Chapter Text
In season one...
Xisuma was wandering on Hermitcraft. He was going caving like usual, pickaxe in his hand, a weapon in the other. It was fun, even if the ores were limited.
That was also when he saw the first nonhuman on the server.
Keralis stood in the caves, not making a move, not making a sound. Xisuma went to greet him, but he stopped when he saw Keralis' hands melting...? Humans don't melt. Not unless they were dipped in lava.
That raises concern within him. Is Keralis okay? Is he in pain? Why isn't he making a sound? This must be bad! He should help him!
He tried to reach out, to ask what was wrong. Maybe Keralis' code was bungled up? Maybe it was a bug or a glitch in the server, which could be severe if he didn't get him to the available admin!
He stopped when Keralis turned around.
"Ke-Keralis!!??" His breath hitched.
Big, huge eyes meets his, and the fear and horror he felt couldn't be explained at all. Keralis' mouth was stretched out, as if he's screaming, shouting and asking for help. Either that or Keralis was about to eat him alive on a furnace with that many sharp teeth.
Even worse, the sound Keralis made was so inhumane. It sounded like a deep grumble, a dark laugh and a panicked pitch meshed together. A sound so eerie and it was piercing his ears.
His pickaxe and sword dropped to the ground, he covers his ears instead. He wasn't sure when he closed his eyes but he dared to peak at Keralis again. Keralis stared at him, eyes blank and mouth still wide open as his face melted away into something unrecognisable.
He also swore the walls were caving in as well, trying to trap him in here with the figure in front of him. The not-Keralis in front of him. He let out a small whimper, closing his eyes again. Oh, and the noise-the noise is deafening him! He felt like his ears are bleeding even through his helmet.
His breathing wasn't alright either. He was so panicked he hadn't realised he's not been breathing right. His heart thundered, his ears hurt, his eyes are blurry from tears and his entire being is shaking from fear.
And then it abruptedly stopped.
No noise, no more. Just the echoes of the caves and nothingness. His breath still hasn't calmed though, nor has his heart. He hears footsteps and in response he foced his eyes open again. His jaw fell right open then.
A perfectly normal Keralis was looking at him with concern.
..What?
But, just a second ago Keralis was not Keralis! He was something else! But, Keralis was standing in front of him. Completely normal and human. He had his arms in place, his face wasn't melting, his eyes are normal sized, his mouth was normal and the walls aren't trying to suffocate him anymore!
"Shishwammy? Are you okay..?" Keralis gently holds his hands, but he flinched so hard that Keralis also jerks back. "Shishwam?"
"Keralis..? What-what was that?!" He didn't mean to shout. The look on Keralis face broke him once more, the sweet loving eyes is looking at him with warmth and comfort. And he just shouted at him. Great.
"Listen, Shishwam, there's something i need to-"
Everything went black.
////
He woke up again in his own bed. He got up a bit too fast as his head spinned for a while. He glanced towards the doors, feeling like any moment now the same horror would come into his room and attack him.
But nothing came.
-
A few days later, Keralis told him he was panicking in the cave and thought that Keralis was a monster.
He believed that, of course. Who would've thought Keralis was some scary being? No one did. It was only logical. He accepted that and moved on. Keralis had also been treating him nicely since that day, stopping by to drop some stuffs, sometimes just to check on him. Honestly, how can anyone think that guy is a monster? He is nothing but a kind and caring soul. No monster would be like that right? At least zombies don't. Keralis certainly can't be something like that.
He believed that until on another fateful day, he saw Keralis going into the woods. He ran to catch up with him but he wasn't fast enough.
He sighs, maybe he'll just meet him later. He was about to turn around and head back when he heard the same noise again.
No.
His breath hitched, tears filling up his eyes again. He turned back to the woods.
No way Keralis is actually...
He didn't know why his legs were moving towards the sounds. Maybe he wanted to see that it was a different creature. Maybe he wanted to deny Keralis was a monster. Maybe he wanted to see it for himself. Maybe he needed confirmations.
He glanced from behind a tree, there stood a very monster-like Keralis staring into the distance.
His breathings went awry. His vision is blurry yet again and the forests wants to trap him. Keralis' hands are melting and even if he can only see his back, he knew Keralis' face was also melted off. Again.
He stayed there for what felt like eternity. He watched as not-Keralis sat down on the grass, looking up to the moon. He watched as not-Keralis picked a flower and stared at it for a long time. He stared at not-Keralis when he began making noises Xisuma can intrepret as humming. Or maybe it wasn't humming at all. Who knows?
He watched as the horror that is Keralis-wait no. Not Keralis. Keralis isn't a monster.
But he is...
Now that he looked at him for a while, the monster is actually very Keralis-like. Except, of course, the noise that makes his ears bleed and the very not-human form Keralis had. But it was still Keralis.
He just knew that it was still Keralis. Still the sweet, caring and kind Keralis he knew.
...
He left without much fuss-even if his breathing and heart rate was out of control. Leaving Keralis to enjoy the moonlight.
He did avoid Keralis for the next few weeks, but that only made the server worry. He returned to his normal life, pretending he didn't know what Keralis is. Truth to be told, he was terrified if Keralis found out he was hiding that he knew but as the seasons come and go, Keralis had been nothing but kind.
And please let it stay that way.
////
"What!!???" Keralis' jaw fell open, "and you knew that since the first season?? Why didn't you say anything?"
Xisuma can't suppress the laugh that seeped from his mouth. "Well, you're just that bad at hiding secrets, my friend," he glance towards the hermits, who was all awaiting their turns to know when Xisuma found out about them. "Besides, you weren't really bothering anyone. I just had to stay away if i ever saw you like that" He noticed Keralis face flashed a little hurt, "Oh, im sorry-i didn't mean it like that! I meant back then! I swear i won't freak out again if you do it now!"
Keralis only smiles warmly at him, "I know you won't, Xisuma. I know"
"Eww, what is this mood?? Come on, cheer up! Who's next??? Tell us!!" A voice yells amidst the crowd of hermits.
All of them began chanting simultaneously, making a united sounds of all their voices. "Tell us! Tell us! Tell us! Tell us!"
Xisuma lets out a chuckle.
"Come on now, we were having a moment!!" Keralis bites back, laughing along the group as well. "Alright, alright.. Shishwam?"
"Hmm..Let's see. Who's next..?" Xisuma's eyes dart across the hermit's faces one by one. It landed on none other than the flashlight of the server, BdoubleO. "This one's gonna be hilarious"