Author's note
If anyone already knows the above song, you already know what's up.

Oh, bear in mind NONE of the other hermits know about 'Sorry' or any of its backstory.

I'M SO EXCITED!

This chapter involves switching narrative perspectives, angry parents and one very annoying girl.

Headcannons in this chapter
- Did you know that I'm really annoying?
Y-Yeah? O-Oh ok...
- Concorp drones all (individually) can be accessed from any C.P.S.T, if you know the password. This is so it's easier to control them if something were to go wrong, but still keeps the drones from being hacked into.
- Tango's senses are better than those of a morta- I MEAN... Normal human's, because demon and all. Demons don't usually hunt for their prey though... So I decided not to make him able to search via scent like Ren can.
- False is a savage. That's it.
- Creepers. Have. PEETS (the underside squishy bit of paw-feet thingies- search up 'cat peets')! WHICH MEANS DOC AND PYTHON-

(This has nothing to do with this chapter, but I saw a picture from a game-designer named 'nefarious skull' that drew this. And I squealed at the cuteness)

- I don't have a spawnpoint, mostly because as an Author, I don't really need to... Unless...
———————————————————
The weather was back to normal.

The weather was back to normal.

And that, of course, could only mean one thing. No more delay. No more distraction. The hunt was on.

The start of EX and AC's journey was in mostly silence... Which was horribly awful. At least, for AC, who felt that the silence wasn't at all comfortable... Instead of it being soft, and calm, this silence was more cold... Like the metal shoulder-plate she was flung upon.

Perhaps she could fix that?

"... Sooo... How're you-"

"Shut up."

"Ok, geez, harsh... Don't make me read your- ah. Never mind then, I can feel your snarky glare from here."

"You know, I very much cou-"

"-Could've killed me by now if you didn't need me, yeah, I get it, bit hard not to, darling."

"... I'm still very much considering it, you know, so if you don't keep that mouth shut-"

"Yeah, I get the point, stabby, stabby, if I make you maddy. Mmm... You probably don't want to waste your sword durability all now though. Mobs are coming soon."

"As if a few zombies can take me out. If you do, then you've severely underestimated me."

"... I'll take note of that, EXy"

"Never. Call me that. Again."

"Sure, sure, sure... EXy- AP! Sword down, unless you wanna get sheesh-kebabbed later."

"I'll sheesh-kebab YOU in a second, now SHUT UP!"

"Gee, rude..."

(LIL TIME SKIP)

It hadn't taken too long to finally know their location on the map, though to EX it felt like an eternity. The girl simply would not shut up, letting him calm down only to wind him up again. It was torture... Of some sort.

Yet, every step he endured drew him closer to his goal, and he was sure that traps would appear soon. He was certain that he could handle them all though- besides, if it really got too bad, he could just ditch her to get rid of the excess luggage.

This was working out fine.

"Traps are starting up soon! See, aren't we getting along just swimmingly? Cus I do! Ain't it lovely... I can imagine what they'll say about us in the future already... They'll say that...

'We went through time,
And we, turned night to day,
But now, there's one small thing that I feel the need to say...
Watch out!'

And the floor fell from beneath him.
———————————————————
After Cub successfully utilised a broken drone, the hermits started heading out themselves. Though all were quite worried, it was collectively agreed upon that they shouldn't go too quickly, in case they missed anything along the way.

This was one reason that Ren lead the way: he could sniff things out and though he didn't know EX's scent due to his armour, he could recognise AC's from her pranks and items.

Also because you always send Ren in first.
———————————————————
Luckily, EX was able to nail a landing, discovering that he was now in a well-lit corridor of sorts. A wooden mansion's corridor, to be exact...

... But underground.

There were no windows (obviously), and a strange amount of doors, but apart from that, everything else seemed pretty normal...

Suspicious...

"Oi. What's this?" EX grumbled, taking out his sword warily. In front of him, three doors stood, each looking identical to the others. AC shrugged (or... As well as someone who was tied up could shrug).

"It's a maze. With traps. This is what I was on about, lol"

EX growled, stalking forwards towards the leftmost door. He opened and entered without any hesitation, though as soon as he did, the door shut behind him and water started to fill the room. With a gasp, he looked up, noticing a set of three new doors in front of him. If he hurried, he might make it...

Then AC started singing.

'EX, watch out! I think the water's rising.'

As he started run-swimming through the water, a short strip of wall opened to his right. A mass of drowned moaned, making their way towards him slowly as he flailed about.

AC gave the mobs a quick one-over. Hissing at one, she turned to EX, and... To sung again...

'EX, look out! Good news, you're appetising!
Hello? Hey listen! That wallpaper glistens,'

The water was now waist height, but EX had reached the doors. In desperation, he simply yanked the closest one open, not caring to check which one it was. Some water still pooled around his feet after he slammed the door shut, but it was only a little.

... Wait... Was every room going to be like this-?

Eyes widening, he stumbled away from the door, this time heading straight for the rightmost door.

'Watch out for that rope!'

"ARGH!"

(Author's note: Yeh it's... Totally supposed to be blurry... T-To show movement...)

'Oh...'
———————————————————
"Do you think she's ok?"

"... Let's hope so."

"We've still got a moving signal... That... That's gotta mean she's still safe... Right?"

"Gee... I haven't even met her and I feel bad..."

A smattering of agreements were stated.
————————————————————
EX panted heavily, trying to lower his heartbeat from the sudden jump-scare. From the other side of the door, he could still hear the drowned groaning in anticipation... And see them, if he turned around...

'EX, watch out! Those mobs look pretty frightening...'

"Shut. Up. As if they could come through this door." EX sneered, giving the girl a rough shake. He grinned as he heard her squeak in protest.

"OI, you- hey, what's that noise?" AC asked, staring up at the ceiling. Almost like a sheet it was being pulled away by a pair of hands, revealing a tenebrous, turbulent sky. Deep, rumbling could be heard, though not a drop of rain fell, despite the increasingly loud sounds.

"... What's this...?" EX asked, placing a step forwards. Almost instantaneously, a bolt of lighting struck right behind him. "GAH!"

'EX, watch out! I think you've summoned lightning.'

And so he had, with the first lightning bolt not being the last...

'Beware that trapdoor, make sure you don't fall,'

"COULD YOU TELL ME THAT A BIT FASTER?" EX yelped, just as a trapdoor fell down next to him. It was then he noticed the floor was littered with trapdoors and pressure plates, ready to lead him into his death.

"Faster? How am I supposed to- alright then..."

'Don't fall of your boat!'

Scoffing, he ignored this last phrase, charging through the leftmost door once again... Into an oak boat, that immediately started moving. Every toss and turn of the rough waves threw the two into different part of the flimsy boat, quickly teaching them that weight distribution had suddenly become a whole lot more important...

Wild rapids... Of course...

"I did warn you, darling." AC pouted innocently, eyelashes fluttering at him. EX dunked her into the foaming water, and laughed when he pulled her out, coughing and spluttering. "I'm still right!"

"Shut up, you wet dog..."

"Can you really not tell the difference between a calico cat and a merle dog? Because dang it, that was my next dog pattern..."

"Shut up, you-"

"We're going to hit the door."

"Wait wha-"

BAM!
———————————————————
Ren said they were on the right track. This was still double-checked with the battered drone, which slightly annoyed the wolf hybrid.

"I'm telling you, I'm just as reliable than that thing... I know her scent..." He whined, giving a side-eye to the said drone.

"Having two sources is better than one, Ren." TFC said, tutting at him.

(Author's note: Did he suddenly appear out of nowhere?... Maybe... Do I actually smell like the following description irl? No XX)

"She smells like flowers, sugar and tea, I think I can find her pretty- MUMBO WAIT-!"

A few shouts were heard as the moustached hermit slipped into the big pit, including the said man's own...

THUMP!
"ARGH!"

Everyone still on the surface winced at the sound. Next to Ren, he saw Grian immediately dive down with his eltyra, with Iskall trying not to curse at his stupidity.

"GRIAN- oh for goodness- HOLD ON, I'M COMING DOWN!" The swede yelled, flying down at once.

Like a current, one by one, each of the other hermits shared a collective look before they too flew down.

TFC was left staring blankly by the edge. In their haste, everyone has forgotten that the server's grandad didn't have elytra. Again. He sighed to himself at his children/ grandchildren, starting to slowly block down into the dark depths.

(Author's note: HEY! Fellow authors, who's with me, REMEMBER OUR GRANDAD!)
———————————————————
'Oh hey, it's poison, and more zombies,'

EX jumped a foot, spinning around with his sword (that he FINALLY remembered)? A second passed, then another, then another... Until he was entirely convinced nothing was going to happen. Shaking AC again, he lowered his sword to the ground...

And hit a hidden pressure plate, spawning in a horde of zombies and throwing poison potions at him. With a gasp, he was scared off guard, jerkily dodging a zombie's arm and hitting another pressure plate-

'Some lava, you need that key-'

- That caused lava to start pouring out from the corners of the room.

"Key?! WHAT 'KEY'?!" EX asked, slashing away at the incoming mob. Some were pushed into the flaming lava, where they started to burn at once.

"Above you, right now. It can be used to unlock one door... And all of the doors in this room are locked. Better be fast."

Yeah, he was seriously considering sacrificing the annoying girl at this point... But she was right. As he risked a glance upwards, he saw it: a key, dangling just above his head by a thread.

Literally.

A simple wave of his blade was enough to bring it down -his aim was getting better- and once catching it, immediately sped to... The middle door, before slamming it shut behind him. This action resulted in the key snapping: he really was just a one-time use...

As he stepped- actually, no, he probably shouldn't... As EX hastily surveyed the area, he spotted nothing dangerous looking. Aside from one very obvious pressure plate in a weirdly positioned place on the floor. He thought this room seemed fine... Until he looked up.

Phantoms.

'They can't hear you yet, so please don't speak!'

"Obviously I KNOW TH- OH FOR GOODNESS-"

'Hey, don't step there, pay attention, please!'

EX ignored her, too busy finessing the shrieking flying things to care. Which he really should have, to be honest, as he unknowingly activated the 'randomly-placed' pressure plate.

'You're about to get hit by the moon.'

Out of nowhere, a new phantom was released from the ground, effectively smacking EX in the chin. He retaliated with a return hit, and noticed it was named 'The Moon'.

He felt his anger flare up as his attacks on the phantoms became more ruthless.

'See?'
——————————————————
Tango wondered where they were now.

He had been one of the last to jump, merely for the reason that he had stood the farthest away from the hole. Down in... Wherever they were... He, along with everyone else, had ended up in a partially-flooded corridor, resembling one of a woodland mansion.

Mumbo, having fallen without his elytra activated, had luckily not died: the hole turned out only to be a few feet deep.

(Author's note: That sounds horrible... Right... 1 foot is 30 cm... And most of y'all are around about 5ft to 5ft 6... Right? So let's say it was about seven or eight foot deep... Would that be realistic?)

Unluckily, the clumsy redstoner had still managed to land in a weird position, twisting his ankle.

Iskall was currently lecturing the other Architech members, while supporting him up with Grian, who was fussing over Mumbo. It was a bit... Ok, quite funny to watch, especially because of the great height difference between the builder and his best friends.

"... You know, this is actually the right way..." Scar pointed out, looking at the reading on the drone over Cub's shoulders. Ren huffed indignantly again.

"You can't smell anything from here anyway, Ren-"

"How do YOU know?"

"Because even though I can't track people I still have a pretty good sense of smell, and all I can smell right now is water." Tango replied, rolling his eyes.

"I think they went through that door." False monotoned, pointing at a door to the left. She held up a hand to silence the two boys' protests. "It's open, and you see, I've the special power to know that most doors need to be opened first, before they can look open."

So now, a savage False was leading the way...
——————————————————
(Author's note: ... Please forgive my poor laziness. I didn't really want to bore you all with pretty much the same stuff over and over so here are the other verses... Let your imagination conjure up a better image than my bad writing... I'M STILL REALLY SORRY-)

'EX, watch out! This gravel isn't stable,
EX, look out! That's not a normal table-
Flooring can kill you,
Listen, just will you take this for a ride? Oh no-'
———————————————————
"Hey, do you hear that? Sounds like... A minecart on rails?"

"It's probably you going crazy."

"OI!"
———————————————————
'EX, watch out! That's quite a heavy door and
EX, look out! You're falling through the floor!
Oh right! That reminds me, would you please kindly,
Push this thing aside? I SAID 'PUSH' NOT 'PULL'-'

"Well, it didn't do anything anyWAYYYYY-"

SPLOOSH!

"I did tell you."

"Shut up. What kind of trap is this anyway? It's just dolphins, I could kill them any day..."

"Don't hit them."

At once, the whole swarm of dolphins turned from playful to dangerous, swirling faster and faster, completely ready to charge at him. Ah. EX realised his mistake.

"I told you not to hit them." AC whispered, flopping onto his shoulder, ready to be dunked into water again. She still hadn't stopped shaking the water out of her cat features though, and EX didn't exactly feel like wiping water droplets off again... She got lucky... This time...

Unfortunately, this could not be said for him.
———————————————————
"WOAH THERE! The floor is lava!"

"Yeah, yeah, very funny- ohhh it actually is..."

"... Did anyone bring blocks?"

Grian snickered cockily, leaping out, elytra spread. Skilfully, he manoeuvred over the flaming pit of doom, landing on the other side with a proud smile.

"..." But before Joe could ask the question, Python beat him to it.

"OH RIGHT, AIN'T THAT LOVELY, NOW DO YOU EXPECT THE REST OF US TO FLY OVER OUR DEATHS TOO?"

"... Python... Are you chicken?"

Which promptly lead to a disgruntled, slightly burned Python on the other side...

... And the others crossing on Joe's bridge.
———————————————————
'EX, watch out! Looks like you've caught on fire.
EX, look out! That dude was a great liar...
You're panic stricken, beat down by chickens,
Quite the shameful route...'
———————————————————
Grian shuddered suddenly, sending a shock of strain down Mumbo's leg.

"AH! Grian are-are you ok?" Mumbo asked, stopping Iskall's hand from hitting Grian. The shorter hermit didn't notice any of this, shaking his head.

"... I feel like someone's meddled with the wrong chicken..."

———————————————————
'EX, watch out! Beware that thorny cactus!
EX, look out! That skeleton just attacked us.
Try not to smash those,
This is REALLY slow-'

'Don't get shot! Don't diss my song,
Don't miss that chest! Oh, just stay calm,
Watch out! Watch out! Watch out!'

(SMOL TIME SKIP)

EX almost fell through the door, shutting it while panting heavily. Good grief... The traps...

The traps...

How... Much was left-?

He looked up, past the large crack in his helmet (he'd need to fix that later) and poison potion splash (he'd need to clean that later)... To see no more doors.

Instead, a device sat on an important-looking pedestal. It was in the centre of a giant water ring, intended to pull down and drown any that fell in. With a sudden spark of relief, EX dug into his inventory, taking out a small handful of wood planks (that... He... Didn't actually intent to pick up...) and started to block over.

He couldn't believe he had actually done it... He'd actually done it... And now, with this special C.P.S.T in his hands...

He had no use for the girl anymore.

She'd been awfully quiet ever since he entered this room... Did she know what was coming? No matter- a sadistic smirk had already made its way to his face as he grabbed her by her... Well... Lack of bindings (they'd burned off some time ago), dangling her above her own water trap.

"So, little brat... Thanks for your 'help'... Now, any last words?" EX chuckled, watching Ac squirm about, trying to pull his hand off with her own.

"Um, no, actually... But they do..."

Confused, EX managed to get a quick 'Who?' out before the door was kicked down, revealing a horde of angry hermits. Ah. They must have heard him then...

A brown-haired woman took out her bow and arrow, quickly shooting an arrow. It hit him in the shoulder, and before EX could recover, she shot another just above it. Too shocked to react, the hacker fell into the water trap himself, already knowing he was going to die by now.

The water dragged him down mercilessly, holding him tight in a grip as cold as ice. From what he could see, the other idiots had crowded around the trap, trying to reach for something...

The girl! Ha! They hadn't thought that through, had they?! She was just as good as dead as he was by now, and EX was incredibly uncertain that she had a spawnpoint like him!

At least he had done that, he thought, as he succumbed to the water.

(Author's note: HE'S GOING TO RESPAWN AT HIS PLACE, DON'T WORRY... Unless you know the 'drowning' death toll)
———————————————————
EvilXisuma drowned

The message popped up on AC's discarded C.P.S.T (that Biffa had caught), but nobody currently cared... Xisuma breathed a sigh again, but didn't do anything else.

They were too busy looking for AC, who had gone down with him...

She wasn't on the server officially, but she was still here... Still here, physically, surely that meant that she could respawn?!

Right...?

Or...

"... You look like you just saw somebody die, darling..." A voice called, surprising everyone present. Lazily gripping onto EX's small wood bridge, a mermaid-looking AC rested, smiling at them all.

Scar wasted no time, pulling her out of the water int a hug, and Cub gave her hair a ruffle. The other hermits all have a cheer of joy, being not quite close enough to do so, but still!

They'd done it, and now they could properly bond with the new girl...

...

That was a magical, shape-shifting, energetic, crazy prankster child that only Convex -thus far- had been taking care of.

...

Ah.

TFC then entered the room casually, smiling once he saw the child.

"Aw. She looks sweet." He said, walking over to take a better look. Cub and Scar nodded enthusiastically as AC instantly lit up, rambling on about how TFC -THE TFC, GRANDAD OF THE SERVER- was taking to her.

The others shared a look, laughing nervously, all with the same thought.

'Yes... But for how long?'
———————————————————
Author's note
GOT MA FIRST ARC FINISHED! YEEEAH!

HAVE A PICTURE OF EX IF HE DIDN'T DIE IN THE WATER TRAP! My traps sure did a number of him, oof...

Now. Time for (FINALLY) an onslaught of random ideas I constantly have!... But... While they're going on, for my next bigger idea (that totally has not been done before... JK it totally has), I... Need some help.

Does anyone know the age order of the hermits? From a reddit post, I've got this... From youngest to oldest:

Mumbo (23)
Python (24)
Zedaph/ Grian (not sure, but Grian is 25)
Scar/ False (not sure, but False is 27)
Cub (??)
Wels (29)
Jevin (31)
Joe (32)
Stress (32)
Iskall (33)
Ren (??)
Cleo (38)
Tango/ Impulse (?? and ??)
Doc (41)
Xisuma (??)
Biffa (43)
TFC (59)

As you can clearly see, NOT everyone in S6 has a clear age, mostly because those peeps have unknown ages... Reddit people say that the place they're at in the age order were implied/ referenced...

Maybe there was a video where they implied it- I'm not up to date with hermit videos, because (have I ever said this?) I joined the fandom at the end of the prank war (so like... Way too many videos to start watching at once :P).

So... Please... Help?