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Jimmy was awake late into the night in the Christmas Village. It was the only time he could really see all the lights. He was on a peaceful, solitary walk, which made it all the more annoying when his communicator went off. He ignored it at first, but his curiosity about who would be messaging at this hour won out when new notifications kept coming in.
[Hermitcraft General Chat]
<Xisuma> does anyone have eyes on grian?
<Impulse> no
<Cub> nope
<Impulse> everything okay?
<Scott> he's not in scarland
<Cleo> I haven't seen him in a while
<Xisuma> he looked mid panic attack
<Xisuma> saw me and bolted
<Xisuma> I couldn't keep up but I'm worried about leaving him on his own right now
Oh no.
<Jimmy> where'd you last see him?
<Xisuma> at his basement with grumbot
<Xisuma> I followed him to the surface but don't know which way he went
"Wouldn't it be best to leave that to the Hermits?" Jimmy heard Joel ask suddenly. "We barely know our way around, and it's not like you could help."
Jimmy shook his head. "I can find him. I'm going to find him."
"This Server's massive. Where would you even start looking?"
Jimmy tried to Listen for Grian. Fear and panic were always among the louder things, and Grian panicking probably meant his ambient Watcher noise would be louder, too.
"If he's panicking, he probably won't go anywhere too unfamiliar," Jimmy reasoned. "So that narrows it down to inhabited areas. His own base would be out of the question if he fled there. The best bet would be one of his other builds or somewhere he feels safe."
He pinpointed the direction from where he Heard Grian and took off. He'd have to play this smart. If he'd understood correctly, Grian could teleport, so there would be no finding him if he really didn't want to be found. He landed quietly in the shopping district where the sound of Watching Eyes was loud and all-encompassing.
<You whisper to Pearl> he is LOUD, might need some backup
<Pearl whispers to you> where is he
<You whisper to Pearl> somewhere in the shopping district
<Pearl whispers to you> check the entity (rock on legs)
Jimmy shot into the sky and looked for the so-called "entity." He wasn't sure what a "rock on legs" would look like, but he recognized it when he saw it. The floating boulder looked like it belonged in Grian's base. The noise got louder the closer he got — the sound of Grian's desperation overpowering the hundreds of whispers from the Eyes.
Xelqua, he thought carefully. The echoing Eyes seemed to get closer. Xelqua, my friend. Can I help you? He found a hole at the bottom of the boulder and pillared up. Grian was curled up against the edge of the hollow rock.
"Hey, G," he whispered. "Can I come closer?"
Grian didn't answer him verbally with an affirmation or protest, only rocking back and forth, but he could Hear almost too much. Fear. Panic. Pleading. He took a few cautious steps closer and knelt in front of Grian.
"What's wrong?"
"Moon," Grian breathed hoarsely. "Not enough time. Not enough time. I can't help them all. I can't watch."
"Oh, Gri..." He gently grabbed one of Grian's hands. "It's over, Grian. You saved them. They're safe. You're safe." Grian kept rocking, and the fear didn't get any quieter. "Can you focus on me? Look at me." Give me all of your Eyes, Xelqua.
The volume of the Eyes increased tenfold, and Jimmy had to fight the urge to cover his ears. At least the sound was localized, so he truly had Grian's attention. "Is that easier?" he spoke more deliberately in his head. "When I talk to you like a prayer?"
Grian squeezed his hand, and he moved to sit beside him. He put off hugging him until he was done rocking.
"Okay. I can do that. Just keep your focus on me." Jimmy could hear someone beneath the boulder (his Player hearing, he guessed, since his Listener hearing was overwhelmed) and his reluctance to hug Grian disappeared in response to the need to protect him. Thankfully, the head that ended up peeking through the entrance was Pearl's. She quickly sent out a message on her com (presumably to tell everyone that Grian was found and being taken care of) before coming closer.
"What's wrong?" she asked quietly.
"He was talking about the moon," Jimmy answered in a whisper. "A nightmare, I'm guessing." He pushed his thoughts toward the man in his arms. "Please, Xelqua. Keep your focus here." He noticed that using Xelqua's name helped pull the Eyes back to him.
Pearl grabbed Grian's hand as Jimmy hugged him. She began humming softly, and, although Jim didn't recognize it right away, he soon identified the tune. Netty's lullaby from back on Evo. He quietly hummed along as Grian gradually stilled.
"There you go," he encouraged. "You can close some of your Eyes. You're safe. Everyone's safe. You can rest, Xelqua. It's over."
Everything gradually quieted down, and Jimmy prayed gentle encouragement all the while. He breathed a sigh of relief when things were silent again (or as close to silent as he ever got). Grian had fallen asleep in his arms.
"I can talk to him in the morning," Pearl offered. "Or Joe. As far as all of the other Hermits are concerned, they think only Ren and Doc saw the moon crash. No wonder Grian ran from X."
He doubted that was the reason, but then he remembered that Pearl didn't know Grian was literally Xisuma's god. "We should take him somewhere more comfortable in the meantime." He carefully scooped Grian into his arms to carry him. "The Christmas Village is probably closest."
"Probably," Pearl agreed as she built a safe staircase out of the boulder. "But are you sure you can carry him that far?"
"They might call me the weakest emperor, but I'm stronger than I look."
"They don't actually call you that, do they?"
He shrugged and took the chance to reposition Grian into a less strenuous hold now that he was standing on level ground. The name-calling didn't bother him too much, at least from people he knew didn't mean it.
"Jimmy."
"It's fine, really," he reassured as they began the trek to the mountain-ringed valley. "I know they don't mean it... too much."
Pearl frowned. "You're stronger than you give yourself credit for," she said. "And not just physically."
"Thanks," he muttered somewhat lamely. He wasn't all that used to genuine compliments.
"I mean it," she pressed. "You always manage to keep pushing forward with a smile no matter what life throws at you. Just look at us now." She paused and stared into the middle distance for a moment before adding, "I always looked up to you for that, you know."
Jimmy smiled softly at that but kept his silence, not wanting to sound redundant by thanking Pearl again. He focused instead on the man in his arms. He knew better than most that while Watchers weren't hostile creatures by nature, their morals certainly had weak spots. They were more often apathetic with an indirect path to good morals than they were morally good with an occasional leaning toward apathy. Sure, Grian had swayed them closer toward stronger morals, but they still had moments. The end of Hermitcraft's eighth season was just one example. If he was being honest, Jimmy was surprised it took so long. If only Grian didn't have trauma from the consequences.
"You're just over here, yeah?" Pearl said quietly as she nodded toward Jimmy's house in the Christmas Village. Jimmy nodded her on ahead as his thoughts snapped back to his surroundings. He caught sight of Joel in his periphery, who was staring at them with wide eyes and his mouth slightly ajar in surprise. Jimmy just rolled his eyes and followed Pearl into his house.
"You're welcome to go back home and rest," he told her after laying Grian in the house's only bed. "I'm convinced none of you Hermits get any decent sleep."
"As if you're any better," Pearl teased in return. She glanced down at Grian. "You think he'll be okay?"
"I hope so. I'll stay up for a while just in case. Have a good rest of your night, Pearl."
He'd barely gotten settled in a chair an arm's length from the bedside by the time there was a knock on his door. He stood with a sigh and went to answer it, fully expecting Joel. Instead, he was met by Joe. Joe, whom he was definitely not avoiding, thank you very much. He stepped aside in a bit of a daze to let him in.
"Pearl told me what happened," Joe said softly. "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah. It's fine. He's fine." Jimmy made his way back to his chair, unconsciously deciding to put distance between himself and his uninvited guest.
Joe lingered by the far wall, staring at Grian with an almost absent expression. "You don't need to be afraid of me," he said abruptly. "Grian told me you figured out who I was, and I know you've been avoiding me since, but I'm not... I'm not that person. I haven't been the person the legends speak of in a long, long time, and — if everything goes my way — I never will be again."
Jimmy risked a glance up at Joe's face and saw the same deep sorrow that bled into the other's voice. "I'm sorry for avoiding you," he said hesitantly. "I just... I needed to process. It's not every day that you just casually interact with someone of deity-level status. I mean, sure, I've had more encounters than most between Evo and the Listeners and whatnot, but I'm still struggling to wrap my head around the fact that Grian has... worshippers? acolytes? devotees?"
"It varies," Joe cut in.
"Anyway. Point is, it's just been a bit of a paradigm shift. And I might've been a bit wary about the whole ‘being enemies with Grian’ thing."
Joe winced. "Not some of my better moments. But again, hopefully something that'll never happen in the future. ...Or my future, at least. Grian still won't meet pre-Joe me for quite a long time yet."
Jimmy ended up letting Joe stay over until Grian woke. Once he had tentatively set aside his fear, he found Joe surprisingly easy to talk with. The biggest surprise came in just how much they had in common. They bonded over fond memories of the old world (Joe having lived it, and Jimmy having had a taste of it through Evo), the annoyance of the Greater Watchers, and a love for building despite being surrounded by builders of extreme talent that were impossible to compare to.
Jimmy got so caught up in their conversation that he nearly missed when Grian woke up. He may have missed it altogether had his Listener Hearing not tuned in to the sound of Grian Looking around the room. Jimmy glanced over to see that Grian still appeared asleep.
"G?"
"Did I do something bad?" Grian asked, his voice slightly hoarse from sleep. "It can't be good if you're both babysitting me." He blinked his eyes open and slowly sat up.
"Nothing bad," Jimmy reassured, "although you did worry quite a few of us. How are you doing?"
"Why would I..." Grian looked confused for a moment before seeming to remember what happened. "Oh. I... Yeah. I'm alright. Thanks for bringing me back, Jim."
"Are you sure you're okay?" Joe pressed.
"Positive. And yes, we know, the Greater suck sometimes and have made some less than wise decisions that led to less than ideal consequences."
"You're beginning to sound like the one who knows me too well instead of the other way around," Joe laughed. "Get some rest, alright?"
Grian nodded before Joe turned to leave, then gave Jimmy a soft smile. And he thought for just a moment that maybe, just maybe, Pearl's words had some weight to them. Maybe his friends appreciated him just as much as he appreciated them.