Freeze or Fall

Chapter 28: Regrets

"Wh-what do you mean you're Ex?" Taurtis asked.

The robot sighed. "I mean exactly that. I, as a conscience, is Ex."

"Hang on I-I need a moment." Grian muttered, taking in a few deep breaths. "Too much adrenaline, gimme a sec." The brit sat down, rubbing his eyes.

"What happened?"

"Sam chased us all the way to the server island when we departed." Taurtis answered.

Npg- or Ex- nodded. "Did you figure anything out?"

Grian took a couple more steady breaths. "Some things, yeah. Not as much as I'd liked, but stuff nevertheless."

Ex nodded, helping him up. "Lets discuss this inside."

___________________

"You feeling alright?"

Scar hesitated before shaking his head.

Joe sat down next to him, a notebook in his hands. "You sound worried."

"Yeah, I-" Scar sighed, putting his head in his hands. "I can't help but worry that this was my fault."

Joe frowned. "We both know that's not true."

Scar couldn't meet Joe's eyes. He wanted so badly to talk about his guilt, but a little voice was eating away at him, telling him to keep quiet.

Funny, he knew he should ignore the voice, it would be so easy to. And yet, he couldn't. So he stayed quiet.

Joe rubbed comforting circles in his back. "Whatever reason you're thinking this, it's not true. Even if it was, it was likely an accident. I know you'd never willingly hurt anyone if it was serious."

Joe did have a point.

"And besides, everyone's blaming themselves for one reason or another. Cub, Mumbo, you name em."

"What about you?" Curiosity sparked Scar's interest. Joe hadn't ever really been one to blame himself but...

Joe chuckled sadly. "I blame myself for not helping Grian more. If I had talked to him sooner, then he wouldn't have panicked in Hermitville, and Mumbo wouldn't have gotten sick. And you know the chain of events that caused."

Scar blinked. "You couldn't have known though."

"I know, but I still regret it."

A comfortable silence settled over the two.

It lasted for a while, Jellie bounding over and curling up in Scar's lap.

"...I'm supposed to be the Mayor, everyone will look to me now that Xisuma's corrupted."

"You won't be leading alone, you have Cub and Bdubs."

"I know, but I barely even know what to do. False or Doc probably could lead better than me. So could Stress."

Joe smiled. "You've got a big heart and you have experience with power. Everyone voted you for a reason, and it wasn't just to make the Cowmercial District look pretty."

"You sure? Cause that was the basis for my entire campaign."

"Positive."

...

Scar let out a startled noise as Joe pulled him into a hug.

"These hardships will pass, I promise you."

"...Thanks Joe."

_________________

"So you're Npg's alter now? How does that even work?" Grian asked.

Ex laughed. "I have no idea. And while Npg is in fact my host, I'm still one of Xisuma's alters."

"That's is weird."

"Trust me, I know."

"Anyways-" Taurtis cleared his throat. "Why's you do this? Did something happen to Xisuma?"

Ex nodded. "With what's happening in Hermitcraft, Xisuma was a prime target. I realized that if he did get infected, our enemy would have access to the Whitelist/Blacklist system."

"And they'd know we're still alive thanks to Sam." Taurtis finished. "You and Grian would be locked out of the server."

Ex nodded. "Npg on the other hand, has access to the server, thanks to the fact that only we know he exists."

Grian flinched a little at that. "Don't say that like it's a good thing."

"In our case, it is."

Grian chose to change the subject. "What's your plan then?"

"You two could join me in Npg's head, and we break into the server. As soon as we're there, us three leave Npg's head. Since all three of us are classified as players. we'll die and respawn with our bodies at world spawn. That okay with you two?"

Taurtis and Grian exchanged glances.

"It's our best bet to get in."

Grian sighed and nodded. "Yep, okay with us."

"Now on the other hand, what did you find out with the Bunny Bish?"

"Ohhh yeah." Grian let out a nervous laugh as he remembered what he'd learned.

"Taurtis? You're a Faerie too."

________________

"Cyclops? We have a newbie."

"Is it the child?"

"I think so." Robot Grian answered.

He looked up and saw another one, also similar to him. Though this one, Cyclops, looked much wiser.

Cyclops knelt down. "We are the spirits of creations come to pass. We are alive in the same way as players, despite our beginnings. We are life created in a new way, though a more fragile existence is what we are given." He game him a warm smile. "What's your name, little one?"

Not knowing another way to communicate, he lifted his hands to sign.

J-R-U-M-B-O-T