Chapter Text
Grian knew what he was risking by existing in the vicinity of players. By joining a server. By lying.
He wasn't stupid, no matter what others might tell you. He knew very well that he couldn't hide it forever. He knew. But he willingly decided to live in blissful ignorance, simply hoping no one will ever know that he wasn't an ordinary player. He wasn't the pesky parrot hybrid that everyone believes he is.
“It's not like it would be against the rules, right?” He quietly said to himself, while procrastinating on one of the buildings he was finishing in his base. He wasn't that wrong, neither was he right. Hermitcraft is almost a sanctuary. While never truly calling itself such, Hermitcraft houses a lot of players of different species. From animal hybrids to monster hybrids, unlike a lot of other servers, everyone was welcomed here on Hermitcraft. Almost everyone.
Grian doesn't believe that he would be allowed anywhere if he showed his real self, so he doesn't. Since the start he was able to hide his watcher self amazingly. Hundreds of eyes disappear just as the purple light surrounding him. His giant gray and purple wings change size and colors to that of your average parrot hybrid. Grian used his Watcher magic to change his code, or rather MASK his code to look much more…player like. You know, deleting the purple glow mostly. If no one looks too close, he should be fine. And really it would take ages to find that little line of code anyways. One singular line that would indicate he was different.
And just like that there was no longer the Watcher Xelqua, only a player by the name of Grian, just like he originally was. Looking for a place to stay.
He found Hermitcraft not long after escaping and changing. He found the server untouched by watchers. Weird. Most servers seemed at least slightly smudged by Watchers. They leave little traces of the before mentioned purple code whenever they observe a server. This server by the name Hermitcraft, didn't seem to have that. Neither did it seem to have THAT good security.
Yeah, he probably found a place to stay for at least a bit.
Keralis and Xisuma were talking about god knows what somewhere around the shopping district when a giant BOOM could be heard all over.
“What was that noise?” Keralis asked, obviously shocked. It didn't sound like anything either of them heard before. It was so much louder than any tnt or creepers of whatever explosion they could think of.
“I have no idea.” said X while looking down at his communicator that was beeping crazy. It had a lot of “WHAT WAS THAT”s and “WHO DID THAT”s, but most interestingly a yellow text above that.
Grian joined the game.
Huh.
Grains crash wasn't pretty, but it needed to be done. After the admin of the server tracked the source of the noise he found a player there. Not one of the ones he knows, not his player, but A player. And a hurt player at that. He needed to help him.
“So, you crashed into the server world, but before that you don't remember anything other than your name?” the admin, who introduced himself as Xisuma, asked Grian.
And that was all the way at the tip tip end of season 5, just perfect timing for Grian to join in season 6. Wow, so far he made it 4 seasons and is now pushing 5th with the 10th season. That's a lot of time. A lot of time that nothing happened. He thought that if it had gone on this long, nothing would happen, that he can live on hermitcraft forever.
He was fishing when the message came in. Sure he already has a mending book but can't a man fish for enjoyment? His morning wasn't the best, so he decided to calm himself down by doing a thing he loves, like fishing. He heard the beep of the communicator that's attached to his wrist as a bracelet, he looked down to read the messages.
Xisuma: URGENT HERMIT MEETING. COME TO SPAWN NOW. GET EVERYONE OFF SERVER ON NOW. WE HAVE A PROBLEM AND I NEED TO WARN EVERYONE.
Cubfan135: Oh?
Docm77: That bad???
Ethoslab: Right over!
Urgent meeting? It must be bad if the admin was using all caps. He quickly got up, put on an elytra and flew to the shopping district, hoping to see someone and ask what's up. When he got there he saw a group of players who got there before him - Etho, Bdubs, Pearl, Jev, Cleo and somehow Scar and Skizz were both there soon too.
“Heyo! Do any of you know what's going on???” Grian immediately asked, while looking out for the admin who called them all here. But the only answer to his question was a few head shakes. No one knew what the reason behind the meeting was.
They waited for the other hermits, while speculating what the big urgent thing was.
“Maybe another celestial entity wants to crash into the server???” Pearl said as her guess.
“Oh I hope not that again.” Jevin added.
“Oh! Oh! What about a world-eating worm that X found under bedrock crawling its way onto the surface!” Scar presented his very scar like idea with his usual flare
“Maybe it's actually nothing that world ending and you guys are just a bit paranoid. Just wait till X gets here.” Cleo added, probably trying to calm herself down.
Grian wasn't speaking. He was afraid. So afraid. It might be nothing but he always has crazy anxiety about any coding issues as they might serve as a danger. If it is anything watcher related, it could end up hurting not just him, but his friends too. Maybe he was overthinking it? No, he needed to be ready for anything. Like what if-
He felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Hey mate, you alright?” Mumbo. When did Mumbo arrive? But Grian is thankful for Mumbo right now for pulling him away from his thoughts.
“Yeah..i'm fine” Grian said with a slight smile. He felt less anxious with his best friend by his side.
“Hello? Is everyone already here?” Xisuma came in with a panicked look and quickly tried to count all the hermits while mumbling their names.
“Shashwamy, what's all this havoc about?” Keralis, standing right next to Xisuma asked the question they all wanna know the answer to. What's so important and dangerous, that they all had to stop what they were doing and go here?
“Well…” Xisuma took a deep breath. He stood on a random rock to be a bit taller than everyone so that the entire crowd hears him.
“First. I want to ask something. I need you all to be 100% honest as the safety of the server, meaning all of us, is on the line.” He said and everyone tensed. It wasn't something funny, the admin looked terrified. They are in actual danger.
“So, I want to know…Has any of you ever heard, known or had dealt with creatures known as The Watchers ?”
Grian wanted to die the moment he heard the question. No, no, no, NO. He came so far. Please they cannot be here. They just CAN'T. He was breathing weird. He felt the world spinning. This can't be happening. This isn't real.
“WHY? ARE THEY HERE TOO?!?” Pearl. She exploded. Anxiety could be heard between the words she spoke. Now her expression lies somewhere in between anger, fear and sadness.
Grian didn't hear the exact words but he heard Gem trying to calm Pearl down. He knew why Pearl reacted that way. She remembers Evo. At Least most of it. Not the end, of course. That part is only in Grian's memories. Specifically planted to make him suffer.
He knew he couldn't react. They don't know. And hey! Maybe it isn't that bad! Maybe 'suma just wants to educate his server members about the Wa-...about them. There might not be any immediate danger!
Everything is ok!
“I need everyone to calm down, ok?!” Xisuma raised his voice, while still keeping a friendly tone, trying to calm the crowd of minecrafters down.
“This is a serious matter, but there is no need for fear…yet.” he added the last word so quietly, trying not to lie while also keeping everyone not worried. But people heard him well enough. There is danger. X was just a very positive person. The words he spoke contradicted his chat warning so much it sounded suspicious.
“Ok…so I will try to explain this slowly and calmly. I don't want anyone to yell. I know some of you will probably have strong reactions, maybe even be mad at me, but I need to warn you. And I need us all to get together and help save all of our family.”
Everything is NOT ok!
That sounded SO bad. Grain tried not to show his worry on the outside but he knew he failed horribly. The combination of the last statement and the thing about Watchers, he felt uneasy. He knew what this was about. Well maybe not exactly, but he feels most people have figured it out.
“I first have to apologize. I know you all know Hermitcraft as a safe haven, a sanctuary for all those who need it. It is one of the most protected minecraft servers. But even though I tried my hardest, there are things, well, people…” he stops and things for a second. “...gods? Or whatever they are, that my firewalls can't keep out.” Xisuma slowly continued his monologue about the current happenings.
Grian is screwed. His family. His home. Has been invaded by a watcher. Again. This can't be happening AGAIN.
“So to put it simply, I was looking through the player codes as I do on a usual check up, but around the Cherry blossom Mountain I found a bit of glitchy code. It was neon purple. I tried to dismantle it, but when I looked away for a second it was gone.” X continued to explain the situation.
“X? May I ask when was this???” Grian asked before he could even think about it. He knew why he was asking that. If X didn't see an actual watcher, just the code, around the area where Grian lives…It could just be his code…
“It was just this morning. I tried to first search things up about the glitch before telling you all just to be sure it was what I thought it was.” X answered Grian right away.
Oh…So everything IS ok. It was just Grian he saw! There is no immediate danger! His family is very safe!
Wait…
If it was Grian's code that X saw…then there is a possibility that…he won't be able to hide it anymore. He wants to tell his panicking friends that it's all ok! That it was just him! But…how would they react? What if he gets thrown out? He knows the reputation of the watchers is rightfully horrible. They are known for destroying worlds, torturing the people within, laughing in the faces of terror. Watchers are assholes…but Grian isn't.
“So everyone! We need to band together and search the server. You don't have to spend every waking minute looking for it, but if you could be just a bit more careful…Look for anything out of place. Any purple glows, eyes, giant purple wings, anything that is not the way it's supposed to be. I also ask you all to stop with pranks until this is solved as Watchers are known for pulling jokes on the players, therefore we could find a clue that way…I will bring some books and resources about the watchers for anyone to read here at spawn. Please do as it can save your life. Remember that watchers can permakill. Stay safe everyone.” X has finished his long monologue warning the hermits and giving them instructions.