Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A high-pitch note sung through the air of the server that would eventually be known as Hermitcraft Six, soon followed by a sound like the popping of a balloon. There were no players there yet to witness the tear of light ripping through the fabric of the sky nor were there eyes to see the being that fell from it.

Xelqua did not have a lot of time to work with. Empty though this server was, it wouldn't be for very long if it didn't act fast. [Players, it could deal with. Players, it could hide from, flee from as soon as it had a new server destination. What it feared was those it was running from. Going back to that, going back to One and Two, was worse than whatever the players that made their home here would do to it, should it be found.]

It took its Sight and used that power and its knowledge of code to repair the hole it had torn open to get here. Damaged lines were rewritten to be stronger than they were. Sturdier. The players that may one day call this server home may never notice, but it would do what it could to keep them out of the talons of the Eyes of Bedrock.

Repairing and reinforcing this server's protections and firewall though made two things very clear. One, this world had all the setup necessary for a multiplayer server and then some. Two, doing this while already exhausted and hungry was not something it was keen to repeat again if it had the choice [It had done so before when Two had insisted it did not need sustenance or rest cycles, One would allow it what it needed but then put it in the Box, Xelqua didn't know which was worse].

But back to the first point. Players were either going to be here soon or they were already present. And the one way to find the answer to that was to look for a Server Gate.

There. One was opening about a dozen blocks away from its location.

Players imminent. Time to disappear.

Xelqua didn't have a lot of options to do that, so it cloaked its code as best it could on short notice and fled to the water. Thanks to its gills it could function underwater for a limited amount of time as if it were breathing air. The only players that could follow it below the waves were ones with aquatic code themselves, or magic like water breathing potions.

Finding a sunken wreck of a ship that wasn't too deep down was like finding diamond ore. With the ship it could hide out here long term, being out of reach of the players here so long as it didn't make its movement around the server too obvious to draw their curiosity onto it.

A spark of inspiration struck its core like a gong and Xelqua found itself digging up planks and slabs to make a small pocket of air. Surfacing for air for its non-aquatic lungs and to scan the area around to make sure players were not out this way brought with it a new thing it had never seen before.

The ocean was filled with new fish and kelp and seagrass that it had not known of, before, but this thing looked like a zombie. Vaguely. Its skin was tinged blue and it too had gills, unnecessary for the undead though it was. It also carried with it a large forked spear and was aiming it at Xelqua’s head.

Xelqua dove beneath the waves.

In its efforts to take out the aquatic zombie with the trident, it died two times. The first was a shock. The server pulled its body back together, scales and feathers and all, and in the time that took, Xelqua as a bodiless spirit huddled close to where it had set down its bed. Close to its reforming body. The water pulled and the humid air clung to it and Xelqua felt vulnerable in a way it was unfortunately familiar with. It felt Seen, in those moments. Everything it could see in that state was grayed out, too [except the green and white strings of World and Player code that lit up its bed like a block of glowstone in the void] but Xelqua itself was not. It was far too easy to spot.

The second death was more of the same, though there was less cowering by its spawn point and more focus toward things like the presence of Admin code making the process smoother. Faster. Less like Xelqua was being studied and put back together piece by piece under microscope levels of scrutiny. The Admin code [Dark and shiny and strong like obsidian, an echo of a music disc. Was that otherside?] made it feel like there was a shield between it and the World. There was something about the Admin code being there that changed the World code from being intense and overwhelming [and a hair's breadth from triggering memories of One and Two Xelqua did not want to remember] to something much more like what it thought now the Admin must be like.

The Admin code was as light as a chicken feather and when Xelqua finished respawning and awoke on its bed once more, it found it missed that feeling it had no name for.

As it got up, gathered its items and continued to make its hidey hole under the sea, it admonished that train of thought. It was lucky that the Admin did not notice that the creature they were helping through respawn was not one of theirs. It was lucky that the Admin was [like sheep's wool, like a door providing a pocket of air underwater] oblivious, or forgiving.

No. Had to be oblivious. The Admin and any they had given a status of Moderator or Operator would not be forgiving of an intruder such as itself. [It had been here first but only by minutes at most and Xelqua wasn't going to fight anyone over this. This was not its world. Not its players— why did thinking that hurt?]

The sun fell and rose a few times, though how many it had kept itself too busy to keep count. By the time the space it had carved for itself was deemed acceptable there were far more details and items crafted and placed in such a way that it's hidey hole under the sea was not only functional, but aesthetically pleasing too.

It didn't know how it had crafted anything, for the boat or the tools it had been using to gather materials to craft even more. It was not a player. It was more than a player, more than mortal, it just needed to open its eyes and let itself see– no. It was not more. It was not above. Mortal or not, it had to remember that [and yet it could not hold onto more than a single name that may not even belong to a real person, for all it knew that name could be made up].

The magic used to craft was specifically a magic used by players, was the thing. Xelqua, if it were not in some way a player, would not be able to do so. It may not know the magic. It may not know all of the details, the placement of items, the recipes, but crafting felt old. Old like the skill had been there before but One and Two had buried it when they'd [unmade and remade it over and over and—].

Being able to do this was good.

Accomplishing what it already had with this now unburied old thing was very good.

One task gave way to another. A goal. It needed to travel to the Nether. The obsidian gate was created and lit sometime while it was crafting and mining. All it had to do was go through and grab the small amount of soul sand it needed. That was all.

That was it.

So why was it so hesitant to do this one quick thing?

Its scales and feathers itched with all the sand and dust they'd accumulated. Now that Xelqua had stopped for a moment that itch came to the front of it's mind and of course it needed to rid itself of [exhaustion and hunger and Two always commented on remaking it again if it's body continued to need physical sustenance only to have a waste product because of inefficiency] this before it could even think to venture out.

With another turn of the sun its cleaning was completed thoroughly and it should not need another until after its resting cycle. It had not been long enough yet for its active cycle to end in favor of a rest cycle, however. Xelqua had not noticed its muscles aching for long periods, nor were its reflexes and response times slowed. It could continue on as it has been for several more days before rest became a necessity. Or respawn. Respawn had a tendency to reset hunger and rest in most survival worlds it had been tasked to Watch.

Really, it was thinking of ways to stall this Nether trip even though it would be quick. In and out and no one would know it was ever there. It would return and give itself a short rest. A small amount of time doing nothing but sitting and breathing and thinking [One and Two would hate it, it can already hear the deafening echoes in its skull ordering it up, ordering it to move].

Xelqua stepped through the Nether portal. The second it could separate its new surroundings [red, thick and hot and dry air, it was already too much, overwhelming, it physically could not be here for very long] it saw the sand appear in its talons.

It was not far from a soul sand biome that it could see. But out of nowhere it had somehow acquired… at least four blocks of the stuff.

It stared at the blocks in its talons for several long moments before the heat surrounding it forced it to move back through the portal [and it refused to think of where that sand had come from, refused to think of the implications].

When it came out the other side yet again Xelqua immediately noticed it was not back in it's base nest shipwreck.

It had not accounted for this possibility.

Leave. Yes. It needed to leave quickly. Open no chests. Leave no trace. Lean on what it had learned [becoming little more than a shadow around One and Two hoping to avoid their notice, and their ire].

It exited the base in the hill, made a boat with shaking limbs, and sailed in the direction it thought its shipwreck was.

[Cleo was busy building her ship, at the time. They saw a boat rowing past out of the corner of her eye and at first didn't think much of it. But then they looked again. The rowboat slowed down. And for a moment she was staring face to face with some player-creature they had never seen before. They squinted. It was hard to tell what they looked like. There were feathered wings, though. Fins. A fish tail? Maybe? The player stared back, blinked, and rowed away quicker than they had on approach. Cleo got the distinct sensation though that they could still see her until they were well out of sight.

They had looked skinny. Pale and sunburnt where there was skin not covered by feathers or scales or clothes and armor.

She had also not been informed of a new player joining them.

So. Either someone had joined at the last minute through some emergency situation and Xisuma had yet to inform everyone about it. Or the ghosts and spirits were already starting to get to them from a lack of sleep.

Hm.

Definitely a new player. Couldn't be anything else. Definitely wasn't the 48 hours and counting that she'd gone without sleep.]

<ZombieCleo> i didn't know you adopted a new kid, X

<RentheDog> x has another kid?

<JoeHills> oh yeah ive thought there was a new energy running around mumbo's area in the futuristic district.

<Cubfan> makes sense hey cleo what did you see

<ZombieCleo> i only saw them for a minute guys but theyre skin and bones and either hybrid or some other non-human for sure

<Xisumavoid> what's all this about?

<RentheDog> youre new kid

<Falsesymmetry> youre

<Xisumavpid> ???

<JoeHills> im dissappointed x you didn't tell me im an uncle again smh

<Xisuma> please im telling you i didn't adopt anyone else i didnt let anyone in theres no join message there should not be a new player

<Mumbo> you say that but i just saw someone hop out a boat and go underwater near my island

<GoodtimeswithScar> are they part fish do ghey have an underehater base

<GoodtimeswithScar> underwater

<Mumbo> i saw fish traits dunno about underwater base though

<ZombieCleo> alright lets not bother them guys

<Impulse> if anyone has spare shulkers and food or welcome gifts this early id be happy to drop it off to them

<Impulse> dont worry Cleo all deliveries will be left on a surface platform i will not snoop

<Xisumavoid> none of you believe me do you

<JoeHills> theres potentially another starving orphan so no absolutely not

<Xisumavoid> you know what fair enough

<Xisumavoid> ill check the firewall and protections in case they hacked their way in

<Cubfan> if they did whitelist them without telling them

<Cubfan> itll be funny

Several more days passed. Xelqua kept expecting someone to turn up at its shipwreck or catch it while it was out gathering even more sand for more glass, but no one showed. Xelqua had time to construct a bottle out of stained and clear glass, hate it, start over, and make a better one solely out of clear glass. It died multiple times from the heat in the biomes above water that it frequented to get the material this project was requiring and from something that it tentatively called hunger pains even though eating and filling it's hunger and saturation did nothing to quell them [and unlike normal hunger or the status condition this did not reset or abate on respawn]. It has so far never died directly to those strange hunger pains but the distractions and lapses in movement have.

After creating the scute farm and having to deal with the most frightening mob Xelqua has come across so far [phantoms were no joke, especially when it had been running on twenty minutes of sleep in roughly fifty hours they were terrifying to deal with], getting the rest of it's small farms in order was mostly easy. Automatic wheat and infinite eggs, feathers, steak, sugarcane and leather. Sure they were all in the ugliest underground room ever but Xelqua was the only one who would be there to see it.

One of the next things Xelqua wanted to do was build a conduit. Its respiratory system [with its gills on its face, neck, and chest aiding its lungs instead of there being two different systems] needed help to transfer between breathing underwater and breathing air, and breathing overworld air versus the air of the End or the Void was an adjustment too. It hadn’t had much of a choice but to deal with it, with adjusting to overworld air directly from the Void, but it could make being underwater around its area easier on itself. [It wouldn’t need the turtle helmet anymore and it wouldn’t need to keep surfacing because its body panicked in the time it took for its lungs to process what was coming through its gills instead of its nose and mouth.] Xelqua knew this would also make it so the other players that were here would be able to get to it much easier than before. They wouldn’t even need to bother with potions or enchantments or a turtle helmet of their own.

No one had shown up, yet, Xelqua had to remind itself. No one was looking for it.

But it might have to go to one of them for help anyway, with what it needed to make the conduit functional and something that it wanted [it didn’t need to do this but it liked building and wanted to create instead of watching as servers imploded—] to do more of.

It was lucky that there was an ocean temple close to where its shipwreck was. When Xelqua rowed it's boat over there, however, the guardians in the area quickly proved that even full diamond armor and the ability to breathe relatively okay underwater would do nothing to help against them. They shot beams of light out of their eye! What was it supposed to do with that?!

A tactical retreat showed that just because Xelqua only knew of its closest neighbor, didn’t mean that they were its only neighbor.

“Hello there! You’re the new guy everyone’s been talking about, then?”

Xelqua stood tense as the player somehow made the image of a turtle look intimidating even while they were appearing to act friendly. It was ready to bolt at any moment but if it wanted to make a conduit, if it wanted to build with dark prismarine without having to go through the pain of making the blocks itself, it needed help.

“I didn’t know you were— I mean I didn’t think I was uh, someone worth talking about.” Ow. It’s voice was not sounding good right now. Thankfully it knew Overworldi [something that One and Two had forbidden it from speaking, and since it didn’t know Enderai or Voidtongue at the time, it simply didn’t speak. Even when it had eventually learned them both, both Watchers had deemed it about as smart as a dog] though the less said about its ability to read and write in the language, the better.

The turtle armored player’s face twisted up in an expression Xelqua couldn’t quite make sense of. It looked most like confusion though so that’s what it was sticking with. Something about what it had said had confused them. Not good.

“I’m Xisuma.”

“Xelqua.” While it didn’t like its name, being known by a name instead of Three, on the occasions One and Two would call it that, was better than the alternative.

“Well, I’ll tell you Xelqua, it’s not every day we get a new player so myself and the others are rather curious about you. You seemed lost, though. Everything alright?”

“Yes, Mr. X-Eye-Zooma.”

“What did you call me?”

If it wasn’t kicked, banned, or hunted after this whole interaction Xelqua would consider that a major victory. Even more of a victory than the times it had managed to throw a wrench in any of the plans that the Eyes of Bedrock had for the servers they made it Watch over. If this went well, maybe it could consider meeting the other players that lived around here. The mine it had made ran right up into the one that its island dwelling neighbor had made and gave it easy access to their base. And their cows. And the ability to throw as many chicken eggs as it could carry when this weird itch under its scales to cause mischief became too much to hold back any longer.

“Um… Zooma?”

Xelqua couldn’t see more than Xisuma’s eyes squinting with whatever expression they were making behind their helmet, “No, I’m pretty sure it was X-I-Zooma. But that’s alright.” Their shoulders dropped and they showed empty palms to it, were they going to attack? Summon a weapon?

It couldn’t hide the half step back it took.

<Xisuma> so i met the new guy

<JoeHills> story time!

<RentheDog> what're they like?

<GoodtimeswithScar> what's their name?

<Xisuma> name later, this is a bit more important

<GoodtimeswithScar> oh boy

<Xisuma> so introductions happened and they pronounced my name x-i-zooma

<Xisuma> so of course i go to joke about it

<Tango> im sensing a 'but' here

<Xisuma> you all know how i try to express my emotions clearly even when you cant see my face too well because of my helmet

<Xisuma> the new player doesn't... i don't think they knew any of that. they thought i was genuinely mad!

<Xisuma> mad enough to attack them! because of how they said my name!

<JoeHills> red alert xisuma is sad

<Cubfan> well we can't have that

<GoodtimeswithScar> is everything okay now?

<Xisuma> it's.. better. i told them i wasn't mad and they didn't do or say anything wrong and now we're collecting dark prismarine together and i gave them a conduit

<Xisuma> also they said their name was xelqua, scar

<Cubfan> good luck pronouncing that

<GoodtimeswithScar> hey! i am a master pronouncerer!

Mumbo is now AFK

Chapter Text

It thought its encounter with Xisuma had ended on a good note so to avoid any further missteps it made to excuse itself and left once it had been given a conduit as a gift. Maybe Xisuma had been speaking truthfully when they had said they hadn't been mad. That it had not said anything nor done anything wrong.

And after it had returned to its shipwreck and created the statue that would house the conduit, Xelqua had fallen ill.

It wasn't supposed to. One had said as such that it would never be sick and yet the moment it was confirmed that it felt hunger and exhaustion— Xelqua's throat hurt. When it attempted to speak out loud, it found it very hard to do so without discomfort. Nearly impossible to do so above a whisper without its voice sounding grating and horrible and unfit for the other players on this server to hear.

The prospect of being in its shipwreck for an extended amount of time as its throat healed from whatever affliction Xelqua had incurred however? Well. It was best to not dwell on that thought.

Xelqua felt the glass and wooden walls were too much, that first night. It laid on the wool of its bed and willed its mind to rest, beg and plead, and yet its mind was a traitor. It thought back to the Box and then all it could think of was how dark it would be if the torches it had set up were to ever go out.

It could not banish that thought in its bed. So Xelqua got up and ascended to the surface to find a platform of wooden planks floating in the waves. On it was a box, purple-gray in color. In front was a sign with Overworldi written on it, though Xelqua couldn't make sense of the wood carved symbols.

It poked the purple-ish box with a stick with only its head peeking out over the planks.

The box rotated and opened [Xelqua flinched] but did nothing else. After a long, long minute of nothing happening, the box rotated the other way and closed shut.

It glanced between the sign and the box again. There wasn't anything here that would make a tnt trap or prank effective. The platform was made out of wood, not sand, and was floating on the water. The idea of this being like a trapped chest was now ruled out.

What else should it check for?

Should it even attempt to, at this point?

Maybe it should look inside. See what was left here. And maybe open an Eye or two for Sight. Xelqua did not want to steal from anyone, not with people like Xisuma on this server.

It pulled itself up onto the platform and pushed lightly at the strange box-chest to get it to open again, this time looking at it with Sight to pull every bit of relevant code it could. The information appeared before its eyes in Voidtongue.

>  ̇/1 ᓭ⍑⚍ꖎꖌᒷ∷ ʖ𝙹 ̇/ <ℸ ̣ ᔑリ⊣𝙹ℸ ̣ ᒷꖌ>
> ᓭ⍑⚍ꖎꖌᒷ∷ ʖ𝙹 ̇/ リᔑᒲᒷ↸ [∴ᒷꖎᓵ𝙹ᒲᒷ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ⍑ᒷ∷ᒲ╎ℸ ̣ ᓵ∷ᔑ⎓ℸ ̣ !] <╎ᒲ!¡⚍ꖎᓭᒷᓭ⍊>
> ᓭ⍑⚍ꖎꖌᒷ∷ ʖ𝙹 ̇/ !¡ꖎᔑᓵᒷ↸ <╎ᒲ!¡⚍ꖎᓭᒷᓭ⍊>
>  ̇/2 ᓭℸ ̣ ᔑᓵꖌ “128” ╎∷𝙹リ ╎リ⊣𝙹ℸ ̣  < ̇/ʖᓵ∷ᔑ⎓ℸ ̣ ᒷ↸, ╎⋮ᒷ⍊╎リ, ᓵ⚍ʖ⎓ᔑリ135, ↸𝙹ᓵᒲ77,  ̇/╎ᓭ⚍ᒲᔑ⍊𝙹╎↸, ╎ᒲ!¡⚍ꖎᓭᒷᓭ⍊>
>  ̇/1 ᓭℸ ̣ ᔑᓵꖌ “64” 𝙹ᔑꖌ ꖎ𝙹⊣ <⨅𝙹ᒲʖ╎ᒷᓵꖎᒷ𝙹>
>  ̇/2 ᓭℸ ̣ ᔑᓵꖌ “128” ʖ∷ᒷᔑ↸ <ℸ ̣ ᔑリ⊣𝙹ℸ ̣ ᒷꖌ>
>  ̇/1 ᓭℸ ̣ ᔑᓵꖌ ʖᔑꖌᒷ↸ !¡𝙹ℸ ̣ ᔑℸ ̣ 𝙹 <ℸ ̣ ᔑリ⊣𝙹ℸ ̣ ᒷꖌ>
>  ̇/1 ʖ𝙹𝙹ꖌ ᔑリ↸ ᑑ⚍╎ꖎꖎ, ⚍リᓭ╎⊣リᒷ↸ <╎ᒲ!¡⚍ꖎᓭᒷᓭ⍊>
>  ̇/2 ᓭℸ ̣ ᔑᓵꖌ “32” ᒷリ↸ᒷ∷ !¡ᒷᔑ∷ꖎ <ᓵ⚍ʖ⎓ᔑリ135>
>  ̇/1 !¡ᔑ╎リℸ ̣ ╎リ⊣ [ᒲᔑ!¡ 𝙹⎓ ⍑ᒷ∷ᒲ╎ℸ ̣ ᓵ∷ᔑ⎓ℸ ̣  6] <⍊╎リℸ ̣ ᔑ⊣ᒷʖᒷᒷ⎓>

Its talons were shaking. This, all of this, was for it?

It picked up the Book and Quill from the shulker box. Even if it couldn’t read the message written within it had to at least look at it.

Some pages were in Overworldi. Another few were in Nethran. Another was in Enderai. The last written pages were in Voidtongue. Each, presumably, had the same translated message.

Welcome to Hermitcraft,

We haven't seen you in the world chat yet at the time I'm writing this so first thing's first. If you currently do not have your comm for any reason or if it is not working for any reason, TangoTek or Docm77 will be able to get you a new one.

For this world we've divided this main island up into districts based on building style. A map, in the form of a painting, of the island with each district highlighted will be in this shulker for you. Your shipwreck is located in the futuristic district. If you would like

We didn't know exactly what you would need or want so we went with things you should be able to use no matter if you're a builder, redstoner, terraformer, or anything else. There's some pearls, food, logs, and iron.

If you need anything else or want help with a project please don't hesitate to ask!

– Impulse SV

Xelqua fell asleep on that platform, reading and rereading the book under the stars.

When it woke up as the sun was beginning to rise, however, it was feeling worse than before. It could barely make a sound, eating a baked potato from the shulker made It's throat ache, and it felt like it hadn't had nearly enough rest. There was also an itch under it's skin. It was semi familiar with this sensation by now. The urge to prank. To lay some TnT in a scavenger hunt. The need to create a trap, or a game? A game would last longer than a single prank. It could get these Hermits to play and the itch should be sated.

It had to be.

It pocketed everything from the shulker along with the strange chest, and made its way back underwater to its shipwreck. It needed an empty book and quill and a name tag.

Thinking up rules was hard, though [Xelqua had lived by ever shifting rules under One and Two and even though it didn't want to go back to that, the lack of rules made it feel weightless]. It didn't want to make too many, but too few would lead to confusion, which it didn't want.

So in the middle of planning, frustrated with its lack of clear thinking from whatever sickness had invaded its body, it made a decision.

If it was going to be ill, its island neighbor would be the unfortunate soul who would be dealing with it. And by it, Xelqua meant many, many chickens.

It grabbed several stacks [8 stacks, 128 eggs] and followed the path that connected its mine with its neighbor. Once above ground, it threw the eggs until it became a reflex. Then it found where its neighbor's base [underground, well hidden] currently was. So of course it descended to throw more eggs and hatch more chickens down there, too.

And then its neighbor showed up out of nowhere in a burst of purple particles that Xelqua distantly recognized as an enderman's teleportation rather than throwing an ender pearl, and they were standing face to face for the first time.

They had a mustache, it noted. They were tall, too. Wide red eyes [a hybrid, then?] stared at it, tusks [piglin and enderman? very interesting, and from what Xelqua knew, quite rare] visible from the open mouthed expression they had on their face. They twisted their fingers over and through each other as if they wanted to say something but the words could not be found in their mind. [It knew this feeling all too well.]

Xelqua threw an egg at its neighbor's face.

Mumbo had just gotten back to his base. He’d gone on another mining and resource gathering mission but his heart and mind weren’t focused on it. They were focused on the fact that someone named Xelqua was on the Hermitcraft server and of the people Mumbo knew, only one of them had ever gone by that name at any point in time.

Grian had been going by Grian, though, when he and Mumbo had first met. Mumbo only knew about his friend’s former name [not dead name, Grian had never referred to it as such so Mumbo wouldn’t either] because of the late night rants Grian would go on. They were both fairly tired and most of it wasn’t remembered well the next morning but Mumbo had remembered it had something to do with not wanting someone from Grian’s past finding him. Which was fair enough, even if Mumbo couldn’t recall the details of why. Joe had a name they never went by anymore for similar reasons, False didn’t know her birth name in the first place, and several other hermits went by new names because of circumstances that lead them to Hermitcraft in the first place. Mumbo himself was even one of them.

But Mumbo had remembered quite clearly how Grian had gone on about never, ever, using that name again.

And there was someone on the server going by that name, according to his dad.

So one could imagine the kind of stress he’s under.

For all of two days he was in denial about the whole thing. Made up some story in his head about a person who just so happened to share that name, or who took the name after Grian left it behind, and there was no relation between this new person and Grian at all. 

For two days, Mumbo went on with his life as if he hadn’t seen ‘their name is xelqua’ on his communicator screen. As if the possibility that this was his best friend was nonexistent.

For two nights, Mumbo spent his time working instead of sleeping, and for two days he took naps instead of having a proper rest, because if he stopped long enough to let himself dream he knew what he’d find waiting for him there. He knew what his mind would conjure for him. [The last words Grian had messaged him before going off to fight the Ender Dragon. The messages even before then of fears and worries he dared not vocalize to any of his then-players. The messages Mumbo sent out when Grian hadn’t said anything for a while because surely the dragon fight, especially with nine or ten people, shouldn’t take that long, right?]

The conversation he had with Pearl who had been the only one that he had the number of, at the time. The denial he’d had back then. How he’d shut down when he couldn’t deny it anymore because his messages were going without replies and the silence was growing far, far too loud.

The worst part was the uncertainty. Pearl hadn’t told him much, just that Grian hadn’t been with them when they fought the dragon and he hadn’t been there when they’d returned to world spawn afterward. She’d said that she and the other Evo players were scattering, though not the reason why.

Mumbo still had her number. As far as he was aware she hadn’t changed it from last time and she’d told him about it beforehand, had messaged him with her new number so they could keep in touch.

They hadn’t, really. He knew he was bad at keeping up with friendships when he didn’t see them often. [He knew that all he’d talk about with her was Grian and that wasn’t fair to either of them.] So other than brief messages on birthdays, Mumbo hadn’t spoken to Pearl since.

Mumbo’s illusion shattered in an instant.

Right in front of him was, in fact, Grian. He looked different. Very different. He had both avian and aquatic traits where before, Grian had neither. Xelqua, Mumbo reminded himself even if it felt so wrong to do even in his head. Even with everything that changed though that was still his best friend’s mop of hair. That was still his eyes, even if they were a different color now. That was still his face staring back at Mumbo looking two blinks away from falling asleep.

Mumbo didn’t know what to say, or think, or do. He knew what name to call his friend right now but didn’t know why or what had prompted the change. Did Xelqua resent him for not searching for him? [Had he come to Mumbo in a sleepless fit to rant again like he used to?] What was Mumbo meant to do in a situation like this?

Xelqua throwing an egg at his face and hitting his suit instead stopped the anxious spiraling that Mumbo’s brain was performing. It was such a Grian thing to do that he ended up laughing. He was tired, hungry, sore, and he wasn’t sure if he could believe just yet that this was even real so maybe that laughter sounded a bit more unhinged than he would have liked.

Xelqua didn’t leave, though, like he thought he would. His friend just threw another egg at him.

This one spawned a baby chicken.

Really, Mumbo should have known that even with his best friend looking so different, there were some things that wouldn’t change.

“Okay, G- Xel.” He was also going to call Xelqua by a nickname, because Xel sounded a lot nicer, “Any particular reason you’re throwing chickens around my base or are you just bored?”

Xel’s face scrunched as he thought, then rubbed at his throat and mimed out writing something down.

“Not feeling well? And you decided to bother me about it? … You know what, I’m not surprised actually. I should have a book and quill somewhere around here. Give me just a minute, I don’t have a storage system built yet. I will have you know though that if I get sick after this I’m blaming you.”

Book and quill acquired, Xel scribbled down his reply and yep, that was definitely Grian’s handwriting alright. Mumbo would know that half cursive chicken scratch mess anywhere.

∴⍑𝙹 ↸𝙹 ╎ ⍑╎↸ᒷ ⎓∷𝙹ᒲ ╎⎓ ╎ ⊣ᒷℸ ̣  ||𝙹⚍ ᓭ╎ᓵꖌ

It’s been a while since Mumbo read any Voidtongue. Or Enchant, is what most people that weren’t voidwalkers (or other void denizens) called it.

“Why would you have to hide from anyone if I get sick? I mean, sure I’ll be a little miffed about not getting to build for a little while until it clears up, but that’s it. Not like you can control whether or not I get sick, mate.”

∴⍑ᔑℸ ̣  ᔑʖ𝙹⚍ℸ ̣  ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ᓵ⍑╎ᓵꖌᒷリᓭ

It took Xel some time to think over what he wanted to write down next but when he did, Mumbo was even more confused.

“As far as pranks go, Xel, as far as your pranks go, specifically, this is very mild? Very toned down. Sure I may be finding chickens around my base until the end of the season but they’re easy to deal with. I honestly expected something with more TnT and explosions.”

Xelqua looked inches away from tearing his hair out. Or his feathers. Or picking at his scales. Mumbo couldn’t quite tell which one he’d end up going for but he was getting really fidgety now and Mumbo had zero percent of an idea of what to do about it because he didn’t know why.

∴⍑𝙹 ᔑ∷ᒷ ||𝙹⚍ ᔑリ↸ ⍑𝙹∴ ↸𝙹 ||𝙹⚍ ꖌリ𝙹∴ ᒲᒷ?

Mumbo wanted to be anywhere but in his bunker starter base as his world was pulled out from under his feet for the second time in his life.

Xelqua didn’t know him. His friend that had pulled him out of one his lowest points didn’t remember him.

<Mumbo to FalseSymmetry> false I need help

<FalseSymmetry to Mumbo> everything alright?

<Mumbo to FalseSymmetry> come over please

<Mumbo to FalseSymmetry> xelqua is grian

<FalseSymmetry to Mumbo> oh dear okay

<Mumbo to FalseSymmetry> he doesn’t remember me

<Mumbo to FalseSymmetry> he doesn’t remember

<Mumbo to FalseSymmetry> but i know that’s him it has to be

<FalseSymmetry to Mumbo> hold on mumbo I'm on my way

Chapter Text

<FalseSymmetry to StressMonster> hey stress are you able to help with something

<StressMonster to FalseSymmetry> absolutely what do ya need?

<FalseSymmetry to StressMonster> im at mumbo’s, he's very distressed right now, but theres also a distressed and sick xelqua and i can’t handle both at once

<FalseSymmetry to StressMonster> mumbo knows who xelqua is but xelqua doesn’t know him

<StressMonster to FalseSymmetry> and it's still early game so potions aren’t an impossibility but they’re still expensive to make plus this being the elusive new guy everyone’s been talking about we don't know what will help or make them worse

<StressMonster to FalseSymmetry> dont you worry luv i’m on it

Xelqua’s mind was too fuzzy, too filled with sheep’s wool, to fully grasp what was going on the longer that it made an effort to stay awake. Mumbo had panicked at what it had written last and the player’s panic was only serving to fuel its own. The player was having some minor difficulty breathing but it could see that they were aware of this by an effort to time their inhales and exhales.

Someone sped down the ladder on broad dark bird wings. The player took note of Xelqua, stared between it and their servermate for about five beats of Xelqua’s core, before ignoring its presence altogether. They guided Mumbo through the timed breathing and Xelqua unconsciously began trying to copy them both. It didn’t take long, but once the hybrid player’s breaths were under sufficient enough control, the avian player began instructing Mumbo through something different.

“Five things you can see?”

“Acacia wood, you, X-Gr-Xel. I see Xel. ‘E’s sick, False. Gotta help-”

“We will, I promise. Two more things, Mumbo.”

“Water. And My farm.”

“Good.”

Xelqua held in its thoughts because it did not think its input would be appreciated here, and went to write down its own list of what it could see that Mumbo had not pointed out. It didn’t know what the point of this was, but it was hard to do, considering.

Closing its eyes, however, was not an option.

Here in this other player’s base was not a safe place to rest, no matter the weight dragging its bones down to be one with the earth.

<StressMonster to JoeHills, ZombieCleo>

<StressMonster> girls up ‘n at’em we’ve got a situation on our hands

<StressMonster> xelly is sick at mumbos and upset, mumbo is upset, false didn’t give details but poor xelly might have some memory issues

Cleo did not know how in this world she’d been the one to be recruited into helping Xelqua. They’d only seen each other briefly at a distance. Xisuma would be the better choice here, right? The two of them had actually met before and Xisuma had admin power and a co-admin brother on speed dial. Maybe she was being recruited because of a lack of opinion? Despite their first encounter going well, Xelqua had been cautious of X right up until the end. Which was odd, considering that his armor this season was illusioned to look like a turtle.

Cleo wasn’t complaining about being chosen for helping the new guy calm down, necessarily. They just didn’t believe themself to be the best fit for the job. It’s been years since they’d been a teacher.

Well. They were already here on the island. It hadn’t been a long way to walk and boat. Not nearly long enough to think of how she was going to do this. Was it too late to turn back now?

“False? I’m here! What do you need help with?” Cleo called out as she descended the ladder into Mumbo’s bunker of a base. It was coming along rather nice. They wondered what Mumbo was planning on building next. Would it be an expansion to this base? Would it be something dystopian or utopian?

“Cleo! Stress sent you?”

“That she did, though I don’t know why she didn’t send Izooma over. Hi there Xel.” She waved at Mumbo but otherwise didn’t do much else to acknowledge him. Cleo didn’t want to overwhelm him with social interaction right now and Xel was their priority at the moment.

False had Mumbo sitting up against a wall close to the ladder, speaking quietly with him now that Cleo was officially down here and had made introductions.

Xelqua on the other hand?

The player was brighter, up close and in this enclosed space. They had their tail wrapped around themself, hugging their knees and making themself as small as possible in the opposite corner from where False and Mumbo were. They’d been watching False before, but now those wide, dark eyes were staring straight into her soul.

A book and quill laid open on the floor in front of them, one of it's pages filled with voidtongue. Cleo took a picture of it with her comm and sent it in a private chat with Xisuma and Exnelis. Cleo didn’t speak or read voidtongue so since Mumbo was occupied, they were going to need someone to translate for them.

One of the admins would have definitely been better for this job.

“My name’s Cleo. You saw me a few days ago building a big boat, yeah?” Xelqua nodded their head at this, a scaled and feathered ear twitching at what False was saying at the other end of the room. They made to move for their book and quill but paused, looking up at her.

“If writing’s easier for you right now then do that, please. I don’t read voidtongue, unfortunately, but that’s okay. There’s a few players here that know how, so it may just take a minute for me to respond since I’ll need translations.”

<FalseSymmetry to Rendog> hey ren ive got a favor to ask

<Rendog to FalseSymmetry> whatcha need false?

<FalseSymmetry to Rendog> found out our new guy is sick but also may have something going on with their memory do you think you can ask around

<FalseSymmetry to Rendog> i know doc has been working on a communicator for them but that’s about it, stress asked joe and cleo to help but the best i can help other than keeping an eye on mumbo is get this info to you and fight ghasts or witches or something

<Rendog to FalseSymmetry> do we need to talk about your self worth and confidence again?

<FalseSymmetry to Rendog> no! no I'm good right now I just. I don't know what else to do.

<Rendog to FalseSymmetry> how about you pop over to my base when you can and we'll go annoy doc and cub?

<FalseSymmetry to Rendog> fine but only if i dont get creepers thrown at me like last time

<Rendog to FalseSymmetry> deal. I've also made pie.

<FalseSymmetry to Rendog> running through the Nether now

<Rendog to FalseSymmetry> oh I see how it is. grandog’s pie is better than hanging out with me

<FalseSymmetry to Rendog> yes and?

<FalseSymmetry to Rendog> that was a joke by the way… mostly. cleo said to get some for her and xel and mumbo too

<Rendog to FalseSymmetry> haha

<Rendog to FalseSymmetry> the biggest pie will be for our new friend, then. and let them know i wish them a swift and full recovery.

The next few days for Xelqua was a confusing mess. It had expected some sort of repercussion or consequence for breaking Mumbo like it did. It had expected to be isolated or otherwise left alone to the sickness it should not be capable of having. It had not expected help given to it by Cleo, ZombieCleo who had contributed to the strange box full of items and the map and the book it wanted to read again, who read some more things it wrote down. Mostly apologies. Cleo had said that Mumbo would be okay. Xelqua had not broken him. That was good.

It was even given a potion of regeneration after a while. Cleo had gone with it through the tunnels back to its shipwreck.

They stayed with it because of it's continued failure to close it's eyes and get some rest. They shared stories with it that made it's eyes feel heavier and it's mind foggier even with it's resistance. ZombieCleo did avert their eyes at times when its glow [another failure, a thing it could not switch on and off like One and Two, another thing to be corrected, molded] got to be a bit too much with the closed in space and the torch light. It still had not changed out of the clothes it had been in while it was with One and Two, which did nothing to impede the glow and did nothing to protect it from things like water or the cold.

It was not meant to be in water, though it's scales were starting to feel dry and itchy. It’s feathers, too, but it did not know how to fix them. One and Two had never taught it. It was also not meant to feel cold. More corrections. More failures. Xelqua dug its claws in between its feathers and under its scales.

The itch to play and place TnT and the itch to hear laughter and yelling as it ran was entirely separate but it still hoped that relieving this physical thing would help with the not physical one.

Cleo reached out toward it [Xelqua flinched, it had forgotten they were there for a moment, it could not, should not do that again], “If you need any help taking care of your scales, or your feathers, I know False and Xb would be happy to lend a hand. False’s an avian as you've seen, and Xb is part guardian. Between the two of them I'm sure we can figure something out that'll work for you.” They did not complete their movement to touch it.

Somehow, Cleo had tricked it into resting after that, gently talking Xelqua out of digging into itself and talking in general about some of the other players on this server until the battle with it's eyes ended with Xelqua’s defeat.

There were no dreams about the Box. There were no nightmares about being reshaped and corrected. It knew it had dreamed, though, and when it woke up slow instead of startling awake, there was a regen potion with a note, in voidtongue, saying that the remedy was for itself, along with some instructions on it's use.

Not wanting their efforts in getting the healing drink put together, it followed those instructions to the letter and within a few days it could speak again.

Xelqua did not see anyone show up in it's shipwreck during those days but the strange box that it had left up on that floating platform had been relocated to inside of it's hideaway, contents intact and even added onto with a second and third regen potion and a set of three healing pots alongside them.

It was dizzying to think about why the players here would have gone out of their way to give it even more healing items so it chose not to.

There were more pressing issues to think about instead. Like the game it had been working on while it was recovering from being sick.

Despite reminders in it's mind of Cleo telling it to keep it's claws, it's talons, away from it's scales and feathers when it felt the urge to dig at them, it could not keep it's own resistance up to the combination of the physical itch and the non-physical one.

The one that echoed of laughter in it's mind had it scrambling to stop it in anyway it could.

Working on the game had made it quiet, but now that it was ready, the exploding laughing thing was starting up again.

It did also want to go see, and See, for itself how Mumbo was doing and Mumbo was one of it's neighbors that would be the easiest to travel to.

Mind made up, Xelqua set out with a few more chicken eggs, a name tag, and a book and quill with a few pages filled with voidtongue about the rules of the game. Rules that would not shift or change to make the game unwinnable, or make it not fun to play, hopefully, but ones that were known to be fluid at the start. [This was not like One or Two’s games. It would not be like them.]

It’s plan was almost boringly simple. It would sneak up on Mumbo, tap on their arm or shoulder to get their attention, shove the name tag and book at them, and then run off while throwing some eggs around as a getaway distraction.

As with other plans that have gone awry, this one did, too. Really, Xelqua should be happy about this right? Mumbo was sat next to their farm while AFK. Their red eyes were closed. Their breathing was even. Xelqua even checked with their Sight to confirm and yes, Mumbo Jumbo was fine.

The player even snored.

It couldn’t tag Mumbo now, but it had no back up plan.

“Where’s the hole? It should be around here somewhere. Mumbo you need to make your base easier to get into, man.” There was a voice it did not recognize, someone who held a hiss behind their words like a TnT fuse right before it went off. [That could be it’s new target, start the game, go, make them laugh, make them yell, set a trap, confuse them, make puzzles, be loud, be brighter, go]

[make them feel, make them fight, surprise them, go, eat their shock, eat their laughter, eat their fear, need it, need to eat, hungry, starving, go]

World Chat

<Docm77> the new guy has a comm now

<Docm77> also xelqua is a menace

<XbCrafted> i thought you were going to see mumbo?

<Docm77> i did

<Docm77> little fireball was there

<iJevin> they have your approval then thats good

<Docm77> i have said no such thing

<Docm77> they are worse than a skeleton

<ImpulseSV> tango and i will get a food shulker put together for them

<JoeHills> anything else doc?

<Docm77> they have... initiated me into a childish game of "tag"

<RenDog> sounds fun!

<JoeHills> oh a game! I’d love to play!

<Docm77> if i must play then so will everyone else

<Docm77> i refuse to play sitter for this little mischief maker

<GoodTimeWithScar> so wait are they actually a child?

<ZombieCleo> they dont look like one but i don’t know

<ZombieCleo> false, you've seen them too. mix of avian and something aquatic. Thoughts? xB?

<FalseSymmetry> none head empty

<ZombieCleo> valid

<XbCrafted> anything else about them?

<ZombieCleo> um, they glow? like they’re an octopus constantly changing colors and also a crystal with light shining through it, and it's only on their scales and feathers

<XbCrafted> well there goes all my thoughts, sorry cleo

<FalseSymmetry> im pretty sure theyre an adult

<ZombieCleo> and how do you know this?

<FalseSymmetry> ive been sworn to secrecy

<ZombieCleo> boo

<Docm77> to my Tag target

<Docm77> you can run

<Docm77> but you cannot hide

<RenDog> ominous

<JoeHills> and whos your target, doc?

<Docm77> you will know when i tag them

<JoeHills> thats fair

<Stressmonster101> why is xelqua showing up under a different name in the players list?

<JoeHills> and why that name specifically?

<Docm77> it cant be a comm glitch, tango and i worked together on it

<ZombieCleo> cub!

<Cubfan135> what? What did i do?

<ZombieCleo> why is xelqua showing up as grian in the player list?

<Grian> ⍑ᒷ|:|:ᒍ․ﺭ․

<Stressmonster101> ello luv!

<Rendog> hi there xel!

<Grian> ϟᒍ ▭ ᒣ⍑╎ϟ ▭ ᔮᒍᒲᒲ⚍リ╎ᔮᖋᒣᒍ∷ ▭ ↸╎↸ ▭ リᒍᒣ ▭ i!∷ᒷ⍊╎ᒍ⚍ϟ|:॥ ▭ ᕊᒷ|:ᒍリ┤ ▭ ᒣᒍ ▭ ᖋリ॥ᒍリᒷ

<Docm77> no it did not, it's brand new

<Tango> just woke up whats going on?

<ZombieCleo> xelqua’s got a comm now but theyre showing up as grian and we dont know why

<Tango> huh

<Cubfan135> interesting

<Tango> wow theyre typing a lot right now

<Grian> ┤∷╎ᖋリ ▭ ╎ϟ ▭ ∴⍑ᖋᒣ ▭ ᒲ⚍ᒲᕊᒍ ▭ ᔮᖋ|:|:ᒷ↸ ▭ ᒲᒷ ▭ ᕊᒷ⎓ᒍ∷ᒷ ▭ ᒣ⍑ᒷ॥ ▭ ·ǀ·リᒷ∴ ▭ ᒲ॥ ▭ リᖋᒲᒷ ▭ ∴ᖋϟ ▭ ̇/ᒷ|:ᑑ⚍ᖋ

<Grian> ╎ ▭ ᒣ⍑╎リ·ǀ· ▭ ╎ ▭ |:ᒍᒍ·ǀ· ▭ |:╎·ǀ·ᒷ ▭ ᒣ⍑ᒷᒲ․ﺭ․ ▭ ϟᒍᒲᒷ⍑ᒍ∴․ﺭ․

<Grian> ╎ ▭ ↸ᒍ ▭ リᒍᒣ ▭ ·ǀ·リᒍ∴ ▭ ∴⍑ᒍ ▭ ┤∷╎ᖋリ ▭ ╎ϟ ▭ ᕊ⚍ᒣ ▭ ╎ ▭ ↸ᒍ ▭ ·ǀ·リᒍ∴ ▭ ╎ᒣ ▭ ╎ϟ ▭ ᖋ ▭ リᖋᒲᒷ ▭ ╎ ▭ ϟ⍑ᒍ⚍|:↸ ▭ ∷ᒷᒲᒷᒲᕊᒷ∷․⎽ ▭ ᕊ⚍ᒣ ▭ ↸ᒍリ‾ᒣ

<Grian> ╎ᒣ ▭ ╎ϟ ▭ リᒍᒣ ▭ ᖋϟ ▭ ╎ᒲi!ᒍ∷ᒣᖋリᒣ ▭ ᖋ ▭ リᖋᒲᒷ ▭ ᖋϟ ▭ ᒲ⚍ᒲᕊᒍ ▭ ⋮⚍ᒲᕊᒍ ▭ ╎ϟ

<Grian> ᒣ⍑ᒷ∷ᒷ ▭ ∴ᒷ∷ᒷ ▭ ᒍᒣ⍑ᒷ∷ ▭ リᖋᒲᒷϟ ▭ ᖋ|:ϟᒍ ▭ ᒲᒍ∷ᒷ ▭ ╎ᒲi!ᒍ∷ᒣᖋリᒣ ▭ ᒣ⍑ᖋリ ▭ ┤∷╎ᖋリ ▭ ᕊ⚍ᒣ ▭ ᒲ⚍ᒲᕊᒍ‾ϟ ▭ ╎ϟ ▭ ᒣ⍑ᒷ ▭ ᒍリ|:॥ ▭ ᒍリᒷ ▭ ╎ ▭ ᔮᒍ⚍|:↸ ▭ ·ǀ·ᒷᒷi!

<FalseSymmetry> i am no longer sworn to secrecy

<Tango> anyone got a void translator?