Spitting Lies 'Till Your Demise - Hermitcraft + MCYT AU - Collab

Chapter 10 - The Crippling Stale Colors of Concrete

Grian groaned, his neck stiff from the position it had been in for the past few days. He once again cursed the so-called 'Evil X' that had taken him captive, considering that it had been about 3 days now. He was sore, and his wrists were rubbed red from the rope. He fervently wished Watcher magic actually included healing, as he'd been complaining to Zyno and Jaxa about for a long time, but he had to settle for slitting the edges of the rope and giving himself slightly more room. He could use his powers for something more concrete, like getting himself out, he didn't want to raise suspicion. Besides, 'Evil X' could be a vex or something with some form of magical prowess, and he'd been warned to avoid angering those since he'd joined the Watchers, fresh out of high school.

Apparently if he angered them or revealed he was a Watcher, he could start an interspecial war.

While it sounded vaguely fun, the higher ups would kick him out of the Watchers or worse if they'd learnt how it had happened. Moral of the story: only use your Watcher abilities to ease your capture, not to escape. Never reveal yourself as a Watcher - rule 1.

Well, technically rule 2, but considering rule 1 was only speak galactic and use the chosen names and nobody listened to that, it might as well be rule 1.

It was during this train of thought that Grian saw his communicator buzz. Nothing new, it happened every time someone sent a message. This time however, the communicator had a slightly purple aura about it. Grian perked up - Zyno was trying to contact him.

Grian lunged for his communicator, his fingers barely skimming the edges of it. Pulling himself back, he lunged forward again, this time managing to get a proper hold on it.

Suddenly, his communicator began ringing. Now Grian could see that it indeed was Zyno, who'd sent a message asking for an update. Fiddling through the rope, he accepted the call, praying that 'Evil X' didn't come back. 

"Xelqua, status update." The harshness of the galactic cut through the silence, and while it took a second longer than it should have to translate, Grian responded in fluent galactic.

"Not good SB, incredibly not good. In the sense that I can get out just fine, but since I'm having to obey 'Watcher protocols', I can't." The relief in SB's voice was evident.

"That's good, I was growing concerned that you had checked in."

"Careful, SB," Grian teased. "Someone might think you care."

"Oh, heaven forbid." Sarcasm filled his voice. "Are you still on the Hermitcraft server?" The communicator crackled slightly.

"Yup, pretty sure I'm just off the main island," Grian responded, glancing around the barren room as if there would be clues there. "Not much chance of them being any help any time soon though."

"What would you expect, Grian?" SB asked, the eyebrow raise audible. "They're just players."

"I dunno," Grian shrugged, ignoring the hope still in his heart. "Thought they might provide some use."

The other sighed, but decided to just continue. "Well, in any case. What exactly happened?"

"I think I might or might not have gotten kidnapped."

SB went dead silent.

"You what."

"Yeah." He sighed. "I've been locked inside this very ominously empty room, and tied up to a chair. I don't think this classifies as a good thing."

"Can you get out?"

"Well- like I said, that would require me using magic, and the rules don't allow me to."

He could hear intense typing on the other end, followed by a question. "Who kidnapped you? Was it one of the members?"

He tried recalling the event. "Not sure, probably not." Grian stated after a bit. "If I remember correctly his name was evil... something."

"What?"

"Evil... Exusma? Ersuna? Xisuma- yeah- Evil Xisuma."

"Isn't Xisumavoid the head admin of the server?" SB asked again.

"Yeah, he is- though this guy looked different, probably some sort of evil alter ego. The 'evil' in the name sorta gives it away." He sort of cringes at the thought. Who in their right mind would name themselves 'evil'-

"I'll look at the data to see if I can identify them." The watcher on the other side said. He heard more typing, and some ominous but recognizable sounds of the opening of magic holograms. "In the meantime- why did they kidnap you?"

"That's what I wanna know." He murmured grumpily.

"So have you not talked to them or interacted? Have they said anything to you?"

"Not really, and I'm starting to think that they're just gonna leave me here to starve." And he sort of had the right to think that, considering he had literally just been thrusted into this room with no context, known goals, or anything whatsoever. The door of the room had a very small window, and he would only be able to see the player's name tag from outside. Frustratingly enough, he'd just been sitting there for the past few days, with literally no food, human contact, or anything except a bottle of water. If he weren't a watcher, he'd honestly probably be dead right now.

"Probably not, most likely they want something from you." SB stated.

Grian heard more clicks and magic keyboard typing from the other side of the communicator, and then, a pause.

"Oh."

"What?" Grian asked, equal parts curious and frustrated at the lack of information. "Did you identify them?"

"Xanthus." SB muttered, realisation evident.

The name- was it a name? It sounded like a name. Grian had never heard of it in his lifetime, but the way SB said it made it sound like he should've.
"Wh-?" Was the only thing he could muster in confusion before SB elaborated.

"The person who kidnapped you is an Ex-watcher." He explained slowly. "Evil Xisumavoid, watcher codename Xanthus."

"Huh." Well this could either severely complicate or simplify matters, depending on a lot of factors. "Really?"

"Yeah." More clicks. "It says here that he refused orders from the higher ups to protect a server- hey- he was also sent to destroy the same server as you!"

"So he was ordered to destroy hermitcraft like I did but failed?" Griam summarized the conclusion he came to. Part of him wanted to ask why he hadn't heard of him before if so, but he also knew not to question Watchers.

"Yeah, pretty much." SB agreed. "So you should be free to use your m-"

Grian did not need to be told twice. In a blink of an eye, a faint purple aura glowed, and the rope that held him in place previously glowed with flame, before suddenly crippling into ash.

"So, you good?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me." He replied simply. "I think I might have a plan." And a plan he had.

"Nothing dangerous, right?" SB asked, resigned.

"Risky, maybe, but trust me on this one." A badly covered up snort could be heard. "I'll message you in a bit, if it goes well, if it doesn't, then welp."

"Side note, if it goes badly, feel free to remind him that he's classed as a rogue Watcher and can be taken in by the council at any time." SB added, presumably typing something up.

Grian hummed. That information could prove to be useful.

"Gotcha."

He hung up, and just then, he heard footsteps. A small smirked formed on his face.

Oh, this was going to be interesting.