"I don't trust them."

Wels nudged Doc in the ribs.

"You know I don't either, but there isn't much of a choice. We're heavily outnumbered with no weapons. If our friends are acting normal, we need to take advantage of that for as long as possible."

"Right, you're right." The creeper sighed, "Let's find X. We gotta make a plan to get those masks off everyone. Where is he, anyway?"

The knight scanned over the courtyard from the balcony where they stood, all hermits other than Xisuma accounted for. A scowl grew across the blonde's face, with his stomach twisting into a firm knot. "This can't be good. Come on, let's go talk to some of the hermits on our side. Maybe they've seen him."

Nodding in agreement, Doc took the lead, he and Wels making their way down the staircase to join the other hermits. Those who wore masks turned their attention towards the two, staring in an eerie silence. Their silver eyes watched with curiosity, unblinking. Despite the hollow and blank appearance, it felt like the eyes were glaring.

"I hate this..." The cyborg muttered underneath his breath. "We gotta hurry and fix things. I mean, it's great that everyone is okay and all, but.."

"It's not them, I get it. Just keep your guard up, who knows when our so-called 'friends' will turn against us.." Wels whispered in response, glancing around to the brainwashed hermits. They all had swords in holsters, which meant that they could draw their weapons at a moment's notice. If it came down to it, he could easily snatch a blade or two. His attention then turned to the few hermits that he saw as allies.

Zedaph was with Impulse and Tango, while Stress and Grian were with Mumbo, Scar, and Iskall. Joe was off to the side with Cleo, making him the easiest to pull away. It was clear that the poet was nervous, definitely on-edge while chatting with the brainwashed zombie. He took off his glasses, shifting uncomfortably in place while cleaning them on his shirt before setting them back onto the bridge of his nose.

Noticing Doc and Wels approaching, Joe gave a smile to the redhead. "It was nice to talk to you again, Cleo. I'm going to go check on the other hermits, I'll see you in a bit."

She gave a silent nod, the silver eye on her mask watching as the southerner walked away. Joe shivered, an eerie tension lingering in the air. Just by talking to the zombie, it was easy to tell that she wasn't the same. It was hard to explain exactly what was wrong, but it was like she had lost a spark of energy and joy. Maybe it was all the freaky eyes watching him, but even the littlest things were starting to stress the poet out.

His smile quickly faded to a more serious expression as he approached the two hermits. "Have either of you see X?"

Wels shook his head. "No, but we're looking. For now, we should get the others and stick together. I don't trust this, it feels like at any moment they'll turn against us..."

"Definitely," Joe agreed. "I was hoping that X would have a plan or somethin' to get those masks off. The sooner we do that, the sooner we get outta here."

"I have a plan. Why don't we just rip them off?" Doc growled, punching a fist into his palm.

"Let's focus on gathering up the hermits on our side, first. I doubt it's that easy, not to mention we're outnumbered." Wels added grimly.

"Right, okay." The creeper grumbled impatiently, shoving his hands into the pockets of his lab coat while following the knight and poet.

Walking over to the pond in the center of the courtyard, Grian and Stress were caught up in their conversations with the hermits. They acted as though everything was normal, that things were fine just because the hermits were all together again. That was far from the truth,  being in the heart of the castle made this the most dangerous place they could ever be.

"Grian, Stress? Can we talk to you for a moment?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, sure!" The builder smiled, pulling away from the small crowd of hermits with brunette following close behind. "Isn't this great? Our friends are all safe, we're all together again!"

Doc shook his head. "Don't be fooled. These aren't our friends, they're just trying to act natural. This is some kind of distraction, I bet. We need to find Xisuma and get out of here before things get worse."

Joe opened his mouth to speak up, though his jaw quickly slammed shut. The five hermits all jumped at the sound of a low and eerie creak, the group turning their attention towards the balcony doors. Taurtis and Pearl walked out, both wielding swords in their hands. The hooded girl also carried a bag of sorts, which she slung over her shoulder. Cussing underneath his breath, the knight's hands balled into fists. This wasn't looking good.

"Doc, we need a plan— fast."

"Joe, Stress, Grian, grab Zedaph, then run inside and look for Xisuma. Wels, you and I are going to hold everyone off." The creeper growled, taking a step back as he noticed the evolutionist's glare was focused on him.

"Nono, you two can't hold them all off on your own. You'll get killed or brainwashed or—"

"It's okay, Joe." Wels said with a nod, "I know you guys are going to find X and fix things. Just hurry before—"

A scream rang through the air, the harsh cry in pain causing everyone in the courtyard to turn towards the source of the sound. Zedaph was clutching his face in pain, Tango and Impulse kneeling beside him as a black mask welded to his skin and attached itself to his face. When the screaming slowly died down and came to a stop, he was panting, raising his head and staring at the five hermits with a blank silver eye.

While the others were distracted, the cyborg snatched a sword from Mumbo's holster, kicking the redstoner to the ground as Wels rushed to grab his own weapon. "RUN! NOW!" He yelled, charging forward to hold off Taurtis and Pearl.

Stress and Joe bolted past the creeper and ran inside, as Wels joined Doc with a sword he had stolen from Jevin. Grian was hesitant, looking back at his old friends who fought with the two hermits. He shook his head and ran inside, slamming the heavy wooden doors behind him.

Doc breathed a sigh of relief as they left, though he didn't back down or relax. The two evolutionists backed away slightly, looking at each other before glancing back to the knight and the cyborg.

"I recommend you set those weapons down," Taurtis warned. "I don't think any of your friends want to watch your dead body crash against the floor. You're severely outnumbered."

Growling underneath his breath, Wels looked to Doc. "Do what he says..." The creeper grumbled, setting down the blade before holding his hands up in defeat. The blonde stabbed his blade into the ground before copying the motion.

"You know we aren't getting out of this, right..?" He asked in a whisper, while the cyborg slowly nodded his head.

Pearl pulled out two masks from the bag slung over her shoulder, handing one to the man with the checkered headphones. "Unless you want all your friends to hunt you down and kill you, stay still."

"Doc.." Wels muttered as Pearl stepped towards the German.

"I-it's going to be okay. Xisuma and the others will find a way to— AHH!"

He screamed in pain as the mask was pushed against his face, the creeper clawing at it, trying to pull it off. It burned as it slowly grew tighter and tighter, pressing against his skin and tinting his vision with a silver glow. The knight watched in horror as the resistance to the mask slowly began to fade, Doc's posture straightening as he turned to Wels.

"Your turn."

☼

"I wish you the best of luck with this venture of yours. This 'hermitcraft' sounds wonderful."

GenerikB smiled proudly. He was more than excited, planning on forming a server filled with the best redstoners and builders he could find. It was almost all ready, he had met with the future hermits (a nickname he had come up with for the members) and everything was going well. All the admin needed to do now was finish maintenance on the server, which included setting up a barrier.

"I hope that this server of yours will continue to grow." The watcher said with a calm smile. "Although I will not watch over it, I can tell that it will do great things. I understand your want to keep your world and members separate from our watchful eye, this will mean that you are fully responsible for updating and protecting your server from glitches."

"Thank you. I know that this server will live on for years to come."

"About that, actually. I was wondering if you would like to accept two more members to your server." The winged male asked, GenerikB raising an eyebrow at the request.

"What do you mean?"

"It's quite a long story. But to put it simply, a student of mine used their magic to create life instead of protect it. I am unable to destroy these beings, as it is not my magic that created them. I cannot keep them with us, so they must find a server to inhabit.  They are both trained admins, so if you ever step down or leave, they can take your place. It is, of course, your choice."

He shrugged. "I mean, it would be nice to have a back-up admin. Sure, why not."

"Thank you, I promise that they will be of great help." The magical being said, snapping his fingers together. Beside him opened a swirling portal, one figure stumbling through the strange vortex.

Wearing purple armor and a helmet that covered his face, the man blinked, his dull eyes studying the hermitcraft admin. After him, another man followed, nearly identical. The only difference was that his helmet was tucked underneath his arm, revealing pale skin and flowing white hair that draped over his shoulders.

"Xisuma, Xanthus, this is GenerikB. You two will be living in hermitcraft with him from now on." The watcher instructed, gaining a nod from the one in the helmet, and an eye roll from the one with white hair.

"Other than that, your server is ready for habitation. Many adventures await you and your server members."

With that, his body disappeared in a purple flame, the admin of the server then turning his attention towards the set of twins. "So, uh, it's nice to meet you. You must be—"

"Call me Ex." The white-haired twin interrupted as he glanced around the server. "I won't bother you much, I'd rather just be on my own instead. Just don't have anyone bother me, and I'll stay out of your way."

"Alright then.." GenerikB blinked, "And what about you, Xisuma? Are you gonna stick around, or would you rather be left alone?"

A laugh came from Ex. "Oh, he doesn't talk much. My brother here is still confused about where we are."

"You two are brothers?"

"Sort of. We were made by the same person using magic, so we might as well be. Xisuma here was the first attempt, so he isn't as developed as I am." The man in armor explained, his voice almost gloating as he spoke.

"Developed? What does that even mean?"

Ex rolled his eyes. "He was pretty much created as a drone, with no emotions or thoughts other than what he is given. And now that Sylvia— the watcher who created us— is gone, he has no purpose. Unlike me. I have my own thoughts, emotions, I'm independent."

"Well, will Xisuma always be like that?"

"You ask a lot of questions." He grumbled with yet another eye roll. "Probably not. Once he realizes that he has his own free will, I bet he'll start to develop a personality."

GenerikB glanced at Xisuma, who was nervously shuffling in place as he glanced around in search of the watcher. He placed a hand on the twin's shoulder, causing him to jump from shock.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." The admin apologized, gaining no response from Xisuma.

"Look, why don't you stick with me for the beginning of the season, okay? I'll help you get comfortable. There's no reason to worry. Does that sound good?"

Slowly, the man in purple armor nodded.

"Great." Ex said, "Now that we have all that sorted out, I'll be on my way. I want to dye this armor as soon as possible, it would look so much better red rather than purple."

He turned to leave, only to look back over his shoulder at his twin. Xisuma's eyes widened with fear, sad and horrified as they watched the white-haired man. "I'm still here, I'll always be here. Just come to me if you ever need help, alright?"

His brother weakly nodded again.

"Good. You're safe here, X. I promise."

With that, Ex walked away.

Xisuma blinked back his tears, watching as his younger self reluctantly waved goodbye. The scene disappeared within an instant, fading into smoke as Sylvia waved her hand to destroy the illusion. Even now that it was gone, the admin's thoughts were racing in horror at everything he had just seen.

The worst part? He remembered it. He remembered it all. Just by watching these past moments, these faint fragments, the blurry past that he never questioned became clearer and clearer. The first season of hermitcraft had been so hard to recall, yet it all was flooding back so easily now. It was like a barrier in his mind had finally broken, overwhelming the admin's mind with everything that had been previously forgotten.

His body shook vigorously, Xisuma struggling to keep his footing as the room began to spin. His whole life, everything that he had known, was nothing more than a lie. Was he even real? Or was he just a pawn, a tool to use, like he was created to be? Did he even have a free will? He didn't know anymore, he didn't know who he was.

"Hey, hey." Ex spoke calmly, placing his hands on his brother's shoulders in an attempt to steady the distressed male. "You're alright. It's a lot to process, I know."

Running a hand through his hair, then pulling at it, the admin gasped for breath as his brain tried to process everything. Tears streamed out of his eyes, rolling down his cheeks and dropping to the floor. Xisuma couldn't hold it back anymore, he was so distraught and confused, nothing made sense anymore.

"It's all going to be fine—" His twin assured, placing his hand against his brother's cheek to wipe the streams of water that leaked from his eyes. "—just breathe, and let me help you."

"N-no," the admin gasped, stepping backwards as his legs shook unsteadily. "no, no. St-stop. I-, I can't— T-t-this can't be r-real. You messed w-with my head, d-didn't you? Th-these memories aren't mine!"

"Yes, yes they are. It's okay, we understand that you need time to process everything. It took me a while to understand and accept it all as well, and I've had years to do so. But once you join us, all that pain you feel will be wiped away, forever."

He sucked in a tense breath, pausing at his brother's words. "Y-years?" Xisuma mumbled with a shaky sob. "Y-you've known about t-this, all of this, for...years..?"

"Of course. Ever since the day I created him with just a wave of my hand. Here, why don't you ask him yourself?" Sylvia chuckled with a twisted grin. She grabbed the edge of the black mask his twin wore, taking it off with ease.

Xisuma's eyes widened, as more watery tears began to cloud his vision. His twin let out a groan, placing a hand on the side of his head while his eyelids fought to stay open. His eyes were foggy and unfocused, though he seemed to slowly come back to reality as his thoughts became his own once again.

"Wha-...the h-hell..? Ugh, my head..I..I can't remember..w-what happened..?" Ex groaned, disoriented and confused as he glanced around the throne room.

Taking a deep breath in, the admin stepped forward, he and his brother locking eyes with one another. "X? Where are we..? I-..I thought we were at my house, wha..what is this place?"

"Tell me, how long have you known..?" Xisuma asked without a tone in his voice, his gaze frozen in an empty stare.

"Known? Known what? I don't—"

"How long have you known that we were made by Sylvia?! How long have you known that we were made by THE WATCHERS?!"

Ex hesitated, he had never seen his twin with such genuine rage in his voice. "I've known since I first came to consciousness. I'm sorry, I-I just didn't know how to tell you.."

"Parts of my life have been hidden from me, and you've just played along this entire time?! I was created to be some— some kind of mindless servant! I wasn't even given emotions, Ex! Unlike you, I was NOTHING! I WAS DROPPED OFF AT HERMITCRAFT BECAUSE NONE OF THE WATCHERS THOUGHT I MATTERED, AND THEN YOU LEFT ME WHEN I NEEDED YOU THE MOST! I WAS SCARED AND ALONE, AND YOU DIDN'T CARE!"

"Of course I cared!"

The admin shook his head, hot tears streaming down his face. "ALL YOU CARED ABOUT WAS LEAVING!"

His brother was stuck in shock. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"

"Oh, you didn't mean to upset me." Xisuma let out a mix between a laugh and a sob. "It's not just that. If you would have told me about everything, I could have kept hermitcraft SAFE! INSTEAD, THE SERVER WAS BURNED TO THE GROUND, AND WE'RE ALL IN DANGER!"

"I didn't know that this would happen! I'm sorry, but I was trying to protect you!"

"I didn't need to be protected, I needed to know the truth!"

Sylvia chuckled, placing one hand on Xisuma's shoulder and the other on Ex's. "Now, now. There's no need for you to argue. After so long, after so many servers that I've searched through, I have you both alongside me once more. My prized creations—my children—are finally home.

She opened her wings, curling them around the twins like a sort of hug. The younger brother growled, pulling away while he narrowed his eyes. "Xisuma and I may be brothers, but we are not your children. Right, X?" He asked, looking to his twin for support.

Backing away, the admin slowly shook his head. "You and I are not brothers. The only family I have is the hermits."

"And they're all here." Sylvia said as her grip on Xisuma's shoulder began to tighten. "They're all waiting for you, just outside. You can live in this kingdom for the rest of eternity, enjoying every moment with your friends."

"Xisuma! Don't liste—"

Her wings curled around the admin, blocking out Ex from his vision, causing his voice to suddenly go silent. "I never stopped thinking about you." She said, reaching out to brush a strand of hair behind the Brit's ear.

"I never stopped thinking about how scared you must have been, so lost without me. I never forgot you, I never forgave myself for leaving the watchers without you. Xisuma, you are my greatest achievement. And now that I have you again, I cannot let you go. I've been searching for you, and now you're finally here again. I want you to stay here, alongside me, with all of the hermits. They will never leave you, and you will never be alone. You will be safe and loved, forever."

She outstretched a hand, offering him a mask. "All you have to do is join me."

Xisuma stared at the mask, and thought of the promises that Sylvia had made. Would...would he really never be alone again? He could spend the rest of his life with the hermits, all together. They would all be safe and happy, and the admin would never face the pain of seeing them go.

Slowly, he took the mask into his own hands. He studied it, dragging his thumb against the silver line, which slowly opened into an eye that stared back at him. The watcher's words kept repeating in his mind. He would never be alone again. He would never be alone.

Everything that he had done, all the hours he had spent trying to protect the hermits from the cult of the silver sun, was to protect himself from his own loneliness. The admin hadn't realized it before, but now that his old memories were back, it all made sense. He had lost the only two people he had ever known and loved, the watcher who created him and Ex, and it had crushed him. And if the hermits had been taken away, he would be all alone yet again.

But now...that would never happen if he stayed. No hermit would ever leave, not like GenerikB or Biffa or any of the old hermits who had left him behind. Hermitcraft would live on forever.

"Well? What do you say?" She asked, her voice bringing the admin back to reality. He glanced up at Sylvia, her smile calm and gentle. Looking back down at the mask in his hands, he thought for a couple more moments.

Taking a deep breath, Xisuma brought the mask to his face, and put it on.