Chapter Text
Ghost could not believe they just got away with that. They had just flipped off Pale King and he just. Just fell to the ground.
Everybody was now looking at Ghost, mouths agape and still probably processing what had just happened. Their faces were all so funny looking- eyes practically popping out of their heads. At least it was funny until their expressions, once they realized what had happened, twisted into rage. The guard's grip clamped down harder underneath their mask.
Which, while they didn't really have a body like most bugs, it was possible to pop their head off. Which would be very unpleasant. For everybody in the room.
Thankfully the guard stopped after an intervention from the Kingsmould (seriously, what was up with the Kingsmoulds?), and now everyone was staring at the Kingsmould. One of the retainers, the one they had bumped into, decided to finally speak. "...Do you know where this little one goes?" He asked hesitantly.
The Kingsmould looked at him for little bit, glancing back at Ghost before nodding.
"You do?" He waited for another nod before continuing. "Well, let's go ahead and send Jas as well to make sure that nothing like this happens again."
The guard made a noise of complaint but said nothing further, shifting Ghost so that they were easier to walk with. Ghost wiggled around, smacking who they now knew to be Jas several times. '"Stupid..." Jas muttered under her breath before holding them more securely.
"I see you're both ready, so run along now. We have to deal with this… situation." The retainer shooed them out, closing the door behind him.
The Kingsmould almost immediately started walking. The metallic clanks echoed through the halls. Jas had to keep a fast pace to keep up. It knew exactly where it needed to go.
Eventually, they reached the hallway they recognized as where their room was. Mostly because there was still the group of retainers around their unfinished message when they got there. But they were already caught this time, so they wouldn't get picked up and carried to a new place. That had already happened twice today. Which wasn't very much, but was still weird.
The Kingsmould was still walking, the clanking drawing attention towards them. The retainers stopped to look their way, but upon seeing the Kingsmould and guard, they looked back to the wall.
Well, it seems they were finally at their room. Jas looked irritated, and shifted in frustration before asking it. "So are we finally here?"
The Kingsmould opened the door and waited for them to go in. "Well I guess that answers my question." Jas muttered.
Jas didn't go in the room or drop Ghost yet. Instead, turning Ghost around so that they faced Jas. "Little guy, this better not get me in any more trouble."
Ghost shrugged.
Jas gave them a look somewhere in between a glare and exasperation, and set them down. Kept an eye on them to make sure they didn't try anything funny, and then closed the door.
Ghost decided to actually take a look around the room. Hm. It just looked like a plain room. They wondered if they were ever going to see the nursery they saw in dream White Palace.
Was their sibling asleep? Or, at least as close as vessels could get to sleep. Ghost hoped they didn't disturb their rest if they were. And if they weren't... well it probably didn't matter either way, but rest felt good. Especially when it was on something comfy.
They jumped up on to the bed to see. Their sibling was in bed that was for sure. Whether they were resting or not was hard to tell. Also, how did someone sleep with those "sheets" on them? It sounded like it would feel weird. Constricting. Ghost just decided to curl up in the middle of the bed. Let their mind and void slow.
---+---
The Radiance had been not doing well. To put it lightly. She had just had the revelation that enslaving an entire kingdom while in a murderous rage was a bad idea. And that She had caused harm to quite a bit of bugs.
She had no idea how to fix this. Talking and coming to some sort of compromise would be the best, but there was no way She was going to apologize to Him yet. She couldn't even get to that Pale Wyrm, even if She wasn't angry at Him. He had made sure that She wouldn't be able to get in without fighting Her way through. She couldn't take a mortal form-which He probably wouldn't trust anyways, She could try with one of His retainers, but they were too loyal and He probably wouldn't listen to them either, there were so many things that She could probably try if She wasn't this tired-
She sighed. This was getting nowhere. Calm down, just think for a moment.
She probably would've remained there, just thinking, for a whole cycle if She didn't feel something... Off. Something at the edge of her senses felt freezing, overwhelming. This was probably a bad idea, but She pulled herself closer to the source.
This was quite peculiar. There were two higher beings currently asleep, just outside of Her realm in Hallownest. It was rare for one to be asleep, let alone two. Not to mention She had never seen these two, yet they felt oddly familiar.
...would it hurt to take a peek? (Yes. Yes it would. Don't do it-)
She peered closer to one of them, before instantly recoiling back against a grasping darkness. Whatever it was, it was hungry, and hateful, and it hated Her.
Approaching the second one with more caution, she was relieved to find that this one wasn't near as intimidating. She did get a sense of anxiety when She saw them… It was also of void, and that scared Her, but it wasn't caused by that, more something that would happen concerning them.
Something that also involved Her. The thing that She's trying so hard to avoid, even though She doesn't know what it is yet. Maybe- Yes! A brilliant idea popped into Her mind. If they were involved in it they might know what it is. They might know how to stop it.
Pulling them into the dream realm would take some of Her energy and She didn't know what would happen if She entered their dream. (Something inside of Her screamed to not do that. It sounded terrified, hateful... More animalistic than Godly. She didn't listen to it.) She doubted it would be easy to get out of their mind once She entered… but She didn't exactly want to infect more bugs right now. Or ever, really. There's been enough mortal corpses shambling around for any bug's lifetime.
Imagine if She had managed to infect every single bug in Hallownest. Every single bug with blazing orange eyes and permanent limps. Every single bug under Her. Every single bug dead.
With Her decision made, She pulled them into the dream realm and entered the dream forming in their mind.
---+---
They had awoken in a strange place. A very strange, very dark place. It reminded them too much of The Birthplace. They hated that. They hated this. How had they gotten here? Did that strange light put them back? They panicked. That light wouldn't do that, right? It wouldn't abandon them? They spun around. Looked for something- anything, but there was nothing else besides the vast blackness.
They staggered back, and fell on their backside. Too much. They curled up, head tucked and arms holding them together. They didn't want to keep looking at the endless darkness.
They stayed that way, curled up as best they could, unmoving. They didn't notice when a bright flash of orange light appeared off to the side, nor did they notice it getting closer.
They did, however, notice when something impossibly soft touched the top of their head, right between their horns. If not for the softness, they might've jumped up and scampered off, like some of their shyer siblings. Instead they just lifted their head to look at what had pet them.
They looked at the creature and immediately noticed two things. Bright, and fluffy. Bright! Fluffy!
They came closer to the creature. It was warm too. It made a noise of surprise as they curled up next to it.
It started speaking, and they looked up again to get a better view. "Erm... Hello." It started awkwardly, looking at them as best it could.
They didn't know it could speak too! They would respond if they could, instead opting to continue looking at it.
"I'm ah- not an 'it', I am a she. But you may also call me The Radiance. What might your name be, little one?" It-no, She (were they using that right?) asked. She spoke as if she could hear them or something. They also don't think they had a name, so it wouldn't matter either way.
The Radiance looked amused for a second before Her expression changed to one resembling pity. "Yes, little one, I can hear you. I can hear most thoughts in the dream realm, it is mine after all." She explained, stopping for a second before she continued again. "I could perhaps give you a name? It wouldn't be a permanent one unless you really liked it."
A name? That… She would really do that for them? They nodded eagerly, looking up at Her with their big eyes.
A shiver passed through Her and She muttered something. She looked off to the distance. Deep in thought about what name to give them.
Surely it wasn't this hard to come up with names, a name was just something you called someone else. Right? It could be anything.
Now that they thought about it… wasn't The Hollow Knight a name? That was what they wanted to be, having it as their name would mean that would have to be that.
"The Hollow Knight..? Isn't that a bit of a mouthful? And. Well, a bit. Intimidating?" They saw Her peering down at them, eyes curled in amusement, responding to their thoughts.
It might be a bit of a "mouthful", but they liked it! That was what that bright thing was saying that they would be! Or their sibling. They wanted that name though, they had gotten out first, after all.
The Radiance had flinched back. "Ah. I thought you might have some connection to… Him." She hissed, unable to stop the hatred from pooling into Her tone. She rubbed her wings against her face. "You really want to be called that? Could you at least have a nickname like… Hollow? Or something?"
Ooh! They liked that too! This name thing was fun, nodding to further push their point.
"Okay. Well, Hollow, its nice to get to know you. I've been having some, ah, difficulties, and would appreciate your help."
Help? They could do that. Probably.
"Excellent. The thing I need help with is 'the bright thing', otherwise known as The Pale King. I have some things I need to clarify with Him. But I can't exactly access Him, which is where you come into play." She gestured to them. "I need to rest awhile and think up some very important stuff. May I stay with you while doing so?"
Wow! Two very important things that they had to do? Yes, they could do this! They didn't exactly know what they were doing, but that wasn't a problem.
They noticed She was staring at them, waiting for them to calm down so She could talk again. "Now… He might say some bad stuff about me, but I promise I'm better. I wouldn't do any of that stuff, especially to you, even if I wasn't so tired." Hollow noticed Her messy ruff, as desperation tinged Her voice.
What bad stuff? She didn't seem dangerous. She had been so nice to them so far. It would be rude to say no.