TWS: Slight gore (Not graphic), Watchers being Creepy Gods, Mind control, Trauma, Panic Attacks

Grian's eyes widened as he stared at his friend in horror. Sam was watching the blood drip off the knife. Possibly more terrifying than the crimson liquid was the curious smile on his face. Thoughts ran through Grian's mind, so mangled he could hardly make sense of them himself. If he had just kept pretending... If he had tried something- anything- What had happened to Sam- What had triggered him-

As his mind raced, he knew instinctively that he needed to run. His heart pounded as he sprinted through the roads, turning corner after corner, trying to lose the bunny, the world blurring around him until it felt like it was just Sam and him, him and Sam.

He heard Sam laugh behind him. "Where are you going, Gree-on? Trying to run?" The man still sounded scarily sane for what was going on, making Grian shiver.

He ran even harder, his heart racing, with no idea what he should do, or where to go. Grian felt tears forming in the corner of his eyes. He blinked to try to get rid of them, but it was his mistake. As he closed his eyes, he tripped over the curb, giving Sam a chance to catch up, and he did. Sam placed a firm hand on Grian's shoulder, pinning him to the concrete beneath him. He froze, as Sam rolled him over. Finally, his thoughts consolidated into one single thought, one fear. 'It's over...'

He pressed his eyes even tighter, waiting for the surge of pain, the tear of his flesh. But, as the seconds ticked by, as he awaited the plunge of the knife, nothing happened.

Then, a curious sensation came over him. A frigid cold grew from his toes and fingers to his chest and head, then a dull ache across his whole body that slowly grew, until it felt like his body was being ripped apart. He wanted to cry, to thrash in pain, to scream, to do anything, but he couldn't move, couldn't speak. Did he even have a body to move anymore?

Then, just as it came, the cold and pain went away. Panting, he slowly realised he no longer felt Sam pinning him, but was still lying on his back, yet now on something that felt like... Quartz? He wasn't sure... His head felt fuzzy, making it hard for him to think. He decided there was no use trying to figure out his surroundings with his eyes closed, and opened them to the unfamiliar surroundings.

He was in the center of some sort of courtyard, four marble pillars around the circular platform he was lying on, hedges lining the whole thing, and a large white and purple castle-like building around it. But even more shocking, was the sky... It resembled the night sky in a way, but instead of black with white stars, shades of purples and blues mixed into it. Where... was he?

A concerning thought hit him. Had... he died? He didn't feel dead... - Notch, he could barely think straight let alone try to figure out what had happened. He tried to sit up to get a better view , but his arms gave out as he tried to push himself up, suddenly realizing his exhaustion as the world seemed to lurch.

"Child, I wouldn't recommend doing that just yet... Sudden interdimensional travel without a anchor is quite tiring on mortals, particularly ones from untraditional servers without places such as the end, or the nether, as you did." The voice, elegant and refined, came from behind him. 

He nearly jumped out of his skin, turning his head towards where it came from. A tall humanoid figure walked into his line of sight, causing him to push himself back weakly, still in his fetal position on the floor. They had long white hair, which had been styled into a braid, and had an elaborate violet robe on. But that wasn't the strangest part of it. Their skin color was a pale violet, and they had a white mask over where their eyes should be and a bit of their lower cheeks, with a strange symbol on. It looked like two Ls, with two dots in the corner of the form. That wasn't all - they had large black wings, speckled with white dots, which were folded behind them, along with a purple halo, and their violet skin was dotted by almost glowing, violet eye shapes that blinked at him - If he hadn't been scared of his mind, he might have made some sort of joke about staying on brand, or staying on color scheme, but all he could choke out was - "A- Am I dead?"

"Pardon?" The figure tilted their head. "Ah. No, you are not dead, little one. We saved you from that... That... monster!" Despite not showing too much emotion throughout the interaction, they spat the word monster.

"He... was my friend..." He mumbled, but he couldn't even believe himself at this point, shivering at the memory of Sam pinning him. Sam wouldn't have killed him...

"Friend? Child, he attempted to kill you and your friend. Your lucky ꖌᔑ リ⍊╎ - I believe her name in common is Kanvi - and I stepped in."

"H- He's not always like that! Something triggered th- that in him-" He rubbed his arm, a nervous habit, accidentally pulling up his sleeve to reveal scarring.

The figure's eyes widened, their elegant & regal demeanor fading in the blink of an eye. "Do all mortals take such awful care of their offspring they allow them to be harmed in this way in servers that don't even HAVE hostile mobs? And why are you so under-fed? Did that bunny-boy hurt you? I should get Kanvi- She's always been better at healing magic- "

It was odd, watching this strange... being, fret over him.

"N- No... He didn't manage to hurt me this time... Uh- Who... even are you?"

The figure collected themself again, and once again gained the appearance of a imposing, formal figure as they continued. 

"Oh- pardon me. I am ᔑ ∷ꖌ, but my common name's Ark. Now, I understand you have more questions, but Kanvi would have my head if she didn't get to be there for the questions like: 'What are you, where am I, can I get back home.'. She claims I'm too insensitive for these conversations." They chuckled, before continuing. "The teleportation weakness should have passed. Perhaps you could attempt standing? But do it slowly please, as you may feel a bit dizzy initially" Ark stretched out their hands to try and aid him in standing.

He silently nodded, not sure of what else to do - after all, Ark had said pretty clearly not to ask anything else, and all he could think of was question after question. He slowly rose, and nearly fell over again, but Ark caught him.

"S- Sorry-" He looked down in shame.

"It's not a issue child, there is no need to apologize, especially given the conditions of your retrieval. In fact, often the effects are worse for some people" They reassured him. "I actually fainted."

He couldn't help but chuckle at that despite his nerves.

Ark helped him walk into the large building, and down a purple carpeted hall with paintings of figures similar to his (Savior? Kidnapper?) in appearance, where another figure awaited, very similar to Ark, purple skin, a white mask with the symbol on it. The differences were that they were slightly shorter, their halo was a slightly lighter shade of violet, and their wings weren't speckled like Ark's, and was a bit more unkempt than theirs. Their hair was also far shorter then Ark's, and, like their wings, was far more messy. The figure motioned to a nearby chair, and grian sat down

"Hello! I'm Kanvi. Did Ark remember to introduce themself?" The new figure said, smiling.

"Y- Yeah... I d- don't think I d- d-didn't though... I'm G- Grian." He replied, giving a shaky smile.

"Well, I suppose you want some answers... Gree...on?" Kanvi attempted to pronounce his name, but slipped over it a bit. It shouldn't be much, but it shot terror through him. The shivering, which had practically stopped, returned, as his heart raced, memories ripping away his already weakened consciousness from reality. He was barely aware of the room as memories overwhelmed him... until he felt a strange sensation come over him, as if he was shifted back into a back seat in his mind. A wave of calm overcame his mind.

He could see again, although his vision was fuzzy, and his head once more felt clouded. He saw that Ark had kneeled before him, purple light shining from around their hands and halo. He tried to apologize for spacing out on them, but found he couldn't speak. Come to think of it, he couldn't move. He began to panic slightly, as he began to speak without his own control.

"I'm very sorry, but this was the only way I could think of to snap you out of it. I'm going to release you, okay? And I promise, unless necessary, I'll never do this again." He(?) said.

All of a sudden, the fuzzy vision snapped into focus, and he gasped, nearly falling off the chair, and his body shivering again. Kanvi caught him, whispering reassuring words and apologizing.

"Now that that's out of the way-" Ark said briskly.

"Ark- and you were doing so well. I understand you've been with the council for a while and habits are hard to break... But, this is alot for someone to take in at once. He doesn't know anything about us." Kanvi sighed, shaking her head. "Okay, are we good to continue, child?"

Grian thought about it for a moment. This was all moving so fast- But he had too many questions... He took a deep breath. "I... I think I have to ask some questions-"

"Okay but if it ever gets too much let us know..." Kanvi smiled at him.

He nodded. "F- first... If I'm not dead... How did I get here- Wherever here... is.."

"We teleported you here, that's all we are permitted to say until the deal is agreed to." Ark replied.

The deal? This concerned him... What deal? What type? But another question bubbled up before he could ask. "Y- you have magic? This might be a bit rude b- but what are you?"

"We are ∴ᔑ ℸ ̣ ᓵ ⍑ᒷ∷ᓭ, Also known as Watchers by mortals. I suppose you might have heard the stories - Although your server was very isolated, so you may not have... You didn't even have the nether or end-" Ark mused.

Watchers? He'd heard vague rumors about watchers... Some said they helped players, some said they destroyed servers... But what everyone agreed on was they were powerful, god-like beings that you should pray never take an interest in you.

"But, before you ask another question, I have one for you. We watchers train new watchers by saving young players from death or worse, as we ourselves are unable to produce offspring after becoming a watcher in the ceremony. Would you like to train as a watcher, child? It's a large commitment, I will not lie, but it's worth it. And, me and Kanvi will protect you with our lives. Bunny-boy will never lay a finger on you again." Ark continued.

He thought about this for a second. "W- what if I disagree?"

"Then we'll have to wipe your memory of this encounter and send you back..." Kanvi replied

He swallowed, thinking about it... He didn't like the idea of returning there - Sam wouldn't hesitate to attempt to try again... But... He knew nothing about these beings... What if this was worse than sam?

"You can stay here for a few days while you figure it out." Kanvi smiled at him. "I know it's a lot."

Ark put their hand on Grian's shoulder, although the movement was slightly awkward, as though.

"Whatever you choose, we're not going to be upset." Kanvi continued.

"Well-" Ark mumbled. "We might be disappointed but-"

"Ark-" Kanvi sighed.

"What- I was just telling the truth-"

"You really need to learn some tact if we're gonna raise him..."

A/N:

WOO Prologue! What do you think? I'm aiming for around 1000 to 2000 words per chapter, maybe more, but was this too long? Or too short?