A/N: Let's take a break from the doom and gloom of the abyss, and take a deeper look at what's happening at the white palace.

Disclaimer: I would only say I owned Hollow Knight if it was April 1st

The Pale King was speechless.

Despite popular belief, he was not omniscient. His legendary foresight gave him information of all possible futures, as the future itself was a fickle thing; never staying the same and always shifting. Depending on what variables occurred, different timelines would be born. Even him looking into the future could affect what outcomes might have happened.

Now normally, one would think he would then prepare for every situation. Except it wasn't so simple. Every little variable creates a new future. If somebody trips on a rock, if somebody stumbles over their words, if the wind blows a different way for a single second in the howling cliffs, they all make a new future.

Over the years, he had learned how to filter useful information from his foresight, but being able to look over each and every universe required a patience, desperation and insanity even he did not have. And even if he did, it's not like the entire world stopped when he looked into the future. The tides of time constantly move, meaning by the time he would find the future that would save his kingdom, everything would most likely have already turned to dust.

The future he saw with the highest chance of success was the creation of the Pure Vessel, as well as using the dreamers as seals. It was for this reason that he struck the deal with Herrah before he even began creating the vessels.

And it was due to him blindly following his foresight that he never truly saw what was in front of him. He should have seen that the vessel wasn't hollow. But no. He missed the obvious signs, ignored the blatant evidence, and made excuses for the vessel's actions. But he should've known. If one vessel could get past his screening, why couldn't another?

He was broken out of his train of thought as Herrah practically lifted him up and dragged him down the hall. Looking over her shoulder, he could still see the vessel smothering Hornet, who was still desperately trying to escape the vessel's cuddle.

Once they rounded the corner, Herrah unceremoniously plopped him onto his feet.

"The vessel that's supposed to seal the infection, the one you said was hollow! The one you promised was hollow!" She hissed quietly.

"I… they… but…they are!" He finished weakly, but even he didn't believe it.

Herrah did not seem amused. "Then tell me why they're coddling their sister if they're as hollow as you claim."

The Pale King desperately wished he had foreseen this future. Otherwise, he wouldn't have stuttered like an incompetent buffoon.

"I… bu-... they… the ves-... Hornet… sh-... uhh… I… I don't know..?" He finally managed.

If the situation wasn't so serious, he was sure Herrah would've mocked him and said something along the lines of "Aren't Hallownest bugs supposed to be sophisticated and educated beings? How would they react if they knew their king couldn't even speak a sentence?"

Fortunately, Herrah was too busy fuming at him to mock him. Or unfortunately, depending on if she decided to get violent.

"Look, I made a deal with you." She growled. "And you still have yet to fill the rest of your end. End the infection before any in Deepnest get infected, and make sure the next vessel is truly hollow. I'm not sacrificing myself for a plan that won't work."

She turned sharply on her heel and stormed off, most likely to blow off steam on one of the kingsmould. He'd have to remember to fix the one she breaks later. Or ten. Who knows.

He turned back to the siblings. Hornet had miraculously pulled off an escape, but instead of running away like one might think, she was standing in front of the vessel with her arms outstretched towards them and doing tiny hops. The vessel obliged, picking her up again and holding her head to their shoulder like a grub.

The Pale King, a legendary wyrm and a leader to hundreds of bugs, sighed. He would never understand children.

Herrah stormed through the gardens, looking for one of the King's experiments to smash up. The royal retainers shrunk away in the halls, having already learned what happened to anything in her way when she got like this.

It took weeks to clean all the blood out of the white carpet.

Herrah had somehow managed to get to the courtyard in her clouded fury. She couldn't quite remember the path she had taken, and she didn't really care.

'That insolent wyrm! He had one job! One! And he messed it up! And to think I was going to waste my life on a desperate gambit that wouldn't have even worked! In fact, that was probably his plan all along! To get me out of the picture, and when the sealing didn't work, he would do it properly the second time and take all the credit! He would probably use an excuse like "The beasts of the Deepnest probably had faulty seals!" And then he would groom Hornet to be a compliant leader of Deepnest, so he could basically take it over!' Herrah's thoughts rambled on, becoming more incoherent the longer she stormed on.

Finally, she was snapped out of it when she stumbled upon the gazebo at the center of the courtyard. Within it was the White Lady, peacefully drinking her afternoon tea. She turned around and noticed Herrah standing there awkwardly. She motioned Herrah over.

"Come, sit. Have some tea with me." She insisted.

Herrah complied, ungracefully dropping into the seat. Her relationship with the Queen of Hallownest wasn't nearly as bad as with the King. Mostly due to the fact that the Queen was a much more reasonable bug (plant?) and had infinitely better social skills than the wyrm that prefers to hide away in his workshop all day.

Herrah sipped the tea, before sighing in content. The White Lady always made the best, the herbs usually personally grown and brewed by her. In the past, Herrah had wondered if it was technically cannibalism but decided it would be better to not ask.

"You're angry." The White Lady said. It wasn't a question.

Herrah sighed.

"It's my husband again, isn't it." The White Lady said again.

She didn't need to ask. The only time Herrah was like this in the palace was because something unfavorable happened between her and the king.

"It's the vessel," Herrah admitted. The White Lady seemed to stiffen a little, but Herrah didn't notice. "They aren't hollow."

The White Lady froze, the cup she was holding raised mid-sip. Slowly, as if the table would shatter if she wasn't careful, she put the cup back onto the table.

The White Lady leaned in. "How do you know?"

Herrah snorted. "I don't know how that stupid wyrm didn't see it. I found out in the first fifteen seconds of meeting them. I mean, they practically cuddled Hornet into oblivion when they first saw her! I'm pretty sure they actually saw her as a little sister, looking back on it..." Herrah finished to herself.

"So they aren't hollow." Herrah thought she saw a spark of hope in the White Lady's eyes, but it disappeared when she blinked.

Shaking her head, Herrah continued her rant.

"I mean, the king had ONE job! ONE job! And it was to supply a hollow vessel to contain the infection! And what did he do? He messed up! It's our lives on the line here! We will dream until our deaths once the seals activate, it's not like we can just wake up and try again if things go to shit! He could've sacrificed the rest of our lives for nothing if nobody noticed they weren't hollow!" Herrah ranted. Finished, she leaned back in the chair.

Closing her eyes, Herrah took a deep breath in.

Deep breath out.

Deep breath in.

Deep breath out.

"Better?" The White Lady asked.

"Very." Herrah responded, opening her eyes. "Thank you for listening, I do always appreciate it."

The White Lady let out a small laugh.

"Don't worry. I understand that my wyrm can be a bit stubborn sometimes."

Herrah laughed as well.

"That's a bit of an understatement. I still don't know why you married him."

The White Lady shook her head fondly.

"Love waits for no one. And speaking of waiting, the Pale Gift should be looking for you now, shouldn't she?" The White Lady asked, not seeing the red ball of energy that normally accompanied the other queen.

Herrah shot up.

"Oh crap, you're right! Sorry, I have to go!" Herrah shouted back as she ran back into the palace. The retainers quickly parted as she ran by, afraid of being trampled by the hulking figure.

The White Lady waved back with a smile, before standing up herself. She needed to have a talk with her wyrm, after all.

The Pale King busied himself in his workshop. His hands needed to do something, but he couldn't really put his mind to it. He fiddled with mechanical parts in his hands as he got lost in his thoughts.

He knew his plan always had that chance of failure. That this timeline could be one of the many which end in destruction. He acknowledged as much when he began the vessel project. But looking back now, seeing how all his sacrifices and efforts will probably be in vain, he felt empty. Lost. He didn't know what to do.

The door that leads to the abyss is sealed. Sure, he can go back and open it, but he wasn't sure if he could bring himself to. And even if he did, what awaited him there? The dead remains of his children, reminders of his failure as both a king and a father? There were probably more vessels alive, but he wasn't sure if any of them were pure.

In fact, he doubted any of them were. The void itself has a will, he wasn't sure why he had assumed it would hollow out his children. If only his foresight was as good as his hindsight. Maybe then he wouldn't have made so many mistakes.

Mistakes… he thought back to the vessel. What was he going to do with it? Knowing it wasn't hollow… he couldn't just kill it. A dark part of his mind questioned why he only began sticking to his morals now, but he squashed it. He needed to focus on what to do next, and not get stuck on the past.

His train of thought was broken as the door to his dark workshop was opened. He always kept it darker in here and suppressed his own natural light as much as possible. While being in the bright palace was nice, something about the change of pace in lighting felt calming.

The White Lady carefully walked in, before closing the door behind her. She took measured steps towards him, before carefully settling herself into the seat across from him. Normally, his wife visiting him in his workshop was no surprising event. She always came to check up on him and make sure he wasn't overworking himself. But his gut told him this was about something else.

"So Herrah told me something interesting." The White Lady started.

Somebody should get him a phone, because he called it. Sighing, he set down whatever mechanical device he was holding and gave her his full attention.

"She said they weren't quite hollow." She paused, waiting for a reaction. There was none, so she continued.

"Do you know what that means?" She prodded.

"We must find another solution." The King answered automatically. Was this a test? Was he being tested?

The White Lady sighed.

"Yes, but the vessel. What does this mean about them?" She prodded again.

The Pale King didn't have an answer. That was what he was trying to figure out just now. He didn't know. He could always… bring it back to the abyss. From what he has seen, the siblings have some sort of kinship. And it's not like he'll kill them. He'd just reunite them with the rest of their siblings. They'd probably be happier there.

"The most reasonable course of action would be to bring it back to its birthplace." The King answered.

It was only milliseconds after the words left his mouth that he realised he should've phrased that better.

Instantly, the White Lady's eyes went frigid. Others would not have noticed, but after living with his wife for ages, he could see even her tells.

"So you would send them back to die on top of the corpses of its kin, and you see that as a mercy? It seems I've overestimated you." The White Lady shot.

The Pale King scrambled to correct himself.

"N-No! That's not what I meant!" He stuttered.

The White Lady bulldozed on. "So knowing that the vessel isn't hollow… you would still kill them? Knowing they have a mind of their own? Knowing they're practically our child? Knowing we can and should raise them as our own?" She didn't raise her voice, but the words stung like venom.

"I…" The King was at a loss.

He should've seen it. The White Lady always wanted a child, but he always denied her. When she fawned over the vessel, he didn't want to give her false hope. He told her from the very start they were hollow, that the child that could have been was dead, but she didn't listen. His insistence that they were pure only seemed to drive her away over time, but he always focused more on saving his kingdom. It seemed it was he who was the blind one.

The White Lady sighed.

"Forget it. Go back to tinkering with your little machines. It seems like that is the most important to you after all." She said walking towards the door.

He could only reach out a hand to their retreating back, unable to manage any sound as they closed the door. His hand slowly drifted back down to his side, and he sat there for a while. Slowly, he picked up a machine with shaking hands and continued to tinker with it.

Water started leaking from somewhere, dripping down his face and onto the floor, but he ignored it.

Herrah stormed the castle. Not through a siege, but it may as well have been to the retainers in the halls. They were cowering as she marched through the halls.

"Hornet!" She bellowed.

She's been searching for her little ball of energy for the past thirty minutes. If this was in Deepnest, she would have just checked her favorite hiding spots. But the palace was huge, and Hornet was small. She could be anywhere. Inside the kitchen cabinet, inside the wyrm's bedroom, or even in one of the thousand bushes she's walked past.

But instead, she found her daughter in the most confusing yet convenient place.

The vessel walked around the corner, dawning over a familiar and somehow now pacified ball of red cloth. They looked up and noticed her, but Herrah was focused on what was in their hands. She just stood there, shocked.

The only times Hornet ever fell asleep in someone's arm was when Hornet just hatched, or when she or Midwife was holding her. Otherwise, she would bite, scream, scratch, hiss, wiggle, squirm, attack, headbutt and insult the poor bug until she intervened. (Unless it was a retainer. She would just watch it happen in amusement if it was one of them.)

Midwife had commented how Hornet was just like her mother. She didn't deny it.

So you can understand why Herrah was flabbergasted when the bug Hornet met an hour ago was somehow able to lull her to sleep. Sure, they were siblings, but the Pale King was Hornet's father yet she still bit him (She laughed her ass off at him after that). In fact, Herrah saw Hornet squirming for her life in the vessel's grip before. What had happened while she was gone?

She hadn't noticed that the vessel had gotten close. Their neck was craned upwards to meet her gaze due to her impressive stature. Carefully pulling Hornet's sleeping head away from their shoulder, they held their little sister out to Herrah like an offering.

Taking equal care to not wake up Hornet, she carefully used her upper two right arms and secured Hornet against her. Hornet snuggled up to Herrah's neck, getting into a comfortable position and snoozing away.

The vessel didn't leave after delivering Hornet. In fact, they looked up at her expectantly. Did they want a prize? They reached out with both arms upwards towards her, and she quickly realised what they desired.

She hesitated. They weren't technically… her child. But honestly, she kind of felt bad for them. She knew for a fact that wyrm wasn't going to be a parental figure any time soon, and if not for the White Lady, they most likely wouldn't have had any at all. She might as well show some familial love. After all, they'll probably be with Hornet a lot. They might as well be an aunt or something.

It was with this thought that they carefully bent down and grabbed the vessel with her three left arms and secured them to her chest. They snuggled in and fell into what might have been sleep.

Herrah sighed. She couldn't know how the Pale King could have missed such obvious signs. The vessel wasn't even trying to hide it! She guessed being able to see the future always made the present elude him.

The vessel looked up at her with those adorably large, round eyes when she stopped walking. Huffing amusedly, she nudged them back into her chest. But still, how could the Pale King have not seen such an adorable little vessel.

When the Pale King had heard what the White Lady was doing, he practically sprinted down the halls looking for his wife. And when he had finally found her, he followed the White Lady down every hall trying to convince her to change her mind.

"Please don't do this." The Pale King begged.

The White Lady ignored him, instead motioning for a retainer.

"Tell sir Dryya to meet me at my gardens. Thank you." She ordered gently. The retainer bowed and hurried off.

"Please think over this again, this can't be the best solution!" The Pale King pleaded.

The White Lady finally turned and faced him.

"I do think this is the best situation. Getting some time away from each other may be the best, it may let us clear our heads a little." Her words were spoken calmly, but he could hear the hidden steel in them.

"And when will you be back?" The Pale King asked hesitantly.

The White Lady smiled pleasantly.

"Consult your foresight. You do that for every problem, don't you?"

He knew it. She knew it. They both knew the other knew it. The White Lady wasn't returning in the foreseeable future. After all, he had foreseen it. It's why he'd been working so desperately to try and get her to stop, to try and reconsider her eternity of self-isolation.

But the White Lady was dead set on this. There was no changing her mind. But even if it wasn't with him… maybe he could give her a little company.

"Bring our… child with you." He struggled to get the words out.

The White Lady froze in her spot. Good, he had her attention.

"We both know I would not be the best father, and I wouldn't be able to give it-them" He corrected quickly. "the attention they deserve. They would be better growing up around a loving parent."

The White Lady slowly turned around. For a second, he felt a spark of hope. But that was quickly squashed by the Lady's icy words.

"It seems I overestimated you again. Truly, you would shove the child onto the other parent just as they're leaving. Dodging responsibility." Before he could get a word in otherwise, she turned back and continued down the hall. "Fine, then. You're right. You won't be a good father, so I'll take care of them for now."

She paused and turned her head back. "I'm fine with being alone and raising our child for however long it takes. When you are ready to be a father, come find me."

With that, she walked off.

(This would be a nice place to end the chapter but there is still one more scene so hang tight)

Herrah was trying to figure out who to hand off the vessel to when she found the White Lady roaming the halls desperately. The White Lady noticed her, and her eyes brightened up quickly.

"Ah! There you are!" The White Lady exclaimed, quickly walking forward and swiftly picking the vessel from her arms.

The vessel groggily rubbed their eyes from the commotion, before noticing who was holding them and quickly snuggled into her chest and fell back asleep. Herrah internally cooed at the cute display.

"Herrah, what a surprise. I didn't think you'd be the one to take care of them. My thanks." The White Lady bowed.

"A-Ah, no need for that. The vessel was actually keeping Hornet in check for me. Who knows what kind of havoc could have occurred otherwise." Herrah laughed.

The White Lady laughed as well. "Yes, she does take after you." Herrah took absolutely no offense to that. "But that's curious. I didn't realise Hornet was so close to her sibling. She tried to eat me when I picked her up." The White Lady had a bite mark on her root for the whole day the first time she met Hornet.

Herrah shrugged. "Me neither, but maybe it's just a sibling thing."

The White Lady hummed in thought. "Maybe…"

They walked together in silence, all the way to the tram station. It was only when Herrah realised that the White Lady wasn't simply accompanying her out that she finally turned questioningly.

"You're leaving?" Herrah questioned.

"Yes." The White Lady responded curtly.

Herrah could practically taste the awkward atmosphere as she called the tram to Deepnest.

"Pale King?" Herrah guessed.

"Mhm." White Lady confirmed

Herrah felt like this was a reversal of earlier today.

"What did he do this time?" Herrah questioned.

The White Lady scowled for a second before schooling her features again.

"He wanted to throw away our child." The White Lady bristled.

Oh shit, that was worse than she would've thought.

"Oh, that asshole." Herrah sympathised.

"So now I'm leaving to my garden until he can get the spine to finally become a decent father. And the best part? He practically shoved the vessel onto me at the last second, as if to say 'I might as well try to get rid of them as well.'" The White Lady hissed, gripping the vessel in their arms a bit tighter before easing up again.

Herrah had never truly seen the White Lady angry, but she guessed this was an appropriate situation. The tram rumbled into sight, and both mothers stepped in. Fortunately, there was nobody here to listen to the two queens gossip.

After all, this tram was basically exclusively used for royal business. It connected to Deepnest, which no Hallownest bug wanted to go to, the Kingdom's Edge, which was completely empty bar the fools, and the ancient basin. The latter would be useful, except for the fact that one would have to travel from one of the connecting stations. Essentially, it's empty.

"Good move on your part. I just wish I could've been there to see him squirm." Herrah smirked.

"Mhm. So I'm going to travel through Deepnest to my gardens. I'm a bit too large to be carried by stag." The White Lady admitted.

Herrah could relate to her pain.

"You do not mind me going through Deepnest, do you? I can always find an alternate route." The White Lady asked.

Herrah quickly shook her head. "No! No, it's fine. In fact, Deepnest is quite dangerous. I can accompany you through to your garden if you would like."

White Lady looked surprised. "Are you sure? I wouldn't want to be a bother."

Herrah laughed. "I can't exactly tell Hornet that her new favorite brother was mauled by a dirt carver because I wasn't there, now can I?" She looked down at her daughter fondly as she said that.

White Lady laughed as well. "No, she would probably throw a fit. Break lots of things, most likely."

Herrah smiled. "Besides, that little vessel doesn't deserve to experience the horrors of Deepnest. My presence will most likely ward off most predators."

"Words cannot express how thankful I am, Herrah." The White Lady thanked.

Herrah waved her off. "It's fine. You've shown me plenty of hospitality back at the palace. Besides, I kind of have a soft spot for them. They're so adorable." Herrah cooed at the small vessel in the White Lady's arms.

Seeing the display of affection that the vessel would never experience from their father, the White Lady's face dropped a bit before a smile crept back into her expression.

"Say… would you be interested in co-parenting?" The White Lady asked.

Herrah looked on confused, so the White Lady elaborated.

"We help each other raise the children. After all, being a single parent is hard work, especially since you still have a kingdom to run. We won't be able to rely on the Pale King to help out, and the children deserve to have multiple parental figures in their lives. And the children will get to see each other often since you'll drop by for visits more. Also, if your work is piled up, you could drop Hornet off at my garden any time." White Lady persuaded.

The more Herrah heard, the more she was convinced. Herrah also wanted Hornet to have someone for her when she went to sleep, so this solved that problem as well. There was just one thing…

"So you left one monarch, and now you're trying to woo the enemy monarch into marriage? No wonder you're the god of fertility. Hornet might get a younger sibling soon." Herrah teased.

The White Lady laughed.

A/N: Damn, WL went off on PK with that "Passive-aggressive" mode. Also, I had to add "Family Drama" as a tag just for this chapter.

I'm not sure if I used the term "co-parenting" correctly but whatever.

Also, holy shit this was supposed to be like an interlude that I went way too deep into. It was like "Time to write a 500 word chapt-oops, I accidentally made doubled my word count."

Also, am I going to ship Herrah and WL? Who knows? ;3