Watching and Listening - An Empires SMP AU

Lives

           "Grian!" Gem fumbled, panicking. "I-" "You're a Watcher?!" Grian shouted, uncomprehending. Gem couldn't deny it now. Grian had guarded himself from Watcher magic, so she couldn't wipe his memory, and he had clearly seen her transform. No lie was getting her out of this one. She had to face it head-on.

           "Yes." Gem admitted. "But I'm like you." "You're nothing like me, 1!" Grian hissed. "You've hurt my friends and destroyed worlds and now you've been pretending to be friends with me for how long now?!" "No!" Gem protested, reaching out. "I'm really friends with you, believe me! I left the Watchers just like you did!" 

           Grian scoffed in disbelief, backing away and keeping her at metaphorical arm's length. "Yeah right. Next thing you're telling me Qiron's a good guy too." "He's not." Gem said, knowing that at least they could agree on that. "We got into a fight after he decided to make the life games and I left sometime after you did. And the next thing I heard Herodias followed." "Hero-" Grian stopped, realizing. "Jimena. That was her Watcher name, wasn't it?" 

           "Yes." Gem said. "Grian, what's she doing here? What's Qiron making her do?" "Why should I tell you anything, 1?" Grian asked suspiciously. "For all I know you're lying to me." "I don't go by that anymore, just like you're no longer Xelqua. I'm just Gem now." Gem said, as sincerely as possible. Surely this would strike something within Grian. It was one of the things they had in common. "Short for Gemini." Grian scowled. "I really should've put the pieces together. Gemini was your Watcher name."

           "Gem, you're a Watcher?!" Gem turned to see Pearl standing there with Impulse, staring. Gem panicked again, taking an involuntary step back. She couldn't bear to lose more friends, not like this. "Pearl, I-" "Why didn't you tell me?!" Pearl asked, sounding betrayed. "Grian told me, at least! But I would've expected you to do it first!" "I- I-" Gem found that she had nothing to say to her disappointed friends. Slowly growing hysterical, she used her power to try and teleport away. Emphasis on 'try'. 

           Instead of escaping their judgmental stares, Gem found herself transforming into her Dawn persona. Inwardly, she cursed. All of her secrets out of the bag in one fell swoop. She felt Grian's eyes glare at her meticulously. "Gem, how many people have you pretended to be?" He asked, sounding somewhat calmer. It made Gem feel the teensiest bit of hope that maybe this wouldn't be so bad. "Just me." Gem said, looking down, unable to meet their eyes. "Just different versions of me around the multiverse." 

           "Why?" Grian asked sharply. "It was just my way of having a new life after the Watchers." Gem said veraciously. "You went back to being Grian, or as Grian as you could be. But I couldn't go back to my old life before I became a Watcher." There was a lot more to the story than she let on then and there, but they didn't need to know those parts. Her whole life was being turned upside-down and Gem was determined to hold onto at least one last secret. 

           "Why did you destroy our old world?!" Pearl asked abruptly. "It wasn't me!" Gem protested, glancing sharply up to look at her betrayed expression. "It was 2! And Grian helped too!" "Hey, I only blew up spawn because you guys weren't there and I thought we were just being mischievous at the time!" Grian said quickly. Pearl and Grian and Gem stopped talking to apparently have a three-way glaring contest. "I am so confused right now." Impulse moaned. 

           "Gem's a traitor and not my friend anymore." Grian said spitefully. "Grian!" Gem called out in betrayed surprise, feeling something wet and warm leak from her eyes. She didn't expect the the red-sweatered hermit, the hermit who always had a smile on his face and laughed off wars like they were games, to ever say anything so hatefully. And certainly not to her. But in retrospect, she should've expected it.