Once again, this was inspired by @Stars_And_Clouds837 ! 

If you haven't read the previous chapter, I suggest you read it before.

Madness. That's all I'm going to say.

TW:
- Death

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The sound of children diverted Grian from his thoughts as he looked out of his window. Both Scott and Cleo were here, with a child Pearl and Martyn. Grian smiled, seeing the two as children, and went to go get Scar.

"Scar! We're going to meet some new friends!" Scar looked up from playing with toy trains, excitement spread across his face.

"New friendies? I wanna go see 'em!" Scar jumped up, looking at Grian, holding his arms up. Grian laughed and bent down slightly, picking Scar up. Scar laughed in delight as Grian went down the stairs and opened the door. Outside, he saw Scott and Cleo, Scott's fist raised like he was about to knock.

"How did you know that we were almost here? Did you have a vision or something?" Scott asked playfully, to which Grian laughed at.

"No, I just saw you two outside walking over from the window." Grian answered, stepping outside, closing the door behind him.

"Anyway," Grian continued. "Are these Martyn and Pearl?" Grian looked down at the sleeping Martyn and the awake Pearl. 

"Mhm, they haven't been trouble yet. He's been sleeping nearly the entire time we've been walking." Cleo responded, talking about the child Martyn who was now just waking up.

"Gri? Are these friendies?" Scar asked, looking up at Grian. Grian smiled, booping Scar on the nose.

"Yes Scar! The one with brown hair is Pearl, and the blond one is Martyn!" Grian told him, placing Scar down. Scott did the same with a slightly confused Pearl, while Martyn was still waking up. Scar walked up to Pearl, and extended his hand."

"I'm Scar. I wanna be your friend!" Scar exclaimed, and a smile was brought onto Pearl's face.

"I'm Pearl! I wanna be your friend too!" Pearl responded, and shook Scar's hand. Scar turned to Grian, joy in his eyes.

"I made a friendie Gri!" Scar smiled, pointing at Pearl. Grian smiled, bending down.

"That's great Scar! Pearl, I'm Grian." Grian responded, hugging Pearl. Pearl studied Grian for a moment, before speaking.

"Bread?" Grian froze. Scott started to crack up, holding his sides as he laughed uncontrollably. Cleo cracked up as well, which woke Martyn up completely.

"Clweo..? What's happening?" Martyn asked tiredly. Cleo looked down at the child, forcing themselves to not laugh.

"Nothing, nothing. Do you want to meet some new friends?" Cleo put Martyn down. Martyn looked between Pearl and Scar, unsure of what to do. Scar walked up first, a smile on his face.

"I'm Scar. Wanna be friendies?" Scar asked, smiling. Martyn looked at the child, before smiling back at him! 

"Sure!" Martyn replied. He turned to Pearl, still smiling.

"I know you! You're my fwiend!" He exclaimed. Pearl's face lit up in joy. She bounced up and down, happy that she had a friend.

While the children were talking, Scott, Cleo, and Grian talked about their soulmates turning into children.

"So, how did you find Pearl and Martyn?" Grian asked.

"Oh, well, I wanted to go talk to Martyn about something, and his location showed that he was with Pearl in her tower. I went over there and the door was unlocked, so I went in. At the top, I found them both as children, so I ran over to Scott to show him what happened." Cleo explained, Scott nodding in agreement.

"For me, I woke up with a baby panda sleeping next to me, and I thought that Scar turned into a panda. However, I then heard laughter Scar's panda reserve, and I ran outside and found him with the pandas." Grian explained his story, with Cleo and Scott nodding.

Soon, the sound of more children diverted all their attention. The rest of the members came walking over to the base, and Grian saw who were children. Joel, Bdubs, Big B, and Tango were all children. Grian groaned silently, not wanting to deal with a child Joel at all, knowing that he was extremely chaotic, even as a child.

The rest of the group arrived and set all the children down, the adults all saying "Hi," to one another.

"So, how did you find out that your soulmates become children?" Scott asked. Etho, Impulse, Ren, and Jimmy looked amongst each other, before Ren answered first.

"I didn't know where Big B went, as he wasn't there when I woke up, so I walked around our base, and found him outside playing with a random dog." Ren told his story to the others. Etho, Impulse, and Jimmy all shared their stories one after the other.

"I woke up and heard Joel laughing from across the ship, so I went over and found him as a child. I had genuinely thought that Joel kidnapped a child at first." Etho explained. Everyone laughed at Etho thinking that Joel had kidnapped a child.

"Bdubs was actually trying to wake me up before I did. He ended up falling asleep on the floor when I woke up." Impulse claimed.

"Me and Tango were trying to get a Warden up to the surface. He got in the line of one of it's shrieks, but when it ended, I found him latched onto me, like a scared child." Jimmy told his story last.

Meanwhile, all the kids were getting to know one another. Scar went around to Joel, Bdubs, Big B, and Tango and introduced himself, Pearl, and Martyn to all of them. 

"I'm Scar, these are my fwiends Pearl and Martyn. Wanna be our friendies?" Scar would ask. Due to Scar's loving personality, soon, all the kids were running around the panda reserve, playing with the pandas. Meanwhile, the adults were talking about a plan to turn the kids back into adults as soon as possible.

"So, do we know who did this?" Scott asked. The other remaining adults looked down, trying to think of something or someone who could've done this. Grian soon looked up, a serious expression on his face.

"I know who did this," He started. Everyone looked at him, waiting for an answer. "It must have been the Watchers. They're the only beings I can think of that will turn members of a server into children for 'fun'." Everyone's eyebrows narrowed. There was silence for a moment before Cleo spoke up.

"Well, how do we reverse it? We don't want them to be stuck as children forever." Cleo pointed out, pointing to the panda reserve where the kids were.

"Well, the Watcher's have some sort of spell book in their lair that holds the spell to cast and reverse people turning into children. So, some of us have to go get it, while the others stay with the children." Grian responded. Everyone looked among each other, before Impulse spoke up.

"How about 3 of us go into the Watcher's lair and retrieve the book, and the other 4 stay with the children?" Etho suggested.

"That sounds great, but who will go into the Watcher's lair?" Jimmy asked.

"How about me, Scott, and Cleo go into the lair, and the rest of you lot stay here with the children?" Grian asked. All of them agreed with the plan, and Grian, Scott, and Cleo stayed behind as Jimmy, Impulse, Ren, and Etho went into the panda reserve.

Inside, the children were running around and playing with the pandas. Somehow, they had to get their attention, so Ren resorted to whistling, which diverted all the kids attention to the adults.

"Alright! Grian, Scott, and Cleo have to do some errands, so we'll be looking after all of you until they get back!" Ren told the children. All of the children stayed silent, looking up at the adults, until Scar walked up.

"Will they come back?" Scar asked, slight worry in his eyes. Impulse and Etho looked at each other, before Impulse knelt down, engulfing Scar in a hug.

"They will, Scar. They'll come back in a few hours, okay? I promise." Impulse broke out of the hug and held out his pinky, promising Scar that Grian, Scott, and Cleo will come back. After a moment's hesitation, Scar wrapped his pinky around Impulse's and shook it, signaling the beginning of a promise. A small smile was on Scar's face as he walked back to the group of children.

"See. The other adults will be back! Impy told me!" Scar told the other children, like they didn't hear. Then, Etho spoke up.

"How about we organize a game?" That directed all the children's attention. Their faces all lit up, and they listened attentively, wanting to know what game they were going to play.

"So, how about we play hide and seek? Me, Jimmy, Impulse, and Ren will all take turns counting to 60. While one of us is counting, everyone else has to hide somewhere, and try to be found last. Got it?" Etho explained. All the children nodded, and Ren turned around, covered his eyes, and started counting.

"1.. 2.. 3..." And the game was on.

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Once Etho, Jimmy, Impulse, and Ren entered the reserve, Grian turned back around and looked at Scott and Cleo.

"Alright, we have to get into the lair, so I will open a portal to get us into there. We'll have to be careful though, as many Watchers lurk around the halls, so don't hesitate to kill one if you see them. I know where the spell book is kept, in their massive library. We cannot split up, as it poses a risk of either of you getting caught. Got it?" Grian asked. Scott and Cleo nodded, before taking a step back to let Grian open a portal.

Grian waved his hands, his eyes and the bottom of his wings turning purple. He muttered a spell underneath his breath, and soon, a bright purple portal appeared. Scott shivered slightly, feeling the cold wind from the portal itself. Turning around, Grian motioned for Scott and Cleo to enter right after him. He stepping into the portal first, the purple engulfing his body. Scott quickly followed, with Cleo going in right after Scott. As soon as Cleo went into the portal, it closed, trapping them inside the Watcher's lair until they got out.

As Scott and Cleo stepped onto the other side, Grian had already created some weapons for all of them. Grian gave himself a sword and a handful of throwing knifes. Scott got an axe and end crystals, and Cleo got a bow with poison arrows, and harming potions. Quickly thanking Grian, they followed Grian as they set off into finding the spell book.

Quickly, they encountered 3 Watchers. The Watchers didn't see them, so they were able to attack quickly. Using their weapons, Grian and Cleo were able to kill one of them and Scott used his end crystal to kill the other two. Once the smoke from the explosion cleared, they saw the dead bodies of the Watchers on the ground. Since they were dead, Grian, Scott, and Cleo quickly moved on.

[----------]

Footsteps walked around the reserve. It was Etho's turn to count to 60 and search for the children and the other adults. Everyone was well-hidden, with the pandas constantly getting in his way, distracting him. He couldn't hear any snickering from children, it was just so silent. Too silent, in fact. Etho continued to walk around, until he heard some slight shuffling coming from behind the tree next to him. Peeking over, he saw Pearl sniffing quietly, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Pearl? Are you okay?" Etho whispered, kneeling down to sit next to her. She looked up at Etho, small tears in her eyes, looking down slightly.

"... Does Scottie hate me?" She whispered, looking up at Etho. Etho was taken aback slightly. While he didn't exactly know what was happening between Scott, Pearl, Martyn, and Cleo, he knew the basics. He sighed, trying to figure out what to say to the child.

"I don't think he does. I sort of know what's happened, yet I think that he still cares for you, he just doesn't want to show it." Etho replied, a small smile behind his mask. Pearl's eyes widened slightly as she wiped her tears, giving Etho a small hug, which was a 'Thank you'. Etho smiled at the child, wrapping his arms around the small child.

"Anyway, I've found you. Want to find the others?" Etho asked, standing up. Pearl nodded, jumping up. Etho started to look more closely behind trees and up them, Pearl following quickly behind him.

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Multiple bodies hit the floor as Grian, Scott, and Cleo continued on. They had all killed so many of the Watchers that they had lost count. Blood was on their weapons, and they were all breathing heavily.

Turning a corner, luckily seeing no Watchers in the corridor, Grian was able to spot the library fairly easily.

"This way. Come on!" Grian whispered to the other two. Scott and Cleo followed Grian as they all entered the library, shutting the door behind them as they entered.

"Alright. We're here," Grian started, looking around. "Look for a glowing purple book with a black Watcher or EVO symbol on the cover, got it?" Grian asked. Scott and Cleo nodded, and they started looking through the shelves, trying to find the book and get out of here as quick as possible.

It took them about 20 minutes, but soon, Scott pulled a book out from one of the top shelves, and saw that it matched the description that Grian gave them.

"Grian! Cleo! I found it! I found the book!" Scott whisper-called, in case any Watchers heard him. Cleo and Grian ran over to where Scott was, and Grian took the book from Scott. He opened the book, coughing slightly as dust from the book hit him in the face. Grian flipped through the pages, looking for the spell to reverse players back to adults. After skimming through nearly 100 pages, Grian finally found the reverse spell, only to realize that it was a potion.

"Oh crap. Oh shit. It's a potion. We have to make a potion to reverse the children." Grian whispered, drawing Scott and Cleo closer.

"Okay, well, how do we make it?" Cleo asked, folding their arms.

"I saw a potion making area in this room with chests. Let's use that and hopefully, those chests contain what we need." Grian answered, walking over to the potion-making area. Potion bottles with water were set up at the bottom of the brewing stand. A cauldron sat next to the brewing stand filled to the brim with water. Chests lined up against the walls, and Grian put the book down as he listed out the ingredients.

"Okay, these are the ingredients. We'll need an aromatic plant with greyish-green leaves, used as a herb. A crushed yellow material, which occurs as interesting cubic crystals. A drop of sweetness made by bees from collecting nectar from flowers. A sweet crystalized substance obtained from various plants. And finally, the breath that comes from the dragon of the end." Grian recited, looking up at Scott and Cleo. No one spoke for a few moments, trying to figure out what the ingredients were. Grian was looking at the potion, while Scott and Cleo murmured amongst themselves. Finally, Scott spoke up.

"Wait. I think I know what most of the ingredients are. We need sage, pyrite, a drop of honey, and that's all I could think of. Cleo, however, knows that the final two ingredients are sugar and dragons breath!" Scott noted, looking over at Grian. The avian's eyes lit up as he scanned the page once again.

"That's it! Thank you Scott and Cleo for figuring this out. Now, let's get the ingredients." Grian replied, turning the brewing stand on.

"How many bottles do we need? One for each child?" Cleo asked, opening a chest and grabbing another 4 empty potion bottles and filling them up with water. Scott looked around the chests as he found all the ingredients, making sure that it was enough to brew 7 potions with. Grian checked the amount of blaze powder, seeing that they had enough for all of the potions. Grian added the ingredients one at a time, while Scott took them out once the potions were brewed, and Cleo placed more bottles on the bottom. After a little while, all of the 7 potions had been brewed, and Grian pulled out a shulker box to put all of the potions inside.

"Alright. We have everything. Can we go back now?" Cleo asked. Grian nodded, and after opening the portal back to the overworld, the three of them all walked through the portal and left the Watcher's lair.

Oh, and they might have also started a fire in the library and took the spell book with them (Between you and me, they totally did).

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The screaming of children was the first thing that Grian, Scott, and Cleo heard as they came back into the overworld. Without a doubt, they knew that Joel was screaming, while the others ran around. Ren saw them first, and after prying Big B off his ankle, he walked over to the 3.

"So, how did it go?" He asked. He looked tired out, probably from Joel, as it seemed that the other children weren't screaming.

"We got the potions, the book, and we set fire to the Watcher's lair!" Grian replied, a smile on his face. Ren, despite the slight initial shock, nodded.

"When are we going to use the potions then to turn them back?" Ren asked, pointing to the children.

"Right now. It's starting to get late, and the potion will take effect soon." Grian took the shulker box out, holding it in his hands. Ren nodded, and turned around.

"Hey kids! Grian, Scott, and Cleo are back, and they have something for you!" He called. Immediately, all the children ran over to the trio, their soulmates running up first!

"Gri! I missed you!" Scar cried out, a smile on his face.

"Clweo!" Martyn cried, holding up his arms. Cleo picked him up and held him close, a smile on their face."

"Scotty! How are you?" Pearl asked, a large smile on her face. "I'm doing great Pearl, thank you!" Scott replied, kneeling down to hug his soulmate child.

"Alright kids!" Grian shouted, getting all their attention. "We got some potions for you, then you need to go to sleep! Alright?" He called, with all the children nodding in agreement. One by one, Grian handed out the potions to each child, with all the children drinking it all.

"Let's sleep in my base. I have enough room." Grian whispered to Impulse, who - while holding a sleepy Bdubs - nodded. Grian led everyone into his and Scar's base, crafting up extra beds for everyone. As he got Scar into bed and turned off the light, Grian saw that everyone was asleep already.

Scott and Pearl.

Cleo and Martyn.

Etho and Joel.

Impulse and Bdubs.

Jimmy and Tango.

Ren and Big B.

And finally, him and Scar. Each adult soulmate were holding their soulmate child close, and as Grian got into bed, Scar quickly held onto him, breathing lightly. Grian smiled, letting himself drift off, knowing that the potion will turn them back during the night.

[----------]

The next morning, Grian woke up first. Sitting up, he noticed that everyone who had been turned into children - Scar, Joel, Pearl, Martyn, Bdubs, Tango, and Big B - were back as adults. Grian sighed in relief, the potion had worked. He watched as the others who weren't turned into children wake up, and see that they were children again. Soon after, all the soulmates who were turned into children woke up, groaning and rubbing their eyes. A sleepy Scar looked at Grian, and like the others who were turned into children, asked their soulmate one question.

"What even happened?" They all asked, to which their soulmates answered.

"It's a long story."

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AAANNNNNDDDD IT'S DONE! (God this took me like a good 6 days to complete)

WC: 3281