The Silver Sun - A Hermitcraft Watcher AU

13

"I don't trust them."

Wels nudged Doc in the ribs.

"You know I don't either, but there isn't much of a choice. We're heavily outnumbered with no weapons. If our friends are acting normal, we need to take advantage of that for as long as possible."

"Right, you're right." The creeper sighed, "Let's find X. We gotta make a plan to get those masks off everyone. Where is he, anyway?"

The knight scanned over the courtyard from the balcony where they stood, all hermits other than Xisuma accounted for. A scowl grew across the blonde's face, with his stomach twisting into a firm knot. "This can't be good. Come on, let's go talk to some of the hermits on our side. Maybe they've seen him."

Nodding in agreement, Doc took the lead, he and Wels making their way down the staircase to join the other hermits. Those who wore masks turned their attention towards the two, staring in an eerie silence. Their silver eyes watched with curiosity, unblinking. Despite the hollow and blank appearance, it felt like the eyes were glaring.

"I hate this..." The cyborg muttered underneath his breath. "We gotta hurry and fix things. I mean, it's great that everyone is okay and all, but.."

"It's not them, I get it. Just keep your guard up, who knows when our so-called 'friends' will turn against us.." Wels whispered in response, glancing around to the brainwashed hermits. They all had swords in holsters, which meant that they could draw their weapons at a moment's notice. If it came down to it, he could easily snatch a blade or two. His attention then turned to the few hermits that he saw as allies.

Zedaph was with Impulse and Tango, while Stress and Grian were with Mumbo, Scar, and Iskall. Joe was off to the side with Cleo, making him the easiest to pull away. It was clear that the poet was nervous, definitely on-edge while chatting with the brainwashed zombie. He took off his glasses, shifting uncomfortably in place while cleaning them on his shirt before setting them back onto the bridge of his nose.

Noticing Doc and Wels approaching, Joe gave a smile to the redhead. "It was nice to talk to you again, Cleo. I'm going to go check on the other hermits, I'll see you in a bit."

She gave a silent nod, the silver eye on her mask watching as the southerner walked away. Joe shivered, an eerie tension lingering in the air. Just by talking to the zombie, it was easy to tell that she wasn't the same. It was hard to explain exactly what was wrong, but it was like she had lost a spark of energy and joy. Maybe it was all the freaky eyes watching him, but even the littlest things were starting to stress the poet out.

His smile quickly faded to a more serious expression as he approached the two hermits. "Have either of you see X?"

Wels shook his head. "No, but we're looking. For now, we should get the others and stick together. I don't trust this, it feels like at any moment they'll turn against us..."

"Definitely," Joe agreed. "I was hoping that X would have a plan or somethin' to get those masks off. The sooner we do that, the sooner we get outta here."

"I have a plan. Why don't we just rip them off?" Doc growled, punching a fist into his palm.

"Let's focus on gathering up the hermits on our side, first. I doubt it's that easy, not to mention we're outnumbered." Wels added grimly.

"Right, okay." The creeper grumbled impatiently, shoving his hands into the pockets of his lab coat while following the knight and poet.

Walking over to the pond in the center of the courtyard, Grian and Stress were caught up in their conversations with the hermits. They acted as though everything was normal, that things were fine just because the hermits were all together again. That was far from the truth,  being in the heart of the castle made this the most dangerous place they could ever be.