Enchanted and Hexed: A HEX Oneshot Collection

Perish (hurt/comfort)

(Notice: I carried this oneshot over from my other book. Just a heads-up)

HEX HANAHAKI!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

(Also, I was running out of title ideas. As you can tell.)

Warnings are blood and vomit, plus panic.

WC: ~1350

Enjoy!

When Xay first started coughing up an assortment of nether roots and fungi, he thought that he was dreaming.

Or crazy.

Maybe both.

It's not possible, Xay told himself. There's no reason. It's not like I've been... eating fungus.

How else could I have gotten it in my system?

Xay glared at the small pile of nether plants. It didn't make sense. A part of him was panicking, but most of his mind was just... annoyed.

Genuinely annoyed.

Sometimes I surprise even myself...

Kicking the pile of plants away, Xay started to consider his options.

Tell someone?

Who?

Hels?

Xay couldn't help but laugh at his own thought. Sure, Hels was the nearest person to him, but...

He would be literally no help.

Xisuma?

Maybe?

...That'll work.

Xanthus sighed and pulled out his rockets before firing off to the Hermit's Nether Hub.

"You've been what?!" Xisuma yelped as Xay explained his situation. "Run that by me again." Xay sighed.

"I've been coughing up plants," he repeated. "And I don't know why."

"Okay," Xisuma mumbled, though Xay could sense something else in his voice.

Complete and overwhelming fear.

"I'm getting Bdubs, Iskall, and Grian," Xisuma said after a moment. "They know more about hanahaki than I do."

Hanahaki?!

But Xisuma had already left before Xay could ask what he meant.

"Hanahaki," Grian explained. "Is a disease caused by unrequited love. It grows flowers inside of your lungs and will make you cough up petals, then blood and thorns. And when you're basically on your deathbed, you start growing flowers out of your skin." Xay stared at him, looking for signs that indicated he was joking.

"That can't be right," he finally replied. "First of all, I don't like anyone. Se-"

"That's what they all say," Iskall offered. "That's what Grian and Bdubs thought, anyway."

"'Thought'," Xay echoed. "I'm not thinking. I know I don't like anyone."

"First stage of grief is denial," Grian offered.

"Who am I even grieving for?!"

"Yourself," Bdubs suggested, earning a glare from Xay, which was immediately followed by a coughing fit.