The Fourth Star (COMPLETED)

1

Hermits cowered in fear, hiding in the shadows, too afraid to face the smiling admin. His stiff movements and fake smile was easy to see through, but that wasn't what scared the hermits. It was who was behind the smile, who was in control of Xisuma. That snake. Ancel.

The pearlescent reptile was tightly curled around Xisuma's neck, whispering lies and commands into the admin's ear. No matter how hard the hermits tried, they couldn't seem to get through to Xisuma, his mind was practically lost to the watchers.

Xisuma has started it all. The wars. The conflicts. The fighting. He was trying to tear the server apart, and slowly but surely, it was working. The hermits knew that the galaxy admin couldn't be trusted, but he was given some sort of power, thanks to the watchers. His lies seem so believable. Everything he said seemed to shake your mind, confusing you and making you question everything.

Xisuma had manipulated Doc and Ren into starting an entire war, tricking Doc into thinking that Ren had stollen all of the stock exchange's fortune, and then destroyed the place. The two quickly became enemies, and sides were being chosen, conflicts arising. The war may have ended long ago, but tensions were high. People banned others from their shops, small pranks turned into large conflicts, and worst of all, you couldn't trust anyone.

Even business partners, like Mumbo and Iskall, or Cub and Scar, didn't trust one another, consistently living on edge. Once Xisuma had tricked Iskall into thinking that Mumbo was responsible for breaking the entirety of Sahara, even though the Swede has watched as Xisuma poured water all over The Redstone. And when X claimed that Mumbo and done it, Iskall's mind drew blank, the Swede completely forgetting about Xisuma's sabotage.

So, hermits barely talked to one another. Sometimes it didn't seem like they were friends. Just making eye contact with a hermit in the shopping district can lead to flat out war. They didn't want this, the hermits just wanted to return to their old way of life. But they couldn't. Not with Xisuma. Not with the watchers.

Mumbo sat in Sahara's meeting room, running his hand through his mustache. Across from the glass table, Iskall sat in their chair, glaring at the mustached redstoner. The Swede was still convinced that Mumbo had destroyed the redstone, and they still didn't forgive the mustached man, even after Mumbo had repaired everything, making the redstone work twice as fast.

"How are Sahara's sales..?" Mumbo asked, slightly smiling at Iskall. The Swede rolled their eyes, tossing a small pile of diamonds onto the table, causing Mumbo to frown. Sales had plummeted, not just for Sahara, but for everyone. Lies spread like wildfire, and soon enough, it wasn't just X spreading falsehoods. People believed that no one could be trusted, and very few were trying to fight Xisuma's lies.

Stress and TFC seemed to band together, the two disappearing without a trace. Every now and again, few hermits would see the two, as they were working together in TFC's bunker. Mumbo longed to join them, he wanted things to return to normal. But Lies flew around Mumbo's mind, buzzing around his skull. He barely trusted Iskall, how could the mustached hermit trust Stress or TFC?

Mumbo's paranoia seemed to be the worst out of all the hermits. He was naturally very worried at times, and Xisuma's magic seemed to make it worse. Ever since Mumbo's first interaction with the newly appointed admin, Mumbo has been constantly afraid of what he can do. The Redstoner couldn't move for days after X's magic had sent him flying backwards, dark magic still lingering in Mumbo's body.

The Redstoner let out a quick sigh, standing up and shoving his hands into his pockets. He left the meeting room, the Swede and the mustached man barely looking at one another as they parted ways. Iskall flew back to their base, while Mumbo simply wandered the empty streets, barely looking up from the ground.