Under The Helmet || Hermitcraft AU

Chapter 18

POV: Xisuma
Word Count: 939
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X and Cleo walked through the dark, parching nether tunnels wordlessly. X decided to walk instead of fly because it would stall him more time. Xisuma's mind was blank, as he followed the zombie on autopilot. What had he agreed to? All of the time being a member of the Hermitcraft, he had done everything he could to hide his profile, yet with such little persuasion had been convinced to reveal it? To EVERYONE?

"Cleo," Xisuma murmured, turning his gaze to stare at the Netherrack, "I don't think I can do this..."

Cleo's eyebrows raised once again, "And why is that?"

Xisuma frowned at her, "I just- just can bring myself to do it. Not in front of a crowd..."

Cleo sighed audibly, "Okay, tell me, how is it any different than showing one person?" She questioned, crossing her arms.

Xisuma opened his mouth to reply, then thought better of it and went back to staring at the walls. There was silence for a few minutes following that, with no sounds heard apart from the sound of footsteps and the occasional Piglin snort from below. This continued for a large portion of the walk.

The duo approached a gap in the tunnel's wall. Peering out of the rift, Xisuma observed the Nether wastes below. A huge Ghast caught his eye. As it turned around, the Ghast opened it's mouth and wailed, and an explosive fireball erupted from the creature.

X stood in a defensive stance, sword ready to deflect the projectile. As the fireball approached the tunnel, he swung his blade at fiercely. His sword swiped and missed the projectile.

He stood paralyzed, eyes wide for a millisecond before the fireball exploded. Cleo screamed as flames enveloped them. The blocks below Xisuma was blasted into oblivion, and he plummeted towards lava below the tunnel.

"XISUMA!", Cleo screamed, peering over the ledge as she rubbed a burn on her arm.

He fell in what seemed to be slow motion. The ghast wailed again and Cleo screamed. X pivoted in midair and saw that his elytra were tattered and charred black. He reached into his inventory and fished out his Totem of Undying, hugging it tightly.

He collided with the lava. It burnt, scorched his armour, his skin. The liquid magma flooded his helmet, deeming unable to inhale, to breath. All he could see was a blinding orange. It was painful, but just as he thought it was all going to end, the totem in his arms exploded, blasting sparks and particles through the lava.

As the fire resistance and regeneration swept over him, suddenly the magma didn't feel so fiery. On the contrary, it felt pleasantly cool, like water.

He treaded water- or lava in this case, and observed the scene around him. There was just glowing magma as far as the eye could see. He could feel that his fire resistance would only last a couple more seconds. There was not enough time to escape. Xisuma closed his eyes and let himself sink into the lava. He could feel the temperature slowly increasing.

He felt a hand grab his forearm and pull him out of the magma. He felt a strong wind and a sensation that told him that he was flying. After a few moments, he felt himself being tugged onto a hard surface. Xisuma opened his eyes to find a pained-looking ZombieCleo lying on the familiar tunnel floor, panting. 

"Your welcome," Cleo grumbled, standing up slowly and leaning on her pickaxe for support.

"Thank you," Xisuma replied gratefully, rolling onto his back and breathing heavily. He eyed the crater in the tunnel, "I'll fix that later."

After a few moments of healing and catching their breath, X and Cleo headed back on their way, conversing about the meeting to come.

"But what do I say?" Xisuma whined.

"C'mon!" Cleo replied exasperatedly, "You're practically a public speaker, you can improvise! Make it up on the spot!"

"That's not what public speakers do-?"

After a few minutes, they reached the end of the tunnel. In the pool of lava beneath them, sat the Nether hub. A magnificent building made of a mixture of Blackstone, glass and the new Nether wood varieties. 

Cleo handed X a spare pair of elytra. After equipping it, the duo silently drifted down to the hub. The two walked through the portal together and reappeared on the other side, in the overworld. Cleo ran off to go sit back in the audience with the others. 

As Xisuma stood up at the lectern in the main street in front of the town hall, the hermits fell silent, their eyes upon him. He tried to speak, but the words got caught in his throat.

His eyes swept the crowd. Cleo stood towards the back, smiling encouragingly and giving him a double thumbs-up.

He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath;

"Hey everyone! Welcome to the meeting, held on... uh... what's the date today?"

X shook his head, thinking. He made a desperate gesture to Cleo that clearly shouted, Well give me a hand here?! She shrugged and shook her head too.

"I- uh... well you all wanted this?" He said nervously. The entire crew sat up a little straighter.

He reached for the clip at the base of his head and unfastened it. Closing his eyes, he hastily pulled his helmet off his head and shook his thick hair off his face.