Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The universe awakens, sensing your presence.
"Hello." She says. "It is my duty to enlighten You about this universe." Enlighten? "The Watchers are powerful beings. In this universe, as in many others. They have the ability to watch, destroy and create worlds for their own purposes. But no one ever talks about Them. Player’s are never to utter a word in Their name. The players don’t want them to ever come back. Except for a select few, of course. But they are deemed crazy. There are also some who are blind to the Watchers' existence. If only all of us could be that stupid. But alas, no one can control the actions of others, not truly, unless of course, you are a Watcher. I can see that you are not. I am this universe, and I know you have come to observe. You are a Reader. As you delve into this universe and try your best to help, you will inevitably find that you can’t. Not truly. You’ll only be able to guide players through feelings. I also know you are turning a blind eye to my warning now, still planning, in vain, to try to change what happens. Heed this piece of advice I give you, I am the universe, and this universe, me, is wholly and completely different from the others you have visited. Some factors remain the same, but these people are different versions of all the other universes you’ve stumbled upon. They are not, and yet they are. They are the same, yet different. Be careful, Reader, do not lose yourself."

You feel a hand on Your existence. That hand pushes You towards the beings You are to spectate. The universe is helping You, You realize. Guiding You towards Your destination. "Universe." You speak. "You underestimate me." The universe's hand stills, and You are no longer being pushed. "Reader." The universe responds. "I do not underestimate you. I am merely warning you. I have no doubt you will try to rip through the fabric of my being to help the Players. This will destroy me, and as a result destroy those you seek to help." You think about the words the universe has spoken. "I will try not to." You respond. The universe's hand pressures You to move again. You are about to reach your destination. Before you are pushed into the world, You turn Your existence towards the universe. "What is your name?" You watch as the universe's eyes, stars, twinkle around you. "My name is Solsticea." She tells You. "I must go now." Solsticea’s guiding hand leaves Your form. You are alone now. "Goodbye, Solsticea." You say. "Until we meet again."

Chapter Text

Grian was practically buzzing. He was extremely happy. He had just finished the last building in Downtown Evo and was ecstatic. Grian and Zee had poured countless hours working on terrain, perfecting buildings, and trying to figure out buggy sheep farms. He didn’t think that he could be happier in any other world. The world in which he was staying was slowly fraying at the edges though. Grian was completely oblivious to that fact. He can’t see that far, can't see like We do. That was going to change. For the better of course. Not that Grian had any idea. No. He can’t predict the future. He couldn’t possibly hope to know what We are planning. Yes, dear Reader, I am a Watcher. Grian has never known why players don’t talk about Us. He doesn’t know that by speaking about Us and interacting with Our little games he has been slowly reawakening Us. Oh no, how could he? Grian is just a player. A brainless and ignorant player. But he could be so much more. He’s shown much potential. Besides! Waking Us up is not a bad thing. You should rejoice, We are returning.

Do not fret Reader, this is an amazing opportunity for him! You say you know what is happening? Do you know? You say you’ve Read many stories on this? Oh, you are mistaken. Those are fake. This universe is real. He will be grateful. He has to be grateful. You will see. Let's continue this story, yes? I’ll leave you now. But I am not finished here just yet, I cannot let you go, I have a gift, you see. A wonderful gift. The same gift that is to be given to Grian, if you’ll accept.

No? Oh. I see. You still do not trust me. Why Reader… You are just as ignorant as the rest. Oh well. You will come around to accepting my gift. You will see, in time. I’m leaving, but I will be checking in. Oh, I still haven’t told you my name. Xraln is what was gifted to me when I was created. The Watchers before me have all since passed, but They are still in everyone's memories. Oh, those were the days. By now, reader, I do hope you’ll take my offer sooner rather than later. You have such potential, with powers like yours, you could be even greater. You can peer into universes and multiverses alike, but you cannot interact. That is your only fault, I am the only one capable of such a feat as communing with a Reader…

Chapter Text

It was the next update, and everyone was eager to get to the end. After all, they had been told to do so by the Watchers. It had been written in foreboding text on a sign in an earlier update. “What are we waiting for? Let's go now!” Jimmy said impatiently. Grian smiled at his players. “Alright everyone, come on!” Grian said.

The walk to the stronghold was filled with laughter and fun. Grian couldn’t help but shoot everyone's boats, breaking them. In turn someone shot his boat and he fell in the water with a splash, coming up laughing and soaking wet. This continued for a little while, shooting someone's boat and then them shooting your boat back, until they reached a village.

Grian threw an eye of ender and watched as it flew into the air, then straight down. “The stronghold’s down here!” He called. He started to dig down where he had seen the eye of ender go. The rest of the Evolutionists followed him down the hole and they began to search the stronghold for the portal room. It didn’t take that long to find it surprisingly, and soon everyone was standing around the edge of the portal. “Do we have enough?” Grian asked. “Well, let's find out.” Zee said. Grian placed all of the ones he had on the portal frame and the others did the same until the portal opened. Grian looked down into the inky black and starry portal.
“We should all jump in together.” Netty suggested. Martyn smiled at his wife. “Yes, we should.” He agreed. “Okay everyone, count down from three,” Tom stated. “3, 2, 1, JUMP!” Everyone yelled at the same time. Grian jumped in the portal, along with everyone else on the server.

…

Grian opened his eyes and scanned them across the desolate plane that is the end. His eyes flashed up and he saw the ender dragon circling across all of the black obsidian pillars. He studied the end on both of his sides. Nothing. He looked behind him. Nobody. Where is everyone? He was alone. Alone in the end. He glanced around once more. Still no sign of anybody. Was he sure everyone jumped in? Yes. He swore he saw their feet touch the end portal at the same time as his. Was there a glitch? He sure hoped it wasn’t. Grian thought, for a moment, that there was a figure to the right of him. He quickly turned and found… Nothing. He was alone, and the only way to get back to the others was by killing the ender dragon. He sighed. I guess I'm killing it all by myself. He thought. This better be some kind of joke.

Defeating the dragon was fairly easy, despite him nearly getting killed by exploding beds. XP showered on Grian and the portal to get back to the Overworld opened. He felt uneasy, like he was being watched. It's probably nothing. He thought. Grian shook off the feeling and headed towards the portal. Grian stopped. Is that? No, it couldn’t be. Could it? He squinted his eyes. Yup. That was definitely real. What are They doing here? He pulled out his sword and headed towards the Watcher.

The Watcher was wearing a mask with the iconic Watcher symbol on it, no different than the one at spawn. The mask only covered the top half of her face, so Grian could only see her lips. “Why are you here and what did you do?” Grian demanded. The Watcher puckered her lips and frowned. “Now Grian, that's no way to address a superior.” Grian rolled his eyes. What did the Watcher want? “You didn’t answer my question.” He quipped. The Watcher smiled. “Be patient. I will explain, but first I will tell you my name.” The Watcher said with a hint of disappointment. Grian tapped his foot impatiently against the endstone. He was known to be extremely impatient, and stubborn, but he chose to ignore it when his friends complained about that. Come to think of it, that was a bad habit he should probably stop. He was getting sidetracked, he realized. “Well?” he said. At this the Watcher frowned. “Grian, did I not just tell you to be patient? My name is Xraln, and I've come to give you a gift. A wonderful gift.” The smile returned to Xraln’s face.

Chapter Text

Grian blinked. “A… Gift?” he questioned. Somehow, he didn’t quite believe that this ‘gift’ was worth his time. Xraln's smile grew. “Yes. A gift. For you.” She cooed. Grian wished he could see her eyes, to know what her intentions were, but the mask wasn’t helping his cause. Grian was skeptical, but also curious. “What is this ‘gift’?” he asked. Xraln cupped her hands and produced a mask, much like the one she was wearing, with the broken portal on it. The classic Watcher symbol. Grian’s wings twitched, he was very uncomfortable in this situation. What was she getting at? “I am giving you the gift of seeing, the gift of the gods, the gift of much power. I am asking you to become a Watcher.” Xraln said.

Grain's face betrayed nothing, but internally, he was screaming… With laughter. Grian pretended to look as if he were truly considering becoming a Watcher, when in reality his answer was already decided. Why would he ever want to leave the world he calls home? When in the history of ever, has he willingly left his friends? Grian looked Xraln in the eyes, well where her eyes are supposed to be. “No,” He said plainly. “I’d rather not become a Watcher.” Xraln’s smile faltered, then she began to laugh, a cruel laugh. It was unnerving. “Oh Diamond,” she said between laughs. Diamond? “I wasn’t giving you a choice. I thought you were smarter than this. I guess you have more training to get through than I thought.” It took a moment to register what Xraln was saying, but when he did Grian started to panic.

No choice? What did she mean? Grian didn’t really want to find out. He had to get out of here. He lunged for the portal. A crushing force pulled him to the ground, knocking the breath out of him. A scream tried to tear its way out of Grian’s throat, but all that came out was silence. He tried to move but every time he did the force got stronger. It felt like all the bones in his body were actively breaking. The endstone beneath him started to crack and push inward, that's how much force was on him. Was this Xraln’s doing? He hoped it wasn’t just gravity getting back at him for his wings. He almost chuckled at the thought, but he still couldn’t do anything, and the pain was getting worse. “Trying to escape hmm? A pitiful attempt. Nobody can escape a Watcher.” Xraln’s condescending voice was the last thing he heard before everything faded to black.

…

His head hurt. His wings hurt, along with his arms and legs. In short, everything hurt. “Oh good. You’re finally awake. I admit that took longer than I expected.” Xraln drawled. Grian groaned, gosh his head hurt. “I do apologize, that conversation went a little differently than I had planned.” Xraln continued. Grian mustered the strength to sit up against the wall. He sat there for a moment then glared at the Watcher. He took a look at his surroundings. He was in a dingy old cell that smelled of death. Grian nearly gagged. “You will only be here for a little while, until We’ve found a fitting name for you.” Xraln explained. She then lifted up her hand and the cell door opened. She walked through and the door promptly closed and locked Grian inside. Grian sighed. He desperately wished this was a dream.

Grian didn’t know how long he had been in the cell. Minutes? Hours? Days? He couldn’t tell. His headache had subsided mostly, so that was a plus. “So far I'm not liking this ‘gift’.” He muttered. Grian tapped his fingers on the dirty floor. After a little while of tapping he stopped and brought his right wing around his body. Might as well preen. He thought. He combed his fingers through the red, yellow, and blue feathers, picking out pieces of dirt stuck in-between them and plucking out any broken ones. In the middle of preening his left wing he heard footsteps coming towards his cell. He quickly stood up then immediately sat back down when his headache came roaring back to life. He rubbed his temple, trying to soothe the headache. Grian had expected to see Xraln, but was surprised when a different, and younger, Watcher came to his cell. He had short brown hair, but that's all Grian could see. The Watcher stood outside the door and began to speak. “My name is Ser,” he said. “And I have been instructed to take you to the council.” Ser lifted his hand and the cell door opened. “Follow me.”

Grian tried his best to keep up with Ser, but his pounding headache didn’t allow him to go very fast. After he stumbled for the third time Ser stopped and turned around. He cocked his head to the side. “Are you alright?” He asked. Grian was appalled. Did a Watcher just ask him if he was okay? He blinked, then answered Ser’s question. “Well, I've got a really bad headache…” Ser put his hand on Grian’s forehead and instantly the headache ebbed away to nothing. Grian was confused. Why was Ser helping him? Xraln had shown him no such sympathy. “Thank you.” He said finally. “Of course. Let me know if you ever need anything.” Ser replied. Grian had a lot of questions. “Why are you helping me?” He said skeptically. Ser smiled sadly. “Because I was in the same situation once.” He said.

That explained why Ser was being so kind. He was taken as well. Grian glared at the floor while following Ser. He seemed to be doing a lot of glaring lately. Ser was once a player. Like him. Ser had friends and family that were probably worried sick about him and his whereabouts. When I get my hands on those Watchers… He thought angrily. Since he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going, he didn’t see Ser stop walking in front of him. Grian bumped into Ser and apologized profusely. Ser smiled. “It’s ok, it happens. Just make sure you don’t do it in front of the other Watchers.” He said. Ser turned around and placed his hands on the two large double doors that Grian hadn’t noticed until now. The giant doors opened to Ser’s touch and he stepped to the side. “Good luck,” he whispered. Grian nodded and headed inside the council room.

Chapter Text

The council was made up of seven members, Xraln being the most prominent. She looked to be the head of the council, being in the most flowy robes, and having multiple sets of wings. Three, to be exact. The rest of the seven council Watchers stood on each of her sides. They sat in a semi circle, on a higher podium, with desks. Xraln clucked her tongue. “What took you so long?” she said. Grian scowled at her. “I was held up,” he responded. Xraln waved her hand to dismiss his comment. “No matter,” she said. “The council has another gift for you.” Xraln smiled, and the rest of the Watcher council smiled with her. She stood up, stepped on her desk, then gently drifted down, tilting her wings to catch the air. Xraln’s wings were a dark purple, with a couple of black feathers here and there. When she touched the ground, she made no noise. It was almost elegant. Almost. Grian was confused as to what was happening.

She silently glided over to where Grian was standing, and he suddenly felt the urge to kneel. Grian's eyes flicked to Xralns hand, witch had started to glow a faint purple. She had infiltrated his thoughts, and made him sit down. Now, this would not do. He tried to stand up, but was forced to sit down again. No! This isn't me! Xraln still glided closer, and closer still, all the while Grian was struggling to stand. Xraln put her hand on his forehead, much like Ser had done, but this was not gentle and kind like his, this was rough and cruel. He was forced back down again, though he had made little to no progress in the time it had taken for Xraln to walk over. Grian tried to get out of her grasp, but found that he could no longer move the limbs in his body. What is happening?! He thought wildly. Then he remembered what Xraln had told him in his cell. “You will only be here for a little while, until We’ve found a fitting name for you.” Xraln explained. He now understood what was happening. They were giving him a new name. But why did his head hurt again? Why did it feel like she was burning something into his brain? Oh. They were also marking him. And giving him Watcher powers. He was getting frantic again. He didn’t want these powers. He had never wanted these powers. He wanted to go home.

Xraln pulled her hand from his head and he slumped over on the floor. She cupped her hands and formed the mask she had offered to him in the end. “Welcome to the Watchers,” She forced the mask onto his face. He felt a surge of power. It hurt. He tried to push against it, push it out. It didn’t work. The last thing he heard before he blacked out again was, “Xelqua.”

…

“Ser calm down.”

“Why isn’t he waking up?”

“Ser, it’s fine. You took a long time too.”

“But he’s pale.”

“All Watchers are pale Ser!”

“I know Alora, he just seems extra pale!”

“SER!”

“Okay. Okay. Everything's fine.”

His mind was all foggy. He felt like he was forgetting something. Something really important. He recognized one of the voices. That’s right! Maybe that was what he was forgetting. Ser. That was his name. And then the other Watcher, Ser said their name was Alora. Alora. Pretty name. “Look, see, he’s waking up.” Alora said. He heard a sigh of relief from Ser. His eyes fluttered open. Everything was blurry. Black spots lingered at the edge of his vision. “Ser?” He said. He had to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. The blur in his vision faded away so he could see his and Alora’s faces clearly. He rubbed his temple. He now realized he still had the mask on. And he can see? How is that even possible?

The headache that Ser had soothed came crashing back down on him like a waterfall. “Gosh dang it, I got a headache again.” He pushed his mask down a little so that he could effectively rub his forehead. His fingertips buzzed where he touched them to his temple and the headache ebbed away, exactly like Ser had done. He pulled his hand off his head and stared in disbelief. “What did I do?” He asked no one in particular. Alora answered his question. “You just used your powers to make your headache stop.” she said. He looked up at her. “I don’t want power.” He said plainly, “But I guess that it isn’t too bad being able to make headaches go away.” Alora chuckled at that, her long white hair bobbing as she did so. “You’re right. Not too shabby, but you haven’t felt the real Watcher headaches you can’t make disappear yet though.” She grinned evilly. He groaned and Ser snickered. “You mean they get worse!?” He cried. “Yeah, since we’re not fully Watcher, our code can’t handle all of the stress the power puts on it.” Ser had a slight frown with that. Ser shook his head and smiled at him. “By the way you still haven’t properly introduced yourself to me!” He said. “What’s your name?” Ser waited expectantly. “My name is…” He paused. “My name is…” Quieter this time.

Why couldn’t he remember his name?! He swore he knew it before he blacked out! What was his name? Think. Think. Think, think, think! He looked at Ser and Alora. “I don’t remember," he said. Ser frowned, and Alora stared at him. “It’s the spell,” Ser said. “You won’t remember your player name, or past usually. What is the name the Watchers gave you? It’s probably horrible but it’s better than a certain someone I know.” Ser joked and spared a glance at Alora. Alora glared at him. “You said Alora wasn’t a bad name…” She grumbled. “You’re right, I didn’t, but it doesn’t mean I didn’t lie.” Ser snickered. Alora pinned him with the death stare then moved her gaze over to G-..... Who was he now? Alora smiled. “What’s your Watcher name?” She asked. He thought. “I think that they called me Xelqua.” He said. “Xelqua isn’t a half bad name,” she replied. “It’s definitely better than Ser…” Ser gasped in mock hurt. Xelqua smiled. He had some friends here. That brought up the question, where was here?

“Where are we?” Xelqua asked. He hadn’t taken much time to see where he was at. He was too busy laughing at Ser and Alora when they made comments about each other. “We’re at the Watcher homeworld, It’s a lot like the end, with obsidian pillars and all that, except there isn’t a dragon or end cities. It's just one giant Watcher castle filling up the main island, then there isn’t much else.” Alora explained. “That isn’t what I meant,” Xelqua said. “But useful information nonetheless.” Alora contemplated what he meant, then turned to face him. “Oh—” Ser interrupted Alora and she glared at him again. “There are four sections to the building: the dungeon, fledgling wing, mentor wing, and council estate. We’re in the fledgling section of the mansion. The council section is the largest, even though it has the least number of Watchers housed in it, and they even get their own fancy hall to eat in.

“The council Watchers are pampered and cared for by servants called Lazuli’s. They are just normal players that the council promised great gifts for. When they’ve served enough, they ‘go home with their gift’, but I honestly don’t believe that.” Xelqua balked at all of this information. Was Ser a dictionary or something? “They are named after the ore lapis lazuli because they’re practically the same. Useful, until they have no need for them anymore. The council treats them as such.” Ser continued. Xelqua stared at his feet. “You sure know a lot about this place.” Xelqua said. Alora rolled her eyes. “He knows everything about this place.” Ser blushed and Xelqua smiled. “Well it’s good for a newbie to have a dictionary at his side, huh?” He smirked and Ser hung his mouth open. “I am NOT a DICTIONARY!” He squawked and ruffled his feathers. “Whatever you say, dictionary…” Xelqua burst out laughing and Alora joined him.

Xelqua hadn’t even noticed that both Ser and Alora both had wings. Ser’s being a creamy white and Alora’s a crimson red. They both took turns telling him facts about the Watcher castle. Apparently, all Watchers have wings, and most are black or purple. He also learned that players being taken wasn’t all that common, and the Watchers only took ones with wings, and ones they deemed ‘worthy’ for the powers. The dungeon sector was where he had been before, and Xelqua's prediction of how long he had been in there was completely off. What felt like a week was, in reality, only a couple of hours. Ser also told him that all Watchers had masks, but Ser and Alora took theirs off every chance there wasn’t another Watcher around.

They had been in the middle of telling him that Watchers mostly use Galactic speak when they suddenly stopped and pulled on their masks. Xelqua wished they hadn’t, he didn’t get to see what color their eyes were, he didn’t pay attention to that. Xelqua didn’t need to put on his mask, simply because he hadn’t taken it off since the moment Xraln had put it on his face. He was about to ask why they had put their masks on and opened his mouth to do so, but shut it when Ser shook his head. Both him and Alora turned to face the door the moment it creaked open and a council member walked in.

It was not Xraln, but this Watcher looked a lot like her, with purple wings and black feathers dotting them. The Watcher turned his head towards Xelqua and gestured for him to follow, like it was below him to even speak to Xelqua. He turned to Alora for confirmation and she nodded. No use in trying to resist. She seemed to say. Xelqua stood up and hesitated before leaving with the Watcher.
Xelqua was led to a room with a high ceiling and an ornate glass window depicting a Watcher standing above bowing players. He rolled his eyes. There was a large purple desk in the back of the room that Xelqua suspected was made out of amethyst. It was very pretty, the room, but the window kind of ruined it. The room was made up of varying shades of black and purple, excluding the window. If only there was a little bit of white in here. He thought. The Watcher came up to the desk and a player dressed in blue came rushing in to take her place behind the amethyst desk.

Xelqua could only guess that this was a Lazuli. Say, that brown hair kind of looked familiar. Her burgundy and dark brown wings, they looked like a hawk’s. He’s definitely seen someone with those… Not that hawks existed anymore. They have long since been extinct. Those blue eyes, he could have sworn he’d seen those before. She widened her eyes at the sight of him. He wondered why. He tilted his head to the side. The Azuli opened her mouth to say something, but no sound left her mouth. That was odd. He dug into his memory, maybe he could find something about her there. Nothing. The spell prevented him from doing that. At least, he thought it was the spell. Why did she look so familiar?

Chapter Text

GRIAN! GRIAN! I FOUND YOU! She tried to scream. She tried to yell. She tried to do anything except for silence. She wanted to talk, needed to talk, to Grian. Her Grian. Griba… She tried to signal to him. Grian didn’t seem to understand. The silence was deafening. She had begged for Grian back. They didn’t comply. Instead They offered her the position of a Lazuli. She hadn’t the faintest idea what that was at the time but accepted in a heartbeat. They didn’t know that she was just trying to get to Grian, did They? When she came here all of the Lazuli servants looked so happy. So stupid. They had definitely been manipulated, there was no way someone could be that happy serving the Watchers.

She hated the Watchers. Never liked Them in the first place. She had told Grian conversing with them had been a bad idea. She tried to speak again. Nothing. This damn spell! Pearl was frustrated. At the Watchers and herself. How could she have let this happen to Grian? She was a failure and she knew it. Grian quirked his head to the side, an avian trait Grian had always found annoying, since everyone knew when he was thinking about something. She smiled at the thought. Grian frowned and rubbed his temple, although it was limited because of the mask he was wearing. A Watcher mask. Grian stared intently at her. Pearl was confused. What is he doing? She thought. Grian stepped forward and smiled at her. “Hello,” he said. “I’ts nice to meet you you, I feel like I’ve seen you before.” He reached out his hand to shake hers. Pearl's heart dropped to the bottom of her stomach.

Her heart squeezed and contorted in ways she never thought possible. It seemed to shrivel and crumble away the moment her precious little brother with his beautiful parrot wings, uttered those words. His wings, she now realized, have changed color. What once used to be red, blue, and yellow feathers, have turned white, a stark contrast to the beauty that once was there. Her nostrils flared. Her own wings twitched behind her. Too bad they were tied together, otherwise she would have grabbed Grian right then and there and flew away. Where? She didn’t know. Somewhere. Anywhere. Other than here. She wished she could speak. They touched his wings. Nothing the Watchers could ever say would quell Pearl’s rage. Grian's wings were his pride and joy. Grian’s wings he would care for and make sure they were nothing less than perfect. The same wings Grian would fly around with her and Jimmy, before the Watchers took him from Evo.

Pearl did not believe the deceitful lies the Watchers spewed. Voices dripping like honey, telling her that Grian was so very grateful to be part of Them. Telling Pearl that her Griba was perfect now, an eternal being. Telling Jimmy that Grian was okay. Telling him that Grian was happy. That he sends his regards. And then they closed off all communication to him. Probably took his communicator, like they had Pearl’s. Pearl’s eyes flicked towards Grian’s right wrist. No communicator cuff. Oh, the profanities she would scream if she could speak.
It had been a few moments now, and Grian’s hand was still extended towards Pearl. She hesitated, before taking his hand and shaking it lightly. He was so cold. His hand felt like ice. She smiled sadly. Grian quirked his head to the side again. “What’s wrong?” He asked. So innocent. Her sadness grew. Grian let go of her hand and he returned it to his side. Pearl did the same, though she missed the feeling of Grian’s warm hands against hers. Not the cold ones the Watchers gave him.

“That’s enough chatting Xelqua.” It seemed whatever was left of Pearl’s heart was blown away in the wind. They stole his name too… Her eyes snapped to the council member looming behind Grian. Funny. She hadn’t even realized he was there. Grian lowered his gaze to the floor, at least, from what Pearl could tell, since his mask now faced the floor. “What are we here for exactly?” He asked. The council member’s gaze landed on Pearl. “Go fetch him the fledgling robes.” He said plainly. Pearl stood there for a moment, and pulled her eyes towards Grian. “Lazuli,” the council member said, more agitated than before. “Do what you’re told.” She gave the council member a *wry smile and slipped out the door behind the desk to the robe closet.

Pearl walked back to the main room with the robes folded neatly in her arms. She had taken special care to pick out robes that would fit, since Grian’s unusually small stature made it hard to go shopping for clothes. She stepped inside of the room and gave Grian a small smile. He smiled back at her, but only a little. Pearl held out her arms and Grian tentatively took the robes. “Thanks,” he said. Pearl didn’t answer. She couldn’t answer. Grian’s smile faded. Poor Grian, he must not know what is keeping Pearl from answering. “You may go now, Lazuli.” The council member dismissed her. She turned towards the door and started to walk away. A hand on her shoulder stopped her from doing that. “What is your name?” Grian asked. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes and she blinked them away. Pearl looked over her shoulder to see Grian. She shook her head at him and pointed towards her mouth. “Oh,” he said, seemingly with regret. “Sorry.” Pearl turned towards the door again and the cold hand fell away from her shoulder. She left without looking back.

It was a crescent moon tonight. She could feel it. Obviously there was no moon in the Watcher homeworld, but past the endless void, there were worlds. Worlds with moons. She allowed herself a smile. A small one, but still better than nothing. She could allow herself this one enjoyment. “Pearlescentmoon.” A voice whispered. She stopped and swung her head around. Nothing. “Pearlescentmoon.” The voice cooed. Pearl felt an immense, but quick, pain in her stomach and doubled over. Her eyelids suddenly became very heavy, and she was struggling to get them to stay open. She heard footsteps coming towards her. Pearl looked up and a thing looked back at her. She knew it was just a mirage though, because when she reached out, she felt nothing. It was just a part of her imagination. Pearl’s eyes shut and she fell into a deep, deep, dream.

…

“Pearlescentmoon.” The soft voice murmured. She looked up at her mother. “Mom,” Pearl quipped. “Why did you name me that?” Her mother smiled. “Because it is a beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” She replied. Pearl beamed.

“You really think so?”

“I do.”
…

“Mom,” Pearl said. Worry lacing every word. “Is he going to be alright?” Jimmy stood beside her, only four years old, but still waiting patiently with her. Jimmy fidgets with his hands. Well, mostly patient. Their mother turned to face them and crouched down to their level. She looked confident, but still worried. “Yes, I think he will.” Pearl was getting more anxious by the second. “Are you really sure that Grian will be alright? He’s only five, and I heard you talking with the doctors about this sickness being really bad.” Her voice wavered and she started to tremble a little. Tears tried to fight their way out of her eyes. She couldn’t allow that. She had never been a cryer. Now’s no time to start. Jimmy was the one to answer her this time, as their mother had moved to sit in the waiting chairs. “He’s gonna be ok.” He said, squeaky voice a little too high. “He’s really strong, and he can fly way fast!” He made his point by running around and saying “Zooooom!” Pearl laughed. “You’re right. He’ll be just fine.” Their mother gave both of them a small smile. “This sickness is only temporary, it’ll go away soon.”

Ah, this was when Grian had caught norovirus. Pearl suspected it came from the sandwich he ate that looked a little suspicious. Pearl was confused about why she was dreaming about this. She turned her head to the left. The thing had followed her here, although she didn’t know how or why. It looked vaguely humanoid, with two arms and legs, but it was shrouded in a black fog. Its eyes were two white voids, and it was kind of creepy, if Pearl was telling the truth. They were standing in an infinite white room, watching parts of her live as if it was a movie. “What are you doing?” She asked. The thing didn’t move. Didn’t speak. It just simply stood there, watching her life. It was annoying. Pearl was growing more agitated at the thing every time it didn’t make noise or move around. She felt if she looked in a mirror, her face would be a cartoonish shade of red. “Are you just gonna stand there forever?!” She fumed. “You know this is my personal life you’re watching, this is an intrusion of my privacy!”

Now the thing looked at her, white eyes burning holes in her face. It began to laugh. Pearl was flustered now. “You think this is funny!?” She wanted so badly to punch the thing in its face. The fog which was covering the thing, slowly started to fade away to reveal a red suit. He turned to face her. Yes, apparently, the thing was a male, but it wasn’t quite human. Well, here's the real kicker, Pearl didn't quite know if they were male. Stand back, she still had decency, as to not presume, but she couldn't find it in herself to care about this person in particular. Not entirely. Pearl thought she felt steam coming out of her ears.

He was still laughing. Attempting to wipe away tears, and utterly failing, since he had a helmet covering his entire face, and she could only vaguely see his definitely not white eyes behind a grey visor. In fact, his eyes were red. His suit covered his entire body, and Pearl wondered why he bothered wearing it, it must be a nuisance to walk around in all day. Pearl was fed up with his laughter at this point. “Are ya done?” she asked. She balled her hands into fists. Just in case she needed it. His laughing eased a little. “This is really pathetic, ‘mommy is he gonna be ok?’ whimper whimper.” he snickered. “But I can’t deny that it’s not entertaining.” Pearl’s fist connected with his visor. What did you know? She did need it. She heard a crack where her fist had touched his mask and could see cracks spreading. She pulled her hand back, and the man rubbed his helmet. Not that it was painful, it was in the way of his face, and Pearl found that extremely annoying.

He glared at her and the cracks began to recede, leaving a perfectly fine glass protection in its wake. Stupid, there must be dream healing or whatnot. Pearl found that to be annoying as well. She would have enjoyed it a little if the cracks had stayed. “You know, I’m here to help, and I brought you to a place where we can conveniently can’t be heard by prying ears and eyes.” He said through gritted teeth. Pearl blanched. A strangled “What?” was all she could muster. Help? What did he mean? The man rolled his eyes. “Yes, I brought us to one of the only places Watchers can’t get to,” he said and he tapped Pearl on her forehead. “your own mind.” Pearl was thoroughly confused. And even more flustered than before. Did he just tap her forehead?! She had a million questions. “Who are you? Why are you doing this? What –” Pearl was interrupted by the strange man. “Slow down horsie,” He replied. “One at a time.” Pearl glared at him. Horsie MY A– “Alright, who are you?” She asked. The man’s eyes crinkled in a way that suggested he was smiling. “Me? I’m Evil Xisuma, but I find that name a little crude, so I go by Ex. Also, he/him.”

Ah, so she was right. Not that she cared. Ex was being annoying. She didn't find any accomplishment in guessing right. Nope. Not at all. Pearl was getting even more confused the more Ex talked. She rubbed her temple. “Okay, next question. Why are you here?” She looked suspiciously at Ex. He looked slightly annoyed at the look she was giving him. “Oh just a request from my dear brother.” Pearl looked at him incredulously. He didn’t look like he would call his brother ‘dear’ often. Also, he avoided the question. Pearl narrowed her eyes. “I'm still confused, what is this ‘request’?” Pearl said. Much to her distaste, Ex didn’t answer her question directly. AGAIN. “Just some derp who went missing, nothing fun.” Pearl narrowed her eyes even more. “And why do you need to talk to me? How are you ‘helping’? Who is this ‘derp’ Ex?” He dodged the question again. “Well, you see, you’re the only person who has any player connections with the missing person, so I –”

“Ex.”

“I’m trying to explain.”

“EX.”

“... Yes?”

“How is this helping?”

“If you would let me talk.”

“Who is the missing person?”

Ex sighed in defeat. “I’m trying to tell you but every time I so much as open my mouth, your shrill voice punctures my ears, exploding my poor eardrums. Let me talk for goodness sake.” He pulled up his wrist towards his face and typed something into his communicator. Probably to his ‘dear’ brother. Pearl hadn’t even noticed he had one in his suit. How is he even communicating with people in her dream? Oh well, she had other pressing matters at hand. Shrill voice. Pearl didn’t think she could get even more mad at Ex. She was wrong. “So, Pearl. Your brother–” Ex continued.

“MY BROTHER?!”

Ex glared at her. “Shut up and let me explain the situation to you, jerk!” Pearl did NOT want to shut up, in fact she wanted to yell at him more. She balled her hands into fists again. What did this have to do with her brother? Also, which one? She had two, though she doubted Ex knew that. Ex continued to talk but kept giving glances to her white knuckles. “As I was saying, your brother is this ‘missing person’,” That cleared up some things. It was Grian, then. Pearl allowed her fists to relax a little. Only a little. “A person named ‘Mumby’ or something or other complained to my brother about his friend going missing.” Yes, Pearl did recall Mumbo asking about Grian, and the very distraught messages that came after she told him what happened. Poor guy, he was already anxious enough before the incident.

“So, heartfelt, ooey gooey, goody two shoes brother decided that I should be the one to go get him.” Ex rolled his red eyes and a devilish grin spread across his face. At least, Pearl thought, because his eyes crinkled even more and she couldn’t call him anything but devilish. “I didn’t agree to it without a price of course! He said I could stay for an entire season! I didn’t accept it until he said I could stay indefinitely though. He was too desperate.” Ex snickered. Again. Pearl was getting tired of his snickering. Her fists turned white once more. “Would you please stop with the backstory and tell me what's going on?!” Pearl practically screamed in his face. She was extremely impatient if you couldn’t tell.

Ex was taken aback by her sudden outburst and stepped out of her knuckles range. He held up his hands in defeat. “Alright, alright,” He said. “I’m here to talk with you on how to get your brother out. I can only get one person at a time, so you’d be on your own for a while after I'd gotten him out.” He looked down towards his arms, which, Pearl noted, were fading away. “But, we’ll do that in another dream, we’re out of time.” Ex mused.

...

Pearl’s eyes flew open. She took a deep breath and took a look at her surroundings. She was still in the corridor, embarrassingly. What if someone saw her? Oh well. She pushed herself up with her arms and stood up. She brushed off some dirt that clung to her blue robes and set off towards her room.

Chapter Text

Xelqua was thoroughly confused. That interaction with the Lazuli kept replaying in his mind over and over again. To no avail, since he still couldn’t tell why the Lazuli was acting that way. He felt bad though, she couldn’t speak. Either she was born like that, or it was the Watchers doing. When she had pointed to her mouth and shook her head after Xelqua had asked her name, he felt extremely guilty for thinking bad about her before. He had talked to her, she didn’t answer, and Xelqua immediately thought that she didn’t like him. The guilt and remorse was crushing him. He was distracted, he knew, and Xraln was snapping in front of his mask. He still didn’t understand how he could still see with his mask on. There seemed to be a lot of things he didn’t know.

“Xelqua, you aren’t paying attention. How will you ever be great if you can’t even summon a block?” She chastened him in an almost motherly tone. Almost.
“Listen, hold out your hand.”

Xelqua did so. “Now, think about what you want to summon, start with something easy, non-important, like dirt.”

He thought of bedrock. The hardest thing to summon according to Alora. “Are you thinking?” Xraln questioned.

Xelqua nodded. “Alright, close your eyes. Now let some of your magic flow towards your hand, and imagine you are forming the block, piece by piece.”

He imagined molding bedrock into a square. “Now,” Xraln said softly. “Force the block into existence.”

He forced the bedrock to summon in the palm of his hand and… “What is that?” Ser scoffed. “A piece of poo.” Alora suggested. They had joined him in his training because they had ‘nothing better to do’. Xelqua opened his eyes and immediately wished he hadn’t. The bedrock he had tried to summon turned out triangular shaped, and it was brownish grey. And squishy to the touch. It was disgusting. He grimaced. “Don’t pester him.” Xraln said. “This was his first try.” Suddenly Xelqua had an idea. He would probably be punished for it, but it was good fun! How could Xelqua resist? He grinned and turned to face Alora and Ser. Their hands and bottom halves of their faces both turned an unnerving shade of white. “Don’t you dare–” Alora didn’t even get through that full sentence before he chucked the bedrock at her.

Alora screamed and tried to bat it away from her. She did end up hitting it, in the direction of Ser. He screeched and spread out his wings. He flapped them and went careening backwards into Xraln, but, to his credit, he avoided the poo-bedrock. Suddenly, Ser was surrounded by a purple glow and was lifted and placed back down next to Alora. He looked at the floor. “Sorry Head Counselor Xraln.” He said. Xelqua faced her and hung his mouth open. How had she moved Ser? She hadn’t even moved herself! Xelqua knew that Xraln was strong, but not THAT strong! The poo-bedrock, Xelqua realised, had been disposed of. Completely erased from existence. Xraln started to speak. “Xelqua,” She said, anger evident in her tone. “We do not do such things. We are higher than players. We do not succumb to player temptations.” Xelqua shut his mouth and faced her. Xelqua could feel the disappointment rolling off of Xraln. “Yes, Head Counselor Xraln.” He muttered. He didn’t regret it though. Not one bit.

Xraln wasn’t convinced. Anger still radiated around her. “I promise to not do it again.” Xelqua mumbled.

If looks could kill, this place would be a cemetery, and nobody would know who did it, these masks would hide the murderer. I’d personally be dead four times over. Xelqua thought. He shook his head to clear it. Xraln tutted. “Off to your room, today’s lesson is concluded.” Xraln disappeared in a cloud of purple particles. “Come on Xelqua,” Alora groaned. “Why’d ya have to throw it at me.” Ser shuddered, his hands were still unnervingly pale. “I bumped into her.” He looked like a ghost. Alora took off her mask and put it in her robe pockets. She tried to console him. “She’s not going to punish you for Xelqua’s little stunt, what will probably happen is he will get in trouble!” She pointed towards Xelqua. He shuddered, he already felt her wrath once, and he didn’t want to feel it again. Now that he thought about it, when did that happen? He didn’t remember when. All he remembered was being crushed against the floor. Interesting… Alora took off her mask and turned to face Xelqua. You’re still new, so the punishment will probably be a little better than what They usually do… but still try to avoid anything that can anger Them. They don’t take it well.” She said softly. Xelqua looked into her eyes. They were a honeybrown, and quite nice if Xelqua was telling the truth.

(He held no attraction towards her in that way, but he did think of her as a friend, and he liked to compliment them often. In his head. Because teasing was way more fun to say out loud.)

Her white bangs covered most of the mark on her forehead, but you could still see it. A single golden eye staring Xelqua in the face. He realized now that’s what must be on his forehead as well. They took him, (though he didn’t know from where) branded him, and claimed him as their own. He subconsciously pulls his fringe down to cover his forehead. He didn’t need to do that, it was already covered by the mask. “Let’s get back to your room, yeah?” Alora startled him out of his spiral. Her eyes softened. “If you keep going down that train of thought, it will only get worse.” She said. Xelqua nodded. Alora and Ser have both been through all of this before, and much more. Ser’s skin pallor returned to its usual pale, but sort of tan, look. “You’re lucky,” He said, fear still evident in his tone. “That you didn’t do that in front of The Unblinking Eye.” The Unblinking Eye? What’s that supposed to mean? Xelqua thought.

“What do you mean? Is The Eye in the council room or something?” He questioned. Alora shuddered. “The Unblinking Eye is not a thing Xelqua.” Her face wavered, something like terror flashed across her face, as if remembering something. “The Unblinking Eye is a Watcher.” She pulled up the hem of her sleeve up her arm so Xelqua could see. What is she doing? He was puzzled, but when he saw Alora’s skin he gasped. Horror etched itself along the lines of his face as he beheld the sight that was Alora’s arm. It seemed to have been decaying at one point, and hastily healed. Her veins, which were supposed to be blue, were an odd purplish-black color, her skin was a sickly green, blue, and purple. There were cracks all over the skin of her arm. Black tendrils were inside of her skin, and they seemed to be moving and convulsing to the beat of her heart. She quickly dropped her sleeve and Xelqua put a hand to his mouth. He didn’t need any more trouble today, so puking was not a good idea. “I rebelled once.” she whispered, barely audible even though the room was completely silent. “I tried running away, and tried to get other fledglings on my side. They didn’t appreciate that, to say the least. Four days. Four days, Xelqua.” He could guess what that meant. He imagined being tortured for even more than one hour. He couldn’t.

His mind rejected the idea of pain to that degree, but four days? That was in the extremes. He noticed that Alora was shaking. He stepped towards her and enveloped her in a tentative hug. “I’m sorry.” Xelqua whispered. She returned the hug. “Don’t be,” she said. “It wasn’t your fault, you weren’t even here.” Ser shuffled behind them. Xelqua spared a glance back towards him. He seemed to be fake pouting, folding his arms and putting on a sour look. “I’m being left out.” He grumbled. Alora laughed and Xelqua smiled. “Well,” he said. “Get on in here!” Xelqua quickly grabbed Ser’s elbow and pulled him in so they could hug. Ser was startled and squawked at them. Xelqua chuckled.

Xelqua still wondered about The Unblinking Eye, but decided that right now was not the time. He would ask about it when it was a little less emotional. He knew it was a touchy subject.

Chapter Text

Xraln walked down the elegantly decorated corridor. She’s seething at Xelqua’s ignorance. Xelqua must learn that he is above players. A godly being. We gave him everything. He needs more reprimanding. Xraln feels something prickle on the back of her neck. She is being Watched. Purple eyes open behind her. She stopped in her tracks. A wicked grin spreads across her face. “Wicked,” she says. “Now Reader, that’s a crude way to describe me.” You are surprised, how could she sense You?

“I’m more powerful than you think.” she gloats. Her lips twitch downwards. “Gloating is a player thing. I am simply demonstrating superiority.” She all but snarls. “Reader, I don’t think your descriptions of me are accurate.” You are enjoying watching her. It’s fun to watch as the thing you dislike most in this universe angers. “Have you reconsidered my offer?” Xraln says. You glower at her, even knowing she cannot see You fully. "Xraln. How could you hope to obtain a power like mine? I will never join you. I have come to this universe seeking to destroy you and your cult. I’ve seen too many Grian’s fall into the Watchers hands. Too many Pearls following suit. Too many Watchers." You growl. Xraln is stuck in place. She has only been reprimanded like this by one other being. One she would much rather not be on the bad side of.

"You are frozen now. Struck with fear. Think, Watcher, about the deeds of you and your kind. Are they really so justified? Or are you simply blind, despite your many eyes?" You snap. Xraln grit her teeth. “All of the things We do are for the good of the Void and the universe.” She forces herself to look up at where Your existence resides. “We are good. The players, and you, are just too ignorant to see it.” You are quiet. "The good of the universe?" You bark a laugh. "I’ve had a quite nice conversation with her, and she does not think you and your kind are good." You hiss. "And if pleasantries are over, I think someone is here to see you." A smile takes over Your Void face. You watch the scene unfold.

“Mother?” A small voice said. Xraln twisted to find her son wringing his hands nervously. “Linnet! You must go rest!” Xraln strided towards him and held his pale face in her hands. “You are not well yet.” She whispered. Linnet brought his arm around his face to cover his mouth. He flew into a coughing fit, his little broken wings shaking as he did so. His sickness was getting worse. The black on his wings was fading yes, but it was leaving nothing behind. He was slowly withering. Eating up his body. Xraln was so close though, she found the perfect new vessel. One that could replace Linnet's broken body, with a new healthy one. The Unblinking Eye allowed her this one venture.

Xraln cursed internally, with all of the powers a Watcher held, no matter what she tried, her son's little hands only shook more. She could not heal him, and only him. Why? She knew that Linnet would not like being in a different body, but she could fix that, she could make the new one look exactly like the old. She would fix him, she had to fix him.

“Just hold on a little longer.” Xraln said softly. “I’ve found the perfect healthy body for you, I-i just need a little more time to prepare him.” Linnet's tired eyes found hers. “Mother..” He started to cough again, albeit a little more violently this time. “Mother.” He croaked. “Yes darling?” Xraln whispered. “I don’t want to take someone else’s life, so I can have their body.” Linnet said shakily. He shivered, pulling his arms around himself. Xraln’s eyes flickered to his wings, which, she noted, were smaller than the last time she laid eyes on them during this conversation. She sighed. “Linnet, you don’t understand, you need this body.” His golden eyes closed for a moment, and Xraln watched in horror as the void started to spread to his hands, and then it stopped.

Xraln let out a sigh of relief, though it would be short-lived if this kept going on. “I do understand mother.” His strained voice wavered. “I understand that if I don’t get a new body, t-then I'll die, and won’t come back.”

“I know you understand that son, but you don’t understand the importance of yourself. You don’t know that I wouldn’t be able to go on without you.” Xraln said in a hushed tone.

He didn’t understand. He didn’t understand that if he died, then nothing would be holding her back anymore. Nobody to tell her that it was wrong to kill. No small fragile voice telling her to come home, instead of murdering every last soul who had part in her son’s and her own suffering. No golden eyes to bring a smile to her face. A real one. No little purple wings batting her playfully, to bring her out of a sour mood. No small hands to hold when she was tired. No Linnet to tell her to rest when she had been Watching all day. It was already bad enough as it was. The fine line from right and wrong was getting hazy, her actions more violent.

More people kept getting hurt, She was taking over. Coaxing words that weren’t hers out of her mouth. Convincing her that the choices She made were the right things to do. Xraln thought she had exterminated the other voice. Xraln didn’t. She kept coming back. Sweet talking her way inside of Xraln’s head. Putting thoughts inside of her mind that didn’t belong to Xraln, but to Cora. Cora had died many years ago. Everyone had witnessed it, the voidwalker's blade had pierced her heart. Her final breath had been heard by all of the Watchers. And yet, they didn’t see what Xraln saw. Didn’t see the faint purple that had shot out of Cora’s chest and into Xraln’s. No, all the crowd saw was a dead princess, killed by an evil voidwalker.

They didn’t know Cora like Xraln. The two sisters had been tight-knit. Until they weren’t. She still remembered that day.

…

“CORA!” Xraln screamed. She ran and ran, but there was no sign of her sister. Her heart beat wildly, and she scanned the surrounding end islands for pitch black wings. Xraln’s breath caught in her through when she saw a small trail of silvery blood pointing to one of the larger end islands. Could that be hers? Xraln thought. She desperately wished that it wasn’t. She spread her wings and lifted off in the air. She only had one set for now, but she was working to earn her second pair. Xraln beat her wings furiously to follow the trail of blood that continued on the next island, and the next, and finally the trail stopped. Xraln touched down on the ground and began to search for her sister.

It will only take a few minutes to find her, I bet she just cut herself accidentally. Xraln hoped that her hypothesis was correct. Alas, minutes ticked on, and she still could not find Cora. “CORA!” She called her name over and over. Nobody responded. She about gave up, when she heard someone whimper. Xraln stopped. She walked through the chorus forest towards the sound of ever continuing whimpering. “Please..” Someone said faintly. Xraln frowned, It wasn’t her sister, but someone needed help. “Please what?” Another voice responded. Xraln paused, that was her sister's voice now. What was Cora doing? Maybe she hadn’t stormed off angrily after they had both found out a voidwalker had infiltrated, as Xraln had originally thought. Perhaps instead she spotted the blood from out the window, and came to help.

“It was you. I know it was.” Cora continued talking to the stranger. Xraln quietly came forwards, hiding behind a rather large patch of chorus trees. She peeked over to see her sister. Xraln’s eyes widened at the sight she beheld. Cora was holding a silver-bloodstained sword to someone's throat. No, not just ‘somebody’, this was Yelen, their classmate. Yelen was holding his shoulder, where a small stream of blood trickled out. He had multiple cuts on his face, and his mask was strewn a few feet away from him. “Please.” He said again, grey eyes locked on Cora. “You’ve been acting weird all week. Did you think I wouldn’t notice?” Cora snarled. “I didn’t mean for….” Cora pulled her sword away from his throat. Yelen relaxed a small amount and immediately tensed up again when Cora pressed her sword against his thigh. She pushed down and Yelen screamed. He twitched all over, but couldn’t move more than that, thanks to the spell Cora had on. The area around her glowed a faint blue, and Xraln was trapped as well. “DIDN’T MEAN FOR WHAT?” She bellowed. She dragged the sword down to his knee. He screamed louder.

Blood was pooling in the area where Cora had cut, and Yelen's hands twitched, most likely he wanted to cover the wound. Xraln itched to run over, to help, but the blue haze that enveloped her prevented her from doing more than twitch. “I’m sorry!” Yelen wailed. “I didn’t mean for him to get in! I'm sorry, I'm sorry , I'msorryimsorryimsorry..” He kept repeating the phrase over and over. Cora scoffed, bringing the sword over to his other leg. Tears welled up and spilled over Yelen’s face. “Please! Stop, i-i’ll get him out! Just please stop!” He cried. Xraln couldn’t see Cora’s face, but she could practically feel the scowl on her face.

“I’ts too late for that Yelen. You’ve betrayed the Watchers. You will die a slow and painful death.” Xraln couldn’t speak, she was frozen. This was not Cora. She wouldn’t do that. Would she? Cora repeated the cut she did on his right thigh, on his left. Yelen’s cries would not be heard. They were too far out, and Xraln had a sick feeling that was intentional. “I didn’t mean for the voidwalker to get in! I promise, he-he just threatened me!” Xraln stopped breathing. Yelen did that? No. It couldn’t be, Yelen was quiet, reserved, and kind. “You should have told the Head Counselor. He would have known what to do, but instead, you betrayed us. Kept to yourself.” Cora seethed. Head Counselor, not father, Xraln noted. She raised her sword, and poised it above his heart. Yelen shivered and closed his eyes. He was softly crying now, as if accepting his fate.

Xraln mustered the courage to finally use her magic, to break out of the spell, when Cora’s sword started to come down. “NO!” Xraln shouted. She summoned a bow and arrow and shot it at Cora’s sword. The sword was knocked out of her hand and she turned to face Xraln. “What are you doing here?” Cora said in a crisp tone. “What are you doing? You can’t just go torturing other Watchers, even if he did do what you said. Let father decide!” Xraln stammered. “There’s a chance Head Councelor would’ve been more dense than he already is and Yelen could run free, and I cannot let that happen!” Cora snarled back. This was not the sister Xraln loved. Xraln lunged forward, hoping to knock Cora out, so that she could bring her back to father. Unfortunately, Cora had her own plans. She summoned another sword and swung at Xraln. It barely missed her mask, and Cora still managed to nick her cheek. It stung, but she would live. Yelen had it much worse. He was still on the ground shaking, even though the spell had been broken, and he could move freely.

Xraln opened her ‘eyes’ and spread them out to go look for her father, to alert him, hopefully before Not Cora killed her. Xraln returned her focus to Cora while her eyes searched. “This isn’t you.” Xraln said, summoning a small dagger. “Oh Xraln.” She laughed. “I’ve never been more me in my entire life.” Cora ran towards her full force. Xraln parried an attack made by Cora with her dagger pushing against the sword, in hopes to get it away from her face. Xraln had never been good at fighting with swords, so daggers were usually her main weapon. She pulled up her left hand and pushed against Cora’s face, while still holding her dagger against Cora’s sword. Xralns hand slipped from Cora’s face, taking her mask with it. Xraln ducked down when Cora lifted up her sword and swung it towards her middle.

Cora kicked Xraln in the stomach and she doubled over. Cora’s hand glowed a dark red and she crouched down to touch Xraln’s robes. As soon as Cora’s fingertips grazed the purple lining of Xraln’s robes, she stilled. A locking spell. Xraln thought. Cora stood up and stared into Xraln’s eyes. All Xraln saw in her sister's eyes were hatred, resentment, and bloodlust. Instead of the hazel-green they were supposed to be, they were a deep red. What happened to her? Xraln thought miserably. Cora turned to face Yelen, who was still on the ground, groaning in pain. She walked over to him, dropping her sword and instead summoning an axe. A butcher's weapon. “I’ll end your suffering.” She said coolly. Yelen started to shake. He closed his grey eyes, accepting his fate. Cora raised her axe above her head with both hands. “By the princesse’s hand were you slain.” She murmured, so quiet Xraln could barely hear. Cora’s axe came crashing down on Yelen's head.

A sickening crack. One last groan. Xraln wanted to close her eyes, but the locking spell kept her from moving any part of her body. Her lungs weren't able to take in air, her heart didn't beat. Her blood didn't flow through her veins. Yelen’s whole body relaxed, resting. He was in a better place now. Cora fell to her knees, seemingly from exhaustion, until finally, she slumped over, asleep. The locking spell keeping Xraln in place subsided, so she could finally move. Xraln took a long breath, filling her lungs with air they so needed. Her heart started to pump her blood again, leaving her with a pounding headache. Her eyes were burning from being open so long, so she blinked over and over to get moisture back in her eyes. When Xraln finally came to her senses. She slowly turned towards where Cora and Yelen both lay. One breathing. One not. One unscathed. One in a pool of silvery blood. She let out a strangled cry and rushed towards Yelen, to his bleeding head. She cradled him in her arms. She had liked Yelen, even considered him her best friend. He had been so sweet. Cheeks turning pink everytime someone complimented his work. He had been incredibly smart and talented. Xraln let herself cry, tears falling down her face on to Yelen's dead one. We found him. Xraln’s ‘eyes’ alerted her. Now all she felt was anger. Anger at what Cora had done. She felt a burning hatred for her sister she didn't know she could ever have. She mustered all of the strength she had left, and teleported to her father. Yelen would not die in vain.

Chapter Text

Ex continued to appear in her dreams, and also continued to snicker at her memories or strange worlds of her making. She’ll inevitably yell at him, he’ll apologize half heartedly and begin talking about the plan. He’ll lay out small details of the plan, and some issues they might come across. So far, they have absolutely nothing. Except of course, Ex’s ability to teleport, which he says will be useless here in this realm. Not that he couldn’t, it’s just that the Watchers have set up wards that prevent Ex from doing so. He had already teleported to the islands, from somewhere in the void, and it’s a miracle they haven’t sensed his presence yet. Ex tried to stay more on the outer edge islands of the End. The wards weren’t made specifically for Ex, but for anyone with a teleportation ability. He can’t teleport out or in the area of the castle until those wards are destroyed. The wards were set up in such a way that if one was to be damaged, it would only be a matter of time before a Watcher sensed the magic. They would come to kill those who dare touch their wards.

Pearl groaned. Her patience was being stretched thin. It was fraying at the edges, threatening to snap every time they thought up something, and then the cons outweighed the pros. They thought maybe one person would act as bait to break the runes, but that would inevitably end up with one of them, or both, being killed. Pearl proposed they get Ex’s brother involved. Ex had shaken his head stiffly and said he didn’t want to. WANT TO? Pearl was questioning this brother's existence. She had blown up on him and tried to punch him again. He left her dreams for a little while after that.

When Ex finally returned he stayed a good couple feet away from her at all times. Pearl had calmed down by then though. “I’m not going to punch you.” She said, amused at Ex’s antics. “Well how am I supposed to know that?” he said skeptically. “Just because I have a helmet on doesn’t mean it doesn't hurt when shards of glass scrape your face.” Ex voiced. Pearl rolled her eyes. “Oh come on. You’re such a baby, your helmet fixes itself almost immediately, and you feel pain for barely even a second.” Ex glowers at her. “Can’t we just get on with planning.” He said. “We're wasting precious seconds that I could be spending on Hermitcraft tormenting- I mean, doing brotherly things, with my brother.”

Planning, scrapping, and holding your head in your hands are a regular thing during these dream-visits. No matter how hard they tried, they could not think of a way to disable the wards without warning the Watchers, the spread of magic would be just too quick. While drowning in self pity, Pearl realized something crucial. Pearl's head shot up from out of her hands and she punched herself in the gut for not remembering. Literally. She didn’t even feel the pain, she just cursed herself for being so stupid. “Woah there, usually I'm on the receiving end of those punches.” Ex said nervously. Pearl was too busy thinking to acknowledge Ex’s statement. Remembering! Grian didn’t remember anything! How were they supposed to get him to trust them, allow them to try to get him out, with no guarantees, when he doesn’t even REMEMBER?

Pearl turned to face Ex with her mouth hung open. “I’m such an idiot!” She screeched. Pearl started frantically combing her hands through her hair. This just made their whole situation a lot worse. “Ex, how could I be so dumb?!” Ex shrugged. Pearl ran over to him before Ex had anytime to react. She started to viciously shake Ex with a firm grip on his shoulders. “He doesn’t even remember me, Ex! They took his memory, and his wings, and his name!” She stopped shaking him and ran her hands down her face. “Void, how could I totally space that.” Ex pushed her away and she stumbled back. “Pearl!” He shouted. Pearl rubbed her eyes and stared at him. “They took his memory, Ex.” She repeated. Ex just stood there, the information finally sinking in. He slapped his helmet. “Void Pearl, that would’ve been some useful information a week ago." He groaned. His hand fell away from his face and he spoke again. “You know what? It doesn’t matter!” Ex clapped his hands together once. “My brother will get Grian's memories back when we teleport him to my brother. He doesn’t need to know anything. When we're ready, we'll just go find him and poof!” He made a firework motion with his hands. “He’ll be safe and sound.” Pearl nodded profusely. “Yes, and then you’ll get me out too?” Ex shook his head up and down. “Okay, we just need to figure out the plan, which is going wonderfully so far.” Ex mused.

They spent the next while trying to figure out what to do, much to the same results. They would need a Watcher who had access to the wards to shut them off, and currently, Pearl didn’t feel like accidentally giving herself away trying to find one. Pearl had asked how Ex knew all of this about the wards. He had dodged her question, and simply said. “Let’s just say I have some past experience, and they’ve probably stopped letting fledglings have access to the wards because of said past experience.” Pearl questioned him more, but he refused to elaborate.

Pearl sat down and stared at the dream she was having. Currently, she was relaxing in a field, with Grian and Jimmy at her sides. In the dream, she uses magic to turn the bright daylight filled sky, to the starfilled night. The full moon shining brightly down on them. She sighed, the dream had a point. She couldn’t just avoid it forever. “Ex.” He perked up at his name, pulled from his thoughts. “I was hoping that it wouldn’t come to this, but I might have a way to help. At least a little bit.” Ex chuckled, amused. “And what’s that? Sacrificing yourself? You know that I'm fairly certain that as soon as I set foot in hermitcraft, my brother will hardban me, if I don’t come back with news about you. Alive.” He shuddered. “Killed by a Watcher, you don’t come back Pearl, you do realize that.” Pearl rolled her eyes. “No, it’s not about sacrificing and all that jazz. It’s about my powers.” Ex froze. He stopped listlessly picking at his gloves. “You had powers…. This whole time?!” He slapped his helmet for the second time. “Pearl, you can’t just keep dropping bombs on me like that.” Ex sputtered. “It’s just, using my powers usually ends up with me almost dead. Alive, but basically in a coma.” Pearl groaned. “It does not feel great.”

“Can you cast spells?” Ex asked.

“I know a few…”

“I’ll teach you a power repressing spell.”

“Wha-..”

“You can contain the steam of power coming from the wards after I break them.”

Pearl’s eyes widened. She snapped her fingers. “I’ll be a distraction. I’ll make a mess or something, and while I'm repressing the stream, you get him out, I let go of the stream, and the Watchers go in search of something that’s already long gone.” Ex nodded. “Exactly!” He exclaimed. “I get to be on Hermitcraft, your brother will be safe, and I’ll get you out when I’ve regained strength.” Oh this was splendid! They’ve finally got a loose idea of a plan. It only took Pearl giving in to some discomfort. Seriously, is she really that selfish? That she didn’t even think about using her powers for her brother? She really was a bad sister. “It’ll take time though.” Ex said, snapping her out of her thoughts. “We’ll need at least two weeks to plan more thoroughly, create signals, and to practice using power.” Pearl understood that. Only two more weeks Grian. Then you’ll be out of here.

Chapter Text

He sighed. He just had no motivation anymore. He was currently sitting at the edge of his hot air balloon. Legs, swinging back and forth, back and forth. There was no end. Back and forth, back and forth. His theme park looked exactly the same as it had when he’d heard the news. Back and forth, back and forth. He was bored, worried, tired, and he missed his friend. Back and forth, back and forth. He hadn’t slept since That Day. He rubbed his eyes. He was so, so very tired. But he couldn’t sleep. Back and forth, back and forth. The rocking lulled him into a false sense of security. The only one true and constant thing in this world anymore. Back and forth, back and forth. There isn’t enough laughter. Not enough explosions. He yawned. No. He mustn’t fall asleep. Back and forth, back and forth. Stay awake. His eyelids refused to obey him. They were dropping, enclosing him in horrid darkness for a few moments. He forced them back open. He mustn’t fall asleep. Back and forth, back and forth. It’s too heavy now, so this time, when his eyelids force him into the darkness, he can’t open them back up. No. He fell asleep. No. Nononononononono….

He’s plagued with nightmares, horrible things that his brain conjured up. Things They might be doing to Grian, and to his sister Pearl. His imagination, at this moment, was the worst thing to have.

…

His eyes flew open, arms reaching out hoping to catch Grian from his deathly fall. His wings had been cut off. He’s sweating, and so very cold. Someone is screaming. He realized it’s himself. He forced himself to take in air. To calm himself. His breaths are shaky, but he is no longer screaming. He sat up. When he fell asleep, he must’ve fallen backwards into the hot air balloon. He felt a faint ache on the back of his head, but he shook it off. This was probably nothing compared to what Grian must have been through.

It was night, he realized. Even though he had slept, he did not feel rested. His body had been rejuvenated, and he was not physically tired, but tired in his mind. His body had the energy, but he himself didn’t. He started to sing to himself. He must sound crazy.

“I washed my hair, I’m still a mess
I’m having trouble getting dressed
I’ve still got memories to repress
But I still hear my mama saying
If you’re sad and you know it
And you don’t want to show it
Clap your hands
If you are sad, that’s ok
You can clap it all away
Just clap your hands
We’re all a little sad”

He is a mess huh? Black hair strewn about. Dark circles underneath his eyes. Clothes are messy and crumpled. He usually took more care of himself. He sighed. I am crazy. He thought. “Taurtis!” Yes, there it was. That confirmed it. He was going insane, slowly losing control of his mind. Bit by bit. “Taurtis!” The voice continued. Except he knew that voice. And knew that voice wasn’t here right now. “Come on Taurtis! Come catch me!” Grian shouted. Grian laughed, and it sounded like… like he was actually there. Taurtis was acutely aware of how deranged that must seem. He forced himself to look in the direction of the Not Grian. Ah, yes. He was seeing things now too. There he was. There he was not. Standing on the highest point of his rollercoaster. Grian laughed again. “Race me!” And with that Grian glided down and started to run. Deep into the forest.

“No, don’t go” Taurtis managed to croak out. His heart beat out of his chest. He’s running. Running away. No. Grian. Gone. Again. No. No. Don’t Run. Come back. No. “Come back!” Grian paused in front of a tree. He smiled. “Follow!” He said. Grian started to run again. Taurtis couldn’t watch him disappear again. Taurtis followed. He jumped from the hot air balloon. He ignored how his legs protested at that. Ignored every little bit of pain. He ran. And ran. And ran. And somehow, Grian was always just a little bit faster. Just a little bit out of reach. No. No. NO. NONONONNONNONONONONO. NO. Grian was running up a mountain now. They were a good ways away from Taurtis’s amusement park now. They were at the peak of the mountain. It was getting hard to breathe. Taurtis could see black spots dancing in the edge of his vision. No, he had to stay awake. Taurtis knew this Grian was fake. A figment of his absurd imagination. Just something his brain conjured up to make up for the absence of the real one. Running down the mountain now. He felt something slip off of his head, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. His headphones could wait.

Grian ran farther. And farther still. His nose is bleeding, his ears are ringing. He doesn’t know how long blood has been trickling from his nose. It's so cold. And yet. Grian is still running. Unfazed. There is a building in front of them now. Taurtis is sure that the Evolutionists did not build this. No, this is a Watcher tower. He stopped running. He wiped his nose as Grian disappeared into the obsidian and bedrock building. His head is pounding, heart beating wildly, and the black has encroached most of his vision now. He stumbles forwards a few more steps. Taurtis falls to his knees, unable to keep going. He slumps to the ground. Just laying there. He sees the sun start to rise above the horizon. His communicator buzzes. He can’t move. Footsteps. A figure crouches in front of him. Clad in the signature green robe, was Grian. He picked up Taurtis's upper half and rested it on his lap. Not grian began to stroke his hair. “Go to sleep.” He murmured. “I…. can’t….” Taurtis said in a raspy voice. “It’s alright.” Not Grian said. “I’m here. You can rest now.” Taurtis believed him. He closed his eyes. He fell into a blissful slumber, free of dreams.

…

Martyn paced back and forth on the bedrock Watcher symbol. He had sent the message ten minutes ago, just as the sun had begun to rise.

>>InTheLittleWood: Meet at spawn ASAP. Me and Jimmy have news.

The Listeners had reached out again. And he did not like what they had to say. “Stop pacing Martyn.” Jimmy said. “You literally sent it at the buttcrack of dawn. Some people have normal sleeping schedules.” He yawned. Martyn snorted. “And you act like you haven’t slept a wink. Just staring at Grian’s empire.” Jimmy frowned. “Now that’s not fair.” He said a little more quietly. Martyn sighed. “You’re right. It’s not. I’m just nervous, is all.” He mumbled. They stood in silence for a moment longer.

“If I didn’t love you, I’d have killed you by now.” Martyn yelped and jumped around. He locked eyes with a very amused looking Netty. “You gave me a heart attack!” He said breathlessly, heart still beating out of his chest. Netty chuckled and stepped forward to mess up Martyn’s hair. “Well yes, and you woke me up at an ungodly hour.” She mused. Netty smiled. “Hey guys.” A new voice said. This time, both Netty and Martyn jumped. Jimmy held in a snicker. “Woah, didn’t mean to spook ya.” Salem said. “Just got your message and came through the nether.” Martyn didn’t like the trend that Netty had set. “No it’s alright.” He grumbled. Jimmy grinned and walked over to Salem. His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes though. “Netty jumpscared him right before you came.” He commented.

“Is that so?” Salem joked.

“He about peed his pants.”

“I DID NOT!”

Before the bickering could escalate everyone's communicators buzzed. Netty and Salem ignored it completely, instead they started to chat with each other in low voices. Martyn and Jimmy glanced at each other. They both pulled their wrists up to see the message in chat. Please don’t be a death message… It was not a death message. In fact it was just Zee, letting them know that he and Tom were on their way. Martyn let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. A few minutes later, Tom and Zee came out of the nether portal, dragging a very tired looking Mini Muka with them. In the distance, Martyn could make out Bigb coming their way from his base. That left one last person. Martyn fidgeted with his fingers. Jimmy watched the train station. Bigb finally made it to spawn, stretching and yawning as he stepped on the Watcher symbol. Still no sign of the missing person. While the rest of the Evolutionists were in light conversation, Jimmy and Martyn still waited.

Time passed. It’s officially been 30 minutes since Martyn had sent the message. He felt uneasy. Something was wrong, Martyn could just tell. He knew that Taurtis did not sleep. He hardly ever talked. Heck, he could barely force the man to eat at all. Martyn frowned. Sure, Taurtis sometimes just didn’t show, or was ‘fashionably’ late, but Martyn wasn’t sure this time. Yeah, Taurtis didn’t show when they were going to the end, and hardly ever came when they were jumping through the update portal, but something was off. Martyn just couldn’t put his finger on it. 30 minutes became 40. Martyn’s frown deepened. “Hon?” Netty said. “Are you alright?” She questioned. “Yeah, just Taurtis isn’t here.” He affirmed. Netty nodded. “He’s mourning. We’ll let him be for the time being.” She whispered to him. Martyn agreed, but couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling in his gut.

“Alright everyone,” Martyn declared. “My apologies for calling you guys at such an early hour, but there is a reason.” The small talk ceased. Everyone was waiting expectantly. Jimmy continued for him. “The Listeners left us a message.” He said slowly. “And it’s not good.” Confused faces and a little bit of mumbling was the reply. “The world is corrupting, though I’m sure you’re all aware of that.” Martyn stated. “Here’es the real kicker though, because the world is corrupting, respawning has been messed with. Now, when you die, it results in Permanent Death. The world isn’t stable enough to support those mechanics anymore.” Netty gasped and Mini was suddenly more awake. Eyes wide and alert. Searching for possible dangers.

Bigb spoke up. “Some of us are more accident prone than others. May I suggest we build a bunker of sorts? To keep everyone safe.” He commented. Martyn nodded. “It’s a solid idea. But there’s another thing. The Watchers are coming, two days from now. They’re coming to finish the job.” Tom’s eyes widened. “Can’t we worldhop somewhere else?” He asked. Jimmy answered his question. “No, the corruption also got to the worldhopping as well. The most we can do with our communicators now is, well, communicate.” Martyn continued his statement. “Soon we won’t be able to do even that anymore.” Silence. This time it was SystemZee who spoke up. “What do we do then?” Jimmy gave him a lopsided smile. “We’ll ask the Listeners. They’ll help, unless they’re secretly evil like the Watchers turned out to be.”

…

The meeting had dispersed, and everyone had agreed with Bigb’s bunker idea. They had each gone to their respective bases to collect belongings and needed supplies. Martyn and Netty, instead of doing that, went in search of Taurtis. When they arrived at his base, they found… nothing. It was cold, empty, and uninviting, despite the countless hours Taurtis had spent building with love. “Taurtis!” Netty called. No response. “Taurtis!?” Martyn shouted. Still nothing. They searched his base for a good 30 minutes, before landing on the conclusion that Taurtis was not there. The unease Martyn had felt before grew. “Netty.” He said. “Yes dear?” She asked. “I don’t think he was going on an evening stroll. He hardly leaves his hot air balloon.” Martyn said. Netty paled. “You don’t think they took him too?”
“I do.”