The lies behind their masks - A(nother) Hermitcraft and Evo AU fanfiction.

Chapter 13

Grian watched as Xisuma and Doc talked in front of him. 

He ruffled his wings awkwardly, thinking about Scar. It wasn't right what Xisuma had said, and forced him to do. Even if he had killed Cub, he was obviously regretting it, and if he hadn't... well, it was even worse. The builder sighed, wanting to get away from the situation. He felt like a small child again, having to follow his parent around wherever he went. Even when his dad-min was looking for clues around a dead body. 

Doc glanced over at him again, and Grian focussed on the red ground instead. It was obvious the German wanted him to go away. Fine, then. He would go. No one would notice. 

'Grian?' Xisuma looked over at exactly the wrong time. The builder refused to look at his admin. 'Are you ok?' 

'Yes.' He lied. X sighed, and walked over to stand next to him. Grian continued to stare at the floor.

'I know you're not... what's wrong?'

'I was thinking about Scar.' Grian admitted. 'And that you should've let him come.'

'What would you do instead?' It didn't sound rhetorical, but Grian still didn't answer. 'I genuinely want to know. How would you do it better?'

'I would've let Scar come. If he's guilty, he should start to regret his actions. If he's innocent, he can have some time to apologise, and mourn,' 

'Interesting.' The conversation seemed to be over, so Grian began to head off again, 

'No. Stay. Unless you have something you urgently need to do.'

'Why should I stay though?' Grian asked. It came across ruder than he expected. 'It won't bring back Cub, or help you figure this out.'

'No, but sometimes I like company.'

'You have Doc.'

'There was no physical thing stopping Scar from coming. I just told him to stay. If he really wanted to come, then he could've, and I wouldn't have stopped him.'

'If you're not going to punish him for disobeying, then why did you tell him to stay in the first place?'

'I... didn't have time to think it all out. I just decided that he should stay where he was...' 

'You know I've been spending a lot of time with Scar recently, but I don't know if he really did it or not...'

'Scar's lucky to have you as his friend.'

'Well, since his other close friends are dead now...' Grian glanced over at Cub's body. 

'Go and talk to him.' Xisuma decided.

'You wanted me to stay here,'

'Like you said, I have Doc here. Scar needs you.'

'Ok...'

'Bye, Grian,'

'Bye, X...'

Grian flew off, and returned to the admin's base, where Scar should still've been. He landed just inside, where he found the door closed. He decided to knock, but when there was no answer he opened it silently and looked in.

Scar was crouching on the ground, unaware that Grian had just entered. He held a sword in one hand. It took a moment to realise that it was black. Obsidian. Watchers. Permadeath. Who was he... 

'SCAR! NO!' Grian hurled himself at the mayor, knocking him over and sending the sword spinning away across the ground. Scar was still for a moment, and Grian's blood grew cold as he thought the deed was already done. But then the mayor flipped onto his back.

'G... Grian... what are you doing here?' Scar sounded surprised and shocked at the sight of the builder. 

'What are YOU doing HERE?' Grian countered. 

'Xisuma told me to stay, and that I wasn't allowed to see Cub. I decided that I would see him another way.' 

'I'd never forgive myself if you killed yourself, Scar.' Grian replied, still shaking. The mayor looked at the ground, tears coming again. 

'I... I'm just a monster. I'm just going to cause more people to get killed. There's nothing worth living for any more.'

'Can't you live for me? Your friend? I've tried to support you through this...'

'You screamed at me when you found out I had wings. You blamed me for everything.'

'I'm sorry. I didn't know what was going on. I didn't know what was on the line if you didn't agree.'

'I didn't know that it had happened to you as well... I didn't realise what you'd lost... I'm sorry too...'

'Am I... still your friend?' Grian asked sheepishly. 

'Yes.' Scar replied with a smile. 'Thanks for cheering me up.'

'No, Thank you for always being a good friend to me.'

'Are we fighting over who's the better person now?' Scar laughed. 'Because you'd win.'

'No, you'd win and... oh, right...' Grian laughed too, as a knock came at the door, and Xisuma entered. 

Scar's mood changed entirely. He shot to his feet, glaring at the admin. 

'Hey, Grian, Scar...'

Before he could get any further with his sentence, Scar punched X right in the face, knocking him to the ground. The admin looked up with surprise under his helmet. 

'Scar! What are you doing?!' Grian yelped, as the mayor drew a sword and pointed it at Xisuma. 

'Don't you DARE,' He began. 'Stop me from seeing my friends again.' 

X held up his hands in feeble surrender, as Scar kicked him, discarding his own sword and grabbing the obsidian one from the ground, driven by sheer fury. 

'Scar, stop this.'

'YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!' Scar screamed back, stabbing at Xisuma. The admin rolled out of the way and got to his feet. Grian shoved Scar out the way, and he turned, slashing the builder's cheek. Blood flowed. The room was silent for a moment, until Scar tried to kill X again. Grian grabbed his friend, tackling him away. 

'Grian, get out.' Xisuma ordered. 'I'll deal with this.'

Grian let go of Scar, and the mayor scrambled out of range, flying into the air, pointing his sword at Xisuma still. Grian fled from the room, closing the door behind as X grabbed the blade of the obsidian sword and wrenched it out of Scar's hands. It fell to the ground, and the admin stepped on it before Scar could grab it again.

'Scar, calm down. I know how you feel.'

'YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW I FEEL!'

'Trust me.'

'WHY SHOULD I TRUST YOU WHEN NO ONE TRUSTS ME!' 

'Scar, I know what they're like. I know what they can do.'

'HOW DO YOU KNOW?!'

Before he could change his mind, Xisuma pulled off his helmet and dropped it on the ground. Scar was silent, staring. Shaggy dark brown curls, tied in a ponytail, purple eyes, a freckled face, and a long scar running right across his face like... a mask.

'Because I was one of them.'

Happy Easter! I hope you like cliffhangers!