Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He yelps when he narrowingly dodges a strike, it wouldn’t do him any good to get more injured than he is already. It was already a miracle that his own armor had kept him protected for the most part, but dropping his guard long enough to get a wound on his abdomen wasn’t exactly doing him any favors. He had thought with all the fighting and destruction done to the room and generally just the sounds alone would be enough to alert someone. 

But it didn’t. Whoever this was, knew exactly how to make sure no one is none the wiser, they’re smart, he could give them that. He may not know how they got onto the server undetected, but he would be a fool to let them continue as they please. 

But he wasn’t that smart. Smiling behind his damaged mask, he immediately struck the enemy, doing something he had not done in a very, very , long time. 

He willingly broke a hole in the server and the world itself– forcing both himself and the enemy into the gaping void. 

No sooner did they both go through, the server patched up the hole into the void as if as though nothing had happened. Leaving no trace of where the two had disappeared to.

Xelqua was honestly not expecting to be bombarded with a lot of concerns and messages of an unknown, but severely injured player at spawn. He was barely even able to see those messages after his administration panel and monitors had been hit with a thick layer of errors and warning signs, warning signs of someone breaking into the server in a very unnatural manner actually.

Warnings that The Void had done something unusual. 

Backed up with a very glitchy and damaged looking join message. He knew eventually that something would eventually go wrong, but he didn’t expect something to be an injured, not whitelisted player. If anything, he had expected for his fellow Evolutionist to begin their lore for the Audience to entertain themselves with. Maybe even some good ole chaos. 

Not this sudden emergency. 

Summoning the administration panel, he immediately teleported to Spawn, rushing over to the small crowd of players hovering over something or someone in great concern. He wasn’t too sure how to help someone at this point of time, but he would be damned if he didn’t at least try. 

It would go against his morals to not help anyways. 

Although for just a moment, he could have sworn he felt the presence of The Void, but just as he felt it– it had also vanished. Leaving him momentarily confused, what did The Void have to do with what’s happening right now? He doesn’t know and he’s a bit too afraid to even understand the whims of The Void. 

Upon seeing the being, he was actually put off by their appearance alone, cringing at the unrecognizable yet very severely damaged armor they wore- but pushed that aside and checked the conditions of the person. He couldn’t even tell what type of injuries they have at all. Yet he took note of the person's struggle to breathe.

Maybe broken or fractured Ribs? Maybe even bruising if he’s lucky? Worst case scenario, it could be something worse. He doesn’t want to imagine it being the worst actually. 

Perhaps an enderkin that’s unaccustomed to the overworld atmosphere, especially in beta? Very likely, they would have to probably give them a temporary solution. Until he figures out if he should get them a mask or something, depending on the severity of the issue. But judging by the very much discarded and very damaged helmet next to them, it was likely needed. 

Or perhaps there’s more to factor than just breathing, but perhaps their sight? It could be a reasonable possibility. 

He would have to get the others input on designing a mask or sorts to help him with breathing and adjusting to the overworld atmosphere, or just make a special air bubble around them to help them with the sunlight. Maybe the void atmosphere that seeps into the overworld should be enough, considering they don’t have the End Realm quite yet. 

Beta is after all, tethering on the thin line of existing as the newly created overworld between realms. Especially in a Server format, but that was how Steve had first described the Overworld when it was created, the same sense of feeling could be applied to this server at the moment. 

So for now he would have to reconfigure the atmosphere of the medical room for them to be breathable for Enderkins until then. 

Yet, he shudders at the sight of so much blood, lavender purple blood to be more specific, something so odd and out of place. He wasn’t even sure if that was common amongst enderkin, but he has barely ever met any Enderkins, so he wouldn’t really know too much. Although he felt as though calling them an Enderkin doesn’t seem right, it wasn’t wrong…

His gut feelings are always right and he hated that, most of the time at least. 

He grimaced when he gently and carefully managed to get them into an upright position, typing on the Admin panel, he called forth a potion, not exactly a good idea, but none of them were sure just how severe the stranger's injuries were. It could be severe and they would have to act very quickly. This would be enough to buy them time to fully help them as much as he could. 

Ever so carefully, with the help of Martyn and Netty, they managed to pour some of the potions into the wounds they could see or consider as severe.

Xelqua then turned to the others. “Jimmy, go set up a temporary medical room quickly.” Jimmy nodded in understanding and immediately rushed off to make a quick temporary medical room. 

Xelqua on the other hand gently and carefully pulled the player to lean against them. “Salem I need you to get me some bandages, I can’t use my admin panel to heal the injuries until the bleeding slows down and know for sure just what extent the injuries are, considering potions can only do so much when they’re unconscious.” Salem nodded in understanding as they rushed off to get the community emergency stash of medical supplies.

“Zee, BigB, I need you both to help me move them afterwards and Martyn, get me a bucket of water and a clean cloth, followed by a couple of Health Vials and Regenerations Vials– the diluted ones.” He instructed as the others quickly rushed to get what Grian would be needing.

This is, by all means, going to be a long day. A very long day…

By the time Xisuma wakes up, he was faintly aware of the dull aching pain he felt, but it was slowly fading away, leaving behind just a phantom feeling. Confused, he tried to look around- but felt something on their shoulder, putting a bit of weight to prevent them from even moving or getting up. "Relax, you shouldn’t be moving right now, especially with the stitching that had to be done." A familiar voices told him, even more confuse, he look over to see who exactly was gently stopping him from moving–

“Grian?!”

He hissed as the sudden movement had caused him pain, feeling a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “I told you not to move otherwise that would have happened, but unfortunately, I am not this ‘Grian’ you spoke of.” 

Xisuma looks up at them, to see if it’s actually Grian that was bandaging him and had spoken…he had just said that he doesn’t know who ‘Grian’ is. Isn’t that his name? He thought to himself in pure confusion, sure the person looks like Grian, but they didn’t at the same time.

They weren’t wearing their signature red jumper nor did they have their colorful wings, but instead they have what seems to be a familiar shade of purplish-white wings instead. A green pointed hat, white long sleeve shirt with a green short sleeve tunic, a brown belt with a few bags around his waist and what he could guess as black trousers from what he could see while laying down. 

In pain, unfortunately. 

Maybe he’s meeting someone that resembles Grian? Like a relative? But that didn’t seem right, they sounded exactly like the Grian he knows, but younger, yet at the same time…

None of them know much about the Grian past, but the only one that seems to know, as far as he’s aware of amongst his Hermits, happens to be Pearl, Mumbo, Scar, Doc and Wels. Maybe even Impulse, but he never asked. He never wanted to, everyone is allowed to keep their secrets and he respects each and every Hermits he has come to know, to keep their secrets. 

Although he is starting to regret jerking back, cause now his abdomen absolutely hurts and he hisses in pain. Grian must have noticed as he gently helped him lay down more comfortably and had him drink something from a small vial– it tasted absolutely awful but it somehow soothes his pain quite a bit. He was sure he was showing a look of pure distaste and hatred if the gentle laughter from Grian was anything to go by. 

Eventually, Grian finished bandaging his wounds, then helped him sit up properly with a fair amount of pillows for comfort and support. "So, do you remember what happened or how you got here?" He casually asked as he moved to get a bottle of water, while Xisuma could take note of the way Grian seems to act. It was very different then how he had known him, it seems to be more…elegant. 

It was also very familiar, but he can’t place just where he had seen such elegance from. 

"I'm not entirely sure." He winced at how rough he sounded, but that wasn't much of a surprise really. "Or how I ended up here actually. I was very sure I was just in my room doing something and then…" Xisuma stopped, trailing off, what exactly happened afterward?

Strange, he normally has perfectly good memories, but how come he can’t recall what happened afterwards? Maybe he must have forgotten if it was adrenaline or something, he does recall feeling some excruciating pain…plus a bit of fighting, but still…

It mostly came out as a blank. Which isn’t right at all. 

Grian frowned, it was a bit familiar for Xisuma to see him with such an expression, with how common he happens to frown anyways. Either from trying to figure out what to do with his builds or plotting mischief. "Well, whatever it was that caused your injuries brought you into this server, well, a server that you're not whitelisted in nor safely able to join either, but you're here anyways.” He wondered, startling Xisuma, as he helped him sit up more comfortably and hand over the water bottle. To which Xisuma slowly drinks as he thinks about what he was just told.

Admittedly, the bottle of water did help remove the awful taste of that potion he drank earlier. He never thought he would ever find a potion that would taste as awful as that. 

He wasn't aware nor knew that this was actually a whitelisted server, in fact he had half expected a private single player world, but somehow, he can’t see Grian being on his own for too long. Without going crazy enough to create another android. Or do something unhinge for that matter. 

The day he had discovered NPC Grian and Robot Grian was the most terrifying day of his life. It didn’t help that NPC Grian was specifically taller than Doc! Granted, a few inches, but still tall!

"Say, can you tell me your name?" Grian asked, genuinely curious to know who the strange player was in front of them, but it’s also to try and get them whitelisted for their safety. Along with investigating whether or not they were brought here by accident or by force of some kind. 

Considering, well, beta isn’t safe for an unwhitelisted player. 

At all. He would know considering the amount of reports and work he had to do with his fellow Primordial Admins.

Of course, this left Xisuma contemplating their choice. Tell their name and risk a huge issue like potentially an existential crisis or paradox or use a fake name and be left in the dark on who they truly are.

They decided a fake name would be for the best, for the time being at least. He still doesn’t even know where he is and quite frankly, rather not have to deal with a time related crisis later, if he is the Grian he would eventually meet, then yeah, it would be really awkward. "I'm...Xenrus." Xisuma answered, almost unsure, but to Grian, he interpreted it as hesitance to even tell their name.

Which isn’t far from the truth, he was very hesitant in giving a name.

Grian smiled softly nonetheless. "Well, nice to meet you Xenrus, I'm Xelqua.” Xisuma immediately froze, he recognized that name, how could he not? There’s no way Grian is actually Xelqua, right? He frowns, if this is Grian and his name is Xelqua…

No, that wasn’t right, Xisuma isn’t even sure what to make of this. How can the chaotic Hermit he knows and cares about as family be also The Xelqua, Admin of Evolution and Ruler of the Watchers? 

This must be some sick, cruel joke! A coincidence that they have similar names.

Right?

"Unfortunately since the majority of your injuries were pretty bad, your...armor? I think? Had to unfortunately go, the suit under it also had to go since it got damaged and had to be cut off when we had to bandage your injuries and the helmet you had also gotten severely damaged and can't be repaired considering it looks like it took a huge brunt of the damage that hit you." He explained to him with an apologetic look, Xisuma sigh, he didn't expect to lose the majority of his stuff, but at the same time.

It makes it a tad bit easier to at least blend in wherever he's at. He still refuses to accept the person before him as both Grian and Xelqua. There’s just no way.

 "However, I did manage to make something that would actually help until me and a friend make you something more suitable.” Xisuma wonders if that meant he knew how to code. Being an Admin also meant knowing how to handle the delicate construct of existence after all. Especially with maintaining servers.

“I’ll also have to planned a day to go into the market to get you potions since we don’t really have any here, nor in this version for that matter, since I had to use my admin panel and some alchemy made potions to heal your worst injuries so we don't have the risk of infections, especially since you're not exactly whitelisted here and Respawn could be deadly for you." Xisuma hums in response, he wasn’t on Hermitcraft, since this version of Grian doesn’t know him–

Is it even okay for him to think of him as Grian? He didn’t even recognize the name as his own and he did say his name is Xelqua, but why would he use the name of an ancient, yet legendary figure? Especially Xelqua is the Watcher God, only known to the Voidwalkers and revered as a legendary warrior to the Netherkins as the Dreamslayer.

Something about him defeating the Dream God of The End and The Blood God in some sort of tournament. 

But the more he looks at Grian…the more he feels like a sense of deja vu was hitting him, not in a usual manner. He knows Grian, of course he does, he’s the Hermitcraft local Pesky Bird, but as of right now, he feels like Grian is someone else. Someone seemingly naive, yet so carefree. They may share the same face, but the aura is completely different…even the outfit was different and looked very familiar. 

It almost reminded him of home, strangely enough. He hasn’t been home in the Voidwalker Kingdom in a very long time though.

"How bad are my injuries?" He asked, which isn’t something he should be asking, but he would just in case and considering his situation, he’s gonna find out one way or another anyways. Grian hummed in response, wondering if he should tell him or not, but chose to tell him, it was only fair he knew what type of injuries they had anyways.

“Well, you have several third-degree burns over your arms and upper chest, likely from the armor since it did take a large amount of damage, but not enough to stop those burns from forming and removing the fabric from the damaged burn wounds didn’t help either.” Xisuma winces at the mentions of burns, his undersuit most likely prevented the burns from becoming as severe as four-degree burns but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt to remove, his armor is likely the reason the burns were made in the first place. Grian then pointed at his abdomen.

“There is a stabbed wound on your abdomen– it had to be stitched so don’t move much otherwise it might reopen. That was our first priority, any higher and more centered and you would have suffocated from your own blood or worse, it would have hit one of your vital organs like your kidney or liver.”

Xisuma paled significantly, any wounds that require stitching are the absolute worst and very likely to scar, quite frankly, he doesn’t even want to know what attacked or harmed him long enough to cause that type of injury. But to hear that specifically…he shudders, death is the worst. Yes Respawn exists, but there’s ways to cause permanent death.

Permanent death counts as murder under the Administrator Laws. 

“Also there’s a wound on the side of your head, which is why there’s a fair amount of bandage that somewhat obscure your vision– which you gotten when you had crashed into spawn, considering it's thanks to your helmet that you didn't gain a horrible concussion or worse– amnesia."

Well, that explains why the side of his head was throbbing with dull pain, Xisuma thought to himself with a pained wince, he really didn’t really like the pain all that much. It was a rarity that he does feel it since his armor mostly took a huge chunk of the damage anyways.

Besides burns and probably electric harm, those are the downsides of wearing armor, same with the risk of sinking to the bottom of large bodies of water.  

He should also count himself lucky that the metal didn’t even melt either, now that would have been a nightmare…one that he sincerely hopes he would never have to deal with. At all. Stitches was one thing, but melted metal making contact to the skin? Even worse, scarring, deep scarring to be exact. 

He had heard stories from Exavian that their father and his best friend had to deal with something like that. Wasn’t pretty, he’s starting to understand why he was so concerned with him wearing the armor. 

He never met their father's friend, oddly enough. He tried asking, but Exavian would always tell him something else, to avoid the topic. Even their father, despite how little he remembers, seems to avoid talking about him sometimes. 

Something about his friend having an extremely high yet dangerous position...

“Not only that, you also kinda have a broken rib and a few fractures, so no overexerting whatsoever until that’s healed on its own on top of the wound on your abdomen. I already got the broken one handled via the administrator panel.” Well, at least Xisuma doesn’t have to worry about that, but that just made him confused on how he had even gotten a broken rib and a few fractures in the first place.

Just what had happened to cause that many injuries? Must be something dangerous if it could take him on in a fight, but that begs the question, what did he even fight against?

“Despite it all, you should be fine for the time being, but just for your sake, you're gonna be stuck on bedrest for a couple of days, mainly for me to monitor the condition of your wounds.” 

Xisuma hums, he supposed he could handle that, at least, he thinks he could. He hasn't been sentenced to long term bedrest in such a long time and quite frankly, he wasn’t sure if he was able to handle it, usually his brother would ensure he stays in bed. Sometimes even Keralis comes over to ensure that he isn’t even trying to do any work in his period of rest. He had actually lost the amount of times he got caught working while he was injured or meant to be resting. 

Never again should he allow the chaotic trio that is Grian, Mumbo and Scar to be aware, they can be threatening in ways he never thought possible of them. In fact, it was terrifying enough that Keralis approved of their methods.

Seriously, who would approve of a Pesky Bird, a questionable Eldritch and a Vex-Fae to team up? Clearly, Keralis, the only other Eldritch on the server, is totally fine with them babysitting him. Surprisingly, they didn’t involve Doc…

It doesn’t help that he doesn’t even have anything to keep himself entertained while bedrest. 

Although, he only has one question left, a perfectly important one. “Where exactly am I? You haven’t told me the name of your server, I understand the dangers of a non-whitelisted player being on it, but the way you describe it seems worse.” Xisuma question, it was an honest question, one that Grian can’t fault him for wondering about. 

Although Grian did give him a strange look. One that made him feel uncomfortable, maybe he shouldn’t have brought up the dangers. Not everyone likes Admins and most of the time, Admins in training or want to become Admins are in the center of harms throughout history. 

No one knows why that seems to be the case, not even the Primordial Admins knows what caused such animosity. 

“You seem to know quite a lot about how Server works, don’t you?” Xisuma metaphorically sweat as he hesitantly nodded. He felt as though lying about not knowing wouldn’t end well. “I do– I’ve been studying a lot about it, I wanted to be an Admin one day.” He answered, it wasn’t a lie, but not a full truth. He did at one point in the past do a lot of research to become an Admin and succeeded.

Not because he was granted the chance thanks to Generik, but because Lord Xelqua had wanted him to pursue the status. They didn’t want him to put his gift to waste after all, plus he was actually one of the very Voidwalker to be an Admin anyways. At first, he didn’t really understand why Lord Xelqua had wanted him to pursue such a very difficult and well respected position, but perhaps he sees him as a wonderful leader. 

Or babysits a bunch of chaotic gremlins, by Xelqua, he sometimes wonders why he had actually agreed, but in the end, he had ended up loving his position as the most respected Admin in all of the Server Hubs since he has his server, be his family. 

With a gentle smile, Grian answered his questions with a more…mysterious aura. “I am the Admin of this server, my special server, a little experimental one that is known as the Evolution SMP, although to be more precise, I consider this server special because we’re on version Beta 1.4_01, otherwise known as the beginning stages of Server Creation."

Xisuma stared at him with a blank expression, slowly processing what he had just been told, if he remembered his history correctly…

Eons before Lord Xelqua had taken the Voidwalkers under his protections and back when he was still one of the Primordial Admins, he had a helping hand in creating servers. One of the servers he first created and the only one he had since made actually, was known as the Evolution SMP. Yet what makes this specific server stand out than the rest of the beta testing servers…

Wasn’t because it was a Primordial Admin that made it, but also because the Evolution Server is also the very same server where many Pantheon of the Gods were created and many Gods were known, but their presence doesn’t measure up to one particular Pantheon, not even The Listeners are as well known as them. 

This particular Pantheon that’s known throughout history as both well loved, but also well hated by everyone…

The Watcher Pantheon.

Chapter Text

Xelqua frowned, being quite concerned by how unnervingly silent their guest had been, especially since they seem so utterly lost. He’s familiar with that type of expression, after all– his fellow Evolutionists had expressed such a terrible sense of loss. As well as the feeling of being disconnected from everything around them.

Something he can’t fault them for feeling, they were all just young Godlings afterall.

It still worried him, for someone such as them to be injured as they are, this was by no means a normal injury one would get after breaking through the point between the void and a server. And he would know, considering his position as a Primordial Admin who helps his fellow Admins with stabilizing the creation of Servers from the research, notes and help from the admins before and after them.

Not that he likes them, it’s a true shame that they had to rely on Romeo for his skills with negotiation and being one of the last three Admins of Storia, but at least Jesse and Xara make it bearable, for the most part. He faintly wonders if they would really bring a change as the next generations of Admins, he wasn’t entirely sure.

Right now, his main concerns are what had happened to Xenrus and his safety.

Especially since this server is a private white listed server– a still very much experimental feature that they had created to limit the chances of griefing being done to the world that’s been created, nor does it seem like it could be from a normal fight either. He had seen the injuries before, not exactly the same, but the way it is placed, It was too precise, precise in the matter that whatever had attacked was aiming to Kill him.

As in, Permanently Kill.

He had chosen not to tell Xenrus about that bit of information, afraid that it would cause them to be more stressed then they should. Yet, Xelqua would count Xenrus lucky that his injuries weren't severe enough to risk anything permanent. Besides scarring of course.

He shudders to imagine what could have happened had the perpetrator had succeeded, scratch that, he doesn’t want to know who or what could have possibly hunted down the poor guy in the first place.

Yet this incident alone is enough for him to be on guard, he would have to leave the server in the safe hands of Zee and Martyn while he leaves to report to his friends and fellow Admins about this development. They aren’t taking any chances of this incident being repeated somewhere else, as Primordial Admins, they have their duty to ensure that everyone– regardless if the players are on their server or not, are safely protected.

Plus, if what the attacker had done to poor Xenrus was severe enough to force him to break into an experimental whitelisted server…

Xelqua frowns, he would have to revisit these worries when he talks to the others for their annual monthly meeting. This is definitely something that he needs to discuss with his fellow Admins.

Regardless, he needed to find a way to carefully whitelist them just in case things went South. Especially with how dangerous Beta actually was back then, or currently, truly strange to think about isn't it? It’s a shame that Romeo and Xara don’t know who created the Minecraftian Server or who was the one to bestow them the power of Administrations in the first place. They didn’t even know what had happened to the other Admins in the hallways– well, more like they didn’t know what could have possibly killed them.

After all, so long as the Admin or someone of similar authority is alive and has control over the server, the portal stays up. Yet, should there be no admins or anyone of such authority in the server, it will be destroyed.

Deleted, in most cases.

The downsides of leaving the server without any knowledge of getting back, nor a proper communication device is getting trapped in the hall, in another server or never being found. This was a flaw that caused unsuspecting players to be taken to the Pits.

Or forever lost. It’s no wonder MCSM had abandoned their portal Hub in such a ruinous state.

With a gentle sigh, he looks at Xenrus who still didn’t respond, which is getting more and more worrying. Perhaps they had so much to think about and are slowly trying to process everything that had happened and just try and figure out what to do. He wouldn’t be surprised if Xenrus eventually had a breakdown or something.

After all, they nearly died if they did not show up here in time.

Materializing the Admin panel before him once again, he went through Xenrus codes– he recoiled back in utter shock, staring down at the codes in baffled shock. There should be no way that someone like Xenrus should have this type of code. Not unless they’re–

“Gri–” Xelqua immediately looked at Xenrus who had coughed, almost as if as though something was caught in his throat for a moment. “ Xelqua, is something the matter? You look as though you are some sort of horror.” Xelqua stared at Xenrus who seemed unaware, so innocent…

Now I understood why someone was trying to kill you, Xelqua thought bitterly to himself as he sat on the edge of the bed. Looking at Xenrus' worried expression makes him faintly wonder if he even knows what his codes are. Especially for someone that’s learning to be an Admin, they surely would have seen their own codings.

It was the detail that regards the Admins. Those that are admins– born or learned the skills, have a special layer to their codes. A glint of pearlescent glow covering their codes is a sign that they are an admin. It’s different for everyone, but in Xelqua case, his admin codings have a more archaic galactic. Not indescribable text that can’t be read as one would have expected since he is a god like being, something he rather kept to himself about, it was more of something he had chosen to claim.

A curse he rather bears on his own shoulders than others he knows that suffered by the hands of unjust divines.

Yet, It’s very different from the Enderkin, yes it’s Galactic, but the Enderkin have Standard Galactic, being descended from the ancients that once roamed Minecraft before vanishing, at least, that’s how much Xara knew, becoming the Enderkin they all have come to know. Xelqua may not have known the ancients since he wasn’t alive by that point, but he had always been fascinated by their archaic architecture.

There was, once a myth he had heard from the Villagers, that the Enderkins and Endermens were once descended from the Ancient Builders. He himself had never met them, for they were around long before even the first Minecraftian was ever created by the Maker.

Hypothetically of course. No one has any idea what the Origin of Minecraft is truly like.

Yet, he wasn’t sure just why the Admins are given abilities by the Maker himself, but they figured it was the best way to handle each individual world one way or another. Considering, well, apparently the death of the Admins is what caused the death of the world. He shudders to imagine anyone willing to kill their Admins permanently.

He only just hopes they died of natural causes, but he had once seen a world that had lost their admin, only to gain another.

Infinite possibilities and so little for him to even understand at the end of the day. No matter how long he had lived to wonder, he can never understand fully at times. But he will always be glad for the New Order of The Stone for founding the foundation of everything they know now.

Well, more like laying the ground works that he and the other Primordial Admins took as per the late Leader had wanted in their will.

In the end, Xelqua mentally groaned, why was he thinking so much of the past? Thinking about MCSM as he and all the other Divines and Admins call it, makes him feel guilty for no reason. There was no point anyways, the world is long, but gone, disintegrated to nothing with its maker, the first player to stop the admins and claim their powers for the good of the inhabitants, gone. No one, besides the older Admins and Gods remembers the world anymore, revering it as just a myth now. Just like Minecraft, his original home.

Yet, sometimes he’s jealous how they managed to live so unaware.

In the end, Xelqua sigh. “I’m sorry Xenrus, but this may seem like a personal question, but– are you aware of your heritage?” Xenrus blinks, seemingly confused. “My Heritage? What do you mean?” Xelqua sighs as he shows him the Administration Panel showcasing his codes. “I’m talking about your codes, as a Admin in training, you should be aware that you can view your own codes–”

Xelqua cut himself off upon seeing the way Xenrus instantly pale. Making the former worried about the injured guest.

“...Is something the matter?” He gently questioned, very concerned by the reaction, as far as he knew, all Admins in training or learning to be one have needed to learned about their own codes as a requirement–

“I have never seen my codes like this before.”

Xelqua stares at them with bewildered concern, what did they mean by that? “Are you saying that you never saw your own codes before or did it not look like how it is right now?” He questioned, yet Xenrus grimaces. “I never saw my codes before, during my classes on codings where we are required to check our own codes, I was told specifically to never look at my codes.”

Xelqua hums as he thinks over his words, the only reason someone would say that is if the Codes are in a bad state and need to be fixed for the safety of the person, or perhaps…its for their safety. Judging by how Xenrus wasn’t aware, he can only assume it’s the latter.

It only makes sense, after all.

Even he never saw codes like this.

He just sincerely hopes it’s not the immoral and very much illegal modifications.

Worst case scenarios, he would have to overwrite whatever illegal modifications done– if there is any, a forbidden technique, even amongst the Divines and higher beings. But somehow, it wasn’t fully outlawed amongst the Admins, their excuses were for emergency purposes. He and the other Divines disagree. Even the Maker, The Entity and the First had disagreed, once upon a time.

With a sigh, he stood up as he ruffled Xenrus hair, much to startled surprise. Then protested that he wasn’t a kid. Which made Xelqua chuckle, despite all odds, Xenrus is in fact a child compared to him. “Sorry Xenrus, but between us both– you are a child compared to me. Even if you say you're an adult, I am unfortunately much older.” Xelqua pointed out, making Xenrus stare at him with disbelief.

“If you're older than me and still look young, does that mean you're some kind of immortal?” He questioned, it wouldn’t do him too well to lie, so the best case right now is for Xenrus to trust him. He would have to also explain quite a lot about this server eventually. “I suppose so, but since you are stuck on this server and under my protection due to your…circumstances, it’s best for me to be honest.” He answered, which Xenrus nodded in understanding.

Xelqua seriously wondered what type of sick bastard would harm someone as innocent as this guy to an almost critical state.

“One of the things you must know is that I am a Primordial Admin.”

Xenrus nodded in understanding– only to freeze in complete shock. “You're a Primordial Admin?! I knew that the Evolution Server is famous for its concept– but to know that it was made by a Primordial Admin like you is insane!” This caused Xelqua to blushed quite a bit, not expecting such excitement, he had first thought that Xenrus would react in horror, but to his surprise, it wasn’t. It was pure excitement and perhaps a bit of idolizing

Xelqua kinda wants to adopt this strange guest of his.

Although, first thing first, he should make sure that his guest is well cared for. “As much as I would have loved to continue talking to you and maybe even train you as a future Admin.” Xelqua chuckled at the excitement that is plastered on his face, he quite like Xenrus being all happy instead of being sad and in pain. It’s far better that way anyways, as he dismissed the administration panel.

He ruffled Xenrus hair once again, much to his annoyance. “Again with the hair! Would you stop that?! What if that messed up the bandages!” Xelqua chuckles as he steps back from a pouting Xenrus. “I’m just messing with ya, no need to be hissy about it, besides, smiling is far better than you being in pain, don’t you think?” He responded, causing Xenrus to stop and think about what he had said.

He was speaking the honest truth after all.

“Okay…but uh, what happened next? What am I supposed to do until you whitelist me here?” He questioned Xelqua who had frown, he knew he would ask, but still. “Just focus on your recovery in the meantime, I’ll handle all the dull and important work alright?” He answered with a sad smile, he clearly sees that Xenrus wasn’t pleased, but considering what he had learned after waking up.

He supposed he would have to listen and just take his time recovering.

“Alright, I’ll take it easy then.” Xelqua smiled as turned to leave the room, but before he did so, he glanced back at him. “Just rest for a while, I’m sure the others would come by to visit you and introduce themselves, along with giving you food and some entertainment, alright?” Xenrus nodded in understanding as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

Nodding to himself as he planned for possibly a long week of no sleep, he left the building they had hastily made for Xenrus recovery– only to run into his players.

Why are they giving him a smug look all of a sudden? Did something happen?...nor did they happen to listen to the conversation he had with Xenrus.

"So, are you going to keep him?” Jimmy teased with a casual smile, Xelqua just stared. “You're making it sound like I’m hoping to adopt.” He responded, getting a few giggles from them. “Yeah, are you?” Martyn questioned, to which the others stepped forward– wanting to know the answer. “Not only that, but by the time he fully recovers and all, you're gonna get so attached, you're gonna end up adopting him.” Systemzee commented with a snicker, getting Xelqua to sigh in response.

This is probably what he gets for playing mortal for quite a while, getting really attached to the friends he made as a mortal. It doesn’t help that he had pretty much created EVO as the safe haven for newly created Entities and Godlings for him to safely train and raise and said childrens are in front of him. “What? Do you guys want me to adopt him into the family?” He asked with a hint of sarcasm, but he should have known better.

"Yes." Was their collective answer as they all smiled smugly at him.

Truly, he should have known better, with that he clapped his hands. “Alright, until I can register him as a player on this server, give him a proper interview to keep him here if he so wishes, I shall be fostering him until then.” He announced, then glared at Jimmy and Martyn. “And that also means that you two can’t try to recruit him to your side either, considering as I am the Admin and apparent parental figure here with the needed skills to monitor his health and codes.” Jimmy pouted while Martyn just groaned.

The others just chuckles instead.

Although, Xelqua didn’t really need to bring up that he’s the Parental Figure here, but they can’t deny it. He did technically find them all in unusual manners and it doesn’t help that each and every one of them aren’t even the slightest bit normal.

They all know about the true purpose of the Server, but that doesn’t stop them from having fun and learning what it’s like to live as a mortal.

Although, he should really figure out how they’re gonna help him with the phantom pain, none of them are strangers to such feelings. Stories that each and every one of them would have to tell on their own. When it’s needed at least, but he knows he could count on Systemzee to help make something for Xenrus.

Especially after what he had found in his codes. His assumptions about Xenrus being an Enderkin may not be accurate anymore, so he needs to do a lot of research as well.

Until Martyn voiced an important question that pulled him out of his thought process. “So like, where is Xenrus going to stay? He certainly can’t stay in any of our bases due to the spaces and he certainly can’t always stay in the makeshift emergency medical building we made.” The others all hum in agreement, Xelqua had to agree, he wasn’t sure where he would stay at either. “Hey wait, why not have him stay at Xelqua place?” Systemzee suddenly voiced, causing them all to stare at Xelqua. “That’s not a bad idea.” Jimmy agreed, Xelqua just looked at them all, jaw dropping.

The nerves of his players! They had just sacrificed him!

“Absolutely not-” He tried to argue, but alas, they all gave him a look that made him shut up and backed down.

"Xelqua, you're the only one here that can actually heal the guy compared to us. Plus, you're the admin here, you have a responsibility to make sure that un-whitelisted players are kept under surveillance until further notice, right?" Systemzee commented with a simple smirk, Xelqua huffed. Thinking over it for a moment, but shakes his head. "Fine, I'll let them stay at my place, however! He would need to stay here for a little while longer so I can make a room at my empire for them to stay in." Xelqua answered, but agreed nonetheless, granted, he didn’t have much of a choice anyways, but he could at least see the benefit of this.

It would give him more chances in monitoring his health and figuring out the coding issues.

Although he wasn't kidding when he said he would need some time to build an area for Xenrus to stay in, he did only get the minecart station as his sorta home after all. The Empire itself isn’t exactly finished, so he would have to hollow out a decent area and turn it into a living area for him. Or maybe expand the actual house? He wasn’t too sure.

Martyn and Jimmy both nodded in understanding, same with the others who all nodded in agreement. "That works with us, also, Xelqua?" Martyn asked, Grian looked at them in confusion. "Yes Martyn?” He responded, noting the nervous chuckle coming from his fellow ancient. “How do we explain that all of us are Godlings and Entities?”

Now they all sat in awkward silence. Martyn posed a very good point, how are they going to explain the whole, Evolutions Portals, the apparent fact that they’re all either Gods or mysterious Entities on the server. As well as the knowledge that this is actually a safe haven.

Xelqua simply just groaned as he covered his face with his hands. Then looked up at the others. “I already told him that I am a Primordial Admin, until he recovers enough to go through the update portal and I whitelist him, we won’t tell him our true identities.”

The others hum, thinking the idea over. It didn’t sound like a good idea to keep such important information from him, but they didn’t really have much of a choice. They don’t have any idea how much information he could handle, especially in his fragile state.

He was almost permanently killed from what they could understand upon first glances.

"We could probably go with that, at least, so it doesn’t seem like we’re constantly lying or whatever? Plus trust is gonna be difficult considering the circumstances." Jimmy hesitantly suggested, they all thought about it, but it was probably the smartest choice they have really. Really, it would be bad to not tell him without the guy thinking they don't trust him, which is fair considering he did show up at the server unexpectedly and ever so gravely injured and all.

Something that had put them all on edges. Especially Xelqua, considering he discovered something extremely important about Xenrus.

"When the time comes where we have to move to the next update, we’ll tell him more about what’s going on here on the server as well as the special properties.”

Sure, it would take a while to explain in a way they could understand, but it would also be a lot of trouble if they didn’t consider the unstable nature of just updating a server. In beta, especially in Xenrus state. There’s so much about Xenrus they don’t know and they have no idea if they could even take him back to his home server safely either.

With a sigh, he gave an exhausted smile. “Nonetheless, you all are welcome to visit him, just don’t overwhelm him alright?” Upon hearing that they could visit, they all ran off– mostly to figure out who would visit him first and what to bring. It wasn’t often that they’re allowed to speak to a stranger that they know nothing about.

But it was the first time that Xelqua had willingly let the stranger stay in the first place.

Shaking his head, Xelqua headed back to his base…now his next worry is explaining the existence of the Watchers. Mostly to ensure that they don’t cause too much trouble and spread Xenrus presence on the server to anyone else, it would be troubling if words got out.

Especially since Xenrus might just be a new species that he just discovered today. 

Chapter Text

A week had passed by and as much as Xisuma appreciated the other players for visiting him and offering some entertainment. He was getting very restless, so much so that he literally begged one of the players to give him the chance to leave the room– even just for a few minutes, he’s getting sick of being stuck in a single room. 

Unfortunately, Grian– Xelqua, will never get used to calling someone he had known as a friend for some years as his literal Deity that he worshiped for a huge portion of his life. He wasn’t sure if he could even make the habit of calling him Xelqua , when he was affectionately known as Grian .

Had come by and firmly, (more like scolded him as if as though he was a child) explained to him that his wounds were still healing and that he needed some more time to rest. He argued that he healed enough–

But he immediately shut his mouth when he gave him a disappointed look. He never wanted that look of disappointment focused on him ever again. 

Seeing that look of disappointment aimed at him makes him wonder if this is how his Hermits felt when he gave them his look of disappointment.

He’ll never underestimate it. 

Xisuma still can't get used to the fact that Grian was an admin of this server, or the fact that this server is even on beta. At all. He had only known a few people that have been around since beta, one of which happened to be Etho, a good friend of his. Along with Wels, a wonderful friend, despite not being a true and proper knight, he does what no knight would do anyways. Something he may never forget if he was ever being honest. 

Nor would he ever get used to everyone calling him 'Xenrus' now. He wasn’t sure why he had even chosen the name– he sorta made it up on the spot. Could have done better at the very least…

And yet, how was Grian able to do something such as this? He may never know or perhaps he will never fully comprehend honestly. Time is a very difficult thing to work with, especially on a large scale like a Server. Based on his knowledge on the Evolution Server, he is pretty sure they go through several updates until they reach The End update.

What happened afterwards– well, it was controversial really. He wasn’t really sure what’s the truth and what’s not the truth. Some say it was destroyed by the Watchers themselves and others say that the Admins had something to do with its downfall.

The most important thing about the server alone is the fate that befell Lord Xelqua. 

No one knew if he lived or not. He had simply just vanished– 

Nonetheless, he was getting really restless and would more than go insane if he didn't at least leave the room. Even for a few minutes! He would even go so far as begged at this point– maybe this is a side effect of being a Builder. Always being active and can’t stay still for very long, it would certainly be the case at this point. 

Maybe he should ask whoever visits him next if he could read some books or at least write a journal. Journaling sounds like a wonderful idea to pass the time and hopefully not forget that this is by no means a dream. If it was a dream, it is a considerably cursed nightmare. Who in their right minds would send someone of a low status as himself amongst the followers of the Watcher Pantheon to a sacred place like this? 

“Hey Xenrus! Guess what!” Martyn cheerfully appeared as Xisuma stares at him with boredom and maybe the mischievous desire to prank them when granted the chance. 

“If it’s not my chance to go outside, I will throw this pillow at you.” 

Martyn raised an eyebrow as he leaned against the doorway and crossed his arms. “Someone in a bad mood, but I can’t say I blame you, it took forever, but I did actually manage to convince our dearest Admin, Xelqua, to at least let you get a change of clothes and some outdoors time.”

Xisuma stares at them, unsure if what he heard is true or not, but if it is in fact true…

“You're not lying, are you?”

“Do I look like a liar?”

“. . .”

“I should feel offended by that ominous silence, but honestly, I can’t deny it considering what I’ve been doing lately in terms of pranks.”

Xisuma doesn’t want to even know, but at the same time, he really wants to so he could prank them all in a more spectacular way. Enough that it would make even Grian proud of his accomplishment, after all, even someone as responsible as him had a mischievous streak every once in a while. 

Martyn coughs awkwardly as he summons the clothes from his inventory. “Anyways, uh, here’s some clothes. We had to get it tailored to not aggravate your injuries and Xelqua added some enchantments so it would help you get around a bit easier.” Xisuma seems utterly puzzled by the prospect of the clothes being enchanted, he had never heard of clothes being enchanted at all. 

But he accepted the clothes nonetheless…then stared at Martyn awkwardly, he was too ashamed to even ask, but thankfully, Martyn understood and helped him. 

By the time he finished changing, with the help of Martyn of course, which he will not admit– took longer than he had liked, he took note of how very comfortable and soft his new outfit was. 'Huh, I wonder who made my outfit.' He wondered with a soft smile. 

A thick, but lightweight and comfortable black turtleneck long sleeve shirt that doesn’t irritate his bandaged injuries but instead making it feel safely secure, a hooded crop top forest green jacket, he didn’t really mind crop top jacket, but it was a bit of a strange choice in fashion for him. Although he can’t deny just how comfortable the jacket is, definitely made of wool, that much is obvious. He was even given some loose brown trousers, thankfully his boots weren't damaged and he could wear them just fine.

Sadly, he still felt uncomfortably bare and lightweight without any armor, maybe when he recovers enough he could ask to wear some. Even if it’s just shoulder guards or arm guards, he would feel better about having some level of protection on himself. 

He glanced at the strange ear piece that’s attached to some sort of mask that’s left on the table and put it on- only to be startled when a transparent visor suddenly appeared. Despite the initial surprise, it amazed him how such a thing was even made from just an ear piece, he wondered if he could activate the visor at will.

Which he soon learns that he can. 

He did not squeal with excitement, no matter what anyone says, he will not admit to such a thing. 

Now he wonders who had even made something this amazing device in such a time as this. He can’t imagine how much trouble the maker had to go through with how very limited resource gathering happens to be. 

Especially since during Beta, long before crafted goods were more common and mass produced, hand making everything was literally the only thing, at the time, to make what one wanted exactly. It’s also satisfying to know that the handmade items are more durable, better quality and better use than crafted items, sometimes anyways. 

Although the crafting table does still help refine everything, even with hand crafting items.

As much as he loves the handmade visor…

Well, at least it wasn’t a bubble of some kind, Grian gave him one before back when all of his replacement helmets and what not was all damaged. Just enough that he couldn’t actually really use it without risking others seeing his face and having some trouble with breathing. Especially considering he does use the elytra to fly so thinner air is also a hassle to deal with. Thin air is always the worst in all honesty, at least from all his times with just, building real high up and the crazy adventures. 

Well, that would be an issue to anyone else, for him? He just can’t handle the thicker air quality too well most of the time. Now normally it would help for someone that lived with thinner air, but really, it just sucks for him since, well…

It’s difficult to explain honestly. 

Thin air in the Overworld is vastly different from the one in the End and the Void, surprisingly enough. It would be argued that it would be similar, but there is definitely a sharp difference. For one thing, the Overworld Thinner air is cold. Really cold. 

Nonetheless, he double checked that he was all dressed and prepared, he was still a bit troubled by the way players are dressed, he wasn’t even used to not wearing his armor at all either. It was…a very odd feeling and lightness that makes him feel a tad bit too anxious. Sure he’s been told that he rants a lot in both a dramatic and exciting way, well, if he was excited to even talk about something for that matter. 

Regardless, once he was very much sure he was ready, he walked on out of the room– only to almost fall over immediately– thankfully for him, Martyn had caught him. Being careful of his injuries as he helped him up. “Geez, I knew Xelqua was strict about you being on bedrest, but I think he overlooked the fact that staying in bed for too long can cause muscle atrophy.” Martyn commented with a frown, Xisuma sighs in defeat. He had to agree, he hadn’t really moved much since he was stuck being bedridden for so long.

It didn’t help that his injuries also caused him to feel a lot more weakened than he liked. It was no wonder that his clothes were light, but heavy enough that it wouldn’t pose as much of an issue. Plus it was comfortable and warm compared to the cool yet sorta chilly outside.

“Since neither of us expected you to experience some physical weakness– you're gonna have to lean on me for most of the trip.” Martyn commented apologetically, Xisuma huffed as he shook his head. “It’s fine, a small price to pay if I want to be outside– and let me tell you, I was slowly losing my mind staying indoors for so long!” Martyn chuckles at his frustration, he doesn’t blame him honestly, anyone would go crazy if they were stuck with nothing better to do for a while. 

Although as much as Xisuma really don’t want to show any weakness, having been a Admin who needed to ensure their presence doesn’t show a single bit of weakness so it wouldn’t come back to harm him and his players– he knows that sometimes he would have to show such weakness and be granted help when needed. 

It doesn’t help that he had the mindset that Admins can’t show weakness to others without the risk of being betrayed or taken advantage of. It had happened far too many times in recorded history to the point it had become one of the major rules to follow when it comes to following the path of being an Admin. 

Of course, he’s a pushover, but that’s not important in the slightest bit right now. He can already hear the scolding that awaits him from his Hermits about his kind nature! Not his fault that he was mostly raised by a secluded civilization from the Void that doesn’t really interact with the other realms that much. 

“What do you think of everyone?” Xisuma blink, seemingly caught off guard by the sudden question. “Why are you asking me that?” He instead questioned, looking at Martyn curiously as they walked around– well, more like he was being helped to walk really. It did help that getting up and moving had helped him with dealing with the muscle atrophy from sitting still for so long. But that also left him more tired than he necessarily hoped. 

Although, what he does think of everyone– it wasn’t really much really. He knew some of them from meeting them with his Hermits, but not much else. Here, they’re younger, much younger than he could think about. Granted, everyone here is younger than what he remembers anyways. Not that he knows what to do with this knowledge, really. 

And yet, he has to admit, meeting them now makes him think he’s just seeing a bunch of childrens in highschool causing havoc. Not sure why he thought that, but that is exactly what he told Martyn– who in turn laughed in response to that comment. 

“Technically speaking– that is pretty accurate in all honesty. When we all met Xelqua for the first time, we were technically just a bunch of chaotic childrens that he had chosen to foster.” Martyn admitted as he continues to help Xisuma walk around and explore the spawn town, but also explaining what each building is, as well as the history behind it. 

Of course, Xisuma did question the mess that is spawn town, but for some reason, Martyn stayed suspiciously quiet about the mess. Especially the mess that looks like it was hastily fixed with blocks and signs of what seems like traps for pranks. 

It was enough for Xisuma to not ask any question about it, he doubted he would even understand just what happened when Grian isn’t around. However, the peaceful time changed when Martyn communicator suddenly chimed in with a notification. Frowning, Martyn led Xisuma to sit down nearby while he walked away to answer his communicator. 

This actually allowed Xisuma to rest and think about his situation and what he had learned, albeit indirectly based on what Martyn had been telling him and from his manners alone. That includes the others that had visited them, they all really did act like childrens in one way or another.  

Specifically, what Martyn had meant by them all being childrens when they had met Grian– Xelqua. He is still known as Xelqua in this time, he is not yet the Grian he knows and is familiar with. 

Perhaps…the reason why The Evolution Server Admin identity never being known is due to Xelqua's unique position as a Primordial Admin. Allowing him to keep any and all sensitive information from being known that could pose a danger to the players. Yet at the same time, would this be his only chance to find answers to all the controversies and speculations he had heard about the Evolution Server demise?

What is even true in the first place? 

Everyone knows that the Evolution Server is home to the beginning of so many Pantheons, especially the Watcher Pantheon. 

But why?

No one really knew who was on the Evolution Server, except that it is a group of individuals that were chosen by the unknown Admin who had wanted to experience what the world and servers were like during its oldest stages of existence. 

Beta, as they all called it, there was Alpha, but that was unstable for many reasons. One of which is that it can’t support more than one person at a time. 

But the most important question is–

Who really caused the destruction of the Evolution Server?

And why did everyone he had known of his Hermits, especially Grian of all people, are on this server? (A small part of him wants to question why his Deity, Lord Xelqua, pretended to be a mortal and why he harbored some strange amount of Favoritism towards him.)

And most of all–

Why is he here?

“Hey uh, Xenrus?” Xisuma jolted in surprise, not expecting to be addressed so suddenly, or maybe he was thinking a little too deeply about his situation. But he put his attention back to reality and looked at Martyn with a look of confusion. “Yes? Did uh– something happened?” He questioned, thankfully it didn’t seem serious when Martyn shook his head no as he crossed his arms, looking a bit bitter, but it was gone before Xisuma could ask if something was actually wrong.

“Xelqua wanted me to help you move to his base today.”

Xisuma blinks, not sure if what he heard was true, but…he wanted him to live with him now? Why so suddenly? Most of all– he still wasn’t sure if he’s the same Deity he knows and grew up worshiping– by choice of course. He at least had a freedom to choose to be a follower or not. 

Is Xelqua just his Administrator name or his actual name? Based on when he had introduced himself, it sounded like it was his actual name.

And yet he doesn’t know, now he thought about it. He had read about the Primordial Admins, none had used their real name for safety reasons, but the most unusual thing?

Grian was never written in the history books as a Primordial Admin. Nor did anyone outside of the Voidwalkers, knew the true rulers of the Watcher Pantheons. In other words– as far as any outsiders know, The Watchers Pantheon is ruled by the First Watcher, Second Watcher and the (at the time of The Evolution Server destruction(?)) newly ascended Third Watcher. 

All nameless, not even Xisuma knows anything about that, not even their names, they are regarded as the Primordial Watchers, but there was no third. There was Xelqua whose position is higher than that of the Primordial as the Ruler of them all, mainly since Xelqua is their Deity. 

Either he is lying or…there’s more about this server and his history that was never recorded, nor known. Maybe even purposely erased for some unknown reasons.  Although… 

He did wonder where Grian had made his base, but he’s sure it’s not that bad, it’s Grian after all. From what all the others had told him whenever they visited him, either as company or to ensure that he was healing well. They simply just keep calling Grian– Xelqua , he really needed to get used to this before it became even more confusing than it had to be. 

Granted, he’s still trying to comprehend just what this server happens to be in the first place. 

But no matter how much he tries to call this version of Grian, by his supposedly– real name? He just– he just can’t. He can’t differentiate the difference between Grian the chaotic Hermit of tricks and mischief to Xelqua, The Watcher Deity.

It feels wrong to call Grian, Xelqua at this point of time.

(It also felt wrong to think of Xelqua as Grian no matter what point of time he’s in.)

But– from what he keeps hearing, they all teasingly nicknamed Xelqua a Hermit, quite literally. He lived really far from Spawn, as they say, quite a pain to travel– they also claimed.

He probably did something insane, even at this point of time to be considered a Hermit, there was a whole ton more work when it comes to Beta after all. He may not remember living through it as well as others, but he can recall how much effort he had to go through to find a suitable place to call home and build it.

Now he thinks about it, he should actually be glad that he used a false name, he did NOT want to cause some sort of paradox or mess with time anymore than necessary. Even for a server as mythical as this that delves into the delicate working of Time Travel. He just really didn’t want to mess up anything by accident and not know until after it occurs. 

Ugh, he really hates Time Travel as a whole.

He already had enough dimensional-time related issues for a long time, considering the things that happened and the last time it was Grian that accidentally punctured a hole in the literal fourth dimension. 

Don’t even get him started on the Rift he has in his basement he calls a Lab.

Whatever that was, he wasn’t even sure if he should have asked what it was in the first place. So he didn’t ask and for some reason that made him feel less anxious by not knowing what it is at all. 

It’s not like they’re a character in some kind of story anyways. He can never understand just how any of his hermits can create stories in all sorts of manners. May it be acting to build their story in their creations, there’s many ways to show it. He praises his hermits for their ability to show their own stories and lore with what they do best. 

He does make sure to watch his Hermits videos and Streams whenever he can after all. 

Well, he might as well ask why he’s taking him to the base, to pass the time mostly. “So, any particular reason on why you're taking me to G- Xelqua base today all of a sudden?” He questioned Martyn, who hummed as he scratched the side of his face. He really hoped that Martyn didn’t notice that he almost called the Admin by the name he was more familiar with– even if he still wasn’t sure if they’re truly the same or not. "Not entirely sure, even I wasn’t expecting this since I asked him earlier to let you get out for some fresh air.”

Xisuma hums as he thinks about it, he was actually really curious to see where Grian lives, but it has only been a week since he had actually seen Grian. Let alone heard anything about his status on being whitelisted on the server. Ever since he had seen his own codes, somethings he’s very sure is not normal, even for a Voidwalker– he hopes it’s no different than any other Voidwalkers, he wasn’t sure if it would even be possible to whitelist him on a server with an old system. 

Let alone for someone that had broken past the firewall and is heavily injured, even suffering some damages to their codes. 

“By the way, since we’re going to Xelqua base, do you need to grab anything?” Xisuma hums as he thought about it, he really didn’t need to since everything that he was given or had was already in his inventory. That also includes the items he did have prior to showing up here. He didn’t, of course, take out any of the items he had since he rather not screw up time by revealing items from the future.

Especially Netherite tools, as far as anyone knows, Diamonds are the strongest tools and armor they could get. (Although, historically, Pure Netherite was abundant during a more archaic time until there’s no longer a single bit of pure Netherite left in the Nether– disappearing alongside the once historically advanced civilization it once was, besides nothing but scraps. A far cry of what were once powerful materials and beings.)

“No, I don’t really need to get anything– I already have it in my inventory, which isn’t really much honestly.” Xisuma answered, he didn’t miss the odd look that Martyn passed him, he would have missed it if he wasn’t looking at Martyn. “Alright, well it’s a long trip anyways, so probably for the best. We have to take the railway to get to his ocean base.” Martyn hums as he helps Xisuma get up and towards the railway station they passed by earlier, Xisuma wasn’t surprised. 

Of course Grian would–

Wait. 

Xisuma stepped back– almost falling on his bottom had Martyn not caught him, in complete startled shock. An Ocean?! So far from spawn?! He thought in utter disbelief. He didn't take Grian to be an actual literal Hermit.! Granted, he did build a base above the ocean, but that was in season six when he had joined Hermitcraft for the first time. Although he shouldn't really expect the things he knows about him to be the same, still, he knew that Grian can be a bit crazy with whatever happened to be his building project, but something like that in this update?

And based on what it sounds like, it seems to be in the ocean. Not above . 

Nope, not expected. Not one bit. 

At all. In fact, he pity him for having to clean up the water to even build at all. Maybe everyone calling Grian crazy for his build ideas are right, he is crazy…or maybe he’ll learn the origins of why he never built the back of the base. He always did say that he shows lore within his building, sometimes it’s hard to see it as such, but it somehow blended in so well. He was quite impressed. 

"Shocking isn't it? Xelqua goes far to collect the things he needs to build his base in the ocean– a cold biome too no less. Ends up being a hermit in the process– hence why we all called him a Hermit all the time, but at the same time. He is just that explosive, but a prankster of an admin and friend we all know and love." Martyn explained to him with a fond tone, shaking his head with a smile. "Now come on Xenrus, I can answer more of your questions on the trip there." He then said as he led the way to the railroad system, which was something they both don't seem like they want to use, but have to if they want to get to Grian base quickly. 

As much as Xisuma wanted to question the very much glitchy minecart that he swore had glitched and rolled away, yet at the same time, he rather not walk a long distance. Even though he really hopes he would never have to see it again when sprinting comes back again. Or better transportation, for that matter. Granted, just doing anything physical like walking long distances would make his injuries act up.

And just walking around is already troubling as it is due to how much his injuries had sapped away at his energy and the week long rest stuck in bed had caused his muscle to atrophy in response. It was reasonable, considering, well, he couldn’t really get up for long at the time anyways. 

But walking for a long distance sounds like a nightmare, especially in his current state.

Although, having rested earlier, his burns were irritated– likely in need of the burn ointment needing to be applied and the wound on the abdomen feeling a slight stretch from all the walking he had done. No doubt he needed to change his bandages. In the end, he made a choice, he would rather deal with the discomfort of the minecart than walk. 

He’s starting to see how reliant he had been with the safer and more updated version of the server codings and system. He shudders to imagine what would happen if they were all forced into a world locked into the same setting as the ancient era. One that had been the foundation of what they know today. 

He can’t imagine how the Minecraftian live or feel when the Players have appeared and changed everything.

Granted, he, much like everyone, only heard stories about the original Minecraftia. A world that is distantly different than what any of them could ever imagine, it’s similar to what they have, but there is a distinctive difference that none could decipher besides the natives themselves.

Regardless, Martyn was correct about the trip being quite long. To fill the empty silence during it, Xisuma asked Martyn quite a lot about everyone, Grian in particular. But his response was...strange. In fact, every response regarding Grian is strange, even how any of them met Grian is strange. He understood the need to be vague for the privacy of others, but still, it was far too strange for him to understand the meaning behind the words.

"Xelqua? Well, there isn't too much about him really. As far as I am aware, he created this server not only to test the server system, but as a home to raise us all safely.” He answered, only to pause as he thought for a second. “For your information, I can’t tell you what I meant by him raising us all, but…” He trailed off as he frowned, trying to think of a reasonable response to tell him.

Xisuma didn’t mind not knowing, he was about to say as such, but Martyn answered anyway.

“We’re all not human, that much is obvious, but we were all very young when he had found us. Taking us in as if as though we’re childrens he wishes to keep and raise as family or to simply foster until we’re ready to go out in the world. That’s the case with me, Pearl and Jimmy, everyone else is just friends we made and didn’t want to lose contact with or be fostered by Xelqua welcoming care.” 

To say the least, Xisuma's views on Grian had very much gone through a one hundred and eighty degree angle by this news, he never knew that he could be this caring or protective. Really, Grian didn’t seem like he would do such a thing, but as Xelqua? He can actually see it, Grian to him felt like a brother, a best friend and a family friend that could definitely be the fun uncle.

But a parental figure? 

That’s…

He didn’t know what to make up of it.

(He ignored how his heart ached at the memories of Xelqua loving him as if as though he was his child. He blames it on favoritism as a follower, nothing more and nothing less– no matter how much it hurts his heart to think as such and the looks of disdain and jealousy he often gets from the other Voidwalkers and Followers.)

From the amount of visits he got from the others, they would always praise Grian as a wonderful, but caring Admin. In Martyn and Jimmy's case? They never failed to subtly imply that the Admin is like a parent to them. He hasn’t met Pearl yet– having just heard of her being on this server, much to his shock, but thinking about it, maybe she wasn’t on the server yet. Which would make sense now that he thought about it. 

Jimmy did mention that he had a sister who is mostly focused on school so they didn’t really have the time to bother with joining servers quite yet. 

He can now rightly assume that this sister they speak of is Pearl, there’s no doubt about it. It’s the only logical conclusion since he recalls Grian knowing Pearl prior to her joining Hermitcraft, probably being on the same server. 

But most of all, during the visits he gets from everyone during the week, they always seem to withhold certain information, like they weren’t sure if they should tell him or not– or rather. They weren’t sure if they’re allowed to tell him. He only guesses this when they suddenly cut themselves off mid-sentence when they’re about to something likely important or personal that Xisuma still has no idea what to think of.

He can understand the caution in how much information that should be told to a stranger.

Much less a stranger who had pretty much turned up severely injured and had broken through the server firewall and well protected by a Primordial Admin. He too would just be as cautious as they all are if he was in their situation. Truly. 

But Martyn seems to make it sound like he would eventually be told about why the whole secrecy soon enough, well, he doesn’t know just how soon that would be, but he’ll learn eventually. It was probably the fact that some of them are literal Gods. Maybe. He just hopes that this server isn’t exactly purely chaotic or anything…considering Grian personality and habits. There were bound to be problems, inevitable ones at least. 

Eh, he’s sure it can't be too bad, hopefully. 

“Oh yeah, by the way, don’t ask why Xelqua talks to the air and refers to it as the ‘Audience’.”

…Xisuma really wants to ask what he meant by that, but he also really doesn't want to know. At all. 

“...I won’t question it, I know enough people to know that questioning them about their Audience, Chat and voices is just something I shouldn’t even question.” He answered with a dismissive tone– only to freeze, he really shouldn’t have brought up the fact that he knows people have it, mostly since it usually comes as a curse or from people that do streams. 

Mainly a curse, instead of streams. Purely because unlike streams and videos where the Communicator system brings up a panel showcasing the chat and what not–

The curse goes beyond that. It is literally voices in your head that never goes away– sure you could get it to calm down and such, but it doesn’t always work. That is the case with Technoblade. 

There’s a reason why he’s referred to as the Blood God. His chat is quite blood thirsty when it wants to be. 

(Even if said chat happens to screech how excited it is to find something wholesome or just screech about how much Techno favors Grian, no one could fault the Chat for liking Grian. He is a very likable person after all)

He doesn’t know if it’s even common for there the Internet to have Minetubers or not, let alone known as a curse. 

But he couldn’t even see what expression Martyn had on his face, but he had this feeling that it was a curious case of contemplation and interest. Well, it did leave them in a silence, it wasn’t bad or anything, just, a bit of a chilling one honestly. Kinda actually somehow reminds him of the silence of his home, the type that he would often go out to the lonesome end isle to just, simply think for the time being.

Why does he mentally ramble so much? 

Probably as a coping mechanism at this point, there is a LOT to think about after all. He did have his whole life shaken up at the revelation that Grian the Hermit and Xelqua the Watcher God are literally the same person in this universe!

"Oh! There's Xelqua base!" Martyn called out, startling Xisuma out of his thoughts, he looked over at the end of the rail system and saw it was a small little train station of some sort and a path leading into the ocean. If he was being honest, he was impressed with how Grian managed to do something like build underwater in beta. Heck, even draining the water to build must have taken a long time really. "I never expected Xelqua to build something like this, especially so far." He admitted in complete, utter awe as he got out of the minecart- with Martyn help of course. Who nodded in agreement. 

For this version of the world server, the palette being limited, the build alone is still beautiful in an almost haunting, yet somehow historical manner. Frozen in time, perhaps. 

Ironic how this server was programmed with the concept of Time Travel. 

But his other question is the fact grian even had the patience to go out so far to find the materials in the first place. 

"Yep! Even I'm impressed by this, but to be honest and this is my first time seeing Xelqua base, but he can be a bit...explosive for a lot of us to keep up with, so we usually do our best to keep him safe and at the very least sane by visiting as often as we could." Martyn comments with an almost exasperated but fond tone as he leads Xisuma to where he guesses Grian is at. The basement level of the ocean base. Xisuma was half listening and half distracted by the huge amount of clay and snow that was used to build the entire ocean base.

Even though it was one of the limited building blocks that at least looks good, it was still impressive to see in a time like this.

Which again makes him wonder how Grian even had the patience to get it all in the first place. Considering he knows him to be a bit impatient and chaotic if left alone too long. A lot of energy for a short hermit to even have at all. 

Eventually, they did find Grian…who seems to be muttering something to himself, until he realized that he and Martyn had arrived. Expression went from grim to brighten excitement, he quickly ran over to them both, seemingly excited. “Xenrus! You finally arrived, I take it Martyn was a decent guide and companion on your way here?” He asked with a gentle smile, his smile has always been infectious and quite frankly, Xisuma hopes it never goes away. 

Martyn just rolled his eyes. “Yeah, we did get here all fine and dandy, but like, dude, you should probably have warned me that this would be happening, it is Xenrus first time outside in a week after all!” Martyn scolded, much to Grian amusement if the snort he made was any indicator.

“Well I’m sorry, I would have left you guys to have fun touring around spawn town if I didn’t have any exciting news.” Grian continued with a tone of amusement as he crossed his arms. The comment about exciting news piqued Martyn and Xisuma interest, wondering just what it is that he had learned or accomplished to be deemed as ‘Exciting News’ as he would say.

“Well, what’s this big news you got?” Martyn questioned– however he ended up sulking a bit when Grian glared at him, much to Xisuma amusement. He had only been hit by that glare once and never wanted that glare to be aimed at him ever again. He has respect for Grian looking terrifying despite their shorter height and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

He can’t imagine what an angry Grian would look like without shivering in fear honestly. 

Thankfully, the withering glare from Grian dissipated into a look of exasperation. “Martyn, this is not something you should worry about, it’s mainly for Xenrus and it will delve into some private information.” He lightly scolded, Martyn pouted in response, but relented as he waves his hand in a dismissive manner.

“Fine fine, I’ll stop trying to pry for information now, I’ll go ahead and head back to spawn town and leave you both to talk privately, me and Jimmy had plans to remodel the house a bit and actually make a proper farm for once.” He commented with a dismissive yet disappointed tone. “Although I was planning on doing that later since I had wanted to show Xenrus around the spawn town, I guess cleaning the town to look nicer would be a priority for us all.” Grian just snorted in response, knowing full well that even if they did clean up Spawn town to look nicer, it’s going to end up as a mess one way or another.

Especially with the amount of pranks that’s been going on as of late and the many accidents (is it really?) with TNT. 

“Try not to get into a muddy mess with that then, but have fun Martyn!” Martyn laughed in response at the teasing as he waved goodbye. 

Leaving Xisuma alone with Grian. 

Xisuma did not want to be alone with Grian.

It is far too awkward and he has no idea what to do or say and he’s quite afraid of the conversation that awaits him because he genuinely has no idea what to say or think about his codes. No matter how he thinks about it, his code alone is just extremely foreign to him. So unfamiliar and unusual. 

It reminded him a bit of how otherworldly and foreign Joe codes were, but not by that much. 

His own codes seem…unusually advanced yet archaic, but still otherworldly and foreign. 

“Are you sure you didn’t say all that because you realized you felt lonely?” Xisuma suddenly blurted out– immediately covering his mouth, not even realizing what he had just said to get out of this awkward silence between them, Grian just stared at him. It kinda unnerved him quite a bit, but it eventually went away when Grian gave out a healthy laughter of amusement. “I’m not sure what brought on that idea– I suppose it would seem that way with me being a Hermit out here, but no.” He answered with a shake of his head and a smile as he helped Xisuma move further into the base.

Having long since noticed that he had some lingering troubles with walking and the noticeable signs of exhaustion weighing down on him. Unfortunately for Xisuma, he really can’t deny this help– no matter how amusing the height difference makes this seems ridiculous, but it was still something he can’t deny. 

Just seeing a door leading to a very spacious room filled with simple furnishing– like a plush bed full of soft and comfy yet weighted blankets. A desk with some books, a lot of paper– even a few inkwells left unopened for eventual uses and a little box full of feathers. 

Very familiar looking feathers. 

Xisuma would be stupid to not recognize those purple faded phoenix sunsets sparkled with star feathers. 

He let go of his hold on Grian being his support and slightly limped over to the desk, picking up the feather as he admired its powerful, yet graceful beauty. He may not know much, but to see so much of it here– even in such a small box like this, is something he did not expect. Although it did made him wondered just why there was even a box of these feathers instead of any other feathers–

“Those are better feathers to use to write with compared to others, I figured for someone like you– who seems like the type to sketch blueprints for projects and write a lot, it would be helpful.” Grian noted with a hum, causing Xisuma to jump at the sudden voice. He had actually momentarily forgotten that Grian was in the room with him, a bit of his own fault for forgetting and being too interested in the feather, but…

He did sorta forget that writing with ink and feathers was a very common and old practice, nothing compared to the convenience of the modern and technological era he was so used to. 

Although, looking at the rest of the room– yeah it was pretty basic and simple. At least, that would be what Xisuma would think if he didn’t take into account that the plush bed in the corner was practically a nest of comfort. Did Grian really think he deserves that or does he think that he’s a lost child that he’s trying to quietly convince to let him adopt into the family or just deserves the care cause he’s injured. 

(He would later learn in the distant future, that is exactly the case. In other words, he now knows what his Hermit felt when they got adopted by him into the Hermitcraft Family.)

“The plush bed and all the pillows and blankets are mostly to help you feel comfortable, especially in your injured state. It has only been a week and based on what I can see via the scan I did on you with the administration panel– you're recovering smoothly, but still need a lot of time and monitoring before you can be considered fully recovered with that particular wound.” Xisuma hums in understanding, he has learned to not deny Grian words in this era– mainly because, as thought of before.

He doesn’t want the Grian glare of disappointment.

Ever. 

It’s strange how being here for barely just a week means that he is given a lot of unexpected surprises and learning some never before heard history about the residence of this server. A server he had only heard as a myth amongst all the Admins and generally in history. The ones that did the impossible, mostly.

As well as the birthplace of one of the most well known and considered controversial Divine Pantheon, The Watcher Pantheon.

He didn’t really know too much, he was only told as much as he was able to learn when it comes to this server. 

Considering the limitations he had when it came to learning back in his days at the Administration Academy. As well as the limited and sacred knowledge and truths that the Voidwalkers knew of from being the Watcher Pantheon favored species and worshippers.

Which isn’t really a lot of information really, they simply just know them as Anonymous beings that act similar to The Audience and the Chat, occasionally forming as a curse to some unfortunate victims.

Occasionally.

It’s still technically a theory amongst the researchers and histories that studies the oddity of the Voices and such. 

Most of all, he’s starting to feel like a lot of the histories that the Admin had on record were either altered or purposely hidden. A theory he had for a while and has only proven to feel more like the truth that can’t be denied anymore. Especially as he begins to learn more about this server as time goes on.

Did he mention that it’s only a week?

He needs a vacation from thinking now before he overthinks.

What’s next? Grian adopt him? 

“Now onto the real point of you being here– as an Admin in Training, you are aware of the practice of looking into other codes and modifications, correct?” Xisuma stepped back, not once had he expected to hear such a question, most of all– he made it sound like it was a common, albeit not often utilized practice. 

Strikingly different from the fact that it’s actually an illegal practice and is only recommended or used for medical purposes in the case of the person codes being damaged and needed to be directly repaired by a professional Medical Administrator or a High Level Admin that’s skilled in codes. 

So yes, he heard of it, but nothing much else. 

He had to sit down on the bed– mostly because he’s tired and not because he’s about to be dumped with a lot of information.

“I am aware of the practice, but not much else. I suppose…due to my circumstances, I was never taught.” It wasn’t a lie nor the truth, really, he wasn’t actually allowed to learn much about the practice of altering codes or view it besides the basic necessities. He supposed it was mostly due to the professors trying to keep him from being curious about his codes and looking at it– or perhaps there’s something more?

No.

It was definitely to make sure he doesn’t have to look at his own codes.

(A part of him feels as though they didn’t teach him out of pure fear.) 

Grian nodded in understanding as he pulled the chair from the desk and sat down, facing towards him with a curious look, but also one that was looking straight through him. As if to evaluate his presence and whether or not he could harm anyone on the server. It made Xisuma feel the urge to fidget under such scrutinizing gaze, he had given the gaze to several people before when it comes to the safety of his Hermits and whether or not the individual can be trusted around his players.

But most of all, when it comes to him accepting his Hermits, he never once dared to question their Origins and Histories, that is something that they themselves can choose to keep as secrets, leave behind or willingly tell someone about. 

That was, until he discovered that Grian, his fellow Hermit, is an Admin, not just any normal Admin, but a Primordial Administrator . Xisuma would be lying if he wasn’t curious.

(He wanted to know why he became a God that took the Voidwalkers under his protection when no others would, but instead feared them for their powers over the Void.) 

Yet, being here at all happens to be full of surprises for him. As well as an honor, one that he never really thought much about, has been here for just a week, what else is he meant to do, but hoped that he didn’t mess up history?

Or perhaps, another universe, but he rather not touch that. He’ll leave that to Grian to mess around with…

“Considering your circumstances, it makes sense, but the reason why I am asking if you are aware of it is due to concerns that I may need to personally look through your codes and try and whitelist you onto this server for safety. But also to find any damages that could have been made from you breaking into this server and getting harmed by the system defensive firewall.” Grian answered with a hum as he called forth an administration panel. 

Moving it forward with a gesture of his hand to show Xisuma just how little he could understand in getting him whitelisted. But notable reports and diagnostics of someone hiding his codes in a way that it would seem normal, but passable for no one to think twice about. 

Only recently, does it report signs of damages. 

Xisuma will admit, he still wasn’t sure how he was able to call upon it so easily without any device to help him. He had his helmet, but not much else. Probably something older generations of Admins could do before the more modern and technological advances that made it easier. He didn’t even know his codes were tampered with, just enough to hide his codes from servers to allow him to join and leave as he pleases.

That includes the difficult process of whitelisting someone.  

“You wish for my permission to look through my codes for the purpose of helping me, right?” Xisuma questioned, not entirely sure of what this meant due to his limited knowledge. Thankfully, Grian nodded in confirmation. “That’s correct, it is essentially Taboo for any Admins to look through other codes without their consent, but under dire emergency? Well, that’s if the person's life is in danger.” He calmly explained, allowing him the chance to slowly grasp the meaning and intention behind this. 

Well, at least Xisuma knows that it is still technically forbidden, even in the supposedly distant past.

“Why do you want to be an Admin?”

Xisuma blinks, seemingly confused, why was he asking him such a question? “I wanted to be an Admin because I wanted to create a home for those that are outcasted and lost, much like how someone of great importance had done for me when I was outcasted from my own homeland.” He answered automatically– only to cover his mouth in shock. He hadn’t meant to say something or implied anything. 

Especially since he had never told anyone about why he had become an Admin or why he had felt a strong sense of belief in his God despite the controversies that surrounded the Watcher Pantheon mere existence. 

Most of all, he really didn’t think he could spill anything so important as this so easily to Grian of all people. 

Grian however, hums in response and is merciful to him by not asking any further. “I see, well then– in the meantime, I’ll let you recover some more before I check your codes, along the way I’ll get some materials made to see what you do and do not know with your Administration Education as well.” He commented with a mysterious smile, whereas Xisuma just stares with a jaw dropped expression. 

He’s mentally questioning what he meant by his Administration Education? Is he actually going to be taught by Grian of all people about the powers, histories and skills of an Administrator? Sure he knows that Grian is a Primordial Admin, but still!

This is actually a very much impossible to believe chance. 

He must be dreaming.

(A few days later– no. He wasn’t dreaming. Grian is in fact willing to take him as a student.)

Grian simply just chuckles at the look of disbelief on his face as he stood up, walking towards the door– only to stop and look back at him. “Anyways, you're welcome to look around, just don’t go too far. I’ll be doing some of my daily chores and typical work, if you need me– just call out my name and I’ll appear.” Grian gently instructed with a bit of a scolding tone to imply that yes, he will chase him down if he doesn’t rest.

Not wanting to get on his bad side and risk getting lectured like a child, Xisuma numbly nodded. He didn’t really plan much when he came here, besides resting and walking around. It’s spacious and he’s sure he will be fine in the meantime. 

Considering how cozy and warm the room is compared to the cool, yet chilly outside. Maybe it's because this base is located in the ocean…of a snow biome. It wasn’t too bad, since the Void was so much colder than this, but he rather likes being warm and comfortable than cold. 

Would it be a bit wrong to admit that he had expected a simple bed and nothing else? No? Well, it’s the truth, but the nest of blankets is a whole lot better than a simple bed anyways. He’s glad that Grian had the idea of giving him a very comfortable bed for his comfort and cause of his wounds. 

With a smile, Grian walked over to Xisuma, gave him a pat on the head and swiftly left the room, leaving behind a very much dumbfounded Xisuma. Who, quite honestly, can’t believe Grian of all people, had just given him a head pat. If they were standing, the height difference would have made it awkward, but also an amusing sight. Yet for him? Xisuma's face is dusted with a pale blush at such a gesture. 

No one had ever given him a head pat, besides his twin and that was only rarely!

(He does faintly recall being given headpats by someone when he was much younger, but that was nothing more than fleeting memories he can barely ever recall.)

After just blankly staring at the wall, trying to process anything that just happened today– which was actually quite a LOT of things. Truly, so much and he was already really tired, but he wasn’t tired enough to sleep quite yet. It was still early in the day last he checked and the idea of being in a room for too long again wasn’t appealing.

With a reluctant sigh, he got up– being sure to grab one of the blankets. There’s no way he was going out to the chilly outside without a blanket, he might as well explore the area a bit more and then check out the station he passed by with Martyn on the way here. He had apparently heard from said person that the station happened to be Grian house.

For some odd reasons.

Nonetheless, he wrapped the blanket around himself and headed out of the room, being thankful that he wasn’t tired or exhausted enough to constantly rely on the wall or anyone to move around. Likely thanks to the fact that he was walking around earlier for some light exercise and such. He really just can’t stand sitting or laying down for too long.

He had already long since sympathized with Scar quite a bit with his own health concerns.

Although…Xisuma stares at the building's style of the base, it was familiar yet not quite yet familiar. It was obvious that this is something Grian would build, but it wasn’t up to the quality that he knows Grian is capable of showcasing with his builds in his time and era. Maybe it’s due to the limited block types of this time period during both Minecraftia and Server history? 

He wasn’t entirely sure, he hadn't really thought much about history in quite awhile now, but thinking about it– he wasn’t sure if what he knows is even accurate. He would have to keep learning as much as he could now before making any decisions, otherwise he runs the risk of making problems– unknowingly honestly. 

Although seeing the ice cold waterfall part of the build made him quite impressed, to use the natural water flow to make the base look a bit more colorful– even if there wasn’t really a lot. Since there was quite a lot of white, gray and a bit of green from the grass. So really, seeing some blue– even from the water, is a nice touch. 

He heard some footsteps, but paid it no mind, thinking it was just Grian going around doing his chores– he did see him take down some sort of weird platform earlier. His mind immediately thinks it was a summoning platform. 

It wouldn’t be the first time he had summoned anything and anyone, he still has some nightmares about NPG first showing up on the server. It made him wish he would deal with Evil Xisuma, or EX for short, chaotic shenanigans than whatever the heck that rustic android of a demon–

“What’s a void entity doing here?”

Xisuma immediately paled as he felt his heart plummet in utter fear.

Chapter Text

For once, Xisuma really wished that Grian was here to save him, heck– he wouldn’t mind if one of the others was here to save him as well. Really, he had never seen this strange guy with headphones and he hadn’t been told that there was anyone else on the server. Was this a friend? A foe? He wasn’t sure and quite frankly– 

He has no idea what to do in this situation, especially since this guy somehow figured out that he is a Void being. 

Well, at least they didn’t figure out that he’s a Voidwalker, but still! There shouldn’t be any way for them to know that he’s a Void being unless he had seen his codes, been to the Void for a long period of time or actually met Void Beings before! So of course he would be very much panicking at this very moment, he doesn’t even know what to do!

Well, actually, he can defend himself with the items he still has in his inventory, but he rather not risk the dangers of using things he shouldn’t have in the first place. Really, how was he supposed to explain that his inventory had all the stuff he had prior to being thrown here when he should have an empty inventory? 

No simple explanation whatsoever. 

Still though, what is he supposed to do? He wasn’t sure, Xisuma was just having a nice lovely time taking in the fact that his world just been turned upside down by far too many revelations– 

Until suddenly, this very strange individual that they had just met figured out he’s a Void being without issues. He’s suspicious of that and did not want to risk anymore then he had already just by being vulnerable in a server he’s very much unfamiliar with. Not only that, but the only person that even knows he’s a Void being, happens to be Grian. 

Purely due to the fact that he had to read his codes for medical purposes, but still. 

As far as he knows, which really isn’t much of anything at this point since he really doesn’t have an accurate understanding of what era he’s in, despite knowing this is the Evolution Server. Is the possibility that Void Beings aren’t known quite yet, let alone anyone from the End for that matter. So the likelihood of anyone knowing a Void Being or a Enderian at all, would be Admins for Administrations, Codings and probably more, but he wasn’t entirely sure. 

There’s just a lot of work that comes with having an Administration license that he never truly bothered to learn due to the vast amount of differences and qualifications. 

And yet, here they are, internally panicking out of sheer fear while the stranger gives him a suspicious, yet judgemental stare. He didn’t even know what to do– he couldn’t even say anything just from the sheer fear of the fact that they know he’s a Void Being! 

So he’ll do the next best thing!

(Which is actually the worst choice he ever made later, after the scolding he gets anyways.)

He immediately ran back to his room– at least, he tried to, leaving behind a very stunned, but also very confused stranger who stared at their retreating form. Not even sure what to think or say, let alone react at all in the first place. Never before has anyone ever been scared enough to run from him. Unfortunately, Xisuma didn’t get to go far as he’s immediately hit by an immense amount of pain– causing him to collapse soon afterwards. 

Much to the stranger's horror, they quickly rushed over to them– but Xisuma didn’t even dare let them go near them at all, he was afraid and quite frankly, guilty that he had to play the role of being some sort of distress child. He really didn’t want to, but there’s very little he could do at all after all, there’s one rule that all Void Walkers must follow.

Never let anyone know of your connection to the Void, unless they are deemed trustworthy to know.

In this case, Xisuma trusts Grian– mainly because he’s the Admin of this server and because he knows him as a reliable friend in his time era, but he certainly doesn’t trust this stranger with headphones.

Every time the stranger tried to get closer, Xisuma immediately hissed at him– something he would never do, but he rather sacrificed his pride than be in any more danger than he necessarily has to be. He sorta wishes he could just take out his sword right now, but he already thought about how much of a bad idea it is– but a new concern did come to mind. Can he even use anything in his inventory without any repercussions? He doesn’t know and he doesn’t want to find out. 

If any of his Hermits were to see him now, they’d assume he’s a poor unfortunate dog that has been injured and backed into a corner with no way out. 

He just really hopes that Grian hurries up with his chores and get back–

“What is going on here?!”

Xisuma immediately gave out a breath of relief, thankful that Grian finally showed up and could save him from this stranger he doesn’t even know! As well as save him from being entirely too awkward, he wasn’t sure if he could even explain his presence or not, let alone if he knew if this stranger was trustworthy at all. 

…Why does he feel like a child that is happy to be saved by their parents, but terrified of getting in trouble by said parent?

Taurtis wasn’t really expecting much when he decided to go visit the EVO Server after being gone for quite a bit, mostly since he had been busy visiting his Grian or YHS as he’s often called for some reason. He still has no idea how the whole ‘Multiverse’ related stuff works.

Currently, he’s on the search for Xelqua, he still doesn’t know why he’s different from YHS, who looked similar to each other, but again. The Multiverse just doesn’t make any sense to him and he doubts he would even be able to understand at all in the first place. 

Or is it because Xelqua is a literal God of some kind, that could be the biggest difference honestly. And perhaps, maybe that’s why Xelqua doesn’t call himself Grian, knowing there's a difference between himself and his own counterparts. He had always existed to Watch, but at the same time, he longs to interact with the mortal world as he pleases. 

In the end, he just really doesn’t understand how someone like him even works. As long as he could see his friends, that’s all that matters to him. 

Although he really doesn’t like the minecart trip, it’s such a hassle that he really doesn’t like dealing with it at times. Seriously, what’s wrong with these Minecarts not working properly or just glitching out of existence?! Was Beta really like this? Well, he’s now learning since he’s on the server, but still! He never realized just how vastly different the past was until he joined this server at his Grian suggestion. 

He should have denied, but then he would be denied the chance to see his Grian. Which, honestly, kinda sucks. 

Well, whatever, as long as he gets to see his Grian, then it’s fine. 

With a huff, he got out of the minecart and off the building, walking down the staircases to Xelqua base, only to frown when he saw someone he wasn’t familiar with. He didn’t know that there was another player or guest on the server, but then again he hasn’t been on the server that much. Nor does he stick around for too long, having often been away to do whatever he felt like doing or visiting YHS, which is quite frankly, very often. 

But still, he doesn’t recognize this stranger, but there was something about them that seems familiar…

Walking closer, he thinks about why he found their presence oddly familiar– until he remembers why it had felt that way. It was the presence of being acquainted with the Void! He didn’t know that there was another person that used the Void to travel! Sure, he knew it’s not exactly the most optimal choice, but it was one that definitely worked well for him whenever he visited places he normally doesn’t visit or can’t through the Portal Network System. 

Although, despite knowing that this stranger had the presence and lingering effects of the Void on them, they seem more like a Void Being. Which is something he never thought he would ever meet honestly. Well, either way, he might as well question what they’re doing here, it is very baffling that a Void Being is here after all. 

“What’s a Void Being Doing here?” He questioned, frowning when he noticed them frozen. Were they not supposed to say anything? He doesn’t know, this is quite frankly his first time actually meeting a Void Being after all. Although, now that he thought about it, he never met anyone that actually has the presence of the Void, even after using it. So maybe this is something that is unique to a Void Being?

Or perhaps there’s a more concerning matter to it. 

Actually…

Now that Taurtis was getting a better look at him, he noted that he seemed to be uncomfortable, uncomfortable with the knowledge that he knows that they’re a void being. Was it really some sort of sensitive topic or something? No one usually bats an eye when he brings up some pretty crazy revelation, so what makes this any different? He met and visited the Void enough time to not be bothered by it, but still. 

Why did they seem so extremely uncomfortable at him knowing he’s a Void Being? 

It was…now suddenly an awkward and tense silence between them both. 

Awkward enough that it made Taurtis feel awful for even asking why they’re here, let alone calling them out as a Void Being. Maybe the reason Void Beings aren’t common or known all that much is because they rather keep to themselves? He doesn’t know and what’s done is done. There’s no going back–

Taurtis was immediately startled when the Void Being– he really should get their name– suddenly stood up and ran– only to fall down in what seemed to be pain. In utter panic, confusion and great concern, he rushed over to help them– only to stop when they suddenly hissed at him.

Which greatly confused him, he tried to get closer– but they kept hissing. Making Taurtis wonder what he had done to invoke such hostility, he wasn’t even trying to hurt them, but instead wanted to help!...

Maybe they were on edge because he had called them a Void Being earlier–

“What is going on here?!”

Sadly, he never got to voice his concerns when Xelqua had suddenly come back out of nowhere, looking quite unhappy at the scene before them. Taurtis immediately cringes, he knows this looks bad, but he really didn’t have anything to do with it! Well, besides unintentionally making the strange feel insecure. 

Of course, Xelqua went right past them and instead, focused their attention on the stranger, quietly asking if they were okay or not. Taurtis wasn’t able to hear what it was they were saying, but whatever it was clearly didn’t help with Xelqua current mood. If anything, they were still unhappy, not exactly angry, which he could consider a blessing.

An angry Xelqua is someone that he rather avoids at all cost. 

He frowned when he saw Xelqua carefully and gently picked up the stranger, even going as far as wrapping their wings around them. It wasn’t often that he saw Xelqua wings, but this was the first time he had seen him wrap his wings around someone in a protective manner. Especially for a stranger, maybe they know them and he just doesn’t? Or perhaps something happened on the server and he’s only just now learning about it–

“Taurtis, why were you scaring my soon to be adopted child?”

Taurtis blink, utterly dumbfounded, he wasn’t the only one, in fact, the stranger that Xelqua is holding is just as dumbfounded as he is. 

What the heck is going on and how long has he been gone for?

Xelqua wasn’t sure what he had expected when he came back from doing his daily server check up, but seeing an obviously in pain Xenrus and a confused Taurtis was not on his list today. In fact, he hadn’t known that Taurtis would be coming back to the server, at least, not for another few days. He knows just how much YHS cling to them, mostly as a case of not wanting to lose their friend. 

Well, as much of a friend as they can be anyways, Xelqua can never understand just why YHS sees them as a friend when he hadn’t really helped him with the pain he had endured. Let alone stand being around them when they were forced to pretend to be him by that Void damn Rabbit. 

He wouldn’t have even invited them to the server had YHS not begged him to reconsider. 

Oh the things he does for the Grian’s, well, specifically YHS and Kov. He hasn’t found any other Grian’s that need his help, or has called out to him quite yet, probably by the time he does find anymore, it won’t be for a long time…hopefully.

Frowning, he rushed past a confused Taurtis and immediately checked on Xenrus, frowning even more when he saw that their wounds had reopened and their bandage was slightly a lavender color. It would eventually darken to purple if he didn't rebandage him soon. 

“Xenrus, your wounds had been reopened, what were you doing to cause this? Didn’t I tell you to take it easy?” He whispered, entirely worried, his instincts telling him to get them help as soon as possible, but he knew for a fact that he shouldn’t rush, otherwise it may just frightened them instead. He knew that this was an instinct that he often clashed with in regards to the safety of his players on this server, but it was the first time that his instinct had reacted to Xenrus safety as well.

Perhaps his players weren’t far off with the idea of him adopting the young Voidling. 

Xenrus simply just shakes his head lightly in response. “Sorry, I wasn’t sure what to do, nor did I know who they were so I kinda tried to run– it didn’t end well for me.” Xenrus answered sheepishly, but immediately avoided his gaze of disappointment. Xelqua is very much not happy that they were reckless, but he can’t blame them for choosing to try and run, but still, it did not go well with him that he didn’t have a way to contact him in case of an emergency. 

He should hurry and get the Communicator for them made soon. 

For the time being, he will have to make sure that there’s at least someone or one of his Watchers keeping a careful watch over them until then. They are still very much vulnerable, especially since they are still unlisted, most of all, still very much injured. With a sigh, after one glare at Xenrus, who cowardly in a bit of fear, knowing full well that they are going to be scolded later. Xelqua carefully and gently picked them up, keeping them safely in his arms– it was a good thing he had changed his height to accommodate his work a little more easily, for extra good measure, he had also wrapped his wings around them. 

His wings should serve as a blanket and an extra layer of protection for the little voidling.

Xelqua then looked at Taurtis, who seemed to be still confused. Not surprised, he really didn’t expect to see them so soon and had planned to tell them about Xenrus eventually, but after he had settled some issues or after Xenrus had recovered a bit more. 

“Taurtis, why were you scaring my soon to be adopted child?”

…Xelqua didn’t mean to say that! He had meant to say that Xenrus is his soon to be Admin Apprentice, not to be adopted as his own!

Well, he was considering the idea of adopting Xenrus, but that was after he made sure that they were healed, completely safe from any harm and actually asked if they were okay with him adopting. 

“Xelqua, sir, what in Minecraftia do you mean by that?” Taurtis questioned utterly incredulously, thus bringing Xelqua out of his thoughts quite a bit, but he just shrugged in response. He didn’t even know why he had said it at all, but he didn’t mind it…it’s not too different from the fact that everyone on this server are, technically in a way, his childrens. Considering he’s the guardian and he happens to be the one tasked to raising and protecting them. 

So adoption was inevitable, but still.

This was not how he had planned to bring it up at all. 

Instead, Xelqua simply just sighs in response. “Taurtis, I didn’t expect to see you here for another week, did something happen?” He questioned, Taurtis shook his head, denying such a claim. “Not really, me and YHS spent time as we usually do, but ended up getting busy and I figured I visited the server.” He admitted as he nervously looked away, something that did not go unnoticed by Xelqua. In fact, he stares at them, wondering what else they wanted to say, or rather, whether or not they would tell him at all. 

“Although, admittedly, he actually got upset when Alcove got angry at my presence.” 

Ah, Xelqua now understands, he was essentially kicked out because Kov or rather Alcove, his recently chosen name to go by, had seen him. If he remembers correctly, the Taurtis that Alcove had known, had also betrayed him, it was a bitter and cruel betrayal, it was no wonder that they were very much unhappy with Taurtis being around. Regardless of whether or not they’re from another universe or time. 

Alcove wouldn’t hesitate to kill those they deem as their enemy, Taurtis is only lucky because he didn’t want to hurt YHS feelings. 

“You know, I still don’t get why he hates me or why he doesn’t like me being friends with YHS, does he have some sort of issue with me or something?” He questioned, quite confused, Xelqua can’t blame them for their confusion, but it wasn’t something he can even tell them. Especially not when he’s still holding Xenrus in his arms.

Speaking of Xenrus, one look at him made him chuckle, he wasn’t surprised to find that they had found his makeshift protective barrier that is made up of him just holding him and his wings acting as a barrier would make them seem so sleepy. They had more or less been quite active today, especially since they had a long trip getting here in the first place. He gently caressed their head, moving their hair a bit as well. 

He wouldn’t be shocked if they ended up sleeping in their arms anyways, it was fine, he didn’t mind. It’s not the first time someone had slept in his comforting embrace. 

Although, unfortunately he can’t have Xenrus sleeping for too long right now, he would need to get his bandages changed and then eat something as well. He wasn’t sure when the last time Xenrus had eaten anything and he rather not have the voidling go without food when he needs it to recover. 

But first thing first…

“Taurtis, what did you say to Xenrus, the person you had just scared and the one I had accidentally refer to as my soon to be adopted child–”

“Is it really accidental when you look like your moments away from actually adopting them?” 

Xelqua glared at a sheepish Taurtis, but continued to speak nonetheless. “Anyways, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, what did you say to make them fearful to aggravate their wounds by trying to run when they shouldn’t be doing anything that would strain their energy?” Taurtis simply just went silent, processing what they have just been told, only to be even more confused than before. 

“I asked why a Void Being like them was here, then they sorta freaked out by that point.” Taurtis admitted with a shrug, Xelqua simply just frowned in response. How did they know that Xenrus is a Void Being? Xelqua thought to himself in complete confusion. In fact, there should have been no way for anyone to know, but then again he barely knew much about the Void beings in the first place. 

Maybe there is a way to identify them, but to learn that Xenrus is actually afraid of being referred to as a Void Being? Something was clearly wrong, why would the Void Being have any reasons to hide? Unless…

Xelqua shakes his head, he can’t make any assumptions without first knowing more about the situation and in turn, learn more about why Xenrus seems afraid of anyone knowing he’s a Void Being. Then again…anything from the Void itself would be considered both impossible and very much feared. Perhaps, that’s why he’s so afraid of anyone knowing, out of fear that they would harm him?

Just thinking that alone made him picture something ugly, maybe that’s why it led to Xenrus being severely injured that he had broken into his server. It was to escaped what might as well be certain death and quite frankly– he’s glad that Xenrus showed up on his server, he may not claim it to be the most safest,  but considering he’s raising and guiding nothing but godlings and entities on this server–

It’s honestly most fitting to be seen as a well protective server with him as the Admin, even if no one knows of Xelqua true identity as the Admin. He has always been known to be anonymous for many good reasons after all.

He wouldn’t be shocked when one of the Evolutionists ends up calling him a parental figure.

But for right now, he would need to explain to Taurtis all that he missed and avoid talking about Void related topics until he does more research. The other Evolutionists don't know, but they can guess based on their confusion on why Xenrus gave them the weary unease. Every Void like being always makes everyone around them feel a sense of unease after all. He may have to actually hunt down The First Minecrafter and The White Eye Entity one of these days, when he’s free at least. 

Being an active Admin can be exhausting at times, after all. 

“Hey Xelqua? There's something I've been meaning to ask about for a while now.” Xelqua hums in response, gesturing for Taurtis to speak as he makes sure that Xenrus was comfortable, having long since fallen asleep. Exhausted after the events that occurred today, it wasn't a surprise for him really, they really hadn't taken the time to sleep yet. 

But he'll be sure to wake them up later for dinner–

“Is there any particular reason why Alcove seems so angry with me? Like, everytime I visit, he always tries to kill me, even when I'm doing nothing! It's entirely unfair really, I get that my counterpart's problem did something to warrant such anger, but it would still be appreciated if they told me.” Taurtis complained with a huff as they pouted like some child who didn't understand. It was sorta getting on Xelqua nerves, for woke reason, which was unusual. 

He understood that it would have been nice to explain themselves, but he knew that Alcove's deep rooted hatred would never allow for any communications between them, but Alcove still tolerated Taurtis presence enough to not render the young high school in tears. 

Sometimes, Xelqua wonders if it's some sort of unhealthy attachment or a torturous form of Stockholm Syndrome. He surely hopes it's neither, he's still trying to teach and gently guide YHS that he no longer needed to pretend to be someone he wasn't. He severely hopes that such unhealthy attachments for the mortal he calls his friend wasn't the reason for his severe identity crisis… 

No, wait, that damn white rabbit is the reason why YHS has a severe identity crisis–

“But then Alcove told me that a joke is the whole reason everything went downhill. What's so bad about a joke that it ruined their friendship? We made tons of jokes before so it shouldn’t have been that bad-”

Something in Xelqua's mind snapped upon hearing such foolish words. 

He growls as a dangerous aura of rage encircles him, glaring at Taurtis– who immediately stopped complaining, taking several steps back in fear– with heated anger. Anger that was directed at him, he wasn’t even sure why he was angry in the first place. 

But Xelqua knew full well that Taurtis is a naive fool who didn't understand. Who's actions alone were that of a blind, naive fool who doesn't accept that others actions can be cruel and dangerous. Even if it seems so innocent, it was still cruel. 

Did he not understand that even the most innocent jokes can have dark implications? 

It was for the first time, the mortal before him, had ever borne witness to his anger. Strangely enough, it's satisfying to watch them cower in fear. 

“How bold of you to say such a thing Taurtis! They have gone through pain you have never understood, misery you have turned a blind eye to in many universes! Do you truly think your innocent words wouldn't hurt? Wrong! Even the most innocent things can hurt others deeply!” He lashed out in anger as his wings puffed up to its full extent in his echoing anger. Holding Xenrus closer in an act similar to a mother hiding their children from harm. 

Xelqua growled at the audacity in which Taurtis shows cowering in foolish fears. 

He had never liked the mortal, regardless of the world's they hailed from, no matter what. 

“Don’t forget, Taurtis, the only reason you are on this server in the first place, is because YHS wished for it– even when I and Alcove told them time and time again to cut ties with you. If you dare disregard or assume that jokes can't hurt, then I WILL make you suffer the very same pain and misery that they both have gone through!” 

Taurtis tried to speak, but Xelqua didn't dare let them, growing taller as their form grew, the sounds of bones shattering was heard as they changed, their forest green adventurers outfit replaced by purple faded to void, speckled with stars robe. All six of their wings unfurled in a threatening manner in a show that they are far more superior, more dangerous than they look. Their faces hidden behind a veil, but crackling sounds of pearls shattering are hauntingly as eyes, an unimaginable amount of eyes appears around them, staring down at Taurtis with deep rooted disgust, anger and judgement. 

The only source of light was an Iridescent crown, floating above their head. 

“Be careful of what you say, Taurtis, I will be keeping a very Watch over you, from now on. Should I learn anything unsavory from you, I will ensure you will NEVER feel the sweet Mercy Of Death for ETERNITY. Understand?”

Taurtis fearfully nodded, Xelqua narrowed their gazes upon them. 

“Do not answer me with a gesture, when I speak to you, I want to hear you answer verbally, understand me, Mortal.”

Taurtis squealed fearfully. “Y-Yes sir!” He answered shakily, no doubt fearful for their very life, Xelqua often doesn’t threaten nor find it satisfying at times, but for once– seeing Taurtis so fearful of him made him feel satisfied for once. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t happy, no, he’s still very much angry. 

But he supposed, Taurtis should count his blessing that YHS still cares about him and that he has Xenrus to still worry about. 

With a huff, he turned as the world distort– returning to normal as he vanished, leaving Taurtis all alone as he finally collapsed to the ground in both utter fear and free from the judgemental gaze of the Primordial Deity gazes. 

Xisuma wasn’t sure when he had fallen asleep, nor did he understand what Grian was even talking about, in fact, he kinda tuned out the whole entire conversation after he heard him accidentally admit that he had planned to adopt him. Not now, of course, but it was still a high possibility. Something he really didn’t expect to hear whatsoever. 

In fact, he was so focused on hearing his injuries and being exhausted– he didn’t realize that Grian had even picked him up. 

He was also weirdly taller…was being a God have the perks of changing their height to be whatever they want? That’s, sorta a cool but odd thing, yet at the same time, he can guess it could be a useful trick for some events. Probably, he wasn’t sure. Instead, he just focused on the fact that he was no longer the center of attention, the fear he held about the stranger that he had come to hear is named Taurtis and is a player, not one that he was familiar with.

He heard about all the players of the Evolution Server, but he had never heard anything that matched Taurtis description, nor does his presence matched the number of players that is said to occupy the server. Perhaps they were forgotten from history or…maybe he got Grian nerve long enough to not be considered important?

He doesn’t know, considering none of the others mentioned him, maybe he wasn’t a player, but more of a guest that visits occasionally.

Based on the little of the conversation he could hear, that might be it actually. Taurtis really is just someone that visits the server occasionally, but who was this Alcove and YHS they speak of? Grian definitely seems to know, he was even very defensive about them, he could even hear the underlying hostility he has towards Taurtis…

But why?

He doesn’t know and honestly, he doesn’t think he would ever understand. There was so much about EVO that he didn't understand. So much about the history and birthplace of so many legendary and well known Divinity, especially The Watcher Pantheon. 

He still can’t wrap his head around the fact that Grian is Xelqua.

(For some reason, he always wondered why Grian looked at him with both familiarity and sadness when they first met on Hermitcraft.)

And yet, here he is, currently being held safely in Grian arms and strangely enough, it reminded him of when he was younger. When he was held by someone he can’t even remember, but knew he loved him so dearly. It was warm and safe, it was the loving feeling of being home…

Speaking of home…

He faintly wondered if the Voidwalkers were upset at his choice to leave, to leave oh so suddenly actually without any warning. He had gone to the Administrator Academy as both expected and of his own dreams, but he had only left to flee the life of loneliness. The life that the other Voidwalkers had tried to make them follow, even when they did want to at all. 

Well, he and Exavian both fled truthfully, they didn’t realize how lonely it was back home.

(Was the Voidwalker Kingdom even his home? It didn’t feel like one after he and Exavian had lost their parents.)

Despite how much love and care they were given, it just felt empty and wrong. As far as he knows, he had been orphaned for a long time. Ever since the loss of his father on a mission that had gone wrong resulting in his disappearance, to his mother being killed when those invaders had come. 

(He and Exavian never did learn who those invaders were, no matter how much they searched, they could never find a single answer.)

He and Exavian were taken under the wings of the Watchers soon afterwards, his memories weren't as good as Exavian, but he faintly recalled being cradled by a Watcher that whispers words of comfort to him and his brother. They had rescued them, that was definitely an obvious notion, but at the same time, he can’t really remember that time anyways. Likely the trauma that came with what had happened, but he wasn’t sure. 

He was far too young that time.

(The warmth and safety he felt from being cradled by that watcher felt similar to how he’s being cradled by Grian right now, he doesn’t want to falsely assume what that could actually mean quite yet.)

Eventually, when he and Exavian were older, they did learn that the reason the Watchers had saved them in the first place, was due to the old friendship their father had with the Watchers. Something they never knew, nor expected, they didn’t even know the identity of their Father Friend.

Even more surprising, was the fact that when their Father friend and their Father had suddenly lost contact, they had been searching for them both for a long time out of fear that something had happened, which unfortunately did, but each time they asked who it was, they just danced around the topic and avoided it.

(All the Watchers and Watchlings he had asked always avoided answers, either they didn't know or they didn’t have any authority in telling him. He can only guess that they could have been a Great Watcher or an Elder Watcher, he never dared hoped that it’s a Primordial, let alone The Watcher himself. There’s just no way.)

Yet considering they weren’t really interested in becoming Watchers, since they already have the potential to be Admins, they didn’t really live with the Watchers up in their Kingdom. 

Well, they do, but that’s mostly because the Watcher Realm had essentially been a safe haven for them, a home really. Somewhere that they can go to if they ever felt the need to, from all they heard, their Father friend had wanted them to stay in the Watcher Realm as long as they want, not just because it's for their safety, but to find their own place to call home.

Of course, when they were old enough, he went off to join Hermitcraft, which also led to joining the Admin Academy to be the Admin of Hermitcraft. The Server he had founded as his home. 

Besides Exavian, he opted to stay with the Watchers instead of following him, aside from the occasional visits, with an interest for something he wasn’t sure about, perhaps it was Alchemy he had heard of once.

Of course, Xisuma does make sure to visit the Watchers Realm whenever he could and even then, he wasn’t bothered by the fact that their Father friend kept sending Watchers to keep watch over them. 

Which eventually led to an Elder Watcher being assigned to keep watch over Hermitcraft, he still can’t believe Pixlriff happens to be that Elder Watcher, but he didn’t mind all that much. If anything, he welcomes them since he and his friends do the Hermitcraft Recap, quite entertaining really. 

It was comforting and perfectly normal to know that they are still well protected and cared for.

At least, to him and Exavian anyways. They weren’t aware that being sorta somewhat raised by the Watchers isn't exactly normal. In fact, apparently, according to Philza, he should have never been an Admin in the first place– or alive. He doesn’t really get what he had meant considering he was confused and Philza gave him a look of concerned-exasperation. 

Okay, so maybe it could be considered a weirdly concerning case, but he really doesn't know why that’s an issue. It’s not like to the Admins, the Watchers are the enemies while to the Watchers, everyone can either be a friend or foe when you least expect it. 

(Now that he thought about it, everyone in the Watcher Realm did warn him to never mention his connections to The Watchers, he didn’t understand at first, but agreed to never say anything when they were all so serious. Even the Watchlings were serious and it was unnerving.)

Regardless, he was curious about the server itself, of how Grian is the current reigning Admin, but he can’t help, but feel as though he knows exactly what this server is meant for and what would happen. Now he’s just reminded of a chapter in the history book, about how a mythical Server was created with a concept that had never been done before, until at the end, the server was destroyed by the watchers, leaving the server members alive, all save for the Admin that’s left missing.

At least, that’s what is written in the history books in the Watcher Academy and come to be common knowledge throughout the Minecraftian Communities.

Something he had always found odd, he had known and seen the way the Watchers act and do, they’re not that strong enough to destroy a server fully, nor would they do something as dangerous as that. Sure, they reminded him of the Chat that everyone has, but still. The only one that was even powerful enough to destroy a server in such a manner would be the Primordial Watchers and The Watcher, Lord Xelqua, himself. 

(For some reason, he can’t help, but feel as though there’s more to it, but he can’t be sure.)

But really, Evo was created by Lord Xelqua or rather Grian, as he knows and still can’t even believe, as a home for newly born and created Entities and Gods he found and chose to raise safely. To teach them their powers safely, but to also teach them the nature of what it means to live amongst Mortals and the love and pain that comes with it. 

Well, he would learn more eventually he was exhausted after everything that happened today, and considering that during the entire time he had been dozing off and thinking so deeply, he doesn’t even want to know why Grian was angry and quite frankly, he doesn’t want that anger directed at him. Or learn what Taurtis even says to earn such anger.

He may not have known Grian during his days as both Lord Xelqua and The Primordial Admin, but he knows him as one of his fellow Hermit.

Who happens to be someone no one wants to anger, there’s a reason he’s capable of causing so much chaos on the server and even off server, especially whenever he continues the Life Series.

(He’s pretty sure that the Hermits that participated are also just as unhinged as he is and quite frankly, he doesn’t even want to know what they did on the server at all.)

Adjusting himself so he was more comfortable and wouldn’t risk aggravating his injuries anymore than necessary, he finally drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

The next time Xisuma woke up, he was pleasantly surprised to find that he felt well rested. Even when he was recovering in that temporary medical room during the first week he was here, he didn’t feel this well rested. Was it knowing that he was safe in the base belonging to someone he had known as his Hermit? Well, soon to be Hermit, but still one of his Hermits nonetheless. 

Or perhaps, he was just really that exhausted that he slept so much and he finally felt well rested. 

He wasn’t sure and quite honestly, he was fine with it as long as he got as much as he could get. He’s sure if his Hermits were around, they’d definitely be happy at the prospect of him taking better care of himself. Long terms, anyways. Void knew how often they wished he should just take some time off and not be worried about them.

Which is exactly why he is worried anyways. He knows his Hermits. They get into some sort of mishap if he wasn’t around to at least make sure they were doing well. 

Although, he has noticed something that he had been doing more often than not, as of late. He had been thinking a lot more than he would have usually done on a daily basis really. But he couldn’t help it, he was still so far from home. Learning so much that he never thought he learned, discovered so many revelations that he didn’t think was even possible and–

How long has it been since he was last home on the Hermitcraft server? Are his Hermits worried about him?

Did they even notice that he was missing at all? He wasn’t sure why, but the thought of them not knowing he was missing hurts him quite a lot. How could he even think about his Hermits like that despite all the trust they had given him? 

Of course they worried about him as much as he worried about them!

(But a small part of him always doubted that they truly cared, he hated how much that small thought hurts when he knows it’s not true.)

"Xenrus? You okay?" Grian's concerned voice pierce through Xisuma's internal lament, pulling him from the thick fog of questions. Looking at Grian- when did he show up? He would have heard him considering, well, the door would obviously make a sound. Plus, not only that, but the ground is made of stone and would have made his footstep so much more noticeable. Maybe he was just silent in his approach, a rarity and a bit scary, actually. 

Or perhaps, he was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t even heard him at all.

(He has been thinking too much, not paying attention to his surroundings, one of these days– that’s bound to get him into some trouble.)

He supposed he should answer before he makes Grian worried even more. "I’m…alright, for the most part. Just thinking about some things is all.” He answered, averting his gaze, but he knew that he was lying. Grian always had this uncanny knack of knowing something was wrong, it was a bit unnerving, but it makes sense. Grian may be the lawfully chaotic one, but he is observant enough to know something is amiss. He hadn't even noticed that Grian had chosen to sit next to him until he felt him touch the bandage on the side of his head, making him flinch back, wincing in pain from his other wounds being pulled at. 

“Sorry, I just noticed that the bandage was soaked in lavender color blood? I never really asked if that was a thing amongst Enderkin.” He apologized, Xisuma simply frowned, he hadn’t even realized that the bandage was soaked in his blood, let alone even felt the pain or dizziness that should have come with it.

Was he really that distracted to not notice?

“It’s alright, I didn't realize that the wound had reopened is all.” He answered with a nervous chuckle, but the stare that Grian gave him made him stop, feeling as though he was being judged quietly.

Well, more specifically, he felt like a child that’s going to be scolded by their parents.

“I’ve been meaning to ask this for awhile, but is it normal for your species to have a lavender color blood?” Grian suddenly questioned, throwing Xisuma off. He hadn’t expected him to ask that, but he just nodded, albeit confused. He’s pretty sure it’s common for Voidwalkers and Enderkins to be mistaken due to both species having lavender blood.

“Yes, it is very common for Enderkins to have lavender blood. It’s a bit unusual, yes, but it is what it is I suppose.” 

Well, this is an honest answer. He’s still unsure of the exact timeline, but he’s still sure that everyone knows that Enderkins bleeds lavender blood. 

He knew that the Enderkins are just as secretive as the Voidwalkers, but unlike them, the Voidwalkers just prefer to not exist when they visit the Overworld, well, generally anywhere really. He is very sure that the Enderkin also bleeds lavender, but he could be wrong, considering it has been quite sometime. Yet…

Nowhere is really nice to them honestly, that’s the depressing thing. 

The Enderkins all understood and didn't begrudge them for the choice, in fact, they simply respected Lord Xelqua and did not dare go against him about using a deeper part of the End that’s far closer to the void to be utilized as his domain. If anything, it was nearly impossible to find naturally, considering it was in a sense, in a different plane of existence. It was definitely between the End and the Void, but also, not really.

It was honestly very confusing to even understand, even for a native Voidwalker like himself. 

Although, he always wondered why the Enderkins never allowed the players to actually see their true civilizations, only the abandoned and mob infested villages that once thrive or the occasional abandoned buildings and ships that they happened to find at times. 

He wasn’t sure why, but that was always something that every non-overworld native has lived by as a rule. Never reveals all common knowledge that’s meant to be a secret to the overworlder. Even the Netherkins don’t reveal anything about the ancient, bloody history they once had long ago.

Not that they knew much in the first place.  

“Hmm, I see, I suppose that makes sense, I never seen an Enderkin bleed before and I don’t intend to ever see it again. But I am quite frankly, grateful to meet any, especially since it was mostly thanks to their help that we stabilized Servers well enough to hold players, but it’s still in its testing phases.” Grian commented as he materialized a bag, casually bringing out a couple of vials and some bandages, followed by a bucket of water and a clean cloth.

Xisuma knew about that, having learned about it in both the Voidwalker community library histories books and from the Admin Academy, but he was confused. What was Grian doing with those strange vials? It reminded him of potions, except it didn’t seem right. “What are you doing with those strange vials?” He questioned– wincing when Grian gently took off the bandage.

Either the bandage had stuck to the skin via the dried blood or the blood had started to clot, both sounds like it’s a possibility, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt any less. 

Grian then gently cleanses the blood with the cloth lightly soaked in the warm water he had brought. 

Without much to even do besides letting him tend to his wounds, Xisuma just silently watched Grian work on his wounds. Noting with interest how Grian dipped a bit of the vial content onto a new clean cloth to gently rubbed and clean the wound, making Xisuma hissed at the stinging pain. He could only guess that it was a potion of some kind like he thought, but doesn’t know about or it was a weaker form of a potion he’s familiar with, but he doesn’t recognize the color of the potion at all.

Maybe it’s something ancient that has fallen out of practice? 

Crafting has been more common, often considered more convenient and easy compared to handcrafting the item or even forging! 

Maybe the Vials were something related to alchemy? 

“Okay, so maybe there is a chance that the wound could get some scarring, but no worries, it’s mostly hidden by your hair so it shouldn’t be a bother.” Grian reassured when he noticed Xenrus' worried look about the chance of the wound being a scar. Grian gently huffed as he gently rubbed his head, which surprisingly enough, he found to have snapped him out of whatever wandering thoughts he had. 

"Oh– well uh, okay then." He answered a bit anxiously, Grian smiled softly, getting right into cleaning the open wound, being careful not to make it hurt at all. It was a delicate process after all, he just had to be careful. Eventually after a good while and a couple of whispers of apologies, Grian was eventually finished dressing his wounds and replacing the bandage. “If your wounds end up opening, let me know alright? The same goes for the burns, since I’m gonna have to apply some ointments before you head to sleep later.” 

Xisuma gently hums in acknowledgement. 

He wonders what he should do now though. There wasn't exactly much he could do at the moment, nor does he know what to do at this point of time. Especially since he’s afraid of what he could do could alter the future either for good or worse. Not only that, but It had been a very long time since he had been in this time era, it would take him quite a while before he could grow used to the limitations that come from living in such time. Something he had to do when he was training to be an Admin at the time.

But from what he can see and find after being here for at least almost two weeks now, probably, it feels more like crafting isn’t a big thing when it comes to this time compared to his own. 

Crafting has been a normal thing, so much so that he forgot about homemaking things. 

Yet, at the same time, Xisuma wonders if he should just make a journal for himself to write his own experience and adventures being in this server- as strange as it felt and how secretive it felt as well- to possibly keep when he did manage to find his way back home. “You look like you're pondering quite a lot of things.” Grian pointed out, making himself comfortable against the nest of pillows and blankets. Well, he wasn’t wrong, he had been pondering quite a lot.

“I was just thinking about how I’m gonna adapt to this, well, life for the time being, but also thinking about having a journal about my time here.” 

It was in fact something he thought about, even if it was a bit odd to write in an old fashioned way seeing as they had only just a ink pot and a feather to write with after all. Thankfully for him, Grian didn’t seem all that upset, but instead he seemed happy. “Actually, that sounds like a wonderful idea! I have been writing my own journal since I started this server. It would be nice to document your thoughts and time here.” He pointed to which Xisuma smiled and nodded in agreement. 

In the end, until night came around, they ended up talking for quite some time. 

Taurtis can’t help, but feel as though there was something wrong, like there was something in the server that shouldn’t be here, but it is regardless. Something that they couldn't have watched, no way they would listen, yet their words aren’t as strong as the warning of the canaries. 

Almost like there was something new and mysterious here, waiting, preying upon someone…

Yet the only one that didn’t exactly fit in on the server happened to be Xenrus, a Voidkin he had unintentionally terrified. He could understand if it’s him since he wasn’t whitelisted from what Xelqua had told him– after he came back from cooling off for some time and putting Xenrus back to his room to rest. He had admitted that Xenrus' injured and distrustful state had something to do with what had attacked him and forced him to flee to the server. Even if it was whitelisted, it was very risky.

He just hopes that it isn’t something terrible, he just hopes that Xenrus stays safe. 

With a sigh, he would have to wonder more about it another time, he has a house to make for himself after all. Considering Xelqua had gotten rid of his one and only home, the Summoning Platform that summoned him. 

Xelqua smiled gently, putting a weighted blanket over Xenrus sleeping form, they had both ended up talking a lot about the server. Well, they just talked about the simplest of things, like building and coding. Apparently, he was right to assume that Xenrus was an Admin of some sorts, but since his codes are damaged and he’s on the server. His abilities are locked under safety precautions. 

He even managed to have the chance to evaluate Xenrus knowledge on being an Admin, thus allowing him to plan out a whole lesson plan. He is honestly just really excited at the idea of teaching someone the ways of being an Admin.

And based on what he had learned from Xenrus, he could be granted the license and privileges of a Junior Admin! With him being the teacher and mentor, he’s sure he would be able to get Xenrus to be as knowledgeable and capable as either an Elder Admin or even as a fellow Primordial Admin! Xelqua will admit, he can see the little one being capable of being a Primordial Admin if they so wished to.

But for now, he’ll start small. 

Although, admittedly, this is actually going to be his first time even taking someone in as his student, he had never taught anyone before and well, he might have to get some advice from his friends later.

Probably. 

Aside from that, he has things to do, but he can’t just leave him alone, something tells him that leaving him without any protection would not be a good idea, so he softly whispers a protection spell, thus creating a not visible, but safe barrier that covers the entirety of the room that Xenrus rests in. Once he was sure he would be safe without him around, he left the room, then stood in the open area of his base.

Taking in the cool air of the evening. 

Smiling, he summoned his wings and flew upward, onto the tallest point of his base, gone was his usual adventurer clothes, now replaced by something else.

Something regal, but also not, loose, but fitting. Cloaked, yet entirely mysterious. 

For the night, he is here as not just the Admin, but as The Watcher.

There’s many things he would need to do, most of all– he must ensure that his players are moved to the next update soon. With an interesting, but unexpected guest. 

“Pondering at night again, Xelqua?” Someone called out, appearing someway behind him, Xelqua just chuckled in response as they turned around, all of their eyes focused on the green figure. “Auditor Silvarum. It’s nice of you to join me for this lovely evening, don’t you think?” Xelqua greeted with an ever so gentle smile, Auditor Silvarum huffed as he too smiled and floated closer to him.

“What of our guest? Are they okay? Settling well?” They questioned with hints of concern, they had greeted them a while ago, but it was awkward at best considering, well, they didn’t really planned to meet with them until later. Even if they had met in his mortal form, he’s pretty sure that Xelqua has plans to introduce Xenrus to their divine or entity-like appearances.

It was only fair that they know, after all, considering he had heard from Taurtis grumbling about Xelqua had all, but declared Xenrus as his child.

Not officially, but still claimed him as his own. 

But he supposed, they were right. They would have to tell Xenrus eventually.

And when he meant by eventually, he had meant when times would be a bit more kinder or when they would have to explain to their guest about the Evolution Portal. Something that Xelqua had constructed with the help of the Minecrafter to ensure that updates to the server works well. Even the Enderkins he had worked with were kind enough to help him with the magic behind the portals. 

It was part of his experiments and work to provide a stable method for server updates for the rest of the Players and Admins to utilize. 

After all, Servers are still experimental, even when the knowledge of old has been lost for so long, they had to recover and update what they could.

“They are settling well, but Taurtis has discovered that they are a Voidkin. I don’t think they wanted anyone to know about that though, they seemed…unusually terrified, from what I witnessed, it didn’t settle right with me.” Xelqua answered, looking back at the moon, ever so conflicted. There was barely any known information about the Voidkin, the closest they could get to any information about them was from what little that the Enderkin knew, it was almost as if their mere existence was impossible.

A myth that no one could believe existed, no one knew how they are created, not even the gods themselves, but the Original Creators may possibly have an idea, but perhaps. 

Just perhaps, they are like the Starborn. Created by natural means, but accidental in all accounts. 

Yet there was a difference, there has always been a difference. Starborn are born of the stars, while Voidwalker are born of the void to wonder. At least, that’s all they could ever guess, there was extremely little they knew. They were possibly far older than even the Primordial Admins were, perhaps they existed during the Minecraftian Eras? 

There was so much possibilities, so many possible answers and– 

They have no idea what to even expect. 

“They’re a Voidkin? That would explain so much, but I thought they were just a myth?” Auditor Silvarum questioned with surprise, they never expected that the clueless and very much lost player was actually a Void. Yet, the more they thought about it, the more it made little sense. The purple freckles with bits of stars, an unnatural vibe of unease and the lavender purple blood. Yet not only that…

The striking Indigo eyes that glow unnaturally. Eerily and otherworldly. 

As well as the unnerving feeling that they were in close proximity to the Void, yet they weren’t. 

“If he is really a Voidkin, then it would be best for his safety that he must stay.” Auditor Silvarum responded, only to pause for a moment, to consider something else. “Not only must he be registered as a player of this server, but no one outside of this server must know of his identity, it would be far too disastrous if anyone was to know the truth.” He continued as they looked up at Xelqua, haloed by the glow of the moon that rises behind them. They held a little smile. 

But that wasn’t the only reason why.

They still have no idea who or what had attacked Xenrus to such an extent in the first place. It unsettled Xelqua greatly, but he doesn’t tell Auditor Silvarum quite yet, why would he when they needed to be trusted by Xenrus to know? He could tell that Xenrus had lied about his name, he had seen his actual name when he had looked at his codes.

After all, every living being code has genuinely everything about them, their name and all.

He may not know why Xenrus had chosen to use a false name, but he can only guess that it is both out of mistrust towards them all, as well as fear that he could be recognized by the one who had harmed them in the first place. 

“Oh yeah, I heard you got into an argument with Taurtis, what happened?” Xelqua scowled, he rather not recall the argument, it was still fresh on his mind after all.

“He brought up KOV and it spiraled from there.” 

Auditor Silvarum winced. “Ouch, that is the low blow, even for them.” Xelqua rolled their eyes, even if his face wasn’t visible due to the veil that hides his face. “Sometimes, I wondered why I allowed YHS to hang around him at all.” They wondered with a huff as they turned to face the moon. Quietly enjoying the peaceful serenity of the cool evening and the rare presence of a Full Moon. 

He was sure that Pearl would have loved to see such a beautiful sight of the Full Moon, surrounded by the stars and visible constellations, uncovered by the Clouds.

But he will wait until she’s ready, until she graduates from High School at the very least anyways. Although, now he thought about it, he should probably inquire about how his other players are doing academically, he still made them all at the very least finish High School or go to College. No way is he letting them lose such a wonderful opportunity after all!

“By the way, Xelqua, have you managed to get Xenrus whitelisted yet? We’re all getting worried that if he stays on the server for too long, he may feel– you know, kinda like he’s under house arrest.” Xelqua frowns as he turned to look at Auditor Silvarum who seems nervous about asking such a thing. Of course, Xelqua understood what he meant, but he was unsure about actually letting Xenrus leave so soon.

He needed to still heal, but not only that…

“Don’t worry about that, Auditor Silvarum, that’s something I should worry about, while you mister.” He went over to the green-white clad Otherworlder and ruffled their hair. “Should hurry on to bed, you shouldn’t be up late for so long after all!” He pointed out with a chuckle as they pouted, but agreed nonetheless.

Saying their goodbye, they vanished to the night, likely heading back to their home and getting the rest they so deserve. Xelqua simply smiled, then looked at the Moon once more, just for the smile to vanish.

He actually has no problem with Whitelisting Xenrus, but he couldn’t. Not until he had gained full, genuine trust from them to truly do such a thing, then there was the matter of their Codes. It had taken some time, but he finally figured out what was wrong with their codes– or rather.

The lack of any problem in the first place. The codes didn’t have any modifications in the first place, no.

The Code had looked the way it had, because it was very heavily encrypted. Which led him to the true problem in regards to this matter.

He knew exactly who encrypted his codes, but…

Xelqua had never encrypted Xenrus codes, let alone the fact that they had only known each other for, at most, almost two weeks now.

Chapter Text

Xelqua stayed the night under the wistful moon, mostly basking in the comforting moonlight and contemplating what he’s going to do for a while. He knows that he has many things to do when morning comes, but at the same time– 

He would have to explain the Evolution Portal to Xenrus with the help of the others, but to also probably get him to the portal anyways. He may know the location, but it would do them all a bit of extra good to have another hand of protection for Xenrus, he’s still weakened and injured after all. He simply can’t just carry him over, no, it wouldn’t do him too good as he figured doing some walking around would help him grow his strength again.

But also prepared him for the fact that he would have to do a ton of walking around anyways, the last time he had checked in regards to his injuries that he regularly replaced the bandaged and applied healing potions– it healed quite nicely. Long enough that he’s sure it would be fully healed in a few weeks at most. 

But even when Xenrus injuries are fully healed, he still needs to keep a very careful watch over them, the wounds may heal, but the scars will remain. What trauma would he have sustained from getting it in the first place? He doubts he could easily remember how he got the injuries in the first place, but despite the mind not remembering, the body would always remember instinctually.

Other than the worries he would typically have as both an Admin and unintentionally, a parental figure on this server, he is looking forward to teaching Xenrus all that he could in regards to being an Admin. Which brings him to his next worries. He can tell, based on his codes alone, that Xisuma is technically an active Admin prior to being sent here somehow. 

He most likely is a Junior Admin that’s both going into the Admin Academy while managing a server, an uncommon, but seemingly difficult task if he remembers correctly. He doesn’t visit the Admin Academy, nor does he have anything to do with it, but he heard quite a lot from his fellow Primordial Admins, considering they’re the one who established the Academy in the first place. 

Whatever had happened to Xenrus, he had clearly been protecting his server when he was severely injured and brought here. 

Making him wonder, does Xenrus allow himself to show such rare vulnerability to his players? Does he truly trust them enough to see him as himself, besides just a powerful figure? Clearly, based on what he saw, he is clearly respected, does his Players respect him as well? 

But then…

Does his players even know he’s missing and injured? 

He wasn’t sure, but he had a strong feeling that they would do anything for him, that Xenrus is very much loved by his players. Whether he let himself feel that love, he’s unsure about. Most of all…

He has this very funny feeling that Xenrus players would be willing to destroy the world if it meant keeping him safe. Even up against the Gods, nothing would stop them.

It almost made him wish he could have at least met them. Just once.

Exavian…felt strangely unsettled, which is not a very good thing for him to feel on a server such as Hermitcraft, considering how bright and cheerful it usually is. Even with the chaotic storytelling and pranks, he never felt this unsettled.

Now normally, when he wakes up, the base would always be a flurry of activities. May it be from his brother getting started on breakfast…by almost burning it from lack of focus and multitasking on one too many things– even sleep deprivation on occasion, or getting his day started, even with the rarity of his hermits coming over for a visit. But none of that happened. It was eerily silent.

Very silent.

It was never silent.

Hermitcraft was never to be silent, and if it was ever silent, it would mean something very terrible has happened. 

Not even Grian would leave such silence going for too long, always giving everyone a heads up if he was not going to be doing anything that warrants a level of chaos. 

Frowning, he sat up from his bed, checking the time to note that it was still early, he wasn’t usually awake at this point of time, in fact it’s most of the workaholics that are the hermits that would be up and about around this time. Like, probably Doc, Keralis and his foolish brother. Even more unsettling was that the base felt cold, very cold in fact.

He hasn’t felt this type of cold since…

No. He shouldn’t think about those times. 

It brought a very disturbing and very cold chill up his spine, he rushed into his closet to get the red jumper that Grian had gifted to him awhile ago. 

He won’t admit how much that made him feel loved, but anyways. He is starting to regret wearing shorts to bed now, the base was definitely cold, now normally that wouldn’t be the case since Xisuma always had the base insulated with warmth, none of them liked the cold. It reminded them both the cursed feeling of loneliness and pain.

Frowning, he quickly changed to warmer clothes, it shouldn’t be winter yet, but it was still the early throes of fall, it comes as no surprise that it would be getting chilly. But not by this much, absolutely not, sure the cold of the void is comforting, but the cold of the overworld is not. In fact, they both hate it. 

Like seriously, how could anyone enjoy the winter without freezing? And the fact they both associate it to the painful loneliness. Well, they did at first, before they now associate it with the warm comforts of laughter and joy with their makeshift family on Hermitcraft. 

Nonetheless, once Exavian was dressed warmly, keeping the jumper on cause it’s a very comfortable piece of clothing and the scarf he was given by Stress gently wrapped around his neck. He ventured out of his room and to the rest of the base, noting that it was untouched. As in, no one had done anything at all since the previous night. Which, can’t be right, he was sure that Xisuma would be out and about by now.

The only way he could tell that was the case is the warm feeling and the smell of tea being made. Along with the very rare and few moments of Xisuma cursing. Eck, he would enjoy hearing the sound of other hermits coming by than the silence. 

Feeling the creeping feeling of fear, he rushed to Xisuma room, hoping that his brother was just sleeping in, but no, he didn’t find his brother, but the mess and chaos that was the room. Trashed would be the right word, but an even better word would be destroyed. His brother's room looked destroyed, like there had been a fight. A big, major one, this oh so definitely scared him. There was no way he was going to accept the idea of his brother being missing. 

Yet the evidence is here, the evidence of his brother's room being destroyed– clearly a massive fight had also happened, how could this even happen? Suspiciously so without even rousing him awake– let alone alert the rest of the Server of an unauthorized breach?

He can’t be sure– how can he when he has no idea what happened. How things could have turned out this way– in fact he wasn’t actually knowledgeable at figuring out this sorta thing, he knew a few hermits that could actually help with this, but he wasn’t even sure if they wanted to see him at all. Considering he had done several crimes on the server after all. 

Not, that it was by his own choice half the time anyways. 

But he does know an area of hermits that he knows would oh so definitely help him, but also give him a chance to explain himself. Considering they sometimes get him to join in on their antics, not only that, they’re the first to welcome him with a proper chance to stay on the server, knowing his act as a villain was all just pretend. 

A way for him to check up on Xisuma, but to also test out the server system defense and check for any weak spots. 

With a goal in mind, he was about to leave the room to head on over, when he spotted something very peculiar, curious and ever so very cautiously, he walked around the property damaged and kneel before a strange speckle of something dark almost closer to gray cyan-teal with a hint of green, sparkling with a star like sparkles of light blue/teal, but much more paler. Next to it is a puddle of blood– specifically, lavender color blood. If he remembers correctly, the moss looking thing is sculk, one of the newer blocks and items added to the world, but that can’t be right, it shouldn’t be here in this room.

And yet, at the same time, it doesn’t look like it was Sculk either.

Was it something else? Something that mimics it? What could this mysterious entity be to mimic something that isn’t entirely safe for the Servers? Whoever did this, clearly knows about the Sculk, it had to be at least someone or something that is aware of Minecraftia or the inner workings of the snapshots and pre-releases. 

The other thing he realized is that whatever had taken his brother had also attempted to kill him due to the horrifyingly large size of the puddle of blood– should it even be considered a puddle but something a bit larger than that?

He shudders to even think about it anymore and immediately looks away. 

Whoever had planned this had known to strike at a time such as this, where the Hermits are less likely to be active due to the weather and consistent traveling through the Portal Network and Hub–

He froze, sensing the familiar presence of the Void. 

Just what had happened here for his brother to risk using the Void as an escape? 

There was only one individual he could think of that could help him make sense of this. Who happens to be in the area that he was planning on visiting nonetheless. He instantly rushed out of the room and booked it straight towards an area of chaos– after he contained the mysterious sculk-yet-not-sculk moss thing. 

It would do him no good to leave it as it is, he has no idea what it could be or do and he rather not risk anymore dangers. 

Grian hums as he starts off his morning with a wonderful cup of tea, now normally he wouldn’t actually be up this early on such a nice calming day, but being a builder and a hermit. Well, he just happens to wake up at an ungodly time to do either work or chaos. Mostly the former,  but nonetheless, it was a calm, but ever so chilly day, he had actually opted to exchange his usual red jumper for something a bit more warmer, but still the same color. With the added bonus of a trench coat lined with fur. 

He could have gone for a cloak if Scar hadn’t stolen it.

He wasn’t sure when or how he had stolen it, but it was very much clear that he would not be able to get it back for a while. It’s a shame that it was one of his more comfier cloaks too. 

Although he does feel a bit silly for dressing too much this early into the season, Fall can be unpredictable with its weather after all. Nonetheless, he hums as he continues to drink his tea. He had installed a fireplace in his main base since, well, it was spacious enough to have one and he had developed the inside just enough to make it cozier. Which his Greggs have come to appreciate quite a lot actually. 

Maybe he should send each individual Greggs to check up on the Grian’s, especially YHS and Alcove, but he would have to wonder about it some other time. He’s not sure he should trust them to not hurt the little Greggs, even if they could count as little magical dolls with sentience of their own, but he’ll figure something out eventually.

Probably, but for now?

He can settle with just knowing that the Greggs are comfortable, It was after all an adorable sight to see them all snuggled up together under the blanket in front of the fireplace. Strangely enough, sitting here so comfortably made him recall the old days of when he would help others as an active Admin.

Clearly, he wasn’t an active Admin anymore– not in a long time anyways. 

Although, he does wonder what happened to the Godlings and Entities he was friends with at that time. 

He knows that Martyn is doing his unusual travel to other servers as a world hopper and protector, Timmy is on the Empire season two server. Systemzee was testing his ideas and skills with programming as far as he is aware, but he wasn’t sure what the others were doing. He hadn’t heard from them in quite a while, but it doesn’t come as a surprise.

They all scattered after the fall of EVO, he highly doubt they remembered him anymore.

It was for the best that their views on him were lost. To let them think that their Admin, Xelqua, has been taken by the Watcher to never be seen again, under the assumption that he had perished alongside the Server. It was the only way to let him hide peacefully from the strings of control. To avoid the suspicions and harm that the Admins would no doubt bring in an attempt to undermine his authority. 

Along with making sure that the Traitorous Watchers don’t know that he still lives and to keep away from his players for as long as possible. He can’t afford to risk any War, one Divine War was enough, another with the Admins and Players thrown into the mix would NOT do anyone good. 

But most of all– he faintly wondered if that Voidwalker was doing well, he had never seen him since the Fall of the Evolution Server. 

Since he had no choice, but to agree to his promise of going into hiding and making everyone believe– even his own fellow Primordial Admins– that Xelqua is gone, he couldn’t even fathom why he had to also deceived the Watchers either, when in truth, he is alive and well, living as a simple player who’s skills for building and pranks are known.

But considering he had come to learn that there’s Traitors amongst the Watchers and the very noticeable fact that there may very well be a whole entire War on their hands, well, he came to be grateful for the little Voidlings' careful foresight. 

Of course, he can never hide anything from two very particular Watchers, how can he when he owes them so much?

Those two Watchers happen to be the Primordial First and Second Watcher Gods, the beings that had helped and guided his ascension to that of the Third Watcher a very, long time ago, unlike them– he still meddle in the world, something neither of them could do, but did not mind him doing since it does help him with his own divine work at times. 

Although he wasn’t sure why, he had this strange feeling that something was amiss. Like something bad had occurred in a manner that it shouldn’t have, maybe it was a warning? He wasn’t sure, he had been living a relatively peaceful life here for so long– maybe he had grown rusty and comfortable with the safe life he lives with as of late, it wouldn’t be that surprising really.

And yet– It was too early in the morning for heavy topics anyways. So he went back to drinking his tea as originally intended for his morning. Besides, it’s not like something really did happened–

“Grian! I think Xisuma is missing, I think, there were also some of those creepy moss looking sculk and his room looked like it was absolutely trashed and destroyed!” 

Grian very much yelped and spilled his tea when Exavian had suddenly broken down his door, scaring the living soul out of him– Grian immediately froze when he registered just what exactly he had just said.

Something that filled him with an unimaginable amount of horror.

“What do you mean Xisuma is missing?!”

“Okay, so, let me get this straight– Xisuma room was trashed so badly that it looked like it was destroyed– almost entirely decimated honestly, there were bits of sculk looking moss that shouldn’t even be here quite yet and there was also a large puddle indicating that whatever had attacked Xisuma, had also tried to kill him?” Grian clarified as he and Xisuma had both gone to the base to do more investigation and research into figuring out what was going on.

Quite frankly, both of them are unnerved by the fact there was even a puddle of blood at all. A large one at that. 

Just what happened here for that to be here in the first place?

What’s even worse is that there’s no way for any of them to even find Xisuma in the first place, whatever had happened, it had somehow in some act of blasphemy even caused him to be erased from the Server System. Almost as if as though he hadn’t even existed, which quite frankly, should be impossible.

There’s no way to remove someone from the server, especially the Main Admin of the Server, even for someone as powerful and benevolent as Xisuma, this is truly an act of blasphemy!

Unless, this is caused by something unnatural, enough that it even slipped past his notice and he had been watching this server for as long as he has been here– even having Pixlriff Watch over this server when he couldn’t. What’s even more strange is how the Server is still standing, typically, as far as Grian knew historically, servers can’t live without an Admin, it can still continue to live when there’s Moderators, but even that has its limits as an Admin will have to be chosen eventually.

Whether it’s by the Will of the Server or not, the server can’t live without one for too long. 

However, Hermitcraft doesn’t have any Moderators, temporary Admins, yes, but no Moderators. Considering that Xisuma doesn’t necessarily have to get a Moderator as he is perfectly fine as an Admin– even if everyone with knowledge of codes does make him take a break and do the work for him– he is usually always on the server.

Even Exavian would be considered the server Admin, despite not being one officially, due to them being Twins. Well, the Admins councils don't really like having twins being the same server Admins, he wasn’t sure why and he wouldn’t question it until he proves that they have a dislike and not for some other excuses. It’s strange and he has many questions he wouldn’t get any answers for, which is a shame honestly. 

Thankfully, after some thorough looking, the server did make Exavian Admin until whatever had happened to Xisuma was resolved. Although this is more of an emergency procedure than anything else. 

None of them had expected it to be used today, or ever for that matter. 

Hermitcraft is one of the most well protected servers, being personally home to many legends and quite a few Gods. Not that anyone outside of the Server knows, no one really does, the only one that’s even remotely allowed to know at all happens to be the Primordial Watchers Gods, The Noxcrew and some of their friends. 

They’re very particular about who knows and why. 

“So, you really have no idea what had happened, let alone even how this could have happened in the first place?” 

“I just woke up so like, honestly I don’t know what to expect this day to turn out, other than the fact that everything felt super unnerving.” Exavian pointed out, getting Grian to just sigh, he was tired and quite frankly, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know what is even happening anymore. “We don’t know what is going on and we certainly don’t know where Xisuma went.” Grian hums as he thought about what could have possibly happened, but turned up with nothing. He then turned to Exavian. 

“By chance, did Xisuma do anything at all last night or not?” He asked, Exavian hums as he thinks, wracking his head for the memory of last night, he was very certain that he had chosen to raid the kitchen, but that’s about it. Then he recalled something quite odd, even by Xisuma standards of being a derp. “Actually yeah, yesterday he was feeling really unwell, especially with feeling the phantom pain of past injuries– no I won’t tell you what it is, it's a secret unless he chose to tell you.” 

Grian smiled a bit, he supposed it was only fair in all honesty, everyone has their secrets after all. Well, not as crazy as the one he, Pearl, Keralis, Bdubs and Joe have, but still secrets nonetheless. Although this is the first time he heard anything about Xisuma having phantom pain, perhaps he had gotten a terrible injury that subjected him to such pain? He wouldn’t ask, it’s his choice to say something. 

Much like how he welcomed them all to this server as a sanctuary. A place to call home. 

But it does worry him to learn that he had sustained some sort of injury in the past, severe enough for him to feel it even after it had long since healed. 

“So he opted to just stay in the base the whole day while I’m the one who had to deal with his work, which inevitably I only bothered with the codings and not the buildings honestly. Either way, when I got back to the base, he was doing the usual things– like maintenance mostly.” He continued, frowning as he spoke. “Actually, now that I think about it, today is the day we left the Voidwalker Kingdom.”

Grian blinks, seemingly confused. 

Why would they have the day they left the Kingdom as an anniversary? He would understand if it’s their parents anniversary or something of the likes, but still, it was strange. 

Although… 

Considering he had opted to stay out of their lives as much as he could with the occasional visit until he had to stop and leave them in the care of the Watchers that serves him specifically and knows the circumstances of his disappearance, per say, after all he owed their father a great deal of favors and loyalties. Plus he doesn’t really visit the voidwalker kingdom often either, usually for the annual holidays.

Even with those visits, he only keeps his presence on a low profile. 

Granted, the Admin twins didn't know that they had been in the presence of someone of great importance for a long time. How they never put two and two together, he will never know. 

He didn’t even make the effort to hide it either, well, he only did make an effort to hide it when they’re around anyone else, but them. Still, how they never figured it out or believed him is a bit strange, but they probably inherited that bit from their Father. 

He’s technically an otherworlder, so that might have been the answer. Possibly. Their Father was also a bit of a derp, even if he had been lost when they were too young to truly remember him, even when they had their Mother, they too also lost her at a young age. He can never figure out who or what caused that invasion the first time, but after some consideration over the years and pretending to be dead and pretending to be some low ranking Watchers– which is pretty easy all things considered. 

Well, it’s what led him to learn about the traitors, another reason to thank the Voidling for encouraging him to fake his divine death. Along with how easy it is for people to sneak in, somehow, how he never noticed is not his fault. He didn’t technically create his Watcher Pantheon, it existed long before he even knew about it before he made EVO. 

It was only after encountering some Watchers on EVO did he finally do some research, learning and some disciplining and proper ruling,

Until he had to fake his death, but still.  

Even when he had outright told them both the truth last season, but alas, that thing they both did with the Derp Coins was weird. Weirder than the Moon being big. 

Not as crazy as breaking the bedrock in the overworld just to make the Boatem Hole so much cooler and scarier. Now that was just an excuse to send some offerings to the Primordial Watcher Gods and a reassurance to them that yes, he’s alive and no, he hasn’t come out of hiding yet. He still needs time, needs answers and evidence before he does anything.

But despite the fact he is ‘officially’ dead to all, he still has an obligation to care and protect the Voidwalkers. Even with his two and most trusted attendants, he still knows what’s going on and quietly works behind the scenes. 

“What's so bad about that?” He questioned, he really doesn’t think it’s that bad, sure, he was a bit upset that the two had chosen to leave the kingdom, away from his border of protection, but he figured they had the true player symptoms of adventurer instincts. Their father always had the urge to explore or venture out after all, he wouldn’t be surprised if they inherited that trait from him, but he still didn’t have a lot of knowledge on Minecrafters and Otherworlders.

But he figured that’s just what it is from the records he reads and from what Wels and Joe tells him. Not a lot of information, it’s all vague, but it’s good enough for him to understand. 

“It’s nothing bad, he just didn’t really feel like he belonged– well, neither of us did really.” 

Grian made a sound of confusion and concerns. “What do you mean?” He questioned, then noticed something strange about the presence of the room, specifically, where the puddle of blood is, he kneel and examined it more closely. Exavian just hums. “Well, the Voidwalker Kingdom didn’t like us leaving, but couldn’t do anything against the Watchers that took us to the Watcher Kingdom.”

The Voidwalkers weren’t happy with that? Grian thought with a frown, he knows that typically, being the Voidwalkers and the Watchers patron God, it would be better off seen as a miracle. Not with some sort of concern or fear. 

Unless there’s a different Watcher Pantheon besides the Three Primordial Watcher Pantheons he’s unaware of. 

Oh, well, maybe that is a good reason to consider being very concerned about the oddities of Xisuma actions. “Do you know why that seems to be the case?” He questioned as he walked around the room, investigating everything, searching for even a hint of clue of what is happening here. He doesn’t find much, but he has noted that what destroyed the room seems to be a mixture between natural strength, magic and some sort of weapon. 

Exavian too examined the room, having not done so as it was too much to do alone and got the first person he could think to help first. They both had already informed the rest of the server of a state of emergency, it is cruel to keep the knowledge to themselves when it’s better off to tell them after all. 

“I’m not sure honestly, I can’t really remember much, but at the time, the Watchers that were taking me and Xisuma to the Kingdom seems to be arguing with a different set of Watchers that said they were also told to take us, but the ones that were already with us didn’t believe them and just, took us to the Kingdom.” Exavian recalled with a frown, he’s still not entirely sure if what he remembered at that time was true or not, but it’s been so long that it was mostly just fuzzy. 

“...Exavian, which Watcher Pantheon do you worship?” 

Exavian stares at Grian, suspicious. “Why do you want to know?” He questioned, Grian simply just stood up, turned around and faced Exavian with the most serious look he has ever seen. “Exavian, just answer the question. Which Watcher Pantheon do you worship? I don’t care if it’s controversial or not.” 

Exavian took a step back, feeling a bit unnerved by Grian's sudden shift in personality. Was it truly that important? He knows that everyone in the server doesn’t really care much about what Gods they worshiped and what not, but this was definitely worrying. 

“It’s Lord Xelqua.” He answered concerningly, even more confused when Grian gave a sigh of relief. 

“That’s good, he’s one of the Three Primordial Watchers, despite the controversy surrounding him, he had not been awake for a very long time, in fact, he had been sleeping since long before the events of the Evolution Server.” Grian explains with a smile of relief, which, despite learning something so interesting and a well known Legend amongst the Watchers of Xelqua and within the Voidwalkers mythology, it did make him wonder how he knew about that. 

Perhaps Grian was a follower or something? He’s not entirely sure. 

But then he realized something crucial and face palm, much to Grian concern. “Uhh, Exavian, what’s wrong–”

He immediately stopped when Exavian showed him the seal bag containing the Sculk-like moss that was found in the room before that he had sealed in the bag before leaving. 

“I don’t know how this slipped my mind, but I found this in the room. I know for a fact that this shouldn’t be here, let alone the fact that it didn’t even look right either. So I sealed it and then forgot about it in my rush to get someone to help me investigate this room and inform the other Hermits what happened.” Exavian explained with a huff, but also a sense of guilt, feeling stupid for not mentioning this sooner. It was inevitably something easy he had overlooked since he was panicking quite a bit about his brother's disappearance.

“Sorry for not mentioning this sooner–”

“Exavian. This isn’t Sculk. It may seem similar, but it’s not.” 

Exavian blinks, thrown off guard. “It’s not sculk?” He questioned, a bit surprised. Grian shakes his head, confirming that it really isn’t. “This really isn’t, Sculk has a more sparkly teal color to it and has an appearance of moss, this? This isn’t it. In fact this looks far too dark, barely a sparkle of any light.” Grian explained, stepping back as he glared at it with great disdain and– Exavian isn’t sure he’s imagining this, but–

Was that a glimmer of fear?

“You need to destroy it, cleanse this room for any more and then do a server cleaning to make sure that it’s really all gone.” 

Exavian blinks, seemingly caught off guard by the sudden question from Grian, a bit concerned by the dark and serious tone that he had. He had planned to do that after they investigated the room for any clues, but it did made feel scared. 

“Is there any reason why you're asking?” Grian stayed silent, even as he stood up and looked at him with a grim expression. He didn’t really want to talk about it again, but there wasn’t much of a choice now. Not when there’s a high possibility of dangers awaiting them all. He would have to prepare them all for an outbreak, something on par with the Wither Storm.  

Which also meant that by the time he and the others were prepared, Xisuma would return to the server with revelations and historical knowledge that no one else knew, but the Server he had once owned long ago. 

Taking a deep breath, he finally answers with every ounce of pure dread that he carries. 

“Exavian, these sculk-like mimics– I’m not even sure if it even has an official name yet– are parasites once it latched onto the codes. It will stop at nothing, until it fully consumes the person into nothing, rarely does it choose to use the person as a host.” Grian answered with a dark and grim expression while Exavian looked at him in horror, especially by what he said next, sending a chill down his spine.

“The first time this had appeared was on the Evolution Server, where it had a hand in the destruction of the server with the Traitorous Watchers." 

And severely injuring him to the point he had to fake his death for a very, long time. Grian thought quietly to himself with silent anger and betrayal.