"So. Diplomacy?" Kelgi asked, raising an eyebrow and drumming lightly. 

AC put the plate of cookies onto the table. She was forced to stand on her tiptoes because this table was somehow taller than the last table, but she just about managed it, doing a silent little celebration cheer as she went to her chair (to stand on it, of course). She nodded at Kelgi's question.

"Mhm! Diplomacy! Or at least better understanding." She paused for a second, frowning thoughtfully. "... Uh... Is that also a definition of diplomacy...?"

"Preferably." Aqua confirmed. Her eyes darted around the room, taking in as much information as sirenly possible. AC mirrored this information intake with the flourish of a little twirl. "Some form of compromise would be ideal. But understanding would come first."

"I see the decor is just as pretty as the hosts!" AC remarked. "But ah! Yes. Busy-ness and understanding... Well, for a start, let's deal with the elephant of the room!" she went on her tiptoes again to get three cookies from the plate. She eld two up to Kelgi and Azin, taking a bite out of the third to prove it was not poisoned. Kelgi and Azin took the cookies slowly eating them as the negotiations continued. "Hm... What are... All of your favourite flowers?" AC asked. Aqua suppressed a smile.

"Well, I was thinking more along the lines of what it is exactly you guys want from both hermits and authors alike." Aqua clarified, a slight feeling of tenseness leaking out under her voice.. "I don't believe it's just souls- you could get them from any inhabited world. Maybe if we know what exactly it is you guys are looking for, we can end this conflict sooner."

"Well, when it comes to the four of you, it's because you're practicing forbidden magic, and it's just better for the fabric of reality if we stop you." Kelgi admitted, chuckling slightly.

"And as for the Hermits... like, 90% of them have powerful magic, and therefore their souls are extra-powerful." Azin explained.  At this remark, Etho melted slightly into the shadows. Despite the fact that there were no shadows in this room. AC politely pretended to not noice him doing this.

"So you take it upon yourselves to be... Enforcers?" AC asked, grimacing. She didn't like the way they were talking. It was familiar, in a bad, or at the very least ungood, way.

"Hmm... that's your primary motivation?" Aqua asked, adding to the barrage of questions. Wjilst doing this, she scanned the Demons' faces for any signs of deception.

"And besides, everybody wants to-" Azin started, trying to deflect. Kelgi cut him off with a plain and simple denial. She opened her mouth to say something else, when -

BANG

"That... wasn't us." Azin muttered, looking up from the negotiation table. The others at the table looked around as well, concerned, before getting back to business since they clearly weren't dead.

"I'm sure we can come to some kind of agreement that involves you leaving us alone, can't we?" False asked, removing her hand from the hilt of her sword to shrug.

"Even though everybody wants to rule the world-" AC mutter-sang, before catching herself. "Ahem! But yes! I... I don't really understand why you chose Hermitcraft in the first place either... It's surely not the most magical place in the entire world, right?"

"AC brings up a good point." Aqua smiled. "You've been planning to take over Hermitcraft for a while, but why? If it's just for the power, then surely there are other places that could work just as well, if not better."

"Oh?" Kelgi asked, her eyes briefly drifting to a clock. Aqua noticed, and her gaze flicked to it, too, shifting in anticipation.

"Hypixel, for example." Iskall pointed out.

"There are far too many people there. We'd be in trouble the moment we set foot there." Kelgi rattled off, shrugging.

"And for certain people who aren't in this room, there are... personal reasons, too." Azin pointed out, glancing at the door for a split second. Etho glowered slightly.

"... I think that I understand somewhat." Aqua nodded, frowning slightly. "So if you have to stick around, is there any way that you could avoid taking anymore souls?"

"... You... I don't..." AC muttered at the same time. She seemed to have come to some semblance of resolution. Nobody could exactly tell what. Either way, she slowly moved closer to Azzy, offering a hug. Azin was about to accept it when-

"But enough chat. How about some action!?" Kelgi suddenly erupted. And everything happened all at once.

Azin suddenly leapt back as a red magical barrier popped into existence around AC and Aqua. The door burst open, a trident flying in and pinning Etho to the wall so he couldn't go into ninja-mode. False drew a sword, but dropped it in favour of preserving her life when Kelgi aimed her bow at her. Iskall dove underneath the table, as Azin guilitly shifted to block their exit. 

Garaa strutted in, and took a cookie. She took a triumphant bite out of it, a surprised expression flickering across her face at how good the baked good was, before she regained her composure, grinning.

"Checkmate."

Once again, thank you to ausforyou and AquaticAndFantastic for helping me out here!

... this is gonna turn into a five-parter, isn't it? Great. Scheduling is fun.

I've been Entropy, peace out from the present!