Chapter Text
The late-night knock at her door surprised False. Frowning, she rolled her wheelchair over to the entrance of her cottage. Sure, she had learnt how to walk again, but it probably would never not be a challenge, so she tried to remember to give her legs some rest when she could. Had someone forgotten their communicator after dinner -- Zedaph, Impulse, Tango? She glanced over at her dinner table. Nothing seemed out of place.
“Who is it?” she called out, just in case it wasn’t a player. Bdubs had been building a new woodworking shop, and he had warned her he hadn’t lit it up completely yet.
“Xisuma,” came the reply. Smiling, False opened the door.
“What can I do for y--” she started, but faltered once she noticed the nervous Hermit standing behind the admin. Wels was hopping from one foot onto the other, staring at the cobble ramp in front of her door.
“Could we talk?” Xisuma asked, dragging Wels inside once False had nodded.
“Tea?” False asked them. Both men replied affirmatively. The motion of preparing the drink put her at ease, listening to them quietly discuss the day’s events at her kitchen table. Grian had recently helped her tear out her countertops and replaced them all with slabs, allowing her easier access to everything. She had rewarded him with home-cooked dinner and a promise to be the first test subject for his new elytra flying course.
“So,” False began once they all had mugs of steaming-hot tea in front of them, “what’s up?” Xisuma nudged Wels, who cleared his throat.
“I feel like I have to apologise to you,” he murmured, staring at his tea. “I…” He took a deep breath. “I feel responsible.”
“For what?” False exclaimed.
“For…” Wels made a vague motion at her and let out a sound that reminded False of choking.
“For what’s happened to you,” Xisuma answered. For what had happened to her ? What was he talking about; nothing had recently-- oh. Oh .
“That’s not your fault, Wels,” False stated. She reached out to grab his hand. “None of it was your fault.”
“But,” Wels protested, though he did grasp her hand, “if I hadn’t fallen asleep and missed the move, I... “ He took a shuddering breath. “You lost your arm; you’re paralysed from the waist down. Sometimes you can’t even breathe. Void, False, you nearly died!” False could see tears gather in his eyes. Sighing, she shook her head.
“ You didn’t do any of that. I decided to go back to find you. The Void Dwellers attacked me. You didn’t know that would happen, nor did I. And yeah, I nearly died. But I didn’t, and now you’re back with us. I’ve learnt to function perfectly well without my left arm, and Stress’ potions mean it doesn’t even hurt anymore. I was paralysed, but I’ve regained strength. And Iskall and Mumbo just yesterday gifted me a helmet to help me on the bad days. I’m okay, Wels. I promise. I’m not going to forgive you though.” When Wels looked up at her, False added: “Because you did nothing wrong..” She smiled, and squeezed his hand.
“Have you talked to Cleo about this?” Xisuma asked Wels. “Since she was there too, and all.” Wels nodded.
“She hit the back of my head and told me to stop being ridiculous, that what mattered is that our family is back together.” False couldn’t help but laugh at the mental image, and Xisuma and Wels joined her.
“Speaking of family,” Xisuma began, his eyes suddenly seeming more serious behind his visor, “I wanted to talk to the two of you as well. When Mumbo and Iskall went end-busting last week, they saw something strange. I needed a few days to verify their observations, but I’ve come to the conclusion that it could be only one thing. Or, well, one person.” False tilted her head.
“What do you mean, X?” she asked.
“They swore they saw Biffa near the Edge Far Lands in the End.”
“...why were they all the way over there?” Wels wondered. “How could they even get there?” Xisuma sighed.
“The server bugged out, and the gateway accidentally sent them much too far. Thankfully, they were fine, but...that’s what they saw.”
“Now what?” False asked.
“Now I need to find a team that will let me teleport them out there and see what’s going on, but I wanted to talk to you two first, because I didn’t know how you would feel about being confronted with something so similar to what happened to you, False.” False looked up at Wels. She only had to look in his eyes to know he was thinking the same thing she was.
“We’ll do it,” they both announced at the same time.
“You’ll... what ?!” Xisuma announced. False nodded.
“I can fly in the End, so I’ll be fine. And I’ll have Wels with me, and I’ll have a functioning communicator.” She smiled.
“Are you sure?” Xisuma asked. False nodded.
“As long as there aren’t any llamas involved, I’m in.”