Xelqua Rising || The Lost One AU

30.Punishment

At first, there was nothing. Xelqua could not see anything at all, even himself for that matter. Was it that it he was blinded, or was it that The Void was just that dark? There was no way to tell. He could not hear even the slightest noise, and he could not feel even the robes he was (supposedly) wearing.

If time had stayed still when he had awaited his judgement, then time seemed to only move backwards here. The lack of stimulation was overpowering. He couldn't tell if he had been for five seconds or five years, but he already wanted out.

Was this it? Was under-stimulation his punishment?

He wasn't sure how much time had past when he found his arms beginning to form in front of him. He realized immediately that he was seeing from a small, fixated point like he used to. He studied his arms, finding that the long sleeves of his robes were gone, leaving him with bare arms.

No, it was not just the sleeves that were gone, he realized. His entire robe was gone, replaced with his old tunic. Was he human again?

He reached behind him and tried to feel his hair as the length of Xelqua's hair was much longer than Grian's. Failing to grasp at it a few times, he knew it was back to it's short, regular self, just how he liked it. 

"Grian!" A voice called in his native language. He froze, recognizing it immediately. He quickly spun around from where the voice had come from. Taurtis stood there, a large smile on his face. "There you are! We've been looking all over for you!"

Xelqua— well, Grian now it seemed— ran as fast as he could over to Taurtis, throwing his arms around him. He wept freely, overwhelmed with joy at the sight of his best friend. Taurtis just about was knocked to the "ground" by his blonde friend, his eyes growing wide as he observed the reaction Grian had. He slowly wrapped his arms around the weeping man. "Woah... dude, what's wrong?" He asked softly, concern evident in his voice.

Grain paused, looking up at Taurtis. "I-I thought you were dead!" He managed to choke out before burying his face back into his friend's chest. "I-I thought you all were..."

"Why would you think a thing like that?" Another voice spoke. Grian slowly peered behind Taurtis, finding Martyn standing there, arms crossed. Pearl appeared beside him.

"We're alright," she assured, trying not to sound confused. 

"Yeah," BigB confirmed before appearing as well. "All of us are."

"Well, except for Jimmy. He's always had his brain a bit jumbled I think," Martyn joked, trying to lighten the mood. They all laughed, even Grian did, wiping his eyes as he let go of Taurtis.

"Hey!" Jimmy's voice cried as he seemed to assemble out of dark clouds. He marched over to Martyn. "You take that back!"

Although Martyn and Jimmy quickly started bickering, Grian couldn't help but smile. This is exactly how things used to be, and he wouldn't have changed it for all the worlds in the universe.

The other Evolutionists soon appeared, joining in on the jokes and the fun being had. Yet, Taurtis stayed quiet as Grian remained at his side.

"Grian," he asked quietly. "Why did you think we were dead?"

"Well, the Watchers told me it had been a hundred years since I left Evo—" He began. Martyn, who was on the ground wrestling Jimmy at this point, stopped in his tracks before cutting Grian off.

"You never left Evo." Although he said so plainly and without judgement, it was as though his voice could right through glass.

"Yeah, Grian. And even if you would, where would you go?" Jimmy laughed, others joining in.