A Crown of Broken Runes (ACOBR)

Risky Buisness

The tall one began to walk away, forming a portal with a flick of its talons.

"Wait! Please, is... is this "Xelqua" Grian?"

Sibling Chorus looked up at Sibling Crystal, who gave it a nod of approval. It turned to him as the taller one continued to hold open the portal.

"Yes, and I would suggest you watch your back. He shall betray you all."

With that, the watchers exited, closing the portal behind them.

Immediately, the strange aura of fear abated, and Zed let out a breath that he hadn't realised he was holding.

"Zed! Zed, I did whatcha said, got some of the portal stuff! Looks like invisibility is something they can't really thwart!"

He heard footsteps, and a jar seemingly floated towards him, crackles of lightning bouncing around it.

He took it, and False drank some milk, returning to visibility.

"What'd I tell ya? Grian's one of 'em. I... I wonder what we can do with that..."

False stared at the lightning with awe, a gleam in her eyes.

Zed nodded, and stored the container away in his inventory. False looked at the ground, visibly disappointed.

They took off, and Zed absentmindedly checked his communicator, which he had heard buzzing a bit ago.

Iskall? Killed by a Watcher?

He had to talk to Grian.

~ ⬩ !¡ꖎ⚍ᒲᒲᒷℸ ̣, ⬩ ~

"It's crazy... but it might just work. I would be breaking the rules, but so are the Watchers. Fight fire with fire, right?"

Grian nodded.

"We... maybe we should try diplomacy first. Maybe they'll just leave us alone?"

Xisuma shook his head sadly.

"I doubt it."

There was a call from outside.

"Someone's coming!"

The hermits peeked out of the cave curiously, looking about.

Three hermits were fast approaching from the north, and as they drew closer, they could recognize their faces.

Zed in front, firing rockets at a rapid rate. Close behind was False, looking a bit shaken. Last was Tango, anger and fear etched into his face. They landed, and Tango immediately produced a sword. Seeing Grian, he took a step forward.

Grian flinched, eyeing the sharp blade of the sword.

Tango looked at Xisuma.

"X, he's one of them! He told it to kill me! I know it, it was his voice he-"

"I know, Tango."

Tango seemed taken aback, and just stared at the wall blankly for a moment.

"Grian, do you want to tell Tango what really happened?"

Grian sighed, and stood, but didn't approach Tango. Doc and Cleo had also grasped their weapons, but were waiting to see how the situation unfolded.
"I was trying to warn him! I did call for help, I was worried that if you guys found out what I'd been up to, you'd... you'd just... ban me. And... this is my home. I couldn't give that up. That's when I decided that maybe I should use my power for good. Sorry I scared you, Doc. I thought I needed the fear of others to use it, then... look, the point is, I'm not going to be one of them anymore. I'm one of you. I'm Grian. And I'm gonna help get rid of the Watchers."

Tango slowly lowered his sword and slid it into his inventory.

"I.. I get it now... but that hurt man! Why'd they stab me, could have just knocked me out or something..."

Tango chuckled lightly.

Zed stepped up from behind Tango as Cleo and Doc put away their weapons.

"Seems like a big day for reveals, huh? Well, I've found some new information. Xisuma, they want to make you one of them."

The hermits around them gasped, and Xisuma looked at Zed with wide eyes.

"What?"

Zed nodded.

"My theory is that Grian here isn't any ordinary player. According to my research, the Watchers have tried to convert players multiple times with... disappointing results. However, an admin can withstand Watcher power, already possessing server controls. Grian, before hermitcraft, were you the admin of any servers?"

Grian shook his head, and replied softly, "I don't remember..."

Zed shrugged.

"Anyhoo, They say that if they can't convert you, X, they're just gonna... destroy the server. Kill us all, permanently. Not ban, kill. Guys, we're gonna have to fight. There's no other way."
Xisuma nodded. "Well then, I guess it's decided."

The hermits nodded, exchanging glances with one another.

"The plan begins tonight."

...

Could... could your plan be to give me a kudo?
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