Chapter Text
He jumped, ending 3rd life. He watched as the world crumbled around his spectral form. Once the last block fell into the void, he was pulled in as well.
He knelt under the purple glow. His wings turned white as he gained the signature Watcher mask.
“Stand,” the Watchers said in unison, “This game of yours, the life game, is not satisfying us Xelqua.”
Xelqua, or Grian to everyone but the Watchers looked up and confidently questioned, “What would you have me do? What would satisfy you?”
The purple glow grew, revealing pearly white wings and purple eyes, “Give us more souls, more betrayal, more death.”
The Watchers moved closer to Xelqua, forcing him to fold in his wings and kneel. “Do this or face the consequences of removal.”
Xelqua shuddered at the thought of being one of the only victims of the removal. The Watchers slowly receded into the dark, the purple glow leaving with them.
Grian stood up as the mask disappeared and his wings turned colorful again. He felt himself getting pulled back to Hermitcraft where he would wait a year to start the next game.
-~-
As Grian typed /kill, Last Life ended. He watched as all his friends' ghosts left to reconnect with their bodies in their home servers.
Once again, Grian watched as his server fell apart, chunk by chunk, block by block. And then he fell. Falling. Falling. This wasn’t like the last time, he felt like Icarus, losing control of his wings, or Phaethon, struck from the sky by some higher power.
Grian’s transformation started the minute he touched the ground. There was no time between when his mask appeared and when his wings were pinned to his sides by an invisible force.
The Watchers neared Xelqua, forcing him to the ground. His wings were released only to be pinned to the floor, forcing the young watcher to lay on his back.
Xelqua thrashed, trying to break free of the invisible hands keeping him down. “What did I do wrong? I caused more death, more betrayal, I provided more souls. What more could you want?” Xelqua pleaded as a Watcher took their physical form.
As the Watcher moved closer, bending down, Xelqua squirmed, trying to get away. They reached down, aiming for Xelqua’s mask and whispered, “I’m sorry mate. I wouldn’t do this if I had a choice,” and pulled Xelqua’s mask off. The blond haired Watcher’s form dissipated into purple and black particles.
Xelqua felt his powers fade, but not enough to be a huge issue right now. He felt the fade of magic all through his body, even in his wings. He turned his head to see his wings change back to there signature red, yellow, and blue.
“You are no longer a Watcher. Your powers will slowly fade over time. You are still required to make the Life games. Disappoint us again and you will not only lose your powers,” The Watchers said, tugging and letting go of Grian’s wings.
The Watchers disappeared, leaving only Grian and the Watcher from earlier. “What do you want?” Grian demanded with as much respect he had for the people who had taken so much from him.
The blond man took off his mask, revealing green eyes. The man’s wings changed to black. Philza Minecraft. That’s why the voice was familiar, they played in MCC together. “I’m sorry kid. You don’t deserve this; no one does. I hope you forgive me, because I am also stuck in the Watcher’s trap. Satisfy them and finish your games,” Philza said with sadness and worry in his voice.
“I didn’t know you were a Watcher Mr. Minecraft. Does your server know?” Grian said, ignoring Philza’s comments from earlier.
“Only Dream and Technoblade know, and that's good enough for me,” Philza stated, stretching his wings, “Take my advice, finish your games, and satisfy the Watchers. I don’t want to see you suffer.” With that, Philza flew off to a nearby hub portal.
Grian slowly flapped his wings, trying to get rid of the soreness. Slowly, he lifted off the ground and followed Phil to the portal, heading for Hermitcraft.
-~-
With a stroke of flint n’ steel, Double Life ended. “Those two were a good pair,” Grian thought as he once again watched his server crumble into the void.
Grian was expecting to once again be pulled in, but was surprised when that didn’t happen. Instead, he heard crackling from behind him.
The avian turned to see a small purple portal. With a few more cracks, a black bird flew through. A crow? It flew up to Grian and he saw a note tied to its foot. Grian grabbed the parchment and read:
You did well, they are satisfied.
You must continue.
I’m sorry.
From,
Philza
Grian summoned a sheet of paper, quickly writing a response to the older Watcher.
Thank you
Hope to see you soon
From,
Grian
He tied the note to the crows leg and sent it back to Philza. The large bird flew back through the portal with a crack.
Grian summoned a portal under himself and dropped, falling through the portal to Hermitcraft.
-~-
And like that, Limited life was over. The timer circling around his wrist disappeared. Suddenly pieces of the world shot up, vanishing into the sky.
Grian always made the blocks fall, as to not get hit, so someone else must be controlling his server. Before he could even move out of the way, a block smashed into his wings, causing him to fall into the void.
The purple glow returned. Eyes floating above him stared down. Silver, purple, and black chains shot out of the darkness, wrapping around his neck, wings, and wrists, pulling him to the ground.
“That was your final chance Xelqua. You have disappointed us, so you are to be disposed of,” One Watcher said, wings flaring at his sides.
“Why? I did what you asked. I played your stupid game. Let me go,” Grian demanded, trying to sound brave. His hands were trembling from the restriction of air and blood from the chains wrapped around his body.
The Watcher seemed to be waiting, then Grian heard a whisper, “No mercy.” The Watcher smiled, walking to kneel in front of the avian. ”Zephyrus? You can do the honor of making this creature flightless,” The Watcher said, standing up.
“No! I won’t do that to him, he doesn’t deserve it,” Zephyrus said, revealing himself, golden haired. ‘Philza?’ Grian though, finally figuring out the Watcher’s given name.
“Yes, you will, or you and your family will end up with the same fate as Xelqua. Would you like that Zephyrus?” The Watcher standing above him sneered.
“No, I wouldn’t want that,” Zephyrus spoke, looking conflicted. “What would you have me to do Nightmare?” Zephyrus looked down at Grian pitifully.
“Draw your sword and swing at the base,” The Watcher known as Nightmare said, “This is going to hurt, Dream Slayer.”
At that Grian was confused, he tried looking up, when he did he saw blonde hairs and an x like scar running under his mask. Dream. When did Dream become a Watcher?
“By your expression, I see you figured out who I am, but that won’t help you. Phil, your turn.” Dream said as he gripped Grian’s wing showing Philza where to hit.
Grian felt someone, probably Phil, ruffle his hair in a comforting manner. And then the pain hit. It was excruciating. He felt each swing rip through skin and muscle. He bit his hand to keep from screaming, but because of the chains, Dream ripped his hand away.
Grian felt when the sword hit the bone. He couldn’t hold back his scream. Phil hacked through the bone as fast as possible, trying to cause the least amount of pain. Suddenly the weight on the side of his body disappeared and a thump followed.
Dream grabbed the wing off the floor and dropped it in front of Grian’s face. From behind him he heard Phil say, “Nightmare, let’s give him a break.”
“No, keep going, better to finish so we can dispose of him,” Dream said, going to grab Grian’s other wing. The wing flapped involuntarily, trying to break free. Dream gave up after getting smacked in the head and drew his sword. He raised it, bringing it down through Grian’s wing and into the ground below. “Start,” Dream demanded.
Philza once again started hacking through Grian’s wing. Dream sat down in front of him, pulling his head forward by the chain attached to his neck.
Dream grabbed one of the feathers that covered Grian’s ears and pulled. The scream elicited from the small avian was one of the most heartbreaking things Philza had ever heard, and Dream kept pulling as beads of blood dripped down the smaller’s face.
Phil took one final swing, taking off the wing. Dream had finished his torture, leaving Grian to slump against the chains. Philza swiftly let go of his sword and dropped down next to the small wingless avian. He pulled Grian into a hug, careful of injuries, and the smaller let out a little coo before passing out.
-~-
A little while later…
-~-
Grian woke in the air. Arms were supporting his neck and legs, avoiding his back, but still pressing him to their chest. He was about to open his eyes when he heard someone talking.
“… you’re awake. Keep your eyes closed. They can still See us,” Philza said, pulling Grian closer. “They wouldn’t let me take the chains off, just in case you could swim, which I doubted you could because wings and water don’t go well.”
“What do you mean swim?” Grian asked, not opening his eyes. “I’d drown.”
“They tasked me with dropping you into the ocean on a server. I brought you to Hermitcraft to give you a chance. When I drop you, you need to use whatever power you have left to call your friends,” Philza said, stroking his wings quickly.
“Will I see you after this?” Grian asked.
“Hopefully next MCC,” Phil spoke. His eyes widened and he quickly picked up his pace, “They’ve caught on to us, their coming. You need to tell your Admin to move the server to a backup world. They will not stop until you’re dead. I hope to see you again soo. Goodbye Dream Slayer.” Philza spoke, and then he was falling.
Grian took a deep breath, bracing for impact. He was not prepared. He gasped, letting all his air out. He quickly composed himself, needing to stay as calm as possible.
As he sunk, arms chained to his chest, he used whatever power and energy he had to send a message. ‘Hopefully the Hermits get here before I die,’ Grian thought, knowing that it was dark. His chest starting burning from the lack and oxygen, and he gasped, trying to fill his lungs with air, only to find water in its place. So this was his fate. A flightless bird left to drown.
Slowly, Grian felt himself calm down, his chest still burning and his back numb, but everything was so peaceful. He could finally leave all the burdens behind, all the pain. Black crawled into his vision, as unconsciousness pulled him under. He tried breathing, one final time, hoping to suck in air, only for water to fill his mouth, throat, and lungs. And then everything went black. He would never hear the splashing of water above him.
-~-
By the time Xisuma resurfaced, everyone was freaking out. Grian had sent out that message almost five minutes ago.
X laid Grian on the ground and checked his pulse, “He’s still alive, I’m going to respawn him, a few of you fly to spawn, the others to his base. Tell me where he spawns,” Xisuma said to his hermits and he pulled out his sword.
The others flew to their assigned places and waited for the message.
Grian was slain by Xisuma using [Respawn]
-~-
Grian woke up feeling like he was still drowning. He shot up, finally feeling the hand resting in his shoulder. He grabbed the hand, pulling the person to stand in front of him. The person was tall, easily towering over the small avian.
“Grian? It’s Mumbo, you're safe. I promise,” Mumbo spoke softly, lowering himself so he could be seen easier.
“Where’s X? I need X. We need to leave,” Grian said frantically, pulling Mumbo closer. Grian could hear shuffling and some ‘pardon me’s’ in the group of in his house.
Xisuma emerged soaking wet and looking dazed, “What do you mean we have to leave, who did this?” X walked up to the bed, gesturing to Grian’s back.
“Do you have a backup ready? If so we have to leave. Now.” Grian rushed as Stress sat down to look at his back.
“Slow down luv. Why do we have to leave?” Stress asked as she slowly turned Grian so she could bandage the stubs of his wings so they weren’t bleeding as much.
Grian flinched as Stress grabbed his shoulder, slowly he spoke, “ Their coming. The Watchers are coming.”
Xisuma stood straight at those words, he pulled out his comm and started typing. “I’m sending us to the backup server. All your builds will be there, we have to leave.” X said, typing even faster, “Anyone who is not in this building will still be transported to the server.”
“When are we leaving?” Pearl asked, stepping next to the admin.
“We will be leaving in 5 minutes, maybe sooner, I’m finishing these last bits of the command and then the countdown will start,” The admin acknowledged, turning his head to answer the Australian.
Grian whimpered, covering his head with his arms, “They’re here.” Xisuma finished his typing and counted down.
“5…4…3…2…1!” Xisuma shouted as everything faded to white.
-~-
Xisuma joined the game
Grian joined the game
GoodTimeWithScar joined the game
Mumbo joined the game
PearlescentMoon joined the game
And more hermits joined…
Etho joined the game
ZombieCleo joined the game
Tango joined the game
Impulse joined the game
Ph1LzA joined the game