A Path to a Different Happy Ending (Flower Husbands Empires Fic)

Chapter Five: Investigations, Dreams, and Extortion

Hours. Pearl wasn't sure, but she felt like she had been travelling for hours. She got a little turned around at one point, so she had to backtrack, which meant her elytra broke. She couldn't fix it, so she had to walk. She'd gotten to the desert, and now had to just find Pixandria. If only her elytra hadn't broken. Luckily, she was able to see the Anthill, with its height, from a good distance, so she didn't have to keep glancing at her communicator for directions.

After a time, she arrived at Pixandria and found Rarran, who was currently leading the investigation into Pix's disappearance.

"Hi. Um, you look exhausted. Do you need to-"

Pearl interrupted him. "Nope! I want to get started right away. We need to find Pix."

"Okay. I'll show you what information and clues we have, and the places he was most."

She followed him to Pix's house. "There wasn't a lot here. It was exactly the same as it usually is, except for this note." Rarran picked up a piece of paper from on top of one of the chests.

Written on it, in Pix's handwriting, was

The Watchers and their changes call. I'm off to the Guide. I will probably return.

"That's... it. That's all we've found, and no one knows what 'the Watchers and their changes' or the Guide is, so, it's pretty useless." Rarran sighed.

"The Watchers and their changes... He means the updates." Pearl stated.

"Wait- You know what they are?" Rarran looked at her, hope in his eyes.

"Yeah! Watchers are these really powerful beings, and every so often, they make a big change to the world, called an update. I don't know what the Guide is, though."

"This is still great! This is the first hint we've gotten in ages! What else do you know about these Watchers?" He was so excited, and Pearl was heartbroken to have to tell him how limited her knowledge was.

"Well... They can mess with people's memories, and they did with mine. Most of what I know about them is blocked away, but it's kinda coming back. I will tell you right away if I remember anything else. Now, what other places are there to go to?" Pearl said.

"The Anthill is what he was working on at the time of his disappearance."

"Then let's head there, and see what we can find."

~*~

Dreams. They were so confusing. It felt like you woke up directly after them, but they were actually from earlier in your sleep.

At least, normally it felt that way. Jimmy's recent dreams didn't. They were all the same, and felt like a memory that had happened about a year ago. They were also getting clearer every night.

Jimmy had figured out that the man that was with him most of the time was not just a close friend. He dreamt - or maybe remembered - exchanging rings in a small ceremony, with just him, the mysterious man - who had cyan hair - a short man who he knew had a tendency for chaos, a grey-skinned man who for some reason wasn't wearing a shirt, and a red-haired zombie woman. Jimmy somehow knew they had been his and the man's closest friends in the world. He didn't know their names, but that was normal for dreams.

Except he wasn't sure these were dreams. They felt like a resurfacing memory. He was sure of it. They weren't dreams. They were too consistent for that. He needed to figure out what they actually were, though. Gem might know, with all her magic knowledge, but she was in the Nether with Shubble. His next thought was Katherine. She knew healing and had a magical goddess-spring-thingamajig to help her. Maybe she knew something? He'd head to the Overgrown and ask.