~The First Step~ a Hermitcraft AU

Chapter 50

wc: 2061

50 CHAPTERS!!!!

Xeluph was very, very angry.

Everything had gone downhill the moment he'd brought Xelqua back, and by accident, those stupid players that he couldn't find anymore. First Xelqua had broken out, and then a bunch of prisoners, and then weird papers were falling upon the capital and the people began to celebrate, and all these little uprisings...

He was probably growing gray hairs. His wife, Xera, kept nagging him to lay off on all of his work recently, but the people had to be tamed. Xeluph knew that war meant destruction, and if the kingdom of Watchers fell, then there would be repercussions. The fragile fabrics that tied the code and the universe together would dissipate.

"The festival is underway," someone told Xeluph. He blinked back into reality, staring at a screen in front of him, drumming his fingers on his deks. "I suggest you go get ready."

Xeluph sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Yes. You're dismissed." He doesn't bother looking up as he hears the door open and close. The birthday of the kingdom had to go perfectly, yet already there were infuriating messages about how there were difficulties getting everyone the paper that dictated where they were to stand and sit, and more and more news was piling in.

In his mind, Xeluph uttered a prayer to the Goddess of the Moon, and thanking her for the kingdom. Sometimes, he needed to step back and remember that it was a day of celebration.

He left the office and stalked down the hallway, watching lowly servants scuttle about, cleaning the hallways until they shone and setting up decorative statues and bouquets. One accidentally whips around and bumps into Xeluph, and he spits a scolding at them before moving back down the hall.

Upon leaving the building, he snaps his wings open and launches into the sky, flying low enough so that the tensed guards see his Elder robes. The streets are empty, as they should be before the ceremony, and he revels in dipping almost low enough to brush the clean, scrubbed concrete before pulling higher. Flying is indeed the best experience one could possibly have, and for a moment, his mind flashes to Xelqua, wings spasming and falling from his body in bloody, feathery thumps, and a scream-

Xeluph forcibly pinches himself underneath the robe, a silent reprimanding. Watchers do not feel guilt or remorse or pity for traitors. He snapped his wings back with another powerful flap, eventually coming to the sparkling white stage and landing neatly in front of Watchers that were setting up a voice amplification system.

"Go," he barked, and with the word, they all quickly left, sweeping equipment into their arms and dashing down the steps leading up to the platform.

He stood dead center on the stage, simply gazing out over the barren concrete field that would serve as the meeting place. Xeluph had prepped the speech for a month now, and the words had been imprinted onto his mind with all the familiarity of his own house; no, he wasn't nervous.

As much as Xeluph hated to admit it, the recent actions of the resistances were... slightly a bigger issue than any small revolt. It'll be easy to crush them under our heel, he reminded himself. It's just... annoying. At that thought, he shook himself, wings shuddering. No, that would be a small victory for the resistance... what did they call themselves? No. He wouldn't even give them the dignity of having a name.

Xeluph's pocketwatch chimed, and on cue, every door down the street opened, thousands of Watchers emerging dutifully from their homes. Guards corralled them into tidy, straight lines, and like ants, they came. Slowly, steadily, perfect grids and rows of people came into form before Xeluph. And it was beautiful.