Back in the admin headquarters, it was pandemonium. As Xisuma watched the Prime 2 vanish in a plume of gold, he could easily make out the shock and anger on Pearl's face as she quickly tried to sort out the situation on her own.
He turned to meet Gem's gaze. She looked as perplexed as Xisuma. She quickly looked up and her eyes flashed - she had thought of something.
Gem signaled to the door and the two admins quickly leapt to their feet and exited the scene, fleeing the sure chaos to follow.
. . .
Grian materialized in his room, deep in the prime admin quarters. He allowed the two watchers to fall to the floor, each one severely burned.
Grian quickly pressed his hands, blazing with primal magic, to each burn. They immediately healed and restored themselves to their original fleshy colors.
With an exhausted sigh, Grian slung both of them over his shoulders and laid them down on his bed, debating on what to with them... he didn't want to give them back to the watchers... they could stay here, but he didn't want them to know who was. If he sent them away, they would wake up clueless in the middle of nowhere - and Grian didn't wish that on anyone.
Suddenly Grian noticed the aquamarine crystal that looped around his friend's neck. Ah, Taurtis's memories are in there, too... like mine were... only head watcher or prime magic can destroy the crystals.
Grian stepped over to Taurtis's bedside silently and slit through the iron chain with his fingernails. Once he had carefully removed it, he disintegrated it in his fist. Tautis stirred in his unconscious slumber.
Grian stepped over to the other side of the bed, knowing the other familiar watcher also wore a similar crystal. This watcher's crystal was reddish-orange. Grian quickly reached for the chain around the watcher's neck - but all of the sudden the watcher leaped to his feet.
The male watcher's hood fell back, and the candlelight illuminated his sharp features. Grian recognised his friend's face easily... but suddenly something clicked at the back of his mind, something too deep to fully grasp... something oddy fresh about the old face.
Grian raised his left arm slowly and the watcher froze, immobilised. Only his face could move. Grian collapsed back, aware he was at his magical limit. In that moment the spell keeping his hood down flickered off, and Grian's face was exposed in the yellow candlelight.
Grian froze, his glowing purple eyes slowly moving to meet his estranged friend's. The watcher gasped, all the blood draining from his face. "...Sunan..." He breathed. Grian's hand began to shake as he held the other watcher in place with his golden magic. The magic began to flicker purple on and off... Grian hadn't slipped into watcher magic since Prime 1's death.
Suddenly Grian smirked, and his shoulders relaxed. "Hey, Ezry." Ezren looked baffled. Then all of the sudden Grian shot out, ripping the red crystal from Ezren's neck. Ezren grimaced in pain as the chord snapped against his skin.
"What are you doing! SUNAN!" Ezren shrieked as Grian burned the second crystal. The prime admin watched Ezren's face closely as a hundred emotions flicked across his features. Pain, grief, happiness, sadness, and overall - anger.
"Ah, do you remember now?" Grian grinned, conjuring up an armchair to fall into.
"Why - how - what!?" Ezren took a moment to recover. Then, "Why... how did you betray us?" Ezren whispered. Grian looked disgruntled - he had expected many questions, but not this one.
"Betray you?" Grian chuckled, "It's a long story, but at the end I'll have to make you forget, anyway. So why bother?" Grian sighed. Ezren let out a bellow of anger and tried to charge at Grian. He realized he couldn't move. Ezren tried to throw his magic at Grian, but it wouldn't come.
"You've gotten powerful, Sun." Ezren whispered in awe.
"You've become a commanding watcher, Ezren. Congratulations. I only achieved that - what - 8 year ago?" Grian smirked.
"So you're the new physical prime... after all these years... you've been right under our noses..." Ezren whispered, "You know Taurtis and I grieved you?" Ezren watched for Grian's response. There was none, not even a flicker of expression crossed the prime's face.
"We pleaded with the head watcher to go back for you, to try to look for survivors. But he said there were none." Ezren paused again. Still nothing was betrayed Sun's haunted features. "Let me guess, you were the only one powerful enough to shield yourself from the ol' prime's inferno?"
Grian chuckled. "...I was under my mentor's protection." Grian spoke eventually.
"Your mentor...? Prime 1... that's so weird, Sun. You betrayed us. The watchers. Me and Taurtis. You let us think you were dead." Ezren's voice broke. Pain shimmered in his heather eyes.
Grian struggled to keep his face expressionless, but it broke his heart when he heard Ezren's perspective of Grian's disappearance.
Ezren watched Grian grin in anger. "What should I have sent you a letter?" Grian asked finally. Amused. Ezren shook with rage - or he would've if Grian hadn't immobilized him.
"Ye-" Ezren started. Grian interrupted.
"Hey guys! Just letting you know I'm alive! I also joined the admins, and I'm gonna' be the next prime! See you in battle! Love, Sunan!" Grian mimicked in a falsely cheery voice. "P.s - the head watcher will read this after it gets through your mail system! So if by some miracle you get this when he's done with it try to persuade him not to murder me!" Grian snorted.
Ezren almost laughed. Almost, but he was still too angry. Yes, even when Sunan was wearing fancy robes he was still the mischievous, funny watcher Ezren remembered living with for four years. "Fair point. But you - you could have-" Ezren started,
"What, visited? Brill idea, Ezry. I'd love to see you try to tell the head watcher the visiting prime admin is your friend and former dead apprentice prodigee?" Grian scoffed. Ezren looked at the ground, subdued.
"How did you get so powerful? How do you have admin magic?" Ezren asked finally. Grian grinned again. He slowly raised both hands.
"I'm gonna keep you immobilised with my eyes, so don't try to run." Grian warned, "you might get burned, it's prime magic after all. I won't have as much control over it when it's well, you'll see." Grian fixed a powerful stare on Ezren.
He held both his palms out in front of the watcher, never blinking. One hand burst into golden flames, the other flickered into a small purple fire. Ezren's eyes widened, and Grian quickly resorted back to keeping Ezren still with his hands.
"As you can see, I have both watcher... and prime admin magic. Since my eyes are watcher magic tools, using prime magic through them is rather dangerous to the targets of my power." Grian laughed aloud,
"Watcher and prime magic don't mix. I'm the one and only exception, Ezry. My magic is doubled... each regenerates the other. Neither magic can damage me to the pont of death, and I'm officialy the most powerful being in the world." The prime admin laughed ruefully.
Ezren looked over and saw Tautis begin to stir. "So... are you going to wipe my memory, then?" Ezren asked quickly. Grian shot him a quizzical expression. "I don't want Taurtis to see you. I don't want him to go through the same pain I felt when I learned you betrayed us." Ezren paused.
"I don't want you to have to wipe his mind, too. I want him to think you're still dead." Finally, Ezren watched pain flicker across the admin's features, as strong as it was brief.
"I..." Grian felt his inside's twist in grief, "I... no."
"Pardon?" Ezren gaped.
"No. I am not going to wipe your mind. But I swear you to secrecy. You must never, ever tell anyone who I am. You know what the head watcher would do." Grian commanded. Ezren nodded.
"Now I am going to give you a choice... either you return to the watchers, or you go into hiding." Grian nodded, "I'll give you a gateway to somewhere where the watchers will never find you. But I'm not going to force you to flee." Grian looked away.
"I'll hide. We'll hide." Ezren answered almost immediately. He saw a tinge of surprise in his friend's eyes, but Grian quickly re-covered his face with the hood and traced his fingers through the air, creating a rift in the fabric of the world. A portal to another dimension.
Grian watched Ezre grab Taurtis and sling the limp man over his shoulders. Just as Ezren was stepping into the portal, Grian felt something behind him and whirled around.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" Pearl looked absolutely enraged.
"Not now, Pearl." Grian sighed tiredly before quickly turning back to Ezren, who was watching the two prime's with wide eyes, enthralled.
"Xelqua..." Pearl warned, her face red in anger.
"I... thank you, Sun - er - Xelqua." Ezren whispered before leaping through the portal with Taurtis.
Grian said nothing as Pearl watched the portal closed, her mouth agape. "Yes?" Grian turned to portal, exhausted. He had obviously surpassed his magical quota for the day and was suffering for it. Pearl crossed her arms.
"You have a lot of explaining to do, Xel." Pearl grabbed Grian's wrist and whisked him away to the main room of the prime headquarters. She didn't feel comfortable in Grian's room, it was so shadowy and... gaunt? Empty? Pearl wasn't completely sure.
"Alright, Pearl... I suppose I owe you a long overdue explanation." Grian slumped.
"Yes, you really do, I think." Pearl sat down and crossed her legs on one side of the white couch.
"Well... maybe I'll just show you. Worked once already." Grian grunted as he forced himself to use his magic yet again. Another burst of golden flames appeared in one hands... and Pearl's jaw dropped as purple flames whirred to life in Grian's other.
"You... is... no, it can't be..." Pearl shook.
"I suppose this makes me... a watcher-prime."
. . .
"So you were a watcher before you became Prime 1's apprentice? That's how you mysteriously appeared?" Pearl shook her head, trying to grasp her partner's impossible secret. But there were so many of them, too many secrets to wrap her head around. It would tear her apart to keep half of them.
"Well, that's the gist of it, I suppose." Grian gave a lopsided smile. "It's easy to keep secrets when it's all you know how to do." Grian stared off into space.
"I'm still sort of upset about you leaving me to deal with all the watchers and a huge mob of screaming, stupid, infuriating level one admins... but I suppose I understand a bit better now. I understand a bit more about... well, everything." Pearl admitted.
"So you aren't mad?" Grian asked hopefully.
"Not really, no." Pearl lay back.
"So you don't mind if I... I think I need a few days alone. I need to disappear for a little bit, you know... just to train and clear my head." Grian winced.
"Ugh. Whatever floats your boat, I guess." Pearl sunk back. She was already up to her head, but she would have to make another sacrifice for her partner... she wasn't sure how much longer she could continue to put off sleep on Grian's behalf.
"Thanks, Pearl. You're the best." Grian gave Pearl another rare hug and tried to conjur up the energy to make another portal.
"Just use this." Pearl threw Grian her spare admin cuff.
"Thanks again." Grian clicked a few buttons and a portal whooshed out from the gauntlet.
"Come back in at most a week, okay?" Pearl's shoulders slumped.
"...Alright..." Grian stepped through the portal.
Pearl held back a dry sob of exhaustion.
a/n: I do realize the chapters are getting slightly shorter. I hope that's okay. Let me know if you want longer or shorter chapters, I'm open to anything.
I'm so excited to feature Pearl in more of a main character-ish light. I see so few Hermitcraft FanFictions that give Pearl any time in the spotlight. In fact, I think I've seen an absolute 0 to 1.