Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

For as long as players have existed they have been given the sun and moon to watch over them. The sun gave the joy and chaos of the daytime while the moon was the peace and tranquillity of the night. They have always existed in harmony as far back as players could remember, creating balance throughout the sky and the universe loved them. The allowed its people to thrive, whether those people were ordinary players, hybrids are an amalgamation of the two, the sun and the moon fiercely protected them and were loved by the universe.

However before the existence of players and hybrids, before the universe created servers, worlds and hubs there was the void. The void was home to creatures unfathomable to anyone who had not previously learnt about them. The original beings did not have a name. Some had the ability of sight, able to watch over their peers as they lived and grew. They were nicknamed the watchers. Others could listen and used this to care for others out of their reach. These were called the Listeners. But the universe did not favour either of these powerful beings, they favour those who were considered the lesser of the three original types of beings. They favoured those who did not have a specific talent, The voidwalkers. The listeners were fine with this arrangement, they helped where they could and their species thrived but the watchers grew resentful. They were unable to see why the universe favoured the weakest of their species and so began their hunt. They killed so many of the voidwalkers, ran their species thin to earn the favour of the universe. In one desperate attempt to save her creatures before they ceased to exist the universe created three new realms, the overworld, the nether and the end. The end would hide her walkers, disguised amongst the endless creatures she had created for the other dimensions and she banished her more dangerous creatures to the deep end, being forced to watch her new creations thrive in the land she had created for them. The listeners were placed in a land in between the deep end and the end. The universe still loved her creation but she could see what the watchers turned into and feared that their power would get to her head so instead of banishing them she allowed them to live in a land where they could still provide help to the voidwalkers (and now the players) without getting too envious of the new worlds created.

For years this arrangement wrecked, the watchers were left in the deep end, away from anyone they could cause harm to. The voidwalkers and players lived in harmony, being aided by the listeners when in peril but as it often went, the watchers began to grow restless and unbeknown to any existing players a rift opened between the deep end where the watchers resided and the overworld on one singular server. Evolution SMP.

Chapter Text

Somewhere in the overworld a pair of twins was born. They embodied the nature of the sacred sun and moon. The older, a beautiful baby boy with his dirty blonde hair and bright macaw-like wings, embodied the sun, and would grow to be a bringer of chaos and kindness to everybody who grew to know him. He was blessed by the sun and given the name Grian. The second twin, only a few minutes younger, was the embodiment of the moon. She had darker hair and the wings of the Lunar moth and was destined to bring a sense of peace and tranquility, perfectly counteracting the sun's chaotic nature. She was blessed by the moon and therefore given the name of Pearlescentmoon. Known to many as the children of the stars, these siblings grew alongside each other for seven years until the sun was abandoned in a foreign country called Japan. Here he raised himself and yearned for the comfort of his twin though they still kept in contact.

Years later, after escaping the perma-death server he was stuck on, he created one of the most famous servers to exist in history. And named it Evolution SMP. At only 17 the young admin and many of his friends experienced the creation of minecraft through updates. Once she was of age Grian invited his sister to join and finally the moon and the sun were all together again. For a few weeks everything was fine however before they were meant to make their first jump to another server Martyn pointed out a strange structure that had seemed to appear just outside his base. After looking around for wherever the structure had spawned from, both Grian and Martyn entered to find a collection of signs on the wall where the creator of the shrine introduced themselves as ‘the watchers’. Having not heard of these creatures before, Grian decided to let it be as it caused no harm. As the server progressed through more and more updates, the watchers gradually became more hostile towards players, punishing them for their wrongdoings, covering their chests in obsidian and cutting off their communication with the outside world. It seemed as they got closer to the end update, the watchers' punishments became harsher and harsher. Eventually they became outright hostile and, to keep his server safe, Grian began to fight them off, defending his friends became his main goal and consumed his life. Surely beating the game and slaying the Ender dragon could free them from the watchers' curses. So that is what they did. 

……………………….

With the players

……………………….

Jumping back to the overworld after killing the dragon, the players noticed their admin had not come back. At first they brushed it off with some light hearted jokes.

“Do we really want Grian as a watcher?” said Netty.

“He already had enough power when he was mortal” continued Martyn.

But as the days continued the players believed that their admin had truly fallen to the watchers.

……………………

With Grian

……………………

He hadn’t gone back to the overworld. Why wasn't he back in the overworld? He was still in the end. The familiar feeling of end stone was still there, less cushioned than grass but softer than the stone found in the overworld. He could see a staircase leading up to what looked like a broken nether portal that was somehow lit. a watcher in its purple robes stepped out, larger than any he had encountered  before. 

“What do you want from me?”

He had no reply. The watcher descended down the staircase with such ease and calm that it seemed as if it was floating. Two watchers followed it, their robes dragging on each step as they came closer and closer to the avian. 

“Xelqua” one of them said, the voice booming and echoing impossibly throughout the void.

Grian held his head high, not willing to show even an ounce of fear in front of these beings.

“You have slain many of us. Most do not have the power or courage to even attempt this and for that we respect you. We know your mortal weaknesses and attachments to these players hinder you from reaching your full potential and so we offer you ad deal”

“W-what kind of deal?” Grian asked, his voice beginning to stutter after hearing the mention of his friends.

“You come with us, let us bend, shape and train you to be the perfect watcher and in return you players will get to leave the server safe and unharmed”

“You’ll really let them go if I agree to join you?”

“Yes” they were responding now that he was becoming more compliant.

“Then I'll join, but I want proof that they make it off, I will have to see for myself or we no longer have a deal”

So Grian became a new watcher, the watcher of chaos and lost souls. The watcher Xelqua.

Chapter Text

He had been trapped with them for 8, maybe 9 months already. They had tried to condition him, tried to make him a weapon to kill and destroy servers like they had done to his. When he was not being trained, he was kept in a cage, tortured and made an example to anyone who disobeyed the watchers. He was imprisoned among voidwalkers and other disobedient watchers. He was their first experiment. 

A purple haze clouded his vision. This escape had been planned for months. He had been training his magic and new wings (they were heavier now, harder to control) so that he could make a smooth escape. 

“It's gonna blow” shouted one of the watchers, suddenly aware of what their failed experiment had become.

The room was shrouded in a thick, heavy, purple mist and the beeping of the bomb was loud. They couldn’t disarm it. There were five minutes to leave.

Grian flew. He was chased through the halls of the confinement he was trapped in, taking sharp twist after sharp twist until he was out. In the void he flew towards the end dimension he was taken from, if he could get to the main hub, he would be safe. The watchers couldn’t enter the hub as it was greatly warded against them but Grian was not an ordinary watcher. He was still half mortal, could still present as a player, so as he approached the hub he switched from watcher into a more player-looking form. As he was chased, the watchers continued to aim their magic at him. He was able to dodge for the most part but the shots that hit him were brutal. Soon he was bleeding, clothes torn and wings broken but he had made it through, he had reached the main hub.