(I think this is the most amount of emotion I have ever shoved into a chapter.)

Silence. It laid over Hermitcraft like a thick blanket, suffocating those under it. The lack of noise was the only thing any player in Hermitcraft knew.

Along with the deafening silence, the sky was dark, almost pitch black like the void. The sun was only a grey ball in the sky, radiating no light or warmth. Even the atmosphere was low and dull. The trees and flowers started to wilt, curling in on itself as the tips turned grey and dead.

Scar was the first to move. He slowly grabbed a torch out of his inventory, weakly driving it into the ground. The small fire on the tip of the wood barely gave off any light in this seemingly endless darkness. It did nothing against the cold and darkness. pathetically flickering, it almost extinguished in the non-existent breeze.

Mumbo grabbed Grian's hand, shaking it as if he'd miraculously wake up. The smaller Hermit's cold hand only depleted most of the redstoner's hopes, leaving barely a sliver. Scar sighed and set a hand on Mumbo's shaking shoulder, bowing his head as Mumbo's sobs became audible. Scar, too, eventually broke, his quiet whimpers barely audible.

The noises echoed through the forest, a creepy sound in the dark and chilling server.

The living Prime stood up and turned away, unnerved by the eerie echo of the server members' mournful cries. Lacing her fingers together behind her head, she was desperately trying to control her emotions. She had worked with Grian for so long that his death hit her like a truck.

As she stepped away, Mumbo and Scar turned their gazes to Grian's face, searching hopelessly for a sign of life. A breath passing his lips, perhaps. Or maybe a flutter of his eyelids.

They were only met with his pale face, which had a tauntingly peaceful smile on it.

Those who weren't close by were frozen stock still. They were too focused on the shock. The shock of Grian being an admin, of Grian being the Prime Admin, of Grian permanently dying because he was a Prime Admin.

"Void, call your members to meet here, we can not move his body to a farther place, the permadeath would glitch." Hypixel's voice carried to everyone, but he spoke in an almost inaudible volume. There was no response from Xisuma, which was unlike him. "Void?" The server owner turned to the man in question.

He was not prepared to see Xisuma holding his head in his hands, sitting away from the fallen Hermit. Hypixel figures that he would have been pulling his hair out had he not had his helmet secure on his head.

"Oh my goodness, I've failed," Xisuma whispered, his voice muffled by his palms. Scar seemed taken aback and whipped around to X, his tear-stained face visible for everyone to see.

"What? No, X, you didn't-" Scar was cut off as Xisuma clenched his fists. The wizard's green eyes widened, never had he seen X this... angry? Disappointed?

"I've failed in protecting those who enter my server, especially the Hermits." There was a rough edge to Xisuma's voice, one that no present player has ever heard before.

"Xisuma... G knew the risks... he knew what could happen, I'm sure of it," Scar tried with his voice cracking. Even then, he sounded unsure, as if he were trying to convince himself over Xisuma.

"Xelqua- well, Grian came here as the Prime Admin, he knew what he was getting into when he got the position," Libra added without turning to face him. "Do not blame yourself, Xisumavoid, the Prime Admins are supposed to protect Minecraft, even if it means..." She gulped. "... Giving up their life." X shook his head, bravely denying the Prime Admin.

"There's got to be something... anything you can at least try to do?" Xisuma knew it was useless to beg, but he had to ask for the sake of the guilt eating him up from the inside. "Maybe... I don't know, work some code? Remove the Watcher magic from his system?"

The Prime finally turned around. There was a faint glimmer of hope in her eyes, though it was quickly extinguished as she looked to the sky. She shook her head anyway, muttering a quiet, "What if I..." Sprinting to Grian's 'storage', she went through each shukler and box as quickly as she could.

"What are you doing?" Hypixel wearily asked, standing back as Mumbo and Scar continued to mourn over their dead friend who was also oddly his boss.

"Water. We could at least get the magic out of the wound, and maybe... possibly revive him if it's not too late," the Prime explained. "And it's good- or not- to know his organization skills were- are still one of a cucumber. Where's the water?" Scar, with his head still ducked and shoulders shaking with sobs, pointed to a single chest under many other chests and boxes. Libra stumbled over many shulkers and chests to it, miraculously pulling out a bucket of water. Even Scar seemed impressed he knew where it was.

"It's useless... the sky's gone darker than the void. He's dead." Hypixel eyed the bucket. He saw what happened the first time, but surely it wouldn't work another time. The same trick only works once.

To the server owners, the scene looked similar to the one that happened in InvadedLands. This time, however, Libra didn't dump the entire buck on Grian's body like a prank. Instead, she carefully leaned over his chest, slowly pouring the water into the stab wound.

The purple glow faded away, leaving a clean and disturbing bloodless stab wound in the small builder's chest.

They held their breaths, watching for a sign of life. Maybe a groan of pain, or a rising chest, or even a twitch of the hand.

Unfortunately, Grian didn't move at all.

But the sky lightened ever so slightly.

Libra and Hypixel shared a look. "Get a medic here right now, there might be a chance. Maybe the blade was faulty, or- or maybe the Watcher can't use his magic correctly... oh Notch, there still is a chance-"

"They're having trouble with the coordinates, apparently," Hypixel said, pulling up admin panels and squinting at his messages. "Ah, spawn's messed up. They can't tell where we are because the coords are based on spawn. They can't use the sun... for obvious reasons."

By this time, a few Hermits and other admins had gathered around them, keeping their distance. They hadn't been told of who's death it was, but one could assume from the state of Minecraft.

"Is that... is that Grian?" Iskall's voice was barely comprehended by Mumbo and Scar. After a slight delay, the Mumbo nodded numbly. "WhAt the-"

"Not now, Iskall," came Xisuma's sorrow-filled voice. The Hermits who were present had been stunned wordless by the fact that their fellow Hermit had been in the server all along, that said Hermit was permanently dead, that they were the most powerful admin in Minecraft-

The list went on and on.

More Hermits started flowing in silently, hearing the sobs that almost reached the far ends of the server. They were met with downcast admins and a few other Hermits.

Stress had started to cry into Iskall's shoulder. Tango and Impulse- who only just recently landed close by- shushed Zedaph as he landed with a barrage of questions. Xisuma was still silently having a mental breakdown, though it was considerably better than before. Etho (who no one noticed until he sat next to Xisuma) sighed quietly. Though he hadn't interacted with Grian much, still was hit hard with his death. Mumbo and Scar had recovered from the initial shock, but they stayed there, bent over Grian's body as they ignored the hole that had started to form in their hearts.

No one had noticed a medic come out of the tree line, hastily running towards the fallen Prime. Libra recognized her as the only other medic (and player/admin) who knew Grian was a Prime Admin. She was the one who healed Grian after the Watcher Lair situation.

The medic instantly got to work, ignoring Scar and Mumbo. Her hands glowed with red magic as beads of sweat started to roll down her face. The Hermits and other admins watched her, their breaths caught in their throats.

The sun... was brightening ever so slightly.

It was working.

Warmth grew in Grian's hand, and it wasn't Mumbo's warmth getting transferred. The Hermit squeezed Grian hand tightly, that sliver of hope rapidly growing as his sobs quieted. Scar looked over to him, an inquisitive glance flashing on his face. His questions were quickly killed in his throat as the color started to return to Grian's face.

The medic suddenly yelped and pulled away, cradling her hand to her chest. Her eyebrows furrowed as she leaned back forwards.

"What's wrong?" Mumbo quietly whispered, fearing the answer. The medic took a moment to compose herself, before her hands started glowing with healing magic again.

Mumbo didn't fail to notice her hand was burned.

"I knew he was powerful, but I didn't know he was this powerful. His magic... was already healing himself, although extremely slow, but if you left him, he would have woken back up in a week, give or take a few days." She looked up. "He literally couldn't die if he didn't want to."

Right. Because if you really wanted to die and you had the power to not die, you could.

But it was unheard of to have that sort of power.

After a few more moments of healing, the medic leaned back, wiping the sweat off her forehead.

"I can't do the rest." A cold hand of fear grasped the Hermits' hearts once the sentence reached their ears. Every Hermit in the area shared a look.

She was so close, why can't she finish whatever process she was doing?

"What do you mean?" This time, it was Scar that asked the question. His voice wavered on the brink of cracking.

"The server owner must do the next part, as the permadeath happened in this server. I can't direct them on what to do." As soon as the words left her mouth, Xisuma seemingly teleported next to them. "He's close living again, you just have to... do whatever you have to do."

The admin seemed lost, but pulled up his screens anyway. He has never dealt with permadeath before, and though he has been taught previously, he barely remembers how to do it.

Xisuma always hated the topic of permadeath. He despised the fact that there was a way for someone to die permanently, but was glad that they could reverse it. He despised that the way to fix this was so sensitive, one mistake could ruin it all, but was glad it was even possible. He despised how pressuring it was, but was glad it would force him to not make a mistake.

Or so he hoped.

Xisuma's hands flew across the panels at lightning speeds. No one could tell if it was out of nervousness or he wanted to get it over with. X felt their eyes on him, watching his every move. Narrowing his eyes, he focused his senses on the panels and the panels only.

He could not afford any mistakes due to a mere distraction.

For the sake of the Hermits... he had to be successful in this.

He released a breath he didn't know he held as he gave one last jab at the screens. They faded away. Looking around, Xisuma took in his surroundings again. A fair amount of admins (he assumed most of them were lost), most of the Hermits, and a couple animals.

The sun's brightness jumped. It was not as bright as it was previously, but enough to tell that the Prime Admin was alive again.

The admin scooted away, steadying his breathing and calming his heart. He felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning to look, it was Etho again, giving both him and Grian a concerned look with his eyes.

The Hermits hesitantly came closer, still giving them space. Each of them held their breaths, waiting for something significant to happen-

Grian gasped for air.