Grian refused to use his newfound magic.

He hated it. He absolutely hated it. It was a remainder of the Watchers, and now every time he thought about them he wanted to strangle each of them one by one. They had destroyed Evo and sent him to this new world.

But this world wasn't so bad.

Maybe this was the Watchers' idea of a sick joke. Like, letting him know that they were still with him. You can never escape from the Watchers! Muahahahaha!

He didn't hate the ice princess for finding out first. Really, it was the Watchers to blame. Plus, Stress was nice.

Her bodyguard, on the other hand...

Wels wasn't bad or anything. He just didn't want to be in this world. Grian thought he was still in denial about what happened to their old kingdom.

X tried his best to understand Wels. Stress had already established a good friendship with him. Grian was wary, but he tried to be nice.

The first few nights as a group of four were the hardest.

X was so surprised by the amount of monsters that appeared at nighttime. He kept on asking Grian what they were. Grian knew he was just trying to figure out this world better, but it was still slightly annoying.

"What's that green guy with the blue shirt?"

"Why is that one made of bones?"

"Okay, okay, why in the world is that eight-legged creature that big?"

Wels, despite the obvious fact that Stress could defend herself easily in battle, took it upon himself to protect her at even the smallest things. A chicken came up behind them and Wels almost skewered the poor thing.

Out of all of them, Wels was the only one who had a weapon. Sure, Stress had her ice powers, but that did no good against that one baby zombie who ran like the Flash. When she finally caught the monster, everything in the near vicinity was covered in frost.

X could only stand back and watch in horrified fascination as Wels and Stress engaged battle with the zombie and skeletons. Grian could probably bend reality and knock out all the monsters without blinking, but he didn't want to. It reminded him too much of Evo. There was no way he was going to use those powers.

Stress laughed as she blasted ice from her fingers. She was fun-loving and carefree and genuinely seemed to be having fun despite the dangers. Wels fought in a more uniform way, more seriously.

Grian took out a stone sword he had crafted the other day, in between meeting Stress and Wels and X's questions about the Overworld. It was terrible. Wels's diamond one was way better. But, since he refused to use Watcher magic, this was the best he could do.

"X, make yourself useful! Build us a dirt hut or something!"

X looked around, confused. He pointed to a tree. "Um...is this dirt?"

Grian pointed to the ground in irritation. "This is dirt! Build a house! We need shelter!"

His hands flickered with a purple glow. Grian tampered down his annoyance as best as he could. Apparently his emotions could trigger the magic, too. Yet another reason to be mad at the Watchers.

"Why don't you just use the magic?" Wels asked as he tried to catch a spider. "I heard it's really powerful."

"It is!" Stress chimed in. "It can bend reality itself. To a certain degree, of course."

Wels perked up. "Bend reality, you say..."

Grian knew what he was thinking. "Wels, honestly. If I could and wanted to, I would make a portal that would take us all to where we were before. But the ice kingdom, as you said, is in ashes. My world"--he choked up a bit--"is gone, too. The End, where X came from, is unstable and deadly."

Wels frowned. "Fine."

X saved them from the awkwardness by yelling, "Is this a dirt hut? I made one!"

Grian looked back and saw a perfectly square house made entirely from dirt. He hated dirt huts, but it was better than being in the open and possibly dying. They all ran indoors.

"X...what about the door?"

X just simply locked them inside, in total darkness, by sealing off the entrance with two more dirt blocks. Grian could hear the pride in his voice. "I made a dirt hut. A dirt hut, can you believe it? My first ever."

"We're all proud of you, X." Wels's voice dripped in sarcasm.

X ignored him. Good. He was learning.

Stress plopped on the ground loudly. She sighed in satisfaction. "That was fun. I don't normally get to do that. I'm usually locked in the castle."

"For good reasons," Wels protested.

"Tomato, tomahto. Anyhoo, what are we going to do until morning?" Stress conjured up a small trickle of ice and played around with it. It filled the dirt hit with a soft blue glow.

"You're telling me we have to wait the night out?" X moaned. "Those monsters were so cool, though! I want to see more of them!"

Grian could see Wels raise an eyebrow, even in the dim light. "Do you want to die?"

"Well...no..."

Stress started to mutter something, then leaned against Wels and fell asleep. Her soft snores filled the small space.

X yawned, too. "We should all get some rest."

Soon, everyone but Grian was asleep. It was comforting in a weird way. Like he knew he was safe here—even though they were in a mysterious world and they barely knew each other.

Grian opened his palm and quietly scolded himself. He said he wouldn't use the magic. But he was too curious.

He watched as the magic danced across his hand. It was dark purple with a silver sheen to it. It was beautiful...in a evil-ish sort of way.

Stress said that Watcher magic could bend reality itself. Maybe...he could open a portal. But Stress had also said that it was only to a certain degree. And with that much power, there would certainly be some sort of consequence.

Not today. Maybe in the future...the very, very far future.

For now, he'd focus on the present.

»»————-　★　————-««

The next day was slightly better.

Stress ran around the world, laughing. She rolled around the grass, enjoying her newfound freedom.

Wels stood near her, trying to keep a close eye on her.

"You don't need to protect her, you know."

Wels looked behind him to see Grian. He sat down and patted the ground next to him, telling Wels to sit down.

Wels silently sat down. He watched Stress play around with the animals. X was nearby, studying a pig like it was the most fascinating thing he'd seen.

Grian studied him with those different-shaped pupils. They formed diamonds, but you couldn't tell unless you were sitting close to him. He spoke up again. "You can see she can defend herself. So why do you keep trying so hard to protect her?"

Wels was surprised by the directness of the question.  For a moment, he didn't knew how to answer.

He looked away, embarrassed for what he about to say. "I don't know. The kingdom burned down. Who knows where the rest of the royal family is. I guess I just feel like I have to—like I have to honor my duty as a knight."

He was a little surprised with how much he had spilled. He hadn't even said this much to Stress—he didn't want to tamper with her mood. But those thought had been swirling around, and they suddenly burst out like water flowing from a broken dam.

But Grian didn't judge him for what he said. Instead, he looked like he understood. He didn't press. Wels liked that about him.

"So...what now? We're stuck in this world. None of us know how to get back to our old world, if we could."

Grian shrugged. "I arrived after X. The poor guy was so overwhelmed by everything. It feels nice, though, having you guys around."

"Same."

Grian glanced over at Stress. "We'll get through this, alright? Everything'll be okay."

Wels sure hoped so, but he didn't say that out loud. He just nodded silently.

The two of them turned and watched Stress play as the sun set over the horizon.

(WC: 1400)