A week had passed, and the hermits were all worried. Tensions were high, but they simply went about as normal. They had to keep up the norm. Give no indication of a plan. Still, they worried. Grian had not messaged any of them, not even in the private chats. No portal had opened. No contact of any sort. No way to teleport them without risking falling into the void. Until now.

Now, yet another Watcher stood before them.

"Hello?"

The creature chuckled a bit. Cleo, Doc, and Ren had been mining for diamonds, preparing armour and supplies for the battle ahead. Now, Ren was frantically notifying Xisuma, alerting the admin to the opportunity. His ears were flat against his head, betraying his fear.

"Hello players. I... I thought I would let you know that we found your dear friend conspiring to turn on us! How odd. He was trying to open a portal back here! Foolish, foolish. Nevertheless, I have been tasked with notifying you of this. Do not try to resist. We will return shortly to do away with this troublesome world, it has proven to be too much of a distraction for our dear Xelqua."
Cleo stepped forwards threateningly, her teeth clenched.

"You absolute d*ck!"

Doc glanced at her, a bit surprised.

"He's a hermit, you idiot! What did you do?"

"I think you'll find that he is not a hermit. We had him first, after all."

Before they could protest, it began to turn away, its tail's deep purple feathers sweeping along the cave's floor.

Ren nudged both of them, and whispered, just loud enough to hear.

"Xisuma's on his way, we need to stall!"

Doc spoke up this time.

"Why do you want him anyway?"

It worked. The Watcher turned, a smile playing across what little was visible of its face.

"He is ours. He will pay for his disobedience, yes, but we need him. He is our one and only successful-"

It seemed to remember that there were players listening, suddenly pausing, and turning to leave again.

"Ah, that is information that players such as yourselves should not possess. Farewell."

Doc called out, trying to get it to stop, but the portal snapped closed. Cleo breathed a sigh of relief as she spotted Xisuma around a corner, communicator in hand.

"Please tell me you've got it, cause we need to go get Grian."

Xisuma nodded grimly.

"I'll go round up everyone."

~ ⬩ ∴╎リ⊣ᓭ. ∴╎ℸ ̣⍑ ⬩ ~

Zed, False, and Wels sat in a circle, looking at the chart before them. If they were going to have to fight these things, they were going to need to know everything about them.

She looked at their catalogued list, scratching in more details.

They seem to have abilities that feed off of fear, as Grian's do.

The glowing eye above their heads is how they see.

They all seem to be at least a metre taller than the average person.

Leader is the tallest.

Crystal: flowy clothing, looks like a dress, short tail. Likely the one who blew up Grian's base, seems to enjoy using an explosive similar to a small end crystal with a much bigger explosion.

Chorus: feathers are more of a deep purple then black. Long feathers on wings, tail, and head especially. Wears what seems to be ornate robes, lots of silver thread and designs.

Dust: Has been mentioned to be the youngest, dark greyish feathers. Tail is long, but shortest in height compared to the others. Seems to be angered easily. Basic robes, like Chorus' but less ornate.

Void: Seems to be the leader. Mask is cracked, likely the cause of the glitches in its mannerisms. Pitch black feathers. Seems to be very strong, and can release bolts of black lightning. Probably try to avoid combat as much as possible with this one. Seems to also have the ability to communicate and invade the minds of other Watchers, no one other than Grian have experienced this. Long cloak, folded shirt, baggy pants, unlike the other watchers.

???: One other, unknown, showed up in the fight at the party, no obvious abilities other than aptitude in sword fighting. Robes are nearly exactly the same as Sibling Dust's, but without the hood. Looks young, has some white fluff in sign joints and under the chin.

"So, do you think this is it?"

False nodded.

"We've got everything we know. Let's show this to X and start planning the attack."

"Speak of the devil, Xisuma! We were just about to come find you!"

"I- we need to go. Now."

At this point they had all gotten up. Xisuma entered, and to their slight surprise, his helmet was off. Worry and fear were clearly etched upon his face.

"Grian... He's not coming back. There's been a change of plans. We attack tonight."

~ ⬩ ⍊╎⊣𝙹⚍∷ ⬩ ~

Those who had managed to make it were counted off on a list of hermits by Xisuma. Cleo, Doc, Tango. Bdubs and Impulse. False, along with Joe. Jevin, Stress, and Keralis. Wels. Iskall, Scar, and Mumbo. Finally, the last hermit had arrived, and they stood together, murmuring worriedly.

"Everyone ready? Remember, it may make you a bit nauseous, especially if you rarely use chorus fruit or ender pearls."

General agreement sounded, and Mumbo watched as Xisuma hit a button. His stomach lurched as the world dissolved before them, and his vision went black. Suddenly, they were there, landing on cold, hard stone. Mumbo sat down, dizzy and nauseous, and heard someone behind him retch.

Once the disorientation had passed, he stood, and saw Xisuma helping the others out. A few hermits seemed mostly unaffected, whereas others were pale and seemed to be very dizzy. They took a few minutes to regroup, recover, and discuss the plan.

"So what are we looking for?"

"According to the information provided by Wels and Grian, they have a main hall. This is where the Watchers would likely be gathered, as the other towers seemed to only be for decoration. However, keep a lookout for any watchers. If they see you, they may attack right away, or they may observe you for fun as they did with Wels. If they observe you, lead them towards the centre, so that when we meet up there, we can help each other fight."

He pointed to Cleo.

"You take Tango, Keralis, Iskall, and Doc. Head straight towards the main hall."

The group assembled, mumbling encouragement to each other softly.

Xisuma pointed to Mumbo, and he looked up, intrigued.

"You take Scar, Bdubs, and Impulse, wrap around and approach the back, looking for a second way in if you do find the hall. I'll take the rest of you to the right side, and we'll do the same."
"If any of you encounter a Watcher, use your netherite weapons, and if worst comes to worst and you feel like you're gonna lose, use these."

Xisuma solemnly handed out small flasks with odd curved necks, tossing four to each person. Mumbo inspected one of his, the glass cool and smooth in his hands. It was thin, and could easily break. The liquid inside was a deep purple, almost black.

"If you think you're going to lose the fight, or if you are about to be struck by black lightning, get as close to one as you can and... smash these on the ground. All of them."

Impulse was also looking at his curiously.

"Xisuma, these are damage potions, that will k-"

"I know. That's the point."

There was a moment of silence, and in this new place, not even the rustle of leaves or splash of waves split the stillness.

"If... if they kill us, we... we don't come back. But if we do it first, we'll lose our things, but at least we will respawn."

"So... our... our goal is just to kill them?"

Xisuma nodded.

"We have no other choice."

~ ⬩ ᔑリ↸ ⬩ ~

Despite the sombre circumstance, Jevin was enraptured by the detailed architecture of the occasional towers. They all had distinctive characteristics, but they were so similar, it was hard to remember where you had been. It was like being lost in a forest of towers and black spires.

"Does that tower look familiar to anyone else?" called Stress from behind him.

Xisuma looked up to inspect it.

"No, I think this one is different... it has 3 windows, not four..."

Jevin sighed, and kept walking.

"So what's our game plan if we do find one of these Watcher things?"

Asked Wels.

"We should try to lead it to the hall, which I think is..."

He pulled out his communicator, and saw a few numbers scroll across the screen. He mumbled something unintelligible.

"...hmm.. should be in that direction."

He finished, pointing.

They turned slightly, and began on that course, trekking over the stony, porous stone.

Stress coughed.

"This mist tastes funny."

Wels and Jevin laughed, and even Xisuma let out a small chuckle.

Another trilling laugh sounded, and they looked about, confused.

They didn't have to look for long, however. With a dramatic poof of dust and mist, a Watcher landed in front of them.

Jevin heard Wels mumble something as his eyes went wide.

"I-I think that's Crystal... dramatic flair, explosions..."

His volume shot up as he shouted to everyone,

"Get back!"

"Oh! Little player! I remember you! We found you here once before, did we not?"

Wels did not respond, and Jevin felt a wave of fear wash over him, seeming to freeze all of them in place.

It raised one large talon to run along Wel's jawline and chuckled slightly.

"Didn't we tell you to never return here? And yet you do so nevertheless, with more of your kind..."

Jevin felt the fear abet for a moment, and managed to shake off the feeling, and ran to help the other three out of their petrified states.

The Watcher picked up its head, gazing straight at him with its one, hovering, glowing eye.

"Interesting... you can resist the aura. I will prioritise you."

He had already shaken Xisuma and brought him to his senses, and was running towards Stress when he felt it.

The air hummed with energy, and he saw the Watcher raise a talon out of the corner of his eye.

Stress came to her senses, along with Wels, who fell to the ground.

Jevin felt the bottles clink in his inventory and, as if in slow motion, he grasped at them, one of them smashing on the ground. He winced as it ate away at him, but the others didn't break, simply rolling away across the ground.

The Watcher had approached him, and Xisuma tried to tackle it, elbowing it in the ribs.

It hissed and struck him, sending him flying to the ground.

The humming pounded in his ears now, as the Watcher approached with its deadly lightning.

"One player down."

It whispered.

A black, electric explosion.

Pain for just an instant.

And then there was nothing.

...

I... I'm gonna go cry, but before I do... would you give me a vote?
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