HELLO

IT IS 12:08 AM

I AM RUNNING SOLELY ON HOT CHOCOLATE.

Okay, this was requested by Bubbliez_Gacha ! Thank you for the request!!

Warnings for some very brief combat (against a hoglin, then a piglin :D)

WC: ~1500

Enjoy!

Whatever Xay had planned for that day, whatever he had originally hoped to get done, all of it went out the window when a little kid came rushing into the fortress, screeching about something or other, and then grabbed Xay's leg and buried his face in his armor.

It took all of Xay's willpower not to scream and kick the child.

Instead, all he managed to do was breathe out a "Wha-" as the kid let go of his leg and promptly sat down in front of him.

Where- who- what- Xay's brain sputtered. Who's kid is this?? Does Hels know about this?? Where did it come from?? How did it end up over here??

Wait...

He glanced down at the kid, kneeling to be at eye level with him. Bright red eyes, fluffy blonde hair, but a scarless face.

It can't be, Xay told himself firmly. That's insane. Unless I'm dreaming...

"What's your name?" Xay asked the child in his nicest voice.

"Hels," he replied, smiling. "'M Hels."

"Shi- uh-" Xay cut himself off. He stared at tiny Hels, who indignantly stared back, before opting to just run away.

"Wh- get back here!!" Xay shouted, chasing after the little knight.

To no one's surprise, Hels did not listen.

A couple of minutes later, Xay had caught Hels and placed him in a two-by-two pool of lava. Xay sat down on the netherrack and kept a watchful eye on him as he frantically messaged Xisuma. Hels seemed entertained, shrieking with delight and splashing in the shallow lava.

"Okay," Xay muttered to no one in particular. "Hels is a little kid, probably one or two. Somehow." He checked his communicator for a response from Xisuma.

<XisumaVoid> I'm on my way.

Xay exhaled in relief.

<XanthusVoid> hurry.

He paused, then sent a second message.

<XanthusVoid> uh. please.

<XisumaVoid> Keep him entertained until then! Little kids like to talk to other people :-)

<XanthusVoid> what do I talk to him about??? the color of the void-forsaken sky???

<XisumaVoid> No. Ask him basic questions, like what he's doing, or explain to him something small, like how to stack bits of netherrack on top of each other.

Xay sighed and closed his communicator, glancing at Hels.

Or, at least, the spot where Hels had been.

"Crap!" Xay shouted, standing up in a rush. "Hels!! You son of a- uh-" he gave up on figuring out a family-friendly insult and began searching for him.

I am so dead, Xay remarked internally. Xisuma is going to kill me. I just lost the Nether's greatest champion. He looked around, trying to think of where he would've gone.

What if he gets mauled by some hoglin or something? Xay fretted. He can't defend himself- or what if he falls down a hole or something? Void, kids are careless-

He paused for a moment. Am I worrying about Hels?? Like, genuinely worrying?

Oh, screw it, he's two years old. I'm allowed to be worried.

Xay dashed into the nearby Crimson Forest, hoping that Hels would've gone 'oooh, shiny' or something to the tangled vines and glowing shroomlights. He looked around for a quickly moving little body, hoping that a hoglin or piglin hadn't gotten to him first.

The snorting of a hoglin made Xay draw his sword, which proved to be a good idea as one came charging towards him. Xay stumbled back, but quickly recovered from his shock and killed it.

He looked up from the dead monster to see Hels waving at him with far too much chipper enthusiasm considering Xay's previous panic. The little knight was seated beside a warped fungus, making Xay internally sigh with the fact that the two year old had more survival skills than him.

"Thank god," he muttered, going to scoop up Hels to probably put him into a fenced-in enclosure. Hels hummed and nestled his face into Xay's neck, sighing with content.

Thinks he can cutesy his way out of getting thrown into a lava pool, Xay thought grumpily. Tiny little piece of magma.

His train of thought was cut short as a gold sword made a horrible clash against his armor.

Hels screamed as Xay whipped around to face the piglin, fumbling to grip his own sword whilst also not dropping Hels. He kicked the piglin away, disarmed it, then opted to just run away. Hels, however, didn't stop screaming, apparently unaware that the danger had subsided.

"Uh- shh- calm down," Xay murmured once they were safely inside the Fortress. "You're safe, it's okay..." Hels sniffed and just hugged him tighter, putting Xay in a rather awkward position. His screaming had since subsided into what Xay couldn't really call crying, but rather shuddering and gasping that was arguably more painful to listen to than just sobbing.

"Ah, okay," Xay tried again. "Do you want some- uh- bread?" He pulled out a piece of bread from his inventory, breaking off a smaller bit and offering it to Hels. Hels blinked before taking the bread and looking Xay dead in the eyes as he very slowly stuffed the bread in his mouth.

"Good job," Xay said unenthusiastically, detaching Hels from his shoulder and gently placing him on the floor. Hels glared at him for doing that, the expression startling him with how much resemblance it held to the much older version of Hels that Xay was used to. It was a lot more childish, though, and held less weight.

Xay shook his head with a small smile, deciding to remove his armor so that Hels would be less likely to hit his head or something on the hard plating. That left him in comfortable, loose clothing that the little knight seemed more than happy to bury himself in. He made a purr-like noise, cracking a grin from Xay.

"I'm happy that you got along with him so well," Xisuma's voice startled both of them. Hels looked up only to shriek in fear at Xisuma's helmeted face. He scrambled to hide behind Xay, eyeing Xisuma suspiciously.

"He's a handful," Xay grumbled, earning a giggle from Xisuma. "I have never felt so bad for people I've never met before."

"Who would that be?" Xisuma asked, pulling off his helmet and placing it on the ground. Hels poked his head out at that, looking Xisuma up and down.

"His parents," Xay sighed. He turned to Hels. "Look, 'Suma has a face! Don't worry, you're not the only one who was shocked when that revelation rolled around." Xisuma barked a laugh, kneeling down to be at eye level with Hels.

"Hey," he said softly. "Wanna come over here? I want to show you something!"

"No," Hels replied pointedly. Xay snickered, but quickly shut up when Xisuma shot him a playful glare.

"Have you seen one of these?" Xisuma tried instead. He slipped his communicator off his wrist and placed it on the ground, turning it on. The holographic screen made Hels's eyes go wide with wonder, tempting him closer.

He slowly walked over- lucky for Xisuma, once his helmet was off, he looked impossibly kind. However, one thing that Xisuma had overlooked was the fact that this kid was, in fact, Netherborn.

So, naturally, instead of gawking at the shiny communicator a second longer, he simply stole it and tried to dash away.

"Oh, no you don't-" Xay snapped, scooping him up before he could get anywhere. Xisuma burst out laughing as Hels struggled in Xay's grip.

"He's clever," Xisuma offered, pulling his communicator out of Hels's grip and latching it back on. "I've got to give him that."

"Take him, please," Xay muttered. Xisuma chuckled but complied, gently pulling him out of Xay's grasp and into his own arms.

"Okay, I went through his code beforehand and found the bug," Xisuma said, bouncing Hels in his hold as he talked. "I just need to run a couple of lines and everything should go back to normal."

"Thank god," Xay sighed.

"What, don't think he's cute?" Xisuma teased.

"Broken blazerods, just run the code," Xay grumbled, drawing another laugh from Xisuma.

"You and I both know that you find regular Hels more cute," Xisuma said as he placed Hels down again, pulling up his communicator.

"Shut up!!"

"It's the truth," Xisuma said simply, continuing before Xay could retort. "Alright, and... there."

Xay watched as Hels's eyes drifted shut and his whole body began quickly changing. In what looked like a timelapse of Hels's life, he quickly 'grew up' and returned to normal.

"Nghh, what happened?" Hels muttered, blinking a couple of times.

"Long story," Xisuma said, quickly putting his helmet back on. "That being said, I do have other things to attend to! I'll leave you two be." And with that, he waved before leaving Xay alone with a very confused Hels. The knight simply turned to Xay, arching an eyebrow, the expression alone demanding an explanation for whatever events he was unaware of.

"Code is weird," Xay offered unhelpfully. "Come on, let's go sit down, then I'll explain." Hels nodded.

"Just... one thing," he said. "Why do I have the taste of bread in my mouth?"

To that, Xay just barked a laugh.

This would be quite the story to tell.

not a huuuuge fan of those ending lines, but eh

-Storm