The Watcher-Prime

Chapter 16

Grian materialized in front of the main entrance to the admin headquarters. Teleportation - especially cross-server teleportation was incredibly advanced and energy-sapping. Grian made sure that he was in full Prime 1 mode before he pushed open the large marble doors of the headquarters building.

As usual, the admin center was abuzz with energy. Hundreds of apprentices, beginning admins, and seasoned admins alike wandered and chattered throughout the large main hall. That was until they saw Prime 1 enter. Then there was silence.

Grian shivered as he paced quickly through the crowd of admins, relieved that they all still parted for him. It made the whole walk so much easier. As soon as Grian was out of eyesight in one of the smaller deserted hallways, he broke into a full-on sprint.

Not for the first time Grian wished that the newly instated watcher-protection teleportation-stopping defense dome thingy was up. It made it so it was impossible to teleport anywhere inside the headquarters building.

Grian finally reached the large doors leading to the prime admin quarters and pushed them open. His heart beat rapidly as he scanned the room for Pearl. She wasn't there. Grian proceeded to knock on the door of her rooms. No answer. Grian groaned and sent out a thin search beam.

Yes, there was someone in Pearl's quarters. She must not have heard. Grian pushed open the door. A narrow purple-painted hallway led to three doors. Pearl's rooms. Grian knocked on the first and second doors. She didn't answer. Grian knocked on the third door.

Finally, finally, Pearl answered. She looked sleep-deprived and had obviously been crying. Grian pretended not to notice. "Pearl, is something wrong?" Grian hesitated. Pearl looked furious. She grabbed Grian's robe collar and yelled,

"IS SOMETHING WRONG!? You have the nerve to ask if something's wrong?" Pearl's voice became deathly quiet. Grian backed up in fear, but Pearl pulled him back by his robes.

"Pearl..." Grian's eyes darted around the room frantically.

"You disappear without a trace, and the next morning I find a pile of keys to ancient servers laying on the ground. I go to your blasted server, and nobody knows where you, that childhood friend of yours, Void, Tailor, or Symmetry have gone! All I find is some golden portal dust on the floor!" Pearl yelled,

"Wait... Mumby's gone!?" Grian gasped. But Pearl wasn't done.

"Then I hear from one of my spies that the watchers have a new leading figure, and they're launching an attack on some new Notch figure! Three outposts have been struck down, I'm stuck here trying to single-handedly protect the headquarters, and you're off gallivanting around ancient servers!

"I can't do anything except sit around hoping you aren't dead, waiting for the mole to pass on our information, and trying to prevent the watchers from attacking with our limited recourses!" Pearl ranted. Grian's eyes widened.

"Pearl, I'm sorry!" Grian apologized profusely.

"NO! You aren't sorry! You've never been sorry! I need someone to help me watch over Minecraftia, I need a physical prime to organize an attack, I need people on defense, I need my level nine admins to be here helping with the fortifications. And I need-"

"You need me to step up." Grian hung his head.

"NO! I mean, well, yes." Pearl relinquished her hold and Grian and put her face in her hands, "Can you just try to take your responsibility to Minecraftia seriously?" Pearl asked finally. Grian was angry.

"Do you think I went to an ancient server for the fun of it!? We were attacked by a band of watchers and their new leader who also has higher powers! I nearly died, and all the while I've been looking for something that could defeat the enemy once and for all! I've done it all for Minecraftia!" Grian flamed.