The Will To Watch

Chapter Eight

Martyn stared at the wall across from him, and he sighed, pulling his knees to his chest. He sighed, not knowing what was planned for him next. Martyn didn't know if they would kill him or torture him, or worse, trap him in one of their infamous death games. All he knew was he had to get out of there, but he didn't know how. He was just stuck. Martyn was still grieving the loss of Hermitcraft, and he didn't know what to do anymore.

He didn't know how long he'd been here, how long he would be here, and if he'd ever get out. It was hopeless, and he knew it. But if watching the Hermitcraft server taught him one thing, it was that you could always have hope.

And a few days later, when a Watcher brought him some food, that hope paid off. 

The Watcher walked slowly and quickly down the hall, carrying a small tray with a bit of bread, a lump of cheese, and some water on it. The food was pretty poor, but to Martyn, who had never had real human food before (Watchers feed off of strong human emotions), it was delicious.

He smiled slightly as the Watcher slid his food under the small slot in the bars. Martyn grabbed the food hungrily and started to eat it ravenously. But instead of leaving immediately, the Watcher stood and watched him eat. The Watcher seemed to be waiting for him to finish, almost like he wanted to watch him further.

Martyn finished his meal and sighed, leaning back against the wall. He looked up at the Watcher and decided to do what was probably a very stupid thing to do.

Talk.

“What are you still doing here?” Martyn asked, and the Watcher started like he'd been hit.

The Watcher then made eye contact with Martyn, and this made the blond gasp. He didn't have the purple eyes that Watcher's normally sported. His eyes were a dark brown, and Martyn felt drawn to them.

“Your eyes. . . You're not a Watcher, are you?” Martyn asked, and the man shook his head, accepting Martyn's guess.

Martyn stood up and walked quickly over to the barred cell door and stared at the man as he opened his mouth.

“I-” The man tried to talk but he stuttered over his words. He clearly had never talked before and was struggling with the thought that he could talk.

“It's okay, the Watchers don't have control over you anymore.” Martyn gripped his hands on the bars. “You can talk now.”

“I remember.” The man said, his eyes filling with surprise. “I remember my life.”

Martyn's eyes widened with shock. He didn't remember anything from his life before the Watchers took him. But this man did.

“What do you remember?” Martyn asked, his grip on the bars tightening in excitement.

“My name.” He said, his eyes filling with happiness.

“What's your name?” Martyn asked, and he smiled softly.

“Bigb.” He said, and Martyn laughed.

“HA! Another one!” Martyn smiled, “How? How did you remember?”

“It all started when something happened to my world.” Bigb said, and Martyn nodded, not knowing where this was going. “One day, about a month ago, a purple rift appeared by Pix's bridge. Everyone was confused, and so was I. Because I recognized it as Watcher magic, and I didn't know why it was in that world. But that was then the explosion happened. Right in the middle of the festival, knocking down tents, and injuring people. Then the hermits came.”

“Sorry, did you say hermits?” Martyn asked, his heart filling with hope.

“Yeah, a whole group of people who called themselves the ‘hermits’ from a place they called ‘Hermitcraft season nine’.” Bigb shook his head in mock disappointment. Clearly, he was fond of the hermits. “All went well for a while until he built the robot.”

“Who built the what?” Martyn asked, his hands beginning to hurt from how tightly he was gripping the bars.

“The runaway Watcher built a giant robot called Grumbot. He said it would open the rift, but so far, all it has done is threaten to destroy Empires.” Bigb explained, his eyes filled with worry. “And that was when I knew I had to find the Watcher who watched Hermitcraft. I knew that they would know what to do about Grumbot.”

Martyn sighed in frustration. He knew what they had to do.

“First you need to get me out of my cell. Then, we’re escaping this awful world and getting to Empires. We have to destroy Grumbot.” Martyn said, moving over to the door. “My name is Martyn. In case you were wondering.”

Bigb smiled and nodded, moving over to the lock on the door. “Thank you for helping me, Martyn.”

“I'm helping my people too.” Martyn said as Bigb tried to pick the lock with a bit of metal he had. “Grumbot will destroy them after he's finished with Empires.”

In a few seconds, the door popped open, and Martyn stepped out of his cell, a smile on his face.

“And we're free.” Martyn smiled at Bigb and pointed down the hallway.

“Alright let's go. I hope you have an idea how we can get into Empires.” Bigb said as the two began to run down the hallway.

“I do. But you're not gonna like it.” Martyn responded, grimacing slightly.