Battle Scars - A Watcher-Grian AU story

Chapter 25 - Time travel ooo fancy~

TWs: Mentions of manipulation, Mentions of violence, death and war, Mentions of torture, trauma

The Voidling led Grian through the abyss, until stopping.
"The rift to the time period is here. I will pull you through and shove you onto the hub. This may be... painful, my apologizes." The Voidling spoke quietly. "Not as painful as some things you've been through though. I think you'll be able to make it through."
Before Grian could reply, he felt a searing pain, like someone was pulling his body, but it was also attached to the void at the same time. It reminded him of being suspended from the chains... No, not now. Later. He'll deal with that later. No time for flashbacks right now, sorry.

The tearing sensation kept growing, growing, until he though he was about to snap, either psychical or mentally... He wasn't sure which would be worse. Probably mentally. It'd hurt those around him, rather then himself. Then again, no one was around... But mentally would lead to ongoing pain...

After that psychological examination of himself, a wave of pain rocked his body and all the agony he was in vanished. He opened his eyes as the pain stopped, and found himself standing in a bustling town. Colorful banners and buildings surrounded him, all different and smooshed together in beautiful chaos. When was the last time he saw such a strange mixture of building styles and colors? He didn't think he's seen anything remotely similar before... The watcher cites always were quite practical, but nothing more.

Players and admins alike walked from place to place, chatter filling the streets. Everyone looked different, some dressed more moderately, but there were plenty of players wearing bright, neon outfits to fit with the building around. They shoved past him, through the crowded streets, more players then he'd ever seen before.

Then there was the noises, all the voices overwhelming eachother... Everyone looked so carefree, talking so openly... He'd never felt so lonely in his life. When was the last time he relaxed like this? Free to do what he wanted, no fear of anyone finding out who he was, what he hid...
And they didn't fear attacks, people from their past jumping up to haunt them? Did anyone them wake up screaming because they remembered something from their past in a nightmare? These things had felt normal... But looking at them, it felt... unnatural. What was different about him?
"It's called trauma, and, no, it's not normal." The Voidling caused him to jump. "And yes I can read your thoughts when speaking telepathically, so no one will think your going crazy."

"I'll be whispering to you in your mind to aid you, as you have no idea where you are. Your other form is currently training with Kanvi and Eyn. It's been around a month since the attack on Evo." The voice of the Voidling spoke, making him jump. Grian nodded. "Your currently masked as a random skin, to avoid suspicion being planted on your other form. Now head down the street in front of you."

Grian swallowed nervously, before he began to walk down the street... Players shoved by him, pulling him into the stream of humans, not helping his anxiety. But at the least, he didn't stick out at all. He glanced around him, trying to see if he could see any familiar faces, but none stuck out in this mishmash of hybrids and odd-skinned players. He walked down the streets for a few more minutes, until, eventually, the crowd began to thin, making Grian even more antsy. He didn't want to be alone... Sure the crowd was chaotic, but it made it easily to blend in with the everyday group...

"The headquarters of the admins is the heavily guarded building, up ahead." The voice spoke up
Grian nodded, swallowing as a tall tower stood before him, admins surrounding it. "H- How do I get in..." He thought at the Voidling n galactic.
"Walk up, and tell them what I tell you to tell them."
"Alright... You sure this'll work?"
"Yes, Xelqua. I'm certain."

He nodded nervously, and walked up the guards around the visitor entrance.
"Halt! State your name and intentions."  A guard called.
"My name is Solarian, and I come with valuable news on the state of the beings known as the watchers, which may be advantageous in the coming conflict."
He thought this was a mouthful, and decided to alter it. "Er- My name is Solar, and I bring important news about the Watchers." He replied instead.

"Hm. Not very elegant. But prehaps that'll help us sell your case, as you'll appear like any standard mortal."
"If you wanted someone elegant you chose the wrong person-" He thought back.

"Ah- Alright." The guard dipped their head, seeming to believe him. "You may come into the waiting room while I contact my superiors to see if we can get you a audience. It'll be a bit, but since it's about the watchers, I might be able to get you bumped up the queue"
"Thank you!" He gave a small smile, following the guard through the entrance to the building.

Slight paranoia made him examine the whole space before settling down, mentally mapping out escape routes and looking at people's faces.
Around him was a plush room, with elegant sofas in a half-rectangle lay out. Sitting in them were players of types. There was an avian with white wings folded behind them, sitting on one corner of the couch, dressed in a comfortable white sweater and jeans, a quite young looking, stern overall-wearing human who was currently shooting a death glare at one of the guards, and a bunch of other players the author's too lazy to make descriptions for.
The guard nodded to him, before walking over to a desk, writing some sort of message down.

He glanced at each of the players, before relaxing slightly as he recognized no one there. He leaned against the wall, trying to do so as he normally would, but with a yelp he realized his disguise didn't having the wings he was used to, and he fell backwards awkwardly, landing on his rear. A couple of the players stared at him for a second, while, embarrassed, he scrambled upright, before leaning up against the wall - properly this time.

"Truely elegant, Xelqua. This will clearly make them believe we're capable of getting war-ending information." He could clearly hear the eye roll in the Voidling's speech.
"Didn't know one of the oldest beings in our universe was capable of sarcasm." He shot back.
"Heh, we most certainly are. That friend you have of our kin certainly favors it quite a bit. But many of our kin believe it's insulting and a waste of breath, therefore often our kin don't use it."

"Solar, you do know you can sit down right-" The guard, who was still standing there asked awkwardly.
"Huh?" He jumped at the voice. "Oh- Yeah. I- Er- J- Just prefer this... Heh." He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"Smooth."
"You weren't this sassy at the void..." He replied
"Your also incredibly more awkward right now. And our deal has already been set" The Voidling chuckled.
"Fair." He replied. "Hey, by the way, what's your name..?"
"Ah, Voidlings don't do names. We are assigned numerical values depending on in which order we were created. I am number fifty-seven, but you can call me seven, as the other fifty are no longer Voidlings, instead becoming the original Watchers."
"Huh. Interesting. Well we have a lot of time on our hands..."
"You may. I do, and I don't. I must go do something, I will remain here."
"What in the primal's name- No, I'm good, and I don't want to know."

Grian realized he'd been distracted and glanced around him, keeping his eyes on the surroundings. He didn't know how long it'd take, but he had a feeling it'd be a bit...

A/N:
Time travel! You now understand how I'll put a fluffy ending? ;)
But who do you think this mystery Voidling is? A hint: Think of characters with mystery around them...
Wc: 1369
-Xera