Chapter Text
---
The weight of his helmet felt heavier than usual. Xisuma sat in the dim glow of his base’s core, the gentle hum of redstone and brewing stands a familiar comfort. He replayed the event in his mind for the hundredth time: the sudden dizziness, the world tilting on its axis, the concerned shouts of his friends muffled as the void claimed his consciousness. He had fainted. Right in the middle of a server-wide meeting about the upcoming season's projects.
'It was just a faint,' he reasoned with himself, the thought a stubborn mantra. 'A momentary lapse. A result of three consecutive nights patching a critical chunk-loading error. It's not that serious.'
At least, that's what he desperately needed to believe.
So why had the atmosphere shifted so profoundly? The Hermits, his family of chaotic, brilliant builders and redstone engineers, had become... smothering. Their usual playful jabs were replaced with hushed, careful tones. Offers of help, which he usually welcomed, now felt like assertions of his incapability. They orbited him like anxious guardians around a precious, fragile artifact—a piece of fine glassware on the verge of shattering from a single misstep.
It made his skin crawl beneath his netherite armor. A part of him, a hot, coiling ember in his chest, burned with a quiet fury. He wasn't a fledgling just leaving the nest. He was a grown man, the Admin of this entire world. He had single-handedly wrangled the code of reality to keep their server stable. He could protect himself. So what if he got carried away debugging? So what if he prioritized a Hermit's call for help over a full night's rest? That was his duty. That was who he was.
So, why? The question was a maddening loop in his processor. Why did this have to happ—
“Oh, X-Eye-Zoo-Ma! Come out here!”
The familiar, chirping voice of Grian sliced through his spiraling thoughts. Xisuma took a steadying breath, the filtered air of his helmet hissing softly. Pasting on a practiced, easy-going smile, he stepped out from the iron-reinforced depths of his base into the midday sun.
Grian stood there, his red sweater a vibrant splash against the grassy landscape, his brightly feathered wings twitching with restless energy. He was waiting, a picture of impatience barely held in check.
"Hello, Grian. It's nice to see you here. Is there something you need?"
Grian’s eyes darted for a fraction of a second, a calculated pause. "Well, actually, yeah! Mumbo wants you to see his new redstone contraption! He says it's a real head-scratcher and needs the Admin's expert opinion."
Xisuma’s smile tightened imperceptibly beneath his visor. "I'm sorry, Grian, but could you tell him I'll come by later? I've... got a lot on my mind at the moment."
The cheer on Grian’s face melted away, replaced by a theatrical pout. "Aw, come on, X-Eye-Zoo-Ma! You have to come! Mumbo will be so sad if you don't. You don't want to make Mumbo sad, right?" The question was laced with a subtle, manipulative pressure.
Xisuma startled slightly at the sudden stubbornness. "No, of course not! I'll—" He cut himself off, his Admin instincts kicking in. He stared at Grian, who now wore a smug, victorious smile. The ember of fury glowed hotter. He sighed in defeat. "I'll go see him. If it makes him happy."
"That's great! He'll be thrilled!" In a flash, Grian darted forward and clamped a hand around Xisuma's armored forearm, his grip surprisingly strong.
"Let's go! I'll lead the way!" Grian began to pull, but Xisuma planted his boots firmly on the ground, forcefully removing his arm from Grian's grasp.
"X-Eye-Zoo-Ma? Is something wrong?" Grian's voice was light, but his eyes were sharp, analyzing.
Xisuma rubbed his arm where the grip had been. "I can walk on my own, Grian. You don't need to escort me like a prisoner."
A heavy silence fell between them, broken only by the rustle of leaves in the wind. Grian was the first to break it, his voice unnaturally bright. "Oh! Okay then! I won't hold your arm for today!" Xisuma felt a wave of relief, but it was short-lived. As he looked at Grian, he saw the briefest flicker of something dark—a tight, fake smile and clenched fists—before the cheerful mask snapped back into place. The sight sent a chill down his spine.
"Now that's settled! To Mumbo's!" Grian announced, his tone leaving no room for further argument.
---
After an awkward, silent flight, they landed on the sprawling terraces of Mumbo Jumbo's mega-base, a towering structure of modern architecture and exposed redstone. Grian stretched his wings dramatically. "Ugh, finally! Took us long enough! X-Eye-Zoo-Ma, wait up!"
Xisuma, who had already started walking toward the main entrance, stopped and turned. He opened his mouth to speak, but a new voice interrupted.
"Hey there, X! I'm glad you made it." Mumbo emerged, wiping redstone dust from his suit jacket. He walked over and clapped a familiar hand on Xisuma's shoulder. The gesture, once brotherly, now felt like a claim.
Xisuma forced a smile. "It's no trouble, Mumbo. Grian said you had something to show me."
"Ah, yes! The new redstone contraption!" Mumbo's mustache twitched with excitement.
"It's a TNT cannon!" Grian interjected, bouncing on his heels. "For pranking Scar and Bdubs!"
Mumbo and Grian shared a conspiratorial laugh. Xisuma could only muster a weak chuckle. "You two are a menace."
Grian placed a hand over his heart in mock offense. "Xisuma! I thought you were on our side!"
"Looks like you were mistaken, Grian," Xisuma replied, the banter feeling hollow.
Mumbo grinned. "Now, now, enough yapping. Let's go see the—"
"SHASHWAMMY!"
The trio turned to see Keralis, with his wide, unblinking eyes, waving enthusiastically. But he wasn't alone. Docm77 stood beside him, his cybernetic arm glinting in the sun, his expression grim.
"Keralis? Doc? What are you two doing here?" Xisuma asked, a knot of dread forming in his stomach.
Doc took a heavy step forward, his hoofed foot crunching on the gravel. "We're supposed to be the ones asking that question, X. What are you doing here?"
Xisuma hesitated. "Mumbo asked me to take a look at his redstone. It's a TNT cannon."
Doc's single organic eye narrowed, shifting its gaze to Mumbo. "That's not a good enough reason to be out of your base. You still need rest."
Mumbo looked genuinely offended. "I say it's a brilliant reason!"
Grian pouted. "It is! And we'll take care of him, Doc! We promise!"
"No," Doc's voice was final, a low rumble of authority. "X is coming back with us. Now."
"Doc, I'm fine," Xisuma insisted, his patience wearing thin. "It was one fainting spell. It's not that serious."
"We have different definitions of 'serious,'" Doc countered coolly. "The common causes are sleep deprivation, extreme stress, and dehydration. Sound familiar?"
The silence was damning. Xisuma had no rebuttal.
"Okay, you have a point. But I'm fine now," he argued, desperation creeping into his voice.
Doc sighed, a sound of utter exhaustion. "The answer is no, X. You're coming with us, whether you like it or not." In one fluid motion, he drew an ender pearl. Before Xisuma could protest, Doc's strong hand clamped around his arm again, and another around Keralis's. His final glance at Grian and Mumbo was a promise of unfinished business. "I'll deal with you two later." The world twisted into a nauseating purple vortex, and the trio vanished.
Back at Mumbo's base, Grian and Mumbo stood in the sudden quiet.
"Hey, Grian," Mumbo said, adjusting his tie. "Want to bet something goes horribly wrong with their plan?"
Grian's eyes sparkled with manic glee, his wings fluttering. "Absolutely. The winner gets to blow up the loser's latest build."
"It's a bet, then."
---
The disorienting lurch of teleportation ended at the edge of the forest bordering Xisuma's base. Doc never loosened his grip, practically dragging the Admin forward. Keralis trailed behind, wringing his hands.
"Let me go, Doc," Xisuma growled, trying to dig his heels into the soil.
Doc didn't even acknowledge him, his focus solely on the path ahead.
Annoyed, Xisuma looked back at his oldest friend. "Keralis! A little help here? Tell him this is ridiculous!"
Keralis gave him a pained look. "No can do, Shashwammy. If we let you go, you'll just run off again."
"I won't! What are you—Ah!" Xisuma yelped as Doc tightened his grip, the metal of his cybernetic fingers pressing painfully into the gaps of his armor.
"Don't lie to us, X," Doc said, finally stopping to level a glare at him. "We all know you'll bolt the second you get the chance. You've been avoiding us for days."
Keralis let out a frantic sound. "Doc, stop! You're hurting him!"
"I'll stop when he starts being cooperative. We're doing this for his own good."
Xisuma met Doc's glare with one of his own, the fury now an open flame. "For my own good? Elaborate. Please."
"You want the list? Fine." Doc's voice was cold and precise. "One: you're a workaholic who treats sleep as a suggestion. Two: you internalize all the server's stress until it breaks you. Three: you push away every single person who tries to help you carry the load. We're your friends, X, not your subordinates. Start acting like it."
The words, sharp and true, struck a nerve. Xisuma fell silent, the fight draining out of him, replaced by a hollow shame. After a long moment, he gave a single, curt nod.
Doc's expression softened marginally. "Good. Now, let's get you home." There was no response from the Admin. Doc hadn't expected one.
Keralis scurried up to Doc, his voice a worried whisper. "Doc... are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Trust me, Keralis. It's the only way."
As the imposing obsidian walls of Xisuma's base came into view, Keralis scratched his neck nervously. "Hey, Doc..."
"What is it now?" Doc sighed.
"It's just... isn't this a bit too easy? Shashwammy gave up very quickly. That's... not like him. Don't you think that's suspicious?"
Doc frowned, his processor whirring. "Now that you mention it, it is—"
It was then that Xisuma made his move. With a swift, practiced motion, he pulled a splash potion of blindness from his inventory and smashed it at their feet. A thick, inky blackness enveloped Doc and Keralis.
"X!" Doc roared, his grip instinctively loosening as he swatted at the darkness.
It was all the opening Xisuma needed. He wrenched his arm free, deployed his elytra, and with a powerful leap and a blast from a rocket, he was airborne and gone before the potion's effect had even faded.
As the world cleared, Doc and Keralis stood alone.
"He's gone!" Keralis panicked, spinning in circles. "Doc, we have to find him!"
"Quiet!" Doc commanded, raising a hand. His face was a mask of cold anger. "We can't track him alone." A grim, determined smile spread across his face as he pulled out his communicator. "It's time to call in backup."
[Docm77] Code Red. X has escaped custody. All available Hermits, we are initiating a server-wide search. Report any sightings immediately.
The responses came in a rapid, worrying chorus.
[Iskall85] Again? Why does he do this? We're trying to help!
[Rendog] He's stubborn, man. That's our Admin.
[StressMonster101] Don't worry, love. We'll find him.
[ZombieCleo] I'll sharpen my sword. He won't get far.
Doc put his communicator away and began strapping on his netherite armor, the pieces clicking into place with grim finality. He looked at the terrified Keralis.
"With the whole server looking, he can't hide for long."
Keralis managed a weak, worried smile. "That's... good."
"Now," Doc said, his voice a low growl. "Let's go find our wayward Admin."
---
Xisuma flew until his rockets sputtered out, landing in a secluded, overgrown taiga biome far from the server's central hubs. He found a shallow cave behind a waterfall, the roar of water masking any sound. He slumped against the mossy wall, the adrenaline crash leaving him trembling.
"Finally... some peace," he whispered to the damp, dark space. He could wait here. They would get bored, see reason, and this suffocating protectiveness would fade. He was sure of it.
He sat in silence for a long time, the knot in his stomach tightening. An idea, a desperate, technical one, sparked in his mind. "Maybe... maybe it's not them. Maybe their behavior is a glitch. A corrupted variable in their code!"
With renewed purpose, he summoned his Admin panel. A shimmering, blue-hued interface of scrolling text and complex data trees materialized in the air before him. For hours, he scoured the code, line by line, searching for anomalies, misplaced commands, anything that could explain the Hermits' sudden shift. He checked Grian's pranking algorithms, Doc's protective protocols, Keralis's social interaction parameters.
He found nothing. Every line of code was pristine, perfectly optimized. It was all... them.
He closed the panel with a sharp gesture, the light vanishing and plunging the cave back into gloom. "What am I thinking?" he groaned, leaning his head back against the stone. "Of course it's not the code. It's... me."
The realization was a crushing weight. He was the variable. He was the problem.
He had to make them understand. He pulled out his communicator, his fingers hovering over the keys.
[XisumaVoid] > Hello everyone. I just want to assure you all, I am perfectly okay. There is no need to worry or search for me. I just need some time alone.
The responses were immediate and dismissive.
[Rendog] Dude, no you're not. Stop lying to us.
[XisumaVoid] I'm not lying, Ren. I am okay.
[Grian] > That's great! So, can you share your coordinates? Just so we know you're safe! :)
[XisumaVoid] No.
[Grian] Aww, why not? :(
[BdoubleO100] It's 'cause he wants it to be a game of hide and seek! Right, X?
[XisumaVoid] No, Bdubs. That's not it.
[FalseSymmetry] Don't worry, Bdubs. We'll find him soon.
[BdoubleO100] Thanks Falsie!
Xisuma sighed, the sound lost in the waterfall's roar. They weren't listening. They had decided what was best for him, and his own voice no longer mattered. Annoyed and restless, he stood, drawing his diamond pickaxe. The solid, methodical work of mining—the thunk, thunk, thunk against stone—was the only thing that could quiet the storm in his mind.
---
Days passed. The server was a powder keg of tension. Hermits crisscrossed the map, following false leads and dead ends. Keralis was a wreck, pacing the community area they were using as a base camp.
"You said this would be easy, Doc!" he cried, his eyes wide with exhaustion and fear.
"I said easier, not easy," Doc corrected from where he was calibrating his cybernetic arm. "Finding a seasoned Admin who doesn't want to be found is like tracking a phantom."
"But what if he's hurt? What if he's in a ravine, or surrounded by mobs, or—"
"Keralis," Doc interrupted, his voice firm but not unkind. "He's fine. He's Xisuma. He's probably living off baked potatoes in some hole in the ground, monitoring us all through the back-end." A grim smile touched his lips. "But he's not infallible. Pearl says she saw him."
Keralis froze. "Pearl? How?"
"He got sloppy. Didn't check his perimeter. She was gathering chorus fruit on the outer islands and spotted a figure in elytra landing in a specific taiga biome. She was too far to intervene, but she got a direction."
"Where?" Keralis demanded, hope flaring in his chest.
"A cave system. Behind a waterfall."
"A cave!?" Keralis's panic returned. "Is it secure? Is there enough light? What about creepers?!"
"Keralis. Breathe." Doc stood up. "I've already assembled a team. Ren, Cleo, Grian, Iskall, and Tango are moving in as we speak. The rest of us need to be ready here. We all need rest, especially X."
Keralis finally sat, deflating. "You're right, Doc... you're always right."
"I know," Doc said. He watched Keralis for a moment. "You should go work on your build. Distract yourself. I'll message you the moment we have him."
Keralis nodded, forcing a smile. "Okay. I will. Thank you, Doc." As he hurried off, Doc pulled out his communicator, his expression turning severe.
[Docm77] [Private Message to Grian] > Status update. Are you in position?
[Grian] [Private Message to Docm77] > Almost! Just a few hundred blocks out. Getting impatient, Doc? ;)
[Docm77] [Private Message to Grian] > Just get it done. Clean and fast.
[Grian] [Private Message to Docm77] > Don't worry. He won't slip away this time.
---
Deep in the taiga, the retrieval team moved with a quiet, predatory grace. They touched down silently, their elytra folding away.
"I see it," ZombieCleo whispered, pointing to the waterfall cascading down a rocky cliff face. "That's the one."
Ren cracked his knuckles, a low growl in his throat. "Finally. When we get him, I'm gonna—"
"We," Tango corrected, his eyes glowing with a faint, mischievous light.
Ren shot him a glare but nodded. "We are going to have a very long talk about the meaning of 'self-care'."
Iskall, ever the pragmatist, crept to the cave entrance and peered inside. He immediately pulled back, his face etched with shock. "He's here. I saw his name tag. He's deep inside. Let's move, and for the love of diamonds, be quiet."
Grian, practically vibrating with excitement, had to be physically held back by Iskall. "Once we're in, not a sound," Iskall warned, his gaze locking with Grian's.
"Sure, sure, quiet as a mouse," Grian chirped, his promise utterly unconvincing.
Cleo led the way, sword in hand, the others following in a tight, tense formation. The cave was damp and narrow, the only light coming from the occasional patch of glow lichen. They moved deeper, the sound of the waterfall fading, replaced by the drip of water and the scuttle of spiders.
Then, they saw him. Xisuma was standing before a wall of raw stone, his pickaxe in hand, frozen mid-swing. He had heard them. He turned slowly, his dark visor reflecting the five determined faces of his friends.
The Hermits fanned out, blocking the only exit.
Tango broke the silence, his voice a singsong of false cheer. "Oh, X! Look who finally decided to stop by!"
Iskall stepped forward, his expression stern. "You're in a world of trouble, X. Come with us. Don't make this difficult."
Xisuma looked from one face to another—Grian's triumphant smirk, Ren's predatory grin, Cleo's unwavering frown, Tango's gleeful menace, Iskall's disappointed resolve. The fight left him completely, replaced by a profound, bone-deep weariness. He managed a weak, conciliatory smile.
"Hello, friends. Thank you for... checking in. If you'll just let me grab my things, I'll be right with—"
THWIP! A crossbow bolt embedded itself in the stone wall mere inches from his helmet. Ren lowered the weapon, a fresh bolt already loaded.
"Oh no you don't," Ren rumbled, his voice a low growl. "You're coming with us. Now."
Xisuma flinched, the sound echoing sharply in the confined space. "I take it... negotiation is off the table?"
Grian flapped his wings, stirring the stale cave air. "Yup! You're all out of options, X-Eye-Zoo-Ma!"
Cleo took a step closer, her voice softer but no less firm. "There are five of us, X, and you're unarmed. You can't win this. Please, just come home."
Xisuma's shoulders slumped in utter defeat. He looked at the unyielding circle of his friends—his captors. The Admin of Hermitcraft, the master of this world, had been cornered in a hole in the ground by the very people he swore to protect. The irony was a bitter pill.
He let his pickaxe fall to the ground with a dull clatter.
"Fine."