Those Who Whisper Always Lie

Chapter 8

Grian walked through an abandoned city. He didn't know where he was, but it felt familiar. He followed his gut where ever it lend him. He look a look at each building he pass, all covered in vines and vegetation. It seemed like decades since anyone had last been here. What would make a population abandon a place like this? It wasn't no Hermitcraft, but it was amazing.

He was dragged away from what looked like a police station and out of the city. Along an abandoned mine cart rail. It went through mountains and along the sea. That's when he saw it. A building that dipped under sea level and towered above it. It was a place that must of taken hours if not days to build.

Grian found the entrance and made his way down. The techniques was amazing. He was able to place his hands in the water that made up the walls of the base. It was like nothing he's ever seen. There was a giant house towards the back of the base. But what really caught Grian's attention was the cylinder that was held up above the base.

He walked under it looking up. There was a little hole in the center of the cylinder. He squinted. Something was coming out of it, correction, something was falling out of it. Grian rushed back and heard a crunch and a hiss. He turned around and found a pile of gunpowder on the ground. A creeper fell out of the cylinder.

This is a mob farm. How inefficient, it doesn't even have a collection system. Grian thought to himself. He did find the design cool, but was it that hard for the owner of this base to add a hopper and a chest at the bottom?

Grian stepped away from the mob farm before something else could fall out of it and towards the large house that sat at the end of the base. He explored it and found what he might typically find in a base, a nether portal, a chest monster, you know the drill. But something felt off. Like something was... watching him...

Grian spun around facing the entrance of the house and saw something that wasn't there a moment ago. A large statue of a winged being stood where he just was only minutes ago. Grian gasped and ran out of the house to take a closer look at the statue. The body was made of stone but wings were may of clay. It must of taken forever to get that much clay. Grian shook his head, never mind collecting the clay, how was this statue able to just? Appear out of nowhere!
One word popped into his mind.

Watchers.

He still didn't really know what a Watcher was, but for some reason he knew this was their work, all of this. He wasn't in Hermitcraft for a reason. What was this place? Was this a trap? Grian felt his heart racing and his breathing get heavier. He wanted to go home.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" Grian screamed and collapsed in front of the statue. He felt tears come out of his eyes. He didn't know what he was crying over, but fear filled his body. Suddenly, it was all gone, as he felt someone touch his shoulder. The world went black around him.

"Do not fear," a voice called out to him. Grian recognized the voice, but he didn't know where from. He wanted to scream, or at least ask questions, but nothing came from his mouth.

"I cannot answer all your questions, just know, we are watching over you, Grian. You are not alone any longer."

"Grian! Grian please wake up!"

It was all a dream? Of course it was all a dream. Grian opened his eyes and looked around. He was in his base again, in Hermitcraft. He sat up and was suddenly faced with the Listener Taurtis. Grian jumped back, tumbling over the blankets on his bed.

"I'm so sorry, are you okay?" Taurtis placed his hands over his mouth.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, why are you here?" Grian sighed, getting up from his bed, brushing his fingers through his messy brown hair.

"I heard you screaming in your sleep."

"You heard that?" Grian's eyes widen. So the screams in his dreams made it to the waking world? Nice to know. He couldn't scream in his dreams but he sure could scream in real life.

"... Grian. I'm a Listener, I hear everything," Taurtis said, deadpan.

"Oh right."

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Taurtis asked the builder, but Grian shook his head. He didn't see the point to have the Listener listen to his weird dreams. They most likely mean nothing anyway.

"S-Should I leave?" Taurtis raised his eyebrows, afraid that he offended Grian, but the builder jumped.

"N-No!" Grian took a step back, "Please, don't." He wasn't going to lie, he didn't want to be alone right now. He always felt alone nowadays, and it was nice to finally have someone with him.

Taurtis smiled and took a seat on Grian's bed, motioning for him to join, which Grian quickly did. The two sat in silence for awhile. Just looking around their surroundings. Grian thought about what has happened the last few days. It felt like months to him, but in reality it's been a week at most. How can do much happen in such a short amount of time? He didn't understand at all. Grian sighed, Taurtis finally spoke up.

"You never fixed the hole."

"Never got around to it."

"Do you need help?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"I can rebuild my own base, thank you very much."

"I wasn't just talking about the hole..." Taurtis looked down, "I know you've been through a lot lately, Grian."

"Maybe we should do something."

"Something?"

"Have you ever flied before?" Grian stood up from the bed.

"No, my wings are too small," Taurtis followed while tilting his head.

"Not even with an elytra?"

The Listener shook his head.

"Then I have something to show you," Grian smirked grabbing some things from a nearby shulker box.