about exes or some shit-!”

Silence fell again, before the two bursted out laughing.

“Oh god- Tommy- Oh no-” Zyno looked like he was trying his best to hold in his own laughter.

The boy grew even more confused. “What??”

“The EX we’re talking about is a person,” Zeichi clarified, seemingly unaffected. “Yes, it’s their actual name. Short for ‘Evil Xisuma’.”

“Dumb name, I know,” Grian sniggered. “I Think he changed his name when he was young, then dropped that for ‘EX’. Should’ve stayed with what he changed it to originally, honestly.”

“Wh- no one told me about this-” Tommy defended, feeling a bit frustrated that he got left out from this information. “So who the fuck is this Evil guy?” 

Grian looked at SB, who then proceeded to look at Jaxa who then looked at Zeichi, who facepalmed, both mentally and physically.

“Oh for ender’s sake how are you all even…” she trailed off, before sighing. “He’s an ex-watcher who used to work for this division, though he ended up bailing halfway through a mission and betraying our kind.”

“So why are we talking about this now?” Tommy asked, looking around in confusion.

“Xelqua got back in contact with him. And now he’s working with us again… or whatever along those lines.” Zeichi continued, glancing at Grian. “Is that correct, Xelqua?”

“Mostly,” Grian shrugged. “Not convinced he’s actually loyal, but the promise of redemption seems to be working for now. I can threaten him if need be, but if he’s as gullible as his brother, there's not much we need to worry about.”

“If you’re sure.” 

“Are you really attacking this soon?” Jaxa asked, unable to keep a hint of skepticism out of their voice.

“I’m still only preparing it, probably will wait at least a few more days to actually do this, I need to come up with at least a more mediocre plan than just ‘server go boom’.” Xelqua answered irritably. “Already made some arrangements with some other divisions, so we should be good to go soon enough.”

“So you’re actually going to be doing this?” Zyno asked.

“Wh- what’s that supposed to mean???” Grian turned. “Of course I am. I’m not gonna do an EX.” Tommy started sniggering slightly.

“Sorry, just the way you phrased it,” Tommy mumbled, a grin on his face.

“ Anyway , moving on,” Jaxa interrupted. “I hope you’re as ready as you claim to be, Xelqua. We wouldn’t what a repeat of what happened last time, though I can say that I trust you more than I ever trusted Xanthus. I’ve also seen the rough outline of that plan you presented, and I can say it’s not half bad.”

“Is that all you wanted to ask about?” Grian asked, irritation rising. He was sure, he had to be. It was a mix of just being questioned so much, and the slightest hint of doubt slowly worming it’s way into his thoughts.

“If you’re so desperate to leave, sure,” Jaxa grinned, gesturing towards the door. Grian nodded with acknowledgement, bowing his head as he made his way out of the office, SB following a bit behind, and Tommy practically running to catch up.

.

..

.

“Wanna get some cupcakes and chill?” Grian asked as they exited the main HQ, glancing at the other two watchers. “Or ice cream, up to you.” 

Tommy’s eyes lit up. “You guys sell ice cream around these parts?!”

“Yeah, don’t you see all of the food stalls and vendors in the main area?” SB asked. “There’s a lot of things here you wouldn’t find in your average server.”

“Though they still sell ice cream,” Grian added, grin on his face. “So, ice cream?”

“DEFINITELY!” Tommy practically jumped with excitement, causing both SB and Grian to laugh.

“SB, you’re paying,” Grian quickly added.

“Oh goodness gracious.” The other watcher rolled his eyes, but also had a small smile on his face. “You’ll owe me an ice cream though.” 

“In the future, sure.”

“Not too far in the future though, I don’t want you dead before I get my money,” SB laughed, grabbing a handful of coins from his pocket.

.

..

.

“So you guys are a corporate species, threatening to destroy servers and shit, and on the side you guys also go chill and open ice cream stores??”

SB and Grian glanced at each other. 

“Yup. Basically us in a nutshell,” Grian laughed. 

“I wanna buy an ice cream truck when I’m older,” Tommy decided firmly.

“Sounds fun, sounds fun.” Grian chuckled. “God, I’m jealous. I’m practically stuck in my job as a double agent or some crap, wish I was just working at a simple ice cream store.”

“You just want the ice cream.”

“And?”

“I see no problem with that,” Tommy sniggered.

“I actually had a job in an ice cream store for a short period of time,” Grian added. “Then my best friend got murdered sorta, and I ended up quitting.”

“Really? That’s rough.” Tommy winced. “Was the ice cream at least good?”

Grian laughed, though a bit more grimmer than usual. “Arguably, yes. Was it worth the trauma just to have it? Probably not.”

“Trauma’s never fun,” Tommy sighed in agreement.

“Am I the only Watcher without any sort of trauma here?” SB asked, glancing at the two.

“Probably, lucky you.” A tinge of bitterness crept its way into Grian’s voice, signalling that it was probably time to change the topic.  “Anyway, maybe I’ll see if I can buy an ice cream shop once I’m done with this mission.”

“Speaking of the mission,” Tommy added, although he seemed a bit more reluctant to bring up the topic. “What was it about servers being destroyed?”

“Oh, right, forgot that we didn’t actually give you a full rundown on the mission,” Grian laughed. “The server I’m on is due to be destroyed within the next couple weeks.” 

Tommy frowned. “But you’re getting the people out, right?” 

Grian glanced at SB, uncertain on how to answer it.

“Not exactly,” Grian eventually answered.

“What do you mean-”

He could’ve sworn a couple of tears were pricking at the corners of his eyes, threatening to drop. 

“Well, you see, Tommy,” he answered hesitantly, glancing once again at SB for reassurance. “Sometimes, there are people who threaten our society, and our entire way of living. And sometimes, very rarely, we have to go to extreme lengths to protect ourselves--”

“But-” Tommy choked out. “But that doesn’t mean they deserve to die !” His breathing had increased, and Grian could sense the ever increasing feelings of betrayal and horror. 

He reached a hand out in an attempt to reassure Tommy, but the younger flinched away. 

“Maybe not. But Tommy, the thing is-”

“No!” Tommy interrupted, his voice heightening in pitch. One of the tears that had been threatening to spill over slipped down his cheek, but he quickly brushed that away. “You lied! You lied to me!” He backed away even further. “All you people do is LIE !”

Tommy took off, ducking behind a corner after a few seconds. The sound of his muffled sobs could still be heard, and Grian made a move to go after him before SB stopped him.

“Don’t,” SB said quietly. “He’ll come around.” 

Grian nodded, a little shaken, but flicked a quick smile.

“I probably should be off,” he deflected, trying to ignore the tangible betrayal that he could feel from a few feet away. “Dunno how long I can get away with away before they get suspicious, especially so soon after the Xanthus incident.”

It was a reasonable excuse, even though they both knew it wasn’t the real reason. 

SB nodded in acknowledgement. “I’ll call if there’s any updates, or when I need one.” 

Grian smiled. “Thanks SB.” 

With that, Grian once again prepared to log back into the Hermitcraft server, with a slightly heavier feeling in his stomach, and slightly wavering resolve.

Chapter Text

< Xisumavoid > guys, I think we have a problem. 

< TangoTek > the period makes that seem very threatening lmao

< Grian > you americans and your periods smh

< joehillssays > is something up

< Grian > whats gone wrong Xisuama 

< Grian > *Xisuma

< Grian > ?

< Xisumavoid > I can’t find Jevin’s location anywhere. When’s the last time any of you have seen him?

< impulseSV > no clue

< impulseSV > he was probabnyl at the meeting

< MumboJumbo > he was at the meeting, remember seeing him there

< TangoTek > So has anyone seen him since?

< impulseSV > no

< MumboJumbo > don’t think so

< Grian > nope

< FalseSymmetry > Saw him run off towards the forest near the end of the meeting

< Grian > He kept glancing towards that way, think he saw something

< joehillssays > well shit here we go again

.

..

.

Xisuma placed down his communicator.

“Did you find anything?” Joe asked, only half hopeful.

“Nope.” The admin responded with a sigh. "Same situation as with Grian." Joe swore under his breath, and under better circumstances, Xisuma would've made a joke about that. 

"I'm gonna tell the other hermits to search for him like before, groups of three? again" Joe asked, glancing at Xisuma. 

"Probably best, don't want to lose anyone else." Xisuma sunk his head into his hands, taking a breath before standing up. "What are the odds this is EX?" 

"Realistically, pretty high," Joe admitted reluctantly. "It seems strange though, I thought he'd stopped after season 6."

"So did I." Xisuma sighed again. "D'you think Tango would be up for searching with us?"  

Joe shrugged, peering over Xisuma's shoulder to see his communicator.  “Hold on, let me message him.” he tapped out a quick DM towards Tango, to which he got a quick response. 

< TangoTek > sure

< TangoTek > where we meeting

< joehillssays > sumas base

< TangoTek > k

< TangoTek > be there in a minute

"He's just on the way," Joe told Xisuma, showing him the previous conversation. Xisuma sighed in relief, checking his communicator once again. 

"I don't know how this could've happened," Xisuma mumbled. "Especially so soon after we got Grian back."

Joe rested a hand comfortingly on Xisuma's shoulder, seeming to sense the range of thoughts flicking through his head. 

"Nobody did, Suma. That's what's so scary." Joe paused, debating what to say. "Nobody saw him coming, even though this is exactly the sort of thing he does."

X isuma paused, before shaking his head.

“No, it’s not.” 

Joe frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that this isn’t exactly the sort of thing he does at all. He’s never this simplistic, he always has a plan, and the plans are always part of something bigger. He doesn’t just kidnap people for no reason.”

“Maybe he’s desperate?” Joe suggested, shrugging.

“Yeah, maybe.” Xisuma sounded unconvinced. He was saved from having to think about it more by the whoosh of elytra and Tango swooping in.

“Hey!” Tango greeted with forced cheeriness. “You two ready to start searching?” This time the words were accompanied by a wry smile.

Xisuma nodded, just a second after Joe did.

“I was thinking we start near spawn and work our way upwards towards boatem,” Joe filled in when Xisuma didn’t answer. “Any other ideas?” Tango and Xisuma glanced at each other.

“Nope,” Tango responded, his smile changing once again to a grim one. “Let’s get started.”

.

..

.

The process of searching every area for signs, and checking the entity counter in each chunk was mind-numbingly boring, but that wasn’t why Xisuma’s head was swimming. With every area in which they had to concede that Jevin wasn’t there, he found it harder and harder to ignore the niggling doubts in the back of his mind.

What sort of an admin was he if his own brother was kidnapping the people under his protection?

Did he even deserve to be an admin if he couldn’t prevent that?

How did he even know that Jevin was still-?

That was where Xisuma cut off his thought process. While the life signs could be faked, his brother didn’t possess that kind of ability last he knew.

Last you knew.

With all that had been happening since the start of Season 8, Xisuma was feeling more pressure than ever. Despite all the talk of a flat team structure, there was an undeniable sense of responsibility on him to find Jevin, as the admin of the server. He owed it to Jevin, he owed it to the rest of the Hermits.

“-Suma? You there?”

He was dragged back to reality by Tango snapping his fingers in front of him, and Xisuma forced himself to translate the noises into words.

Xisuma blinked, struggling to get his brain and mouth to cooperate. 

“Yeah, sorry, just lost focus for a sec there,” Xisuma lied, reaching for his communicator. “Gets a bit taxing, doing this for a while.” 

Joe shot him a sympathetic look. “It does,” he agreed. “Let us know if you need a break.” 

Xisuma didn’t reply, but nodded reluctantly. 

"I swear, it's like he just vanished," Tango grumbled, kicking a clump of grass. Joe rested a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. 

“That shouldn’t be possible,” he countered. “There should be at least some trace of him somewhere left on the server.”

The blond was still grumbling. “Well, where else should we look? It feels like we’ve exhausted all our options.”

“We could try the same tactic we did when we were searching for Grian.” Xisuma suggested a bit half-heartedly. “Though I’d imagine it wouldn’t be as successful as before.”

“Let’s at least try it first.” Joe encouraged.

Xisuma reluctantly got his communicator up, and pressed a button. “...Yeah.” Holographic text and panels projected onto the air, and he started scanning through them. “Hold on.”

The other two just watched silently in anticipation as he scoured through the desktops of the database, and went into the server folders, and tapped on the ‘server members’ folder, until he finally got to Jevin’s file.

With a wave of a hand, more holograms appeared right next to the already existing ones. He dragged the player file over to the newly generated panels, and dropped it there.

Suddenly, all the screens went red, and Xisuma’s stomach sank.

“Um, Guys- it’s-”

The both were going to look besides Xisuma, but suddenly, Tango turned to the side, his gaze locked on the bushes and his eyes widened. 

“Hold on.” He practically hissed, stopping Joe.

Joe raised an eyebrow. “Tango w-”

“Be quiet!” He whispered again, voice borderlining on panic. “There’s someone sneaking around here!” 

Joe followed his gaze, frowning and turning to Tango upon not seeing anything.

“I don-”

“There’s someone there, trust me,” Tango hissed again, cutting Joe off.

"Suma," Joe whispered. "Can you run a scan for nearby entities?"  quickly?”

Xisuma nodded, attention diverted.

T he clicking of keys all that could be heard for a few seconds.

“None in the surrounding chunks other than us and a few passive mobs,” Xisuma replied, this time at normal volume. “No doom guy rip-offs to be found.” Tango stared at him. “What?”

“You’re literally a doom guy rip-off,” he stated, raising an eyebrow. Xisuma shuffled slightly.

“That’s different, I’m an axolotl,” he defended.

“Sure,” Tango responded, rolling his eyes. He paused for a second, seemingly lost in thought. "Wait a minute, isn't the tracking system piggybacking off the locational rendering in the game code?" Xisuma nodded slowly, not quite understanding. "So couldn't you just search through the code to find the blocking system and debug it?" Xisuma paused, his face lighting up with realisation. 

"I thought the blocker was an add-on, which whenever EX makes them are a pain to remove, but if it was an exploit using the actual code…" Xisuma trailed off, typing furiously. Green lines of code flickered across the screen at an almost illegible pace, until eventually Xisuma stopped, letting out a sharp breath. 

"Is that it?" Tango asked, rereading the seemingly innocent line of code. It looked normal enough at first sight - though Tango was far from an expert in coding. 

"It reminds me of the line with the whitelist," Joe murmured, unfocused. 

"I just assumed it was an add-on, I should've checked, would've saved us time with Grian-" Xisuma rambled, dragging both Joe and Tango's attention back to him. 

"Suma," Joe cut off, sensing the rising levels of distress. He reached out towards Xisuma's shoulder before pausing. "Can I touch you?" It was only after Xisuma's nod that Joe rested a hand on his shoulder. The pressure helped drag him out of his spiralling thoughts. "You did the best you could've, this isn't your fault. You know that, right?" Xisuma hesitated.

“But I just let it happen,” Xisuma eventually answered, apprehensively glancing up at Joe.

"That's not what happened and we both know it."

"Xisuma?" Tango said hesitantly, looking towards Joe for reassurance. "Don't go down that rabbit hole, trust me, it leads nowhere good." 

"Yeah. Right." Xisuma forced a grim smile onto his face. "I'll have to rewire the code entirely, it's really deeply embedded," he muttered. 

“I’ll do it.” Joe suddenly insisted. “X, look at yourself. If you spend another second looking at those screens, I’m pretty sure you’re going to actually go insane.” He interjected before X could open his mouth to object.

“...Touché.” The admin sighed in defeat. Though he didn’t really like it, Joe had a point. “Are you really up for it, though?”

Joe nodded, hand already on his communicator. “I’ll stay here. Why don’t you and Tango continue searching somewhere else?"

“I never agreed to this,” Tango spoke up in a joking tone before Xisuma could reply. “Actually, wait, I totally did, nevermind.”

The other two laughed at that, a bit lighter.

Xisuma turned back to Joe, a little tenser. “Well- uh, Joe,” His voice tightened. “Be careful.”

He got a reassuring smile in response.

“I will, I will.”

Behind the sounds of the a pair of footsteps, none paid mind to the rustle of bushes.

Chapter Text

“Do you think he’s around here somewhere?” 

False paused, turning to look at her companions. 

"Honestly, at this point I really doubt it," Wels sighed, walking a bit behind her.

"I'm sure he's somewhere near," Gem told them, forcing optimism into her voice. “C’mon, if we don’t find him by 10 you can come to my place and have hot chocolate!” False cracked a grateful smile, Wels didn’t.

“Should we just use torches?” She asked, squinting slightly in the ever-fading light. “Or we can drop by Boatem - I’m sure either Grian or Impulse have the villagers to get the ingredients for night vision.”

Wels thought for a second, before reaching into his inventory. “Torches are quicker.” 

Gem shrugged in agreement, lighting hers on before dropping it with a slight squeak. False started sniggering, but Wels had the courtesy of trying to cover it with a cough.

“I didn’t know it was going to be that bright!” she defended, flushing slightly. She picked it up, swinging the bright aura around her. Flecks of dust flew through the light, slightly obscuring their vision.

Gem swung it around the trees, pausing when she heard a twig snap. 

"That either of you?" she asked cautiously, turning around to glance at them. They both shook their heads. Gem's heart sank, locking eyes with False. A familiar soft groaning could be heard from behind False; instantly she spun around, bow drawn. 

A soft thud could be heard as it hit the ground, blood escaping the arrow wound nearly placed slightly to the left of its chest. 

"Holy sh-" Wels exclaimed, before getting a pointed glance from False. "-gar," he corrected. "That was incredible!" False shrugged modestly. “I honestly forgot how good you are at pvp.”

"Practice," she brushed off.

Gem was about to reply with some awestruck comment, before hearing another half-dead moan, this time sounding even closer.

Gem grabbed a slice of beef, forcing it down her throat, trying to ignore her shaking hand. Whether it was from cold or unease, she didn't know. She hadn’t actually fought monsters a ton before, mostly sleeping through the night instead.

Wels’ hand clenched tightly on his sword next to Gem, his breathing sped up as well. Gem glanced back at False, who'd automatically taken up a defensive position with her back to them. 

“Annoying Zombies.” She muttered under her breath, looking around with her torch still in the other hand. She was about to put her sword away, when she glimpsed shining iron in the distance. Her breath caught, pulling her sword as close to her chest as she could.

“There’s a whole hoard of them over there!” False exclaimed, a hint of fear creeping into her voice.

“Can you take them?” Wels asked, turning around. He shifted position so that it was more of a triangle than the previous two-facing-one-way-one-facing-the-other formation that they’d adopted.

“Hope so,” False answered, elbow poking out from withdrawing the arrow. “If not, then this’ll be one hell of a ride.” She let go of the arrow, a soft thud following soon after. This process repeated a few more times until the shining iron Gem had earlier glimpsed came fully into view, this time as an armoured zombie. Gem searched her inventory, panic rising as she realised she didn’t have a long range weapon.

“Either of you have a spare bow?” She asked, struggling to keep her voice down.

“Bit preoccupied at the moment-” False grunted, firing another arrow.

“Sorry, don’t think so,” Wels apologised, glancing over at Gem. “Do you think you’ll be alright without?”

“Yeah, I can manage.” Gem’s voice was higher than intended, and overall not very convincing. She wasn’t good at fighting, and the prospect of having to physically fight for her life scared her.

By now, the zombie was nearing her. Wels and False had spread out, False having resorted to straight-up stabbing the zombies with the arrows and her sword, while Wels was fighting the zombies with his sword. 

Gem stepped forward, trying to filter out the squelching of flesh and the groans of pain. It was then that it struck her - this many zombies wasn’t normal. Where had they come from? Admittedly it was dark, but not enough to warrant this many.

It was while Gem was distracted by that train of thought, that the zombie attacked her. She stumbled back, letting out a small cry of pain, before stabbing the sword into the zombie’s waist, just above the leggings. 

Heart racing, she swung again, this time swinging across the head. To Gem’s relief, it didn’t come clean off, instead just falling to one side, the zombie collapsing back. 

She didn’t have much time for relief until she noticed another one ready to strike, groaning as it lunged towards her. The rotting hand punched the side of her stomach, while Gem barely had time to process her reflexual swinging, cutting the arm clean off.

Bile crept up her throat as the hand lay next to her, the greyish substance dripping out of the wrist joining the puddle formed by the previously slain. The zombie managed to gain one more hit, before Gem stabbed it through the stomach.

She fought the urge to scream, because unlike the other zombie, it fell onto her. She pulled the sword out of its stomach, pushing it backwards into the path of yet another zombie. It clambered over the corpses of its previously fallen comrades, slashing its sword across Gem’s stomach.

“Gem!”

False’s voice cut through the sounds of fighting, an arrow barely skimming the side of Gem’s head as it flew into the zombie. It joined the array of fallen zombies strewn across the floor, False’s eyes still fixed on Gem.

“You good for now?” She raised her voice, ensuring that she could hear her.

Gem nodded, ignoring the lurching feeling in her stomach and the nausea she was fighting.

“At least until the zombies stop!”

“Yeah,” False mumbled. “They’d have to stop soon. Have to.”

She carried on warding off zombies, enough to evade major damage, though inexperience led to more blood joining the massacre on the floor than was healthy. It was when the zombies finally were thinning out, that one zombie carrying a sword lurched towards her.

She swung violently towards it, barely skimming the zombie’s arm. It lunged towards her, and she let out a silent scream as a sharp pain erupting the right of her chest. Vision beginning to blur, she swung upwards, fully decapitating the zombie.

With barely a grunt of pain, Gem fell to the floor. 

Blood pooled around her torso, the smell of rotting flesh filling her lungs with every shallow breath she took. The tang of iron filled her mouth, some form of liquid choking down one of her lungs. False and Wel’s voices blurred together, incomprehensible; instead, the thudding of her heartbeat echoed in her ears.

Forcing her head up, she looked down at her chest, to see a sword stabbed halfway through, and a blurry figure leaning over. That explained the heaviness in her chest, she supposed.

She didn’t know how long it was until she felt pressure around her chest area, but she knew the throbbing lasted a while longer until she felt someone pulling her head up. She could barely make out the outline of someone, the precise colouring's all blurring into a hazy red.

Voices were speaking: to her, to each other - it was irrelevant. Soft, calm voices were speaking to her. Gently opening her lips.

Instinctually, she swallowed the liquid put past her lips, along with a large quantity of blood. Not that she could really tell the difference.

It was a few minutes after that her vision began to clear, the darkness in her mind beginning to brighten up and allow her to think.

“Oh thank god,” someone muttered, once she attempted to sit up.

“Gem! Sh, don’t try and sit up. You’re alright, you’re safe now.” Gem blinked, trying to put the voice to a name. It was higher than the other one, that meant probably a girl, right? 

“Wha-” she croaked, coughing immediately after. She coughed again, this time crimson spitting out onto the ground next to her. Correction - more crimson, she noted upon looking at the surrounding areas.

“The potion should be kicking in around now, try not to move your chest area if you can,” Wels soothed. Gem now recognised the voice as Wels. “We’ll pull the sword out once more internal damage has healed.” Gem nodded, spitting out more of the blood pooling in her mouth onto the floor.

“They- gone now?” She stuttered, ignoring the two of them and trying to sit up. Surprisingly, they just seemed resigned.

“Yeah, they’re gone now,” False whispered. “According to Stress’s lessons, the sword should be safe to pull out around… now!” On her command, Wels yanked the sword out of Gem’s chest, and discared it onto the ground.

Suddenly, Gem heard a buzzing in her pocket. Struggling for her recuperating strength, she pulled out her communicator, and glanced down at it.

< JoeHills > ijhekorge

Wels and False looked at each other.

“Wels, you support Gem,” False commanded. “Won’t take us long to get there.” Gem vaguely remembered protesting that she could walk on her own, but the journey there blurred together, through a mix of potions, pain and nausea. 

False arrived at the coordinates first. Gem remembered how both of them froze a tad suddenly. She remembered the way her knees buckled, and how pale she was when she turned around. Gem struggled to see, not immediately noticing at first. But then she did.

Blood.

Blood pooled down the grassy terrain.

Her mouth gaped, meanwhile False started walking forward.

Her eyes were locked on the color of crimson red. She didn't want to look, but she couldn't turn away. Her eyes trailed down, up, and around. Then, she noticed something shiny a bit aside from the pool of blood, it seemed like a tiny shard of glass, and next to it was... oh.

Her eyes widened even more, if that was even possible.

A pair of broken glasses laid on the floor, just next to the bushery.

Chapter Text

Grian’s communicator buzzed with the failed call.

“Fruit’s sake,” he muttered, attempting to call SB again. Like the previous 2 times, it rang out for about a minute, before failing. He sighed, debating whether to try again. He pressed the call button for the third time with gritted teeth. “C’mon, pick up, pick up!”

But the other side didn’t pick up.

Grian groaned against the cushion, tossing his communicator to the side in frustration.

“You sound happy.” A sarcastic remark made itself known in time with the sound of footsteps from behind.

He rolled his eyes, barely turning to the ex-watcher. “Thanks.”

EX snickered. “What’s wrong? Your stupid partnder didn’t pick up your call again?”

“Exactly! I don’t know what he’s doing at the moment, but I don’t really have much time left before they’ll start getting suspicious of my absence.” Grian tch-ed, tapping his feet on the floor as he checked his player comms, scrolling up until he reached the message which was sent 10 minutes ago.

< XisumaVoid > Everyone.

< XisumeVoid > Meet up at spawn.

“Oh boo hoo , my brother’s gonna kick your butt for not participating in a meeting, how unfortunate.”

“Can you stop with the snide remarks? I get it already, you don’t like me.” EX rolled his eyes at that. Normally, Grian would make up an equally sarcastic retort, but wasn't really in the mood for another back-and-forth. “Whatever, screw this, I’m going.” Grian grumbled, getting up and tucking his players comms in his pocket. “Stay here.”

“You say that as if I’d be thrilled to go and see a group of people collectively weep over one of their friend’s disappearance in your stead.” 

Grian chose to not acknowledge the last comment, and reached into his inventory to reequip his elytra. Clutching a stack of rockets, he turned back to the other for a moment, before briefly sighing and walking out of the house, the sound of fired rockets sounding a moment after.

Meanwhile EX was now left alone inside the walls of the starter base.

. 

.. 

. 

Grian crashed into the ground, grumbling a bit as he steadied himself back on his feet.

“Grian! There you are!” His head perked up, to see Mumbo approaching him, briefly stopping. “A…are you alright, mate?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m good.” Grian shrugged, barely dusting the dirt off his sweater. “What’s up? I’m not late, right?”

Mumbo looked around, before shaking his head no. “No, you’re not, don’t worry.” He said. “In fact, I think we might just be getting started.

Grian nodded briefly, before also looking around in the crowd. It was easy to spot the absence of some even with over twenty people grouped there. It was easy to see that the numbers had dwindled down, despite there only being three people absent.

Joe and Xisuma were probably setting up the meeting, and Jevin was still missing. The other hermits seemed to already be fairly uneased.

From where he stood, he could see Gem, Wels, and False grouped up a bit to the side, which was an odd combo of people by itself, but they also looked even tenser than everyone else there combined.

“Do you think this is about Jevin?” Grian finally asked.

“Probably, yes.”

A bit after, Xisuma finally appeared, and everyone’s attention turned.

“Good morning, everyone.” The admin started, seeming way more tired than usual. “Let’s just get the bad news out of the way.”

Dread seemed to pool in the other hermit’s hearts, whereas Grian was withholding the urge to smile. 

.

..

.

Meanwhile, back in the starter house.

EX shot up awake as he heard a familiar ringtone. Where the fuck is that irritating jingle coming f-

And then he noticed a silver device with purple lining left on the floor. It seems Grian forgot to bring his watcher comms with him when leaving.

EX almost reflexively shut his ears to the ear piercing buzzing, groaning. Just his luck, someone was calling Grian when he wasn’t home. It ended after a bit, but then played again.

He was going to just ignore it, the caller would give up eventually.

Apparently they did not, even after a minute.

Conceding, he took the device off the floor to see who called. The name ‘Zyno’ was on the screen. 

While doing that, he somehow accidentally pressed the accept call button. His eyes widened when he registered that, but it was too late, the calling person already began talking.

Fuck.

“Xelqua! There you are!” The person on the other end started. “Sorry for missing your calls earlier, I was busy with something.”

Shit.

“Xelqua? You there?”

At that moment, EX did the worst thing he could’ve done in that situation: making a sound.

The caller apparently then immediately identified that the person on the other end, was not, in fact, Grian. They went silent for a little bit.

“Who’s this?” There was a major shift in tone, an edge of scepticism and coldness added in the voice.

Silence.

“I know you’re there. Who is this and where is Xelqua?"

Again, EX stayed silent, debating the pros and cons of just ending the call. 

"Last chance, now tell me: Who the fuck are you, and what have you done with Xelqua." 

EX gritted his teeth, anger welling up as he forced back the urge to respond. 

"Listen here, bitch , it's not always my fault - I didn't do 'nothing to your 'Xelqua'-" he froze. 

Well fuck. 

That was definitely confirmation that he wasn't Grian. 

"Didn't do anything," They corrected. The threatening voice had now shifted to an infuriatingly calm voice. 

"Don't correct my grammar, dipshit!" 

He couldn't see it, but he could basically feel the eye roll. " I'll repeat myself again, where is Xelqua? " They repeated, annoyance seeping into the words. " Even if you 'didn't do nothing', surely you'd still know where he is. "

"Well sorry asshat, I have no idea what to tell you. All I know is that he's currently not here, and is participating in some server shit. Call again later."

"... there's no way you actually expected that to work ." The caller's tone was now exasperation. " Look, you literally have his communicator, how did you get your hands on it otherwise? "

"Oh, there's lots of other ways." 

wait shit, that came out a little more threatening than he intended .

Zyno went silent, though a few typing and clicking noises could be heard. " Answer my original question. Who's this ."

EX went back to not saying anything.

" Look, you can either tell me right now, or I'll find out myself. "

And this was exactly why he hated Watchers. The constant pressuring, the threatening, and sometimes (who was he kidding, all the time.) even the manipulating; those were present in most Watchers.

He chose to grit his teeth instead, still keeping his mouth shut.

" Still stalling? " They sighed.  "Y ou're either dumb or stubborn. You know who you're talking to right now, right?"

"Oh, definitely not." He dissed back, annoyed. "It's not as if I'm holding a very incriminating device right now."

“Then I'd expect you to be more careful with your words. " God he wishes he could just punch the person on the other side. " I'll ask one last time. Who is this, and where is Grian. "

He clenched his fists. 

Fuck it , why was he even hiding it anyways? Knowing the watchers, knowing 'Xelqua' , they'd probably already knew he was involved, and most likely, they knew that he was 'on their side'.

'I’m risking my position by even suggesting getting you pardoned.'

Actually- scratch all of that. Even if they knew all of that, it doesn't necessarily mean that he's safe. They hate his guts, and he never hid the fact that that sentiment is fully reciprocated.

Even if they'll let him run around freely right now (And even that's a stretch, considering that Grian is constantly on his back), it's probably only because of whatever Grian is doing. Once whatever's planned is done, they'll probably erase him immediately . He couldn't just trust them like that. 

Why do they still bother with him anymore when it's been a full 4 plus years? Oh right-

'You’re still classed as rogue, y’know. You’re dangerous'

Right- he was dangerous . 

He scoffed audibly without realizing. He was considered 'dangerous', and a rogue. Right.

That fact makes him feel both amused and borderline disgusted. Yeah, right , they're afraid that he'll, like, turn on them for good and help Xisuma (which he admittedly did back then, though he chooses to not acknowledge that incident ever again) or something. Right .

They probably think that he'll maybe even join the Listeners, and tell those almost equally as scummy people all of their secrets. Laughable, absolutely absurd. Yeah, and they probably expect him to divulge to them about his sob story about how he was manipulated and all that shit-

'Which for starters feels more like you’re the manipulator, trying to cast the blame onto us'

He was basically laughing now. 

Right. He's the manipulator, obviously . He still remembers the day he got recruited into the cult-like 'organization', the day they started trying to distance him and X, and the day they gave him the nonsense mission. 

They were the ones that fed him sweet lies, enabled him, and now he was the bad guy again. Right . Right . 

Of course, that's how they worked ! 

" What's so funny? "

"Oh nothing, sorry." He said, holding the communicator back up, tone switching back to sarcastic aggressiveness. 

"So that's a no? Fine, I'll suit myself, then."

"Why are you so desperate to find out who I am? Why does it matter?"

" Please tell me how this could not matter. " It was more of a retort than a real question. " Look- just answer the fucking question. It'll simplify things for the both of us. "

He opened his mouth, and then shut it again. He was hesitating, he was sort of stalling, and he was definitely wishing that whatever server meeting it was, it would just end as soon as possible.

He sighed.

Fuck it. 

" Fine. K-"

"Fine! If you so desperately wanna know, this is-"

And then the door clicked open.

Grian raised a brow. "Xanthus, what are you doing with my-".

"It's for you." Unhesitatingly, EX shoved the comms to him, and backed off.

Geian looked from the device up back to him, very skeptical. He raised the comms to his head. 

"Hello?" He tested.

" Oh- there you are, Grian, thank ender. " He turned again to EX, who just shrugged in return.

"SB? What about it? What happened?" 

" Someone else was talking on your comms just a second ago s- "

"You mean EX?" 

" Holy- That was him? " SB sounded a little surprised. " I thought it was an outsider. How did he get your comms? "

Grian glared once again to the man sitting on the cushions. EX  sent back an annoyed look and gestured to the area next to him, it took him a moment to decipher what he meant by that. "Oh." he muttered. "I must’ve left without it."

"You wha- okay, first, I have to reprimand you for that." SB's voice held a high amount of frustration. "You can't just leave it laying around somewhere! What if someone else were to find it?! Y-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know! I know ! It was an accident, okay!?" Grian assured. "It won't happen again, I promise!"

" Fine. But don't do it again ." SB sighed. " Sorry for not answering your calls earlier, was busy with something happening in the hub this morning. It was chaos, I tell you - anyways, mission status update. What's gone on on your end ?"

"Right," He started. "We've gotten another member down, namely JoeHills, and have taken a hold of his comms. So now, we have full access to the server's database and stuff without needing to be too sneaky about it anymore."

" Nice, nice." Typing sounds. " Are any of the other members suspecting you to be involved in anything? "

"No, there's little suspicion on me all because of my original kidnapping being considered the first odd out of all the oddities that have happened." He snickered. "Who knew a little incompetent attempt of kidnapping done purely in spite-"

"I'm literally right here, Asshole."

"-would be so helpful in the long run." Grian finished. "Anyways, the meeting's not done yet, I'm going to have to go again in a bit. I also don't think I'll be able to go in person to HQ too often anymore, might raise suspicion." He shifted the hold on the device. "But just in case-"

" You want to go ahead with the plan ?"

He nodded briefly, before remembering that they couldn’t see him. "Yeah, we should be able to take the next step soon enough." He said. "Preparations are complete, right?"

" Yep . It's all ready. "

The call went on. EX shifted uncomfortably in his place.

Chapter Text

You left Joe alone, it should’ve been you checking the code, what sort of an admin are you?  

The voice of guilt kept whispering to him inside of his head. He tried pushing it back, but it kept bugging him and coming back the more he tried to repress it.

He gritted his teeth, he couldn’t look at the other. “Tango- I- I’m sorry, I didn’t know what to say back then.”

“Dude, it’s fine, it’s fine.” Tango assured him. “Are you ready to resume the meeting? Or do you want to wait a bit and give them some more time?”

“The sooner the better.” He finally replied after a moment of silence. “Again- I’m sorry. I just- needed a moment.”

“It’s fine, X. Remember, it’s not your fault. You can take your time.”

Yeah. Alright. Right.

.

..

.

“I’m sorry, I know, I didn’t mean, I-” X stumbled over his words, trying to figure out what to say - if he should’ve said anything at all. If his words weren’t making everything worse. If his words actually made sense.

“What happened?” Xisuma snapped out of his thoughts, focusing on what Cleo was saying. “As in, what physically happened, what led up to it, how you found him, how-” She hesitated, her rushed words suddenly stopping, only returning as a whisper. “How you even know if he’s alive.”

Xisuma’s throat dried up, mind racing with a million different answers that could possibly soothe Cleo. He was admin after all, he needed to make sure his players were alright.

You’re doing a fine job of that so far

“Suma?” 

X whipped his gaze around, looking for the source of the voice. He could’ve sworn that it sounded just like-

There was nothing there.

“Sorry, I just thought I heard…” Xisuma mumbled, swallowing hard. 

“Nobody’s there, Xisuma, you alright?” This time it was Grian speaking, he could work out that much, separate the voice from the one in his head.

“Yeah. Anyway, back to what Cleo asked,” X began, forcing his thoughts to cooperate, to think rationally, and ignore the slight nausea and all the ways he’d messed up so far. "We were looking for Jevin, and Joe offered to check the code. I-" His voice cracked slightly as he stopped, struggling to collect his thoughts. 

"We," Tango corrected, his voice slightly quieter than usual.

"We," He nodded off. "Yeah- we- he told us that he could handle it by himself, and that we both should probably go ahead and look somewhere else, so we…" Once again, he paused. “I’m sorry.” His voice trailed off even further, despite his tone being quiet initially. “So we- uh-”

“So we both went off to look in another area." Tango piped in to help, though he was also hesitant. “We sort of forgot about the whole 'staying as a group thig'… and…” he looked down, notably avoiding eye contact. “Well, I suppose you know the rest of the story. We only heard of what happened when False, Wels, and Gem’s group told us… and…” He bit his lip nervously. “Yeah.”

If him stumbling on his own words and messing his explanation up so badly that he needed Tango to help him felt like a car crash, the silence right after was a literal cargo truck. 

Xisuma gritted his teeth, frustration boiling mostly on himself. He turned to the floor. He couldn’t look at the other hermits, he couldn’t look at Cleo.

You failed them . 

“Can we just circle back to Xisuma constantly saying sorry?” False suddenly interrupted. “Because absolutely nobody was blaming you for any of it.”

“But I could’ve prevented it,” he forced out, voice badly cracking. “I could’ve stopped it from happening.”

“You had a lot on your plate Xisuma, nobody could blame you for being distracted.” Tango said from beside him. “If it’s on anyone, then it’s on me.”

“Tango- no!”

“For fucks sake, can you two stop blaming yourselves already!? No one obviously saw it coming.” Cleo said.

“If anything, it’s my fault because it should’ve been obvious how this ended ever since I got kidnapped.” Half of the hermits turned to look at Grian, who had unusually been fairly quiet up to this point.

“Grian, you too??”

“It’s just that I’ve…” He hesitantly continued. “Seen these situations before, and it shouldn’t have been hard to see how it ends.” He stopped, his voice barely above a whisper.  “I should’ve been more helpful. Sorry, guys.”

“No, Grian- you shouldn’t-”

“Alright, can people just stop blaming themselves!?” Cleo ended it, voice hardening. “Instead of self-guilting, I’m more interested in dissecting the fuck out of whoever did this.”

“But we don’t know who did it though.” Tango stated half-heartedly. “We’ve been more focused on dealing with the disappearances-”

“-Which clearly hasn’t worked.” Doc cut in. “Cleo’s right. We need to actually find out who did this if we’re going to stop it from happening again.”

“I thought it was EX, isn’t it obvious?” Grian questioned.

“Xisuma, you said something about this back then when you were talking to Joe, right?” Tango said. “About how you felt like EX wouldn’t have done things the way he did?”

Xisuma shook his head. “I’m not really close enough to him to be able to properly tell, though.”

“Still, even if EX is the culprit, we need to focus on actually finding him.” Doc said.

“How, though?” Tango sighed. “As much as I hate to admit it, we’ve previously seen that we can't actually track him down via normal means, or any other means we’ve tried.”

“Maybe we just need to try harder?”

“...How?” X asked, a hint of desperation in his voice. “What else can we do?”

“How did you stop him last time?” Pearl asked. “You said that he fought you guys once before, right? How did that end?”

“Honestly,” X hesitated before answering. “I think he just couldn’t bring himself to finish it.” He gritted his teeth. “He sort of just… stopped, in the end.”

“Then why would he do anything now?”

He had originally opened his mouth to answer, but then the question pondered in his head. Actually, yeah, why would he do anything like this now ? 

Even before, no one actually went missing or presumably died, why is this happening now? Why would he be doing this now? It didn’t add up. If he’d been more naive, he’d probably just say that EX changed his mind, but EX wasn’t the type to just… turn around easily.

“I don’t know.” He admitted, throat tightening, feeling too honest. “I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense in any way you look at it. I don’t-”

“X, you good?” Tango patted him on the back, making him snap out of it.

“I’m… fine.” He spat out by force. He couldn’t be weak now - he needed to be a good admin for his server. He needed to be strong for everyone’s sake. “In any case, like Cleo said, we need to actually find him, whether to confirm our suspicions and stop from getting any more… casualties.”

“How did you find me back then?” Grian asked. “Can we do the same thing in finding him?”

“Probably not, we’ve actually tried.” X sighed. “We scanned the entire world code to see if we could find a part of your player data anywhere, since it should’ve been integrated into the world at your location. From there, we translated it into coordinates and just. Went there. It doesn’t work on him, though. I assume he has some sort of blocker installed directly in his player data. Either that or he’s purposely blocking a part of the world’s code from being detected.”

“There has to be a way somehow.” 

“Well, does anyone have any ideas?”

“X,” Etho suddenly spoke up. “I recall back then in our previous encounter with him that you said something about him not being alone. Who was he with again?”

Xisuma racked his brain at that, and then his eyes widened. “The watchers.”

“Right- those scums!” Tango also seemed to realize, suddenly outraged. “We should’ve remembered earlier! Dammit!”

Grian and Pearl both visibly stiffened, and turned to each other, though nobody else noticed.

“Who?”

“Right, not everyone here knows about them- you could say - to put it lightly - they’re an ‘organization’.” Tango gritted his teeth. “They’ll sweet talk you into joining them, but what they actually want is to control everything and everyone, and they tear down anything that isn’t to their liking.”

"Think of them as if benevolent God's," Pearl offered.

“They’re gods????”

"Not entirely, but they might as well be." Xisuma continued. “Sometimes their members do have unordinary magic, sometimes even world bending.”

“So magic does exist-?”

“Not now, Scar.”

"I'm sorry, but where did you hear about them Pearl?" Tango asked, an edge of suspicion on his voice. “They’re not that well known about, so how’d you know?”

“Well- I-” Pearl silenced, tensing. Everyone turned to her. She glanced at Grian for an answer. 

“We- um- have… dealt with them before,” He reluctantly decided to chime in, and visibly regretted it when everyone next turned to him. “For lack of better words. Not so pleasant creatures. Hate them.”

“You two met them before?”

“Yeah, on our last server, they were kind of… arseholes.” Pearl sighed.

"Yeah. Can we move on now?" Grian snapped, very visibly uncomfortable by the sheer mention of the topic. “What were they doing here? What do you mean EX was with them?”

“Oh- Well, based on what he told me, he was working for them.” X continued. "Thinking back, he seemed honestly scared of them. And angry. Probably mostly angry.” 

“How powerful are these people?” False asked incredulously. 

“Most of the watchers are actually just regular players that have been recruited to join as spies or trainees, some getting the powers, some not.” Tango explained briefly. “But if we’re talking about their magic, they can probably disintegrate someone with a single touch.”

"Trust me, they definitely can." Grian muttered, getting a few concerned glances.

Gem squeaked. “That’s… what we’re going against!?”

“So EX is working under their command again? Is that why he’s attacking us again?” Stress asked.

"We don't actually know if he's still working with them," Xisuma argued. "Last time he talked about them, he seemed like he… hated them. Or at least resented them. A lot.”

"Why would he hate them if he's one of them?" 

"We don't know if he joined willingly or not, sometimes they just pick someone out and make them join, either by mind control or just force.” Pearl explained, getting an unnoticed glare from Grian.

“As far as I know, he did join willfully.” X said hesitantly. “At least he once bragged about it to me pretty early on when he presumably just joined.”

"They can mind control people???" 

"Can we actually stop talking about this?" Grian snapped again. “I get that this is important, yeah, but weren’t we originally discussing how to actually find him? Watchers might not even be involved!"

“That’s true.” Xisuma admitted. “Though there’s a big chance they’re a part of this if the culprit is EX, but there’s a chance they’re not, I guess.” 

“We do need to focus on how to actually find him, though, I guess, since he is 100% a part of this, culprit or not.” False interjected. “Any ideas?”

"I can try something," Doc brought up. "Saw a concept that might work for this in the hub a couple weeks back." 

“You can try, provided it’s not too risky, ” Xisuma replied. “We do need as much help as possible on this. How does it work?”

“So basically…”

If Grian was being honest, he lost Doc at the first mention of chunk loading - he might be a former admin, but it’s not like he ever fathomed this type of technical shit, that including redstone. Definitely not. This was too nerdy for his liking. Doc has always been more on the mad-scientist side of the technical spectrum, meanwhile Grian preferred to stick to basic codes. He did not want to bother with understanding whatever Doc was saying, and he didn’t.

During his internal monologue, he noticed Pearl wandering off, though it seems no one else did. Most of them were looking at Doc with a completely confused expression though they’re still actually listening, and sort of trying to decipher the things Doc said. The rest were just zoned out, and only some actually seemed to be following with the explanation. 

Going with his instinct, Grian looked back upon the group of people, and silently backed off as well, following the other.

Chapter Text

Stepping out of the shade of the trees, Pearl finally reached somewhere she thought was secluded enough.

She knew she didn’t have too much time before they’ll realize that she wandered off, so she really had to make this quick.

She crouched down to the grass, touching the soft ground in front of her with the palm of her hand. The grass was soft, but barely comforted the headache that arose in her head. Inhaling, she swiped the hand across, and as if the world tore apart, a small rift was opened between the ground.

“Citrine,” A soft, yet cold voice spoke. “State your report.”

“Yes, of course.” She replied politely, almost robotically, respectfully bowing to the invisible entity. They weren’t visible to the eye- hell even if they were visible it’s not like she’d be able to see them. Despite that, their presence was basically surrounding, engulfing the entire area.

With another breath, she continued talking. “They’re on the path to realizing that those people are the ones targeting them, though they’re still only recently speculating about it. They’re really close to it, though.” 

“That’s good to hear.” The voice hummed, sounding satisfied. “Has anything else happened on the situation? I remember you explicitly stating that one of the members of the server we got you from is here with you as well?”

“Yeah, Grian.” She murmured, voice volume lowering. “He’s… been acting a bit off since the beginning, especially around me. I get the vibe that he’s trying to avoid me the best he can. He’s hiding something.”

“Do you have any suspicions on what?”

She bit her lip, hesitating. “...I think he’s one of them .”

“What makes you think that?”

“Just- the way that he’s acting,” She started. “He’s been avoiding me, he was presumably the first person to make contact with Xanthus, the ex-watcher, who is suspect to be involved in the disappearances, and I even heard from Scar, one of the others, that he said he was apparently on call with one of the people that have already died… in that server.” She gritted her teeth. Scar approached her not long ago asking if she knew anyone by the name ‘Taurtis’, to her absolute surprise and horror. She asked for an explanation as to where he heard the name, and he said that Grian was on call with him.

She was shocked, but not entirely surprised. She had suspicions, and said suspicions had ballooned up into a pile of glaring contradictions far too big for her to ignore. Despite what Grian believed, no, she wasn’t an idiot, nor was she going to stay blissfully ignorant.

“There’s a server meeting ongoing right now,” She continued, “He kept trying to stray everyone away from the topic of watchers. Everytime it got brought up again, he shot it down before it got too far.”

“Could that not just be a trauma response?”

“Not the way that he did it.” Though she definitely wished that was the case. “It's too aggressive to be a regular ‘ It gives me bad memories’ reaction.”

They hummed. “So this means that they have already made their move as well. How intriguing. And horribly dreadful.”

“What should I do? There’s little other evidence apart from what I’ve shared. Besides, the server members have known him for over 3 years, I doubt they’ll believe anything I’ll say over what he says.”

“Keep an eye on him. Be not afraid to intervene if you see a dire situation as well. The Watchers are dangerous, but as long as there’s only one of them, it shouldn’t be enough to wipe the entire place out, though we can also deduce that he probably got outside help.”

She sighed. “So my first course of action is…?”

“Investigate more about him, perhaps talk to the other members of the server and learn more details about him.” They responded after a bit. “Keep your guard up. As you’ve said before, they might be taking it slow this time, but you never know. Don’t corner them too early on, they might already have a plan in case of emergencies.”

“Undoubtedly, though I doubt it would be factoring in the existence of Listeners.” Finishing that sentence made a prickle run up her spine. Probably just paranoia.

“That much might be true, I’ve been pleased to hear that you’ve been keeping your cover up pretty well.”

She shrugged. “Most of them didn’t know Watchers existed, let alone Listeners. Though I doubt many of them would be opposed to our principles.”

“You might be correct, though I’d advise not revealing yourself unless the situation is completely dire.”

“Understood.”

“Stay safe, Citrine, and remember, always keep your guard up.”  They warned. “Just because they don’t know you’re here yet, does not mean they wouldn’t know how to deal with you… especially after one of our members crossed to the other side. They know more about us now.”

“Are you implying that Ilvaite is involved with the Watchers?” She asked, a bit surprised. “I thought he just went off.”

“He might not have completely crossed sides, but he has certainly sold us out.” The voice sighed. “Be wary of the Watchers, Citrine. Don’t let your guard down.”

“I won’t.” She assured, trying to put as much confidence in her voice as she could.  “I should probably go back now- a server meeting is still going, and they’ll get suspicious if I’m gone for too long.”

“Understood. Thank you for the report, and keep up the good work.”

A vacuum-like sound rang through the air, and in a blink, the world rift closed back on itself, and the grass went back to looking fresh and untouched.

She let out a breath. God, that conversation was really nerve-wrecking.

She got up, turned around, and instantly froze seeing a familiar face looking at her with horror in his eyes from across the scenery.

“ Grian-? ”

“Pearl.” The golden blond spat her name out as if it was poison, a smile mismatching with his eyes marking itself on his face. “ What was that? ”

Chapter Text

Dammit.

Grian should've known it wouldn't go completely smoothly, especially since all the complications had popped up along the way. Nevertheless, he still found some level of satisfaction in watching her stumble for an answer, grasping for some excuse to explain the obvious.

Pearl was a listener.

"I was just, I don't know-" Her eyes flickered desperately, but now that Grian knew to look, her gaze never directly met anything. Always seemed slightly disjointed. "How much did you hear?" She slumped with resignation.

"Most of it." Yet another blatant lie, but it would make it easier to pry information out of her. “ What was that? ”

“Grian- I-” 

“You’re a listener.” His tone more amused than disbelieving, but he doubted Pearl caught that. “You. A listener . And you didn’t tell me.”

"Well-" Pearl swallowed. "Well would you have told me you were a Watcher?!" 

"I would've if I'd had a choice!" 

"What's that meant to mean?" Pearl questioned, her voice barely a whisper. This time it was Grian who was silent. 

"I dunno, it doesn't matter, it's not important," Grian muttered, refusing to meet Pearl's gaze. In hindsight it seemed pointless considering she wouldn't have even been able to see the callousness, or in reality any of his body language. Still, better safe than sorry he supposed. Pearl reached out to grab his arm,,  with the same accuracy as someone who could see. Grian carefully filed that information away in a corner of his brain.  in a corner of his brain to deal with later.

“It’s important to me.” Grian paused for a moment, yanking his arm away in feigned anger before turning on her. 

“Don’t touch me!” He hissed, pulling his arm into his body. “Liar!”

Pearl swallowed, suddenly finding the dirt very interesting. Whether that was necessary or not, Grian couldn’t help but wonder. When she finally spoke, her voice was shaking slightly with hesitant confidence. 

“You call me a liar, but you aren’t exactly my first choice when I wanna hear the truth.”

“And you would’ve taken it well?” Grian shot back, not even caring to hide the bitterness in his voice. Admittedly it wasn’t for the reasons Pearl likely assumed it was, but it was easier not to mask it.

“Considering that you’re part of a cult of genocidal maniacs that murdered all my friends, I think I have the right to be slightly mad!” Grian held back a scoff - the word maniacs implied that they were crazy. They were simply genocidal, thank you very much. 

“What?”

Grian bit back a curse. Apparently that scoff wasn’t as well hidden as he thought it was.

“You keep talking as if I wanted to be a Wa- one of them .” Pearl once again didn't respond for a minute, allowing Grian’s thoughts to fester. He could still play it off, enough to keep her quiet until he figured out what to do.

His heart unwillingly sank upon realising what he’d have to do. Jaxa and SB might be fairly merciful, but even so there was no way he could get away with this. Who knows what damage she could cause if allowed to-

He didn’t allow himself to finish that thought. Conveniently, Pearl continued the conversation soon after.

“Please,” her voice cracked, despite being barely a whisper. “Please tell me that you didn’t have a choice in the matter.”

“You think I’d choose to join them?” When Pearl didn’t respond immediately, Grian scoffed once again. "Pearl. I thought I already established back then that I despised them." 

Deciding to take control of the flow of the conversation, he made a decision in his head. "Do you have any idea what happened back then, back in EVO?" He continued. "No, right? Because you were too busy doing whatever you were doing with those 'trustworthy' beings!"

"I- I didn't know it would happen!" She protested hesitantly. "I didn't even know they would be able to actually get in, I thought you said you had it covered!"

"You've seen the statues they built, the signs they wrote! They did all of that, even without being whitelisted! Did you really think I was… capable of keeping them off forever !?"

“Well no, but I thought-”

"I told you all, it was only a matter of time! After the dragon fight, they took me and…"

He didn't have to fake the shiver that went down his spine, recalling the events. Sure, it wasn't traumatic, nor nearly as bad as he's making it out to be, but it was still an experience. He considered it a good one, but it was still one hell of an experience. Most Watchers would agree with that.

“And?”

“You’ve seen what the server looks like. You know what happened next.” He scowled coldly, causing them to fall back into what feels to be the tenth tense silence they've had. Grian looked away, and so did Pearl. Neither knew how to continue.

Eventually, Pearl did, admittedly with heavy reluctance. “...Then why are you still on their side?”

“What? You think I can just leave? I can just, what, unturn ?” Grian scoffed, hiding a hand behind his back. “You think I wouldn’t have already done so if I could!?” A cold chuckle. “Who am I kidding, of course you wouldn’t.”

“Grian- that’s not what I meant-” 

“But it was, Pearl! You’re determined to find a way to make me the villain of this story! Is that not what you’re doing!?” The arm behind his back tensed. “It’s always my fault! Everytime!” He could now feel the familiar sparks working their way around his fingertips, both carressing and somewhat agonizing. “Have you ever considered the fact that maybe I’m not a horrible person determined to watch the world burn!?”

“Gri- I didn’t-” She paused, attempting to gather her thoughts enough to produce a coherent sentence. “I didn’t mean it like that, and I think you know that.”

“Do I?” He could feel a dull aching in his head, though he forced himself to focus on controlling the ever increasing quantity of energy running through his hand. It viciously yanked at his skin, as if trying to escape his grasp. “How am I supposed to know anything anymore?”

Pearl grew silent, as did he. For him, it was more so he could focus more on the magic he had channelled. Keeping his hand hiddened, he approached the other slowly. “...Why did you join them? The Listeners.” He idly added for chatter.

“They-” Pearl hesitated. “After Evo’s destruction, they came to me, and told me it was too late. They let me into the server. The symbols told me enough of what happened.” She looked down. “I didn’t know what else to do. I wanted vengeance. Still want vengeance.”

Grian stopped momentarily, and was now a little over arm's reach. All it would take was a small push. A short jump. All it took to snuff out all his problems, he just needed to-

Footsteps .

Both heads snapped to the origin of noise, and upon noticing another hermit, the magic in his fist immediately vaporised.

Chapter Text

"Grian." The hissing came from behind him once again, this time seemingly far more tangible. Prickles ran down his neck, reaching, grabbing, pulling against his flesh, as if clamouring for his attention. 

He spun around, searching for the source. All he could see was the empty breeze running through the empty halls, and the slight creaking of lockers opening and closing. He finally turned around, and continued walking. 

"Grian!" Panic surged through him once again, as he fought the urge to flee. "We've been watching you." 

His previously fast walk quickly turned into a run down the corridor, barely looking where he was going, until-

"Why are you running, Gree-on?" Grian looked up, relief flooding through him upon seeing the familiar bunny ears. 

"Sam- need- leave-" his words came out all jumbled, and far more desperate than intended. In that moment, all he could think of was the fear the voice had prompted. This was all quickly dispelled by a scorning voice. 

"Oh come on Gree-on, don't be such a baby." 

Grian turned around once again to check, but the voice was gone. 

***

"Grian." He tensed at the familiar voice, echoing in the back of the dark alleyway. He turned around, trying to ignore the uneasy sensation that followed, and the recognisable prickling down his back. 

"I've told you before, I don't like speaking to a disembodied voice!" he shouted, with a well-practiced feigned confidence. He waited for a response, twisting his fingers anxiously. 

"Appearances can be deceiving, as we've told you previously, Soleil." This time, the direction  was far more definite, allowing Grian to adjust the angle he was facing. 

"And as I've told you previously, my name is Grian." His tone was cool, despite the shaking hands, and the fear tightening his throat. "And disembodied voices are normally a symptom of insanity, and auditory hallucinations a symptom of a trauma disorder. Both of which are entirely plausible theories." He paused, ignoring the part of his brain that knew this was real, however improbable. "I'd like to know you're real." 

There was a long silence following, long enough for Grian to question if they were even still there. Long enough to allow doubts about whether Sam was toying with him to creep in. It was as he was about to give up, resign himself to continuing his job that a bright light flashed behind his eyes. 

"As you wish." The voice still whispered and echoed around the fringes despite the now physical appearance to match. 

They were bathed in an unearthly light, somehow not fitting completely in with reality, as if the edges didn't fit in completely. It emanated from a magenta halo hovering over their head, enlightening the edges and ridges of their mask. The mask was a pale grey, tinted purple with the light. It seemed to merge into their skull, handcrafted to cover the upper half of their face. 

"We've been watching you for a while, Soleil." 

With every step they took towards him, the urge to run kept growing. Something inside his heart was telling him to flee as far and fast as he could, that nothing good would come from whoever these godlike entities were. Despite this, his head was blatantly repressing his emotions, a technique however, that still hadn’t been perfected enough to prevent the seeds of terror blooming in his brain.

“So you’re, what? Stalkers?” He scoffed, attempting not to feel intimidated by the height difference. “Because you’re pretty dedicated ones at that.”

“We, Soleil,” they hissed once again. “Are the Watchers. And when the time is right, we will come for you.”

From any onlookers, it would’ve been hard to distinguish between the now-proclaimed Watcher, and Grian. The same light emanating from their halo was bright e nough to allow the same illuminating glare to reflect off Grian himself. Maybe if he’d been able to see it, he’d have later mused about the beautiful foretelling of it. As it was though, any irony was lost on the small schoolboy in the alleyway.

And barely a moment after, the light disappeared, casting the backstreet into engulfing shadows. And once again, the Watchers had disappeared.

They weren’t gone though, not truly. Far away, in another dimension, they were still Watching.

***

Grian sat alone, legs dangling over the windowsill. Sharp thoughts and shards were pushing into his brain, not allowing him to even acknowledge the events of the night. Nor the repercussions, inevitably coming to catch up with him and Taurtis no matter how far they went. How far they ran. How much further they had yet to go.

If he focused in on the wind, he could hear voices. Hushed voices most of the time, whispering away about various things that made very little sense to him.

But sometimes, the voices were loud. There was no need to focus, because he could hear them shouting regardless. Sometimes at him, blotting out reality and allowing him to make the right choice. But mostly at other people. He really couldn’t be bothered to figure out any of what it meant. All he wanted was to be tired enough that it would all feel like a dream, so surreal and far away and gone.

Maybe if he ran far enough away, he’d be able to forget.

Or maybe the easiest way to forget was right in front of him, on the ground two stories below.

His mind kept flitting back to the howling of the wind. Of how her body fell, so fast that he could’ve easily missed it. Of the thump when it hit the ground, and the blood running from her head. How easy it seemed.

But now, there was nobody next to him. No Taurtis, no S- him .

All alone, with just the moon and the wind for company.

Yet why did he feel like somebody was watching? 

“You said you’d come for me, one day!” Grian called into the emptiness of the street. The sound echoed around the tarmac, and the dirty streetlamps and the road leading to the school. “Please, let that be today.” His voice cracked as he spoke, falling down to barely a hushed whisper. He rocked gently on the windowsill, too lazy to bother blinking back the tears. Instead, he let them fall down his face, and splash against the path below. So far below. 

He whimpered in the cold, curling down into a small ball and pulling his jumper tight around him. It provided very little warmth, but he wasn’t ready to go back inside. Just a little longer.

"It's time." 

Grian couldn't help but be proud that he didn't jump from shock, but he supposed years of hearing voices would do that to someone. Especially when he was the one who'd shouted for them, in some delusional hope they could bring comfort. Or a distraction. Either were better than reality.

"Please," he whispered, fully aware of how desperate he sounded; he just couldn't find the effort to care about it, much less change it. Every thought felt like dragging his brain through sludge - sharp, burning sludge. “Please take me away, I don’t care where, just not here.” 

“We can give you a fresh start. A new chance. Is that what you wish for? What you were so adamant would never come to pass, mere months ago?”

“You mean-” Grian paused. “I can start again?” The tiny shred of hope Grian had allowed to build up was crushed in the moments of silence that followed. 

“We are your saviours, Soleil. Come with us, and we will guide you back. We will help you start anew. All we need is your agreement.”

The seconds between each response felt like an eternity, a calculated eternity. Each moment dedicated to a premeditated response. Part of him wanted to be irritated by the precision, except he couldn’t deny the appeal of the words, and the unspoken promise laced within. It took barely seconds for Grian to make his decision.

“I agree."

***

Yellow dust coated fingertips, as he traced lines through the floorboards of what was once a treehouse. Once it had been comforting, familiar place, belonging to someone else. Now it was all but ashes, scattered along the wind like confetti.

He hummed a tune under his breath, but in the still silence it seemed to reverberate around the entire plaza, allowing the small, innocent tune from a small, innocent boy to reach every corner of the wasteland surrounding him.

And that small, innocent boy smiled as he played with the embers, seemingly oblivious to the massacre encompassing him.

But of course, he wasn’t.

How could a small, guilty boy simply ignore the death of a dozen, when he was the one who caused it?

“Rock a bye Gree-on, on the tree top.” He swayed gently on the exposed platform, halting his finger patterns to prioritise the quiet melody.

“When the wind blows, the cradle will rock.” The swaying intensified as the wind blew harsher, whipping around his speech.

“When the bow breaks, the cradle will fall.” And suddenly, his fingers were crudely re-enacting the sequences, as if on autopilot. On reflection, his fingers weren’t a dusty endstone; they were crimson. Harsh, dripping, crimson.

“Down will fall Gree-on, server and all.” He let out a giggle. A small, crazed giggle, that previously he would’ve scoffed at. But now, he couldn’t prevent himself. Besides, there was no one here.

Except they were always watching .

“Are you coming to get me?” he whispered, his grin gaining a dangerous glint to it. “You promised.”

This time, he didn’t even flinch when he felt the rush of air in front of him. He was expecting it. Anticipation raced through him upon seeing the figures, the Watchers, his saviours.

“You are, of course, correct Xelqua.” A smile overtook him at the praise. “And be assured, your stability will return once the shock’s finished setting in.”

“I did what you asked.” He smiled as he spoke, a toothy, malicious grin.

“That is once again, correct. And as promised, this was the final test to institution into our order. You passed with flying colours.”

A rush of affirmation coursed through his body, the fluff in his mind fading slightly as it did so.

“I know.”

***

“Hey, is everything alright over here?” Grian forced himself to release his fist, and dispel the last remnants of magic he’d been clinging onto. There went his chance.

“Yeah, Christ Bdubs,” Pearl forced out a laugh, putting a hand onto her heart. “You scared me.” She looked at Grian desperately, as if begging for him to come up with the excuse for her. That in itself was laughable.  

“What were you two arguing about?” Bdubs asked after about a moment of looking between the two of them, as if searching for an answer in their faces.

“We weren’t arguing-“ Pearl started to argue, before being cut off by Grian’s light scoff.

“Unbelievable,” he muttered, glaring at the floor. “Is anything that comes out of your mouth true?” His sharp accusation was enough to stop her coming up with a counterpoint, instead leaving her reeling.

“Gri-“

“Does one of you mind explaining what’s going on? And why you left?” Bdubs cut in, glancing between them, confusion written across his face, before fading to something somewhat softer. “The others are all really worried.” When Pearl didn’t respond, seemingly lost in her thoughts, Grian stepped in.

“We were just about to head back; we were just finishing up.” His voice came across far duller than intended, but Bdubs didn’t comment on it if he noticed. He didn’t look convinced, however he still turned around as to go back, waiting for the two to follow.

Grian followed him almost immediately, with Pearl catching up after a few moments. The walk was only a few minutes long, but given the thoughts racing through both his and presumable Pearl’s brains, it seemed to drag on longer. Thoughts spinning and festering in the dark corners of his brain, dwelling on his failure just minutes before, and how he could rectify it. If left alive, Pearl could ruin everything – years of meticulous planning, manipulation, gaining the hermit’s trust as not to suspect anything. It could all go down the drain if just one hermit got suspicious way to early, which they all were. Though they were already deep in it, if anything else messed up, a small slip, a little information leak from Pearl; worst, case scenario, the effect on their plans could be disastrous. Even if they managed to make a compromise, it wouldn't be as efficient as the clear, well-constructed plan they were supposed to follow.

Years of work could end up meaning nothing due to dumb luck.

The slow pace of both Pearl and Grian meant that Bdubs arrived a while before them, and the second he was out of earshot, Pearl pulled Grian to the side.

“You can’t let them know,” she murmured, releasing a very pissed-off Grian.

“No dip Sherlock,” he scorned, wriggling out of her grip. His fist clenched. “I wasn’t the one going to tell them, was I?”

“They really trust you, y’know that?” Pearl asked, ignoring his previous statement. “Trust you with their lives, heck – each other’s lives. I think it might break them if they found out.” Part of Grian wanted to scoff, or exchange some sort of biting remark. Instead, all he could do was open his mouth aimlessly, trying to find words to say, only to find he couldn’t. In the end, all he could get out was

“Yeah.”

With that form of acknowledgement, Pearl continued on towards the clearing. Grian took a moment longer, throat thick with something alien to him. His heart sank upon finally realising what it was.

Damnit.

He couldn’t afford to be getting attached this close to success.

Chapter Text

"It's been… 15 minutes." Doc clicked briefly after checking the time. "Where do you think they've gone?"

"Do you reckon they're alright?" Gem questioned, worry seeping into her voice.

"I'm sure they're fine." X reassured, though he himself was in reality too tired for this. He took his eyes off of the wary crowd, and gazed into the nearby forest absentmindedly, able to feel every blink he did, every breath he exhaled. 

"Though it has been a while, I wonder where they went."

Tango repeated a similar gesture right besides him, though he instead seemed to find the bright blue sky appealing. "You know, it just hit me that we should've probably sent someone else along with Bdubs." He mumbled, tearing his gaze.

"What if- what if they-"

The admin's head snapped back. "They'll be fine. I'm sure." 

He faked as much confidence in those words as he could, in hopes that he could get himself to believe in them as well. Was it denial? Anger? He didn't know. He didn't want to think about it. They'll be fine. Grian survived that long in captivity, he's stronger than he lets on. If anyone were to try taking Bdubs, he would never go down without a fight. Even Pearl seemed much stronger than she looks. They'll be fine.

Without realizing, a shiver went down his spine. Anxiety. Paranoia. Those were the feelings he recognized oh so well in this situation, though they felt much, much more strong. It felt as if his brain wanted to collapse on itself, his body wanted to shut itself down alongside it.

The side effects of being the person leading the entire group through this disaster were starting to show.

“You know, I’m starting to doubt that this was just an innocent toilet break or something of the sort.” Doc mumbled loud enough to get everyone’s attention. “The fact that they wandered off is a bit suspicious in itself.”

“That’s… true, I guess.” Keralis replied.

“Don’t just say things like that!” Impulse retorted, extremely uneased at the suggestion like most of the others. “Grian would never.”

“Yeah, Grian maybe, but what about Pearl?” Doc sighed. “I am wishfully thinking that Grian may just be unwittingly involved somehow, but I reckon at least one of them, or maybe even both of them, are involved with this situation in one way or another.”

“As much as I’d hate to say, Doc’s right.” Cub murmured half-heartedly. “Anyone else notice how Grian’s been acting a little strange after Pearl got added to the server?”

“Can anyone that’s been interacting with Grian this season vouch for that?”

“Thing is, I don’t think he’s been interacting with anyone that much.” Mumbo muttered half-heartedly. “It feels like he’s been distant.”

“That’s one, he’s usually pretty open and active.” Tango said. “He’s also been leaving the server more often for ‘a thing on another server’, if I remember correctly. Does anyone know what it is?”

When no one answered, it was clear no one knew.

"Has anyone ever tried asking him what that 'thing' is and what the 'server' is?" Iskall asked.

More silence.

“You think something happened to him there?” Scar asked reluctantly.

"It's a possibility."

And no one said anything after that.

“Hey- There they are!” 

And true to those words, three people came out of the forest, visibly unharmed and fine. Some breathed a sigh of relief, while the others stiffened.

Bdubs was running in front, meanwhile the two blondes stayed a bit behind. Pearl’s gaze was unfocused, and she seemed tense, almost purposefully slowing her walk speed. Grian was in the back. His head constantly whipped around, between looking almost murderously at Pearl and the sky. When they got closer, his eyes locked with some of the people in the crowd of hermits waiting, before hanging his head low.

Tango was the first to speak when they were in hearing distance. “Where have you guys been!? We got worried!”

“I found these two talking, or maybe you could even say arguing, deep in the forest, I dunno what they were thinking.” Bdubs replied, before turning to the two along with everyone else.

Both visibly flinched, and stayed quiet.

“Well?” 

“...Well-” Grian stammered first, and all gazes landed on him. “I saw Pearl walking away in the midst of Doc’s explanation back then. I just decided to follow her.”

“Pearl?” Impulse questioned, voice remaining soft, but questioning.

“I-” Pearl stopped herself, looking around a bit frantically as everyone’s eyes shifted to her next. She turned to Grian, who just glared and shrugged. “I- uh-” Unable to get anything out, she eventually fell back into silence, looking down.

“...Pearl?” 

She didn’t respond. Even after a minute, nothing came out. So, Xisuma turned to Grian. “Grian, did you see anything out of the ordinary while you were following Pearl? Did you see anything at all?”

Grian opened his mouth, but closed it again upon seeing Pearl frantically shaking her head. “Well… uh…” He stammered, acting not sure on what to say. “I- sort of did. Yeah.” Spurting on, he continued. “Nothing that I’d think would be relevant. But yeah.”

Of course, literally everyone knew something was up. Despite that, Xisuma just sighed. “Bdubs said you two were arguing about something, was there something wrong?”

“I wouldn’t call it arguing-”

“It definitely was arguing.” Grian cut her off, a bit colder, but still keeping nervous. “It’s… a bit personal.”

“I could swear I heard screaming at some point,” Bdubs continued after a bit. “And Pearl, you were talking about vengeance, what was that about?

“I-” She thought of what to say. “Nothing, really- we got a little heated- it was just something about the previous server we were in-”

Grian shot her a ‘why the fuck would you say that’ look, and she instantly went silent. The others looked at them intently, but they both went back to being quiet after that.

“As much as I respect your privacies,” Xisuma sighed. “You guys previously mentioned that you both encountered watchers back in said previous server, and we highly suspect them to have some connections to what’s happening now.” He continued hesitantly after seeing how Grian contorted uncomfortably. “What happened?”

“Well- uh-” Pearl momentarily paused, seeing how Grian looked. “They- weren’t very nice to us back then. They somehow got into our server, and after they messed with us a lot, they…” She froze, and then stopped completely.

“They were stand-in judges, juries and executioners,” Grian snapped. “Is that a good enough explanation for you?”

“I mean-“ Xisuma hesitated. “If they’re as big a threat as you’ve both made them out to be, then we’d like to know as much as we can.”

“It started off with just harmless things, putting obsidian over chests as punishment, rewarding those repentant- What?” Pearl asked, turning to face Grian after a sharp glare.

“I thought we agreed not to talk about it,” he hissed, gritting his teeth; simultaneously appearing both angry and as if about to cry.

“Maybe, Grian, this is bigger than us two,” Pearl argued, irritation creeping into her voice despite the patient tone.

“I damn well know it’s bigger than us two, Pearl!” Grian spat her name as if a poison, desperate to cleanse it off his tongue. He had to force his fists to relax and fall limp by his sides, despite his instinct. “So stop treating me like a dumb child!"

“I’m not! And unless you’re willing to tell them, I will.” That elicited no response from Grian, which she took as a cue to continue. “But as it continued, it got worse. They started dishing out more severe punishments, but never enough to leave. They started building temples, as if craving worship or praise. Of course, none of us gave it. Then one day-“ her voice cracked slightly.

“How it ended isn’t important, Pearl!” Grian interrupted, desperation sneaking in as he spoke. 

Pearl was stunned at that. “Not importa- Everyone died , Grian! They destroyed everything !” She uncharacteristically yelled. “And I don’t want the same thing happening to this server! Unless you want that- just shut up!”

After that, nobody spoke for a while, though the silence spoke volumes. Between the two, both looked shaken. It was only broken by Grian stepping forward, pale and shaking. Whether he was shaking from fear or anger was anyone’s guess.

“You think you have the right to talk about them?” he hissed, jabbing a finger harshly into her chest. “You think you have the right to talk about them? As if you cared enough about them to do shit to save them?” Tears forced their way down his face, only for him to quickly wipe them away. “As if you had to watch as the light faded from their eyes, their blood run cold and their bodies hit the floor.” He stepped away, hand still shaking violently and breathing still rushed. “So don’t you bloody dare talk to me about what the Watchers did.”

Grian stepped back the second Pearl opened her mouth to speak.

“Gri- I-“

The last moment, he stood like a statue, the next, he suddenly took off, racing through the trees as if he had no need of rest. Before any of the Hermits could react, shout after him or try to chase after him, he was lost amongst the green, into but a blur of red.

“Well done then,” Doc cut in scathingly, gritting his teeth. “I think you’ve all managed to reawaken well-buried trauma.”

“I’ll go after him,” Mumbo volunteered, glancing between Pearl and the rest of the Hermits. When he got no objection, he took off after the blond.

It didn’t take long for him to hear other footsteps nearby, at which point he stopped.

“Gri- you there?” Mumbo called out. He walked in further, before freezing. He heard sobbing. “G-Grian?”

He rushed to the noise, and in the clearing, there was Grian. He looked absolutely horrible. He looked paler than normal, his sweater had some wet spots on it, and his eyes seemed watered.  

“Grian?” He called again, the blond’s eyes widened, as if startled. He turned to him, and tensed, as if to run away again.  “Gri- calm down, okay? It’s just me.” Mumbo extended a hand like you would when trying to calm down a fearful animal, not sure why he was doing so but to comfort the other in some way.

The other eyed him warily, eyes glassy. After a bit, Grian exhaled, visibly relaxed, and dropped back to the grassy ground. Hesitantly, Mumbo approached him almost carefully, crouching nearby the shorter. 

“Gri?” He started, voice quiet. “Are you alright?”

Grian opened his mouth, promptly before shutting it again. Some silent sobs later, he tried again. “I- I’m- fine.”

“Well, I mean-“ Mumbo stuttered, taking a deep breath before trying to speak again. “Are you sure? Because you don’t look fine.”

Grian’s breathing notably picked up, curling back into himself further, and hiding his face. Despite the poor effort to conceal it, Mumbo noticed something resembling tears streaking down his face, and the ragged hiccups that came with it.

“Wa-was fine, ‘till- lies, liar-“ he stuttered out, rocking back and forth as he did so.

“Can you try breathing slowly for me?” Mumbo asked, trying to calm his voice into something more soothing than normal. A few seconds after, Mumbo noticed his ragged breathing seeming to soften into something slightly more rhythmic.

“I- I’m- s- sorry,” he whispered, shaking in silent coughs with every word he spoke. 

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Grian," Mumbo soothed. "Can I touch you?" Grian fervently shook his head, tensing tighter into his ball. "That's fine. Do you want to talk about it- no?"

He hesitantly extended his arms out as a silent invitation. Grian stood still for a moment, but as he was about to awkwardly take his hands back he was tackled to the ground. The hug was a bit tight, but after recovering from the knockback he gently hugged back.

"I don't want it to happen again." Grian practically whispered. "I don't want to see t-them again. I don't want everyone to- like they did-" He abruptly stopped, clutching onto the other tighter.

"We won't." He placed as much confidence in the assurance as he could. "I also miss I also miss Jevin and Joe, but trust me, we have the situation under control now, everything's going to be alright. They won't get you." He held his breath, letting the words sink into his own head to convince himself what he said was true.  "No one else will go."

It was hard to tell if he had successfully comforted the shorter, as his face was buried into the hem of his now scurried suit. He didn't speak, only just letting out coughs, and Mumbo respected that.

Not long after, though, Grian spoke up again, but this time sounding more enraged than upset.

“Acting like she knows what h-happened-” Pitch high, his voice tone unstable. “W-when she didn’t even see- wasn’t even t-there to see it. The destruction - the…” His voice trailed off again, and he slumped back. “Like she didn’t just abandon us all.”

Mumbo stayed silent.

“And- and after all of that- she-” He stopped, and then there was a big tone shift. “She really had the nerve to join them - and-”

He stopped, and Mumbo was about to say some comforts, before he was practically knocked back to the ground as Grian shuffled out of his grip. He surprisingly still had a lot of energy after running yards.

“Gri- wait-”

Chapter Text

“Pearl?” Tango started cautiously, though there was a certain glint in his eyes. “What was he talking about?”

Since Grian took off, the atmosphere became slightly more tense. All eyes were now on Pearl, and everyone seemed to want to know the details of what happened. 

Pearl fidgeted quietly, as if trying to stammer out an excuse. She wanted to say something. She knew she needed to say something. But when she could feel everyone's eyes on her, and the borderline hostility almost embodied in the air, it was as if her throat was glued shut. “I- uh-”

"Well?" Doc snapped, sharply interrupting her. 

"Guys, guys- let's not get heated now-"

"We're not going to get heated." Cub had crossed his arms, sighing. "But we would prefer a proper explanation."

"So what I got from that is that basically, you two had been in a server together before this, the watchers came, tried reigning over the server, and ended up destroying it while killing everyone inside?" Wels condescended, when everyone else shivered.

"That's disgusting imagery." Ren murmured.

Pearl was about to speak, she was, but then Zedaph, who before seemed deep in thought, interrupted her.

"If they supposedly killed everyone," His own eyes widened at the realization. "How come you both are still alive?"

"That's a good catch," Tango nodded along, eyes still fixated on her, who seemed to be getting more nervous by the seconds. "Not only that, Grian talked as if he witnessed it first hand-"

"I feel horrible for him."

"-And as if you were somehow absent when the destruction happened."

"..." She didn't speak. Maybe she couldn't speak.

"Pearl, listen," Xisuma said in a whisper tone, though his voice was still heard. "It's not that we're against you in any way, but as you said yourself, you're willing to tell us what happened, so can you do that for us?"

"...I," The air was thick, but she forced herself to swallow, hollowing out her throat to form cohesive sentences. "I mean- I basically already explained everything that happened, there's not much more to tell about our- …incident."

"So , were you telling the truth?" Gem stuttered. "Did everyone- everything in that server really get..?"

Pearl nodded, and uneased silence came back a dozen.

"So how did you survive?" 

"Or rather," Tango continued from False's question. "why was Grian talking as if you were absent?"

"I… was on a different server when it happened." She sighed. Closing her eyes, her vision was still white. Her view was empty, but her mind flashed like a record on play, replaying the events of that day. "When I returned, nothing was left. It was- I w-" Her eyes shot wide open, almost in panic. Everything was still white. "I di- They- My eyes-"

"Everything was already destroyed by the time you came back." Doc concluded, clicking his tongue. "How about Grian? What happened to him?"

Calming down, she seemed to consider. "I… don't know. He wasn't there when I got to the server."

"So he vanished?" Iskall questioned, a tad of skeptism. "You didn't find anything that could've alluded to what happened to him?"

"No- he was just- gone." She thought about it, biting her lip. "But so did everyone else, so i didn't really…"

And for another brief period, no one spoke.

"Pearl, if we may ask- for curious sake," Cub hesitated. "what were you doing at that time?"

And now, she was back to jittering, seeming unsure of what to answer. If she should answer. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish, no sound coming out. "I- uh-" 

"Pearl?"

All eyes were on her once again, and under the deafening tension she was crushed. "I was- um- just finishing up something-"

"Finishing up what?" 

"..."

"Pearl. Listen," Xisuma stalled, as if picking his words cautiously. "As I said, we don't want to be against you, but these circumstances are dire." Sighing, he looked down. "And forgive me for saying this but-"

"We have reason to believe that you're one of them." 

Pearl’s breath caught, despite having seen the accusation coming from a mile away. It made sense, of course it made sense, and anything she said would only make her look more guilty, while her silence would only serve to incriminate her story. 

The tense silence was broken by Iskall, much to Pearl’s relief. 

"Mumbo?" Everyone turned, and they all saw the moustached hermit walk out of the forest, but the absence of another one was worrying. His excitement seemed to shift after just a second. "Where's Grian?"

"He ran off again, I wasn't able to find him." Mumbo said, a bit reluctantly, before sighing and turning to Pearl. "I'm sure he'll be fine- anyways, Pearl?"

Her head snapped back, relief quickly fading. "Yes…?"

"He talked about you." 

Once again, the air seemed to shake. "...Really?"

"What did he say?" Someone else asks, but she doesn't know who, she doesn’t bother turning. A dread pools in her stomach.

"..." Mumbo struggled to find the words, before looking her in the eyes. "He said you joined 'them'."

And just like that, the ice broke, and everything went everywhere at once.

"See! I told you!"

"So it's true?" Gem turned to her, hints of betrayal in her eyes, disbelief in her voice. "You're really one of- them?"

"No! I-" Biting her lip, she sounded desperate. Not a good look. "It's not like th-"

“It’s okay, just spit it out.” Doc snapped. “We know exactly what you are.”

“See, you probably didn’t know,” Iskall turned to Mumbo. “But while you two were gone doing whatever, we discussed the likely possibility that one of them were involved in this.” His voice took on a bitter edge. “And it seems we were correct.”

“No- I-” 

“Everyone! Calm down!”

“But X-” False protested.

“Guys, I know that this might be damning evidence,” Xisuma interrupted, pausing to allow the attention to turn to him. He stalled for another second, seeming unsure in his own words. “but it’s too early to jump to conclusions.”

“But we-”

“Mumbo,” X interrupted again, his voice significantly calmer than everyone else’s. “What else did Grian say?”

“He-” Mumbo stumbled on his words slightly, taking a shaky breath as he gathered his thoughts. “He looked really upset, so I didn’t push for much.” He hesitated slightly. “He just sort of rambled a little about that server he was in.”

“About the watchers?”

“He did briefly talk about them, but not much.” Mumbo glanced towards the person in question, shrunk in as if trying to hide while simultaneously clinging onto every word he spoke like a lifeline. “Like I said, he mostly referred to Pearl.”

“Can you elaborate more on what he said about it?”

“He… said something about abandonment? I don’t really remember-” He frowned, rethinking through the conversation. “Oh yeah. And also about how he doesn’t… want it to happen again.” He paused again, seeming to debate as if to continue. “He’s scared.”

“No he’s not.” Pearl murmured lightly under her breath, but apparently no one heard her.

“I-” I probably shouldn’t have left him alone.” His voice trailed away, the realization made his eyes widen. “Oh god.”

Chapter Text

“Are all the preparations ready?”

“Mhm. We’ve installed the corrupted code as the server’s backup code, thus if even the slightest manually caused error were to occur, ” A faint click. “Everything would go down in lockdown.”

In the depths of the woods, far away from humanity, a plot was brewing, and it preached insanity. Holding up his watcher device to his head he drizzled random shapes into the to log of the tree, a distraction from his sizzling mind. 

“Nice, nice.” Grian murmured absentmindedly and fluently in galactic. “And has the ᔑℸ ̣ℸ ̣ᔑᓵꖌ division confirmed the army?”

“They just did yesterday. ” SB answered from the speaker. More clicks were heard, along with an ominous vwoop. “150 ready, more coming along.”

He read off the checklist of things in his mind. “And the other divisions? Have they done their assigned parts?”

“Yep. Even if the lockdown doesn’t work, the  !¡𝙹∷ℸ ̣ ᔑꖎ ᒲᔑ⊣╎ᓵ division has surrounded the server with a manual barrier, so it’d still take quite a while to break through. We’ve also rigged up most of the void, and a decent amount of the other portals in addition.”

Hearing all this should’ve given him a bit of relief, or maybe dread, either of the two, but instead it was like white noise. “Okay, okay.”

“What’s with the checkup? ” SB asked, words swirling into a more curious tone. “Not that I’m against you being more active in the mission, but like, I doubt this is just a random, spontaneous checkup.”

“I’m rescheduling.” Grian forced himself to say, gritting his teeth to take away from the lodge in his throat. “We’re doing it in 4 days.”

“Christ, really? That’s sooner than I anticipated. Okay.” The watcher on the other end stated in amused surprise, before the line went silent, safe for the clicks and tapping of a keyboard.

This gave Grian’s mind a chance to derail, going off to the ends of his brain, the thoughts he comberly tried to repress coming back up, the doubts that he would be able to do this. Even if he did, would he be able to live with it? Knowing he did it?

“How are things holding up on your end?”

He was caught a tad off guard by the question, and really, really, didn’t want to answer. “...”

“Grian?”

“It’s- less than ideal, but not terrible.” He sighed, murmuring something not more than an excuse. “I just need you all to be ready in case of an emergency, okay?”

“Grian.”

“It’s not that bad, really, just some complications-”

“Grian.” SB cut off, not having any of this. “What happened this time?”

“...” Biting his lip, he exhaled. “Fine, so you remember PearlescentMoon?”

“The one from your old server? I already don’t like where this is going.”

“Well,” He mentally prepared himself, “She’s with the ꖎ╎ᓭℸ ̣ᒷリᒷ∷ᓭ.” He listened carefully after saying that, waiting for the words to process through SB’s mind.

And then all noise simultaneously ceased.

“She’s with the what."

“Yeah.” Grian clicked, before hesitantly adding; “And she knows I’m a watcher.”

“...” He didn’t need to be there in person to know that SB physically facepalmed.

“Look- okay- I know it sounds bad, but it doesn’t really matter now, right?” He half-heartedly assured. “We’re in the final phase, whatever they do, they’re surrounded.” He heard the groan of sheer exasperation from across the line, if only he could see the other watcher’s face right now. “Minor complications. Sure. But it’s not going to change anything.”

“For end’s sake…”

“Oh shut up.” Grian grumbled. “Either way, the server should be ready for destruction soon right?”

“...” A pause. “It's not immediate immediate, you know. We have to go in and destroy it ourselves, you know that. We can’t just delete the whole thing as that way would still have the players surviving-”

“Yes, SB, I know how system server deletion works, thank you very much.” He snapped, annoyed. “What I’m asking is that the plan is ready for immediate launch at any moment, right?”

“It should be, as far as I’m aware, though you know we can’t just teleport the entire army into the server at once, we would need a distraction.”

“I have a plan for that, trust me,” He reassured. “But something e-”

“Grian?”

His heart seemed to stop for a second, before returning to a hasty, violent pound. He slowly turned around, dread pooling in the pit of his stomach, all while SB’s crackling voice came through his comms.

“When-” He swallowed, mind racing through a million-and-one excuses that were now thrown out the window. “When did you guys get here?” He fought the urge to swear violently, or to run, or to do anything but just stand in front of his targets like a rabbit caught in headlamps. Instead, what he actually did was hastily end the call, and slide his watcher comms into his inventory. It's fine- they shouldn't know what he was talking about, he was talking in galactic- wait. shit.

“Grian.” His mind began racing once again once Xisuma began speaking, his normally soothing voice now with an accusatory lilt. An accusatory lilt that was completely right. “Who was that?”

“Nobody important.” Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, Grian realised how much more suspicious that made him look. Admittedly though, if they’d heard as much as he’d feared, he was already suspect number one. “...How much did you guys hear?”

“Enough.” Impulse's voice was harsh, cold, far colder than Grian had ever heard it before. But still, he could hear the undertones of hurt, of betrayal . 

Fuck. They definitely knew. 

“Grian… why?”

“What?” he tried to lace in the confusion, the terror, the hurt, but he knew that it wasn't really enough. It was far too late to backtrack, all he could do was bullshit his way out of it. 

He could do that, right? It worked before. 

“What do you mean ‘what’?” Pearl finally spoke up, drawing Grian's attention to her. The one who messed it all up. “You were the one behind this! All of this!”

“I- no!” His voice stuttered against his will, words colliding in a messy coagulation of his various excuses. “Guys- this isn’t-” Panic was ringing in his mind, like an alarm blaring out with flashing red lights, letting him know that 'You fucked up!' But now that the attention was back on him, he had no time to form a proper excuse. That left him relying on his acting skills from Evo like a crutch, an old crutch he himself had forged. 

"Pearl, you know what I was like back in Evo, right?" He tried to put as much conviction in his voice as he screeched the false testimony he’d been using this entire time. "And you really think I'd join them ?" 

"Considering all the evidence, yeah." She spat back, completely unconvinced. Seems like that excuse already lost its charm long ago. "Besides, we weren't especially close during Evo, but I still heard from the others that you weren’t exactly the best person either."

"But I was fairly obvious with my hatred of the Wa- them." He tried again desperately. He had to somehow do this, even if what he says ends up doing a number on him. "They're vile, despicable bastards and if I could, I'd rid the world of their every essence-" He had to stop himself from flinching, feeling something like a crunch in his head.

"That doesn't explain shit and you know it," Iskall snapped. 

His head felt numbingly painful, but he desperately tried to focus himself, keeping his head up and his eyes focused. “But- I- I-”

“ Enough !” Xisuma growled, like actually growled, making him genuinely freeze up. It just hit him that he has never seen X genuinely upset before, and now he could practically feel the admin’s rage from underneath the visor, the pure hurt in his harsh and almost desperate voice. “Grian, just tell us the truth.”

For a moment, everything went silent. Grian said nothing more, inclined to make up another excuse, but between his numbing head and loud heartbeats, not another lie or stutter was said. The corner of his brain which was still somewhat cohesive was giving up, accepting that his lies had finally come up to catch him. His throat itself felt heavy, as if something sealed itself tight inside of it.

But then, right as something was about to happen, the numbing ceased.

He didn’t do it consciously, he didn’t mean to do it, but as if his brain worked on autopilot, sparks began to form in his one hand behind his back. He realized a moment too late, and his hand waved. And then, incidentally, magic exploded.

The area next to them exploded out of nowhere, and in that brief timeframe where everyone was distracted, he took off, uncaring for everything behind him, head still hurting like hell, heart rate still skyrocketing.

He didn’t really remember how it went from there, if anyone bothered chasing after him, if anyone even saw him. But he remembered vividly the betrayal in their eyes, the unbridled fury, confusion, and hurt in their voices.

His mind only began to clear again when he was out of that darn forest. He had half the mind to immediately phone SB to continue on with the plan already, as he had no choice, but then a realization struck within his head, and his eyes widened.

He really shouldn’t have thought it would be that easy. He really was mistaken. Things have been going too smoothly. He knew it.

The rest of the trip was a blur, before he knew it, he was shutting the door to his starter base. Slumping down onto the floor for a moment, he took a few quick fast exhales. He’d never flown so fast before, not even back at the elytra races from seasons back. 
Laying rest on the floor, the adrenaline started to clear, and it gave him the chance to let everything that just happened sink in. He knew, they weren't convinced. Even if they believe in the 'forced into it' excuse, he would still have to tell- confirm their suspicions and tell them that he's a watcher, and that he was behind everything, of which he rejects even the slightest idea of. That probably wouldn't work anyways. No, he would have to-

It was then that his watcher comms beeped again, and he picked it up immediately.

“Grian? Why did you hang up back t-”

“SB. Quick change of plans.” He cut the other off very quickly, jumping up. “I need you to just glitch the code already.”

“Grian? What-”

“Just do it!” He practically yelled, voice harsher. He wasn’t fully focused on the conversation, instead he was frantically rummaging through his ender chest, seemingly looking for something, and was extremely frustrated to find that it wasn’t there. “I don’t have any time to explain- just-”

SB sounded very confused. “Alright- alright- did they find you out or something-?”

“No- no-” Not yet. Though they’re very close. Hell, they’ve probably already realized now. Actually shit no, they definitely know. But he couldn’t say all that. He shut the ender chest closed, moving to the chests around him before continuing. “I need you to hack the code before it’s too late. Everything we discussed in the plan a while ago- do it. Before they realize.”

“I’m doing it right now.” he could hear the sound of clicks and typing. “There- I’ve just activated the backup code- I’d assume you also want me to toggle hardcore mode on permantely as well a-?”

“Yeah, yeah- everything!” He rushed, still busy looking through his items, getting increasingly maddened. 

And then, he got to the next one, and stopped. He grabbed a black and purple egg out of the storage. It glistened slightly in the light of his base, particles filling the air with endstone radiation. Emitting a slight lavender glow, it jittered slightly in his hands, as if something alive was inside. The texture, the magic sparkes, it would usually feel spikey to any normal player, but to Grian, it was comforting . As if holding it in his hands somehow reliefs all of his stress, calming his heartbeat down, and numbing his mind down to a crisp.

“Grian? Is everything alright?” SB asked, bringing him back. “I thought you said a few days???”

“It’s.” He held a breath in his throat. “It’s going to be completed soon.” He clutched the egg in his grip, tightly though gently. “Maybe today.”

And then, he hung up, placing the device down and turned his attention fully to the egg. He had to place the pieces together, and quickly.

Not wasting another second, he took off out of the house, bringing the egg with him.

Maybe a little too soon.

Chapter Text

The line went silent, SB sprung up from his chair.

“SB?” Tommy raised a brow, confused. “What’s up, big man?”

He didn’t respond. Taking off his headphones, he mouthed something to himself, before getting off his chair and beelined to the door.

“SB-?”

SB stopped, as if he just realized Tommy was there. “Oh right- er, Tommy.” Flashing a quick smile, he gestured. “I’m going to be heading to the division next door- the attack division.” He paused, before sighing. “I need to go confirm some things there about the mission, can you continue on by yourself?”

“Oh, um,” The blond blinked. “Sure, good luck?”

“I’ll be right back.”

And with that, he rushed out the door, leaving Tommy alone in the office.

He just stood still in his chair, unsure of what to do. The flow of time was strange in the watcher’s realm, seemingly going fast but at the same time oh so slow. He shivered, skin pricked by the aura of magic surrounding him. Just being here gave him a feeling of discomfort, but it was vastly more present here. The radiation of end magic emitted by all the various lit up holograms burnt his skin, not literally, but it still physically hurt, clawing his mind. He’s not sure how all the watchers in this realm handle it, though he supposes literally no one here is fully human (Including him, regretfully).

Hesitantly tracing his fingers on one of the present floating screens, it blinked white for a second, but then went back to obnoxious purple. He flinched, taking his hand back. He knew SB told him to continue on with his task, but in all honestly he had no fucking clue what he was doing and now knows less without the hybrid here.

Forcing his hand near one of the holograms, he decided to try navigating through the thing by himself. He didn’t need SB to help. He didn’t. He couldn’t make himself seem weak to them, he’s seen what they can do.

Ignoring how all of the strands of hair on his hand seemed to rise at the slightest touch of his hand to the screen, he placed a finger down on it, before promptly stopping. What was he supposed to do again?

He made up his mind a long time ago; he hated the watchers realm. He hated the watchers in general. The air was thick and unfamiliar, cold, thick, and burning. The people- creatures weren’t any better. The more he stayed, the worse it felt, he started to notice the true nature of what he actually agreed to. The Watchers were deceptive. Selfish. Or in some cases, just extremely decentralised.

He shivers at the thought of becoming one of them.

With that in mind though, it’s not like he had anywhere else better to go. He only accepted to get away from him, and no matter what, he’s not coming back. No matter what.

He had to force the shiver back down his spine, suddenly remembering that his breaths were getting heavy. Calming himself down, he was then reminded of why he was here. The ‘Mission’. 

Well that actually didn't help.

It was then that he was snapped out of his thoughts by a loud ringing noise. It buzzed in his ear, sending uncomfortable shivers down his spine. Frantically searching around to see where it originated from, his eyes landed on one of the holograms connected to SB’s comms.

On screen were two buttons, one red and one green, with the text reading; incoming call from Xelqua . Followed by various strings of information underneath it but Tommy doesn’t have half of the mind to decipher it all. His attention was instead squared to the ‘accept’ and ‘decline’ buttons.

He lifted his hand up in hesitance, really unsure of what to do. He’s not sure of whether he was supposed to accept it or not, SB was the one that knows these things. He stalled for another second, before just pressing the goddamn button. His finger was momentarily pricked, before the screen flashed green light. It disappeared and was replaced by another hologram the next second, displaying that the call had connected.

" ...Hello? "

Well this definitely isn't Grian. 

 " Hello ?"

Realizing that he was supposed to say something, he rush searched the desk, grabbing SB's headset off the other side of the table and quickly put it on. "Uh- hello?"

" Who's this? "

"Same question here, bud." He replies without much thought. The line instantaneously went awkwardly silent, though he could hear distant chatter in the background of the call. “Er? Hello?” He attempts again, actually checking the lines of call info, “Hermitcraft server… right?”

“ Yes. That is correct .” The caller responded, an air of caution in their voice. “ This is? ”

Something processes in Tommy’s mind, but it’s as if a windows error noise plays inside. He’s not sure what to say to that. Should he just say watchers? His name? His codename??

“I mean, no offence, big man,” He laughed awkwardly to himself. “But if you’re calling someone, you should probably know who you’re calling.”

A sigh. “ The watchers? ”

“Uh- yeah. This is the watchers, you’re right.”

The chattering noise got louder, but it was still too incomprehensible for Tommy to figure out anything that’s being said. But from the tone of voices, he could decipher that they sounded… sad? Angry? He actually wasn’t sure. He could swear he hears Grian’s name being tossed around, but once again, it’s unclear.

“So uh- can I help you?” He decidedly says for some reason.

A distant noise, and a voice starts talking a bit away, though he could only make out a few words. “ Should I really ask that? It sounds too… straightforward? ” He hears the caller talking to someone else, probably besides them in person. “ Whatever- is there someone by the name of Grian there ?”

He realizes a moment late that that question was directed towards him. “Grian?” He repeated, blinking. “He’s, um, away, at the moment. I thought he was supposed to be on your server?”

The call went dead silent, he did not like that. He heard a distant whisper in the background, the same person that was talking to the person on call. They seemed to converse for a moment, and let Tommy think, isn’t this call from Grian’s comms? Who are these people?

“ I’ll try asking- ” The caller replied to the background person, and then talked into the device again. “ What’s he doing here? Grian? ”

“On some sort of mission, I don’t know.”

Once again, all noise seemed to drop. “ ...is he, ” They breathed into the phone, and he could practically feel the tingle of emotion in their voice, though little did he know, it was betrayal. “... one of your people? ”

“Uh- I think so?”

The other end went silent. Completely silent. He waited for a minute, but they all just stopped talking. “Uh- hel-”

The call disconnected.

Tommy cringed to himself as he placed the headset back down, wondering if he said something wrong.

***

Beep.

He ended the call, not fully on purpose, but his finger just moved before he could stop it. he could feel himself shaking. He didn’t want to hear more. He couldn’t hear any more. 

He stared blankly at the device’s screen, clutching the device tightly in his hands despite the fact that it burnt like hot coal in his hands, gloves doing almost nothing to help. A lot of things ran through his mind, a lot of things.

Wordlessly, X turned to the group of few hermits that were also there, everyone sharing a single expression.

Chapter Text

“Grian would never.”

“Well,” Another grumbled. “It turns out that’s not true.”

Everyone gathered at Grian’s starter house. Everyone. And yet, there was not a sound in the building. Everyone seemed to have agreed to the silence. Everyone.

They all observed tensely as Tango shifted his hold on Grian’s other communicator, a certain murderous glint in his eyes and frown on his face.

“This is a watchers device, if I’ve ever seen one.” Tango cursed, having to hold himself from tearing it apart, compromising by just gripping it really tightly. “Curses, so they really are involved.”

“And Grian is one of them.” Iskall sighed, an amount of hurt present in his voice, though he seemed to try to hide it. “He’s been leading this show from inside.”

“But it-” Stress said in pure disbelief. “Grian? Really?”

“As much as it pains me to admit it, yep.” Xisuma mumbled, almost absentmindedly. In contrast to usual, he seemed far more distant, though that might just be because usually he has his mask on. Instead, it was now lying on the floor, almost discarded. A large, long scar in the middle of his face glistens, his eyes seeming to be glued to the wall. “We’ve confirmed him to be one of them, and the chances that it’s just a coincidence are-”

“-Astronomically low.” Doc finished, a grumble in his voice. “So it means Grian’s the only one that could be doing all of this.”

“But- it’s Grian!” Scar protested weakly. “We’ve known him for years! Why would he ever- He wouldn’t-”

“Well, everything else says otherwise.” The admin let out a huff of laughter, though it was completely devoid of any kind of joy nor emotion. “We really should’ve seen this coming.”

“Still though, why now!?” Scar practically cried out. “He had every chance to stab us in the back long, long ago, so why-”  Ever the kind one, the sensitive one, Scar by contrast simply sounded hurt. As if he was about to burst into tears at any second, any affirmation of his fears. It was enough to make everyone else quiet down. “...Why would he do this to us?”

“I’m with Scar on this one,”Mumbo added out, almost reluctantly. “Grian has always been a bit… wild, but he never put much malicious thought into anything he does-”

“We don’t know that.” Impulse cut in, his voice uncharacteristically ruffled up and shaky. “I hate saying it, I despise this, I despise everything about this, but we really don’t know.” He paused, taking a shaky huff. “What do we know now? We thought he was on our side, and yet-” Sharply inhaling, the noise he let out was like that of a low, quiet sob disguised as a laugh. “It’s obvious that he was the one that killed them.”

“Grian wouldn’t! We’ve known him-”

“Maybe we didn’t actually know him, ever think about that?" Doc scorned harshly. "Maybe everything- everything up until now- was a lie.”

Nobody dared to say anything to that, and the room fell into silence once again. Each to their own, they were lost in their own emotions, whether it was anger, denial, grief, shock, or fear. It was hard to say anything. It felt hard to even breath.

“...Why did we let him in again?” Tango turned to Xisuma hesitantly. “Why did we ever accept him into our server?”

“Speaking of which, I just remembered.” Xisuma got up, still seeming deep in his thoughts and avoiding the other’s gazes. “How did he even learn about our server in the first place? We’re private, even the watchers shouldn’t be able to track us down, unless someone in the inside spilled.”

“Which was probably what he’d been doing this entire time. Curse him.”

“Mumbo.” The admin continued, finally landing his eyes on the suited up man, almost narrowly. “You were the one that introduced him to us, weren’t you?”

More than a few eyes all around the room widened. “Mumbo??”

Mumbo froze from all the attention, seeming to struggle putting his thoughts together, but tried to either way.

“I- oh.” He paused in realization. “Yeah. I was the one.”

“Why would you-”

“Mumbo, I also remember you saying,” Xisuma continued as if nobody said anything, “That you’ve known Grian for a long time. Longer than any of us, in fact.”

“I- I have, yeah.” He confirmed hesitantly, voice careful as everyone’s eyes shifted to him. “We were fairly close, but then he went to highschool, and after that I just,” He paused, trying to remember the details, “Never heard from him again.” 

Then he trailed off, but picked up again when someone was about to talk. “Until he reached out to me 4 years ago, out of the blue. We chatted, there didn’t seem to be anything weird about him. And then he told me he needed somewhere to stay because his last server…” Once again, he trailed off, eyes fully widening in realization. “Got deleted.”

“Well, there it is.” Doc growled. “That double faced scum has been manipulating us the entire time. There’s the confirmation.”

“There- There has to be some sort of mistake- Grian wouldn’t-”

“I’m afraid there’s no more room for discussion.” Xisuma halted, voice almost completely monotone. “Now that we know one of our members was in fact involved in all of this, much more is the one leading the entire thing and has betrayed us, we need to act fast.” He sighed, before moving his gaze. “Pearl?”

“Oh.” She visibly tensed up, surprised and a bit afraid. “Uh- yeah?”

“First of all, I would like to say, on behalf of everyone here, that we’re sorry for suspecting you.” He stated, almost robotically, as he placed his mask back on slowly. His dull blue eyes emitting a glow. “But I must ask, do you know anything else? You’re free to talk about whatever you want. You’re cleared from suspicion.”

She shifted uncomfortably. “I- don’t really-” Pearl paused. “...Do you mean about the incident in evo, or…”

He shrugged. “Anything, really.”

“Well… uh-”

“What was Grian like back then?” Tango decidedly asked, after some consideration. “Was he any different than how he acted here?”

“He…” She considered it. “When they started getting involved, he would always act really, really hostile when the watchers were somehow involved, or if anyone brought them up. Other than that, he wasn’t any different from what he was like here. Chaotic like hell, but still a bit ordered.” She cringed. “...Also fairly destructive, if memory serves me correctly.”

“ Destructive ?”

“Like, TNT, and all that stuff, at least that’s what I heard from the other members, since I joined late.” She sighed. “But then again, most of the things said were kinda like… pranks? At least that’s what they said.”

"Do you recall anything else that may be relevant?"

"He was, how do I put this, a bit of a control freak?” A bit hesitant, she started toying with her hair. "Had this thing called the Grian Empire, heard from Taurtis he acted a bit tyrannical. He asked me to join once, but even when I did nothing much came of it. And well, I guess the Watchers focused on him more than the rest of us.”

"Well aren't those glaring red flags." Doc grumbles.

"Maybe it was, but nobody caught it if it was. Especially since he was notably anti-watcher. But then again, that could've easily been a trick, like everything else." 

"I suppose when you start calling everything he’s done into question, it becomes a bit obvious.” Xisuma murmured, a bit of a crazed smile revealing through the untight visor. “And yet, we still missed all of this. I missed all of this.”

“X, it wasn’t your fault-”

The admin’s head snapped back very quickly, sending a chilling, glass shattering glare. “I was the one that let him in officially, mind you. I went through his player history, server history, even saw a bit of his player code, and I still let him in.” He growled, voice cracking halfway. “It’s all my fault.”

Nobody else dared to correct or deny, the room immediately went tensely silent. A pause, and Xisuma turned his head away.

“...Sorry.” 

Biting her lip, Pearl hesitantly spoke again. “...I have to tell you all one more thing.” She took a deep exhale. “Does anyone here know the term listener?”

Wels' head snapped up, meanwhile others were in confusion. “You’re one of them.”

“Who? Sorry- I’m not following.”

“The Listeners.” Wels started. “A group of vigilantes, you can classify them as. They were formed by rogue watchers who defected against the watcher’s command, sacrificing their sight for greater power.”

“Greater than the watchers?” Gem asked, incredulous.

“No, we can never win against the watchers, in terms of strength, or anything really.” Pearl answered distantly, almost depressingly. “Most of our members can’t even do much, because to completely turn against the watchers after ‘you swore the oath’ means to face certain death.”

“Christ.”

“I was sent to this server,” Pearl began to elaborate. “Because we’ve received intel that the watchers were going to be attacking this server. Sending a watcher to falsify themselves as a member years before is a common tactic they use to mark servers they consider a threat.”

“A threat.” Tango grudged under his breath. “They consider us a threat. That’s amusing.”

“Pearl- I’m sorry but,” Everyone turned to see who was speaking, and couldn't believe their eyes. “I don’t know if I can trust you.”

Anxiety filled her up. “What-?”

“Impulse-?”

“Grian already betrayed us.” Impulse mumbled, almost darkly though hesitantly. “Who’s to say that there isn’t anyone else here that’s fooling us.”

“That's-"

“Impulse does have a point.” Iskall admitted. “Let me remind you all, we’ve known Grian for 3 years. 3 years. And yet we’re only finding all this out now, we’ve only been shown his true intentions now. He stayed for 3 years, gained our trust, and then backstabbed us.” A madden, joyless laugh. “The bastard tricked us. Manipulated us. What’s to say nobody else here is doing the same thing?”

“Iskall!”

“Now you’ve gone too far, both of you!” Stress stressed. “Now’s not the time for this! We need to trust each other to get through th-”

“I don’t necessarily blame them for not being able to trust anyone else in this room.” Etho sighed. “Hell, I’m even starting to doubt myself.”

“You guys! Stop! I can’t handle just thinking about another betrayal-”

And then the room erupted into chaos. So much so, no one noticed the admin's eyes starting to twitch underneath his visor.

“Are we completely sure Grian’s the one to blame-? I mean I still can’t believe it, he was our friend-”

“Keyword, was. Forced or not, he left us behind.”

“But he always seemed so nice, so kind, despite all of his shenanigans! There’s no way he would-”

“That’s what we thought, look where we are now!”

“Pearl, you said you knew at least about how the watchers had their eyes on us, why didn’t you ever tell us about all that earlier? It could've been more useful, you know, before anyone died?”

“I- I wanted to, really, but I couldn’t!”

“That’s fairly convenient. So then why did you only say something now?”

“I- Because-”

“Guys- seriously- calm down-”

“ENOUGH! EVERYONE SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

No one spoke another word, freezing up to turn to the enraged, exasperated, exhausted admin they usually saw as calm and collected slammed his fists hard on the surface of the table, afterwards screaming loudly.

“Enough is enough, don’t you hear? I can’t even think with all the noise everyone is emitting! Jeez!” He growled, turning around the room to view each and every single one of everyone, an unfamiliar glint in his eyes. “I need everyone to tell me, to think, what made you all think this is remotely even the correct time to fight around, to mess around?”

“X, we weren’t-”

Another loud slam. “Then shut your mouths! Why is that so hard!?” He laughed, an almost maniacal desperation seeping into his voice. “Why!?" Something almost like a choked sob emitted from him. "I'm trying to fix things! I'm trying to think of a solution! I'm trying to do my job! But I- I can't! I just- Everyone shut up! I don't want to hear anyone, anyone, blabber." Slam. "any." Slam. "more." SLAM. "NONSENSE!"

He let out heavy breaths, head turned down with his fists still left on the wood.

"...Xisuma?" Tango tried falteringly.

"Ex…" The admin froze, before straightening up, avoiding everyone's gaze. "Excuse me for a second." And then he left through the door, no one daring to go after him.

Even after he left, the room stayed silent, no one having any idea what to say, no one emotionally stable enough to raise their voice.

"...We really need to do something now." False spoke after a while.

"Don't we have to wait for X?" Zedaph asks confidentless.

"He'll… come around." Tango sighed, looking out the open door dejectedly. "Give him a moment."

It went quiet again, before Pearl forced for the conversation to continue, even though none of them really wanted to speak. "Do you think there's anything left in this place that could reveal anything?"

The only thing that was said in response was a shrug. "Probably."

And so, multiple people rushed to move around, or at least do something. Then, everyone stopped as they hear a yelp.

"Ew- what's this- sticky?" Ren murmured out loud, his feet seeming to be attached to the floor by a thick blue fluid. He forced it away, but it left a blob on his shoe.

Doc looked at it with a small eyebrow raise. "This seems like… slime?"

"Did you step on a slime ball?"

"I probably did, didn't I? Whoops." Ren chuckled nervously.  "Dude, he has one hell of a chest monster."

"Please don't mention the word 'chest monster' around me, for the time being." Scar mumbled from the side, bringing back a bit of unease.

"Well," Impulse sighed, "let's start looking around, I guess."

"I'm," Keralis started hesitantly while looking around the room, "I'm going to go look for Shashwammy," then he saw Tango's face, and added; "In case anything bad happens to him."

The blond thought for a moment, before nodding. "Fine, let's go. I'm coming with you. X needs to hear at least something."

As they walked out, neither noticed the pair of eyes above the rooftop, ever listening, always watching.

Chapter Text

Boatem has never been this quiet. Usually, there was always some kind of noise. Any kind of noise. Some sort of noise.

But now, even with all the members there, there was not a sound. There were supposed to be five, but they were down one, and it was so glaringly obvious. His absence was oh so visible, so depressing, that from a glance, it was as if nobody was there at all, even though the four were still there. The light had faded out, and even the moonlight seemed to dim above the lands.

Scar shivered as the night winds blew harshly across the terrain, covering all that was good, trees almost following the breeze. It’s been a long time since he saw the moon. It was cold. It was freezing.

He placed a hand on the wall of the cobblestone starter base, belonging to someone he knew, or at least someone he thought he knew. He needed to support his own weight just to stand, a kind of sadness running through his mind on repeat. It left an actual scar on his mind, destined to never heal no matter if he wanted it too.

It was then that he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he yelped in surprise.

“Scar- calm down,” He turned to see them, and it’s like all his muscles in his body immediately relaxed. “It’s just me.”

“Oh- Cub.” He chuckled nervously. “You nearly made my soul jump out of my body, jeez.”

“Sorry,” Cub hummed amusedly, though his expression was serious. “Are you feeling alright?”

“I’m-” He wanted to lie, he didn’t want to face it. He despised reality. But he saw the same sadness in the other’s eyes, and sighed, voice coming out more shaky than he intended. 

Looking down, he opened his mouth, voice coming out shaky. “No- N-no. I’m not alright. I’m not alright.”

He nearly collapsed then and there, falling into his friend for support, clutching him tightly. Cub was stunned for a second, but then returned the embrace, gently patting the other’s back. 

“Grian- he- I never expected that he would-” He let it out, let it all out. “That he was-”

“None of us expected this.” The ravenette muttered back soothingly, though his tone was stained with clear bitterness. “None of us could’ve anticipated this.”

“He was always a really good f-friend. I trusted him- I thought he was-” 

He couldn’t get himself to finish. He just couldn’t.

As Scar buried his face in the other’s chest, Cub’s moves were getting fairly restrained, but he said nothing. Looking down at the brunet’s honest despair, he had to force himself to speak. “We all did. We all thought he was on our side.” He said, putting a comforting hand on the brunet’s back. “You’re not alone, we’re all hurt. He hurt all of us.”

The next few minutes were just filled with audible, loud sobbing, ugly crying. The chatter of the other hermits in the area were barely decipherable, seeming to get more distant with more time passing by.

And then, a few footsteps sounded close by, really near, and stopped as they reached the back of the starter house. Everyone looked up at each other, caught off guard.

“Did we- interrupt something?” Pearl asked hesitantly, blinking nervously. “Sorry- we’ll go now.”

“Wait- no- it’s fine,” Scar looked up, realizing other people were there. “You guys can stay.”

Impulse and Pearl seemed to be stunned into place, seeing the other pair. They stood in quietness for the next few seconds, none knowing what to say to break the ice.

“...Pearl?” Cub sighed at last, still holding Scar.

The listener froze. “Yeah?”

“I’m sorry for being harsh to you back then.”

She blinked confusedly, before snapping back, smiling nervously. “Oh- it’s- it’s completely good.” She nodded stiffly, sighing. “I understand that none of you wanted to suspect Grian. It’s one of the main reasons I didn’t want to point him out immediately.”

“So is Grian really…?”

“Like Xisuma said, we listened to him reporting to someone, probably another watcher, about… destroying the server.” Impulse chimed in, voice still holdingthe same grimness from the meeting. “It really hurt. The way he sounded so… carefree about it…"

“Does he really want us d-" Scar took a sharp breath, rephrasing his question as he began to tear up again. "Did he always hate us? From the very beginning?”

“I don’t think so,” She seemed to sincerely think over the question. “He seemed to genuinely care about you guys. More than he did with the people back in EVO, I’d wager.” She frowned, barely allowing the following hope to creep into her mind. “I think he may be hesitant, which is why he stalled f-”

Scar hid his face in Cub’s coat again, and the scientist shot her a look that told her clearly that she was not helping in the slightest. It was silent for a couple of moments, the quiet sounds of sobbing and the wind rustling seeming to be the only thing that grounded them to earth. The only thing reminding them that this was reality.

Pearl was about to say something, but stopped herself midway upon remembering Scar's condition, instead looking away. Impulse kicked the dirt awkwardly, seeming a bit lost in his own thoughts. Scar was still attached to Cub.

"I think this is our cue to leave." Impulse sighed after a bit. 

"Yeah- uh- right-" Pearl murmured hesitantly, backing away. "Impulse, you wanna search for Grian?"

He shrugged indifferently, not turning. "You go ahead first."

She got the hint, and left the three alone.

"Scar, buddy." Impulse started carefully, biting his lip. "Listen, we're all hurting. None of us are feeling well." Sighing, his voice shook. "There's no way any of us could feel well after…"

"I know- I-" A portion of his soul felt empty. Torn apart. "I know ."

"Xisuma's already on it, everything's going to be okay." While Impulse’s voice was calm, soothing, it did very little to comfort Scar. Especially since his tone did very little to cover up the deep hurt.

"I'll catch up with Pearl now- see you guys later?" Impulse asked, already grabbing his rockets in preparation to take off.

"Bye, Impulse!"

The moments after the initial rocket cracks were once again silent. Scar momentarily tugged on Cub’s already soaked lab coat, before he reluctantly detached himself from the scientist.

"Scar, are you sure you'll be alright?"

"I'm not great." He admitted, palming his forehead. "But I'll manage.” He went silent, before sighing. “I think I’d like to get some fresh air, be right back, Cub."

Without another word, he separated himself from the scientist. Cub didn’t try reaching out to him. 

“Be safe.” Was the only thing he heard from the other before he started walking off.

He wandered aimlessly, just hoping to get away. He eventually took a bit of shelter in the spruce woods near boatem, leaning into a tree with a blank stare. He glazed over the area, eyes travelling around without a destination, before looking down and resting a hand on his head.

It hurt. Everything hurt. Without noticing, he almost started crying again to his own thoughts. The midnight wind did nothing to quell his sorrows, the moon seemed to be growing bigger in the sight of his glassy eyes.

It was tranquil. Nobody else was around.

Well, that's what he thought anyway.

"You bastard!"

Starled, he jumped up from his position when he heard someone screaming. It sounded a bit like Iskall? 

He then heard barely audible, but still very loud arguing somewhere nearby. After a moment of shock, he regained his thoughts to go look for the source of the voices.

He got pretty close, the arguing getting louder with every step he took. Then, after looking around, he brushed a heap of leaves aside, to reveal the scene.

His eyes widened at the sight of a certain blond in a red sweater, the one he’d been really hoping not to see anytime soon - albeit with his back against the trees. And he wasn't alone. Iskall and Mumbo were also at the other side of the opening, at a distance with each other. One seemed angry and the other seemed frightened. They seemed to be fighting, voices raised beyond what he's ever heard from the trio.

“You guys don’t understand a thing !” Grian yelled. Except, he didn’t sound like Grian. At least, not in anyway he’d ever sounded before. His voice was far colder, harsher, for a start, filled with so much more apathy. At this point, it was almost a sneer. “How could you ever understand!?”

“Then just explain already!” Iskall was growing angrier and angrier with every word Grian said. Once upon a time he would’ve taken them as something tragic, something to pity Grian for, but that was all gone now. Replaced by the knowledge of who he really was. “We’re done with your lies! We’re done with everything!” 

“Iskall-”

“We trusted you. We thought you were our friend! ”

Grian’s face was indecipherable. His eyebrows were visibly scrunched up, but his eyes were almost hollow, lifeless, a plastered frown on his face. He looked frustrated, but at the same time also… disappointed.

He stayed silent, though his eyes were staring narrowly at the robot. They seemed unfocused. Without Emotion.

Some of the tension in Iskall’s expression dissipated into disturbance in how Grian was practically glaring at him. Unwarned and suddenly, he drew a blade from his inventory.

This seemed to surprise Mumbo, and also Grian to an extent.

“I-Iskall- wait-” Mumbo seemed scared. Really scared.

Iskall blocked him, voice lowering into a whisper. “I’m not going to kill him.” He gritted his teeth. “I can’t kill him. But…”

“Iskall,” Grian said, almost in an amused, but still warning voice. “Do you really see right in what you’re doing?”

“Just shut up. You betrayed us.” He growled in reply, voice coming out shaky despite his wishes. He held the sword up as a threat, spitting out his next words in disgust. “You’re nothing but a backstabber .”

“I told you guys.” Grian mumbled, barely audible. By now, the lie was hollow, exhausted. It felt more like a taunt than anything. False, innocent siren-like eyes denying the blood spilled obviously in its palms, even when witnessed tearing the fabric with its bare hands. “ I didn’t do anything. ”

“ Liar! ” The brunet shouted through gritted teeth. “Everything you’ve said so far are just lies!”

Scar noticed some purple shaded sparks starting to form inside Grian’s clenched hands. It was almost like electricity, though unformed and unstable. His eyes widened, recognizing what they were.

“It’s obvious,” He scoffed, cold eyes glowing dangerously. “You know nothing about me.”

“That’s something we both can agree on.” Iskall scorned, preparing himself.

“Guys- wait-” Scar desperately reached out and grabbed hold of Grian’s arm, maybe to try restrain him, maybe to try reaching out to him. But the intention really didn’t matter.

Because then everything stopped.

Time slowed. 

The last thing he saw was the blond turning around startled, eyes widened.

Next, he felt electricity running through his veins.

Chapter Text

Bdoubleo100 slept. Sweet dreams!

Goodtimeforscar was killed by Grian using magic

As the sun rose from its deep slumber, the earth was engulfed by the light. The rays rained down the lands, bringing back life into the grounds of dismay. The wind stopped back into a slow, stable flow, the air tense as the corpse laid low.

Everything was not okay.

He looked at the motionless body that fell from his arms, eyes widening. He stared blankly. Empty emerald eyes stared right back at him, haunting, a frozen terror left for display.

Everything was not okay.

As the reality of what he did finally snapped into his mind, he finally registered the shouts from across the terrain from him. His mind was racing with a lot of different things, he could still feel the remnants of sparks on his hands. It was electrocuting, the illusion of blood on his hands, when in reality there was none.

Everything was not okay.

It took him a moment after to realise the shouts were angry, accusing. Another moment, he realized that the death was probably broadcasted along the server, everyone aware of what he’d done. What he was responsible for.

“You killed him.”

A lot of brainpower was used for him to refocus, to decipher the harsh tone into words his brain could process.

“You killed him!”

Staying silent, his eyes glossed over. One second, the two were still there, on the opposite side of the grass, the next second both ran up to check on the brunet. The brunet he’d killed . The vessel of someone he once knew, now empty. Void of any of the life that had made him so endearing, just a hollow shell.

It’s all gone, all because of him . 

Part of him knew he should be happy, another obstacle out of the way, and that this was a good chance to kill the other two while they were focused on something else. While they had their backs turned. Vulnerable. Weak . 

But his hand clenched, and he stayed in place, watching over the two only a few blocks away from him with a blank stare.

He knew he should kill them, but all the same, he didn’t.

Even as he heard footsteps rumbling nearby, other people appearing on the scene, witnessing the cruelty of what had happened, he didn’t utter a word.

Even as shouts flew across, he stayed completely silent.

“You…” Someone growled. He didn’t look up to see who. “You’re a murderer!”

He didn’t react at all, at least not until he felt hands roughly putting themselves on his shoulders, knocking him back almost by surprise. 

“Aren’t you going to say anything?!”

He eyed them, almost narrowly, but still devoid of any real reaction, or even any emotion. No glee, or pride. No anger, no sorrow. No guilt. 

A really big contrast to Cub's, who was looking at him fully enraged.

“You killed Scar.”

“I know.” He murmured under his breath, doing his best to not let it shake. All the sudden, a hand was on the other's chest. His expression finally shifted, voice low. “And  I’d do it again .”

In one second, they were flung to the side, a trail of electricity appearing for a quarter of a mili-moment. The power sent a few trees flying down, and Cub crashed to the dirt, flinching in pain.

“Cub!"

In the midst of the confusion, he moved.  He bolted towards Tango with known intent, and the other barely had any time to react before he had to avoid the smallest's grip, ducking to the side and trying to apprehend the smaller. It didn't work, as Grian abruptly moved away, backing down to the ground.

"Get him!"

Multiple people jumped at him, but Grian's movements were so fast, it's almost as if he's teleporting from one place to another in such short timeframes. Everyone came at him from all angles, yet all he saw were silhouettes, shadows, obstacles to avoid. As it went on, magic sparks began to form in his hands again.

Someone tried to snatch him from behind, and that's when he teleported, yet again, behind a this time unsuspecting Tango.

Tango could feel every hair on his skin stand. It's as if time slowed, next, something brushed up against his back, knocking him down and holding him against the floor, electrifying. He heard a small voice, though naybe it was just the wind.

"Tango, I'm so sorry."

His veins lit up, and he screeched in pain. It's almost as of every cell in his body screamed, a familiar sensation washing over him. No no no no no—

"Oh no you don't."

And then the weight on his back dissipated, along with the pain, magic still rumbling in his now activated blood. It felt like being boiled alive internally. His blood was burning. It hurt. It hurt.

Meanwhile, Grian was being held up in the air by nothing but magic, Xisuma being on the giving end, looking downright furious. Like the oceans, ruthless tides taken over, those blue eyes glazing hatred at the one who hurt everything he's been dedicated to protect.

Grian had snatched the communicator from the blond's grasp. Though entrapped, encased, he seemed unfazed, though momentarily surprised. The magic felt unforeign to his skin, but almost unfamiliar at the same time. It's been a while, at least. 

Nonchalantly, he dusted his hand on the glowing, emerald toned admin magic that surrounded him, before slashing.

Red emitted from him, it consumed the green, and he landed on the ground with a thud, the admin knocked back, eyes widened. 

"How did you-"

Before anything else could happen, he started up the device in his hands, promptly teleporting away when a hand tried grabbing him from the side.

And then, he successfully connected.

Multiple tried to stop him. He knew that if they all were to actually try, he would've been dead ages ago. But luckily for him, despite being oh so enraged, so angry, they were still soft . Especially against him.

What an advantage. A pitiful one, but it works in his favor.

Avoiding a narrowly hit arrow, he maneuvered and got on his players comms.

He looked up in time to see Iskall in his face. But it was too late. He'd already pressed the button.

"Goodbye," He breathed, loud enough for him to hear. Eyes looking up, narrowing almost tauntingly, he added; "Friends."

Grian left the game

***

Xelqua joined the game

He breathed. Actually breathed after what felt like an eternity. He has never felt more pliant in the breathless air of the realm, more relieved. It felt like he just went through hell and back. Goodness.

He just now realized the amount of sweat that trickled on his forehead, or actually, his entire body. The small cuts and bruises he got probably during the struggle but didn't fully notice. The small tear in his sweater, alongside his sweatpants. He groaned, those were his favorites. He's gonna have to get new clothes.

As the adrenaline began to fade away and his mind unfogged, he froze. He remembered. What he did. To them .

An image of Scar's liveless body, the sound of Tango's agonized screaming, the memory of hatred.

Their hatred.

Towards him .

They hated him now.

Looking down, more specifically at the device pocketed in his ragged up pants, he stared blankly. He shouldn't be affected. He knows. He shouldn't. He couldn't .

But something lurches in his stomach, his mind spinning. He shouldn't be affected. It was no longer his will to care.

Everything was okay.

*Beep*

Recognizing the ring, he immediately pulled himself out of his mind and got his comms out, realizing that he was still in the spawn halls.

|•→ ᒲᒷᒷℸ ̣ ╎リ⊣ [ᓵ𝙹ꖎ𝙹∷ ᔑꖎᔑʖᔑᓭℸ ̣ ᒷ∷]

ℸ ̣ 𝙹!¡╎ᓵ: ↸ᒷᓵ╎ᒲᔑℸ ̣ ╎𝙹リ 𝙹⎓ ⍑ᒷ∷ᒲ╎ℸ ̣ ᓵ∷ᔑ⎓ℸ ̣ 

𝙹ʖᓭᒷ∷⍊ᒷ↸ ʖ||: ꖌ∷ᔑ ̇/∷𝙹ᓭ, ⎓╎⎓ℸ ̣ ⍑ ╎リ ᓵ𝙹ᒲᒲᔑリ↸ᒷ↸ ꖎᒷᔑ↸

!¡∷𝙹ᓵᒷᒷ↸╎リ⊣ᓭ ꖎᒷᔑ↸ ʖ||: ⋮ᔑ ̇/ᔑ, ⍑ᒷᔑ↸ ∴ᔑℸ ̣ ᓵ⍑ᒷ∷ 𝙹⎓ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ᓭᒷᓵ∷ᒷℸ ̣  ↸╎⍊╎ᓭ╎𝙹リ

∴╎ℸ ̣ ⍑ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ᒲᔑリ↸ᔑℸ ̣ 𝙹∷|| !¡∷ᒷᓭᒷリᓵᒷ 𝙹⎓

⨅ᒷ╎ᓵ⍑╎, ⎓𝙹∷ᒲᒷ∷ ⎓╎∷ᓭℸ ̣  ᓵ𝙹ᒲᒲᔑリ↸ 𝙹⎓ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ╎リ⎓𝙹∷ᒲᔑℸ ̣ ╎𝙹リ ↸╎⍊╎ᓭ╎𝙹リ ᔑリ↸ ᓭᒷᓵ𝙹リ↸ ꖎᒷ⍊ᒷꖎ ⎓∷𝙹リℸ ̣ ╎ᒷ∷, ᓵ⚍∷∷ᒷリℸ ̣  𝙹ʖᓭᒷ∷⍊ᒷ∷ 𝙹⎓ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ᓭᒷᓵ∷ᒷ∷ ↸╎⍊╎ᓭ╎𝙹リ 

⨅⍑ᒷ∷ᔑ⊣𝙹ᓭ, ⍑ᒷᔑ↸ 𝙹⎓ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ᔑℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ᔑᓵꖌ ↸╎⍊╎ᓭ╎𝙹リ

リ╎ ̇/||ᒷ, ⍑ᒷᔑ↸ 𝙹⎓ !¡𝙹∷ℸ ̣ ᔑꖎ ᓵ𝙹リℸ ̣ ∷𝙹ꖎ ↸╎⍊╎ᓭ╎𝙹リ

 ̇/ᒷꖎᑑ⚍ᔑ, ⨅||リ𝙹, ᔑリ↸ ||∷||∷ᔑ 𝙹⎓ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ᓭᒷᓵ∷ᒷℸ ̣  ↸╎⍊╎ᓭ╎𝙹リ 

╎ꖎ⍊ᔑ╎ℸ ̣ ᒷ, ᒲ╎∷ᔑ⊣𝙹ꖎ↸, ᔑリ↸ ᒲ||ᓵℸ ̣ ╎ᔑꖎ, ᔑᓭᓭ𝙹ᓵ╎ᔑℸ ̣ ᒷᓭ

 ̇/ᔑリℸ ̣ ⍑⚍ᓭ, ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ∷𝙹⚍⊣ᒷ ←•|

Skimming the message, he nearly dropped the device. Kraxros. Multiple division heads. And Traitor listeners too apparently.

"Gri! There you are!"

He flinches at the name, at the hand suddenly on his shoulder. Fight or flight, on pure instinct, his hand flared up and magic was ready to be thrown at-

"Goodness endstones – Calm down! It's me!"

"Oh." He blinked. The sparks in his hand immediately dissipated, his arm dropping back down to the side of his chest. "SB."

"Did I startle you that badly?" He sighs. Briefly looking around the room, everyone in the spawn area was looking at them oddly now.. "You were going to kill me! Anyways- let's go, we'll be late for the briefing meeting!"

Without bidding another second to relapse, SB dragged Grian along out of the halls.

"SB what-" He said, confusion clearly laced in voice. "What's going on??"

"What's going on? You know what's going on!" The other responded without much thought, almost offhandedly. "We're launching the attack."

Was everything truly okay?

Chapter Text

He was running.

He was running. He couldn’t look behind him. He didn’t want to look behind him.

Lighting struck from the sky, as if surrounding the barren, decimated terrain and lands which were already lit up in flames.

Everything was dead.

Everything was dead .

And it’s after him next.

He was running.

It’s after him.

"Tango!"

He couldn’t outrun the immortal.

He couldn’t outrun the inhuman.

The eyes are always watching .

He couldn’t outrun what was always right behind him.

A hand pushed him to the ground. He couldn’t have had time to retaliate, he was on the ground. He couldn’t tell if he made a sound. He might’ve screamed.

Something sparked.

"Tango!"

Electricity.

Electricity ran down his veins.

He screamed. He’s pretty sure he screamed. 

All his senses were screaming. It hurt.

Electricity filled up all he could feel.

Everything hurts.

They were catching up.

And everything hurts.

His veins burned. It hurt.

It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt It hurt-

*Slap*

"Ow-! What the fuck man?!" He jolts awake, pain flowing through his veins. Real and physical pain. He froze. "Whoops, excuse my language."

Gathering his bearings, he noticed that right above him was Impulse, who was practically shaking in excessive relief. When his eyes finally focused, he saw that the the brunet himself seemed exhausted .  "You're alright. Thank god you're alright."

Looking around, it seems he was still in the forest, but maybe a different location. There were about six hermits surrounding him, as if they were waiting for him to wake up.

His head felt a bit dizzy. A bit floaty. He could still feel the sweat glistening on his head, his entire body. The buzz was still faintly there. As if something was popping inside of his blood. The buzz was still there .

After a little, he finally got his mind intact enough to respond, though his tone was noticeably detached. "I am. Yeah. 'Sup? What happened." 

That might've not been the best thing to say. "You… don't remember?" Zedaph asked, a bit worried.

He scratched his head nervously, confusion slipping in. He recollected his recent memories. "... Remember what? Us confronting… the shithole ?"

"A bit after that." Wels chimed in. "When Grian tackled you to the ground."

The buzzing was still there.

"Oh." Right, that happened. The arsehole. "That."

"Are you fine?" Ren said, grimly. "Dude, you were literally screaming back then. You good?"

"Yeah. Yeah. I'm alright." He chuckled, waving it off. "Just a bit of a stun, honestly. Did hurt. A lot." A dark grimace appeared on his face. "But I'm fine. Where're the others?" He shook his head, realizing other questions were starting to pop up in his head. "How long - how long was I out for? Where's Grian?"

"Grian escaped. You were out for about an hour. Or two, at most." Impulse clicked at his comms patiently, before looking up. "The others are currently causing their own ruckuses, Xisuma left after we pulled you to the side to heal."

He collapsed back down into the bed. Bed? Since when was he- ohh, right. He popped back up again. "Is Xisuma alright?"

The air noticeably got thicker. The others glanced back and forth towards each other, and concern started breaching Tango's mind.

"He's-"

"Not the greatest. No." Hypno muttered carefully. "Not after… Scar. You."

"Fuck."

"Language."

"Sorry."

It was quiet after that, no one sure of what to say. Tango took a good look at himself and his mind as he sat down. If he truly concentrated on it, he could still feel the electricity that flowed through his veins, activated again by the hit he received. He felt it more than he felt the touch of the silky blanket of the bed, as if there was just something running inside his skin. It burnt. It was like fire in his skin, and not the good kind. It buzzed. Disturbed. 

He grounded himself back into reality, noticing the other hermits in the area. None of them seemed to be physically damaged, as Grian didn’t directly attack anyone else other than him (and Cub, he shuddered to think what had happened to the man. And Scar, he didn't want to think about him. That he's gone). Then again, he was his main target. It was his own foolish idea to keep that blasted device on him, as no one else could hold it without consequence aside from him. He really should’ve listened to their suggestions to destroy it immediately. He should’ve-

No, he has to focus. He needs to breathe .

The electricity distracts him from breathing.

Then everyone heard the rustle of leaves, the sound of footsteps. They all turned simultaneously, and Tango’s head perked up.

"X! There you are!"

The admin seemed to immediately approach him in worry. "Tango, are you alright?" Guilt was wrought through his voice. "I'm sorry, I wasn't able to stop him in time - he-"

"It's all good, X!" He immediately cut off before the admin could go spiralling, putting on a smile as convincing as he could. "All on me, I didn't see him coming at all. Sick bastard's also surprisingly really swift, the fucker." He grumbled. “I let my guard down, I lost the communicator. I’m sorry.”

Xisuma gave a conflicting, hesitant look. “It’s not your fault. He could’ve killed you- He-” Taking a closer look, his hair was ruffled and messy, his visor was a bit unfixed. He could see his eyes from behind the thin screen, and they did not glow as they usually do.

The admin was obviously tired, exhausted.

“But I’m fine, see?” He raised his hands as if proving a point. “Nothing to worry about!”

Xisuma obviously did not buy it, but decided to not go further than that, knowing it was pointless. 

“Tango, please, you literally got hit by watcher magic, that must’ve hurt.” Hypno butted in when Xisuma didn’t speak.

Impulse shivered. “No joke.”

“Guys, seriously, I’m fine!”

The tense air melted a little, though it was still fairly evident. Xisuma didn’t say anything for a full moment. Then, he sighs, fixing his visor on his face, coughing to get everyone’s attention.

"In front of Grian's starter house. We all meet up again."

Everyone double taked at that. "Now?" Ren asked, confused.

“Yes, now. I’ll need to round up the others, I’ll catch you guys later.”

Tango frowned. "X, you sure you don't need a moment?"

"Yes, I'm certain." The voice was steel, sure, but still sounded unconvinced of himself. "I'm- I'm sure. We don't have much time."

"Xisuma-"

But the admin already left.

“Guys,” Hypno muttered after a bit of silence. “I’m a bit worried about him if I’m being honest.”

***

Time.

Time moved on.

It killed. It reduced rocks into nothing.

It killed people. It killed the past, moving on to be a history, memories rather forgotten.

The cobblestone starter was the same each time. Grey rocks, pebbles, and stern wood. The moss, the plants. It was reminiscent of something, of life. Of a certain liveliness.

Yet that liveliness no longer lived. It had died, and left nothing remaining but all the cramped chests, the bed. The plants.

It reminded of something, but that something no longer existed. It had died, bringing along with it the liveliness of that cobblestone house, and the joy and comfort it would’ve once held.

Nothing could revive it.

The presence of people, of other lives, only made it dimmer. Only added to it.

They all know what happened here. They all knew what happened.

The silence said it all.

“So,” The admin started reluctantly, something akin to distaste in his voice. “We all know why we’re here.”

“To recap for those not present during the events, Iskall and Mumbo had ran into Grian, who then went violent and… attacked Scar, who had been around the area. Killing him.”

It was dead silent, though the last two words seemed to hit everyone. They hit hard. The reality hit hard. No one liked it. Even Xisuma paused for a second, getting his composure together.

Sure, usually death wasn’t a big thing in the hermitcraft server. It happened all the time, in fact, in pranks and such. But this wasn’t a prank. It was a permanent kill, done by someone they all trusted. Someone who brutally stabbed them all in the back. He falters when he thinks back to Jevin or Joe… what could’ve happened to them as well. Those three will never respawn. That knowledge formed something unpleasant in his stomach. 

They had probably turned on that setting for a while now, how could he have not noticed…?

Eventually, he forced himself to continue with an audible sigh.

“When most of us had rushed to the scene, it… it was already too late. He was aggressive after that, and had attacked both Cub and Tango, promptly before acquiring the communicator and leaving.” He spat those words out shakingly. “We were unable to stop him.”

And after Xisuma stopped, no one else said a word. There was nothing to be said, yet also thousands of words that nobody addressed.

“I wish we could’ve done something,” Bdubs muttered slowly from amongst the crowd. Stark contrast to usual, his voice sounded absolutely heart wrenched. “I really wish we could’ve done something. It was us against one watcher, a traitor! Yet none of us could… instead we…”

“We hesitated,” Impulse completed, voice barely above a whisper in a despairing and shaking tone. “Personally, I hate to admit it, but I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to fight him.”

Pearl stuttered behind him. “None of you probably did.”

“In any case, now, G…” Xisuma’s voice trailed off against his own will, a bitter aftertaste left on his tongue as he grimaced. “...He is not who we have to worry about. Not anymore. Now that he’s escaped, he has probably returned to whatever base the watchers have, and they might be going on the offensive against us soon, which gives us little time to react.”

Etho grumbled under his breath. “So our first course of action is?”

“We would need to make sure they aren’t able to access our server, no?” Keralis offered. “The longer we can block them out, the better, and the more time we’d have.”

False sighed. “Well, we’re already on whitelist, I don’t know how we could get more secure than that.”

“The whitelist system isn’t perfect,” Tango cutted, “And now that we know someone from the inside has been against us this entire time, there’s a huge chance that they’ve already interfered with the code, which they probably already did, knowing the watchers.”

“Maybe you need to reinforce it, reinstall it and make sure there aren’t any modifications that could lead to it being compromised.”

“And aside from that, we’re going to need a backup plan for when we inevitably have to start defending ourselves,” Wels said, rolling his eyes when everyone around him tensed. “Look, it’s the watchers we're going against. They’re not going to give up just because they can’t get in. They’re going to find a way eventually.”

“Wels’ right,” Hypno said with a grimace, “They’re been eyeing us for years, I really doubt they’d ever let us go.”

“We’d better get to it, then. The sooner the better.”

“Alright, I’ll check the code w…” Seeing the admin shift uncomfortably, Tango paused indefinitely. He raised a brow. “Xisuma, you alright?”

"Well- Uh-” Xisuma tensed visibly. Something pooled in his stomach seeing the admin nervous. “The thing is," he took a deep breath, before confessing reluctantly. "...My communicator's missing."

The air of discussion became silent after that.

"It's… missing?"

"…yeah."

Before anyone could ask any more questions like 'when' 'how' 'who' that he knew would just make X burst, Tango intervened, reaching out to put a comforting hand on the admin’s shoulder. "You can use mine for the time being, it shouldn't be that different."

Xisuma’s eyes widened at him, looking both disbelieved or surprised. "You… sure?"

He nodded. "Of course. You need it more than I do. You know how to use it more than I do."

He visibly hesitated for a second, seeming like he wanted to reject, but ended up accepting the device anyways. "Thank you, Tango." Despite how hard X tried to keep his hard shelled admin persona intact, his voice shook, so did his hands, and Tango felt the genuinity in those words.

The air was heavy as Xisuma began fiddling with things, the admin monitors coming up. Holograms lit up the air for a second, and Xisuma began going through them as the silence seemed to crush the world.

And then, something like terror washed over his face. Before Tango or any of the others could ask what up, a sentence blurted out the admin’s mouth.

“The server is in lockdown.”

“What?”

Dreadfully, Tango peered over his shoulder, and sure enough. It was listed in all capital letters that the server was on a lockdown ‘due to an emergency’ . 

As in, the server was locked itself down to prevent the ‘emergency’ from getting worse.

As in, now nobody could join the server, nor could they leave. They were stuck.

Barely hidden by the visor, a flash of fear appeared on Xisuma’s face. “I didn’t set this.”

Doc growled. “Must be their doing, then. Dammit!” 

“Wait, but if they lock it down like this, how are they going to be attacking?” Impulse pointed out, dread pitting in his stomach. “They also can’t join the server if they lock it down like this.”

“They’ll have a way.” Doc grumbled. “There’s no way they haven’t thought of this.”

The panic was cut abruptly by a message ping. A click later, X's eyes seemed to widen as the chat screen loaded in. He was just staring at the latest message, unblinking, as if entirely in shock.

Tango reached out uncertainly. "Xisuma? What's wrong-?"

" I know who took my comms. " 

< XisumaVoid > ‘To the end we'll live, or both die’

< XisumaVoid > It's been a long time coming, suma

Chapter Text

< Tango > how? 

< Tango > why are you here??

Behind the visor, crimson eyes were boring into the hologram. There was emotion in those eyes, though they remain unexplainable, even to the one who bore them.

He breathed, keeping his nerves down as best as he could. Reluctantly, a hand of his reached out to type out a reply, though when his fingers touched the keypad, he instead realized why he despised the device so much. The screen trickled as electric magic gathered around his fingertips, sparking, somehow holding.

The green holograms, the admin magic, it all reminded him of his brother. He had to swallow his guilt-like disgust, an inside scream that constantly bubbled in his chest, fixing the frown on his face. The remembrance was very much unwelcomed, he despised it. He didn’t want to be reminded of where he was before all of this. 

It was pointless to think of the past. He’s tired of these useless, pitying memories of his, ones he wishes to never resurface. He forced everything out of his head, directing his focus back to the screen.

Though, evidently, he couldn’t think of a reply. Maybe that was enough? Should he elaborate? Tell Xisuma how dumb he is? Monologue? What was he supposed to do in this situation? What was appropriate to do in these weird circumstances? Fuck, why the hell would there be anything appropriate about these circumstances!?

He should be feeling proud that he was able to get this far, he should be happy. He isn’t in the slightest. He doesn’t want to realize that. He feels sick.

"Oh, come on," an irritating voice suddenly erupted from behind, and he definitely didn’t jump in surprise. "Hurry with it already!"

It irked him enough to stop him contemplating, at least. He rolled his eyes with a tch, not bothering to face the other.

"For all your other unredeeming qualities, the least you could have is a bit of patience." He forced a cool tone, though he didn’t care enough to keep it polite.

The person snickered, and oh that may be the most annoying noise he’s ever heard his entire life. "I wasn't paid to be patient, mind you. I'm only here for the promised battle."

One thing he knew, fate was definitely not on his side. He’s bond by some sort of horrible misfortune that he keeps being put together with insufferable, incompetent jerks. The first were his old friends, next were the watchers, then his own brother, followed years after by Grian, back to the watchers, and now this edgy teenager in a metal suit.

His voice irked a part of his brain. He couldn’t place a finger on it, but it did. A part of his mind reminded himself to not give in to the temptation to punch, though he ended up replying again out of sheer annoyance, snapping. "Aren't you a knight? Aren't you people supposed to be proper, polite, and honorable?" 

"That may be true for him, but I’m not some goody two shoes."

“Please,” He wanted to kick himself for saying that word alone, but that’s just how infuriated he was, “if you may, shut your jaws before I nail them together.”

"Go on, then."

EX gritted his teeth, but was he was not in the mood to continue this unnecessary back and forth.

Thank the fucking Enders, Hels finally decided to leave him a little after due to boredom. Well, for better or for worse, now he’s here, alone, back with only his traitorous thoughts.

He still had the hologram from the communicator on, and just glancing at it felt like bringing physical pain to his eyes, extending to giving his brain a migraine.

He hates those thoughts. He needs them to just die. They needed to cripple up and get out of his head. This was not a time to dwell on his or any other moralities. He wants it to shut up. His conscience died long ago. He’s hearing the voice of a ghost. An echo, he reminded himself as he closed the hologram of the communicator for his own relief. It was all just an echo.

He turned around and walked, and the stone tiling of the abandoned fortitude clashed with his boots. Hels was, of course, in the other room, waiting there. 

"They're coming over,” EX said, catching the other’s attention. “We should get our move on."

"Finally!” Hels grumbled. “God, no wonder they called you incompetent."

He so wishes he could kill this bastard right now.

"Now, let's go!" Hels jumped up, an obnoxious grin on his face. “We’ve got havoc to wreck!”

He says nothing more as he follows the other to the staircase.

God he hates this. 

He hates everything about this.

…

But he hates his brother more. 

… 

Obviously.

Of course he does.

He does.

…

At least, that’s all he lets himself think.

***

“Xisuma, what-” Tango started, completely alarmed.

“He's here.” Xisuma cut him off, tension clear cut in his voice. “He's watching us, and he has my comms.”

It’s unbelievable, it’s an absolute nightmare.

The silence in the group speaks volumes enough. Xisuma’s head spins, and he’s not sure how to stop it.

"Wait, but I thought Grian to be the one behind everything?" 

Xisuma took a deep breath; he had to, in order for to keep his speech coherent. "From what we know, it isn't just Grian. It's the watchers."

When the rest of the hermits just looked at him blankly, he elaborated. "Evil X is a watcher."

“What should we do then?” Beef looked at him. “If he has your comms, it would be really easy for them to just go in.”

“No, actually, the emergency lockdown system also overrides the owner, for some reason,” That fact was a blessing in disguise, he now realizes. “So he can’t actually do shit like that to let the watchers actually go in, but it’s still dangerous. Especially since we don’t know where-”

Another chat notification beep went off.

Helsknight got the achievement [The End…?]

Wels’ breath got caught in his throat, audible among the crowd. “That’s-”

“I guess we know where to look first now.” Doc said grimly.

There was a brief pause in discussion after that.

Pearl bit her lip. “It might be a trap.”

“What other choice do we have?”

“It’s definitely a trap,” Zed muttered in agreement.

“What other choice do we have?”

Xisuma’s outburst left the rest of them quiet, silently conceding his point.

“I think we should split up,” Tango spoke up to break the ice. “Some people go, and some stay here in case of anything.”

Predictably, there were split reactions to the suggestion.

“I’m against that,” Beef started, but sighed, “Though it would be necessary in this situation.”

Wels was first to raise a hand.

“I’m going.” He said sternly.

Iskall rose up alongside him. “As well as me.”

“Let’s keep some heavy hitters here in the overworld too, in case bad becomes disastrous,” Doc interrupted. “False, can you stay?”

False perked up, seeming a little disappointed, but she resigned. “Fine by me.”

“X,” Tango called out reluctantly, “I think you should stay here as well.” 

Xisuma’s eyes widened, immediately turning to protest. “But Evil-”

“See, that’s exactly it,” Cub cut in before he could finish his point. “We don’t know anything going into this, this could be a trap aimed at you specifically.”

Etho nodded, “Considering how Evil X is involved, yeah, it most likely is.”

“Well-” The admin went silent, though was ultimately unable to find something to counter with. They were right, he reluctantly realizes, and relents. “It’s hard to argue with your point. Alright. Fine.”

Then, the two parties were formed; the ones that will stay in the overworld, and ones that will depart to the End. 

They tried not dwelling on it too much. As it stands, their current situation felt like a time bomb. They had no idea what was currently going on in the end. They don’t know anything.

“Worst case scenario, we immediately die when we enter the end,” Cleo said, causing Mumbo among others to pale up, and Bdubs shushed her with; “Don’t joke about that!”

According to the formation they’ve decidedly made, the ones that’ll be going to the end are as listed; Iskall, Wels, Tango, xB, Cleo, Bdubs, Beef, Hypno and Mumbo.

“This seems a bit unbalanced.” 

“It’s tough,” Tango sighed, “We can’t send too many people because it could actually be a trap, at the same time though it could be an ambush, so too few people can also be dangerous.”

“So it’s dangerous either way, lose-lose,” Iskall summarized. “Whatever- I think we’ve stalled for too long, we need to go soon, doubt Evil X is waiting for us patiently in the End."

“Yeah,” Tango muttered in agreement. “Let’s go.”

That’s when the group of people started taking off, more so individually, one by one. Tango lingered in his thoughts for a moment before turning to fly up with his elytra himself, but before he did, he was approached. A hand rested itself on his shoulder, and he turned to see two people, two of whom he cherished. He almost felt worse somehow.

“Tango- we…” Zed paused, mouth still open as if he’s trying to search for the appropriate words.

“Stay safe,” Impulse finished simply, seeming as tense as the other if not more, though trying his best to show a smile. As he always does, trying to stay cheerful for the others sake. It hurt to see it.

Uncontrollably, the small smile reflected on Tango’s face, though it wasn’t a happy one. It was one encompassing both comfort and dread. Here was his reminder of what he could lose - what he might lose, and he’s not happy.

“Thanks, guys,” That came out much more forced than he preferred, but it got the point across. Reluctantly, the two backed off, and so did Tango.

Before walking on, he mentally prepared himself once more by taking his last glance around, at all of the hermits remaining, and then his eyes stopped at the admin, their admin. As he stopped, Xisuma stared back, and there was some unspoken, unsaid, silent but clear communication between the two. It was a silent exchange between the two, which ended with Tango breaking off first, nodding, before he ran to catch up with the End group.

The trip to the stronghold was, well, silent, devoid of their usual casualties. No discussions, nothing. With the tension in the air, nobody dared to even raise their voice out for anything as they all individually started making their way to where the nearest stronghold was.

***

“We’re here,” Hypno stated grimly as they stopped their tracks.

And here they were. There they were, inside the fortitude of the moss covered walls, racked and barely holding on together. The halls were dim with only dimly lit torches as light, ones that were magically still burning from void knows how long this place has existed. It smelled like something was rotting.

“This place looks severely depressing, more than usual,” Iskall commented with a grimace.

Some muttered agreements, while xB led them through in the front; “Portal room’s this way, if I recall correctly.”

And they eventually reached it, the arched opening to the portal room, entrance brightly lit up with the lava on the sides. They walked into the room, raising their guards up, though there seemed to be nobody there with them.

As expected, the portal was already activated. It’s always been activated; they have been here countless times before this, but for much lighter reasons. Visible hesitance as they started to tread up the brick of stairs. 

When Wels did, he struggled to not observe the portal. The eyes look more alive than ever before, almost as if they could pop out of their frames. It felt like the twelve dilated pupils were moving in their frames, following the group’s every movement, watching them, and he couldn’t tell if that was his mind playing tricks on him or actually true.

Wels quickly sets his glance down to the actual portal, the black starry void, a rift between the worlds. He stared at it momentarily, and it was almost like it stared back. 

He forced back the shiver that went through his body, shaking his head. Just then, Iskall held his breath and began speaking.

“Are we ready?”

“No,” Tango in the back replied with a quiet voice, “But here we go regardless,”

And he was right, nobody was ready for this. Nobody wanted to go through the portal, but they had to. So, while bracing himself, he dropped, letting the darkness engulf him as he fell into the pit of galactic black emptiness.

.

..

…

..

.

..

…

..

.

He’s sure he might’ve let out a choked noise.

The air of the end was always unfamiliar. It’s difficult to describe, even more to breathe in. the closest thing it could be compared to is poisonous gas, filling your lungs and replacing the air you needed to live with something weakening and toxic. It was unbearably dry. 

He then heard other’s surprised gasps, and hesitantly, he opened his eyes.

As soon as they’d entered the dimension, everyone could tell that something was horribly, oh so horribly, wrong.

“They’ve been here.” Tango confirmed what they’d all been thinking.

For one, the terrain was… different. It wasn’t islands. No, it resembled something more of what the nether looked like, just more inconsistent and all the way fucked up. 

Bumpy, shattered, canyon-like. Some parts were even glitched out, where generation seemed to stop and drop down to the void.

It was most definitely out of the ordinary. Strange.

Though given everything else going down, maybe this shouldn’t have been surprising.

They could stare for another hour, but unfortunately they didn’t get another moment to relapse. It was then that Wels heard something.

A distant noise, a background noise, but it was something that didn’t originate from their group.

Cold, dreadful tingles went down his spine, his entire body involuntarily tensing on itself from his screaming instinct. The grip on his weapon tightened and he turned around at lightning speed.

“Wels?”

“There’s someone-”

Cst!

No amount of words could describe what it felt like in that moment. There wasn’t time to say anything but;

“Oh shoot.”

One moment, they were standing. The next, the platform they spawned on actually exploded, and Wels felt himself getting knocked away, and hitting something, hard in the head.

It was like his hearing went off for a second; his ear tingled with buzzing in the aftermath. Opening his eyes, he felt dizzy, almost downright nauseous. Despite that, he still forced them open, and saw that he’d apparently been knocked somewhere, further into the dimension, though still in the end.

But most worryingly, the others have disappeared.

He tried to get up, stumbling to do so, when he hears footsteps to his side. Beef had apparently also been knocked close by. The other also looked uninjured, luckily.

“Wels? Bud, you okay?”

“Beef- I’m,” Wels paused, struggling to get his bearings. “What…”

“Well, uh, for starters we were right, it was a trap,” Beef admitted with gritted teeth. “I think there might’ve been TNT underneath where we spawned.”

“An explosion,” Wels concluded. “But then why are we alive? Where are the others-?”

“The explosives were magically infused, of course. Aimed at getting all of you separated, less on the damages,” Wels froze at the familiar voice, chortling distantly from somewhere behind them. “We’re not trying to kill you. Actually, that’s a lie - we totally are trying to kill you. But not yet, regrettably.”

He turned on his heels, gritting his teeth. “Hels.”

Atop a heightful cliff, a dressed figure in clad dark metal armor loomed. Even in the natural brightness of the end realm, their eyes glowed eerily. Almost like a flame, but even that shouldn’t be brightly seen in the End. 

“You’re finally here!” Hels drawled with dramatics, malicious glee engraved in his voice.

Wels could feel his grip on his sword tightening by instinct; he looked up to meet the wretched’s gaze with equally shining eyes, though his were filled with anger. “What in God’s name are you doing here!?”

Though far away, he could still make out the unapologetic grin on the other’s face.

“Oh, you know me, brother,” Hels laughed, voice echoing on the walls of the canyon. “I go wherever I want, whenever I want!”

Wels moved forwards leaving Beef behind him, who looked well over worried for him. “Wels-”

“Hels isn’t here for anyone other than me. I know that much,” He whisper-yelled to Beef without turning. It didn’t matter if Hels heard them or not, the bastard didn’t care. “Find the others.”

Wels was sure that Beef at least had trust in his ability to survive, though he still looked hesitant to leave him here with the murder knight. He’s sure he’ll be able to run out when the fight starts, and so Wels directs his focus back to Hels.

“Why?” Wels inquired, after a moment of thought, “Why are you with the watchers? They’ve-”

“Killed people? Yea, no shit,” Hels snorted, a manic look stilling in his eyes. He leaned in as if to get closer to Wels despite the vast distance set between them, and his voice dropped down into a low giggle. "Because it’s fun.”

Wels gritted his teeth, spitting out the bitter taste in his mouth. “You’re incorrigible.”

“And I bear that proudly.”

One second, Hels was still on the cliffs, the next, he disappeared, and then the sound of steel clashing with steel rang out in the air as Wels held his blade up to block the swipe from his other. Hels was pushed off with the recoil, but his stance stayed ready to attack again. 

He had to stop talking to block another hit, pushing Hels away strongly with a slash.

Hels only laughed, mocking and condescending. “Come on! It gets boring when your opponent doesn’t even try, you know?”

“Shut it, Hels!” He screamed in fury, “Where are the others!?”

“Fighting their respective challenges, I’m sure. Eh, not really. I didn’t stress about the details,” Hels replied boredly, playing with the weapon in his hand, promptly before catching it and pointing it at Wels in a threatening manner. “Really, you should stop playing knight in selfless shining armor and just focus on yourself right now.”

Gritting his teeth and glaring with a gaze ablaze, he readied his stance. 

“I’ll slash your limbs off.”

Hels’ face contorted into a shit-eating grin, before it became something more sinister as he began charging again. “Make sure you get all four of them, then!”

***

There was a tired groan, as he tried his best to rise up from his place.

“Hypno, you good dude?” Cleo asked with genuine concern, coming along to help him get up, though he was able to do so himself before she did.

“I’m- yea!” He assured shortly, fixing his bandana before looking around. “Where’s everyone?”

“We’re not sure- they’ve split us all up somehow.” xB replied reluctantly.

Cleo nodded, and though her voice sounded the same as it usually does, there was a hint of frustration in it. “And so it was trap- well, we didn’t die immediately so that’s something!”

Hypno was about to reply to that, but just then, they heard a noise, a very concerning, loud noise. They went in silence as they turned to see the source of the sound, and found out that it was as worrying, terrifying, and horrible as it sounded.

That’s when a roar sounded out from the middle of the island. A looming shadow towered over the entirety of the shattered islands, growing in its size, bigger than it should be. 

The Ender Dragon has been revived.

Chapter Text

Grian smiled as he looked over the end, squashing down the hint of terror in his chest. Instead, he let pride wash him as the dragon roared, soaring in the sky.

This was his accomplishment, his plan, and it was finally coming to fruition.

The dragon was as mighty as when he’d fought it, just a few weeks before. In fact, she was even more destructive than originally.

He had to admit though, he was a tad surprised Hels and EX had actually completed their parts on schedule. They had been at one another’s throats from the moment they met, and while it was entertaining, it was unproductive. However, they’d pulled through, resulting in the concurrent ambush.

Purple hues sparked through his body, as if it were charged with static electricity. Magic that finally allowed a lease of life, to serve his purpose. It was exhilarating, its own kind of high that left him both giddy and focused.

And so, Grian opened his eyes, and watched.

The Hermits had been successfully separated across the central continent of the end, none alone, but enough to disorient them at the beginning. Their greatest strength was their loyalty as a group, and naturally, their greatest fallacy. If the years undercover had taught Grian anything, it was that.

Yet it seemed as though they all had the same instinct: to slay the dragon. It was almost funny, how predictable they were. How they didn’t even think twice, despite knowing it was a trap. It would be funny to Grian, in the same way Scar’s death was. It should be.

There was a small, buried part of Grian that wanted to scream at them to just think it through. Of course it’s a trap, don’t be fucking dumb, you’ll get yourselves killed.

But that was a small part, of course. The plan hinged on their predictability.

Grian had spent his time meticulously planning out not exactly this scenario, but one similar enough that he’d adapted. Though came the complications, the unexpected hiccups, every last detail of the main plan was coming true, and the Hermits filled their role perfectly. 

Every move they made was playing out exactly as predicted, and right into his hands like a cruel puppet show of life and death. And really, that was all that mattered.

A loud boom echoed around the end, as the first crystal exploded. The bedrock-infused tower lay untainted, as did the next one to be shot. Arrows flew, some embedding themselves into the endstone floor, some into the towers, and some glitching out of existence before they ever hit their target.

At one side of the terrain, Mumbo went towering up the side of one of the pillars. His hands were coated in yellow dust, and he looked almost sickly in the tainted light of the end. One moment, he punched the crystal, and the next moment he was sent hurtling to the floor, his fall barely cushioned by XB’s hastily placed water bucket.

If he’d been expecting the normal explosion from the crystal, he was sorely mistaken. His hand was now red and raw, blistering slightly in the stale air of the end. He tried to push himself up off the ground, but his arm buckled at the sudden sting of dust in the wound. 

XB shakily ripped off a piece of his sleeve with his teeth, drenching it in the water, before quickly wrapping Mumbo’s hand with it.

The terrain wasn't the only thing the Watchers modified, of course not. The Ender Dragon, a threat? Normally not, just one person could take it on just fine. 8 hermits? It's practically dead meat, and it wouldn't be fun if it were to be killed in the first minute, it needed to last a bit longer.

Now that they know of the abnormally enchanted crystals, the other hermits who were towering up also seemed to stop. Instead, they continued on shooting the crystals. 

Hels and Wels were nowhere to be seen, and EX had slunked away into the unknown. That was of little concern to Grian; their loyalties had never exactly been relied upon, and are no longer a big enough factor to spare a thought towards.

Cleo and Bdubs both hastily took down a tower each, and on the other side of the terrain, Tango shot down the last remaining tower.  Instantaneously, the Dragon let out a pained roar, and started glitching in the air. 

They were all ready to attack it, to end this. How sad, how short lived was this thrill. 

He blinked, and Grian’s focus shifted back to himself.

“How useless, the dragon couldn’t even take one down,” A harsh voice huffs beside him, and despite himself, Grian could feel his body tense a little.

Another watcher, standing on his opposite side, chuckled.

“Now, now, don’t be too harsh, Zheragos. It’s only natural it lost,” They said, voice smooth. “If an ordinary, only slightly-enchanted dragon could take them down, there’d be no use of planning this all out. Right, Xelqua?”

Grian forced himself out of his tense state, and spoke, “Yes. Right,” He said, momentarily taken aback by how the voice that didn't sound like his own. That may just be the galactic. “The Ender dragon is only a simple distraction; she needed to be easy to kill in order for the trap to work, but also able to persist for an amount of time so it stalls time for the next steps.”

“Speaking of which, there it goes!” 

As the hermits kept shooting the dragon, it roared. Shrieking out loudly, in a pained stride, it lowered back down with chipped wings. It had successfully knocked one of the larger gatherings of Hermits to the floor, but that wasn’t where Grian’s focus was drawn. 

Instead, his gaze settled on Iskall, pale, exhausted, but with a triumphant look across their face. As the dragon came down they struck the final hit, striking their sword down the dragon's throat, slitting it open with silver blood leaking out. The cry of pain was louder than the last, no doubt bleeding to the ears, as the dragon took off. Light cracked through the dragon's body, and it eventually dissipated into nothingness.

Well, it was clear the hermits would breathe a sigh of relief that it was seemingly over. They weren’t exactly celebrating, still tense in case of another attack, but there were still cheers in the air, some exchanging fist bumps. Mumbo moved forward to squeeze Iskall's shoulder, but suddenly jolted away at the last moment in pain, shaking his hand from the static shock. 

Seeing the display, the smooth voiced watcher, Nixye, chuckled. A smile devoid of any innocence started spreading on their face. “How delightful. It’s begun already.”

“Such a shame it was unwilling,” the harsher one, Zheragos, sighed. “So much potential, wasted on an uncooperative player.”

“It won’t matter, in the end,” Grian replied coldly. “He’ll succumb. Besides, we were all players, once. We simply chose to become something greater.”

One of the watchers behind them huffed in discontent, and his ears were sharp enough to catch what they said.

“He speaks so boldly, for a young one. He should know to be wary of what he preaches.”

In a fit, he turns around to glare at them.

“You forget, I orchestrated this mission,” Grian interrupted in an unfamiliar, stern tone. “I know what I’m doing.”

Nixye giggled to themselves over the display, though Grian choose to ignore that. He focused back over again to the hermits. Iskall looked even paler, almost sickly. One hand was tightly gripped onto Mumbo, and the other they were clutching to their head. They were noticeably shaking, but Grian could see more. Grian could see the purple hue, slithering around their neck and tightening.

Iskall stumbled towards the portal, letting go of Mumbo. The air was sparking around them, and Grian could sense the anticipation coming from the surrounding watchers.

Iskall stepped into the portal, and then they screamed. And then, they disappeared. That was it.

Iskall was theirs.

And it has only just begun.

Chapter Text

Chains rattled through the air, and the tranquil silence was broken by a pained cough.

The world was a blur, the air was uneasy, threatening. It was suffocating .

Another cough rang out. 

An array of shady figures stood firmly at front. Piercing gazes cut through the tension in anticipation.

There was one last singular cough, and then there was no longer a pause. They were properly choking in pain. Disrupting that was the sound of a single pair of hands clapping.

"Perfect, we’re right on schedule!" The shorter watcher giggled, turning to the others, "They're coming back to themselves."

Remaining watchers exchanged amused looks. The one leading the bunch had a smile of malice as they snapped their fingers, humming smoothly. "Zeichi, that's your cue."

The mentioned watcher separated themselves from the crowd with a step back.

"Thank you, Nixye," She dipped a bow politely, promptly rising back up. "I'll be heading out, excuse me.”

She began walking to the exit at the back, with Jaxa giving her a thumbs up as she walked out. 

"Best lucks, Zei!" He called out loudly, waving at the open door.

The watcher left the room. Nixye clasped their hands, regathering the attention in the room.

"Splendid, simply excellent! Now," The portal watcher's grin turned sinister as they turned back to Iskall. "Gazes back to our captive, peers. They've awoken."

Eyes went back to their original view of interest, the figure still gurgling out in pain. They laid limply at the corner of the room, binded painfully tight by magic chains. Though, really, the chains were not a necessity, as they were simply too weak to move regardless. The only use it had is to hold them up from doing anything horribly reckless.

Speaking of, Iskall was irregularly pale, sickly even. Cracks of electricity sizzled throughout their skin. Occasionally, a small cry of hurt let itself out. They were only slightly struggling in their binds, twitching at every sharp spark of agony, all of their energy absorbed and completely gone.

Nixye hummed in content, eyes glinting behind their mask. That's the effect it's supposed to have, indicating the success so far.

Then, they looked away, addressing the younger division head besides them. "Jaxa, have you ever turned a player before this?"

He blinked, thinking, "Of course, I have. But Rache- er, Zeichi was a… little more willing than, uh- this. "

He gestured vaguely to the crippled up hermit. Nixye nodded in satisfaction.

"Then, help me out on this," They spoke with a small smile. "Your division's part of the mission has ended anyways. You could lend your magic, I'll need mine."

Jaxa shrugged, coming forth. "Fine by me."

He walked over to the hermit, who involuntarily flinched in that instant. Jaxa kneeled down, and observed, as more of the subtler turning symptoms were now more visible up close.

It was possible to catch glimpses of purple hues going through the body, carving it's home inside the host below the skin. Iskall was shaking , and they probably won't be able to fight much despite being adept at combat. The magic flowed through the veins, causing various erratic reactions and sudden spikes in discomfort.

The closest thing you could compare it to is getting stabbed by thousands of blades from the inside, over and over, throughout your entire body. It's as agonizing as it sounds, and Iskall sounds like they're dying .

Or wishes they could, anyways. Truly, it’s an agonizing experience, especially when done by force.

"Perhaps another large dose of magic will do." Nixye snickers over Jaxa's shoulder. He nods briefly, extending a hand to grip Iskall's shoulder unkindly. They flinched.

Seconds later, the room echoed with the loud noise of crackling electrical energy.

Another pained shriek followed.

Then, the sizzling stopped, as well as the screaming. Followed after was silence, highlighting the heavy, erratic sounds of forced breathing.

Jaxa cringes, instinctively taking his hand off to look at himself. And thus, without support, the hermit dropped back to the floor with a pathetic thud.

"Ew, you're right. That does take a lot of energy." Jaxa mumbled, almost annoyed.

The older nearly sneers at his surprise, though their voice retained the composed tone.

"You'll get used to it. I have no idea how you were appointed head of division when you haven't done this at least once," They assured him sweetly, "Be prideful of this - of what you've done. This is an experience for you."

Below them, Iskall's breathing became more ragged by the seconds, struggling uselessly against his binds. They couldn't think - they couldn't hear, speak, or anything. Their heart was convulsing wildly, the bones actually rattling without any input. Their skin felt like it was cracking, and there's the ever-present feeling that they were about to throw up, puke all of their insides out, but nothing comes out but a bit of blood. They keep coughing, and their mechanical eye suddenly feels heavy on his face, tears pooling around the real one. The magic buzzing in his veins, the buzzing. It was maddening. Deafening . Excruciating.

They're barely able to mumble or curse out a single syllable, but when they do, all of the watchers watching unanimously froze.

Nixye's eyes widen, as if the cry for help was the most amusing joke they've ever heard.

" Xelqua? " They jeered, verging on hysterical. "Are you really inquiring about Xelqua , now? Seriously? Oh please, he betrayed you! Get over it."

Jaxa chuckled with them, grinning wildly. "Players, always so trusting and emotional."

"Well, they seem to still be too clear headed for my liking," Nixye sighed with mock disappointment. They snapped their fingers. "This calls for another dose. Jaxa, if you will."

The hand reached out once again.

"With pleasure."

***

Grian practically barged into the room, and all eyes were set on him as he beelined to a particular watcher across the room.

“Gri- Xelqua, welcome back," SB greeted him, momentarily taken aback.

"Zyno!" Grian inquired regardless, seeming a little out of breath, "I need the report - everything going good?"

SB was surprised, though hastily snapped out of it and shrugged. "Of course, don't worry about it. The fight stalled on for just enough, we were able to take all the steps, even with the owner still watching in the overworld. There was a bit of a struggle from him, as we've thought of beforehand, but with Xisumavoid not being able to access the owner’s perms and us being able to, it wasn’t much of an issue."

Grian sagged in relief, "Alright, alright. That's good."

"Yea," SB agreed, swiping his hand to close the holograms. Turning off his communicator, he faced Grian to ask; "How were things on your end? Was everything according to plan?"

"We managed to get a player, and by calculated chance actually a really good one. We managed to get them here safely, and I think they're getting turned as we speak."

"Awesome. Glad everything's going well for you."

And now, there was silence, because there was nothing left to really do. SB gestured for him to sit down, and he did. They were on wait until the signal comes in. The second to last signal, their cue to begin the main attack.

When it’s given, the supporting watchers will be tasked with keeping tabs on the server status from the outside, and Grian will have to join in on the inside for the strategizing. To finally finish this god forbidden mission. Good riddance.

A thought makes its way into his head, but he’s quicker to beat it back down. Shaking his head, he looks over the place to ground himself.

"You know, we've, like, yet to properly talk about it," SB suddenly spoke up, moving out of his thinking pose, straightening. "You made the attack happen sooner than it was scheduled to, but luckily for you everything was already in order so it still ended well."

Grian murmured an agreement, tapping on the desk. "Yep. Extremely lucky for that fact. Bless the Enders."

After a pause, SB spoke, almost hesitantly. "You sure you're able to do this?"

And genuinely, Grian fumed .

"We've come this far already, still asking that?!" He rises up suddenly, catching SB in surprise. A few watchers in the area had again stopped working, and turned to them to see what’s happening.

Realizing that, he forces himself to control his volume again, calming down to properly rant. "Regardless of what I can and cannot do, we're at a point of no return now, like- genuinely!"

Grian wasn’t dumb, of course he wasn’t. From the start of the mission, he’d immediately caught on to the ever present doubt. Maybe it was the fact that the watchers had thought he’d softened up after 3 years. Maybe it was because he was new. He has no idea, but he knows it’s there. 

And underneath, he’s got to admit, he despises it. Despises how despite all the preparations, the clear plans, everyone still somehow doubted his abilities.

He bites his tongue, gritting the rest of his thoughts out as he sits back down. “We've declared war, now's our time to wage it. We know the enemy, we’ve taken our time. Thus, there's statistically a very low chance they get out alive. We will win."

He says the last part with certainty, resolve. Power.  

Apparently, it’s convincing enough. 

"True that, your plan guaranteed that, all's left to do is let the attack division handle it from here," SB remarks, moving a hand to fiddle with his communicator.

There was another long pause in the conversation when neither said anything. All the watchers have focused back to their stations, and even SB has turned his communicator back on to view something.

"So, the… special cases team? How are they?" Grian said the next first worry that came to mind, just another thing to fill in the silence.

SB didn’t fully look to talk at him this time, typing something. "You mean the rogue and the listener traitor? They're with the attack division right now, I'm fairly certain. They're a part of the attack force, as you suggested."

"Are they cooperating?"

"The usual amount of cooperation."

"Go figure," Grian huffs, relaxing into the chair. He stills, "D'you reckon if the plan fails somehow, we could just hold both for hostage and see if their brother's give enough shits to try to stupidly save them somehow?"

"That'd be quite a plan, actually. But then again, I'm quite confident enough in your current.” The other watcher chuckles lightly.

At that, Grian scoffed, though it came out lighter than how he actually intended. "Oh, so 5you're confident in me, wow, I see how it is, switcher upper."

And then, the talk stopped when another watcher came walking into the room, garnering the attention of everyone in the room with two simple snaps.

"Xelqua, you're up. Follow me," Zeichi called on in her usual business tone; tired, cold and blunt. "Zyno, back to your station until your next signal."

Grian rises up, “I’m getting called in early?”

Zeichi nods briefly at him. “Indeed. Krax has a few questions for you,” She states, “The attack will still be held on schedule.”

With that statement clear, she starts walking out, a clear cue for Grian to follow. He turns to SB, who nods and gives him a smile, “Good luck!” 

“You too,” He replied, promptly running out of the room after Zeichi. 

He closed the door behind him, and goes out to the halls where the Commander and a group of other watchers he's never seen before waited for him. He glanced briefly at them, though none of them said a word to him. He doesn't bother filling in with his usual chatter either. They already know who he is, and he needs not worry who they are. He turns to Zeichi.

"Good," She commented shortly, ushering him along. "Now, carry on, everybody."

The group of watchers followed suit in uneasy silence. Well, uneasy for Grian, anticipatory for the others, it seems. There's no doubt they've done this countless of times, seen worlds after worlds crumble, while this is only his second time.

Only. Isn't that a wild thought to make.

He doesn't say a word, forcing his mind into white noise as he walked, trying his best to not think about where they're heading, what they're going to be doing.

Zeichi led the small group of watchers through the heart of the headquarters. They eventually went deeper, and deeper down. Down below, and now they're at what's known as the "captive area".

Grian’s feet touched the cold, darker end stone tiles, and they finally reached the prisoner area. Cobwebs on the walls, cracked walls. To be expected, no one bothers with keeping this place taken care of.

Most of the cells were empty, of course, because they rarely cared to take captives and keep them in one piece consistently. Keeping a prisoner well enough to not die in captivity is apparently out of their realm of capabilities, in which cruelty still holds number one.

Just then, they passed by an occupied cell. For a moment, Grian accidentally spares a glimpse at the resident, and then he subconsiously stops on his heels. Waves of dread wash over him as he freezes in that moment of shock.

Welsknignt.  

Brown hair messy and undone, armor damaged. Left tattered on the floor carelessly, unconscious and bleeding. If it weren’t for the slow rising of his chest, Grian would’ve mistaken him for a corpse.

It was abundantly clear they don't actually plan on keeping him alive.

Something in him clenched, but he had to ignore it. It’s not for him to acknowledge. There's nothing there for him. There's nothing left.

Welsknignt is as good as dead, and he's okay with it. He’s convinced he’s okay with it.

Zeichi's voice echoed through the crimson soaked chamber halls, cutting through his turmoil. "Xelqua, come on now, follow along."

He snaps up immediately, catching himself out of his head.

"Oh, er- yea! Coming, Zeichi!" He strings out meaninglessly, turning away and walking after the other watchers.

He forced himself to look away. 

He forces himself to be blind.

Chapter Text

The overworld’s skies were cloudy. Gloomy, grey, dark. It wasn’t raining, but the sun couldn't be seen shining through that barrier of gloom. It was ironic, sure, but the atmosphere made it seem less like a coincidence. Nothing was right – the world was starting to look wrong .

Beneath that cloudy sky, a group of people stood by waiting. Waiting for any news - for any indication of what happened, even bad news would be better than no news. Anything other than the quiet, gloomy tenseness that comes while they await the approaching storm.

The hermits who’d stayed chose to wait at spawn. Constantly checking their communicators for fear of fatalities or desperation for some form of update, but there hadn't been a message for the thirty minutes the group had gone to the end. So they stood, waiting under the gloom for their fellow hermits to reappear.

The wind blew harsh on their skins, anticipation brimming the air in a way not unlike how death does at a funeral.

They waited, and they waited, until finally there was some respite from the unknown.

"They're back!" The Hermits looked up as soon as False spoke, expressions of relief and hope flashing across their faces. 

The first one to appear back was Mumbo, who barely landed on his feet as he was dropped back at spawn. After him, one by one, the others began to appear. The players drew close enough to see and count.

Then, the players stopped coming in. That was when they noticed, there were only seven of them that came back.

It was supposed to be nine.

Amongst the group that just returned, Tango walked forward first, seeming anxious, “Is everybody okay?”

It was obvious by that point that the group that just returned were incredibly tense. Looking over, some were even injured, like they just returned from combat. Thinking about it, they probably had.

“We're good!" Impulse replied quickly, eyes shifting between the ones that just arrived with unease. "What about you guys – what happened in the End?!" 

The silence that overtook them for a few seconds spoke volumes, until finally XB stepped forwards.

"Trapped," xB informed them gravely, his words blunt, inelegant out of shock. "Dragon respawned, attacked us, and we had to fight it. It wasn’t… right.”

"And Iskall's- well, uh,” Beef took over, but he too was hesitant to continue.

"They got him,” Cleo finished.

Silence washed over the hermits at that.

“How? We didn't see any death messages in the chat – what did they do?” False asked in what should’ve been an angry tone, or sad, or something but the words just came out hollow.

“Must've rewired the portal, he fell first into it,” Tango thought out loud, “They can do that.”

Pearl pauses, trying to process the information that didn’t quite make sense. “Then how did any of you guys get back? Surely you’d have been taken as well?”

Tango frowned, shaking his head. “I'm not sure. Their idea of mercy?”

It was another beat of silence, before someone else pointed out something else really, really alarming.

"Where's Wels?" Gem asks.

That evoked the others to look around.

"He-" Mumbo paled, shock coming over his face. It was only then that the people who returned and the people who stayed realized; Wels was not there with them in the overworld. "They probably got him when we were distracted. Oh God."

That was bad news after bad news. The air grows ever more tense, more gray.

“We lost two?” Doc confirmed, grim. That was the reality, and none of them liked it. It was hard to swallow, and they were trying not to choke.

Xisuma was still during the entire conversation, listening, but unable to say anything or think of anything. He desperately tried to find anything positive left to say, any action he could take, but failed to find confidence.

“What do we do now?” He finally says, unbelieving of the amount of uncertainty he was showing. “They can access the end – that means they must already know how to get in.”

“Alright, calm down everyone, first, let’s-”

But mid sentence, Tango stills, frozen in motion, his face suddenly struck with an expression of awful, awful dread .

“Something isn’t right,” He said out loud, panicked, “I can feel something .”

The sheer panic in his voice alarms the hermits.

“Tango?” Zedaph calls after him, though said Hermit could only remain frozen, unresponsive for that moment.

Then, just as abruptly, he turns to the hermits, and all color has drained from his face. 

“I feel them. Here . They- They’re here .”

Almost as soon as he’d spoken, and before anyone could fully process the horror of that statement, they felt the same wrongness Tango had identified. The change in the air, the entire world, tensing up as if realizing that it was going to die. As if anticipating something that it could not see .

Like each blade of grass rising up and straightening, at the feeling that it was now being seen .

The entire world freezes up, dreading that feeling of being watched, and the hermits themselves feel it.

Then, the clouds started parting, cut apart by a loud voice that reverberated through the world, echoing from above as rays of light shone itself down.

Greetings, Hermitcraft Server.

The tension immediately crescendoed, dread spreading as did the light. All the hermits simultaneously took a stance, looking up to the sky to the voice from elsewhere.

“Who’s there!?” False yells with fake bravado.

The voice responds calmly, gently , deceptively so – conflicting with the words that it spoke upon them.

This is a declaration — though you might say it is a warning, a threat. We, the watchers, are the representation of solace, peace, and the order of the universe. 

Yet, despite all our grace, our promises of paradise and union – You’ve all stood up against us, challenged the all-seeing unknown and shouted resentment towards us – your saviors. Multiple chances have been bestowed to you in the past, we have asked for you to repent, to stop this useless resistance, to be at peace. And you creatures have never taken any of the merciful graceness that has been bestowed to you. 

Those words bellowed loudly through the world, seeping into their skins. 

And pushing past the fear, anger emerged among the mass at the untrue, mockery of a declaration that was said about them.

“ Merciful graceness? You’ve threatened us! You’re threatening us right now!” Bdubs calls out, pointing at the sky.

But the voice sounds unfazed by the bursts of anger, unbothered as it continues on with its slow monologue as if nobody had spoken.

Now, we shall kindly ask you for the last time. Surrender wholly and completely, to submit to the darkness unleashed onto you, to let go of your foolish ambitions of going against us. 

If you surrender, you’ll be granted undeserved mercy, your last chance to repent and be forgiven by us, for our benevolence knows no bounds.

Beyond the kind voice, the sinister reality of those words gripped the listening, dread prickling through the light that sought the world gone , engulfed wholly by that evil shine.