I was in a room with no windows and no memory of how I had gotten there.

The room was quite small, just big enough for me to pace in. But that was all I needed.

Even as a ghost, I couldn't pass through the walls. I was panicking, not because I was trapped, but because I was trapped in a tiny room that looked way too much like the Team B.E.S.T. secret base. Claustrophobia was kicking in.

What had Last Life done to me? I used to be fine underground. Now I couldn't go caving to save my life.

I blamed Etho.

Grian had said that he was pretty sure the Watchers had taken over my mind, just while they brought us to the third Reality. But I barely heard him. I was too busy sweating and breathing heavily.

He was probably the only thing keeping me sane. He talked to me nonstop, and wouldn't take no for an answer. He would keep pestering me with questions until I told him what he wanted to know. It was annoying, but it helped.

"Just don't think about it," Grian suggested. "We're not imprisoned by Watchers. I'm not a Watcher. The portal let us through and we're back home, pranking our friends and stuff..."

He sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

Then a thought occurred to me. What if I asked him questions?

Blue is big brain, I know.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" I blurted.

"Tell anyone what?" Grian asked.

"That you're the third Watcher."

Grian winced. "All the Evolutioners knew, but we came to an agreement not to tell anyone before we were separated in the Dream Void. I didn't tell people because it would make it easier for the Watchers to find me. But obviously, they did anyway. And in Last Life, by the time I knew it was them, I was just so used to keeping the secret that I still did."

"When all the spell memories were erased. That was you, not the Watchers."

Grian nodded. "I didn't think my powers still existed. I didn't know that being exiled would mean keeping them."

I looked down at my feet in silence, wondering what it was like to have power you didn't want taken away, only to realize that it was still there.

But what if the only way to get out of here was for him to use them?

I hadn't even thought about escape yet. I was panicking too much. But now that I had calmed down, I couldn't stop thinking about how we could get out of this tiny prison.

The door opened. And suddenly, the cell disappeared.

This time, I could remember a little: Walking out of the room, a tall hallway, trying to fight off the being in my head. I was really starting to hate this whole take over my mind to move me thing.

My free will returned in another room that was thankfully much larger than the last one. But this time, I was tired.

That meant I was no longer a ghost.

I didn't really understand why, but it was nice to be on solid ground again.

I realized how long I had gone without sleeping. Well, I didn't really know, because it was impossible to tell how much time was passing when I was being controlled by a Watcher.

That unsettled me, but the urge to sleep was stronger. I drifted off.

"Hey, Grian," a blurry face said. "You're looking a little grey. Has it really been that long?" Then the face's features sharpened into a grinning boy with dark brown hair and golden-brown skin.

Grian sat up groggily next to me. His hair was indeed still an ashy grey color that faded to brown at the tips. His white eyes widened when he saw the boy in front of us. "T-taurtis?"

I DO NOT SHIP GRIAN AND TAURTIS. THEY ARE BEST FRIENDS. NOTHING MORE.

I didn't think that the boy's grin could get any wider. I was wrong. Grian tackled him with a very feathery hug. "Martyn said- I thought you were dead!"

Taurtis spit a grey feather out of his mouth. "Obviously not. How long has it been?"

"Four years since I was banished. Four and a half since I last saw you."

"Four years? I've been here for four years?"

I didn't know who this guy was. Grian had never told me about him, but if Grian had thought he was deleted, then it made sense.

"We would have tried to get you out, but the Listener couldn't get to you! How are you still alive?"

"They wanted you to think I was deleted as punishment for betraying them, but they also wanted a bargaining chip in case you got too powerful. But the others are alive, too."

"Uhh... I hate to interrupt the happy reunion, but if everyone thinks we're deleted, then we can't expect a rescue anytime soon. So shouldn't we start making a plan or something?" I said.

Taurtis seemed to notice me for the first time. "Who's your GF, Grian?"

I gagged. "Ew. No."

He laughed gleefully. "Oooh, you just got FRIEND ZONED, buddy!"

Grian turned as red as his shirt. "That's Blue, and she is not my girlfriend. Or anything near it. Blue, this is Taurtis, my best friend from Evo."

Okay. So my cousin was reading this and, being herself, started shipping Grian and Blue. I wrote in this part to clear that up. I am NOT shipping my OC with characters that are based off of real people, even if it's just their Minecraft personas.

Unfortunately, as for my cousin, this part just made her ship them more. But this is like my favorite part of this chapter so I had to put it in.

"We need to find a way to get out of here," I said, putting us back on topic.

Taurtis shook his head, all signs of fun and teasing gone. "I've tried. All of the people here have tried."

"But you're only one person," Grian said. "We're three. There's a way, if we can find it."

I cleared my throat. "And also you're a Watcher."

Grian grimaced. "It's weird that it's out in the open now."

"It's not in the open until we get out of here," I reminded him.

Taurtis glanced from Grian to me and back to Grian. "Okay, what exactly happened during those four years?"

Grian sighed. "Well, get comfy, because it's going to be a long story."

He went on to tell Taurtis about Xisuma and the Sixth and Seventh Worlds of Hermitcraft. He talked about cities, mansions, hobbit holes, chickens, businesses, and superheroes. He described in detail the Prank War, the Hermitville Buildoff, the shenanigans between the hippies and Area 77 over a time machine, the Mayoral Race and the Turf War that followed, and the Sewer Cats. He talked about the amazing people, Mumbo, Scar, Ren, Impulse, Bdubs, Tango, and a few I didn't know too; Iskall, Stress, Cub, Keralis, and of course Xisuma the shapeshifter. He talked about why they had had to abandon the Seventh World, about someone called the Renporer determined to take over Hermitcraft because Ren fell prey to his deceptions.

Then he got into Third Life. I chimed in for blank spots in the story. But some parts were hard to talk about, like Scar's death and the tests of loyalty. The times when I threatened and killed Grian were particularly awkward.

Grian then started talking about the Eighth World, and that's where things got extremely weird.

He told Taurtis about the first few days, when he, Mumbo, and Scar had traveled to the northernmost part of the continent to build. To mark their territory, they placed a crafting table with a torch on top.

Then Scar added a boat, Grian placed a bed followed by another boat, Mumbo tried, failed, and then succeeded to place a grindstone, which was followed by a boat and then a bed and then another boat. Soon they had a tower that they christened the Boatem Pole, a play on "totem pole".

Impulse had also turned up randomly. They had all sat in the boats.

Then Grian said, "You remember Pearl, right? Well, she came to the Eighth World. I don't know where she was before, but-"

"Wait," I interrupted. "Pearl, as in Pearlescent Moon?"

"Yeah, the one in Last Life, your ally. She came from Hermitcraft."

"But she's from the Empires..."

"No, she- wait, what?"

"Pearl's from Empires. She rules the Smallholding."

"No, she's the owner of Padllama Co. and head of architecture and layout in Boatem!"

"Hold on, are you guys sure you're talking about the same Pearl here?" Taurtis said. "Cause I'm hearing two sides of the story that don't really add up."

Grian took a deep breath. "Okay. So from what I know, Pearl went from Evo to Legacy. Then she came to Hermitcraft from there. She was with us in Last Life, too."

I thought about that, the roots of an idea growing in my head. "The Pearl I know was from Evolution, but she went to Legacy later. Then she joined us in Empires, bringing Sausage with her, so that she could be with someone she knew from Evo, namely Jimmy. Then, after the Ender Dragon fight, we went to Last Life..." Then suddenly it clicked. "OH!"

"What?" Grian and Taurtis said in unison.

"When I told my sister about Third Life, she started saying that she was going to figure out a way to travel between Realms. She must have done it, that's why Pearl is on Hermitcraft! And a while ago I caught Pix writing something about an end crystal war, and the paper had Mumbo and Impulse's names on it. I'm sure there were more, but Pix hid the paper. I think that Pearl and Pix stole the device and are using it to travel between Realms."

"Yes, I bet that's it. There was an end crystal war between all the Boatem citizens... and Pearl always disappeared a lot... but I don't think they stole it..." Grian said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well... the thing is... isn't your sister Gemini Tay?"

"Yeah."

"I've been thinking about this for a while, and you just connected the dots for me. Blue... Gem is in Hermitcraft."

Then there was a minute where I just stared at him in stunned silence.

Could it be true? Was Gem Realm hopping without telling me?

The silence was quickly interrupted by Taurtis yelling, "OOOOOHHHH!" even though he had no idea who Gem was.

"Why didn't she tell me?" I said angrily. "She could have told me. Why did she bring Pearl and Pix but not her own sister? She barely talks to Pix! Does FWhip know? Why did she tell him and not me? Don't I deserve to know about this? WHY DO MY OWN SIBLINGS KEEP SECRETS FROM ME?"

"You can be mad at your sister later," Grian said. "But we might be able to use this. If she can Realm hop, can she come here?"

Taurtis shook his head. "This is the Downside-Up," he said, and a realization crossed Grian's face. "It isn't the Physical Reality."

"Dang it," Grian said.

"Downside-Up?" I asked.

"The third Reality," Grian explained. "The home of the Watchers. It has a strong connection with the End dimension."

"Ooh. Third Reality. Yep. Definitely." I nodded. "But what if we could use Grian's Watcher powers?"

"Nope. Nope, nope, nope," Grian said, putting his hands over his ears. "Definitely not. I do not have powers, and even if I did, I wouldn't use them."

Taurtis frowned. "They won't go away if you deny that they're there."

"What if we have to?" I reasoned. "What if there's no other way? What if the Watchers think we can't escape because they know you won't use your powers? Would you rather stay in a claustrophobic prison cell for the rest of eternity?"

Grian brought his hands down. "I can't use them," he said. "I can't control them."

In other words, he was afraid of them.

"We can figure it out," I said.

"Don't worry, I am a beautiful escape artEEst!" Taurtis said, emphasizing the ti.

Grian laughed so hard that he choked. I assumed they were sharing some inside joke. "Okay, that brought back memories."

"The Elmo?" Taurtis grinned.

I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

"My point is," I said, trying to seem like I wasn't annoyed, "We might need your powers if we want to get out. And in order to do that, you need to learn to use them. I don't know exactly how we'll do that, but we're going to have to figure it out. Unless the Listener talks to me. But I'm not really depending on her, because she didn't come to me in the ruins of Last Life. She might be deleted. She might just be waiting for something. I don't know. But we need to plan like she isn't there."

Taurtis looked at Grian. "You've told her a lot."

Grian shook his head. "The Listener contacted her."

"I'm right here," I said, crossing my arms.

"She's choosing more contacts, then?" Taurtis asked. "You may have failed to mention that."

"Jimmy's still one of them," I said. "I think the Listener gave Scar and Gem their powers. And I'm Martyn's replacement."

"I was watching Scar when he told you," Grian muttered. "Don't believe a word he says. He isn't magical."

"Replacement?" Taurtis asked incredulously. "What happened to Martyn? IS HE DEAD?"

Grian and I exchanged glances. Then Grian said, "I don't know how to tell you this, but..."

"No," Taurtis said, clutching his head. "He can't be dead. After Evo, and all this..."

"He's not," I said, then hesitated. "Worse."

"What's worse than being deleted?" Taurtis exclaimed.

Grian looked around and pursed his lips. "Helping the Watchers," he supplied bitterly.

Taurtis stared at us in disbelief.

"But I've seen evidence that he's still in there," I said. "There has to be, otherwise you and the other Evolutioners would have realized something was up. And he actually believes that he's doing the right thing."

"You better not be siding with him," Grian growled. Tiny, almost invisible bits of purple energy flickered around him. I guessed that being in the home of the Watchers strengthened his powers.

"I'm not," I protested. "I'm just saying that he's doing his best. And don't lose your temper, because last time that happened you pushed me into a wall and removed our memories of the givelife spell."

The little bits of energy faded away. I breathed a mental sigh of relief.

Taurtis examined his friend and frowned. "Things have changed," he said finally. "You've changed."

Grian's shoulders slumped. "I've had to."

He did seem different from the beginning of Third Life. Instead of greeting people by creeping up behind and scaring them, he approached them from the front with his sword drawn, ready to fight if necessary. Instead of drawing creepers to a crowded area as a prank, he used TNT as a trap.

I knew because I was the same. We had to change, to adapt to the stress and trauma.

If we defeated the Watchers like the Listener wanted, would we be able to change back? Or would we continue living in constant fear that a red name would come knocking on our door, even though they didn't exist anymore? Would our dreams always be plagued with nightmares about battles, crowns, and betrayals?

Would we ever be the same again?

I shook off those thoughts. I wanted to think that after this was all over, everything would be back to normal and it would be as if it had never happened. But a terrifying thought nagged at the back of my head: would Third and Last Life become the new normal?

No. The Watchers wouldn't settle for just us. They would probably expand it until everyone in the universe was in it, relationships were permanently damaged, and every single world ended up like Evo: destroyed; its members separated, forever wondering what now?

I decided right then that I was going to defeat the Watchers or die trying. For me, but also for the people back at home who still had no idea that the Watchers or Listeners existed.

Taurtis voiced my thoughts for me. "Are we going to escape or not?"

Grian and I nodded determinedly.

"I can't believe Martyn betrayed us," Taurtis mumbled.

"We try not to think about him," Grian said.

I did think about him, though. If we could find him and tell him the Evolutioners were still alive, then he might help us defeat the Watchers and save them.

"For the most part, they let us roam this building," Taurtis said. "They know we can't leave the Downside-Up, so why not? But we can use that to our advantage. I know where the exits are, and I know that they always go outside to teleport."

"Can't teleport inside," I noted. "Why?"

"I don't know. But it might be some defense thing to keep the Listener or others out."

I made a mental note of that, too.

Then my eyes widened. "You said the Watchers teleport?"

Taurtis looked puzzled. "Yeah..."

I looked at Grian, waiting for him to figure it out.

Several seconds later, realization crossed his face. "Only Watchers can enter and leave the Downside-Up... because only Watchers have the ability to teleport there and out. I can teleport there and out. We just need to get out of the fortress."

Taurtis grinned. "Unfortunately, getting out is the hard part. These walls are solid - we call it Dreamstone. It's nearly unbreakable and can shift and move if you try to leave. The fortress is a huge maze of moving walls that only the Watchers can navigate. A normal person could go insane there."

Once again, we looked at Grian.

"Why do I have to do everything?" he complained. "I'd rather do this by using as little magic as possible. I don't want to do this."

"I also want to get the others out," I said, ignoring him. "I don't want to leave anyone here."

The two boys glanced at the door, and I could tell they felt the same way. "I can send out a message," Taurtis said. "Tell them to stay in their rooms. I can navigate the labyrinth enough to get there."

I nodded. "We have everything we need," I said. "We just have to get out of this room."

"Grian can probably command the Dreamstone. I think that's how the Watchers navigate the maze. But he should probably try it out first."

Grian, probably feeling ridiculous, turned to the wall.

Then the door flew open. One of the Watchers, Watcher Two by her build, stood in the doorway.

"No more escape plans," she warned. Then she turned to Grian. "You will stay here."

I retained full memories of the transport this time. Taurtis and I walked out of the room, and even though I told my legs to stop moving, they didn't. I felt the Watcher in my mind and tried to fight her off, but she kept her grip easily.

Then Grian, who from his experience with Ren knew how to bring a possessed person back, yelled, "Don't forget Gem! You still need to yell at her!"

Somehow, that gave me more energy to fight.

I managed to move my little finger of my own free will. Then with one final push, I had the upper hand. But I could still feel Watcher Two in my head, struggling to take back control.

Hey, she was right in front of me. Maybe I could kick her.

So I did.

Watcher Two yelped and whirled around. I couldn't see her eyes, but her mouth was twisted in an expression of horror. I felt her presence withdraw from my mind.

She gestured to the door. It swung shut, trapping Grian inside. Then a wall sealed around Taurtis and me.

Taurtis looked at me in amazement. "You can touch them," he said.

"What?"

"When I was first taken here, I fought back constantly. But I always passed right through them like they were ghosts. You touched her."

That explained why she had been so startled.

Fear of the small space started to creep in, but I forced it away.

I could hurt the Watchers, if they let me come close enough.

Could I kill them?

Could I win?

The wall suddenly slid aside, opening the way to the labyrinth. I assumed it was because Watcher Two had gotten far enough away that she was comfortable letting us out.

The idea of a Watcher, a seemingly all-powerful being, being scared of me was extremely amusing.

"Grian?" Taurtis called.

But the walls seemed soundproof. We were on our own, at least for now.

"You should probably come meet the other Evolutioners," Taurtis said. "If this doesn't work, you'll probably be hanging out with them for the rest of eternity."

I shrugged. "Why not?"

Having to deal with Taurtis until the end of time... what a depressing thought.

I followed him as he confidently made turns, sometimes even backtracking to reach our destination, wherever that was. Eventually, we came to a door not unlike the one we had left behind.

Taurtis knocked a pattern: three short knocks, two long, and then two more short knocks.

A guy with a mustache to rival Mumbo Jumbo's opened the door. The way his red-brown hair looked against his aviator hat and goggles reminded me painfully of FWhip. "Taurtis! Are you okay?"

Taurtis rolled his eyes. "Zee, does it look like I'm possessed?"

"You always looked like you're possessed," Zee replied, somehow managing to keep a straight face.

I tried to hold back my laughter, but a snicker still escaped.

Zee looked at me and frowned, puzzled at the new face.

"Will you help me get the others?" Taurtis asked. "I have something I need to tell everyone."

Zee shrugged. "Sure, but they might not be here for a while."

"I know."

They typed things into their communication devices - Taurtis his blue wristband, Zee his fingerless glove.

Zee looked up and glared at Taurtis. "This better be good. Tomohawk doesn't seem very happy."

"I know, and it is," Taurtis replied, bouncing on his heels with excitement.

Zee looked at me again. "While we're waiting, who're you?" He narrowed his eyes. "Are you a Watcher in disguise? We've found they like to do that, just to torment us. Turning into people we know."

I shook my head. "You don't know me," I said. "Why would they turn into me? I'm Bluemoon Tay. My friends call me Blue. My enemies also call me Blue. Definitely not a Watcher."

"Zee Systems," he said. "And I assume you've met Taurtis."

"Unfortunately," I said.

"Hey!" Taurtis protested. Zee chuckled.

We went into the room behind the door. It was pretty bare other than two beds, a desk, and some paper and pencils. There were no windows, like the rest of the fortress that I had seen so far.

"How did you stay sane for four years?"

"It's only been four?" Zee said, looking tired. "It feels like ten."

"I thought it was two, maybe three," Taurtis volunteered.

"We plan for the future. If we ever get let out, or rescued, or escape, we all have ideas for the worlds we want to visit and the things we want to build and the people we want to see again," Zee said, answering my question.

The people they wanted to see again. Like Jimmy and Pearl. Who didn't even know they were alive.

If I knew the Watchers, and I was pretty sure I did, the Evolutionists would never leave the Downside-Up. But I didn't say that. I didn't want to crush their hopes.

And I didn't want to get them up by saying that we already had part of an escape plan made.

The first person to arrive was a guy with olive skin, brown hair, and green eyes named Mini. He seemed curious and suspicious at the same time, and sat on the cot next to Zee.

Next into the room were two girls who arrived together, introducing themselves as Netty and Salems. Salems had long black hair that faded to pink on the ends and pale blue eyes. Netty was probably a shapeshifter, because she came in as a sort of lemur or something, but then she turned into a girl with brown hair and golden eyes.

The last person to arrive was a bald guy with red marks under his eyes named Tomohawk. He obviously didn't want to be there, but he stood next to Taurtis by the door.

For a minute, nobody said anything. They just stared at Taurtis, at me, at each other. Then Zee said, "Well?"

Taurtis couldn't keep in his grin. "We know of a way out," he whispered.

The group gasped. "It's impossible," Salems said. "We need a Watcher on our side. Unless you're a Watcher..." she looked at me suspiciously.

"No," I said. "Nowhere near it. They put me into two dreamspaces with a bunch of other people and forced us to fight each other. I hate them."

It wasn't entirely true, but I didn't really count Grian as a real Watcher.

Mini shrugged. "Typical."

"How many people?" Netty asked.

"In the first, fifteen, in the second, eighteen, counting me," I replied.

The Evolutionists exchanged glances. "They're getting stronger," Zee said.

I could tell that Taurtis wanted to tell everyone about Grian, but was holding back for now. He wanted it to be a surprise when Grian broke out of his cell, came here, and then Taurtis would boldly declare that he knew it all along.

It's what I would have done.

"But tell us about this escape plan," Tomohawk said, intrigued.

"I can't say all the details. While we were planning, one of the Watchers came into our cell like they had heard and took over our minds." I shivered, remembering the feel of intrusion into the most private space I had.

"And then she found out she could hurt the Watchers," Taurtis boasted.

I glared at him as the group stared at me. I had wanted to keep quiet about that.

"You can hurt the Watchers?" Zee said quietly.

I nodded. "I kicked Watcher Two when she tried to possess me."

"That, I would have liked to see," Tomohawk grinned.

"She yelped," Taurtis laughed. "She looked so scared. It was hilarious."

"Hilarious" was not a word I would have used to describe either Watcher.

"And she knows the Listener," Taurtis said.

A hush fell over the Evolutionists.

I sighed. "You just can't keep your mouth shut, can you? I'm never telling you a secret again."

Netty leaned forward with hope in her eyes. "If she knows the Listener, she might know Martyn and Jimmy. Do you know Martyn Thicket and Jimmy Solidarity, Blue? Did they get out alive?"

I winced, not sure how to tell her that Martyn was working for their worst enemies.

"What's wrong?" Mini asked.

I shook my head. "I do know them, and Pearl."

"Bigb?" Taurtis asked hopefully. We hadn't told him about me knowing, and living in the same world as, a few of the Evolutionists.

"Sort of. I don't know him personally."

The Evolutioners, including Taurtis, glanced at each other excitedly. "How are they?" Salems asked.

"Jimmy and Pearl are in their home world, which also happens to be my home world. Bigb might be with them, or he might be in his home world, depending on whether my sister brought him back or not."

"And Martyn?" Netty asked. "Is he okay?"

This time, it was Taurtis who said flatly, "Martyn betrayed us. He thinks we're dead and that the only way to bring us back is to help the Watchers."

The Evolutioners stared at him. I saw expressions of surprise, hurt, and anger.

"Martyn is... helping them?" Mini asked, disgusted.

"He fooled everyone," I said sadly. "He killed his own best friend. Then he somehow knew I was spying on him and gave the typical villain monologue about 'oh, I was doing it to help the other Evolutionists' and then we killed him and then the Watchers and Listener themselves came into the scene and then I got captured."

"That..." Tomohawk said. "That is a lot to take in."

Netty looked up, tears streaking her face. "He never knew what was best for us," she said. "He always just followed his gut, and that got him into some really sticky situations."

"I know the Listener because I'm his replacement," I said sadly.

A thought occurred to me. If Martyn found out that his friends were still alive, then would he help us rescue them? Would he give up the Watchers?

Could he give up the Watchers?

I wanted to believe he could. I had to believe he could.

I didn't want to tell the Evolutionists that Martyn could possibly be saved. I didn't want to bring their hopes up and then find that he was beyond rescue. But they knew him better than I did. They deserved to know.

"I have a theory, though," I said. "I think Martyn could be turned. There have been times when he had chances to kill Pearl and Jimmy and didn't. There were also times when he actually had a sense of humor. I think he's still there. If we get out of here, and he finds out that not only are you alive but free, he might come back."

They all looked up hopefully.

"What's the escape plan, then?" Zee said eagerly. "We need a Watcher to get out."

"You have one," someone said from the doorway.

Grian had escaped his cell and navigated the maze to arrive right on cue. Now he stood, leaning against the doorframe, grinning at his perfect timing.

The Evolutionists just stared at him at first. Then Grian said, "Come on, don't you recognize me?"

Then Zee said, "...Grian?"

"That's the other thing," I said, smiling. "I also know this annoying fellow."

The Evolutioners let out cries of excitement and joy as they recognized their friend.

They barely paid attention to me as Grian told his story again. I didn't mind, though; I enjoyed hearing about Hermitcraft.

"Anyone got a sword or other weapon of some kind?" I asked once he was done. "If the Watchers hear us discussing escape plans, they'll come back."

Someone handed me an unenchanted iron blade. It wasn't the best, but it would work until we could get out. I had some confidence in my fighting abilities.

Even though we were openly discussing a way to escape, the Watchers did not come to the room. Maybe they were afraid of me (That would have been funny). Maybe they knew that it was pointless now that Grian could use his powers. Maybe there were just too many of us.

Or maybe they didn't care one way or another. I hoped that was the case, but something told me it wasn't.

I didn't know how long we planned. It was really hard to keep track of time here, as Taurtis and Zee had already shown. But my internal clock said that we had been in this room for about two hours.

The Evolutionists couldn't seem to get over the fact that Grian was not floating around in the Dream Void. The last time they had actually seen him, he had been a normal person. I didn't blame them, though. I still couldn't get over the fact that he was a Watcher and hadn't told me. In all fairness, though, it was his secret to tell.

Grian told everyone about trying to sabotage the Watchers from the inside. He was part of the reason some of them had gotten out. He also told them about Martyn again, which put them into another round of angry comments. Grian immediately looked guilty for telling them.

We had a plan ready that mostly depended on Grian. I would also be pretty important, as the only person besides him who could fight off the Watchers if they came. But they had magic and I didn't, and I knew that if I engaged them, I would die. They seemed to have no problem with deleting me during the Battle of the Final Life (that's what I decided to call the fight at the end of Last Life). They had literally come right after they said, now you all die.

But if it meant giving the Evolutioners one more chance at freedom, I was willing to try.