It happened all too suddenly.
The Shade had been following the Knight around Hallownest as it ran around, killing everything in sight in the name of senseless violence, acting as an agent of chaos as it broke random signs and jumped into pits of spikes. They had even gone up to Dirtmouth, went into Sly's shop, and bought a rancid egg. Really, the amount of ridiculous things he had seen them do at this point was palpable.
Then, as the Knight entered a cave located east to Dirtmouth, everything went black, and stayed black, for one second. It was a second of pure, acute terror, a second separated from time and matter, counting down independently from the laws of the universe, acting as through self-agency to extend itself to monstrous lengths. A single second; yet in the pure abstract void of nothingness, it was thinly stretched to decades. It was the absence of everything and anything, an indescribable sense of misery that gave the Shade both everything that they had ever wanted, and took everything that they had ever owned.
"Empty."
"So empty."
Two separate thoughts, three empty words, and yet it was enough to rob the Shade of what little energy it yet possessed. They could feel their consciousness, their very being of existence even, flicker as every atom of their make contracted at the sickeningly harsh environment surrounding them, clearly maladjusted to existing at the edge of nonexistence.
It was a freezing pool of emptiness, an all-encompassing abyss that was darker and stronger than the one that he had been molded from. Millions of regrets filled their mind in an instant before vanishing the moment after, taking with it any sense of feeling that had once inhabited the Shade's being. Despite this, they could feel it. A singular, sure transformation of matter that was beginning to take place.
They felt it, and then it was gone.
They were gone.
The Shade shivered violently as it was thrust cruelly into the world of the living once more, spit from whatever cruel void it had been inhabiting for the past second. The Shade had never wanted to scream as much as it wanted to at that very moment. To shriek at the pain and misery caused by one's soul being torn at the seams, only to be cast away into the edge of the universe, to the start of emptiness, and then be brought back into the softness of reality, all within the span of one second.
Somehow, they were able to discern their surroundings; they were in a dimly lit cave, with its only source of light being a multitude of thin wax candles placed haphazardly on the floor. In front of them was a character that they were barely able to make out, that being the dark, obscured silhouette of Confessor Jiji. For whatever reason, she had taken to hiding at the back of the cave, hidden by the shadows cast by the flickering lighting of their surroundings.
"A-Ah… Hello." Jiji says cautiously. After a few seconds of silence, she stepped forward from the darkness in which she hid. "Hm. At first glance, you're naught but a black stain, that until now lingered as the regret of our mutual friend outside… But that's not the case, is it? You're more than a regret. After all, what sort of regret would host its own psyche?"
Regret. The shade could relate to that word, that word that held so much power over everything they did. They regretted entering Hallownest, they regretted the blood on their hands, they even regretted ever trying to complete their fool's errand of a quest. Through the canals of their broken and fragmented memory, they could recall; Confessor Jiji, the hermit who remained sleeping in her cave until they unlocked it and woke her up. They never did find a use for her services.
"Even before calling you here, I sensed that this was the case." Jiji continued, unfazed by their silent stare. "That's why I requested that grim fellow out there to wait outside, though I gather that they are an impatient sort… Don't worry yourself however, I shan't let them in, at least, not before we have finished matters here… Now, why don't you tell me about yourself, dour one?"
"No voice to cry suffering." They thought to themselves sourly.
"Ah. Do not fret over verbal communications. Go on."
"! You… You understand?" The Shade shuddered once more, however in an excited sort of anxiety rather than shock.
"Of course. My masters, they also lack the means to properly communicate, at least in the typical sense." Jiji said. "I am well practiced in interpretations of this kind."
The Shade felt something warm and bright begin to blossom within them. A kind of hope, fragile but there. Finally, a way to talk. A sort of scared awe overtook them as they tried to process the power they now possessed, a power unique to his kind, a power unlike anything they've ever wielded. "Body… lost. Outside, the Knight. I died, then they… possessed me. Somehow. Please help."
"Well now, that is an interesting situation. I don't figure there's a way to put you back in your body though, is there? No way beyond waiting for them to die, and even then, there's no telling what'll happen." Jiji mused. "Why don't we put that little issue aside for now? I'm very interested in yourself, little shade. Tell me, what makes you different from the other regrets that linger in the decaying kingdom that lays beneath us?"
"... Time travel? From other time, from other world, where I was united with the void. The abyss."
*CLANK*
They both flinched as they heard the sharp rapport of a nail striking against the door to Jiji's cave. Again and again, the Knight outside swung at the door demanding to be let back in. The stone door shook, but held firm against the onslaught of nail swings being unleashed against it.
"Nevermind them." Jiji said. "Time travel? Did this occur to you by mere chance, or do you truly possess the ability to manipulate time?"
"First, by accident. Then, I learned. I learned how."
"Hmm, and I suppose you lack the ability to do so now?"
They… didn't think about that. The Shade closed their eyes and tried to concentrate on their memory of sitting at the bench with Quirrel as he tried to fill in the blanks with his parchment and quill. Unsurprisingly, nothing came of it, and when they opened their eyes again, they saw themselves still floating there. "I can't."
"So, you've found yourself caught in quite the conundrum. Unable to act, bound to the realm of the half-dead as a wandering shade. Powerful, but with no agency."
"..."
"Luckily for you, your case is… intriguing. I have a feeling that my masters would say the same. Perhaps, you would like to meet them?" Jiji suggested, though she seemed nervous at the idea. "A being such as yourself… I have no doubts that you would be able to understand each other perfectly well."
"Who are your masters?"
From underneath her cloak, Jiji extended her appendages which were wrapped around a dark statuette. The idol was stark black, an elegant sculpture of a writhing mass of interlocking tendrils that absorbed the dim light in the cave hungrily. From the instant it came into view, they could sense it - a vast wealth of void that rested within it, exuberating a thick aura of power that was so raw, it warped the air around it.
"Void. Abyss."
"Correct, little one." She tenderly placed it on the floor in front of her. "Focus your mind, extend yourself to it. You must approach them, or they will refuse to speak."
The Shade lowered themselves to the ground and closed their eyes. They felt themselves gravitating towards it, intangible body stretching and contorting as the idol pulled them. Still, they did not resist. As a wave of darkness washed itself over their mind, they only found the sensation natural, and even refreshing.
Confessor Jiji's presence vanished and at once, something else took her place. No, that wasn't quite right. Two somethings.
"..."
"AH, SO THE WANDERING SHADE APPROACHES. WE'VE BEEN WATCHING YOUR JOURNEY LITTLE ONE, FROM THE EVENT OF YOUR INCEPTION, TO THE MOMENT IN WHICH YOU LOST YOUR VESSEL. AND YET, WE DID NOT QUITE ANTICIPATE THIS MEETING TAKING PLACE."
"Does it have something to ask? Does it require assurance? Many trials it has gone through, and yet it remains steadfast in its journey to understand. An ease of burden it would be to relinquish control, no? To give in to greater powers, to allow oneself to rest."
"Who? Who are…?"
"Ah, it would ask such a question? Strange, that it would bother itself with such inquiries that would bear fruitless answers."
"DO NOT ASK WHO OR WHAT WE ARE. YOU APPROACHED US IN PURSUIT OF A SOLUTION, CORRECT? A SOLUTION TO YOUR UNIQUELY FRUSTRATING PROBLEM, A PROBLEM THAT GATES YOU FROM FINISHING YOUR TASK AT HAND."
"Yes. Please. I can't… I can't do what I need to do. The infection does not remain slain. The infection does not remain… imprisoned. Imprisoned within me. It resets. Stuck. Forever."
"It doesn't realize. It seeks assistance from those far less knowledgeable than it, mortal beings stuck in scripts, stuck to play as puppets within a stage play for the amusement of higher beings."
"Higher… beings?"
"THERE ARE BEINGS MORE POWERFUL AND YOU AND I, LITTLE SHADE. BEINGS THAT TOY WITH OUR WORLD WITH EASE. IT DOESN'T COMPREHEND US FULLY. NOT OUT OF IGNORANCE, RATHER OUT OF A SIMPLE LACK OF NEED TO DO SO. WE ARE NOTHING BUT MITES BENEATH THEIR GAZE. IN AN INSTANT, OUR WORLD WOULD CRUMPLE UNDER A FRACTION OF ITS STRENGTH, AND WE WOULD CEASE TO EXIST."
"And yet, therein lies a weakness. It must learn how to truly see the world around it. It must grasp at the frayed strings and create a thread of its own, one too small and insignificant to be noticed, yet one expansive enough to serve as a proper mocking of Hallownest."
"I don't understand."
"FIND THE DISCREPANCIES IN OUR WORLD, LITTLE SHADE. USE YOUR GIFT TO FIND THE HOLES IN OUR REALITY AND FIND THE WILL REQUIRED TO JUMP THROUGH THEM. ONLY THEN CAN YOU ESCAPE PERSECUTION AND TRULY GRASP AT THE MAKE OF THIS WORLD."
"We've found something truly interesting, haven't we?"
"YES. NOW THEN, WE SHALL BE OBSERVING YOU WITH GREAT INTEREST. I WISH YOU GREAT FORTUNE."
"Wait, I-"
But just like that, they were gone.
"..."
The Shade opened their eyes and found themselves just outside of Confessor Jiji's cave. They tried to enter, but found themselves locked out by… something. It was an intangible barrier, unseen yet unbreakable. Frustration welled up in them as they recalled their encounter - why couldn't they have talked for a while longer? They still had so many questions, and the few that they did manage to ask, they only received cryptic answers in return.
"Find the discrepancies...?"
They looked around only to be greeted with a completely normal looking Dirtmouth. In the far-off distance, they could even see Elderbug standing near the bench. They wondered if he would be able to interact with them. Somehow, they doubted it.
With nothing else to do, they inwardly sighed and began floating back to the well. Whatever these discrepancies were, they hoped that they could find them fast. It was really off-putting having to wander around while knowing that someone else was using your body.