The sun is beating down on us as the last of the hermits arrive at the mansion. It's been a full day since Grian got back, and he's been restlessly running around until we leave. Mumbo, Scar, and Iskall have tried to convince him to stay on Hermitcraft, but he's been adamant about returning. I'm not sure how I convinced him to stay here, either, but at least he won't be leaving without me.

I'm sitting on a mansion balcony, high above the world. The map unfolds in front of me: Iskall's Omega Tree of Doom, Mumbo's ruins, Scar's magical village, Big Dig, and Stress' disproportionately large bugs and sculptures. This may be the last time I see any of it, so I take everything in with fresh eyes, appreciating the hard work that went into each build.

I pull up my admin panels again, searching for any bugs or glitches that need my immediate attention. Nothing. Everything is running smoothly on a server that may be about to descend into complete and utter chaos. I double-checked the commands that I coded last night to transfer the admin power if I die permanently.

Impulse is a trustworthy player. He will lead the server well if things go very wrong today. His good deeds of the day and involvement in keeping the lag down on the server are invaluable, and he already has good experience with code.

I sigh, letting the admin panels fall down from in front of me. Looking down, I can see that most of the hermits are already there, with the last ones just arriving. I wait a few more minutes before gliding down to them.

Grian is bouncing up and down, eager to get going. He carries a pitch-black obsidian ax and Xenelis' staff. His golden wings are straight again, with no sign of ever being broken. Mumbo and Iskall are standing next to him, unsuccessful after trying to convince him not to go.

I clear my throat, catching all of the hermit's attention. "Hello everyone. Thank you for coming back here. As you know, Grian intends to go back to the End, and I will go with him." I pause for a moment before deciding. I reach up, removing the yellow helmet from my head so that I can talk to them without the mask in the way. The hermits gasp and some of them look away immediately out of respect; I've never shown them my face before, so I can imagine their surprise. The x-shaped scar running across my face isn't exactly the prettiest thing.

"I want to talk with you all face-to-face before I leave on what may likely be a fatal mission. I'm proud to have been your admin for all of these long years of mining and crafting, and I'd like to continue that job. However, reality asked me to look at it from a different angle. There is a high chance that I will perish on this trip to the End, although I don't know if permanent death is the default. Still, precautions were taken, and Impulse will be your new admin if something goes horribly wrong."

Impulse is visibly surprised, looking around at his server mates before looking back at me. "Listen, X, I know that this is a dangerous mission, but can you at least have some optimism here? You're not going to die, so you don't have to make me the next admin of Hermitcraft. I'm not sure I'm qualified, that's all!"

"Impulse, you're probably the most qualified out of all the hermits here. Now, Grian and I must be going now. If you want to come and help rescue Xen, then come. If not, I understand the grounds of your decision."

"Finally!" Grian cheers. He zips up to the portal, landing on the platform to wait for me.

"I'm coming as well," Wels says. "It's my brother's life at stake as well. I'd like to at least try to free him from the Watchers, even if it's suicide."

"We'll be glad to have you, Wels. Anyone else?"

The hermits suddenly find something else far more interesting to look at other than my face. "No offense, Xisuma," False says, "But I think that there are too many wounds between us and Xenelis that we'll come along. We'll be here, waiting for you to come back, but I don't think any others want to come."

Zed looks up like he wants to say something, but Tango shushes him. "False is right, X," Tango murmurs. "There are too many festering wounds."

"If that's how you all feel, then that's alright. We're leaving now." I turn and walk away from the scene, putting on my helmet. I fly to the portal with Wels close behind me. Grian lights the broken bedrock frame. I realize now that it's a Watcher symbol. Golden magic fizzes around us as the portal comes to life and the barrier blocks are broken away.

As we prepare to enter the portal, all of our communicators buzz.

Xenelis was slain by Helsknight using [Liadhak's revenge]

"Wait, won't she respawn at spawn?"

"No," Grian said, grabbing my arm before I could fly off. "One of the first spells we learned was how to set a player's spawn. She'll be spawning on that block as long as it doesn't change position. Meaning, Liadhak can kill her as much as he wants if we don't get her out. He's relentless."

"Let's go," I say, getting into the portal.

Exiting, I almost fell off the ledge that opened in front of us. A massive hole has been blown in the island, all the way through to the void. Grian grabs my hand, flaring his wings to keep us both balanced while Wels places a few blocks to stand on. Standing on solid ground, we look out over the damage.

A massive crater, extending at least fifty to a hundred blocks, goes in every direction. One section of the land seems to have several deep holes in it. I signal to Wels and Grian, and we go to check it out.

None of the holes go through to the void, although some are very deep. Grian flies up to get an aerial view.

"It seems to be a circular pattern around a bit in the middle. This way," he calls.

We follow him to the center, picking our way through the craters. When we arrive at the center, Grian kneels, examining a blade stuck point-first into the stone. I look at the blade, recognizing the runes. "That's Xen's sword," I mutter.

"Yeah, it is," Grian confirms. "There are all sorts of interesting things written in the runes on it. Why did he leave? I suppose a lot of these have something to do with her life when in the Watchers. I never knew much about these because I never got the chance to read them. Wow, some of these are dark. I'm a day closer to the day he dies."

"That's not disturbing at all," Wels says. "It seems like she was talking about Xisuma, although I'm probably assuming too much."

I definitely didn't need to know that. It only reminds me of how much we grew apart in the past few years. There are so many details she's sent me that I've failed to pick up on. It only hardens my resolve to help her.

I shake my head. Seeking to change the topic, I ask, "Grian, is there a way you can track her, or at least find out what direction she's in?"

He thinks for a second before answering, "I think I know a spell, but it's not very good. Basically, I set the spell on an inanimate object so that it leads in the general direction of the target. I wasn't ever taught a more advanced version, although I'm sure there are some that are more accurate."

Xenelis fell from a high place whilst escaping from Helsknight

"Hurry, Grian!" The young man frantically pulls out Xenelis' staff, muttering to it. It yanks in one direction, and Grian lets out a slightly undignified squeak as it pulls him off balance. Getting a running start, the three of us launch into the air.

Xenelis tried to swim in lava to escape Helsknight

The staff took a hard right. Grian gracefully recovered, his flying skills coming in handy. Wels and I had to perform a loop and fire several rockets to keep up. Wels flipped down his visor to keep the rushing air out of his eyes.

Xenelis was burnt to a crisp by Helsknight

A small house appears in the distance. It is made almost entirely out of obsidian, end crystals hovering over many parts of it. An ugly tower made of endstone, dirt, and wood scaffolding is next to the house. Carefully, we landed on the roof. Wels and I pour water over the crystals before getting away. Grian shoots the floating explosives with golden energy, and they explode without a sound. Magic.

The staff yanks again towards the roof, but Grian turns off the spell. He flies up high into the sky, presumably with a plan. Wels and I camouflage ourselves against the roof. Two forms exit the house underneath us. One of them is decked out in dark iron armor, although it's closer in tone to netherite. He is missing a chest plate, but two purple wings cover most of his back.

The second is wearing all black clothes, bloody, and appears to be unconscious. I growled as I watched the two, Hels dragging Xen by her collar. He unfurls his wings, carrying both him and his captive to the top of the eyesore of a pillar. Xenelis does nothing to resist him, her wings dragging behind.

We look up, watching them land on top. Hels casts Xen away, draws a bow, and launches arrows in her direction. I watched her falling form get struck by three arrows. However, before the Watcher at the top could shoot his fourth arrow, he is tackled from behind by a bright bolt of golden energy.

Wels took the distraction to fly out and save Xen from the pains of death, although with the number of arrows she took, she's probably on one or two hearts. I locate the healing potions I have stored in my inventory, popping one open as I rush to her side. Holding her in a half-sitting position, we help her drink the potion, first in small sips and then larger ones as she heals.

Xen groans, lifting a light finger to touch the arrow tips in her chest. Wels nods, understanding. He signals to me to look away, and I oblige. I hear him pulling the arrows out, along with the small gasps of pain Xenelis makes to relieve some of the hurt. It's strange how voicing your pain can make it hurt less.

I give Xen the second healing potion, and she can drink it herself this time. She stands up almost instantly, eyes searching the skies above. Wels and I look up as well, watching the brilliant displays of gold and purple magic flashing. Xenelis looks at me with a knowing glare. Everything about it says, 'you let my student do that?' I shrug in response. She smiles and reaches out her fist for knuckles, so I give her some. We hold it for a few seconds before she says, "I remember our phrase again."

I make eye contact with her, emerald eyes covered by a purple visor to black eyes. Together, we say, "We have each other." I nod, and she nods back.

"Now," Xen continues with a smile, "two things. One, do you have any bottles of enchanting, and two, where's my sword? I've got a student to assist." Wels hands her a stack of the bottles, and she activates them, soaking up the energy. I take Tacet out of my inventory and give it to her.

Wels, Xenelis, and I put our hands in the middle. "For Hermitcraft!" we cry.

We all take off simultaneously. Time to take down the pesky Watcher scum, Liadhak. Time to liberate a brother and a friend. Time to assist a true best friend.

Time to fight together for what truly matters.

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