<TW> grieving, lost, mention of possession, forgetting, mention of violence, foreshadowing

<CW> angst, ignorance

[MAIN PLOT BY Roxy-Rox0 ]

  A picture frame, oak wood, sat on Cub's desk in his temporary room in Xisuma's base. He'd had it for a while, he had a picture he took printed, and framed it. Doc, Zedaph, and Iskall are in the picture with him. Having fun. Being chaotic. If only time didn't move so quickly, if only the world wasn't so cruel to the happy times.

  Zedaph picked the photo up, feeling sick. The picture felt as delicate as the memory of the actual event to him. Iskall slowly walked towards him and put a hand on the hybrid's shoulder comfortingly. Zedaph glanced back at him, feeling slightly glad to have him there still.

  Iskall hugged the blonde hermit and Cub walked in, immediately seeing the scene he put his head down in a mourning gesture. Even though he wasn't actually dead, they knew that their friend was now lost.

  And if they didn't find a cure or a way to kick the Being out, he would be lost forever.

  Iskall looked back at the moment X had told him, Iskall had just woken up from a quick rest. He had set out to find 'Suma and Doc, and he found out that the german hybrid had been missing for almost a day. Xisuma soon had confirmed that he was now under the Being's control, thanks to the corruption in his player code.

  "We lost Doc.." was what 'Suma had told him. Those horrible words announcing his friend's demise. Iskall had let himself cry in front of Xisuma's sorrowful eyes, not really caring what the admin might think. He just missed his friend, and wished that he would've been there for Doc.

  Cub, Zedaph, and Iskall all had different reactions. Iskall left himself in solitude, refusing to see practically everyone. Zedaph increasingly went outside and paced around X's base, his headaches getting worse yet feeling so trivial. He couldn't help but blame himself. Cub spent more and more time studying and working with potions, even when Scar wasn't there or was unavailable.

  They all couldn't help but look back at their memories with Doc, however. Cub, Zedaph, Iskall, Xisuma, Gem. Everyone. All felt remorse and shame.

  Zedaph thought that the Entity ought to be enjoying this wave of sorrow and hopelessness that washed over all the non-possessed Hermits.
 

✦ ✦ ℸ ̣ 𝙹⊣ᒷℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ∷? ✦ ✦

  The person dressed in grey continued to talk to the Entity, feeling horrible about Doc, but knowing that they had to continue on with the deal to protect the rest. They knew that what they were doing was wrong, but if they remembered how they were protecting the other Hermits, it didn't seem so bad.

✦ ✦ ∴ᒷ'ꖎꖎ ✦ ✦

  Etho walked across the same bridge he had seem Scar on what felt like so long ago. He didn't have the best sense of time. He was on his way to search another Hermit base for what felt like the one thousandth time.. but he felt strange.

  His indifferent frown faded away and he stopped walking. His eyes widened and he blinked multiple times to clear his vision. He was free. The whispers were gone. The strange weight of the strings was gone! But, he'd left the others behind, and after Doc had just arrived and Grian was in pain.. But how?

  What?.. What just happened? Etho thought. His mind suddenly went blank, he couldn't recall why he was on the bridge, or what—or who—he was worrying about. I can't remember anything..

  He continued walking across the bridge and down the path, the emptiness of the streets and the server in general unnerving to Etho. He wanted to call out, but he got the idea that that wouldn't be the smartest move. So instead he decided to focus his mind while he traveled. What was the last thing he remembered?

  Grian.

  Etho remembered, he had gone to go meet Grian. And he was.. different. His wings and eye's were green, and he had chased Etho, and.. Etho couldn't remember after that.

  Etho continued to walk until he saw a base that was lit, and buzzing with life that was trying to be quiet. Etho heard them though, and he quickly approached the building, the admin's home. He heard the buzz die down and some lights went off, What happened? Etho thought. He sped up, and the door opened when he was just a few steps away—it was Cub, and he was holding a diamond sword.

  Etho immediately stopped walking closer, his eyes widened and his ears drooped a bit. Cub dropped the sword and stared at the white haired Canadian in shock, his mind racing at speeds he didn't think were healthy. He blinked harshly and examined the confused Etho, eventually staring into his eyes—which were back to their grey and red colour.

  "Etho?" Cub questioned after a moment, earning a confused look from the platinum haired hermit in question.
  Etho rolled his shoulders and nodded, "Uh, yeah?" he said, his voice coarse after not being used and not having water for a while. He grimaced and coughed a few times to clear his throat.

  Cub stared at him for a moment longer before Etho broke the silence, "Could.. Could you let me in? The emptiness of literally everything else is unnerving."

  Cub nods and quickly steps aside to let Etho inside Xisuma's base.

✦ ✦ ᒲᔑꖌᒷ ✦ ✦

"—and you don't remember anything?" The armoured admin concluded. Etho nodded and messed with his messy white hair, pulling out a stick. He frowned and flicked it away, hitting 'Suma's knee.

"How did I get so dirty?" Etho wondered aloud, putting his hand back in his hair to feel for more sticks. Xisuma put his hand on the confused hermit's arm, looking over Etho's shoulder at the uneasy Iskall.

Little did they know someone was watching, and he wasn't very happy with the fact the one he was told to keep an eye on had now gone out of his reach.

The brunette stepped away and slipped out of the window, heading down a familiar path to the Entity to report what happened, his black shirt snagging on a few low branches.

✦ ✦ ᔑ ✦ ✦

Xisuma led Etho down the halls of his base and opened a set of dark oak double doors and let Etho enter before he closed the doors behind them. "BDubs should be in here, Etho," the admin told the newly showered hermit. They walked until Etho saw a half asleep BDubs running a hand across some leather back books in their shelf.

Etho smiled to himself and called out to his fellow Listener, "BDubs!"the black haired hermit immediately perked up and tears welled up in his eyes. He turned around and stared at Etho before rushing to hug him and letting the tears fall.

"Idiot! Don't go and get possessed ever again!" BDubs scolded into the taller hermit's shoulder, only tightening the hug. Etho smiled again before his expression darkened as he realised something. He looked behind him at the patiently waiting brunette.

"Hey, X," Etho said to get the admin's attention, "Wouldn't the Watchers get mad if they learned that Grian is under someone else's control?" Those words got the Listener in Etho's arms attention as well and the three shared an uneasy look. 'Suma opened his admin panels and Etho looked down at BDubs.

✦ ✦ ↸ᒷᔑꖎ, ✦ ✦

The person dressed in grey shifted in place—shocked about what they'd just heard—they were wandering the library and saw Etho, so they stopped to listen in. They have the answer to the Being's question about Grian now.

They quickly rushed to tell the Entity the news, and, let's just say, the Entity wasn't very happy about what they heard from their spy.

✦ ✦ ||𝙹⚍ ✦ ✦

Iskall went out in place of BDubs to check on the hermits that didn't stay at X's base, even though he protested going outside, because the black haired hermit wanted to spend time with Etho. He walked around, so far having said hi to Pearl, Stress, and Tango.

He walked through a tighter space in between two builds and suddenly stopped walking down the pavement. He was there, right there in front of him, a friend, a fellow cyborg. But he looked bored, and angry.

Doc.

He couldn't move. He couldn't stop staring at his friend's penetrating, cold, gaze. Those cruel and unnatural green eyes.. he was Iskall's friend, but not. An imposter in his friend's body.

Iskall felt hot tears falling out of the one eye that could still produce tears and his shoulders start to shake, his body following suit until he was trembling and crying.

Doc made no move to comfort the brunette in front of him, but he made no move to cause him any harm either. His job was to take up Etho's old patrol route and report back to the Entity if anything happened or if he saw anyone while doing so. And that was what he was going to do.

Doc left without saying anything to the crying Iskall, and the shaking brunette rushed back to Xisuma's base without finishing the check up with the other hermits.

He never made it to Ren, he didn't have enough time to tell him what happened while the dog hybrid was gone.

Real Life is hilarious, did you see it yet? I watched Grian, Martyn, and Scott's PoV. Planning to watch Ren's too.

Only two steps to join the club. :]

(I'm really excited about the next chapter!)

1602 words