Unrecognizable

~Chapter Eight~

Scar must have fallen asleep to the surprisingly hypnotic pounding of rain from the outside, for he awoke to dead silence and a bright room. He glanced around, confused for a moment as to where he was, but quickly remembered where and why he was in his snail's shell. He stood up, stretching. Having slept in such an awkward position, he was slightly sore. Who knew that falling asleep on a chest for what Scar estimated to be about ten hours would have a toll on your back?

Nonetheless, the Hermit felt relatively well-rested, and that was good enough for him. As he climbed up the ladder to leave his snail, he looked around for Jellie, who was, slightly unsurprisingly, absent. Scar sighed. He guessed Larry wasn't to where Jellie would always come when she ran off. But, then, where did she go? Scar chased the thought from his mind. He'd figure that out later, once he finished with the investigation that was already going on. Making a mental note to himself to tell Grian to add Jellie's mysterious issues to the list of mysteries, Scar climbed out of Larry's shell. The ground was mushy and muddy, and made a squish noise as he landed. While the rain had stopped, it hadn't completely dried yet, and the land was still slippery and damp.

The snail gave another trill to the Hermit as he prepared to take off. Scar, not having had much to prepare, had decided it'd be best for him to continue the work on his drill. In his inventorial pouch, he had everything he needed: his crystal, some shulker boxes full of various useful items, some rockets, and his spellbook-- just in case he could use anything from in there to help the investigation. Scar was taking this seriously; he and Sherlock Grian were going to solve this case no matter what.

He was about to pull out a few fireworks out when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Whipping around, he expected it to be a zombie that had managed to find a helmet to slip on and avoid the sun, and punched it in the face reflexively. However, while the figure did have a helmet, this wasn't a zombie looking for its next meal.

Xisuma stepped back quickly as Scar's fist met his bee helmet. Luckily, the protection prevented him from getting hurt, but it seemed to have surprised the Hermit as he yelped uncharacteristically. "Oh, sorry, X! I didn't realize that was you," Scar apologized, grinning sheepishly and rubbing his neck. Woops. He hadn't meant to punch his friend in the face, even if X hadn't actually gotten hurt. The Hermit was curious as to why the admin was here. What did he want with Scar? "I was actually just about to get going. What did you need?"

Xisuma shook his head, readjusting his helmet as Scar apologized. "No need, I probably shouldn't have snuck up on you like that." He listened to the rest of what the wizard had to say and responded, "Oh, I was just flying over and saw you here. I thought I'd pop by; you haven't been here in awhile, eh?"

Scar laughed. "No, I haven't." He was about to explain why when X seemed to notice his crystal, which was still glowing brightly-- even if less noticeable-- in the sunlight. The little bee antennae on his helmet bobbled as he bent his head and looked down at it.

"I see you've made yourself another crystal," X noted thoughtfully. His eyes narrowed, inspecting it thoroughly.

"It's actually a crystal to aid eyesight," Scar explained helpfully. X opened his mouth in an 'ah' and looked back up at Scar.

"You've never made one of those. What do you meed it for?"

X's tone was curious, and held none of the familiar sarcasm and mocking that all the other Hermits laced their words with when Scar spoke about his crystals. This was because Xisuma was the only other Hermit, besides Scar, who believed in his magic. In fact, X was the one who gave the wizard his spellbook in the first place, at the beginning of the season. Under the bee-suited Hermit's guidance, Scar learned the basics of wizardry and the two met up frequently to discuss new spells and improvements.