Grian

Chapter 9

His nerves grew as he saw the campsite come into view. He also wanted to back out now since he didn't know how they were going to react. In the alternate reality they had been fine with it, shocked, but fine with it. Yet in the alternate reality watchers had also been these scary enemies that everyone hated, in this reality he just lied to them the whole time for not even a good reason. Maybe at first he wasn't sure if he could trust them but he didn't really have a reason after that. In that moment he actually realised how Astaria must have felt with the secrets she kept from them. She trusted them, just like he trusted the hermits, but it was never something they were ready to share. He knew that he would need to apologise to her, especially after she had saved his life time and time again and he reacted in the way that he did. When he landed all eyes turned to him, he knew that the hermits were all in one big tent together and even with all eyes on him he made his way over to them.

As he saw they had seen him, he flicked his writing to make an opaque barrier that would also keep everything they said inside the bubble. He changed back into his player form as he came closer and stopped in front of them. They stood in silence for a few seconds, Grian didn't know where to begin. He took a deep breath, seeing all the eyes that were on him, and said, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I never told you. I don't really have a good excuse about why I never told you-"

He was interrupted by all the hermits coming and giving him a hug and those nerves that he was still holding inside disappeared as they all joined together for a group hug. They were just holding each other there was silence for a while, they were all just glad that they were all okay.

As they slowly made their way out of the hug Xisuma spoke before Grian got a chance, "You don't need to apologise, you didn't have to tell us. It might have been nice to know that one of the leaders of the world was on our server but you never needed to tell us,"

Iskall then followed by saying, "G, we aren't angry at you at all,"

Grian was so glad that the hermits weren't made at him, after all, they were one of his families.

"So do we call Xelqua now or?" Scar asked Grian.

"Grian when I'm in player form and Xelqua when I've got my giant purple wings," Grian said, a smile on his face.

He used the sleeve of his red sweater to dry the tears of joy that were spilling from his eyes and he said, "I'm so glad you aren't mad with me. I was scared of losing you guys,"

"G, you could never lose us," Mumbo said, "You're stuck with us mate. I have to ask how exactly did you end up becoming a council member?"

"The High Leader found me after I destroyed someone's eye and asked me to join," Grian said.

The hermits all seemed to blank screen at that, "You destroyed someone's eye?" False asked.
"To be fair, it was an accident but he also deserved it. He kind of deserves to lose the other one too," Grian said.

"What did he do?" Bdubs asked

"He's a ↸╎ᓵꖌ who was at the battle of the academy and stayed on the side of the corrupt watchers, which is where I destroyed his eye. But, he is also the one who led to all this destruction going on and he really hates my guts," he said, not trying to get into the specifics of everything.

"Wait- does this mean that you knew my brother after the wither attack, and then when he came and visited the server?" Xisuma asked Grian.

"Yep, we were roommates back at the academy. I spent four years rooming with him and have been stuck with him being one of my best friends since. Do you know how hard it is to act like someone whom I've known for so long was a stranger?" He replied to the admin, "And now I can tell you all the embarrassing stories!"
"How many stories does Zyrex have about you?" Xisuma asked.

"Maybe you won't be getting embarrassing stories," Grian said, still with a smile on his face.

"Still can't believe that you're a High Watcher, you goofy pesky bird," Mumbo said, looking at his friend.

"Same," Grian said, smirking.

There was a sad silence that surrounded the hermits, "I should head back now, there is more preparation to be done," Grian said, and the smile started to fade from his face.

The smiles on everyone else's faces also became pained as they came in for one more hug, just staying there. None of them wanted the moment to end even though they knew it would have to, but for those seconds they just held each other close with the thought that this could be the last chance plaguing their minds. As Grian got prepared to change back into his watcher form Mumbo ran up and gave him another hug, "Stay safe Grian," he said.

A purple light surrounded Grian as he went back into his watcher form, he took a long look at his friends, his family. He was scared but he didn't want to show it, he knew that there was a possibility that this would be the last time that he saw them. He was lifting his hand up to take down the barrier that surrounded them when Xisuma said, "Can't wait to hear all the stories you have about my brother when you get back,"
With a smile on his face, Xelqua said, "You got it,"

He took down the barrier and flew off into the sky, knowing that he would be making it through this.

WC~ 1003

A/N: Happy New Years! I hope you all had an amazing 2023 and hope that 2024 is even better!