Watcher's Admins

Chapter Ten (and Authors Note)

After a night of fun, everyone started heading to sleep. The book group being the last ones to sleep, spending some time ironing out the plan for tomorrow.  Once they dotted the I’s and crossed the T’s, they headed to bed. They had a long day ahead of them. 
Grian was in a black void. Floating there in the quiet. That’s all that was there. Quiet. All he could hear was his own heartbeat, louder than it should be. Right in his ears, shaking his brain. Thudump thudump thudump. He looked around, moving as if gravity didn’t exist. 
Nothing there. He was alone there. He felt as if he was going to go insane, but it gave him some comfort. The dark. It gave him time to think without time getting in the way. 
Grian was woken up by Pearl rolling on top of him, her hair getting in his mouth. He sputtered and opened his eyes, shoving her off. “Pearl….” He complained before sitting up. She grumbled in response and looked slowly at herself, rubbing her eyes. 
“Look, it’s the Moon and Sun, finally awake.” Stress giggled from one of the benches. The siblings mumbled their good mornings and got up to eat with everyone else. 
After a few minutes of eating, Xisuma cleared his throat and set his fork down. Grian looked at him, before he set his fork down. The rest of those who knew what was going on today did the same. 
“Everything alright?” BDubs asked, looking between them all. 
“Can everyone join us at the town hall? There’s something we need to discuss. We’ll give time and help clean all this up.” Xisuma said after a moment. Everyone started eating again, the air among them heavy with confusion and tension. A strained silence until they started cleaning up. 
After that, they all made their way to the town hall which, once they entered, Grian had raised a barrier around the room to prevent any scrying on him, Pearl, and Martyn. The familiar golden runes painted themselves on every wall, ceiling and floor before they faded from existence. He walked beside Xisuma, between him and Pearl at the podium. 
The other book group members stood beside them as the rest sat down. They got all settled, before Xisuma spoke up. “Sorry for the rush job, friends. We, er, Grian wanted to speak with you guys.” He moved from the podium and let him move there, before only Doc and Pearl stood on either side of Grian; the rest behind them.
“Some of you guys have heard about…Watchers. Ancient beings, eldritch horrors that have immense power and a boredom that can only be quenched by tormenting servers, the people inhabiting them.  Creating drama and turmoil just for entertainment, to the point of destruction.” Grian started, shifting on his feet as he rubbed his hands together nervously. Pearl set a hand on his shoulder and shifted.
“I had a server which fell into ruin after we killed the ender dragon. It was called Evo and I have explained it before. It was ruled over by these beings. When I entered the final portal after I killed the dragon…I was…taken by them. Brainwashed and taught by them. At the time, I didn’t know I was manipulated to follow their orders so blindly. To me they were like a family. I was only a student among the masters.  I was one of the highest ranked students.”
He paused seeing their faces. Confusion,fear, unease, but no hatred.  He was afraid to continue, and Pearl saw it. “I can continue if you want.” She offered and squeezed his shoulder. “Come let’s sit you down, let Pearl talk. You’re still weak, I can see it.” Doc pulled him along and Zed pushed a chair for him to sit. Which he did, silently.
“One of his fellow pupils sent a rumor around, claiming he would bring ruin to them. That he was going to rebel against them, and they didn’t even hesitate to shove him in the dungeon. In a small cage,without any room for his wings. He was shackled by his neck, wrists, and legs. He didn’t know how long he was trapped there. No one came to visit him, but when someone did. It was for a trial. Surrounded by his peers, facing the council.” Pearl continued before looking back at him. He just nodded. 
Stress ran up and put a blanket around him, before scurrying back to her seat. Such a doting mother figure, she thought, before continuing. “He was exiled, left for dead. Some of you know how he ended up here in season six. That was their doing. Now,”
Grian cut him off. “Now they’re looking for me. That sigil at spawn was originally put there by the Admins, but it was overtaken by the Watchers. I’ve seemed off before then and even now, because they’re starting to reach out for me. Trying to reconnect, just to use me as a pawn. Thanks to Xisuma’s firewalls and this being one of the most secure servers, they can’t find me.”
“What I find horrid, is that once they stole xelqua…Grian…they took his memories from the Admins, and Pearl. Memories of him being a Golden Admin, and memories of him being Pearl’s brother from her.” Xisuma spoke up and they sat down.  
The hermits looked at them, silent for a moment, some murmuring to themselves. Iskall broke the silence. “What do we do if they do find a way here?”
Grian looked up, fiddling his hands for a moment before stopping. “Pray Xisuma and I are strong enough to fend them off. If…worst case scenario.” He got up, putting the blanket in the seat before walking to the podium leaning against it looking right at Iskall. His dead doll eyes pierced his. “To protect you all. I will give them what they want.”
As he said that, his eyes flashed purple, then gold. “Because I do not want my family and my home destroyed again.” He scowled. “If I can spare you guys the pain of permadeath, and corruption, I will.”
“Then, we won’t let it be a worst case scenario.” Jevin stood up, crossing his arms. “That’s right. If they come. They’ll have to fight all of us. This is our home and you are our family too. You won’t face them alone.” Tango nodded, getting to his feet. 
Grian looked at them as others stood up and agreed. He smiled. “They will be met with an army of psychos.” he smiled, tears of happiness swelling in the corners of his eyes. 
“You know it.” Ren howled laughing. Everyone started joining in, laughter of all kinds rang around the room. Before False looked confused and looked at Grian. “Not to dampen the mood, G, but what do they look like? The Watchers.” 
Grian chuckled softly and shook his head. “It’s better to show than tell honestly.” He said and snapped his fingers. Purple mist enveloped him and once it dissipated, he was dawned in his robes and mask. His red macaw wings turned white and the second set appeared stretched before folding with his original pair. He pulled down the large hood, the mask in full view. 
“This.” He walked in front of the podium, outstretching his wings. “Is what those monsters look like. One of their abilities is to scry. Across servers, though it depends on the person and their mana.” He instructed and clapped his hands together, slowly pulling them apart as he said, “ ᓭᓵ∷||....ᓭᒲᔑ⋮𝙹∷1995.” He muttered as he drew them apart. The sphere of purple energy flattened into the disk, the image of Scott Smajor appeared in the misty orchid  hue. He was building a shop. 
The hermits gasped and blinked before looking at the image, then grian, then the image again. “That's cool,but also creepy.” False muttered with a snort as Grian closed his hands again. “Very.” He agreed.  “But, it’s also handy. I can find you guys if we do get in a pickle. If they do decide to have a row with us and anyone gets cornered or separated, I have an easy way of looking.”
As he explained his mask and robes disappeared, his extra set of wings melded with his original, returning to their reds,blues, and yellows. He fixed his sweater and stretched. As the mask faded from existence, his eyes kept their purple glow for several seconds before it dulled. 
“Since they still have no idea where I am, we’ll be safe. We will have time to prepare.” Xisuma stood and put a hand on Grian’s shoulder before looking at him. “Right. That means I’m going to have to teach you everything I know about them. I was their prized student for a reason. X, I’m going to need that book we found in the archives.”
“The one you saw your notes on? I can get it, might have some trouble-”
“Nah, it’ll be fine.” Grian shook his head and pulled his golden seal from his pocket and handed it to him. “The golden ticket.” he snickered.
“So we’re all part of your book group?” Impulse asked, chuckling. “Guess so. We start tomorrow. Let’s say every other day in the afternoon?” Grian suggested. 
“Should we meet here?” False asked yawning. “Yeah, now go get some sleep,False.  You look how I feel right now.” Grian nodded and waved a hand across the air, dispelling the ward. “We’ll see you guys later.”
The hermits went to do the things they needed and Grian sat down rubbing his eyes. “Are you doing okay?” Zed asked, sitting beside him. It was just them there now. “Yeah. was just panicking over nothing.” He nodded and doubled over with a long sigh. 
“You are an overthinker.” Zed nodded and ducked as one of Grian’s wings almost knocked him out. “He is.” Grian murmured. Zedaph froze and slowly got up. “What?” He asked, stepping away cautiously. 
“Don’t run.” Grian looked up, his lifeless eyes like a purple mica. “That Jade Admin didn’t. We just have questions.”
“Like hell I’m going to answer them. Why are you bothering Grian?” Zed asked on guard, eyes narrowed. The Watcher leaned back, crossing his arms. 
“He’s valuable. To you all and us. We simply want him more.” He rolled his eyes and chuckled softly. “The poor Xelqua is still recovering. That’s surprising.”
“He is an avian, a bird person, and whatever you did got his body below their normal temperature. You’re lucky we warmed up as quickly as we did. Sure, avians can withstand the ice spikes, the extreme tundra and other cold places, but whatever you did made his temperature drop below those and quite quickly.” Zedaph retorted sharply with a scowl.

“Oh. That’s what happened? All because of this?” The watcher pulled down the turtleneck and revealed the marking. It had darkened and was becoming more clear what it was. The Watcher’s symbol. “My he has gotten weak.”
“What does that have to do with him being weak? What even is that?” Zed sat across from him now. Coming to the realization that if the Watcher wanted to kill him, he would’ve.  This was curious. So very curious. “Hold on. Hold on. Back up. Why the sudden interest in Grian now after all these years? You’ve been trying so hard to get him  in such a short amount of time. It’s almost as if you’re scared of something.”
The Watcher didn’t answer for a moment, looking at one of Grian’s wings. “The mark reassures us of progress, and to reestablish this little trick. We thought we would be able to tell where this is by seeing through him, but things are blurred. It’s like the bird censored the world before we do these little visits.” He avoided the question, which only brought Zed to a conclusion.
I’ll have to tell Xisuma and the others this later. He thought and looked at him. “That is odd….have you considered his slow recovery due to the fact that you do these little visits?” He asked. The Watcher paused and thought for a moment. “That could be possible. Especially with him being in a mundane state. I’ll have to tell the council. I might as well leave now, you are incredibly boring and I don’t believe you would last if I get annoyed.” The Watcher retorted with a cold sneer before Grian went limp. 
Zedaph slid to him and grabbed him before he would fall off the chair. He leaned his back and pulled the blanket around over his shoulders tightly again. Grian was cold again. Not as fatal, but it was still unsettling. 
“Hey Zed.” Grian murmured and rubbed his eyes, closing them a bit.  “You alright?” Zed asked softly, putting a hand on his shoulder. “They talked with you huh? What did they want?” Grian yawned. 
“We’ll talk about it in the morning, let’s get you to bed so you can nap.” Zed helped him up and walked to his base with him, making sure the blanket stayed tightly around him by safety pining it together. He pushed open the door and brought Grian inside. “Get some sleep. We’ll see you later alright?” Zedaph ushered him upstairs before leaving to do his own things. 
Grian sighed and rubbed his eyes, skipping tiredly up the stairs. When he laid down, Grian stared at the ceiling for a while. His mind raced with ideas and thoughts of what was happening, and what would happen. He said what he meant and meant what he said. If a worse case scenario happened, he would give away his freedom to protect this family he has. 
“If I do go back with them….what will i have to do to be assured that Hermitcraft will be safe from their grasp…” He murmured to himself and closed his eyes with a heavy sigh. “If they need me so badly, maybe I can use that as leverage. As long as they stay safe, as long as they do not harm or interfere with Hermitcraft, I’ll be their little pawn again. If I can get back into their good graces…as if nothing had happened, will I be able to ask if I can have Hermitcraft as my domain…that way I can keep the hermits safe that way….”
He let these thoughts flood his mind, letting it swim until the world was spinning before he slowly settled to sleep. One thing was for sure. 
He would not let his family who he had spent so long with, deal with the destruction which Evo had dealt with. Not again. He will not lose again. 

× I only have 14 chapters prewritten so once I post the 13th chapter there will be a long pause until I get more written.