A/N 

Trigger warning for my attempt to write a panic attack(or something along those lines)

Scar hopes to have a good day today. When he wakes up, from an empty sleep which he gratefully doesn't remember, he finds his scroll in his hand. Xerean is gone, their Task already assigned. Taking a moment to convince his body to wake up, Scar stretches and eats a potato as he reads. "Do the opposite of what everyone tells you to do." He nods. "I can do that; I pretty much do that every day of my life, anyway." He says, standing to exit his shop, only for Grian to appear. "Hello!" The Avian says, in an amusingly musical voice. "Hello, there! How are you?" Scar asks, trying not to laugh too much as Grian once again gives his reply in music. "I am fine!" Scar nods. "Well, alright then, can I interest you into looking through my wonderful wares and trinkets?" Grian has to climb onto the counter to reach the barrels, but Scar doesn't mind, the height and placement was just for design. Xerean does the same thing, too. "I think I will, I think I will–this is all junk." Grian states, moving on to the next barrel. "No it is not!" Scar sings back at him, the two going back and forth in musical tones for a few moments, before Grian leaves. "That was a Task, for sure." He tells himself, once he's sure the Avian won't hear him. He intends to make his Enchanter today, and as per the promise he made in Session 1, he's going to go tell Lizzie about it. "Hello? Scar?" Martyn knocks at his door, and the man waves him in. "Welcome to Trader Scar's! How can I help you?" Martyn shrugs. "Figured as a yellow, I'd come see what you're doing." He replies, and Scar gets an idea. "Now, actually, I have something for you. Stay right there." He goes into the back room, rummages through a chest, and retrieves two diamonds. "Here. I want to make a deal with you." He puts the diamonds down, Martyn eyeing them with interest. "This is for what I call 'diamond diplomacy'. Essentially, I give you these, and you promise not to try and guess my Task, or Xerean's, which is why there's two of them." Martyn considers. "So like a hush-up, then?" Scar nods. "I could do that." Martyn decides, and the two shake hands. "Great. Pleasure doing business with you." Scar says. "And that takes care of mine, goodbye!" Scar exits behind him, heading over to Lizzie's. "Hey, Scar, what's up?" She asks. "I'm trying to finish the Enchanter, make it level 30. I'm at level 28, I'm almost there. I was wondering if I could kill some of your cows for the XP?" She nods, clearly excited. "Sure! They're out back. Let me know when the Enchanter is ready!" He thanks her, and heads over to the pen. He had to bite his tongue and act like he was going to tell her, when in fact, he now can't. Looking at the cows, he tries to focus on them instead. They're so tightly packed he can't even get in, so he kills the ones closest to him, then gets in once he has enough space. After a minute, Lizzie calls out to him. "Make sure you leave me at least two though, so I can breed them back up!" Scar nods, while internally, his heart sinks. He'll have to kill them all, now. A strange shiver runs through him, something of a scared smile appearing on his face for a moment before he sets to it. He hates it, but he follows through. "I'm so sorry, Lizzie..." he mumbles, lowering his blade. "Wha–hey!" He turns to see her running over, clearly angry, so he leaps over the fence and runs away, using an Ender Pearl. He takes a couple hearts of damage, but he couldn't care less about that. He keeps going, only stopping once he's sure Lizzie won't find him, at least not for a while. "Oh, no, what have I done?" He whispers, leaning against a tree and sinking to sit on the ground. His heart's pounding, his hands are shaking. "She's going to be so mad at me..." he says, running his hands through his hair, leaving a few bloodstains on his face. Realizing this, he locates the nearest water source, and kneels next to it, cupping the liquid to splash it over and rinse his hands and face. If people saw him all covered in blood, that wouldn't be the best look. After a few seconds, he calms down a bit. He'll apologize as soon as his Task is over. He WILL.

He holes himself up for a day or two while he makes the enchanter, then realizes he needs sugar cane to make some paper for the books. So, he sneaks over to and steals some from Gem and the Scot's place. Returning to the enchanting room, he takes another couple of hours putting together the bookshelves, then places the enchanter, a pleasant sense of completion filling him. Maybe this will make up for killing all Lizzie's cows. In fact, he almost tells Lizzie about it right then and there, then remembers his Task and reluctantly deletes what he'd wrote of the message. He hears some commotion above, and comes up to see Pearl, Skizz, and Tango in his shop. "We all love Pearl in this establishment. Aww, that's nice." Pearl smiles, and with guilt, Scar shakes his head. "No, we hate her here. What can I do for you?" Pearl blinks, wounded, and Tango looks at her sympathetically, but turns to address Scar. "This man here has undergone a tragedy. You may not know, but last Session, he lost many hearts, and we are on a mission to try and return some of them to him." Scar immediately wants to say yes. He opens his mouth to do so, even, but something grabs him in his head and refuses to allow him to do so. A pulse starts beating, something pressing its will into him. "Take the heart." The voice hisses, and Scar looks away, clenching and unclenching his hands before turning back to them. "You just need...one heart from me, right?" He asks, the pulse steadily growing in intensity and speed, drowning any other thoughts out. All he can think is that he must take a heart. That will make him feel better. In the corner of his eye, he sees a stick he'd left on a trip to go get some wood. He takes it, stares at it, cries, "I'm sorry, Skizz!" and whacks him twice, getting shocked cries as he drops the weapon, steps back, and flees. "Good." It tells him, like that's a soothing thing. "Oh, so we're talking outside the falling void thing, now??" He says, not sure if he's scared of angry. "It was always a choice. You needed a little nudge, and I gladly gave it to you." It answers. "I didn't. want. to hurt him!" Scar says, going and hiding by BigB's hole. He runs into the little, ending staircase and hides in the corner. He hated what he did to Lizzie and her cows, but this was worse. He insulted Pearl, and hurt Skizz unprovoked! He takes a few moments to calm down, then sits there until he's sure he can sneak back into his base, which he does.

Trying to put the issues behind him, he enchants his own full set of armour, a sword, and some armour for Xerean, who has yet to actually use any armour. He does feel a little better, now, he hopes Xerean likes the gift. He puts it in a chest she often uses in her bunker, then goes back up to above ground via his base, and steps outside. There, he finds Joel, Bdubs, and Mumbo talking. "Hey, guys! You arguing about something? The Courthouse is always open, why don't we step on in?" He offers. Joel turns to reply, then turns fully to face him. "Nice hat, Scar." He says. Scar frowns. He isn't wearing a hat–oh. He's just realized he forgot the no-helmets rule and now has an enchanted helmet on. "Oh, I didn't even realize!" He says, putting his hands over his face. "Well, just take it off and it'll be fine." Mumbo offers. Scar winces. "Yeah, take it off." Joel agrees, though somehow Scar hears it as a challenge. "Okay. Uh, here I go, taking it off." He replies, then turns tail and runs away. Joel gives chase instantly, Mumbo and Bdubs staying where they are and watching the two leave in confusion. "Get back here and take off that helmet, Scar!" Joel calls, only making Scar keep going. He manages to lose him in the forest, using another Ender Pearl to get further. Add that to the list of things he's going to worry about: Joel might figure out his Task because of the helmet. "Hello, Scar." He turns to see Scott watching him, gaze calm and curious, but not accusatory or hostile in any way. He's just glad he hasn't seen Tango or Skizz yet. "Hi, Scott." He says, looking around anxiously. They're on the outskirts of the trees between the Mounders and Scott's own place, so he moves a little closer to the trees again. "How are you?" Scott lifts his shoulders in a shrug. "I'm fine, I suppose. Thank you for asking. Are you okay? You seem out of breath." It's clear the elf with shiny floating gems around his head wanted to say more, but thought better of it. "Oh, no, I'm fine. Just...having a great old time." He says, hoping it's not as sarcastic as he said it in his head. "Alright. Well, I have to go, but I'll see you later." Scar pauses. He would've assumed Scott to say something the helmet. Maybe he didn't notice, or didn't care? Either way, he's relieved. With that, he carefully makes his way over back to his base, only to get caught by Lizzie and Joel, who both start chasing him. On his way, he passes Xerean, who blinks at him, confused. "Hi Xerean okay byeee..." he calls as he runs, the nearly loses his footing in a hole and stumbles a second. Eventually the wedded duo lose interest and Scar stops, realizing he's close to Grian's egg house. "I can hide in there." He says, and promptly does so. Recounting the events, he has: killed all of Lizzie's cows and lied about the Enchanter, insulted Pearl and injured Skizz, and somehow caught Joel's attention specifically with the helmet. Not the best rap sheet. He's certainly ruined two allies, now. "They will hate you." The voice agrees. "Not helpful!" Scar hisses, but it isn't wrong. They will–they do. Why shouldn't they? At least he hasn't done anything yet to ruin it with Xerean. That'd break him. Eventually, Grian walks up and into his base, stopping when he sees Scar hiding in the corner. "Scar, what are doing–" Yelling, Scar runs off and leaves the Avian in confusion. Seeking a new place to hide, he accidentally comes across Tango, speaking to Bdubs. "Hey! Come back here!" Tango yells, running after him. "Nnnoooo!" Scar shouts back, more of a plead to be left alone than anything else. "What're we chasing Scar for?" Martyn asks, he and Jimmy running alongside Tango. "He hurt Skizz! And insulted Pearl!" Tango answers. "And he killed my cows!" Lizzie adds, also joining in. At this point, Scar just wants to stop, lay down, and either fall through the earth, or be forgotten. He was doing a Task! Why did it have to turn out this way? "That seems very unlike you, Scar. Like you're some bad guy or something." Jimmy observes. "Just leave me alone!" Scar replies, and of course, they don't. Finally, as had happened last time, they just lose interest, or maybe they tire out, but either way, they leave, and Scar heads up to Scott's place, the closest place he can think of to hide. He runs over to the lonely corner in the back, and sits, head in his hands. Why is it getting to him? It's just a Task! He didn't WANT to do any of these things! He wouldn't do this for fun! Why are they treating him like a bad guy, like a VILLAIN?! Scar clutches the sides of his head, not sure whether he wants to cry, scream or some third option he's unaware of but somehow has listed. His heart burns in his chest, breathing seems to be a privilege he's losing, and his ears are clouded with whispers he can't understand, growing louder and louder, black consuming him until he can't see–

"Scar?" He stops, looking over his shoulder to see Scott watching him, face full of worry. "Are you okay?" He asks. Scar manages a dry laugh. "Do I look okay?" Scott's face twitches, and he slowly comes to sit beside the distraught man. "I'm assuming this has something to do with your Task, so I won't try to pry, but...if there's anything you can say without telling me what your Task is, or anything you need to say at all, really, I'll listen." He says. Scar feels that heat in his chest cool a bit, he's able to breathe a little more. "I don't like what I'm doing, Scott. It's driving me crazy, and I end up...hurting people around me. But I don't want to fail, because it's a Task." Scott listens closely, then nods. "I never wanted any of this to happen. But it did, and now, people are hurt, I'm making enemies, and they all hate me. They called me a villain. You know, I think they might be right. Maybe I am." Scott's ears flick down a moment, and he shakes his head. "If the Task asks you to do something and you don't like it, I don't think that makes you a villain, just a...victim of circumstance. Remember, you took several people's light sources, I myself among them, and I don't think that made you a bad guy." Scar winces. "I took Lizzie's torches too, and she was so mad at me..." Scott shrugs a little. "She was, but wouldn't you be upset that the place you wanted to go to be safe was at risk of killing you? And she didn't know it was your Task. It isn't something you did for fun." Scott points out. "Every time somebody sees me, they want to chase after me for something I've done." Scar says sullenly. "If it'd make you feel better, my base here is free for you to take a breather in if you need to just get away from everything." Scott offers, gently taking Scar's hands in his own and helping him to stand up. "People don't simply become villains, Scar, it's a choice. And to me, it looks like you're making all the right ones." Scar decides that whatever happens, Scott is on his list of people he can trust.

He hides for about one whole day, then decides he won't take advantage of Scott's kindness and forces himself to leave, though he doesn't leave the Lifer's hospitality unpaid. He leaves them with a diamond each, and a spare gapple he had. Then, he heads back over to Grian's base, trying to skirt around the edges of the world in order to avoid trouble. He's going to see if he can find Xerean, or access his mineshaft through the tunnel connecting their bases. Instead, he finds Grian, sitting on the steps of his egg and staring ahead blankly. Scar tries to be as quiet as he can, when Grian's messing with Code, it's best not to disturb him. As he's about to go back down the bridge, though, the Avian cries out in triumph. "Yes! I did it!" He whoops, flapping his wings like he wants to fly, then realizes he can't. His gaze settles on Scar, takes in his tired, weary look, makes a sympathetic face. Scar sits down, refusing to run off this time. Grian hasn't specifically said to stay, anyway. Grian comes over, and gives him a little smile. "How–how're you doing, Scar? You doin' alright?" Grian asks, crouching to level with the man. "Oh, I–I–I'm...I...'m...neutral!" He says, grinning tiredly and running a hand through his hair. "No, I'm bad. Wait, no, uh, good–bad–no, uh, good. Yeah, I'm good. Why wouldn't I be??" He chuckles. Grian looks a little empathetic, another small smile as he fully sits down and accepts the fact Scar's taller even while they're sitting down. "Oh, Scar, wish I could help you...here, right, I'm just going to put something out there, if I suspect, perhaps I can help. Is it like...an Opposite Day thing?" Scar deadpans and proceeds to toss a Diamond in his friend's lap. "Tell no one." He growls, though this only makes Grian cackle a bit in either delight or amusement, but probably both. It is Grian, after all. But if he figured it out, at least partially, Scar feels a weight lift from his shoulders. "Oh, I've been–I've never been so stressed in my LIFE. My hands–my hands are so sweaty right now. I got yellows chasing me all over the map, I definitely made some enemies, and I'm pretty sure Xerean's been following Martyn all Session, so I can't talk to her about any of this." He sighs. Scott definitely made him feel at least a little better. He doesn't feel like collapsing and becoming part of the earth anymore. "Aw, no, buddy...I'm sorry. But hang in there, Session ends in three more days, counting today. Can you do that?" Scar nods. "Okay. While I have you, why DON'T we be friends? I'm...kinda lonely here, honestly." Grian admits. Scar nods, one hand over his face and gaze darting around as he checks for yellows. "Good. Now, I was going to go visit Etho and Cleo...I assume you don't want to come?" Scar shakes his head. "No, I'd love to see mom and dad again." He replies. While passing by the Heart Foundation, though, Skizzleman sees him, and Scar runs. Grian watches the two leave, mildly puzzled and concerned, but doesn't stop it. "Stop right there, mister!" Skizz calls angrily. "Sorry, nope, can't hear you!" Scar replies, very well aware of his few options and low stamina. He gives up at the Secret Keeper, and sits up against the statue's hand. Skizz walks over, then falters at Scar's face. "Scar, haven't you slept?? At all??" He shakes his head. Not once since getting his Task this Session has he slept. "No, I haven't. What do you want? To take my heart, too?" Skizz stays still a moment, then grunts a little, unclenches his fists, and walks away. Is he so pitiful-looking that he doesn't even look worth their anger anymore? Is that why Scott came and helped him? Scar simply sits there until nighttime, then gets up to find himself some food. That's when Jimmy, Martyn, and Xerean corner him.

"Hello, Scar." Jimmy says, striding up to the man. Scar's certain he knows what's about to happen. He's not ready, but also knows that running will only egg them on further. "Uh, hey–hey guys. Oh, Xerean, what're you doing here?" Scar inquires, both relaxing and tensing up a little at the same time. She's following Martyn, but why? "I just said hi to them and then they ran over here, so I came to see what's up." She replies, Scar nodding a little. His gaze flickers around constantly, from looking to the person speaking, to watching someone move in his peripheral, or checking beyond and around them. The anxiety is getting stronger, it's harder to stamp down. "Now, Scar, we've been watching you and your antics this week pretty well...and I think Jimmy here has something to say." Martyn says, moving to let Jimmy take the lead. "Oh–you're gonna guess my Task?" Scar realizes, stepping back slightly. "I can tell you want to run off, because your Task is...to be the villain of the Server." Jimmy states, and Scar begins to laugh. It bubbles up from within him, a strained, tired, relieved and weary chuckle. He claps his hands. "Oh, you were close, I'll give you that." Scar says, resting his hands on his knees. He can rest a little easier now, but they were too close. Martyn is watching him carefully, having moved to stand in front of Xerean and Jimmy while disguising it as a casual action. "I...I was?" Jimmy replies, and Scar nods. "Come here. Let me give you a pat on the back. I'll tell you something." He steps forward, and Martyn moves forward as well, then steps away as though thinking better of it. Scar actually gives the man a hug, then withdraws, looking ever so slightly calmer. "You were off by a technicality." He informs them, and Martyn thinks for a moment. "Scar, can you stand still for me?" He asks, but before Scar can do anything, they're interrupted by Gem, riding in on a camel with Pearl and Impulse. "Hello, friends! How are you today?" Scar takes the distraction to run off again, all the way to Trader Scar's.

He pants, emotions swirling worse than a dizziness effect. He stays down underground, mining the days away, then heads up to put things in his chests, until he pulls out his commutator, which had been going off a lot.

ZombieCleo has made the achievement [Eye Spy]

SolidarityGamning has made the achievement [Eye Spy]

InTheLittleWood has made the achievement [Eye Spy]

Xerean has made the achievement [Eye Spy]

Moments later, new messages appears.

ZombieCleo has made the achievement [The End?]

SolidarityGaming has made the achievement [The End?]

InTheLittleWood has made the achievement [The End?]

Xerean has made the achievement [The End?]

He stares at it.

Xerean's in the End.

He's both terrified and thrilled. She had seen the gear he made her and gratefully accepted it, leaving him some Lapis and iron blocks she'd had. A moment later, his device pings three times.

SolidarityGaming was doomed to fall whilst escaping Ender Dragon

InTheLittleWood suffocated in the Void

Xerean suffocated in the Void

Xerean died.

What??

She. Died. Scar doesn't comprehend that for a second. He can't. She said it was impossible! But this place threatened to have that power. He doesn't believe it, but he finds himself running to the last place she slept anyway: her bunker.

She sits on her bed, gasping for air, sitting up and taking deep breaths. She turns to Scar with wide eyes, full of tears and hands shaking. "Xerean, are you okay? What happened??" He asks, coming over and sitting on the edge of the bed. "I went to the End with Martyn. He fell off the platform, so I tried to save him. I almost did, Scar–my powers, they came back. They came BACK, Scar. But then the Dragon roared or something stopped me and they–they disappeared, and we both fell, and it's my fault because I couldn't pull him up." She says, gripping his arm. "I could have saved him. I should have saved him. But I'm still too weak. And he had to die like that–it's awful, how can you go through it like it's nothing??" She whispers, and he hugs her. She doesn't like them much, but it's the best thing he can give her right now. "We die so often, Xerean. We become almost dull to it. And yes, it hurts, so bad, but we accept it as a part of our lives from an early age. You didn't have that, because you aren't meant for death. And I'm so sorry you had to go through that. But it's not your fault that Martyn died. You did what you could. It would have happened if you were there or not." He tells her, and she sobs a little, throwing arms around him and burying her face in his poncho. It's in this moment that it strikes him–she's thousands of years old, but she's still younger than anyone else on this Server. A little girl in a game of war and death who never asked to be part of this. It makes him mad. Who would be so cruel as to hurt a child like this? Why would they? "Scar? Xerean? Are you here?" Grian calls, hopping down the stairs, uncaring of however much damage he probably just took. "She tried to save Martyn, and they both fell off the edge." Scar replies softly, as Grian looks at him in silent question. The Watcher's wings lower, and he crouches. "You told me not to die. I'm sorry." She mumbles, having stopped crying, but still holding onto Scar. "It's okay. That was a hopeful, best case scenario, but I should have remembered there's no such thing as that, here–I have some actual hope, though. I freed some of your powers. It's somehow tied to the Secret Keeper, so when someone fails or succeeds, you get some back. I simply unlocked it a bit early. The more people do the Tasks, the more power you'll get back." Grian says, and Xerean actually lifts her head. "You...?" She whispers. She still has teary, red eyes, but she looks less sad, and right now, that's all Scar could ever want. "Sounds like you'll be back to yourself in no time!" Scar says lightly, and Xerean finally lets him go to sit up on the edge of the bed. Grian stands as well, and flares his wings. "Maybe it's going to all be okay."

* * *

"The Watcher should not have messed with the Code."

"...What do you mean?"

"It has angered them. There will be repercussions. I must take action. It is time."

"What do you mean–time for what?"

"Time for you to be rid of her."