I couldn't help myself, I had Secret Life Scar on my mind.

PoV: Scar

I walk to the Secret Keeper, alone. In one hand, I hold my final completed scroll.

Win Secret Life.

Everything's covered in blood, I'm barely standing, but I can handle that when I'm back in Hermitcraft. Already, I imagine being with Cub, letting him help me. Safety. Comfort. Friendship.

I press succeed. My cuts recede, the task burns to nothing.

And another replaces it.

'What the...' I mutter, unravelling it.

Win Secret Life.

'Ok, done that.' I press the button again. The scroll vanishes, and reappears. Win Secret Life. I try again. And again. 'Watchers? Secret Keeper? Hello? Can I leave? Didn't I win?' I press the button again. Again, my scroll just reappears. 'Hello?!'

Silence.

'Ok...' I step back. I try to handle my panic as my exhausted brain stumbles through my options. 'Ok, that's not working...' Staying here won't help me. So I leave, hoping for answers. Beyond spawn, it's still night, mobs everything.

I have to die.

Even as I realise, a skeleton shoots me. -3 hearts. And another. Zombies grab me, tearing and biting. I don't struggle, even as the pain grows agonising. Another couple arrows, Even if I wanted to move, I can't, surrounded on all sides. Surely I'm close to dying.

Fire surrounds me, knocking me over. Creepers. I crawl away, wincing, before checking my communicator.

I have no hearts.

And I'm still alive.

I have to escape.

I claw my way to my feet, staggering back towards the Secret Keeper. I need healing, to 'succeed' again. My vision blurs with tears of pain, another arrow hitting before I reach the safety around the Secret Keeper. I collapse, barely managing to press succeed before I fall unconscious.

My eyes don't want to open. My head throbs, everything's sore and aching. It takes a moment to orient myself. Secret Life, Secret Keeper. Lying next to a dark scroll, bound in gold. I open it.

THAT'S NOT HOW THIS WORKS.

'What do you mean?!' I call back. 'I can't die, I can't win, how do I get out?'

No reply.

'Hello? Watchers? How do I get out?'

No reply.

'I won! I'm the last player left! Everyone's dead! Why can't I leave?!'

No reply.

I force myself to sit up, leant on a pedestal. Everything hurts. I can't move, let alone stand, so I just check my communicator.

There's no one else here, alive or spectating. The last message in chat is from Grian, telling me I've won. So I can't leave anything there. Instead, I try to open external chats. Someone outside can rescue me.

Access denied.

'What?!' I try again, unable to even enter. 'No! Why?!' It doesn't work. None of it works. 'Please!'

My last option disappears. I just stare at the words until tears blur them, hoping I don't need to tell them to rescue me. They'll realise and come back for me. Cub won't stop until he does, Grian knows how the Life Series works, Martyn knows how Watchers work. They'll come back for me.

No one comes that day.

Or the next day.

Or the next.

Or the next.

On the fifth day waking up alone, with no one rescuing me and no sign of the Watchers relenting, I give up hope. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I imagine them laughing. Why won't they free me? I won. Surely I won.

Do they want me to stay here forever?

I remain there, sobbing, for the rest of the day.

It's a few days after that, still sitting next to the Secret Keeper hoping it'll let me go or someone will find me, that I lose track of time. All I can see from here is the unchanging night sky, the constellations I've watched with Cub so many times. But Cub's not here. But he's coming. He's Cub. He'll always be here for me.

If I've already forgotten how long I've been here, I need a way to mark the days. But I have nothing on me that will work. Unless...

I pull up my torn shirt sleeves, hands shaking. My claws are sharp enough to scratch gashes that'll scar. A way of marking the days. My legs still hurt too much to reach the forest and mine wood for signs. And even if I did, where would I put them? Though I could leave a message in chat every day..

Access denied,

'For- for chat?! Why?!'

That's not how this works.

Of course it's not.

I don't have any other options. So, taking a deep breath, I close my eyes scratch my arm. When I open them, I see a small line of blood. I fight a sob, and mark the other days as well. Only then do I stand, my stomach growling with hunger. I need to find somewhere with food.

The Mounders' bases are nearest, but as soon as I enter, I regret it. The ground is still torn up from the wither attack, when I was chased around the server for what felt like hours. And lying, right where I left him, is the dead body of Tango. There's terror in his glassy red eyes. Guilt fills me. I can't leave him here, I realise. So, as well as raiding their base of the few carrots and loaves of bread left, I grab a shovel. It doesn't take long to dig him a small grave, but the rest of the day is spent scratching his name in the tombstone, a brief message. An apology.

I'm sorry, Tango.

Another thought comes to me as I sit there. Maybe they didn't respawn. I killed them without thinking that they might not respawn back in Hermitcraft. The Watchers are already messing with my respawn and ability to die. Maybe they did the same for everyone else.

Maybe I'm truly the last one left.

No. I can't think that. I can't think any of that. I have to keep believing they'll come for me. It's only been a week, and the end of a Hermitcraft Season is enough chaos already. So I just stand up, leaving Tango's grave, deciding to make one for everyone. An apology.

And a way to remember the friends I might never see again.

I've written the whole 5 parts for this in Google Docs over the last few days so expect quick updates.

:)