How Did We Get Here?

IX. The Hermit

Summary

uh oh 2.0

The wind didn't stop blowing as the place Scar and Jellie shifted to was just a few feet forward, back into the main room of the apartment. Other Scar sat on his couch with glowing blue eyes, a worried face, and the silhouettes of vex wings on his back. A raging wind created by vex magic had already downed a few items.

"There's tiny objects in the wind!" Scar shouted over the howl. "He's just conjuring up random things!"

"How does vex magic work?" Jellie had her claws sunken into Scar's shoulder. "Do you just...think of something and it appears?"

"Pretty much, yeah. We have to learn how to control it, so not everything we think appears."

"So he's not controlling himself, is he? Someone or something's going to get hurt like this. What do you think caused this?"

"Strong emotion? Intense worry? His mind isn't clear, that's the problem." Scar studied his other self. The other self was curled up on himself, knees brought up to the chest. His eyes looked wild as they stared into nothing.

A loud yowl alerts the two of Other Jellie's presence. She stands in the bedroom's doorway, and she's scared. Ears in 'airplane mode', and tail puffed up to the point it looks like it could explode. A tiny shard of magic lies near her. In the whirlwind, a vase is picked up and thrown against the wall near Other Jellie. She darts under the bed, far out of sight.

Scar and Jellie stand in the chaotic room for another minute or two before a pounding at the door is barely audible. Other Scar clearly doesn't hear it. Scar dashes to the door and puts his eye to the peephole. Cub and a few other people Scar doesn't remember stand on the other side.

Cub steps up and pounds on the door again, "Scar! SCAR!" At this, Other Scar looks up. The magic doesn't falter, but gets stronger. Objects aren't only being knocked over, but now they're being carried in the wind.

"SCAR OPEN THE DOOR!" Cub's voice cuts through the wind.

"GO AWAY!" Other Scar's voice is barely audible.

"SCAR, STRESS IS GETTING X. THIS DOOR IS OPENING."

"GO AWAY!" Other Scar repeats, making the wind into more of a dome filled with flying objects. But he still stares at the door. And, are those tears? Oh gosh, this situation is serious.

From the other side of the door, some people appear to be running through the hall. Through the peephole, Scar sees Xisuma fumble with a key ring. He finds the right one and shoves it into the lock. Scar takes a step back as the door is shoved open and Xisuma crashes into the room. Cub quickly moves up next to him as everyone stares in shock.

A woman Scar definitely doesn't recognize and guesses is Stress shoves her way forward and cups her hands around her mouth, "SCAR, I NEED YOU TO TAKE SOME DEEP BREATHS." Other Scar doesn't listen, clutching his knees closer and looking away. A vex-blue barrier appears in front of the others. This manages to dampen the noise from the wind. Stress reacts to this by pounding on the barrier.

Xisuma gently grabs her shoulder and pulls her back. He looks at Cub with a hopeful expression.

"What can destroy something made by a vex?" Jellie whispers, even though she doesn't need to.

Scar watches Cub intently. "At some point, the vex will get tired and the magic will falter. In a case like this, calming down and focusing. Another vex will also work."

"So Cub's a vex?"

"Probably."

Cub takes a breath and puts his hands against the barrier. His hands glow slightly before the barrier cracks and shatters, simply becoming glittering dust. The howling wind is back and Cub shields himself with his own magic bubble. His own pair of wings become slight silhouettes.

Cub advances slowly through the wind. Scar and Jellie walk hesitantly behind him. The wind dome around Other Scar looks like a challenge for Cub. It's strong and he has to counter with his own wind to pass though. Inside the dome is the eye of the storm, the wind is less destructive even if it's the loudest. Cub stumbles through and gets rid of his windy bubble.

"Scar!" He calls out, running to the man and sitting beside him on the couch. Without hesitation, Cub pulls Other Scar into a tight hug. "Scar, I need you to breathe, okay?" Other Scar is still in some sort of trance and simply sputters and tries to get out of the hug, Cub doesn't let him. "In and out, buddy. In and out. Do it with me," Cub starts to do slow, deep breaths. He rhymically taps a finger as a counter.

Slowly, Other Scar starts to follow. As the breaths slow, so does the wind. Soon enough, the wind is gone and all the items are on the floor. Some are broken or damaged. Other Jellie hesitantly walks out of the bedroom and looks around. One of the others calls to the cat and she runs over to them. Cub lets go of Other Scar and he sits back up, eyes still slightly blue.

Other Scar stares at Cub in a confused manner, "How...what? The barrier, how...Are you...how...?" He trials off. Cub starts to laugh but is cut off as a card appears near him.

The card is upside down. It shows a Scar sitting in an apartment much bigger than the actual one. There's no furniture, only Scar.

"I'm going to guess that it says 'nine'," Scar squints at the card. "'The Hermit'...?" He doesn't wait for a response and touches the card.

(OG post date - 6/2/23)