No one's POV:

...

......

He was still in Tartarus, barely alive.

Then he wasn't.

Someone with the same hand pulled him out.

The hooded figure of himself stood still, his purple cape ripped to make bandages for the other him.

He thought that it was fine, after all, he had more of the same outfit at home.

"Urh... what... where..." The him that was injured spoke.

The hooded figure stared at his injured self; his vision purpled by the cursed mask he wore.

"Hello HermitCamps Grian, it's nice to see that you are awake." He spoke, his tone sincere

"Oh, it's you... again... where am I?" The injured Grian asked, looking around with half-closed eyes.

The white void spread as far as the eye can see, glass shards float in midair, reflecting nothing but everything at the same thing, a clear image of the original.

A mirror of reality, an alternate universe, merely a make-up fantasy of people with different thoughts.

"You are in the In-between; I have pulled you out of your world." The hooded one answered.

"Are... ARE THEY OK? AM I DEAD?" The other screamed in distress.

"Calm, you are going to hurt yourself."

"I truly thought... it didn't work? Surely it should..."

The hooded one sighed "Your friends are ok, they are safe and back to your home; and no, you are not dead... yet."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Time doesn't exist here, that is the only reason why you are not bleeding out."

"Oh, that doesn't sound good."

"Cut the sarcasm."

"Uh... what's your name again? My mind is blanking on you."

"... My common name is Grian, but that's too confusing, call me Xelqua, that's my watcher name."

"Watcher what...?"

"Never mind, just call me Time."

Time stood up, and looked at Grian, "That's my AU codename, yours is Demi."

"I don't understand- Ow!" Grian, now Demi tried to stand, but his legs gave in.

"Have you heard of the Multiple Universe Theory?"

"Look I got a degree in biology, not physics."

"Well, it's a theory that believes that the world has a lot of copies, all with different things happening."

Demi tilted his head a bit and listened to his voice, but it wasn't his voice speaking, it was Time's.

Time pointed at the glass shards and leaned in close.

"Wait, don't touch!" Demi half-yelled.

The hooded figure looked at Demi, the shadow covered his mask with that symbol, a symbol of the ever-watching. Time drew a breath and whispered something in another tongue, and the shard dropped onto his hand.

"What... but last time..." Demi struggled to speak, his throat was burning, he felt feverish.

Gods, what did he do last time, why are his memories so fate? He just wanted to get back home.

"I, as a Watcher, can touch this shards of another reality for a while, because of powers or whatever." He explained and cupped the shard in his hand and brought it down to Demi's eye level.

"For a while?" Demi asked, looking at the shard it looked like normal glass.

"Or I will start going insane, but in here. Look." He said, forcing Demi to look at the shard more.

Then a clearer figure formed, a fading male, around 20, one eye a glossy gold color and the other blue, his sandy blonde hair was a mess.

"That is not my refection, right? Gods, I look like a mess."

"Not really, that's the person that you are based upon. For me, I just see my original self."

"Original?"

"Normal me, the classic Grian, without the watcher business, without the whole my life is a fricking hellhole."

"And I am... uh... I don't think I have seen this person before."

"That's Luke Castellan, I have not seen his original self, but I meet a few of his AUs."

"And why do I need this knowledge?"

"Pulling you into this void was easy because you were dead; but to get out, you'll need to know what this world truly is." Time said, putting the shard back on a small white string.

"But..." Demi touched his face, "Does it mean I'm not... oh."

"To leave, this void, you need to embrace that you are a fake character, based on a child's imagination." Time continued, "It's very emotionally draining the first time but hey, you go to do what you need to do."

Demi stood up sharply, his stomach and head felt so heavy, and he felt the blood leaving his body, he was furious at Time, but he can't explain why.

"Sit back down, I pulled you here to stop you from bleeding out and somehow you are bleeding again."

"I RATHER DIE THAN FACE WHATEVER THIS SICK TWIST OF A WORLD IS," Demi scream at the top of his lungs, his hand reached for Ashrune but...

"You can't hurt me, and I don't want to hurt you, please sit down."

Demi fell to the ground with a groan, the ground didn't feel like a floor, it felt more like, gusts of wind keeping him afloat.

But something in his gut just tells him that, he is missing some information.

"Is there anything with this 'Luke' guy?"

"Son of Hermes as well betrayed his friends but still died a hero, at least his Hermes is not as dense as your Hermes."

"Don't call him 'my Hermes', he's hardly even a father."

Time smile tiredly and looked at Demi, "Luke also felt abandoned by his Hermes and betrayed his friends in thirst of revenge. But you, strangely still have some respect for him."

Demi stayed silent; it was a strange feeling, he didn't like Hermes, but he still respected the gods in general.

"Why am I still here."

"As I said, I pulled out here to let you rest; I think you needed this."

Demi nodded to himself, at the time back at the Doors of Death; he didn't really care that his decision was impulsive and very dangerous, he wanted the others to be safe.

"Care to tell me more about yourself? Oh, so hooded figure of myself?" Demi asked, staring at Time's cape.

"I'm just you but from a different timeline." Time indifferently said.

"No, I mean, the whole Watcher business... do they exist in my world?"

"I guess in a way, they go under a different name here, the Readers."

"Oh, are they here... like right now?"

"Yeah, get used to the feeling of being watched."

Demi waved to the air, and awkwardly grins, "Uh, hi!"

"You feel good enough to go back yet?"

"Wait, do I tell them-?"

"NO. DO NOT." Time snapped.

As if a wave of water, the feeling of overwhelming magic washed over him, Time is a powerful being.

"Oh... I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to..." Time retreated into himself a bit.

As fast as the wave of magic came, it disappeared even faster.

"Are you sure you are not a demigod? That's a lot of magic you have."

"My world works a bit different than yours; we don't have Gods."

"Oh, that sounds really good."

"But we have curious Watchers that will and can destroy our world in the snap of a finger."

"How many Watchers are there?"

"A few million? I lost count."

"What are they?"

"Watchers are kind of gods in a way, but less powerful."

"From what I hear, they sound very... very powerful."

"I guess, but that power is going to people with bad intentions."

"Anyways, why can't I tell the others? Of you know... the timelines."

Time stayed silent for a while, then took a big breath.

"I have put the timeline in scrambles already. Pull you here... letting you be... alive. I don't know the consequences of these actions. Are you becoming self-aware? Not supposed to happen too..."

Demi looked at his hands, one bruised and wrapped tightly, "What will happen next? When do I return home?"

The silence, the hesitation, that was already an answer. Time looked around restlessly, "I don't think you fully understand the situation and I can't say anything else; but you're supposed to be dead. That is the full story, they had held a grave, they spoke to 'The Creator'. This was not supposed to happen."

'The Creator' is another mysterious name, but Demi can guess who this person is, outside of their world, a being of power, able to toy with whomever and whenever.

"So, this person, 'The Creator' do they know about this... chapter of the story?"

"I don't know, it may be their plan along to pretend the book has ended then to throw this out of nowhere, or they are just watching as the story is self-generating on the World-Machine."

"The... World-Machine?"

"They call it a computer, but we call it the World-Machine."

"Oh, so we are just files?"

"Yes, data stored on a single point. We are currently in a word folder but will soon be on the web surface among other timelines like ours."

"I am nothing but words?"

"Yes, in a way. I am a weird mix of words, drawings, and animations."

"Everything I say is planned in a word document."

"It takes a while to get used to, but this is why you can't tell anyone."

Demi didn't know what to feel, it was just hallow.

Then the ground shook.

"What is-!" Demi yelled, jumping up from the shock.

"The Machine needs you to go back to your world." Time said, flying upwards a bit.

"What for?"

"You don't belong here!" Time grabbed Demi's shoulders, and for a split second, Demi could have sworn that he saw purple- golden eyes below the mask.

"You have one last chance at life, to be back with the Hermits. One-Shot, go!" Time yelled and teleported Demi away.

...

It was nearly night.

Grian was back near the camp, he looked around, the purple cape that bandaged him was now normal bandages, the blood was rushing in his ears. He felt sick.

He tried to yell for help, but no voice came out.

So, he just stumbled into the Camp Barriers.

...

Zed's POV:

We were just eating at the table, chatting along, and cracking up some jokes.

Xb (who was spaced out) pointed at the distance, "I see something."

"That... *aggressive eating noises* don't sound good." Mumbled Beef with a full mouth of steak.

The barrier that once protected the Camp was gone so we are more likely to get attacked more easily.

I searched for my weapon as Beef quickly swallows his food.

"Bad time for a monster, Tim is sharp and ready to slide through you," I yelled out to try and threaten it away.

The specter of someone that I once knew and called my friend faded into view.

As the dawn breaks, the person I once called Grian was just, here again, badly wounded but alive.

"It's so nice to see you..." He said, his eyes nearly watering as we rushed to his side.

"WHERE WERE YOU, I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD," Mumbo yelled.

"Not... the time... to... to-" Then he tipped over into Joe.

"Gods, he's bleeding out fast! He needs to be healed."

So, we did that, a full good day was passed then Grian was finally awake.

"Mumbo go get some sleep; this wouldn't help anyone." Iskall pleaded with Mumbo who has not slept.

"But what if Grian wakes up at any moment?" Mumbo said, bags under his eyes.

"Don't worry about a thing, I'm here with him so he's going to be fine Mumbo!" I said, changing some of the bandages. (The man bleeds a lot)

"Urk... what just..." Grian's voice whispered, his voice dry and coarse.

"Grian!" We all collectively shouted.

Grian looked around from his bed and just muttered in a low tone, "Am I back home?"

"Yes!" We all exclaimed

...

Then it was peace, he got better and can move around in around a week (Thanks to Joe for that healing), we patched up his home and removed his grave (Grian said it was weird). Also, new members joined in! Elybeatmaker who was the grandson of Apollo, Pixlriffs, and Zloy who are both grandchildren of Pheme, goddess of reporting, but as they are just grandchildren of the Gods, they don't get hunted as much so they just kind of vibe around as they please.

I hummed to myself as I watched the sun was rising.

It was a nice day indeed.

TLDR:

The true end.

Author's Notes:

Happy (Near) Pride Month!

-------------------------------------------------------

The last line is a reference to the beginning line in Chapter One.

Why? Because this is only the start of something bigger.

Something more is coming.

I don't know when I do know what is in it.

Keep reading.

Final Word count:

108 pages, 57698 words,  3340 Paragraphs