Xisuma sighed as he entered his base after going out to buy some food and a few blocks that he'd needed. There wasn't really much point, but he planned on finishing up his base if only just for the illusion of the season feeling a bit more done. He took off his helmet, and a piece of paper he definitely hadn't left on a chest caught his eye. It had been folded off-centre and left open, with three words presenting themselves in black ink. He got closer and immediately recognised the handwriting; scrappy, with an unreliable slant and size, yet surprisingly legible. It was Xavon's.
Haha big moon
Seconds passed, maybe minutes, and he stared at the simple yet significant letters. That confirms it, he thought a million times but refused to register it. He didn't want it to be confirmed. He didn't want it to be true. It was already true but he didn't want to lose the possibility that it wasn't. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't be real. Couldn't time just go back? He would be a better brother, he would help Xavon more, he would do anything for this not to be the case.
He'd failed Xavon.
The admin stepped back and leant against a wall as the world around him felt absent. He'd not only failed Xavon, but he'd also failed the hermits. Maybe he'd been naïve to believe that his brother would change, and therefore put the server at risk. He'd been ignorant to Xavon's struggles.
The room remained silent as he stared at the way the ends of the letters flicked up. Xavon had written those very words. Xavon had been there, in his base, and held the same paper. He felt cut off from his twin; he couldn't do anything. Couldn't communicate. Couldn't see him. And yet the same person had been standing where he was at some point less than twenty minutes ago. And now he could be anywhere.
He didn't want to believe that Xavon would do something like this. Or that he had already done it. He sat down on the floor, at a loss of what to do. Preparing a new server for season nine was giving up, but trying to fight the code (although it would be hopeless to try) would be fighting his brother. How even had Xavon made that code? It was untouchable. Flawless. As strong as the original game code itself. He was missing some vital information; he must be. But what?
He just... didn't know. He didn't know anything.
-|-|-
Xisuma had continued Derpcoin, even without him. He found it... he wasn't sure; somewhat entertaining, confusing? Very Xisuma-ish. His brother still wouldn't give up on him, unlike Xavon himself. It almost made him feel guilty. That was a lie; it did make him feel guilty, but he pretended that it didn't. It was for the best this way. It would hurt both of them less: if Xisuma had a reason to hate Xavon and lose hope in him, it would be easier for him to find out that he was... this; a Watcher. And if Xavon isolated himself from his brother now, then it would hurt less later when he received the inevitable hatred. If he was Evil then maybe he wouldn't care.
EX had promised himself that he wouldn't go near the admin too often; the guilt might tempt him to go back on his plan. All he'd done so far was leave a note and try not to look back. Instead, he was occupying himself by watching the hermits. Tango had started making some sort of NASA rip off, multiple had been studying the change with a scientific approach, Mumbo had started a cult, and Bdubs hadn't noticed yet (apparently no one wanted to tell him).
Every night, the silver circle got bigger and bigger. Not by a lot though, just a little. Every time the sun set and the moon rose, it took up just a fraction more of the dark sky as it slowly but surely inched its way forwards. EX knew what would be the result of its movement, he thought it would be fairly obvious, but some of the hermits didn't seemed to have clocked onto their eventual doom. He looked at the moon's unnaturally large reflection in the ocean and wondered when they would.
It was a warm evening and he was sitting on one of the coastlines (invisible, of course) with his wings stretched out behind him. They'd become even stronger and faster, although that was hard to believe since they'd already been just about the speed of light, and flight had become as natural as walking. His hair was almost fully black, with only hints of white left close to the scalp. He'd figured out more magical abilities, and the flames at his fingertips became more reliable as time went on.
One of the eyes on the back of his left wing watched a horse eat some grass. One on his right watched a baby zombie chase a pig. Another one on the front saw a fish swimming away from an axolotl. An axolotl. A pink one. His brother was an axolotl. He splashed the water suddenly.
"Stupid fish lizard thing." He said bitterly, blaming it for the unwanted thoughts that followed the name Xisuma. It was no lie that he was avoiding things; thinking about his brother, going anywhere near Grian or Pearl. Maybe he would be interested to find out more about the latter pair of hermits, maybe he would find out how they knew about him, but he didn't want to. He didn't want to find out anything that he didn't want to know.
-|-|-
<Xisuma> Just a reminder that the monthly meeting is today, one pm at my base.
The admin was waiting for the hermits to arrive, sitting on the steps outside his door. It was going to be a difficult meeting, he knew that, but there was no way around it. As difficult as this situation was, he had to keep the hermits safe. He looked up to the sound of distant rockets and saw one of the usual early-birds approaching.
"Hey X," Beef greeted as he landed. "How's it going."
"That one's a bit difficult to answer." He answered honestly.
"Yeah, I heard about what happened with Xavon." Beef sympathised. Xiuma nodded, spying a few more hermits on the horizon.
After ten or fifteen minutes of idle chatter, everyone had arrived. Everyone minus one, but X tried to ignore the gap. Xavon had only attended half of the meetings anyway, so it wasn't like it was that much different. It was different though.
"Thank you all for coming, I think we all know the elephant in the room that needs to be addressed today," he noticed Bdubs's confused look and the people around him snickering, "so we'll do that first. I think-"
"It what?!" Bdubs interrupted, yelling. Doc chuckled as he moved away. "Sorry." He said sheepishly to the group. "Really?" He whispered 'subtly' back to Doc, who nodded. He looked to the hermits around him, who also nodded to back up the creeper.
"I think Joe has some statistics which could get us started?"
"Yep," the said male confirmed, taking over. "I've been tracking the moon's size each night for about a week now, and..." he took some paper out of his inventory and looked at the writing on it, "if it keeps increasing at the rate it's increasing now, then I've calculated that we have only three weeks and one day until it reaches us."
"Reaches us? Does that mean..." Scar asked, although it was an obvious answer really.
"The moon will crash into the server, destroying everything." Joe confirmed. The hermits went silent.
"What are we going to do?" Gem asked.
"How did this even happen?" Zedaph asked.
"We were hacked." Xisuma answered Zedaph. The only sound was the ocean's tide in the background. The waves were higher and louder than usual.
"By who?" Tango asked. Xisuma hesitated.
"I don't know." He lied, meeting Grian and Pearl's gaze for a second before looking down. "And, I hate to say it, but I think our best option is... well... season nine." He wished he didn't have to say it, they'd barely settled into season eight and he knew no one was anywhere near ready to leave.
"Season nine?" Ren repeated with disbelief.
"I'm sorry, I know no one's ready for it, but, there's just, there's nothing else to do. The hacked code is hopeless, and if we stay here we'll... die." He explained. A wave of his own disbelief washed over him as he realised, truly realised, that Xavon had done this. His own brother was dooming them. Had it really been that bad? Had he really not noticed? He didn't know what to feel. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be, X, it's not your fault." Pearl said.
"Yeah, it's that stupid hacker's fault." Bdubs said.
"No. It's not the hacker's fault either, and it's not your fault that they did what they did." Pearl contradicted, looking at the admin and hoping that the message would get through. She could see it in his eyes that he blamed himself. Their eyes met for a second, but only for a second.
"Not the hacker's fault?" Zedaph repeated.
"No, it-" Pearl started.
"If there's anyone to blame for this, it's them." Cleo argued.
"No one is to blame." Grian stated firmly but calmly. Unfortunately, that calm was lost on the others.
"What do you mean no one's to blame?" Tango questioned scornfully. "That's the stupidest thing I've heard in months."
"The hacker quite literally made this happen." Iskall said. "Of course it's their fault.
"Oh for fuck's sake." Grian internally rolled his eyes.
"To be fair Grian-" Etho started.
"Shut up Etho." Mumbo said sourly.
"Don't speak to him like that." Beef threatened fiercely, stepping forwards. His voice had lost its usual cheerfulness.
"Guys don't." Grian tried. He and Pearl had intended to reassure Xisuma but instead a fight had broken out as the hermits had begun talking aggressively over each other, which was unusual for the normally friendly group. They'd just been told that their home was about to be destroyed, so that was probably why.
"What is it, Mr Don't-Blame-The-Criminal?" Bdubs asked.
"Are you even 'earing yerself Pearl?" Stress questioned Pearl a couple of metres away. "You're defending an 'acker."
"You don't know them or why they did this or anything, how can you be so sure they're not to blame?" Ren interrogated.
"You don't understand-" Pearl defended, backing up to stand next to Grian.
"Oh and here comes the Mrs." Bdubs said in an announcer voice.
"Everyone, quiet!" Joe yelled, but to no avail. Xisuma was stood silently next to him, watching the friendships momentarily unravel.
"It sounds to me like you two know something." Doc accused.
"Are you protecting the hacker?" False asked suspiciously. Grian sighed and visibly rolled his eyes this time. "What, are we annoying you?" False asked.
"Stop-" Scar started.
"Joining their side, are you?" Bdubs challenged, stood next to Doc and False.
"No, I'm just trying-" Scar tried to talk.
"Don't be mean to Scar." Cub said coldly, putting his right hand on his sword and his left on Scar's shoulder and stepping in front of him in as intimidating a manner as he could.
"Are you threatening him?" Doc replied forcefully, putting his own hand to his sword and staring at Cub menacingly.
"And if I am?"
"Can everybody just stop!" Xisuma yelled at the top of his lungs at the same moment Doc unsheathed his sword. The diamond rang in the newfound silence and Xisuma stared daggers at him through his visor. The tall and well-built man felt the urge to shrink away from his glare. "Doc, put. That. Away." Xisuma said slowly and purposefully. The creeper quietly did as he was told. The hermits stayed silent and still, waiting for his next words. "Everyone just... go home." He said, defeated.
"X..." Impulse tried.
"This meeting is over!" The admin snapped, raising his voice again. A few of the hermits nodded silently and others looked at the ground for a moment before they left. Xisuma looked down and turned to the door, taking a deep, wobbly breath. He hated how his voice sounded when he was angry, it was out of character. He never raised his voice. It was wrong. He didn't want to have to be anything other than kind to the hermits.
He wasn't being the best admin recently. The fact he was about to prematurely set up season nine served as proof for that.