Hermitcraft Oneshots

Doomsday (Hermitstuck AU) (Songfic)

So there's this song called Doomsday (Piano Reprise) by Architects, with an absolutely amazing video, and I've wanted to do something inspired by it for a while, so here this is.

This is technically canon, in a way, but not really? This is what happened to the Alternate Mumbo (i.e., Bill) before he met the version of Doc and Mumbo in Hermitstuck. So it did take place, just not in the timeline that I'm writing for... yeah, it's weird.

Of course, this is gonna be starring the Architects, because it's too good of an oppertunity to waste.

WARNING: Angst.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

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At the edge of the checkerboard plains of Skaia, there was a cliff that overlooked the valley. This is where the three Architects found themselves, sitting just inside the mouth. In the distance, they could see the shapes move around, like some sort of cosmic clock was ticking until the end of the world. In fact, it was ticking down the minutes until the time that everything would be gone.

Mumbo regretted that it had come to this point. He clenched the crystal in his hands, one that Grian and Iskall jokingly got for him. He wasn't sure why he was holding it, but something compelled him to keep hold. It wasn't like it really mattered at this point, did it? 

He felt a pair of hands cover his own. Smoky fuchsia tendrils curled around his wrists like vines of ivy, before dissipating into the air. Feelings of serenity flowed through him. Mumbo looked into the eyes of his normally chipper blond friend.

"You don't need to do that..." He murmured. The blond smiled wearily, dark bags under his normally bright blue eyes. 

"I know. But it looks like you could use a little bit of positivity." He replied, taking his hands away, the whisps dissolving into the air." Or at least, something to keep you from worrying too much."

Yeah, Mumbo was kind of worried. There were only a few Hermits left alive at this point, the rest having been killed by monsters and armies that had come from seemingly nowhere. No matter what he had done, he couldn't stop the slaughter that had occurred a few days ago. No matter how many times he went back. It had taken him so long to realize that their existence was doomed from the moment they ended up in this strange new universe. 

Grian's power, at least, formed a weird sort of clarity for him, keeping the grief from being overwhelming. And Iskall, who was looking out over the edge right now; he had helped Mumbo immensely when it came to accepting that there really wasn't anything that they could do. Without them, Mumbo wouldn't have had the courage to Scratch, to start the timeline again in an attempt to get a different version of themselves: Hermits who might survive long enough to get to the beginning of creation.

"Guys, you should see this." Iskall called to the two from near the edge of the cliff, distracting. The two of them came over, and Mumbo's breath hitched in his throat.

Down in the valley, little tendrils of space power rose up from the ground, taking little bits of existence with them as they went up to the dark sky above, looking like stars in the night sky.

"It feels kind of weird to say, since it's literally destroying the world, but it's kind of beautiful..." Grian voiced. Iskall nodded slightly, a small, tight smile gracing his face.

"I think it's going to the new timeline..." Iskall commented. 

It was then that Mumbo realized that he was floating. No, wait. Floating wasn't quite the right term. "Um, guys...?" He yelped as he started heading towards the gathering of matter above them, which was now as thick as water.

The other two Architects' eyes widened as they saw him slowly ascend towards the sky, and they immediately tried to grab him. Mumbo felt Iskall and Grian grab his ankles. Now he was the rope in a tug of war; Iskall and Grian against the force that was pulling him up. 

Eventually, Iskall's eyes widened even more, and a grin spread on his face. "Mumbo, I think you're going to the new timeline!" He shouted. "You're going to live!"

Mumbo was okay with living, but there was still one unanswered question, one that he thought he knew the answer to, but desperately hoped he was wrong about. "What about you guys?" He called back. "I can't just leave you! You'll be killed!"

It was then he saw the tears at the corner of their eyes, and he knew that his worst suspicions were confirmed. He might escape the timeline that was being erased and enter the new one being made, but he would do so alone.

And they were completely fine with that, even though Mumbo wished with every fiber of his being that things were different.

"Please make sure no one else has to go through this, okay?" Iskall asked as he and Grian let go, letting Mumbo continue his unwilling ascension. 

"And please, live a happy life, if you can?" Grian added with a smile, as the two of them started to dissolve into light.

Mumbo didn't get a chance to reply as he vanished into the timestream. He was met by an infinite darkness.

What could have been a few seconds or a few eons later, as another reality was being built from the fragments of his world, Mumbo let out a sob as the tears finally started flowing, the effect of what had just happened finally crashing down on him.

As a world of plasma-filled rivers surrounded him, Mumbo, now a stranger in a different timeline, whispered a reply. "I'll try, guys. I'll try..."

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I legitamately cried while writing this.

Well, nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed. And comments are appreciated!

-Aqua