Xisuma and Cub walked through the shopping district silently, minds swirling with everything that had just witnessed. Once they had left the forest after confronting Scar and Doc, Grian immediately broke off, flying to who knows where; Cub didn't blame him. Ren had cried silently the whole walk home, so by the time they reached Hermitville he was shaking with no more tears left to cry. Xisuma gave him some water and suggested he get some rest, but Cub noted as they walked away that he already had Iskall's number open on his phone. Now, Xisuma and Cub were at a loss for words.

They silently meandered towards ConCorp, and Cub's mind gravitated towards Scar again. Scar had conjured those vines, there was no doubt in Cub's mind. Conjured, Scar had performed magic. That can't be right, it just can't be, magic isn't real. And yet, with a shiver down his spine, Cub recalled the fear in Scar's eyes as he thrust his hand forward, forcing the vines into a barrier in front of Doc. And not to mention the alien; oh the alien.

It was all so wrong.

"It wasn't me Cub." Xisuma's voice cracked as he spoke up. "Do you believe me?" Cub had never heard the admin so broken before, so genuinely upset. Xisuma always did a good job at putting on a brave face for the server, even if they could all tell how he was really feeling. Cub had had countless late-night discussions with Xisuma, and knew that the poor man didn't consider himself a brave or admin-like person, so putting on the mask was tiring for him. Despite all of that, he continued to do so, for the safety of mind of the rest of the hermits. But right now, Xisuma dropped all pretenses, exhaustion and fear shaking his voice.

Cub shot a glance around the shopping district, and despite seeing no one, decided it would be safer to talk about this somewhere else. "Let's talk somewhere more private." They quickened their pace, retreating to the private confines of ConCorp. Xisuma sighed once they were safely inside, and turned to Cub with tired eyes. "It wasn't me attacking Doc. I don't know what happened, but I promise it wasn't me."

Cub's heart plummeted. He hoped, he knew in his heart Xisuma wouldn't attack Scar and Doc the way he did, but hearing out of his mouth was chilling. Magic wasn't real, he reassured himself again, but somehow he told himself that he knew what was causing this unknown magic to occur. "I know."

"You know? Cub, you- what?" Xisuma pulled off his helmet, running a hand through his unkempt hair. His eyes were wide and fearful, but the bags under his eyes revealed how long this anxiety had persisted.

"We never planned on the alien escaping, so I wasn't going to tell you. I wish I had said something sooner now, but Scar and I brought that alien here." Cub sighed, deep set exhaustion seeping into his bones. This wasn't how he wanted to tell Xisuma about his involvement.

Xisuma froze, visually processing his words. "You guys.. what? How?" Xisuma stressed, running another hand through his hair.

"It's a long story, and apparently I don't know most of it. Scar is the one who found it last season; it was injured on the outskirts of the jungle. You know Scar, he just had to nurse the creature back to health, and he couldn't leave it behind when we hopped worlds. However, something about the jump upset the creature, and Scar couldn't calm it down again. We caged it far away in a jungle, so if it ever escaped it could never find the hermits."

Cub paused, waiting for Xisuma to ask the question that seemed to be on the tip of his tongue. "You released a magical creature into the wild without telling me? How did I not find him in the code sooner?"

Cub simply shook his head. "He displayed no signs of magic when I last saw him, so your guess is as good as mine. From what we just saw and you experienced, I would imagine it either hid it's magic from us initially, or developed magic somehow. It's obviously not an admin, so any magic it possesses has never been seen before and impossible to predict."

After a long pause, Xisuma heaved a sigh. "As upset as I am that you didn't tell me sooner, I'm more concerned with keeping Doc and Scar safe. I'm fairly certain it was the alien that made me attack Doc. I wouldn't even call it possession, it was like I felt myself getting angrier than I wanted to be. I couldn't help myself, I was- I was in control of my body, but not my mind, I wanted to kill Doc. Oh Cub, I wanted to kill him." Xisuma locked eyes with Cub, his pained words becoming punctuated by silent tears pouring down his cheeks.

Cub gently took hold of Xisuma's shoulders, murmuring softly as he attempted to help Xisuma calm down. Xisuma muttered more self-deprecating words, which broke down into sobs. Cub had never heard so much pain in tears, but then again, his friend had never attempted to kill his servermates in cold blood. Cub patiently waited for Xisuma to wipe away the stray tears before speaking up again. "Would a walk help clear your head?"

Xisuma nodded mutely, and Cub took him by the hand to help him stand up. They wandered through the ConCorp grounds slowly, Cub occasionally pointing out halfway complete projects or new planters in front of buildings in hushed voices to distract them. Cub did his best to avoid thinking about the situation, and soon both of them were much more composed than they were before. Scar still tugged at his mind, but Cub was good at ignoring that by now. "Hey, would you like to see my new villager trading hall?"

"Absolutely!"

Cub pushed open the grand doors, and instantly they were greeted by the low chattering of villagers. Cub's pride swelled as he watched Xisuma gasp in awe at the space. The ceiling was open through the middle of all three stories, natural light pouring in. In front of them stood rows upon rows of books, shelves towering above their heads. Librarians murmured as they puttered about, pulling out and replacing books as if they were doing important work. The next floor up took advantage of Xisuma's cactus-smelting xp farm design, furnaces lining the walls and siphoning cactus from the farm next door. Finally the top floor was filled with rows of chests, to store any extra books, enchanted or not, and other assorted materials that might be needed. It was impressive, and Cub happily tugged on his coat as Xisuma took it all in with awe. "Did you do this all by yourself?"

"Actually, Zedaph helped build the bookshelves and hired the librarians!" Cub smiled softly at the memory. It felt like they had built this months ago, but it had barely been a week; a busy, busy week.

"Ah, I haven't visited Zedaph in some time. Maybe I should go check up on him." Xisuma mused. "It will help me unwind a little. Take care of yourself, okay Cub? You deserve it."

"I think you should; it will help you unwind, trust me," Cub chuckled.

"I suppose I will!" Xisuma smiled endearingly at Cub. "Take care, okay Cub? You deserve some rest after today."

"Of course Xisuma; you too." The pair parted ways amicably, Cub waving as Xisuma soared off.

Once Xisuma was out of sight, Cub set off at a swift pace towards the drone camera room. He had some work to do.

Love you, my little stars!
-RaeTheStar