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Martyn was on edge. In hushed whispers, Etho had filled him in on the threats Xornoth had made after Martyn had left with Scott and Jimmy. The Watchers had been very quiet since Xornoth had arrived. It was a quiet that he was unused to and it made him feel uneasy. He was hoping that it wasn’t the quiet before the storm.
Jimmy was shaken up since Xornoth’s threats towards him, and Martyn wished that he could promise to protect him and keep him safe, but Martyn kept his mouth shut, not willing to make promises that he was fairly certain that he couldn’t keep.
Grian had been avoiding him. Martyn knew that Grian hated being reminded that he was a Watcher, and so being forced into a position where he had to use his Watcher powers for more than a few protection spells had really shaken him up. Martyn remembered the way Grian’s words in that Watcher tone had made him obey mindlessly. He had resisted the Watchers, or played along out of fear, but when Grian had commanded him it was as if he suddenly wasn’t in control of his own body. At some point he was going to have to ask Grian to help him learn to resist said control.
But then, shining through the dark like a beacon of light, there was Joel. Joel and his strange magic that no one seemed to understand, least of all Joel himself. Martyn remembered the cool relief of Joel’s hand in his, that negated the pain stabbing through his skull as the Watchers Screamed at him. Magic like that was rare. It was like it flowed beneath his skin, very much a part of him, rather than something that had to be trained, or forced upon someone.
Grian and Joel were currently holed away, Grian trying to teach Joel as much as he knew about protection magic in the hopes that it might enhance Joel’s ability to block the Watchers. Everyone could feel time running out. The feeling of being Watched wasn’t pleasant, and so having a Watcher lurking so close, attention undivided upon them, caused a strange chill that rattled in their bones.
Martyn also felt different. He daren’t mention it to any of the others, worried that it would cause unnecessary problems, and Grian was worrying about enough at the moment, so he didn’t want to add to it. The Watchers made Martyn a Listener to serve them, and before yesterday, Grian was the only major Watcher to never have Commanded him, and now that he had, Martyn had been fully broken in.
Drawing in a shaky breath, Martyn pulled down his sleeve to look at his wrist. Before, there had been a scar, courtesy of the Watchers, but now the shape of the scar was etched in purple ink, and burned slightly whenever he was around Grian, and by extension the Watchers. He didn’t know how he knew, but Martyn was sure that disobeying the Watchers would be that bit much more difficult now.
Xornoth had said that Grian had claimed him. The idea of being claimed, owned, someone having complete control over him was scary, but Martyn was relieved that it was Grian. If the Watchers had known that the last one of them to Command him would end up Claiming him, then he was sure that this situation could have been infinitely worse. Martyn could only hope that the Watchers didn’t have a way to transfer a Claim.
~~~~~~~
There was a quiet, tentative knock at his door.
Martyn quickly pulled his sleeve back down, “Hello?” he called.
“It’s me,” Scott’s voice was muffled through the door, “Jimmy’s got a headache, but Grian’s worried about it and asked me to get you.”
“Oh Gods,” Martyn yanked the door open, “where is he?”
Scott lead him to the kitchen, where there was a small group around the kitchen table. Grian sat next of Jimmy, and gestured to Martyn to sit on the other side. Martyn obeyed before he even registered the request. Beside Grian sat Joel.
“Is it Xornoth?” Martyn asked, eyes flicking up to Scott, who had his hands on the back of Jimmy’s chair.
Scott nodded, blue hair falling into his eyes, which he didn’t bother to brush away.
“Joel can stop the pain, like he did for you,” Grian added, “but we kind of need to know how bad its hurting so that we can help,” Grian looked up to him apologetically, “and you’re the only one who might know what to do.”
Xornoth’s threats of turning Jimmy into a Listener suddenly felt a lot more real.
“They had to be close to me to turn me,” Martyn found himself saying, “They couldn’t do it through a border, there had to be physical contact.”
Joel spoke up for the first time, his voice unsure, “Do you think they could have started the process during Empires? Xornoth would have been able to get to him.”
Grian and Martyn shared a concerned glance.
“Jimmy,” Martyn said, “tell me exactly how it hurts.”
“Loud,” Jimmy said, “like a ringing, but more muffled. It feels like my heads shrinking.”
Martyn shivered, remembering that feeling all too well. “Grian, can you tell me exactly where Xornoth is right now?”
Grian looked nervous but nodded. He closed his eyes, but around his head several floating purple eyes popped up, flicking around, before all focusing on one specific point. Having never seen a Watcher Watch before, everyone else in the room looked slightly stunned.
Grian’s eyes opened again, and his Watcher Eyes disappeared.
“Take me to him?” The order came out as a question, but Grian didn’t question him.
Martyn turned back to Joel, “Help him with the pain. If this doesn’t work then it’s going to get worse, and there’s nothing more it can tell us now,”
Joel nodded and reached out to wrap his hands around Jimmy’s, who sighed with relief.
Grian followed him out, directing him left and right every now and then.
“Martyn, wait!” Grian tugged on his arms all of a sudden. Martyn stopped, his head ducking in obedience, before he self-consciously corrected himself.
“What’s this?” Grian asked, reaching over and brushing his thumb over the skin of Martyn’s neck behind his ear.
“oh, Gods,” Grian said as Martyn didn’t reply, “Please tell me this isn’t because of this claim thing that Xornoth was talking about.”
Martyn forced himself to carry on walking, “We can worry about it later, G. We need to be quick if we want to prevent Jimmy becoming a Listener too.”
“He should be just up here,” Grian said, concern lacing his tone.
Sure enough, Xornoth was waiting for them as they got gradually closer.
“Xelqua,” Xornoth greeted, “I was wondering how long ti would take you to show up with your new Listener pet.”
Grian flinched, but Martyn put a hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t make Jimmy a Listener,” Martyn said, “Please, Xor-” Martyn subconsciously cut himself off, scared to anger the Watcher by speaking his name.
Xornoth’s grin widened, “And why should I listen to your begs?”
Martyn started to pull his sleeve up to show Xornoth the marks on his wrist, before Grian yelled out.
“Martyn, no.” Grian sounded concerned, not demanding, but it stopped Martyn’s actions anyway.
“Let me, Grian,” Martyn responded.
Grian sighed again, before nodding. Martyn still struggled to disobey Grian’s previous order.
“Um, I need you to say it,” He said, cheeks flushing with embarrassment.
Grian looked like he was going to be sick, and his voice came out weak as he obliged, “You can do it,”
Martyn pulled his sleeve the rest of the way, and Xornoth cackled.
“A loyal Listener at last. Looks like you were the missing piece Xelqua. Make sure it stays quiet and Listens, yeah?” Xornoth hummed when Grian didn’t respond, “And fine, I guess training a new one would take too long. I’ll still be back for the Player though,”
Grian flinched again, but Xornoth had disappeared before he could respond.
“Martyn-” Grian looked up at him with wide eyes, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know it would do anything to you.”
Martyn sighed, starting the walk back, “I didn’t either. But I couldn’t resist the Watchers orders at first, so maybe we can find a way to resist a claim.”
~~~~~~~~
When Martyn and Grian had returned, Joel still had a hand placed over Jimmy’s, and Scott was sat in the chair that Grian had previously occupied.
“How you feeling?” Martyn asked. He was nervous that Xornoth would have decided to go through with it anyway.
Jimmy looked up, “The ringing stopped, but I can hear more. Like my ears have just been turned up.”
Martyn slowly pulled Joel’s hands away from Jimmy, “Hurting?” he asked. Jimmy shook his head.
Martyn settled in the chair to Jimmy’s side, “So,” he started, “you don’t need to worry, you aren’t a Listener,”
Jimmy sagged in relief.
“But,” Martyn continued, “it’s still going to leave effects. Nothing linked to the Watchers,”
“I’m always going to hear more?” Jimmy asked, “It’ll always be louder?”
Martyn nodded, “It gets easier,” he said, “and you learn what to avoid, or how to deal with it. I can help, if you need, or if it starts getting to much,”
“Hey Jim,” Joel said, voice softer that usual, but just enough to the point where Jimmy wouldn’t notice, “Wanna show them what we found?”
Jimmy’s dejected face suddenly lit up, “Oh yeah, it’s so cool!”
Joel linked his hand back with Jimmy’s and took a deep breath in. A few purple runes flashed in the air, lingering.
“Try and Watch me,” Jimmy said. Grian blinked in surprise, reopening his Watcher Eyes. They swivelled around manically.
The Eyes faded and Grian smiled, “I couldn’t See you.”
Jimmy nodded.
Grian turned to Martyn, his tone excited “Martyn, Listen, can you hear him?”
Grian’s smile faltered slightly as Martyn stiffened under the request, but Martyn shot him a reassuring smile. Closing his eyes, Martyn Listened, pushing aside the Noise from other Players, and the Watcher buzz from Grian. But Jimmy was nowhere to be heard, not unlike Joel.
“Well that’s interesting,” Martyn said, “The Watchers won’t even See us coming.”