Tw: Death, Injury, Trauma, Mentions of torture, slight gore, violence, and the rest of the tws of these chapters. (Expect it be slightly worse then the other chapters)
X stared in confusion as Taurtis and Pearl cautiously stepped back, worried for Grian's sanity.
"NO NO NO- I WON'T GIVE THE POWER TO YOU- YOU CAN'T TAKE ME BACK THERE" Grian yelled, violet flames igniting in his hands as he begun to weave a spell, and Taurtis and Pearl glanced at eachother. They'd been too late... Grian's mind must have been altered.
Taurtis grabbed the potion they prepared, which wouldn't render Grian unconscious, but instead daze him so they could get him out. Taurtis tossed the potion at Grian, but with this, his guard dropped.
Grian, crazed with terror, finished the spell, the purple flames weaved around his hands, and he spun a web of it around Taurtis. The web clung to his robes, the violet flame cheerfully spreading onto his robes, burning his flesh.
Screams of pain came from him as his visage cortored with pain. Pearl tried to extinguish the fires, but it was unless, as the magical flames wouldn't let go. Luckily, the fires died off as the potion took it's effect on Grian, effectively dispelling it as his concentration on the spell was broken.
But, by then it was too late. Taurtis was lying on the ground, limbs and robes severely burned. He tried to stumble up, and fell down in pain, tears forming in the corners of his eyes, his halo flickering as his life force weakened.
"G- Go... Get G-grian out..." Taurtis choked out.
Pearl dropped to the ground at the sight of her friend, tears rolling down her eyes. "I- I'm not leaving you...I won't let them have you again!"
"Pearl, I- I'll slow you down... I w- won't let them get me, don't worry... I'll distract them." He grinned, a weak flame igniting in his hand.
"TAURTIS-" She shouted.
"Pearl, go." Taurtis said. "For Grian... Drop the spell on me, so... I can distract them, think it was just me. Think that Grian died."
"Taurtis- No- I can't lose you again-" Tears fell down Pearl's face
X put his hand on Pearl's shoulder. "Pearl... I'm sorry, but Grian's vulnerable right now... We need to get him out."
"B-But-"
"We can't let everyone die here..." X carefully lifted up the Gremlin gently. "We have to move..."
Pearl glanced at the dazed, limp form of Grian in X's arms. The potion had left him weak and practically half-asleep, basically stunning the gremlin. Even from a distance, she could see the violet scars on the gremlin's face. "...Alright." She whispered. With a quick change of the weaving of the spell, Taurtis became visible to all, as the three exited the room.
"Where's..." False began to ask.
"We had to leave him..." Pearl whispered, the words hurting. "He's making a distraction. We have to go."
False and Wels nodded, and group sprinted towards the tunnel, when they saw Etho anxiously waiting to intercept them.
"Theres guards on the tunnel."
"We'll wait- Taurtis' making a distraction..." Pearl whispered, and the pain in her expression stopped the ninja from asking.
All of a sudden, a call echoed down the hall.
"Backup needed at Xelqua's room! Unor's betraying us!"
She sighed, quietly whispering a prayer to the primals. "Please don't let him get caught by the guards..."
Luckily, the guards Etho noticed were sprinting away towards it, so the group ran down the hidden hallway. Pearl couldn't help but glance back as screams of agony sounded behind her, only to see a burst of purple fire spreading across the academy, quickly reaching towards them.
"GO GO GO!" She yelled, pushing the group forwards. They sprinted down the winding passageways as Pearl directed them to the best of her abilities, but the watchers clearly knew something was wrong. As they darted between alleys, there were search parties up and down the streets. Watchers were everywhere.
Pearl stared out into the street, pressed against the wall, cursing mentally. They were almost to the rendezvous point where they could teleport out... But there would be no way through. Quite a few of the watchers were weaving a spell. She squinted, trying to figure out the movements for what they were casting. When she recognized the spell they were weaving she began to panic. It was channeling behind the mask, to allow them to see through invisibility.
"Get back-" She quietly hissed, but it was too late. The guard met the gaze of the group, and with a flick of the spell, shattered the invisibility shield. They were outnumbered, and overpowered. There was one chance left... it was desperate, but it was the last chance the hermits had left... She wouldn't Taurtis' loss be in vain!
"RUN FOR THE PASSAGE-" She yelled. "ONCE YOU GET NEAR THE VOID YOU CAN TELEPORT OUT!" She shoved the group as she weaved a defensive shield around them. She ran after them, until the shield shattered at the entrance from the barrage of spells. She stopped, turning away towards the hoard of watchers that had formed. Etho stopped, turning to her, worried at why she stopped.
"Etho, go. I'm the only one who can hold them off..." She took a deep breath.
"Pearl-" He called, the other stopping.
Violet flame channeling through her fingers she smiled, turning back. "Go on... Don't let Grian beat himself up for this. Get out of here. I don't know how long I can stand my ground here. I won't let them get me."
X, looked at Pearl, voice full of pain. "Pearl..." but as she waved, he got the point, and passed Grian to Wels, and began to push the group down the corridor.
Good. She was alone now. She wasn't sure how long she'd be able to control her magic if she let it loose like she was planning to. She opened the hidden box she'd created in herself at the academy, where she pushed her strong emotions down. She held those emotions, and she wanted them to feel her pain.
With a cry, full of grief, sorrow and rage, she flung her magic out.
Grief, Grief for the evolutionists killed in the explosion when Grian was trying to protect them, Grief for Taurtis, who sacrificed himself for the group, Grief for the life she, Taurtis, Eyn and Grian could have had but was robbed of. Her grief channeled through her magic pulled the watchers to their knees, wanting them to feel how helpless she'd felt, they'd felt, while they used her.
Sorrow came as a choking pressure on the trapped watcher's lungs, as they gasped for air, choking the last breaths out of them. It relaxed to allow them to live, before repeating, over and over. Sorrow wanted them to suffer through how she'd felt, brief breaths of air. Air was safety and life, the hope to maybe have a life again, before it was squeezed out of her lungs again.
Rage came through her channeling as well, seeking vengeance for the way she'd been treated. It came as violet flames, hungering over the buildings as they ignited, burning it from the flames she had been forced to hold inside, the anger at these manipulative watchers she'd always had deep inside, despite how they manipluated her, turning her mind against her friends, against herself.
The fires would eat the watchers up, and she watched coldly as the fires danced around the struggling army, their strangled screams echoing across the streets.
The fire's hungry tongue reached out to the trapped the watchers, and Pearl simply felt... regret. There was so much she could have done in her life, so many people she could have helped saved, treated better. But her magic was moving without her permission. She knew her fate was sealed either way. No use fighting it. She sighed, before smiling. At least she'd be free. She reached out to the flames that engulfed her.
Searing pain surrounded her, screaming echoed in her ears. Her own. The purple flames licked at her flesh, climbing up her flesh, dancing as it tore her apart, before, it all faded away into darkness.
A/N:
I'M SORRY I NEEDED TO KILL THEM BOTH OFF, IT PAINS ME TOO, BUT IT'S ONLY GONNA GET WORSE FROM HERE.
IT'S FOR THE GREATER GOOD OF FLUFF, IT'LL MAKE MORE SENSE AT THE END I SWEAR-
PLEASE DON'T MURDER ME- I WROTE IT ON THE TWS YOU KNEW WHAT YOU WERE GETTING INTO
But I really love the way I wrote Pearl's death. I think it might be one of my best written parts so far :D
WC: 1426
- Xera
YOU ARE READING
Battle Scars - A Watcher-Grian AU story
FanfictionHe thought it'd be easy, just go into a server and keep a eye out for glitches... Spoiler alert: It was not. He didn't factor in lying to the whole server, hiding his magic, old friends, and his own trauma. Oh, and the whole war going on. That too.
