Chapter Text
Xisuma dragged the lectern to the front of the meeting room. There were chairs for each Hermit out. He clicked a button on the side of his communicator, which then read out the time to him.
"The time is 8:54. Your event, 'Hermitcraft Meeting', will begin in six minutes."
He sighed and sat in a chair at the back of the room. After a few minutes of calm silence, the other Hermits began flooding in, greeting Xisuma and talking amongst themselves. Xisuma strode to the front of the room, his heart beating loudly. No matter how many meetings he had been in, his heart always raced at all the noise in the room. As he reached the lectern, he cleared his throat loudly.
The room went quiet, save for the shuffling of chairs as the Hermits sat down, and X began his greeting. "Mornin', guys, gals, and non-binary pals!" The Hermits replied with variations of good mornings to the Admin. "So, welcome to the midway point of Season Six!"
A few 'yipee's rang across the room. X smiled. "So, main announcements, and as usual, ignoring the current prank war for the sake of peace in here," -this was greeted with murmurs of Hermits agreeing- "Please avoid going near the World Border currently, some of its code is bugging out right now, and it is possible for you to get stuck on the other side." Grian giggled, and another Hermit slapped him lightly. "Don't you even think about it, G!" Mumbo hissed, although there was a tint of humor to his voice.
The Admin sighed and continued. "That's about it for announcements from me. Grian, I believe you had something you wanted to say?"
Grian giggled and quickly made his way up to the stage. All the Hermits laughed, which made Xisuma sigh. "What's going on?" X asked. Cleo barked a laugh. "Oh, if only you could see him right now-" Xisuma hissed his genuine annoyance at the zombie and turned blindly in Grian's direction.
Grian giggled like a child, and guided Xisuma away from the lectern. He obliged, and stood against the wall, arms crossed.
"Well, fellow Hermits, I bet you're wondering why I'm dressed like a femboy today-" This was met by hysterical laughter from False. "I did not know you knew that word-" She managed through her giggles.
Xisuma tilted his head and motioned for Grian to continue.
"So.... recently, I've decided that this server isn't.... musical enough." Grian swished something he was wearing. "So, meet Ariana Griande!" He giggled. Mumbo snickered quietly. Grian walked away from the lectern with that, and Xisuma forced a smile back on his face, after the brief frustration of jokes that he could never see. "Next on the agenda is the question of whether we're going to shrink the border of the fantasy district, since it's in the way of a large slime chunk area. Take the next few minutes to discuss and then we'll take up the vote."
The room grew rapidly louder, a feeling X was familiar with. The air around him grew slightly fuzzy as aggression rose within him, which he quickly forced back down. Not here.
He was back in the room, with the monsters that called themselves his adopted parents. They taunted him, pulling on the vines that grew on his small, emerging antlers. He attempted to cover his ears as the noise around him grew louder and louder, their jeers getting closer and more aggressive.
Until he snapped, and a large wave of power shot out of his mouth, a loud scream that shook the house, and causing his 'parents' to fall back...
Dead.
The guilt surrounded him instantly. He just killed someone. Two people. He was a bad person. He needed to run away now. Quickly, before anyone caught him.
He ran blindly out of the house, as far as he could. Suddenly though, a tight embrace caught him. "Hey, are you okay?" A young, warm, and kind voice with an American accent greeted him, and Xisuma started sobbing, the tears flowing off his antlers.
His mind began wrapping itself in a foggy embrace which he tried to fight off. The noises around him grew louder and louder, until everything went silent. This didn't calm him, and the Admin wrapped his arms around himself as his breathing sped up. Xisuma felt a coarse hand on his shoulder, and flinched. The hand didn't move. As the room went completely silent, he found himself on edge. He reached for his sword, breathing heavily as his heart beat loudly. The hand pressed against his heart and provided a pressure there he appreciated greatly. He stood up slowly, and another hand guided him to the door, and as they walked together, X felt himself calm down slowly, although he was still aching to blast even the slightest noise from even his own footsteps.
The hands, which he slowly deemed to be Cleo's, guided him slowly into a house in their dock yard, which happened to be nearby.
As the door to the small house opened, X stiffened, holding back the urge to lash out. Cleo gripped his hand softly and kept holding onto his hand, still not saying a word. She helped him sit down on the bed.
"Hey, X." They risked a quiet whisper, and sat down beside him. He frowned. "Sorry."
"Don't be sorry, 'Suma. It was way too loud in there."
He sighed and let his heart beat slow down, before Cleo slowly wrapped him into a tight hug.