SO SORRY FOR THE DELAYS IN CHAPTERS!!! i promise i have no intention of ever discontinuing this and sorry again !

tw: injury, blood

wc: 1907

"I'm heading in for a shift," Xayla called to Xenith. "I'll be back in a bit."

"Have fun," Xenith replied, waving his hand. Xayla left.

The capital building was a cold place. The fancy carvings and decorations did nothing to hide the angry Leaders and arguing Elders. The prison was an ugly block of concrete, teeming with winged guards carrying heavy swords.

Xayla flashed her band and entered once the guard nodded. She wore a traditional healer's outfit, a long dress of white, short sleeves, and golden cuffs. A pendant dangled around her neck, supposedly used for emergencies. A Listener had engineered so it could be used for other purposes as well.

Several hallways branched off from the main room. Xayla walked down the one marked with a red cross.

The moment that she stepped in, one of the guards ran up to her, his eyes wide. "Xayla, thank goodness you're here," he breathed. Xayla tilted her head, confused. She saw the Listener symbol barely visible on the inside of his cuff and sighed.

"What's going on?" She hung her bag on one of the hooks, ready to go into the prison hall itself.

"Grian's here." The guard's voice was lowered.

There was a moment until she processed the information. Once she did, her eyes widened behind her mask. "Here?? In the hospital unit? Why?!"

"They removed his wings," the guard replied, a waver in his words.

Xayla moved before she even thought, banging open the door and scanning the hall. It wasn't hard to locate Grian. The second cell on the left's floor was covered in purple blood, and a figure was curled up on top. Xayla rushed to the bars, unlocking the door and kneeling at his side.

She felt the eyes on her. The guard who'd informed her of Grian was the only free Watcher here, the rest were prisoners. If she was careful, she could do this. Although, if they used the plan of extraction, there wouldn't be anything to hide.

"Grian," Xayla whispered in his ear. "Grian, you there?"

There was a soft groan in reply.

"I'm gonna move you, just stay quiet." She gently turned him over to peek at his wounds and felt bile rise in her throat. Grian's back was a mess of sickening blood and mangled skin. What remained of his wings were two stumps of feathers. Even with the low light, Xayla could see that Grian's skin was deathly pale. His eyes were squeezed shut and his teeth ground against each other, blood welling on his lip from how hard he bit it.

She gathered some energy at her fingertips and lightly touched one of the massive wounds. Grian jolted like he was shocked, tears welling up in his eyes.

The guard from earlier was standing nearby. Xayla caught his attention and shook her head. We can't do this here, she mouthed. He nodded.

There was a plan for escape. A one time emergency plan that had been sitting at wait for months. And now was the time to execute it.

~~~

At that moment, every Listening member's tracking band gave its owner a poke.

Every Watcher, young or old, male or female, rich or poor, had a tracking band. Some wealthier people had it decorated, others just had a dingy metal band around their wrist, but either way, it was something that every person owned and wore on a daily basis and was something that was not suspicious and was often overlooked. Besides, it was the literal representation of control, and there were many rumors about it having secret lenses where officials could spy through or secret sound transmitters.

The Listeners had not overlooked nor feared it. The magic engineers had spent weeks and months poring over designs and spells, and at last it had been done. Only Xayla and the engineers knew how to activate it, and they had three signals.

Three pokes were signs that their base had been compromised or discovered. Two were signs to convene at the base at the earliest convenience.

One poke, which was the one everyone had just received, was the sign for the initiation of the mission.

The leaders of the Listeners had joined together with even the lowest of ranks to form the plan. A ripple was sent through the city and heads turned as hundreds of bands nudged their owners. Guardsmen whispered to each other and women anxiously shut the windows. Something big was going to happen.

It began precisely two minutes after Xayla's call. An engineer inside of the base flipped the switch, and a series of events occurred.

The engineer sent a false alarm of an attempted intrusion to the capital building.

Two soldiers in the security section of the capital building slipped into the engineering rooms, claiming to check over the area. They found a switch. After scanning their bands, the switch unlocked, and they flipped it. They left the room, saying the area was clear. One layer of protection was now down.

They, along with every other guard in the building who is on the side of the Listeners, steadily made their way towards different points along the magic border.

What happened next was a breaking down of the barrier, as little sections snapped under the pressure of this magic. One by one, the pieces fell, until the wall shattered.

The wall dissipated. Every person felt the ripple. A shuddering swept through the floors, books sliding off tables and spears toppling. Prisoners clung to the bars, praying that perhaps the final judgement of the Goddess of the Moon had arrived, and they would be freed. Guards hid under tables with their hands over their necks.

Xayla squeezed her eyes shut and gripped Grian's wrists. As the shaking came, she counted down from three in Grian's ear.

And then they vanished.

Other guards and magicians raced to restore the barrier, quickly replacing it with an emergency one that was not quite as effective, albeit functional. It was too late, however, as the Listeners had disappeared.

But most importantly, Grian had disappeared.

The plan would never work again. These workers would most certainly be fired, and the wall would be steadily built to become even stronger. But now the Listeners had Grian, and they would not be losing him.

~~~

"Easy now."

Grian grimaced as Xayla cut away the fabric glued to his back with blood. A pair of tweezers plucked bits of feather and cloth away from the two wounds, and spots danced in his vision as he struggled to keep from screaming.

"Almost done," Xayla murmured. "There's a last bit that's pretty deep in." She handed him a towel and he bit down hard on it. A wave of fire rippled through Grian as Xayla worked, his teeth tightening around the towel. "There we go. Stay right here, I'll go get some fresh bandages and some food for you." Not like I can go anywhere, Grian thought sarcastically.

He heard the sound of the tweezers clinking on the table and barely opened his eyes. The lights flared in Grian's eyes and he squeezed them shut again. He gripped the bedsheets, head burying into the pillow as the sound of Xayla's footsteps faded.

The pain of losing his wings was as hard mentally as it was physically. Grian felt as if a piece of his heart and broken off with them. They were what had helped him escape that dreadful day (flashes of purple and of screaming and of wind echoed in his ears). Now, they were gone. Now, Grian was helpless.

Xayla reentered, balancing a tray of soup in her hands. "Do you think you can sit up?"

Grian wordlessly shook his head. All strength had sapped from his body. If he sat up, he'd probably cry from the stress on his wounds.

Xayla placed the tray on the nightstand and reached towards Grian. He tensed as she slowly but surely turned him over and sat him up.

A whimper escaped his lips involuntarily. "It'll be a quick heal, I promise. Just to help the pain. Then I'll bandage them up." Grian nodded. He winced as the magic touched his skin but his senses quickly dulled as the sparks numbed his back. Xayla handed him the bowl of soup and he ate greedily. His time in prison hadn't been long, but it had still been rough.

They sat in silence as Grian ate and Xayla worked to bandage the wounds.

"I know you need to rest, and you can barely move, but..." Xayla sighed. "The Listeners have questions. And you need to give answers."

No response.

"I haven't heard you speak since we rescued you," she continued. "I know this is hard, but we need you."

Grian wasn't sure if he could speak at this point. His throat felt raw. He opened his mouth, trying to say something, but only a strangled noise came out. He waited for a moment before trying again.

"I-" he coughed. Xayla handed him a glass of water. He gulped down half of it before setting it down again. "I'm sorry."

It was Xayla's turn to be silent. Grian continued. "I know I should have been there, but I... I couldn't."

"You had the power to come back, didn't you?" Xayla asked. Grian could feel the burn of her gaze, even as he sat here hunched over.

"Yes."

"Grian..."

"But Hermitcraft was so perfect, and I didn't... I didn't want to come back." Grian's head snapped up. The brilliant violet of his eyes bore into Xayla's as she moved to sit in front of him. They were frighteningly bright, and frighteningly deadly. "There's too many memories. I've still barely gotten over prison-" his voice broke- "And then the first thing that happened once I came through again was that I got thrown back in."

Xayla sighed. "You remember when we broke through the code barrier and visited Hermitcraft for a split second?"

Grian recalled the sparkling sky and Cub's wide eyes. "Of course."

"It was hard, but we came because we knew you would help." She looked down, pure white hair falling in front of her eyes. "But you didn't come back with us."

Grian looked away guiltily.

"Many found the mission as a failure, even though we made it through and even though we connected with you. They thought, if even the legendary Xelqua, the only one who had ever escaped, wouldn't help them..."

Grian squeezed his eyes shut. "You don't have to-"

"Then no one would." Xayla's eyes blazed. "And that they'd die here, all alone, under the horrible clutches of the Elders and their council." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know it was hard. But you were meant to think past yourself."

With a long sigh, Grian looked up at Xayla. "You overestimate me. After all, I'm just human."

"You're not human," Xayla whispered. "You're a Watcher, you're... heck, you're an Admin."

"That doesn't mean I'm not allowed to make mistakes." Grian's voice raised.

"Yes, but this mistake lasted for years!" Xayla's words lifted into a shout. "You had plenty of time to think of your choices. We even came! We came to you!" She stood up, her own wings spreading behind her, feathers ruffling. "And you didn't come back!"

Without another word, she turned and left the room, leaving Grian alone with his back still throbbing and his eyes filling with tears.

thanks for reading! have a good day or night wherever you are!

-Ete