Entwining Lives - A Hermitcraft & The Life series crossover

Chapter 7 - Grian has trauma, who could have guessed

"Okay..." Pearl sighed sadly, hugging him. "Gri, I'm sorry, but... We're not leaving."

"Sorry... But there might not be another chance to flee. They haven't locked us into the server... Yet." He glanced at the ground sadly. "We're powerless to stop them aren't we. I can't even risk using my magic for more than that protection spell..."

...Their magic always had drawbacks, different for everyone. Small spells didn't affect them much, but if they overused their magic, it would have an array of horrifying effects depending on who it was. For him, it filled him with a feeling of recklessness, of power, of superiority. It could cause him to lose himself... And hurt people... Again...

Tears began to fall down his face. He hated how broken and isolated he felt... How powerless he felt. The cold feeling of terror slipping through his veins... It had been a close friend the past few weeks, yet everything was falling apart. He thought he'd been safe for once... But now they were watching, they knew Pearl and him were... who they were - who they still are.

A small, dark thought in the part of his mind he kept trying to bury spoke up, whispering its venom, that it was ironic, that he was a part of some of the strongest beings in the universe, yet he was too cowardly to do anything.

Pearl wrapped her arms around him. "Shh, calm down... It'll be okay... I'll use my... ability, and try to close the rift. If it doesn't work... Then we'll leave. But we have to let them know."

Pearl's magical drawback was just as dangerous as his, but in a different way. Pearl's magic, if used for extended periods of time, would cause her to begin to hear screams, see people she loved in agony, and even more horrific images, and she'd start to lose sense of what was real or fake. The scariest thing was, his drawback, the feeling of superiority and recklessness, would vanish after a few minutes without any magic, despite how much he used, but, Pearl's could keep going for days, maybe even weeks, if she kept overusing her magic.

"Y- You can't do that, Moon..." He said quietly, using his old nickname for Pearl. "I don't want you to go through that..."

"Sunshine, I have too." She whispered, using his old nickname well. "It's horrible, but I'll be careful, and the risk with mine is less..."

"No, it won't be strong enough... There's a shield around it, reflecting their type of magic. We either need a Listener whose magic won't be reflected, or we need to work together... I don't want to risk it... but it's this or leaving... I suppose in a twisted way, if we blow ourselves up with our magic, that would solve our problems."

Pearl stared at him. "Grian, don't think that way! But... I agree. We have to..."

"... Am I interrupting something-" He heard a voice from behind them, causing both Pearl and him to jump back, turning swiftly around, both of them automatically on the defensive. Behind them they saw a curious Xisuma standing there.
"Oh... Heh... Hey Ex-eye-suma. It's nothing. Weren't you looking over Scarlet?" Grian said shakily, taking a deep breath.
Xisuma sighed. "I wanted to talk to you and thought that False and Doc could keep her safe. You found the alternates?"

"Yes..." Grian didn't like where this was going. He hated lying to the hermits.. But it was required. He glanced at Pearl, who had carefully folded her wings behind her back, out of X's vision.
"Do you have any idea how they came through the server?" X asked, tilting his head. "Scott isn't whitelisted, so it wasn't a glitch... And besides that wouldn't explain the fact they're almost completely the same, with a few differences personality wise."

Grian knew he had to give a version of the truth, so the stories would match up. He took a deep breath before he began to speak. "I was mining in my quarry, down there... When a pink-ish magenta rift opened, and Charles came tumbling out. Then Scott a minute later, then Scarlet." His twisting of the truth came out smoothly, his practice at little lies helping hide the normal tell-tale signs. It was a bit more shaky then normal, but he hoped X would play it off to the shock of three random players showing up.
"Then Gri sent the message in chat, and I came down." Pearl replied, picking up where he left off. "We smoothed off some... Aggression, and brought them to the surface. Something was fishy about that portal thing, and it felt like a good idea to stay away from it."

X nodded, expression unreadable behind his visor and helmet. This always slightly intimidated Grian, as he was used to being able to decode slight shifts in someone's mouth to tell how they feel.

They... always wore masks over their eyes though, so he was inexperienced with reading emotion. Despite how hard he tried to show the image out of his mind, he couldn't keep himself from envisioning the mask.
He shook his head to try to clear, when something caught his eyes behind X's head. A flash of purple, a blinking purple eye, purple mist. Surrounding him. Drowning him. Images, Emotions, tearing him apart

~+~

Pain, a roar echoing from above.
A broken rectangle.
The EVO symbol.
Their symbol.

A halo of violet light like a crown.

Them, looking angelic yet cruel.
Them, shaking his hand...
The pact was signed, the contract agreed.

The contract, the screams, the fire.
The contract complete. The twisting of words, that cruel smile.

The flaps of violet wings.
The superiority filling him.
The fires ravaging, eating all life

The cries, his own, clutching the burnt blue shirt.
A hand on his shoulder, black wings wrapping around him protectively.

He'd thought he was safe.
What a joke.

~+~

"Grian... Grian..." A voice whispered, before pausing. "Sunshine-" That same voice, familiar, whispered, finally piercing through the barrage of colors, emotions and noises.
"M... Moonlight-" He whispered back, his voice hoarse, as if he'd been screaming. Maybe he had been. His eyes were clenched close, but as was... their way, he was still quite aware of everything around him. He was placed against the hill near his house, Pearl's wings curled around him protectively.
"You're safe, Sunshine. It's just me." She whispered, brushing her hand gently along his hair. "Focus on the feelings around you..."

Everything felt hazy. He dug his hands into the grass, following Pearl's advice. Taking a deep breath, in, out. In, out. The world slowly came into focus as he opened his eyes. Pearl understood. She always did.

A/N:
Grian and Pearl have a sibling relationship and we love it for them. They need some positivity in their lives after all.

Also why do I always give Pearl trauma- Like okay it's Grianst what were you expecting, Grian's gonna suffer. But no one asked for Pearl to suffer, yet she always does.

Also I sure hope you know who the mysterious They are now. If not, IDK how else to hint it T-T

WC: 1829

-Xera