~The First Step~ a Hermitcraft AU

Chapter 35

wc: 1467

woo its been a hot minute

Xerion's room was warm. Lanterns burned bright, casting the office in shades of orange and red. There was no window, given that the whole base was underground, but pictures of forest greens and lakes were pressed against the walls, giving the space a semblance of the Overworld.

"I've been there, you know," Grian mused, more to himself than to Xerion. "The Overworld. I lived there for the past few years."

"Mhm?" Xerion looked up from whatever book he was reading, a paper next to his hand covered in hastily scribbled ideas, some scratched out.

"It's beautiful," Grian whispered, looking at the posters but not quite seeing them. He thought of the towering spruces whose trunks groaned as the blade of an iron ax struck them, and thought of the fields of sunflowers who lifted their faces towards the sun; he thought of the lightning that would light up the entire world with a single strike and of the snow that covered the ground in icing and frost.

He blinked, the images dissolving as he returned to the little office. Xerion was studying him strangely, fuschia eyes burning as they bore into his own.

"I need to tell you something," Grian blurted. "About- about the Leader."

As if he'd struck a nerve, Xerion straightened up in the chair. "Yes?"

"I didn't learn everything about Watcher culture," Grian said, "But- the Leader's title is passed on through the ceremony of the Staff, right?"

Xerion nodded wordlessly.

Grian took a breath. "I have the Staff."

There was a pause. "What?"

Without any further explanation, Grian reached into the pockets of his cloak and withdrew a small metal rod. It fit perfectly in the palm of his gloved hand, and with a quick snap, it lengthened to nearly Grian's height. A small inscription near the top read, "ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ʖ∷ᔑ⍊ᒷ ᒲᔑリ ╎ᓭ リ𝙹ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ∴⍑𝙹 ↸𝙹ᒷᓭ リ𝙹ℸ ̣ ⎓ᒷᒷꖎ ᔑ⎓∷ᔑ╎↸, ʖ⚍ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ∴⍑𝙹 ᓵ𝙹リᑑ⚍ᒷ∷ᓭ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᔑℸ ̣ ⎓ᒷᔑ∷." The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

The world seemed to still. Xerion shot up from his chair, hands slamming against the desk, mouth hanging open. "Since- since when? Why couldn't you tell us this earlier?!" Grian stood there silently as Xerion flitted around the room, grabbing papers and checking his (illegal) comm, sending messages and spluttering.

Eventually he made his way to Grian, looking at the Staff as if he wanted to touch it but was too afraid to. Grian held it out. "If- you want, you can, er, touch it."

Xerion shook his head. "No, but- this is huge. We have an advantage." His eyes shone as he scrambled back to his desk, knocking a notebook on the ground and paying no mind to the way the pages crumpled against the floor. "Have we told you the plan? No we haven't," he muttered to himself, then gestured towards a chair sitting next to his desk. "Sit."

Grian sat somewhat cautiously. "What plan?"

"Our liberation plan, of course," Xerion said, smiling brightly. The joy on his face made him look so much longer, and Grian remembered that he was Xisuma's younger brother, and had to be only in his early 20's. "It's not done, but it's decent." He ruffled through his papers and slapped one in front of himself.

"So we know that Xeluph was trying to use you to gain back popular support," Xerion said, serious again. Grian flinched at the name. "Our plan isn't very drastic. We just needed to get you back, which we did, and then we need you to make a statement. We need you to just turn everything around. If you say that the government is corrupt and that we need to take action, then they'll agree."