Everything felt like a blurry haze, distant in a dream state. Grian felt himself drifting in the endless expanse of the void, grounded only by the feeling of dread that had settled in his stomach.

He had never been here before; that much he knew with certainty. But something told him that he knew exactly why he was there.

"Do you hear me, Grian?" A voice questioned, echoed and laced with sly intentions. Grian felt his blood run cold as soon as he heard the sound. A memory so vile, he could never quite get it out. Hatred burned in his chest at the voice alone; he didn't dare to look at the looming figure directly anymore.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" The hermit yelled, his lungs aching from the force he put into his words. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

The haze shifted; the world turned cold. Grian could feel the tension in the air as footsteps sounded, slowly and steadily coming closer, and closer, and closer to him. The familiar symbol glowed in the mist that stood between them now. He could not see them clearly. But he knew that the Watcher that stood before him now saw everything with clarity.

"What do you mean, Grian? You're our friend!" The Watcher spoke with a forced, yet stifled laugh. "We're here to help you. To fix you."

"No, no! Stop, get away from me, I don't want to talk to you, I don't want to look at you, go away, and leave me alone!" Grian rambled hopelessly, his hands pressed harshly over his ears. The tension subsided ever so slightly; the Watcher was amused.

"But Grian... don't you see?" They prompted tauntingly. "They've gone to ruin. You've turned your entire server to ruin!" They paused to allow their words to settle, and engraved the message deep into his mind.

"You're broken. But we can fix you. You can have everything you've ever wanted."

They spoke with a smile unsettlingly wide, the corners of their lips reaching all the way up their mask and presumably near their eyes.

"You can be happy."

"All you have to do is listen to us."

"And obey our every command."

Grian listened. To his own grimace, he listened to their words, and allowed them to poison his mind. And once everything had been said, the promise for happiness was far too great for him to ignore.

He nodded weakly in response, ready to obey his former masters. And they smiled, warmly down on him.

He smiled back, ever so slightly, grasping onto that happiness.

And a moment later, he woke up. In his bed, in a cold sweat. His eyes were wide, heart racing and breathing uneven. His eyes trailed immediately to the nearest window. Something was amiss. He jumped out of his bed, and ran out as quickly as he possibly could. He felt appalled, almost sick to his stomach. The dream remained fragmented in his mind as he equipped his elytra and took to the skies.

"Grian, Grian what's happening-" Purple swirls shot across the sky and Mumbo stared at them in horror. He glanced over at Grian, who was surprisingly calm, staring silently as the Watchers flooded into the server. "Don't worry, Mumbo. They're here to help us."

"Mumbo what's happening- my admin controls are going into overload-"

Xisuma stopped midsentence, staring in horror at the darkening sky. The Watchers were flooding out like a wave, encasing the server in darkness. "No, no, no, no- how did they get in- wait." Xisuma turned to Grian, who was staring at the ground with no emotion. He clenched and unclenched his fist looking away.

"Grian?"

Grian was already trying to find someone else to blame. He had his server's best interest at mind when he had made his decision.

...right?

It was Xisuma's fault for letting them in. Not his.

"Grian! How could you let them do this!" Mumbo cried out as the dark flames crawled towards them. Nothing would stop them. "How could you just let them destroy the server!" Before Grian could respond with an explanation, the flames reached Mumbo, and in a single movement, engulfing them.

Grian stared at the rubble, not daring to look at the spot where Mumbo died. The once pristine shopping district was now nothing but fire and ruins. It was Xisuma's fault. They are the ones who didn't warn us in time. It's not your fault Grian. It's not your fault ... They repeated the words in their head, but it didn't help. Deep down, they knew whose fault it was.

They were the ones who trusted the watchers. They were the ones who let those beasts pour sugar into their ears. They were the ones who stood to the side and watched as the watchers started to corrupt the server. For what? For something that wasn't even real. That didn't even exist in the first place. Grian shouldn't have listened to the watchers. But they did. Because of that, everything they cared for is gone. And it is all your fault, Grian. It is all your fault.

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Score: 12 (Spectator Favourite)