POV: Xelqua

Location: Watcher Academy

I gasped and opened my eyes as I woke from my sleep.

I sat up and looked around, panic filling my gaze before I realized where I was.

I let out a sigh of relief as I saw my dorm.

I rubbed my head with my hand as I thought back to my dream.

I had dreamt that I was an admin and the Watchers were attacking the HQ and winning. I closed my eyes, thinking about the dream. Right at the end of it, I saw Xisuma and Verix falling into the void, never to be heard from again.

I sighed in relief again as I saw Verix still wrapped in his covers.

I thought back to the battle with the admins. It had already been another year since the battle.

I laid back down, covering my face with my hands.

It was nearing the end of my 4th year and I was mildly dreading the two more years to come. My power had only grown again and I was forced to learn to control it. Most of my magic was silver and sometimes it was golden. However, I was learning to control my golden magic and instead use my silver magic.

I sat up again as Verix let out a groan signaling that he was awake.

"Mornin," I said as he rolled over and glanced at me.

He just grumbled and attempted to go back to sleep.

I laughed quietly.

"You don't want to miss classes," I reminded, standing up.

He grumbled again and got up.

I noticed dark bags under his eyes but he didn't give me a chance to ask about it.

Soon, we were ready and were heading to the Academy cafeteria to pick up breakfast.

As we passed a group of students, whispers began to come from them.

Verix's gaze snapped toward them, his white and black hair falling across one of his eyes.

The whispering immediately stopped and the students hurried on.

Verix's glare remained on them until they were out of sight.

We entered the cafeteria and got some food before sitting down at an empty table.

I looked around as I chewed on some of my bread.

All of the students were either looking away or glancing at us at random intervals.

I sighed and returned to my food.

I glanced at Verix and noticed him poking at his food, his head resting on his hand.

"You okay?" I whispered to him.

He nodded but didn't say anything.

I sighed. Ever since the battle with the admins, Verix had become quieter and quieter and had almost stopped talking altogether. He only spoke when the teacher asked him a question.

We quickly finished eating and headed to our first class. This year, we had the same first class of the day but different last classes.

I looked up at the teacher and remembered again that it was the other Watcher that had taken me from Evo.

I nodded in greeting at Instructor Cereilaz and went to sit down.

I wasn't sure if she reacted or not as her crown-shaped mask covered her eyes.

Verix sat down beside me and just rested his head on his fist.

However, I couldn't ask him about it as the Instructor started the class.

"Students, today we're joined by someone special," she began, catching our attention.

Her gaze was placed on the back of the room where the door was.

All of the students looked back and watched in surprise as someone came through.

His hands were placed behind his back and his cloak billowed out behind him as he walked up to the front of the class.

I took notice of the shape of his mask. It was similar to mine but different. The bottom created a half-moon shape while two curved spikes came out the top like horns. And of course, it was the same pale purplish-white color as all of the other masks.

He stopped as he made it to the front of the classroom and turned around to face us.

"This is Galenthyl of the Watcher High Council. He is the one member of the council with the most knowledge in the masks and their purposes. Sir," she said, taking a step back and allowing him to begin.

"All of you have worn a mask before. You were to wear one when you left your old server or home," he said to begin. I winced at his choice of words because I wasn't sure everyone had a choice about leaving. However, I didn't say anything.

"However, that mask only had one property: to prepare you to become an Initiate. It would help channel your magic and allow you to use it to power the Crystal. It also allowed us to see your raw level of power. Yes," he said when he saw some students' expressions. "I was there." He cleared his throat and went on, "When you finish your six years of training, you will receive a mask similar if not identical to the mask you were given when you arrived. However, it won't be the same purpose-wise. It will help you focus your magic and fulfill your duties. Most of you, if not all, will be sent to a server to watch over once your training is complete. You will gain a mask that will grant you abilities that you wouldn't be able to do without. It will allow you to update the server you are on as well as fixing the bigger glitches that the... admins... can't fix." I noticed the other students looking uncomfortable as well as the Instructor when he mentioned the admin. Even Verix reacted. However, I remained still, without any reaction whatsoever. The Instructor noticed this. "And yes, you will be forced to work alongside admins," He continued. "However, you are under no circumstances allowed to tell anyone what you truly are, including the admins. You will be able to hide the mask from other players and admins through a spell that we will teach you. It will allow you to update the server without everyone seeing you doing it, because, as I said, you need the mask to update the server. The mask will also allow you to see other people's levels of magic. It will allow you to find new possible Watcher Initiates for the Academy. We must make sure we have enough Watchers to train new Watchers as well as keeping watch over all of the servers in Minecraft. It is a big task but it is possible. Any questions?" he finished, looking around the classroom.

Someone raised their hand. It was Gorekth, Verix's enemy. However, he had stopped bullying Verix soon after the practice incident where I discovered I had golden magic. It seemed he didn't want to be on the bad side of someone who had a friend that wielded golden magic.

"Watcher Galenthyl, sir, what are we to do if someone, say.. an admin, does discover we are Watchers?" he asked. Hey, a good question, I thought. Wow.

"You are to immediately wipe their memories, if possible. If the server does require you to be present, just wipe their memories of traces of you being a Watcher. If it doesn't and a lot of players know what you are, you must wipe all trace of you ever being on the server. A new Watcher would soon arrive to take your place and you would be reassigned," he explained.

I raised my hand. His gaze turned to look at me.

"Sir, what if you are nearly killed in the process of being discovered and you don't have enough energy to wipe their memories?" I asked while an odd feeling of dread prickled my skin.

"Then you are to summon another Watcher and they will take care of it for you," he answered.

I continued, "What if the server is whitelisted and no Watcher can come to assist you?"

He remained silent for a few moments as if I had stumped him.

Galenthyl finally replied in a softer tone, "Then you are required to sacrifice the server. No player must know of the number of Watchers in Minecraft."

My eyes widened, as well as most of the other students', besides Verix, who just looked bored.

"I see," I managed to say before falling silent.

I noticed a smirk tugging at his mouth but I gave no indication that I saw it.

"From now until the end of the year, you will be beginning your training with a mask. Today, it will just be the concepts of masks and how they work. Tomorrow, you begin training with them on," he said, the smirk fading from his face.

I was intrigued and was kind of looking forward to the rest of the school year.

Suddenly, I wondered with semi-wide eyes, What happens if someone isn't able to learn how to use a mask?

(1472 or so words)

(A/N We're nearly at Hermitcraft, finally XD this is taking a while but I guess close to 15 chapters isn't TOO bad)

(You know what, I'm probably going to make it to 15 chapters anyway so let's just say Grian's gonna arrive in Hermitcraft in or after Chapter 15 and hope that that works out. :) )