Always Watching, Always Listening

VIII Celebrations Are Good Ideas - Even In Bad Times (Seen As A Workaholic)

It took only a few weeks for Sam to build the new prison. The whole time, Doc was holding Dream tightly with his powerful robotic arm.
Every so often, Technoblade would hold him for a while so that Doc could keep his joints from seizing up or malfunctioning.
The Blood God was quite strong himself, so Doc trusted him to keep Dream in check. For Sam's peace of mind, however, Doc made sure to keep Techno in his sights at all times when he was holding Dream.

Finally, the vault was completed. It apparently wasn't the same design as 'Pandora's Vault', but it was a take on it called 'Tethys' Vault' (Technoblade named it, of course) and it involved constant drowning in a water-filled cobblestone room of pain. Just because Sam could.

It was a week after the completion of the prison when Void called a new meeting.
"Hey guys," she greeted with a bashful smile. "So, I know that most of the Watchers are currently a threat, but I was wondering if... Well... We could maybe hold a celebration of sorts?"
"What kind of celebration?" Tommy asked.
"It's an old celebration of the anniversary of the creation of the first void-walker, an appreciation of the void-mother," she nervously explained.

"Well of course we can celebrate it," Tango smiled.
"Honestly, I'm surprised that Xisuma never brought it up on Hermitcraft," Impulse quipped.
Grian noticed how Zedaph gave him a side glance as if to tell him that the same went for him.

"So how do you celebrate back home?" Eret, who was from the Dream smp, asked.

"Back home, we have sects. These sects are colour-focused. In other words, we name them after shades of colours. There's a physical aspect to this, in that our eyes mimic the sect colour we were born into, but we mostly represent our sects through our clothes.
For example, when we're eighteen, we spend six years in other sects, wearing armour dyed to suit our sect colour but with white boots. After this, we head home for a month before we can choose our sects.
Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked.
Every year on the day of the celebration, we wear glamourous clothes in our sect colour. Every year since I was born, I'd wear the emerald green of my home and Xisuma, at least as a child, wore a deep shade of blue."
"But your eyes are indigo, aren't they?" Techno asked.
"It's a natural glamour," Xisuma explained. "Only void-walkers see through it normally. But, on the day of the event, it naturally disappears."
Techno nodded in understanding.

"It sounds like a wonderful idea," a sheep-lady named Puffy said happily. "Do you want any help setting it up?"
"All I need is for everyone to organise their groups. The sects were all about family and friends. Safety. That kind of stuff. Set up your 'sects' however you want and choose a colour and shade," Vee smiled softly.
"Alright," chirped Puffy.

Everyone had a different idea on how sects should be split, but in the end there were six groups established.

Most of the Dream smp banded together, following Void's suggestion to call themselves the Wolframite Grey sect, after the stone's association with conflict.

Ranboo named the Origins' sect Purpurite purple and invited Puffy, Foolish, Tommy, his friend Tubbo, Techno, Eret, a guy called Jack, and Niki. All of them joined.

Grian, with some encouragement from Xisuma and Void, created the Ruby Red sect with him, his best friend Mumbo, their friend Iskall, and Pearl.

Vee herself invited Scar, Gem, Scott, Xornoth and Cub to the Emerald Green sect. Scott, in turn asked if Jimmy could join. Of course he could, and did.

The rest of the ex-emperors were a part of the Rose Quartz sect.

The remaining Hermits joined Xisuma in the Twilight-blue sect.

It took three days for the celebration to be set up.
It took Gem, Scar, Phil, Tommy (surprisingly), Tubbo, Techno, Wilbur, Ranboo, Eret and Xisuma working tirelessly to make sixty-three hand-tailored suits and dresses of various colours. But they did it.
And just in time, too. When Void came downstairs for breakfast with emerald eyes that were as bright as Foolish's, Scar and Gem excitedly told everyone that the day had come.

Barely two hours later, everyone showed up at the celebration.

Eret was stunning in their shimmering dress.
Void, however refused to be outdone in her gorgeous form-fitting gown.
Techno's purple finery was exquisite, even in comparison to his daily wear.
Lizzie's long pink ballgown reminded everyone present that she was most certainly a queen.
Iskall's vibrant red suit made them look like the bomb (or a bomb - in the best way possible) - especially with their newly matching red eye.
It was hard not to admit that Xisuma looked great in his blue suit - although he was wearing his green helmet still. He did need to breathe.

Scar had given everyone who was comfortable with the idea contact lenses to look as though they truly came from what would have been their original sects. Upon seeing them, Void and Xisuma had looked extremely overjoyed.

"Vee, help me take my helmet off," Xisuma said excitedly, trusting that the witch's magic would alow him to breathe Overworld air.
When she gestured to take off the helmet, he dragged it from his head and let everyone see how truly happy he was.
"Let's do this thing!" He grinned.

The party was enjoyable. There was no 'proper' way to celebrate, after all, besides decorating, spending time with others and dressing up for the occasion.
It was like any other player holiday in many ways.

~~~

The one who Watched and Listened smoothed down his suit, a unique thing that was half aqua and half violet, as he spent his holiday Watching the world, especially the ones he had an inkling that he'd once known.

"ᒲ𝙹∷ℸ ̣ ||, ᓵ𝙹ᒲᒷ ⍑ᒷ∷ᒷ ᔑリ↸ ⋮𝙹╎リ ⚍ᓭ!" someone called.
Reluctantly, he obeyed.