The Fourth Star - Rewrite

VIII

The sound of overhead rustling of leaves pulled Xisuma and Ancel's attention to the sky, Grian flapping his wings as he slowly descended into the grove of trees where the two had been hiding. "Finally," He groaned while his feet hit the dirt. "I've been looking everywhere for you two!"

"How'd you even find us?" X asked the Watcher, as they were thousands of blocks away from any build or player.

"I can sense magic, you and Ancel are full of it. Pretty easy for me to find you guys." Grian explained, scratching at his wrist. "Hey, uh, Ancel, can I speak to you?"

"Whatever you want to say to me, you can say to Xisuma." She flicked her tongue, eyes glowing a dark shade of blue that made Grian's stomach curl into tight knots.

"Fine. I made a deal." He rolled up his sleeve, showing off symbols that were glowing on his wrist. They were very similar to the symbols all along Ancel's back, like some kind of strange language Xisuma couldn't understand.

"What..what is that?" The admin asked, looking up from the glowing purple symbols to meet Grian's eyes.

He rolled his sleeve back down, looking away out of shame. "I made something called a soul deal. Basically it's some kind of magic thing that can get people to become more complacent towards my commands. Truthfully, I don't understand how it really works. Watcher magic is really strange." Grian admitted, his gaze falling to the floor while he rubbed the back of his neck.

"It can turn people into subservient puppets," Ancel curled around Xisuma's neck, whispering in his ear. "Make them unable to resist commands. It's a very powerful spell that binds the soul of the puppet with the magic user."

"Who did you bind yourself to?" Xisuma pointed to Grian's wrist, raising his eyebrows curiously.

"Mumbo," Said the Watcher in a disappointed tone. "I thought he would be the easiest target. He already trusts me."

Xisuma stared at him for a moment, his eyes glowing blue. He probably should have felt worried. After all, Mumbo was now a puppet for Grian to use. But oddly enough, Xisuma didn't mind. In fact, he was completely fine with it.

Things like this were necessary in order to help the Watchers. It was only temporary, after all.

Grian felt his posture shrink under Xisuma's blank stare, shuddering as he looked towards the snake around X's neck. "What did you do to him?" He asked, annoyed at the snake.

"I put him deeper underneath my control." She narrowed her glowing eyes, hissing and flicking her tongue as she spoke. "He's much more compliant now. More agreeable. Now it will be much easier to take control of this miserable server."

He frowned and looked back at Xisuma, whose eyes were foggy and distant. Grian snapped his fingers in front of his face a few times, before the admin was brought back to the present moment. "Oh! I'm so sorry, I think I dozed off for a moment," He laughed sheepishly. "Sorry, it's been a little while since I've slept."

Grian narrowed his eyes once more, looking at the snake. "Ancel, we need to talk. Alone."

The snake stared back at him with an equally narrowed gaze, before she huffed. "Fine," she slithered down Xisuma's arm, curling and coiling along his limb before reaching his wrist. "Just make it quick."

Reaching out his hand, Ancel slithered into Grian's palms. She looked at Xisuma, flicking her tongue at him. "Practice more of your telekinesis while we talk. The more you practice, the heavier objects you can lift."

"Alright." The admin nodded, walking off to get back to his training. Once he was out of earshot, Grian turned his attention towards the snake in the palm of his hands.