(5)

The mask fit perfectly on Grian's face. Or at least it felt like it. ℸ ̣ was in the middle of the mask, another of the same symbol inverted across from it making a disconnected square. The energy was overwhelming and as Grian was trying to get situated, X sent a serverwide broadcast.

"Warning, Watchers expected to appear on the server. Try not to die."

The entire server was thrown into mild panic, as if the civil war wasn't enough. The final showdown was halted and those participating pulled back into their bases to put on their gear.

Back in Grian's base, the builder had finally gotten used to the magic of the mask but it almost felt draining. He just wanted to leave his conscious mind out of what's happening. Two watchers appeared next to him, the aura of the 3 caused X to feel nauseous. The admin almost threw his helmet off, but took the chance to escape before he wasn't able to. Grian reached out to the feeling admin, but was abruptly stopped by the Watcher to his left.

"Leave him. We'll get him later."

"That's right, but for now, tell us the players we better avoid Grian."

Grian scrunched up his nose, this isn't what he was told. He snarled, looking between the two, "No! What about Xisuma?"

"Grian. We'll handle Xisumavoid. Just tell us the players we'll have to avoid." The one to his left sounded stern, which caused the builder to shrink.

He paused, reluctantly telling them what they wanted, "..The best PvPers on the server are False and Iskall."

"Good. Grian, your job is to distract them while we go and capture Xisumavoid."

Xisuma expended too many rockets just trying to get away. He needed to find other players and now. Even though he was about 100 blocks away from them, he still felt nauseous and his vision began to warp. X started to dive and he ended up crashing into the middle of the field between the GTeam base and Team STAR bases. The admin groaned, shakily getting onto his feet. The other teams were out of the base and watched their admin crash into the ground. The less PvP centered players ran to check if X was ok while the rest observed the perimeter for the supposed Watchers to arrive.

Sure enough, two Watchers arrived and tried to strike a deal. "If you give us Xisumavoid, then we'll leave you Hermits alone~"

Grian was busy going to the Hermits from behind, he just had to distract False and Iskall. It can't be that hard. Xisuma glanced at Joe who was supporting him up. The poet had noticed the signal and nodded, letting X stand on his own and started to back away. The admin readied himself for a battle against the twin Watchers, he needed to buy time for him and Joe.

Just before False was about to strike, she was caught off guard from a blast of magic from behind. She yelped, looking to see who attacked her. False's eyes widened in shock as she realized who it was just from the recognizable clothing. X already knew who was there when he started getting nauseous again.

"Grian?!"

Half of the noncombatants turned their attention towards the shocked False and the traitor Grian. Xisuma had to take off and throw his helmet aside just to breathe better. He took out his sword as he prepared to fight.

"Oh Xisuma, you look as you did back then"  The younger twin swooned, "It's too bad you won't act like you were before~"

His brows furrowed and he softly growled, "Shut up and let's fight."

The two giggled and drew their obsidian daggers, quickly moving in to deal damage. Joe took this opportunity to run for X's base. The admin tried to keep it a 1v1, as he didn't want to use magic as a risk of it being used against him and he sure as hell knew he couldn't take a 1v2.

Meanwhile, False and many of the others were trying to restrain Grian who was resisting. As much as they didn't want to hurt them, he didn't want to hurt the other Hermits. Iskall noticed X fighting alone and pulled away from the other's to help. Something clicked in the admin's mind and started to bring the Watcher's close to the others. False and Iskall quickly noticed this and they swapped enemies with Xisuma. The rest of the noncombatants took the chance to flee before a permadeath happens, Cleo and Doc decided to stay behind to help False and Iskall. The older twin lowly growled, his wings appearing and harshly flapped them to knock the two new fights away.

The younger was trying to hold her ground, blocking all of the constant attacks. She pulled back for a moment, catching her bearing. A smirk crept up onto her face and it was very despite her mask. It was enough to send shivers down False's spine. The Watcher murmured something to herself, her wings slowly revealing themselves. They were the same size and the same shade of light purple as her older brother's. The younger twin softly giggled, her gaze focused on Xisuma, though the Hermits couldn't tell.

"Do you want to know a secret?"

— • —

Xisuma ended up throwing multiple punches towards Grian's way, trying to speak to him but was getting nothing positive. He tried to punch the mask off, only to hurt himself and he shook his fist in response.

"Ow- They're going to use you like how they used me Grian!" X hissed, ending up dodging Grian's strikes, "They're going to destroy multiple servers and kill thousands of innocents!"

"It's for the greater good!" Grian spitefully replied, but it was more of him trying to convince himself. "..I can't just leave them after all the good they've done for me.."

Grian stopped attacking and looked down at the ground. Did he really believe in the ideas that the Watchers were trying to follow? He paused, feeling a sudden force appear from nowhere and it turns out he wasn't alone. The twin Watchers as well as Xisuma noticed as well. The builder backed away out of fear, as the other Watchers did as well. The other Hermits were confused.

Fear didn't stop the younger Watcher to reveal the truth. "Xisuma is a Watcher y'know, just ask him~"

The older brother flew over to grab Grian and the three were gone as quickly as they came. X let out a relieved sigh, gently shaking his head. He couldn't help but still feel nauseous.

False turned to Xisuma and sounded heartbroken. "Is that true? You're.. A Watcher?"

The admin disappointedly looked over at False and the others. He had a weak smile and looked over in the direction to where his base would be. It would be a lot easier to explain when Joe arrives.

"I guess I have a lot to explain, huh?"

Xisuma anxiously rubbed the back of his head, forgetting that he had to throw his helmet off. His purple eyes were evident and the scar across the bridge of his nose more visible than before.

"Wait, if you're a Watcher you shouldn't be able to build or change anything too drastic to this server or else this world goes bye bye!" Iskall pointed out, "There's no logical reason he could be one!"

"I'll explain that too-" Xisuma muttered, but paused as he saw Joe over the horizon. The poet used a couple ender pearls to arrive quicker. He was holding onto a Watcher mask tightly.

"Is Joe a watcher toO?!"

"What? No??"

Soon, it evolved into pure chaos which made Xisuma rather pissed. God, no one listens to him now. He hissed loudly, gaining the attention of everyone else, "FOr the love of NOTCH could all of you shut your mouths?!"

Everyone shut up.

"Yes I'm a Watcher, no Joe isn't a Watcher, and Grian is a player aligned with the Watchers. Ok, that cleared? Joe please help me explain this-"

"No no, you were doing good, continue on," Joe playfully teased. "Ok ok, you guys want the long story or the short story?"

The other Hermits were confused, but stopped Joe from handing the mask to Xisuma. Iskall narrowed his eyes and decided to stand in between the admin and the poet. He commented, staring at the both of them, "If we're doing the long story, we should get the others here."

Everyone else nodded in agreement, which led to Xisuma sending another server wide broadcast to get everyone at the battlefield between Team STAR and GTeam.

There's nothing that could go wrong with this, right?

A sheepish Mumbo appeared from behind a tree and he avoided looking at everyone. He spoke softly, nervous on how the other's would react to this, especially Xisuma.

"Um.. I've known Grian was a Watcher for a long time.."

— • —

[ AH- ONLY 1.5K WORDS I'M GOING TO  JHSDDSJKHHJKD I'M SORRY IT'S SO BAD I'M noT GOOD A WRITING ACTION ]