Work Text:
Impulse stood with Bdubs, watching as Etho paced back and forth in front of the border. Bdubs was tense and Impulse wanted to reach out and comfort him, but he was unsure if Bdubs would appreciate it. Bdubs eyes diligently tracked Etho's movements, and Impulse wasn't quite sure what his place was in their dynamic. The three of them were waiting for Xisuma's arrival. Scar had managed to convince Grian to contact the admin of their home server, who had promised to be here as soon as he had prepared Hermitcraft, and let the Hermits know that he would be going off world for a while.
Impulse knew that X wouldn't be here for a while, but Etho had all but sprinted to the border as soon as X told them that he was on his way. Joel being taken by the Watchers had really made everyone realise how much they all depended on the man. Without him around, everything felt a little disjointed, like the glue holding them together was chipping away. Impulse liked Joel, but never would have said he was one of his closest friends here, but he constantly felt himself searching for the man, expecting him to appear, and he vowed to himself never to take Joel for granted again.
Tears started filling his eyes, and Impulse sniffed unexpectedly, blinking rapidly to clear his eyes. To his side, Bdubs reached out and took his hand, pulling Impulse closer to his side. Impulse tilted his head against Bdubs' and together they stood there, and continued waiting.
The border glowed purple for a second as Xisuma stepped through. Etho was pouncing on him in a second, pulling the Admin into a hug, the tensions that had been slowly building dripping from his frame. Xisuma allowed himself to be led toward the house by Etho, nodding as Impulse tried to calmly and consisely explain as much as he knew.
~~~
When Grian had joined Hermitcraft, Xisuma had known that there was something distinctly Enderian about his code. However it was choppy and inconsistent, hinting that it had been added in, rather than being a natural component. Xisuma hadn't asked questions, instead providing Grian with a open, accepting server, and an ear if he were to ever need it. Currently, Grian stood in front of him, eyes downcast, arms wrapped protectively around his body. Xisuma couldn't help but feel like he had failed his Hermit.
X reached a hand out to Grian's shoulder, smiling reasuringingly when the action caused Grian to meet his eyes.
"Whenever you're ready," Xisuma said, trying to ignore the small group that had built up around them.
Grian looked uncomfortable, and took a moment before speaking, "Um, Xisuma, something bad happened to Joel and we need to get to the Deep End."
Xisuma blinked. He knew of Joel, who was a close friend to a few of his Hermits, but how on earth did he end up in the Deep End? He had heard a rough run down from Impulse, but by the looks of things Grian seemed to have a lot more information, and something was clearly bothering him.
"Okay," X said cautiously, "Can you tell me what happened to Joel?"
Grian swallowed nervously, before taking a deep breath and meeting Xisuma's gaze with a strange mix of fear and determination.
X struggled to keep a neutral face as Grian spilled his secrets. The guilt radiating off of Grian made X want to pull him into a hug, but the situation seemed more dire than X had accounted for, and if what Grian was saying was true then they really needed to get going now.
~~~
A couple of hours later, a small group stood on an end island. Xisuma could feel their gazes on him as he took off his helmet, something that was very rare, considering the overworld air was too thick for him to breathe. He had chosen a select group, not wanting to risk alerting the Watchers of their plan too early on. Grian and Martyn were with him, given that they had the most knowledge of the Watchers dimension. He felt bad, bringing them both back to a place that held so many unpleasant memories for them, but they had insisted that they would be okay. Etho was also there, alongside Impulse and Cleo. Jimmy and Scott had begged to come, but X didn't know how to keep track of their well-being as well as he did for his Hermits, and this was going to be dangerous enough as it was, without X having to worry about keeping excessive tabs on the others.
Taking a deep breath of the cold end air, X started swirling his feet around the floor, tapping in certain areas until he found the snag that he was looking for. He crouched down, waving the small group over to him.
"Link hands, and take a deep breath," he ordered, "this might feel a little strange,"
Once they had done as he said, X leapt off the end of the island, pulling everyone with him. Despite having done this thousands of times, X's stomach still dropped as if expecting to fall. Instead, the air of the void cushioned them and then the small group was gently let down onto the endstone of the Deep End. Despite the horrible situation that brought him back there, X couldn't help but feel the comfort of the environment that he was made for, that he hadn't been to for so long.
Behind him, X heard Martyn cough slightly on the air.
"Everyone alright?" He asked. Luckily, the others wouldn't have difficulties breathing the air, their lungs much more adaptable than those of a Voidwalker.
"What's that X?" Cleo asked, pointing over to the exposed ruins of his old city.
Xisuma felt a pang in his heart as she drew attention to it, but he answered anyway, "Nothing to worry about," he found himself saying, "There's no threat there."
Grian made a small noise of recognition, "The Watchers destroyed this." he said, "They made me Watch."
"It was where the Voidwalkers lived," X added, "There weren't many of us so we all lived here, protecting the gate to the End."
"I'm sorry, X," Etho offered, reaching an arm around the other as he stood looking at the place that had once been his home.
Xisuma hummed, before tearing his gaze away, before directing them all to the right, "Anyway, the Watchers set up this way."
X could tell that the others did not like the Deep End. It was cold, and heavy, and still. X wished that they could have seen it as alive as it was before the Watchers took over.
Eventually, the Watchers castle loomed in the distance. Grian's magic buzzed nervously around them as he drew in a breath as he caught sight of it. The purple tinged protective bubble strengthened around them. Xisuma was honestly impressed at the control Grian had over his magic after so long of suppressing all of his Watcher abilities.
X stopped before they went any further, "Grian, Martyn, last chance to turn back. No one will judge you if you don't want to go any further,"
Martyn was visibly scared, but shook his head, eyes determined. Grian met X's eyes, and he needed no words to know that there was no way that Grian was going to let them go in without him.
They made it to the castle without seeing an Watchers. They made it inside the castle with no resistance. X started to worry. There was no way the Watchers hadn't Seen them yet, and even if they hadn't they should have noticed that someone was in their castle. Unless they were distracted. X's blood ran cold as he turned to Martyn.
"I need you to tell me if you can Hear anything," X said.
Martyn's eyes closed and his nose scrunched in discomfort.
Martyn shook his head. X sighed, that didn't give them much to go off of.
"Which way?" Etho growled.
Grian led them through the castle, until they reached a door. Martyn and Grian shared a worried look. Etho pushed past them and pushed heavily on the door. To their surprise, the door flew open, rising a startled yelp from Joel, who sat, leaning heavily against the wall. Xisuma's admin instincts kicked in and before he knew it, he was at Joel's side, putting pressure on bleeding wounds, asking questions, ordering the others around. Joel was barely coherent. The only sounds he made were pained protests or heartbreaking begging.
X was just about to ask Etho to lift Joel so they could leave, but the door slammed with a deafening crash. The sound of a Watchers laugh echoed around the room, and Martyn fell to his knees screaming.
Xisuma had hoped it wouldn't come to this.
"Everyone hold on to me," he demanded. The others looked confused, but complied.
Grian pulled Martyn up, and once they were all holding on, X closed his eyes, concentrating. Griting his teeth, he reached for the Voidwalker powers that were so much more powerful in the Deep End. With a twist in his stomach, the group were teleporting, disappearing from one dimension and appearing back in the overworld, next to the house that they left the overworld from.
X heard Joel's cry at the movement, but as soon as they landed, the only thing he could focus on was the scratching at his throat as his lungs heaved, trying desperately to breathe in the air without his helmet.
Black dots were starting to appear in his vision before his helmet was roughly shoved on. He took a few deep panicked breaths, before looking up to see a concerned Impulse looking down on him.
"Thanks," He breathed, "Is everyone ok?"
"Everyone's fine," Impulse said, "Cleo's taking Joel inside to try and heal him, Grian's helping Martyn - the Watchers aren't happy, they didn't know we had a Voidwalker. They didn't know there were any Voidwalkers left, actually X,"
X winced, slowly pushing himself up.
"Are you okay, X?" Impulse asked,
"Yeah," X shook his head, trying to get rid of the floaty feeling, "It's just been a while since I've been home, or used that much Voidwalker magic."
"I'm sorry you had to go back."
"No, no" Xisuma reassured him, "it was actually nice to be back,"
"Why did the Watchers think all the Voidwalkers were gone?" Impulse asked cautiously.
X sighed, hoping to avoid that question, "The Watchers wiped out my kind so that they could have the Deep End. I hadn't mastered my abilities yet, and in a panic ended up teleporting out to the overworld, in a world that then became Hermitcraft. I summoned the helmet, but haven't been able to use any Voidwalker abilities in the overworld since. Other than manipulating code."
"Oh, X," Impulse said, "Why didn't you tell us, that wouldn't have been long before you started taking us all in."
Xisuma just smiled and reached up to poke at Impulse's concerned frown, before pushing himself up.
"I'm an Admin, Impulse," X said, "looking after everyone else comes first,"
Impulse opened his mouth to protest, but Xisuma cut in, "Come on, where's Joel? I might be able to help."
Xisuma stood shakily, allowing Impulse to support him as they walked towards the house, "We're here for you too, you know," Impulse said. X nodded, but Impulse wasn't sure if he really meant it. He made a mental note to bring up his concerns about X to the other Hermits as soon as he was back on Hermitcraft. But for now, they needed to focus on Joel. Impulse wasn't sure what he had been through, but by the looks of it they weren't through it yet. He didn't know much about them, but the Watchers didn't seem like the type to let people take from them without a fight, and for whatever reason, Joel seemed to be important to them.
~~~~
The Watchers were angry. They had been decieved by one of their own, even if it was the run away, the Watchers were angry. And their Listener had been involved. And a Voidwalker, who were all supposed to be dead. And they took away the Player that they had yet to crack, that they still could not See.
The Watchers were angry.