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It was such a small thing that sealed his fate. The most simple gesture, not by any means noteworthy, not even remembered until it was far too late. But, that’s how it always goes, isn’t it? The stream of time parts and diverges for as little as an ill-timed step.
On the day Xisumavoid learned how the Warped Forest earned its name, the server was bustling with activity. It felt like almost everyone was busy: calling to each other, negotiating trades, and tossing ideas back and forth. The shopping district had been so full of life that morning that the chatter almost made it hard to think.
X absolutely loved to see his friends so excited, but even he had to admit it got tiring at times. He ignored the quickly scrolling chat as he stepped out of the Nether portal and took off, flying through the caverns of their underworld. He had brought enough storage to gather some resources if he felt like it, but to be honest, he didn’t really need anything from the Nether. He simply needed a moment of peace and quiet, and he knew just where to find it.
Xisuma spiraled downward through the fog and glowing embers, coming to a rest at the edge of the Warped Forest. Here, the silence was complete - nothing met his ears but the low, hollow echo that was always present under every other noise in the Nether. With no other sounds to distract from it, it sounded almost musical.
He released a deep sigh and closed his eyes for a moment, relishing the stillness before setting out in search of all his old familiar resting spots. This wasn’t the first time he had come here - the Nether as a whole was far from relaxing, but something about this blue-tinted landscape, free of every creature but the Endermen, drew him. He picked his way carefully through the twisting vines and under the spongy foliage of the giant fungi that loomed over him.
The hot air fogged his visor, so he removed his helmet for a moment to wipe it.
As he cleared the glass with his sleeve, his foot struck a small mushroom on the nylium-carpeted ground. The mushroom released a cloud of brilliant blue spores, which flew into his face and made him cough and choke. He waved his hand in front of him to try and clear the air, eyes watering. Fogged visor or not, it was probably best to replace his helmet until the air cleared a bit. He’d forgotten just how unpredictable the Nether could be.
As he kept walking - still coughing occasionally - his thoughts turned to his recent and future projects. He didn’t think he needed warped wood for any of them - it didn’t really go with his build style. Still, I might as well get some while I’m here. It would give him an excuse to stay a few minutes longer in that still, soundless landscape. He took out his axe and began to work, whistling softly into the quiet.
X didn’t know how much time had passed, but it must have been much longer than he realised. When he finally lifted his head, he saw that the tree he was chopping now was the last in the biome. The blue nylium hills lay completely bare, and his shulkers were full of warped stems.
“Goodness me,” he sighed, reaching up to scratch his neck sheepishly. It wasn’t very considerate to deforest all this so close to the hub - he would have to return and replant it later. Like so many other times, he had just gotten carried away by the rhythm of resource gathering.
It must be getting late. A pressing sense of urgency rose in him - he really needed to get back so he could work on...his newest project. What that was had slipped his mind at the moment, but he knew it couldn’t wait a minute more. He suppressed another cough and, after gathering his shulkers, flew off to the Nether hub at top speed.
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“7...8...9…” Or was it 10?
Xisuma stood back to survey the build, counting out blocks in his head. He smiled to himself as he confirmed it was symmetrical, just as it needed to be. The other unfinished buildings in his jungle called to him, but he couldn’t ignore this latest stroke of inspiration! The new idea hadn’t been on his mind at all while he was gathering warped stems, but he must have known he would soon find a use for them. He couldn’t wait to finish the build and see it in its full glory.
He grabbed another stack of stems and prepared to dive back into building the….project. What is this I’m building again? He paused, his brow furrowing. Of course he knew. He had to know , he was almost halfway done! It was - a farm. Of course it was. A very efficient, very optimized farm that I really should be finishing soon. He stretched, rolled his shoulders, and went to work again.
He was next startled out of his rhythm by a cheery voice sounding through the jungle. “Heyyy, Shishwammyvoid!”
Keralis strolled out of the trees, a huge smile on his face as he peered up at Xisuma. “I was just passing by - what are you doing over here?”
X hopped down from the structure and gave Keralis a wave. “It’s a new build, my friend! I just started it after coming back from the Nether. The place does wonders for my creativity, apparently.” He laughed softly.
“Well, it looks like you’ve been working on it for a while now.”
X squinted up at the build, shielding his eyes from the sun. “Huh. I guess so. I’ve made a lot more progress than I thought I had - “
“No, not the build, Shishwammy.” The shift in Keralis’s voice caught X’s attention. “I mean you look like you’ve been working for a while.” The other Hermit’s wide eyes were full of concern. “You look terrible.”
“Thanks Keralis. Geez.” X laughed and rolled his eyes, but he stopped when he felt himself sway slightly. He hadn’t realised until Keralis mentioned it, but he actually wasn’t feeling quite right. He felt light-headed, like he had stood up too fast.
Keralis reached out an arm to steady him. “I’m serious, Xisuma. You look really pale.”
X took a deep breath and steadied himself. If Keralis was using his real name, he must be really concerned. He didn’t want to make his friend worry any more than he needed to. “It’s okay, honestly. I probably spent a bit too much time building in the sun.” He laughed lightly. “I’ll take a break once I’m finished this next bit, I promise.”
That seemed to reassure Keralis, barely. He let go of X’s arm with a gentle pat and went back to staring at the build. “What is this thing, anyway? It looks a little different than your usual style…”
“Oh, it’s a farm!” Xisuma said cheerily. “You’ll see when it’s done.”
“Oooh, a secret!” Keralis winked conspiratorially. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell.” He squinted in confusion at the deep purple and blue structure that stood before them. “You’re really branching out from your usual palette.”
X’s neck prickled at the veiled criticism, but he tried to let it slide. “Well, it’s nice to work on something new for a change.” Now that he was thinking of it, the dark and twisting style of the build really did clash with his usual whites and golds. Even so, it made perfect sense to him. It seemed natural, like the only possible choice.
He had been standing idle for too long. Suddenly Keralis’s presence there burned in the corner of his mind, and he wanted nothing more than for his friend to just move on and let him build. The ferocity of the emotion startled him, and he struggled to trim it down to something more tactful he could say to make Keralis go away. He eventually gave up entirely and settled for climbing back on top of the structure, waving pointedly by way of a goodbye.
“Okay, well...Good luck!” Keralis waved back from below as he turned away. “And get some rest!”
Xisuma didn’t even process the words. He was already forcing his unsteady hands to place more blocks, coughing into his helmet and trying to ignore the steady itch that had started in his chest.
If Keralis came back at any point later in the build, Xisuma had no hope of noticing. He didn’t even register the rising and setting of the sun - time was not measured that way anymore. It was measured in blocks placed, in panes of purple and black glass fitted with increasingly shaky hands, in planks surveyed with a feverish eye. Beads of sweat pooled at the base of his helmet as Xisuma placed the final pieces of his creation. At last, he was done.
X hopped down from the build one last time, stumbling as his feet hit the ground. The green backdrop of the jungle seemed to tilt and swirl around him, but through his clouded mind he felt happier than he ever had before. The build was finished! He had given up trying to decode its purpose hours ago. He had finally realised that it had no purpose, no higher objective than to simply exist in all its unthinkable glory. Xisuma staggered back and leaned against a tree, gazing up at the monument in wonder.
The setting sun framed the spiraling statue of warped wood and coloured glass, arching up and meeting at a point too high for X’s blurry eyes to make out. The base of it nestled in a soft carpet of blue nylium, each block placed with absolute care and precision. It was nothing short of beautiful, and he was the one who had built it. The thought almost made him cry for joy.
Almost.
Deep in his infected mind, some preserved instinct screamed. A part of him too strong to be overtaken insisted that something is wrong here, something is malicious, something is not as it should be. He didn’t want to listen to it - he wanted to float on his cloud of ultimate peace for as long as he could make it last - but he forced his eyes down once more from the shining summit to the ground around the structure.
It wasn’t long before he saw it. Blue nylium spread slowly outward from the ground he had built on, overtaking the green of the jungle, followed by twisting vines and tangled teal roots.
It’s so beautiful...no. No! He thrust himself away from the trunk, staggering and falling to his knees beside the creeping corruption that was warping his world. That he had brought to warp his world.
He could see it now with a burning clarity - from the moment he had taken off his helmet in that forest, he had been marked by something. Controlled by something. Thinking it made his head pound with an intense pain that made darkness creep in on his vision, but that only confirmed what was happening. His heart ached for their world, for the harm he had caused without knowing, without even suspecting. He needed to stop the spread.
Get up. With every ounce of strength he had left, he willed himself to his feet. He tried to tear out the nylium, scrambling to remove it faster than it could be replaced, but it was no use. He could hear his own heartbeat in his ears, much faster than it should be, yet the nylium spread even quicker.
Still, he tried. It was never in his nature to give in, to stand by and let something hurt the place and the people he loved. Even now, with his nature corrupted, he still tried his best to resist.
He tried until his knees buckled and his numb hands stopped obeying his commands. He kept trying, falling and rising over and over, until finally his back hit the spongy earth and he could no longer summon the strength to leave the ground. Too weak to feel dread, he raised his arm in front of his tear-blurred eyes and rolled back his sleeve. He was just able to make out blue, root-like veins creeping down his skin. He numbly wondered how long those had been there, if Keralis had noticed. Of course he hadn’t. Xisuma dearly wished that he had.
He hoped Keralis would be okay. He hoped everyone would be okay - that they would build and thrive and be safe from whatever wished to harm them. That they would avoid this place, and never tread the Warped Forest themselves.
He had to warn them. They had to be safe - it was all he had ever wanted. He had to warn them, but the ground was so soft, and his world was growing so, so quiet….
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Keralis found him as dawn was breaking, and wished he had not. Three days of pleasant “good morning”s and “how are you”s in the chat had gone unanswered, so he had stopped by to check on his friend. He found Xisuma - his Shishwammy - on the ground, surrounded by blue nylium and cradled by vines. Almost obscured by the monstrous, teal fungus that sprouted from his chest.
Keralis was numb with shock. He didn’t want to go any closer. He didn’t want to see Xisuma like that, so still, so quiet , but something caught his attention. He crept toward his fallen friend, toward the sign he held clenched tightly in his lifeless hand.
Please s
Unfinished. A half-written plea - Please save me? Or an incomplete warning - Please stay away. Please save yourselves, where I failed.
A soft sob shook Keralis as he stood trying to comprehend the message, to comprehend the loss. Neither would ever be fully understood. Finally he turned to go. The others would need to be told. He would need to figure out how.
His foot brushed something small on the ground as he walked off into the jungle. A cloud of blue spores danced in his wake.