Entwining Lives - A Hermitcraft & The Life series crossover

Chapter 7 - Grian has trauma, who could have guessed

Tws: Mentions of hallucinations and Derealization, Traumatic flashbacks

POV: HC!Grian (I know we had his POV recently, But it worksss-)

Pearl and Grian waved to Gem, as she walked off with Sun and Scott.

Pearl turned to him once the trio was out of his eyeshot - which was quite far, due to his... secret. He'd call it that for now... He didn't want to think about it. He had enough on his plate, he'd keep doing what he did best and repress his trauma.

Pearl glared as she spoke. "Okay what the heck. You promised we'd share our issues, especially if it's involving them! I can help you!"

"They already know who I am. I didn't want them to recognize you..." He whispered. "The Rift must be a back door, but it reflects any magic I use on it..."

"Grian, what are you talking about?" Pearl tilted her head. "Why are you sounding so hopeless? There's always a chance..."

An idea came over him... There always was a chance... He hated contracts but if they tried to get Pearl... He nodded. "Yeah... Always a chance."

"Well, let's focus on the present... How are we going to explain this to Xisuma..." Pearl sighed, flaring her wings.

"Uh Pearl- You might need to re-dye your wings..." He whispered, looking at the black speckles peaking through the white plumage.

Pearl glanced at her wings and groaned. "Gah- Remind me why I chose white for the Primal's sake-"

Grian stared at her."Makers. Maker's sake. Sorry- I'm not trying to nitpick but-"

Pearl sighed. "I know... It's just it..."

"...Feels wrong." Grian finished for her, and shivered, as if that would shake memories off.

"We have to try to fit in more. We might need to leave here, find somewhere else. Change our identities again. Especially if we can't close the rift..."

"No, we can't! I'll talk to Jimmy... He can try to reach out to Martyn..." Pearl spoke, wide-eyed.

"NO. We're not going to tell them. Listeners are chaotic, yes, but peaceful, and see those who willingly engage in violence as bad as an Oathbreaker. We don't want two godly races after us. We're not bringing them into this. Besides Jimmy's a canary, we can't risk him dying." Grian said sternly. Saying the Listeners' name didn't feel as intimidating as saying their name. He couldn't even bring himself to THINK their name.

"How about Scar..?" Pearl tilted her head. "He isn't aligned with them yet..."

Grian had a unpleasant experience when he shook Scar's hand, the rushing of magical energy in Scar's viens. Listener magic was in his friend's blood. Scar was a born listener, who hadn't discovered his abilities yet. A born Listener could rival a Watchling, despite the fact that listener magic was hard to bend to violence, as it innately attempts to heal, to aid, not to harm.

Grian sighed, shaking his head. "Scar doesn't know, and it's staying that way. If he did, he'd know about us, and frankly I don't trust him to keep a secret. I know you don't want to abandon them with this on their hands... But maybe it'd be best to either kill off our alternates beforehand or just leave a note for the hermits saying to shove them back into the rift... I think that'll send them back."

"Grian! We're not doing that! When did you get so cold?" She stared at him in horror, and he paused.

His exhaustion was getting the better of him, he was slipping into his old self-preservation habits. He shuddered, grasping his wrist.

"Is it-" Pearl whispered, looking at him.

"No." He replied quietly, staring at his wrist. The secrets his jumper hid... He refused to thing about it.