The Watchers' Revenge

Chapter 8: Caged Again

Since there haven't been many chapters lately, you can have another one today!
(Ok i'm gonna be totally honest it's mostly because it's griangst and I can write that easily)
But still, another chapter, yay!

TW: Strong language (S***head, a**hole, f***ing)

Continuing on from where we last saw Grian in chapter 6: Grian has been stabbed in the side with a dagger and dragged off by Iskall! 

Grian felt Iskall roughly grab his wrist and drag him across the ground. His wings trailed limply at his sides and his back was grated by rough gravel

But Grian barely felt that, he was too preoccupied with the burning pain in his side where Iskall had stabbed him. Iskall. His best friend. Could he trust nobody?

Grian mercifully lost consciousness before too long.

He awoke to hard, cold, metal on his back. His side still burned, but the dagger had been pulled out and the wound bandaged. His wings and back still ached from being dragged, but that was easily bearable. A larger concern was where he was.

Grian sat up and looked around. He was in a cage. Again. A cage. Again. Again. Again. Grian felt his breathing quicken, and it only got worse when someone walked into the room the cage was in.

"Oh, look, we've got our bird back," said a Watcher. As if that wasn't bad enough, Grian knew this Watcher. This was Kyle. The leader, who'd tortured Grian with the magic. Was he going to have to go through that again.

"You'll be happy to hear that you're just here to be our pet now," Kyle told him. "But I wouldn't get too happy in there." Kyle flicked his wrist and Grian felt a weird tightening sensation in his throat. It closed in, but vanished before it blocked off his windpipe.

Kyle turned away and Grian watched him, now examining the contents of the room. It seemed to be a control center, with a map of Hermitcraft, and papers everywhere. There was a table in the middle of the room, with several chairs around it. The edge of the room was lined with smaller tables of food and water, potted plants, other cages with other animals, though no other humanoid ones, just small birds, bugs, and a couple of squirrels. There was even a fish tank.

Then Grian realized what he'd just thought.

No other humanoid ones. 

Had the Watchers really succeeded? Had they really influenced him so that he thought of himself as nothing more than an animal?

With a sinking feeling, Grian realized that the answer was yes.

Kyle was alone for the next several hours- alone if you didn't count Grian and the animals- before someone else walked in.

It was Iskall.

Cub and Etho followed him, dragging Cleo in with them.

Cleo looked hurt and tired, but glanced around wildly and quickly noticed Grian.

"Grian?" she exclaimed. "You bastards, you're hurting him again- I'M GONNA-"

Kyle lazily flicked his wrist and Cleo was silenced.

Grian realized what the spell earlier had done. He decided to test this. 

Opening his mouth, he tried to say "Cleo." He expected nothing to come out, but it was far worse.

He let out an unsure-sounding chirp. 

His eyes widened in horror. This was so much worse than not being able to speak. He's been reduced to just a pet.

But that's what he was, wasn't he?

People before Hermitcraft had often bullied him, saying he shouldn't be allowed to have the same rights as them just because he was a hybrid, not a 'real' human. Now he couldn't speak like a real human. Maybe they were right, Grian thought sadly.

Cleo's expression went from anger to confusion to horror to rage. 

She made a fist, put it to her throat, and opened it.

"YOU SICK MONSTER!" she screeched.

Kyle glanced at her for the first time.

"Oh, interesting, this one has magic," he said uncaringly, as if intrigued by a pretty bug; mildly interested but not really concerned or particularly attached.

Why did she have to do that? Now he would torture her!

"YOU FUCKING ASSHOLES! YOU TOOK AWAY HIS ABILITY TO SPEAK AND TURNED HIM INTO A BIRD? A PET? WHEN WE DEFEAT YOU- OH, AND WE WILL- YOU ARE GOING TO BE IMPRISONED IN A DEATH LOOP FOR INFINITY AND NEVER LET OUT. AND I'LL MAKE SURE IT'S PAINFUL. VERY PAINFUL. ACTUALLY, DEATH'S TOO GOOD FOR YOU. YOU'LL BE-" 

"I get it. I'll regret it. I'm a sick, evil, twisted, corrupted shithead who will pay for what I've done." Kyle said calmly.

Cleo said nothing, taken aback.

"Unfortunately for you, I'm in power here. And your friends will be too scared of hurting you to beat me," Kyle continued.

Cleo's eyes widened, then narrowed. "You're not taking me so easily."

"Really? Well, I could easily overtake you, being more powerful than you, but I like you. I'll give you a few days locked up in the dungeon instead. That will weaken you enough to easily make you give in," Kyle told her, still sitting calmly.

Grian involuntarily gave a panicked trill.

"Oh, little birdie, do you not want that?" Kyle turned to Grian and he shook in the Watchers' gaze.

"Sorry, little bird, but I have to capture your friend. You know what, I like you, birdie, so I'll excuse your little interruption," Kyle smiled, but Grian knew it was fake. He would kill Grian the second they were alone. Grian gave a scared tweet.

"You absolute-" Cleo began.

"Yes? What am I? Tell me." Kyle challenged.

"A sick, twisted, corrupted shithead who is going to regret the day he was born, or created, or however you beasts formed," Cleo informed him.

"Interesting. Well, off to the dungeon," he said, and Cub and Etho grabbed Cleo again and dragged her off.

Grian trembled. What would Kyle do to him now?

"You're an interesting little thing," Kyle told him. "My wings, you needn't look so scared! I know you had a bad time last time you were here, but really, that was only once. Don't worry, we don't need anything from you anymore. Last time, we only needed to do the tests. We have the spell perfect now, so we don't need you."

Grian didn't fully believe them, but he was relieved that Kyle didn't seem to want to punish him, so he didn't wonder further.

Once again, Grian was in a cage with the Watchers and could do nothing but hope for the others.