So.. This chapter is kinda a celebration chapter (For the 5k reads!!) and is sorta angsty? (Not really.) I love angst but the ending doesn't- Ok, it does end with everyone dying, but it's not bloody. It's more cheesy since I wrote this really late at night over like 12 different tries too so yeah. I swear it isn't bad just trust me-

Word Count: 3,977
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They all knew they were going to die at some point, everyone was. But do you think any of them cared to much? No! The Hermits all had each other and were happy like that.

See, they all had died at some point, but respawn existed for a reason. They could die though, like, forever. But that would happen in natural, due time. When they were supposed to- Old age mainly. Nobody had seen it happen to another, but they knew what would happen- You'd feel tired and more calm, at peace. Everyone would get a little message from the server that they were near-death and the person would die painlessly in their next sleep.

But again, nobody cared. They knew it was coming, but they all tried to embrace the time they had. They could die in three years, two seconds, or could be dying, nobody really knew.

So, you couldn't exactly blame them for partly freaking out when they received the message.

<Server> Death message warning; 5,000 days left
<Grian> Xisuma? What's that mean..?!
<Xisuma> No idea
<Joe> Well who's gonna die!?
<Zed> What!?
<Xisuma> Guys calm down.
<Xisuma> Everyone meet me in the Town Hall.

And let me tell you, it became flocked and crowed faster than anything any of them have seen. (Yes even you getting into people nerves, Grian)

As everyone started bombarding Xisuma with a bewildering amount of questions. After signaling for everyone to quiet for the third time, the poor admin sighed and just yelled.

"Can everyone just SHUT UP?!"

In which, people did. They all stared at him, mouths unmoving and quiet, the looks in their eyes telling a much different story. Xisuma held up his hands. "Look, I have no idea what is happening. Ok? I have no idea why that message was sent and no idea-"

Someone spoke up. "Who's gonna die though?!"

Panic yet again flooded through everyone- They all felt fine! What had it even meant in the first place?! And in this panicked frenzy, Joe pulled Xisuma aside and gave him a knowing look.

"I know you know what this means." He said.

Xisuma sighed. "Not know, but guess."

"Well?"

"Well," He began, "Everyone here is apart of this server. It just said 5,000 days till someone died. And it didn't say who. Which leaves me to believe..."

Joe finished off the sentence in a low breath. "That the message was meant for everyone..."

Slowly, X nodded. "I'll have to check the coding and all but.."

Joe nodded. "Yeah.."

"Keep everyone distracted for me?"

"Sure." Joe walked away and cleared his throat, Xisuma quickly drowning out his speech on something with big words. He hadn't even checked the coding. He knew that it meant everyone. He had no idea why, but he knew it.

Said admin walked over to Joe, who nodded and silenced. Xisuma gave the hermits a weary smile and basically said the dumbest thing you could every say to these people.

"So it meant we're all gonna die it the given time. 5,000 days."

The hermits all went into a panic again, before Mumbo spoke up after a breath.

"That's.. 13 years, 8 months, 1 week, 4 days, 11 hours, 33 minutes annnnnddd..." He paused a moment, the numbers and statistics going through his head nearly visible through his eyes. "And 19 seconds!"

A hush fell through the hermits until someone- Zed- spike. "Well now it's all that but FIFTEEN seconds! Four have already gone! Now SEVE- SIX- FI- FOU- THRE- TW- ONE!! We've already went through 19 seconds!"

That seemed to send everyone off the already thin railing they had been dangling on. People started making timers and panicking about the time they'd wasted already.

Now, as the auth- narrator (*Begins repairing 4th wall) I'm going to travel off the path real quick.

You see, if you focus on tomorrow enough, your never going to notice the 'today.'

And often times, these people found themselves in situation above. All their time had, has, been spent on mainly focusing about the newest thing, and next build. So when they all had been informed they were going to die, the thought of what they hadn't done became an unleashed floodgate.

And can you guess what they did?

Well, they all began focusing- On time.

Eventually, Xisuma was able to control the crowd and convince them all to head back and get some rest, promising to talk about it as a group tomorrow.

And, that's what they did. They talked about it. And after a long while, people slowed down. They still had a freaking thirteen-nearly-fourteen years left!

Grian looked at Mumbo as they walked out. "Mumbo?"

"Hm?"

"It's already been a whole day... I'm scared.."

Mumbo nodded. "We all are."

"Yeah, but it's been a whole! Day! So much time already.."

And as the two faded into a conversation, so did many, many more of the hermits. It seemed so.. backwards!

And after a while, a week passed. And that was all they could think about. It had been a week and people barely even breathed.

So that's how they spent their next week.

And the next.

And the week after.

And then the next one too.

In fact, it's how they wasted a whole year. Thinking about a day, time, place, that hadn't even come.

And this year started off like the rest of the days- Half the hermits waking their friend(s) to explain how yet even more time passed, half the hermits already awake and worrying, and the other half mentally panicking and trying not to show it.

This is what they called the 'triple-half' rule.

You see, all the hermits were workaholics. But some were serious workaholics.

These were the people who were up before the sun and thinking about the next big thing. So in this case, they were the ones already awake.

Then, there were the 'everyone' kinda people. The people who were friends with everyone, and were normally peppy and cheery. (And if not that, then just being little balls of annoying-yet-lovable sunshines.) But they were also the people who said what they thought, and made sure the others knew it too.

In this case, they were the ones waking everyone up about the passed and wasted time.

Then, finally, there was the third half. And three halves was a bit extra, but these people were extra.

But you see, the 'third-half' was rather smaller. It consisted of the calmer, nicer people and more peaceful souls. Like Stress and Joe. These were the people who comforted the others. But they were also the third half because they would comfort each-other too. (Because everyone needs a place/person to confide emotions in.)

In this case, they were the ones getting up at three AM because someone walked instead of ran to get some Cheerios and had wasted a precious twenty seconds.

And these three halves made up the hermits. A bit extra and overwhelming, put a workable puzzle.

And in case you didn't notice, while you read the rule, you just experienced everyone's most recent thoughts!

Another whole minute passed.

And then two more years passed.

Again, everyone met in the hall. The first one to shout out was (un)surprisingly Tango.

"It's already been three years!!"

Choruses is replies and outbursts followed manner.

"Yeah!"

"I've barely noticed anything happen!"

Xisuma held up his hands and slammed down the gavel, which he found to become quite useful recently. Everyone shut up and looked at him. He sighed. "How about we try to calm down and enjoy these ten years we still have?"

False looked over. "It's already been three..."

Ren nodded solemnly. "I haven't even been invited to be on a magazine yet..!"

Doc shot him a look. "Well you better hurry because we're all gonna die in ten years and I'm pretty sure it'll be painful and we'll wished we just killed ourselves instead."

"Doc!" Joe threw his hands up. "Really?!"

Doc shrugged. "Sorry, I didn't realize my right to free speech was taken too."

Joe sighed. "Nothing has been taken from you."

Doc nodded and muttered. "Yeah, except my life."

Etho looked around and poked Bdubs. The latter looked over at the former and made a 'hm' sound for his response. Etho paled a little. "It's already been like half an hour..."

Bdubs slowly nodded. He paused then adopted a look of realization. "My lord... It's been half an hour!"

Etho nodded rapidly as they began to freak out a little more, ruining the bickering that they all missed, no matter what it was over.

Stress tugged Cleo's arm. "I don't wanna die..."

Cleo shrugged. "I mean I'm already dead? Dead's cool."

False sent her a look and hugged Stress, who just whimpered about not wanting to die. Cleo pat her head. "How about cookies? We can make those?"

Stress shook her head. "But that takes like a whole hour...! Longer with you being a goof!"

Cleo shrugged and False released Stress. "Well we're wasting time talking about-"

Grian came over, dragging Mumbo with him. "Easy!" He beamed proudly and Mumbo gave False and Cleo and 'I'm so sorry' look.

Grian grinned. "Just bake the cookies at twice the heat and it'll save you twice the time!"

Mumbo began to protest that isn't how it works, until Zed, who had Tango and a trailing Impulse within flip-flop range, came over. "Can I join??"

Stress half smiled and shrugged. "Sure?"

Soon, the word passed around and eventually all the hermits found themselves at Stresses', making cookies and enjoying everyone's company. They also found themselves doing something almost foreign to them-

Smiling. And laughing. Together.

Eventually, the rest of the cookies got put in and Doc smiled. "That didn't take half as long as expected."

The others nodded in agreement before Wels yelped. "Guys that took.... 37 minutes total!"

Everyone looked at the time, and silence settled over the room.

"Aahhh..." Wels' voice could be heard across the room, breaking the silence. "Achoo!"

Ren yelped. "You got flour on me!"

In fact, he did. A good chunk of Rens' hair was now white. The hermits laughed and yet again they fell into a routine that was something of just them.

Light jokes began to be made and worries were finally set aside.

Keralis, who was talking to Etho smiled and perked up and the timer going off. "Cookies!"

Nearly falling over Etho, who was avoiding falling over a pile of Zed/Grian/Tango-race for the sweet treats, he threw open the over and yanked out the pan.

Mumbo held up a finger to say something, but quickly gave up on it.

Keralis smirked at Grian. "Smart idea of making the oven twice times hotter! I get to eat quicker!" And with that, he took a bite before helping from the heat and slamming it down, exclaiming, "The inside isn't even cooked!"

Some hermits laughed as Mumbo proudly smiled, standing up a bit more. "I warned you they wouldn't."

Doc laughed as he grabbed Keralis' cookie and began eating off it. "Well I could care less about the state of the substance. Cookie is cookie."

A choir of laughs rifled out as the majority were out back in the oven (at a normal temperature) to cook.

Days like that seemed to be gold now.

Five years.

That's how long they had left. Five years to the day.

And I think we all know how the other 8 years, 8 months, 1 week, 4 days, 11 hours, 33 minutes and 19 seconds had gone.

Worrying.

Hermits talked to hermits and panic started panic.

Another week passed.

Then a month.

Then a moment and a year had slipped by.

Then two years and a few days.

A couple breaths were wasted and another few months stretched by.

And some more time along that. Time didn't matter by now. They all just knew they had their regrets but did nothing.

<Server> Death message warning; 7 days left.
<Stress> Oh my..
<Python> I can't believe it's already been..
<Mumbo> 10,080 minutes left.
<Xisuma> Meeting.

———

Murmurs of worried and fears spread through the people, ripping like wood on fire. After-all, it seemed just yesterday they had been told of the news. Maybe that was becuase it was. Maybe it wasn't. Nobody could quite say for sure becuase everyone had their mind wrapped around this day but next week. Heck, most- none, none of them had even noticed it was Christmas day. And now, with 8,760 hours, one week, left to live, some realization came upon a few of them. Wels, who had mainly kept his panic to himself, laughed, catching the attention of everyone.

"You guys!" He held his own gut laughing at himself and everyone else. "How long have we known about this?"

Mumbo thought a moment, redoing the math. "13 years, 8 months, 1 week, 4 days, 11 hours, 33 minutes and 19-"

"SECONDS! 19 SECONDS!" Grian stuck his tongue out at Mumbo and proudly smirked. "Told you I could remember stuff."

Mumbo rolled his eyes and Wels nodded. "And what have we done with that time?"

The hermits shrugged and he sighed. "We've panicked. The whole time. And now we get a week to live."

Xisuma, who was waiting off to the side nodded. "Panicked. Feared. Worried. Over-thought. Lost our minds. Wasted time." He thought a moment. "About 13 years we've wasted in our worry right? And now we have a week to live. We all know it'll be painless and it's inevitable. So why are we worrying then?" He motioned around for emphasis and Grian held up a finger. "I've done stuff!"

Mumbo scoffed. "Making me lose my sanity isn't doing something Grian."

Stress laughed. "Oh wow. Mumbo, just watch, ok?" Mumbo nodded and she held up a gummy bear. "Pspspsps! Grian! Lookie! I gotta gummy bear!"

Grian looked over, following it with his yes and Mumbo laughed. "He acts like a dog." Stress nodded and tossed the treat with Grian chasing after it. She sighed. "So seven days till we all die?"

Xisuma nodded. "Basically."

Ren sighed. "A smart person once said you die twice. First time is when you die and the last time is  when your name is last spoken."

Doc looked at Ren a moment, his odd look fitting in with everyone else. "Did you just say something smar-"

Ren grinned and added; "So I have no idea about you guys, but I know I'll be living on for-ever."

Doc sighed as a few chuckles were earned at the comical scene. "Of course Ren, and why don't we just spell your name in fireworks while we're at it hmm?"

Ren shrugged. "I mean, I'm down."

Grian smiled. "I mean we all basically are dying on New Year's Day, and only you would want something like that so why not?"

Mumbo shook his head. "No. No. No no no. Grian I am not doing another redstone project for you." Gremlin slowly nodded, rubbing his hands together. "We'll see.."

Iskall looked at Xisuma after a moment. "But we're still dying in a week right?" Xisuma nodded. "Still dying." The latter nodded. "Well now that that is settled, what do we do. We're waiting to die. We should have something to do."

Tango smiled. "We should blow stuff up and-"

"N! O! NO!" Impulse shook his head rapidly. "Tango no!"

Xisuma laughed. "Well I have a better idea, so don't worry. Now everyone get closer becuase I don't feel like repeating myself."

-------

The seventh day was spent planning.

The sixth day a late-Christmas party was held in the middle of the shopping district. Presents were exchanged and just about everything got trashed.

The fifth day everyone just watched trashy TV and lived out the hangovers.

The fourth day the hermits all did their own things, finishing up anything they needed/wanted to finish. A couple though went out and did things like diving (sea and air) or robbing some place. The saying 'I don't want to die with regrets' had become pretty popular by now.

The third day everyone began clearing away a good bit of land on some tall and steep mountain for the New Year's party.

The second day was spent making assortments of food and getting in all those 'last minute' wishes and to-do tasks.

The last day. It was the last day, that was that. And it was confirmed by a message sent to each and every hermit, surely ruining their morning.

<Server> Death message warning; 1 days left.
<Scar> By now I'm concerned for Jellie!!She can't fend for herself
<Cub> Well it said every hermit, and you DO treat her like one..
<Scar> I don't want her to die!!
<Biffa> Just kill her so your dead together
<Scar> NO!

Scar looked down at the beauty rubbing against his leg and picked her up. "Yes girlie?" He tapped his finger against her nose and the cat let out a small meow. Scar sighed and picked up pouring the tenth bag of cat food into the long-been overflowing cat bowl. Honestly, a bathtub would've barely been able to contain all the food. Scar looked at Jellie. "Your gonna be a good kitty right? Right?"

Jellie meowed, waving her paws towards the food, Scar chuckling. "Of course you'll be a good girl, ya always are anyways.."

A light knock on the door caught his attention, causing him to walk over and open in. "Hey Cub!"

Cub nodded and held up a shulker box  before walking over to the cat food pile. He emptied the contents of food into the catastrophe, mumbling about the things Scar does for a simple cat.

---

"Yes!"

"No."

"yEs!"

"N. O."

"Yes!"

"Grian!" Mumbo threw his hands up. "Why do you oh-so-desperately need just about all my redstone stuff?!"

Grian shrugged. "I'm making the fireworks spell 'Ren!' Becuase he asked."

Mumbo paled. "And your making it..?!"

"Well," Grian smugly countered, crossing his arms. "You said that you wouldn't. So I am!" Mumbo squinted at him. "Your bluffing."

Grian just shrugged, slowly dragging his gaze around the room before matching his eyes to Mumbo's. "So be it." Then, he turned around to walk out, tossing his head to Mumbo. "I'll just buy the supplies myself."

He didn't make it two steps out the door before his shoulder was grabbed and the blonde was turned around. Mumbo was shaking his head. "No no no heavens no Grian. I'll do it ok? If you do it then we're all dying much sooner."

Grian nodded. "So, I was right."

Mumbo sighed and nodded. "Yeah yeah whatever, go blow something up and I'll take care of it ok?" Grian grinned before pulling out a remote button and pressing it.

A loud blast went off in the distance, ashes and fire just visible from way off in the distance. Grian laughed as he left.

---

Stress laughed her eyes. "Iskall it's only two, we don't need to get there yet."

He grabbed her wrist and began yanking it and her with it to the door. "Yes! We do! What if someone used diorite or arranged something wrong or-"

"Iskall."

"Yes?"

"I can guarantee you nobody used any diorite, okay?"

He kept looking at the door yearningly. "But how do you know that?!" "Well," Stress said, crossing her arms after pulling her hand back, "I'm pretty sure after you went around and told everyone not to and spammed everyone with messages saying not to, nobody would."

Iskall stuck out his tongue. "But Scar or Grian would!"

"You threatened Scar's cat and Grian is too busy annoying Mumbo. So please calm down."

"No!!" Iskall tried to get her to go through the door again, but Stress fought back. "Iskall! It'll be o-k!" Upon seeing him huff in frustration and worry, she sweetly added on, "We can watch whatever movie you want in the meantime?"

He gave her a look. "Fine."

---

It was dark out, but not too dark. The last bits of the sun were just lowering, casting ominous rays of dark blues and purple, the clouds and skyline faint pinks and yellows. The time something between seven and eight PM, and the rest of the hermits were just arriving.

Scar came in bickering with Cub, who had been scared by Biffa.

Iskall was nearly dragging is Stress, who just looked amused and tired.

Mumbo was busy fending off a pestering Grian and Ren, with Doc snickering and retorting back witty remarks to Bdubs.

Keralis was the last one there, accompanied by False, who was trying to reassure him that nighttime is O.K.

Despite the blaring music, the majority, of not all, of the hermits were standing off to the side, talking amongst themselves in hushed whispers. Nearly an hour had passed and it was 8:30, with no action whatsoever.

That was, before Grian ran over, grabbed a handful of the closest peoples' arms, and dragging them to the middle of the place. The dancing began to take on a domino affect, soon pulling everyone into it's arms as people began dancing, some of them more classic while other clearly practiced in the living room. Arms swung and people collided, the only thing certain to happen was that the smiles were staying.

As the night continued on, so did the time. Eight turned to nine. Nine turned to ten. Ten went to eleven which became eleven fifty.

The moon was bright and blinding, a pitch black sky making it even brighter. A bit later, small ring went off, signifying the time.

You see, 80% of pain is the anticipation of it, but luckily, the hermits had come to accept this inevitable fate. They'd already wasted so much time about it, by now it was all about enjoying it. So when the one minute timer went off, nobody was fazed.

Scrambling, everyone got into a line, waiting. Mumbo rushed to the cannons, counting down with everyone.

"Ten!"

Hours minutes or years, it was agreeable that despite everything, today wasn't a waste of their time.

"Nine!"

Such and odd number, yet so lovable. It just seemed to be everywhere, just like this group of oddballs.

"Eight!"

Eighty, eight thousand, eight billion times. Over and over again, the people of Hermitcraft had died. Sometimes out of stupidity and sometimes from eachother. But they all knew they'd go through it again for another day.

"Seven!"

The thing that took away the eight. Also the amount of days they had gotten to make up for the years they ruined. While seemingly odd and impossible, it had happened. None of them had regretted it.

"Six!"

Everyone grabbed hands, knowing what was to come.

"Five!"

Mumbo lit the cannon and ran back.

"Four!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

Rockets fired off, the sizzling of the lit-strings now dead. Assortments of colors exploded, creating all sorts of wondrous shapes and patterns. The hermits watched the sky eagerly, clapping and shouting applause at the brilliant light show. A couple more went off, one even spelling 'Ren' much to nearly-nobody's thanks, before the last one sounded, signaling a new day.

And there, on the mountaintop, stood each and every hermit, awaiting their deaths in the midst of the night. Nobody mentioned it though, because there they all were, content and accepting it, together.