AN: Well, all the followers and the reviews gave me motivation to continue this fic right about now.
Chapter 3:
Herrah first noticed something was wrong when the constant presence of the Radiance at the edge of her mind disappeared. That wasn't supposed to happen, however because of the state she was in she didn't react much.
But when the Hollow Knight himself disappeared from the binding, she became alarmed. Something must have been wrong, since she was still part of the seal, keeping it up with Lurien and Monomon. Yet, what if there was nothing wrong, what if all of this was just a ploy, in order to get her to lower her guard, so the Pale King would finally be able to conquer Deepnest, while she's here being locked up by the dreamers. After this last thought, she began to panic. Is this why the Knight left? She was captured, and so now they would lead the Wyrm's army into her kingdom. She wouldn't let them! She was called the Beast for a reason, and she was going to show them what happened when you tried to trick her!
The seal wasn't just simple magic. It was fueled by the will of the dreamers. Now, if, purely hypothetically of course, one of the dreamers changed their will abruptly, they could disrupt the seal and get out of the binding locking them together and keeping the Radiance contained. Of course, this is purely hypothetical, since the dreamers wouldn't be so selfish as to doom Hallownest by releasing the Infection. Or that's what the Pale King thought when he designed the runes.
Unfortunately, Herrah was paranoid (you had to be if you wanted to rule Deepnest), and with her quick change in priorities, the seal was disrupted, Herrah's will no longer aligning with the other dreamers'. Those two had no time to react, as they had utmost confidence that the King would fix any problem that happened, so they should just stay and wait. Because of this, when Herrah tried to get out, they were caught unaware, and couldn't even try to keep her.
She exited, and the binding fell apart, the two of them not being able to sustain in themselves. Prepare Hallownest, the Dreamers were once again released into the world.
- POV change -
Herrah awoke with a gasp. Her muscles felt weak from disuse, but the atrophy didn't begin to set in just yet. She felt that bad, and theoretically she knew that she had to take it slow, to gain her power back, but this was not the time for waiting, it was the time for action, who knew when the army of the Wyrm will come knocking?
One of her guards already noticed her awakening, and came closer.
"Call a meeting right now!" she shouted. The guard was shocked, to say the least, but hearing the hurry in her voice he immediately rushed to complete her orders.
She had about 5 minutes before the meeting started, and in that five minutes she had to figure out how to look like she was back at full strength, or be torn apart immediately. No pressure, no pressure at all.
- POV change -
The important bugs of Deepnest were all in the meeting room, waiting for the newly awakened Queen to come and share the information that caused her such distress, as described by the guard who came from her.
Slowly, Herrah's form became visible in the hallway, exactly like how she was before she went to sleep. Most bugs there were not happy about this, as this could have been a prime takeover opportunity. But no matter, maybe what the Queen has to say would be important enough to momentarily forget about these things.
"War council!" she started, and immediately she captured everyone's attention. If her speech was spearheaded by those words, it is important, and everything else must be put on hold. It would be great to become the ruling family of Deepnest, but only if there was a Deepnest to rule over. So they listened, and forgot about any plans they had to take over. At least momentarily. "I have called all of you here, because the Wyrm has tricked us!" Anger boiled within them. They didn't like the Wyrm, and the one time they do decide to trust him, he immediately tricks them.
"While I was within the dream world, suddenly, the so-called 'Infection' vanished without a trace, the Pure Vessel soon following. I myself was not released, still bound by the binding. It is clear that all of this was just a ploy by the Pale Wyrm in order to incapacitate me and the invade Deepnest." One unfamiliar with Deepnest customs would have expected them to explode, to yell in outrage, yet they did none of that. That was no the way of Deepnest. The way of the spiders' was one of cold rage, that is unleashed in the crucial moments only.
"We need to act fast. Triple the guards instantly, increase the training and one of the most important of all: A rescue mission for Hornet." None argued, for they could not. This was war now, and during this there was no disagreeing with the monarch. If she decided that the princess was important enoug to risk some of their best stealth specialists, then she was indeed important enough.
"But don't destroy the tramway. We don't want to tip them off sooner then needed. Instead, set a trap there, and kill as many as you can while they are not aware of our true intentions." Beware Hallownest, because Herrah is on a warpath.
- POV change -
Quirrel was a simple bug. He lived in the wastelands, hunted for food and slept. He wasn't special. His memory was a bit fuzzy, but he got the general picture: There was an infection in Hallownest, and he left because of that. He was pretty sure about it. There was one other thing he instinctively knew, and that was that he couldn't let the mask on his head be destroyed. He didn't know why, and while he theorised in the past, he eventually decided that it was pointless, and that if he will find out, then he'll know, and if he won't, then that's it. He was a simple bug after all, no way that mask could be that important. Maybe it was of a bug's who he loved, but they died because of the infection. Some form of that was the best theory he could come up with.
So imagine his surprise, when out of nowhere, the mask began to glow. While he was scared, at least it didn't hurt, so maybe it wasn't such a bad thing after all. Or maybe it was, that light was going to attract an awful lot of bugs, and he wasn't sure if he could actually kill all of them.
No point in pondering, he decided, if he could then he'll live another day, if not then he'll die a warrior's death. He wasn't sure about the second option, but he remembered that it was considered an honorable way to die, so it was at least acceptable.
Hundreds of beasts soon converged upon his position. With his trusty nail, he slew a lot of them, but it was as if there was no end to the monsters. Soon his body began to tire, his mind began to muddle, and his swordplay became sloppy. His injuries started accumulating faster and faster, while the beasts just never seemed to stop. Death seemed close, however he was still proud of himself since he fought valiantly for hours.s
As the end seemed close, something entirely unexpected happened. Just as the monster leapt at him, sharp tentacles made out of some kind of white energy were expelled from the mask, skewering and killing the wild bugs. Quirrel was utterly flabbergasted. He did not expect anything like that. The mask never did anything like that before, why would it do that now?
Suddenly, a new thought wormed it's way into his head: What if the mask will take over? What if it summons those tentacles again, just to crawl onto his face, to take his body for itself.
Out of nowhere, he heard a voice in his head:
"Quirrel? You okay?"
"Who are you?!" he shouted into the wasteland. Even in the face of death he would show no fear.
"Oh you don't have your memories do you?" said the voice, completely ignoring his earlier declaration.
"N-no." he admitted.
"Well of course you don't know who I am then! Let me fix that real quick: Currently I'm the mask on your head, and you're none other than my apprentice trying to reunite me with my body."
"But I don't know anything about this!" he cried out in shock. What else could he feel after finding out about his life?
- POV change -
Monomon was frustrated. Yes, the vessel has broken out of the chains, but who cares about that? If it's important, the King will fix it, and if it isn't she shouldn't be concerned about it. However, Herrah just had to be a hothead and break the seal. She couldn't just wait for a couple days like a rational bug. Oh no, she had to do something right away, and through her inconsiderate actions the binding was broken, ejecting them from the dream world.
Well, whatever, she just had to make the most out of the situation. She should start that by sitting up.
.
.
.
Well, that didn't go so well. Correction, it didn't go anyway, because nothing happened! Now that she actually looked around (or tried, anyways) she observed that wherever she was, it didn't look like her Archives. In fact, it looked like she was on the surface, out in the wastelands. Why would she be out here though? And why can't she move? More correction: What is with her body? She can't feel it. She can't feel the soul, can't feel her tentacles, not her chest, not her head, nothing! Just her mask. Stop there for a minute: Her mask? Oh yes, now she remembered, her B plan! Quirrel would take her mask out of Hallownest, journey into the wastelands, and then return when it was time to replace the vessel, since it was clear to anyone with an eye that it was not as pure as it wanted to seem.
She also felt something under her mask. It must be her precious assistant! She tried to make him notice her, by using what little soul she had to illuminate her mask, but he didn't seem to notice it, or at least he didn't care for whatever reason.
Soon monsters converged upon Quirrel. He fought well, but not well enough, because after a couple hours exhaustion began to set in for him, yet the beasts kept coming. Thankfully, before they could kill him, she used the soul she accumulated from the previous ones to create soul constructs, resembling her tentacles except they were sharpened. The bugs didn't stand a chance.
After this little altercation, she wasn't going to let Quirrel ignore her anymore:
"Quirrel? You okay?" she asked warmly, or as warmly as she could with her current disembodied voice.
She did not expect the hostility she received in return:
"Who are you?!" shouted Quirrel, sounding angry and frustrated. But as she knew him for a long time, she could also hear the tiredness behind his brave facade.
Suddenly something clicked in her mind. Of course, why didn't she think of this sooner! She had a theory, that anyone leaving Hallownest would lose their memory, but she didn't have time to properly finish the experiments. That wasn't needed anymore, as it looked like that she was indeed right.
"Oh you don't have your memories do you?" she ignored his earlier question, and in the satisfied tone of a proven theory, she asked her question.
He could only stammer out an answer:
"N-no."
"Well of course you don't know who I am then! Let me fix that real quick: Currently I'm the mask on your head, and you're none other than my apprentice trying to reunite me with my body." she summarised for him.
"But I don't know anything about this!" he cried out in shock. While Monomon was no expert in psychology, she knew that shaking everything you believed in can be a bit traumatic, so she tried to cheer him up:
"But of course you do! You just don't remember right now! But don't worry, I'll help you and you'll have your memories back in no time!"
"Fine." he sighed out, his tone carrying quiet resignation. With his acceptance of the facts, they could now start their journey. Monomon was happy about this, which she expressed using a shout
"Onwards, to Hallownest!"
"Could you be more quiet please?" asked the tired voice of Quirrel.
"Sorry."
- POV change -
Lurien noticed that the Pure Vessel escaped. How could he not? He carried the title of "Watcher" after all, and he tried to stay true to it. He didn't want to disappoint the King after all. He would sooner kill himself then fail a task the King himself have him.
He did not consider himself failing his task, since the Radiance didn't escape through the binding. His job was to keep up the binding. The Pure Vessel also left. That wasn't a problem either. Their job was to keep up the binding.
There would have been no problem if that barbarian Herrah hadn't broken the seal! Because of her idiotic actions, he failed the King. He hoped that he would be forgiven, he couldn't face himself in the mirror if he knew that the King was disappointed in them.
He never liked Herrah. That barbarian had the audacity to talk to the King as if he was a common bug! Not even the Queen dared to do such a thing. Yet she did, and what's more, she walked out unscathed. He hoped that she'll be properly punished for breaking a seal, and not just walk away like every other time.
But there were better times to rant about Herrah in his head, so he resolved to get to the King to inform him about the proceedings. He was sure that he already knew about it, but he still had to do his job.
Unfortunately, he didn't have Herrah's stubbornness, nor Monomon's lack of body, so he couldn't be active right after waking up. He had to spend hours just doing basic movement in order to get his body back into an acceptable state.
Now that he was up, he rushed to the King. Outside was resting time, so the lights were down, and no bugs were on the streets. Usually it was illegal to be out after work period was over, but he wasn't any common bug, he was Lurien the Watcher, and that got him some privileges.
There was only one problem: He forgot that the elevator didn't work during the resting period. He absolutely refused to go through the waterways, like some kind of dung beetle, so he was stuck waiting.
After a while, his impatience got the better of him, and he decided that he could perhaps relive some of his younger years, where he tried to imitate the movement of the Mantis tribe. He jumped from walls to walls, lower and lower with each jump. But he did not have his younger reflexes anymore. He miscalculated at the last jump, and as he fell upon the ground, he lost conciousness from the impact. The last thing he saw was a bug before him with glowing, orange eyes.
- POV change -
While the Pure Vessel knew what he had to do, he had no idea how to do it. Usually, everything he was did was straight forward: Go and kill that bug. Go and jump through those buzzsaws (they involuntarily shuddered; those were the moments where they doubted their love for the Pale King the most).
But now their quest was complicated. Find the Radiance, get it back within themselves and during all of this make sure nobody notices. Easy-peasy, if only he had a plan.
Okay, think, Pure Vessel, think! How does one start to locate an ancient moth goddess? Wait, that's it! Moth goddess! The tribe surely had an idea on where she was! Even better, they were so isolated, nobody would hear from them that they saw the one and only Pure Vessel.
How does one get to the Resting Grounds anyway? Geography was not something that the Pale King taught him. He could get a map, or get someone to come with him who come where was everything. A stag, maybe. Yes, a stag would do quite nicely. They also have maps at the stations, even better.
When he went to the Queen's Gardens he saw the stag map, so he was pretty sure that the Stag Station in the crossroads was somewhere in the middle.
Thankfully there were no bugs nearby, so nobody saw as the Pure Vessel got lost a couple times on the way to the station, which was great since he also got frustrated. He showed emotion. Thankfully, nobody saw it, so it didn't happen.
They finally found the station! They must have been going around for hours, this damn place was so confusing. No matter, they were there now and that's what mattered. They looked at the map. They wanted to make sure they memorised it. After a couple of minutes, they decided that it was enough, and that they didn't need stags, for three reasons: they could tell the Pale King, they weren't sure if they would fit in and they were big enough to just go through the tunnels themselves. They were the Hollow Knight after all, and a Knight was great at everything. Or so they've been told.
They saw light. How long has it been since they last saw it? Perhaps some sort of glow, eons ago. They quickly rushed out, and to their amazement they found themselves in a room they recognized. It was grey, it had a bench and a stag map. No doubt, this was the room from which they started their journey. Yet it was still the same. Had they not been lost for eons down there? Is it possible that it was mere periods? At least they learned two things: They were horrible at anything memory related, and they definitely didn't see in the dark Thankfully, this station provided both things. With one hand they grabbed the lumafly lantern from the wall, with the other they tore down the stag map from the wall. Now they were ready.
They were right, it was so much easier with a map! They didn't even get lost once! It was magical! Who needed soul when they could have maps!?
These where their thoughts as they climbed onto the Stag Station, where they gently put down the map and the lantern. They might need them later.
They exited the station, looking around. There were no moths in sight. They would have sighed if they had a mouth, but they didn't have a mouth. So they settled on a small feeling of annoyance. They made sure it was small, can't have too much emotions going on after all.
Before they could do something stupid, they heard the sound of sleeping. So there was a moth, after all! They quickly climbed up, and entered the tent where the sound was coming from.
In the tent, an old moth was sleeping. The vessel entered, not trying to mask their steps. The moth however was just sleeping. So the vessel probed them with their fingers. To this they woke up.
"What is it?" they asked sleepily, not even looking at the offender.
"..." The vessel wanted to, but they could not speak.
Hearing the silence, the moth turned towards them. Her tiny mouth curled into a small.
"Oh, what a surprise! What would the mighty Pure Vessel want to do with an old moth like me?"
At this point in time, the vessel realized that they couldn't communicate. They didn't have paper to write, and they had no voice to cry suffering. So they just looked at the old moth, pointed at the place their mouth should have been, and drew a little 'x' in the air. They hoped it was an understandable expression.
"Ah, you cannot speak, can you child of Wyrm?" They shook their head in affirmation.
"Well then, let me try to guess what this is about: Because of you being here, I assume that the Radiance is no longer within you." The nodded. The moth was smart. This was a boon if they decided to help him. Or maybe a she? Her voice sounded feminine.
"So, you want my help? Because I am a moth, yes?" They nodded again. It was just as she described it.
"Oh I would be happy to help!" she spoke again cheerfully. This was going way better than he expected!
"Well then, pick me up and let's go!" she said. This caused the Pure Vessel to stop. 'Pick me up'? Did he hear that right? He was the Hollow Knight, not some mule!
"You see, all this time I spent here, my old and frail body can hardly move. I can't very well help you if I can't even move now, can I?" she asked again. The Pure Vessel realized that they let their pride come before their mission. Their pride. It was getting worse and worse, more emotions by the minute. If he did not solve the problem soon, he would perhaps be unable to go back to his proper ways. He picked up the moth, she sat against his back.
He looked back and moved his head, to indicate to her that he wanted directions.
"Oh it's not that simple, you see. We must search through dreams, for us to find her we must look for her light, not her body." Yes, now that she said it like that it made perfect sense. What a fool he has been, searching for a physical body for the goddess of dreams. The Seer spoke the truth, he must search through the dreams themselves.
No matter, they were the Pure Vessel, and they were capable of anything, nothing will stop them, not emotions, not the barrier between the real world and the dream world, and certainly not the Radiance.
- POV change -
The Radiance decided that it was time, they should leave the Abyss, to start the journey to a new home. This was easier said then done however. The vessels were eager enough to follow her directions, but their jumping skills needed some polish. Thankfully, there were no one here to disturb them, so they could practice in peace.
She even gave them wings, made from essence, to help them. Slowly, all of the vessels learned the ins and outs of jumping. She watched from above, standing at the platform at the top, staring at the door, thinking about a way to open it.
She could make a King's Brand out of essence, and use it to open the door, but she would have to be outside for that. However, she could still use this idea, she just had to be smart about it: She used the essence outside, creating a King's Brand there, and moving it towards themselves which was coincidentally the exact way into the door's lock. She went out, mindful to leave her light behind so the little ones knew she didn't leave them. So she went, and stopped just short of the entrance to the Basin. This was basically the place the King lived, no one else lived there, just him and his butlers. She needed a distraction.
One little known fact about was that because of her domain, she just knew what bugs dreamt about. This is how she knew the exact map of the kingdom, through the dreams of the bugs that recounted them. But she also knew the desires of every bug in Hallownest. Most of them were pretty standard, greed, love nothing extraordinary. Except for a couple of them, among which was the Pale King. He didn't dream about the Queen, sometimes he did about the kingdom, but the thing he dreamt about most was buzzsaws. He just loved them, more than his wife, more than his kingdom, more than anything. She knew exactly what to do.
She concentrated to the area outside the lift, on the bridge, and using a lot of essence, she materialized a couple things from the dreamworld: A couple merchant bugs, and a lot of buzzsaws. Thousands of buzzsaws, the exact ones the Pale King dreamt about. She also created a sign, that read "BUZZSAW SALE PAY FOR 1 GET 2!". She was satisfied with herself. One of the butlers already saw them, and was already running of to inform the King.
She used the created bugs' senses, not to strongly because then their eyes glow with orange, but strongly enough so that she was generally aware of the environment. Using this, she saw that a bug just fell down in the elevator shaft. She used on of the bodies to move towards it, and she found that it was none other than one of those pesky dreamers the Wyrm used to create the binding on the Black Egg. She used the body to move closer, and she stepped into the shaft just as the bug lost conciousness. His mind was already in the dream world, and with the connection to the dream world being so strong here thanks to her little illusion, she was able to transport his body into the dream world as well. Now he won't be able to inform the King about the fact that she left.
It was showtime however, as he heard the entire White Palace moving out, entering the bridge, and the Pale King already bartering with the salesbug.
Plan: success.
She left the dream constructs to themselves, they could fulfill their purpose without her.
She opened her eyes again, only to see the vessels crowded around her. She was amused by this, all of them just stood like statues, looking at her.
"Well, little ones, you managed to climb up?" she asked.
After this question they became much more lively, throwing their hands up, and initiating a giant group hug.
After they broke up, she told them:
"This is very important little ones: Be quiet now, we are going to get out of the Basin." The vessels dutifully followed the instructions, climbing out quietly, and without fail, showcasing their qucik mastery over their wings. This way, they quickly reached the tram, and honestly, she was surprised how the otherwise brilliant strategic mind of the Pale King left him alone when it was about buzzsaws. Not one bug was left behind.
She quickly created a tram pass using essence, and they boarded it. Well, most of them. A lot of vessels also just sit at the top, it wasn't planned to accomodate passengers the number of the vessels. She wasn't willing to go 2 ways however, so she sacrificed a bit of comfort for safety. They quickly arrived in the Kingdom's Edge, and after they got out, she summoned a small sword, and used it to push the button on the tram, in order to send it back to the Basin.
She was proud of herself. She got all of them out of there, and the Pale bastard, didn't even suspect that anything was wrong. She was quite satisfied indeed.
AN: Phew that was massive, longer than the first two chapters combined! I hope you liked it, I know there isn't much fluff in this one as before, and I intend to remedy that in the next chapters.
I hope you like the direction I took with the dreamers, well, with Herrah and Monomon, I didn't know what to do with Lurien, so I just removed him from the picture. I hope you liked how I switched between different perspectives, I like to think that it wasn't too bothersome to read the same thing twice both from Quirrel's and Monomon's perspective.
Thanks Anon, Guest and Siphon 117 for your kind words.
I'm not sure when I'll update next, I imagine sometime in the weekend. Normal school restarts tomorrow, so I'm not going to have as much time for writing as before.