Muffled sounds of crying could be heard, as the sound of dirt hitting the bottom of the hole started. But Grian wasn't crying. He'd let out all of his tears earlier, into Taurtis's arms. His bloody, cold, but somehow still comforting arms.

Wind blew around the hermits. The evolutionists stood to one side, all apart from Taurtis, who was clinging tightly to Grian's hand despite his still terrible condition. Even Grian stood a bit apart from the other Hermits. A bit away from the site, Xeno stood, and the blonde offered them a brief - if fake - smile. Xisuma's voice as he stood up on the stage was thick, even through his synthesiser.

"Was about 6 years ago I met that moustached idiot, and God did I regret not installing lag prevention systems on the server when I did." Hollow laughter filled the empty space. It made a difference from the crying. "Never regretted it for a moment." He stared blankly at the floor for a second, before looking up to meet the eyes of all the Hermits. "As his admin,

I don't think there's more to say - more that needs to be said."

"He still owes me a Redstone contraption from Odea!" A voice called out from the crowd. Despite the cheeriness, they could all hear the pain-filled undertone. The slight crack in the voice.

"Is there anyone else who'd like to say a few words?" Grian hesitantly stood up, swallowing hard and clutching onto Taurtis tighter.

"Mumbo was one of the first few people I met in Hermitcraft - think he tried to kill me when we first met, but he was always the one to make sure I was included, or understood. God, what I'd do for him back. The lag he would cause with his machines, the stupid things he'd start - such as hermit challenges. They're gone now. But he's not gone, not here." He pressed his finger into his chest harshly, relishing slightly in the pain.

"And you can be damn sure that they'll have to pay." Doc's voice was angry, not upset like Grian had thought. His robotic arm clenched. Surprisingly, Iskall nodded. They were breathing slightly more heavily than normal, and while unlike Doc they were crying, their faces had the same twisted anger. It was almost scary, even though it was the most predictable reaction he could've had.

Grian sat down again, his expression blank. Taurtis squeezed his hand again, but it didn't help to ease the emptiness. The funeral dragged on for longer, but Grian couldn't find it in him to focus on it. Voices merged together in a jumbled mess, but he didn't care enough to separate them. He was only dragged back into reality by the release of Taurtis's hand, and the rush of air that came with it. Grian then noticed that most people were leaving, although a few didn't leave their seats.

Grian suddenly lurched up.

"I think that x-eye-zuma guy was saying that we needed to leave soon," Taurtis filled in; Grian smiled slightly. "What?"

"That's what I called Xisuma when I first met him." His smile grew slightly wider remembering how at first he'd only seen the written version, and Grian didn't know who he meant when Mumbo had-

His smile disappeared.

The sharp reminder also dredged up other reminders of how much he'd messed up, and how many other things were still a wreck. Impulse was missing, and they had to leave soon.

God, he'd messed up so badly.

"It wasn't your fault, you know." Taurtis rested a hand on his shoulder that was probably meant to be reassuring, but all Grian could think of is that Mumbo would do the same thing, Mumbo's hand felt like that, Mumbo had said that before.

"BUT IT WAS! EVERY LAST BIT OF THAT, WAS ALL! MY! FAULT! STOP LYING!" The anger was a relief after the numbness from before, but the guilt that came with it felt like it was eating him from inside.

The brief anger then faded, and his legs were folding forward, and his face was wet, and he was crying. Oh.

"Do you mind if I have a minute with him?" A synthesised voice came from behind. Xisuma- no, it wasn't Xisuma. Xeno. Taurtis nodded, at least from what Grian could tell through his blurred vision, and moved away leaving Grian with Xeno.

"I'd tell you it wasn't your fault, but that wouldn't be true. It wouldn't help." Despite the bluntness, Grian found it slightly comforting. "We've all f- messed up plenty of times, we all make mistakes, that's part of being human. But that's not what matters - if we all focused on each other's worst mistakes, we wouldn't get anywhere, we'd end up alone. What matters is that we improve. You mess up time and time again, but each time, you learn. That's what makes a person a good person. Not perfection, but improvement."

"I don't think most people's mistakes end up with their best friend dead, but that's a lovely sentiment," Grian mumbled, pushing himself up from the ground.

"But you didn't physically kill him, so that makes you better than them by default."

"But I pushed them to it," He argued, rubbing the tears away from his eyes.

"To a point they never should've reached. And no, don't argue," Xeno interrupted when he noticed Grian's mouth opening. "They shouldn't have killed him, no matter what.

"You don't blame me?" Grian whispered after a second.

"God no, Grian. Of course I don't blame you." Xeno stepped forward, pulling Grian into a tight hug. Tears soaked through the fabric of his clothing on their shoulder, eventually fading to muffled sobs.

Someone coughed behind Grian, causing both of them to look up. Martyn raised an eyebrow at the two of them, which they both steadily ignored.

"Is there an issue?" Xeno asked.

"Netty said that we're about to leave, and to congregate by spawn. The plan is to be constantly on the move through worlds so they can't find us." Grian looked backwards, pulling away from Xeno's arms to face Martyn.

"Any word from Syra or Jace?" he asked, rubbing his eyes. "Or has Xisuma mentioned anything about Impulse?" Martyn shook his head in response.

"We're assuming that the Listeners aren't able to get here, no news from your friend. We're on our own." Grian glanced behind at Xeno, presumably for some sort of commentary, but he'd disappeared. "Taurtis and Pearl are in a better condition though, stable enough for portal travel."

"Suppose it's time to leave then. You got anything to grab?" Martyn shook his head.

"Got it already, offloaded the essentials into shulker boxes." Grian bit his lip nervously, beginning to make his way towards spawn. It felt rather surreal, leaving both of the worlds he'd come to call home for the past year in one day. He'd never expected it to come to this, much less with Mumbo de- not next to him.

Within minutes, he and Martyn had arrived at spawn, where the hermits were helping Netty to organise supplies. Stress and False were both fussing over Pearl and Taurtis respectively. The two of them looked either bored or amused, seeming completely fine despite their concerns.

"An admin-formed portal would take time to replenish, we could do it once a month at most. We need to move every day or so, Grian needs to be the one making the portals." Grian couldn't help but listen to what Xisuma was saying after picking up his name.

"But it would be harder to track down an admin portal, because there are so many of them." Xeno argued, who Grian noticed was leaning against a pillar facing Xisuma.

"With full protection, which you require assistance from the main hub for, I'd give it 2 weeks at most." Seeming to concede that point, Xeno changed the subject.

"What even makes you so sure they're coming after us?"

"Do you want to go back to Hermitcraft, see the proof?" Xisuma asked. "Because the logs all show that the Watchers breached Hermitcraft 12 hours ago."

"The point still stands, you can't expect Grian to do everything!" Xeno exclaimed, his voice climbing slightly louder. It still wasn't loud enough to attract the attention of the rest of the preoccupied hermits however, but it was clear the pair were both getting agitated.

"We're not! He's just the only way of forming a portal!"

"Maybe you could ask him, seeing as he's right behind you." Xisuma turned around, his face flashing through a multitude of emotions before settling on surprise.

"I... Agree with Xisuma," Grian admitted reluctantly. "Though I appreciate the thought Xeno. We just don't have any other choice." Ending the conversation before it could progress further, Xeno walked off towards the portal.

"Just a random world, right?" Grian asked Netty and Xisuma, walking towards the empty obsidian frame.

"Preferably habitable," Netty joked. Grian smiled slightly, blocking out the noises in a way that almost felt like he was underwater. Purple sparks began to come out of Grian's hands, focused towards the empty portal. He pushed towards the portal, and while the magic erupted towards the portal, nothing happened except a wave of exhaustion. He caught himself on the side of the portal, nauseous. A warm hand grabbed his, and after a few seconds, Grian began feeling rejuvenated.

Now he could focus, he realised it was Xisuma. Concentration was on his face, and sparks of green surrounding their hands. Boosted by the energy, Grian tried again. Purple pushed into the portal, but this time, it actually worked.

The relief was brief however, as Grian almost immediately fell against a wall. Xisuma seemed better off, but still seemed drained.

"This is actually it," Tom murmured.

"Wasn't expecting this to ever happen," BigB added. A few others mumbled their agreement.

"What the hell," Scar grinned. "Here we go again."

And together, the Evolutionists and Hermits stepped through the portal, abandoning the second world in 24 hours.

And from the second they exited the portal, they knew there was no turning back.

End of Part 2

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE AND MERRY CHRISTMAS

uh f*ck now i have to plan out part 3 

ended up writing a motivational speech woo go xeno