Prison of the dead (Labyrinth of Monsters' sequel) A hermitcraft/3rd life fanfic

Chapter 22 - Hypno

Timings have gone completely mad in this book between the two different places. 

Please pretend they make sense. 

I run. 

I don't know if Xisuma's still following, but I still run. My breath comes in ragged puffs, legs aching, wondering just how far I need to go. Grian's somewhere ahead, False is next to me, Wels is dead. 

We burst into the main area. No one really notices that we were gone, but people are going to question Wels's disappearance soon when they realise Hels isn't appearing every five seconds predicting disaster at the end of chapters, or saying that what they're doing isn't part of the actual story, and that they're just in  background, and that they're never going to be relevant for anything.

You know.

The norm.

'So.' I've almost forgotten that Grian's also here. 'Does anyone have any other plans?'

'Wels is dead.' 

'What?'

'Xisuma killed him.'

'Nonononono! No one was supposed to die!' 

'Well he did.'

'So what's our next plan?' False prompts. 'Maybe we could creep into the office? They're still questioning me and Hypno.'

'That.' Grian began. 'Is a very good idea. Let's go.'

'Now?!'

'Yes. Why not?'

Grian sets off, and Zedaph chooses this moment to run over to him.

'Hey, G.' 

'Go away.' 

He strides straight past. I look over at False.

'What's he done to you?' I run over to him.

'He wants to keep it secret still.'

'Grian, come on!'

The winged hermit ignores him. 

'GRIAN! I didn't want to cause any more harm!'

'Well you did! Revenge is never the right answer!'

'Wait, is this about killing EX?'

'You already know?!'

'He's bad at hiding stuff.'

'No I'm not!'

'Yes, you are.' 

'You are. Now f*** off.'

'What's this about Zedaph killing EX?' False joins in.

'Zedaph killed EX. And he doesn't want to tell anyone.'

'Of course he doesn't. Now, is he coming with us, or-'

'He's staying here and apologising to Tango again.'

'He doesn't want to speak to me.'

'Well neither do I.'

I follow Grian as he continues on. Zedaph runs after us.'

'Fine. Then I'll cover for you.' 

'Cool. Go do That.' Grian calls back, not caring. We all continue on, into the darkness of the corridors. I have to trust that our winged leader knows where he's heading as I let him lead, bow out in case anyone else attacks us out of nowhere. 

It doesn't take long to reach the place, but it feels like ages. Grian gives a thumbs up that the way is clear, and we enter the office. 

It's a complete mess. There's pages and diagrams all over the walls and tables, samples of stuff that's probably blood, and paused videos of footage from the maze. Grian looks back at me and False, before we start searching. 

It doesn't take long to find interesting stuff, even if it's not on how we get out of this place. A couple of minutes in, Grian pulls a sheet from a pile and reads it aloud. 

'Hey, listen to this, guys. 'It was at the end of Season 6, on the Hermitcraft Server, when a game was started. It was called demise and the premise was simple - don't die. If you die, you're out. And it was here that a new discovery was found.

After the first few hermits had died, it was discovered that the 'dead' had changed. Their skin was greyer, and preferred grayscale clothes. And then they tried to kill the rest of the living hermits.

After the game was over, they all eventually grew normal. It was later reported to us, and was named 'Demise Syndrome'. Not much was known, but it showed that if prompted by a specific 'punishment' of dying, when a player did die they grew psychotic. Everyone was affected differently, whether a love of death, unstoppable desire for revenge, or even just animalistic bloodlust came from their death.

Another experiment has been carried out to explore the effect of Demise Syndrome. A group of players have agrees to sign up - several a part of Demise on Hermitcraft - to be part of this. The rules are equally simple - you have three lives. On the first and second life, you're fine. But when you get to your third life, you must be careful, for if the last life is lost, you are out of the game.

The world they are in is small, and known by all involved by a simple code name: Third... Life...' what is this?!'

'It seems this wasn't the first thing they did...' False replies, concerned. 'And I don't remember anyone telling these weirdos about what happened in Demise...' 

'Apparently, someone did.'

'What, in the same way that they said we allowed ourselves to be part of a murder-maze?' I add. 

'Possibly... what else is here?'

''Hermitcraft recap - a show for fans, by fans...' This is creepy guys, I don't like this.' False read aloud. 'How are they looking into Hermitcraft?!'

'I can explain everything.' 

I look back sharply at the sound of Zloy entering. Grian drops the papers he's holding. I pull out my bow as he closes the door and point an arrow at his neck.'

'What is this stuff?' I growl. 'Since when have you been watching us?'

'Since Season 4. And like I said, I can explain without being threatened with death.' 

I lower the weapon, ready to fire it again at any moment. Zloy sits down on the only chair, and begins. 

'It was supposed to just be a bit of fun. Me and Pixl snuck on the server and set up cameras so we could watch you and report what happened. And then we had a thought: what would happen if we trapped you in a dangerous place with no memories? Would you form the same friendships? Would you become different people? So... We made the maze.'

'And what's all this about Demise and Thirdlife?' Grian questioned.

'We wanted to experiment what happened in Demise. And you agreed to let us do it.'

'I don't remember that.'

'I have it written down somewhere. As proof.'

He stands up. I point my bow at him until he returns to his seat with a sheet that was previously pinned to the wall.

'I, Grian Xelqua, allow Hermitcraft Recap to experiment about Demise.'

'That's not even my handwriting!' Grian argued. 'That's clearly faked!'

'Maybe your handwriting changed. I don't know.' 

The door opened again, and I look over to see Jevin. He's grinning madly, staring at me. I fire an arrow in his direction.

'Get away from me.' I creep away. Zloy looks over with fascination. 

'I've been looking everywhere for you, Hypno. I've been looking for revenge. And I'm going to get it.'

He attacks. I can't fight back. He was my friend. I can't kill him again. Grian screams my name, crashing across the room to help as Jevin stabs me in the neck and watches me choke to death.

I had the connection between demise and Third life as an idea since Scar created his third-life in third life skin. 

I'm so glad I can finally use it. 

Also, longer chapter poggg