Hermitcraft Nonsense

Go Home (Xel Stories By Becca 2)

Xel glanced over his shoulder to make sure that no one was in Grian's base as he threw his trident and unlocked the passage to the Poultry Cave. It wasn't really a secret anymore, but hardly anyone ever went down there since Xel had made peace with the hermits and had become more or less a real hermit, not an intruder in their server, and the alternate Grian had put away the Poultry Man mask for good.

The giant egg was slightly dusty on the inside, but overall not too bad. Xel didn't really care that much about the contents of the base- the chicken farms were empty and the only things he was here for were locked safely in a chest where the armor stand once stood.

Xel lifted the lid to the orange box and quickly moved the chicken mask and dyed leather armor out of the way. What he was really here for had been placed underneath the cloth to protect the memoirs of his old life.

He held the device in his hands. An old phone, looking similar to the ones these hermits user, but not quite exactly the same. The screen was cracked and Xel knew there was no chance of it turning on, as he had already spent days on a deserted island attempting to get the screen to stay constant for just a few minutes to try and contact one of his friends.

"Xel?"

"Grian."

"Me too."

"Sally."

"What are you doing here? I thought you were done being Poultry Man?" Grian asked with a hint of concern. Xel chuckled dryly.

"Don't worry kid, I'm just here for some nostalgia. Not to put the mask on again," the scruffy man comforted.

Grian came and looked over his honorary brother's shoulder. "Is that...?"

"My old phone from my server? Yep," Xel sighed and put the phone down and picked up a faded photo. "And this is a picture I took with... I think it was Stress's phone that I stole to take this picture? And then I gave it back once I printed it onto paper."

The photo was of what looked like Grian's base, but not at the same time. It wasn't as finished as Grian's base was, and clearly had some age to the build itself. The insides through the windows were different too, as the picture was actually from a height looking into the third floor, the one above the Mustache Machine 9000, and had a stone brick statue of a player with elytra and blocks in both hands. There were people gathered around the statue and someone speaking from a stage a block or two above the rest.

Sally clucked sadly. "Xel, are you alright to talk about this?"

"Yeah I'm good. This is a long time ago, a different me," Xel stated with a smile, glancing at the younger version of himself that was looking at the photo with an indescribable look.

"What's the statue? Why is everyone gathered there...?"

"Give you a hint. I was Poultry Man at the time."

"And they thought you were dead by then..."

"Indeed. And Xel didn't make it any easier for himself when he started bothering his old friends," Sally criticized gently. Xel groaned.

"Yeah yeah, I know. I had a few screws loose back then, alright? I don't know what I was thinking..." Xel paused. "At least I had you to keep me sane," he said to the chicken gratefully. Sally ruffled her feathers and clucked with flattered appreciation.

Grian gagged at the display of their friendship, although Xel knew it was only in joking.

"Yes yes, you were really messed up back then, you've told me the story. No need to get mushy about it, it's in the past!"