AN

So you know how I said that I had a surprise for all of you? Well I'm here to tell you what it is: I added numbers to chapters!

... Just kidding. Well, I did, but that's not what the surprise is. You'll just have wait and see, I'm afraid~

So here's a bit of an ironic thing: When I started this series, I hadn't watched Evo. I finished Grian's PV a few weeks ago, and it was really cool. Watchers really do have temples and a Sanctum apparently (accidental win I guess?), but as Grian pointed out, they seem to portray themselves as female angels. Probably the most surprising thing to me though is I found out that Martyn and Netty are married and are currently expecting their second child. I guess I was out of the loop on that one, huh.

~🌤~

"I know this is a lot for your human mind to comprehend. I shall give you some time to process this all. Please do what you feel is best." The Watcher said. The edges of his lips moved upwards ever so slightly for just a fraction of a second. Grian could tell that the male was trying to be friendly in his own way. His voice was as gentle as it always was, and the human knew that the one before him was more understanding than any of the other Watchers. He felt comfortable here with him, and so he smiled. 

His work being finished, the higher species turned around and began to quickly walk away. Grian felt a pang in his chest, an alarm in his head sounding. He made an audible gasp before calling out "Wait!" 

The Watcher obeyed, pausing on his seventh step, although he did not speak. Instead, he waited for the blonde to continue. "What should I call you?" 

It was a stupid question, one that he had already knew the answer to all this time. Yet the Watcher turned around once again. His eyes were covered by the mask he was wearing, but even so his emotions were still easily readable: a shy happiness, as was typical for him. "You can call me Miesall, Xelqua."

~🌤~

"You can take the first slumber this time." The taller Watcher offered once the two were finished with their meal. He walked over to the bed, gesturing over to it.

Xelqua smiled tiredly. The thought of sleeping in an actual bed in an actual house, not just sleeping on the floor of what might as well be a cobblestone coffin, excited him. "Thanks, Miesalt." He replied before he quite literally dove into the bed. The springs bounced him in the air a bit, causing him to giggle. He missed that sensation.

"Hey, do not break it now!" Miesall scolded as the sleepy little Watcher pulled the covers over his body and tried to get a comfortable resting position. He let out a soft chuckle, tiredness evident in his tone.

He still found it strange that he couldn't quite close his eyes. Watchers didn't blink, and so he supposed the next best thing was to look at the darkest spot to lessen his sensory input.

He could hear Miesall pacing around, either wanting to fly or just trying to stay awake. Both were likely choices with him. It had a rhythm to it, and after listening to it for awhile, Xelqua was finally lulled to sleep.

~🌤~

Grian sat up from the ground. He was alone now, the world empty. Surrounding him was the town which was named Evolution. It was smaller and less constructed than he remembered from when he had left it. Only a few simple buildings stood.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Taurtis ran towards Grian, all the others following. "There you are! Dude, we've been looking all over for you!" The man cried as he embraced his friend tightly and pulled him up to his feet.

"Taurtis?" Grian asked, shaking his head. He could tell this wasn't quite right, but in which way he could not dispher for himself at the moment.

"Well, I guess he's just been here napping this whole time." Pearl chuckled. "We thought something might have happened to you or something."

Grian slowly shook his head as he untangled himself from Taurtis. He looked at his friends properly now, and he found that they looked exactly as he remembered them to be. "I... guess so." He said, rubbing his eyes to try to push the weird feeling away, mistaking it for tiredness. It didn't help any.

Moving to the front of the crowd was Netty. She pushed the hood of her animal sweatshirt off, allowing Grian to see her concerned look. "Grian, are you alright? You look a little lost or something..." she began, her voice as soft and gentle as always.

Martyn touched her arm, silently gaining her attention. "It's probably just because he woke up." He suggested before looking over to Grian for confirmation.

"Yeah, that's probably it." Grian agreed, forcing a smile. "It's just, I had this weird feeling was all..." he began. He could very vaguely grasp fragments of memories now — that the Evolutionists were gone, the Watchers took him, he was one of them. Had that been a dream all this time?

"You thought we were dead?" Martyn asked suddenly. In this dreamy world, Grian did not question how the elf knew something that he himself could not quite recall.

"Well, uh, maybe?" He asked, feeling his shoulders raise and his neck shrink. The Evolutionists gave each other worried glances and whispered words he could not comprehend.

"We're not dead!" Taurtis declared, throwing his hands up. "See? We're right here!" He twirled around, showing that indeed every part of him was there, even his backside.

"Aw dear, Grian, you must've had a nightmare!" Netty said at the same time, running to Grian. She brought him into a tight embrace, causing him to immediately melt right into it. Taurtis was quick to join, followed by Martyn who was a bit slower. It wasn't long until all the Evolutionists were all huddled together, Grian in the center of it all. It was such a wonderful feeling being crushed by the ones you love.

"We're all right here." Pearl said after a minute or two. She herself was crushed by Tomahawk and BigB.

"Yeah, we'll always be with you. We only have each other after all." BigB agreed, giving a even tighter squeeze. In the mess of bodies, he wasn't sure if Grian was included in the squeezing of everyone he was hugging, but he was sure that it got passed along if not. Grian wished he could stay here forever, in the warmth of all those he held dear to him. They were together at last, and he was happy that their deaths had all been one bad dream.

He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, he found that he was in a new scene. It was night now, but the Evolutionists had all seemingly decided to brave the night. They all sat in a circle, sitting on the ground or on tree stumps they had placed. In the center of them were four furnaces, each one facing a different way to provide light and heat to everyone. An army of torches surrounded their backs and behind that was a wall to prevent mobs from attacking them.

Grian found himself sitting beside Martyn to his left and Jimmy to his right."—and that's the how I got this scar." Taurtis finished from the other side of the fire. He had lifted up his shirt to show two small incisions that Grian did not recall him having.

"Ew! Put your shirt down, Taurtis!" Salem winced, a half joking tone evident in her voice. She took ahold of his arm and shoved his shirt down for him.  A short chorus of laughter ensued, which Grian joined in on.

There were two people that did not join in on the laughter. One was Taurtis, who playfully took offense to this action, cheeks puffed out as he looked the other way. The other was Martyn, whom Grian found to be staring up into the night sky full of stars.

"See anything interesting up there?" Grian prodded before glancing up at the galaxy as well. He could almost feel people follow his gaze before a few other quiet conversations rose up within the group. He didn't pay any mind to them.

"I was just thinking of the Watchers was all." Martyn shrugged.

Grian frowned as he continued to look up into the sky, as if he could see the Downside Up from here. "The Watchers..." he repeated. They were ever so mysterious, and yet he knew: temple. Robes. Perfection. White. Void. Wings. Miesall. Fate. Punishment. Trial. Teaching. They all flashed in his mind and then vanished as soon as they had come.

Taurtis placed his elbows on his thighs and leaned forwards. "Do you know something about them?" He prompted. Though it was forced, Grian accepted it as well.

Martyn now looked into the fire. Grian knew though he shouldn't have: that gears were spinning in the elf's head, trying to connect the dots that had all fallen apart; his memories. He sat there silently as the few other conversations ceased, curious what it could be. At last, he shook his head. He could never fit the pieces together after all. "I think... I heard stories of them, but I can't remember... not that it matters, anyway." He sighed.

"Weren't they supposed to be like some sort of update gods or something?" BigB asked. He threw his fist into the sky, as if to scold the beings that had trapped them there. Posing as the good guys? How dare they!

Martyn slowly shook his head. "I think... the stories, they were..." he tried to explain something he wasn't even sure of. Black blobs of unknown substance, like a Rorschach test, flashed before Grian. Perhaps it was his understanding of Martyn's thoughts. "I think they were like... a monster story to keep kids in line. Like the boogeyman or Herobrine."

Pearl got up, beginning to let out loud moans. Her flesh turned semi-transparent like a ghost as she reached out her hands out. "Ooooooo.... You better watch out! I am a WaaaAAAAAaaatttcherrrr." She warned.

They all began to laugh at Pearl's antics, a few mimicking her, also becoming transparent.Grian soon found himself joining in, also fading. He couldn't stop laughing, and neither could his friends.It was only when they all began to all fly around that Xelqua was woken up by a tired Miesall. When his sleepy state had waned off enough to differentiate between reality and his dreams, he remembered that his friends were actually dead and it felt like he had lost them all over again. He was thankful for the few hours alone in the quiet early morning, because no one would know all the tears that he had cried. Or so he thought, because lying there awake that whole time was Miesall. 

~🌤~

AN

Okay, okay, I'll actually tell you surprise now. The truth is, I set up a Discord server for TLO! I will put the link in this chapter (I think it will show at the bottom of this chapter?) and will also put it in the comment section. Supposedly, the link will never expire, but if it does, just ask and I'll send it again. 

In the server, you can talk about whatever you'd like. There are channels for TLO, Hermitcraft, and just chatting about whatever. There is also a channel where I'll notify people when a chapter is about to get released. As a bit of a treat, I'll show off some of my (really bad!) sketches of Miesall. 

Really, this is all for a bit of fun. This is something I've half thought of making for a month or two now, but my friend Birdie encouraged me to do it and even helped with a lot of the set up.