For their siblings, they would ascend.
For their siblings, they would slay Her.
For their siblings, the ghost would become a god.
They were dead.
Or so they thought at first. For so long Her light had burned inside them, for so long Her screams had rattled in their shell. For so long the core of Her had been contained within them. They were the heart of the Infection, the seat of Her power as She ravaged the was no telling where She ended and they began, so entwined were they in suffering. What but death could cleave the Goddess from Her living cage?
Blessed darkness fell upon them. Cold seeped into their shell as they hit the floor with a heavy thunk . Even as the impact jarred them, the pain was a balm compared to all they had endured.
They lay sprawled there for what felt like forever and a moment more. Their breath came slow and ragged in the stale air, but still quiet. Nor did they dare to open their eyes or twitch so much as a claw. Too afraid to move and find this reprieve was only a dream.
Slowly, a dull throbbing made itself known. It beat in tune with their heart, between their eyes and in the socket where their left arm should have been. An ache as only those still among the living could feel.
Ah. Not dead, then.
Sliding their hand beneath them, they pushed themself trembling onto their knees. Around them, the central chamber of the Temple of the Black yawned wide and empty. Dust motes danced in the wan light. More flew up as they stirred, and they stared dumbly at the floating specks for another while
A glance to their side, and they saw their cracked nail. Right where they had driven it into the ground an age ago, before they had submitted themself to their fate and the Seal of Binding had taken hold. They grabbed a hold of the hilt and found the weapon still held true as they heaved themself onto their feet.
Every scrape and rustle profaned the silence. Their own footsteps deafened them as they hobbled forward, using the nail as a crutch. Thoughts still came slow and sluggish in their head, and they felt as if they were still stuck between the dreaming and waking worlds. Where thoughts failed, a single instinct drove them forward.
They needed to get out. They needed to see what they already knew and dreaded deep down.
Glowing runes sputtered to life and faded just as quickly as they passed down the corridor. The remnants of their chains clattered as they were dragged along. The quiet here pressed just as heavily as it had in their room, as if all the world held its breath in anticipation. They paused only to rest at the stone bench a few moments before continuing forward.
Their gaze held fast to the light of the exit at the far end. A breeze brushed softly against their shell. Taking in the fresh air in a long inhale, they shuddered slightly as the nearly-forgotten smells assailed them. Scent of stone and water, of loam and lichen. It had been so long since they had tasted the world beyond their temple and tomb. They might have wept to experience anything that was not tainted by Her.
Indeed they might have wept, if they had not sensed the presence of another.
The stranger's head snapped around at their approach. They had caught her off guard, but even so her needle was drawn in a flash of steel. Instinct and years of training had them clutching their nail, ready to draw it in kind should she attack.
Dark eyes narrowed upon them as the breeze rustled at her faded red cloak. Though only a fraction of their size, her expression and warrior's stance made her look prickly as a shardmite. Her face was pale and narrow and graced with long horns, so much like their own. Yet she smelled not of the Void but of spider silk and glowing fungi. The scent of Deepnest was soaked into her carapace and forever marked her as one of that barbaric tribe.
They knew this face, and as surprise dawned on hers, they realized the stranger must have recognized them, too. Even so, she did not lower her weapon.
"Come no further, Vessel," Hornet commanded. Her voice held all the authority her lineage commanded. The timbre of it was so much like their shared sire's that they obeyed in an instant, freezing in their path.
"By what sorcery are you freed from your chains?" She circled around them slowly. "Is it the same power that has doused the flames of Infection? Or has She taken your shell for Her own and come to complete Her vengeance at last?"
In a blink, the tip of her needle was up and at their throat. One quick thrust and they would be skewered upon it. Or perhaps she would drive it into the crack in their forehead and split them in two.
"This kingdom may be nothing but ruins, but nonetheless I will defend it," she vowed, voice steady and she held their life on the end of her blade. "Be you the lowest crawler or the highest being, I will not allow you to befoul it." She dug the needle in harder, lightly scoring their shell. "Well? Have you no voice or will to defend yourself?"
Slowly, they uncurled their fingers from the hilt of their nail until it fell from their grasp. As it clattered upon the ground, they brought their hand to rest open-palmed against their chest. They slid to their knees, and her needle kept fast to their neck through the motion. Kneeling, they were now of a height.
They drew in a breath, then out. In, out, in and out several times before a shaky growl fell from their mouth. They continued on in this way for a long minute before they did something quite impossible: they spoke.
"Not… enemy…" they rasped, their voice like a death rattle.
Hornet instantly drew back. The horror etched in the shadows around her eyes struck pain in their chest but was understandable. After all, had the King not declared that they would have 'no voice to cry suffering?' A vessel was to be naught else. And yet a god's anguish could give voice to the very stones they stood upon. In that same way, a voice had been born within them.
"Not… enemy…" they repeated, breaking the spell.
"Hm," she grunted as she composed herself again. Hornet sheathed her needle and stepped back, nodding curtly. "Then stand and explain yourself, Hollow Knight. If you are neither an enemy nor a beast possessed, then what has brought you forth?"
With an effort, they - Hollow, they were Hollow - rose. It was strange trying to keep their lanky shell upright without their other arm. They found their balance again only after a few moments of tottering. They turned their gaze back to the corridor from which they had emerged.
"Light… gone…" What a strange sensation it was, speaking aloud. The words scraped at their chest and throat, and each successive one was a little more difficult to utter. "Radiance… dead…"
Again Hornet appeared taken aback, but she did not dispute their claim. She too turned her away to peer at the outer vault of the temple.
"Difficult as I find that to believe, that would explain a few things. The clearing of the air, the fading of those veins, the silence that has fallen. She would never have willingly relinquished Her hold on this land, much less upon you."
She turned to look upon them again, brow furrowed. "With Her end you are free, but who was the one to bring that end?" Her gaze narrowed further. "Was it you, knight?"
Hollow shook their head.
"Who then?"
They knew. They knew the answer, down in the deepest pit of their being. To speak it aloud would mean to acknowledge that terrible truth. Perhaps if they kept their silence, they could pretend to still be ignorant.
Near the end, they had heard the call. A summons that echoed into the depths of the dream realm, a challenge from one higher being to another. She had cried out in fury and joy as She had risen up to meet it.
Attuned, then bound, then gone. Dark swallowed light, and then everything else with it. No mere god, but a God of Gods. Mindless, consuming, the Void itself given form and focus. And at the heart of those shadows, their own little ghost of a sibling.
Then, just as suddenly, Ghost was gone altogether.
"Knight?" Hornet spoke again.
Something cold slipped down one cheek and then the other. There was the tip-tip sensation against their hand like falling rain. Yet when they looked down they saw that it was not the clear of water but the black of ichor. Hollow keened softly.
"Knight," she said quietly,slipping her hand into theirs. "I need you to tell me what has happened if you can."
They hated how they wept, how their shoulders trembled. It was not the place of a vessel to feel anything. Not anger, not sorrow, not pain. Those emotions were the root of their failure to keep the Radiance and the Infection contained. It was why Hallownest fell, why their sire was dead, and why their sibling had sacrificed themself to the powers of the Void.
"Sibling…" Their voice was a broken, reedy note. "Little… Ghost…"
"Take your time." There was no judgement in her tone, only a gentle command. Hornet squeezed their hand. After a moment, they squeezed back.
"Ghost… one… with Void…" Hollow's head slumped forward, and their tears flowed freely now. "Ate… the Light… ate… Her… ate… Ghost…"
The world swam before them. When their legs threatened to give out, Hornet braced herself against them to keep them standing. Hollow was grateful for her strength.
"Cannot… sense them… anymore… Ghost… gone… My fault…" They buried their face against her shoulder, sobs wracking their body. "All… my fault… My fault… My fault my fault my fault my fault my fault-"
"Stop!" In an instant, Hornet's hands had come up behind their head. She grabbed tightly at their horns, and the pain brought them back into focus. Only when they had gone silent and their shaking lessened did she ease her grip. Still, she did not push Hollow away.
"Stop," she soothed, letting go of their horns to properly embrace them. "You are no more to blame for what has happened to Ghost then you are to blame for what She did to this land. They made their choice, as you must make yours."
Pulling back, she tipped their chin up until their gazes met again. "Do you understand me, knight? This is not your fault."
It was a minute or two before they could do anything besides stare at her, and still the tears would not stop. With a shaky sigh, Hollow eventually nodded their head and averted their gaze. Now they were the one in disbelief. How could they not be to blame?
"You are not," she repeated sternly, as if she could read their mind, "and while I do not wish to give you a false hope… I do not think Ghost is dead."
Hollow snapped their head back to her. The question, though unspoken, must have been easy enough to read in their eyes.
"I have watched them from the moment they appeared on the road from the wilderness," she explained. "There is no dream or foe or challenge they have not been able to overcome. Twice I tested their strength and resolve for myself, and they prevailed each time. They emerged from the Abyss itself without so much as a scratch upon their shell. Not even the Dreamers could contain the Ghost of Hallownest.
"All of this to say, I do not believe their life could be so easily extinguished, not even in the pursuit of slaying a Goddess."
She nodded at Hollow. "So do not give into despair so easily, knight. Do not give up on them."
In that moment, she appeared every inch like the Pale King to them. Unwavering, shining, and inspiring hope in them where there had been none moments before. They half expected Ghost to be conjured into existence then and there by her words alone.
And, of course, she was right. It chagrined them to know they had immediately jumped to the worst conclusion on Ghost's fate and then promptly driven themself into a fit. Whatever had become of their sibling, wherever they had gone, panicking would not help them.
Hollow swiped at their face with the back of their wrist, black smearing a little across their cheeks. They nodded at her again, more firmly this time. They would not give up. They refused.
Once more she took their hand, and once more Hollow found themself grateful for their sister's self-assurance. Sister… That would take some getting used to, but she could be nothing less.
Hollow took her lead without question or resistance. They were certainly in no fit state to lead themself. More to the point, they did not wish to be alone among the husks and abandoned highways of what had once been their home.
"Come," she said. "There is nothing for us here but memories, and perhaps there will be answers in the town above."
Hornet cast a last glance over her shoulder, and Hollow did the same. "I misjudged them. Ghost, I mean. They are a part of this kingdom, as much as you and me. As guardian, I should have kept a better watch upon them. Honor as much as duty demands that I help to recover them. By my needle, I will not rest until I find them."
"To… gether…" Hollow agreed, nodding.
"Yes," she replied. For the first time since they had met, something distantly like a smile crinkled at the corners of her eyes. "Together."
Then, without another word, the two of them stepped out of the temple and into the crossroads beyond.
"For my sake and theirs, finish it."
"Please, it doesn't have to be this way! Let me help you!"
"There is no help for one such as me, little one. I have failed in the sole task for which I was created. There is no redemption for one such as me, and I do not deserve it." A sad smile, wreathed by orange light. "I am only sorry that this burden must fall to you."
"No, please! Whatever happens, we can do it together this time! Please, don't leave me behind again!"
There was no reply. Only those sad, possessed eyes locked upon theirs as they drove the nail into their chest for the final time.