Chapter 4
(Authors note: as usual, huge thanks to MrsLittleTall for inspiration in a few things in this story. Enjoy)
The Wyrm awoke with a startle. He was panting, as if he hadn't breathed the whole time he re-experienced that. Everything had fallen into place. His own child had ushered him away into the dream realm, just like what he did to the moth. This was the biggest return of karma he had ever experienced.
"Lemme guess, big revelation about something? Perhaps how you got here?" The moth spoke up without even looking at him. She could just tell by the way the Wyrm gasped. It had been about an hour since their argument.
"I don't intend on speaking to you." The Wyrm said in between gasps.
"Why, because I showed you up? We are stuck here Wyrm. A simple conversation shouldn't hurt." Even if it were to come from her greatest enemy, she was up for conversation.
"Why do you want to know? I thought my personal life didn't concern you." His breathing had settled by now. All he was now was confused.
"Wyrm. I haven't spoken to anyone in possibly a millennium, thanks to you. This is the most interesting thing in my life right now. I can't even continue with the infection." That was true, her power had been draining ever since she was confined to the dream realm. She lost so much power, she lost her grip on the infection.
That reminded the Wyrm of something. He opened up his cloak, and on his left hip was the space that the King's Brand used to reside at. It was now a blank piece of skin. The Wyrm's heart started racing. He truly wasn't king anymore. Neither of them were. Simply two higher beings in a dream realm.
"I am… no longer king." That was all he could muster up. His voice felt weak and his hands were shaking a bit. He couldn't fathom it.
"WHAT!? So you putting me in this dream was useless after all!?" If he was no longer king, then the moth had no reason to be locked up like this. It wasn't fair. She looked back at the Wyrm. He looked like everything a ruler wouldn't be. Curled up, his tail wrapped around him, his four arms hugging himself.
"I did what I thought was right. I thought that bugs deserved higher thought. I thought you were a heartless tyrant that deserved nothing but the worst. It was for Hallownest. But I can't help but feel bad for what I've done. You were a bad influence to the bugs, so I trapped you here where you couldn't do any harm. If I had just never shown up to Hallownest…" Why was he telling her this? It wasn't like she cared what he thought. But she couldn't harm him in the state she was in. And he wasn't the king anymore. It didn't matter what he said.
The moth was mad. But there was something else she couldn't pinpoint. Was it… sympathy? It couldn't be. She could not stand that Wyrm. But the feeling wouldn't go away. "…how did it happen? How did you lose the King's Brand?" The moth was now fully turned around. She was interested in the Wyrm's downfall. Why? It shouldn't matter to her what had happened.
"My child ascended to full godhood. They attacked me, as the void took over their body. I couldn't bear to kill my own child. I expected them to kill me instead, but I guess they wanted a slow, painful fate for me. Something I deserved after all I've done to the void." He was expecting a harsh laugh from his enemy, picking on how he was too weak.
"I probably wouldn't be able to do it either." That was a surprising reaction. The Wyrm looked up. She was sitting with her legs and wings curled up in a ball, looking at him with a hard-to-read expression.
"You got what you deserved, I suppose. As did I." The moth wanted to shut her mouth right then and there, but didn't. She just kept talking. She really didn't need to add that last part.
The Wyrm let out a sigh. "My wife didn't even do anything about it." His lady was powerful enough. She could have stopped Hollow, even if it was temporary. But instead she stood there. She watched him be cast away for eternity.
"I had a conversation with her once. Before you arrived in Hallownest. She told me that all she ever wanted in life was a family." That was so long ago. The moth could hardly remember what she looked like.
"What else did she say?" Had the two really known each other before his rebirth? Did the moth know something he didn't? Why else would she bring it up? Or he was overthinking.
"Oh, this and that, blah blah blah how she was born, things like that. Basic girl talk. Although now it makes sense why she married you."
"Did… you ever have a partner?" A genuine question. He had never wondered such a thing.
"Never. I was always too afraid of what might happen. Like what happened to you, making a continuous lapse of judgment."
That caught the Wyrm off guard. He squinted his eyes. "What are you saying?"
"I don't think standing around watching you be cast away is something you want in a partner, if I'm being honest. You haven't felt it yet, have you?"
"Felt what?" He scanned his body for anything off. He was tired, his head kind of hurt… his kingsoul. His wife closed the connection. How had he not noticed!? She abandoned him! The Wyrm's breathing cut off for a few seconds as his brain spiraled. He had truly lost everything.
"That. I knew it would happen eventually." The moth went back to looking out into the dream realm.
(Authors note: I do headcanon that the radiance likes to be silly and sit in various positions. Just try your best to imagine them)
