Magic ran in Hypno's veins, burning a brighter yellow than quality highlighters. He couldn't help it, no matter how hard he tried to stuff it down, no matter how much effort he put into stopping the beast in his blood from ripping right out and hurting his friends, no matter how heavily he focused from keeping his too-yellow eyes from glowing that unnatural glow.

See, Hypno's magic wasn't just any magic. He didn't have bog-standard teleportation, or shapeshifting, or healing, or whatever. In fact, his magic was quite appropriate for him, given his name. His voice ran with honey, soothing the mind into following like rats (or children) after the pied piper, and his eyes glowed with an aura so entrancing you just couldn't look away. To make a long story short, Hypno was an enchantoid.

But if there was one thing that Hypno knew, it was that his powers were dangerous, that they couldn't be left unchecked, that they could do horrible things. It was best if nobody knew at all. So he stuffed that glow deep into his core, tried his best to ask for things instead of telling, and locked away anything he knew could hurt his friends. 

(There was a dead body in his grandfather's closet. His father stood behind him when he found it.

"That was a poet who didn't like grampa."

"What happened?"

"Grampa used his powers. Those powers hurt people."

"...my powers hurt people?")

In fact, none of the hermits knew what Hypno was, not even Xisuma. When, on occasion, he was asked about his slightly strange eye colour, he brushed the question off with some lie about a pigmentation mutation or something. He tried to ignore how easily the excuse was accepted. As far as they were aware, he had no magic at all, and he intended on keeping it that way.

Unfortunately, magic is quite inconvenient. It tends to have a mind of its own, and Hypno's magic didn't take particularly well to being locked away, even if enchantoid magic was usually well-controlled. A part of Hypno knew this. A part of him knew he was a ticking time bomb of wild magic, ready to explode. He ignored it, and prayed for the best.

The explosion, of course, was still inevitable. It went off one day at Horse Head Farms.

"I'm just saying, I can see a lot of problems with your business model." Etho was leaning on a fence nearby, while Hypno collected diamonds from people who didn't want to sell their souls but still wanted to buy things. He'd apparently chosen Hypno to be the one to vent his urge to cause problems on purpose at.

"Really?" Hypno chuckled, turning to face Etho. He didn't notice how the other's gaze immediately snapped up to meet his own. "The only problem I see here is your voice." He told Etho. Or, rather, told.

Etho paused, snapping himself out of the haze that had momentarily descended over him - had he zoned out? He tried to say some witty retort, one that probably would have ended with a 'your mom' joke, but for some reason the words just wouldn't form. The silence stretched on long enough that Hypno looked up again, confused.

"Etho? Are you okay?" Hypno asked, concern tinging his voice. Unable to even make the faintest squeak, Etho shook his head, gesturing to his throat. Hypno was at his side in a split second. "Can you breathe?" Hypno asked again, hand on Etho's back to help clear his airway if needed. Etho nodded. "Can you talk?" Etho shook his head.

Hypno pulled out a bit of paper from his inventory, offering it to Etho while he guided him to sit down. Etho scribbled something down, and handed it back to Hypno.

My voice isn't working. The words are there, but I can't bring myself to say them.

A horrible sinking sensation settled into the pit of Hypno's gut. Etho's voice had stopped working, immediately after he'd told Etho to stop talking. Hypno had used his power, and now it was hurting Etho. The man in question must have noticed how Hypno's hands shook at the revelation, because he gently rested a hand on Hypno's wrist, a comforting gesture, accompanied by a worried look.

"It's my fault." Hypno told him. Then, he cleared his throat, and he told Etho: "You can have your voice back." 

"...What?" Instantly, Etho's voice returned to him. Hypno looked at the ground, kicking it lightly.

"Do you know what an enchantoid is?" Hypno asked, eventually. "That's- that's me. I'm one." There it was. The truth was out there, laid bare for the whole world to hear, for the whole world to fear. There was no taking it back. Sure, Hypno could tell Etho to forget this ever happened, but he didn't know if he'd be able to bring himself to do so, even if his life depended on it. "I promise, I won't- I'm not dangerous. Don't hate me?"

"I would never." Etho let out a chuckle. Hypno watched as his ears became more foxlike, and nine white-furred tails appeared behind him. "I'd be a hypocrite, wouldn't I?"

"I'm not the only...?"

"You're not the only magical creature here, no. Welcome to the club."

———

Time skip brought to you by the fireworks outside jeebus crimes it's not even November yet hold your horses.

———

"This is the clubhouse!" Etho had brought Hypno to a small cave area, hidden under the main continent. "Tango and I have been meeting up here to discuss not-human problems, and if you have any issues-"

"Wait, Tango?" Hypno asked, interrupting Etho.

"Tango." Another voice came from behind him: the man himself. Flame-feathered wings spread behind him, relaxed and bobbing up and down slightly with his breathing. Tango was a phoenix, then.

(Grandpa Mesmerizd had brought a bird in a cage. It didn't seem right.

"Go on, just ask him. It'll be very pretty."

"But he doesn't want to!"

"That doesn't matter."

"I want dad!")

Hypno snapped himself out of his thoughts rapidly. Some things were better left forgotten.

"I'm an Enchantoid." He blurted, before he lost the nerve to do so. He turned to face Tango, nervous to see the fear reflected in Tango's expression. But there was none. Just understanding. A smile graced Hypno's face in return.

When he'd first come here, he'd been told that Hermitcraft would always be a safe place for him. Maybe that statement rang a little more true than he'd thought it had at the time. Maybe, one day, he'd be comfortable with the magic in his veins. The road to healing was a long one, sure, but the gate had been opened, as Tango transformed into his true form and perched on Hypno's shoulder.

Maybe, just maybe, he could be an enchantoid, be himself, and still avoid hurting his friends.

———

What's this? Content? From me? Whaaaaaaat?

It's no Halloween special, I know, but it is in fact writing.

Anyway, I've been picturing the next update in this AU for quite some time, so you might see that soon. I'm really trying to get back into the swing of things.

I've been Entropy, peace out from the present!