On my adventure the next morning, I decided to go to the Sandlands first.
I wanted to check up on progress with Grian and see if he had discovered anything else about the rules of Third Life. I also wanted to spy on Scar a little bit to see if he was planning anything.
Once in the desert, I found myself wandering to the cobblestone box where Pizza lived. I wanted to take the llama up the hill so that Scar would have no choice but to keep it there, because the poor thing had been stuck in a box the entire time we had been in this world.
But Pizza was nowhere to be found. The only indication of what had happened to him was that there was a sign on the side of the box.
Pizza Lives
A little concerned, I turned toward Monopoly Mountain and did a double take.
Almost overnight, a cute little castle had appeared on the crest of Monopoly Mountain. It was made of sandstone and wood, so it blended well with the desert landscape. It was adorable.
Scar or Grian could have built it, but I had to admit I hadn't seen the builder side of either, if they had one.
I trudged to the base of the new staircase and saw a wall that had a list of the Sandlands' friends and enemies.
I was alarmed to see Ren, Martyn, and for some reason, Cleo and Bdubs on the "Most Wanted Kill List" but I was on the "Kill Slightly Later" list. Grian had obviously done some convincing for my case, but he wasn't doing anything for Ren and Martyn.
"Hello," Grian said from behind me.
I jumped. "OH MY GOSH GRIAN."
He laughed. I thought that he and Martyn would have been good friends if Scar didn't hate Renchanting.
"This is Scar's Reputation Board. I think you were there the other day when he scammed Cleo? He promised her reputation points for her chestplate? But yeah, I thought they were just fake, but he's actually made a reputation board."
"Have you seen Pizza's box yet?"
"Yeah. Scar's devastated. He heard that Cleo has him."
I didn't know Cleo had stolen Pizza. That was probably why she and Bdubs were on the Most Wanted list. "That's actually pretty smart of her. Pizza would be a huge bargaining chip."
"That's the thing. Scar could give up something that we need in exchange for that llama."
"I'll do what I can to get her to give it back, but I don't know. Cleo's really stubborn."
"Thanks."
I wasn't just helping Grian, I was helping myself. If Scar gave away something they needed, like armor, then he could die. And once he was red, he would be after Renchanting and the Crastle and then me. That was bad.
I left the Sandlands and went south to the flower forest on the way to the Crastle.
The hobbits lived in a tiny valley with a pond at the bottom. I started to think that I should have settled there. The hobbits themselves, Scott and Jimmy, seemed very familiar, and I thought they might have come from X Life.
Scott Major had a different accent than a lot of other people, but I couldn't place it because I couldn't remember him. He had cyan hair and blue eyes. There sure were a lot of people with blue eyes in this world.
Jimmy Solidarity was very awkward and obviously didn't know what he was doing, though he pretended he did. He had dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. I had a soft spot for him immediately.
The two didn't have any allies and wanted to stay neutral, so we exchanged some small talk before I left for the Crastle.
I crossed the drawbridge and knocked on the door. Bdubs answered and ushered me inside.
They seemed to be in the middle of a meeting with Impulse and Tango.
"...Grian stole a cow and now they have cows. He was planning on a beef monopoly, but when he stole a cow he said that it was gone because I already have all the cows," Tango was saying.
What was it with the Sand People and monopolies?
"I've heard through the grapevine that you stole that llama, Pizza," I told Cleo.
"Maybe I did," she responded, then leaned in and whispered excitedly, "I can use it to get things."
"You should give it back. If you take things that Scar needs to survive, then he will die, and he'll be after a lot of people, including you."
"He's going to die with or without armor. He's Scar," Cleo said.
Well, I didn't know that. I had known Scar for about a week. I reluctantly dropped the conversation.
We talked about our plans and stuff for a while before Cleo made a change of plans for Pizza.
"We should totally just push him through the barrier. That would make Scar mad."
"Grian's on his side for now," I reminded her.
"We could always kill Grian."
"Then we would lose a potential ally," I argued. "He could be angry about working for Scar right now."
I could tell that Bdubs, Impulse, and Tango agreed with me. Cleo was outvoted.
Impulse and Tango brought the llama to Etho's base just because we didn't like him. Cleo went to the Sandlands to bargain. I went to Renchanting to tell Martyn and Ren what we were up to. And Bdubs stayed at the Crastle to hold the fort and alert us if Etho held another attack, which we didn't put past him.
At Renchanting, I told them about the Pizza shenanigans, and Ren agreed that the llama was very important to Scar. If Pizza was killed, or put past the border, Scar would stop at nothing to get revenge. He then admitted that Cleo had passed through Renchanting on her way back to the Crastle with Pizza. Martyn was not happy at Ren keeping secrets from him. Ren apologized and then their alliance was back on track.
I stayed the night at Renchanting, hoping that the Crastle people and their allies were okay. But I assumed they were, because there were no death messages.
Just as I thought that, my watch vibrated.
Scar Goodtimes fell from a high place
Scar had been the first yellow. And now he was also the first red.
Oh well, time to panic.
-----
I left Renchanting first thing in the morning.
I couldn't stay there and have all of Scar's enemies in one place. But there was still safety in numbers, so I moved to the Crastle.
It took me two days to move all my stuff into the Crastle, where I finally settled down and built a new map room. On the way between bases, I found a wolf.
I happened to have some bones, and I managed to tame him. I named him Ares and gave him a red collar.
After that, I met with Ren and Martyn to make a secret tunnel between our bases. As the most wanted enemies of Scar, we needed a fast way to get to each other if one person got attacked.
When Scar and Grian walked in, we were taken off guard.
Well, actually, Scar walked in with his new crimson life heart, and then Grian shot an arrow over the wall as a joke and accidentally hit Scar. It hit his armor, so it didn't really hurt him, but it scared him, and that was absolutely priceless. Scar did that "oh-oh-oh-oh-oh" thing again, and when Grian walked in, Scar said, "Grian! You shot me in the butt! You can't shoot a man in the butt!"
Grian, Ren, Martyn, and I burst out laughing despite Ren, Martyn, and me being some of Scar's worst enemies.
I realized that Scar's eyes had turned as red as his life heart.
His goal changed.
It turned out that Scar only came to Renchanting to warn us and give Ren one last chance to surrender the "enchanter," as he called the enchanting table.
Ren refused and kicked them out, but not before I asked how Scar died.
"Cleo came over, looked at our enderman in a boat, and scammed Scar for all his armor and weapons. Then we were running to release the enderman as revenge and Scar fell into a ravine," Grian said. "Now Scar blames it on the Crastle. Honestly, so do I."
The concept of revenge on the Crastle reminded me that Grian was on my side, but he didn't like the Crastle. He was in between Scar and me, and once he turned yellow he would have to decide where he would stand. But the Crastle people were my allies too, and so I had to choose as well.
That night, I had another dream.
You must take charge.
"Get out of my head!"
The server will degenerate into chaos if you do not.
"I SAID GET OUT!"
The one called Grian Buildoff is untrustworthy. Kill him, and you gain me as an ally.
"I don't want you as an ally!"
Fool. You do not know the power you are refusing.
"Go away."
We are not ones to be trifled with. We created this world. We control it.
This was followed by a series of nightmares involving Gem, a redheaded guy who I assumed was FWhip, and X Life being destroyed while I stood powerless nearby; black silhouettes cutting my allies to pieces; and Grian, Cleo, and Bdubs betraying me.
What was with the shift in voice? The Watcher had switched from I to We. Were there more than one?
I hoped not.
I woke up in a cold sweat before falling back to sleep. But this time, the nightmares were interrupted by a soft purple light and a grey silhouette. Above their head glowed a symbol, like a rectangle but two corners were broken.
Rest, a voice said. These are not real. The Watchers can control your dreams, but so can I.
I slept soundly for the rest of the night.
~~~
Who is the other person who saved Blue from the nightmares?
We may never know...
Also BadTimesWithScar is here yay
-Indigo