"Another for Stress, another for false and then there's like 4 more for Scar."

"Congratulations Scar!" A smile fell onto Scar's face as his head snapped up, fireworks erupting from his vote column as the concrete powder hit the observer.

Scar's gaze flicked to Grian, lost in a thoughtful and worried expression, quickly moving when he noticed Scar staring at him, muttering a quick apology.and clambering down, glancing at Mumbo nervously.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, and Mumbo frowned at him, mouthing 'later', as Grian walked over to Scar, squeezing his shoulder.

"Congrats!" He said enthusiastically, leaning in and whispering something to Scar that made him laugh. "I think me and Mumbo both voted for you despite Mumbo being a candidate." Scar looked at Mumbo's empty podium, bursting out onto laughter, as Grian sniggered slightly.

"Welp," Grian said, rolling his eyes jokingly, taking his hand off and walking away, his smile fading when he thought Scar couldn't see him, his posture stiffening as he took off using his elytra, landing roughly by his mansion, leaving the chest empty as he went through the portal. It had always been possible for him to bring stuff through, but he'd tried to avoid bringing gear into the other servers for a better play experience.

Well screw that now.

He remembered waking up in Hermitcraft with a note from the listeners, realising that he had to go for the mayoral election. That was definitely planned on their part. It was slightly comforting to know that they were alive, but they were clearly trying to keep him away.

It wasn't going to work.

Grian stumbled out of the portal, his eyes instantly flicking to a build in the middle of spawn. He stomach sank with familiarity as he rushed over to it, his fingers brushing over the engravings as he squinted at them.

ᒷ||ᒷ ⎓𝙹∷ ᔑリ ᒷ||ᒷ, ᓭ𝙹⚍ꖎ ⎓𝙹∷ ᔑ ᓭ𝙹⚍ꖎ!¡ꖎᔑ||ᒷ∷ ⎓𝙹∷ ∴ᔑℸ ̣ ᓵ⍑ᒷ∷ ᔑリ↸ ∴ᔑℸ ̣ ᓵ⍑ᒷ∷ ⎓𝙹∷ ⊣⍑𝙹⚍ꖎ. ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ⊣ᒷᒲ ∴ᔑᓭ ᓭℸ ̣ 𝙹ꖎᒷリ ᔑリ↸ ∴╎ꖎꖎ ʖᒷ ꖌ╎ꖎꖎᒷ↸ 𝙹リ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ⎓╎⎓ℸ ̣ ⍑ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ↸ᒷ⎓ᒷᓵℸ ̣ ∴╎ꖎꖎ ᓭ⚍∷∷ᒷリ↸ᒷ∷ 𝙹∷ ⍑ᒷ ∴╎ꖎꖎ ʖᒷ ᒲ||ℸ ̣ ⍑.

"Eye for a eye, soul for a soul?" Grian muttered, his eyes flickering across the bedrock. "Player and watcher and watcher for ghoul-" he laughed uneasily, looking around to see if anyone else was near.

"The gem was stolen and will be killed on the fifth... The defect- the defect will surrender or he will be myth." The last line left a sour taste in his mouth, and Grian couldn't help but focus on the threat in the message, and he knew very well they could follow through with it if they wanted to.

"You can read it?" Syra sounded surprised, frowning and squinting at Grian, making him turn around with surprise.

"Yeah, why? It's just text right?" Syra looked at Jace uneasily, as if for confirmation.

"It's a different language called Standard Galactic. It's the language of the watchers, and me and Jace studied for years to learn how to understand it and read it. Did you... Ever get taught by anyone?" Grian hesitated for a minute, thinking back to the month or so he was with the watchers before he escaped, shaking his head.

"I don't think so," Grian said, biting his lip. "Maybe it happened when they turned me into... one of them." Jace shrugged uneasily, seeming to have a wordless conversation with Syra before they both turned back to him, seeming to have made the unanimous decision just to move on.

"What did it mean when they said player for watcher. We took one of them, so did they take a player in exchange? And which player would be considered the gem? I don't get it, I really don- Oh." Grian's heart sank as he instantly stood up straighter, scrolling through the tab screen and pulling up an admin screen to double check the player list.

"Where's Pearl?" He asked, his mouth dry, once he realised she was missing. The silence that followed was enough of an answer, the Listeners not answering and just standing there in silence, both refusing to meet his eyes.

"They wouldn't have killed her," Jace comforted, glancing at Syra uncertainly. "That would be an inefficient use."

"What do you mean inefficient - she's not just a stolen object or something," Grian argued, stepping closer.

"I mean that they could use her as leverage-"

"Or bait," Grian finished, an angry tone to his voice, holding back the urge to punch something.

"Or as bait, yes. And I know you're tempted just to ignore that possibility-"

"Please tell me you know where she is," Grian told them, more desperation in his voice than he'd have liked.

"It's a work in progress," Jace said, inwardly wincing when they realised it was only making Grian more angry.

"Work in progress isn't good enough. They could be  torturing her for all you know, but you just say 'It's a work in progress'. She could be- she could be dying!"

"I'm sorry Grian, but that's all we can do; there's not exactly a plan for this sort of thing. We didn't expect them to-"

"Gain access? Yeah, I suppose I should've made sure the IP was locked away from simple member access, but obviously I didn't think to do that. Now they have access to this server and therefore Hermitcraft whenever they feel like it!" Grian snapped, looking away and running a hand through his hair.

"If it helps, the Hermitcraft portal's safe. Limited access and
encrypted IP," Syra murmured, slightly reassuring Grian, but not overall helping to ease the distraught and worry taking control of Grian's mind, refusing to let him focus.

"I can't do this," Grian muttered, shaking his head before walking away, the Listeners choosing not to follow as he ran away.