A few minutes later, he landed at his own base, running to his room and shuffling through his chest full of potions.

"You're in a rush," Etho observed, his voice joking.

"Not now, Etho," Joel snapped. "I'll explain later," he added to soften his tone.

"What's wrong?" Etho asked, now sounding concerned.

"It's Gem," Joel explained quickly. "She's hurt. Badly."

"The demon deer?" Etho guessed.

Joel shook his head. "No." He pulled a few health potions from the chest. "Can you fly?" Etho nodded, so Joel said, "Help me carry these. Follow me." Only looking back to make sure that Etho really could fly, Joel took off once more towards where Grian and Gem were waiting for him.

He landed with a skid in front of them. Grian was knelt on the ground beside Gem, who was sitting with her back against one of the buildings.

"I brought potions," Joel announced. "Hopefully this will heal your wounds."

"And if not...?" Grian prompted.

"Let's not burn that bridge 'til we're enemies," Joel responded, dodging the question.

"What's happened to Gem?" Etho asked Joel quietly. "And why's Grian in his Watcher form?"

"That's...a long story," Joel said after a moment of hesitation. "Gem was the demon deer, so Grian was attacking her with his Watcher magic, but didn't notice when she turned back into herself. She's badly injured."

Etho's eyes widened, but rather than asking if she was okay, he asked, "How can we help?"

"She needs to drink a few of the potions we got," Joel instructed. "That should stabilize her breathing and get rid of her chest pain. The rest go on her burns."

The other two nodded; Grian gave her two to drink, and Etho began pouring the three left on her burns.

After Gem had finished drinking the second potion, Joel asked her, "Do you feel any different?"

Gem nodded. "Breathing's better," she told him, her voice no longer shaking. However, her burns did not heal. They ceased bleeding but remained pulsing with an eerie, purple glow.

"Devs, what have I done?" Grian breathed quietly. His Watcher halo and one pair of wings had receded, and he now looked much smaller and more vulnerable. "Does anybody have any other ideas?"

There was silence for several heartbeats until Etho suggested, "We should get Scar. He's already roped into this."

"Maybe," Joel agreed. "It's the best idea we have right now." He pulled out his comm and texted Scar, asking him to come to Gem's base because she needed help.

"Scar's going to be here soon," Joel informed the others as soon as Scar responded. "While we wait, Gem, is there anything else we can do?"

Gem shook her head. "I don't think so." She paused for a moment before continuing, "It hurts. I suppose I deserve it though. My pain means nothing if it keeps you guys alive."

"Keeping the demon deer away is one thing, but you don't deserve excessive pain. It's hard to learn, believe me, but remember you're not doing anything wrong," Joel said in an attempt at comfort. Gem just shrugged.

Several uncomfortable minutes passed until Joel heard Scar land behind him.

"Hello!" Scar greeted them. "How may I help you today, fine Hermits? And demon deer?" Gem snorted a laugh, and Joel couldn't help but laugh a bit, too.

"Gem's hurt," Grian explained guiltily. "We thought maybe you'd be able to help with your magic."

Scar

Scar's eyebrows furrowed with worry. "How?" He noticed the purple wounds all over her body.

"It was me. I attacked her. That's why I look like this." Grian said as he motioned to himself. "I'm so sorry. I didn't realize it was her."

Scar looked at him as if he wanted to ask more questions, but he didn't. Rather, he knelt beside Gem and said, "Tell me what you feel."

"Pain," Gem said with a bitter laugh. "Just pain."

Scar nodded slowly. "I can try some magic but I'm not sure if it will heal the Watcher magic."

"Okay," Gem said, but her voice was a bit dull. "Maybe if it doesn't, it'll finally leave me alone."

"We'll make sure you heal," Scar reassured her. "Now, hold still so I can help you." Scar felt panic rising in his chest, but dismissed it out of hand as being his internalized anxiety. However, as it grew, he could tell that it was no longer his own. It was somebody else's. Who? What happened? Scar turned his head to face the other three, looking at each of them in turn for some sign of what they felt, and was nearly knocked backwards by the surge of emotions when he faced Etho.

"Etho, what's wrong?" Scar asked him. Etho didn't respond to this; he was incredibly still, but his panic was as strong as ever. "Etho?" he tried again. Still nothing.

"What's wrong?" Gem asked.

"Etho's not moving, and he's incredibly panicked," Scar told her, slowly approaching Etho and ignoring the growing emotions that he felt from him.

Joel turned to Etho and drew in a breath when he saw that he was completely unmoving.

"Etho, release," he murmured quietly to where Scar could barely hear him.

Etho's limbs relaxed and Scar almost immediately felt his panic lessen. He stumbled forward a step, but Joel caught him before he could fall.

A surge of anger came from Joel before he exclaimed, "You have to be more careful, Scar!" He paused, took a deep breath, and said more gently, "Be more careful of the words you say. Certain words trigger him that he doesn't have control over. It's okay, you didn't know, just...watch what you're saying."

"Don't say still," Etho croaked out, head still buried in Joel's shoulder.

"You ok?" he heard Joel whisper to Etho.

Etho sighed, pulling Joel tighter then letting him go. "Yeah. I'll be fine."

"I'm sorry," Scar apologized. "I'll be more careful." He turned back towards Gem. "Are you ready?" She nodded, and Scar could tell how desperate she was for the pain to go away.

He took a deep breath and extended his hands outwards. He closed his eyes, allowing his awareness to stretch to Gem's pain.

He found several sources of the pain, mostly in her chest. Her nerves, bones, and muscles ached with such a pain that it felt like her entire insides were on fire.

He traced each burn to its source and grabbed ahold of them. It felt like they were burning his hands, but he kept going. He brought the ends of the wounds together, trying to shut the pain away where Gem wouldn't feel it. He did this over and over for every burn and wound, and after he'd closed the last one, he let his senses drift back into himself until he was completely out of Gem's body.

"Did that help?" he asked.

Gem waited for several moments before nodding. "Yes. I don't feel the burns anymore, at least not nearly as much. Thank you, Scar."

Scar let out a breath of relief. "I was worried it wouldn't work," he said. "Is there anything else that hurts?"

"Just general soreness, but nothing in particular," Gem said.

"Good. If anything else pops up, let me know," Scar told her.

"Thank you again," Gem said to him gratefully.

"Of course," Scar replied. "You're my friend, and I don't want you to be hurting." He looked to the others. "Does anybody else need anything? Because if not, I need to give Jellie her lunch. She'll be furious if I forget."

Joel laughed a bit. "I think we're okay," he answered. "Thank you."

Scar nodded. "Take care of yourselves," he called back as he began to head towards his base. "Let me know if anything changes."

Gem

Gem pushed herself up, ignoring the small rebellions of her body.

"Are you guys ok?" she asked once she was on her feet.

"Yeah. Bit stressed after Scar saying a command, but at least I didn't get the life nearly beaten out of me by a Watcher," Etho commented. She saw Joel gently reach over and take one of Etho's hands which seemed to relax him a little.

"Etho has a point. Why are you worried about us right now?" Grian asked, crossing his arms.

"I don't know. A demon sometimes randomly showing up and then needing to be attacked isn't nice," she answered.

"Sorry," Grian apologized.

"No, it's fine. I know you're sorry and I know you were justified. I just need a bit," she said, walking towards the exit. "I'll be nearby so I can shout if I need you again." She paused right before leaving and muttered to Grian, "You should have killed me."

With that she walked out, finding a nearby tree and climbing into the lower branches. She sat straddled on a thick branch and leaned back against the trunk. The bark was rough, but pleasant. It snagged her hair a little, but in a playful way like it was grooming her fur. She took a deep breath. It smelled like autumn, even though the seasons never properly changed.

She felt something tickle up her arm. It was a small brown spider. Not the kind that would hunt one in the night, but the kind that are good for catching pests. They were not present in most worlds, but she was glad they were on Hermitcraft. They always seemed like little friends.

She guided it onto her right hand, then held it up to eye level, inspecting it. It stared at her right back, seeming to investigate her with the same scrutiny. They both seemed to decided to like each other, so she reached back to put her new friend in her hair. She tended to keep small predators like spiders in her hair for as long as they wanted to stay. It kept other nuisances away from her perpetually blooming flower crown.

However she stopped before she could. I'm dangerous, she remembered. The spider seemed disappointed, if spiders could hold such an emotion.

"I'm sorry," she muttered to it, lowering it back onto a different limb, "I don't want to hurt you."

The moment had been ruined, her respite shattered in just a few seconds. She remembered what she truly was: a threat. She had meant what she said to Grian. He should have killed her, right then and there. Then she wouldn't hurt anyone. She couldn't hurt her friends again. Devs, she had already killed Etho. Who can say what the next unspeakable monstrosity she will do to him would be.

Gem was learning very quickly why Etho was so scared of losing control. It was horrible to know something is happening or someone is getting hurt and there is nothing you could do about it. It brought her pain to know that she had inflicted that on Etho over and over. She couldn't even begin to imagine how awful the first days she had kidnapped him were. She couldn't let that happen again.

Of course, she had no way of preventing it. Once she was in the moment, there was no stopping it from arriving. The only way she could guarantee it was to no longer live, hence why she wanted Grian to kill her. He, of course, had refused, and now look at what had happened. She had Etho's heart in her backyard for devs sake, among countless other unforgivable deeds.

Gem needed it to stop. If she hurt her friends just a few more times there might be actual casualties. She had to do something. If she couldn't trust Grian to take her life, she would have to do it herself. If she hurt anyone else she would do it.

She pulled out her sword. She would make an oath.

-

"I swear on the essence of this here tree that if I or the demon which possesses my body hurts anyone or anything else I will end my life before the sun rises the next day," she promised. Then she ran her sword across her finger, not wincing at the pain. She lay the wounded finger against the bark, drawing the Guide sign for death. She looked up into the tree, which shivered, the leaves briefly flashing red. The oath was complete. The oath-tree was made and she was bound to it. If she did not fulfill her oath-tree it would burn itself to the ground and take her soul with it.

-

***

Grian

Once Joel and Etho left, Grian went to check on Gem. He went outside and called her name.

"Gem? Are you ok?" he yelled.

She climbed down from a tree, landing gracefully and responding, "Yeah, I'm alright. The burns don't really hurt now."

"I'm glad. How about your mental health?" he asked.

That made Gem freeze up. "I'm fine," she said, trying and failing to regain her repoise, "I figured some things out."

"What'd you figure out?" he asked.

"It's, um, it's a long story. If all goes well though you guys will be safe again soon," she explained.

"Good, I'm glad. If you need anything I'll help, ok?"

"Yeah. That sounds good. And sorry for all of this."

"It's not your fault. You don't have control over it, and you're figuring out solutions, whatever they may be. We'll all be ok and we're all gonna get through this."

Gem

The rest of them will get through this. They will be safe.