Chapter Text
The destruction had started quietly, at first. The bedrock had disappeared and slowly things started being lost to the void. It had taken weeks to work its way to the surface. But now, everything was falling apart. Huge swathes of land were gone, vanished into the endless darkness. Structures toppled and were consumed as the land below them eroded into nothing.
They had stayed together at first, hoping that the void would stop before it consumed everything, but once they discovered that the way out of the server was locked, they started to split off, searching for resources, anything to help them hold out, maybe build a new world above the darkness.
The void only grew, stranding them on their own little islands, with no way back. Jimmy tried to fly between the stable patches, but the gaps grew too big, and eventually his wings simply gave out, and his golden feathers disappeared into the cold, empty expanse. Xelqua knew. They had watched.
They watched as Pearl built a tower, trying to stay above the void. When the last patch of dirt below her had disappeared, the entire thing fell while she huddled in the uppermost room, her anger long since snuffed out by solitude.
Xelqua watched as, one by one, their friends fell to the darkness. Everyone was gone. Martyn fell last, seeming to have a knack for following the stable patches, but his luck ran out, and he too was stranded. Then he was gone.
One final patch of grass remained, and Xelqua sat upon it, knees pulled to their chest, wings curled around them. They had long since abandoned their human guise. There was no one to see them after all. They were alone. When the void took this final piece of the world they had created, they would fall. Maybe they would simply drift through the space between worlds forever, or at least until they starved.
The last surviving piece of Evolution finally gave in to the darkness, and Xelqua fell. They closed their eyes, accepting the peace that the void provided.
Xelqua
Their eyes shot open, and the sight of countless stars greeted them.
Wake up Xelqua
It is time to come home
Your little rebellion has failed
You have failed
Come home
Xelqua flared their wings out, stopping their fall, not that it mattered. Up and down had no meaning in the space between.
The grasping claws of the other Watchers reached towards them, and Xelqua panicked. They couldn’t go back. Not now. Not after all this.
With a few beats of their wings, Xelqua took off into the void, the only direction they could understand was away, and slashed blindly at the void with their claws, until they finally caught and tore a hole in the fabric of the world. The lack of world. Tucking their wings in close, they dove straight through the hole, not caring where it took them, so long as it was away from here. Away from them.
Blue sky enveloped them and Xelqua found themself squinting and blinking in the bright light. They weren’t entirely sure when Evo’s sky had disappeared, but it had been far too long since they had seen one. The sun blazed bright overheard. Its warmth and cheerfulness felt almost sacred after the cold, lonely void.
Still, this wasn’t far enough. Nowhere near far enough. Pulling the rift haphazardly closed behind them, Xelqua tore into the blue and pushed into the next world.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Again!
AGAIN!
How many worlds had they pushed through now? Thirty? No. Fifty? Maybe. Panting heavily, blood dripping from every single one of their eyes, Xelqua tore reality once again, pushing into yet another world. It was night here, and stars surrounded them. Real stars now, with no prying eyes behind them.
They were too tired to keep hopping. They hadn’t been feeding during the last few weeks of Evo, and now they were pushing their limits. Hopefully this world had somewhere they could bunker down. Maybe a fight would break out and they could get a meal to recover some strength. Xelqua made sure their rift was truly and properly closed. But when they began to fly, their wings finally failed them.
As they fell through the sky, they allowed their Watcher form to dissipate. If someone were to discover them, it would be best to look human.
Stars blurred by as their eyes fought to stay open. The fight was ended rather quickly when they crashed into a tree canopy, the branches scraping across their skin and catching in their wings, shocking them awake.
Their wings?
Xelqua groaned, curling into themself on the mossy jungle floor. They didn’t even have the strength to hide their wings. So much for looking human. At least they only had two eyes.
A few birds that had been disturbed in the fall gathered around them now, squawking and pecking.
“Pesky birds.” They mumbled, not bothering to shoo them away before their vision was consumed by the void.
* * *
“Xisuma Xisuma Xisuma!” A voice faded into earshot, followed by rapid footsteps, broken up by the tapping of a cane.
Xisuma barely held in a sigh. He had been doing his nightly vitals checks, making sure all the Hermits were accounted for, when a new, unapproved, person had appeared. At least, they were reasonably sure it was a person. The ID code was bizarre, and kept glitching and changing. They had been trying to track this new someone, but the player map acted similarly to the ID, with the new person shifting and hopping around, impossible to get an actual reading on. Still, he always made time for his Hermits, so he closed the admin screen and stepped outside.
“What’s up, Scar?” He asked.
Scar went to answer, but doubled over trying to catch his breath, holding up a finger to ask for just a minute. When he had composed himself, he stood, clearly trying not to show how heavily he was leaning on his cane, and said, “I saw something crazy in the sky! It was like-blam! Big hole in the sky! And then it disappeared and something fell, like a shooting star but all crazy and purple!”
Now this sounded like it could have a connection to this mystery stranger. Trying to remain calm, Xisuma said, “Scar, did you see where it landed?”
“The jungle! Like, the far one. Come on, I’ve got a boat!” As Scar started limping back down the hill, Xisuma pulled their admin screen back up and found their coordinates for the jungle, they made sure to have a known point in every major biome, even, or maybe especially the uninhabited ones. Entering in a quick command, Xisuma teleported himself and Scar to the edge of the forest.
Scar jumped, letting out a startled noise at the sudden change in location. A cursory glance revealed that whoever this stranger was, they hadn’t been particularly subtle in their entrance. There was a clear line of destruction through the canopy. Xisuma carefully picked his way along the path, keeping a wary eye out, while Scar chattered on about something behind him. Soon, he was able to make out a shape lying on the jungle floor.
Signaling for silence, something Scar actually did once he noticed the figure ahead of them, Xisuma pulled out their shield, holding it on one arm while they brought up the admin screen with the other. They made sure to keep their sword ready as well, just in case a ban didn’t work due to the bizarre ID.
In a lowered voice, he whispered to Scar, “If they’re hostile, you run, ok? I can handle this.”
Waiting until he’d gotten a nod, Xisuma inched forward, until he could get a clear look at the, now obviously, unconscious figure. They were completely enveloped in a tattered, purple cloak, and their dirty face was partially shielded by a mop of curly, sand-brown hair. On the stranger’s back was a set of wings. Parrot wings, specifically. Well, hybrids weren’t so unusual amongst the Hermits. What was unusual, however, was the amount of blood the stranger had on them. Streaks of it ran down their face, their wings were tattered, and one looked like it could be broken, and somehow there was blood leaking out from under the stranger’s fingernails.
Xisuma lowered his shield. This person was clearly not going to be any match in a fight. They kept the admin screen up, however, as the stranger’s ID had begun to settle.
15739el09a
74Xel49a
3Xel8ua
325u489y625u696406345----------
Xisuma ripped his eyes from the admin screen as Scar poked the unconscious stranger with his cane!
“What are you-” Before they could finish their thought, the stranger groaned, eyes fluttering open. As they half sat up with a wince, the stranger’s eyes darted between Scar, still hovering over them, and Xisuma, with the admin screen illuminating the area in a low, blue light.
“W-who are you?” the stranger croaked, coughing slightly as he spoke. Concerningly, more blood flew out as he did.
Xisuma stepped forward, grabbing Scar by the shoulder and pulling him back. “I’m Xisuma, the admin. Who are you?” He hadn’t meant for his tone to sound so accusing, this person was clearly hurt, but he had also managed to break into the Hermitcraft Server, and that had Xisuma, frankly, terrified.
After a few seconds of groggy blinking, the stranger spoke again. “Grian.”
And with that, his head lolled back and he fell back to unconsciousness.
Xisuma glanced back at their screen and had to do a double take. Where previously there had been rapidly changing numbers and letters, was a single name.
Grian