A/N: Memory erasure I guess-

"HOW-" Westina shouted. "He's a WEAKLING raised watchling-"

"Westina, control yourself. This outburst is a disgrace."

"Sorry sir." The watcher dipped her head.

"Get out of my sight, Westina. Guards, has the prisoner been deployed?"

"Not yet sir."

"Very well. Do it as soon as the Weakling uses his magic again."

"...So please be careful." X finished, looking down at the gathered hermits, their expressions spread between fear, distrust, and anger. "Remember, it'll be fairly clear if one of us gets controlled, as we know each other well. And if anyone sees a sign, DO not confront the person, but message me."

Everyone nodded agreement, and the meeting dispersed. God, X hated this... He didn't like all the hermits being worried. And all this watcher stuff was making him paranoid... He couldn't remember the last night he had a full night's sleep.

And with the stress about Grian- GRIAN- Shoot- How much of an derp was he? He'd left Grian ALONE! After that! Seriously Xisuma, it was almost like the author needed a plot reason for grian to be alone-

After this realization (And the author taping up the fourth wall), He turned to Pearl.

"Pearl- Please go check on Grian-" He said, trying to not panic. Grian was surely fine... Right?

Pearl glanced at X, voice shaking with disbelief and fear. "Did you leave him alone?!" 

"Uh- Possibly." The two met each other's eyes, both understanding the danger the server was in. Both knew what the watchers were capable of. And both knew they needed to keep an eye on Grian if the watchers were targeting him.

"Actually, I'll teleport you there- I have a bad feeling." X pulled up his admin panels, and typed in a command, and Pearl vanished.

Pearl blinked off the dizziness and nausea that came with teleportation, and found herself standing before Grian's starter base. She quickly ran up to the door, knocking on it. He would answer and be fine, right? But, only silence met her. When she got no answer, she banged on the door harder, panic starting to take over. "Grian?"

There was still no response. She felt the pit of her stomach dropping. They couldn't take him... Not again.

She banged on it again. "GRIAN-"

Still no response. She pulled the door open to find a frightening sight. Grian was slumped against a wall, unresponsive, with one of THEIR masks clenched in his hand. She shivered at the sight of that cursed Broken rectangle symbol. That symbol showed all her suffering watching her   server be destroyed, the beings that treated them like toys, the beings that punished them for the smallest mistakes... AND Grian had it? When he had some of the worst time with them out of all of them, with his little pranks? It was almost they had a grudge against him.

"Grian-" She shook the little gremlin awake.

"Ugh... five more minutes Ark-" He groaned in galactic, causing Pearl to stiffen.

"Why are you speaking galactic? And why do you have THEIR mask-"

Grian seemed to shake off the haze of sleep at this. "H-Huh?" He replied, this time in common. Pearl noticed how exhausted he looked- He looked like he hadn't slept in weeks...

"You were slumped against a wall, unconscious, clutching THEIR mask and when I tried to wake you up you spoke galactic! Give me an explanation, or I'm calling X."

"Wait no-" He gasped, and she could tell he was thinking of something to say.

"I... I was sitting here, thinking and all of a sudden... I think I just blacked out..?" He tried, but he averted his gaze. Pearl could tell he was lying, it showed in his eyes.

"Grian- One more chance."

"..." Grian's stare flicked between the mask, his hands, and at Pearl.

"..." Pearl tapped her foot, and lifted her wrist to contact X. "I want to believe you, Grian, but I think Doc might be right... The watchers did something to you. Made you work for them. We'll snap you out of it I swear! We'll get you back, I'm not going to let them hurt you."

Grian sighed, looking at Pearl. "Oh notch, why'd it have to be when I'm already exhausted..."

"H-huh?" Pearl looked at Grian, stopping mid-way through typing a message at this odd comment, and the fact the gremlin didn't seem to be panicking much... His expression almost seemed... cold.

"If I told you to forget about all of this and that I've got it under control, would you listen?" He asked quietly, his gaze locked on his mask.

"No! Of course not! You need help, Grian! The watchers are messing with you! You can't take them alone!" She was almost begging

"I really don't want to do this Pearl... Mortals... Don't deserve what happens. Collateral damage everyone calls them... Just collateral damage..." He mumbled the last line.

"Grian-!?" It sounded like he was about to kill her! Something was clearly wrong, and in her terror, she forgot about the half typed message.

"I'm so sorry... We're friends... But I can't risk this getting out..." He turned the mask around in his hands, tracing the symbol on the front.

"Don't kill me!" She gasped.

"Huh? Oh no I could never kill you! I'd think you'd know that... Then again you don't know a thing..." He sounded hurt. "But I should just do it, before you run or do something logical." He sighed, pulling the mask up to his face.

"Grian- Don't-" She didn't know what the mask was for, but it felt important that Grian kept it off. After all, it was THEIR mask...

The avian slipped the mask on, which seemed to attach almost magically to his face, before pulling the odd necklace he wore around his neck off. 

Before Pearl's eyes, Grian's form began to shift. He became taller, now just barely shorter than her even while slumped against the wall, and his bright parrot wings seemed to melt into dark grey ones dappled with white dots, giving the impression of a piece of the night sky placed onto his feathers and attached to his back. His dirty-blond hair was now surrounded by a glowing halo of violet light. His red jumper and pants morphed into an elegant robe and cape, colored a dark purple. 

Pearl stumbled back as the playful avian she once knew turned into the embodiment of her nightmares... A... Watcher... NO, they must have done something to him, forced him to join them, he didn't want this clearly!

"GRIAN-" Terror raced through her. "No- Don't do it! W- We can save you from them please! Your not a monster like them!"

"I'm sorry Pearl... What you're saying is exactly why I can't let you remember this." He muttered a ball of violet flame appeared above his hand, as she stumbled back even more. It gently floated forwards, hovering just before her face.

Fire- The flames danced in front of her eyes, and began to spin it's way around her head until it was all she could see. The flames engulfed her vision, dancing and flickering... It was mesmerizing. Fire was beautiful, but in these shades of violet and magenta, it was magical, entrancing... Her fear vanished as she stared within it... She got lost in its beauty as it sucked her in. She didn't even notice as she lurched forwards until she hit the ground, and her eyes slid close...

Xelqua nearly passed out again then and there too, but he knew he needed to store his mask. He opened the extra-dimensional space of his inventory and placed the mask there, pulling the necklace back on, his form shrinking back to the size of a player, before once more surrendering to his exhaustion, falling back as his eyes closed.

A/N:

Oh Xel what have you done... Pearl just wanted to help youu-

Anyway I just wanted to say WHAT THE HECK- Why is this almost at 100 views- Last chapter I was super hyped about 50- I- I just can't process it. But, still, thank you all so much! I can't say this enough, I was barely expecting to have one person read this since I've never written on Wattpad before, but now- I just don't have words- I'm about to cry from joy- You all are so amazing and I just can't- :'D

Okay okay, I'll stop being mushy, but really. Thank you so much for 95 views, It's far more then I ever expected! OKAY OKAY I'LL ACTUALLY GO NOW!

WC: 1386

- Xera