Characters: The Pale King/The White Lady, The Pure Vessel, Ze'mer
Word Count: 4.563
Summary: After the party Pendry needs some peace and quiet, has a breakthrough and Hollow makes a decision.
(Author's note: Hey, let me apologize for not updating for so long. I haven't forgotten about this story, it just happened a LOT in December and I wanted to update some of my other stories first, as well as writing a oneshot for another fandom.
This chapter is on the shorter side, because like Rydellia says later in this chapter, sometimes you need something a big lighter after you had a big chunk and after the last monster of a chapter, and because I am about to dive into the second half of this fic, I want to update with a few smaller chunks that will tie things together.
I want to thank plantaequeen from tumblr for her lovely fanart of Pendry getting embarrassed at the party, which you can find on my tumblr of the same name as my account under the tag "fanartforme".)
Once Hive Knight had finally been convinced that the window was of no threat to his queen, most of the party guests had already left.
When Pendry turned around to see if his presence was anywhere else needed (he very much hoped that it wasn't), he saw Herrah watching over Hornet who was busy putting her tiny fangs in some of the leftover snacks (it probably was long after bed time for the small grub) and Monomon was currently helping Lurien leaving the room, who swayed in a way that implied that he maybe had gotten a bit too much to drink.
He didn't saw Hollow at the place he had left them, but he found them soon enough. The Royal Retainer he had assigned to them was still at their side as well as Quirrel. He was currently talking to a large may bug which Pendry recognized as the leader of the band that had performed today. Hollow seemed to listen intensely to what he had to say.
Interested, Pendry came closer to listen in.
"For string instruments there are the violin and the cello for example.", the may bug said. "They differentiate not only in size, but also in sound. However, they are played in a similar fashion..."
Pendry stopped listening to the details here, the finer details of music and instruments had never gotten to him. Instead, he watched Hollow, who signed questions which got translated by Quirrel and then the may bug would answer Hollow's questions the best he could.
While Hollow asked about all these instruments, hardly seeming to be able to chose one that they are most interested in, Pendry let his foresight wander, not looking at the ultimate fate of his kingdom, but instead in Hollow's near future, in which they picked up an instrument to learn and they picked up a lot of different ones in all the timelines he saw in front of his inner eye, in some of them they even tried out a lot of instruments one by one.
They weren't really terrible at any of them, but it was one particular instrument which Pendry saw Hollow playing, that made them look like they were at peace and had the most intense joy while playing. Pendry saw himself in the vision too, getting caught up by the music of his child and he seemed to be equally at peace.
"Hollow, how about trying out the harp?", he said and everyone, Hollow, Quirrel, the Royal Retainer and the may bug stared at him, as if they hadn't even noticed that he had been there.
"A good choice.", the may bug finally said after a far too long pause. "After all, you probably will get rather big, so a rather large instrument like the harp would be fitting for your body."
"Certainly something that I didn't even thought to take into consideration, your majesty, how wonderful that you found the right instrument for your child right away.", Quirrel added.
"Well...", Pendry started, asking himself if he should tell them that he simply had used his foresight to find out the instrument that Hollow would like the most, but decided against it. Besides, it wasn't like Hollow had approved of his idea yet.
"Of course it is Hollow's decision if they want to try it out. They can try out any instrument they want, even all of them if they please.", Pendry said, not wanting to get Hollow back into their dependency on him.
"It's alright.", Hollow signed. "I already was thinking about it."
Ah, that explained why Pendry's foresight had shown Hollow the most content with the harp. They already had made their decision. Of course that could have also meant that he did something that had altered the other timelines. Just one little thing could alter them all, so looking into the future was an ever changing string of events.
"I can suggest you to a store that sells high quality customized instruments.", the may bug said.
"Thank you, please tell the details to our Retainer.", Pendry said and gestured to the Retainer, who nodded and went to take the may bug away to a quiet corner, now relieved of their task about watching over Hollow.
"Your majesty, it must have taken quite a while to convince Queen Vespa's knight of the non danger of the windows.", Quirrel said. "Madam had to take care of Sir Lurien, so I went to find Hollow and they wanted to watch the band play, so we have stayed here until they have stopped playing and then Hollow expressed they wanted to learn an instrument, so I asked their leader if we could ask some questions."
"It has, indeed.", Pendry confirmed, looking back at his Root who still conversed with Vespa, who held the Hive Knight out of sight of the windows. "It isn't even the first time it has happened. Next time we should put some curtains over the windows..."
"That certainly could help.", Quirrel said. "Anyway, it is rather late and I want to convince Madam to retreat for the night, eventually we have to escort Sir Lurien back to the spire, so I want to bid you and Hollow a good night." Quirrel bowed and then went away, into the direction Pendry had last seen Monomon.
"He is right, it is rather late.", Pendry said. "You should retreat for the night too."
Hollow nodded and then got a glimpse of Herrah, who was now cradling a crashed Hornet in her arms.
"Can I say good night?", they asked him, pointing at their little sister.
"Of course.", Pendry said and waited while Hollow went to Herrah and carefully took Hornet in their arms, stroking over her little nubs and then giving her back to Herrah before returning to his side.
"Aren't you saying good night?", Hollow asked when Pendry took the first step forward.
"Me and Herrah... we don't get well along...", Pendry sighed. "When I go there, she will have all kinds of things to say about me... again..." Things that Pendry didn't had the capacity to deal with right now. He knew he should be more affectionate with his daughter, but he also knew that he couldn't deal with Herrah right now. At least they had spend a lot of time before the party with each other.
"It was a long day. Let's retreat now.", Pendry said and left the room, silently relieved when the noises got less and less, only stopping once they were at Hollow's room.
"You did well today.", Pendry laid a hand on Hollow's shoulder. "Only the announcement for the public and then..."
"Then we fight the infection.", Hollow completed his sentence.
"Y-yes...", Pendry said, looking down on the ground. He still didn't had a clue how to take care of the infection. He needed a breakthrough, quick. He feared that otherwise everything could be too late.
However, he knew that today he wouldn't have any breakthroughs, his mind was far too exhausted from having to interact in a social event.
"Good night, Hollow.", Pendry came with them into their room and tucked them in, seeing how Hollow's chest rose and fall steadily and quietly, only a few seconds after they had laid down. They must have been as exhausted as him.
While Pendry would have loved to go to bed right away, he felt far too dirty and sticky, so he went to his bathroom first and lowered himself into the soothing hot spring water, filling up not only his soul reverses, but also getting rid of all the tension. When he bathed in a hot spring, all his worries felt so far away... if he only could stay in it forever...
However, when his carapace got soaked with water, his wings felt heavy and his tail tassel seemed to have grown twice its size, it was time for him to leave the hot spring, getting rid of all the excess water that his body had absorbed, wringing out his tassel and shaking out his wings. While he had relaxed in the hot spring, his royal retainers had taken his ceremonial robes and replaced it with a lighter robe for the night. Pendry put them on and retreated to his chambers, falling asleep pretty much the same moment his head hit the pillows, hoping that this night he would be spared from the usual nightmares...
The party had been a great success. Rydellia had stayed awake until even the last guest had gone (Pendry had vanished somewhen without saying anything like usual) before she had retreated to her own chambers, only accompanied by her knight Dryya. She knew that Pendry needed some time after every party, so she didn't try to wake him, but stopped in front of his room to check on him, when she saw Hollow standing there, knocking on the door.
"Oh Hollow.", Rydellia came over and gently laid a branch on their arm that was holding the handle, wondering why the door didn't open. "My Wyrm always needs a while after a social event like yesterday. Come with me, my child, we still need to plan the public announcement."
Hollow looked from her to the door and then to her again and then reluctantly let go of the handle to follow Rydellia. Rydellia was impressed how well they had handled the event, she assumed the presence of some comfort figures in their life had helped. Gladly, thanks to the infection, the attention hadn't been on them the whole time, without a dangerous threat like the infection looming over the kingdom, Hollow surely would have been the centre of the attention at an event like this.
If not for the infection, they could have announced Hollow once they had hatched... along with all their siblings... Rydellia felt a sharp pain deep in her soul. She had agreed to the plan. She had believed that Pendry could save their kingdom by experimenting with the void, regardless how dangerous it could be for his own body and mind and regardless how many of her seeds would never blossom into children. They were the king and queen, their subjects and their kingdom came before their selfish wishes and still...
"It has been selfish of us to hurt you and your siblings so much...", Rydellia said, leaving Hollow without the context, who still followed her dutifully, much more acting like the knight they had been raised as instead of the child they were.
Finally the knocking had stopped. Pendry had suspected that it was Hollow, but after the events of the day before he felt so drained, that he didn't even manage to speak to his own child. Instead he was hiding his head under the blanket and recovered from having to interact with so many bugs and having to hold a speech and having to be in a place with so many noises. Luckily Rydellia had come to cease Hollow's knocking before they would tear down the door to see if he was alright.
Pendry was in the mood to stay in bed the whole day, but of course eventually he couldn't prevent having to get up and once he was out of the bed, he felt kind of guilty for having loafed around the whole morning. He still didn't feel like talking to anyone, so after having put on his usual robes, Pendry found himself in his workshop, where he locked the door and instructed the nearest royal retainer to not letting anyone in, not even his wife or his child (even this minor interaction felt like too much).
He knew that Rydellia wouldn't like his behaviour. He would just getting engrossed in his works, completely forgetting to eat and only get out of it when Rydellia finally put her foot (or her root) down and forced him to eat or sleep. Or both.
Whatever, he had a few hours before this would happening and he intended to use this few hours well. He still had a few books to read and research, maybe the answer he searched was in them.
The noises outside told Pendry that it must have been early evening, but he didn't care about the time of day. Instead, he stared at the spell that he just had completed and drawn on his blackboard.
He checked it again and again, but couldn't find any trouble with it. This spell was powerful enough to put an end to even the Radiance.
However, he couldn't just get into the dream realm and try the spell out on the Radiance right away. First, he needed to test it... Pendry summoned one of his kingsmoulds into his workshop and once they were in place, waiting for orders, he started to gather his soul to cast the spell.
It took him a long time to actually gather all the soul for the spell and once he had it, forming the soul into the shape of a giant nail took its sweet time as well, but the result had been worth it. Pendry stared at a kingsmould which pretty much had been punched out of its bindings, void seeping on the floor, the spell having smacked a crack in the wall of his workshop. Well, that he had to explain later somehow...
However, for as powerful and awesome the spell was, Pendry saw the problem right away...
First, the spell needed a LONG time to actually been cast, even from someone with his control over soul. The Radiance would never let him stand there for several minutes to gather power.
Second, his target had been obedient and didn't move, the Radiance would be able to easily move out of the way.
In fact, if would he go and try to challenge the Radiance like this, he certainly would getting killed by her before he even had a quarter of the soul ready to unleash the spell.
What a pain... finally he discovered a spell that could be the solution, but he didn't had an execution for it... It seemed like Pendry needed to research a while longer.. find out how to cast the spell more efficiently and find a way to pin the Radiance in place...
He might have a solution for the last part, Hollow would be able to hold her long enough for the spell to connect, but would they be able to distract her long enough so that he could gather his soul? Also, they hadn't managed to visit the dream realm yet...
Pendry sighed. For every success there seemed to be laid two more stones in his way. For now he had probably done enough. He knew that he could get right back into his research, but thinking about Hollow, who had already been worried about him in the morning and also feeling his own hunger, he decided to call it a day and meet up with his wife and his child for dinner.
Once he left his workshop, he crossed paths with Ze'mer, who was carrying a pile of books, gasping as she saw him. "Ah, your majesty. 'Che hasn't expected you today."
"We are on our way to take in dinner with our wife and our child.", Pendry explained, seeing how a smile crossed over Ze'mer's face.
"Ah, being a father appears to be good for you, your majesty...", she said and turned around, making it able for Pendry to see the cover of the top book from the pile she was carrying.
He could see the mark of essence drawn on the book. Where had Ze'mer found this book? It must have been one of the books left over from the moth clan and he was sure that there wasn't a single book about the moth clan or the Radiance in the castle library anymore.
What interested him more however, was the contents of the book. He had to admit that his knowledge of the dream realm was limited. It always had been the realm of Grimm and the Radiance. If he wanted to fight her in her own realm, then he would have to learn as much as he could about it.
"Ze'mer, please show us that book.", he said before Ze'mer could turn around a corner. Ze'mer turned around at his words and came back. "Which one?", she asked.
"The top one.", Pendry pointed at it with his claw. "The one with the essence on it."
"Oh, this one?", Ze'mer picked it up and laid it into Pendry's waiting claws. "'Che hasn't read this one yet, only leafed through it. It appears to be about ancient relics from a time before Hallownest."
"Thank you.", Pendry said and tucked the book under his arm. He wondered who in the city had collected books from the moth clan, but right at this moment he was glad for their existence. That book could give him a clue about the dream realm or even help to get Hollow into the dream realm. The sooner they could get to train, the earlier they could end the infection.
...If his plan would even work. He would have to use his foresight in the future, this time looking at each outcome to see if they even had a chance. He now knew that not having looked far enough had convinced him that the sealing plan would have worked. He had to admit to himself that it only would have worked temporarily. Worse even, he would have damned his own child to unspeakable suffering... and that wasn't even counting all the children that had died in his attempt to create his pure vessel... those shells would forever lie in his closets... and invade his dreams...
Having arrived at the room where Rydellia and Hollow last had been seen, Pendry's mood had significantly dropped. He had a spell that could beat the Radiance, sure, but he didn't had a plan how to actually hit her and the thought of all the sacrifices he had taken upon himself for the sealing plan only to back-pedal on it and at least accept his last living child didn't made their siblings magically alive again.
"This figure is the knight. They can only move in an L-pattern.", Pendry could hear the voice of his Root and put his attention in front of him, where Rydellia and Hollow were sitting looking at a chess board, where Rydellia was busy to explain the rules of the game to Hollow, who listened intently.
"The spires can only move in a straight line and the watchers in a diagonal line.", she explained further. "All of them have to protect the king. If the king gets beaten, the game is over."
Hollow looked down at the chess board and then picked up the little knight figurine, the white one. They stared at it and then put it down in front of the king, signing: "The knight protects the king. How I am supposed to protect father."
The knight figurine displayed Isma, but in his inner eye Pendry saw a figurine of Hollow instead and them being placed as the knight in front of the figurine that depicted him, made a shudder run down his spine.
"Oh, Hollow, only that you are not a knight anymore.", Rydellia said and carefully stroked over their horns. "You don't have to feel obliged to follow your orders anymore."
Hollow shook their head and then signed again: "But what if I want to be father's knight."
Pendry had seen enough and came in, startling both Rydellia and Hollow who obviously hadn't expected his presence at all.
"Oh my wyrm, I wasn't expecting you today.", Rydellia gave him a warm smile and Hollow gave him a wave.
"I wanted to have dinner with you two.", Pendry said. "But first I need to talk with Hollow?"
Hollow pointed at them as if they wanted to say "Who? Me?", cocking their head in slight confusion.
"Hollow, forget everything that I have said to you when I still treated you as the Pure Vessel.", Pendry said. "Just answer me my question honestly: Do you want to be my knight? Despite everything that has happened between you and me, would you still be willing to protect me?"
They looked at him long and intensely, making him feel like he could drown in their empty eye sockets filled with void and then slowly nodded.
Pendry extended his arm and laid it on their shoulder. "Then...", he took a deep breath, "as my knight, I will give you your first and your last order."
He heard Rydellia softly gasp behind him and Hollow tensing up: "Whenever someone that is a danger to me endangers your own life, I want for you to run and save yourself. Don't ever think about sacrificing your life for this king... or his kingdom ever again. Stay at my side, but don't die at my side..."
As his voice trailed off, Pendry could see how Rydellia wiped a tear out of her eyes. Hollow didn't sign anything and then kneeled in front of him.
Pendry gathered a bit of soul between his claws and then touched Hollow's left and right shoulder, infusing them with his own signature magic. "Therefore I knight you to be the Hollow Knight, sixth of the great knights, but also heir of Hallownest as well as the child of its king and queen."
Once they were done with the ritual, the both of them simply stood there and stared at each other, until Hollow gave Pendry a tight hug. As Pendry reciprocated the hug, Rydellia spoke behind them.
"Are you sure that this is what you want, Hollow?"
Hollow stopped hugging Pendry and turned to Rydellia, making a few hasty signs. Pendry could recognize bits and pieces of it, but mostly they signed: "Yes. I want to help father. I want to help fight the infection. I want to stay at father's side and protect him."
"Unless...", Rydellia said, looking expectantly at Hollow.
"Unless my own life is in danger.", Hollow answered to her and Pendry let out a relieved breath, he had barely noticed how tense he had been.
"I guess we have even more announcements to make.", Rydellia chuckled.
"That has time.", Pendry said. "For now, let us eat together."
"Gladly.", Rydellia said and waved Hollow to her side. "Here, let your father explain the rest of the rules to you while I organize dinner for ourselves."
Pendry gladly obliged and explained the rules of chess to Hollow in great detail, even though they spent a bit too much time talking about the depictions of the figurines, because they had been modelled after Hallownest and Hollow found a lot of joy into putting the watcher figure, that depicted Lurien, next to the king figure, that depicted him, and made him blush even though he didn't know why.
Halfway through his explanations, as Pendry had one of the knight figures in his hand, he asked: "You didn't complain when I called you the Hollow Knight.", he said. "I thought you disliked your old title."
Hollow shook their head and then replied to him with a few hasty signs: "I disliked being called the Pure Vessel. Or the Pale Heir. I like being called a knight. I might not be hollow, but I am Hollow. It simply is my name."
Pendry smiled at them and their explanation. "That is an excellent way to see it.", he said. "Hollow, you have grown a lot over the last few weeks."
Hollow cast their gaze on the ground and fidgeted a bit before signing more words.
"I am often insecure. Anxious. I don't know if my decisions are the right ones... but I know that they make you happy. You are happy when I decide for myself."
"Hollow, that hopefully isn't the only reason for your behaviour.", Pendry frowned. Them forcing themselves to make free decisions only for his sake wasn't in his intention.
Hollow shook their head at his question. "No, I want what I said. It feels right to me, but... there is always this voice in my head. A voice that tells me how wrong I could be, that I could disappoint everyone... that I should stop thinking again, that would be easier... I am... scared of that voice..."
"...", Pendry didn't reply right away, instead letting the silence between them hang in the room. Then, slowly, he whispered, even more quiet than his usual whispering voice. "Did you know that I hear this voice too?"
Hollow cocked their head at him. "Really?", they signed.
"Yes, really.", Pendry nodded at them. "How can I know if my decision was the right one? Maybe something else would have been better for the kingdom? Maybe some of my old decisions could have been handled in a more graceful way?" Maybe if I would have put more thought into my foresight and my plans, your siblings wouldn't lay dead in the Aybss. Of course Pendry didn't speak this thought out aloud.
"As ruler my people come to me for my guidance, but there is never a guarantee that they are walking the right path. All I can do is give them a nudge into the right direction. As king I, of course, have to secure that my folk is happy and secure, but even I can make mistakes. Just look at you. What I almost did to you."
"But you stopped.", Hollow signed. "You don't do this anymore. You told me that I don't have to be the Vessel anymore."
"Exactly.", Pendry said, "You don't have to sacrifice yourself for me or the kingdom. Instead, you chose to become a knight for this kingdom, protecting it in a different sense. I am sure deep down in yourself you knew that this is what you wanted, Hollow. It is normal to have doubts. We all have them, even myself. You can come and talk to me or Rydellia, or even Monomon or Lurien, even Herrah would give good advice on this matter. You don't have to go through this alone."
"As do you.", Hollow signed and after this, father and child locked themselves in another hug.
"Now..,", Pendry said as he broke the hug. "Let's get some dinner. I can sense that your mother has watched us for the last five minutes."
"Not before I get a hug of my own.", Rydellia chuckled as she stepped into the room, picking both Pendry and Hollow up with ease and squeezing them.
"After the lavish feast of yesterday I made sure to get a dinner on the lighter side.", she said, carrying both Hollow and Pendry in her branches as she walked to the room in which dinner would be served, all while explaining what kind of food she had ordered.
Pendry didn't mind. He might be the king, but right at the moment he was her husband and Hollow's father. He simply let himself relax in her grip and looked forward to the time they could spent with each other. As a family.
(Author's note:
I am not actually sure who collected the books from the moth clan that Ze'mer was carrying, maybe it was just some random bug, maybe it was a canon character. Feel free to propose a fitting character to me.
The chess board is modelled after Hallownest because they surely wouldn't have a human themed chess board. It also was such a nice mental image of Hollow putting a knight figurine in front of a Pale King figurine.
As usual, thanks for everyone who reads, left kudos or left a comment. Getting a comment makes my day, so please share your thoughts down below. Thank you very much.)