Quirrel looked up at the Knight to meet their blank eyes. He cracked a small smile and gestured at the piece of parchment he was holding. "Sorry, but this may take a moment. Organizing everything you've shown me is turning out to be quite the hassle, though that's through no fault of your own."

It felt more fluid when they knew what they were doing. Within seconds of closing their eyes, they found that they had been able to recall the scene with near-perfect clarity. After the first few times the Knight 'shared' their memories with Quirrel, he sat down on the bench to try and recover. Naturally, the Knight sat next to him. That image of them sitting together was all they could see - Not their reunion, not their brief hug, but them sitting on a bench.

'The bench,' The Knight thought. Every single time they had defeated the Hollow Knight, they ended up back at the bench. All of their apparent travels through time at the same starting and ending point. A bench.

But why? What made these benches so special? They were just old pieces of furniture that were left scattered around Hallownest. There was absolutely no significance to be found in these benches. Perhaps if only the bench inside of the Black Egg had these properties, or if it were idols to the Pale King that allowed them to time travel, then maybe it could make sense. But no, they had to be benches. The more the Knight tried to think about it, the more their head hurt.

"Does this sound right to you?" The Knight jerked their head up as Quirrel's voice pulls them out of their head. He was holding out the parchment with an expectant look in his eyes.

Without even looking at what he wrote, they put their hand over his and -

"Erm… Alright, I think I've got it this time." Quirrel saw himself handing the Knight a slightly wrinkled parchment. Many scratched out lists were on it, most of which were done messily and with a hint of frustration. Evidently, he had to make many revisions to his timeline. It reminded him of his days as a young student, under Monomon's tutelage.

"First, you defeated the Hollow Knight, whom contained the infection and was imprisoned in the Temple of the Black Egg. Then, you saw the King's Brand along with some strange symbols and apparently traveled back in time. After that, you used a special nail to cut into the Hollow Knight's mind, and kill the physical manifestation of the infection."

The second Quirrel paused briefly, looking up at the Knight, whom remained ever so silent. Apparently this was a good sign, because he continued. "But the same thing happened and you got sent back in time. So you tried to defeat them several more times, but nothing changed. Then, while thinking about a strategy, your mind wandered to the Resting Grounds which resulted in you teleporting here… and you travelled even further back in time, just after you had slain Monomon."

The barely used piece of paper tumbles out of his hands, neatly falling in line with the other sheet of paper next to the bench. Apparently those were left behind by a man named Cornifer, who according to the card at the entrance, dealed in maps.

He closes his eyes and rests both of his hands on his knees. After a few deep breaths, he looked at the Knight. Every single time he felt as if he were beginning to figure them out, another curveball would be thrown his way. His dazed mind was already beginning to numb, and that was only partially because of the Knight's visions. He could practically feel the old, rusty cogs in his head twisting and turning, trying to make sense of the baffling timeline thrown at him.

But what could he do? With Monomon and Uumuu slain, he had reached the end of his journey. Who knew that for his efforts, a new mystery would present itself to him? One that was both intriguing and infuriating at the same time?

The Knight looked as stoic and stone-cold as ever, though now he knew that their expression was just a mask. The brash and sudden emotion they had shown at the Blue Lake served well to prove that, though he had to wonder how such a swift change in demeanor could have happened.

Yes, he had to wonder that, didn't he? Just as how he had to wonder how the Knight could time travel, or wonder how they could project visions into his mind, or wonder how even after apparently slaying the infection itself, it all just reversed?

All he could do was wonder.

The Knight stared at him, anxiety filling their chest. It had been nearly ten minutes, and other than a few glances at their direction, Quirrel had been completely still, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. Part of them wanted to tug on his arm and bring him back to reality. It was silly, but what if Quirrel just faded away? What if he left them behind again, and they ended up lost and alone?

They shook their head. Even as if such a thing could happen, they wouldn't be alone. They could just think about this very moment, and they would find Quirrel right next to them. Or they could think about Dirtmouth again, and find Hornet by their side.

'I'm okay.'

The harsh pounding reverberating across their entire body calmed.

'Quirrel and Hornet can help.'

Their nausea lessened.

'It's-'

"Those symbols you showed me earlier. The ones next to the crest."

They glanced at Quirrel.

"I know someone who lives in the City of Tears. In fact, you may know of him as well. I believe his name is Lemm?" Quirrel tilts his head up to the ceiling. "To be perfectly honest, no matter how I rack my brain, I can't think of anyway to even begin to solve your mystery. But perhaps Lemm could assist? He is a knowledgeable bug."

Lemm. That name rang a few bells in the vessel's mind. They recalled unloading a ton of artifacts at their shop in exchange for geo. If anyone were to know about cryptic symbols, it would be him, wouldn't it? In fact, he might be the only person left in the entire kingdom who even bothered to study old relics anymore.

The Knight hopped off of the bench and gestured to the stag bell. Quirrel nodded and walked up next to them as they struck their nail at the bell, causing that sharp ringing noise to echo throughout the room. Only a few seconds pass before the stag's pounding footsteps can be heard. Just a moment later, he appeared before them, along with clouds of dust kicked up from his sudden arrival.

"Hello there!" Quirrel says cheerfully over the old stag's raspy breaths. "Would you be so kind as to take us to the City of Tears? More specifically, the King's station."

The stag stared at them for a second before letting out a low chuckle. "Ah, the little one has a friend? And a talking one at that? It's been so long since I've had two passengers on me. Well, the King's station you say? Hop on and I will gladly take you there."

"You have my gratitude." Quirrel climbed on top of the stag and sits cross-legged on the front chair of the saddle. The Knight jumped up and makes a smooth landing onto the seat just behind him. At that, the stag jolts forward into the dark tunnels.

Just like their last ride, it seemed as if only a few seconds had passed before the Knight found themselves suddenly standing in the King's station with no recollection of how long it took for them to arrive, or how they got off of the stag. Quirrel was standing next to them but seemed to have not noticed the anomaly.

"Thanks again." Quirrel said to the stag. He then looks down at the Knight with a small smile. "Well, let's go then. Wouldn't want to come all this way to only find that his store's closed for the day, right?"

The Knight contemplated whether or not they should try to bring up what just happened. Would it even be worth the effort? They couldn't think of many ways to say "I think that whenever I ride a stag, I somehow lose all memories of 99% of our ride as well as my memories of getting to the ground' without any words. They didn't want to try and jam their thoughts into his mind either, especially for something so seemingly trivial - a sick, twisted feeling of guilt always rose up in their chest whenever they did that.

"Um, are you alright?"

They jumped and hastily nodded. They quickly strode past him and towards the direction of Lemm's shop. Quirrel stared at them for a bit before sighing and rushing to catch up to them.

He wasn't afraid to admit that he was worried about him. Really, the Knight might have been his only friend left. Most of everyone he was ever close with had either fled or succumbed to the infection. And of course Uumuu and Monomon had both died… partially by his own hand.

The thought sent a shiver through his spine. Not for the first time, he wondered if recovering his memories really was a good thing. If given the choice, he would do everything the same over again - he had regrets, but he had learned to live with them. Still though, he couldn't help but miss being so blissfully ignorant, spending days wandering the kingdom, rediscovering everything and being too engrossed with his discoveries to realize that he was so, so alone.

Well, not completely alone. The Knight had been a recurring figure, hadn't they? Even if they didn't talk, they had still proved to be a welcome sight whenever they met. He couldn't really say the same to anyone he had met in Hallownest. If the Knight were to somehow drop dead, right here, right now, then he would no longer have a reason to remain.

Was that pathetic? Depressing? ' Maybe. But that just about sums up the current state of Hallownest anyway, doesn't it?' Quirrel thought. But as soon as those words went through his mind, he regretted them. After all, who was he of all people to so harshly judge this kingdom and its inhabitants? It may be in ruins, but that didn't really matter at the moment, did it? No, that was just how things were these days.

Ahead of him, he sees the Knight slow to a stop in front of a sign. He slows down and eventually halts right beside him. "That sign… So, Lemm should be just above us, hm?" Quirrel says, trying to hide the sounds of his labored breathing. Age had not treated him kindly ever since his memories were restored.

They nodded and moved to stand in the elevator that would take them up. Quirrel stood next to them and hit the switch with his nail, prompting the elevator to rise.

"Right then." Quirrel said once they stop. "Let's see if he can help us, shall we?"