Xelqua joined the game

Grian wobbled a bit at the brief dizziness, a short lasting side effect of joining a server. He then smiled, feeling a strange sense of comfort in being there. He knew he was safe from being caught there, smiling as he spawned into the corridor. He hummed a tune as he walked through the spawn point halls, looking around the beautiful place.

"This place really is mystical, but I wish the call wasn't so sudden." Grian sighed to himself.

"Oh, there you are, Xel!"

Grian turned to whoever called him, smiling as he already recognized the voice. "Good day, Zyno." He greeted his co-worker/partner.

"You know, it's really been a while since you've last been here in person." 'Zyno' responded as he walked besides Grian. "Been busy with that server?"

"Mhm. Keeps me entertained enough though." Grian replied. They walked out of the spawn area, and out to the beautiful outer dimension. The correct term for it in minecraft biomes would probably be "Shattered end islands". A lot of islands were floating around, big and small, and the void was really visible from up high above. Semi-modern buildings and bridges connect islands to islands. Ordinary players would put it down to some form of glitch, due to the nature of the terrain generation, and the inhospitable nature of the already usually inhabitable dimension. "Although I'm glad to be back, I don't really appreciate the very sudden call."

"I can agree, it was pretty sudden." Zyno looked around the dimension, still interested in it even after living there for more than 5 years. "Usually there's a notice or two before getting called. I wonder what Jaxa has to say - has to be important for this short notice."

"Is the HQ still in the same place?"

"Oh right, you haven't been here in like 3 years- yeah, it's in the same place."

"It's certainly been a while, I can never be sure. Jaxa thought me returning here would be too risky, so I just never really visit often, and report only through messages and calls to you."

"A lot has changed since you left, I can tell you that." Zyno told him as they walked up the stairs/bridge leading to the upper part of the realm.

"I can imagine, 3 years is a long time." Grian replied as they walked into the main HQ building. As they walked in, the Watcher at the reception desk immediately took notice of them.

"Ah, welcome back, Zyno, and- ah! Xelqua! It's been a while since you've visited." The watcher greeted them friendly, then straightened up, seeming to be trying to act more formal. "Heading to the information division again? The head's office, to meet Jaxa?"

"Yep." Zyno responded to the watcher at the desk.

"Well, go right ahead, Jaxa is expecting you." The watcher gestured to the stairway next to the desk.

"Thank you, Yiera." Grian said, before leaving with Zyno and going up the stairs. Going through the right halls, they eventually made it to the Information division HQ.

"Hey, it's been a while since you've been here, right?" Zyno spoke up, starting another conversation. "Last time you came, you didn't have the chance to even come here."

"True." Grian nodded. "I still remember my first time going here and meeting Jaxa. Oh boy, was it awkward."

"Mhm, I also remember. I was also there, remember?"

"Oh yeah, I remember."

"Ah yes, the new recruit, Xelqua." The girl watcher was sitting behind the desk. She was the head of the information division, Jaxa. "Come in!"

Grian nervously walked forward as he opened the door, walking into the office, and meeting face to face with one of the most important watchers in the realm.

Jaxa kept mostly a casual and straight face. "Sit down, there's a chair for a reason, you know?" She joked, and giggled at how Grian reacted, before straightening up. "Ahem- sorry, sorry, you may sit down. I'm a professional as you can tell."

Grian nodded briefly, before sitting down, facing Jaxa. Besides them, there was one other watcher in the room. They were sitting besides Grian, but just kept quiet, possibly just to be polite or because they were just nervous

"Oh come on, what's with the tense atmosphere? Lighten up a bit!" Jaxa chuckled. "Alright, let's get down to business. First of all, I guess I should introduce myself, even though you probably already know who I am." She said briefly, before introducing herself. "I'm the one and only, Jaxa! Also known as my player name, Pit, the chaos bringer and war creator! Head of the information division, nice to meetcha!" She hummed, seeming surprisingly chirpy as she finished her intro. "Now, why don't you both also introduce yourselves to each other? Yes, Zyno, I already know who you are, but please introduce yourself to the new guy."

'Zyno' coughed a bit, before introducing himself. "Hello there, I'm Zyno, also known by my player name, SB737 - SB for short. I'm part of the information team and front-line fighter. Nice to meet you."

"I-I'm Xelqua." Grian nervously tried to introduce himself. "My player name is Grian. I'm still pretty new here..."

"It's fine, you did great! You'll get used to this eventually." Jaxa hummed, continuing the conversation and shifting the topic. "Now, let's actually talk about why you both are here. Zyno, I assume you know roughly why, right?"

"Is this another mission?" Zyno replied to the question with another question, smiling.

"Exactly!" Jaxa responded. "Xelqua, we're assigning you to a special mission. You'll be spying on a server for us, and Zyno will be here to help you collect information."

"A... spy mission?" Grian repeated.

"Yep! Basically, you'll be a sort of double agent. You'll play on the server and act like a normal player, but then, everytime you can, you report everything to your partner Zyno here. He'll probably be messing about in his singleplayer world, but will always respond to your messages if necessary."

Zyno didn't speak up, but only nodded and flashed a confident smile towards Grian, who still felt a bit nervous about this. "...What server will I be watching over?"

"Ah, I was waiting for you to ask that." Jaxa smiled, getting a folder from the rack of countless unread files. She opened the folder, and presented it to him. "The server you will be watching over is called 'Hermitcraft', a fairly small but protected server. Though it should be fairly easy to get into if you just act as a normal new player."

Grian looked at the files in the folder, noticing a few player files and a list of the additional codes. It was filled with a few pictures of the members, and basic information about it, including analysis on their daily schedules from the previous 'seasons'. Details about the latest 'seasons' seemed to be lacking.

"So... what do I have to do?" Grian asked, excitement seeping through him even though he was reluctant to admit it at that point.

"Simple stuff, really." Jaxa responded. "You just need to tell us information about the members, maybe even their inside codes and stuff. Info is easier to get if it is achieved internally, after all. And Zyno here can help you if you need to hack into anything, although I would guess you already know that basic stuff since you're an ex-admin. Basically just obtain as much information as possible about the server without them suspecting you, that's all."

"But surely they'd pick up on it-"

"Then make sure they don't. Worm your way out of it, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it." Jaxa replied quickly. "Well, that's basically all you have to do for this mission, you just have to keep an eye on the server and make sure they suspect nothing. Do you have any more questions?"

Grian shook his head, "No, I understand."

"Alright, good. So now, the million dollar question." Jaxa said. Do you accept the mission?"

"..." Grian sighed, before nodding. "I do."

"Time really flies by, huh?" Zyno mentioned as they walked through the Information Division HQ corridors.

"Mhm, True." Grian gave a brief response. They walked around the corner.

"Also, I just noticed but-" Zyno suddenly said. "What are those drawings on your arm?"

Crap. He totally forgot about them. "What can I say, I'm a scarred man." He sighed, not wanting to talk about it more.

"Server stuff, I'm guessing?"

"Mhm."

Zyno paused for a minute, turning to him. "Do you like them? As in, would you choose to hang out with them if given the chance."

Grian stopped for a minute, thinking about what he should say and what he thinks. "I mean... I guess they grew on me a bit. I don't really have a fixed opinion about them, but... It's hard to be part of a server like that without some form of friendship appearing in the process."

"But do you care for them?"

"..." Grian thought about it, not really knowing what he should say. He was supposed to be just a spy, but it would be a problem if he started caring. Care would make him hesitate when it came to it, and he knew that it wouldn't be long. He couldn't afford to get attached.

As he was about to answer the question though,they finally reached Jaxa's office. Zyno knocked on the door , and Jaxa's voice was immediately heard from the other side. "Come in bitches! I've been expecting you."

Zyno opened the door, and inside the room was Jaxa, along with another unfamiliar brown haired watcher sitting beside her. Jaxa was also wearing a scarf, something new to Grian, since before, she didn't wear one. She seemed a little bit more tense than usual, meanwhile the other watcher seemed to be busy doing some paperwork. Huh. They seemed to be actually responsible - something Grian certainly wasn't, Zyno only showed when in battle and Jaxa was rarely ever seen acting serious without having her casual joking attitude.

"Welcome back, Xelqua, it's been a while since I've seen you, and hello to you too, Zyno." Jaxa greeted the two as they entered the office and took a seat. "You must be wondering why I called you both here today." Her tone was a bit more tense than usual, which immediately indicated that this was indeed a serious topic.

"It's the first time I've been back in years, so I'm guessing it's something important about the mission?" Grian said, sitting on his chair. It was bigger than he remembered, indicating that stuff did change while he was away. It had been 3 years.

"Right, that's correct." Jaxa replied, seeming a bit nervous to tell the news.

"You seem a bit tense, Jaxa." Zyno mentioned it in a friendly yet still formal manner. While they did get along well, Jaxa was his superior, both officially and in terms of magical strength.

"Just tell them, Pit, there's no point in delaying it, it'll only cause more of a shock." The watcher besides Jaxa finally raised her head and spoke for once in the meeting. The first thing anyone would notice is that they're mentioning Jaxa using their player name instead of codename, which indicated that they were close in some way. They also looked significantly older than her.

Jaxa sighed, nodding. "I know you've been on Hermitcraft for years at this point, but... Y'know, every good thing has to come to an end."

Grian took a moment to process what Jaxa just said. "...What do you mean by that?"

"Well... to put it simply and literally...

"You'll need to destroy the server now."