Code Name: Connections (Discontinued)

Permanent Arrangements

Xisuma sat by Keralis' bedside, watching his friend sleep soundly. A still bleeding wound on his side was covered by a newly changed wrap. The wound almost glowed red and was the source of the sleeping. Sometimes he was glad TFC had passed on instead of enduring the pain Keralis had too. Maybe he should just surrender...

He shook his head and stood up grabbing his helmet from the floor. His armor made him feel a lot less pathetic than he felt or looked without it. The emblem of the Watcher was across the entire thing, reminding him of his purpose. He was nearly half a foot taller with it on and looked much stronger, as if he actually kept up his workout routine. When Keralis was able to be awake for longer, he'd told Xisuma that he needed to loosen up a little bit and not to stress about staying the perfect leader 24/7. Xisuma appreciated the sentiment, but he felt useless outside of his armor.

He crossed his arms and sighed, his breathing coming out distorted through the armor. It kinda made him understand Ex when his brother called him a tyrant and evil. But at the same time, it didn't. Ex was blind to the real work he was doing. He'd never surrender to someone like that, someone who didn't understand what that power was made for.

Xisuma scoffed as he thought about his brother. What a mistake he was.

"X-X?" Keralis' voice muttered. Xisuma quickly leaned over.

"Keralis? Are you okay?" He said.

"I-I'm fine..." Keralis said, "Just tired."

"Don't waste your strength," Xisuma said.

Keralis laughed, "What do I save it for?" Xisuma sat back down, fidgeting with his hands in his lap, no answer in his head. "Hey, take... take your helmet off." Xisuma looked up and did as he was told. "There you are, sweet face." Xisuma closed his eyes, "What's on your mind?"

Xisuma sighed, "Ex is threatening to come back..." He said.

"But he can't," Keralis comforted, "As long as no one opens the barrier, he can't."

Xisuma smirked a little bit, not enough for Keralis to see, "I know... I made it impossible without my help." He stopped smiling, "After what happened to you and TFC, I couldn't let it happen again..." He saw the concern in Keralis' eyes. He always had a way of knowing when things weren't the entire story, and Xisuma didn't like that sometimes. But seeing how much Keralis and the rest of the server were hurt by his—his brother's—actions, it started to burden Xisuma more than his own secrets. "I'm sorry I let this happen to you," Xisuma said, not fighting with his tears.

"Don't be sorry, it's not your fault," Keralis said. Heat shot through Xisuma's veins "Your doing so much for me now."

"It's not enough," Xisuma said, voice cracking, "It's permanent."

"Xisuma—"

"I couldn't protect you from my own brother!" Xisuma grabbed his face. Keralis grabbed his arm, squeezing it.

"Xisuma, it's not your fault," Keralis said, "Have faith, Xisuma, it's not permanent. The Watchers know what we do for them," He coughed. Xisuma leaned forward. "Muse-X will not abandon us. Have faith." His eyes started to close again, and his grip loosened on Xisuma's arm.

"Keralis..."

"Have faith." Keralis said weakly before he fell out of consciousness again. Xisuma caved to his emotions and cried quietly at the bedside.

Doc and Grian looked at the screen, trying to figure out how to decrypt it. It made zero sense, less so than the actual code of the world. It was a message sent by Iskall's communicator a few hours ago.