~The First Step~ a Hermitcraft AU

Chapter 40

wc: 1343

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The first blast Grian shot at a dummy came out with gold twining its edges.

The power of the burst sent Grian's arm swinging away, and he watched with wide eyes as the dummy incinerated before him.

It didn't exactly surprise him, though. He scoured his memory for any recollection of gold. There is none.

Maybe in his mother's eyes...

Grian jolted at the thought. He has no memory of his mother, either; how could she..?

He pushed away the thinking and lifted his hand at another dummy, legs widening into a fighting stance. He reached for the magic, and in less than a millisecond, a bright blast burst from his palm, shooting for the chest of the dummy.. This time there seems to be more gold than purple.

The dummy collapsed into a pile of ashes once more. Grian managed to keep his arm in position, fingers tingling from the feeling of the strange new magic.

His knowledge of magic came from sessions with the Leader, who was meant to break him and instead built him. All of Grian's skills and fighting patterns he owed the Leader's teachings.

He remembered how hard it was to summon the magic on will, and how much harder it was to summon it in small amounts instead of it exploding from his body with the force of a hurricane, leaving him panting on the floor. The Leader had taken to watching with a barrier of protection magic around him.

"Imagine you have a reservoir of magic, a pile of it, hidden in your soul," the Leader had told him, poking him in the chest. The porcelain mask gleamed as he stroked his bearded chin in thought. "Now take a little bit with your imaginary finger. Like it's... butter, and just a bit got on your finger. Aim it down your arm. Heck, point only one finger, and let the magic come out in one, steady, concentrated stream through your pointer."

Grian took a breath and pointed at the next dummy, barely scraping the bit of magic inside of him and slowly tunneling it through his arm.

A flurry of sparks flew from the tip of his finger. It was progress.

He spent the next few hours toiling away in the training room, experimenting and practicing; summoning illusions that came gold instead of violet and sitting on the floor playing with strings of magic.

The color was beautiful; enthralling, even. It was powerful, Grian knew; if he shot a blast with his normal strength, it could very well kill. It tired him quickly, though, and sometimes after a few minutes he could only sit on the floor and wheeze for a bit.

Sometime later (his sense of time was a bit diluted), a knock rang on the door. He made to get up and open the door, then thought for a moment and sat back down, shooting a little lasso of gold around the doorknob. He winced when it sizzled on the knob for a second, but when the steaming disappeared, he twisted and pulled the door open.

Instead of Xayla, like he expected, it was Xisuma, standing a bit awkwardly with his hands behind his back.

"..X!" Grian said after a moment, quickly snapping his wrist back and letting the golden sparks fall to the floor. "Come in."

Xisuma took a few steps in, awkwardly sitting on the floor a bit away from Grian. His hands came into view, and Grian felt a lurch in his stomach at the white bandages wrapped around his left hand. At least not his fighting hand, Grian thought, guilt weighing heavy in the words.

"Uh," Xisuma said after a moment.

"I'm sorry," Grian interrupted. "Um, about the... hands."

X blinked, then shrugged. "You were asleep. You couldn't do anything about it anyway." He coughed into a hand. "About the whole... thing about whether I stay or not."

Grian leaned forward, eager. "Yes?"

"I'm not changing my mind."

"Oh." Grian frowned, visibly deflating.

"But..." X took a breath. "I'll definitely consider it. I'll ask the Hermits if I can get a hold of them soon." He looked down. "I know this is all very important to you, but I do hope you understand that I can't sacrifice my entire server for one person."

"Yeah, I understand," Grian replied, throat bobbing as he swallowed. There was a moment of silence, and he began to talk.

"I came here after they killed my old servermates," Grian said vaguely, staring off into the wall. He heard X inhale. "I was a normal prisoner then. They did medical experiments on us and... did a lot of things." He swallowed at the thought of the potion bottles and injections. "I made some acquaintances with the person in the cell across from me. They were killed by an experiment a few days later, so I never talked with any other cellmates again if I could help it."

"Grian..." X started.

"Eventually, they decided to test a new injection that would turn a non Watcher into a Watcher." The images were vivid in Grian's vision. "Of the twenty people they tested it on, only I survived. I..." He took a breath. "I got the powers. I grew wings. It was the most painful process of my life." He thought of the loss of his wings. "Second worst, actually.

"I was put into training because my magic was strong. Xeluph, the man in charge, trained me at first. It was terrible. Eventually, revolutions began, and he became too busy, and the Leader took over."

"The Leader?" X asked.

"The figurehead of the government," Grian explained. "In the past, they used to actually lead. But then the government was corrupted." He rubbed the back of his neck. "The Leader trained me to where I am now. He was a good man. Too good. I was taken back to train with Xeluph. The Leader is dead now."

X inhaled. "I'm sorry."

"It was bound to happen," Grian muttered. "Xayla was my healer. She whispered to me about the Listeners and their revolution when she came in to heal me. She was the only light in my life, and she told me about a future that could be mine." He sighed. "I was in from that moment on. She could have been lying, making up stories, and I would have believed every last one if it was a glimmer of hope.

"She got me out, one day. I was meant to be taken to an experiment room where she was to test a new healing device. Instead she smuggled me out into the hands of other Listeners. I was with them for a while, planning and traveling and talking to people who hoped for change."

"These listeners?" X asked, motioning around the room. Grian nodded.

"Our location was given away one day," Grian said almost wistfully. "I don't know by who. I was captured for a while, but the Listeners launched an attack. In the chaos, I was the only one powerful enough to make a portal. I was already pretty well known by then as a former prisoner and the only escapee. That night I killed four people and went through a portal on my own. I landed in Hermitcraft."

There was a silence. Grian didn't know how long it was. He suddenly desperately wished to go back to his room and sleep for forever.

"I'm sorry," X said quietly. "I'm... I kind of imagined this, but... it's worse to know it actually happened."

The tension in the room was unbearable all of a sudden. "I... I have to go to the bathroom," Grian muttered, quickly getting up and opening the door. He was met with Xayla nearly bowling into him.

"Xayla??" Grian blinked at her. "What's..."

"The portal your friends went through was reopened," she explained. "A huge group of people came through."

Grian made a wordless noise.

X pushed past him. "Who? Do you have them?"

"Yes," Xayla replied. "We managed to get them from the holding cells. They're very aggressive, though."

"That sounds like the Hermits," Grian commented.

i am being overwhelmed by schoolwork rn but heres another chapter  in less than a month from the last one! ik by only one day but, hey, better than the two months like last time T-T

i hope you guys are enjoying this! ik its a bit choppy cuz tbf i can sometimes barely remember what i posted last time, but i am just trying to get to those last few chapters. grian phasmo videos rn are so addicting

hopefully will have a less than one month away update! i do forget this book exists sometimes, but ofc, no intention of discontinuing it :)

thank you for reading! have a good day or night, wherever you are <3

-Ete