Chapter Text
Grian
Grian clocked into his shift at the Permit Office. He'd rather be out fishing, but work hours were work hours.Grian had to review all of the day’s documents before he could get out of there. He felt trapped and alone, sighing as he looked around the very empty, very soulless office.
Grian really hated this job. If he could have left it behind, he would have, but since he helped create these blasted permits, he was stuck enforcing their arbitrary rules. As Grian was sitting, his mind wandered and he wondered if there's something he should know.
He honestly felt as if he was missing something about himself, something that could explain why he always longs to be free, the wings stuck to his back, his lack of memory of anything before this blasted world… There must be something else out there, right? Grian’s friends all talked about the past worlds… but he couldn’t remember any of them, which concerned X.
As for his wings and why they were an anomaly; He couldn’t hide them like everyone else could, and no elytra fit to enhance them. They were always purple, and Grian couldn't change them, even though he always felt like he should have been able to. Among his friends, he felt the odd one out every time they met.
So there Grian was, all alone, with strange thoughts filling up his head. The clock he had insisted on putting in the office chimed, and he looked out the front window to see that the sun was about to set. How long had he been in his own head?
Aside from the fact that Grian got literally no work done, his shift was over. He was so ready to leave, he almost forgot to clock out.
As he was walking home, his darker thoughts persisted. Great, Grian was probably going to have another bout of insomnia tonight. He hadn’t slept well in days.
When a strange symbol appeared in front of him, just kind of floating in the air, Grian almost wrote it off as the sleepless nights catching up to him, a rush of faded memories flooded him as if there really was something that he was missing, some piece of him that had been removed. Fuzzy shapes, distant voices, silhouettes and blurry faces swirled around where the darkness had once resided. Then the symbol vanished, and with it went the memories. Grian shook his head and just kept walking.
The symbol filled his thoughts, causing his expected insomnia, and, as he was fishing, the only activity that calmed his churning mind, he felt as though he was surrounded by watching eyes. Grian had felt that way before, he knew it… He just couldn’t remember when.
The avian stared down at the man before him, this traitor who knelt in the water. Rage filled him at what this man had done. The avian set his gleaming sword against the traitor’s neck, ready to take revenge for an ache that only this man could have inflicted.
The traitor’s scarred face looked so peaceful… Why?! Why couldn’t he look scared, or mad, or at least sorry? This man had the audacity to be at peace while the avian was holding a sword to his neck.
The man opened his mouth, and the avian was so tempted to just kill him before he could speak. Lies and truths mixed in the man’s mouth till no one could untangle one from the other, or themself from his words. The avian let him speak.
“Grian, for all you've done to keep me alive till this point, you can slay me and take the enchanter.” Grian felt his face shift to surprise and freeze there. That’s why he could look so peaceful! Oh, the blasted traitor! Grian looked down at his sword and found he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
“Scar, I can’t… I physically can’t.”
“∴ᒷ ↸ᒷᒲᔑリ↸ ᔑ ⎓╎⊣⍑ℸ ̣”
(we demand a fight)
“𝙹リꖎ|| 𝙹リ ᓵᔑリ ∴╎リ”
(only on can win)
∴ᒷ ∴ᔑリℸ ̣ ||𝙹⚍∷ ʖꖎ𝙹𝙹↸ ̇/ᒷꖎᑑ⚍ᔑ
(we want your blood xelqua)
“リ𝙹 ᒲᒷ∷ᓵ||”
(no mercy)
“ʖᒷ⊣╎リ”
(begin)
“The spectators want a fight…” As Grian said this, he felt himself start to wake up. Right as he realised it was all a dream, the symbol he had seen before appeared and darkness crashed down around him, destroying his dream-world in the blink of an eye.
Grian shot awake, and he realised he’d fallen asleep on his dock. So much for insomnia. All he remembered from his dream was the stupid symbol, which was a shame, since he could swear it was an amazing dream. Oh well, it was time to get back to the Permit Office. His performance had been increasingly bad lately. Oh well, it wasn’t like anyone cared anyway.
Gem
The symbol that Gem had placed didn't work. She couldn't believe it.She’s tried everything she can think of, from mischievous snails, Watching him, even putting one of our symbols literally in front of him. Gem was starting to think nothing would jog his memory. She hadn't wanted to go to such an extreme measure as putting the symbol literally floating in front of him, since it was the most likely thing to get her caught, but she had tried literally everything else.
Gem really didn't want the Others to realise what she was doing. Of course, the fact that she’d been the one volunteering to Watch Hermitcraft should have given it right away. Surprisingly enough, They let Gem Watch. Maybe they figured if she saw the state Grian was in, she'd think twice about trying to leave. Gem had tried it before, with no success.
When she returned to the Watchers’ Hall, she sought out a place where she could be alone. As soon Gem was alone, her frustration boiled over. “Nothing’s working! I’ve tried everything I can think of but it’s all failed.” Gem broke a little after her outburst. “The worst part is that no one has even noticed I'm gone yet…” She had been here since Secret Life, and no one seemed to realise she was gone.
Gem took a deep breath to clear her head and keep from crying. In her time here, she had learned a little about the spells that the Others often used, and one often mentioned in great detail is the one They preferred for stealing memory. If she remembered correctly from the information she had been able to find over the past few months, she had been able to learn that the Others had a few spells They used for tampering with memory, but for something so complicated and vast as what had been done to Grian, only Their Poetry made sense.
When the Watchers use Their Poetry, They can vastly control the mind. It was hard to learn to properly Recite, but when the Poetry was used by a master, They could transform memories into physical scrolls.This kept the one whose memory has been stolen from recovering it without reading the scroll containing their memories, which, of course, were written out as poetry. Gem would have to return the scroll to Grian for him to regain what he’d lost.
There was, of course, one issue. Gem didn't even know where it was hidden. She did know where to start looking. Gem had done most of her research in a part of the Hall known as the Library. She had heard some of the Others talking about a poetry section…
Gem left her secluded corner and made her way to the Library. She was almost certain she could find Grian’s memory there. Gem walked past the section where she had spent hours researching everything she could about the Watchers, trying to escape before finding out the only one who had ever managed it was Grian.
Not too far beyond her research nook, she found a section full of shelves marked with letters in alphabetical order. Beside each letter was a date. She found one marked with a G that was glowing purple. When she touched it, she knew; This was Grian’s.
Gem dashed back to her room, scroll tucked carefully into her robes. All she would have to do now was get Grian to read it. Great! All Gem had to do was get Grian to read something! She might as well try to eat the moon.
She tumbled into bed, hiding the scroll under her pillow. How to get a Hermit to read was a problem for future Gem, right now, she needed to sleep.
A red-haired girl slunk behind the statue, taking cover from the storm that awaited her. Suddenly, a blue haired elf came tearing over the hill in front of her.
“Gem you need to kill me, Gem you need to kill me, Gem you need to kill me-”
“Scott, why do I need to kill you?!”
“I’m on 2 ½ hearts. If they get the ten, it’s over!” Gem felt her heart rip in two.
“That’s a good point…”
“I don’t think I can do this…” Scott took a breath, and tossed her his combat bag. It had everything from end crystals to a powerful bow he had enchanted himself. Gem looked him in the eyes as she lined up her sword. “Go, Gem-” She swung, closing her eyes as she felt her wounds heal and heard the crash of thunder that symbolised death. Gem ran as fast as she could away from the spot, finding high ground to try and face her enemies. Her vision tunneled and the world went grey around her as she fought to survive, not time left to process her ally’s sacrifice.
She blinked and found herself facing a man in a dark cloak. Behind him stood a woman in a familiar shade of red.
“Gem do you wanna sort this out with me right now, or are you going to sort it out with Scar?” At the mention of his name, Scar surged forward, and Gem was locked in a suddenly fierce fight. Without waiting for a response, the woman in red raced forward to aid her ally
“Two vs one?! You guys are gross!” At that moment, Gem knew she was a goner. That didn’t even bother her. What bothered her was the fact that her ally had died in vain.
As Scar’s sword fell, Gem let out a shriek that pierced the very fabric of reality, and even though she didn’t win, the Watchers flooded her, overwhelming her feeble attempts at protest. The last thing she saw was that same glowing, purple symbol that They made sure haunted every Lifer.
Gem opened her eyes to find herself in her room in the Watchers’ Keep. For a moment she thought had been back in Secret Life. Part of her hated that game and the version of her that played it, but part of her, not a small part, missed it. She didn’t miss the fear or the killing, but she did miss her friends.
If Gem had known what waited for her at the end of the series, she would have cherished those moments even more. Now she was starting to doubt whether she’d ever be able to interact with them again.
With thoughts of home filling her head, Gem snatched Grian’s scroll. As she looked at it, hope filled her chest. Grian had once been a Watcher, and he had broken free. If anyone could help Gem escape Them, it would be him. Now she just had to get Grian to read his scroll, and a good place to start would be to Watch him. Funny, as much as Gem hated being a Watcher, she sure did a lot of Watching.
???
The games had been his idea. Now he looked down on them with utter disdain. Maybe it was because They had twisted his original plan to be more entertaining, taking over his world mid-game to implement the change. If They were being honest, They thought he should be thanking Them for the improvement. It was Their gift to him.
He seemed to hate Their changes, and in some convoluted attempt to fix things, he ended up winning his own game, ruining everything.
They couldn’t understand why he would ruined his own game. This being contradicted everything They had thought about the world.
Over the course of four games, They watched him grow slowly more paranoid, more hostile towards Them. When they finally brought him back into Their fold, he was a mess. They assumed it was because he was always meant to watch, so when he joined the next game, They were furious.
When he finally returned to Them, he tried to run. They finally understood the he wasn’t meant for Their life. They released him from Their order, taking his memories since They couldn’t take his magic.
To fill the hole in Their ranks, They chose a ruthless warrior who had proved herself in Their latest game. She was a fiery rebel, but They saw potential in her tendency to watch as things happened instead of immediately engaging or instigating. She had even opened a portal only to convince someone else to go through. She was perfect.