Chapter Text
Grian watched as the portal swirled, swallowing the last members of the other server: a ram hybrid with poofy hair who never stopped waving and calling to Tommy and Tubbo, along with the two guys Grian had spoken to who had never put away their weapons. The two teenagers seemed sad to see their friends go, but at the same time, Grian could tell they were exhausted. He wanted nothing more than for the two of them to kick back and relax for a moment, since, from what he’d heard so far, it had been a long time since that had happened. He hadn’t missed the slash marks littered across their clothes, either, no doubt hiding injuries that needed treating.
But still, Grian had a few other things on his mind as the portal flashed from the bright green of the Dream SMP back to its regular purple hues. He would take care of most of them later, once he’d gotten the two teens somewhere safe to rest, but there was something he wanted to ask right now, before too much time passed.
Grian put a hand on both of the teen’s backs, an act he thought he did rather gently, but they both flinched at the contact. Noted. Still, while his hands were already there, he slowly steered the two around to face the shopping district. “Right, I want to get you two back to my place as soon as we can, get you somewhere to stay to rest. I have a lot of questions, but I think those can wait for later, yeah?”
Tommy nodded as Tubbo let out a big yawn. “Sleep sounds really nice,” the smaller teen said sleepily, smiling up at the other two.”
Grian raised his hands to give them each a pat on the back, then thought better of it. “We can do that, but I do have to ask X something, so can you wait in the Barge for a few minutes? I won’t be long.”
Tommy pulled a face. “What’s a ‘Barge?’ Sounds horrible.”
Grian pointed at the tall structure, peeking out from behind Scar’s trees. The large structure wasn’t hard to miss, rocking slightly in the small lake.
As serious as the situation had been moments before, Grian enjoyed the look of absolute awe on both of their faces as they took in the structure. He didn’t know what the builds were like in their world, having only seen the mysterious vault room Dream had trapped them in, but he reveled in the fact that the Barge brought such a reaction to non-locals. He had to admit, it wasn’t even the most impressive thing in the shopping district.
“Right, off you two go. Don’t get lost, please.” Grian shooed them off, the two teens quickly rushing down the path to get a better look at the shop. “And don’t touch anything!” he called after, seeing Tubbo curiously eyeing the decorative buttons littered around the place.
When he was sure the pair weren’t going to break anything immediately, Grian turned back toward the portal. Xisuma and Scar were still lingering around, chatting and staring at the portal, which remained its normal purple color.
“Hey, guys,” he greeted, jogging his way over. “How’s it looking?”
“Good for now,” X declared, “but we should keep a watch on it. I don’t exactly trust it right now, if I’m going to be honest.”
“Do we know what happened to make it go all colorful in the first place?” Scar asked, still gazing at the swirls making up the portal. “I haven’t seen it change color before.”
Both Grian and Xisuma shook their heads. In his experience, Grian had only seen a portal change colors to signal a world shift, and those had always been planned. Even in some of his weirder worlds, portals of different colors were only ever triggered on purpose.
“Portal aside, you’ve got quite a story for us,” X shifted, turning his attention to Grian. Scar turned from the portal, too, gazing past Grian at the Barge, where Grian sincerely hoped the two teens weren’t raiding his stock. “You said while I was fixing the portal that you wanted them to stay for safety reasons? Care to elaborate?”
“I’ll tell you everything, but can we do it later? I need to ask you something, X.”
X nodded. “I’m holding you to that. What’s your question?”
“Do you trust the man you gave the portal key, or whatever it is, to?”
X hummed, a sound that was more akin to a buzz this season, as he’d adopted the bee motif for most of it. “That’s a heavy question. Can I ask you the same?” He nodded past Grian at the Barge. “Do you trust those two?”
“I believe that they needed a way out of the situation they were in when I got there,” Grian answered. “They’re only kids, but it sounds like their world is much harsher than ours.”
Xisuma laughed, but it was hollow. “I hear things, through the web of admins. The Dream SMP sounds like it runs a very different show than the one we have.”
“If it means anything,” Scar said, glancing between the portal and the group, “I got to talk with some of them while we waited. Not a lot, and only with those who were willing to chat, but it’s something.”
“And?” Xisuma prompted. Of all of his friends, Scar was the one of the ones Grian would trust the most when asked to judge someone’s character. He had a feeling many of their fellow Hermits would agree with him.
“They seemed like quite an eclectic bunch. Lots of different personalities. I liked the ram hybrid, Puffy, I think her name was. She was nice.”
“Anything else?” Grian pressed. He’d only talked to two of them, the one with the headband and the one with a white hoodie, and neither of them had put their weapons away. They’d come dressed for battle, too, in full netherite. The whole group had, wearing what seemed to be whatever their best armor was, but at least everyone else had put their weapons away once they realized where they were. “What about the two who were the last to leave? They seemed like protectors of some sort.”
Scar hummed. “Oh yeah, Punz and . . . I don’t think I got the other one’s name. They seemed a little on edge, not really all that interested in my tour, which was kind of rude, and they didn’t put their weapons away. I mean, who does that around people you’ve just met?”
Xisuma took a deep breath. “People who need to. Not every server has such a welcoming atmosphere.”
“Should we have sent someone back with the group?” Scar asked. “I mean, if the two kids are staying, it makes sense to have sent someone to their world.”
Xisuma turned his attention back to the portal, a distorted low buzz coming through his helmet that Grian couldn’t place. “While I’m curious about what it’s like in their world, I don’t think it would be a good idea to send someone alone. We would need to prepare.” X turned back to Grian. “By the way, you didn’t mention how long you wanted them to stay.”
“Because I don’t know,” Grian answered truthfully. “I was only there for a short time, but it seems like they’ve been through a lot. A few days, at least. They need to recover from the fight and prepare themselves for whatever awaits them when they go home.”
Scar’s eyes went wide. “What’s waiting for them in their world? Grian, what did you see?”
Grian sighed, the weight of what he’d seen and done finally settling on his shoulders. “What I saw wasn’t good. I’m sure there are good people in their world, and I hope the person I just met was an exception.”
Xisuma put a hand on Grian’s shoulder, giving it a soft pat. “I do want that full story from you, and I’m sure the others would be curious to hear it as well. Plus, I have a feeling our visitors will have their own stories to tell, but that can come later. You should get them all rested up first.”
Grian nodded. “Right.” He was suddenly very tired, and he had a feeling that he should not have let two teenagers loose in his most profitable shop to date. “Another time.”
Dream gasped, jolting awake on the dirt of spawn. Instantly, he could feel in his soul that everything had gone wrong.
Respawning was a weird mechanic. As it was happening, you could feel the pain of whatever was killing you, but then the moment you died, it vanished. You’d respawn in your bed, safe and sound, with only the ghost of a feeling of whatever had dealt the killing blow.
That was not what Dream felt.
He’d never lost a life before, but he knew that’s what this was.
There were several feelings all fighting for effect on his body. Across his chest, pain radiated from the echoes of the slash that dealt the final blow. Every limb felt heavy, yet the tingling numbness of sleep sat deep in every bone. His breath felt shallow yet full, as if it was the first time he’d ever breathed before. His head pounded, vision swimming as he stared up at a too bright sky.
He’d lost a canon life, and this intruder had the audacity to break his bed, too.
It was an understatement to say that his plans had not gone as intended.
Granted, his plans weren’t supposed to look like they had gone as intended, but someone had thrown a wrench in that and actually sent him off course.
Grian.
The name was burned into his mind, filling him with a rage that he normally directed at Tommy. But now this avian had shown up out of nowhere and taken Tommy and Tubbo. Tommy had even grabbed the discs, too, he’d noticed.
Which left Dream with nothing. Nothing to hold over someone and no one to hold them over. One life gone, a risk he’d been prepared to take, but not ready to actually do.
He didn’t like this feeling.
He needed a new plan. He’d seen how Tommy looked at him in the vault. Dream still had a grasp on him, even if there was a new, winged person in the way.
He could still get to Tommy, but how?
Not from the floor of spawn, that was for sure. He needed to go back to his vault, see if any of his gear survived, but it wasn’t safe anymore. Even if everything else had gone according to plan, his vault would still be compromised by the portal. He would need to empty it out as soon as possible and find somewhere else to prepare.
He forced himself to stand, body still feeling entirely wrong on a spiritual level. He didn’t know where the others were, but he didn’t want to be here at spawn for them to find.
This wasn’t the end. Dream would make sure of that.