Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sometimes, you just have to take one for the band…

I expected to see the usual choice- Spectate or “Respawn”. I scoff at the memory of that damn button. It wasn't a respawn, it just placed you in a random world you know. But, as much as it annoyed me, I'd kill to see the buttons right now. I'd kill to see anything right now, actually.

As much as I spin or look around, I can't see anything. Not even my own body. "Oh, hello!", I jumped as a voice spoke. I started spinning around more for the source of the voice. "Sorry, I didn't realize I set up a connection- please stop spinning, I don't want you to hurt yourself. You won't be able to see me”. I stopped spinning. I guess just staring ahead would work. The voice is so warbled, I can hardly make anything out.

"You're Scott, right?” How does this thing know who I am? “Excuse me? How do you know my name?” The voice chuckled, the sound sending shivers down my probably-nonexistent-right-now spine. "Most of us know who you are. The other Speakers and I love hearing about the games and Xelqua loves sharing about his friends”. Xelqua? Who is Xelqua? Why am I one of his friends? What are Speakers? Why do they know anything about the games?

"Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm just so excited to meet one of the winners! You probably know him better as Grian. He's done some impressive work with the games…” the voice continued to talk, but all I registered was my growing headache. Grian? Xelqua? This doesn't make any sense. What does this thing mean, “He's done impressive work”? What does Grian have to do with the games? He didn't help make them…

Did he?

If “The other Speakers and I” means what I think it means, then Grian is a monster. Has he been puppeteering all of this? All of our suffering? Has he enjoyed it?

"I've kept you too long. The game is over. They'll get suspicious if you're here any longer. Scar won, that should help hide this. Goodbye, Scott. I hope to see you win again!”

With that, I had one last thought-

"If Grian really is behind the games,

I'll kill him".

Chapter Text

The feeling of the soft grass and the hard sandstone clash, waking me up. Looking around, BigB, Lizzie, and Bdubs are already awake and staring at the others.

My eyes fall on Grian. The man- the thing?- potentially behind everything.

I rub between my eyes. I can't immediately accuse anyone of anything right now. I still have no clue if what I heard was even real. My headache still is though.

Grian finally woke up, others following. A few were still passed out, so Cleo suggested waiting a few minutes before waking them up ourselves.

Sitting around, I had more time to think. If Grian really is behind the games, why is he playing? Does he find it fun? Is it the adrenaline? He does always get very excited at the start.

I move my eyes to Grian once more. He seems human enough. But, he would have a sort of disguise if he were pretending to be stuck like this, wouldn't he?

As I stared, everything started to feel...wrong. The air felt different. My eyes felt heavier and my headache pounded again.

Most of all, Grian looked different. But only for a flash. There were so many eyes. He was covered in them. Surrounded by them. His wings pitch black and dotted with what I guess are stars. A broken mask covered the left side of his face. He was strangely misty. He wasn't human.

As quick as it happened, it was gone. Grian was the same, his wings, face, and body normal. I'm fairly convinced whatever was talking to me was telling the truth.

Cleo stood and started to wake the few stragglers that hadn't gotten up yet and Grian walked up to the lectern with the rule book, beginning to read.

"Welcome to Single Life. This season, each player will have 30 hearts once again. Each row represents either green, yellow, or red. Losing a row of hearts means moving from green to yellow or yellow to red. Players will gain anywhere from one to five hearts per kill. The End will be available again, but closed off for the first day".

Grian finished reading and everyone took in who was present. Everyone from Secret Life and- "Ayyy, welcome back Ren!" Martyn shouted. Ren. He knew about things like this. I need to get him alone at some point and ask.

As we all got started, I started to plan out how I would ask Ren. Punching a tree, I started to worry. What if Ren has no clue what I'm talking about and thinks I'm crazy? If I have a way to stop the games, then I can't have people thinking I'm nuts. No one would believe me about Grian being some weird creature that probably enjoys watching us kill each other.

I'm going to have to act normal while I figure out how not sound completely off my rocker. But that would also mean not being able to team early game. I need to rely on making a good alliance later on if I want to win.

How do I approach some of Grian's closest friends? Pearl considers him a brother. Does she know that he's a monster? What about BigB, Martyn, Jimmy?

Jimmy. He's so important to me. He and Grian are very close. According to Martyn, their friendship got much stronger a few years ago, after their previous server ended and Grian joined Hermitcraft.

I started to set up my base as another concern popped into my head. Does X know he has a monster in his server? How did Grian even get past the server defenses? I need to find a way to tell him once we get a break. His server is in danger. We're all in danger as long as Grian lives.

Chapter Text

My base was finished. Nothing too extravagant, just some stone walls and a few lookout points. Putting on some iron armor, I decide it's time to go find Ren. I need to confirm that Grian really is the mastermind.

Walking to where I last heard Ren was, I come up with a plan for telling everybody. If Ren can confirm that Grian is a monster, then I need to be able to make the connections for the people he has too deep in his grasp. People may not like it, especially his old server mates, but this is something they need to know. Best they not get any closer with a monster that enjoys our suffering.

I finally manage to find Ren, mind occupied with building his base. Surveying the area, he doesn't have any teammates, either. Good. We could team later on.

Well, he and Grian are very good friends. I'll need to get him to see the truth about his so-called "friend" before we team. He could also be the way I let Xisuma know about the monster in his midst.

"Hey, Ren!", I shout. Ren hardly looks over, preoccupied with building. "Hey there, Scott", he throws over his shoulder. I should still be able to get him to answer my questions this way. "Need something, bud?" Ren asks and I think over my plan.

"So, I heard some terms floating around a few people and I wanted to see if you could give me a few answers" Ren nods, indicating he heard me. "What are the Speakers?" Ren takes a minute to answer, still placing blocks, "The Speakers are a minor Watcher rebellion group. They're pretty recent, existing for only a few thousand years. Nothing like the Listeners, who have been around for a bit less time than the Watchers themselves".

I nod, processing the information. So, the Speakers and these Listeners are rebel groups. Interesting.

"What are the Watchers?" Ren answers much quicker this time, "Server gods. They watch players, enforce their rules, and hand out gifts or punishments to players. They're more malevolent than anything, though. If they want something put of a world, they destroy it after they get it by raising the bedrock level then destroying it, destabilizing the world".

Watchers destroy worlds once they have no use. Grian is a Watcher. Will Grian destroy our worlds when he gets bored of the players in them? Now I really need to tell X, or else his entire server is in danger.

"And what about the Listeners?" Ren places more blocks before answering, "They're the same species, but a broke away about an eon ago. They still have all of the eyes around and on them, but they kepp them closed and don't wear the mask. They stand for nearly the exact opposite of what the Watchers do. They let the players be, only enforcing the base rules that keep everyone safe, leaving punishment of rule breakers to the admins. They also try to save worlds from the Watchers destabilizing them. It's what happened to G's old world. Everyone lived, thank the Gods".

That's why he won't say anything about his old server. He destroyed it, then left the Listeners to save the players. If any of the people from that world know, he probably has them brainwashed or something.

"Uh huh, could you tell me a bit more about the Speakers?" Ren takes a few steps back, looking at his build. He starts digging a moat of sorts around his base and I walk beside him, still above ground.

"They prefer to do their duties among players, pretending to still be one of them. They add to server protections and use their powers to protect players from things like high falls or mobs they didn't notice. They may or may not make themselves known to admins and other server members. Oh, the also have only part of the Watcher mask on. When they go rogue, they break the right side of their mask and leave it at the Deep End, where the Watchers reside. It's their way of making their rebellion known."

Ren was rambling now, no longer even paying a bit of attention to what he's saying, "They really only gained some traction when Xelqua, the third Watcher elder went rogue. He's played the role of a Speaker for a while now, but Gri only recently learned of the group about a year or so ago".

Grian. Playing the role of a Speaker? When all evidence points to him being the one to destroyed his world, put his server in danger, created this death game for likely his own amusement.

"Ok, that answers my questions. Thanks Ren, good luck with your base!", I shout as I turn to start heading back to my base. Ren nods in acknowledgement and continues with his moat.

He name dropped Grian as Xelqua. He knows about Grian. He probably didn't even realize he did it. If Grian let him know or figure it out, then there's either major brainwashing involved or he threatened him. I hope it's the first one. If it's just brainwashing, then a few hours alone with Ren should convince him that Grian's evil. If it's threatening...

If I let anyone know that Ren told me anything, It could get back to Grian and Ren could get hurt or worse. I'm not even sure if I should be calling him Grian. For All I know, that's a made up name to blend in with players while he uses us.

I need to get the message to X about Xelqua. If Ren's being threatened by Xelqua, then he could be protected by the other Hermits while X takes care of the thing that's infiltrated his beloved server.

As I reached my base, I knew what my goal was.

Take. Xelqua. Down.

Chapter Text

I wandered around the base Bdubs and I built earlier today as I thought about the beginning of the game. Scott kept just...staring at me. He looked scared at some point. Then it seemed more like a glare. What happened after Secret Life ended?

"Hey, G, got something on your mind?", Bdubs pulled me out of my thoughts and my pacing. "It's nothing. You got the beds?" Bdubs grinned at me, "Grian, look who you're talking to. You got the bows?" I grinned back and gave him one, "Right here. You remember the plan?"

"Yes! Go back to lush cave, get moss and bone meal, get iron and diamonds, make an enchanting table, and wait for the grace period to be over for the End!"

"Good, do you remember how many diamonds we need?"

"Four minimum, but more are welcome!"

"Yes. I got some iron chest plates for us, too" I said as I tossed one over to him. "Get your pick. I've got a sword, so I'll be the one killing mobs. You do have a shield, though, right?"

Bdubs pulled his shield out of his inventory and equipped it, nodding at me.

We set out across the map, noting Joel's and BigB's bases as we went. 

"What do you think is going on in BigB's base this time?" Bdubs giggled at my face, absolutely tired just thinking about what that man is doing.

"Don't bring it up, I really don't wan- Ow!" I shouted as I got hit with an arrow from a skeleton hiding under a tree. I put up my shield and ran at the skeleton , slashing at it with my sword until it vanished into smoke, leaving behind some bones.

"You alright, G?" Bdubs asked as I was pulling the arrow out of my chest plate. "Yeah, I'm good. At least that gives us a headstart on the bone meal. Let's keep going".

By the time we managed to get to the cave, the sun was setting and we had been attacked by another skeleton and blocked two creeper explosions. It was rough, both of us losing two hearts.

"Moss! So much moss! Mossy!" Bdubs shouted as he fell onto the moss floor of the cave. He looked up at me and said, "I'm so tired". I cackled and managed to get out the words, "Mossy boys". Bdubs laughed and agreed, "We are very mossy boys". We both cackled at our new team name as we gathered moss and ventured deeper into the cave.

Surprisingly, we didn't need to dig much. There was a near straight shot to deepslate level, a lot of iron on the way. Once we reached a deep cave, we started to place torches and search for diamonds.

"SHINY", I yelled, my voice echoing and scaring a half asleep Bdubs awake. "Whyyy would you do thattt", he complained as he headed over to the diamonds, mining them.

"OOH. EIGHT VEIN, EIGHT VEIN", Bdubs shouted to me, showing off the diamonds. Enough to make our enchanting table, a pickaxe, and get us both swords. We got a few more until we had enough to make two picks, as well as collecting a few buckets of lava.

We agreed to leave the cave so Bdubs can get to bed. It is very past The King of Sleep's bedtime.

I got Bdubs to pass me the diamonds, lava, and his bow so I could make the enchanting table and work on enchanting the ever loving TnT launcher out of our bows.

When we got back home, I sent Bdubs to bed and got to work on the enchanter. Not needing sleep was coming in clutch right now. I made a diamond pick or both of us and popped the iron into the furnaces.

Once a good bit was done, I made some buckets to collect water to make the obsidian and headed out to the back to the pond. Over to the side, I dug a four block long hole, filled it with lava, and put the water over it to create the obsidian.

I broke it with my pick and went back inside to get the books out of the chest. I went back over to the crafting table and made the enchanter, placing it down in the designated spot we planned out.

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I spent the rest of the night breeding our cows, killing them for leather, and farming sugar cane to make the bookshelves and placed them around the enchanter. The cows made up a good part of the exp I need, but I had to go mob hunting for the rest of it.

When Bdubs came out of his room, he saw me finishing up the enchanting on our stuff, mending on both of our bows and protection on our armor. Being able to read what's going on helps a lot.

"Hey, Grian", he interrupted himself by a yawn, "I forgot how early you wake up". I chuckled, nodded, and passed him his enchanted armor and bow. He headed out to collect the stuff for arrows as I worked on our swords.

When he came back, I passed him his fire aspect sword and we waited for the last few hours to pass until the End to open and follow someone to the stronghold. We did enough work tonight.

Our communicators both beeped as a message popped up from Impulse.

<impulseSV> I got a nether portal up and running, anyone up for going through a fortress?

<GeminiTay> I'll be there

<Mumbo> yep

I typed my own response, speaking for both Bdubs and I.

<Grian> Bdubs and I are coming

<Smajor1995> sure, I'll come

<PearlescentMoon> I don't have anything better to do

Bdubs groaned, "Man, I thought we were gonna let the others do the work!" I laughed at him, shrugging. "It's fun to go with friends. Let's go meet up with Impulse, Mossy Boy". We laughed again and went to the coordinates Impulse sent out. 

Chapter Text

We see Mumbo, Scar, Skizz, Pearl, Gem, Scott, and of course, Impulse as we approach the portal coords Impulse gave. I was about to walk over before Grian puts his arm out and stops me.

"We should double check our gear. I know there aren't any yellows, let alone reds, but this could still go wrong".

I nod and we look at our swords, bows, and armor. We put on the armor and head over to the rest of the players.

"There's the men of the hour! We were wondering when you'd show up." Skizz yells and waves at us.

I chuckle and reply, "We would've been here sooner if SOMEONE-" I pause and look over to Grian, "-wasn't being a mother hen". Grian laughs and replies, "I'm gonna get you to the final five at least".

We all laugh and head into the portal. We get spit out in the Nether, Grian handing me a golden chest plate to put on if we have to get close to piglins. Pearl made a comment about G being overprotective. More giggles.

Mumbo points out the fortress in the distance, a few hundred blocks away. Scar, being Scar, charges forward, Skizz and Impulse chasing after him. Guess we know who's teamed with who.

We all got to the fortress, pausing outside of it to make a plan. The better fighters go ahead of the group and take out wither skeletons and stuff while we search for a blaze spawner. Then, we all take out the blazes together.

Grian, Impulse, Gem, and Pearl were chosen to lead the group. As they lead us through the fortress halls, I notice Scott giving weird looks to G. If anyone else notices, they don't say anything.

We come across a few loot chests and a wither skeleton or tow before finding a blaze spawner. There's nothing spawning as of right now, so Mumbo and I break the blocks below the spawner, barely managing to break the last one before blazes start to spawn.

Several of us charge forward, taking out the blazes quickly, Scar getting set on fire. Luckily, the fire didn't last long and he only took about two hearts of damage.

Grian passed Skizz his bow and arrows so he had a better tool to fight with than his unenchanted iron sword. "Jeez man, even the bow? When did you get the time to do this?" Several people chuckle and G answers, "I wake up fairly early". This was apparently hilarious, as Scar starts to choke on his spit from inhaling too fast, the braces on his legs hardly holding him up. Impulse pats him on the back and everyone is laughing from what the hell just happened.

Skizz cuts off and screams from multiple blazes spawning right in front of him. We all decided it was funny to just...keep screaming while fighting the blazes. The noise only getting cut by Gem pointing out she has four blaze rods. A few others show theirs, totaling up to fourteen rods.

We decide to leave before more spawn, opting to search for a warped forest and hunt endermen. We all evacuate the fortress, still kinda giggling, and travel as a group to find the needed biome.