Processing (we made it)

by FlyingRaven

Summary:

Ex exhaled. “We made it,” he said softly. He moved his hand over to a different console and pressed a button. “Attention all. We have safely crossed the barrier between the world and the void. We are now floating in the void,” he announced. His voice was amplified and projected through the speaker system. Then, he walked away from the intercom and turned his back to the console. “Fuck,” he whispered.

 

Scenes on the Hermetheus as the hermits process their hasty escape from season 8.

(Chapter 3 added 28/5/2025!)

Notes:

The first part of this was written as part of Whumptober and I decided to turn it into a full fic. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1

The word was ending. The world was ending and Doc and Ren had been running. Xisuma had called the evacuation order less than thirty minutes ago. The Hermetheus was ready. Just in time too. The moon was coming down, and it was coming down fast. 

But the escape wasn’t going so smoothly for Ren and Doc. 

“Please,” Ren’s breath caught in his throat. “Please don’t touch me.” 

Doc frowned, pulling his hand back. “Ren, you need to come with me! Please, just let me carry you. Your arm- You can’t walk like this.” 

Ren shook his head. “I’ll be- fine. Just don’t, please!” he whimpered and covered one side of his head with his one functional arm. The other one was hanging lamely to the side. In Doc’s professional opinion there was only a small chance of salvaging it. The lower half had been completely crushed. It had been an accident. In the frey to get to the Hermitheus he’d gotten caught in a redstone contraption that was breaking down along with the rest of the world. But Ren had completely shut down after the accident, completely overwhelmed by the pain. And while Doc could understand it, it wasn’t good. Not good at all. 

“Shit,” Doc cursed. “Ren we need to get to the Hermitheus right now! Zedaph is there, he can help you!”

Ren shook his head again. “No! No no no no!” 

Doc sighed. “I’m so sorry,” he apologised. Then, before Ren had the chance to react, he scooped the man up and broke into a sprint. Ren started screaming and thrashing against him. Doc kept muttering apologies while running to the ship. 

Xisuma’s head was poked out of the ship, looking around frantically. “HAS ANYONE SEEN REN AND DOC?!” he shouted.

“THEY SAID THEY WERE ON THEIR WAY BUT THE OCTAGON WAS BREAKING DOWN! SOMETHING WITH THE REDSTONE WAS GLITCHING!” Joe shouted back. 

“I SEE THEM!” Scar shouted, poking his head out of the door as well and pointing at the vague shape of Doc running closer. 

Xisuma’s concern only spiked at the sight of the last two hermits. Ren was thrashing in Doc’s arms. His left arm hung down lamely. It was bleeding heavily and the lower portion of it- his stomach turned. It looked crushed. The fact that he was still conscious, let alone fighting against Doc was a wonder. 

“X!” Doc shouted, still a bit away from the ship. “GET ZED!” 

Xisuma shouted back into the ship. “ZEDAPH! MEDICAL BAY! REN IS HURT!” 

He didn’t have time to listen to Zedaph’s reaction before Doc reached the ship. As soon as the creeper hybrid jumped into the ship Xisuma slammed his hand against the button to close the door. 

“EX! EVERYONE IS ACCOUNTED FOR! FLOOR IT! WE NEED TO LEAVE!” he commanded. 

“ON IT!” his brother responded from behind the console. 

Ren had finally gone limp in Doc’s arms. “Let me go,” he whimpered. “Please! My arm- it hurts, everything hurts. Let me go!” 

Doc looked at Xisuma with wide eyes. “Where is Zed?”  

“Medical bay. Follow me,” Xisuma responded quickly. 

They jogged though the corridors of the Hermitheus, occasionally bracing themselves as the ship took off. Doc was whispering apologies to Ren the entire time. 

Zed’s face fell as soon as he caught sight of Ren. “Oh my word,” he muttered. “Here, lay him down here. What happened?” he asked, turning to Doc for a second before turning back to Ren. 

“Redstone contraption. His arm got caught when there was a gravity shift. I couldn’t get it loose in time,” Doc responded quickly. 

Ren had finally processed where he was now. “Please,” he cried, looking up at Zedaph. “Make it stop. It hurts so much.” 

Zed nodded, taking in the situation in front of him. “Okay. Okay. I’ll need to sedate you Ren. But-” he breathed in deeply before continuing. “There’s a good chance I won’t be able to save your arm.”

“I don’t care! Just make it stop! Please!” 

“Okay, okay. Drink this.” Zed said, quickly reaching into a cupboard and grabbing a potion.

With a little bit of help he managed to get all the potion down. And blessed darkness took the pain away. 

 

Cub stood next to Ex while the formerly evil hermit steered the ship into the void. Ex’s hands were glowing with a reddish magic. One of his hands was pressing buttons and levers while the other was moving through the air. Cub could recognise code manipulation when he saw it. And that was what Ex was doing. 

“Cub! Take the other console! I need you to keep an eye on the oxygen levels and fuel while we’re still taking off!” Ex commanded. 

Cub complied instantly. While he wasn’t a great fan of Xisuma’s brother, he was the one in charge of the ship right now. And he’d been given that trust by Xisuma himself. So Cub in turn trusted the admin’s judgement of his brother. “Oxygen levels stable at breathable levels. Fuel’s still looking good!” he reported. 

Ex gave a jerky nod. Inky darkness was starting to surround the ship. Cub hadn’t seen the route that the ship had taken to escape the world. And he wasn’t going to bother to try and think about it. Void stuff and barriers between worlds were never his thing. 

The ship started to shake violently. Ex grabbed onto the edge of the console with one hand while the other kept moving through the air. “Come on, come on!” he muttered. After a couple of intense moments the ship stopped. And for a second pure silence filled the room. Silence unlike any silence in the overworld. 

Ex exhaled. “We made it,” he said softly. He moved his hand over to a different console and pressed a button. “Attention all. We have safely crossed the barrier between the world and the void. We are now floating in the void,” he announced. His voice was amplified and projected through the speaker system. Then, he walked away from the intercom and turned his back to the console. “Fuck,” he whispered. 

“Does anyone still need to steer this thing?” Cub asked. 

Ex swallowed thickly. “No. There’s nowhere to go now that we’re here. We had a one way ticket to the void. Suma can go and figure out how we get back,” he swallowed again. “Void knows I’ve tried to get out through the barrier myself.” 

If Cub wanted to say anything else to Ex, he didn’t get the chance to. Because Ex walked off without another word. 

 

The world burned. All their hard work was torn apart by the heavenly body crashing down onto it. The Boatem gigabase, the Octagon, castle Hohenzollern, Pearl’s lighthouse and so many other beautiful bases. Villagers screamed and animals died. 

And Grian was seeing it all . 

Stress never had a positive effect on his powers. He’d escaped the Watchers way before his training was complete. Pearl had been trying to teach him more but he doubted if he was ever capable of learning how to control his powers fully. And right now he couldn’t stop seeing everything. While he was watching his home being torn apart he was also watching Zedaph working furiously trying to save Ren’s arm. While he saw Zedaph and Ren he also saw Ex sitting on the floor in one of the hallways, trying to breath through a panic attack. While he saw Ex he also saw- 

He pressed his wings against his body as tightly as he could. Usually closing them would stop him from being able to watch properly. But it wasn’t working. His eyes were squeezed close already, but it wasn’t doing anything. Void, he just wanted it to stop! He hit himself in the head. White stars of pain shot through his vision, but only his real vision. Not all the things he was seeing . He reared up to hit himself again but somebody grabbed his wrist. 

“Woah! Let’s not do that buddy. What’s going on?” Scar. Multiple eyes turned towards Scar immediately. 

Grian whimpered. “Make it stop!” 

“Make what stop?” Scar asked carefully.

“I see-” he gasped for air. “I see everything Scar. It won’t stop! I see hermitcraft and the moon and Zed and Ren and Ex and Cub and you and-” he hit himself again with as much power as he could. “MAKE IT STOP!” he shouted. 

He could see other people approaching, but saw Scar shooing them away. At least, all of them except Pearl. Some of his eyes latched onto Pearl, making him lose sight of Ren. Pearl could help. Pearl was like him. 

“Make it stop,” he sobbed quietly. 

Pearl grabbed his other wrist gently. “Follow me, okay? I can make it stop but you need to be laying down,” she said. “Do you want Scar to come too?” 

Grian nodded. “Please!” 

She guided him through the hallways to the quarters that Boatem were sharing. There, she gently sat him down on his bed. “Lay down,” she instructed. 

He complied wordlessly. “I can make it stop,” Pearl continued, “but the easiest way to do that is to knock you out. After you’re out I can try to temporarily stop your powers or channel them through me. Is that an idea?” Grian nodded again. 

Pearl breathed in deeply. “Okay,” she said. Then, she flicked him against his forehead. 

His eyes finally closed. All of his eyes. Sleep took him.

 

“We need to call Skizz,” Impulse said when the ship finally settled in the void. “He needs to know we made it.” 

Tango nodded, looking at Impulse quickly before looking away again. He’d been continuously glancing around the room since they’d arrived. Grian in the corner, Cleo and Joe in a different one, Etho, Beef and Bdubs at one of the tables. Other people had left but he’d seen them enter the ship. He kept trying to check if everyone was really there. 

Impulse poked Tango’s hand which made his eyes snap towards him. “Hey,” Impulse said. “Stop that. We’re all here. All accounted for. Let’s call Skizz.” 

Tango cleared his throat. “Okay. Okay.” 

“IMPULSE? OH MY GOD! Impulse you can’t just do that! You can’t just message me saying ‘the moon is coming down. We’re trying to escape but I’m not sure we’ll make it. I’m so sorry.’ are you crazy?! Are you okay?! Are Tango and Zedaph?!” Skizz shouted through Impulse’s communicator as soon as he picked up. 

“Tango and Zedaph are okay. So am I. Tango’s here, Zedaph is helping Ren right now,” Impulse said, throat quickly tightening at hearing his close friend again. 

“What happened to Ren? Where are you right now?” Skizz continued. 

“He got injured during the escape. We’re on a ship floating in the void right now,” he chuckled thickly. “Thank God for our admin I suppose. He’ll find a way out. No clue how long that will take though. As soon as we get back to a hubworld we’ll meet up with you.” 

Shouting interrupted the conversation. Impulse looked up as he recognised it as Grian shouting. He was about to get up and go over to him when he saw Scar shooing people away. He still made quick eye contact with Scar and raised an eyebrow. But Scar motioned at Pearl to make it clear that they had it under control. 

“Sorry,” he apologised, turning back to his communicator. “We’re all still trying to process what just happened. I don’t think many of us wanted to accept what was going on until the last second.” 

“What matters is that you guys are safe right now. You said Tango was with you right now?” Skizz responded. 

Tango cleared his throat again. “Yeah. Hi. Sorry, talking is-” he took a shaky breath. “Hard right now. I’m here.”  

“Did either of you get hurt?” Skizz asked. 

“No. As far as I know Ren was the only one who got injured,” Impulse responded, loosely wrapping his arm around Tango’s shoulders as the other man began to shake. “Can you just… talk? I think Tango and I both need the distraction right now.” 

Skizz hummed. “Sure.” 

 

Knocking on his door wasn’t about to stop him. Doc had disconnected his arm and was staring at it with blank eyes. If Ren was going to lose his arm he would make a new one as soon as possible. Maybe he could even adapt his own one and give it to him. 

Okay, maybe the knocking on the door could stop him. “Go away,” he hissed. 

“Not happening,” Etho responded from behind the door. Doc was about to say something again but the door opened before he could. Etho, Beef and Bdubs were all standing there. 

“Come to laugh at me? Yell at me? You can save it.” Doc snapped. 

Etho and Bdubs shared a confused look. Beef crossed his arms. “Stop that. We’re not here to do any of those things.” he said, walking in and closing the door as soon as the other two followed. “Are you okay?” 

“Certainly more fine than Ren is. Any news?” Doc deflected. 

Bdubs chewed on his lip. “None yet,” he responded quietly. 

Doc shook his head and hissed again. “All my fault,” he hissed under his breath. 

“What was that?” Beef asked.

“It’s my fault and we all know it. For all we know my experiments could’ve caused this whole thing. And I should’ve given up on trying to fix it earlier, should’ve told Xisuma to evacuate earlier. Should’ve made sure that we made it to the ship before the Octagon started breaking down like it did.” he bit his tongue to stop the tears that were welling up. 

Etho shook his head, moving past Beef and joining Doc at his side. “There’s no way that your experiments caused this. You tried your best to save the world. Nobody, not even Xisuma expected the moon to accelerate like it did. Nor could you ever, ever have known that the Octagon would break down like that or that Ren would get hurt. You didn’t cause any of that. It was an unfortunate accident. Do you hear me? You didn’t do anything wrong. You don’t need to lock us out, yeah?” he finished. 

Doc’s next breath sounded very close to a sob. “Okay,” he whispered. 

“Let’s go back to the communal area, okay? Stress is making some food and we can wait there for more news on Ren.” 

“Yeah. Okay.” 

 

“Joe, can I speak with you?” Xisuma asked, looking from Joe to Cleo and back again. 

“Absolutely. Uhm, are you okay with that Cleo?” he responded. 

Cleo nodded. “You two go figure things out. I’ll survive,” she said. 

Joe followed Xisuma to the quarters he shared with his brother. They were a little different from the other quarters. You needed to go through an airlock to get into them. As soon as the doors sealed Xisuma turned to Joe. “I can’t remember, can you breath void air?” he asked.

Joe shrugged. “I can breath practically anything besides water. That includes void air.” he said. 

“Good,” Xisuma said. He pressed a couple of buttons on a panel on the side of the door. Joe felt the oxygen drain out of the room. Xisuma took off his helmet. “So,” he continued. “We made it out alive. Now the question is how do we get out of the void? It’s easy to break into the deep void like we did but getting out is a lot harder.” 

Joe sighed deeply. “I’m not sure.” he answered honestly. “I know how to jump in and out of the deep void alone but I’ve never been able to bring people here, let alone take them back. Grian or Pearl might have some ideas due to being watchers but besides that,” he shrugged. “My best idea right now is to navigate towards the coordinates of a hub world and try to break through the barrier there. If that doesn’t work we could try to find a weak spot in the barriers but finding those in the first place…” 

Xisuma sighed and ran his hand over his face. “So what you’re saying is that we’re stuck.” 

“What I’m saying is that we’re safe and that we now have the time to figure out how to get back,” Joe responded wisely. 

“I suppose you’re right,” Xisuma conceded. “I just wish I had something more concrete to tell the rest of the hermits. For all I know we could’ve just doomed them to a slow permadeath here. That we just spend the rest of our life in the deep void.” 

“That won’t happen X. We’ll figure it out. It might take some time but we will. Do you trust me?” 

“Yes.”

“Then trust me in believing that we’ll get out.” 

Chapter 2

Summary:

The Hermits grapple with the reality of their situation. How can they get back? Xisuma and Joe are trying to figure it out, Grian bonds with Ex over their shared anxiety of being in the void and Ren adjusts to having an artificial limb.

Notes:

What's this? A suprise second chapter? I never planned this haha but it just materialised after a while so I hope people enjoy it!

Lightly edited 28/5/2025 for internal consistency.

“So theoretically you know how to navigate back to the overworld Joe?” Xisuma asked. 

Joe was sitting on the floor of Xisuma’s and Ex’s cabin. Breathing in slightly uncomfortably (the thinner void air the brothers used in their cabin was not his preferred form of air) he flicked through some screens he had pulled up on his HUD. 

“I know how to jump in and out on my own. I know how you can theoretically tear through a barrier in the way Ex did to get us here. Theoretically it shouldn’t be impossible to get the whole ship out of here either.”

“That’s a lot of “theoretically’s” there,” Xisuma said, running his hand through his (for once) uncovered hair. 

Joe grimaced. “I’m aware,” he sighed. “I could jump to a prime library to find more information but I’m hesitant to do that. I’m not comfortable leaving the ship right because I’m not completely sure if I could jump directly back on to it.” 

“And right now you’re our best link out of the void besides-” 

“Besides Grian, who is out of commission right now.” Joe finished Xisuma’s sentence. 

“Well, he’s awake, but not in a state mentally to be of much help.” Joe frowned at Xisuma’s silence. “Not the time for pedanticism?” 

“Not the time.”

“I’m hesitant to suggest it. But we could ask Ex for his assistance?” Joe asked. 

Xisuma shook his head. “He knows how to tear into the void but not how to get out.” he quieted for a second. “He spend a year trying to do that remember? And you saw the way he reacted after listening to a part of this conversation.” 

Joe patted his shoulder for a second. “This is not the time for guilt X. You apologised, you made up. There’s only healing to be done from here.”

 Xisuma pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed softly. “I wish TFC was still here. He’d know what to do,” he jumped topic. 

Recognising the previous topic as off limits for now, Joe followed his line of thought. “So do I,” a  lightbulb went off inside his head. “But I do know of at least another prime player besides him and I. If anyone knows how to bring a massive object out of the void it’d be them!” 

 

The silence was stifling. It wrapped around him and threatened to choke him again. Inky void was trying to leak back into his heart. He swore he could hear the whispers of the creatures he’d seen in the corner of his vision when he’d spend a year in that empty darkness.

Ex pressed himself closer against Cleo. He’d dragged himself to the main hall of the ship and had found the nearest person he felt somewhat comfortable with. He knew what he really needed was sleep, but his sleeping quarters were currently occupied by his brother and Joe. Xisuma had made clear he’d be welcome for the conversation, but five minutes of being in the middle of it had nearly send him into a panic attack at the constant reminders of being back in the void (the way his brother had looked distinctly guilty hadn’t escaped him as he left the room in a hurry). Zedaph had been occupied with Tango and Impulse, and he didn’t want to interrupt that. So he’d found Cleo instead. He’d always found her to be refreshingly blunt. 

“You good Ex?” Cleo asked. 

“Do I look good?” he snapped back. 

A lot of hermits would have reacted back with confusion or concern. Cleo did not. “You look like shit.” 

“Good to know,” he responded dryly. Wrapping his arms around himself to try and stop the shaking that was taking over, he couldn’t help but look around the room. Impulse, Zedaph and Tango in one corner. False and Iskall in another. Keralis, Gem and Stress had grabbed a bunch of pillows and were laying on the ground together in the middle of the room. Cub looked like he was seriously considering joining them. 

“Void messing with you?” Cleo asked, interrupting his musings. 

“You’d think a voidwalker would be better with it,” was his wry response. 

“A year of isolation will form some shit associations with it,” Cleo said, bluntly. “You should talk to Grian. He’s very much not a fan of this place either.” 

Ex frowned. “What would-” he cut himself off. “Right, Watchers. He must have spend a lot of time in the deep void.” He had to fight back against the instinctual hate brought up by the mentions of the Watchers. When he’d first found out that Grian was one he’d gone ballistic, only mollified by finding out that he’d once been a player who had been turned into one against his will. Still, it had taken him a long time to be comfortable around him

“And the normal one. He hasn’t told anyone much about it. Maybe except X and Mumbo.” 

“I’ll think about it.” 

Cleo chuckled slightly. “Let’s go over to his compartment.” 

Ex nearly choked. “Now?!” 

“Ex, respectfully, you need to talk to someone. Someone who can actually relate on some level. And something is telling me you won’t be talking about it with your brother.” 

His silence spoke volumes. 

 

He was awake. That was about all the good things that could be said about Grian’s current state. He was awake and not losing it. Scar and Mumbo were sitting in his room with him. Pearl had gone out for a while. She needed to catch up on sleep desperately. 

His head hurt. But at least he couldn’t see anything for the most part. Well, sometimes flashes of what other eyes could see would appear, but it was better than constantly seeing everything. But memories of his time in the void were lurking as well. It made for an unpleasant mix in his head which threatened to overwhelm him. He hadn’t left his compartment since Pearl had managed to put a lock on most of his powers. The idea of being around a lot of people made his stomach churn, no matter how comfortable he felt with the other hermits. His wings were pressed tightly against his back. The feathers were messy and starting to itch, but he was hesitant to have anyone preen them at the moment. 

Right as it looked like Scar was going to say something someone knocked on the door. 

“Who is it?” Scar called out. Grian suppressed the flinch at the noise. 

“Cleo and Ex,” Cleo responded back. 

“You up for them G?” Scar asked softly. 

Grian shrugged. “For a bit, I guess. Distraction might help.” 

His first flight in the void had not been by his choice. Tetra had pushed him off of the edge of one of the islands and told him to either fly or fall. He’d fallen for so- so long before his aching white wings had finally gotten the memo. Cold. It had been so CO-

The door slid open to reveal Cleo and the formerly evil hermit. It temporarily snapped him out of the memory. Scar had also noticed him slipping back into his head and had grabbed his hand and squeezed it softly to ground him more. 

“I brought Ex along because I thought him and Grian had something in common. That being having a distaste for the void stronger than probably anyone else on this ship.” Cleo said softly. 

Ex fidgeted awkwardly with the edge of one of his gloves and gave a small wave. 

It took Scar a short second to process what was happening, but then he smiled and waved Ex over. “Come join us for a second then!” he said, moving over to give Ex and Cleo space to sit down. Mumbo stayed silent the whole time. His sleep deprivation was still catching up with him, and though his body was rested for now, his mind was still slightly muddled. 

Ex sat down on the bed next to Scar. Silence hung in the room for a bit before he opened his mouth. “So, fuck being in the void?” 

Scar let out a slightly offended noise, Cleo laughed loudly and Grian breathed out a small laugh. 

“Yeah, screw being in the void.” 

 

It hurt. Having a metal arm wired directly into your nervous system hurt like a- Ren cut off the swear before it could escape him. The good news was that his arm worked. But void was it weird to have a metal arm. His brain still insisted that he had a normal, fleshy arm there, but every time he touched something with it (or something touched it) he was reminded that it was in fact now metal. “Did it take you long to get used to it Iskall?” he asked. They were sitting in the central room of the ship. It was the first time he’d been out of his compartment since Doc had fashioned the arm for him. Etho and Iskall had joined him and Doc at their table. “How long did it hurt?” was the quieter question he followed up with. 

Iskall looked away sympathetically for a second. “It still does on occasion. It might be different for arms though, I would assume the adjustment time might be shorter compared to a cybernetic eye.” 

Ren sighed for a second before plastering a smile on his face. “Well, at least I have a new arm. I suppose I will get used to it. You did. So there’s no reason to think I can’t.” his positive attitude was undermined slightly by the fact that his arm started glitching a little almost immediately. Doc had explained it would do that for a while, courtesy of his nervous system getting used to the new inputs. Still, it was far from pleasant. His face fell. “I hate this,” he said, gesturing at the jerky way his hand was moving. 

“I know,” Doc said. “Is there anything I can do to help?” he offered quietly. 

Ren shook his head. “You’ve already done more than enough Doc. I mean, you made this thing in the first place. And I appreciate that so, so much my friend.” 

If Doc wanted to say more, he couldn’t, because Keralis had made his way over to their table. “Do you guys want to join us? False wants to play a game of cards and it would be more fun with more people.” 

Ren was up before the others could move. “Absolutely.” 

They had the time after all.

Chapter 3

Summary:

Ex has multiple reasons why he hates being in the void. There's having been isolated in the void for a year. But there's another reason too. A much older one he tries very hard to forget.

It's interesting how easily memories come back to haunt you.

Notes:

I went back and forth for quite a while debating if I should make a seperate fic for this bonus, but I decided to include it here! This was based on a one word prompt (wince) and it grew into a ficlet. I hope this chapter makes sense in the context of the previous ones, but if you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments!

Without further ado, here's a look at another reason why Ex is not having a good time on the Hermetheus.

"Joe, how detailed is your knowledge about the layers of the void?" Xisuma asked.

Ex winced and had to swallow thickly against the rising tide of memories. He didn't process Joe's answer. He'd been hiding in the quarters he shared with his brother so that he didn't have to deal with the other hermits outside. Talking with Grian about their shared dislike for the void had helped with the feeling that the cold void was seeping back into his bones, but he was still on edge. In fact, he was starting to feel worse than before.

After all, having been banned to the void for a year was far from the only trauma he’d experienced related to the void. Or the memories surrounding his life in the void before- he twitched as he pushed the memories away again. 

And the other hermits were nice enough, but he had very little energy for dealing with people when he felt like this. When he was so close to remembering-

He’d hedged his bets on Xisuma being done with talking to Joe. And he had been for a few hours. 

He was starting to regret not leaving when Joe had come in again. Xisuma had been clear that once again he was welcome to stay for the discussion, and that they would appreciate his input. After all, he'd been pretty proficient in breaking into Xisuma's worlds for years. But that was before he'd been banned and thus confined to the high void right outside of Hermitcraft for a year. And even ignoring that, he'd only been capable of breaking himself in and out. And that had been using other worlds as springboards. The fact that he'd gotten the ship into the low void at all was a miracle in and of itself and a testament to the engineering of the ship.

"- and I know we should stay as far away from the deep void as possible. We both know what resides there and we do-"

He winced again, more violently this time. Two sets of eyes turned towards him with concern. He tried to shrug it off, staring intently at the wall in front of him.

Joe waited a second before continuing. "-not want to catch their attention. I mean, we have two of their fugitives and two voidwalkers, who they tried to-"

Ex jumped up like he got stung by a bee. Without saying anything he marched over to the chest in the corner. He pulled out his helmet, threw it on, latched it, and practically ran out of the room.

 

He barely made it two corridors down when the wave of panic fully slammed into him and all he could see was flashes of creatures with too many eyes and wings. Too many eyes, wings, and blood.

He sank down to the floor, pushing himself against the wall with as much force as he could. 

Eyes, wings, blood. The massacre of his home. He’d arrived at the very end of it. While he’d been exploring a hubworld for the first time his whole family, his whole city, had been attacked by the Watchers. And it had all been his fault. He’d been the one to open the portal to the overworld. To the hubworld. He’d been the one who had put his city on the radar of the beings who hated them to their very cores. There had been so much blood everywhere. The once yellow streets now coated a dark brown. 

Eyes, wings, blood, bodies. So many bodies. From the youngest hatchlings to the most ancient elders. They were all dead. Some had been torn apart. Some had been so corrupted that Ex was convinced that if he’d even gotten near them it would’ve killed him. Purple, grey and black twisted skin a screaming warning sign. Some of the corrupted bodies had still been twitching. And some had been left perfectly intact, their eyes still wide open in terror but not a scratch visible on their bodies. His parents had been among that group.

Eyes, wings, blood, bodies, ruins. The Watchers hadn’t been content with just killing everyone. They’d made sure to destroy everything they had ever build. Practically no stone had been left unturned. The magnificent towers and comforting houses reduced to rubble. He’d looked on in utter horror as the last Watcher had gone through the portal connecting their city to another voidwalker settlement. One of its eyes had turned towards him and he could’ve sworn it winked at him. He’d been left alone in the graveyard that had once been his home. 

Almost alone. 

One person had emerged from a hidden bunker. He remembered the bone deep relief he’d felt when he’d realised his brother had survived. He remembered the hatred in his brothers eyes. The accusations. The utterly consuming anger he’d felt in response. 

In the past he’d felt angry. Now he only felt terror as he was trapped in the memory. 

Eyes, wings, blood, bodies, ruins, pain. That’s all he saw and felt for Void knows how long. 

Eyes, wings, blood, bodies, ruins, pain.

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this fic! Comments are always nice, they motivate me to write more :)