Chapter Text
So he broke free. What a disappointment. We kept that one trapped for a reason, our beloved pet. Our canary. Our canary. Our canary is free. He is trying to win the games. He is not favored. He cannot be allowed to go further. Yes, we let him use his wings because the listeners needed to be punished. Because it tormented them to watch the mortal’s repeated downfall. Because it is feeble minded for Xelqua to think he could protect them. Xelqua. Xelqua. Yes, and it was interesting to watch Xilsees fight back. The first listener. The one who tore Xelqua away from us. They hide our winners from us. They insist on fighting us. They refuse to join us. Now he is free. We cannot allow it. He wants to be a winner, let us show him why the others fear being our champions. Yes. Yes. Yes. Our canary is free. We shall cut his wings. The others are lost to us, disobedient. They have kept him from us. No longer. No longer. No longer. They cannot protect him from our reach. They do not know to hide him from us. They are not aware that he we are watching our pet. Our canary. Our canary. Our canary will join us.
Grian sat in his base, checking his communicator. Wild life had ended, and he had to check that everyone returned safe. He had lost control to them in the first game, and even if the others didn’t blame him for the death games, he felt responsible for it. It was his idea that they corrupted.
He had gotten back second to last, and was messaging Martyn anxiously as they waited for Joel to return.
Martyn: are you back yet?
Martyn: Grian
Martyn: we need to do a player count as soon as your back. Something feels wrong.
Martyn: Grian?!
You: I’m back.
Martyn: oh thank the empires
You: Joel won. Is he on empires? He hasn’t shown up here.
Martyn: yeah, I’m with him now. He’s a little confused but mostly concerned about you. Apparently his little chat with them mentioned you a lot.
You: so he’s joining us?
Martyn: yup, another listener keeping their ears open. He’s out looking for Jimmy, because they mentioned the canary.
You: YOU DIDN'T MENTION THAT BEFORE?!
Martyn: I didn’t want you to panic
Martyn: they’ve never taken any interest in him games or otherwise. Not on Evo, not in the games. He’s barely in them in the first place, this was the first season since he broke the curse.
Martyn: Besides, we need to do a head count ASAP.
You: fine.
You: winner is accounted for, all listeners are accounted for. So we just have to do the players.
Martyn: Check in with your admin and get back to me. Joel is panicking again, I have to go.
Grian felt something uneasy settling in his chest. He wanted to use his eyes to locate everyone quickly, but that would draw their attention.
So instead he ate a carrot and stretched his wings, taking to the skies of Hermitcraft. They were out of practice since the feathers were always clipped at the start of a game. They usually grew back by the finale, but he knew better than to use them in one of the world’s they were in control of. He landed outside Xizuma’s base and waisted no time knocking on the admin’s door.
“Ah, Grian. I saw that you returned. I suppose you're here for the usual headcount?” He nodded and followed the man inside.
“Well so far everyone is back safe, and we are just waiting on Tango.” Grian could feel the panic starting to build. Tango died before him. He should be back by now.
“Tango isn’t back yet?” He had to confirm it. Then he could start panicking. Xizuma nodded. “Well him and Joel, but I assumed Joel would return to Empires before making his way over.” Grian fumbled as his knees buckled from under him. Zuma rushed to help him sit down on on a chair. Sending him a concerned look.
“Goodness. Are you alright Grian?” He shook his head, taking a moment to calm his internal panicking. Last time Scar was trapped for a month before they finally let the man go. Now it was tango.
“X, we have a code purple sunflower.”
“I’ll let empires know,” Grian shook his head. “I’m already on it. Can you double check that no other hermits are missing?” X nodded, dashing away, presumably into his admin coding room.
You: Martyn you were right. We have a purple sunflower on Hermitcraft.
You: they kept Tango.
You: can you let Empires know?
Martyn: Sorry I’m kind of dealing with Joel's situation over here. He’s very upset.
Martyn: WAIT I MISREAD THAT!
Martyn: TANGO IS MISSING TOO?!
You: too???
Martyn: it’s a double purple sunflower. They took Jimmy too
Martyn: I’m so sorry, Grian. I tried to protect him. I swore they wouldn’t touch either of my brothers ever again.
You: no.
Martyn: ???
You: no, we will get him back. Your guilt complex over what happened to me won’t help with that.
You: so stop it before I have a second panic attack over this
Martyn: You're right. They messed with the listeners, and they messed with our baby brother.
Martyn: We're going to slaughter the watchers for this.
Despite reassuring his older brother, Grian felt horrible. The only reason Jimmy, Martyn, the survivors of Evo, and the winners of the games were ever in this mess was because of him. Because he refused to remain a watcher, and everything that came after was his fault for not protecting the others. They held Scar hostage after the last game. Alone in a world where all his friends were dead and gone. They whispered lies to the winner until Scar, his precious Scar, believed that they had all abandoned him there. Now they took Tango, the fiery redstoner, who had kept his brother so happy even in a death game. They took Jimmy, his little brother, and it was all his fault.
“G-“ who knows what they were doing to the soulmates. Were they even alive?
“G-an” he should turn himself over to them. The watchers did always love a good deal. A twist in the game.
“Grian!” The world snapped back into focus. Scar was holding him, his wonderful Scar, telling him to take deep breaths. “You have to breathe Grian,” he had almost lost him to them. His beloved soulmate, his Scar. He found his breathing slowing down to match the Vex, who had started running a hand through Grian’s hair. He let out a chirp in thanks.
“Is he ok mate?” Mumbo asked from somewhere nearby. He had probably come over to ask his dad something. Grian didn’t hear X’s reply, but as his eyes drifted closed, he felt Scar begin to rise, presumably to bring him back to one of their bases.
Mumbo watched them go before turning to his adoptive dad who had started making tea. They always got together for tea regularly lately, but after the server wide message that had popped up into the chat, Mumbo wanted the comfort of his dad’s company even more than the warmth of the tea.
“You confirmed it then. It’s a real double purple sunflower,” it wasn’t really a question, but a statement, an acknowledgement that Mumbo knew what was going on. The code had started when the watchers took Scar, but Mumbo had hoped it wouldn’t have had to be used so soon. He had hoped it wouldn’t be used ever again.
“Yes. Fwhip confirmed it with me, in addition to Tango not returning to us, they are missing Jimmy.” That explained why Grian was taking it so hard. Having been the avian’s best friend since before the disaster that was Evo, he understood how protective Grian was of his brothers. The only reason he tolerated them being on a separate server was because they were together, and Empires had the same level of firewalls as Hermitcraft. Tomorrow, they would gather the hermits and plan a rescue. Right now though, X and Mumbo took in the silence as they sipped their tea, and thought about their missing server member.