[No one]

Grian stepped out of the portal with Pearl. Some of the Hermits were coming to watch the event, but it wasn't open for audience yet.

The duo looked around. They recognized someone they hadn't expected to see. They looked at each other before walking to a ginger haired female, who was leaning against a wall.

"Well, I was expecting to see some familiar faces," The female smirked and looked at them with her purple eyes.

"What're you even doing here, Zanax?" Grian asked, tilting his head.

"Pretending to be a Watcher, obviously," Zanax whispered and winked. She had her ways of getting to the events, and people didn't even know that she was part of The Council.

"Have you seen anyone else?" Grian inquired hopefully.

"I haven't.. I've been actually in the End's capital and the others are no way coming there," Zanax sighed. She has actually kinda grown attached to The Council.

"Do you know if someone's coming to watch this MCC?" Pearl asked.

"I'm not exactly sure," Zanax answered grinning. She didn't really want to disappoint the duo, but she actually had no information.

"Can you throw a guess of where you're sister might be?" Grian inquired carefully.

"I wouldn't be surprised if she went back to the Afterlife temporarily," Zanax shrugged.

Grian was about to say something, but was cut off by Techno shouting his name. He gave Zanax a nod before running to his teammates.

"Hey Tech! Hey Wilbur and Philza!" Grian smiled to the family.

"'Ello, it's been a while," Techno hummed in his monotone voice.

"How has everyone been?" Grian inquired, meaning The Council members who were in the Dream Smp.

"Everyone has been fine. Ranboo and Niki have been teaching us how to speak to Noah," Techno explained. His family didn't really understand what he was talking about, but didn't ask anything.

"I have to find someone who can teach me that," Grian grinned. He really wanted to be able to understand the Endermen's language.

"Last I checked, Ethel spoke that," Techno answered. He had heard Ethel speak with Noah.

"That's definitely interesting information," Grian hummed thoughtfully.

"Just so you know, I can speak that too!" Zanax shouted to him.

"Be prepared, I'll come visit you one day soon!" Grian shouted back and Zanax gave him thumps up.

"So, are you ready for the MCC, Grian?" Techno inquired.

"Yeah, I could say I have been practicing a lot," Grian nodded.

"Good, because we're definitely not losing this," Techno smirked.

"Do you still remember everything I taught you back when we were just children?" Grian asked, giving him a bit proud, but plaintive smile.

"How could I forget any of that?" Techno smiled to him.

They're conversation was cut off as the countdown started and everyone moved to the bridge.

Grian looked around and recognized Tommy, Tubbo and Niki. Also Pearl was with her team. Grian was so glad that she had found some happiness in her non-existing life.

    The MCC went pretty well, except the Pink Parrots lost by 2 points. It was really disappointing for all of them.

"Two points! I can't believe it!" Grian exclaimed as they walked to watch the dodgebolt.

"That's actually pretty disappointin'," A familiar female voice snorted from behind them.

"Oh no! It's Ethel!" Techno exclaimed dramatically.

"Nooooo!" Grian followed.

"C'mon, 'm not that bad!" Ethel laughed.

Wilbur and Phil shared a confused look. They had no idea who the blonde female was and how Techno knew her.

"At least we did better than your own son!" Grian pointed out.

"True," Ethel hummed. "Speakin' of my son, do ya know where he's?" She tilted her head.

"Yeah, let's go find him!" Techno smirked. He wanted to see Tommy's reaction to the fact that his mother was there.

"I see him," Grian smirked and pointed at the direction of Tommy.

"Let's go bother 'im," Ethel hummed and started making her way towards the boy, Grian and Techno following after her.

"Techno? Where are you going?" Wilbur called after hi brother.

"We'll just go annoy Tommy for a bit," Techno answered back.

     "Only 4th place, that's pretty disappointin'!" Ethel exclaimed, making Tommy spin around as fast as he could.

"You came all the way to 'ere just to tell me I'm shit? That's very poggers!" Tommy groaned sarcastically.

"I know!" Ethel smirked.

"And you didn't even consider stopping her, right?" Tommy turned to face Grian.

"Didn't even cross my mind," He smirked.

"Of course..." Tommy muttered.

"And you're not even happy to see me!" Ethel pouted jokingly.

"You're 'ere just to tell me how disappointed you are, of course I'm not happy to see you!" Tommy answered.

"Ouch," Ethel grinned.

"Woah, here's a lot of people!" They heard a familiar voice and turned to see Dream, who was coming to them with Tubbo, Ranboo and Niki.

"And there comes the green bastard!" Tommy exclaimed.

"I wonder who taught you to be like that," Ethel sighed.

"Probably you," Grian smirked.

"Probably me," Ethel grinned as an admitting of a defeat.

"Has anyone met anyone else?" Dream asked with a slight hope in his voice.

"Only Taurtis and The Few," Ethel admitted sighing sadly.

"Zloy, Pixlriffs, Xenex and Zanax, but not others," Grian answered, giving Dream an apologizing look.

"Do you think we could contact someone?" Niki inquired unsurely.

"I have someone in mind, but she's not alive anymore," Grian admitted.

"Who are you talking about?" Techno asked with slight confusion.

"Quinn, she's guarding the HQ," Grian said lowering his voice.

"Would she know about the others?" Dream tilted his head, lowering his voice too.

"I can go ask her," A new, but familiar, voice joined the conversation.

"Who were you again?" Tommy raised his eyebrows, he didn't really remember interacting with this new person.

"Zanax, Sherenidy's older sister," Zanax hummed, "I can get to places you can't," She continued.

"Right, you and your magic tricks," Grian nodded. He remembered seeing Zanax's magic during the time he and a few others had spend in his house while the rest of The Council had been in the void.

"Do you think Quinn would speak to you?" Techno raised his eyebrows. Zanax hadn't had the clearest name in The Council's books.

"Quinn isn't an idiot, of course she'll speak to her," A new voice joined in and everyone noticed Pearl, who had made it to the group after loosing a round of dodgebolt.

"How do you know that?" Tubbo inquired. He didn't really know anything about the other members of The Council.

"I spend a long time with her," Pearl answered and began peeking in the arena, looking if the new round was starting.

"Why is Quinn even there?" Ethel brought up a question everyone had in their minds.

"She was in charge of the barriers around the HQ before she died, but even after her dead, the barriers have stayed. She's nowadays just a wanderer without an actual physical body," Grian explained quickly. "She's making sure the HQ stays protected when no one's there," He continued.

"Why hasn't she left to the Afterlife?" Tommy asked carefully.

"She made a decision to stay and protect us, now she's stuck here forever," Grian answered quietly. The memories of her bloody cloak on the alley filled his mind again.

"That's-" Dream started, but stopped like to the wall when he saw Phil, Wilbur, Quackity, Sapnap, George and Karl walk to them.

"Are you having a group meet-up with us?" Quackity joked immediately.

"Yes, we are," Techno answered in his monotone voice.

"I'll be heading off now, 'till we see again," Zanax waved and disappeared like the ashes to the wind.

"Techno, Grian, you just disappeared without saying anything!" Wilbur complained.

"We just wanted to go annoy Tommy," Techno shrugged and glanced at the boy.

"Bitch!" Tommy snapped back.

"And look at him Ethel, you taught him to be like that!" Grian pointed out jokingly.

"Should I regret something?" Ethel sighed.

"I would say having children, but I think I shouldn't," Tommy grinned.

"You better stay quiet or I'm gonna remind you that you were an unwanted accident," Ethel reminded him.

"Excuse me miss, do you know Tommy?" Phil asked politically. He didn't mind it, he was just curious.

"This bitch," Ethel patted Tommy's head with her hand, "Is my biological son," She explained.

"WHAT?!" Wilbur exclaimed in shock. He wasn't the only one shocked. Phil, Quackity, Sapnap, George and Karl seemed pretty shocked too.

"You barely look older than him!" Sapnap couldn't help but say that out loud.

"Well, I'm actually 35, but I'll admit that I look pretty young," Ethel smirked. Watchers just couldn't look over 25.

"Are you getting your son back home?" Phil had to ask.

Ethel shook her head, making her dirty blonde curls wave, "No, I can't take him back home. He deserves a future and with me he can't have it," She bit her lower lip. It was the painful truth.

"What does that mean?" Quackity asked.

"It means he won't be safe with me," Ethel answered simply.

"Are you a danger to him?" Wilbur immediately went to the protective older brother -mode.

"I'm not, but the fact that he is my son is making his life risky," Ethel answered, keeping her voice clam, but her eyes were ice cold.

"Ethel wouldn't harm him, I can promise you that," Grian jumped in. He didn't want his nephew's new family hate his biological mother.

"And I can backup that," Techno hummed.

"I think this conversation should end now," Dream jumped in. The tension was getting them and they were literally in the middle of a huge event.

"Let's all go focus on the dodgebolt," Grian suggested, but it was more than a suggestion, it was an order from a Main Watcher, even if people didn't really realize it.

The conversation died down and everyone turned to face the dodgebolt arena to spectate the final battle between the two teams.

     The Aqua Axolotls won the event and everyone crowded around them to drown them in congratulations.

Grian and Techno backed up from the crowd. The 20 vs. 20 dodgebolt would start soon and they wanted to have a conversation before that.

"So, Teni and Noah are hiding with you guys?" Grian tilted his head.

"Yep, they're both safe," Techno nodded.

"Zloy and Pixlriffs got really lucky too because Xenex is Xisuma's brother. He trust The Council because he loves his brother," Grian hummed. He had even left Xisuma an anonymous letter that had said;

"Thank you for trusting us Xisuma Void, we really appreciate it!"

-Xelqua

He didn't know if the admin had found it, but if he had, there's no way he could connect it to Grian.

"Do you think he would accept others there?" Techno inquired. He didn't have anyone in mind, he was just curious.

"Probably, he wouldn't let his brother down," Grian hummed. He knew how Xisuma cared about Xenex, especially now when he was blind and needed help.

"The Hermits don't know, right?" Techno asked, tilting his head.

"No, only Xisuma. He isn't going to tell anyone. He doesn't even know that I know," Grian explained.

"Do you think the others are fine?" Techno suddenly asked.

"I really hope they are all alive and safe," Grain answered quietly. The silence was slowly killing them all without hesitation.

"I heard some news about some of their severs being taken down.." Techno admitted quietly, "But no rumors about our siblings being arrested," He added.

"The admins are having a hard time with their own servers," Grian gritted his teeth. He had heard about Jaylee, one of the smartest members, loosing her server.

"Let's just hope everything goes well and no one loses their lives.." Techno muttered.

"Yeah.. We have already suffered through many losses and cannot afford any more.. These really are our darkest hours... With no light in the sight..." Grian whispered and turned to look at the pink haired Watcher.

The Council was really fucked up...

Words: 2005

(A bit of shit over here; 1st, I changed my username, finally! I have been planning on doing that for a really long time since Shiro was just a nickname, but you can still use it because it's my nickname here!)

(2nd I also got vaccinated yesterday. And finally found the name of my father's ring tone and now I've been listening to it non-stop (It's Kryptonite by 3 Doors Down))

(But now I'm gonna go fishing and then listen to some Greeks mythology, see ya!)