Stepping out of the shade of the trees, Pearl finally reached somewhere she thought was secluded enough.
She knew she didn't have too much time before they'll realize that she wandered off, so she really had to make this quick.

She crouched down to the grass, touching the soft ground in front of her with the palm of her hand. The grass was soft, but barely comforted the headache that arose in her head. Inhaling, she swiped the hand across, and as if the world tore apart, a small rift was opened between the ground.

"Citrine," A soft, yet cold voice spoke. "State your report."

"Yes, of course." She replied politely, almost robotically, respectfully bowing to the invisible entity. They weren't visible to the eye- hell even if they were visible it's not like she'd be able to see them. Despite that, their presence was basically surrounding, engulfing the entire area.

With another breath, she continued talking. "They're on the path to realizing that those people are the ones targeting them, though they're still only recently speculating about it. They're really close to it, though."

"That's good to hear." The voice hummed, sounding satisfied. "Has anything else happened on the situation? I remember you explicitly stating that one of the members of the server we got you from is here with you as well?"

"Yeah, Grian." She murmured, voice volume lowering. "He's... been acting a bit off since the beginning, especially around me. I get the vibe that he's trying to avoid me the best he can. He's hiding something."

"Do you have any suspicions on what?"

She bit her lip, hesitating. "...I think he's one of them ."

"What makes you think that?"

"Just- the way that he's acting," She started. "He's been avoiding me, he was presumably the first person to make contact with Xanthus, the ex-watcher, who is suspect to be involved in the disappearances, and I even heard from Scar, one of the others, that he said he was apparently on call with one of the people that have already died... in that server." She gritted her teeth. Scar approached her not long ago asking if she knew anyone by the name 'Taurtis', to her absolute surprise and horror. She asked for an explanation as to where he heard the name, and he said that Grian was on call with him.
She was shocked, but not entirely surprised. She had suspicions, and said suspicions had ballooned up into a pile of glaring contradictions far too big for her to ignore. Despite what Grian believed, no, she wasn't an idiot, nor was she going to stay blissfully ignorant.

"There's a server meeting ongoing right now," She continued, "He kept trying to stray everyone away from the topic of watchers. Everytime it got brought up again, he shot it down before it got too far."

"Could that not just be a trauma response?"

"Not the way that he did it." Though she definitely wished that was the case. "It's too aggressive to be a regular ' It gives me bad memories' reaction."

They hummed. "So this means that they have already made their move as well. How intriguing. And horribly dreadful."

"What should I do? There's little other evidence apart from what I've shared. Besides, the server members have known him for over 3 years, I doubt they'll believe anything I'll say over what he says."

"Keep an eye on him. Be not afraid to intervene if you see a dire situation as well. The Watchers are dangerous, but as long as there's only one of them, it shouldn't be enough to wipe the entire place out, though we can also deduce that he probably got outside help."

She sighed. "So my first course of action is...?"

"Investigate more about him, perhaps talk to the other members of the server and learn more details about him." They responded after a bit. "Keep your guard up. As you've said before, they might be taking it slow this time, but you never know. Don't corner them too early on, they might already have a plan in case of emergencies."

"Undoubtedly, though I doubt it would be factoring in the existence of Listeners." Finishing that sentence made a prickle run up her spine. Probably just paranoia.

"That much might be true, I've been pleased to hear that you've been keeping your cover up pretty well."

She shrugged. "Most of them didn't know Watchers existed, let alone Listeners. Though I doubt many of them would be opposed to our principles."

"You might be correct, though I'd advise not revealing yourself unless the situation is completely dire."

"Understood."

"Stay safe, Citrine, and remember, always keep your guard up." They warned. "Just because they don't know you're here yet, does not mean they wouldn't know how to deal with you... especially after one of our members crossed to the other side. They know more about us now."

"Are you implying that Ilvaite is involved with the Watchers?" She asked, a bit surprised. "I thought he just went off."

"He might not have completely crossed sides, but he has certainly sold us out." The voice sighed. "Be wary of the Watchers, Citrine. Don't let your guard down."

"I won't." She assured, trying to put as much confidence in her voice as she could. "I should probably go back now- a server meeting is still going, and they'll get suspicious if I'm gone for too long."

"Understood. Thank you for the report, and keep up the good work."

A vacuum-like sound rang through the air, and in a blink, the world rift closed back on itself, and the grass went back to looking fresh and untouched.

She let out a breath. God, that conversation was really nerve-wrecking.

She got up, turned around, and instantly froze seeing a familiar face looking at her with horror in his eyes from across the scenery.

" Grian-? "

"Pearl." The golden blond spat her name out as if it was poison, a smile mismatching with his eyes marking itself on his face. " What was that? "