Archive of Our Own

One minute you’re working on your magical starter base for season eleven on Hermitcraft, then the next you’re suddenly in a run-down abandoned pizzeria with all your friends一And Grian had a feeling he knew exactly who had brought them here.

You see, he used to be一to put it shortly; a God, a Watcher. But he was never equal with them, they never treated him like one of their own, and he got tired of it. So, he had come up with a plan and escaped, leaving that life far behind him and starting anew on Hermitcraft. But that came at a cost, he had annoyed his former family, and now they have been trying everything to make him pay. Their first attempt were the life games, but that didn’t work一He had found his way around those and twisted it into something of his own, a game safe for him and his trapped friends. Their second attempt had been trying to destroy the previous Hermitcraft world, but they failed to make it past the firewalls that Xisuma had put up, letting Grian evade them once more. And now, their final attempt seemed to be trapping them in an unfamiliar world.

Grian glanced around their surroundings, noting that they were in an arcade area of some destroyed restaurant. The screens were cracked and some were completely destroyed, the neon signs on the walls were missing some letters and some didn’t even light up at all, and he knew that this was no ordinary restaurant. He looked at his fellow hermits and didn’t see anyone that shared the same thoughts as him, they all just looked confused on where they had been taken.

He outstretched his hand slightly and summoned a spare admin console. He poked around for a moment to try to get an idea of where they were taken, but found no information on the world except for its respawn data. He paused once he found it, the world was set to survival but there was something else, something wrong. He opened the code and found that it had been affected by the Watchers magic, they had made it similar to the life game rules一but now they only had one life, and that death would be permanent. If anyone died here, they would never return to any world.

Grians head snapped up from his console and he turned to his friends. Cub was the one who noticed his frazzled expression. “Grian? What's wrong?”

The avian slipped away his console and addressed the group with a slight tremor in his voice, “Something is wrong with this world.”

Xisuma, their admin, stepped forward. “What do you mean?” Xisuma knew he had found something on that console, as he was a highly experienced and smart admin, his knowledge exceeding Grians own by a long shot.

“The world is set to survival, but it's coded to make death permanent.”

“So…it’s a hardcore world?” Cleo, the zombie-hybrid, asked as they glanced at Grian from behind Xisuma.

“That一Thats the weird part, it’s not,” Grian started, pacing as he began to explain. “It’s set as a survival world but if we die here…we will never come back一On any server” Everyone froze at his explanation, staring at him with wide and fearful eyes.

“They’ve bugged the respawn anchor…” Xisuma mumbled, the gravity of their situation finally settling in.

Grian nodded, halting his pacing and turning to Xisuma once more, “There’s one more thing I noticed. The console indicated that there are generators around, they might be able to help us get out of here faster.”

“Did it indicate where they are or do we have to find them ourselves?” Impulse spoke up, moving to stand beside Skizz.

Grian shook his head, “It didn’t, all I know is that there are eight of them. If we split up in groups we can cover ground quicker and find them.”

Impulse crossed his arms across his chest as he thought about the plan, “There’s some risk to that, since we don’t know what’s here, but that's definitely our best shot.” Everyone agreed and they began separating into groups, identifying qualities in each hermit that would help keep each other safe. And once all groups were decided, they all split up.

Grian was grouped up with Scar, Mumbo, Pearl, and Gem and Ren as their fighters. Grian would help of course, his Watcher abilities would be able to come in handy if needed. Mumbo would be their key for repairing the generators, Pearl was an excellent runner, and Scars elf magic would be of great assistance as well.

The group made their way through the place slowly, examining and listening for any kind of danger, Grian had summoned his Eyes but had so far seen nothing. The avian sighed as he put his Eyes away. A hand slipped into his and squeezed it to offer comfort, his gaze slipped up and saw Scar looking at him with reassurance and worry. “You okay?” The elf asked, brushing his thumb against Grians.

Grian gave him a small smile in return, “I’m okay…just frustrated that we’re even here in the first place.”

Scar hummed in response, squeezing the avian's hand once more. “I wonder how long They’ve been planning this.”

“Too long, I'm assuming. They’ve been quiet ever since we stopped them from destroying season ten.”

Scar opened his mouth to respond when he was interrupted by Pearl poking her head out from behind a wall ahead of them. “Hey lovebirds! We found a generator!”

Grian groaned at the nickname before picking up his pace, pulling Scar along with him. They rounded the corner and found everyone huddled around the generator, Mumbo had already started working on it and Ren and Pearl were standing watch. Gem was trying to help but was not doing so great, but Mumbo was powering through it with ease.

Grian pulled out his communicator to tell the others that they had found one generator and to ask if anyone else had the same luck as them, but when he attempted to do so. He found that communication was unavailable. His brow furrowed in confusion and he spoke up, “Guys, we can’t communicate with the others.”

Gem lifted her head from the generators and looked at him confused, “What do you mean?”

“The chat doesn’t exist.”

The deer hybrid's eyebrows pinched together as she pulled out her communicator to see what he was referring to. He was right, there was no chat, no way to communicate. Another thing to add to the list of mysteries.

“So…we’re trapped in some weird restaurant and we have zero way to keep in contact with the others. Great! That’s just great” Gem said sarcastically, waving her hands around in an annoyed gesture before returning to the task at hand.

Mumbo poked his head up for a quick moment to analyze the group before speaking up, “I’m sure we’ll manage to find a way, and if we don’t…then I’m sure everything will be totally one hundred percent fine..!” His expression became more frazzled as he spoke and his voice became more high pitched and frantic. At his not-so-reassuring words, the group just deadpanned stared at him, making the moustached man duck his head down and continuing to work on the generator.

Ren, who was leaning against the nearby wall, sighed and fiddled with his axe, “Luckily it seems like we’re the only people here.”

“For good reason I’m guessing.” Scar mumbled

Grian turned to him with a confused expression, silently asking him to elaborate.

“Did…none of you guys notice?” The vex glanced around at the group with a confused expression. 

“Notice what?” Gem asked, tilting her head up just enough to see Scar but continue to work.

“There’s blood everywhere…”

Mumbo and Gem halted their work once more and glanced around, Grian, Ren and Pearl doing the same. Scar was correct, there was blood on the floor and walls, a message written in blood, and not only that一machines with crushing warnings written on them.

“What kind of restaurant has crushing machines in it?” Ren muttered to himself, taking a small step towards the machines, it was clear that he was hesitant in case they were still active. 

Pearl shuddered as she looked at the sloppily cleaned splatters of blood that lined the machines. She tore her gaze away and addressed the group, “Let’s just get this generator done so we can get out of here quickly.”

“Well I’ve been trying to do just that but someone keeps messing me up!” Mumbo said exasperatedly, waving a hand at Gem and shooting her a quick glare with no actual bite to it. 

Gem raised her hands defensively and glared back, “Well sorry for trying! This thing is like nothing I’ve ever seen!”

Mumbo sighed and resumed his work, “I don’t understand how, it’s quite simple actually一”

“Mumbo!” The group exclaimed, the vampire jumped at the sudden noise and shrunk back down to his work.

Grian chuckled and sighed, leaning against the wooden palette next to him with crossed arms. Pearl was right though, they did need to finish that generator. His communicator had told him that there were eight generators scattered across the place, they had split up into five groups, and they were the largest one, so if every group had already found a generator then they’d be done with at least five by now. He summoned his console once more to see how many were completed, three out of eight with it ticking up to four as Mumbo and Gem stood up and the generator roared to life.

“Four left.” Grian informed the rest, de-summoning his console and standing up straight. “Where should we go now?”

“I saw another closed off room nearby, we could head there and see if there’s something worth our time.” Ren proposed, pushing himself up and picking up his axe. The rest of the group agreed and they set off once more. The room that Ren had spotted was only a few steps away and it was not what anyone was expecting. Two holding units sat against the wall, blood pooled at the bottom, biohazard barrels littered across the place, a small desk area surrounded by fencing in the far left corner. 

“Geez…as if this place couldn’t get any creepier.” Gem said as she approached the holding units, chains hung from the ceiling and she almost tripped over a flat cart, cursing and glaring at it like it had offended her entire bloodline.

There was another room connected to this one and Grian slowly approached it, taking a quick glance with his Eyes to spot any form of danger, once again finding none一But he did find another generator. “Hey guys! There’s another generator here!” He called out behind him, hearing the rest of the group follow him. He examined the small space,  guessing that it was a small storage area based on the metal shelves in the middle and the few that had fallen over on the sides.

This time, the ones fixing the generator would be Pearl and Mumbo, with Gem swearing that she might cause it to explode instead of fixing it if she touched another one, and there was little argument from the rest of the group. 

While Mumbo and Pearl worked, the others walked around the area to get a better look of things. Grian walked along the walls of the larger room, spotting small splatters of blood scattered across the tilled pattern. He paused once he had reached the holding units, they looked similar to the one he had been held in while being experimented on by the Watchers. Luckily for him, all attempts at making him subjective had failed, he shuddered at the thought of the possibility of him losing control over his own life.

A gentle weight that had been placed on his shoulder pulled him out of his thoughts, he turned to the presence beside him and saw Scar looking at him with concern. “You okay?”

Grian turned away from him with a stuttered breath, “Yeah…just remembering stuff.”

“The experiments?”

The avian nodded, not trusting his words. Scar was the only person aside from Pearl who knew what he had experienced with the Watchers. Scar wrapped an arm around Grians shoulder and pulled him closer to him, “They won’t get you again, we won’t let them.” The vex muttered, pressing a light kiss to the side of Grians head.

Grian moved to look at Scar, a small, grateful smile on his face. “I know…I guess that just the fact that They’re the reason we’re here made it worse…”

“We’ll get out of here, and once we do, we have an a-may-zing wedding to plan.” Scar exclaimed, an infectious smile on his face, making the same expression appear on Grians face as well.

“Yeah, still need to figure where we want to have it, plus all the food and一”

A creepy, distorted laugh cut him off, making everyone quickly alert. Ren had grabbed his axe and held it in front of himself defensively, Gem doing the same with her sword. Pearl had gotten up and went in front of Mumbo, a dagger appearing in her hand. Grian had his wings flared out and had pushed Scar behind him, his eyes narrowing as his gaze darted around the room.

No one spoke, no one moved. The laugh hadn’t sounded very close to them, but it was good to just be aware. Grian had summoned his Eyes once more and they looked around the area close to them, not spotting anything. He put the Eyes away and his defensive position fell, all the others dropping theirs as well once they spotted him doing so.

“We are definitely not alone here.” Gem said as she sheathed her sword and turned to the others, “Do you think the others know?”

“Not sure. And if they didn’t, I’m sure they do now.” Ren answered, his axe dropping back to his side.

Grian took a look behind him and saw Pearl checking on Mumbo. The moustached man seemed fine, just a little shaken up but now more determined than ever to get the generator finished.

He heard Scar sigh in relief beside him. He turned to his fiance and slipped his hand into his, squeezing it as a silent ask if he was okay. Scar squeezed his hand back and gave him a small, reassuring smile.

The group moved back to the smaller room where Pearl and Mumbo continued to work on the generator. It would be better to stay as close as they could knowing that there was…something…in the restaurant with them.

The two redstonners quickly wrapped up on the generator, standing up once they heard it roar to life. Grian summoned his console once again to check how many were completed. “Six out of eight complete.” He announced, his console vanishing from his hands.

“Should we go find another group?” Pearl asked, “I think it would be better to be in a larger group if there’s some kind of monster here, especially if we can all fight.” She glanced around the group to see if anyone had any argument, but everyone nodded, agreeing to go along with her plan.

They began to make their way through the restaurant slowly, ducking behind corners while one of them took a glance around the next area to give the ‘all clear’ before moving forward. But the further they went, the creepier it got一and they still hadn’t found anyone. The main area of the restaurant was a mess;flipped chairs, destroyed tables and walls, and blood covering the main stage with the words ‘RUN’ written in blood on the wall. It just gave Grian a more unsettled feeling in his chest, the fact that this restaurant that was clearly made for children’s entertainment was in this state and the fact that they hadn’t found any of their friends.

They made their way into the kitchen and ducked behind a corner just in case. Grian sighed and slumped against the wall, watching as Gem did the same thing. “How have we run into nobody?!” She exclaimed in frustration, “The place isn’t even that big!”

“We might all just be going in circles, making us miss each other by just a second.” Ren added, adjusting the strap of his sheath to rest his axe more comfortably against his body.

“I just hope no one has run into that…thing we heard” Mumbo muttered, pressing a hand to his face and rubbing his eyes.

Scar was just about to speak up when Ren suddenly outstretched a hand, signalling for everyone to be quiet. His ears twitched and he moved further into the corner. “I hear it..” He whispered, keeping his hand out and focusing on the sound.

The rest of the group stayed quiet, mainly for Ren but also so they could hear it. For awhile, they heard nothing一 which was expected since their hearing would not be as good as a wolf hybrids一But then they did. There was a metallic clang sound that kept repeating and repeating, like footsteps, and it was getting closer and closer to them. Grian opened one of his Eyes and sent it out, the small purple Eye poked out from out of the corner and surely enough, he saw it. It was a skinny, wired robot with eyes scattered across its body and a clown mask on its face, a party hat sitting at the top of its head. 

It took a quick scan of the room before beginning to leave, deeming that it had seen nothing. But right before it made it to the door, it paused, and it turned around一directly facing the corner they were all hiding in. Grians Eye snapped shut and his expression went horrified. “It knows” He hissed, his hands clenching into fists.

The footsteps returned, but this time, they were headed right towards them. Ren grabbed his axe from his back and prepared himself to strike, hoping to give the group a moment to run away.

The creature got closer, and they all prepared themselves to run. The exact moment the creature had found them, Ren swung, hitting it right in the chest which caused it to stumble backwards from the sheer force of the hit. That was their opportunity, the group ran out of the corner and out of the kitchen, hearing the creature recover from the hit behind them. They ran through the party room and made it back to the room they had first arrived in, but they had no chance to recover as the creature was right behind them. It swung at the first chance it got, narrowly avoiding Grian and Gem, who both had sidestepped the attack. The group had now been split in two, with Grian, Scar and Mumbo on one side, and Pearl, Ren and Gem on the other. They wouldn’t be able to stick together now, and the creature had snapped its head towards Grian. The avian stepped back, and in one swift motion, grabbed both Scar and Mumbo's hand and ran.

Mumbo slipped his hand out once he realized they had to run and practically started sprinting. Scar's hand had stayed in his and Grian found himself slightly pulling him along, but Scar was keeping good pace with him. They weaved through the party room once more and barged into a separate area. The moustached man did a frantic search around the small room they found themselves in and spotted a piece of wood on the floor. He quickly grabbed it and slammed it against the door knob, successfully barricading the door just long enough to buy them time to hide. 

The room they had entered was a small office space, there were little places to hide but there was one spot they could all squeeze into. There was a bang on the door and the wooden slab cracked from the impact. They quickly scrambled into their hiding spot, a dark corner under the large desk, Mumbo moved a large piece of wood to rest at the front, giving them more cover. 

Grian felt an arm move around his waist and pulled him closer till he was pressed up against Scar, he felt the other trembling and leaned back against him, taking his hand and squeezing it. Scars head dropped down to the avian's shoulder and pressed against the side of his neck, trying to regulate his breathing and calm himself down. Grian kept his head pressed against Scars and rubbed his thumb against the scarred skin of his partner's hand. He wanted to tell reassuring words to Scar but couldn’t, he was worried that if he made any noise at all the creature would find them, so he remained quiet and did his best to provide comfort for Scar.

He flinched once he heard the wood keeping the door close snap and the door slamming against the wall, the metallic clang of the creature's footsteps approaching the office. As the creature made its way inside, Mumbo shifted his position to be closer to Grian and Scar as they had been in the very back corner of the desk一 giving him a further distance from the front of the desk.

The creature remained in the room for a few minutes, scanning the area with its eye and moving a few things around. Once it deemed that they had not gone into that room, it left to go check the others.The footsteps got quieter but they were still nearby, so they took no chances at leaving the area.

Grian shifted from his position to wrap an arm around Scar and place a hand in his hair, the vex was more calm than he was before but Grian could tell that there was some lingering anxiety, “We’re safe, it's gone.” Grian muttered, pressing a light kiss to Scars hair.

Scars face remained smushed at his neck for a few more moments before he pulled back to look at Grian, seeing the concern in his fiance's expression, “You alright?” Grian asked quietly, receiving a small nod in response. The avian turned to Mumbo to see how he was doing as well, “You okay too, Mumbo?”

“Im okay.” The vampire answered as lowly as he could, “How long should we stay here?”

“I think ‘till we can’t hear it at all. I can still hear its footsteps.” Grian whispered, running his fingers through Scar's hair, noting that Mumbo had nodded in agreement.

They sat under that desk for a while as the creature surveyed the area around them, with Grian continuing to comfort Scar and Mumbo fidgeting beside him. Finally, the footsteps had gone away, and they could exit their hiding spot. Mumbo pushed aside the piece of wood and crawled out from under the desk, stretching his muscles from the uncomfortable position they were in; Grian and Scar doing the same thing.

“Now what?” Scar asked from beside Grian, gripping his partner's hand tightly.

“We try to regroup with the others, it’s riskier now that we’re a smaller group.” Grian stated, “I saw where they headed when we got separated, we can head there and try and find them.”

Grian approached the broken door and peeked his head outside, scanning for the creature in case it hadn’t left. Once he deduced that it was gone, he signalled for the other two to follow him , making his way through the hallway. They walked through the office area and kept their eyes open for Ren, Gem and Pearl or any other hermit.

Once more, they found nobody, and Grian was starting to believe that everyone was just running in circles. The facility in no way was a small place, but the chances of them running into nobody was so unlikely he was cursing the odds.

They ended up back at the spot they had found their first generator and Grian fell back against the wall with a sigh of frustration. “How in the void have we not run into anyone?!” He exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air before burying his hands in his face.

Mumbo stood next to him with his back pressed to the wall and one leg propped up against it. “The odds are not in our favour” He muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.

“What do we do?” Scar asked from across them, “None of us have weapons and I don’t know how effective my elf magic is against it, nor do we know if Grians Watcher powers can affect since they’re the reason we’re even here.” Worry was seeping into his voice as he continued to describe their dilemma.

Grian dragged his hands down his face and crossed his arms over his chest, mirroring Mumbo. “My magic might affect it, since they did accidentally make me more powerful than intended, but don’t hold me to that.” He mumbled, his shoulders slumping in exhaustion. His eyes darted up for a moment to see Scar looking at him with sympathy and concern, knowing exactly what he meant. The experiments he had been placed under were hell一 but he didn’t mind its little side effect of making him more powerful, which allowed him to escape and start anew. But he was only more powerful than your average Watcher, a large group could easily overpower him, and he knew that it was not one Watcher that created this world一Meaning that creature could be coded to withstand his abilities. His fists clenched at the thought of being useless, something that could get in the way.

“The server console can’t give us any  information on where the others are?” Mumbo asked, turning his head to Grian, who shook his head in response.

“They corrupted our communicators, which disabled the locators. And we can’t split up without risking one of us dying.”

“Great…just great.” Scar muttered to himself, “I just want to go home…I miss Jellie."

Grians face softened and his shoulders slumped slightly, “I’m sure she misses you, same thing with Pearl and Maui. Although they’ve probably destroyed my starter base by this point.” He laughed hollowly, trying to bring a bit of lightheartedness to their situation, and found himself slightly successful as he noted the small smile that creeped up on Scar’s lips and the slight shuffle of Mumbo's shoulders. “We’ll get out of here…I promise.”

They stayed in that area for a while in case any members of their group came back to check the area, but no one showed, and they were all starting to lose hope. Maybe they’d be able to hide out in this room until an exit or any way out opened, it did seem like a pretty safe area.

But they quickly learned that it was in fact, not, a safe area.

Grian spotted movement in the corner of his eye and stood up from his position against the wall, glowing lines of purple that looked like circuitry lined his hands and his wings flared out behind him. Mumbo and Scar had scrambled up from their positions as well the moment Grian had moved, noticing that they were in danger. Grians eyes darted around the room and he listened for any kind of movement. At first, he had heard nor seen nothing, until he heard metal scratching on the floor一too quiet for it to be the creature. He looked down and saw a robotic eye connected to wires squirming its way towards them like a worm, and his defensive position shifted to one of confusion. The eye looked similar to the ones that were on the creatures body, and the wiring looked like its as well一but why would it send on of its eyes?

Grian froze, the eye could be some kind of scout for the creature and it might be coming for them. The glow on his right hand grew brighter and he launched a bolt of magic at the worm-like eye, watching as it exploded in front of him. “We need to go.” He declared, turning slightly to look back at the other two. Scar had called on his own magic as well, evident by the small glow in his eyes and fingertips. 

“What was it?” Mumbo asked, his vampiric claws retreating back into his skin.

“I don’t know, but it might be a scout, so we need to move before一”

Too late. They heard the heavy metallic footsteps of the creature approaching them, and they were backed into a corner.

“Shit” Grian cursed under his breath, the magic returning to his hands as he resumed his defensive position.

The door swung upon and the creature slowly made its way towards them, and Grians mind was running a million miles an hour trying to come up with a solution. They didn’t have many options– either run, have someone stay back, or stay and just die. His hands clenched together as he made his decision on what to do, and he knew the other two were not going to like it. He took a deep breath and raised his hands in front of him, “I’ll distract it, you two need to run”

“What?!”

“Grian, you can’t be serious! That thing will kill you!” Scar exclaimed with panic in his voice.

“You need to trust me, okay? I’ll be fine.” He assured, turning his head just enough to look at them with determination in his gaze. It was clear that he wasn’t going to listen to arguments, and Scars worry took over once he realized that.

“Grian please, we can all get out of here without you distracting it.” He pleaded, placing a hand on Grians shoulder and squeezing it, looking at his fiance with wide, worried eyes.

Grians expression softened but his stance did not change, nor did his reasoning. “We can’t do that, Scar, you two need to go.”

The creature swung at them, and Grians arms raised in front of him as he summoned a protective shield just large enough to block the hit, but he kept it up to keep the creature in place一visibly straining under the weight of the creature. “GO!” He shouted at the other two, watching as they hesitated for a moment but then started to move, running past Grian and ducking under the creature's arms. Its head snapped towards the two and looked like it was going to go after them instead, but Grian shoved it back with his magic to keep its attention on him.

“I'm right here, wire-face, no need to chase them.” He taunted, watching as the creature recovered from being pushed. It moved snappily and angrily, upset by the avian's taunts. It swung at him once more and he blocked it again, but stumbled backwards as his shield broke under the weight, pushing him closer to the wall. If he got cornered, he would die.

He charged up a punch and hit the creature square in the chest, sending it backwards into the other wall. He took that as his chance to get out, running out of the room and looking around for Mumbo and Scar, but he did not see them. He cursed under his breath and heard the creature begin chasing him.

He dodged another strike and sprinted down the hallway, slamming through the double doors at the end, winding up in the second room their group had made it to. He scanned the room to see if there was anything that could help him, but ran out of time as the creature slammed its way through the doors behind him, breaking them immediately.

He narrowly avoided one of the doors as it hurdled towards him一 too close for comfort, and began to run again. There was a stairway to a stage on the other side of the room and he bolted towards it, running up the few steps and onto the small, bloodied stage,  finding himself inside the main restaurant of the pizzeria. He hopped off the stage and ran past the tables, aiming to head towards the arcade room, but had to skid to a halt when he spotted one of the worm creatures blocking that area. He eyed the creature for a moment, and decided that it was probably no harm at all and moved to run past it, but he flinched backwards when it suddenly bared sharp teeth at him. Okay, so the weird worm thingies fight back, great. He thought to himself, realizing that he couldn’t get to the arcade room. He turned around and found the creature just a few steps behind him, and it swung to attack him once more. He ducked under the attack and ran underneath it, jumping over tables and a small brick wall.

He spotted the kitchen and ran towards the entrance door. He swung the door open and slammed it behind him, putting all his weight to keep the door shut. He felt the creature bang against the door and knew that he wouldn’t be able to withstand another hit, so he released his hold on the door and swung a quick kick at the creature, stunning it just enough to allow him to run out of the kitchen. His eyes darted around, trying to decide where to go now, but the decision was made for him when he spotted another one of the eye things to his left, making him run back to the main room with the creature hot on his tail.

He once again jumped over the tables and ran right back to the room he had been in just moments before. This thing was just making him go in circles and he didn’t know how long he could keep it up, since he couldn’t even catch a break with it managing to stay just a few steps behind him. He ran through the room and went to the small area where they had found their second generator, and he ducked into the small conveniently placed indent in the wall, pressing himself against it to keep himself as far into the shadows as he could.

His quick thinking allowed himself to catch his breath, but he doubted that it wouldn’t be able to find him. But if he could just take a break for even a moment, it would give him more of a chance to live.

He heard the metallic clank of its footsteps and sighed, summoning one of his Eyes to see how close it was. It was just at the entrance of the small room and he knew that was his chance. He closed his Eye and ran out from the corner, getting the creature's attention on him as it began to run towards him. He dodged past it as he ran through a gap between the metal shelves, opening up the exit to the area.

He couldn’t go back to the main area since all the connecting rooms had those eye things blocking them, so he had to settle for the area he had been in with Mumbo and Scar. He ran through the room and over the broken pieces of the doors and made it back to the hallway. If he just managed to trick it by looping around the many rooms of the area he might shake it off his trail, letting him regroup with Scar and Mumbo.

If only he knew that the creature could extend its arms.

He found that out too late as he felt its cold metal wires wrap around his arms and torso, sharply scratching against his flesh and tearing it, halting him in place. His mind went blank, he had planned everything out so well, he would have dodged all its moves, would have confused it and made it back to Mumbo and Scar一Scar. He had promised him that he would be alright, that they’d all get out, that they’d finally get to finish planning out their wedding— but he had broken his promise.

The last thing he felt was the wires pulling him back and hearing himself scream.

一一一一一 

Scar and Mumbo had managed to find the rest of the hermits. As it turns out, they were the last group to make it. They had been hiding out in a garage area that had been hidden by a broken door, which seemed to have been pried open by someone with an axe.

“There you guys are!” Xisuma sighed in relief upon seeing them, “We were worried that it had gotten you…guys..” The voidwalker trailed off once he realized it was just Mumbo and Scar. “Where’s Grian?”

Scar leaned against the wall to catch his breath, his legs aching from running. “We…got separated.” He answered, “Well, I guess the better way to put it is that Grian distracted the thing to let us get away.”

“And you haven’t run into him since?” Xisuma asked.

Scar shook his head as the simmering worry in his heart grew. He hoped that Grian had found somewhere to hide and that he was safe.

“We could send out a group to go look for him.” Doc piped up from beside Xisuma. “He’s at risk from just being alone.”

Xisuma crossed his arms over his chest and sighed, his expression barely visible due to his helmet, but it was very clear that he was thinking. “We can send out Gem, Ren, and Cub to go look for him. Since Gem and Ren can fight it off and Cub can patch Grian up if needed.” He turned to the three he suggested, seeing if they agreed. Gem and Ren didn’t hesitate to agree, Cub was a bit hesitant but nodded his head in agreement, his hand gripping his medical kit on his side.

As Xisuma was about to give directions to the three, they heard a noise and he whipped around, all the others doing the same. The door to the garage groaned as it was opened and something stepped inside. Ren and Gem immediately grabbed out their weapons and stood in front of the group, False and Pearl doing the same.

A shadowed figure slowly made its way towards them, it seemed to be limping and clutching its side. As it made its way forward, the light began to illuminate its features. It was Grian, there was a gash on his leg and blood trailing down his wing.

“Oh, I suppose we don’t need to do that then.” Xisuma said, watching as the four fighters in front of the group dropped their stances. “You had us worried, Grian.”

The avian didn’t respond, he just continued to walk towards them slowly一almost mechanically.

“Are you alright?” Xisuma asked, noticing his limp.

Grian slowed slightly, realizing they were speaking to him, “Yes, just a little injured” He rasped, his face contorting as he spoke.

“Did you get rid of it?” Ren asked, placing his axe back in its holster.

“Get rid…of what?” Grians voice faltered, almost sounding like a glitch.

“The creature…Y’know, the one made entirely from wires and has been trying to kill us?” The wolf reminded him, his hand gesturing wildly, “Did you hit your head fighting it?”

Grian remained quiet, his expression unchanging. “Oh, right, that thing. I did not get rid of it, but I did lose it.” He said, his eyes darting around the group as if he was taking a headcount.

Scar stared from behind Xisuma with confusion in his eyes, he wasn’t sure if the experience had shaken Grian, but he wasn’t exactly behaving how he normally did, he wasn’t talking how he normally did.

“Do you know where?” Xisuma asked, his arms crossing on his chest.

The avian shook his head slowly, his eyes unblinking as his gaze remained on the group. “Last time I saw it, I was in the main area.”

Xisuma stood there pondering, if he had only just escaped and last encountered it in the main party room, then it would probably be close by, meaning they had to work quickly if they wanted to get out alive. “It must be close or at least using its little eye creatures to find us. Meaning we have to work quickly to get that exit open,” He explained, gesturing to the massive door behind them.

Grian stared at the group with intention in his gaze, he didn’t respond to Xisuma's instructions but had begun to move towards the group once more. 

Scars brows furrowed as he eyed Grian, his mind racing as he analyzed his movements and actions from the last few minutes, he wasn’t behaving like the Grian he knew. His movements were sporadic, unnatural一Like a puppet controlled by strings, his eyes had been blank and devoid of any emotion, his voice and way of speaking were unlike him一too formal and his tone was flat. And even though he was seriously injured, there wasn’t even an indication of pain on his face, but there was a determination to get closer to the group, and Scar had a bad feeling about this. They didn’t know the nature of the creature aside from its determination to kill them, they didn’t know all its abilities and capabilities. Was it magical? Could it have placed some kind of trance on the avian? Had the Watchers done something to him? All of Scars thoughts pinpointed on one final answer, and he didn’t like it.

“X..” He muttered to the admin, Xisuma turned to him in acknowledgement. “That's not Grian..”

Xisuma looked at him in confusion. Scar knew Grian better than anyone一aside from maybe Pearl一 but even so, how could it not be Grian? He turned back to the avian and scanned his movement, noting that his walk was jagged and stiff, like it wasn’t his own body. But how was that possible?

“Are you sure? How could it not be一”

Grian stopped moving, as if realizing he had been caught. But that only made Xisuma more confused, what did he do to cause such a reaction?

Grian suddenly dropped to his knees, his hands darting out to stabilize himself. He coughed, blood splattering out of his mouth and onto the floor. The others froze as they watched, something was definitely wrong. A choking sound crawled out of his throat as he gagged and his body convulsed. More blood came out of his mouth as he continued to choke and cough, but it all suddenly stopped. Scar took a hesitant step forward with the intention to check on Grian, figure out what was wrong with him. Protect him. But the peace only lasted for a moment, and the gagging returned. ‘Grians’ body lurched forward as wires hurled out of his mouth, limply falling forward and remained motionless on the ground.

The hermits watched in horror as the wires began to reform themselves into the creature. It was unbelievable to them, just moments ago it had been controlling一no, wearing their friends flesh and pretending it was him. But it was a poor imitation of who Grian truly was. Now, it stood in front of them with blood covering its body, its mask turned into a thing of horror.

Out of all of them, Scar was the most affected, standing frozen as he stared at the lifeless corpse of his fiance on the ground, nausea creeping in as he eyed the puddle of blood on the floor. Ren, Pearl, Gem and False all raised their weapons to defend the others as the creature made its way towards them slowly. “X get that exit open..!” Ren shouted as he blocked an attack from the creature.

Xisuma made his way through the group and towards the large doors at the back of the garage, summoning an admin console and began typing as quickly as he could. The rest of the hermits had backed up to give the fighters some room and avoid being hit by them and the creature一but Scar remained frozen. His heart was pounding and his breathing was ragged and harsh, his eyes refusing to budge from Grians body. His vision was blurry as tears began to form, reality crashing down on him.

He felt hands on his arms and was pulled back to the rest of the group, further away from Grian. But he didn’t fight it, too engulfed in his grief to resist it. He realized that the person who had grabbed him was Cub, and he was trying to talk to Scar, but the ringing in his ears was too loud and he couldn’t make out a word he was saying.

The loud noise of the metal doors slowly sliding open broke him out of his trance, Xisuma had successfully gotten the exit opened. And instead of the outdoors, a bright light stood before them一a portal, their way out.

The hermits began to pile at the exit, making sure with Xisuma that it was safe before making their way through. Now, the only people remaining were Xisuma, Scar, Cub, Gem, Pearl, False, and Ren. and Cub was trying to pull Scar back towards the exit so they could leave, but Scar refused to move, his gaze still locked onto Grian. “I'm not leaving him..” He wheezed, his voice was hoarse and he pulled away from Cub harsher than he wanted to.

“Scar, we need to go! The portal won’t stay open for long!” Cub yelled, trying to reason with his half-brother, he wasn’t about to lose someone else.

“I’m not leaving him here! This can’t be his final resting place.” Scar yelled back, his eyes wide and tearful as he snapped his gaze to Cub. Cub flinched at his reaction and stepped back.

“You’ll get yourself killed if you try to get him, Scar.” Xisuma called out, siding with Cub in their argument.

“He won’t if I protect him.”

All their heads turned to Ren, who had stepped away from the rest of the fighters to stand next to Scar, his axe ready next to him, “I agree with Scar, this isn’t a place that should be anyone’s final resting place.”

“Thank you..” Scar muttered, turning to Ren with a gaze of pure thankfulness. Ren nodded back and turned to approach the creature.

“Gem! Get the others and head through the portal!” Ren yelled to the redhead, she whipped her head around to face them with her brows furrowed.

“What about you guys?” She asked, grunting as she parried another strike from the creature.

“We’ll be okay, we’ll follow after.”

She hesitated, her sword remaining raised in front of her. She glanced between Scar, False and Pearl, the creature, and Grian, and she realized why they were staying behind. Her defensive stance dropped and she called out to the other two, signalling for them to fall back. False and Pearl shared a look of hesitance as well but listened, dropping their stance and running towards the exit.

Ren stood in front of Scar as they began to walk forwards towards the creature, towards Grian. Its attention immediately shifted to them and it jumped to strike, but Ren easily deflected it with his axe. “Go!” He called out to the elf. His block had opened the perfect window for Scar, allowing him to run past the creature and make it to Grian.

He kneeled next to his fiance and gently rolled him over so he could easily pick him up, but his heart stabbed with pain as he saw him. Grians eyes were half-open and lifeless, blood covering his iconic red sweater and trailing down from his mouth to his neck一it was a sight that would haunt Scar for the rest of his life. But he pushed down his pain for now and shifted Grian so he could pick him up, his arms sliding under the avian's neck and legs, carrying him bridal style. 

He turned back to Ren to see him parrying another attack from the creature. Ren had glanced towards him and saw that he had successfully grabbed Grian. He moved his position to be in front of Scar since he was more vulnerable. “I’m going to strike it again, once I do, we run, okay?” Ren muttered to Scar, watching as the elf nodded in agreement.

The creature jerked towards them, the wires of its arm twisting to form a fist, poising to strike. Ren gripped his axe tight, his knuckles turning white, and raised it in front of himself. It swung at them, metal meeting steel as sparks flew off Ren axe, he blocked the hit then swung at the creature, doing damage to its torso and yelling back at Scar, “Now!”

One cue, Scar ran past them with Grian held tightly in his arms. The creature's gaze snapped towards him, it had fallen to the floor from Ren's strike and its mechanical mask was opening and closing as it watched Scar and Ren run towards the exit. Its body twisted and turned as it attempted to stand up, but to no avail, it remained on the floor. Its mask opened once more and an ear-piercing screech rang through the room, causing Scar and Ren to stumble as the wolf-hybrid clutched his ears. Ren turned back to the creature with a pain filled expression, it was angry as it writhed on the floor, attempting to crawl its way to them. A grin broke out on his face as he turned his back to the creature and sprinted to the exit alongside Scar, successfully making it through with everyone else, leaving the creature in the abandoned pizzeria, letting it burn as its sparks caught the oil littered across the garage on fire.

Scar winced as he exited the portal, the harsh light of the sun glaring down on him. They did it, they made it out, they made it home.

It was a small thing to celebrate, but he knew that he would be spending his time grieving instead as he looked down at the limp body of his fiance in his arms. If he had just managed to convince Grian to go with them, maybe he’d still be alive, and now he was filled with more questions than answers. How had it killed him? How had it entered his body and pretended to be him? What was left of him? Luckily, he’d get some of his questions answered as Doc and Xisuma approached him. “Scar, Doc has offered to perform a body scan to figure out what happened to Grian. But, only if you want to know..” Xisuma offered, placing a comforting hand on Scar’s shoulder as he looked down at the body of his friend. Scars gaze dropped back down to Grian, his eyes locking onto his fiance's half-opened ones. Tears swam in his eyes and he nodded, not trusting his words. Doc extended his arms to take Grian from Scar and the elf took a step forward, handing Grian to him.

He watched as Doc began to walk away with Grian and the pain in his heart surged. He needed to go home, needed to be alone. He took a shaky breath and turned towards the direction of their shared home, but stopped when he felt a hand return to his shoulder, “Scar,” Xisuma said beside him, “If you need anything, just let me know.”

Scar looked at Xisuma for a moment and nodded. The voidwalkers hand fell from his shoulder and he began his walk home, his breathing becoming more ragged and his vision becoming blurry. It wasn’t a very long walk from where they emerged to his home, and the next thing he knew, he was at his doorstep. His hand rested on the doorknob as he hesitated to enter, knowing that there was a flood of memories inside. Their house had been decorated with things from previous seasons, gifts to each other, and photos everywhere. He sighed and pushed open the door, he was immediately greeted by three cats sprinting towards him and circling his legs. A sad smile tugged at his face as he crouched down to pet his furry friends.

He stayed with the cats for a few minutes before standing up once more and walking further into the house, memories surrounding him, sending pangs of grief at his heart with every photograph. But he strolled right past them and headed straight to the bathroom, his hands were coated in Grians blood and he wanted it off. He turned on the sink and began rubbing his hands with the soap, and by now, the blood had dried and it wasn’t coming off as easily as he would have hoped. The tears that had been burning his eyes slowly fell down his face as he scrubbed the blood of his fiance off his hands, but it wouldn’t come off. He slammed his hands down on the edge of the sink in frustration, his head falling down as he sobbed.

He cursed the Watchers, cursed any being that had been the cause of this, the reason he would never get to marry the love of his life. 

He remained slumped over the sink for a few minutes before standing up with a wince, his back aching in pain from his position. He stared at his bloodied hands with a blank expression and turned the water back on and continued to scrub, his skin turning red from him scratching harder than he should.

It took a while to get most of the blood out, there was probably a better method to do so but he didn’t have the energy to care. Now only small bits of blood remained but his back and legs hurt, so he turned off the water and dried his hands before making his way to their bedroom. He collapsed down onto Grians side of the bed and buried his head in the soft pillow, breathing in the already fading scent of his fiance. He didn’t even have the energy to cry, he just laid there unmoving before he inevitably closed his eyes and fell into a fitful sleep.

一一一一一

Scar stood in his kitchen, leaning against one of the counters grasping a large cup of coffee, something he deemed was necessary due to the dark circles under his eyes. He didn’t bother making himself breakfast as it took too much energy to do so, so his coffee would do.

As he sipped the warm beverage, he heard a knock on his door and he sighed, placing his cup down on the counter beside him and walked to the door. He opened the door and there stood Xisuma and Doc, and he knew what that meant. “You completed the body scan..” He muttered, his voice hoarse from exhaustion.

Doc nodded, “We can head back to my base and I can show you everything. But only if you want to.”

Scar stood still for a moment, his gaze fixated on the ground as he thought about what he wanted. Eventually, his shoulders slumped and he nodded, “I want to know.”

Xisuma and Doc shared a quick look before Xisuma pulled out his admin console and the next thing Scar knew, they were a sub section inside Doc's base, and Grians body lay on a table across the room. He stared at it for a few moments with painful eyes. He felt the gaze of Xisuma and Doc as he approached the body, his hand reaching out to brush a few hairs that were on his lover's forehead. “What happened to him?” He asked, turning back to the other two.

Doc sighed, sitting down on one of the many chairs of the room. “Based on the body scan, it seems like the creature took out all of his internal organs, which then allowed it to enter his body and take control of it..” 

“So…we had zero chance at saving him..” Scar mumbled, mainly to himself but knew the other two could hear him.

“Basically…We could have if he had managed to stay with you guys, but I understand why he separated from you.”

Scar turned back to his fiance, reaching a hand out to wrap it around his and grasping it tightly. “He didn’t deserve it..” He whispered, his eyes locked onto Grians face. On the other end of the room, Xisuma and Doc remained quiet and shared a look between each other. They didn’t know how they could help Scar, but knew he at least needed space.

“Im going to take him back to our server.” Scar suddenly said, causing Xisuma’s gaze to snap to him.

“What? Why not bury him here?”

Scar turned to them once more, his hand still around Grians. “We server hop every year and a half or so… if I bury him here it won’t be permanent, and I’d have to rebuild his memorial every new season. But if I brought him to our server, our home, I wouldn’t have to.”

Xisuma stayed quiet, unable to counter-argue to that. He had a point, they’d just end up rebuilding Grians grave over and over again, and that’s something no one should have to do.

“I’d take him to the spot we got engaged… I know he’d like it there…” The elf muttered as he turned back to Grian.

Xisuma sighed, sliding a hand down his helmut. “Do you need anything?”

“What?”

“To bury him. Do you need anything specific, like a bag or something to put him in..” Xisuma offered as he walked towards Scar to stand beside him.

“I…” Scar’s eyes darted between Xisuma and Grian “I don’t, but…thank you for offering.”

The voidwalker nodded, placing a hand on the elf’s shoulder. “Anytime. And if you ever need anything else, don’t hesitate to ask anyone, we’re here for you.”

Scar nodded as tears welled in his eyes at his friend’s words, taking a deep breath and returning his focus to Grian. “I..I should get him home.” He shifted his position and slid an arm under Grians neck and knees, gently picking him up bridal style.

Xisuma took a step back and opened his admin console, “I’ll open up the portal to your world.” He said, typing a few things into the small screen quickly. A bright purple portal appeared in front of them and the voidwalker turned back to Scar.  “I’m assuming we won’t see you for a while..”

Scar nodded, taking a step towards the portal. “I..need some time alone. And I think I know exactly how I'm going to spend it.”

“Well,” The voidwalker stepped fully away from the portal and gave Scar a nod. “I wish you the best, and hope to see you better..”

“I do as well,” Doc piped up from behind them, “Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need it.”

“Thanks..” Scar smiled, more tears welling into his eyes. He took a deep, shaky breath and stepped inside the portal, back to his home.

He entered the world outside their house, and nothing seemed to have happened to it in their absence. He glanced down at Grians body and got to work, carrying him to the very spot he had proposed to him. It was a cliff area just nearby with a great view for watching sunsets and having picnics, the very way Scar had prepared their perfect evening. 

He reached the top of the cliff and gently rested Grian down on the bench that he had built, floral patterns decorating the backrest, ones that Grian had carved himself一he had even added their initials in the centre.

Scar pulled out a shovel from his inventory and began to dig at the very spot he had proposed. It didn’t take very long due to his strength and efficiency shovel, and now he was staring at the barren ground, the place he was about to put his lover to rest. He turned back to Grian and his heart ached. He looked peaceful, more peaceful than he had in a while. There was no weight of the threat of the Watchers on his shoulders, no responsibilities to worry about, no build to stress about, just..pure peace.

He slowly approached the avian and leaned down, placing a hand on his cheek and pressing one final kiss to his forehead before gently picking him up for the last time. He carried him to the dug out land and carefully lowered him down, gently resting him against the dirt and positioning him comfortably.

Scar sat there for a while, just staring at him. His heart ached at the thought of covering him with the dirt, knowing that it would make it final, make it real. But he knew he couldn’t just keep him like this, he deserved peace.

He stood up, ignoring the ache in his legs as he grabbed his shovel once more and began piling the dirt back into the hole, covering Grian it. After a few minutes, he was fully covered, with almost no trace that there was a grave here. He placed a few blocks of stone down with the intention of chiseling it into something beautiful later, but for now, Grians name would do. 

While they may not have gotten to have their wedding, a sense of peace was brought to Scar as he knew that for the first time in Grians life, he was truly free from its horrors一from the Watchers, even if the cost was death. The elf wondered if he had any regrets, what his final moments were. He hoped it was painless, but he knew that was not true. 

He glanced out at the view in front of him, a bittersweet smile appearing on his face. A sunset mirroring the one on the evening they got engaged painted the sky; violets, pinks and oranges mixing together to create a stunning view, one Scar imagined he would paint with Grian in the centre as his main subject. He always brought up wanting to paint Grian in a sunset whenever they went out, but he never got around to it, but he promised that he would now. 

The sun set on the cliff once more, the final chapter of Grians story finally reaching to a close, a life of peace waiting for him on the other side. Scar would miss him, of course. But now he lived for him, determined to preserve and honour his memory, and he would spend the rest of his days loving him with no regrets.