Broken (Hermitcraft AU) [NO LONGER BEING UPDATED, UP FOR ADOPTION]

8

(Hello my luvs! I just wanted to say that I have posted a couple chapters of my other book. Now, before you all get annoyed at my self-promoting, it's just a book of explaniations for some of the more obscure concepts in this AU. It also includes history and some hermit descriptions. Hope you enjoy this chapter!) 

POV Iskall 

Iskall was concerned. First of all, Grian had been acting strange for weeks now. Then there was the whole situation with Xisuma, and that apparently had something to do with Grian as well. Also, nobody had said anything about how X was doing now, so Iskall was, as mentioned earlier, very concerned. Taking out their communicator, they sent a message to Stress, who he knew was taking care of the admin. 

<Iskall> Hey Stress, how's it going with X? I haven't heard anything since he left Grian's mansion with you guys. 

<Stress> Oh, I'm so sorry! I meant to message you when he woke up, but he had this super long explantion to tell us and I forgot. X is doing fine, the shock thing shouldn't happen again anytime soon. 

<Iskall> That's good. Hey, what exactly happened? Like, why did he freeze up and all that? 

<Stress> I'm sorry, Iskall, but it's not my place to tell you that. Maybe ask Xisuma. 

<Iskall> ... Alright Stress, I will. Bye!

<Stress> Bye!

Iskall closed the private chat with Stress and messaged X. 

<Iskall> Xisuma? I need to talk to you 

<Xisuma> Ok Iskall, I can talk now if you want. 

<Iskall> Can we talk in person? 

<Xisuma> Sure, I'll be at my base soon. Meet me there? 

<Iskall> Yep, see you! 

Putting away their communicator, Iskall put on their elytra, grabbed their fireworks, and flew off in the direction of the admin's towers. 

Teeny time skip brought to you by freaking Cubfan being 7'8'' in this story 

Arriving at the towers, Iskall landed in front of the Nether Portal. They quickly messaged Xisuma to let him know they were there, and X quickly came gliding down from one of the towers. 

POV Xisuma

Smiling and waving, Iskall was shouting a greeting. As he landed, the admin started talking immediately. 

"So, Iskall, what was it you wanted to talk about?" 

The shorter hermit got right to the point. "So, I'm not sure if you know this but, when you froze at Grian's base, Mumbo sent out a server-wide call for help. Me, Etho, Stress and Doc showed up, and then Etho and Mumbo helped Stress bring you to her base. Basically, I didn't know what was going on for the past 8ish hours, and I was worried. Stress said that you were okay now, but I was curious as to what happened. Like, why did you freeze up like that? She said that it wasn't her place to tell me that and I should ask you about it. So, here I am." 

Xisuma was obviously feeling uncomfortable, so Iskall continued hastily. "Of course, you don't have to tell me, if it's just something persona-" 

They were cut off by X. "No, I'll tell you. I've hidden for far to long, and everybody will probably know soon anyways. Come inside and sit down, I have a story to tell you." They both walked along the path through the jungle to a door at the base of a tower. They entered, and Xisuma noticed Iskall starting to breathe more heavily due to the End air in his base. He winced slightly, catching the attention of the other and earning himself a worried glance. Ignoring it, he led his visitor over to a couple chairs and a table. They both sat down and X was hesitating. He sould definitely do this, right? Not giving himself any more time to think, he spoke. 

"Iskall, look at me right now. What do you see?" 

Iskall raised an eyebrow. They looked at him and thought for a minute, then answered. "I see Xisuma, our admin who would do anything to help us or Hermitcraft. A talented leader, but not perfect. Human, just like the rest of us." Xisuma winced, that last bit hit a little too close to home. He hesitated, then slowly unclasped his helmet. Pulling it off his head, he paused at Iskall's gasp and then took it off completely. He set it down on the table, meeting their eyes. Iskall was staring, mouth slightly open. Unconciously, they reached up, about to touch Xisuma's feelers, and then stopped themselves when they realised what was happening. Blinking, they were about to apologise when X moved his antennae forwards, a faint smile on his face. Iskall, feeling encouraged, reached out and touched one of the strange limbs. Xisuma grinned and laughed a bit, it tickled. 

"Iskall, I'm not exactly human." They chuckled. 

"Well, I can see that now! Xisuma, why didn't you show anybody before? Wait, did anyone else know? Does anyone else know now? What exactly are you?" 

X sighed. "Nobody knew about this for a very long time. I guess I was nervous that you all wouldn't feel comfortable around me. I mean, I don't. As to who knows now, that would be Stress, Mumbo and Etho, and I think Grian knows but I'm really not sure. I'm what is called a Voidwalker. You have never heard of those because there are only two in existence as far as I know, and those two are me and my brother. We-" 

"Wait, you have a brother?" Xisuma chuckled. 

"Yes, I have a brother. This is a long story, so please try not to interrupt. I promise I will answer all your questions afterwards." 

Iskall looked skeptical. "You promise?" 

"I promise." 

Time skip for Xisuma telling Iskall all about his backstory and Glitches. 

The story was coming to a close when Xisuma realised that it was nearly midnight and that they should both probably get to sleep. He said so to Iskall but, not wanting to send his friend out in the middle of the night, he set up another bed. That night, they had a sleepover just like middle schoolers. They stayed up late talking and played little games. It was a nice bit of fun, a small respite before finding some answers the next day. 

The next day 

POV Grian 

Grian had just done something he had never done before. He stayed up all night doing research. He was trying to figure out what the deal was with Xisuma's eyes and why Tango said that they had always been like that. So far, he was feeling befuddled, confused and and utterly discouraged. He did not have any books on the subjects of history or different types of humanoids or anything helpful, so the small hermit felt like he had hit all the dead ends that were possible to hit. It was the middle of the night, so he couldn't go ask Tango for help. He ended up just falling asleep at a table surrounded by books he had thought might have some information and didn't. He would go talk to Tango when he woke up. 

POV Xisuma 

Xisuma decided to fly over to Grian's base to see if he was home. He decided that it was finally time for some answers from the gremlin. 

At the Mansion

Xisuma landed in front of the entrance. Walking inside, he marvelled at the design in the interior of the hall. "Grian!" The admin called out, trying to find his friend. "Grian!" He turned a corner and saw the gremlin passed out in the middle of a small library. 

"Grian?!"