Two Different Worlds (Re-Write) - A Hermitcraft Mermaid AU

Chapter 13 - More Serious than Anticipated

Ezra went quiet, and judging by the pain in his eyes at whatever memory the question triggered, it probably wasn't a good question to ask.

"I-I mean, you don't need to tell me if you don't want to, I don't want to make you-"

"No, it's alright." He interrupted, voice softer and quieter than BDubs had heard it in a while. "He just... had a very, very bad experience with them, worse than most of us."

BDubs nodded, wondering did he even want to hear what happened.

******This is the scary triggering bit, you can just skip over it if you like******

"You know how our parents abandoned us, right? Just like yours, and Scar's, and everyone else's. It meant the two of us were alone for a very long time. When we were 14... only a few months before we found you... we had an unfortunate run in.

Xisuma did everything he could to try and keep the pirates away from me, but ended up getting caught himself. I... I tried to stop them, but I couldn't."

Tears well up in Ezra's eyes, and he quickly brushes them away.

"They did horrible things to him... they hurt him and experimented on him and locked him away for weeks. It was about a month later that I was able to save him, but the damage was already done... a few more days and he would have died."

BDubs gasped softly, horrified at the idea. He'd known how dangerous some pirates could be, and how lucky he was to have never encountered them, but to imagine what happened to Xisuma was scary.

He glanced over at where his friend was, and for what felt like the first time, he realized how many scars covered his friend's body, especially on his tail and arms. 22 years later, you could still see exactly where each knife had pierced his skin.

"You were only 5 when we found you and Scar...too young to remember the worst of it." Ezra admitted. "He couldn't sleep for weeks, and even then he wouldn't go near the surface of the water for a very long time either."

Ezra glanced up at BDubs, smiling a little.

"I think you and Scar actually helped him a lot. I think having someone to love and care for really got him through the trauma... even if it messed up his sleep schedule all over again."

Then he sighed, shrugging a little.

"And you know the rest of the story. We met Stress who was helping a broken-armed Tango, a few years later Tango met Zed, Zed found Wels one day, and Joe ended up in the mix somewhere along the line."

The lightheartedness of his remark didn't really help BDubs, who was still thinking about Xisuma. Mentioning Wels didn't help, B was able to remember finding him near death and slipping closer to it each second.

He couldn't decide which was worse. Xisuma had gone through a month of torture and pain. Wels had been brutally attacked, losing his beloved twin in the process. Both were something he never wanted to happen to him, or any of his other friends.

*****Scary triggering bit is over, you're safe to continue*****

"But I'd better stop my rambling, Xisuma doesn't talk about it for a reason." Ezra sighed. "Maybe... maybe don't mention it to him, or anyone else for that matter."

BDubs nodded, not too keen on keeping more secrets, but he decided that this one was important too. Not that he'd want to repeat any of that anyway, he was guaranteed to have nightmares that night from what he'd heard.

He looked back over to Scar, who'd given up on the fish and was chasing Wels instead. You were able to see the signs of trauma in Xisuma, but Wels? You'd never think he'd gone through so much.

But speaking (or thinking) of Scar, he did need to talk to his friend, and possibly Grian too. Scar had been too caught up in his feelings to remember to be secretive about them, and needed a bit of a reminder that he'd need to be more careful about it.

That bit wouldn't be too hard, of course, but getting even 5 minutes with those lovebirds might be.

Sorry for the gap between updates! I'd usually like to keep them within a week of each other, but I was going to a wedding, and that was way more important to me than writing. But the wedding is over, I'm home and no longer exhausted, so here's a new chapter!

- Xan