a lump in the throat

Chapter 7

Silence. Then Ex turned on his communicator and pulled up the main page.

"This is ridiculous," said Xisuma, but they all ignored him.

Ex paused, his fingers on the screen. "I don't know how to turn them on." He looked expectantly at Xisuma.

"I'm not going to tell you."

Ex scowled and opened his mouth, but Cleo cut him off. "Just do what feels right."

Muscle memory. With a muscle he'd never used. Ex closed his eyes and dragged his finger along the screen.

Joe's gasp made him open his eyes, and when he did, he was greeted by a magnificent sight: three translucent red screens, floating around him and awaiting his orders. They emitted a soft glow, amplified by the darkness of the Nether.

They were very obviously not Xisuma's command screens; his were green and had masses of text constantly scrolling across them. Two of these screens were entirely blank. The third one had only a few words on it: Welcome, Administrator.

Quietly. "I'm an admin." Loudly, disbelieving. "I'm an admin?"

"You're an admin!" exclaimed Joe.

Moving slowly, like he was in a dream, Ex placed his hand on the largest screen. The screen blinked off for a moment and when it blinked back on, the words had changed. Welcome, Administrator: Evil_Xisuma. The words faded away, and new ones replaced them. Would you like to view your available commands?  "Yes" appeared on one of the lower screens, and "No" appeared on the other.

He stopped and looked around at the others. Cleo shrugged and made a kind of go on, then gesture with her hand, so Ex laid his palm against the "Yes" screen.

A long list of commands appeared on the largest screen. Ex scrolled through them until he reached the one he was looking for. He selected it. /unban

He finished the command.

/unban Evil_Xisuma

Command accepted. Would you like to view your available commands?

Ex's communicator dinged at the same time as everyone else's did.

[Unbanned Evil_Xisuma]

[renthedog says: what??]

[iJevin says: What's going on?]

"You can't do that," said Xisuma, although he made no move to stop him.

"I could ban you."

Xisuma did start towards him at that, but Cleo moved in between the two of them with her hands outstretched.

"No one's banning anyone," she said. "Ex, I know you're beyond angry with Xisuma, and I'm not going to try to convince you not to be. But you can't ban him. He has a place in this server."

She turned towards Xisuma. "Xisuma, your concerns are not unfounded, but you gave Ex a chance to prove himself, and he did. You ignored that. That's not how an admin should behave. That's not how a leader should behave."

Xisuma looked at the ground.

Cleo looked back at Ex. "Ex? You ready to see the rest of the Overworld?"

Ex shoved his communicator back in his pocket. "Hell yeah."

Joe and Cleo followed him out the door. Cleo stopped at the entrance and said, "Xisuma, I'll leave it to you to explain everything to the others."

They left. Xisuma watched them go.

—————-

"I'm... I'm sorry. Cleo's right, I shouldn't have banned you."

Silence.

"You don't have to forg—"

"Don't tell me what I do and don't have to do." More silence. A sigh. "I accept your apology. I don't forgive you."

"Okay."

"I don't think I'll ever forgive you."

"...Okay."

"Don't try to make me."

"I won't."

—————-

The grass was soft under his fingers. Joe and Cleo had brought blankets, but Ex liked to feel proof of the world around him whenever he could. He reached up like he could touch the stars as well. "The stars are beautiful."

"Effervescent," agreed Cleo.

"Stars light, star bright, first star I see tonight. Wish I may, wish I might have the wish I wish tonight," said Joe. "I wish for... nothing."

"Nothing?" asked Ex.

"I like how my life is playing out."

"Well, I wish for cake,"said Cleo, standing up. "You guys want me to bring you some back?"

"Yes, please," said Ex.

"Thanks, Cleo."

"No problem," she said, and went to go get the cake.

Ex studied the stars then glanced sideways at Joe. "Did you read the poem? When I left my poetry book in the Overworld?"

Joe rolled onto his side. "I did. It was wonderful. I transcribed it onto another paper and hung it up in the hermitage."

"Did you really?"

Joe nodded. "Thank you for writing it."

"Thank you for leaving it."

—————-

Left behind as an accidental gift

And a clear sign of something gone amiss.

A speck of white against a sea of red:

A secret poem left for dead.

But it was the start to something new.

.

A poem starts with a lump in the throat

Some emotion unnamed

Untamed

Askew.

.

And it takes you on a journey

To places you never knew

To homes you never considered homes

And to wonderful people like you.

.

A secret poem left for dead—

Funny; I was, too,

But my poem didn't end, my friend

And for that I say

Thank you.

.

.

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! :D