The other hermits looked up from their conversations when Grian and Xel reentered the room.

Everyone was relieved to see Grian was alright but their smiles dropped when they saw him hovering around Xel like a worried mother.

Xel found it a bit amusing honestly to watch him constantly looking at him, making sure he was alright and still there.

But that was to be expected with what he discovered after all.

Grian hovered beside him as he took a seat in his chair.

Mumbo stepped forward. "Is everything alright?"

Grian shook his head before Xel could respond. "He's hurt."

"Less so now that Grian decided to become my doctor." Xel commented. "I'm fine. Really."

"No you aren't and you know it!" Grian argued.

"What's wrong exactly?" Doc asked.

"Noth-"

"I don't know because I couldn't see it!" Grian replied.

"Then it's probably fi-"

"No! I literally couldn't see it! Like, there was nothing to see!"

"Grian-"

"It doesn't make sense and I'm worried!"

"Grian-"

"I mean you're not supposed to be able to see through-"

"Grian!" Xel snapped making him fall quiet and stare at him. "Please. Let me just... explain."

Grian slowly nodded.

"First of all, I might as well introduce myself to all of you." He took a deep breath. "My name is Xelqua."

Everyone except Grian exchanged glances.

"What?"

"Xelqua? That sounds kind of familiar."

Mumbo stepped forward. "That was Grian's old user."

Xelqua nodded. "It was."

Grian listened quietly.

"But that's something that I'll explain later perhaps. Right now, Grian wants me to explain something else... Which I'm not really sure how to other than just show you." His eyes glossed over as he accessed his inventory, stashing away the shirt, pants, boots, and finally helmet into it.

Everyone gasped in shock as he disappeared.

"You were the floating sword?" Grian whispered quietly.

Xel nodded before sighing. "Yes. That was me."

"You saved us." Cleo commented.

"You saved Grian." Mumbo added to which everyone but Grian nodded.

"Twice..." Grian replied softly. He hesitantly reached out towards Xel who took his hand. "Thank you..."

"Of course, kid." Xel replied before standing up. "I'll be right back." He let go of Grian, leaving the room.

He came back in wearing the same outfit he was wearing the day he found Grian. "There. That's better." He had the bandana over his face like he did last time.

"So why can't we see you?" Stress asked.

"I'm not entirely sure. I think it's cause I'm not whitelisted."

X stepped forward. "I might be able to change that if you'd like."

Grian and Xel both looked at him.

"Really? You'd do that?" Grian asked, hopefully.

X nodded. "Of course. It's the least I can do for everything he's done for us."

Grian smiled. "Oh, thank you!" Grian hugged Xisuma. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He exclaimed.

X laughed. "No problem, Grian. Really!"

Xel smiled at Grian's excitement. "Thank you Xisuma."

X smiled. "Like, I said. No problem. I'll work on that as soon as I get back to my base."

Xel nodded.

Grian came running back over to Xel, bouncing with excitement. "Xel, you can come and stay at my base for a while and we can have sleepovers and Sally can come too and she can see all her chicken friends again and it's going to be so much fun and-"

Xel laughed as Grian practically glowed with energy and ruffled his hair. "Alright, alright. I'll come!"

"Yes! Thank you! It's going to be so much fun! I'll show you around the island and the war field and all the new places and we can stay up for as long as we want and I'll finally have a base mate again!"

The hermits smiled seeing how excited Grian was.

Xel chuckled. "Alright, kiddo. Calm down. I still need to heal up a bit before I can travel. So why don't you go on ahead and I'll come with Sal in a couple of days? I'll ever text you or something when I'm ready and you can come meet me."

Grian hesitated but nodded. "Are you sure?"

Xel nodded. "I'll be fine."

Grian looked disbelieving of that. "Well... okay..."

Xel sighed before smiling. "You can stay until I'm ready if that's what your asking."

Grian turned to him. "Really? You don't mind?"

Xel shook his head. "Not at all."

Grian grinned. "Awesome!"

Mumbo stepped forward. "Are you sure Grian?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I'm sure. I'll let you know when we head home."

Mumbo nodded. "Alright. Stay safe alright?" He asked.

"We will!" Grian replied.

Xel noticed the look all the hermits were giving him. A look saying you better keep him safe.

He smiled and gave a small nod. "I'll keep the little gremlin out of trouble."

Grian turned to face Xel. "What did you call me?"

"Gremlin."

Grian gaped at him. "Take it back!"

"I can't. It's true."

Grian turned to the others. "Guys?!"

Mumbo laughed. "Sorry, Gri but it's true."

Grian gasped. "I'm not a gremlin!"

The hermits laughed as they agreed he was indeed a gremlin and quickly ran outside when Grian went to chase them.

Xel chuckled while he watched them all run outside, dodging Grian as he tried to grab ahold of them.

He watched from the door frame as they launched into the sky, dodging and laughing as they played with each other.

Sally came to join him. "So. You'll be one of them soon, huh?"

"No."

Sally looked up at him. "What?"

He turned to her with a smile. "We'll be one of them."

Sally smiled as they turned to watch the hermits soar through the sky, all their worries being left behind.

(Hey guys! Thanks so very much for following this story! I have tons of ideas for small stories in this au and maybe a bigger one where the hermits search for a way to "cure" Xel of his invisibility! I feel like this is a good place to stop this one. I might write an epilogue to blend this with the sequel but in the mean time keep an eye on the bloopers. If anything I'll be trying to write for that. Again, thank you all so much for reading and supporting this story! It means the world to me. 

DayDr3am3r/Molly )