Characters: The Pale King/The White Lady, The Pure Vessel, Broken Vessel
Word Count: 9.126
Summary: Debating on whether Pendry is ready to open the Abyss or not, both him and Hollow find something from their past...
(Author's note: Do you remember when I told you that I want to let a few of the Vessels appear? When I said that, I had this chapter in mind. It has been in my notes for ages and I am glad that I finally could write it down, but dear god, was it DIFFICULT.
I have to blame Hollow, for they made the change into an angsty teen masterfully and now often refuse to cooperate with me. I almost miss little dependent Hollow that couldn't decide anything for themselves. Almost.
The flashback at the beginning I actually wrote as a stand-alone writing exercise, but I liked it enough to integrate into this chapter.
Warnings for head trauma, self-harm, self-loathing and self-hatred in this chapter as well as mentions of child death and child abandonment.)
One. Just one. Only one vessel had managed to climb out of the Abyss, now standing in front of him, silent, unmoving, their dark eye holes seeming to look straight through him.
Their body, made of void, devouring even the light that shone from his body, with a white mask, jagged horns growing out of it, cloak-like wings engulfed around their body. They just stood there and waited. A vessel. No, more than just a vessel. His Pure Vessel.
The Pale King had hoped that a few more would have made it out. However, as usual, a good deal of them had never hatched. A few of them hadn't lived long enough to even try the ascend and the rest... they hadn't made it, losing grip, making a misstep, falling down, back into the Abyss. Some of them tried to help their siblings and the Pale King had to hope that they wouldn't make it up there, because he would have to send them away, compassion was a sign of feelings and impureness. It was the reason why he himself couldn't help them, showing them compassion would have tainted them.
The Pale King watched the scene a little while longer and then sighed, turning around, barely able to stomach the cruel scene in front of him any longer. "Come.", he said to the vessel and walked towards the exit of the Abyss. After a few seconds, he heard the sound of tiny feet and the both of them emerged out of the Abyss.
Now that it was over, there was only one thing left to do. The Pale King raised a hand and concentrated the power of the King's Brand on the door, a surge of soul shooting out and marking the door with the brand itself, sealing it shut for all eternity.
Then, he raised a tablet from the ground and inscribed the following words into it:
"Our pure vessel has ascended. Beyond lies only the regret of its creation.
We shall enter this place no longer."
Once the deed was done, he let out another sigh. It was over. The Pure Vessel was with him. He could put an end to the infection once and for all, once the Pure Vessel had been trained into prime form, strong enough to contain the Radiance.
Said Pure Vessel hadn't done anything but stand there, waiting for its next order. It may have been the only one, but it truly was the right choice. It showed not a single sign of thought or feelings. It was perfect.
"Come.", he said another time and walked back to the White Palace, hoping that he could leave the regrets of the experimentation behind him with the sealing of the Abyss. He wasn't so sure if he could manage. A thousand dead children wasn't something easily forgotten.
No cost too great.
It was the mantra he had told himself over and over again to justify his actions. Now, with the Pure Vessel present, his goal had become so close. Once they were in the palace, he would introduce them to the knights and start their training. They should train every day until they had perfected their nail art and he would have to teach them how to handle soul once their nail training was complete.
The White Palace came into view and the Pale King already prepared the words he wanted to say to his knights when he turned around to look at this vessel and saw how dirty they were. After climbing out of the Abyss, of course they wouldn't look too presentable.
"You need to have a bath first.", he said, the Pure Vessel slightly reacting at the sound of his voice, just a tiny faint cock of the head, before staring straight ahead again.
The Pale King led them to the palace bathroom, which housed its own personal hot spring. He didn't turn around once, always hearing the tiny waddling of their feet without fail. Once he was standing in front of the hot spring, he picked the vessel up. They didn't react at all, even not when he flinched at how icy cold their body was. He briefly wondered if it was a good idea to toss them into a hot spring, but got quickly reminded that they had no mind or will.
"Wash yourself.", the Pale King ordered once he had lowered them into the hot water. They just stared at him, but didn't do anything.
Of course, they didn't know what to do. They only acted out of instinct, they needed to learn how to act. The Pale King kneeled down next to the tub and fetched a nearby wash cloth. "Washing yourself is getting rid of any grime or dirt on your body.", he said as he polished their shell, scrubbed the jagged part of their horns, which had a particular large amount of dirt and wiped it over their void body, surprised that the wash cloth didn't get stained with void.
The Pure Vessel just sat in the tub, letting it happen, staring at him with this large eyeholes, some bubbles forming and laying on their head and horns from the soap. It looked nothing short but adorable.
Right here, right at that moment, the Pale King felt pride swell up in his chest. That there was his Pure Vessel. The solution against the infection. The hero of Hallownest. "You will be the one who will seal the light that plagues their dream.", he said. "My Pure Vessel..."
He lifted them out of the tub and wrapped them into a towel, embracing them in his arm. "My... knight."
Pendry stood in front of the door that sealed the Abyss, emerging from the memory.
He had gotten attached so quickly, hadn't he? He hadn't managed to not see them as his child, not after he had thought that they had been the only one to make it, not after he had thought that all his other children were dead.
Only now he knew that it wasn't the case. At least one of Hollow's siblings had made it... and he had locked them in the Abyss. He wondered if they were still alive? What would he see when he opened this door? Would they be the only one? He vaguely remembered having seen a vessel in the Nosk's den... but that one seemed to have turned into prey. He shuddered at the thought. If the vessels had found a way out, how many of them would wander Hallownest? How many of them had he failed as their creator and father?
Pendry raised his hand in an attempt to touch the door and then sighed, lowering it again, looking at the ground. The process repeated itself a few times until his tail was spiralled around his legs and his wings drooped down, almost hitting the floor. With so much anxiety in his body, he naturally flinched when an ice cold hand touched his shoulder.
He turned his head to look into Hollow's emotionless face, though the way their body seemed to fold into itself he could say that they were concerned... and as anxious as he was. They raised both of their hands, shivering, taking a deep breath to calm themselves and then signed.
"Father... you have been here for hours. Mother is worried about you. I am worried about you. Will you come back before dinner?"
"Hours? It already has been hours?", Pendry rubbed his eyes, suddenly feeling very tired. He had come here in the morning... and apparently it already was afternoon? He had the feeling he had only stood in front of the door for five minutes. "I wasn't even aware..." He continued to stare at the door.
"Why can't you open the door?", Hollow asked, starting to eye up the door as well.
"Because I am... afraid.", Pendry admitted. "I vowed to myself to never enter this place again. All I left there are my regrets... and the corpses of your siblings." His tone and gaze went grim and he felt Hollow flinch at his words. "I... I just wonder... even if the sibling that you talked about is still there, still alive... how will they react to me? Their first memory of me is letting them literally fall into the Abyss..."
Pendry thought that his tail couldn't curl tighter around his legs, but he was proved wrong as his tail curled so tight that it hurt, making him slightly hiss and having to release some pressure by his own volition.
"I can understand you, Father.", Hollow signed. "I let them fall too. I saw them. I could have gone back and helped them, but I left them hanging... All I thought about was that I am the Pure Vessel..."
"It's not your fault.", Pendry sighed. "It's mine. I thought up that plan. I decided to dunk you and your siblings into the void. I knew the costs and I still decided to pay it. I am grateful that you showed me another way, Hollow, but that can't undo what has been done."
He shuddered and raised his hand again. "I should just finally get over it and open this blasted door. I will have to face my regrets sooner or later any-"
Pendry interrupted himself when an extremely loud noise was heard above them. In fact, it sounded like something had blasted apart. With his wings flared out and soul gathering in his fingertips, he whirled around, looking for the threat. Hollow at the other hand, stood there completely rigid... and suddenly started to run, tumbling and falling over, then simply picking themselves back up and running again, without even giving a single glance to Pendry.
"What in Hallownest...?", Pendry decided to abandon the door to the Abyss for now and follow Hollow, spreading his wings to catch up to them, for they had started to teleport. He found them in a cave complex just above the Abyss, not far from the Palace actually. Thankfully they didn't appear to be hurt, though what they were carrying in their arms asked for Pendry's full attention.
They were carrying a vessel in their arms, one of their siblings, one of his children... but they looked very much very clearly dead. Their head was blasted open and Pendry had to notice with horror that infection was seeping out of the wound... the Radiance managed to kill one of his children that had somehow survived... what a tragedy... at the moment they had found one of Hollow's siblings, one of his children, it was already too late...
Or so he thought, but the vessel still moved! Pendry was over at Hollow's side in an instance, providing the vessel with the earlier gathered soul, all formed into a healing spell, though that wouldn't help much, for he could see void intermingling with the infection.
"This is bad... this is very bad...", he murmured. "Hollow, we need to bring them into the palace. I need to treat them right away."
Hollow nodded and the both of them made their hasty way to the palace. Luckily it was so close, Pendry could literally feel the life of this small child draining through his fingertips as he provided them with soul, simply so that they would not die.
Having arrived at the palace, Pendry made his way to one of the unoccupied operating rooms, not sending for any of the medical staff, for they wouldn't know how to handle a void being. He was the expert in this field. He took the half dead vessel from Hollow's arm and gently laid them onto the table, assessing the damage.
The vessel was smaller than Hollow, but bigger as they had been after hatching, maybe already had managed to transform once. They had long horns growing out one side of their head... and a big hole on their other side.
Let's see... he would need to clean out the infection, replace the void they lost and make sure that their shade couldn't escape. He wouldn't be able to repair their shell, for the damage there was too great, no amount of soul would be able to fix that. They had to find a different solution for it, but first he needed to save their life, which drained out of them with every passing second.
"Hollow, please get me some hot spring water, there is always some around in these rooms, some scissors and a dabber."
As Hollow only looked at him, completely rigid, Pendry realized that he maybe should describe the unfamiliar word to them. "A dabber looks like cotton. I need it to clean out the infection."
Hollow managed to break out of their rigidness and nodded, then rushed around the room, knocking a few things over as they stumbled about. Pendry probably just should have gotten the items himself, but he was busy providing the vessel with a constant stream of soul, so that they wouldn't die in front of him.
When Hollow came back with all the requested items, Pendry freed his two extra arms. He would need more than two hands for this. His upper set of arms put the dabber on the scissors, while his lower left arm kept up the soul transfusion and his lower right arm got the hot spring water near.
"Hollow, could you hold their head for me, please?", Pendry asked. "Make sure that it won't get jostled why I clean out the infection."
While Hollow was shaking a bit, they managed to calm themselves down, taking a deep breath and both of their arms appeared underneath the vessel's white mask. Once they had steadied their sibling, Pendry started the slow process of cleaning out the infection goo out of the wound. While it was easily enough cleaned out of the broken shell, the moment he put the dabber into the void, that felt kinda liquid, it got stained with the darkness of the void and the brightness of the infection. In fact, the two colours seemed to fight each other. The more Pendry worked on the wound, the more the spring water got stained with it, it's normal milky white colour turning into an orange black.
Once the last trace of the infection was gone, Pendry put the last dabber away, not even recognizing the small pile of stained dabber that the process had fabricated. Now he would need to get the void filled... and then bandage the whole thing. He scanned the room for some bandages and was delighted to see that there were some right under the operation table. As he grabbed for it, he spoke to Hollow.
"Hollow, please get me some void, as quick as you can.", he said. The sooner he could seal the wound and bandage the broken mask of the vessel, the better. He was rather surprised when Hollow provided the void pretty much two seconds later... and gasped when he saw void blood running down a wound at their left arm, their nail in their right hand clearly the cause of it.
"I didn't mean like that, from my workshop!", Pendry scolded them, still accepting the void they so generously donated to their sibling, handing them a dabber on their own. "Press that on the wound, we take care of the bleeding later."
Under his skillful hands, Pendry formed the void until it was a small ball, putting it into the hole of the vessel's mask. He held his breath as he waited... for when it was too late, then the shade would be unleashed and they would be lost. He was lucky though, for the ball of void was absorbed into their body. Pendry let out the breath and prepared some bandages that he wrapped around the hole, layer after layer, until he was sure that not even void could come out of such a tightly wrapped head. He then laid a hand on the vessel and checked the flow of their soul.
"...They seem to be stable, good.", he said, then looked at Hollow who stood next to the table, pressing the dabber on the wound, void blood dripping on the floor.
"Let me see your wound.", he said. "After I take care of it, we should get your sibling into a bed."
Hollow nodded and removed the dapper, which was pitch black with void. Pendry cringed, they had done quite a number on that arm, a large gash that was bleeding and stained the floor even more. He got a needle and some suture ready. "This will need stitches...", he sighed. Hollow didn't say anything (of course, with one arm out of commission) and simply let the procedure happen, only flinching a tiny little bit every time Pendry had to pull the suture.
After their wound was stitched shut, he provided them with some bandages and then put his attention on the still unconscious vessel on the operating table.
"I wonder what happened.", he said as he scooped them up, Hollow following him as he went and placed them into a bed in one of the rooms that belonged to the infirmary. After he tucked them in, looking at their small form, all the adrenaline fell off him at once and he pretty much collapsed on the side of their bed, his legs feeling like an Ouma. Hollow was at his side in a second, supporting him, wincing when their hurt arm didn't want to listen to them.
"I am fine, Hollow.", Pendry said, gently shoving them away. "How is your arm feeling? You gave yourself a pretty deep cut..."
Hollow laid one hand on the bandages and looked everywhere but at Pendry's face. Apparently, they felt a bit bad about having harmed themselves. It appeared they hadn't thought straight when Pendry requested for them to get him some void. In hindsight, they must have been in a similar state of panic and stress as himself.
"Just tell me when it hurts too much or starts to bleed again.", Pendry said, looking at the form of the vessel in bed. They didn't move outside of a very slight breathing. At least they were alive, though seeing their stiff mask staring at him without really staring at him... it made Pendry a bit uncomfortable. He quickly looked at Hollow again.
"How did you know what had happened?", he asked. "After we heard the sound, you were off in an instant and you knew exactly where to go."
Hollow tried to raise their arms to sign, but they winced and had to stop. Instead, they got their journal out. After flipping to a new page (not many left, Pendry should get a new one for them soon), they balanced the journal on their knees and wrote.
After they were done, Pendry accepted the journal and read.
"I could hear them cry for help. I can't really explain it... I just knew they needed help and I knew where they were. I could... feel it. Deep inside myself."
Pendry looked at Hollow and then at their sibling. Then he read the sentence again.
"Maybe...", he said. "Maybe it's because of your connection via the void. The void once has been one being, a very very long time ago. I can't eliminate the possibility that you can send signals to each other..."
He gave Hollow the journal back at request and read their answer.
"Maybe...", they wrote. "But I don't know how to do it. I don't think I could do it. Calling for my siblings, I mean."
"It may only happen when in great distress.", Pendry mused. "They probably called for help when their, um, head busted open."
Pendry still asked himself what had happened. There had been infection in the wound, so the Vessel had gotten infected clearly, but... the infection never had killed a bug by blasting them open. That wasn't what the Radiance was going for. Maybe it was because they were one of his children?
"I don't think they will wake up too soon.", Pendry said, looking at them another time. "By the way, Hollow, is this... the one that you saw? Back in the Abyss?"
Hollow looked at their sibling, their gaze especially focussing on their horns, and then shook their head, raising their uninjured arm to point at their horns and then shaking their head again.
"They had different horns?", Pendry asked and Hollow confirmed with a nod.
"So they are a different one?", Pendry asked more to himself, folding his hands in his laps. While this meant that at least one of the vessels had survived, what did that mean for the vessel that Hollow had seen? Had they escaped the Abyss? Were they still in there? Had they fallen to their death shortly after the sealing? Were there more vessels still alive, either in or outside of the Abyss?
He would have to open up the door sooner or later, also because for Grimm's plan to work, they needed a vessel. As he glanced at Hollow's sibling, he doubted that they would be up for the plan. They were too heavily injured and... in lack of a better word, broken.
He didn't even know how they would react to him. As far as he knew, they had all the right to hate him and leave right away (even though he had to prevent it, with an injury like that, they wouldn't get far anyway). For now, he had to wait until they woke up. Questioning them could shed some light into the mystery of how they escaped the Abyss.
Pendry was brought out of his thoughts when Hollow's cold hand touched his shoulder. He turned his attention to them and read what they wrote in their journal: "Sibling must be hungry when they wake. I'll organize some food for them."
"Alright, Hollow.", Pendry said. "I am staying here. Should you run into your mother, you can send her here as well."
Hollow nodded and then left the room, leaving Pendry and the unconscious unnamed vessel alone.
Pendry tried to look at them a few times, but had to give up every time when he saw their soulless stare. Instead, he let his gaze wander through the room. It stopped when he saw his reflection in a mirror. Why was there even a mirror in this room? Maybe it was needed for easier treatment of wounds. Pendry got up and approached the mirror, looking in his own face.
That was his face. The face of the king of Hallownest. Also the face of a murderer. The face of a father who had abandoned his own children. The face of a failure! The face of someone who somehow managed to make every single bad decision despite possessing the gift of foresight!
There was a loud crack to hear and Pendry vaguely noticed that he had used a spell on the mirror, so that the glass had cracked and splintered, warping his image. That was a much more accurate representation of his mind. He noticed that he was breathing heavily... and then he noticed some blood dripping down his right hand. When had he cut himself...?
Focusing some soul took care of the wound easily. While Pendry wanted to go back to the bed to keep watch over the nameless sibling, he felt unable to move, unable to take his gaze away from the splintered mirror. He didn't notice the movement behind him, feeling that it was just movement of his own reflection in the broken mirror, so that he flinched when something icy cold suddenly hugged his leg.
Confused, he looked down to see the vessel there. That was... the least reaction he had expected from them, though right at the moment he was more concerned about their injuries.
"You shouldn't be out of bed already.", he spoke. "Your head exploded."
That was certainly not the right thing to say to a child that had just nearly died from severe head trauma, but that was all that managed to come out and sound somewhat naturally. Pendry just wasn't cut for this. He should have sent for Rydellia right away, instead of telling Hollow to tell her to come if they ran into her by chance.
The child looked up at Pendry and they seemed to shiver, still hugging his leg. Pendry started to feel more and more uncomfortable, for he surely didn't deserve this display of affection from a child that he had abandoned and left to rot.
"You should get back into bed.", he said, his voice feeling weak. Just as he planned to gently remove them from his leg, the door opened and Hollow came in holding a tablet with food. They looked at the bed at first and then at Pendry when they noticed their sibling wasn't present and they hurried over, almost spilling the food when they saw their sibling awake.
"They just woke up a few minutes ago.", Pendry said. "Can you help me get them into bed, Hollow?"
What should have been a heartfelt sibling reunion however, soon turned into something very different, when the vessel, despite their injuries, despite just having woken up, suddenly had a nail in their hand and pointed it at Hollow.
Where did they even get it? Had it been with them that whole time? Regardless, Hollow just stood there rigid, staring down at the nail, while Pendry tried to de-escalate the situation.
"Don't worry, child, this one isn't a threat, it's your sibling.", he said, having two of his arms in the air, trying to show that he meant no harm himself. "They were worried about you and got you some food. Will you get back into bed now, for you clearly are still very weak."
It was true, the vessel was trembling, hardly able to keep themselves on their feet. However, they didn't seem to have listened to a single thing Pendry had said, when they took a step forward and tried to slash Hollow with their nail.
The next few seconds seemed to happen in slow motion. Hollow took a step back and let the tablet with food falling, what looked like soup and a mug of cocoa broke and splattered on the floor, along with Hollow turning around and fleeing the room, leaving the door open and the injured child falling over and entering their earlier state of unconscious again, leaving Pendry in the middle of whatever just had happened.
"What the fuck?!" A very unusual word for him slipped out when everything that could have gone wrong went wrong and he was torn between caring for the new child and running behind Hollow. In the end, he felt that he certainly needed to talk with Hollow first, so he hastily put the vessel back into bed and dragged the first Royal Retainer he found to watch over them, while searching out for where Hollow could have run to.
In a different part of the castle, Rydellia looked up from her documents and frowned. She felt a certain dissonance in her half of the kingssoul... after a few seconds though, she shrugged it off and returned to her duties. He probably had cut himself on one of his buzz saws or something... nothing that required her attention.
Pendry found Hollow in their room, where they laid curled up on their bed, their face buried in the pillows, knees drawn high up, almost reaching their chin.
"Hollow, can I talk to you?", he asked, standing in the room, waiting for their permission for him to stay. After a minute or so, they stirred and made a little room for him to sit down on the bed.
"How are you feeling?", Pendry asked, what was more a rhetorical question, for Hollow's body language clearly told him that they weren't feeling great.
They stirred a little bit and after a while, Pendry read some very sloppy letters that simply said.
"Sibling hates me..."
"You don't know this yet.", Pendry said. "They simply could have been scared of you. They got heavily injured and woke up in an unfamiliar location. It doesn't have to mean that they dislike you."
Though... he hadn't been attacked by them. If they were scared, wouldn't he, as the first person they saw, have been the first target for attack? Instead, they hugged him. That was a display of affection...
"I am sure it was a simple misunderstanding.", he tried to reassure Hollow.
Hollow claimed the journal back from him and wrote a few more things. Pendry laid his eyes on the following sentences: "No. I could feel their hostility. They were intent on hurting me..."
"They... didn't actually hurt you, right?", Pendry suddenly got hit with the realization that he hadn't even asked if Hollow had been hit by the nail. After they had literally donated their own void to their sibling, getting a wound from them was the least they deserved.
Hollow slowly shook their head. At least. Though, that didn't change the fact that they were deeply hurt by their sibling's actions.
"Once your sibling wakes again, I will try and question them.", he said. "I am sure we will get to the root of their behaviour."
Hollow snatched their journal from his claws and wrote one more thing: "Maybe they are upset because I was the Pure Vessel..."
Could that be it? The Pure Vessel had the task of sealing the Radiance... not an easy one, for it meant that they had to contain an angry god for centuries, maybe even aeons. A plan that Pendry hadn't followed anymore once he noticed that Hollow indeed had feelings.
Whatever it was, he wouldn't find out if they couldn't question the vessel. He gave Hollow a stroke over their horns and said: "I am going back to see if they awoke again. Are you coming too or do you prefer to stay here?"
Hollow didn't make any intentions to get up, so Pendry was pretty sure that they preferred to mope. "I am coming back later to look after you.", he promised and closed the door from the outside. While the situation was less than ideal, it warmed his heart a bit that Hollow was acting like a teenager was supposed to act.
When Pendry arrived back at the infirmary, the Royal Retainer seemed to be very relieved to leave. Pendry noticed that the spilled food and dishes from earlier had been cleaned up, probably also the actions of the Royal Retainer, who shouldered a little garbage bag when they left. Pendry sat himself on the bed of the vessel, their position not unlike Hollow's, on their side (not on the one where they were injured though) and seeming to have pulled their knees up to their chin. He saw that the pillow was stained with void. A slight panic rose in him at first for he thought their wound had reopened, but then he saw the stains under their eyeholes.
"Have you been... crying?", Pendry asked. No reply. Of course, the vessels had no voice to cry suffering, even though they suffered. Right in front of him. Both of them. It made his insides feel like they wanted to turn around.
"Listen, Hollow earlier didn't have any malicious intentions.", he said to the child. "They simply had your well-being in mind. They thought that they had lost all their siblings. They also were the one that found you. They were happy that you are still..." alive. This sentence felt so wrong to say. For while a high mortality rate was normal with hybrids, locking them into the Abyss wasn't normal.
The vessel reacted to his words by turning their gaze away and not looking at him anymore. It looked like they were sulking... Even without a face to emote, Pendry could see it in their body language. This one was full of feelings. Even if they had made it up the cliff, he would... he would have to...
Pendry didn't finish the cruel thought.
"There are some things I would like you to ask.", he said. "For example, how did you manage to get out of the Abyss?"
The vessel reacted to his question and simply stared at him, then went back to sulking. More and more did it dawn on Pendry that they wouldn't be able to answer his questions.. not only because of their lack of a voice, but also because nobody ever had taught them to write or to sign! He would need to find a different way to communicate with them.
In short, he had to get Rydellia.
"Don't leave the room.", he said. "I will send in another Royal Retainer to watch you. I am back shortly."
"I thought you already healed yourself when you cut yourself, Pendry. Is it so bad that you need my assistance?", Rydellia said without looking up when Pendry entered the room.
"What?! I didn't cut myself. Why do you think that?" Had Rydellia noticed his outburst in front of the mirror...?
"Because of the dissonance in the kingssoul I felt earlier. It's very rare for you to, um, curse like that.", Rydellia said.
"Root, that isn't the case.", Pendry said, secretly relieved that this had been what she felt. "That isn't the case at all. There is something I have to tell you..."
At his tone, Rydellia finally put her full attention at Pendry, her blue eyes shimmering with concern.
"What happened?", she asked.
Pendry filled Rydellia in about what happened earlier and she hummed in thought as she was thinking about her reply.
"To think that really one was still alive.", she said. "Even though it sounds like they nearly died back then when Hollow hadn't found them. And you said they were hostile towards Hollow?"
"Indeed.", Pendry confirmed. "Hollow is still in their room, moping. The child was sulking when I left them. I want to get some answers about all this mystery, but then I remembered that they can't talk or write or sign."
"Yes, that is indeed a problem.", Rydellia said. "We may find a different way for them to convey their thoughts... wait a moment."
Rydellia got up and searched around in the room for a little while until she found whatever she had been searching for and undermined it with an audible "Aha."
"Monomon once sent this over, but with everything going on lately, I didn't have the proper opportunity to introduce Hollow to it.", she said, laying a few sheets of paper and a colourful box of crayons on the table. "The little vessel may be able to draw pictures of what has happened to them."
"That may be the best approach, yes.", Pendry said, looking at the box, wondering if Hollow would like to draw. He didn't ever think about introducing them to the concept himself and he was talking to Lurien regularly.
"However, they must still be in shock.", Rydellia said. "We should leave them some time to recover first before we bother them with a lot of questions. Let's go to them together, and see if we can calm them down enough so that they can tell us what happened."
Shortly later the two of them approached the infirmary, Rydellia was holding a steaming mug of cocoa into her hands. If Hollow liked it, their sibling would like it too, she said. Pendry remembered that Hollow had brought the exact same beverage as well earlier, but it had broken on the floor when... the mess between them had happened.
Pendry opened the door for Rydellia, she had to duck to get inside the room, and then followed her. The vessel was still laying in bed, not looking at their direction or... anywhere. Maybe they were asleep... or unconscious again. Pendry dismissed the Royal Retainer looking over them and then followed Rydellia.
"Hello, my child.", Rydellia said. "My husband already told me about you. You managed to get hurt down in the Ancient Basin and he took care of your injuries."
She sat down next to the bed and put the mug on the nightstand. "I brought you something warm to drink, that will surely help with the pain you must suffer."
The vessel stirred for the first time since Rydellia had entered the room, their gaze wandering over her and then stopping at the mug of cocoa. They slowly pushed themselves up in a sitting position, clearly with a lot of effort. Pendry saw how several of Rydellia's vines helped them with sitting up.
She picked the cocoa up and held it out to them. "This is called cocoa.", she said. "It's quite tasty. I am sure you would like to taste it yourself."
With slightly trembling arms, the vessel took the mug and brought it closer to their chest. It appeared that they... sniffed it, unsure of what to think of the beverage. Pendry thought that it made sense for them to show this behaviour. If they had lived out there alone, they must have made sure to not eat anything poisonous...
The sniffing was short-lived, for they apparently decided that it smelled well enough to warrant a taste test... and then what happened was something that Pendry already had seen (in reverse though, after Hollow had drank his coffee) and Rydellia just stood there, her eyes wide.
"I am glad that you like it, my child, but you aren't supposed to eat the mug.", she said. "I hope that won't give you any troubles with constipation..."
"Their void body should be able to handle it.", Pendry mentioned, not wanting for Rydellia to go on a tangent about a biology that was foreign to her. "Though, my Root is right, it can't be too healthy to eat the mug, so please don't do that again."
The vessel looked between the both of them, their head moving slowly, sometimes they stopped, wincing, probably because the hole that was smashed in their mask hurt.
"Do you know who we are?", Pendry asked, wanting to try and get the knowledge of the vessel down before they asked further questions.
The vessel pointed at Pendry and slowly nodded, then at Rydellia and shook their head, wincing. It probably hurt. Well, basic conversation clearly was able to be had. In fact, he was pretty sure they could understand words, for how they had reacted earlier to his words clearly indicated it.
Also, all the vessels should have been born with a basic understanding of language.
"I am the king of Hallownest, known as the Pale King, but you already knew that.", Pendry said. "The one at my side is my Root, the White Lady, the queen of Hallownest."
Rydellia gave a short little bow when he introduced her. Pendry was thinking about whether he should introduce them as the parents of the child, but decided against it.
"How are you feeling? Are you feeling well enough to answer a few questions for us?", Rydellia asked. "I have brought some paper and crayons for you to draw, because I doubt that anyone taught you how to write."
The vessel looked at the supplies that laid on Rydellia's lap and then extended their arms to grab them. Rydellia prepared a sheet of paper and then frowned. They wouldn't be able to draw without some kind of underlay. "Wait a moment.", she said and got up, searching through the room and coming back with a book, probably left there for the patients on bed rest to entertain themselves.
She put the sheet of paper on the book and handed it to the vessel, then laid the box with crayons down next to them.
"Can you draw a picture of how you managed to get this injury?", she asked.
The vessel went to pick a crayon without looking, when they went completely rigid and then shivered violently, starting to hug himself and their breathing went heavy and unsteady. Both Pendry and Rydellia shared a look, for maybe it still had been early for them? Then Pendry noticed that the crayon the vessel had picked was orange.
Orange like the infection.
"Rydellia, get the orange colour of their sight!", he said, having the hunch that was what caused their reaction. Rydellia did as told and then stayed with the child, soothing them and whispering some sweet nothings until they calmed down.
"Do you want to stop?", she asked, once they calmed down, but the vessel slowly shook their head. They then picked another crayon and started to draw a picture. It was sloppy and not drawn very well, but it was pretty clear what had happened.
The picture depicted the vessel in a cave, with their head full of the infection (not drawn with orange, but yellow). Pendry could depict what had happened from there one... the child clearly had tried to contain the infection, only that instead of the infection, they had tried to contain a few infected parasites, which in turn had made their head explode. He shuddered... they only had tried that because of the mantra he instilled in all of the vessels...
Rydellia looked at the picture with deep concern, making it clear that she wanted to talk to Pendry about it later and then presented them with a new paper.
"Can you tell us how you managed to get out of the Abyss?"
This picture showed how they found a little tunnel and slipped out of it. The tunnel must have already been there, for they didn't depict that they dug it themselves. At least that was how Pendry interpreted the picture.
"Well then, I'll have one last question for you, then I let you rest.", Rydellia said. "Why did you attack Hollow?"
When they drew the picture to this question, Pendry could see the overwhelming emotion in this vessel. The way they grabbed the pen far too hard, the way the lines on the picture felt a lot harsher, the way they seemed to be... upset when they drew.
At the finished picture, the source of their anger was more than clear. The picture depicted the Abyss and it also depicted how the vessel was falling... after being knocked over by Hollow themselves. These horns were unmistakable.
Rydellia and Pendry shared another look. They had gotten quite a bit of insight of what had happened to this child, but sadly that didn't solve any problems. In fact, it only seemed to create more.
"Thank you.", Rydellia said, gently laying them back into the pillows. "You should try to sleep a bit. You need to heal from your injuries."
Once the vessel was tucked in and seemed to have fallen asleep right away, figured, they must have been very exhausted, Pendry said: "I will go to Hollow and tell them about this."
"I will stay with the child and heal what I can.", Rydellia said. "It's good that you provided them with so much soul already."
Pendry made his way to Hollow's room. They had stopped moping, but still were lying on their bed, seemingly trying to read a book and failing. They turned their attention to him once Pendry entered.
"What did you find out?", they asked, apparently being able to sign again, which probably meant the pain in their arm got better.
"I'll show you.", Pendry said and handed the last picture of the child to Hollow. Hollow stared at the drawing, long and hard and then slowly let it sink.
"I... I remember...", they signed. "On my way up. I didn't care for what was in my way. I just knew that I had to get up... to follow the calling. My calling. I... I knocked one of them over. I didn't look back then. I must have felt bad about it... that must be why I looked back before we left. Oh, I am so sorry... I didn't want to hurt sibling..."
"You aren't to blame.", Pendry said. "I am to blame for this. I made you climb up, determining who the Pure Vessel would be. If anyone, they should hate me, not you."
"Don't say that.", Hollow signed.
"But... I don't get why they haven't lashed out at me. I was the one who left them behind. Who left all of them behind. Why did they cling to me like that?", Pendry put two of his arms up in the air, a lot more dramatically than he had intended, when Hollow cocked their head at his words.
"Sibling did cling to you?", they asked. "You haven't mentioned this before."
"Yes... I... haven't, my apologies, Hollow. I am still so confused by this whole situation. Shortly after you left, I turned my back to them...", to self-loath and then destroy a mirror, he probably should keep this part to him, "for... reasons and then I felt them hugging me from behind. I wanted to coax them into going back to bed, because their head had just exploded, and then you came in and... you know what happened next."
Both Pendry and Hollow looked down... It hadn't been the best day for them indeed. Even though they indeed had found one of Hollow's siblings alive, that whole situation could have gone better.
"Maybe...", Hollow signed and then laid their hands back on their lap.
"Maybe?", Pendry inquired. Hollow took a deep sigh and went back to signing.
"It's more a... theory. The mantra, the one about the Pure Vessel. You said it to all of us, right?"
"Yes... it was part of your, ah, conditioning.", Pendry shivered a bit at the thought of his past actions. "And it was how I called you up the Abyss. You all heard the same mantra."
"Yes, I thought so.", Hollow nodded to his words while they signed. "Maybe sibling was following the calling. That is why infection was in their head, that is why they showed affection to you and... hostility towards me. They think they are the Pure Vessel."
It made too much sense to be dismissed, so Pendry just sat there without being able to say anything. The pictures of the vessel also undermined that theory. The one where they had drawn how they sucked up the infection.
"I think you are up to something, Hollow."; Pendry mused, his left hand on his chin. "I suppose we have to tell them that the plan won't be enacted anymore. Would you like to come with me when I tell them?"
"Yes. I want to apologize.", Hollow nodded and rolled off the bed, wincing a bit when they jostled their injured arm, but getting their composure back almost instantly.
"Good, then let's go.", Pendry got up from the bed as well and followed Hollow to the door.
Just as they arrived at the door, Rydellia came out of the room, on her face a smile, but Pendry could see the anger welling up in her. "Wyrm, do you want to explain to me while there is a broken mirror in this room with your soul signature all over it?"
"Um.", Pendry started, nervously glancing at Hollow. At Rydellia's words, they looked at him and he could see them tap their foot.
"It was because you were trapped in self-hatred and self-loathing again, right? Pendry, we talked about this, you need to stop beating yourself up about what you did. You were sure that you did the right thing.", Rydellia finished his thoughts for him, well, minus the last parts. Those weren't his thoughts.
"I am sorry, my Root.", Pendry sighed. "I don't think I will ever get completely over it... but I will try to not let an outburst like this happen again."
"You didn't tell me about this.", Hollow signed once he laid his eyes on them.
"Well, and you were moping. I think we are even.", he said, pretty much shutting them up, even though he felt guilty about it. Even though he knew he had to treat Hollow like a proper child, chastising them always felt so wrong.
"You two are far too similar to each other.", Rydellia rolled her eyes.
"How is the child?", Pendry asked.
"I healed them as best as I can. Their broken shell won't come back though, we need to find a solution for this, they can't wear these bandages forever. They seem to be pretty exhausted, despite the constant flow of soul I provided. They will need some time to recover." She sighed again. "I have the feeling we should give them a name, we can't call them child or vessel forever..."
At this suggestion, both Rydellia and Pendry looked at the ground. They couldn't be the ones who named them, not after they had forsaken the child.
"Do you want to give them a name, Hollow?", Rydellia asked. After a bit of consideration, Hollow signed a few letters.
"Brokey? That is a bit on the horns, isn't it?", Pendry said.
"Maybe let them choose themselves then?", Hollow signed.
"Hm... it's a possibility...", Rydellia said. "Anyway, why are you here? Did you want to check on them?"
"I want to tell them something... and Hollow wants to apologize."
"Well then, go inside. I wanted to organize some tea for myself. I used up quite some soul trying to get their flow in the right order. The infection inside of them has done a number on their flow. Even though it only was there shortly.", Rydellia shuddered and then went off into the opposite direction of where Pendry and Hollow had come from.
"Let's get inside then.", Pendry said and opened the door. The vessel was lying in bed, shifting when they saw movement. They seemed to lighten up when they saw Pendry and to darken once Hollow appeared after them. How they could convey this with a stiff mask as a face was beyond Pendry's understanding.
Pendry sat down on the edge of the bed and spoke. "Hey, I am glad to see that you seem to feel better. Your sibling wants to say something important to you. Will you listen?"
There was the tiniest little cock of their head and then their gaze shifted from Pendry to Hollow. Hollow came nearer and started to sign, with Pendry translating their words.
"I am so sorry for what happened in the Abyss. I never intended on hurting you, sibling. I was selfish and all I wanted was to be the first to be up there. I should have stayed behind and helped you when I knocked you over, not left you behind."
After Hollow was finished, the child simply crossed their arms and looked into a different direction. It didn't seem like they were happy with Hollow's apology.
Hollow lowered their arms and looked at the ground, clearly defeated. Then, and Pendry could see how void tears started to try to force their way out of their eyeholes, they signed a shaky: "I think I need to be alone." and left the room.
Pendry sighed. Another talk with Hollow was in order. The thing he thought would happen to himself, apparently happened to Hollow instead. Their sibling didn't want to forgive them. Well, with Hollow wanting to be alone, he would try and talk to the child first.
"Child... there is something you don't know.", Pendry said. "And if you know, I hope you consider your stance on your sibling. Can you nod or shake your head for me when I ask you questions? Or does that hurt? If yes, you can also raise one or two hands. One for yes, two for no.
The vessel seemed to consider his suggestion for a moment and then raised one hand. One for yes.
"Alright. Are you feeling that you are the Pure Vessel?"
One hand in the air. A yes.
"Did you try to contain the infection? The, uh, blinding light that plagues their dreams?", Pendry figured that his specific words of the mantra probably would fit better for the child.
Another yes.
"Then... I have to inform you that there is no Pure Vessel anymore."
The vessel went completely rigid at this statement. Pendry made haste to explain the situation. "There once was a need for the Pure Vessel and it was supposed to be Hollow, that much is true, but we actually found out that they were... impure, so we had to give up on the plan. Luckily, we seem to have found another solution. The solution requires another... element though, and while we were searching for it, we found you."
Pendry took a deep breath. "You don't have to try and be the Pure Vessel. You can be yourself. You can be whoever you want. You can stay here or leave after you healed up. You can even choose a name of your own."
What should have been happy news, didn't seem to be for the vessel, for they buried themselves into the blankets and shivered and he could hear soft sobs.
"...What's the matter?", he asked, laying a hand on the buried form, which was shaken away though. Pendry had the feeling that he messed up. Maybe he should get into Hollow's room and mope with them.
He tried a bit more, but he didn't manage to coax the child out of the blankets. When he left the room, Rydellia was back with a kettle of tea.
"You don't look too happy, my Wyrm.", she said.
"I think I messed up.", he said. "Root, I am in Hollow's room. I think I have to join them..."
Rydellia looked after him before she entered the room, eager to puzzle out just what had happened.
While Pendry just wanted to get to Hollow's room in peace, fate had other plans for him. He should have used his foresight to know that he should have avoided this corridor.
Ogrim and Isma were approaching him, and with the way Ogrim had crossed his arms and Isma looked more than serious, he knew he messed up in another way.
"Your majesty.", Isma came to a halt in front of him. "We need to talk."
(Author's note:
Pendry gets ONE F-bomb and it was here. If he ever says the F-Bomb again, you all can wish for something from me.
A few words on Broken Vessel. I like to think that they very much wanted to be the Pure Vessel. When Hollow managed to knock them down on their way up, they were pretty upset and they remembered those horns. Later, they found a tunnel out of the Abyss and went outside, searching for a way to prove themselves... and they thought they would prove themselves by containing the infection, only that it wasn't the infection, it were the lightseed parasites and their head smashed open, killing them.
Only that in my story they were found and could be saved. I always wanted a better ending for Broken Vessel, even though I created more angst with their presence in my story.
What's with me and ending with cliffhangers lately?!)