Chapter Text
Grian shot up, hyperventilating. He immediately felt around him, realising that he was in a bed. He scanned the room he was in. He didn't recognise his location. Grian placed his hand on his chest, taking deep breaths in an attempt to slow his hasty breathing. Suddenly, he began convulsing, his body thrown back against the bed.
After a few moments, his body relaxed, but Grian didn't. He now knew exactly what was going on. It was yet another life series, another stupid game where he was forced to watch his friends die before him. The Watchers were never satisfied; they loved playing games and watching Grian suffer. He was only ever made to watch, but the Watchers forced him to be a player as a consequence of leaving Evo. As Grian spawned into another game, for a brief moment, he would lack any knowledge of the Watchers and prior series until everything would hit him as a sudden wave of knowledge. It would consume him entirely. The echoes of his friend's whimpers and pleas as they died, the tearful look just before he was forced to kill someone or betray a teammate, but worse was the knowledge that this was never-ending. Since each game was programmed to remove any previous knowledge of prior games when Grian's residual Watcher powers mingled with his player body, it resulted in a painful mix, emotionally and physically.
Grian sat up, reaching for his glasses before sitting on the bed's edge. His body mainly had grown used to the world's programming, but instead, he continued to shake in fear and anger. Grian wiped away the tears welling up his eyes, cleaning his smudged glasses with his red jumper sleeve. He needed to act normal. He needed to maintain his facade. His friends could never discover his true self.
"My man!"
Grian heard a voice outside of his door. He instantly recognised it as belonging to Jimmy.
"Hi, Timmy," Grian said, opening the door.
"What are you doing lying about? You need to start mining, dude!"
"I was just about to start,"
"Well, look what I have," Jimmy revealed a handful of sugar cane, "Don't tell anyone, but I think I've got this monopoly sorted,"
All Grian could do was smile. Jimmy seemed so happy, unknown to him that he would be first to be out. Grian knew the curse that the Watchers had placed upon him.
"If you want to make an alliance, just let me know," Jimmy said, "My next need is a cow. Have you seen any about?"
"Sorry Tim, I haven't,"
"Come back here, lad. I know you have the sugar cane!"
Grian looked across the grass, seeing Joel running towards them.
"GO AWAY, JOEL!" Jimmy screamed in his high-pitched fashion before he ran away.
Grian watched as Joel chased Jimmy in the distance.
"Hello there!" Scar said, snapping Grian out of watching the two boys punch each other in the distance.
"Oh, hi, Scar," Grian said, "What are your plans for this session?"
"Survive," Scar said, "Oh and tame a panda!"
Grian fought the lump that clogged his throat, desperately trying to ignore the flashbacks to double life.
"That sounds amazing, Scar," Grian's voice clogged.
"Are you okay?" Scar asked.
"Of course," Grian said, "It's just.." He cleared his throat, "It's nothing,"
"You can talk to me, Grian," Scar continued, "And where are your wings?"
Grian tensed up at the mention of his wings, immediately looking behind him. During Hermitcraft, Grian possessed huge parrot wings. He was an avian, after all. However, he forced himself to hide his wings during the life series. Hiding them took much of Grian's effort, but it was necessary. Due to Grian's association with the Watchers, closest during these games, Grian's wings often contained a purple tint or purple feathers, a colour subconsciously feared by all players.
"I just didn't want to get them out today," Grian muttered.
"Is it the stress?"
Scar knew Grian all too well. On occasions, when tense, Grian would retract his wings.
"Yeah," Grian partly lied.
"Shame, I love your wings," Scar said, "I'm more than happy to stay with you today, and we can have a chill session. It's not like anyone else will be after the pandas,"
Grian considered it a moment. He did miss cuddling with Scar. Even if Scar didn't have the right words to help Grian with whatever he was going through, Scar's presence always helped him. Just as Grian was going to accept Scar's offer, Grian shut his eyes tight, fighting the images flashing in his mind. He saw Scar, shirtless. He saw the desert. He saw the cactus ring. He heard both his and Scar's voices echoing their apologies as they punched each other to death. Grian saw Scar die before him, his items spewing everywhere. A tear rolled down Grian's face as he recalled his painful cry of "No!" as Scar died and not him.
"Thanks, Scar, but I just need some time alone," Grian said, "Be sure to let me know when you get those Pandas,"
"Of course, I will," Scar said, "You know to contact me if you need me,"
Scar pulled Grian into a hug before Grian could respond, patting his back before Scar walked away.
Grian rushed back inside, immediately shutting the door. The hug tipped Grian over the edge, tears spilling from his eyes. He stifled his sobs with his hand; the others couldn't see or hear him like this.
Why was he reacting so strongly this time around? Grian had never been this emotional over a new series.
In his emotional state and knowing he was alone, he opened his wings, wrapping them around him, providing him the ever-so-needed comfort. As he expected, despite his blurred vision, he could see the purple feathers between the red, yellow and blue.
He could never escape them, could he?
As that thought popped into his head, his communicator began pinging many times. He checked it.
SolidarityGaming hit the ground too hard.
The curse had begun.
Grian couldn't take it anymore. Only he could do anything about this. He cleaned his wet face before he opened his wings, pulling himself up. He would set his friends free even if it killed him. He pulled away the visible purple feathers, wincing in pain before he opened the door, looking up to the sky.
"Just you wait!" Grian shouted.