As he entered the Hermitcraft server Grian collapsed into the grass behind his alleyway. From the ground he could see Mumbo working on building up his mountain. He saw Impulse flying above him. Grian lifted his gauntlet and typed in a few coordinates. He wasn't sure where they would teleport him to, but it was somewhere far, far away.

. . .

Grian appeared in a plains biome, somewhere thousands of blocks away from society. With a content mutter, Grian whipped out a shulker full of spruce wood and began to build a little log cabin on the side of the plateau face. Before him another stretch of vast meadow and a few patches of snowy taiga peacefully ebbed in the light breeze.

Grian allowed his wings to materialise and he began to flutter a few feet off the ground as he built, relishing the freedom and safety of solitude.

At last Grian was content... but how long could it last?

. . .

"Grian!?" Grian heard the familiar voice of Hermitcraft's admin as he hovered around back of his base. In a spur of panic Grian yanked in his wings, tried to distinguish his aura, and stumbled onto his front porch.

"Grian?" Xisuma gaped. The hermit looked... slightly taller? His eyes looked strange, but Xisuma couldn't pinpoint what was different about them... and he radiated a faint magical aura.

"Hey, X!" Grian called, wiping sweat from his brow. It was obvious he'd just been building.

"Um... Grian... why and how have you gotten more powerful since I last saw you?" Xisuma's eyes were narrowed. Grian thought fast and remembered to keep his mask cool.

"Powerful?" Grian played dumb. He was so convincing Xisuma wasn't sure what to think anymore... he had been sure Grian had been giving off a magical aura a moment ago, but now it was completely stifled. Xisuma decided to stay firm on what he had felt.

"Grian, how on earth have your admin powers grown? And so suddenly... you stopped practicing your magic years ago." Xisuma placed his hands on his hips as he landed in front of the confused hermit.

"My magic? OH." Grian fake gasped, "YOU NOTICED. Yes! Ye-HE-HEEES!" Grian pumped his fist through the air. Xisuma was getting more baffled by the second at Grian's convincing performance.

"Wait. What? Grian?" Xisuma pondered aloud. Grian just smirked. "Umm... have you been practicing, then?" Xisuma wasn't sure what to say in this particular circumstance. "Do... Do you want me to teach you? You know, if you've taken an interest in magic again?" Xisuma's eyebrows furrowed.

Grian was about to turn down the offer when he had an idea. A grin slowly surfaced on the hermit's pale face. "N- actually, do you want to see my best magic? I've been practicing! Puh-pleeeeeease!?" Grian begged. Xisuma looked positively mortified. What in Minecraftia was going on!? Grian snickered.

Grian ran past Xisuma and down into the plainy valley below. Xisuma followed wearily. Grian stopped in the center of the valley and waited for Xisuma to get impatient before he pretended to sneeze. "AAAH-CHOO!" Grian sneezed. The entire valley bloomed with flowers as Grian discreetly scuffed his foot in the grass.

Xisuma just stood there in shock.

"Ack! My magic's so unpredictable! Oh no. Aaa-AAAA-AAAA-CHOOOOO!" Grian faked another loud sneeze and lightning shot from the sky, barely missing Xisuma. "I'm SO SORRY! I can't control it! Aaaa-" Grian started but X light-leaped over to Grian and covered Grian's face with his hand.

"What the flipping heck in Minecraftia was that!?" Xisuma bellowed. Grian just snickered, but Xisuma looked gravely serious. "Umm... G... that was level six admin magic. If not higher."

Grian cursed mentally. Crap, I'm so used to doing a million times more powerful magic I forgot how I'm a prime. Ugh, the simplest magic is high-level, apparently.

"It's not my fault! My magic has been going crazy lately!" Grian pretended to sound half-scared and surprised, "D'ya think my containment broke!?" Grian yelped in excitement.

"Obviously." Xisuma muttered. "Are you sure you don't want me to teach you? You don't want that happening with all the hermits at Doc's party." Xisuma offered again.

"Fiiiiine. I guess I don't really have a choice, do I? I don't want to explode everyone into smithereens if my nose tickles at the party." Grian grumbled. "...but do I have to go to the stupid meetings? I already have enough at the builders association." Grian moaned.

"Oh... I forgot about that. But yes, you do. You have to quit the builders association, this is more important. Don't you agree?" Xisuma answered finally. Xisuma was incredibly suspicious after Grian's sneezes, but he knew Grian would never voluntarily agree to go to the admin meetings. He must be telling the truth, then.

"..." Grian stayed silent. "I - well... I suppose I agree." Grian finally spoke up, grimacing with every syllable. Goodbye, builders association alibi.

"Great!" Xisuma looked thrilled, "Gem doesn't really need me anymore, so you could be my official apprentice! After she's completely done, of course!"

"..." Grian stayed silent. "Give me a week to sort everything out with the association," Grian said eventually. It would excuse him to help Pearl get everything sorted with the watcher situation, anyway.

"Sure!" Xisuma grinned and rocketed away. He had forgotten what he had been looking for when he had stumbled into Grian's strangely secluded cabin... half way back to base he remembered what he had been looking for a facepalmed. Great, let's turn around and fly all the way back... stupid deserts.

. . .

After Xisuma's unfortunate finding of Grian's abilities, Grian was dragged along to meeting after meeting in the admin headquarters. He could barely stand to look at Pearl whenever she saw him in the crowd and she merely raised her eyebrows and smirked.

It became a regular occurrence for it to storm on admin meeting days, but nobody seemed to notice except the prime admins themselves.

To pass the time, Grian slipped into his annoying level three admin roll. He goofed off with the other admins during meetings, he constantly interrupted the technological prime admin's flow of speech, and he might have maybe staged a few pranks. Just a few.

He was driving Pearl crazy, but she was merely grateful to have 'Grian' attend all the meetings she had never managed to convince him to go to. She had to admit, he was charmingly funny even when he was being an absolute pain. She had to tell him off in front of all the other admins consistently.

'Grian, be quiet!'

'Grian, sit still!'

'Grian, DO NOT SET YOUR PEERS' PANTS ON FIRE!'

And to the other admins, 'do NOT follow mister Grian's example under ANY circumstances. Is that clear?' Pearl really hoped the Grian - Prime 2 link would never be discovered or she would have more than a few troublemakers suddenly think it was okay to act up in meetings.

Xisuma and Pearl shared the same view on Grian's antics to an annoyingly long extent. Minus the Prime 1 link bit.

One day, Xisuma asked Pearl whether or not Grian could skip a level and take the level 5 test. Pearl had answered with "I'm sure he's capable." and not even bothered to test him before flicking her wrist and moving the golden plate with Grian's name up to level 5.

The level board showcased all of the admins and their rankings. You had to be at least level 2 for your name to be placed on the board.

Xisuma found Pearl's decisive judgment quite unfair considering how hard he'd had to work to pass his level 5 test the first time. Xisuma gradually grew more and more tired of dealing with Grian's stunts to the point that he was at his wits end.

. . .

"Xisuma can I please not go to any more of those horrible meetings!?" Grian pleaded, giving the Hermitcraft admin his best puppy expression. Xisuma debated whether or not to actually allow him to go not for the first time.

"...Fine..." Xisuma finally agreed. Grian let out a victorious whoop before Xisuma stopped him, "If the admin advisors say it's okay. Now that you're a level five I think some meetings are non-obligational."

Xisuma typed in the admin headquarters portal code. It was nearly time for the main bi-annual admin meeting, where Prime 2 would make an appearance. Grian and Xisuma were attending the preceding one which was basically a briefing for the main meeting.

The two took their seats in their respective rows. Xisuma's eyes narrowed when he saw Grian take a seat in the front row - he always sat in the way back where his antics were less obvious to the leading admins.

As soon as the meeting started, Xisuma had no questions whatsoever.

"Welcome to the preceding preparatory meeting for this years annual admin meet!" Pearl stood up with a smile. Grian's seating position was not missed on her either, and her eyes narrowed.

Suddenly Grian stood up, in front of all of the watching admins and stepped up onto the elevated platform where only the prime admins were allowed to stand on. "Oh second most great and powerful prime admin," Grian grinned. Xisuma buried his face in his hands.

"Please allow me stay home from these inhumanly, obscenely boring meetings." Grian kept a completely straight face as all the watching admins gawked, facepalmed, snickered, and a few even burst out in laughter. Pearl's face went red. She was almost positive Grian was using magic to keep his face perfectly serious.

"How dare you interrupt a formal all-admin meeting!?" Pearl bellowed, "It is with great regret that I ban you from ever setting foot in this meeting room again!" Pearl yelled in exasperation. As much as she liked Grian attending her meetings, she couldn't show any weakness in front of the watching admins.

Pearl shook her head, pursed her lips, and massaged her forehead as she muttered something just loud enough for only Grian to hear. "How Prime 1 put up with you for six years I. Am. Shocked."

Grian blew a raspberry and looked overjoyed. He was as ecstatic at his banishment as Xisuma was horrified after they got back from the meeting.

"I told you to ask the advisors, not the blasted prime! If the physical prime admin was there you would be dead in your tracks!" Xisuma shook his head and groaned.

He had just realized that Grian had never seen Prime 2 before. The physical prime only went to one meeting a year now, and Grian hadn't been an official admin or attended any of the meetings before the last annual meet. And now he was banned. Right before the biggest admin meeting of the year.

Xisuma was sure Grian would have enjoyed trying to figure out the identity of the prime as much as his former apprentice, Gem. Ugh, why'd that idiot have to get banned now!? Could he not have waited one more month!? Xisuma vowed not to speak to Grian for a week - scratch that, a month. Xisuma watched Grian quietly snicker as they exited the building, no doubt replaying his earlier stunt in his mind.

. . .

"What on earth was that!?" Pearl confronted Grian, arms crossed.

"What was what?" Grian asked innocently as he sat down on the familiar golden couches in the prime admin quarters' main room.

"Your little meeting stunt earlier! It completely undermined my authority and forced me to ban you!" Pearl admonished the second prime, her eyes flaming. "I'm already struggling to keep up with your slack! Why are you making things even harder on me!?" Pearl demanded. Grian's eyes widened.

"Oh! I - I'm sorry Pearl." Grian hung his head. "I needed to get banned since the next annual meeting is in a month and I need to make an appearance as prime. Void can't be any more suspicious of me - and me missing the biggest admin meet of the year won't help my case. Sooner or later he's going to connect the dots. Better later." Grian explained. Pearl sighed in exasperation.

"Alright, I suppose that was a little clever." Pearl admitted in a grudging tone. Grian grinned. Pearl swung around and promptly punched him not very lightly.

"Ow!" Grian squealed in surprise.

"Just for information, just because I'm the technological prime and a girl doesn't make me any less powerful or important! Calling me the second best prime was out of line!" Pearl reprimanded Grian in a harsh tone. Grian looked injured,

"Hey," Grian quickly flashed another mischievous grin, "I knew it wouldn't be easy to get banned when you love me showing up at those meetings so much," Grian laughed.

"Why didn't you just tell me beforehand!? I could have banned you from 'hello' for the past five months!" Pearl puffed. Grian just grinned wider and ruffled his wavy hair bashfully.

"Aww, I'm not that bad." Grian sidled up to Pearl and pulled his hood back down, magicing it for the thousandth time.

"You better watch out, I'll knock that hood right off your silly little grin!" Pearl warned, golden sparks shooting off her wrists threateningly. "In fact, maybe I'll do it anyway, after the way you've been acting up, Grian. Actually, I formally request physical prime admin Xelaqua to join me right now." Pearl placed her hands on her hips.

Grian grinned and spelled his voice jumbler to take effect. His words again came out high and cold and warm and low at once. "Xelaqua here. What seems to be the trouble with brilliant little Grian?" Xelqua smirked.

"Brill little Grian has been acting up again." Pearl played along.

"Oh dear..." Xelqua murmured, "Has he really?" Xelqua feigned shock, "My son, Gri-'' Xelqua started but Pearl stopped him, suppressing a giggle,

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Xelqua. Let's be serious." Pearl shifted back into business mode. Grian sighed. "We expect the Head Watcher will be making an appearance at the Main Bi-Annual Admin and Associates Conference. Otherwise known as 'the annual meet' to lazy muffins and a certain prime admin-"

Pearl quickly rolled on before Grian could object. "Since the meet always takes place on the first day of the 7th month, at the same time no less... the Head Watcher will know exactly when to attack - in exactly one month. So I propose we call a... substitute meet. Instead of waiting, we call the meet tomorrow."

Pearl slapped her hand down on the coffee table.

"Hmm... I'm not sure that's allowed-" Grian's eyes widened and he broke off as if experiencing a revelation.

"Alright, spit it out already." Pearl facepalmed.

"If it's tomorrow... and it's already nearly sunset today..." Grian whispered.

"Yes?" Pearl tapped her foot impatiently.

"There won't be time for rehearsal!?" Grian laughed giddily. "Okay! Yes! YES! YE-HE-HEEES!" Grian practically bounce-skipped out of the room before Pearl could say anything in response.

"Duties first, ay?" Pearl muttered to herself as she sat down behind her desk in the same chair she found herself sitting in almost every hour of the day now. "Time to find the mole... before Xel finds out, preferably." Pearl rubbed her forehead as she tapped into the database. Good Notch, who could it be?