(T/W for blood and pain)

(*chucks an extra-long chapter at you*)

POV: Grian

Location: His base

I blinked open my eyes to see sunlight filtering in through my cyan-stained windows. I yawned and stretched before sitting up and grabbing my communicator to check it. It was 9 am but I didn't have any new messages. So, I decided to message EX that he could come to the meeting.

Grian: hey Xisuma

Grian: can you let EX know he can come to the meeting

Xisuma: yup

Xisuma: he's reading over my shoulder right now

Xisuma: that reminds me

Xisuma: G can you come over to my base?

Grian: uhm sure

Grian: be there soon

Slightly confused, I got out of bed and headed through my Nether portal. Once in the Nether hub, I found which one was Xisuma's and went through.

I looked around and managed to find my way to Xisuma's bedroom. I went inside and saw Xisuma sitting with EX on his bed. I smiled slightly as I noticed EX leaning on Xisuma's shoulder with his helmet off and a soft smile on his face.

They both looked up as I entered and smiled in greeting. Well, EX smiled. I had no idea if X did.

"Hey," I said, closing the door. "Why'd you need me to come over?" I asked, walking over to them.

"Well," Xisuma began, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "I figured you'd want to see EX's reaction when I give him... This." He pulled what looked like a wristband out of his pocket and handed it to EX.

The white-haired twin looked down at the wristband in confusion as he took it. His eyes lit up and he smiled warmly. "Thanks, Xisuma," he said, looking up at his brother.

I finally saw what the wristband was: a communicator. I smiled too and said, "Hey, now we can talk over text."

He looked over at me and grinned mischievously. "You're getting all of the memes and spam now," EX said, a mischievous tone in his voice.

Xisuma looked over at me, the same mischievous glint in his gaze as he crossed his arms. "Now, I don't have to hear it endlessly all day," he said. "You'll get it instead."

"Oh-ho-ho, I see how it is," I said with a sly grin as I crossed my arms. "Bring it on, see what happens," I responded boldly.

I began getting a bit fearful of my choice of words as a sly grin grew on my friend's face as he exchanged a mischievous glance with his twin brother. However, I stood by my choices and decided to change the subject.

"We should probably get ready for the meeting," I reminded the scheming twins.

"Oh, right," EX responded, looking down at his clothes. He was wearing a red tank top and faded black jeans that probably belonged to Xisuma. "I don't think this is right to wear to a meeting with Admins..." he said sheepishly.

I chuckled. "I'll let Xisuma help you figure that out. Also, you can wear your helmet, the Admins won't be scared because you won't have red glowing eyeballs underneath," I said with another chuckle.

EX smirked at me and stood, strapping the communicator onto his wrist. "See you soon," he said.

Xisuma stood as well and went over to the closet to look inside.

"See you," I called before turning to leave the room.

I soon made it back to my Nether portal and realized I probably would need Mumbo's help as well. So, I went into his portal and surprised him by practically popping out of nowhere and saying, "Hi!" while he was working on Redstone. He let out a yelp and messed up the Redstone he was working on and looked over with a sigh.

I chuckled sheepishly and walked over to him as he stood up.

"You're lucky this Redstone will be easy to fix," he said with a smirk as he brushed his white dress shirt. He wasn't wearing his overcoat and Redstone was smeared on parts of his shirt.

I chuckled again before moving onto the reason I was there. "Xisuma wanted to relay the message that there's going to be an Admin Meeting today," I explained. "He wanted you to go as well."

He nodded thoughtfully. "Because of my new powers," he said. I nodded in response.

"Alright, let him know I'll be there," he said.

"Great. By the way, I am an Admin but X wanted me to stay here to make sure the server runs correctly so I can't go. You can fill me in on everything when you get back," I said with a smile.

He nodded. "Alright, see you after, then," he replied.

"I will see you off though," I said, beginning to turn to head back to the portal.

Mumbo chuckled. "Alright, see you then," he corrected himself before turning to fix his Redstone.

I chuckled to myself as he said something like "Now where does this piece go?"

I headed through the Nether portal and went into my base to tell people things. Soon, I was sitting on my bed typing into my communicator.

Grian: hey X

Grian: Mumbo's going to the meeting too

Grian: i told him you said he should go and that i had to stay to watch over the server

Grian: okay?

Xisuma: yup

Xisuma: see you later

Grian: the meeting will probably be at 11

Grian: i need to visit Tango...

Xisuma: ah, right, got it

Grian: see you later

Xisuma: bye

I switched who I was texting and began to type again.

Grian: hey Myriel

Grian: will 11 work for the meeting?

Myriel: yup

Myriel: see you then :)

Grian: btw, my other friend is coming too but he doesn't know I'm a Prime

Grian: he accidentally got magic from EX

Myriel: i see

Myriel: so i have to conduct the questions and everything?

Grian: that would be great if you could, thanks

Myriel: see you for the meeting

Grian: cya

I put down my communicator and went back over to the Nether portal, stepping through. I headed to Stress's portal and went to find her.

I found her just inside the infirmary where Tango was staying.

"Hey," I said in greeting as I entered.

"Hey," she quietly responded, looking at me. She held a finger over her mouth and looked over at Tango. "He's been trying to get sleep," she explained quietly.

I nodded, looking over at him. "How is he?" I asked quietly.

A raspy voice croaked from across the room, "Well, I'm awake so you might as well ask me."

At Tango's call, I walked over to him with Stress right behind me and looked down at him.

"Hey," I greeted, a soft smile on my face.

"Hey," Tango responded, looking horrible. His blonde hair was unkempt and his face seemed to permanently be in a disguised pain-filled expression. Dark bags were under his eyes and of course, what remained of his left arm was wrapped in a clean bandage

"How do you feel?" I asked, meeting his tired red eyes. If it were possible, I would say his eyes seemed even redder from how tired he looked.

"Horrible," he responded. "My arm is always hurting at this point. I don't think my brain is able to compute the fact that I can't control my left hand anymore." He paused to wearily chuckle. "Bit hard to do that now," he joked.

Immediately after he made the joke, his smile faded and his face scrunched up in pain.

"Stress..." he began, confusion filling his gaze. "My chest hurts..." he confessed, fear showing in his expression and in his voice.

When I looked at Stress, I saw a fear-filled shock in her brown gaze. She ran around to his left side of the bed and leaned over, using her magic to check what was wrong with his chest.

She found a cut in his vest and shirt and used her magic to move apart the pieces. She immediately gasped and ran to get a bandage.

The shard had gone straight through Tango's arm. ... and straight into his chest. A small but decently deep cut was positioned beneath his heart, in line with where his arm had been cut off.

Stress hurried back and asked me to help Tango sit up while she prepared. I did as she told and helped support him while Stress took off his shirt and vest to dress the wound.

She cleaned off the wound and applied a disinfectant, hoping it wasn't too late, and got the bandages. She wrapped the white cloth around his chest, over the wound. I had to help Tango keep his stub arm away from his side in order to make it easier for Stress to heal him.

Once the bandage was secured, Stress went left to wash her hands and find a shirt for Tango.

I supported the blonde Hermit where he sat until Stress returned with a faded red tank top. I helped her get the tank top on Tango and he gingerly laid back down.

He let out a sigh, looking up at me and Stress. "Thanks, guys," he said, sounding and looking tired.

I glanced at the time. It was almost 10. If I wanted to get to the meeting on time and get food, I had to leave.

"I have to go," I said to both Stress and Tango.

"Bye," Tango said.

Stress smiled softly at me. "Good luck," she quietly said.

I smiled slightly back at her, making Tango confused. He had no clue what she was talking about so he was just blankly staring at us.

"Bye," I said before turning to head to the door. I let out a sigh once on the other side and made my way to the Nether portal. As I walked, I nodded at Impulse and Zedaph as they exited the portal and hurried to the infirmary. They looked at me but didn't say anything.

—————————————

~Short Time Skip(not brought to you by Joe Hills for obvious reasons)~

I let out a sigh as I finished eating my breakfast. I buried my head in my hands for a few moments, trying to figure out how I would do this.

My communicator dinged, bringing me out of my thoughts.

Xisuma: you ready?

I checked the time. It was 10:42.

Grian: yeah

Grian: tell everyone to meet at your base and i'll pretend to see you off

Grian: once you leave i'll follow

Xisuma: got it

Xisuma: see you soon

Grian: yeah

I cleaned up my dishes and headed to the Nether portal. Once in the Nether hub, I went over to Xisuma's portal and went inside. Soon, I found Xisuma and EX in the main part of X's base, the former typing into his communicator and the latter leaning against the wall looking bored.

I noticed EX was now wearing a red dress shirt that had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the faded black jeans he was wearing earlier. It was kind of weird seeing him in such formal wear. I felt like if he also had boots, which he didn't, I probably wouldn't be able to handle it. Instead, he was just wearing black converse. He was wearing his helmet, but his white and black hair was sticking out from underneath like he couldn't be bothered to try and stuff it all inside.

I chuckled quietly as I headed over to EX and perched on a chest by him, smirking.

"Hey," EX said, looking over at me.

"You ready?" I asked.

He shrugged and glanced away. "Ready to face the group I'm supposed to be enemies with? Yeah, I'm ready," he answered jokingly.

We looked up as Mumbo came into the room, straightening his red tie. His eyes were their normal green color and he was now wearing his overcoat. He looked more normal than he had in what felt like a while.

"Ready?" Xisuma said to the mustached Hermit.

"Yeah, I think so," Mumbo replied, a nervous smile on his face.

"Alright, come on," X replied.

EX reluctantly stopped leaning on the wall and walked over to them, letting X handle making the portal.

I glanced at what time it was. It was now 10:48.

I was getting a bit antsy but I couldn't let them see it so I kept a smile on my face as I walked over to them. "Good luck," I said.

"Thanks, you too," X said, making Mumbo believe he was referring to keeping the server running. Of course, the rest of us knew what he really meant.

I stepped back from them as Xisuma raised his hand, which was glowing purple.

"See you," I called.

He nodded and a purple portal appeared behind them. They turned and one by one went through the portal until I was left alone in Xisuma's base.

As soon as they were out of sight and the portal was gone, I turned and dashed to the Nether portal. I had to get to my base as quickly as I could so I would have time to change into my Prime Admin clothes.

I managed to make it back to my base at 10:51 and quickly made the golden portal to the Prime Admin Quarters. I went through and ran past a surprised Myriel to my bedroom, grabbing a fresh black hoodie and black jeans to put on.

By the time I was finished, it was 10:56. I pulled my hood up while walking down the stairs but then realized that my golden magic was still unreliable thanks to Xalum so if something were to happen, my hood wouldn't stay on. I would rather people see my blonde hair than my unmistakable blue eyes.

In my panic, I ended up just summoning a black bandana and wrapping it around my eyes. I could still see through it because of the dark color but no one could see in.

I fixed my hood and followed Myriel out the door at 10:58.

I forced myself to remain calm as we walked to the meeting room, telling myself that it was fine if we were slightly late.

We managed to make it inside the meeting room and seated at 11:02.

As I forced my panicked breathing to calm, I noticed EX and Mumbo sitting beside Xisuma, both of them looking nervous and uncomfortable. I also observed that the Echelon Ostrum Admin sitting by them was looking rather fearful at the fact he was sitting by a Watcher.

I glanced at Myriel as she stood to begin the meeting. "Greetings. This High Admin Meeting has been called to discuss some recent events concerning the Watchers," she said formally. "Every member of Echelons Ostrum, Argentum, and Aurarius are here along with the Head Admins of the other Echelons. Any questions?"

The Head Admin of Echelon Niveus raised his hand and I looked toward him. He was wearing a blue t-shirt and wore white and black glasses over his eyes.

"Yes, George?" Myriel said.

The Admin put his hand down and began in his normal British accent, "Why are there non-Admins here?"

"They are here to help explain everything that happened to them in the past few days," Myriel explained. "I am fairly certain 36 Admins can handle two rogue magic-users."

The Head Admin of the Roseus Echelon spoke up, his French accent obvious, "Actually, 35. I believe one of the Ostrum members are missing." I smirked slightly as I found it rather ironic that the Frenchman who was completely monotone in appearance was the Head Admin of the Echelon whose color was pink.

I pushed the thought away as Myriel replied, "Thank you, a6d. Any more questions?"

A silence fell over the table.

"Good," Myriel soon said. "Let's begin," she said before sitting down. She nodded to Xisuma, letting him know it was his turn to talk.

The Admin hesitantly stood and looked over at Myriel. "Thank you, Prime Admin Nyxia," he said before sweeping his gaze over the semi-small crowd of Admins. "Recently, several events have occurred that were out of the ordinary on the Hermitcraft server. Most recently, one of our own was corrupted by the Watchers and strangely has more power than most Watchers should have."

A few murmurs broke out and Xisuma waited for them to die down before continuing. "No, it was not my brother I am speaking of. He was recently under the control of the Watchers and was freed yesterday. He is the cause of the next..." He paused as he struggled to find the right word. "Incident," he finished.

X cleared his throat. "A few months ago, Mumbo Jumbo here was sent into a temporary coma by EX on accident." He paused to glare across the room. "On accident," he repeated.

"Mumbo didn't have magic until EX possessed him. Somehow, EX transferred some amount of magic to Mumbo and now he is more powerful than most Watchers, similar to the Hermit who was corrupted as I mentioned before."

I listened as Xisuma explained everything that happened. I noticed he didn't mention anything about the Listeners but figured it was because Iskall didn't need to be mentioned in the story.

"This meeting is to discuss how two Hermits have more power than an Admin of rather high rank," he finished before sitting down.

"Thank you, Xisuma," Myriel said. "Any ideas?" Her gaze swept the room as silence ensued.

Hypixel spoke up, "The Watchers may be experimenting with magic. Perhaps the corrupted player was part of an experiment."

"Yes, he was with the Watchers alone for an unknown period of time and has been getting increasingly worse," Xisuma said.

"In what way?" AppleG commented.

"His veins had begun to turn purple until they reached his face and he went berserk," Xisuma answered.

"How is Mumbo connected to this? And, who was corrupt?" a dirty blonde-haired Admin wearing a Santa hat and a Christmas sweater asked.

"It is assumed Mumbo may rival him in power. And... It was Joe Hills," Xisuma hesitantly answered.

Silence fell over the room. Most people knew Joe for his poems and kindness and couldn't believe he'd be one to join the Watchers.

"If I may speak," EX spoke up, startling some of the Admins near him.

"By all means," Myriel answered.

EX sat straighter and opened his mouth to speak. "The Watchers have been using magic to control those too dangerous to be left alone. I was trapped under their control, and now Joe is." He paused for a second then continued a bit quieter, "The point is, we know what we're doing but we can't do anything about it." He sat back in his chair, not meeting anyone's gaze.

"Thank you, EX," Myriel said. "Does anyone else have any input-"

A loud BEEP rang across the room, followed by another and another. The owners of the beeping communicators looked down in confusion to figure out what was going on. The communicators of the Head Admins of Echelons Niveus, Prasinus, and Aliquam were going off.

One of the owners of the beeping communicators looked up at another one of them. "Bad," the green hoodie-wearing Prasinus Admin began. I noticed he was wearing a white mask over his face that had a smiley face on it. "It's your server," he continued to the Aliquam Admin.

The owner of the server stood up, beginning to panic. His face was hidden in shadows by his black and red hood but his glowing white eyes were wide in shock.

The Head Admin of Echelon Caesitas stood up, looking at Badboyhalo. "What does it say?" he asked, straightening the light blue hood he was wearing that had a derpy face on it.

"MunchyMC is being attacked..." Bad said, looking over at me and Myriel.

Immediately, we stood up. "By the Watchers?" Myriel asked.

"Yes, but..." He paused to look at his communicator. "Their code is kinda weird and not normal..." My eyebrow raised at his last comment.

"No matter, we have to go now. Get ready, we're leaving as soon as possible," Myriel said.

The Admins in the meeting stood and summoned weapons for the expected battle.

I met EX's gaze and gave him a small nod. He stood and summoned his obsidian sword, turning to meet Xisuma's gaze.

I noticed poor Mumbo was looking around in confusion, unsure of what to do until Xisuma told him we needed his help.

I was about to summon my obsidian blade when I realized I wasn't sure if Primes could actually do that. Then, I remembered that everyone knew I had been forced to be a Watcher so it didn't matter. I summoned my obsidian sword out of thin air, startling a few nearby Admins, and prepared to help Myriel make the portal to MunchyMC.

Once everyone was ready, Myriel and I worked together with some of the Argentum Admins to create the portal by the wall.

The Admins began to go through the portal until the only ones left were me, Myriel, and Badboyhalo. I needed to speak to the lower-ranked Admin.

I nodded for Myriel to go ahead, which she did, and quietly spoke to Bad, "May I speak to you?" I made sure to keep my voice low in hopes of him not recognizing me

The Aliquam Admin looked up at me in surprise and nodded. "Yes, Prime Admin," he replied.

"How did you know the Watchers' code seemed off?" I hesitantly asked.

His glowing eyes widened and he looked away. "I just know what it normally looks like, that's all," he answered, nervously brushing his brownish hair out of his eyes.

I saw straight through him. "You had an encounter with the Watchers, didn't you?" I said quietly.

He looked back at me and heaved a quiet sigh, glancing away. "Yes," he answered.

"What happened?" I asked, tilting my head slightly.

He took in a breath, seeming to debate if he should say something. He looked directly at me and opened his mouth.

"I was a Watcher before I became an Admin."

(WC: 3668)

(A/N: *coughs in the drawing I showed*)

(Don't go back there and shout who it is tho, plz ;-;)

(Uhhhh Idk what to say... Uhm... I guess... References are fun? Also, I've had the idea of Bad, George, and Dream having their communicators beep for a while but haven't been able to implement it. Erm... This chapter wasn't really rushed but I'm not super-duper proud of it, Idk why. Oh well)

(I just want to say, I made Bad's server get attacked because Skeppy's server is slightly overused... No offense to those who use it tho XP Also, using Bad's server meant I could bring in Dream and George even though they're not manager thingies on his server anymore -w-)

(Feel free to post your theories about the books here :3)

(Leave a vote if you enjoyed, bye~!)

<3