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It was as if the secret keeper was taunting him—the constant demands to win, laid on every page. There was no one else there, he had already won. What more did they want from him? The lands remained barren of any other sign of life, there was no reason why he shouldn't have won already.
He presses the button again in vain, knowing what the outcome will be but begging that this time, this time something might change, that the response will somehow be different. The book falls into his hand, and each page; win, win, win. Win the game. Win secret life. It becomes like a voice that surrounds him, taunting him. Win. Win. Win.
Win?
How? He had already beaten the others, that was supposed to be it. That was the game, he had done the task, submitted the book to the keeper, and pressed the completed button. That's it, it's supposed to be over, he should be back home by now.
What was the secret keeper demanding of him? What more did they want from him? Was it because he never fully acknowledged killing her? Is this what the others went through when they won their games? Wait. Other winners? Other games? This had happened before, well it wasn’t the same but still, they had all been through these games before. He had been alone before, abandoned even. The new memories were overwhelming, so much had happened. So much made sense. Each game held a similar base of the life system but there was something else that remained the same. He looked at the Secret Keeper, now he knew why some of the others had reacted the way they did to the enormous statue.
Was he supposed to go out heartbroken like Grian had? Full of Vengeance like Scott? In Shock Like Pearl? Or like a complete Maniac like Martin? The keeper will be waiting awhile if that is what it is waiting for. He was just so numb all he wanted to do was go home. To see the others again, he was tired and missed Jellie, all his time here had given him more ideas for Scarland. That and he needed to have a long and very overdue conversation with Grian. After all, by the seams of it, he and Grian have had a lot of History in these so-called games.
“What do you want from me? I have already won your game. What more do you need?” Scar finally cried out.
Silence followed.
He couldn’t say he was surprised, honestly, he didn’t know what he had expected to happen. There wasn’t anyone here except himself and the secret keeper. What he wasn’t expecting was a new book to appear in front of him. This one was different though, without even opening the cover he knew that there was something off with this book. It glowed a bit more than the others, the cover itself was not made of leather, and most obvious, there was a picture of earth etched on the front cover. The front page was blank, was this it? Was this the end of it all? Could he go home now? There was no more demanding that he win the game, it was just empty. Flicking through all the empty pages, a loud boom sounded out like the end portal had been opened up again then for the first time in days he heard a voice.
“Xelqua’s Favourite, We will be sure to savor it.
So far out of our reach, A lesson we need to teach.
There is nowhere for you to go now, We need to remind Xelqua of his vow.
You shall join us in his place, And you will be grateful for our grace.
We shall bless you with sight, And you shall see the light.
The winner from the beginning, Xelqua will no longer need convincing.
Yesterday we saved Mars And discarded the stars.
But today our attention is on earth, So show us your worth.”
The book in his hands glowed brighter as the words were said, writing themselves into the pages. It went silent again, leaving him with new questions. Who was Xelqua? Why was he Xelqua’s favourite? What did that even mean? A ran down his spine he quickly looked around, but no one was there. Of course, there wasn’t there hadn’t been for days but for some reason, he couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching. As if thousands of eyes were peering at him from every direction. Was whoever that was, watching him?
“Who are you? What do you want from me?” It remains silent.
Glancing at the pages again, ‘you shall join us in his place’ and ‘we shall bless you with sight’ were they referencing this Xelqua? Sight? He could already see. None of this made sense, it made his head hurt though, and made him want home more. He just wanted to be back on Hermitcraft. Would he ever be able to go back to the place he had called home for so long?
The land went dark, just like it did when any of them had been close to the keeper. But he was out of range and he shouldn't be affected. It looked as if night had fallen only about 6 hours too early. He watched in horror as out of the black void around him eyes started to appear all around him.
“Who are you?” he called out again.
The purple eyes remained where they were, hanging in the void around him. Not moving, not even to blink. Surprisingly, it was the unnerving and never-ending staring that gave him chills. It was as if they were searching through his soul and mind.
“Who is Xelqua?” he tried, if they weren’t going to let him leave, the least they could do was answer him.
“Scar?” his head snapped towards the voice, Grian was standing under the secret keeper with his wings puffed up and a faint purple halo above him “Come on it’s time to go home.”