Work Text:
SCENE
The Sunflower Fields, Secret Life
TIME
Post Past-Life, After Death
PRELUDE
SETTING: Past Life
AT RISE: You had asked for this. You had riled GRIAN up, wanting some action, some recognition. You felt his sword slash at you, while you tried to defend, yet you weren't even trying to. Every movement you made was sleazy, every step you took was calculated so he could kill you.
You were okay with it, you were okay with feeling his sword slash through you, okay with feeling the pain and bloodshed and horror.
As long as it was him. As long as it was GRIAN who did this to you.
It would all be okay.
(FADE TO BLACK)
(END OF SCENE)
ACT I
SCENE I
SETTING: Trader Scar's Outpost. You are standing in the Sunflower Fields. You have tended to them well, as Autumn starts to take over and the Summer rays make way for wind to blow again. You have just returned from a two month absence, one that makes you hope that it did not hinder the growth of these flowers so much. Behind you, a house that you built, out of Acacia and your own bare hands. Inside, a countertop that you do not have the need for anymore, and your bed, as well as your wares stored behind the shelves for your shop. Underneath, your creeper farm, no longer used, no longer needed.
AT RISE: You are walking, and walking, and walking in circles, inspecting every flower. Waiting for ONE and TWO to come down to tell you of the results. You hoped SCOTT won again, and you hoped that ETHO and BDUBS were safe at home. Idily, you thought of GRIAN, and you wonder, if SCOTT hadn't won, had GRIAN, instead? You missed him, missed him more than anything. You thought back to the brief days you had spent at home, flickering in and out, the occasional days you get to be able to build freely, to pretend like nothing was happening, before you were sent back here again. The fields are quiet. You can hear bugs, but there are no longer any people, nor animals here. You sit down, feeling just barely at peace. It was just you, and silence, for now. They were too busy with the other game to be able to care about you now, this was the one small bit of freedom you had been allowed.
(FADE TO BLACK)
(END OF SCENE)
ACT I
SCENE II
SETTING: The Same
AT RISE: ONE and TWO make their way towards you, with yet another Watcher in tow. This one was smaller than either of it's companions, and seemed to be slightly struggling. You see it look at you, before freezing. If you had paid attention to more of ONE and TWO's body language, you would have known it was freezing up out of guilt, remorse, and pity.
YOU (V.O.)
Not another Watcher. I can't deal with more of them.
(TWO walks forward, the other Watcher being gripped by the back of it's hood, getting pulled along by TWO's claws. It's wings, a bright combination of colours you can't quite tell instead of the swirling darkness of the void, flail around, trying to balance itself.)
ONE
Well done, EARTH. You did a good job, lasting that long on 6 lives.
YOU
I've told you to stop calling me that already.
TWO
ONE, it seems that this one still does not understand.
ONE
I suppose, TWO, does he still think of this as punishment?
UNKNOWN WATCHER
I don't think it's smart to talk about him when he's right there-
TWO
Shut up, XELQUA. You have no right to be talking.
XELQUA(?)
But SC- EARTH is right there!
ONE
Any more words out of your mouth, and you know what will happen to you.
XELQUA goes quiet. You squint, trying to figure out where you have heard that voice before. It doesn't ring any bells to you, nor do you think you have ever heard anyone, much yet a Watcher, yell in such desperation. You thought them all emotionless beings. Maybe this, too, was a form of manipulation. You were used to this, used to the Watchers using you as their sole form of entertainment. And yet, this one had tried to use your name. Not whatever name that the Watchers had given you. The name you used everywhere, the name that you had chosen for yourself. It gave you hope.
TWO
EARTH, our favourite. We have brought you a gift.
ONE
Do take care of it, our XELQUA here tends to misbehave so often.
TWO
As fiery as the SUN, isn't it?
ONE
I suppose it is.
YOU
What is the meaning of this? Leaving me another one of your kind, saying it isn't a present when you know how much I hate you, This is an abiblication-
XELQUA
Abomination?
TWO
Keep your mouth shut, XELQUA.
XELQUA tried to protest, but it found that it could no longer speak. Defeated, it sighs, slumping down against TWO's lower body. In another life, you may had found this funny. Though, in this reality, you did not know the full truth yet.
XELQUA looks at you with the eyes on it's body, the way a Watcher would normally. Though, instead of the cold, shuddering feeling that being Watched gave you, you felt at peace instead, like you had finally been put to rest after a long day's work. XELQUA's sight felt like coming home, instead of the cruel harsh coldness of other Watchers.
YOU
Yes! What it said. This is an abomination! You call me your favourite and now here I am babysitting one of your own.
TWO
Oh, but these feelings of yours are the best. Seeing you suffer, seeing you try so hard to die, it brings us joy.
ONE
Though this is not the same despair we had wanted. The despair EARTH is showing now is far nastier than the one he had shown before.
TWO
Does he not know about our little trickster?
ONE
It seems not.
You look at them, confused. Though, the two ignored you, walking back towards the portal that they had came from. XELQUA remained on the ground, forelimbs hugging his lower ones, joints tucked to look like a fetus. Morbidly, you thought it was cute, before dismissing the thought from your mind. This was a Watcher, and besides, you already had someone waiting for you at home. You couldn't disappoint him.
TWO
EARTH, this is a punishment for XELQUA. We think your suffering would do great wonders for it.
ONE
We will see you both again. And behave, XELQUA.
YOU
Hey, wait- Who won the last game?
TWO
Oh? It seems that you are curious, for once.
ONE
Good. This is befitting of you, EARTH.
TWO
We know you wanted a fistfight. Unfortunately SUN and MARS did not give it to us.
ONE
But their swordfighting skills certaintly could never beat another.
TWO
Well, if you must know, our disciple was beaten by the Listener.
ONE
A wild ball of fire, just like his name, that one.
TWO
They're both balls of fire. One, full of warmth and aggression, the other, with fire that would hurt anyone near him, anyone he was close to.
ONE
Isn't that right, XELQUA?
XELQUA
………—
TWO
EARTH. Now that XELQUA is here, we shall not watch over you anymore.
ONE
The feelings it displays with you around are far too horrible for us to bear.
TWO
No wonder it has yet to become one of us. It still has mushy feelings that it cannot get rid of.
ONE
Not in front of the Vex. We shall talk about this at home, TWO.
TWO
Yes. We shall.
ONE
We will come again once we are sure it has learnt it's lesson.
TWO
Goodbye, EARTH. And please, XELQUA, learn to control yourself.
The two went through the portal, and it faded out of existence just as it always had. You looked down, checking to see if XELQUA has moved, yet it had already gone off somewhere.
(FADE TO BLACK)
(END OF SCENE)
ACT I
SCENE III
SETTING: The Egg. XELQUA, alone, sitting on the half burnt steps, sulking.
AT RISE: You walk towards XELQUA, having been trying to find it all over the place. You did not want the Watchers to ruin what you had left of your friends any further. Much less this Watcher that you did not know a single thing about. It was picking grass and tossing it with it's claws when you found it, which upon your inspection, were Avian claws instead of Watcher claws. Just as lethal, but definitely with less (no) poison at all.
YOU
So you come here, throw a tantrum, and disappear to my friend's abandoned base to ruin the terrain.
You scoffed a little, before looking down at the Watcher, XELQUA having an air of discontentment around it.
XELQUA
You fixed up everyone else's base. You fixed up the terrain, you filled in everything. Why not his?
You swallowed. You did not expect the Watcher to take interest in your personal affairs. You knew they knew what was going on. But for one of them to directly come up to you and question you…
You didn't want any of them to know how you'd never touch something he's made, how you'd rather leave something he's created burnt and destroyed than detroy it further with your own two hands.
You had already tainted him before. Back in the Desert, back in the Jungle. You had hurt him, tainted him, caused him to become unpure. You would never forgive yourself for that.
YOU
You just want to know more so that you can torture me further, don't you, Watcher?
XELQUA
SC- EARTH, it isn't like that.
YOU
Say it.
XELQUA
Say what?
YOU
Say it. My name.
XELQUA goes silent. It breathes in for a bit, you did not know that Watchers had to breathe.
XELQUA
I can't. They took away my ability to.
YOU
To what? To respect me? To say my name?
XELQUA
I was too Player-like. I was too human for them all. They need me to be the perfect Watcher, no matter how much I didn't want to. I was too attached to the Players in this world.
YOU
So you too, were watching. You're just like the rest of them, then.
XELQUA
I don't want to become that, EARTH, please.
Never would you have thought you would ever hear a Watcher beg. Much less XELQUA, one that you had just met today. You were fed up at this point. Watchers truly did not know how to respect Players. Much less Hybrids, much less Illager. The Universe had created you, had created Illagers and Vexes and Ravagers for the world to laugh at. You were not enough, you were born never enough for the world. An inferior sub group of people. If you had been Allay instead of Vex, maybe the universe wouldn't have had it's last laugh over you.
The desperation in it's voice touched you, still. You felt something you hadn't felt in a long time, a feeling so indescribable that flowed up from you.
YOU
It's useless talking to you. You wouldn't understand how much I had been tortured by them, how much HE had been tortured by them.
You remember a voice telling you of how he had been kidnapped, how he had escaped the Watchers. How he was sure no Watcher would ever get him again. It was only until the Games that they had found GRIAN, when he had to get back to them once in a while. You remembered him saying he didn't have any other choice, that if everyone was to be happy he had to suffer just that little bit. It's a shame, you both had been so close, you both nearly had gotten what you wanted, before you, too, had been taken away. Forced to stay here, forced to a life of eternal soliditude.
You walk away, tired of talking to the Watcher. You had places to be, things to try. The hearts on your communicator taunted you, as if telling you that you should give it another shot today.
(FADE TO BLACK)
(END OF SCENE)
ACT I
SCENE IV
SETTING: The field outside the Secret Keeper
AT RISE: You were high on a tower made of dirt, tall enough to reach build limit. You had done this multiple times before, and coupled to how many times you had flown too hard with an Elytra back home, your body hitting the ground was a pain you were used to. You braced yourself, knowing that even if this didn't hurt, the feeling wasn't pleasant. You pushed yourself off, and soon enough, you felt the hard thud of the dirt around you. You lied down for a moment, before the familiar sound of a Watcher teleporting hit you.
XELQUA
EARTH, what are you doing!
You could not be bothered to answer XELQUA. Watchers and their matters do not concern you, and you did not even want to think about the fact that you were trapped, not just alone, but with someone else. Sure, you would always rather have company, but you would have picked anyone else that wasn't a Watcher for that company to be.
Though, you supposed, having XELQUA around wasn't so bad. You have been around your fair share of Watchers, and it was definitely more comforting being around it than any other. It had an air of familiarity to it, like an old friend enveloping you into a hug.
That still didn't mean you didn't want to spite the Watcher. You knew they craved suffering, craved your guilt and regret and you getting hurt. But they never liked it when you tried to hurt youself. Seems like this is the same.
XELQUA
EARTH, you're going to hurt yourself like this!
YOU
Wouldn't my hurt just make you happier? Wouldn't it feed you?
XELQUA
I never wanted you to get hurt!
YOU
You made me kill my friends, you made me watch all of them die multiple times, locking my memories behind bars of when I had won.
And when I finally did, what did you all do? You keep me trapped here, unable to die, unable to go home.
XELQUA
I don't- I need to end the game for you, you can't keep doing this to yourself, you're not supposed to be here, you aren't someone whos good kept doing nothing-
Yeah. Watcher's favourite you ass. Of course XELQUA would know how you acted, knew how you'd react. You'd be lying to yourself if you didn't think that this isn't just a manipulation tactic to get you to show it the emotions it wanted to feed on.
Yet, through it all, you could feel a teeny tinsy bit of concern laced under it's voice. You could tell, by the way it spoke, of how it was being genuine. You ignored that, though. If you didn't think about it, it wouldn't confuse you further.
YOU
I'm done playing your games. You can't make me do anything.
You get up and storm off, deciding to clean yourself up before finally resting in bed, taking some time to relax. Your joints hurt, the impact with the floor making you feel worse than usual, and you could feel your muscles get weaker by the second.
When you woke up back here, you hadn't been able to find your cane, you knew the chair you had constructed was inside your house, but you felt like walking and loosening up your muscles. It's time to carve a new one, you thought to yourself idly. It was then, you heard something coming from behind you. Your hearing had gotten stronger as time went by, with no one to fill your ears.
XELQUA
You're right.
I can't.
I'm sorry, SC- EARTH.
You heard the Watcher's voice resonating from behind you, heard it apologise. But for your own sake, for your own heart, you could never forgive it. It's not something you had the willpower to do.
Trudging back to your house, you could hear the silent sobs of someone behind you. But Watchers were not people, who did not have a sense of humanity. And Watchers did not cry. You shook it off as a hallucination. It was not real, and you were guilting yourself into believing that a Watcher could feel something other than hunger for emotions.
The manipulation was indeed working, you thought to yourself. The very fact that you had felt bad for the Watcher, enough to imagine it crying for you is absurd. Surely you have not been this lonely, surely you have not missed the touch of another person for so long.
You think back to Past Life, to touches shared, flowers gifted, verbal exchanges short yet meaningful. You wished you could go back. He would be waiting for you. You hadn't managed to speak to him a single time outside the games since you'd won, never got a chance to rekindle your relationship.
Winning was all for naught, then. If you could not achieve happiness, what even was the point of seeing each and every of your friends die again, and again?
(FADE TO BLACK)
(END OF SCENE)
ACT I
SCENE V
SCENE: Your bedroom, Trader Scar's
AT RISE: You were getting ready for bed, in your pajamas and ready to doze off. It may have only been evening, but other than lazing around in your sunflower fields, you had not gotten any rest since coming back from Past Life. That TNT bomb hurt! SCOTT was a menace, and a well deserved one at that. You were proud of him. And JIMMY, JIMMY outliving you and being in the Top 5 for once. That's your BAMBOOZLER right there. You were about to pull the lamp and sleep, GRIAN's sweater on your bed, one that you had stolen from him just for the fun of it. You hadn't remembered then, but you knew taking it was right. You snuggle up to it in bed, though GRIAN's scent was long gone, having his sweater in your bed felt like it was one of your sleepover nights at home, where you held him tighter than anybody else. XELQUA walks into your room without knocking (how rude!), and pauses when it sees what you have in your arms.
XELQUA
Why do you have that?
YOU
Why can't I have this?
XELQUA
It isn't yours, did you steal it?
YOU
So what if I did? What if I just wanted a reminder of what I'm still fighting for?
Why are you here anyways? I don't remember ever inviting you into my house.
XELQUA
I'm a Watcher, not a Vampire. I can come in as and when I want to.
And anyways, I thought you hated Watchers. Why are you so talkative with me?
You shrugged, not knowing what to say. It's true you never liked talking to Watchers, your conversations with ONE and TWO almost nearly being one-sided. Even if argumentative, you didn't know why you wanted to talk to XELQUA as much are you are now. It isn't like you, you're usually good at staying silent. And you were snappier than usual, too. You talked back to everyone you could, especially the Watchers, but even you talking to XELQUA feels like teasing a friend, over talking to something you hate.
YOU
You didn't answer my question. Why are you here?
XELQUA sinks down to the floor in the corner of your room, lying down on the cold wooden ground.
XELQUA
You were going to sleep, right?
YOU
I didn't know Watchers had to sleep.
XELQUA
They- We don't. I'm just tired.
YOU
Isn't there something you can do about that, Oh Great Watcher? Just revitalise yourself like the others.
XELQUA
What if I just wanted to take a nap? To sleep? You'd deny me of that?
YOU
You're arrogant. I have a bed outside, you can sleep there.
XELQUA
The monsters would probably get to me.
YOU
You're a Watcher, but you're scared of mobs?
Before it could argue, you added on.
YOU
Fine. But you're sleeping on the floor.
XELQUA
Thanks, EARTH.
Somehow, having the Watcher here made you lull into sleep easier. The Watchers had looked over you in your sleep before, it was always uncomfortable, yet somehow having XELQUA here made you calmer. It was like sleep could find you again, and knowing that someone would be here with you for a while, even if it wasn't someone you necessarily enjoyed spending time with because of what it is…
It was the easiest you were able to sleep since you and GRIAN had shared a bed in Wild Life. You hadn't been this calm in a long time. You didn't feel any of the typical paranoia that you had with being around a Watcher, didn't feel stressed or worried any longer. Sleep caught you in it's bed like you were a baby, cooing you to sleep until your muscles stopped tensing and your breathing became calm.
(FADE TO BLACK)
(END SCENE)
INTERLUDE
SCENE: The surroundings are dark. There are lights above you and XELQUA, shining down.
AT LIFT: You are seated at a table, and the darkness lifts. Around you, is a living room, and it is then you realised you are in a dream. You knew that Watchers could get into people's dreams, get into people's heads, but you knew for a fact that they could not see your thoughts, could not read your mind. This house was the same interior as one you and GRIAN had once crafted. It was years ago, and the memories are fuzzy, yet the sandstone all around you and the blazing desert heat was something you could never forget. XELQUA's presence feels less like a Watcher's, less suffocating, more like a warm embrace.
XELQUA
Do you remember Monopoly Mountain?
YOU
How could I not?
You look around, taking in the scenery. This was where you fell in love. This was where you had your first kiss. This was where you ended the first game, where you had died and given up your memories for GRIAN to be able to win. And yet, at home, he had treated it like nothing happened. You supposed he would, knowing him, if no one else remembers a world like this. Silently, you felt jealous of those who had won before you. Those who knew what it was to see you happy. Those who didn't have a whole world seperating them and somebody who they loved.
YOU
I remember everything. Though not that clear anymore, I still remember. I would never forget.
It goes unspoken that you never wanted to forget how GRIAN felt pressed against your skin. How GRIAN's lips felt, tongue parting yours. How soft GRIAN's body was while you were sleeping together, his wings enveloping you. How you had felt after GRIAN kissed you the first time, calling you silly for not knowing that he, too, was in love with you.
XELQUA
Why did you lie and say you forgot?
YOU
Did I?
XELQUA
In Wild Life. You lied to him. Lied to me.
YOU
I didn't want to keep his hopes up. I didn't want to tell him I knew, and have to come back to this place all over again. You know how long I've been stuck here.
XELQUA
This is your dream. You can tell me about how much you loved him.
YOU
Love. I still do. And even without this, without the Desert, I would have loved him nonetheless. I already did, the moment I laid eyes on him. It's no wonder we're soulmates.
XELQUA
I had someone like that once to me too.
YOU
Really? I would have thought Watchers did not harbour feelings for each other.
XELQUA
I'm not a Watcher. Not a full one, anyways.
There's still some Player in me, I hope.
And he's a Player to the core, he's the most Player I've ever seen.
YOU
Tell me about him.
XELQUA
Does it not irk you? That you're asking a Watcher of it's personal life?
YOU
I think after spending so much time with you, I've long gotten past that. It's like you're an aimless puppy! Following my trail around everywhere.
XELQUA
You're more relaxed around me too, now.
YOU
You're harmless. I can tell that now. Anyways, tell me about him. I'd love to know who's gotten a Watcher like you to fall in love with somebody.
XELQUA
He was… Kind. Sweet. He'd give any animal salvation, loved them. He had a beautiful cat too. She's a menace, that one. The universe thought she stood out the most, and soon she was the ancestor of many different cats.
He wouldn't stop talking about the things he was passionate about, the things that truly mattered. I always pretended to never want to listen, but I regret it now. I would have loved to hear him talk about something he liked one more time.
We were surrounded by all our friends, yet he was all I could ever ask for. I knew I wanted him the moment I saw him, too.
I pushed him away, so much. I regret that, now, because he wouldn't even know if I was in front of him, talking to him.
He was my soulmate, my everything.
YOU
Was?
XELQUA
He wouldn't recognise me like this.
Enough about me. This is your dream, I want to know more about the one you love.
If he were in front of you right now? What would you say?
YOU
There wouldn't be anything to say. Our silence has always been comfortable. If he knew, I'd want to kiss him the way I know he likes it. The way he's described how he'd want to be kissed by someone so many times at home.
If this is a dream, and we can truly do anything, I have a request to ask of you.
XELQUA
Never thought I'd see the day you'd ask a Watcher of something.
YOU
I want you to say my name. Say it, if you really mean that you would rather call me that than the title your people have bestowed me with.
XELQUA
SCAR.
It hits you at that moment. Where you knew that voice from. Why XELQUA had an aura of familiarity, a ring of love around it.
You may not have known, but your body remembers. You will always remember.
You look into XELQUA's many eyes, see the recognition in them. You must have been a fool to not have realised earlier. But now, you knew. Now, you were back together again. You ignore the table in front of you. It is a dream, it does not exist. You pull XELQUA in for a kiss, the way you knew it wanted. You lifted up it's mask, an amalgamation of colours and flesh and the void greeted you, yet you went straight for it's mouth.
XELQUA returns the kiss so passionately, it's tongue breaking through your lips, it's fangs nipping at your lip. You feel it's talons grip at your back, and it feels like you belonged here, feels like you were finally at home. It breaks away , XELQUA still gripping onto you like you were it's lifeline.
XELQUA
I've been wanting to do that for years.
YOU
I'm sorry I made you wait.
XELQUA
We're both a little silly, aren't we?
YOU
At least we're together.
You press another kiss to it's forehead, where the mask was still covering it.
XELQUA
I'm sorry I couldn't say anything.
YOU
Nonsense. You're here with me. That's enough.
XELQUA
SCAR…
YOU
GRIAN… I missed you.
XELQUA
I missed you too. I thought of you every day, I didn't know how to save you, bringing you back a month at a time was the best I can do.
YOU
Any effort you do is more than enough.
XELQUA
We can't let them know, they're still watching you. And this is meant as a punishment for me, I can't possibly make it any worse for either of us.
YOU
Does it matter if you're by my side?
XELQUA
Mmm… I guess not.
Does it bother you? Seeing me like this?
YOU
How many times does it take me to tell you that no matter what, I don't care as long as I'm with you?
XELQUA
But-
YOU
No buts, mister! No excuses.
XELQUA chuckles a little, though voice distorted, it's still a melody you enjoy. You bring one of it's talons down, rubbing the back of it's claws with your thumbs.
YOU
So what does this make us?
XELQUA
I'm thinking… I could be yours?
YOU
Mine. That sounds nice. And I'll be yours if you let me, too.
XELQUA brightens up, and you can see how visibly excited it gets. It's cute, the way it lights up when you speak. The same way it Watches you, the same way it analyses every one of your moves.
XELQUA
Mine. Mine, and only mine.
(FADE TO BLACK)
(END OF SCENE)
ACT II
SCENE I
SCENE: Your bedroom, Trade Scar's
AT RISE: You do not remember. You had woken up, and you didn't remember what you had dreamed of. It felt important, you wanted to grasp at your brains until you remembered. Somehow, overnight, XELQUA had ended up on your bed, cuddling into you, mumbling something under it's breath. As much as you didn't like Watchers, this was… surprisingly fine. XELQUA slotted into you like it was a perfect fit, it was meant to be between your arms, and it's wings enveloped you (The same way GRIAN's once did, too.), feeling like a hug. You did not remember what you dreamed of, but something bugged you, for you were comfortable being next to the Watcher, waking up with it in your arms, in your embrace.
This felt right, like it was what you had been missing your whole life. Having it next to you like this, laid out for you to devour the way you wanted, was something you felt your heartstrings tugging to. You wanted to wake up like this, to XELQUA next to you every morning, to be able to lie in and talk and laugh with it.
You did not know why.
You remembered dreaming of GRIAN. You remembered kissing him, remembered the way he acted, remembered the way you'd both apologised to each other. Surely your mind was not so lonely it had morphed the Watcher in front of you into the person you loved the most?
(Deep within you, even if you did not want to admit. You knew now, knew that GRIAN and XELQUA were one and the same. Knew that no matter what, while you were next to XELQUA, even isolated in a world like this, that you were home, you were where your heart is, where your soul lies. But this version of you, you in Secret Life right after you had woken up, you were not consciously aware of the two being one and the same. You just had to trust your gut instinct that this was okay, that this was something you wanted.)
Something in you told you that you had to bring it closer, and you did, hugging it like you did not want to let it go. It stirred, as if waking up from a long slumber.
XELQUA
G'm'rning.
YOU
I thought I told you to sleep on the floor?
XELQUA paused, eyes scattering around but it's main pair looking at you. It blinked, as if trying to process what you had just said.
XELQUA
Your dream last night- did you not remember any of it?
You scoffed, thinking that perhaps XELQUA had manipulated your dreams. You should have played nice, should have just accepted it, something in you said. You knew that was what you want, yet you had sabotaged yourself yet again.
(The same thing happened in the Jungle, years ago, the Panda Reserve you had built just to annoy him, even though you knew that being around GRIAN was all you had wanted. You were just as much of a self saboteur as he was when it commes to things like this, just as snarky. It seemed that XELQUA knew, was already well accustomed to it.)
YOU
…
XELQUA
Well, I, uh, guess I'll take my leave.
And it disappeared just as fast, leaving you behind in a cold bed that felt way too big for just you alone.
(FADE TO BLACK)
(END OF SCENE)
ACT II
SCENE II
SCENE: You, in your Sunflower Garden. You were replanting them, yet again, as you always do whenever they had wilted. Just like you, they faced the sun.
AT RISE: You have not spotted XELQUA in days. That day that you had spent with it ran constantly in your mind, trying to decode what it might have possibly meant. You could tell it was still here, because you occasionally had the feeling of it Watching you through the world, but you would never see it around, anywhere. You'd started to remember how lonely you had been, being on this world alone, which was something you never forgot, even when other Watchers were here, until XELQUA showed up. He was like a light, even if it's body was made out of void.
You worked through your garden, and through the haze of being red, still, you barely remember how many days its been. You felt something in you missing, the motivation for you to do things gone. As soon as XELQUA had left, you'd been reduced to someone motionless on his own bed, barely doing anything.
Today, though, today you spotted the first flower that wilted. It was about time for you to have replanted them, having been growing them since before Past Life started.
It was only then when you had that feeling rise up again, stronger than you usually do.
YOU
XELQUA? Are you there?
There wasn't a response. You go back to tending to your plants, before your eye catches onto something unnatural. There, perched on top of your walls, was XELQUA, startled that he had been noticed by you. It tries to fly off, but not before you could yell at it.
YOU
Hey! Get back here. XELQUA, I know you're listening.
The wings on it's head covers it's face, seemingly in embarrassment, though you did not think he needs it, having the mask to cover his features after all. Though, you notice it had removed the mask, and you could see all of the eyes and void around it's skin, face looking humanoid, unlike other Watchers.
XELQUA
What do you want?
YOU
Oh, so you finally responded to me.
Why did you come here, instead of where you usually stay.
XELQUA
You made it seem as if I wasn't welcome.
And truth to be told… I wanted to see you. Properly.
YOU
You can always see me. You don't have to remind me of what transfigured.
XELQUA
Transpired.
YOU
Yes, yes, you know what I meant.
It flies down, standing next to you, admiring the Sunflowers that you had meticulously planted. It plucks off the next one you were going to uproot, twirling it in it's hands as if it was a treasure no one else would enjoy having.
You decide to treat it nicely. You'd been lonely, and it had cured that loneliness, even if for a bit. Being nice wouldn't come at a price and besides… this Watcher was evidently different.
XELQUA reaches it's limbs out, a stick in it's hands, as if presenting it to you. You take it, looking over what seems to be like a cane. It's craftmanship was unique, one you had seen before, and you were reminded of birthday gifts, presents, from someone you'd known before.
YOU
What is this?
XELQUA
A gift. For you.
YOU
Why?
XELQUA
I noticed you didn't have a cane, you were hurting and I could not See yours.
YOU
…
Thanks. You didn't have to.
If this is just a trick to gain my trust,-
XELQUA
I wouldn't need to trick you to gain your trust. I know you better than that.
XELQUA plucks more Sunflowers, knowing the exact way you like them removed from your garden. It's Watched you a lot, you supposed. It starts to link the flowers into a chain, before finishing it off and putting it on it's own head.
XELQUA
See, now we match.
YOU
How so? Amuse me.
XELQUA
I think you mean, 'enlighten me', EARTH.
YOU
Yeah, yeah. You got what I mean though. The rest of them never do. The other Watchers just ignore me when I make a mistake.
XELQUA
They like you like that.
YOU
And you don't?
XELQUA
Well, it's certaintly part of your charm. But I think I prefer correcting you.
YOU
Precise, much?
XELQUA
Pretentious. And no, I'm not.
YOU
We'll see about that.
XELQUA
See, you have flowers on your poncho. I have flowers on my head. We match now.
YOU
Do you even know what they mean?
XELQUA
What they mean, as in flower language? Or what they mean to you?
YOU
Both, if you would.
XELQUA points to each flower as it talks about the meaning behind them all.
XELQUA
Poppies, rememberance. Lilacs, love and new beginnings. Together, the continuation of a friendship, the sign of a truce. A promise, spoken to fruitition.
(GRIAN (PAST, V.O.)
I am in your service until you lose your first life.
GRIAN (PAST, V.O.)
Dying was the best thing that could have possibly happened to you
YOU (PAST, V.O.)
Can we still be friends?
YOU (PAST, V.O.)
For all that you did to keep me alive, you may slay me and take the enchanter.)
XELQUA
Sunflowers, longevity, loyalty.
YOU
And no matter what you do, they will always face the sun.
XELQUA
Does that mean, you would face the SUN no matter what.
YOU
If I could face the SUN every day, I think my life would no longer have any hardships.
XELQUA
That's a bold statement. Someone can't just waltz in and fix all your problems.
YOU
That's why we work together to fix both of ours. Just because I can't help myself, or him, or vice versa, doesn't mean I don't want to.
XELQUA
Do you miss him?
YOU
Every day. I miss him every moment my heart beats, every time new flowers grow. Every grain of sand I see, every poppy and every lilac, he lives in every shade of red, in the specks of void of the end portal, and he lives in my heart.
XELQUA
…
YOU
Is that what you wanted to hear?
XELQUA
No, I'm just…
I'm thinking of what to say.
YOU
You don't have to say anything.
I know. I know what you lot think of that.
XELQUA
In what way?
YOU
That it's disgusting, that love is revolting.
XELQUA
I don't. It's exactly because of that that I'm sent here.
YOU
I did remember hearing something like that… But even my short term memory is weak now, after spending so much time rotting here.
XELQUA
No matter what, no matter how hard they tried to turn me into one of them… I just couldn't give up my feelings. I wanted to be loved and feel love, I wanted to feel the pain and despair of being human, the joys and excitement that came with mortality. I wanted to build like a player, to prank and not conform.
YOU
I never realised how hard it was for you too.
XELQUA
It's okay. I know you'd feel bad if you knew, so it didn't bother me much.
YOU
How do you know this much about me anyways? I thought you only Watched us during the games, but you seem to know a suprising lot about me.
XELQUA
You'll realise soon enough.
YOU
That's chiropractic.
XELQUA laughs, a hearty laugh you swore you've heard before.
XELQUA
SC- EARTH, that's not even how you use that word.
YOU
Well, I was close enough, wasn't I?
XELQUA
No, not even. Its crypic, not chiropractic.
YOU
Fine, fine. You win, grammar police.
(FADE TO BLACK)
(END OF SCENE)
ACT II
SCENE III
SCENE: Your dreamscape
AT RISE: You remember. You remember your dreams, remember everything that transpired in the first one. You know. GRIAN stands in front of you, still in his Watcher form, the way you've seen him the last few days. You are in the water, you are on sand, you are in the jungle, you are in Decked out, you are standing at Past Life's spawn. He is wearing his sweater on top of his cloak, you are wearing nothing but a poncho and pants.
GRIAN
SCAR, why don't you have any clothes on?
YOU
It's a dream! I can do whatever I want, didn't you say?
GRIAN
You have to focus! We need to figure out why this is happening and how to fix it!
YOU
But isn't it enough that my soul knows it's you?
GRIAN
I think it's more connected to the fact that you haven't "died" and haven't technically won, SCAR.
YOU
GRIANNNNNNNNN… This is boring, I don't wanna think about it anymore.
GRIAN
We're gonna get nowhere with this, SCAR, focus or else we'll never get home.
YOU
Life isn't so bad when it's just me and you, you know?
GRIAN
Not when you can barely even tell it's me?
YOU
Yeah… You're right.
GRIAN
I tend to be.
YOU
I miss everyone else too. I wonder how they're doing.
GRIAN
I miss MUMBO.
YOU
I know.
GRIAN
Ugh, and I only got to see him twice in the last game!
YOU
Would you rather he was there for all of it?
GRIAN
Well, no- But still!
YOU
And complaining about missing your best friend while you're with your boyfriend is a little funny.
GRIAN
Well, yeah. But I know you don't mind. It's MUMBO, for Void's sake. You'd do the same with CUB if you could.
YOU
I sure hope he's not too worried about me…
GRIAN
I'm sure someone would have told him, SCAR.
YOU
That doesn't change the fact that I miss him.
GRIAN
We'll get back, okay? I promise.
YOU
GRIAN.
GRIAN
Yes, SCAR?
YOU
If I try to kick you out again in the morning, stay. Stay with me. It's all I'd want.
GRIAN
I'd be willing to do nothing less.
(FADE TO BLACK)
(END OF SCENE)
ACT II
SCENE IV
SCENE: Front of House, Trader Scar's
AT RISE: You are organising your wares, stocking up for people long gone. The last few days saw you waking up next to the Watcher, with you trying to shoo it away but it always following you around like a lost puppy. XELQUA would always get into bed with you, would always turn off your lanterns for you, and somehow, you didn't have the heart to tell it to go away anymore. You were fine with it taking up your personal space, fine with it curling up into you. It felt nice, it felt good to have someone treat you so warmly. You'd assumed that it wouldn't have followed you to watch you organise the tons of chest monsters you had, or that it would get bored, but it just stayed there, seemingly content watching, not Watching, you sort through whatever you'd picked up the last few days. Though, you had to admit, having it's presence around you felt better than being alone.
XELQUA
EARTH, I have something to ask.
YOU
What is it, oh great Watcher?
XELQUA
I've shared so much about myself, what about you?
YOU
Do you not already know everything about me?
XELQUA
Why do you think you are stuck here?
YOU
Your people wish to torture me, do they not?
XELQUA
Fair. But if you could get out-
YOU
I've tried every way. There isn't a possibility.
XELQUA
How sure are you of that?
YOU
About as sure as you are willing to stick around and see me do meaningless things.
XELQUA
That doesn't comfort me in the slightest.
YOU
Well, you unnerve me.
XELQUA
And you're a liar. You wouldn't be talking to me like this if I truly did unnerve you.
YOU
Liar, teller of half-truths, they're both the same thing.
XELQUA
I beg to differ.
You continue to arrange your chests in a different way, this time by the starting letter of each item. It's a game you came up with to keep yourself occupied, and somehow it's served its job. XELQUA doesn't seem to mind, though, its presence calming to you.
XELQUA left the hut, a burst of empiness filling through you. You look back at it, it beckons with it's hand for you to follow it. Stepping out into the sun, you glanced over to the side, where a jukebox lay. You had a great collection of disks, at some point you'd been so bored you tried to make a farm, and yet there was only one that really resonated with you.
Picking up the OTHERSIDE disk, you slot it into the jukebox, as the music started to play, XELQUA gave a puzzled, yet amused reaction. You reach out your hand for it to take in one of its talons, before putting your other hand around its waist.
YOU
May I have this dance?
XELQUA
Forever, and always.
The contact with the Watcher wasn't cold, like you had expected. It felt like coming home, like your worries were washed away. It was as if every single one of your tensions had disappeared as you both took steps in rhythm with the music.
Your souls were connected, are connected, and will be connected. If you squint, you could see the string that wound from you heart to XELQUA's, in a way that would only make sense with one reality. Yet, you were blinded. Yet, due to everything else, due to your own circumstances, you could not see what this meant.
XELQUA
I never wanted to be one of them.
YOU
I know. Deep inside, I know.
XELQUA
I wish you did.
YOU
Can I not tell? I think I know enough.
XELQUA
If you truly knew, you would want to know more. I don't mean to be egotistical, but you want to know every part of me as much as I want to know every part of you.
YOU
Of course. You are interesting, certaintly.
XELQUA
And yet, you still do not see.
YOU
If it's meant to be, it will be.
XELQUA
What if I had a way? What if we could go home?
YOU
We?
XELQUA
You yourself said, deep down, you know. And I know you know.
YOU
Me and you, going home… That doesn't sound too wrong after all.
XELQUA
Would you be willing to try? To give up everything you have here and come home with me?
YOU
I thought Watchers weren't allowed on Hermitcraft. What makes you think you can come with me?
XELQUA
Let's just say… XISUMA has made some special arrangements for me.
YOU
You can't have been on the server before, there would have been people, someone, who would be able to sense you-
XELQUA
Think a little deeper, SC- EARTH.
YOU
A little deeper? Woah, that's an innuendo, coming from you.
XELQUA
EARTH, I'm being serious!
YOU
Alright, alright. But I still don't really get it.
XELQUA
Ugh, alright, I'll just show it. I'll break the Watchers' Curse on you, I promise.
XELQUA stormed off, and you ran to try and catch up to it as it glides towards the SECRET KEEPER.
(FADE TO BLACK)
(END OF SCENE)
ACT II
SCENE V
SCENE: The SECRET KEEPER. It's front near overgrown for misuse, save for a certain spot, the same one you tend to frequent when you decide to spend your days here. You haven't had the time to clean the SECRET KEEPER recently, with most of the extra time spent doing things that would either help you survive better, or would improve your quality of living. You barely came back here to attempt to succeed your task anymore, even if you still keep the task book in your inventory.
AT RISE: XELQUA has brought you here, it was your first time back since it had last spotted you here. You didn't know what it had in store, but you knew you wanted to trust it no matter what. You felt like you could, knew deep in you that this was your choice to make, and the choice you will follow.
You couldn't wait to get home. You couldn't wait to see them all.
XELQUA
So, My plan is that I don't think you've accepted your own victory yet.
YOU
So what, this is a therapy session?
XELQUA
Everyone else accepted that they'd won.
YOU
Yeah, so?
XELQUA
She's dead, EARTH.
You won.
You really did.
It hits you then, one of the many reasons XELQUA's voice sounded so familiar. It's the same voice that had told you you'd won, back then. The same voice that had brought you that much agony. Of course, you knew this voice from elsewhere, yet this was the only one your mind could conjure up right now.
YOU
So it was you…
XELQUA
Me?
YOU
You were the one who told me I'd won.
XELQUA
Well, yes and no. It was me, but not in this form. Not this version of me.
YOU
Well isn't that confusing? It either was you, or it wasn't you.
XELQUA
One thing you have to know about Watchers, EARTH, is that we tend to have many different forms. It also means we can appear human at will, and the more Player one is, the more convincing that form could be. Most Watchers are already out of touch with this skill, especially with how much they shun human emotion.
YOU
And so?
XELQUA
I was a ghost, floating through the air. We all were, we all watched you.
It's funny, you thought. How XELQUA always mentions himself as being part of your group when you asked about anything that had happened, when you were sure no one like it had ever existed around you.
It was as if an entire figure disappeared from you life, and although you still knew who it was, you couldn't even link up the parts of it's personality to the person it actually is.
That has got to be the case, right?
YOU
I know you.
XELQUA
Yes, you do.
You're talking to me now, aren't you?
YOU
No, no, no. I know you in real life. You're my friend.
XELQUA
Yes, though I think your sub-consciousness already figured that out.
YOU
What do you mean?
XELQUA
You figured it out in a dream already.
YOU
I haven't been remembering them much, even if I usually have them vividly.
XELQUA
It's probably the Watchers' meddling again, then.
YOU
So you were a friend? Is that safe to say?
XELQUA
More than that.
YOU
But I've only ever-
XELQUA
-Thought of one person that way. Yes.
YOU
Oh.
XELQUA
Feel stupid now?
YOU
A little. It was kind of already out in front of my face in big bold letters.
XELQUA
So? What now?
YOU
Let's go home?
XELQUA nodded, taking your hand in it's talons.
XELQUA
Let's.
Can you repeat after me?
YOU
Anytime.
XELQUA
I, cae9554c31be47e2ba2b4b8867adacc5, accept that I have won Secret Life and will take this victory with my prize to return home to Hermitcraft.
YOU
Oh. My whole UUID?
XELQUA
I had to say mine, when I'd won.
YOU
I'm still not that convinced you're not a fraud.
XELQUA
EARTH- I've literally told you this a million times before that I was one of them!
YOU
But I never believed you! And I was right! How could someone like you be as cruel as those beings?
XELQUA
Ugh, we're just getting distracted again.
Can you repeat that just so we can get home?
YOU
Oh. Yeah. Sure.
I, cae9554c31be47e2ba2b4b8867adacc5, accept that I have won Secret Life and will take this victory with my prize to go back to Hermitcraft, along with 5f8eb73b25be4c5aa50fd27d65e30ca0, also known as the Watcher ̇/ᒷꖎᑑ⚍ᔑ, and free him from your hands.
You move forward to press the Complete Task button, and for the first time in nearly two years, you see the Secret Keeper's particles come up together, before it flashes green, then white, a portal opening up in front of you and XELQUA, presumably leading home.
XELQUA
SCAR! You didn't need to do that!
YOU
Woah. I remember everything now.
XELQUA
This really isn't the time, SCAR, why did you do that!
YOU
Isn't it more fun to be free, my Sweet Angel?
XELQUA
I could have handled that on my own, thank you very much.
YOU
But you'd get repercussions. I'm their favourite. They wouldn't care if it made me happy.
XELQUA
I can assure you, with their way of backward thinking, it would be the other way around instead.
YOU
But we made it home, didn't we?
XELQUA
You can say that after we've gone through the portal. I don't want you to accidentally jinx anything.
YOU
Ladies first?
XELQUA's wing smacked you, and you let out a yelp, feeling the pain from the wing hitting against your head.
XELQUA
Just because I crossdress often doesn't mean I'm a girl.
YOU
I mean, from what you said, I was under the impression that all Watchers were females.
XELQUA
Well not me at least? SCAR, do you even have common sense!
YOU
As much as you last left me with, G.
XELQUA
We better hurry back.
YOU
Wait, I've got to know something. What did you wish for when you'd won?
XELQUA
I didn't remember Hermitcraft back then. I just wished that you were happy.
YOU
Well, you'd wasted that. I'd been happy until I was trapped alone here.
XELQUA
And then I found you.
YOU
And then you found me again. More like you wre a wet cat that I had to pick up though, Songbird.
XELQUA
What did you say?
YOU
You're kind of like a wet cat.
XELQUA
Am not! You've been doomscrolling too much.
What even was the deal about my egg anyways!?
YOU
I didn't want to touch something you'd broken. I was too scared that I'd ruin it, ruin something you created, even if the design is…
XELQUA
You can say it's ugly, Scar.
YOU
It kind of was.
XELQUA
Actually, I think bets would be lost if we ever said we were together.
YOU
Oh really?
XELQUA
Yeah. Pearl told me she bet on you confessing first. There's a whole ballot going on or something.
YOU
Well, let's see who gets the most diamonds then!
You both stepped into the portal, a flash of white closing it back up as the universe deposited you back where you considered home. Mayhaps a single moment of peace and soliditude, though you may end up back here some day.
XELQUA would save you no matter what. It had already done so once, after all.
(FADE TO BLACK
(END OF SCENE)
“Before I get sick of you, I’ll act selfishly without hesitating even if I’ll end up losing you.
I weave this melody to not have any regrets,
so let me dance with you!”
-ewe, “Cutlery”
POSTLOGUE
SETTING: The Watcher's Temple, The Void
AT RISE: ONE and TWO, having a chat.
ONE
So, XELQUA has returned. Back to the server it calls it's home, hasn't it.
TWO
And EARTH made a wish that was binding. We can't see into HERMITCRAFt either.
ONE
Our little disciple seems to have a bunch of things to do. Once they'd wrapped up the current season, maybe we could bring them back.
TWO
I do not get love.
ONE
Neither do i.
TWO
It's so mushy and sweet. Too much flavour for me.
ONE
That's why nightmares are the best to feed on.
TWO
Our work here is done. Is it time to tell the boss of our faliure?
ONE
Guess we have to find out, then.
(FADE TO BLACK)
(END OF SCENE)
END.