This is officially the last chapter that's going to take place in season 7, then to season 8 we go! 👏

Soo... Remember when I couldn't find a way to write the young hermits to season 8 so I gave you options?..

Well.. No matter what option we picked, no matter how many plans I had to change, my goals for this book were as clear as day!

I was absolutely determined to write Evil Xisuma into this book-

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--Ex's POV--

Why am I here? Good question.

So I just decided to screw around with the server.

Hack my way through my dear counterpart's settings, turn on a lot of his redstone farms, cause lag, load every part of the server for even longer than 1 minute, etc. One time I caused so much lag that I created a double rainbow beam in the sky. Quite a rare sight.

Basically just piss off the hermits till they all decided to finally move onto season 8.

Because there's no way in hell that I'm gonna let them pull a season 6 on me! I have way too many plans for season 8 and my patience is already wearing thin..

Screwing this server around was hilariously easy!!..Too easy. Like where the fuck is Xisuma?! I shouldn't be here for this long!

But I really don't care at this point. Once I heard news that the hermits were going to move on to season 8, I had no reason to stay here. I took one last look at my temporary dirt hut and carelessly strolled my way through the forest, and never looked back.

The sun's light barely seeped through the leaves, making it seem like the forest was some mossy, overgrown cave. There was nearly no sign of any life that wasn't all bark and leaf. Why did I even pick this stereotypically eerie place for my temporary base?

But anyways, I had to move quickly. The hermits were currently abandoning their bases and I needed to get ahead of them. Hacking my way through an active server was no walk in the park. Heck- it was even more difficult when literally ALL of the hermits were active on this server! So I needed to get to season 8 before they did.

It takes a lot of hours to travel to a new server through the main world, so one of the fastest and less known places to travel is through the nether. It's fast, that's for sure. Probably take 1-2 hours to get there. But it's far more dangerous for any non-combative player to travel in, so I need to gather some stuff before I go through the nether.

Once I reached halfway through this eerie forest, I noticed a big white house in the distance. Bone blocks for the wall exterior and purple terracotta for the roof. I did not know who's base this is, and I simply do not care who the owner was. This looks like a perfect place to get some loot for my journey.

I slowly approached the large house, crouching next to the wall as I took a glimpse from through the window. I quietly walked my way through the entrance and took a glance at this fancy looking room. Everything was detailed, that's all I'm going to say about this house.

While it was a decent house, the whole main room was a pig's stack. Books, slime, and tiny wooden tools were scattered around the area. Quite useless items for the hermits' current standards- or anyone in general!

Ignoring the so-called 'beauty' of this place, I scavenged through every single chest that was available on the first floor of this house. I found a couple of milk buckets from some hidden barrels and a few stacks of bread to satisfy my hunger. Now all I need is some proper armour.

After roaming around a couple of rooms, I journeyed my way up the stairs. Just like downstairs, it was very, very detailed... This is my only compliment to the hermits-

As I took my second to last step from the staircase, I was suddenly alerted by the sound of a small creek. My body stayed put.. The only movement right now were my fingers, slowly inching towards my sword on my right waist..

Someone was here. I silently backed down the steps.

I was positively sure that all the hermits are currently leaving the server as we speak!... But then again, who am I to assume?

Footsteps banged aggressively on the floor and a human figure sprinted from the corner.

"GAAAAAAHHHGGGHHH!!" The figure screamed, swinging their sword around.

By the time I noticed the figure coming towards me, they tackled me by the shoulder and dragged me down the stairs! Next thing I knew, I blacked out for just a sec... I winced as I tried to move my aching body, but found myself in defeat, accepting the cool floor pressing my cheek. I took a deep breath, slowly opened my eyes, and found myself staring at a flight of stairs..

Did I just fall from the stairs?

My eyes darted back at a slumped body on the stairs. They laid on the steps, breathing heavily. They cringed each time they moved before curling himself closer to their mini golden sword.

They- He!... He was a kid. A blonde kid, with dark grey armour-... Which resembles a knight.

He noticed me once I pushed myself from off the cool floor, kneeling as I picked myself up. The kid glared daggers at me, stumbling for his golden sword. I did a quick eye roll before revealing a diamond sword and without hesitation, pointed it near his neck. The kid immediately cowers.

"Well, now that was stupid."

The kid looked offended.

"Hmmm. You're new. Did X decide to add a kid hermit or something?"

He was still glaring at me, but the confusion on his face also left me confused too.

"You don't know X?"

"....."

"You know you can speak, right? Don't pretend I didn't hear you let out a war scream."

The kid gestured to the diamond sword's threatening presence.

"Because I don't want you doing some funny business again. You literally jumped down a flight of stairs."

The kid scoffs at my comment.

His eyes widened when I motioned my sword near his face. I shrugged as I brought my blade back to my inventory. "Killing you would be pointless anyway. It's not like anyone can permanently die on this server or something."

The kid's eyes widened even more, shocked by my words. I raised my brow as I looked at him. "You know that, right?" I asked curiously.

"No." He finally spoke.

"No? N-No?" I scoffed. This is literally minecraft for Notch's sake! What kind of moron doesn't know respawn at this age!?

"Well guess what? You can't die. Neither can I. So killing me is also pointless."

The kid slowly lowers his head, hugging his golden sword. "If I get you, I can get more stuff from you..."

True.

A sniffle came from the young stranger. His breath hitched as he held a steady grip on his arm. He attempted to hide that large purple bruise near his shoulder, but his hands were too small to even cover a bruise as overwhelmingly big as my hand.

... Oh my days. Don't tell me-

"You got that bruise when we fell. Didn't you?"

The kid cowers closer to the stair railings. His threatening glares stopped the moment he attempted to hold a sob escaping from his mouth. His face panicked as I slowly approached him, grabbing his gold sword and pointing it at me.

I moved my hands away from any of my armed weapons and raised my hand high enough for the kid to get the memo. "Look, I won't hurt you. I know how I can help you, but you're going to have to let me see that bruise."

I quickly grabbed a certain item from my inventory and tossed the golden clock to the kid. "Bam!! Bribery!!" I yelled out.

The kid snorted to his amusement.

I took one look at the bruise then started scavenging around the house once again, looking for some regeneration potions. I quickly double checked the majority of the chest before going back to the kid.

"I know another place to get some potions. Come." I demanded. I retrieved my diamond sword and exited the building, with the young boy behind me. I glanced at the dreaded nether portal, so near yet so far... If I don't move quickly, I'm going to arrive there after the hermits, and I don't want that. Why the fuck am I even helping this kid?..

This is what I get for being related to a goodie-two shoes like Xisuma.

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" You bruised your arms, not your legs!"

"But it feels like I broke my legs." The kid groaned.

Alright. I can't really blame the kid. It took us forever to travel from the house to the shopping district. Our legs already felt sore by the time we reached the end of the forest. We just arrived from the shopping district, and the kid already suggested that I would carry him all the way there . Like- I'm tired too for Notch's sake!!

"Kid, I promise you that we're almost there. So just hang in there for a sec."

The kid shrugs. "My name is not kid"

"Well, I don't exactly know your name."

"My name is Dylan."

"Dylan.." I mumbled. "Why not. My name is Evil Xisuma. The most evil Xisuma in the land."

The kid-Dylan, looks at me with a judgmental look on his face. "Then why are you helping me? Evil people are mean and they don't care about everyone."

I sighed. "Good question.."

The banter died down by the time we arrived at our destination. An overgrown willow tree stood there, no longer in use. I scavenged through a couple of its chests until I grabbed the bottle I needed, not bothering to even pay.

"Sit here," I gestured at the oak wood. Dylan quickly hopped on the block.

I opened the bottle and carefully dipped my finger on the light pink liquid. I could hear the kid just gagging from the overwhelming smell of this liquid. "Am I drinking that?" Dylan's face darkened, glaring at the bottle of liquid in my hand. "You're going to poison me, aren't you?"

I sighed once again. "Remember, this is minecraft. Killing you is pointless. Also no, you're not drinking it. I'm just going to apply some on your arm."

I stuffed the potion into my inventory and walked back to the kid. "May I?"

Dylan let out a deep breath before slowly lifting his bruised arm. I carefully held a steady grip on the arm and quickly dabbed the potion onto the purple mark. The kid hissed, struggling from his seat. "I-It hurts-" he whined.

"It wouldn't hurt as much if you try staying still." I scoffed.

After applying the potion, I went back to the potion shop and decided to steal more of the potions. They will definitely come in handy during our trip to the nether-..

Our...Did I just say 'our'? Wha- what did I mean 'our'!?

I looked back at the kid. "So you really don't know who Xisuma is?"

The kid snapped back from his trance and turned his head to me. "Ummm-no."

"Well...do you know anyone?"

"I know you." He pointed out.

"You know what I mean," I scoffed.

Dylan stayed quiet for a bit, lost in his thoughts. His scrunched up face was already proof enough that he's trying to remember something he can't remember.

No, " he mumbled."

"You don't know how you got here?"

"No.. I woke up near that weird, purpley, portal thing. I don't remember anything else.."

"Hmmm," I hummed. I must say, I envy his ability to unintentionally enter this server-

So the kid's all alone, doesn't know anyone, nor does he even understand the world of minecraft, which is already weird enough on its own. I'm going to play nice, aren't I? I mean...I already am, damit-

"Well. We can try finding you some help in the main world, then after that we can part ways. How does that sound?"

The kid's eyes widened from the suggestion. He looked down to think about his thoughts once again, fiddling around with his gold sword. He looked up at me again and muttered; " Okay. "

" Okay. " I repeated his words.

Okay!! So much for my nether route plan!

" If we're traveling to the main world, that also means more walking."

Dylan immediately groaned, slumping back to the wood block. "Buuttt myyyy leeeeggggs????"

I also sighed in defeat, staring pitifully at the kid. "Admittedly my legs are tired too. So let's just rest at the town hall for a bit. Come on."

"How far is it?"

"3 minutes away"

The kid immediately flopped on the ground. "That's too long.."

"Kid, that's nothing compared to our trip to the main world!!"

I quickly dragged the kid from the ground before he could even think of becoming one with the worms. "The soooner wE h-eaD out- the More we Can rest afTer that!" I struggled as I dragged the kid across the ground.

"But EviLLL!?" He looked at me with the most pitiful eyes a kid could ever muster. Only a fool would fall for these pity faces!

But I guess I can be a fool too.

"Alright kid. Come on!" I kneeled closer to the ground and gestured to my back. "It'll take longer if I let you walk anyway. I just want to rest faster. Hope on"

"Ohh." Dylan muttered. He hesitantly wrapped his arms around my neck and brought his legs around my waist. I carefully lifted the kid up to my back and finally stood up from the ground.

"Alright. Let's go."

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By the time we arrived at the town hall, the kid was already enthralled by the 'shiny gems' growing on the tree. Once we entered the building, I already collapsed to the closest bed I could find. I heard an oof from the kid, landing on a small pile of flowers which were just placed here for reasons unknown.

I felt my whole body melt into the comforts of this bed. I closed my eyes and let out a small sigh.

"Why do you sleep with a helmet?"

I shrugged, flipping to the other side of the bed. "Dunno.. Why do you wear a knight helmet?"

"Because it looks cool."

"There's your answer."

"Awww.. You won't tell me."

I took the next 5 seconds to enjoy the peace and quiet before that kid would spout out another question.

"What's the main world?"

Ahhh, there it is.

"Main world? Hmmm. It's like a place or world where everyone comes from. Most people create families and children there because it's a safer place from glitches or corrupted stuff like that."

"Glitschh?"

"Meh. Don't know how to explain it. Maybe next time."

Next time? What do I mean 'next time'?

This time, I decided not to attempt to sleep. The kid's already bothering me anyway.

"Are we in the main world?" Dylan asked as he fiddled around with the flowers.

"No, we are on a server. A server is a world that people create. There are probably millions of servers out there in the main world."

"Do people make families on servers?"

"Hmm, they can."

"Do you have a family?"

Okay. When did we start going to the personal questions-

"I don't know," I shrugged. "You see, I'm not like the other guys."

That's what those kids would say in the main world.

Dylan looked up to me with curiosity in his eyes. "Are you a robot?"

"What- No!!" I lightly pushed the kid away as his cheeky little laughter echoed through the building. "I'm just checking," he smirked.

I gave a quick glare on the kid before continuing with my story. "There's a guy called Xisuma, who's like a part of me? He's like me, but the good and better version of me. He's the original Xisuma, I'm just a part of him."

Confusion was written all over the kid's face.

"Okay, how about this. It's like cutting half a whole person! On the left side of the person, he's good and nice and all that stuff you people like. While on the right side, he's evil and mischievous. He doesn't care about other people and just does shit."

"...What?"

I was already feeling done explaining this.

" Basically I'm just his evil side. "

" Ohh. " I think the kid finally gets it.

The kid looked back at the pile of flowers, slowly plucking out a couple of petals." If you're bad and evil, then why were you nice to me?"

I felt myself letting out another sigh. Sometimes I do ask myself that question, why? But only one answer popped out of my mind. "I guess it's because not everything is all black and white.."

A silence dramatically filled this whole room.

"I don't get it." Dylan stated.

"Same," I groaned. "Some idiot said that to me in the main world. Still don't know what that means exactly. Like- of course not everything is all black and white. There are other colors like red or green, or blue or-"

"I like a red world." Dylan pointed out.

"Hmm, I'd like a red world too."

This time the peace and quiet stayed for more than 5 seconds. Dylan went back to whatever he was doing with the flowers while I continued to rest.

Hmm? I did not exactly think about a plan once we went to the main world. Do I just bring him there then leave? Or maybe find a nice family to take him in...That would take forever to find a family THAT willing to take him in. I already heard stories of fathers taking their kids to wars, surely kids like Dylan are too young and stupid for that kind of shit-

Maybe I can find a nearby village and ask the people to find a family for him...Yeah. That's the plan. Maybe.

After that, I can just speedrun my way to hermitcraft season 8. Judging by the amount of hours I wasted, the hermits should be halfway through their trip. If I hurry to the nether, I might be able to arrive there 30 minutes earlier than them.. Yeah!

"Evil?" a young voice snapped me back to reality. I turned my head to find the kid waiting patiently for me. His eyes darted from different directions. He looked nervous. Too nervous to even look me in the eye. Did the whole thing with me being evil finally spooked him?

"Can I.. Can I stay with you?"

"Wha- me? On my bed? There's more beds in this place, go take them instead."

"No- not the beds!" The kid huffed and I smirked. He gave me a quick glare before wrapping his small arms closer to himself.

"Can I 'stay' with you? Like, can I go with you?"

The smirk disappeared, leaving my face room for an expression too shocked to even print on my face. "What?"

The kid hastily takes a step back. Once again, trying to avoid eye contact. "So it's a no?" He mumbled mournfully.

"What No- I did not say no. I'm just!-...I just want to make sure what I heard is right. You want to stay with me?"

The kid slowly nodded.

"Why?"

"I-I don't know." the kid nearly let out a sob. "I d-on't know what to do in this main world thing you keep on talking about. I'll be alone again. I don't w-want to be alone again-" he stopped to muffle another sob in his hand. That sob... Why did it hurt hearing that sob?

I sat up straight on the bed, staring pitifully at the kid. I slowly slouched my back and looked him in the eye. " So you want to stay with me?"

He nodded.

" Even if I'm evil?"

The kid looked hesitant, but soon he nodded again. "I don't care," he muttered.

I chuckled at the kid. "Seriously kid, I'm touched that you're willing to hang out with some weird stranger like me, but you gotta have some trust issues for goodness sake." I gave him a little nudge. "Not all strangers are okay."

The kid let out another huff. "I'm not 'Kid', my name is Hels."

"Yeah I know, but calling you kid-" wait just one sec... "Hels?"

"Yes. My name is Helsknight." He says so casually.

"But you said your name was Dylan!?"

"Dylan is a fake name." The kid looked away with a bashful expression on his face. "Only people I trust can know my name.."

Ahh, there's the trust issues.. We can work with that.

"I thought you were all alone?"

"I am.. You're the only one who knows my name so feel special."

I snorted at the statement. "Sure, alright."

"Awwww, you guys are adorable man~"

Me and the kid stiffened the moment we heard an extra voice in the conversation. We both immediately grabbed our diamond and gold swords and pointed it directly at the third person.

The man slowly backed off with hands up in the air and flowers gliding to the ground. "Woahh man. I mean no harm man"

My sword slowly lowered to the ground. This man, is this man?..

"Wait a second.." The man also lowered his hands, scratching his chin as he looked at me suspiciously. "I know you.."

The kid's eyes widened even more as he pointed his gold sword closer to the man in a panic.

"OH!!" The man clasped his hands together, startling the poor kid into dropping his sword and cowering back to my side. "You're that strange evil Xisuma clone that my dear friend, Ren, was talking about!"

Ahhh, I finally recognized the man. "And you're the weird hippie Ren clone that Badtimes keeps on complaining about."

"I'm not a clone man! I'm a part of Ren, man." The hippie explained.

"Well, the same goes for me.." I remarked quite bitterly.

"Why is he here?.." The kid quietly interrupted.

"I should be asking you two the same thing man." The hippie said softly to the kid. "Both of you are using my bed and flowers, but the two looked so peaceful that I did not want to disturb, man."

"But anyways! You can have my bed and flowers, I have more in the van, man. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to season 8 man." The hippie waved goodbye and walked back to the exit.

"Season 8- you're going to season 8?!" I exclaimed, catching the hippie's attention.

"Yeah man. I stopped by to get some fuel man.. Are you going too man? You can join me man!!"

Alright.. What's with people being accepting today?

"I-ummm..." I paused for a bit, standing there awkwardly as the hippie still continued to smile at me.

"Come one man! It will be fun!!" The hippie swung one arm around my neck. I felt myself suddenly panicking from that sudden impact and hastily escaped the hippie's arm.

".. I would like that." I replied. But his chill and accepting attitude did not escape him from another glare. " But promise me not to tell the other hermits about my arrival. I would like to keep it 'A surprise'."

"Surprises? Cool man! I'll fuel up the van first!! The naive hippie sprinted his way to the exit and disappeared.

I was about to follow pursuit till I stopped in my tracks. I turned around and so the kid l, standing from the same spot. His face darkened and his fist held a steady grip on his mini sword. He frowned as he looked at me in the eyes, before looking away to sulk again.

I let out an exasperated sigh. "Are you still coming?I thought you said you wanted to stay with me?" I smiled playfully at the kid-Hels.

His eyes widened from utter shock and joy as he continued to stare at me. He quickly sprinted from his place and bumped to my side.

"Are you crying?" I scoffed.

"H-Hush!.." Hels covered his eyes, letting out a watery chuckle.

As the sun dramatically set, the two of us exited the building, side by side.

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Hey thatzflow, *holds young Hels* I got you a new test subject!- 👏

I must admit, I had too much fun writing this chapter. Lmao.

Now I'm really starting to regret my plans for Ex and young Hels...