Stop Sticking My Loved Ones In Hourglasses!

by JustAnotherMutantKid

Summary:

The room was exactly as he left it, with the exception of a few moved objects. One of Hels’ swords propped up in a corner. A pan on the stove, likely containing some sort of caked-on sauce he’d complain about having to clean later. A book lying face-down on an end table next to Hels’ spot on the couch. Everything was in its place. He let out a slow sigh, shutting and locking the door behind him.

He made it to his room, pausing. The door was cracked open. The air inside felt stale against his skin — something was wrong. Someone had been in here. He slowly pushed the door open, stepping inside. There was something sitting on his bed, lying on top of his blanket. He didn’t recognise it at first. He very carefully picked the object up, staring down at it. It was a wooden box shaped like a pentagon. There was a knob on one side, likely there to let you open one of the drawers. He stared down at the top of it. There was some sort of design there, slightly hidden. He frowned. That was supposed to mean something, wasn’t it? He wiped it with his sleeve. A golden sigil immediately appeared, dug into the top of the box. He startled. The box tumbled from his hands.

Notes:

It is currently 27 minutes before the deadline as of me writing this. Save me!!

All things considered, Evil X was having a pretty good day. The new brace they’d bought for their knee was doing wonders, making them capable of moves they hadn’t tried in months, and being an all-around life saver now that they could spend their energy on actually paying attention, and not ignoring all the pain they were in. This job had been an easy one — just stealing a couple paintings from a group of people who really wouldn’t miss them. They had never been ones to appreciate art, only keeping the art piece as a symbol of status and a way to pretend they understood more about normal life than they ever could have. And now it was on the way to Ex’s newest employer, and along with it was going to be his pay. It would be deposited into the anonymous account any minute now, once their associate managed to drag them all the way over to the drop spot. Really, everything was going shockingly well. They had enough money to maintain themself and their gear, which, despite their reputation, wasn’t always a given. Sometimes… crime just stopped. People decided they didn’t want to pay just to one-up their rich neighbors, and Ex and Hels suffered for it. They knew all too well having to argue about who gets to eat enough to maintain themselves, knowing that if they chose wrong they might fail their next job, and ruin the reputation they’d spent years making.

 

It was a life on the highwire. Always this close to getting caught. Always on the brink of not making rent, or starving to the point of non-functionality. Always looking over their shoulders in case they somehow slipped up and got their identities revealed. They took in a deep breath. It was fine. They’d been careful — nobody would track the theft back to them. They and Hels would be safe, and fed for at least the next month. And crime was picking itself back up again — the sudden surge in petty theft opening up avenues for the rich to bring in experts like them. If the lawmakers were so focused on smaller thefts, they were less likely to investigate things that happened on private servers. And most of the few who did were… easy to either pay or scare off. It wasn’t hard once they actually got a job set up — just forming a plan and gathering information until they were sure they could pull it off. That was really all it took. They put the key into the lock, turning it and hearing the click of metal. They pulled it open, stepping inside. It was exactly as he left it, with the exception of a few moved objects. One of Hels’ swords propped up in a corner. A pan on the stove, likely containing some sort of caked-on sauce he’d complain about having to clean later. A book lying face-down on an end table next to Hels’ spot on the couch. Everything was in its place. He let out a slow sigh, shutting and locking the door behind him.

 

He wandered further in, checking the fridge and groaning when he saw how little it contained. …that was a later problem. They had already eaten their last packed meal, and weren’t particularly hungry yet. He had made it back to his room, pausing. The door was cracked open. The air inside felt stale against his skin — something was wrong. Someone had been in here. He slowly pushed the door open, stepping inside. There was something sitting on his bed, lying on top of his blanket. He didn’t recognise it at first. He very carefully picked the object up, staring down at it. It was a wooden box shaped like a pentagon. There was a knob on one side, likely there to let you open one of the drawers. He stared down at the top of it. There was some sort of design there, slightly hidden. He frowned. That was supposed to mean something, wasn’t it? He wiped it with his sleeve. A golden sigil immediately appeared, dug into the top of the box. He startled. The box tumbled from his hands. That sigil — he knew what it was. He knew — no. No, they couldn’t have found out. It had been years since he’d brought down one of the sections of the cult — how would they have figured this out after so long? He hadn’t left any evidence — he knew he hadn’t. They had needed to do it properly, to get out of there without anybody figuring it out. …he’d done it right, hadn’t he? He’d gotten what he needed and gotten off free. Nobody was supposed to figure it out. He pulled the drawer open, finding a cloth parcel sitting on top of a letter. He set the bag aside, opening the letter.

 

To Nightmaker,

 

I know you have taken something from me. Something irreplaceable. I know you have taken all use from it. I will not ask for it back. Instead, I have taken something of yours. Or… somethings. You’ll be displeased when you find them missing, I know. All will be well if you follow our directions. I have attached the first set below. If you manage to complete them, and trade for something worth what you took from me, I will give them back. 

 

 

• Open the parcel and wear the offering.

• Remove your armour.

• Proceed to the hub’s portals. Watch for a red scarf for instructions.

• Follow all orders given to you. Do not try us — we would not mind harming something that we’ve taken to prove we’re serious.

 

Good hunting, The Lightworld Estate

 

L-Lightworld? Who — No. No, there was no way. That was the worst section of the Dragonworld’s cult, and the one that had the biggest personal grievance with them. After what they’d taken… it wasn’t surprising that they’d come after him. He just didn’t understand why they’d waited so long to come after him. He took in a deep breath. The why details didn’t matter right now. All that mattered was getting back whatever they took. It could be blackmail material for their contingency plans, and they couldn’t afford losing those. Or it could be their medication for emergencies, which they really needed, especially with the fact that it wasn’t manufactured in large quantities anymore. He had to track down a singular traveling pharmacist for that, which was an ordeal he didn’t think he could manage if he had an untreated episode half-way through. He scrambled to open the parcel. A small wooden bracelet fell out. He turned it over and found two metal wires sticking out of the bottom of the sigil. He took in another breath and started to pull off his armour, strapping the bracelet to his wrist. The wires dug uncomfortably into their skin, and the latch locked. He tugged at it, and found he couldn’t take it off. It was definitely part of some ploy to control them or make them less of a threat, but he couldn’t afford to just tear it off before he knew exactly what leverage Lightworld had on them. He’d do what they told him — at least until he could decide if all this was worth it. He strode back out into the living room, moving to knock on Hels’ door. There was no answer. Not even a sleepy grumble, or the sound of Hels startling upright at the sudden sound. His stomach twisted itself into untangleable knots. They knocked again, more insistently. No answer.

 

“Hels!” He called out. “Are you in there?”

 

Nothing. He put a hand on the knob, slowly opening the door. They looked around, and found the room silent. He listened for faint breathing, trying to use his enhanced hearing to locate his partner. There was nothing but deathly stillness. They slammed the door shut, sending a priority ping through their comm. It was the only surefire way to get Hels’ attention — priority pings would get through to him no matter what. And Hels, even when he seemed to hate Ex, never ignored a priority ping. Still, there was no response. They shoved their comm into their pocket and ran out the door. They stumbled down the steps and out onto the street, shoving their way through startled families and enraged middle-aged men. Eventually they made it to the portals section of the hub, glancing around and looking desperately for a red scarf. Eventually they found it, wrapped around the throat of a man who was leaning against a wall. They moved towards him, and the man noticed them. He discreetly held an envelope out to them, walking away the moment he grabbed it. He stared down at it. Red letters stated:

 

Do not open this before entering portal H247.

 

He looked around. H247 was across several rows of portals, but wasn’t all that far. He walked over to it, stepping in. Immediately the world swayed around them, and they staggered, bracing themself against the edge of the portal until they could see the world outside the purple haze flicker. They stepped out, looking around. A man stood in front of them, his face covered by a hood. He held out a map for them. They took it, and the few just stared at each other for a moment before the stranger vanished. They blinked before tearing the letter open.

 

Make your way to the marked location. Hurry — you are being timed.

 

They cursed, grabbing onto the world’s code. Immediately he felt his knees go weak, trying to buckle beneath them, and they pulled for North. It was off to their left, and they oriented themself before starting off for the big red circle on the map. After a few minutes of speedwalking, they got too anxious to continue at that pace. They started to run, trees blurring in their peripheral as they gasped. Their feet hit the ground in a frantic rhythm as they moved, watching as they approached the coordinates they’d estimated their destination to be at. After entirely too long, and a returned ache in their knee, they came upon a car. A limo, to be exact. It looked a little out of place sitting on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, but it didn’t particularly surprise them. They’d always known this section of the cult to be over-the-top — nothing like Winterworld with their past ‘I will stab you to death with no fanfare’ reputation. Why they were the part of the cult Ex had to take down, and not one of the less deadly ones, they didn’t know. The door opened automatically, and Ex slowly slid inside. There was what appeared to be bulletproof glass separating them and the driver, and a small door slid open, a blindfold appearing. Ex slowly took it, staring at it for a second. A sudden spark jolted them, and they glanced down at the bracelet on their wrist. Huh — a shock device then, to keep them in line. That fit with everything else he knew about Lightworld.

 

They moved, the windows around Ex so tinted that he couldn’t see outside. He sat upright, glancing around every few seconds. Nothing changed. The drive was agonising — he had nothing to do except think about what might be happening to Hels. …if he got really hurt, it would be Ex’s fault. He hadn’t even told them what went down in any detail, not them taking down Winterworld, or the thing he’d stolen from this sect. Hels had no idea that Lightworld may want to hurt him. He couldn’t have been prepared for this in any way — Ex had made sure of it. Accidentally, sure, but… he bore responsibility for whatever he was about to see. They stopped abruptly, Ex having to throw their hands up to keep themself from slamming against the seat in front of them. The door opened again. They climbed out, but the mysterious driver didn’t move. The car lurched forwards, and he was left behind. The bracelet on their wrist chirped.

 

“Remove the blindfold.” A monotone high voice spoke. 

 

They slowly pulled it off, looking out in front of them. There was a TV screen set in front of them. He startled when he saw what it showed. There was a figure lying on the floor of a giant hourglass. Sand was pouring in above them, covering the floor. When it started to pile against the figure’s head something shifted them, keeping them above the pile. That was good, but… eventually the whole thing would fill, and nothing would be able to give the person air. He clenched his fists. They’d knocked this stranger out to punish him. They’d brought potentially innocent people in just to make them suffer. When he got his hands on these fools….

 

“As you can see, Xisumavoid is unconscious.” Wait — No. X — That was Xisuma?? How had they gotten him away from his Hermits?! “The hourglass will fill at sundown. If you do not make it through the tasks in time, he will suffocate. Please move quickly. Cross the forest, and we’ll give you your next task.”

 

He stood there for a moment, dumbfounded. They were threatening Xisuma and Hels. …had they figured out why he’d stolen the artifact? Were they trying to hurt Xisuma to make a point that saving him by crossing Lightworld would only end in the same tragedy they’d tried so hard to avoid? He blinked, shaking himself out of his thoughts. He didn’t have time. Xisuma was currently stuck unconscious in a filling hourglass, and Ex had no clue how many hours he had to rescue him. He moved, heading for the forest. He kept his head up, stumbling on the rough terrain. After a few seconds his foot caught on something, and he tripped. Pain burnt into his shoulder, and he turned to see an arrow sticking out from his back. He groaned. Great… this entire forest was covered in traps, wasn’t it? Just like their headquarters… 

 

He righted himself and kept moving. After a few more minutes, he found himself starting to stumble. But not from the uneven ground — no. It was because of how the world was seeming to spin around them. They staggered, staring at the arrow. …it had to be poisoned. They yanked it out on impulse, feeling blood run down their back. They braced themself against a tree, looking around. The faster route was obviously best, even if others might be less prone to traps. He couldn’t waste any time — Xisuma was waiting for him. He kept moving, leaning some of his weight against the trees when he could. This was so bad — he stopped, seeing a weird pile of dead leaves. He picked up a sizable stone and threw it into the leaf pile. Metal jaws sprang shut with a loud clang, and Evil X shuddered. Ok, so — no putting his feet anywhere he couldn’t see. And no not checking for tripwires. …what else? 

 

He kept moving, and the universe gave him his answer. He stepped close to a tree, and something snagged his ankle. They shouted as they were flung up into the air, their arms hanging down as gravity tugged at them. They looked up, and saw a rope attached to their ankle. Right… that made sense. He sighed and swung his body up, trying to reach the rope. He strained, stretching his arm out to try and grab it, but couldn’t. After a few more tries they gave up and pulled a throwing knife from its sheath, slicing through most of the rope. It held steady for one moment before the final fibers snapped, sending them crashing to the ground. They shouted, falling in a heap onto their injured shoulder. They groaned, clawing their way back upright as everything stuttered around them. They had to — keep going. For Hels and Xisuma’s sakes. He stumbled forwards, managing to spot several more snare traps, and bear traps, which the ground was absolutely riddled with. He only saw a couple more trip lines, convincing himself to step high to lower the chances of setting one off. After what had to have been an hour, he stumbled to the edge of the forest. Oh — finally. The could have a break—

 

The ground gave way beneath their feet, and they shouted, dropping onto their back. He wheezed as the air was punched from their lungs, crawling back up onto their arms and knees until they could finally draw in a full breath. They slowly moved to their feet, leaning against the dirt walls. A pitfall trap, and a large one at that. …he should’ve seen that coming. He sighed deeply, rubbing his eyes. He slowly clawed his way out of the pit and into the clearing, checking for traps at every step. He looked around, his eyes catching on a person standing in the middle of the clearing. They watched as he stumbled up to them. They just smiled.

 

“Are we learning our lesson?”

 

His head dipped into a nod. He’d let all of his pride burn so long as he could get Hels and Xisuma out of here. He’d put a match to it himself if it would mean they could all go home right now.

 

“Good, good. Here.” They held out a letter. Ex groaned. “Should’ve thought of this before you stole from us, and not after.”

 

“I had to do it…”

 

Their face tightened.

 

“No, you didn't. You could’ve let him die.”

 

“...no. I couldn’t have.” The person looked at him, eyebrows pinched with something sour. “...you wouldn’t get it. But — I couldn’t just let him die.”

 

The stranger rolled their eyes.

 

“Head that way. The building isn’t much further.”

 

Ex nodded, hurrying the best he could in the direction they pointed. He stuttered forwards, shambling across the field. There was a building in the distance, but it was going to take him forever to get there. After at least twenty minutes he stepped inside, rubbing at his eyes and muttering curses beneath his breath. The large doors opened for him, and he stopped, staring. Once he went in there, he probably couldn’t get out unless someone decided to open the way out back up for him. He slowly stepped inside. It didn’t matter if he couldn’t get out. For now, he just had to save Xisuma and Hels. He kept moving. The hallways continuously branched off in different directions, but certain hallways were dark or had signs up telling him to go around. He stumbled for a while before reaching a big room. Inside, slightly off-center, was a large hourglass. He ran up to it, pressing his palms to the glass. He could see Xisuma’s form sprawled inside, the sand piling on top of him and getting shifted to the floor every so often. He started banging on the glass. It didn’t seem to have any effect, because nothing changed. A sound came from behind him.

 

“Welcome.” Said someone in a white dress, the same golden sigil of the cult carved into their belt. “I’d assume you’ve already realised why you’re here.”

 

“Yes.” He said tersely. “You want retribution for what I stole.”

 

The figure nodded, their pale white hair falling in front of their face. Ex had to stop themself from tugging at the strip of white hair at the base of their own head, a product of a time they’d rather forget.

 

“Good, good… so, I’ll tell you how this is going to go. We have two things very important to you here, and we need one of them for our ritual. Since you destroyed our artifact for no reason, we’ll have to use a life to get what we need. We’ve decided to let you choose.”

 

He looked around. The only other person here was Xisuma. He didn’t see a second. He didn’t see Hels. Worry writhed in his gut. Had the man already mouthed off to the group so badly they’d decided to do something to him? No — feign ignorance. If they somehow didn’t know about Hels, they weren’t going to serve his name up on a platter.

 

“...you want me to choose between… who?”

 

“Ah, right…” The figure crossed the room, pressing a hidden button. The floor next to them shifted, something rising from a hole below. After a moment, he could see the same glass dome of the hourglass to his left. He watched as a second rose up, seeing Hels jump to his feet as he came level with the room. Hels’ face twisted in anger as he shouted something, but the words didn’t leave the hourglass. They couldn’t hear even the muffled sound of his yells as he pounded on the glass. “I was speaking of these two. Apologies — this one is a bit aggressive, so we tried to keep him in the dark as long as possible. It's not like netherborns are really made for shadowy spaces — it kept him docile, for the most part…”

 

“So you want me to choose between Xisuma and Hels.”

 

“We figure it's the only way to make things equal again. A life was taken to make that artifact. A life was saved using it. It makes sense that it would be Xisumavoid who had to make up for it, considering that our energy was wasted on saving him, but… ultimately, it is your choice."

 

…so that’s what this was about. It wasn’t just the stealing — they needed the artifact for something. They needed to replace it now that it was gone. They just needed to learn why… then maybe they could find some way out of this.

 

“No.”

 

The figure smiled toothily.

 

“That isn’t an option. Make your choice. If you refuse, we’ll just harvest the both of their lives.”

 

“What — what do you even want?! What’s the purpose of an artifact if you don’t use it?!”

 

They blinked at him.

 

“We thought you understood its purpose when you took it. This is… interesting. Well, the artifact was going to be used to summon the Banisher of Shadows. We’ll obviously be going through with the ceremony — we just need a life to break the barrier between worlds.”

 

“And nothing else… will escape through the broken barrier?”

 

They waved their hand.

 

“He is the only thing of consequence on the other side. The barrier will repair itself. And once He is here, we can finally move forward.”

 

“So you need their lives to break the barrier.”

 

“And to be a vessel, for Him. He cannot exist in this realm without one — he’ll just fade back into his own world without one. He needs a tether just as much as we need him.”

 

Ex stilled. Not only were they threatening to kill Xisuma or Hels, they were going to make them into a vessel. Ex knew intimately what that entailed… How painful it was in every sense of the world. Something puppeteering their body around, hurting others and themself, knowing that the possessor, the so-called ‘greater being’ would not feel any of it. But the vessel would. He’d be damning someone to a lifetime — maybe even an eternity — of suffering, if they did what the stranger wanted them to. He let out a slow breath, casing the room. There was a door hidden off to their left, past the stranger in their ritualistic dress. They saw him watching and snapped their fingers. A row of armed cultists stormed in through the door, separating him from his exits as they made several lines of walls. They glanced back to the trapdoors the hourglasses had come up through, but there wasn’t even a gap where the bases met the floor. It was completely seamless — too clean, just like the rest of this. They grit their teeth. They weren’t getting out of this, were they…? They were going to have to choose.

 

“So — you need a vessel that won’t burn up when you open the barrier. Someone who'll survive long enough for your… god-thing to settle into this world, right?”

 

The figure nodded slowly.

 

“That is true.”

 

“...you’ve never done this before. You don’t know how being a vessel works.”

 

“How dare you!! We’ve done all of our research, we would not allow ourselves to make stupid mistakes on the day we bring Him back. We’ve already had enough setbacks, we’re finished with making mistakes.”

 

“But you don’t understand how being a vessel works.” They started to argue, and Ex cut them off. “No — listen to me, I’ve been a vessel before. The other entity carves out a spot within you. It's a change that can kill a vessel if they aren’t prepared. If they’re weak. Using one of them to open the barrier will take too much of their energy. The change into a vessel will kill them.”

 

“So we’ll just have to use them both. You can decide who dies, and who lives to become a vessel."

 

Despite how fast his heart was pounding, the blood rushing through his ears managed to get louder still.

 

“No — listen to me! Hear — Hear me out. I’ve been a vessel before. I’ve gone through a chunk of the process, so I will probably live through the summoning, and the binding. You’ll be able to tether your… Him to the world through me. I’m perfect for this. Just — just let them go. I — I’ll go willingly if you do. If you have an altar to chain me to, I’ll wrap the chains around myself.”

 

They stilled, pressing a hand beneath their chin. Time dripped on, the sand still flowing in from the top of the hourglasses. Xisuma was now lying on a solid two feet of sand, and would’ve surely suffocated if he wasn’t being shook on top of the sand every few seconds. Hels was glaring daggers at them through the glass, in a similar state with the bottom of his boots sunk into the sand. Hels started to mouth something, his hands moving to signal some sort of plan or demand, and Ex slowly looked away, flashing a quick ‘you’ll be ok’ at him. The others in the room seemed to either not notice it, or not care. He wouldn’t be surprised if it was the second one — the plan was solid. There was no way out of this that wouldn’t risk Hels or Xisuma’s life, and he refused to be the reason either of them got killed.

 

“Fine. But we’ll bring the other two along. If you fight, or disobey what we tell you, the deal’s off. And if you’ve failed to calculate your chances of success, it won’t matter to us. We’ll settle Him in one of their bodies.”

 

Ex bit their tongue and nodded slowly.

 

“Wonderful. Now — prepare the two to move.” They gestured at one of the soldiers behind them, and two stepped forward with armfuls of chains. “Make sure your Nether Prince doesn’t fight. If he causes too much trouble, we won’t hesitate to get rid of him. I’m sure we’ve got projects that could use some extra lab rats.”

 

Ex shuddered. He moved to Xisuma’s hourglass first, watching as grates appeared in the floor and the sand fell away. Xisuma was left sprawled across cold metal grates. The glass dome lifted, and Ex stepped onto the hourglass’ base, slowly moving to Xisuma’s side. He glanced around for some sort of panic button, but found nothing visible. …he didn’t have the time to check for one sewn into the hem of his shirt, or search his pockets for something. And considering how clean this had been, he assumed it had been in the form of a ring or a watch, and had been thrown out when they managed to grab him. He slowly pressed two fingers to Xisuma’s throat, his shoulders slumping with a heavy sigh when he found his pulse steady. Stable. He was just unconscious. For now… Whatever — it would be fine! Ex would give them what they wanted, and Hels and Xisuma would be let go. Hels would probably kill them if he ever saw them again, but… it would be worth it. Everything would be worth it, just as long as he kept these two alive. The chains were cold against his skin, making him shiver as he closed a cuff around Xisuma’s wrist. The unconscious man didn’t react, which didn’t help the guilt swirling in Ex’s stomach as he slowly chained Xisuma. When all four of his limbs were cuffed Ex lifted him, carrying him out of the hourglass. One of the soldiers stepped forwards, taking Xisuma from their hands and slinging him over their shoulder. They watched his head swing a little too hard to one side before lolling against the stranger’s back. A new set of chains were pushed into his arms, and Ex stared forwards. Hels was watching him with all the focus of a warden watching its prey. He swallowed slowly and started forwards. The hourglass lifted, allowing them to slip inside before it slammed back down. Hels was still glaring at them.

 

“Stop it Ex. We can take care of this. We’ve always taken care of this sort of thing.”

 

“...not this time. It’s not going to work Hels.” Hels just looked at him, his eyes filled with what could only be exhaustion and disgust. “I’m not strong enough to fix this…”

 

“Yeah, you aren’t. Which is why you need to let me help. We can win this, Ex. We’ll beat the odds, just like every other time.”

 

“I can’t.” He whispered, well aware of the device strapped to his wrist, ready to put him out of commission. “I can’t do this. Look at them — there’s at least twenty of them, fully armed and well-rested. Hels, don’t be stupid, they’ve been preparing for this for weeks — if not months. If you go out there and try to fight, you’ll die. Or… they’ll give you something worse than death.”

 

“Shut up! I don’t want to hear your excuses — we can take care of this like we always do. Don’t be stupid—”

 

“I’m being realistic.”

 

“What — By offering yourself up to them?! Ex the last time you tried to ‘be realistic,’ you… I don’t even know what happened, but it hurt you so bad you refused to talk about it. You can’t try and do this alone!”

 

“...I’m sorry, Hels. There’s no other way.”

 

“Yes there is! Stop sidelining me — you can’t fight everything alone! You need me, remember?!”

 

…they didn’t. They didn’t remember saying that, but considering the certainty Hels said it with, they were sure the words had come tumbling out of their mouth at some point. He stayed quiet for a moment.

 

“...I need you to live.” They eventually decided to say. “I need to know that my own stupidity didn’t kill you, no matter what it takes.”

 

“Stop it! Just stop — Let me kill them for you! You can’t just let them kill you, or do whatever it is they’re planning—”

 

“They aren’t going to kill me.” Ex’s hands reached back to run along the white streak in their hair, and Hels’ eyes caught on it.

 

“...you’re kidding. That’s — that’s what happened?! And you’re willing to just — let it happen again?! Ex this is going to be torture—”

 

“I know.” They whispered. “I know it will be.”

 

“You can’t just — I’m not going to let this happen.”

 

Ex started to argue, then saw the way Hels’ jaw had set with conviction. 

 

“Ok we — we can make a plan.” He said, a grimace twisting his face. Gods he didn’t want to do this…

 

Hels finally smiled. His shoulders dropped, entire body untensing at once.

 

“Ok — good. I bet you can electrocute at least a third of the soldiers. And I can grapple my way through enough of them to set off the hourglasses again.” Ex started to move, slowly, in increments that Hels wouldn’t notice at first. “There’s a lot fewer people down there — and I bet a bunch of them made their way up here once I was gone—” Hels cut off, glancing at where Ex’s hand was coming close to his throat. “Ex what the Hells—”

 

They darted out, grabbing the back of Hels’ neck and grasping around for the small dips in the muscle. He found them after a split-second and squeezed. Hels’ eyes blew wide open, his knees giving out beneath him.

 

“I’m sorry!” Ex shrieked. 

 

“What…?” Hels slurred, his eyes struggling to stay open.

 

“I can’t — I couldn’t let them kill you. I’m sorry!”

 

Memories flashed through their head. The sensation of their couch against his skin when Hels had explained his weak points — something they’d only been told about when Hels had been mind controlled and nearly killed Ex — weren’t information that was easy to come by. They were different for every Nethercopy, and Hels’ were almost impossible to just happen upon. They’d only been told about them to allow them to protect themself if something like the mind control happened again. It was never supposed to be used. Especially not like this.

 

“...I’m so sorry.” He whispered, the meaning of the words dissolving on his tongue. 

 

He clasped one cuff around Hels’ arm just as his eyes started to flicker. Ex pulled in a sharp breath and hurried to lock one around Hels’ opposite leg, just to put him at moe of a disadvantage. Hels’ eyes snapped open a moment later, his body scrambling away from Ex. The chains on his body pulled taught with a sharp clang, Hels’s face screwing up in a silent snarl as he tried to stand, and realised he couldn’t.

 

“Hels please.” Ex pleaded. “They’ll let you go when it's over. Please just—”

 

“The Hells’ going on?! What — why did you do this?”

 

“I can’t let them kill you. I’m so sorry Hels!”

 

“I’m going to fucking kill you—”

 

Ex flinched as Hels rushed towards them, knocking them to the ground. They scrambled as a chain wrapped around their throat. They tugged at it as their air was cut off, their skin screaming in pain as they tried and failed to gasp and bring in a breath.

 

“Let us go, or I send them to respawn out of your reach.” He shouted at the cultists.

 

There was no reply — or, nothing they could hear within the hourglass. Ex struggled, managing to flip them over. They twisted Hels’ arm around, wincing at the pressure they had to force against Hels’ skin and praying they didn’t break anything. They used the last of their consciousness to pin Hels, and the chain left their throat. They wheezed, trying to blink away the shadows in their vision as Hels continued to struggle. They forced their whole weight against him and hoped that they could keep him down with the added help of the restraints. He pinned one of Hels’ hands, cuffing it and keeping him from trying to choke them again. Hels kicked out at them, landing a solid kick to their side. They grunted, pain blooming through them, but managed to clamp a chain around his form. The glass around them lifted, and several people ran up to drag Hels’ writhing form to his feet. Hels continued to try and fight even as he was forced to bend down due to the length of the chain.

 

“Don’t hurt him! Ex rasped, rubbing at their aching throat.” I won’t do it if you hurt him!”

 

“We make no promises.” One of the soldiers said, slamming Hels with their elbow. Hels stumbled, but his face didn’t change. “Just tell us how to make him pass out like you did earlier, and we’ll be fine.”  Ex shook their head furiously, and the soldier shrugged after a moment. “Well, whatever happens is your fault then.”

 

Ex bit their lip as the room fell into silence.

 

“Walk.” Someone commanded after a few moments, forcing Hels forwards. 

 

More soldiers came to surround Ex, moving him into a different room. There was a stone table set in front of him, and he could see the chains wrapped around its base. Xisuma was set over in a sigil on one side of the room, the center of his chains clicking into a latch sticking out of the floor. Hels was dragged over to a different sigil, still trying to fight. He failed, his chains clicking into a similar type of latch. The soldiers stepped back out of Hels’ reach, and Ex sighed. Alright… hopefully Hels wouldn’t be able to provoke them too much now. Hopefully just by getting them here, he’d managed to save the two. Or, well… he wouldn’t know that until his fate was sealed, would he? He would have to survive the barrier breaking to do that, and even if he did he’d never get things to go back to normal. He’d never break into Hermitcraft and cook up some plot just to have an excuse to see Xisuma. He’d never plan a job with Hels again, or curl up with him on the couch after another particularly close call. He’d never listen for the sound of Hels’ barely off breathing and know he was safe. In fact, he’d never be safe again… He let out a long sigh as someone passed him a white robe. He went to put it on, and someone grabbed his hand.

 

“Shirt off.” They said, and Ex grimaced.

 

They slowly peeled off the undershirt, pulling the robe over their head. Someone stepped forwards, sizing him up.

 

“Lie down on your back on the altar.”

 

He complied, his head lying slightly off the edge of the altar. Someone came up, moving his arms above his head. Cold metal closed around his wrists. He trembled for a moment. After a minute he glanced up, making eye contact with Hels. He was just… staring. Staring with no particular look on his face. Just… watching what was happening, as if it was some sort of play. Ex shifted, trying to get comfortable. Something gripped his hand, and pain stung in his palm. He felt blood pool within the center of his palm. Something dipped into it, and he flinched and closed his eyes as fingers came close to his face. They slowly smeared something wet and sticky across his forehead, moving in a circle at first before slowly creating a pattern within the shape. Lines were drawn across his cheeks, and blood was draped on the tip of his chin. He refused the urge to try and wipe it off. He closed his eyes, letting out a slow breath. The strangers stepped back, blood dripping down from his palm onto the floor. He tried to measure each breath. He had to remember that he couldn’t die. If he did, he’d be pushing someone else into his place. Into a fate worse than death, one he’d been unfortunate enough to live before. A wooden carving was placed on his chest, and he squirmed slightly as it burned, the pain radiating out through his entire body. Hands pressed his shoulders down.

 

“Sorry.” He rasped.

 

A response came in the form of chains wrapping around his torso, pinning him against the stone. More wound their way around his legs, keeping him from doing more than shifting. He closed his eyes as the chanting started. After a moment, he could feel the waves of pain worsen, making him groan as they started to pulse out from his chest. He felt his body begin to try to writhe, so instinctual part of his brain warning that something was extremely wrong. He shuddered again, a long groan pulling itself from his throat. There was a pause in the chanting, and suddenly the world around him dissolved. He could feel his flesh burning, his entire body taken over by pain. It spiked then ebbed, over and over again. He felt himself unraveling, and fought to keep his consciousness together. He figured if he blacked out now, that would be it. It would be over, and they’d take someone to play what should’ve been his part. So he struggled, even when the pain spiked so bad his name slipped from his mind. Slowly, with each pulse of pain, he could feel things being torn from him. Memories, knowledge, — it would take anything it could get its hands on. He struggled, opening his eyes to see nothing but bright yellow light. He writhed, screaming as the fire burnt through his eyes and caused the pain to spike again. He felt what was left of his stomach seize, and his body hitched as it tried to force whatever this was out. The light got brighter, burning and burning and burning. Then suddenly his eyes adjusted, and he slumped into the light. His head swam with more than just pain. Was it… over?  He could hear screaming from nearby, but couldn’t tell if it was his or someone else’s. There was the shriek of metal sliding against something hard, and then he was rising. His wings unfurled from his back, pain radiating through his body again. His stomach turned, but nothing happened. His body took a step, the pressure against the soles of his feet aching. If he had enough control of his body, he would’ve sobbed. As it was he just took another step forwards, his face completely slack. His eyes turned to Xisuma’s prone form, and then Hels’. Hels’ face was contorted into a snarl, his body leaning against the chains, trying to get any amount closer to Ex. He could only watch as Hels shouted, unable to actually hear anything. He blinked, and suddenly their attention was on Xisuma. The man shifted, his eyes flickering. They could see his mouth fall open in a soundless groan. After a minute he shifted upright, his eyes opening all the way. He squinted at Ex as if he couldn’t actually see them. Hels shouted something inaudible again, and X stiffened. The two exchanged words, and Ex could barely make out a mouthed:

 

“Fucker!” from Hels. Everything else was lost.

 

They moved again, and the world blurred. A headache pounded against their skull, and Ex wanted to close their eyes, but the thing — He, whoever He was — refused. Their body kept moving, the white-haired cultist from before walking up to greet them. The room warped around them, and the figure exploded, their blood spattering across the room. The rows upon rows of soldiers shifted. Some turned and ran, darting off through the door. Others ran forwards, grabbing at what was left of their leader’s body. Someone charged at them, their sword glancing off Ex’s skin. He felt it sheer off, the blade not piercing their skin even as the pain scratched at their skin. They weren’t quite invulnerable, were they? That was going to bruise, but maybe nothing could do more than bruise. …bones might break, at worst. They tried to grimace. If they had to suffer through this…whatever it was breaking their legs and trying to walk on them, they’d actually try and start a riot. It wouldn’t work, of course, but the intention would be there. Hels continued to tug against the chains, shouting and screaming at Ex’s form. They took a step towards him, and Ex flinched.

 

No. Please no. They took another slow step. Ex could feel their heart pound. Please don’t hurt them, he begged internally. Anyone else, just — not Hels. Not Xisuma. They could do anything else, just… not this. Hels continued to struggle against the chains. They came up to him slowly, a blurring hand raising Hels’ chin. His eyes flashed dangerously, his hands stuck out of reach of their body.

 

“Ex.” He could see them mouth. “Please.”

 

…he didn’t know what Hels wanted. He didn’t think there was anything he could do. He struggled, trying to pull his hand back. He could feel his fingers twitch, shocks of movement radiating out through their arms and into their shoulders. The god paused. 

 

“Please.” He tried to tell them. “Just keep these two alive. I’ll let you do whatever you want, just leave them alone.”

 

The god hesitated. Hels stared through their eyes, whispering another:

 

“Please.”

 

“Mine.” The god said, the word radiating through Ex’s mind. They tore Hels’ chains apart, guiding the man forwards. 

 

Hels gave them a long look as they continued over to Xisuma. X’s chains were snapped as well, and he and Hels caught eyes. 

 

“What’s happening?” He could see Xisuma say.

 

Hels shook his head. Ex’s ears rang, and then suddenly the world snapped into focus.

 

“What do we do?” X said.

 

“...I don’t know.” Hels replied. “I’ve never — summoning rituals aren’t exactly my thing. I don’t know who this could be or what they want from us.”

 

“Mine.” The god hissed again, and Ex could hear it as the words left their mouth, warping their voice into something gravely.

 

“So should we follow them?” X asked.

 

“...I don’t know if we have any choice.” Hels said, grabbing for X’s wrist. There was a still moment before Hels shoved Xisuma behind him. “Run.” He pushed him for the door, stealing a sword from a fallen soldier. Xisuma stumbled, glancing back over his shoulder.

 

“Listen to me.” The god spoke in Ex’s voice. The two hesitated. “I will give you anything you want. Keep my vessel alive, and I will reward you.”

 

“Give him back.” Hels demanded.

 

“No. I need him. You don’t.”

 

“I need him!” Hels shouted. “Give him back, now!” He raised his blade.

 

“Lower the sword. I will not ask again.”

 

Hels gripped the hilt tighter. Xisuma glanced at the two before darting behind a pillar. The god didn’t seem to notice.

 

“I’ll kill you.”

 

“If you try, you’ll kill him. We are already bonded — you cannot remove me without dooming them.”

 

“We’ll figure something out.” Hels charged, raising the sword to try to run it through Ex’s chest.

 

Their body dodged.

 

“If you hurt him, I won’t be able to save him.”

 

“Yes but I will—”

 

Hels moved again, slashing against Ex’s side. The blade cut into their torso. A wave of pain washed over Ex. They would've screamed if they could’ve. Hels kept moving, slicing a cut into their calf. They stumbled, claws of light winding their way up Ex’s fingers. Hels’ eyes widened as they lashed out. He threw himself into the floor, narrowly avoiding Ex slashing at his throat. The claws nicked the back of Hels’ neck, and they could feel the drops of blood slide down his hand to drip onto the floor. They panicked, thrashing against the control.

 

“Stop.” The god commanded. 

 

No. No, they weren’t just going to let the deity kill Hels. They wouldn’t just sit back and watch— They swiped at him again, and Ex managed to curl their fingers, their knuckles brushing Hels’ unarmoured side. Hels glanced back, the slightest smile slipping onto his face.

 

“There you are.” He said, his eyes filling with conflicting emotions. “Come on Ex — fight it!”

 

Ex shuddered against the control, feeling the deity push back against them. A burning sensation started in their fingertips, but they pushed through, feeling the magic sustaining their claws thrum through their back. They tugged at the feeling, trying to twist it into knots. The deity groaned. 

 

“Stop this madness! You won’t be able to change anything—”

 

They clamped down on the magic just as Hels threw himself at their hands, grabbing onto their wrists. The claws began to dig into Hels’ fingers before the magic wavered and vanished. Hels grinned, pinning Ex’s frame against the ground. 

 

“I told you we could’ve fought this.” Hels said, and Ex barely managed to grimace. “Now!” Hels shouted, and a flurry of footsteps came from their side. 

 

Something pressed against the back of their head, pins and needles spreading from the spot, blanketing everything in numbness. Ex drifted, feeling their consciousness unravel. From there, everything became hazy. He remembered being moved for a few minutes before being stopped by a barrage of shouting. He remembered the sensation of hands against his side, pressing wet, sticky fabric against their skin. He was moved again, hush voices accompanying them as they moved. He remembered familiar calloused hands dressing his wounds as the accompanying voice argued, over and over again, incessantly. When they finally came to, they were laying on stone floor. They shifted, trying to curl up, only to hit their head on something. They groaned, eyes flicking open to… nothing? They reached a hand out, pressing it against what felt like some sort of invisible wall.

 

“Easy. It’s just the sigil.” A soft voice spoke. 

 

He sat up carefully, locking eyes with Xisuma. He winced.

 

“What… is this?”

 

X flinched.

 

“We… we couldn’t risk letting you wake up outside, in case that let… whatever parasite you have out.”

 

“No, I mean — is this actually real, or is it a trick?”

 

X blinked.

 

“I… assume it's not a trick. Is that common for… people in your situation?”

 

“I mean… he always did it.” Ex shrugged. “ I guess this deity might be different though…”

 

“So Hels was right.” X mumbled. “You have been possessed before.”

 

Ex managed a slow shrug.

 

“It… it isn’t new to me.” He agreed. “It wasn’t for long.”

 

X pursed his lips.

 

“Alright, just — do you know anything about this? Anything at all that might help us?”

 

“...not really. I’ll think you’ll be better off trying to contact the stronghold. I bet they have scholars who know more than we do.”

 

“The scholars are — refusing to help us. They say they don’t want to get involved with the cult. That this could all go very wrong, and they need to protect themselves from any fallout.”

 

“Of course.” They sighed. “Absolutely useless with anything significant, as always…”

 

X nodded.

 

“I’ve had our researchers looking, but… there’s so many options. We don’t know who the Lightmakers summoned. We don’t know how to remove them from you. And even if we could…”

 

“You think it might kill me.”

 

X winced.

 

“I… yes. We’re afraid that it might. Vessels usually don’t do well without their possessors, even if they haven’t gone through the full transformation. And you — well, the tipping point’s already been hit. We’ve been monitoring things, but we don’t have any more control over this than you do.”

 

“Well you’ve at least figured out how to bind them to me, right? If you can force them to let me talk to you, we can probably just bind them to my body and keep them from being able to do anything.”

 

“It’s… not that simple. Once we bind them, their magic won’t be able to keep you alive. Right now it's their power that’s the only thing keeping your body functional. In order to bring them, we — we’d need to find something to help you through the transition, and keep you stable afterwards. It's — we haven’t figured any of that out yet. The binding ritual is coming together, but any of the later points… we don't really have anything figured out for them.”

 

Ex sighed.

 

“So, what, I’m stuck here until you can figure out how to fix things?”

 

“Unfortunately, yes. I’m sorry.”

 

“Eh.” They shrugged. “I signed up for eternal torment, so this is better than I was expecting.” X’s expression didn’t change. “Really, X, I — I appreciate that you’re trying.”

 

He just frowned.

 

“We have our best people on this — we’ll figure something out. You won’t be stuck here forever.”

 

Ex winced.

 

“I’d… prefer it if you didn’t make promises you can’t keep, Xisuma.”

 

X’s back straightened. He started to reach for them before pausing and snatching his hand out of the sigil. He pushed the loose hair from his face.

 

“We will fix this, Ex. I promise you.”

 

They just sighed and looked away. X balanced on the edge of the sigil, frowning.

 

“...is Hels alright?” Ex asked after a couple minutes of silence. 

 

“He’s fine.” Xisuma said. “Just a few scrapes — he’s basically healed by now.”

 

“...how long’s it been?”

 

“...a couple weeks. We’ve kept you under as much as possible — whatever god you’ve caught has been pretty difficult to deal with. They haven’t let you up very much, at least not until we mostly tired them out. They’ve gotten quieter practically every day. The last few days we haven’t heard anything. It’s just been them glaring at us through your eyes. They haven’t even moved — which doesn’t really help us figure out what sort of being they are, but… small mercies, I guess.”

 

“They’re a deity, I think. Look into whoever the Lightmakers worship — after what happened, there’s probably a couple defectors who might help you.”

 

X nodded.

 

“That’s a good starting point. Is there anything else you know?”

 

He shook his head.

 

“Not really. Just that there were some specific sigils they used in the summoning. I’d say you should go after the soldiers they had, but… I’m not sure if you’ll be able to find any. The smarter survivors are probably in hiding.”

 

Xisuma sighed.

 

“I think you’re right about that. We’ve been looking — Hels has been talking to all of his contacts, but… we haven’t found anything. It looks like they’re hiding — probably in groups.”

 

“And if they're in groups, they probably won’t want to talk to you. You’d have to get someone alone, unless the entire group agreed to talk.”

 

“That’s what Hels said earlier.”

 

Ex craned their head towards a trapdoor in the ceiling.

 

“Is he out right now?”

 

“I…” X clasped his hands together, staring at the ground. “I’m not sure. He’s commandeered a section of my base, and really only comes out to check in on what we’re doing.”

 

“...he won’t come if he knows I’m awake, will he?”

 

X slowly shook his head.

 

“If I try to bring up visiting you, he just gets angry. But… we had an incident last week, and he… wouldn’t leave your side until he knew you were going to be ok. He disappeared for a while after that. …don’t tell him I said that please. I don’t think he wanted you to know.”

 

“...he’s not going to forgive me, will he?”

 

“I — what even happened? Haven’t the two of you betrayed each other over and over again—”

 

“Not like that.” Ex sighed. “You — you were unconscious. You didn’t see.”

 

“So what happened? Why won’t he talk to you — or most of us?”

 

“I made a decision. I can’t even say I made a mistake — I knew what I was doing. It was calculated. Hels knew that. …had I been anyone else, he would’ve seen it coming. But it was me. It was me, so he overlooked it. …he’s never going to trust me again. It’s over.” Their breath hitched. “It’s all over…”

 

Their throat ached, and they scrubbed at their eyes. They were right when they’d thought that things weren’t going to go back to normal. But — this time it wasn’t going to be because they were trapped inside their body as something puppeted them around. It was because of their own mistake — no, not a mistake. Their own decision that they’d come to, fully aware that things would never be normal again. They had decided to do it. They’d live with the consequences. No matter how much they hurt…

 

“Ex… it’s going to be ok.” Xisuma tried. 

 

“No. No it really won’t.”

 

“He — he hasn’t given up on you. I really think that things will get better—”

 

They laughed.

 

“He’s not one of your Hermits, Xisuma. He’s Hels. He doesn’t just forget about shit like that!”

 

“But wouldn’t he have done the same thing for you?”

 

Ex snorted.

 

“He was practically begging me to let him help. And instead of listening, I — I betrayed him. He’s not going to get over that.”

 

“I think you underestimate how much he cares about you. He’s woken up screaming your name in his sleep—”

 

“Probably because he’s having nightmares about me betraying him again… and this time he can’t just write them off as something that he knows won’t happen.”

 

X sighed.

 

“If you’re just looking to mope then that’s fine. But if you both continue ignoring each other after we fix all of this, I’m personally going to lock you into a woodland mansion together and make you fight your way out.”

 

“That’s a terrible idea.”

 

“Well I’m all out of other ones!”

 

They went quiet again for several moments. 

 

“Is there — really nothing I can help with?”

 

X hesitated before pulling a book from his inventory.

 

“If you can remember the sigils from before, maybe it’ll help us track down whoever this is? Even if it's fuzzy in your memory — it’ll at least help us track down which type of deity this is. All the sigils look so different that even just the foggiest of an idea may be the thing we need to get this all ironed out.”

 

He slid the book across the painted sigil, grabbing a stick to poke it into the center when it stopped halfway to Ex. They pulled a pen from the book’s spine and cracked it open. Inside was what appeared to be a hand-written copy of another book, written in handwriting that slowly got more sloppy as it continued. He opened it to one of the marked sections, flipping through until he found a chapter on summoning deities. The first couple sigils weren’t familiar at all, until he came to the seventh one and stopped. Those dots… he swore he remembered someone painting them on his skin with his own blood. He frowned, flipping through the next of the section, which only housed a few more sigils. He passed the book back to Xisuma, who picked it up, frowning at the section Ex had marked.

 

“Are you sure this is it?”

 

They shrugged.

 

“Not really — I just remember dots like that being painted onto my head. That’s really all I’ve got.”

 

Xisuma nodded slowly. 

 

“Might be your average human-focused deity then. Why the Lightmakers were interested in this one specifically though, I’m not sure. Do you remember anything they said that might’ve given away their intentions?”

 

“I — don’t really. It’s all kind of blurry.”

 

Xisuma sighed.

 

“Well this sigil could belong to any number of deities. Klei Guardian of the Deep, Optan of the 8th world, the Banisher of Shadows, Radishes the King of Secrets—”

 

“Wait, that sounds familiar!"

 

“...Radishes the King of—”

 

“No, no the one before that!”

 

“...the Banisher of Shadows?”

 

“I swear they said that name when they were trying to convince me to give one of you up for the ritual.”

 

“So it’s the Banisher of Shadows then… That makes sense, considering Lightworld’s reputation. …this doesn’t say who the Banisher of Shadows is though. He’s just in the footnote—” He ruffled through the rest of the pages. “--that’s the only time it talks about him. I… we’ll have to go find a different book.”

 

“Can’t you ask your local deity to come do… magic stuff?” Ex asked.

 

“Our — Wait, who are you talking about?”

 

He fixed Xisuma with an unimpressed stare.

 

“The magical one who everyone knows is a god, because there’s nothing else they can be. That one.”

 

“Ex, you don’t understand — we have at least 3 people who fit that description. You’ll have to be more specific.”

 

“I don't remember anything more specific! I just met them once, and figured it out.”

 

Xisuma sighed.

 

“Is it Xb, Joe, or Pearl?”

 

“I don’t remember! Do you think I keep track of their names?”

 

Xisuma sighed.

 

“If I have to drag all three of them here, whatever chaos that results is going to be your fault. Oh — wait, was it Keralis? He also counts I believe, depending on your definition of a deity—”

 

“I really don’t know! I just remember that they were a Hermit, and they appeared out of nowhere.”

 

“...Ex I don’t think you understand how little that narrows things down. Nearly every one of them can sneak up on you if they want to.”

 

They waved him off.

 

“Just call your idiots who are nearby, I guess. I doubt I’m going to remember anything more than this without actually meeting them.”

 

Xisuma shook his head and turned away.

 

“Fine, fine. Just remember — you wanted this.”

 

He climbed his way up the ladder and disappeared through the trapdoor. Ex caught a single glimpse of sunlight before the door fell shut, sealing the rest of the world away. They leaned back against the invisible wall and waited. After what must’ve been twenty minutes, someone opened the trapdoor and climbed down. They were wearing a blue shirt with some sort of green sigil on the front, the thing too faded to be recognisable. They looked over Ex, who didn’t particularly feel like getting up or making themself presentable. 

 

“Hm. I figured you’d be worse off than this.” The man said.

 

“I defy all expectations.” Ex said, in lue of having to say anything with substance.

 

The man peered at him through big blue glasses.

 

“Oh — you don’t recognise me, do you? I’m Joe Hills — you have met me before! You just might not remember.”

 

“...ok. So, do you know a lot about deities? Because that’s apparently what we need to know about.”

 

Joe shrugged.

 

“I know a little about a lot of things. …I’ll see what I can scrounge up.”

 

He plopped down onto the floor and put his hands in his lap. His eyes quickly glazed over, and Ex just watched as he went entirely still. …did he really manage to break one of Xisuma’s Hermits just by existing in the same room as him? A couple minutes later the trapdoor lifted again, and a couple more people came down, followed by Xisuma. 

 

“Oh Joe’s out again!” One with long brown hair called.

 

“Did he already talk to you?” Xisuma asked.

 

“I swear I didn’t do anything—”

 

X blinked.

 

“I just — wanted to know if he was off looking for information.”

 

“...oh. Yeah, I — think he is?”

 

“Alright — we’ll just have to wait for him to come back, then.” Ex nodded slowly. “This is Keralis, Pearl, and Xb. I think you might have been thinking of one of them.”

 

Ex squinted at them.

 

“I recognise the…” He pointed at the guy off to Xisuma’s left who had one hand curled around X’s wrist. “That guy—”

 

“Keralis—”

 

“--but I’m not sure he’s who I was thinking of.”

 

Xisuma sighed.

 

“If it’s not one of them, it really could be anyone. Hermits… aren’t exactly known for being normal, Ex.”

 

“Yeah, figures…”

 

“Oh I found it!” A voice called, and the entire room startled. The man — Joe — had stood up, one hand braced against the wall and a grin on his face. “The banisher of shadows is spirit-adjacent — the right balance of salt and iron, along with the right sigils, and we can get rid of him easily!”

 

“...it’s that easy?” Ex asked, rage bubbling up in their chest. “It’s that easy for you to find an unbinding ritual?”

 

“Uh — yes?” Joe said.

 

“You’re kidding! After all the time I spent—” He cut off, hiding his face in his hands. “It’s that easy if you just have magic friends…”

 

“...I’m not going to pretend I know what you’re talking about, but — you can always come here for help.” Joe offered. “I know we all like to play into the ‘Evil Xisuma’ bit, but… you know you’re welcome here even if you’re not starring as ‘Evil Xisuma.’”

 

“It’s not a bit.” They grumbled. “It’s who I am.” 

 

X hesitated.

 

“Is it? Because I distinctly remember growing up with you as my sibling.”

 

He sighed.

 

“I’ve come a long way from that, Xisuma.”

 

“But you’re never so far that you can’t go back.”

 

He shook his head. He could see the remaining Hermits filter out of the room in the corner of his eyes.

 

“After everything, would… would you even want me?”

 

Xisuma laughed, and he felt his heart burn.

 

“Ex I’d be delighted if you’d come by for a weekend or a… whatever your version of weekends or vacations are. I’m always happy to see you.”

 

“...even if I scam your Hermits?”

 

X chuckled.

 

“Yes, even if you scam the Hermits. …though I’d prefer if the moon didn’t come down again.”

 

“That wasn’t my fault…”

 

X smiled at him.

 

“I know.”

 

“So… what now?”

 

X hesitated. 

 

“Well we’ll have to figure out how to keep you alive once we do the banishment ritual. I think, unfortunately, you’re stuck here until that’s done.”

 

They sighed.

 

“I was hoping you wouldn’t say that…”

 

“I’m sorry. I know it’s going to be boring—”

 

“That’s not what I’m worried about. I just — really hate being a vessel. …I can feel it, Xisuma. Hollowing me out as writhing, trying to break through. …I’m not sure whatever you did is going to last forever. It's been getting worse this whole time.”

 

“...we’ll figure something out. It’s going to be alright, I promise you.”

 

Ex sighed.

 

“I hope you’re right…”

 

Xisuma went to say something, but there was a shout from upstairs.

 

“Xisuma, you might want to come see this!” Someone called, and X sighed.

 

“I… I probably have to go.”

 

“Yeah, go… take care of whatever it is.”

 

“Are you sure—”

 

“Go. I’m… really tired, all of a sudden. I could probably use some rest.”

 

“...alright. I’ll be back soon.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Xisuma casted one last glance back at them, and disappeared through the trapdoor. Ex sat back against the invisible wall. He really was tired… his eyes ached — he just wanted to rest. He rubbed at his eyes, curling one leg up to their chest. They could feel the deity straining against them, struggling against bonds that Xisuma or the Hermits must have put in place. …this didn’t feel safe. They were trapped out in the open, and they doubted the sigil would keep anything away from him. It was there to protect the Hermits from them, not them from anything else. He slumped against the wall. He really wished Hels was here. He wouldn't have to worry about this if he was. But then… would Hels even protect them, considering what they’d done. Used his biggest, most dangerous secret against him after Hels had spent so long deciding if they were safe enough to share that with. He kept convincing people to trust him, only to shove them on their face. …what were they going to do when Hels refused to keep working with them? It was the combination of both of their skills that made everything work so well. On their own, they wouldn’t have their perfect success rate. Or… Ex wouldn’t. Maybe Hels was. He probably didn’t need them the way they needed him. They sighed. They were too tired for spiraling. He curled up within the confines of the sigil and hid his head in his arms. 

 

He woke in pain. His head was pounding, as if the deity that’d hitched a ride in his body was scraping against his skull. He winced and hid his head further in his arms. Nothing was happening today. Even if he had anything to do — which he didn't, he was still stuck in the sigil — there wasn’t going to be much he was capable of like this. After a couple hours, someone opened the trapdoor, letting light spill into the room. He groaned and pressed his eyes against his arm. Footsteps came closer to him, and he could feel someone watching him. Despite being stressed about having someone so close to him, they slipped from consciousness fairly quickly. The next time they awoke it was to the feeling of something falling over him. He grasped something soft and let his head thunk back against the ground. Everything ached the next time he blinked his eyes open. The white robe around them was wrinkled, the sensation of it sliding against his skin almost felt like he was being burnt. 

 

He groaned, trying to stretch out only to hit something. He gave up and tried to get comfortable again, only for light to spill in once again. He flinched.

 

“...Ex? Are you alright?”

 

The words came in jumbled, not making any sense. He shifted a tiny bit more before stilling.

 

“Can you — hear me?”

 

He drifted as a voice continued to try to talk to him, chattering on as everything faded out. The next time he awoke it was to hands cradling his body. His head thumped against something and he winced. That didn’t help his pounding headache at all…

 

“Sorry, sorry.” A voice said. “I know, I’m sorry… this sigil isn’t convenient at all. …I think I get why they’re doing this.”

 

Ex slipped off again as someone continued to move him. The next time he woke, his head had stopped hurting. He was laying on something soft, a hand curled in his hair. He sagged into the touch, and heard someone whisper under their breath. The voice was strained, slightly coarse, but… safe. It sounded safe. He tried to lift his arm and found that he didn’t have the energy. He was just too tired. He let himself fall asleep again. When he finally woke with some coherence, he was alone. He blinked his eyes open to a deep blue ceiling. There were spatters of paint across it, which when their vision cleared came into focus as a galaxy spattered with stars. He let out a slow exhale and pushed himself upright. His entire body ached, the pain only getting worse as they moved, but they pushed through. Standing was worse. He had to brace a hand against the edge of the bed to stay upright, but he still locked his eyes on the door across the room. He wracked his memory for… anything that made sense, and came up with very little. Just flashes of panic and pain. Nothing that actually explained why he wasn’t at home. He stuttered towards the door, twisting the knob slowly to check if it was locked. It wasn’t, and he hesitated. If he wasn’t restrained or locked in, this probably wasn’t a kidnapping. If he wasn’t being forced to stay, it was probably safe to step outside. It wouldn’t be very likely that someone was waiting on the other side of the door to punch their lights out. They hesitated before slowly swinging the door open. A hallway greeted him, opening up into a rusticly decorated loft next to a set of stairs. He moved to grab the handrail and walked down the steps, using an abnormal amount of arm strength to stay upright until he reached the lower floor. He stumbled out into a room full of people. They all stopped upon noticing him, someone shouting a loud:

 

“Xisuma!” After a moment.

 

They finished. Oh no — was this going to be an interrogation? They couldn’t remember enough to talk their way through another one of those. And — how had he gotten around the Hermits — at least he assumed these were Hermits — anyways? Usually the group stayed out of their way unless he purposefully sought them out. Footsteps barreled into the room.

 

“What — what is it?” He could hear Xisuma’s voice from around a corner, faint but unmistakableable. “Is it—”

 

Someone dragged Xisuma around the corner. He stumbled, his mouth dropping open as he stared at Ex. For a moment, the two just looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

 

“You — You’re awake.” X breathed after a moment, suddenly rushing to his side. He set his hand on Ex’s shoulders, guiding him carefully like he was made of glass; like the slightest jostling would make him shatter irreparably. “Oh thank the gods—”

 

They made their way to a bright orange couch, the two sinking down into the soft fabric.

 

“What’s going on?” Ex eventually asked as Xisuma scanned over them.

 

“You — do you remember who you’re here?”

 

“...not really. Everything’s pretty foggy.”

 

Xisuma sighed.

 

“Some cult came after you. Something to do with light — they took both me and Hels as bargaining chips. Apparently you decided to take our place and… let them summon something. It possessed you, I — I wasn’t awake when it happened, really, but that’s what I heard from Hels. You protected us, and got yourself possessed doing it.”

 

Ex glanced around, searching for a familiar face.

 

“...where’s Hels? Is he alright?”

 

X flinched.

 

“Yes, he’s — he’s fine.”

 

“Where is he? Did they hurt him—”

 

“He’s fine! He just… you apparently were the one to subdue him when they moved us all to the altar room.”

 

“I — What? No — I wouldn’t—”

 

“You were completely outnumbered. Hels wanted to fight, but you… didn’t agree.”

 

“So what, I — beat him up?”

 

“No, you didn’t hurt him!”

 

“Then what the Hells did I do?!”

 

“...I don’t know. He refuses to tell me exactly what happened. I just know that you were upset — you said you’d betrayed him. You — you said things would never go back to normal, like you’d done something unforgivable.”

 

“So I subdued him without hurting him? He’s Hels, how would I even — No.” He cut off as his brain bridged the gap. “No, No I wouldn’t — No…”

 

“I… can’t be sure if you’ve guessed right, but… this reaction does track with how you seemed to feel earlier.”

 

“No, no I wouldn’t—”

 

But they wouldn’t. That was the worst part — they would. They would use Hels’ weak spots to knock him out if he thought it was their only chance of survival.

 

“No, no…”

 

X set a hand on their arm.

 

“Let’s not think about that right now — How are you feeling?”

 

X’s eyes bore into theirs. They winced and looked away.

 

“Tired. Achy.”

 

“You can move alright? Feel all your fingers and toes?”

 

They wiggled their toes briefly.

 

“...yes?”

 

X let out a long sigh.

 

“Good, good. So it’s not that bad yet.”

 

“Ok — Wait, what’s going on? Xisuma what—” He cut off. Not only had he apparently betrayed Hels, he’d also gotten himself in some sort of trouble that X was afraid might kill him.

 

“...remember when I said you were possessed?”

 

“Yeah? What does that have to do with this?”

 

“The people who kidnapped us tried to use you to tether some sort of deity to our world. It’s — we had to banish whatever it was, because it was angry about being trapped in a sigil. It started to poison you, and… we had no other choice. We had to get rid of it, but…”

 

“My body’s deteriorating without the extra magic. It hollowed me out, and now there’s nothing to keep me from imploding.”

 

“Unfortunately, yes.”

 

They sighed.

 

“Of course… Who was it, exactly?”

 

“I believe they called themself Lightworld.”

 

Ex flinched, biting down hard on their lip.

 

“Of course.” They said. “The one good thing I’ve ever done, and I’m being punished for it. It wasn’t any of my morally arguable jobs — the only good thing I’ve ever done, and it almost got you killed.”

 

“...what was it?” Xisuma said. “I swore it was implied that it was my fault—”

 

“It wasn’t! It wasn’t your fault.” He grabbed X’s shoulder, locking eyes with him. “Don’t let anyone tell you it was.”

 

“...what happened?”

 

“Do you remember when you got sick a few years back? The Hermits were scrambling trying to keep you alive, but… they couldn’t figure out what was wrong?” X nodded slowly. “You picked up a curse. So I stole something from the cult, because I knew I could use its magic to heal you. And I did — I performed a quick ritual, and you woke up the next day tired but alive. I drained all of the artifact's energy though, and — I must’ve really pissed them off. They probably needed the magic to summon… whoever it was they wanted to make a deal with. I bet they decided to take you to punish me.”

 

“So it is my fault.”

 

Ex’s grip on X’s shoulder tightened.

 

“No. It’s not. I made my decision knowing exactly what could happen. I was fine with it — I agreed to the consequences when I stole the artifact. I knew exactly what I was getting into — you didn’t ask me to steal for you. It’s not your fault — it was my decision.”

 

X sighed.

 

“I guess…” He rubbed his eyes. “This is the first time you’ve woken up conscious since you got sick. I — we don’t know how to stop it.”

 

“Can’t you just — replace the magic?”

 

X blinked at him.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Well there are some other things who put out the same magic as whatever possessed me. If you can hook me up to one of those, I should get better. It just needs to be the same magic type. …you know what the magic types are, right?”

 

“I — possibly? I think I read a little about them in a book once. Some of the other Hermits should know more about it, I can get them to help.”

 

Ex nodded.

 

“All you’ll need is a stable source. Once you have that, you should be able to find another ritual to bind me to it.”

 

“...so that’s what we need to do. Another binding. I — I completely overlooked everything we found on bindings. It’s what started this mess — I didn’t realise it could fix it!”

 

Ex nodded. 

 

“I — wish I knew more than that, but… that’s really all I’ve got. I’ve never been very big on magic. I prefer things I have more control over.”

 

X chuckled lightly.

 

“Figures.”

 

Ex rubbed at his eyes. X shifted.

 

“If you’d like, I can bring you one of the books we’ve been looking over. We can start reading through it — you might be able to find something easier than I can, this magic stuff’s… never really been my thing.”

 

“Doesn’t surprise me.” Ex shrugged. “Restoners usually don’t like magic unless they’re born with it. And even then…”

 

“We have a few of those.” X agreed. “I’ve been told they have a… strange outlook on magic, compared to the others.”

 

“I think your Hermits just have a strange outlook on everything.”

 

X laughed, standing slowly.

 

“I’ll be right back — just going to steal a book from the others real quick.”

 

He disappeared into a hallway, and Ex leaned back against the backrest. This was a giant mess… And he didn’t even have a free path once they stopped him from dying, because he’d have to figure out what he was going to do with Hels. An apology wouldn’t cover something like this… Xisuma returned before they could spiral too far, setting a large tome in their lap. He settled next to them, peering over their shoulder as they opened the book. He frowned at the very boring introduction to magic types and flipped through it.

 

“You’re probably going to have to catch me up to speed, Ex.” 

 

“Right… so magic types are — think of them like different types of energy. You can hook a skulk sensor up to redstone, but you can’t power the sensor or turn it on and off using redstone. Magic types are just like that — some types don’t interact at all, so it would be like trying to power a… a stone block. Some interact through one-way channels — like the skulk sensory and redstone. The redstone reacts to the skulk sensor, but the skulk sensor isn’t even really aware of the redstone. And then some stuff is just like redstone dust and redstone torches — they’re exactly compatible because they’re both made of the same stuff: redstone.”

 

“So we want something that’s either one-way compatible with whatever magic the deity who possessed you had, or something that’s the exact same type — or just similar enough to effect your magic.”

 

“Exactly!” Ex thumbed through a few more pages. There was some good information on different magic types, but that information was useless if they didn’t know what magic types he needed. “Oh, here — this says we can test my magic using a few different procedures. …or more than a few.” He flipped through another couple pages, which were all covered in different tests. There had to be at least 20 of them. He sighed. “Oh great… we don’t have time for all this!”

 

X shook his head.

 

“I know. I can reach out to the HErmits if you’d like. Maybe one of them’s invented an easier way to test for magic types.”

 

“Yeah, go for it…” Ex said, starting to read through each of the specific tests. 

 

Some of them were useless — just looking for magic subtypes for extra potential compatibility, but most of them were testing for two or three main types. If they had to go through all of these, it was going to take forever. Knowing exactly who had possessed him might help, but knowing their luck it was probably someone who was rarely written about.

 

“Who possessed me again?” He asked as Xisuma continued his frantic typing between himself and the other Hermits.

 

“Banisher of Shadows.” He mumbled, continuing to seemingly argue with someone through the communicator.

 

“Banisher of…” He flipped through to the end of the book, checking the annex for any mention of a deity by that name. He found nothing. Welp, that was probably it, wasn’t it? They weren’t going to find much of anything. This book was pretty exhaustive, their only luck for finding more info about this was either getting information from the probably-destroyed cult, or finding a very very specific book that would actually have information on the Banisher. “There’s nothing about them in here. We’re on our own — we’ll have to do the tests.”

 

X sighed.

 

“Well that shouldn’t be too hard — I’m trying to fend off the Hermits’ magical people. I think they have plans for… something that may help us figure out your magic type, but I’m trying to veto the more… experimental ideas.”

 

Ex snorted.

 

“Of course. Trust your Hermits to do absolutely everything in strange and terrifying ways.”

 

X laughed.

 

“You don’t know the half of it…” He paused. “Oh dear. They’re on their way.”

 

“What—”

 

The door opened, and several Hermits strolled in. Or, well, one of them strolled in while the others stumbled behind them.

 

“Joe you really need to warn us before you just teleport us places.” Said a fishy man.

 

“I’m sorry, I just forget normal people can’t just teleport with no issues! I’ll warn you next time.” A man in a blue shirt and glasses answered.

 

X shook his head.

 

“What are we doing?”

 

“Magic types, Xisuma!” The same blue-shirted man answered. “Did you forget — you were the one to call us here.”

 

“First off I did not call you all here — you brought yourselves when I tried to tell you I didn’t want a crowd. And secondly I know we’re testing magic types — I meant to ask how we’re doing it.”

 

Glasses man blinked.

 

“Oh.” He paused for a single second. “Well Cleo’s got a plan, Keralis thinks he can figure it out given enough time, I can search the collective, and Xb… well we’re just hoping his whole psychic thing might activate.”

 

“...I’m going to pretend I understand what you just said.” Ex grumbled.

 

“Wait, you don’t even know who you’re talking to, do you?” X mumbled. “This is Joe, Cleo, Keralis, and Xb.”

 

“We’ll teleport Pearl in if we need her! And any of the others.” Joe got some sideways looks, and hurriedly added: “With warning! I won’t just steal them from their homes.”

 

Ex stared at him. Ah Hermits… always confusing to interact with.

 

“Alright.” The zombie — Cleo — stepped forwards. “I’ll just need a bit of your blood.”

 

“Oh yay, my blood…” They held their arm out, and Cleo cleaned a small spot before tying a plastic band around his forearm and slowly sticking a needle into their vein. They winced at the pinch, and the following feeling of the needle shifting within their vein. “So what’re you going to do with this?” Ex asked as Cleo inserted some sort of tube, which started to fill with their blood.

 

“Centrifuge.” They answered, and continued with a sigh at Ex’s questioning look. “Most magic types cause elevations in certain substances in your body. Or, in the case of fae magic, things like anemia.”

 

“...because they’re usually uncomfortable around iron.”

 

“Exactly.” Cleo nodded, pulling out the tube of blood and handing it to Joe. He disappeared as they pulled the needle from their skin and disposed of it. “Alright, Joe should be back in a few minutes with the results. He’ll probably do some… Joe magic to speed things up a bit.”

 

Ex shook their head slowly, glancing over at Xisuma, who was trying and failing to hide a grin.

 

“How many magical anomalies do you even have, X?! I swear, they all have something!”

 

“Well no, there’s—” X cut off, his eyes darting around as he searched for what he wanted to say. “...there are no normal ones. I forgot.”

 

Ex laughed.

 

“Of course you’d manage to collect a bunch of magical weirdos.”

 

“I didn’t collect them! And not all of them are magic, they’re just… associated with magic.”

 

X went to say something, only for Joe to reappear in front of him.

 

“Magic type L13.” He announced.

 

X frowned.

 

“Ok, what… do we do with that?”

 

Joe shrugged.

 

“...L13, that’s a living magic type. That complicates things…”

 

Xisuma frowned.

 

“It means we need to find another person with the same magic type — it doesn't just appear on random planets. People are the only ones who can have it.” Ex explained.

 

“Huh. So what do we do?” He asked.

 

“We need everyone’s blood!” Joe said.

 

“...that’s a way to do it.” Cleo agreed.

 

“Ok — I’m off to steal people’s blood!” 

 

“Joe no—”

 

“No!” Several people started, but Joe disappeared before he could hear them.

 

“...well, that’s going to be a situation.” X said.

 

“Shouldn’t you fix it…?” Ex tried.

 

“Na.” He shrugged. “That’s somebody else’s problem — I just keep the world alive.”

 

“...so who controls the magical weirdos.”

 

“I think that job falls to the ‘magical weirdos.’” Cleo said, grinning.

 

Ex sighed.

 

“This place… it always manages to just get stranger…”

 

“You get used to it.” Xb shrugged. After a moment, he flinched. “I think Joe just took my blood.”

 

“Yeah that’s not — ow — surprising.” Cleo said, rubbing their arm. “Someone should probably tell him that most people don’t like having their blood randomly taken. He doesn’t get it because I don’t think he has blood.”

 

“Ichor.” X said. “I’m pretty sure he has ichor.”

 

“Sounds about right…” Cleo mumbled.

 

They went quiet for a few minutes, before Joe reappeared again. 

 

“I’ve got nothing!” He said.

 

“...nothing?” X asked.

 

“Nothing. No matches.”

 

“And you’ve tested everyone?”

 

“Yep! Well, no — not Helsknight, but that’s only because he threatened me. I can’t be hurt by him, really, but… I’d rather not invite in his infamous wrath.”

 

“We should probably test him too…” Cleo said. “Not sure how you’ll convince him, but… if he’s not a match, then we’ll have to go off-server.”

 

Joe vanished. They all stared at where he’d been, until he reappeared after a minute.

 

“He said no!” He announced.

 

Ex slumped back against the couch, the energy that had been keeping them upright buckling into nothing. Of course Hels didn’t want to help him… they should’ve expected that.

 

“...he said no?” Xisuma asked.

 

“He said no.” Joe shrugged. “He does not want his blood taken.”

 

“Well — did you explain why we needed it?” 

 

Joe frowned.

 

“Oh, that’s… probably important information, isn’t it?”

 

He vanished again. Cleo laughed.

 

“Tell me why we’re having Joe do this again?” Xb said.

 

“He’s the only one who can teleport, Princess.” Keralis said.

 

“Right…” 

 

Ex looked between the two of them. Joe reappeared before they could say anything.

 

“It’s in the centrifuge.”

 

“Ok, that’s good…” Xisuma sighed.

 

“Hey — are you ok?” Joe asked, leaning in too close to Ex. He grumbled something, and Joe took a small step back. “You’re not looking very good.”

 

“I’m dying. I’m not going to look the best.”

 

Joe frowned, but nodded slowly. 

 

“Fair, I guess…”

 

“You do look tired.” Xisuma said, frowning at them.

 

“I am tired.” They grumbled.

 

Joe vanished again as Xisuma reached out to check their pulse. 

 

“Your pulse doesn’t feel right either… I think you might be going into another episode.”

 

“Oh, great. Well what does that mean for me?”

 

“You… probably won’t wake up for very long until the episode ends, or we get this fixed. And when you do wake up, I… don’t think you’ll really know what’s going on. That’s how things have been since we did the banishing ritual.” He sighed. “I had hoped that it was just a side effect of the ritual, but… that theory isn’t looking very good anymore.”

 

Ex sighed.

 

“Of course… should’ve known I’d start deteriorating the moment you kicked out the Banisher of Shadows.”

 

“I’m sorry. We… We didn’t have any other choice.”

 

“I know. You did good, Xisuma. Just… sometimes these things don’t work out.”

 

X nodded slowly, and they fell into silence. After a few minutes, Joe popped back into existence in front of them.

 

“The centrifuge is… broken?” Joe said.

 

“What do you mean?” Ex asked, rubbing their eyes. 

 

They were so tired… they probably weren’t making it much longer before they fell asleep. And if that happened, who knew when they’d wake up again. 

 

“Well I ran their blood through the machine, but… it just changed color, and turned into a foamy mess. I tried to analyse it, but the machine doesn’t know what to make of it, and honestly neither do I!”

 

X sighed.

 

“We’ll reach out to other servers.” Keralis said. “Someone must have the same magic type, and be willing to help us.”

 

The group continued talking, making a plan, but Ex didn’t catch most of it. They were so, so tired… And nothing was looking like this was going to have a happy ending. His head slumped against Xisuma. He could feel someone shake his shoulders, but didn’t have the energy to move. He slipped back under. The next time they awoke, they felt like they were on fire. They squirmed, trying to get away from the pain, but it didn’t let up. They could hear voices, too far away to make out. At least one of them was shouting, their voice carrying almost all the way to Ex. He shifted more, trying to escape, but the pain followed them. They whimpered, and the voices fell silent. Someone lifted him, starting to move as the voices started up again.

 

“It’s not going to work — what if we’re wrong!”

 

“We can’t be. The signature is here — he’s the only one who could be carrying it. It has to be him!”

 

“Does it? Or are you so desperate for a solution that you’re hanging onto whatever threads you can find.”

 

“I…”

 

“I get it, Xisuma. I do. But I still think we should wait and try to figure things out—”

 

“We don’t have time for that! He’s dying—”

 

The voices cut off. When they started up again, softer now, Ex wasn’t able to catch any of it. He awoke covered in something soft. Pain wracked through them, and they forced themself upright, fighting the blankets tangled around them. He blinked awake, startling upright. Everything felt wrong. Everything was wrong. He didn’t feel right, like a part of him was missing. He needed to find it. The pain would stop when he found it. He found himself in the hallway, his legs moving without him, moving towards the other part of him. He stumbled out to the living room, and several people rose from their seats, shouting various things at them. They kept moving, even as Xisuma moved to grab their shoulder.

 

“I have to — I—”

 

X shared a look with the other Hermits in the room.

 

“Was this supposed to happen?” He asked.

 

“Nobody’s done this before! We have no clue what’s normal — this might be a universal first!” Said a man in strangely vibrant clothes.

 

“Where — I—”

 

It was too hard to think. Too hard to try and put together a coherent thought, to justify anything other than trying to escape this fracturing. 

 

“Easy — deep breaths. You’re alright. It worked, you’re ok.” Xisuma said, rubbing their shoulder to try and ground them in reality.

 

“What—” He managed.

 

“We followed your plan. Bonded you to someone with the right magic type. You’re going to be ok.”

 

“Where — Xisuma I can’t—”

 

“He’s still not doing well.” Someone said from the doorway.

 

They lurched towards the Hermit. They had it. They — They had what he needed. He stumbled his way to them, legs nearly buckling when he finally realised that they weren’t who he was looking for. It wasn’t them — just residual. 

 

“What’s going on?” Xisuma asked.

 

“He won’t speak, barely moves — I don’t know. Maybe we made a mistake—”

 

Their mind locked onto the source, Ex forced their way past the shouting Hermits. A couple more were guarding the hallway, and they darted around those people as well. They locked onto a door, shoving it open. Their eyes caught on a trembling form, which shifted as it noticed him. There. That was it. He collapsed onto them and they moved to drag him into their arms. He let out a sigh, his own moving to clutch onto them in return. Whole. He was — He was whole. Slowly, his mind put itself back together. Finally processed the whispers from behind him. Finally processed just who they were clinging onto so tightly. Their attention caught on the raspy breaths first, courtesy of a nearly-failed plan a few years back. Then the rough, calloused hands that were holding him, and the terribly familiar way the body felt against him. His breath hitched. It couldn’t be… It couldn’t be, and yet…

 

“...Hels?” He asked, and the man stiffened.

 

He pulled away, and the moment he made it to the edge of the bed the desperation hit them again, mind blurring and body aching with the feeling that they were being torn apart. The two dived for one another, grabbing onto whatever they could hold. They took in a couple breaths as thor head cleared again.

 

“...yeah. It’s me.” Hels said.

 

“You — You aren’t mad?”

 

“I’m plenty mad! But… what was I supposed to do, let you die?” Ex hesitated, and Hels took that as his cue to keep talking. “My magic came back as a match for what you needed. We couldn’t find anyone else — we looked, but… you were getting worse with every hour that passed. Ex I was watching you die. So yes, I am mad. But… there was nothing else to do.”

 

“...did you know this was going to happen?”

 

“No. I mean — the Hermits were clear that they didn’t know what was going to happen when we went through with the ritual, but… I didn’t expect this. I figured it would be fatigue, or pain — something that I could handle.”

 

“...I’m sorry.” Hels shrugged. “No — I am really sorry, Hels. I just — they would’ve killed you if you attacked them. There were twenty of them, and only two of us! We didn’t have any armour, or weapons — I made the decision that got you out of there alive.”

 

“Sure, after revealing my weak points to the entire room.” Hels scoffed.

 

“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I — I didn’t know what else to do.”

 

“You could’ve trusted me.”

 

“I did! I promise I did. Just… I didn’t think we could make it. Hels they — they had a shock bracelet wrapped around my wrist. If I had tried to fight back, they would’ve just knocked me out. And you couldn’t beat all of those guards alone and unarmed.”

 

“Then why didn’t you tell me that?!”

 

“...would it have changed anything if I did?”

 

“Does that matter—”

 

“It does! You knew what they were planning to do to me — Tell me you would’ve backed down! Tell me you wouldn’t have fought until they killed you to save me from that!” Hels hesitated. “That’s what I mean. Hels… if you were in my place, would you have done anything differently?” 

 

“Yes! Yes, because I’m not a self-sacrificing idiot—”

 

“Do I need to bring up the time I got an infection while we were running from the royal guard on Theta, and you tried to serve yourself up on a silver platter in exchange for them healing me? Or when you knew you were too injured to walk and almost threw yourself into a ditch to try and convince me to leave you? Do we or do we not have a track record of trying to give ourselves up for each other if we know we probably can’t both make it out alive.” Hels stayed quiet, and Ex swore they could feel a thrum of anxiety running through his chest. “Well, do we?!”

 

“...we do.”

 

“Great, so don’t act like that’s why you’re so mad. It’s about the weak points, I know it’s about the weak points — can we just talk about that like normal people, instead of skirting around the subject?!”

 

“...fine. Yes, I’m angry about that. I told you that because I trusted you. More than that — I only told you because I was afraid I was going to hurt you! I was afraid I was going to wake up from a nightmare and not recognise you, or get mind controlled and kill you! That’s the only reason I told you! I haven’t told anyone about it — It’s taboo to tell anyone about your weak points, and now I know why!”

 

“...I’m sorry.”

 

“...I know.”

 

“I can’t fix this, can I…?”

 

“I really don’t know.”

 

Ex sighed.

 

“Did they tell you how much longer this’ll last?”

 

“They don’t know. Like I said — they don’t even think anyone’s done this before. Tried to heal the aftereffects of possession with someone else’s magic…” He sighed. “And here I was thinking my family’s magic skipped me…”

 

They went quiet for a little. Ex shifted, stretching out one of their arms, and their fingers brushed the back of Hels’ head. He flinched, and Ex pulled their hand away.

 

“Sorry. I — I won’t do it again. I promise you.”

 

Hels just snorted.

 

“Sure.”

 

“Hey — don’t be a dumbass! I mean it!”

 

Hels just shook his head. They were quiet for a few minutes, until Hels sighed.

 

“We should probably get up — I don’t know how long it’s been, but I’m hungry.”

 

Ex grumbled but moved with him when he sat up. They stood, Hels taking a step away from them before the two crashed back together.

 

“Right… can’t go too far.” Hels mumbled. 

 

They shifted, wrapping an arm around each other and starting for the kitchen. The moment they stepped back out into the living room, all the Hermits went quiet. Xisuma darted up from his perch on a stool, opening and closing his mouth several times.

 

“Stop being a fish, Xisuma.” Ex said. “We’re fine.”

 

“Oh thank goodness.” X said, and Ex could see Hels’ counterpart weave his way out of the sea of Hermits.

 

He found his place at Hels’ side, talking to him with hushed, hurried tones.

 

“Here, are you hungry?” Xisuma asked. “I can make you something.”

 

He pulled Ex away from Hels, and they gasped when their hand lost purchase on Hels’ back. Immediately, everything clouded violently. The world narrowed into little more than the hand on Ex’s shoulder, and the feeling of himself splitting in two. He could feel them getting torn further apart, and something snapped. He heard a shout, and tried to clear his mind. Something was wrong. Something was — He managed to focus the tiniest amount, and saw Hels standing over his Hermit self. Ex moved, trying to drag him back and free the Hermit that was trapped against the wall. 

 

“Hels, stop—” Ex called, grabbing at his shoulders as the world narrowed back down to nothing more than Hels.

 

Hels crashed into them, a stronger pang of wrongness hitting them at the same time. They crashed to the ground hard, and could barely hear shouting over the ringing in their ears. They took in a shaking breath as nails dug into their arm. They tried to shake Hels off, which proved to be a mistake. He grabbed onto their throat and Ex’s breath cut off. They tried to call out his name, but couldn’t even manage a wheeze. They kicked Hels in the stomach, which sent ripples of pain through both of them. 

 

“Stop it!” Hels shouted.

 

Ex clawed at his arms, struggling as spots cluttered his vision. His throat burned, his lungs quickly following suit. A vague notion hit them, three pressure points on the back of Hels’ head. He ignored it. Never, never again. They would probably respawn here, it would be ok — Something crashed into them, splitting them apart again. Ex rolled onto their side and pressed a hand to their throat, bringing in heaving gasps. Someone appeared at his side, helping him sit up as he swayed. 

 

“Easy — It’s alright Ex. We’re ok.” Xisuma said, but Ex’s attention pinged elsewhere.

 

He could feel hands pinning him down, could hear voices shouting at him. He fought his way forwards, desperate to figure out what was happening. More hands grabbed at them, and he shoved them away, crashing back into a whole. They stopped fighting, the both of them falling limp. He opened his eyes after a moment, catching the gaze of a Hermit. Hels shifted beneath them, one hand curling around Ex as he sat them both upright.

 

“What…?” Their eyes caught on the way all of the Hermits were looking at them, like a bomb about to go off.

 

“Hels, are you going to do it again?” Wels asked, crouching down next to them, just out of arm’s reach.

 

“Do — Do what?” Ex rubbed their neck, which still burnt, even if the pain wasn’t quite as bad as earlier. “Wait, shit — did I do that?”

 

“Yeah.” Ex rasped. “You — I don’t know what happened. Everything went cloudy, and next thingI knew you were fighting Welsknight. I tried to get you off him, and…”

 

“I — I’m so sorry.” Hels breathed. “Ex I didn’t mean to—”

 

“It’s alright. You — You didn’t know what you were doing.’

 

“No it’s not! Why — Why didn’t you stop me?”

 

“I — I promised you—”

 

“No! Stop — Don’t be an idiot, Ex. There’s a reason I told you about that — that specific reason, actually. I told you about it in case that happens, you were supposed to—”

 

“I don’t want to.”

 

Hels bit out a jagged laugh.

 

“You had to!” He grabbed Ex’s shoulder with his free hand. “Promise me. Promise me if it happens again, you’ll stop me.”

 

“I—”

 

“Promise me!”

 

“Ok, I — I will. I promise.”

 

Hels let out a slow sigh, his head dipping towards his chest. He weakly glanced up to the Hermits, grimacing.

 

“So… any idea what that was?”

 

Most of them didn’t move. The couple who did just shook their heads.

 

“...It had to have something to do with them separating us.” Ex said, and he caught Xisuma’s eye as he ducked his head. “Don’t, Xisuma. It’s not your fault either, it’s just… how this works, I guess.”

 

“What did you feel?”

 

“I don’t know. Just — panic, and then everything clouded over. I managed to snap out of it long enough to tackle you, and then it got… a little cleared, but everything still felt wrong.”

 

Hels nodded.

 

“It was similar for me. I didn’t know what was happening, I just—” He looked up. “Wels was moving me, but I didn’t want to — I couldn’t think. All I knew was I wasn’t supposed to be moved. I don’t even remember hurting him. One second he was moving me, and the next…” His fingers brushed his throat. “...I swear I could feel you — I could feel myself being strangled.”

 

Ex paused.

 

“You did — yell for something to stop. That would explain why you were so panicked — why you wouldn’t stop fighting.”

 

“Yeah, but — what does it mean? How do we keep it from happening again?” Hels asked.

 

“...I don’t know.” 

 

“I have a theory.” The fish-Hermit — Xb, maybe — said. “It might be that while the bond between you two is settling, your bodies and minds are too connected. You can’t tell where you end and the other begins. It — I’ve seen it happen before, since guardians are telepathic. It should get a little better with time. And you’ll both figure out how to work with it better. Just — maybe stick close to each other for the time being?” He offered.

 

“...yeah.” Hels eventually said. “Alright.”

 

They slowly stood, Hermits hovering nearby as they got food and ate. It was a little difficult to stay close enough to each other while on the stools, but… they somehow managed. The two curled up against each other on the couch, Wels coming over to whisper to Hels. Ex could hear fragments of the conversation even though neither of them were talking loud enough for that, and he waved over Xisuma, who sat at his side. X must’ve seen the discomfort on his face, because he started talking about the current Hermitcraft season. Ex’s shoulders slumped when his voice drowned out Hels’ conversation. Beside him, Hels slumped slightly too. They leaned against each other, managing to find some sort of normalcy in all this. Eventually it rolled around to night time, and the Hermits started to get tired, slowly filtering out of the room. Ex and Hels decided to return to the room they’d woken up in, curling up in each other’s arms.

 

“So… what now?” Ex asked after a moment.

 

“...not sure.” Hels shrugged. “How’s your throat?”

 

“It’ll heal.” Hels winced. “Hey — it’s probably not the worst either of us have done to each other.”

 

“...I’d really hope not. The things we did when we first met each other…”

 

“What, you didn’t like my evil traps?” Ex tried to joke.

 

“Those are just about the last things I’m thinking about right now. We’ve both… done a lot of damage to each other.”

 

“...yeah.”

 

“We have gotten better, right? We’re not the same idiots we were when we met.”

 

“Honestly if we were, I think we would’ve killed each other by now.”

 

Hels sighed.

 

“Sounds about right… This is such a mess.”

 

“Yeah. Hey, we’ve survived everything so far, so…”

 

Ex wrapped an arm around him, careful to keep it far from Hels’ head. He shifted some, getting comfortable as well.

 

“Think we’ll make it through this?”

 

“...yeah. I do.”

 

Hels smiled weakly.

 

“I was hoping you’d say that.”

 

“Hey — a little strangling isn’t gonna kill us.”

 

“...it could’ve.”

 

“But it didn’t.”

 

Hels hesitated.

 

“We’ll get through this.” He agreed.

 

“Even after—”

 

“Yeah. Even after that. We might take some time to get back to where we were, but… we’ll make it. I think we both want it enough for that.”

 

“And you’re kinda stuck with me, considering the magic thing…”

 

“That’s not the only thing keeping us together. Really think you’re getting out of this that easily?” Hels asked, and Ex laughed.

 

“Yeah, alright…” His smile faded when he considered their apartment. The Lightmakers must’ve been scattered after what happened during the summoning, but… he knew at least a couple people were going to target them. “Hels, I really don’t think we can go home.” He whispered.

 

“...probably not. They grabbed me out of my bed — they obviously don’t care about breaking in.”

 

“They took you while you were asleep?” Hels shrugged faintly. “...what happened?”

 

“I came home after sending the packages off, and went to bed. Then something woke me up. Someone was — standing over me. …I thought it was a nightmare at first. That I was going to wake up next to you at any moment. They hit me when I didn’t cooperate, and then I realised. I tried to fight, but… I didn’t have any weapons in arm’s reach. They were all across the room. I… figure you can put the rest together.”

 

“I’m so sorry.”

 

“It’s — It happens. It’s not your fault, someone was going to find us eventually.”

 

“...I guess.” He sighed. “We’ll have to move.”

 

“Yeah. I — don’t really want to stay there anymore, knowing that at least a few people have to know where we live.”

 

“...I really don’t want to go back out there, Hels. If the other people we’ve stolen from find out where we are—” He cut off.

 

“What do you want to do?”

 

“I… Hermitcraft’s a pretty secure server. I don’t think we’ll ever be safer than we are here. If you’re ok with staying, and they’ll let us hang around…”

 

“...it’s a good idea.” Hels agreed. “I really don’t know if they’ll want me to stay around, but… if they’ll keep us, I’m fine with it. I don’t want to have to fight for our lives while we still can’t even take a step away from each other.”

 

“Yeah. And they might be able to help us with this — That Xb guy seemed like he might know some stuff that could make this easier. Or just… let us have some idea what’s happening.”

 

“...we’ll see how it goes.” Hels said. “That’s probably enough planning for the day. I’m exhausted…”

 

“Me too.” Ex groaned, curling into him. Hels stilled. “...I’m not going to hurt you. I promise.”

 

“...I know.” Hels wrapped his arms around Ex. “We can talk to them in the morning — you could probably use the rest after your whole almost-dying stunt.”

 

Ex snickered.

 

“Yeah… maybe. Night Hels. I’m… really glad you’re ok.”

 

Hels laughed.

 

“Yeah — me. I’m the one people should be worried about.” He pulled Ex closer to him. “Goodnight Ex. Get some rest.”

 

They closed their eyes and drifted off.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 4 of M's Hermitcraft 11 Fics