POV: Grian

Location: His futuristic base

I stiffened at his words, worry flooding my light blue gaze and my throat tightening up as tears threatened to escape my eyes. "Do-Do you really think he didn't have a choice?" I said quietly.

Xisuma dropped his gaze. "That's what I'm afraid of," he softly answered.

I looked away, asking, "Who would it have been?"

"It must've been the Watchers," Xisuma answered.

I let out a sigh and closed my eyes as I tried to sort everything out in my mind. Opening my eyes, I wandered back over to my parrots and sat down, beginning to pet one of them.

Gritting my teeth, I clenched my free hand into a fist in anger. "They've taken him for the second time. We're getting him back." As I spoke, I turned to look at Xisuma with enough rage in my gaze that the lower-tiered Admin took a step back in fright. He hesitantly nodded, his eyes wide with fear.

"What is it?" I asked, my anger fading a bit as I saw how scared Xisuma looked.

He hastily teleported a mirror to his hand and gave it to me. I took it and looked just in time to see my eyes fading from a light green color back to light blue. My eyes widened in surprise.

"That's not normal..." I said.

Xisuma sighed, crossing his arms and glancing away. "I guess when you get angry your eyes are going to change color now," he said.

I sighed and lowered the mirror, staring at the grass in front of me. "I guess so," I quietly responded. I reached out and gave him the mirror, which he then teleported back to wherever he had gotten it from.

Xisuma glanced out the window and realized what time it was. "Come on, Grian, time to sleep," he said, looking back at me and unfolding his arms. I sighed and nodded, accepting his help to stand up.

He calmly led me to my bed and I sat down, memories of the past season flashing through my mind. Xisuma gently rubbed my back and I found my eyelids getting heavy. I laid down and to his delight, quickly drifted off to sleep.

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~Time Skip! (Brought to you by Joe Hills)~

I opened my eyes when the sound of beeping came to my ears. I sluggishly pulled up my communicator but was immediately woke up when I saw what it was. There was a notification from First Prime Admin Myriel. I sat up quickly and tapped on it to open it.

Myriel: hey Xel, how are you doing?

Myriel: ready for the All-Admin Meeting?

I hastily typed and sent my reply.

Grian: yeah i am

Grian: I'm still going to hide my identity though

Myriel: that's fine

Myriel: whatever makes you feel better

I couldn't help but smile at the message.

Grian: thanks Myriel

Myriel: no problem Xel :)

Myriel: see you soon

Grian: see you soon

I lowered my communicator and got out of bed. I glanced at the time. It was 9:30 am. I sighed and decided to leave for the Prime Admin Quarters. I pulled up my communicator and tapped on Xisuma's icon.

Grian: hey X

Grian: I'm gonna head to the Admin HQ now

Grian: see you at the meeting

Xisuma: alright

Xisuma: see you there

I lowered my communicator and raised my right hand. A small flash of golden light later, a golden portal was floating in front of me. Once I was sure I was ready, I stepped through.

Grian has left the game

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I stepped out of the portal and looked around. I was in the Prime Admin Quarters again but this time I was alone.

With a swift wave of my hand, the golden portal vanished and I was left alone in the room. I heard footsteps on the staircase and turned to see Myriel giving me a small but warm smile. I smiled back.

"I'll leave you to get ready," she said. "How long do you think you'll need?"

I thought about it for just a moment before answering, "We can probably do it at 10:30 or 11."

She nodded. "Let's go for 11. That'll give you time to get food and get situated with disguises and all," Myriel said, her smile fading as she got a bit more formal.

I nodded. "Thanks. See you soon," I said as I walked over and passed her on the stairs. I felt her gaze follow me as I went up the left staircase and entered my room. It was just the same as I had left it.

Closing the door, I silently walked over to the closet and thumbed through the outfits. There, right at the end, on the left side, hung the black hoodie I wore at the Admin Meeting over 6 years prior. A sad smile formed on my face as I pulled it out and looked at it. Beside it hung the black jeans I also wore.

I chuckled quietly as I realized that if someone paid enough attention, they could piece together my Admin, Watcher, and Player identities. After all, I never did anything about my height. Then again, I was average height so I wasn't too short compared to some.

I grabbed my black jeans along with my black hoodie, leaving the hangers on the rack, and wandered over to the bathroom that was connected to my bedroom. Everything was still the same.

After a shower, I exited the bathroom wearing the black clothes that I always wore for meetings. I calmly walked over to the window and glanced outside. It was always nice seeing the players in the Hub talking and laughing together. However, unlike the last time I had looked out the window, I was one of those players. Except unlike most, if not all, of those players, I had a few bumps along the way.

I looked up as a knock sounded on the door. Myriel's voice called from the other side, "You ready to eat? It's 10:30."

"Yup! I'm coming!" I called back before immediately feeling guilty that I sounded that happy. I fell back into the depressive hole that was grief. I only managed to drag myself back out by exiting my room and joining my fellow Echelon Aurarius member in the dining room. She noticed my sudden change in mood and reassuringly placed her hand on mine, which was set on the table. I looked up and saw a soft smile on her face, concern evident in her eyes. I smiled slightly back and she retracted her hand so we could both eat.

20 minutes of eating later, the two of us put away our now-clean dishes and headed for the door. However, halfway to the door, I paused as I realized my hood wasn't up. I walked over to the mirror that was hanging beside the door just for this reason and covered my dirty blonde hair with the black hood. I made sure to lower the hood enough so that it would cover my eyes and hide all things that could be used to identify me. I turned to Myriel and she nodded in approval.

Putting on a calm exterior, I followed Myriel out the door. A small flash of light later, we were in the hallway of the Admin HQ. Myriel calmly placed her hands behind her back as she walked through the halls toward the meeting room. I noticed with a small flash of amusement that some passing Admins immediately started whispering to each other when they saw me. Those few were lucky, they knew I was back before anyone else. However, I hid the smirk that came with the amusement with ease and continued following Myriel.

We arrived at the meeting room at exactly 11:00. All of the Admins that were sitting turned to look at us respectfully, before realizing with surprise that there were two of us. They respectfully remained silent as we headed over to the two chairs at the head of the meeting table.

Myriel sat down in the one to the left while I sat in the one to her right. I noticed with a hidden flash of amusement that Xisuma was looking at me knowingly. At this point, he was the only one there that knew my true identity, besides Myriel.

Once all the Admins were settled down, Myriel stood to address them. "As you can see," she began. "The Third Prime Admin has returned. It is now our duty to promote him." All of the Admins immediately rose from their chairs. A wave of confusion washed over me as I looked up at Myriel. She gave me a smirk as I reluctantly stood.

She reached out her hand and I hesitantly took it, unsure of what was going on. The moment our hands touched, streams of light according to their Echelons flowed out of each and every Admin in the room. Myriel pulled me to the side to stand right in the center of the two chairs. Streams of light touched my chest, white, green, pink, orange, aqua, blue, red, light purple, and silver, combining together into a steady stream of multi-colored magic. I stood tall, my hand grasped onto Myriel's hand as a golden stream came from her own chest.

Since I had left before Heroth retired, I had never experienced a Prime Admin going up a level. However, it didn't hurt. Instead, it was a warm feeling that filled my body, giving me hope.

My gaze managed to meet Xisuma's, his eyes filled with pride and a smile no doubt on his hidden face.

Finally, the streams of light stopped flowing from the other Admins and were absorbed into my body, Myriel's golden light being the last to be absorbed. As soon as all the light was inside of me, I let out a light gasp and let go of Myriel's hand to grasp at my chest for a few moments. A smile formed on my face as I looked over at Myriel.

"Welcome, Second Prime Admin," she said warmly, a smile on her own face. I knew that had I decided to not reveal my true identity, she would've stated my name, Xelqua. However, at this point, the name reminded me of my Watcher past rather than my Admin past. Nonetheless, I didn't let the thought drag me down.

I nodded respectfully and took my place in my chair. Myriel turned to the other Admins as they sat, all of them seeming proud to have been a part of the promotion of a Prime Admin.

"Thank you all for searching. I thank the one who found the lost Prime and helped him return," she said, her gaze sweeping over all of the Admins there but lingering on Xisuma slightly too long. My smile faded as I noticed a few of the Admins glancing at Xisuma with curiosity in their eyes. Hopefully, they won't piece things together, I thought.

Myriel took a breath before continuing, "Your servers should be returning to normal now that both Primes have returned. Any glitches that occurred should resolve themselves easily."

An odd feeling passed over my chest, a feeling of dread and fear. I turned my gaze to Xisuma and the wide eyes he had as he met my gaze confirmed it. Someone was here.

As if I had been given foresight, I stood and raised my hands, a golden shield forming over all of the Admins just as the ceiling exploded. The debris and rubble from the blast were safely pushed away from the Admins, landing behind and around us.

I lowered my hands, the shield dissipating as I glared up at the new hole in the roof. All of the other Admins jumped to their feet, an array of weapons appearing in their hands. Myriel's previously warm gaze was cold with hatred as she stared, waiting for something to come out of the hole.

I froze as a familiar red-clad figure dropped through the roof and landed with a thud on the table. His red gaze immediately turned and landed on a shocked Xisuma. Watchers flooded the room around him and began attacking the frightened Admins with dark purple magic.

I found myself thinking, Good thing we were all in the same place. We can protect each other.

I raised my hand and blasted a Watcher away in self-defense and ran to help Xisuma. To my horror, the Echelon Ostrum Admin was already pinned to the ground by none other than EX.

I swiftly cast some magic that would prevent my hood from flying off and pushed EX off of his twin with a quick blast of golden magic. He spun toward me, eyes filled with anger. I hid my unease and protected Xisuma long enough for him to be able to stand and face his twin.

EX smirked slightly and disappeared into the crowds of Watchers and Admins. No matter how many Watchers we seemed to defeat, more and more flooded out of the hole in the ceiling.

Desperately, I mentally called out to all of the Admins, making sure to change my voice to be unrecognizable. Get out of the Meeting room! Immediately, all Admins turned, magical wings forming behind them, and flew out of the gaping hole in the ceiling. Xisuma at my side, I summoned my large white feathered wings and followed the Admins. I paused as I made it a safe distance from the roof and looked down. With relief, I saw Myriel flying out just after me, a Watcher right on her tail. However, she didn't need help as she swiftly sent it falling out of the sky.

I let out a surprised gasp as a blast hit me right in the back, in between my wings. It scorched my hoodie but didn't burn through. I turned to see a familiar face. It was none other than Watcher Galenthyl.

I smirked slightly and swiftly sent a blast of golden magic at him. He narrowly dodged it and sent a silver one back. With a flick of my wrist, I put up a golden shield that absorbed his blast. I summoned my sword and flew at the High Councilmember. He summoned his own obsidian sword and blocked my attack. He struck at me and I blocked. He continued to strike at me, even though I was blocking every one with ease. Finally, I sent a blast of magic that sent him reeling away. I immediately turned in search of a different opponent.

I realized the Admins were getting pushed over the void, meaning if anyone fell, it was game over. There were no respawns in the Admin HQ.

I stiffened as I saw two people I recognized locked in conflict. Xisuma was barely holding his own against EX, who was still in his red armor despite being with the Watchers. I spread my wings and flew toward them. Just before I reached them, EX spun and shot a blast at me. I barrel-rolled out of the way, waving my hand to stop it before it hit another Admin. I glared back at EX and hovered mid-air.

"Here we are again," he spoke quietly.

I remained silent, not wanting anyone else to hear me.

He chuckled. "Playing the silent game, huh? Well, I'm perfectly fine with that." His sword appeared in his hand and he swung it toward me. I turned and dodged the blade, pushing him away with my free hand. He powerfully struck down toward me with his sword; I barely managed to block it. We were in a lock and his red gaze was set on me.

"You know, if someone were to see you fighting as both the Prime and Grian, they could piece things together very easily," he hissed.

I growled and pushed him away before sending a blast at him. He deflected it with his sword and swung in an opposite direction, right where Xisuma had been charging toward him. The Admin barely got out of the way. If he had moved any later, the obsidian blade would've sliced straight through his chest piece.

Xisuma backed away, eyes wide beneath his purple visor. EX's focus was now on him. The Watcher hurled himself at his twin, fury in his red gaze. He sent a silver blast toward me and I was sent backward. I watched in horror as EX grasped onto Xisuma's neck and began to choke him. Xisuma swung his sword around, striking EX's pale purple wing and rendering it useless as dark blood spurted out of it. Xisuma fought to get his brother's grasp off of his neck, taking any hits that the white-haired twin gave him. Just then, Xisuma's magical wings canceled out and the two fell from the sky.

I watched in horror as the dream I had many years prior came true. The two were locked in battle and were too busy fighting to notice that they were falling into the void.

(2830 words or so)

(I think I have an issue with cliffhangers. I like doing them too much :3)

(Note: The title is meant to be dual-sided. It was two different people's return. Thought I'd mention that in case nobody realized that :3)

(Forgot something. This chapter is exactly 30 chapters after the last chapter that had an All-Admin Meeting :3)

(Hope you enjoyed, bye~!)