[ Also read on AO3! ] [ Chapter 1 ] [ Chapter 2 ] [ Chapter 3 ] [ You are here! ]
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The flight over to Hermitville was one filled with an unwavering sense of curiosity and suspicion- a feeling Mumbo found himself quickly growing used to.
His hands occasionally slipped when he reached to tug on another rocket string, and he constantly stuttered and staggered in his flight; his elytra getting scraped every time he turned a corner.
(It wasn't his fault he was such a clumsy flier! Elytras felt like an unnecessary weight on him, constantly tugging at the back of his blazer.)
Then, slowly but surely, the portal to Hermitville came into view.
Mumbo ceased firing his rockets and glided down unto the floor, and the soles of his shoes hit the tiled floor with a soft tap. He pressed one hand upon the side of the portal, and lifted himself up and into the purple swirling mass that hummed and buzzed loudly in his ears.
His sight faded from his grasp for mere seconds, coming back to him after like always, and he stepped down and into the wooden tower that held the Hermitville portal inside.
He shook his head to clear the trace of buzzing inside it, and drifted down onto the stone and gravel ground.
Looking around at the massive and chaotic builds around him, he quickly locked eyes with the wondrous half ice-castle, half ice-tree build that belonged to Stress- and curled around that build was a life-size sculpture of a dragon, made of ice, snow, lapis blocks, and wool.
"At the dragon". There was no other place Mumbo could think of that would be what Grian had described.
Scanning the lithe form of the ice dragon, he slowly stopped his wandering gaze at the top of the dragon's head. Upon it, Grian sat, with his purple wings spanned out behind him.
Pulling his mouth into a thin line, Mumbo leaped into the air once more, firing off a rocket or two as he ascended into the sky.
As he reached closer to the head of the faux dragon, he saw Grian grin at him, and slip down onto an ice platform beneath it- Mumbo thought dully to himself, as he was faced with a familiar numbing cold, that he'd rather live in the icy waters of a tundra biome than deal with the cold that followed Grian like a moth to light.
The minute Mumbo's feet hit the platform Grian stood upon, however, he felt the coldness melt away.
Blinking in suppressed shock, Mumbo raised his eyes to meet Grian's narrowed gaze. He seemed almost... proud of himself, hands swinging back and forth as he rocked on his heels.
He couldn't even feel the cold from the ice, Mumbo thought to himself, slowly placing the rockets he held in his hands back in his inventory.
"I'm so glad you could make it," Grian mused, his grin fading into his usual polite smile, crossing his eyes playfully. "Do you like it?"
"Like... what? The not-cold?" Mumbo huffed, squinting his eyes in confusion. "And don't act surprised that I came. I still have more questions about you."
"Hm..." Grian hummed, picking at his fingernail half-hazardly, pulling a disinterested face. "Well, your questions were boring. And I'm tired of waiting! Seriously, you have a connection with an otherworldly, all-powerful being, and all you ask is about my origin? Most people would ask for a bit of power too, you know- I've decided to give you a little taste of it, in fact. Temperature immunity." He chuckled, covering his grin with his hand.
Mumbo fell silent for a moment, heart in his throat. What was he saying? What did he really want?
"I have to admit, I was a bit of a liar a few hours ago, when you asked what I was here for." Grian hummed, smile widening in amusement. "I'm here to... recruit, another Watcher, for lack of a better term."
"Recruit another- wait, wait, wait, what?" Mumbo stuttered, furrowing his eyebrows as he took a step back. "If you're implying that you want me to-"
"Oh, but yes, that is what I'm implying!" Grian laughed, wings fluttering as he leapt forward a step, stars in his eyes. "You'd be so helpful to us Watchers, what with your incredible knowledge of redstone and all, and the fact you haven't been greedy of this power is another plus..." He cooed, hands strung together in front of him.
"I must say, you've caught my pretty little eye, Mumbo Jumbo."
"I- what?" Mumbo huffed shaking his head. "No, no, no. I'm not- this- this is how you stopped being human, isn't it?" Mumbo accused, taking another step back. The cold was beginning to come back, slowly and painfully.
"I'm not doing that. I don't even want your stupid powers, I'm fine how I am, thank you!"
"Oh, but you don't mean that," Grian murmured, wings spreading out behind him, his smile never leaving his face. "It's so much nicer, being a deity among players. You'll spend your days keeping millions of players safe and sound, creating and knowing..."
He stepped forward and behind Mumbo, placing his hands onto his shoulders. Mumbo's eyes fell upon a rather shiny ice branch in front of him, his reflection showing.
The cold crept upon him in an instant, and he froze up, teeth grit. Grian laughed icily, his grip tightening upon his shoulders.
Grian hid himself behind Mumbo's back, angling his wings so that it would appear as though they were Mumbo's own pair in the icy reflection of the branch.
"You could fly, truly fly... You could be free from this tiny world, and move between thousands of them," Grian whispered, his voice chilling Mumbo to the very bone. "Show your talent and capabilities to every world out there... You could be perfect, you could be granted everything you could want." He grinned, finger tapping against Mumbo's right shoulder in a slow rhythm.
"G-get, get o-off-ff me!" Mumbo shivered, his teeth clattering as he pushed himself away from Grian's icy grip. "Wha-what are you on about?! My answer's no!" He hissed, arms clenched tightly around himself as he clenched his teeth together in an attempt to keep them from shivering.
The wind that whirled around him made his eyes water, as the coldness slammed into him relentlessly, frosty and unforgiving.
Grian's vibrant, nearly glowing purple eyes stared into him, the polite smile he always wore never falling.
And then, he grinned, he grinned so widely, his eyes shining in excitement.
"I knew it... I knew it! I knew you were special!" He cackled, bouncing in place. "I was just like you, back in my old world, you know. I was a rebellious little spirit... Ah, the memories." He sighed nostalgically, before giggling, grin returning to his face.
"You better stop being so interesting, Mr. Mumbo Jumbo, otherwise you'll end up being my favorite player!"
"I... What?" Mumbo croaked, turning his head around before swiftly turning back, eyebrow raised. "What was all that- that, wanting me to be like you bit, then?"
"Well, that wasn't a lie," Grian hummed, grin falling into his usual smile as he rocked on his heels. "Anytime you wanna rise to unimaginable power, just gimme a call!" He laughed quietly, covering his mouth with his hand.
Mumbo blinked, rubbing his arms as he tried ignoring the freezing cold around him, eyeing the strange person- "Watcher", apparently- mouth pressed into a thin line.
Grian's wings jittered every time he laughed- a strange detail he noticed without thinking much about it.
"Is that... the only reason you've been following me?" Mumbo asked, gulping. "Just- just because you think I'm interesting?"
"...Well, when you put it that way, it sounds a bit silly, doesn't it?" Grian hummed, his familiar polite smile returning to his face (since when did his odd smile become familiar?). "You must understand that a Watcher is never meant to be seen. It's... quite lonely, especially when you're fairly new. I had Taurtis, once upon a time, but he..."
Grian trailed off, his smile falling as he looked to the side. The feathers on his wings fluffed up, and his gaze turned sour.
"Well. It's rude to talk about those who are listening, I suppose." He finished with a grim smile. "I'll be Watching you, Mumbo. Maybe I'll stop by for a friendly chat, now and then." He hummed, turning around and spreading out his wings as he crouched, prepared to take off.
At the last second, he turned his head around, and grinned, one last spike of frost creeping up Mumbo's spine.
"Think about my offer, won't you?"
With a final gust of the icy wind, Grian took off, disappearing with the familiar sound of an ender pearl signifying his disappearance.
Inhaling sharply, Mumbo screwed his eyes shut, pushing down his curiosity as he slowly made his way down Stress' ice build. His hands still shook from the cold, and his breaths were shallow, the height he had been at lacking as much oxygen as he needed.
Exhaling onto his hands, trying to warm them up, Mumbo suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion overcome him, the previous night's lack of proper sleep finally getting to him.
He tried to make it back to his build, he really did. But he was just so tired, and the grass beneath him was so soft...
Struggling to keep his eyes open in one last attempt, Mumbo's mind shut off, and he tumbled to the ground, still shaking from the freezing cold he had pushed through not long ago as he curled up subconsciously.
[ Read on AO3 too! ] [ Chapter 1 ] [ Chapter 2 ] [ You are here! ] [ Chapter 4 ]
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Chewing on his lip, Mumbo looked down at the floor, choosing his next words carefully. Grian was right- he couldn't waste time thinking up the questions themselves, but what else could he do?
This suspicious figure he'd unintentionally spotted had seemingly been following him, watching him...
Of course it would be a bit hard to pick his words.
Grian's icy gaze seemed to watch his every precise movement, narrowed dangerously.
Swallowing a lump in his throat, Mumbo sighed, grasping his hands together to keep them warm, and raised his head, locking eyes with the winged being.
"What... are you?" He muttered cautiously. "Humans don't have wings."
"Straight to the point, are we?" Grian tsked, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. "I'm simply an observer; a spectator... A Watcher." He hummed in amusement, a polite smile growing on his face once more.
"That doesn't exactly answer my question," Mumbo huffed in frustration. "Are you some new- new mob or something?" He guessed.
Grian laughed loudly, covering his smile with his hand.
His laugh sounded hyper and mischievous- sounded as if it belonged to someone who was watching the world explode.
That laugh sent shivers down Mumbo's spine.
"Oh- no, no! I'm not a mob, do you take me for some mindless monster? That's so silly. I answered your question- I am a Watcher." He chuckled, his laugh quieting down. "Though... I used to be human, you know. I was the owner of a server, too." He mused, a strange softness in his eyes.
"You were human?" Mumbo questioned, the tension from his shoulders slowly fading. "How can you suddenly not be a human anymore? What happened?"
Grian's smile fell from his face, an icy cold returning to the room once more. He did not look mad, per se, but rather, he looked melancholic, and bothered.
"Don't you think there are more important questions you could be asking?" He replied flatly, before an amused smile was plastered on his face. "You can't unlock my secret backstory until my 7th side-quest!" He joked, snorting to himself.
Despite the unexpected answer, Mumbo snapped his mouth shut, unease settling in his gut.
Though, if there was some way to turn a human into... whatever it is that Grian was, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know.
"Well- alright, then..." Mumbo stuttered, rubbing his arms as the room grew colder still. "How... How did you come here? Did Xisuma whitelist you? He never said anything about a new hermit coming."
"...Ah." Grian hummed, pulling a face. "I'm actually not so sure myself. I think we just... Can. Not so sure why- though, we Watchers are some sort of otherworldly entity and such."
"You don't know how you were able to enter the server?" Mumbo asked, dumbfounded. "-Wait, 'otherworldly entity'?"
"Yes, yes, I just said that," Grian sighed, rolling his purple-hued eyes. "And yeah, Watchers live beyond the Void, which technically makes them 'otherworldly'. Maybe that's why, actually- the Void connects to all worlds, after all..." He mumbled, furrowing his eyebrows.
"That's... O-okay, then..." Mumbo muttered, pulling on the collar of his dress shirt- he was talking to some sort of alien, then? "Why... Why are you here? You said you had a 'task' to do. What is it?"
The corner of Grian's mouth twitched, and he glanced to the side for a quick second- usual signs that belonged to a liar.
"Well, if you must know..." He sighed, quickly plastering a smile on his face. "It's a Watcher's duty to keep an eye on worlds. Make sure it's not falling apart, or that nothing gets corrupted... Oh, and we help with updates, too." He explained, tapping the table with his finger mindlessly.
Mumbo's eyes narrowed in confusion and hesitance.
He remembered Grian's earlier statement, if it was that hard to believe he wasn't here to hurt him... And while it was not even ten minutes ago, suddenly it felt as though, just maybe, Grian didn't seem so bad.
(Though, of course, something about him still left him with a sense of unease and uncertainty.)
"So..." Mumbo began, his lips pulling into a thin line. "You're like... A guardian of the world? Then... Why are you so against me telling anyone you're here?"
Grian frowned, the tapping on the table growing faster and painfully louder as the seconds quickly slipped by.
He was silent, eyes narrowed dangerously as he glared daggers in Mumbo's direction, the room suddenly feeling like a freezer. The ice patterns on the walls ever so slightly grew out towards the ceiling and floor, the air chilled and foggy...
"Didn't I mention it before?" Grian muttered, annoyed. "Watchers are not supposed to be-"
Suddenly, his eyes widened, and the familiar warping effect of an enderman flashed around him- within a second, he was gone.
Mumbo's eyes were wide, and he stood up abruptly, shivering still and tightly hugging onto himself. Nearly instantly, a firework was heard, and after that, several more. Before long, a figure flew in through the window, nearly tumbling into him.
"MUMBO!" Stress yelled, stumbling onto the ground and taking ahold of his shoulders. "How could you be four hours late to a meeting?! It's nearly-"
Mumbo couldn't hear the rest of what she was saying- his eyes had drifted to the side. On the table where Grian had sat, there were faint carvings on the tabletop, of which appeared to be strange symbols and markings: Galactic writing.
Before long, Stress had noticed he wasn't listening, halting her speech and following his gaze.
"Oh, hey," Stress hummed, hands slipping off of Mumbo's stiff shoulders, her fingers tracing over the symbols. "Isn't this Galactic? Have you been practicin' writing it or somefing?" She wondered, turning to look at Mumbo with wide, innocent eyes.
"I-" Mumbo began, blinking rapidly. He felt a slow pit of guilt return to his gut as he carefully planned his next words. "...Yes, I- I have been. It's a... nice pastime. Rather than redstone, I mean." He stuttered, wringing his fingers together almost in shame- he hoped he was better at lying than he thought.
"Well," Stress huffed, eyes narrowing playfully. "Next time don't carve it on our table! Now I've got'a go replace the damn block... What's it say, anyway?"
"Oh-! Um, it-it, says..." Mumbo stammered, face flushing red in embarrassment. Why'd he have to go and make up an excuse that he himself couldn't go with?
(Though, more adamantly on his mind, why was he making an excuse for Grian, anyways?)
"Wait, wait, don't tell me! I've been learning a bit myself too, you know! Helpful when you're enchantin' stuff, 'n all that." Stress grinned, eyebrows furrowing as she looked down at the carvings once more. "Ot... No, that's an A... At the... 'At the dragon'? What is that s'pposed t' mean?"
Slowly, the dread Mumbo had been setting aside came back to him full-force, his face paling and his eyes widening ever-so-slightly.
"At the dragon". Grian had carved that out, hadn't he?
"Um..." Mumbo began, swallowing as his throat suddenly felt dry. "Don't... Worry about it. I was just... writing down random stuff." He rasped, looking off to the side and forcing a grin onto his face. "Sorry for, erm, missing the meeting, too. Didn't sleep too well, I guess."
Stress' eyes softened, and she offered Mumbo a comforting smile- one that seemed much more genuine than the polite, porcelain smiles Grian had on his face constantly.
"Oh, forget about all that, luv. Why don't you go get some more rest, then? You look a little pale," She hummed, placing a hand on Mumbo's shoulder gently. "It's awfully cold in here, too. I'll bring by some hot cocoa later, how's that sound?"
Mumbo smiled exhaustedly and gratefully, shoulders drooping.
"That... sounds lovely. Thank you, Stress," Mumbo mumbled, rubbing at his eyes. "I think I will go and do that- rest, I mean. I'll see you later, Stress..." He hummed, grabbing his set of rockets and waving a quick farewell before leaping out of the window, and stumbling into the air towards his base.
He tried not to think too much about the cryptic message Grian had most definitely carved onto the table- with his finger, too.
Though, of course, curiosity did kill the cat.
"At the dragon"... What exactly did that mean? The first thing that came to mind was Stress' faux ice-dragon that curled around her winter-themed castle in Hermitville.
Other than that, there were Tango's dragon towers (which weren't even complete yet), but that seemed like the less likely option. Though, was there something inside the dragon? Did Grian want to meet up with him there?
...Should he risk meeting up with him?
Grian still wasn't exactly a friendly entity, even if he claimed that he was watching the server as it's- what, protector?
But still, Mumbo couldn't risk leaving Grian alone and letting him do whatever he pleased- he still had questions that needed answering, too.
As Mumbo landed on the roof of his spherical base, he looked down at the familiar scenery of the ocean.
The ocean was big, nearly endless, filled with life and wonders- Mumbo loved the ocean more than anything; save for redstone, of course. The salty smell of the ocean was comforting in a way, a reminder of what was around him.
Mumbo stayed on the roof of his base for hours- snacking on golden carrots, messing with redstone parts, and enjoying the smell and scenery of the ocean and the gentle wind that blew past him.
The sun soon began to set, and by then Mumbo had made up his mind.
Dusting off the redstone on his hands, Mumbo fired a rocket and flew down, down to the bottom of his base and through his nether portal.
Distantly, on a sculpted ice dragon, someone lay within the opened jaw of the non-organic creature, waiting...
Watching.
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Stress drifted slowly to the floor of Mumbo's base, making a u-turn for his room, two mugs held in her hands and a bright smile on her face.
She couldn't help but feel giddy- it had been a while since she had hung out with Mumbo, after all! And what better way to spend time with a friend than to enjoy a tasty mug of hot cocoa?
Pushing the door open with her elbow, Stress glanced down at the chocolate and buckets of milk in her inventory, whispering into the room as to not cause a startle.
"Hey Mumbs, I brought the-" She began, stepping into the room completely.
She faltered, the smile on her lips slowly falling.
The room was empty and dark- it didn't look like anyone had been inside for hours.
