The Silver Sun - A Hermitcraft Watcher AU

16

"Xisuma? Where have you been?" Mumbo broke the silence, seemingly the only one who didn't sense the eerie tension in the air.

"I was simply taking a look around the castle," he hummed, the sunlight gleaming on his darkened visor. "By the time I came back to the courtyard, everyone had vanished."

Joe glanced at the others, all clearly on edge. They had ran all throughout the castle to try and escape the other hermits, and not once did they see any trace of the admin. The southerner wasn't stupid, he knew that X had left his helmet behind before they had came here. And now he suddenly had it back? Yeah, that wasn't suspicious at all. Something wasn't adding up.

"I see you've been gathering supplies—" Xisuma said, noticing the shulker boxes and tools that the group had obtained. "—that's wonderful! It will be much easier to get the hermits back now."

"Riiiight..." Grian spoke slowly with narrowed eyes, gripping tighter to the handle of his axe. He was nearly ready to throw it, but a hand was placed onto his shoulder, causing the Brit to stop.

"Of course." Joe smiled, "We're glad you're okay, we can definitely use the help to kill the watcher."

Xisuma paused for a moment, his expression impossible to read through the helmet. "Kill, you say?" He asked, his voice remaining flat and emotionless.

"Why yes! It's the only way to free the others from those masks on their faces."

"Well, what about Mumbo?" The man in armor pointed out. "Wasn't he wearing a mask before? How is he free now?"

"It would take much more time to free all the hermits that way, and by killing the watcher, we'll never have to worry about this happening again. You'll join us, won't you?"

His hands tightened around the railing of the balcony, which Joe noticed, though he gave a nod. "Of course. Anything to help the other hermits." Xisuma said, though it sounded as though he spoke through clenched teeth.

"Perfect." The southerner smiled, glancing at the three other survivors. "Come on, everyone. Let's head back into the castle to look for the watcher. X, since you've already explored the castle, would you like to lead the way?"

"I'd love to."

He turned towards the large doors, pushing them open. While the admin's back was turned, Grian turned to Joe with a look mixed between confusion and anger. "Are you trying to get us killed?" He whisper-yelled. "Xisuma is obviously brainwashed! Not to mention those journal sketches we saw in the library!"

"Calm down, I know. 'Suma is gonna lead us straight to that watcher. Once we're there we can just knock him out or something, then Mumbo just has to build that TNT machine. And if we get into any trouble, you can just pull out an invisibility potion and splash us."

Grian shared a worried look with Mumbo and Stress, the idea risky, although it could work. "I 'fink we should give it a shot." The brunette hummed quietly, followed with a moment of hesitation, before gaining a silent nod from the other two Brits.

"Is everything okay?" Xisuma called from the balcony.

"Yep! We were just gathering our tools." Joe responded, looking back at the three other survivors. "Stay close. If we need to use the invisibility potion, grab hands before you get splashed so we can stick together."

With no time to waste through arguments or questions, the four walked up the stairs that led to the balcony. Stress glanced up at Joe for reassurance, her eyes expressing the worry that she felt. The southerner wished that he could say something to comfort her, though he wasn't sure he had any words to begin with.