*I recommend that you listen to "Snow in Summer" by Keiichi Okabe while reading this, though I'd also recommend you listen to "Deep Crimson Foe" (also by Keiichi Okabe) when you get to the final paragraph before the second line break.
Prologue: Shining Necropolis
Deep beneath the shadowy earth, the burrowed kingdom of Hallownest stood in suffocating silence. The walls and floors of the complex and spacious caverns were lined with intricate buildings. It mainly consisted of dwellings that were beautiful in design and also simple in function. Most areas ranged from grand settlements to more modest communities, all of which numbered in a fair range of cool colors, such as green, grey, blue, and the occasional pink and purple. But despite the thematic beauty that defined the kingdom with its hues and intelligent designs, it could not mask the tainted puddles and globules of luminescent orange that stained every inch of every area. That, alongside the near-complete absence of citizens, contributed to the unsettling combination presented in this backdrop.
In the shadowed silence of a lone shell-shaped shack, a horned, white-headed bug of a diminutive size sat with their head resting down on its knees while leaning back against a broken aisle shelf. A dark green, moth wing-like cloak that the bug wore on their shoulders draped around their pitch black body to give them some semblance of warmth. Even when taking every bit of peace they could while surrounded by the bubbling stains of luminescent orange covering the ground and other buildings, the bug couldn't help but remain half-awake as they could feel a pull deep down. It was a pull that tugged at its chest and mind, one that felt reminiscent of an insistent beckoning call being rung out from the dark, cold, quiet depths of a place unknown.
CLANG!
The bug whipped their head up and unfolded their limbs in reaction to the sudden noise, only to look down to find that the long nail-like blade that was initially held upright in their hands had fallen over. Without further hesitation, the bug picked the nail back up and stood it up again before returning to their previous position. They would have resumed their nap, but they found their gaze lingering on a small black trinket of intricate detail lying a few inches away from its foot. Staring at the charm for a little while, the bug shuffled a foot and kicked the thing away. Not taking their gaze off the charm, however, they appeared to contemplate on the validity of their judgement in doing so. Nevertheless, they went to resume trying to take their nap.
All of a sudden, loud snarling sounds resonated across the walls of the shack as the bug looked up to find other bugs shambling their way inside. It didn't matter what types of bugs they were, only that their bodies were riddled with the same orange globs that covered the streets and rooftops of other buildings outside. What captured the hostility most of all was the appearance of their own eyes. Normally, all bugs, not just the citizens of Hallownest, possessed big black eyes that almost appeared beady, almost giving them an appearance of innocence. However, the bugs that were staggering towards the bug with its nail blade had eyes that were aglow with the same orange that bubbled from the rest of their bodies. It was as if their eyes had acquired a new set, one whose stare could burn right through one's soul since you could better tell that they were looking at you.
The bug did not hesitate to draw up their nail and pranced forward to take on the feral intruders. Taking several swings, the bug slashed away at them, causing some of the orange pustules to spray out equally orange liquid ichor upon being cut. The white-masked bug did not stop until all the intruders had fallen. Once they had, the bug turned back to hear some faint coughing from behind the shelf they had rested in front of moments before.
"My…friend?" a weak call reached out through the stale still air.
The cloaked bug hurriedly went around the shelf to find a young pill-like bug crouched against a bit of leftover rubble and debris. This second bug, from the sound of its voice while meekly coughing, was feminine, and she was quite young as well. The white-headed bug hastily kneeled down to look into her eyes, placing a little hand on her shoulder. Feeling her companion's touch, she lifted her head up to face them in the eyes.
"S-so sorry, m-my friend," she meekly apologized. "It'll stop in just a moment." As soon as she said, that she erupted into another fit of coughing, and it lasted longer than the first. The other bug could do nothing but hold her steady, keeping their eyes on her in case more infected bugs came and tried to attack her too. Once she finally caught her breath, the frail pill looked back up to the blank eyes of the other bug. "If they hear me, are they g-g-going to come b-back for me?"
The white-headed bug shook their head, gently tightening their grip on the sick bug's shoulder. Taking a brief look back over their own shoulder, they turned back to the little bug girl and released her. Keeping their eyes on her to keep her attention, they motioned their free hand that wasn't holding the nail to a spot on their head underneath their eyes where a mouth would be. Gesturing their hand several times, the bug girl nodded her head. "Okay, I'll f-find something good to eat, or maybe just something w-we can eat. Don't worry. Little Myla always tries to make a p-p-picnic every day." Hearing her say that made the silent cloaked bug nod to her with reassurance, and shortly turned around to head back out into the open. But just when Myla shuffled to get started, her companion turned back around to look at her one more time. She saw them gently motion a hand forward and then lift it to their face again to give a gesture that resembled a shushing command. "I know," Myla whispered in a pant, "I'll stay hidden and…I'll d-do my best to stay q-quiet." Those words were all that the silent bug hoped to hear. They then turned back to head outside.
Back in the area where they had just napped before, the white-headed bug spotted more of the infected making their way inside. Readying their nail again, the bug zipped into the fray, slashing and stabbing away at every orange-stained bug until they each finally fell one by one. More kept coming in despite there only being a few at a time. The white-headed horned bug had a slightly harder time maintaining their defense against the intruders. In fact, they did not notice that one infected bug managed to get behind them and gave a bestial swipe that knocked them off their feet. Tumbling into a roll onto the floor, the injured bug shakily tried to lift themselves back onto their feet, but could only manage to be on all fours. Feeling weakened, they looked to see that some of the infected had begun to slowly shuffle by them, appearing as though they were headed to the other side of the shelf, where Myla remained hidden. The sight of that got the bug warrior shaking in a panic, but as they swerved their head frantically, desperately looking for a way to stop these enemies from reaching Myla, their eyes landed upon the shiny black charm that they had kicked away earlier. Seeing nothing else that could possibly help them, the silent warrior could only crawl towards the trinket, going as fast as they can before the creatures could reach Myla, however difficult it was to muster the strength getting that far. With a final hard pull, the bug managed to stretch one of their arms far enough that it was over the trinket. Out of energy, their hand dropped down onto the charm's surface.
Outside the shack, many more bugs infected with the same orange gelatinous bubbles were shambling and staggering their way towards said shack where their two targets resided. A few more had made it inside, but in that same moment, the front openings of the shack suddenly spewed out a blindingly bright light and immediately, a crash came out from the front door. Several infected bugs were launched through the air out onto the contaminated ground as the remains of a black mask-like plume of magical smoke billowed from it. That plume of magic black smoke emanated from a floating black trinket, the same one that the nail-wielding bug had just touched to activate.
Wasting no time, the bug jumped out knowing that they had unlocked some sort of new power to fight off their enemies. Knowing that they now had more and greater means to protect Myla, their strength seemed almost reinvigorated. Running with a newfound speed, the warrior zipped around the wide area in front of the shack, slashing away at the infected and blasting others with magical black-colored energy from the charm that floated in the air at their side. The blasts appeared to resemble a bug's face, mainly like the warrior's, whose visage was mainly comprised of a blank head with two holes for eyes. But unlike the bug warrior's face which was white with dark if not black eyeholes, the magic blasts were completely black with eyeholes that were white. The warrior knew that this magical attack had a name. They could not quite figure out how it was so, but they had a feeling once they used the attack for the first time: Shade Soul.
While blasting Shade Soul at all the present enemies, more came crawling onto the premises. As the bug warrior observed, there appeared to be moderately more of them than the previous wave. They were not even sure if Shade Soul would be enough to fend them off, since they could only send one blast at a time and it was starting to feel taxing on their energy. Thinking that there had to be another way to use the charm to their advantage, the bug felt a different kind of attack in their mind. With a swipe of their nail, they took down one of the infected husks and dashed towards a nearby cluster of those same enemies. Mustering a little more energy, the silent warrior leapt into the air. In the same split second that they found themselves just over the middle of the cluster, they focused their strength and pushed themselves down to the ground. Upon landing, a shockwave of shadow erupted from them that pulverized the surrounding husks. For the warrior, it was indeed a new attack: Descending Dark.
Fending off more incoming husks with both Shade Soul and Descending Dark, though they still used the former more than the latter, the bug warrior only saw that the enemy's numbers had only increased with the next wave. From the looks of it, this new wave appeared to have more than the last several waves combined. The same way they discovered Descending Dark, the warrior searched deep for another kind of attack to effectively drive off the husks. With a realization that there was another way, they could feel a new supply of energy forming within their own chest; the accompaniment by the energy from the floating charm only amplified the feeling. Running at the thicker throngs of husks, the warrior focused their strength from within their chest and then opened up rapidly to unleash a torrent of magic energy. That torrent almost seemed like it screamed, due in part to the conglomerate of blasts resembling faces that had empty eyes and mouths open in a state of wailing. The result of this magical attack blew even more husks than the last two attacks did combined, and the warrior indeed felt stronger than ever thanks to it: Abyss Shriek.
Now having knowledge of three magic attacks, the warrior was sure that they could defend Myla without any further trouble. At that point, they were practically mowing down so many husks to the point that they were sure fate had run out of waves to throw at them. After eliminating the last wave, the warrior turned their head back to the entrance of the shack, knowing that it had been too long since they checked on Myla again. They hurried back to the shack but were suddenly stopped by a larger husk dropping from above. This husk appeared to be taller, more bulky, and even wearing armor and carrying a weapon. The warrior readied themselves. The giant armored husk lumbered forward and attempted to strike its smaller opponent with a heavy swing of its horn-like club, though said opponent dodged the slam with little effort. Hoping that they could get a few swings in, the warrior simultaneously knew that their only hope of defeating this giant enemy was through their realized magic attacks, even though those spells always expended their energy with each use. With the giant closing in again, the bug warrior did not see any other options. Focusing their strength, they began with shooting more Shade Soul blasts to stagger the enemy. Once that was done, they immediately rushed in to deal a few nail strikes, but just as they thought, they didn't do much to knock it down. The warrior knew that they didn't want to waste any more time fighting before getting back to Myla, so they had to finish this quickly. Avoiding more of the husk's heavy strikes, they employed another Shade Soul before dealing a short series of consecutive blasts of Abyss Shriek. They alternated between those two attacks since the creature was too tall for them to attempt Descending Dark. But eventually after a certain tiring amount of time, the giant armored husk fell down and never rose again.
Sensing that there were finally no more enemies to fight, the warrior immediately rushed back into the shack, their dark green moth-wing cloak trailing behind them. Zipping through the door and around the dilapidated shelf within a couple seconds, the warrior knelt down to check on Myla. She was still coughing albeit a little more softly, though she did look a little more crumpled in her sitting position. When she sensed that her companion had returned, she looked back up to face them in the eyes.
"My friend, are y-y-you all right?" In response, the silent bug placed both hands on her shoulders with a slow and gentle nod. Myla smiled. "That's good. I'm glad." She then turned her head to the side to look down on a little item at her side. "Look, I f-found this while you were gone." She held up the item for her friend to see. "It's an egg, my favorite. I'll split it w-with you." Hearing that, the silent bug leaned back a little bit while lifting a hand and shaking their head to indicate refusal. "P-p-please, friend," Myla began to plead, "You have to eat something." She lifted the egg again, this time holding it a little closer to her silent friend. The white-headed bug looked at the egg held in the other's hands for a little longer moment. Thinking they may have reached a compromise, they used one hand to draw an invisible line over the egg that appeared to separate a big piece from a small piece. Pointing at where the small piece would be, they then turned that same pointing hand to themselves, giving a sign that resembled eating. Seeing that her friend intended on having the smaller half, Myla shook her head in protest, "N-no, that's not enough for you to get by. You have to eat to sur-" a violent cough erupted from her once again. She would have collapsed to the floor in a heap, but the other bug was there to catch her before that happened. Holding her, the bug leaned in even closer than before, trying to find out what was wrong with her.
"Oh no," Myla gasped, "I dropped t-the egg….I d-didn't mean to…" Her grip on her friend's supportive arms tightened, "You…you were always the one…h-h-helping me…" The other silent bug observed her to find that small tumors of luminescent orange were beginning to emerge on her shell. "I only w-wished I could help too…" Myla managed to say before collapsing down into her friend's embrace. The silent bug did not need anyone to tell them that they were shaking, but as they held their friend who had begun to fall victim to that same infection afflicting the others, they desperately wished they had a voice if only to cry out to whatever higher being was out there to demand why they had none. Even so, the desire for a voice to call out to whoever was out there became as frantically strong as ever within the horned bug. Holding Myla tightly while they blanketed her in their own green cloak, the silent bug continued to swing their head left, right, and up frantically in hopes of finding someone, anyone, who would notice them and bring help.
Outside the shack, all other residences remained silent and lifeless as always, save for the orange pustules and liquid puddles that lay everywhere, staining them with their faint and cadaverous light.
*Enemies featured here are mainly husks. That includes: Wandering Husk, Husk Hornhead, Leaping Husk, Husk Bully, Husk Warrior, and featuring a Husk Guard as the boss for this segment.