Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s dark... Very dark... And warm? No, not warm... But not cold either. It's... comfortable.

Much more comfortable than the burning cold she had been in before. It made her chest tighten and ache to think about it. She’d rather bury the thought. It was okay now.

Regardless, the feeling stung in her chest, and she wanted a way to get away from it. She’d experienced this before. Bad dreams and nightmares that left her crying in bed.

Am I asleep? No, I feel awake…

She opened her eyes to take in the comfort of her room. What she saw instead was nothingness.

WaitWhy'sItSoDarkWhyCan'tISee-

She flailed in a panic, expecting to feel the weight of her blankets but her arms found nothing. Nothing but some sort of... resistance? Almost like dragging your hand through water? Was she in water!? Okay, she should try not to freak out, just- just-

She waved her hand through the blackness, looking for something, anything to grab onto. The longer she spun in place finding nothing around her the more her panic rose. Her persistent flailing caused her whole body to spin and-

WhichWayIsUpAmIUpsideDownI’mDrowningNeedTo-

Now she was really panicking. Her brain was finally starting to process the fact that she was completely submerged and blind. Unfortunately, being aware of the situation didn’t mean suddenly knowing what to do.

She started kicking and flailing aggressively now, trying to right herself and find the surface. No luck, until her foot, which felt strange, struck something hard. It felt like it was below her so she kicked off of it, hopefully propelling herself towards the surface.

Crack!

Ow!

Her head had struck something. She tried to pull back but she was stuck somehow. She raised her arms above her and pushed away, floating back downwards. She had to try and break through what she could only assume was ice. She pushed off the bottom again, feeling for the crack she had made. Her fingers found a small hole in the surface. It wasn't very big, but she could work with that. Her brain was on full autopilot now, base instincts taking over and rational thought given up on.

She struck the cracked surface with her fist and felt it give.

Yes!

She started punching at the surface above her frantically until the hole widened enough that she could hopefully pull herself out. A fresh wave of hope surged through her. 

She pulled herself up as fast as she could, so hard that the edge she was holding onto broke away, causing her to slip a bit before finding her grip again.

Her head shot out of the water, striking her with an immediate sense of direction again as gravity weighed down on it. However she didn’t get far before running into something else solid. Luckily there was just enough space to keep her face above the surface.

She wasn’t out just yet, but all that mattered at that moment was that her head was above water.

The water…

It didn’t feel cold. She hadn’t even thought about it since she’d woken up.

Kicking her feet a little, she could feel slight resistance, but there was no pressure on her skin, or any discernible temperature. It felt like nothing at all. That wasn’t good.

She had been trapped under ice, which means the water must be cold. Thoughts of people getting so cold they couldn’t even feel it anymore flashed through her mind.

Seriously bad. She needed to get out of the water and warm up before she got frostbite or her organs started shutting down.

Lifting a hand to the solid mass above, she could feel it was some kind of smooth, round thing about the size of her head. It was light, too, as she was able to push it up without much effort.

Wasting no time, she shoved hard against it, kicking her feet wildly and pushing herself up by the lip of the ice. It gave way, and she could feel things shifting around her as she managed to crawlup through whatever it was she was in. What felt like branches snagged and scraped her arms as she clawed her way upwards, but she was too focused on survival to even notice.

It felt like she would never escape this nightmare as she thrashed and pulled herselfup through the strange pile of light, round things she was in, but eventually her hand broke through the surface, and the rest of her quickly followed as she writhed against the pile trying to reclaim her.

The ground continued to shift beneath her so she simply let herself collapse onto her back. Her mind gradually came down from its adrenaline high allowing her to take a mental stock of her condition.

Her chest seized. She hadn’t been breathing this entire time.

She sat bolt upright, ignoring the masses shifting under her. She almost fell forward from the unusual weight of her head. She sucked in a breath and promptly choked, her lungs still filled with water. Panicked once more, she retched and coughed the fluid out, gasping for sweet air.

After a few moments she managed to clear her airways. She let herself sit there for a long time, just breathing in and out deeply. The air was stale and dusty, and reeked of some strange smell, but nothing could have felt sweeter to her in that moment.

It took her a while to bring herself to a relatively calm mental state again, allowing her to appreciate a realization that had been creeping up on her that entire time.

She wasn’t breathing through her face.

Instead, it felt like her air was being breathed through her sides. She racked her brain trying to come up with an explanation but came up blank. Bringing her hands to her sides, she felt small holes on either side of her torso that opened and contracted in time with her breathing.

What- How can this- Why do I have spiracles!?

She looked down slowly, still in a stupor. She stared at her body, not comprehending what she was seeing.

Her body was small and chubby-looking with limbs that were too short. She lifted her hands to her face.

It was dark, but not as dark as it seemed before. She could make out her hands in front of her. She only had three fingers and a thumb, and each was tipped with a claw. If that wasn't weird enough, she then noticed the other pair of hands. They looked just like her normal set, with the same plump arms. Except they were a second set of arms.

She moved her arms out of the way and stared at the second pair. She moved them around, finding the movements just as natural as any other.

She explored her body with her hands, all four of them. The upper two of them met her face, which felt hard and smooth. Reaching upwards, she felt two horns extending up from either side of her head. Feeling downwards with the new pair, she found that her body was just as weirdly small as it looked.

Okay, this was all seriously terrifying, but she needed to escape wherever it was she’d ended up. She stood up slowly, having to use her hands to stabilize herself as she got used to the unwieldiness of her head, made worse by the ground shifting under her feet.

She was in a small tunnel, surrounded on all sides by those strange round things. Stumbling over the uneven and unnervingly crunchy ground, she eventually crawled through a small opening to an area just slightly bigger than the claustrophobic tunnels behind her, which she could hear collapse as she pushed through.

Sitting against the wall to her left was a round... thing. It was totally black, and had a shiny outer surface. It was nearly a head taller than she was and had weird strands (wires?(ropes?(she could use those for pits(veins?(eugh.))))) connecting it to the wall behind it. There was a hole in the side of it, near-ish to the top. It almost looked like...

An egg?

She approached the large black egg and placed her hands on its surface to steady herself. It felt just like the surface she’d been trapped within. The thing she’d been in was an egg, just like this one. Which meant that…

She leaned forward, looking into the reflection in the surface.

Staring back at her were two large eyes, completely dark, set in a white face smeared with some kind of dark liquid. Two horns curved up to sharp points from either side of her head. On the inside of each horn, just at the base where they connected to her head, were two smaller protrusions that curved inwards to point at each other, giving the appearance of mandibles.

Holy shit.

Okay, so…

She had been sitting against the wall for a while now. Her head felt like it was swimming as she tried to come to terms with the situation.

I... died. And now I’m a vessel from Hollow Knight. I got reincarnated like in one of those Isekai shows. But h ow did I die? I can't remember... Okay, I can already feel the panic attack coming on, I'll unpack... all of that... later.

Usually when someone gets reincarnated into a fantasy world, they don’t know anything about it, and they definitely don’t have to claw their way out of an egg and the world’s most evil ball pit. Thanks, universe.

On the bright side, she would be able to use her knowledge of the game to her advantage.

Well, hopefully at least. Her hyperfixation on it had only just started right before... this. She hadn't actually played it herself yet since she had no money to buy the game with, but tomato-tomato. She had watched speedruns, theory videos, and read fan fiction about it. Heck, she had even considered writing her own at some point.

Anyway, she needed to make a mental list of everything she knew. Hollow Knight wasn’t the cheeriest story but knowing when she was in the timeline could make or break her chances of survival.

Clearly, the Radiance’s infection had already started since the vessels were here. And it seemed like the events of the game had already begun since the knight’s egg was already hatched.

Alright, uhh. I was thinking about something before, what was it..? Crap.

She'd lost her train of thought. She tried to go over her thoughts from the past few minutes but... Nope, train's been totally derailed. Darn it, of all the things, why did her dumb scatter-brain have to carry over. Then again, it was her scatter-brain, so she guessed she wouldn't really be her without it.

She stood up and turned towards the egg again, taking a closer and longer look at herself in the reflection of its shiny black shell.

I'm not a vessel I recognize from the game. So I guess I don’t have to worry about breaking canon accidentally .

She lacked the strange biological cloak thing that vessels usually have. A quick exploration of the base of her head with her fingers revealed tiny growths that felt like thin, flexible flaps made of keratin. The stuff fingernails and hair were made of. Definitely not extremely and completely cursed. Definitely.

Maybe they have to grow in? I’ll have to find something to wear until they do... There’s no way I’m running around butt-naked. I wonder if modesty is a thing for bugs... The only character I remember wearing clothes off the top of my head was Hornet, so it probably isn’t??

She turned her attention to the lower half of her body. She’d gotten more used to her legs, and much to her delight, had discovered that they were three segmented like a cat’s – Digitigrade! Each foot had three small toes tipped with blunted claws, with a fourth dewclaw on the inside of her feet. She really hoped she wouldn't have to worry about trimming it.

She did, in fact, have toebeans. She checked.

Most noticeably however, she seemed to lack any significant exoskeleton other than her head. She felt bones in her legs and arms when she squeezed them, but bugs didn't have endoskeletons. She wasn't exactly sure how Hollow Knight bug anatomy worked yet, let alone vessels, which were a hybrid of a Pale-whatever and a giant root woman, then marinated in pure void for good measure.

All this would be fun to speculate on, but she would have to figure that out later. First, she needed to find a way out.

She turned around and made her way to the other end of the room where she’d noticed the ceiling went up higher, being careful of where she stepped. She didn’t want to think about the fact that she was stepping all over skulls. Baby skulls. So, so many baby skulls.

Looking up, she saw a ledge above her. Readying herself, she jumped up to it and grabbed on, barely managing to scramble up onto it. It held her weight so she clambered up to the next one.

The climb took longer than she had hoped due to her falling multiple times, but she eventually made it out and into a much larger area after pushing her way through more skulls blocking the top of the tunnel. 

The floor was littered with the skulls of the other vessels, piled in a macabre mound of sadness. It was even worse to look at now that she had enough light to see the empty eye sockets and broken faces clearly, so she hastily made her way off the heap and onto normal stone. 

Hugging her arms around herself, she slowly turned around to get an idea of where she was. She was standing at the side of a cavern so tall she could barely see the top. The edges of the space were littered with giant, sort of disk-shaped rocks. The walls of the cavern were oddly uniform, as if someone had carved them from the natural rock in multiple layers atop one another, with round shapes seemingly embedded in them. A ways off to her right was the mouth of a tunnel leading somewhere else. 

Skirting around the edges of the heap would have been easier if it weren't for the uneven terrain. Those giant rocks, which looked suspiciously similar to ammonite fossils, were everywhere. Even embedded into the walls in some places.

She eventually made it to the tunnel and peered down it. Not even here was the ground flat. The whole stretch was made up of more of those giant fossils and there were platforms jutting up from the floor with pools of a pitch-black substance between them. She figured it was more void and carefully approached.

Nothing happened when she got close. Not so much as a ripple in the impossibly black surface. In her memories it was much more violent and deadly. Maybe there was a reason that it was more aggressive in the game? She’d never seen much of this area so she couldn't even begin to guess.

She decided to back away from the void for the time being, as she’d suddenly started feeling sort of nauseous standing near it. Nearly instantly as she took a few steps back, the knotting feeling in her gut went away.

She got close again out of curiosity and the feeling came back. Though now that she was focusing on the sensation, it felt less like an upset stomach and more like... tugging?

I wonder...

Getting right up to the edge, she tried to concentrate on the feeling in her belly. She stared intently at the pool of liquid nothing as she tried to picture the knot in her gut tug back on the void.

A small ripple traveled across the surface.

No way. No freaking way. Holy shit!

She concentrated harder and willed the fluid to come to her. She took a step forward and-

Yes! Yes! I am the daughter of Poseidon!

She laughed to herself at the joke, and stepped fully onto the now solid void fluid. If she looked closely, she could almost see tentacles squirming in the mass.

She didn't take any time to examine it further though. She wanted to see what was on the other side. She willed the void to lift her up and it obliged, making an otherwise impossible tunnel a walk in the park.

At the end was a semi-large cavern. On the near side was an area about the size of a soccer field mostly taken up by more of those round rocks, but some places were flat enough to stand comfortably. On the other half was a wide pool of void that stretched all the way to cavern walls. And right in the center of it all was a pile of broken rock, piled on what seemed to be the remains of some kind of structure. Something about it felt familiar but the memory eluded her.

She had barely gotten to take in her surroundings before she was mobbed by a sea of wispy black forms.

She hissed out of fright (sadly that wasn’t something she could blame on her new bug body) and tried to back away only to feel her back hit the wall. Didn’t the shades deal damage when you came into contact with them in the game? She was unsure of what to do. Should she run, try to talk to them? 

Her frantic thoughts were cut off by something she couldn't describe. Like someone was talking right inside her head, but with more feelings and ideas than words.

[Curious Question (new-sibling?)]

One shade moved closer than the rest, staring at her with wide, inquisitive eyes. She cautiously reached out a hand to it, to which the shade drifted forward. It reached out a tendril to meet her hand. It felt odd, like swirling mist while also having a smothering, yet comfortable weight to it. 

The shade repeated their question. She tried to respond but found herself unable to make any noise.

Oh gods, right. The Pale King made us without mouths. Um, yeah, I just... hatched, I guess.

The shades gave no indication that they had heard her. In her mind she could hear whispers among the group. Maybe she had to tap into whatever thing was going on between them. She tried concentrating on the little knot in her belly again, but nothing seemed to happen.

Maybe it’s like a psychic thing?

She tried imagining her mind reaching out, and after a few moments of concentration, she suddenly could hear what the shades were thinking more clearly now. The shade nearest to her floated closer and their eyes widened.

[Unsure Whisper (am-new-just-born- i-guess ) (sibling?)]

The shades surged forward, making her heart skip a beat. She was overwhelmed with thousands of jumbled thoughts all directed at her. There were so many all at once that she was only able to make out a single, common thought in the sea of voices.

[Elated Exclamation (just-born-sibling-hello!)]

Surrounded by hundreds of shades, all excited to meet their new sibling, she couldn't help but feel a warmth surge in her chest. She felt right at home.

Chapter Text

Some time had passed since the initial meet and greet with her many siblings. She had thoroughly explored the void pool cavern by this point, with the exception of the ruins. They had an eerie vibe, and the shades seemed afraid to go near them.

She had also spotted another tunnel on the far side of the void sea. The much larger reservoir hadn't responded to her attempts to control it and trying to find a way around had been a fruitless effort so eventually she resigned to her fate and started working up the nerve to swim in pure void.

She had been wary at first to enter the black liquid, let alone swim in it. But with much encouragement from her siblings and a few experimental toe dips, she had built up the courage to jump into the void. It had been surprisingly pleasant. It had that same nothing feel to it as the liquid in her egg, which had come to be strangely comforting to her.

Getting through the tunnel had been easy enough. She had clambered around the biggest obstacles and used her ability to cross the mini void pools. At the end was a larger chamber and in it a large statue, or perhaps the petrified remains of a bug holding a bowl of void out, as if it were offering it to some unseen person. It seemed like some kind of religious thing so she decided to leave it alone for the time being.

After she had returned to the main cavern, she had been swarmed by her siblings, all asking what was in the tunnel. They had apparently never gone there and thought it was so cool that she had explored it. The shades had reacted before she even had a chance to form a sentence and broadcast her thoughts to the shade sorta-hivemind.

It was still a bit of a weird feeling to have what felt like thousands of minds all connected to hers. On the one hand, it was nice. She had always thought to herself as if she was having a conversation with someone and now she kinda was. On the other hand, she wasn't really sure how to turn it off.

After that, she had explored everything else there was to explore save for the ruins and the chamber on the other side of the main cavern, which seemed to be filled with screaming faces. Big nope.

And then she was out of things to do.

Vessels couldn't die of hunger or thirst or lack of sleep, but dying of boredom seemed like a very real threat. She had no idea how long it’d been since she’d hatched, but it felt like an eternity had passed.

At some point she figured out how to make sounds with her spiracles, much to her siblings' amusement. Surprisingly, spiracles alone could make a pretty wide variety of noises, though that might have been wishful thinking on her part. She could produce anything from a breathy sigh to a breathy hiss. In fact, if she put enough force into it, she could even make a fairly impressive, sorta loud raspy hiss that had sent her siblings into a flurry when she first figured out how to do it.

Maybe it’ll be useful for scaring predators off or something. Like those cockroaches from Madagascar do. I wonder if there’s any in Hallownest.

She flexed the holes in her sides to be just barely closed and blew out. It made a breathy sort of sigh. Trying again, but putting more force into her exhale, she produced a more huffy sound this time.

It was probably just her tired, bored mental state, but something about the noise piqued her interest. She tried again, putting even more force into the breath.

"Ehthhh"

She tried it again, and again, refining the simple sound into something she was pleased with.

"Ethh"

"Ithhh"

"Ithh"

It kinda sounds like...

"Ithh-ehh"

"Ithh"

"Ythe"

It was probably just her tired brain finding patterns that weren’t there, but something about the noise elicited a visceral feeling. It felt like it was hers.

Then again, it was probably her tired mind talking. While her body didn't need sleep, her brain still did, as evidenced by her increasingly foggy thoughts and general blegh feeling.

Ohhh, I completely forgot to sleep. That’s why I’ve been feeling so blergh lately. Gods, how long has it even been?

She shook her head to wake herself up a little, too interested in her little discovery to go to sleep right now.

Ythe. I could see myself being called Ythe if I didn't already have a name.

Wait, what was her name again? She could feel her chest becoming tight. She spent a good long while just sitting there, racking her mind for even the slightest hint as to what her name was. With a panic attack and a headache coming on, and her siblings getting increasingly worried, she decided to give it a rest and give herself some rest.

Okay, I'm fine, I'm good, I'm fine. No panic attack... Okay.

She took a deep breath in, held it for a moment, then let it out slowly, repeating this process until the writhing feeling in her chest finally settled down. She exhaled through her spiracles deeply one last time before scooching up against the nearest rock and getting as comfortable as she could.

She exhaled again, for a different purpose this time. It took a few more tries to get her spiracles to flex in just the right way like before. She exhaled again, making the sound that resonated with her.

"Ythe"

She grew elated, making the sound over and over. She didn't have a voice, didn't really have a father, and she couldn't recall her old name. But she did have her siblings, and now she had this sound. And it was hers.

Content, she finally let herself fall into a much needed rest.

Ythe wasn’t sure how long she’d slept for, but she woke up feeling much better. Her siblings were floating around her. She stretched and said good morning to them. They didn’t seem to understand what she meant, but she didn’t bother to explain as she got up from the ground.

She called out to the shades, wanting to address them all at once. There were so many gathered around her, her whole field of view began to look like a starry night sky. Just a wall of the deepest black speckled by white lights.

Ythe waited for them all to be paying attention and then proudly announced to the whole sorta-hivemind her breakthrough.

[Proud Statement (am-sister-named-Ythe)]

The shades excitedly turned this new word over in their minds. They were all repeating it to each other in a jumble of thoughts. She was Ythe, and she was beaming with joy. At least, she would have been if she had a mouth.

She went over everything she could think of once again. She didn’t really know when she was in the timelines, just that it was some point after the infection had started, and the Pale King had made all the vessels, which had already hatched. Excluding her of course.

Once she got out of the abyss though she’d be able to find out a bit more about the situation above. If she did run into infected creatures, that must mean that either the Hollow Knight hadn’t been sealed yet, or it had but Ghost hadn’t done any of the endings yet. Or they had and just got an ending where they ended up just like the Hollow Knight eventually...

Wow, great. That still won't help me figure out where I really am on the timeline, just how much I'm going to get my butt kicked by rabid bugs.

Her mind drifted once more to the Pale King. She was no expert on the game, but she had a rough knowledge of the lore. Which meant that she knew all the important details of his crimes. The fate of all the “impure” vessels had always been saddening, but now that she was living it, faced directly with that reality, it hit so much harder.

Thousands of children born just to be executed and thrown away all because they weren’t the perfect little solution to the problem he created. Ythe’s hands clenched so hard her little nails dug into the flesh of her palms. She stared out at the sea of shades, all floating around aimlessly. Her heart ached with a sharp pain that was all too familiar for her.

She couldn't even bear to think about the fact that she, being a vessel too, also made her a child of his.

The ache in her chest was heartbreaking, and her limbs felt like springs coiled as tight as they would go. She wasn’t going to just sit here and take it. She had never been the kind of person to want revenge on anyone, but some people were simply so cruel that it filled her with a murderous rage. Her father being one of those people. He had made her life hell for years, especially after she had dropped out of high school from being overwhelmed with stress and depression.

I guess some things don’t change.

Leaving the Abyss would be no easy feat. She would basically be trying to beat the game in reverse, with absolutely none of the abilities that were essential for getting through the late stage areas. She didn’t even know how to focus her soul to heal.

She couldn't gamble on benches being safe zones, much less giving her a free get-out-of-death-free card if she ever got too careless. Not to mention having to fight her shade to get her stuff back.

Though... Being a shade might have its perks. Her siblings could fly, and based on the game other creatures would probably leave them alone. The problem was she didn’t really feel like killing herself with possibly no way to go back.

I doubt I’ll be able to fight my way through. I don’t have any practical fighting experience and I don’t know if I even have the nerve to kill someone, infected or not. That’s even if I react in time to not get absolutely destroyed.

Ythe had never had very good reaction time in her past life, and it hadn't improved in her new body, which she may or may not have discovered by tripping and failing to catch herself more than once.

Same old dum-dum brain I guess.

Fighting was a no-go, so her only other options then were being too quick to catch, or too armored to hurt. At least until she could get some battle training.

Oh what were those things from the earlier part of the game called again? Maybe I could use one of their old shells as a shield. I'd just have to find the cave that they nest in, sneak in, grab a shell, and run like hell!

And while she was there, she figured she could find the stalwart shell charm. She was pretty sure it was a defensive charm. One of the few defensive charms, actually. If she could get it, she could become an absolute tank with untouchable defense!

Except, baldurs wouldn't be anywhere near the void. By the time she got her hands on a shell, she'd practically be in Dirtmouth, which kinda defeated the purpose of getting a shield with how safe it was in town. Ythe sat down in frustration, propping her head up on her palm. If she couldn't get a baldur shell, she would need to find something else to protect herself with.

Having outsider knowledge of the world would be a boon, even if her knowledge wasn’t perfect. If only she hadn’t been holding out on reading the deep lore before she could play the game herself.

Argh!

Ythe took a deep breath. She was pretty sure she didn't need to breathe anymore, as evidenced by the multiple moments where she had forgotten to and was fine, but it still helped calm her down and let her recollect her thoughts.

The void pool chamber hadn't yielded anything useful to her so far, so she begrudgingly made her way back into the larger cavern.

It only took what felt like a couple of minutes to find the shell of a dead creature. It was segmented into five pieces and had two symmetrical holes on what she assumed was the head.

Ythe carefully flipped the thing over to get a look at the bottom. Lucky for her, it seemed like the creature had died a while ago as the underside, which was just a dry, fragile membrane, was sunken in. There were numerous holes in the paper-thin membrane, suggesting that the thing had gotten itself impaled and fell to where she’d found it.

Ythe broke away the thin membrane with her hands and found that the inside was all but empty. It was too intact to have been eaten, so it seemed like it had just... decayed.

The five segments were held together with thick strands of some kind. Ythe bent the shell back and forth, freeing up the crusty joints and testing how strong the connective tissues were. They held up remarkably well and were still very flexible despite being gods' know how old.

This is way too big for me to carry around as a shield. And if it’s gonna wiggle like that it’ll be even harder to use. It kind of reminds me of... Ohhhhh-!

Ythe stood up, scanning the area for something to use as a rope. It took a while, but she was able to scrounge up some kind of fabric-y material. She removed as much of the extra bits as she could and wound the rest up into a passable length of rope.

She scurried back over to the shell and turned the end with two holes towards herself.

Ow!

Her hand shot back reflexively as the razor edge of the shell left a stinging gash in it. Now would be a great time to know how to use her healing ability. The game told you to use it by pressing a button to “focus”. The animation didn’t show anything special that she might need to do, but it did make the knight stop moving around. Maybe it was just as easy as concentrating on it?

She closed her eyes and tried to picture her soul. She imagined it responding to the cut, traveling to the wound to heal it the way the immune system does in a human body. A pleasantly cool feeling washed over her, and the gash tingled until it stopped hurting. Her eyes shot open and she examined her palm. There was barely any indication that it had ever been hurt except for the thinnest little line that was near-invisible against her black skin.

Ythe grinned internally and got right back to work, grabbing a nearby stone to dull the edges where the rope would be tied around as well as the portion that would sit near the back of her neck. She used two equal lengths of makeshift rope and threaded each through an eye hole. She tied both into simple loops to act as backpack straps

My own protective shell! Anything that tries to eat me is gonna be in for one nasty surprise!

Ythe was grinning even wider now in her mind, turning her masterpiece over to get a look at the whole thing. She wasted no time in trying it on, slipping her upper arms into the two loops and fidgeting to get it settled on her back. It was a little heavy, and she couldn't tilt her head very far back, but it was otherwise unnoticeable.

The triumphant little bug turned around and around, shaking and jumping to test out how well her new armor worked. The flexibility turned out to be more useful than she first appreciated. The whole thing bent and twisted with her body as naturally as a cloak.

So this is what it feels like to wear medieval armor! Oh, I still need to find something to wear.

Ythe did a slow turn, scanning the rocks to find more of that scrappy fabric she'd used for her shell. Not seeing any, she started climbing over the gigantic nodules, looking into as many cracks and crevices as she could see. There was more of the odd fabric-like material, but none of the pieces were big or intact enough to serve as a cloak.

Grumbling internally, Ythe threw down the pieces she had in her hands. She couldn't be seen by anyone while she was naked! It would be embarrassing, mortifying! Lack of any bits or not, she just couldn't go around Hallownest naked. She wasn’t even going to risk waiting until she got to the Ancient Basin to find something to cover up with.

The abyss remained silent, the only sound being the tiny scrabbling coming from Ythe's frustrated pacing. It was oddly satisfying to hear the click-click-click of her claws hitting stone.

Okay, there has to be something here ... I didn't find anything in the other cave, and there's nothing but scraps in this one. My best bet is probably the ruins.

Click clack click click. Her siblings were dancing around her to the discordant rhythm.

I'm guessing someone built it to watch the void sea or something. Which means that someone would be inside it for long periods, which means they would need supplies, which means I could probably find clothes or at least a blanket.

She stopped in place, eyes transfixed on some point on the ground.

Then again, it was practically nothing more than rubble, so who's to say that there would even be anything left? Agh, what do I do?? I need clothes and there might be clothes in it but I don't wanna go in the creepy ruins!

Ythe sucked in a breath and sighed both in reality and in her mind.

It'd be worth at least checking out, plus it's not like I have any other options. Just think of it like urbex! Or whatever you would call exploring a remote outpost deep underground.

Ythe slid off the nodule she'd been pacing on, and made her way back to the tunnel leading into the void sea cavern.

The space sprawled out in front of her, divided by the pile of stone debris that was the ruins. The siblings that hadn’t been following her were listlessly floating around. Some addressed her as she approached the ominous construct. They were sending thoughts of unease through the sorta-hivemind and circling around her.

[Determined Declaration (going-to-explore-ruin-find-supplies-find-clothes-hopefully)]

The shades voiced their concerns in her head.

[Anxious Statement (lighthouse-bad)(cast-light-hurt)]

So it used to be a lighthouse then? Not just a lighthouse but the Lighthouse. That explained why her siblings were so upset by it. She couldn't believe she hadn’t realized earlier.

Even now, after it had been destroyed, the Lighthouse was a source of anxiety for her siblings. Ythe forced her anger down as best she could. To add insult to injury, the Pale Piece-of-Crap had erected a lighthouse down here in the void that burned the poor souls of her dead siblings.

Though this realization raised new questions in Ythe's mind. What happened to it? In the game it was in perfect shape. There wasn’t even a hint of it being ready to collapse. Did this mean she was far further in the timeline than she had considered?

Ythe swept her gaze over the pile of rubble. Only the very foundations remained other than some broken chunks of rock. It looked more like it had been demolished than naturally degraded, and there was a significant lack of rubble for how big she remembered the tower being.

Right on cue, her siblings chimed in with an exclamation.

[Proud Statement (tall-sister-come)(tall-sister-destroy-bad-light)]

Ythe blinked.

[Confused Question (tall-sister?)(what-do-you-mean?)]

The shades whirled around her, showing her memories of a tall bug with majestic wings absolutely wrecking the tower, allowing the void sea to rise up and drag it down like a sentient tidal wave. She had four arms, just like Ythe, and a long, navy blue biological-cloak-thing. She also had a strong looking tail, covered in armor-like plates. Most notably of all was her head; pointed and v-shaped, with two distinct, ridged horns adorning it. There was only one bug in the game that had that distinct horn pattern.

It was the Hollow Knight.

Chapter Text

The abyss was silent as ever. Silent, save for the tiny footsteps of a vessel named Ythe.

Ythe was animatedly conversing with her siblings, who were dancing in the air like kites in the wind. Ythe was nearly flapping her hands in excitement. She didn't really have a reason to repress it anymore, at least not down here, but old habits die hard.

Her siblings had been filling her in on a bunch of things. She almost felt a twinge of annoyance that they hadn't brought it up before, but it wasn't really their fault that she hadn't asked.

[Proud Exclamation (tall-sister-so-cool)(brought-back-old-shells)(forgiven)(loved)]

Ythe tilted her head.

[Curious Question (forgave-tall-sister?)(for-what?)]

Ythe felt the feelings of some of the shades turn a bit sour.

[Flat Statement (sister-left-us-to-die)]

[Defensive Disagreement (sister-had-no-choice!)(not-her-fault)]

Clearly this was something of a divisive topic, so Ythe cut in.

[Hasty Question (tell-more-about-tall-sister?)(does-tall-sister-have-name?)]

The shade turned their attention away from their argument and started showing Ythe more images of the Hollow Knight. Apparently her name was Wasp, and she was the oldest out of any of the vessels, having been born first. The vessels didn't seem to know much about what Wasp did outside of the abyss, but what they did know gave Ythe something to go off of. Apparently she lived in Deepnest, and had done a lot of amazing things, including destroying the lighthouse with a blast of lightning.

Wasp had visited the void on more than one occasion, having brought back a number of the shades' bodies. She had made a promise to them that they would get retribution for the Pale Prick's actions.

Then the shades showed her the most important bit yet. Wasp had entered the void through a tunnel she had dug. Ythe made a mental note to check it out after she was done exploring the ruins.

Oh right, the ruins!

The ruins were off to her right, still and quiet as ever. As Ythe made her way over to them, she was able to discern more and more details. The ruins were taller than they appeared. The entire first floor was still intact, at least. The surrounding rubble had just made it seems shorter than it was. The inside was scattered with rocks and debris, but Ythe thought she could make out some other objects hidden beneath.

Shaking off the anxiety, Ythe dropped down into what once was a room. She stumbled over to what she'd seen before and-

Yotzah!

Ythe could see a chest buried beneath some mid-sized rocks. They were easier to lift than she anticipated, and she easily cleared the rubble away to reveal the chest. It was blue, and had a simple design. Pushing the lid open, Ythe found a neatly folded pile of white fabric. She pulled the topmost piece out and let it unfold. It appeared to be some kind of robe, though way too big for her tiny body.

Regardless, she did a little dance before climbing out of the hole to show her siblings her prize. Most of the shades recoiled at the sight of the white garment.

[Disgusted statement (white-cloak-belonged-to-pale-bug-in-lighthouse)]

It was a bit of a damper on Ythe's mood, but she had already figured that anything in the ruins would probably have belonged to the Pale King in some way. Nonetheless, she had an idea. Ythe dashed out onto the metal dock that was connected to the ruins. Dropping to her knees, she lowered the cloak into the void sea. It hissed and roiled but eventually let her soak the fabric in it.

When Ythe stood up, the once white garment was now a dusky gray, stained with the void. Ythe slipped out of her shell and set it on the dock.

It was easy enough to use the sharp edges to cut the cloak into something she could wrap herself up in. By the time she was done tailoring it, the void liquid had dried. She pulled the modified cloak around herself. It didn't fit very well, but it did its job. Putting her armor back on, Ythe asked her siblings to show her where the exit to the abyss was.

She was ready.

Ythe stood before a giant stone door.

Dammit.

No matter what she tried, Ythe wasn't able to get the door to even budge. It was as if some unseen force was keeping it sealed. Intricately carved lines covered its surface and lit up when Ythe got close to it. Clearly the door was being kept sealed by some kind of magic.

Hate. Let me tell you how much I’ve come to hate you since I got up here.

Ythe paced back and forth, glaring at the door. The climb up here had been grueling. There were more of those bugs that her shell had come from, alive this time and all over the place. She also found so, so many clusters of sharp spikes. She had been lucky to avoid most of them with help from her siblings, but there had been too many close calls for her to be comfortable with.

She had found the tunnel that Wasp had made in the side wall of the Abyss, but unfortunately without a pair of wings she had no way of reaching it. She figured Wasp had to have escaped through the door first, so many there was a chance she could too.

Ythe clawed at the stone surrounding the door. She didn't think it would do anything, but she was so frustrated that she didn't care. She grabbed and pulled at any crack or crevice she could get a grip on, moving up and down the wall. The door just sat there, solemn and unbreakable, taunting her.

She kept grabbing at the wall, moving further and further from the door, until her hand went right through it. Ythe stopped. Had she imagined it? She rubbed her palm across the surface and surely enough, her hand passed right through a particular spot in the wall. There was something just behind the fake rock, but it felt loose. Ythe pulled on it and caused a small pile of rocks to tumble out onto the floor. She kept grabbing at the rocks behind the illusory wall until she had pulled every loose stone free. Poking her head in, Ythe could see that she had actually discovered a tunnel.

Yes! Whoever made this; thank you thank you thank you!

The tunnel was just big enough for a large bug to fit through, but for her it was easy to get inside. She only saw it for a second as she passed through the fake wall, but there was a small object slotted into the stone just above the tunnel. It looked like many multicolored patches stuck together in a camo pattern with the face of a bug obscured by an open hand in a ‘You can’t see me’ gesture. It seemed familiar to her, but she couldn't place her finger on it.

Ythe turned herself around and started pulling the rocks back into the mouth of the tunnel. Whoever made it had gone out of their way to hide it.

The tunnel was curved, ending in another wall of loose stones. Ythe carefully removed each one and set it down between herself and the false wall. If there was someone on the other side, they probably worked for the pale jerk.

She couldn't risk getting caught. She was defenseless aside from her shell, but that wouldn't be very effective for very long against anything with more than basic intelligence.

Peeking her head through the illusory wall, Ythe swiftly scanned the area ahead. It was a dull chamber, carved out of the same rock as the one one the other side of the door. Only one thing stood out to her; A large, round object made of blueish stone sitting against the far wall. Most importantly though, the area was clear of any signs of life.

After blocking the hidden tunnel entrance back up, the small bug moved in front of the large object to examine it. It actually seemed to be some kind of black materiel encased in the blue stone as if it were an eggshell that had been broken away. The front of the rock was flat and with a hum, lit up with white patterns when she got near it. She wasn't able to read any of it though so she moved on.

Coming out of the passage, Ythe ran into a major issue. A group of bugs wearing white robes had seemingly appeared from nowhere, catching her off guard and forcing her to flee up a set of ornate stairs. Unfortunately, this only worked to worsen her situation, as she was now in a gigantic cavern, most of which was dominated by the looming shape of a palace made of stark white stone. It was in really rough shape, and a lot of it was covered in wooden scaffold.

In her panic, Ythe had run right into the last place she wanted to be right then. Hearing the group ascending the stairs behind her, she had no choice but to flee across the bridge and further into the cavern.

Ahead of her were numerous bugs in white armor, all standing guard outside the palace walls. It was just her luck that they'd already spotted her. Two of them were now approaching, weapons at the ready. Neither of the four-armed figures said a word, silently marching towards her. Ythe froze in place a few feet from the end of the bridge, her mind racing at a million miles an hour.

A voice from behind her shouted, "You there! Who are you, and what business have you trespassing on royal grounds?!"

OhFuck-!

Ythe whipped around to see the group of bugs she'd fled from before crossing the bridge behind her. There were seven in total; four white-armored guards, two bugs wearing white robes and holding scrolls, and one that was walking ahead of the group and had an important air about him. His horns were adorned by one silver band each that glinted in the light. He had been the one who had shouted, yelling again at her, "Identify yourself immediately or you shall be apprehended! This is your final warning!"

Ythe heard a noise behind her and spun around to come face-to-breastplate with one of the white guards. They had snuck up on her while she was distracted.

She flung herself to the side as it reached for her, narrowly avoiding being grabbed. She wobbled on her feet for a moment before taking off running. The bug with the silver bands screeched.

“Capture it! Capture it now! We can’t allow another one to escape!”

More white guards had left their posts and were all after her. A crowd of bugs wearing the same white robes as Silver-bands’ escort were coming out of the palace now, summoned by the commotion. Ythe hunkered down, splaying out her shell, and sprinted full speed at the group of bewildered nobles.

Luckily for her, all of them had the sensibility, or at least, the cowardice, to get out of her way as she rushed through. She heard a few of them squawk in surprise as she bulldozed past. Some were shouting at her, but she was too focused on getting out of dodge to make anything out.

One of them didn't get out of the way in time however, and was hit by the small, shell-wearing bug. Luckily it hadn't been a head-on collision and Ythe was able to recover easily.

The white guards were starting to catch up to her now. Ythe looked up, spotting an entrance ahead of her. With no other choices, she pushed on.

Ythe blazed past white guards and nobles alike, pushing on with single-minded determination. What she could now see was a station was right ahead of her now. The station was dotted with more nobles, idly chatting with one another.

Ythe didn't stop for them though, and pushed right through, nearly tumbling off of the platform. The nobles started shouting at her, their accusing words turning to those of confusion as they got a good look at the intruder.

Ythe could hear the white guards approaching now, as well as the furious shouts of the noble with silver-banded horns. He was barking out commands to the guards. The nobles on the platform were nervous now, looking back and forth among each other. Their chattering was cut off as the one with silver bands stormed in with five or six guards.

"Make way, immediately! That thing is to be captured and placed under my custody as emissary of the Pale King," he yelled. The emissary was pointing at her and the guards were already closing in.

Ythe dropped off the platform and sprinted into the stagway. She could hear the emissary screaming behind her. It only made her more determined to screw him over by getting away.

She kind of regretted not flipping him the bird or something as she passed. Any friend of the Pale King was an enemy of her, and she wanted to take any opportunity she got to express those feelings to the Pale Piece-of-Crap or his lackeys.

She had been running for quite a while now, and while she had expected to have been completely out of breath by now, her body didn’t seem to be getting tired. Being a vessel seemed to have its perks. She decided to just keep running, and put as much distance between herself and the palace as possible. It surely wouldn't be long before they came after her, and she wasn't sure she could outrun a stag.

The Pale Emissary was fuming. Not only had another vessel escaped and made a scene, and right in front of the palace no less, but it had also managed to escape into the Stagways. The Pale King would be furious when he learned of this.

Turning on his heel, he addressed the chattering nobles that were loitering in the Stag Station. He took a deep breath and announced, "Those of you who witnessed this incident are to swear under oath absolute secrecy. If you speak a word of what you saw to anyone, you shall be considered a traitor to the kingdom and arrested for treason against the King."

The nobles shuffled nervously, offering up disciplinedwords of agreement. The Pale Emissary motioned for the Kingsmoulds standing at the entrance to lower their weapons. The crowd quickly dispersed, not wanting to incur the Pale Emissary's wrath.

Four of the Kingsmoulds were ordered to stand guard in the station and capture the escaped vessel should it return. The emissary thought to go after the disgusting little thing, but it would be far into the tunnels by now. Trying to find it would be a waste of time. Instead, he would put out a notice. A squadron would be sent at first mention of a sighting to capture it.

The Emissary strode back out onto the grounds to give the same declaration to the crowd outside the palace that he had to the nobles in the station. Once that was done, he entered the palace, skirting the damaged areas and climbed to the meeting room. He sat in the chair situated to the right of the head of the table. Next to it was the chair belonging to the Pale King himself. It sat empty and cold, but no dust would sully its surface.

The council waited in polite silence.

The Emissary stood, signaling the start of the meeting. All eyes were on him. He ignored the slight twinge between his eyes and spoke.

"General. Do you have new information regarding Deepnest?"

It took a considerable amount of effort to not say the last word with venom. The general stood, turning in place to face the Emissary. He was a gruff-looking bug. Stout and sturdy, and covered in scars. Some old and almost gone from past sheds, but many more that were much newer. He was dressed in the armor befitting a commanding officer of his status. Its surface was marred by years' worth of dents and scratches. The Emissary thought it unbecoming to wear such worn out armor, but the general insisted it was a sign of battle prowess.

"Nothing new to report. Deepnest is as impenetrable as ever. No casualties since the truce was called. All attempts to subvert their defenses have proven unsuccessful," the general barked out. He gave a respectful nod and sat down.

They had been in this standstill ever since that damnable broken vessel had wrought destruction and mayhem on the palace and captured the Pale King. The thing was surely mad to think it could take prisoner the Pale King, the light of Hallownest.

Pain twinged between the Emissary's eyes again, more intense this time, causing his vision to blur slightly. He maintained his composure and addressed the other officials in turn.

The negotiations had been a massive headache for the Emissary. The Queen had not attended, despite her being the one to invite the Deepnest savages. The Emissary had gone in her stead, being the next highest authority.

They had gone as expected; The broken vessel lobbed baseless accusations at their glorious king, claiming that there were thousands of these vessels down in the Abyss, all killed.

The Pale King had said there were but a few prototypes and nothing more. The Broken Vessel had simply been one such failure that had somehow reactivated itself and escaped. This new vessel was clearly the same.

The Pale Emissary had cut straight to the core of the matter, demanding the immediate return of the Pale King. The vessel, corrupt in its mind as it is, had refused.

The rest of the meetings were more mundane, just petty discussion of trade and barter between the nations. Despite renewing the deal with The Hive, imports from the bees had slowed considerably. Honey was a valuable asset, never spoiling and making for an excellent ration when prepared correctly. Without it Hallownest’s armies would be significantly worse off.

Peace had continued for the time being, though every bug seemed aware it would not last forever. The public was uneasy, always waiting for the moment war broke out once more. The Emissary made plans to send representatives across the Kingdom’s territories to quell fears.

The ache had grown, getting hard to ignore now. The Emissary decided to wrap up the meeting as soon as possible and address the newest issue at hand. He spoke in an unwavering tone.

"As you know, another vessel has escaped the abyss. There is no information in regards to how it circumvented the door, but I will personally oversee the investigation. It evaded capture by way of the Stagways and its current location is unknown."

The other members of the White Council were silent. The Emissary continued.

"All mention of the incident is prohibited of course. If news were to reach Deepnest, the mad vessel would most likely attempt to find it. We cannot risk another attack before our forces fully recover."

The general stood, requesting permission to speak. The Emissary waved his hand, to which the general suggested a quite interesting proposal.

"The broken vessel clearly has a strong interest in others like itself. It granted the impure vessel asylum. Perhaps we could use this new vessel to our advantage. If it were to be captured, we could potentially use it as leverage in negotiations. Or it could be used as an inside agent, relaying information or perhaps even... freeing the our glorious king directly."

The general had tried to chose his last words carefully. Grace in conversation was not his strong suit.

No one was willing to openly admit that the Pale King had been truly bested by the broken vessel. Surely this was some great ploy by his brilliance. Though it was hard to explain why he would have allowed himself to be captured in the first place, or why he had not already escaped Deepnest's grasp.

"Your proposal holds much promise general Munger. I have already put out a notice to all forces that the escaped vessel is to be captured on sight. All available resources will be put towards keeping this under heavy secrecy. If word reaches Deepnest prematurely, it will all be in vain. Meeting adjourned,” the Emissary declared.

The Emissary waited for the council members to file out of the room before he slumped down into his seat. The headache had grown worse, feeling like a garpede was pounding on the inside of his shell. Standing, he went to his chambers to rest.

The halls were blessedly empty, as most staff were in the more damaged areas of the palace, aiding in repairs. He turned a corner, and entered his room. The simple bed was neatly made, not a crease or wrinkle in the white sheet. His desk on the other hand was a mess of scrolls and other items.

He ignored all of this however, and went straight into the attached room. It was smaller, and contained the Emissary's more personal effects. Cloaks, robes, armor, and other such things. In one corner was a small basin sat atop a pedestal. Water trickled out of a spout on the wall just above the bowl. To the side was a large mirror that reached from the floor to nearly the ceiling. A luxury not afforded to most.

The Emissary grabbed a cloth from the nearby shelf and held it under the spout, dousing it in cool water. He did not use it to scrub himself clean however. Instead he wrung out excess fluid and folded the cloth into a rectangle which he pressed against his forehead. The coolness offered some reprieve from the ache, allowing him to think.

The headaches had started weeks ago. They had been very mild at first, but they had been increasing in intensity as time went on. For sake of his pride he refused to see a healer, and blamed the aches on the stress of running a kingdom.

The pain had mostly subsided now, so the Emissary wrung out the cloth into the basin and disposed of it in a nearby basket. Picking up a fresh cloth, he dried the moisture from his shell and turned towards the mirror while his vision was obscured.

A strange feeling ran up his spine.

The Emissary whipped the cloth away from his face and glared at the empty room. There was nothing of note but a darkened doorway. Except, the doorway was to his right. The rectangular portal in front of him had not been there a moment ago.

He recoiled and eyed the mirror with wary confusion. Instead of his reflection looking back at him, he only saw a swirling void. It appeared to shift and move in impossible ways.

The Emissary reached out without thinking, and the instant his claw grazed the surface, the room went dark. He whipped around, finding himself standing in a vast, empty plains. Thick clouds of dust and silt prevented him from seeing any farther than a few feet away.

And then the vision was over.

If anyone else had been in the room in that moment, it would have looked like the Pale Emissary had simply touched the mirror for just a second before turning back to the door and leaving to resume his duties.

He knew exactly what he needed to do.

She had been running for gods knew how long now. There had been multiple times where she'd nearly been trampled by a stag that seemed to come thundering down the tunnel out of nowhere. During these instances, she would drop to the floor and curl up as close to the wall as possible. She wasn't sure if she'd been seen or not, but she wasn't going to take any risks.

The stagways were twisting and had many crossroads. It didn't really matter though, as Ythe had no clue where she was going anyways. Anywhere would be better than the palace.

Ythe made another turn, and saw light up ahead. She charged right for it, hoping it was somewhere she could hide out for a while.

No such luck. Ythe came out into a rainy station filled with bugs waiting for a stag. She heard gasps of surprise as she came to a stop. Her gaze darted around, spotting one or two blue bugs wielding nails. They were coming closer to see what the hubbub was about.

Shoot.

Ythe scrambled up onto the platform, startling the bugs nearest to her. She dodged through the crowd, eliciting a shout from one of the guards. It wasn't clear if they were looking for her specifically, or were just doing their duty. No way in hell was she going to stop to find out.

Seeing no exit on her level, she dropped to the one below, scaring more bystanders as she hit the floor running. She was immediately swallowed up by a massive crowd of bugs waiting for a stag. She felt like she was being crushed, so she inhaled as deeply as she could before letting out the loudest, most intimidating hiss possible. It seemed to work a little too well as people began to panic, scrambling out of her way. She couldn't help but grin internally.

Ythe was finally able to spot the exit just ahead of her, and she wasted no time in barreling through the archway. As she came out onto the city streets, she came to a screeching halt. It was breathtaking.

The ground was wet with rain. Great skyscrapers made of rich blue stone that reached as high as the cave ceiling itself surrounded an open courtyard. Platforms and walkways connected them, allowing bugs to get around with ease. Ythe had never been a city girl, and she was thoroughly overwhelmed by the sheer scale of this place. The game’s flat cross-section of the city simply didn’t do the real thing’s beauty and enormity justice.

Her sight-seeing was cut short by the sound of the two guards’ voices getting louder as they came out of the stag station. Ythe glanced behind herself and started to hurry across the courtyard. She already stuck out like a sore thumb with her ill-fitting cloak and shell on her back, and running would probably only bring more attention to herself.

"Hey, stop," one of the guards called out at her. Their voice was raspy, but had a youthful quality to it.

No way was she letting herself get caught when she’d gotten so far already. Ythe looked back and forth for any opportunity as she hurried across the courtyard. It must have been lunchtime or something, as people were filtering out now, which Ythe took advantage of by weaving in and around them. Bugs gasped and moved out of the way as she darted around their legs.

Chancing a glance backwards, Ythe discovered that the bugs chasing her were flying, so no amount of running around in a crowd was gonna lose them. Just great.

Luckily, when she turned her head back around, she spotted a building not too far away that had a wide balcony on the second floor. It was exactly what she needed just then. She silently thanked the universe and veered left.

The crowd became even denser as she bolted under the overhang. Now that she was right next to the building, she could see that the third door from her was ajar. Ducking inside, Ythe closed it behind herself as softly as possible. She peered out through the gap, watching the guards awkwardly try to push through the crowd on foot. Before she could breathe a mental sigh of relief, Ythe was startled by a voice behind her.

"Oh! You gave me a start. Are you here to see Kaman? I'm afraid they're in the back currently. I'm waiting on them as well."

Ythe hissed out of fright and turned (more like jumped in place) around to face the bug who had spoken. They were quite large, much taller than herself, with a rotund body supported by relatively small legs. They raised their hands in a placating gesture and said, "My apologies. It seems I gave you a start as well."

Ythe couldn't find the words to respond with, not that it mattered whether or not she had something to say. The large bug was giving her an odd look, eyeing her up and down. They turned away from the shelf they had been looking at and spoke again.

"That shell you're wearing, I don't recognize what kind of creature it comes from. Pardon me, but may I ask where you got it from?"

They didn't seem like they had ulterior motives, just curious about her shell. Her mind was still detangling itself after everything she'd gone through so she could only offer a shrug. Not that she could have responded anyway.

If the large bug was disappointed, they didn't show it. Instead, they chuckled and picked up some kind of stone slab, small enough to hold in one hand.

"You don't seem the talkative sort, but allow me to introduce myself. My name is Heimich, he and him. You may know me as 'The Collector'," he said and huffed lightheartedly, "Though I do much more than just collect. I like to think of myself as a bug of the life sciences. I study the beasts and bugs that call this kingdom home."

Ythe tilted her head. He seemed like a friendly person. And biology was something she'd always had a massive passion for. She let a little bit of the tension in her shoulders go and, without much other way of going about it, waved at Heimich.

She wanted to introduce herself as well but her lack of a voice made that impossible. The collector must have picked up on her frustration as he hummed a short note and turned back to the shelf, producing a small white stick.

"Here," he said, handing both the flat stone and a chalk to her. "And don't worry about paying for it, I was already going to purchase some. The chalk should wipe off easy enough."

Ythe nodded thanks to the kindly bug and debated on what to write. It was then that she remembered that while she could understand spoken words just fine, she couldn't read, let alone write, a single letter of whatever language Hallownest used. She huffed in annoyance, which reminded her of the one thing she could say.

Ythe set the tablet and chalk on a low shelf and faced the Collector, who was watching her patiently. She constricted her spiracles and exhaled.

"Ythe."

She gestured to herself and repeated the sound, hoping charades would get the idea across. It seemed to work better than she expected as Heimich's face lit up.

"Well met, eth. Er, eeth. Ythe. My goodness, I'm sorry about that. Your name is very unique. Not that that is a bad thing in the slightest. I don't mean to be rude, but I assume that you are unable to speak?"

Ythe nodded. Heimich hummed sagely. She picked up the tablet and chalk. Holding it with her lower arms, she pointed to it with her upper right hand as she mimed writing with her left and shook her head. Once again the portly bug seemed to get her meaning right away, offering reassurance about her being illiterate. He was giving her socially awkward Santa vibes. That was probably a good sign, right?

Heimich patted his sides and hummed to himself. He seemed to be thinking about something, but his eyes stayed on Ythe. A few minutes passed before he spoke again, speaking in a more reserved tone this time.

"If you'd like, I might be able to teach you High Palean. I live on the outer edge of the city, but if you've time, you're welcome to visit. Also... with how you were acting before, I might think you need a place to take refuge?"

That was a bit of a red flag. She didn't know this guy very well, but she didn't think it'd been long enough for word of her to reach the city. On the one hand, she could take the gamble and go with this bug. On the other, she could take her chances alone and risk being captured and possibly killed by the Pale Prick.

She didn't have the time to make a mental pros and cons list, so she decided to take her chances. She nodded at the Collector, who chuckled heartily.

I don't know him well enough to really trust him... But if he does try and pull something I could just use my shell and run away.

It was then that the shopkeeper, Kaman, returned from the back. They were tall and slender, with two large eyes set framed by a pair of rectangular glasses and two long antennae that curved forward. They had two wings that looked like they were made of dozens and dozens of small pieces of unstained glass assorted into shimmering membranes that caught the light as they moved, and they were wearing some sort of brown shawl on that complimented their dusky blue shell.

Kaman gave Ythe a momentary glance and went straight to talking to Heimich. They handed him a small basket made of woven metal filled with scrolls, pens, inkwells, more of those stone tablets, and some other things Ythe couldn't make out. The Collector thanked them and gave them some geo from a purse he produced from his large crossbody bag.

"Good to see you again, Heimich. You should visit more often," Kaman said.

The collector chuckled and replied, "I should think to go through my supplies more quickly then!"

Kaman then turned to Ythe, who was feeling a bit awkward. They leaned on the counter and asked, "Anything I can do for ya?"

Ythe shook her head awkwardly, her anxiety creeping through her chest. Luckily, the collector saved her by speaking up.

"This small fellow is with me, actually. She was waiting outside but got bored and came in to see what I was up to.” He chuckled. “She’s ah, my grand-niece. I’ve taken her under my wing recently to tutor her about the life sciences. Have I told you about the life cycle of crawlids? It’s really quite fascinating! You see they-”

Heimich was cut off by Kaman, who interrupted by saying, "Eugh. No offense, Heimich, but you know I can't stomach that kinda stuff."

The collector apologized and turned towards the door with a wave.

"We'd best be off then. So good to see you again, Kaman!"

Ythe followed the collector out through the door, trying her best to keep him between her and the crowd. He gestured for her to follow, which she hesitantly obliged. In a total juxtaposition to her own anxiousness, Heimich was cheerily humming a tune to himself as he strolled along.

The bugs milling about payed them no mind, which was just fine with Ythe.

She and the collector crossed the courtyard, right back the way she'd came. They entered the Stag Station and crossed straight through the lower level, going into a stagway that seemed to have gone unused for some time now.

Planks of wood bridged the gap between the platform and a large opening in the rock wall opposite. The collector led her inside and through a short tunnel carved directly out of the rock.

They came out into a small chamber, the bottom of which was flooded. Wooden boards connected outcrops of rock, allowing the two bugs to cross. Ythe could see brighter light up ahead, coming from a hole in the cave's roof.

The collector led Ythe up a spiral staircase that came out into a small room with padded pink walls. Doorways on either side opened up onto a balcony. More stairs led to the upper level of the balcony, which led to an even longer spiral staircase that finally brought them to the front door. It had a large keyhole built right into the middle of its plate metal surface and right above it was some kind of emblem that Ythe couldn’t make heads or tails of.

The Collector rummaged through his bag as Ythe went over to this floor’s balcony and looked down at the city below. Her stomach, if she even had one, dropped when she saw how high up she was. She stepped away from the iron railing and decided to look at something else.

If she looked in the direction opposite the door she could see a tunnel that seemed to have padded walls along its entire length for some reason. As she peered down it she realized it was so long that she couldn't even see the end from where she stood.

“Ah, here we are,” The Collector said. He pulled a pink key from his bag and unlocked the door. He led Ythe inside and let her linger in the second floor room while he went ahead and put his shopping away.

The room had the same padded walls the rest of the place did, but this one also had an assortment of huge jars and bookshelves filled to the brim with what looked like scrolls. There were so many she figured it would take her years just to read through all of it. After she actually learned how to read the language here, that is.

Ythe's attention was suddenly grabbed by a rustling coming from above her. She looked up, but saw nothing. She was ready to dismiss the noise but there it was again! And this time, it was accompanied by what sounded like stifled giggling. Heimich seemed to have noticed it too as he groaned and called out, "Wait, no!"

Ythe's world was sent spinning as something swept her off her feet. She curled up into a defensive ball, but that only served to make her tumble head over heels even more. She eventually came to a stop, only to hear the sound of a lid being placed on a glass jar.

Chapter Text

"Riebel, you can't do that to people!"

Ythe felt dizzy but was able to right herself onto her hands and knees. She was in some kind of giant glass jar. Looking up, she came face-to-face with a pitch-black form. It had the vague shape of a bug, with two bright white eyes as its only facial feature. Its face was right up against the glass, staring at her intently.

Ythe tumbled backward, causing the jar to tip. A large form caught it before she was sent rolling again though and set it back upright. The shadowy figure had lept to its feet and pranced a few feet away. It had four arms and two legs, and a sort of bottom-heavy body. It was laughing wildly now, spinning and dancing back towards her.

Ythe was lifted up by strong arms, and out of the dark figure's reach. Heimich was giving her a worried look.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Ythe nodded, still a bit dizzy but otherwise fine. Heimich set her down, making sure to put himself between her and the other bug, who was watching with intense curiosity.

"I'm so sorry about that, my dear. Riebel means no harm, they just get... a bit too exuberant when it comes to new things. They have something of an obsession for collection and preservation. An inclination they picked up from me, I must admit. I should have warned you beforehand but it slipped my mind. That, and I had assumed they would listen to me for once and stay out of sight until I let them know it was safe," Heimich said, giving Riebel a look that they either didn't see or ignored.

Ythe stepped out from behind Heimich. Riebel didn't make any sudden moves, so she approached a little more boldly. Now that things had settled, she noticed something odd about the black bug. A slight tugging in her gut.

They stepped over, bending over almost entirely to get on eye level with Ythe. They spread three of their arms out wide, as if they were offering a hug, or perhaps challenging a strange fellow in pink spandex. Their one remaining hand was outstretched towards Ythe as if asking for a handshake. Ythe awkwardly obliged, much to Riebel's surprise. They quickly picked up on the gesture though, shaking Ythe's arm up and down excitedly. And, for the first time since they appeared, spoke.

"Ooowahaha! Well met! Well met, tiny one! I give apologies for putting you in that jar. I meant no harm, only to keep safe the creatures," the strange bug said. "I am Collector!"

Heimich shuffled awkwardly to Ythe's side. He cleared his throat, only earning a blank stare from the self-dubbed 'collector'.

He sighed and said, "Please Riebel, we cannot both be called the Collector, can we? Though I appreciate you holding my title in such high regard, it would be too confusing!"

Heimich gave a chuckle at his own words, but Ythe could detect the slightest hint of discomfort in his voice. Riebel didn't seem to take notice of this but nodded.

"Yes, too confusing, yes. Sorry."

Heimich gently reassured them it was fine, and turned back towards Ythe, who had been watching the whole conversation silently. Not that she could have watched it any other way.

"Now that we've all calmed down, allow me to introduce you both. Ythe," Ythe gestured to herself and breathed her name with her spiracles. "This is Riebel, they and them. Riebel, this is Ythe, ah. Apologies my dear, but I never got your pronouns?"

Ythe put a hand up to her chin in thought. At least, where her chin would be. 

I don't think there's really a way I could say she/her using charades... And I still don't know any Palean. Wait, did he seriously name a language after himself?! Jeez, how pretentious can you be... Oh! Lightbolb! 

She could just have Heimich guess so she could give yes or no answers. Ythe pointed at Heimich, hoping he would get the idea. He seemed a bit confused at first.

"Do you mean you use the same ones as me?

Ythe shook her head.

"Ah, do you mean... Oh, do you want me to guess?"

Ythe nodded. This guy was kinda rad.

"Do you use they?"

Ythe shook her head.

"She?"

Ythe nodded, to which Heimich clapped joyfully. He turned back to Riebel, who had somewhat lost attention and was now tapping on the glass of another jar and said, "This is Ythe, she and her. We met earlier today in Kamman's shop."

Riebel perked up at this.

"Ahhh, Ythe, Ythe. What a lovely name. Iiiiiiithhhhhh. Something about you... You're familiar, but I've never met you. How odd."

Heimich went back to putting away the basket of supplies, leaving Ythe and Riebel to 'talk'. The black bug was still at eye level, looking Ythe up and down. Suddenly they lept into the air, right over Ythe's head, and landed behind her. 

Ythe felt her shell be grabbed as a voice said from behind her, "Ooooh, a shadow creeper shell. Where'd you get this? Did you kill one? Oh, haha! That would be quite a story!"

Not only did this guy recognize Ythe's shell, but they also knew what the creature it had come from was called? Ythe had only seen those weird, crawling things in the Abyss. Did that mean-?

Heimich also seemed surprised by this, looking up from his desk to ask, "Shadow Creeper? That's what her shell came from? How do you know that?"

The question must have seemed silly to Riebel, because they only laughed and said, "There's a ton of them down there where I came from."

Heimich looked puzzled, muttering mostly to himself, "Yes, where you came from. You never told me..."

Ythe, on the other hand, was starting to put two and two together. Meanwhile, Riebel had since lost interest in her shell and was now twirling about the room, looking at various objects that caught their interest. Heimich turned back to his desk.

They had to have come from the void, or at least visited? No, they definitely had to have come from there. That's the only place I saw those shadow creeper things. It would also explain that weird feeling. Maybe they're my sibling? They don't feel like my siblings though... Maybe I could...?

Ythe tried reaching out with her mind as she had with her siblings in the void. She felt something brushing against her imagined mind-bubble, so she sent out a thought.

[Unsure greeting (hello?)(can-you-hear-me?)]

 Almost as soon as Ythe sent out her message, Riebel's head snapped up. They looked back and forth frantically. 

[Semiconfident greeting (hello-it's-me-Ythe-i-think-you-can-hear-me?)]

Riebel turned their head, locking eyes with Ythe. They were still for a moment. Then they burst out laughing as they skipped over to the much smaller vessel, picking her up and twirling her around.

"Waaaaaaaah! Hahahaha! How do you do that? Right in my mind!"

Riebel was spinning Ythe around in a circle. Their lower set of arms held her by the sides while the upper set was held above their head, palms pressed together. They were laughing wildly, catching the attention of Heimich, who'd been half-paying attention to them. 

Ythe was laughing in her mind. She honestly felt like a kid again (which she technically was). It was a nice feeling, like some part of her, buried deep down, was finally starting to feel a little less hollow.

[Excited query (can-you-relay-what-i-tell-you-to-Heimich-please?)]

Riebel slowed to a stop, hoisting Ythe up onto their shoulders. They excitedly agreed, much to Ythe's delight. They skipped over to the large bug, who was still at his desk sorting scrolls. They looked up at Ythe, waiting for her to give them words to repeat.

[Excited-nervous ramble (Hi-its-me-Ythe-i'm-talking-through-Riebel)(i-mean-im-not-controlling-them-im-talking-to-them-in-their-mind-and-they're-repeating-what-i-say)(im-not-sure-how-it-works-really-but-its-kinda-like-telekine-no-telepathy-i-think-its-because-were-both-made-of-void)(well-im-kinda-void-but-also-part-wyrm-and-also-root-i-think?)]

Heimich was staring at the pair dumbfounded, trying to process the absolute wordspew that had come out of the eccentric bug.

This might take a while, eh....

Far beyond the Kingdom of Hallownest's borders, a weary bug stumbled through the wastes. He had no idea how long he'd been wandering, or even why. In fact, he'd all but forgotten who he even was. All he knew was that he was lost in an endless expanse of silty dust, with only a long, curved blade on his person.

Ah, what a beautiful blade. It must be mine.

There wasn't anywhere for the bug to look at his reflection, but he knew by the off-balanced weight of his head that the blade was actually one of his horns, broken off and fashioned into a deadly weapon. Its length was inscribed with runes, adding a faint glow to its white surface.

His reddish-brown shell was covered in silty dust turning its surface a light gray. A tattered cloak whipped around him in the relentless winds. It had long since worn down to rags, barely protecting its wearer anymore. Claws weary, he marched onward.

The tall, burly bug had no idea how long he'd been wandering. The Wastes had long since taken his mind and memories. All that remained was a powerful determination; walk until he finds a kingdom, or until he dies.

And it seemed that he would live to see another day as faint flickering lights appeared through the clouds of dust. Straining his eyes, he picked up his pace as the tiny pinpricks of light slowly grew. Grim relief washed over the stoic bug as light posts came into view. They glowed steadily, like a beacon drawing him to safety. Inside each glass bulb were a handful of tiny, luminescent bugs. They bobbed inside the lantern, a welcoming dance for a tired soul.

The lanterns were set up just outside of a giant cliff face that had been carved out. It was an awe-inspiring sight. It was as if some great god had come along and scooped it out with their own claw. 

A rough path winded into the mountain, lit by more lanterns on poles. The weary bug steadied himself for what would hopefully be the final stretch of his journey and set off into the cavern. Up over ledges and avoiding spikes, the bug made his way deeper and deeper, higher and higher until he reached the top. Clouds of dust blew on the breeze, though the mountains provided much protection from the more powerful gusts. Small bugs crept and flew on the path. Clearly, no one had come through for a while. They were easily vanquished by the tall warrior's blade though, and offered a simple meal. During these short rests the warrior took the time to clean his shell as best as possible, revealing the rust-red color that had been hidden for so long.

Scaling the final ledge, the bug found himself at the very peak of the mountain. Right in the middle of the path was a large monument depicting a bug. It had a plaque on its base and though the letters were somewhat unfamiliar, he was able to read it.

Here lies Gorb, the Great Mind.

"May you find rest and respite in death," he wheezed out with a bow, causing a brief fit of coughing.

Onward he marched until he came to a ledge. The bottom was far below, but looked safe. He hopped off the edge, dropping to one knee as he landed. The only way forward was a tunnel leading back down into the mountain. Pressing on through the twisting path, he eventually came out into a chamber with a great stone archway leading out to the other side of the mountain. To the left was an obelisk, the front of which was flat and carved with runes. It had more of the somewhat strange runes, but he was able to glean their meaning with some effort.

Higher beings, these words are for you alone.

Beyond this point you enter the land of King and Creator.
Step across this threshold and obey our laws.

Bear witness to the last and only civilization, the eternal kingdom.

Hallownest

Hah. How presumptuous. But ah, perhaps one day it will find its own words true.

The bug wasn't sure where his words had come from, but they felt right. However, any attempt to recall the context of them was met with frustrating nothingness. So he pressed on.

On the other side of the arch was a grand walkway sloping downwards to the ground below. At the bottom, he found a cluster of buildings, most with no light coming from inside. At the center of the town sat a bench. On it sat a stout bug who was quietly staring off into space. The taller bug approached, holding up a claw in a friendly gesture. He tried to bring moisture back to his mouth as quietly as possible before speaking.

"Ho there! What a lovely town this is! Might you be so kind as to tell its name?"

The bug sitting on the bench looked a bit surprised by the taller one's presence but addressed him calmly anyways. He spoke in a deep voice too old for his face, that of a well-aged elder.

"Oh, you gave me a bit of a start. It's not often that we get visitors here anymore. This town is called Dirtmouth by those that still live here. Most have gone below now, taking refuge in Deepnest. Foolish, if you ask me, to try and find safety in such a hazardous place," he said, the slightest hint of loneliness in his voice betraying his peaceful demeanor.

He stood up, stepping to the side to offer the warrior bug the bench.

"If you're feeling tired, you could rest here. This bench may be iron, but I assure you it's quite comfortable."

The larger bug wanted to politely refuse and maintain his unwavering persona, but the untold amount of time walking was catching up to him now. He swallowed his pride and accepted the seat. The other bug gave a look of approval as he continued talking.

"Your shell is quite different from most. Have you traveled here from somewhere far beyond this kingdom's borders? It's unfortunate to say that you won't find much here in Dirtmouth, not since the war broke out. Only a few remain here, including myself. The rest have all gone down into the kingdom proper. Either to join the Pale King himself or that upstart, Deepnest."

The tall bug listened respectfully to the other bug's words, nodding in time as he took in the information. He waited for the old soul to pause before saying, "A war you say? What a place to have wandered into then!" he chuckled. "Perhaps I might offer my own blade to aid in finding an end to the conflict. Ah but anyways, I apologize, as I have no name to give. But well met regardless, my friend."

Elderbug waved a hand and replied, "No need to apologize. I myself have gone long without my name being used. Most folk who live around here simply call me Elderbug, he and him. I have no clue why, but I find it fitting."

"It is indeed befitting a wise bug like yourself," The warrior said with a nod. "Have you any advice to give? You mentioned the kingdom proper down below, and the other- Kingdom? -it is in conflict with. A warrior like myself would feel obligated to help those in need during times of war."

Elderbug shook his head, sighing dryly. It was easy to see what the other bugs saw in him. He may not have sagely advice to give, but his demeanor and attitude were definitely befitting a bug much older than he. It seemed that the nameless warrior was not the first of his like that Elderbug had seen. If he disapproved though, he didn't express it. 

"Yes, they would," Elderbug sighed. "The shopkeep here, Sly, a warrior much like yourself, has traveled those caverns many times. You should talk to him before going into the kingdom proper. He might be able to give you a map of some kind."

The taller bug nodded thanks and stood. The bench was indeed comfortable. Even just the short rest on it had him feeling in better health. He bowed to Elderbug and headed right for the shopkeeper's house. No one is a bystander in war, and every moment he was not defending the innocent was another moment that may find them in peril. However much he wanted to rush right into the conflict though, he knew it wouldn't do anyone any good if wasn't prepared for the fight.

The building was close by, only a few paces for the large bug. It was small though, forcing him to duck and turn his head to the side to pass his horn through. On the other side of the curtain was a small bug sitting behind a counter. He was only a fifth of the larger bug's height, but his presence more than made up for his figure. The larger warrior could already tell that he was a skilled and competent combatant just by looking at him.

The red-shelled bug raised a claw in a friendly gesture and said, "Ho there. I assume you are the warrior Sly? I would introduce myself but sadly I do not remember my name."

"I am. If you've heard of me you'll know I'm the finest Nailmaster in Hallownest. Judging by that nail on your back, I assume you to be a warrior. Though I must say I've never seen a nail like yours," Sly said, watching the large bug with practiced calmness.

Pulling the nail from his back, he presented it to the Nailmaster. The runes delicately etched into its surface flickered in and out of sight as the light caught them. The near-perfect black handle caught the light as well, albeit in a much subtler way. Not a speck of dust could be seen on the blade. Large amounts of care had been put into keeping it pristine and ready for combat.

"What a beautiful weapon. Though I've never seen a bug wield his own horn as a nail, I can tell that this is a lethal blade. It's very finely crafted as well. These runes in its surface, they're magic?"

The red bug nodded. He wasn't sure how he knew any of this given his memory being all but absent. 

"I'd like to see a demonstration, if you're willing," Sly said.

The warrior bug nodded.

Sly turned from his desk to open a hatch in the floor that had gone unnoticed by the larger bug until now. The Nailmaster jumped down, not waiting for him to follow. The hole was a bit tight for his broad thorax, but he managed to squeeze through and drop into the area below. Luckily the hall opened out into a larger chamber lined with statues and dummies made of grass and shells. 

"I'm glad you joined me. Now we can begin," said Sly from where he was sitting in the center of the room. He quickly set up a dummy for the warrior in the middle of the room. The red-shelled bug pulled out his nail once more, adopting a stance he was more than familiar with. He took a breath as the motions came to him despite his memory still stubbornly refusing to cooperate.

His first strike was rusty, doing more to bludgeon the dummy than cut it. He snapped back to his stance and tried again, letting his mind clear as his body went through its practiced motions. His edge alignment was much better this time, leaving a decent gash in the dummy's armor and even shearing off a small piece from the edge on the second slash.

Sly ahhhh'ed in approval.

"Excellent form! You are truly skilled with your blade indeed. Show me more of your technique," The Nailmaster called out.

The warrior bug clicked his mandibles once. Try as he might to remain cool and unemotional, some small part of him couldn't help but feel giddy at the idea of practicing his nail art again. He assumed a battle stance once more and unleashed cut after cut on the dummy, slowly falling back into the familiar rhythm. When he finally sheathe his blade, all that was left of the dummy was a tattered torso that was shorter than it was before by one head.

Sly clapped, saying "You have amazing proficiency with your nail, I'd be honored to see it in true combat."

The taller bug turned towards the Nailmaster, accepting his offer.

"It would bring me great honor to challenge you in combat as well."

Both bugs stood facing each other in the center of the now-cleared room. Everything having been pushed up to the walls. As they bowed, the taller of the two took notice of how the other's bow was slightly different from his own. He straightened, unsheathing his blade. Sly readied his as well. It was almost absurd how large his was compared to his own size, but it was clear that he had no issue wielding it with ease.

"FOR HONOOORRRRRR!!," the red-shelled warrior cried. (or in bug language: "Dei han-dahhhhhh!!")

A metal clang rang out as the blades met, quickly being drawn back for another strike. Blow after blow rang out as the combatants danced about the room. While their techniques were distinctly different, they found themselves well-matched. Sly danced around his opponent, using his small size to his advantage.

CLANG!

Carved shell struck metal. The room fell silent save for the fading echo of the impact. Both bugs were breathing heavily from their spiracles. Straightening in unison, they sheathed their weapons and bowed deeply.

Sly was the first to speak.
"Well fought. If you weren't already such a proficient wielder I would have liked to train you myself. Perhaps you'd even teach a Nailmaster like me something of your techniques."

"Perhaps! I do not remember anything of my past, but I feel you are one of the most skilled fighters I have ever had the pleasure of crossing nails with. I should like to duel again at some point. However, I am currently drawn in other directions. I've heard of the war going on below."

Sly hummed to himself.

"Yes, the war. I have no doubt you're interested in joining the fight. But which side would you join? You would have no loyalty to either."

The taller bug's mandibles twitched. He had been so caught up in the idea of aiding others that he'd forgotten to consider the fact that he would not be able to play both sides. He stood silent for a moment before responding.

"I should have to see which side I agree with more. What can you tell me of them?" He asked. Going off just one bug's word would be foolish, but it was a better start than any.

The Nailmaster explained what he knew to the warrior. A vessel, a being of Void and Wyrm and Root, had escaped the Abyss and gone on a rampage through the kingdom. Though the actual extent of the chaos it had caused seemed to differ based on who you asked. The vessel, who had named itself 'Wasp', had fled to Deepnest, which had cut off trade with Hallownest not long after. War broke out, leading to a long conflict between the two kingdoms.

There were rumors that the vessel Wasp had partially destroyed the Palace and captured the Pale King himself, which was what had caused the fighting to stop and negotiations between the kingdoms to open. It was expected that the Pale Lady would be present in the King's absence but she too had vanished, a high figure of authority, the Pale Emmisary, taking her place in negotiations.

That had happened a few weeks ago now, and things had been mostly quiet since then, though there had been rumors of small battalions attempting to attack Deepnest. Tensions were high as a result, and Hallownest's prolonged silence on the issue made war breaking out once again seem like a very real possibility.

The red warrior digested all of this information silently. It seemed that Deepnest would be the best option as of then, as they were still taking in refugees whilst the palace and Blue City had closed their entrances.

The taller bug cleared his throat as he stood, placing his blade, which he had been idly cleaning, on his back. He and Sly ascended the rope back into the shop above to discuss the matter of purchasing a map. The warrior bug had no geo to his name, so instead he offered a trade.

"You took an interest in my nail art. I could teach it to you in place of geo."

It was a tough sell for Sly, but he eventually agreed with a sigh. While he would vastly prefer cold hard geo as payment, a new form of nail art was more than a little enticing for the Nailmaster.

He produced a scroll and pen from beneath his desk and set about scribbling down a simple map of the routes the warrior would need to take to find Deepnest. The discomfort in handing over a shop item without proper payment was clear in how Sly's antennae twitched. The taller bug took it with a bow and turned towards the door, ducking through, pausing momentarily as Sly called from behind him.

"And one more thing! Take the Stagways to Queen's Station, I marked it on the map," Sly said, his raised voice amplifying the nasally tones.

The warrior bowed as best he could while halfway through the door and continued on. He only stopped momentarily to ask Elderbug which building was the Stagway. It was a quick descent down the lift to the platform below. The red warrior rang the hanging bell at the edge.

He wouldn't have long to wait as a six-legged bug came stomping into the station. The large bug grunted as they came to a stop, eyeing the warrior.

"Where to?" They said in a gruff voice. They shifted their weight around as they took the opportunity to rest.

"Queen's Station. I am headed deep into the kingdom," the warrior bug announced.

The stag shifted towards the platform, leaning down to allow the bug to climb into the carriage on their thorax. Gently stepping into the seat, the large bug sat down. As soon as he was seated, the stag set off, barreling through the tunnels at a steady pace. The warrior allowed the rhythmic thumping of the stag's clawbeats and the gentle rock of the carriage lead his mind into a light sleep. A tired warrior was no better than a stone, after all.

Chapter Text

It had taken a while to explain everything to Heimich. The abyss, her odd birth, how she was part void, part Wyrm, and part Root, how she, alongside her many deceased siblings had been created by the Pale King and subsequently murdered (her escaping that fate due to hatching late), being chased on the palace grounds, all of the important details.

Well, she intentionally left out the part about actually being a human that had been reborn as a bug. Both because she still hadn't come to terms with the implications of being reborn, and because she was pretty sure at best, no one would believe her and at worst, think her crazy.

She’d had to come up with the lie that she’d inherited the Pale King’s magic future sight or some variation of it to explain how she knew all this despite being born after all of it had happened.

Luckily Heimich had accepted the idea without much doubt since the Pale Jerk’s foresight was something he was fairly renowned for.

Still, Heimich had been left rubbing his head, which Ythe found weird since bugs didn't have hair. Luckily, that string of thoughts hadn't been relayed by Riebel. She'd accidentally figured out how to 'turn off' her sorta-hivemind telepathy. It had been as easy as mentally 'pulling back' on the connection with Riebel's mind before Ythe realized the thought had already gone through and reconnected to stop Riebel from saying it.

She was still mentally kicking herself a little bit for that incident. That, and for not realizing that turning it off was as easy as doing the opposite as turning it on (duh!).

It had been a couple of days since then, and Ythe was settling in easier than she would have expected. Ythe’s initial read of Heimich having Santa energy had turned out to be surprisingly accurate. He was always in a good mood, trundling around the tower as he researched specimens or wrote things down in scrolls or on those stone tablets Ythe had seen him buy when she first met him.

He had a childlike wonder for his work, calling Riebel and Ythe over to his desk to show them something interesting about a certain creature. Bugs didn't have mouths like humans, but Ythe could hear the biggest smile in Heimich's voice whenever he explained bug biology. She had taken a huge interest in it herself, having been a massive nerd back in her past li-(DONTTHINKABOUTIT).

Ythe had also learned a lot about Riebel since she first arrived. She'd finally managed to pry the story of how Riebel's origins after almost a day of incessant telepathic nagging.

At first she had felt like a bit of a little jerk for it, until it became clear that Riebel was only being so dodgy about it because they had seen it as a game.

Ythe was proud to admit that she had beaten the ever hyper void-bug at his own game of being a chaotic gremlin.

From what she was able to gather from their all-over-the-place way of explaining things, it seemed like they had been created by the Pale King himself in the basement(?) of the White Palace.

They quote, didn't want to be put into a 'stuffy bug-shell', unquote, so they had fled through the stagways, ending up in the 'wet drippy city' where Heimich had met them and taken them in.

Heimich was happy to finally learn about where Riebel had come from, but had retreated to his study after their long and rambling story, citing a need to have the rest of the day alone to process all of the information that was dumped on him. Ythe couldn't blame him for being overwhelmed.

Heimich had also started teaching her to read and write, as well as signed speak, Hallownest’s version of sign language. Though it wasn't exactly the same, as unlike sign language, there was also an emphasis put on body language since bugs didn't have very movable faces.

Ythe found this to be relieving, as in her past life(dontthinkaboutitdontthinkaboutitdontthinkaboutit!!) her face had never been very expressive unless she made a conscious effort. That, plus her crippling social anxiety had made it really hard to talk to people that didn't know her very well.

Being mute, despite it being a pain in the ass, also had some upsides. She never had to worry about her tone and inflection, or people judging her for going nonverbal sometimes.

Now that she was thinking about it, her anxiety hadn't been that bad recently. Maybe it was because of her new bug brain or the nonstop adrenaline rush she'd been experiencing. Maybe it was a combination of the two, she wasn't sure.

Either way, she'd gotten comfortable around Heimich and Riebel fairly quickly. Riebel was easy because she could talk telepathically with them (woohoo no nuance!). Then again, with how talkative they were, she'd probably get along with them just as well even without sorta-hivemind telepathy.

"Wahaha! Ythe, Ythe!"

Speak of the devil. Or think of the devil, since... y'know.

Ythe stopped fiddling with her cloak as Riebel bounded through the door of her makeshift bedroom. Heimich had cleared out one of the side rooms for her right after she'd arrived. He had insisted on trying to find a spare bed for her, not that having a bed was too much of a concern for Ythe. Her body never really got tired, though her mind did. Her sleep schedule had never been the best but now it was all over the place. As for comfort, she'd gotten so used to the hard, bumpy ground in the Abyss that the padded floors of the Tower felt like the comfiest thing ever.

Actually, with its padded walls and soft lighting, it was by far the most sensory friendly and relaxing space Ythe had ever been in. Of course, she had her suspicions as to why it was made the way it was with how it was called the 'Tower of Love'. Heimich had seemed a bit bashful when telling her its name.

She would have to ask Heimich about it to sate her curiosity. For the moment though, she had to deal with the way overexcited void-construct-bug(?)-person who was literally bouncing off the walls of her room. She reached out with her mind, nearly being bowled over by the wave of excitement that came through the connection.

[Overwhelmed greeting (hey-riebel)(what-are-you-so-excited-about?)]

Ythe wanted to mentally kick herself for how awkward it had probably come across, but was interrupted by Riebel's immediate reply.

"Look, look!"

Riebel put their lower arms behind their back and held out their upper pair's hands in front of them. They made a few quick gestures, rushed from excitement. They tsked and shook their head, slowing their hands down. They carefully signed out a set of words; One finger in a hook. Pointer fingers put together to make a sort of mountain shape. Tapping the lower part of their face with the side of a fist. An open hand with the palm facing outward. A set of letters. Two hands, open and one on top of the other with relaxed fingers, then spread apart in an arc. Another set of letters. And finally the outward palm again.

"R-I-E-B-E-L. Eat. Signs. H-E-I-M-I-C-H. Excited. Y-T-H-E. Signs."

Ythe stared at Riebel's hands blankly, trying to figure out what they meant. She slowly pieced it together, realizing they had meant something along the lines of: I learned signs from Heimich. I'm excited about (or maybe Excited to...) sign with Ythe.

Ythe nodded rapidly, hoping it was the bug equivalent of smiling. She sat still for a moment to make her response in signs. Her vocabulary was still limited, but it was robust enough to make simple sentences. She'd actually been surprised at how quickly she'd picked it up. She usually struggled really hard with learning new languages.

A thought popped into her head offering a possible explanation. A memory, more of someone telling her than it was her own. She'd picked up language really quickly as a little kid, having a huge vocabulary for a five year old. The thought brought with it that same icky feeling she'd been tormented by, but she pushed it down and brought her focus back to the present.

Ythe spelled out Heimich's name, then put the side of her fist to her forehead and pulled her hand away, opening it as if releasing something. She pointed at Riebel and followed that with holding her open hand palm-outwards. She then tilted her head to the right and put her index finger to her right temple before pausing.

"Heimich teaching you signs?"

Riebel was still for half a second before breaking out into a fit of laughter as they nodded. Ythe waited for their eyes to fall back on her before continuing.

She pointed towards herself, then made the sign for excitement. Ythe then pointed at Riebel, followed by her tapping her forehead with the side of her fist, then an outward, open palm.

"I'm excited you're learning signs!"

Riebel was still for a moment, a rarity, as they interpreted her signs. They nodded and started laughing again, doing a little dance in place.

Ythe was about to wave to catch Riebel's attention again but was interrupted by a portly form shuffling through the door with a large crate in his arms. From where she stood, it looked like the crate was filled with stone tablets and numerous scrolls made of silk-paper. She'd recently learned that the papery material that bugs used wasn't made from a plant like it was in her world, but rather from the silk provided by Deepnest.

Heimich was immediately bore down upon by Riebel, who was spinning around, pulling on Heimich's arms, and asking incessant questions about the crate he was holding. Heimich, much to his credit, was managing to avoid tripping over the over-exuberant bug. He made his way over to the far wall and set the crate down, turning around with a flourish to address Ythe.

"A gift for you my dear! I noticed you have an interest in the many creatures of Hallownest so I've gathered up some of my research for you to borrow! You may hold on to it as long as you like, though I must ask you keep it in good condition and not feed it to any hungry tik-tiks!" Heimich laughed. He was in an especially good mood today.

The portly bug sat down cross-legged and pulled a scroll from the box with one hand while swatting Riebel's grasping fingers away with the other. They relented and sat themselves down (mostly) still to listen.

Ythe followed suit, sitting down in front of the Collector with her leg tucked beneath her. Her tiny claws scraped against the soft floor, snagging ever so slightly. She placed her lower hands on her lap and let her upper arms hang at her sides, idly picking at the now even more ragged gray cloth she wore. She watched as Heimich explained how to safely handle the scrolls, while also detailing what kind of creatures were described in them. Ythe couldn't help but feel like it was a little bit unnecessary but chose to hold her tongue. Or whatever it was that she had now.

When she tried to move whatever her mouth was, it just felt numb, like it wasn't even there. Though, she could swear that she could almost feel a weird kind of lump in her neck if she tried 'swallowing' hard enough. She set the thought aside for the time being and drew her attention back to Heimich's excited rambling.

Once the Collector had gone through all of the scrolls and tablets, he pulled another thing from the bottom of the box. He held it just out of view as he cleared his throat awkwardly.

"So... Well I-... I noticed you have a- a preference for outerwear and well I couldn't help but notice the-... the.. state.. of your garments. I wasn't sure what you would like but I assumed darker colors given your current attire... Erm, anyway, I had picked this up for you and figured there was no better time to gift it to you."

Heimich paused for a moment, lifting what he was holding to reveal that it was a dark blue piece of folded fabric. He unfolded it, revealing it to be a simple cloak clasped with a small clip made of a shiny silver metal and continued, "I do not have much experience with grubs as I have not had any of my own. I was not sure what size you are but I do hope you like it."

Ythe could hear the nervousness in Heimich's voice as he finished talking and held out the cloak to her. She took it gently, admiring the silky garment with her four hands.

Grub? Did he mean me? Oh, shoot right. I forgot that I'm basically a... an infant? Shouldn't I be more floppy though? I guess bug life cycles are pretty different from what I'm used to...

Ythe felt four eyes looking at her with rapt attention. She could only assume Heimich was watching her with anticipation of her response. Riebel on the other hand, may as well have been wearing a sign on their forehead with all the excited coos and giggles they were trying to stifle with two of their hands.

Ythe held the cloak with her lower arms to free up her upper set and started signing to the two bugs. Two hooked fingers moved in a skittering motion. Kind of like if she was doing a shadow puppet of a rabbit. She then inclined her head. She didn't know the sign for 'thank you' just yet so she hoped a small bow would do. She paused for a moment as she figured out how to express the next part. She clutched the cloak against her chest with her lower arms and bowed her head again, hoping the Collector would understand. He clearly did, as her second bow was shortly followed by a not so discreet sigh of relief.

Heimich clapped his hands together and chuckled, "I'm glad you like it my dear! I hope it treats you well and you find much comfort with it-"

Heimich was cut off by a short cough. He quickly brought a hand to his mouth, making an odd sound in his throat. Ythe wanted to ask if he was okay but, as if he'd read her mind, Heimich reassured both her and Riebel that he was fine. Had inhaled some dust, that was all.

Ythe blinked. She could have sworn that she'd seen some kind of liquid sticking to the carapace of the Collector's hand. She tried to get a better look but he had his palm turned away from sight. He stood up and made his way to the door, motioning for Riebel to follow.

"Come come, let's give her privacy to change," Heimich said, barely containing his delighted tone.

Ythe stood, holding the cloak out in her arms. It was simple, just a single piece of dark blue fabric held at the front by a clasp. She was about to set the cloak down so she could change into it but, eyes drawn to her black shell leaning against the wall and the smattering of sooty dust beneath it, she couldn't help but think about the last time she'd taken a bath. She'd been sleeping on dirty rocks for potentially days before she left the Abyss. The stagways hadn't exactly been the most dirt-free either.

The small bug carefully set her new cloak down, checking to make sure it was clean. Once she was convinced she hadn't gotten dirt on her gift, she turned to the door. Opening it and stepping through, she was met by Heimich and Riebel. She could see the confusion in the way they shifted when she came out still wearing her old clothes. Before either could ask, Ythe connected her mind with Riebel's and started explaining.

[Embarrassed explanation (I-haven't-had-a-chance-to-clean-myself-since-well-ever-so-I'm-super-gross)(and-I-don't-want-to-get-my-new-cloak-that-I-just-got-dirty)]

Ythe waited slightly nervously while Riebel relayed her thoughts to Heimich. The portly bug was quiet for a moment, lost in thought. After about a minute he spoke.

"Ah, I understand. I'll fetch you something to clean your carapace with. I'll only be a moment."

After just a few minutes Heimich had come back with a bucket of water and a cloth. Ythe would have preferred a proper bath but Heimich had already done so much for her and she didn't want to seem ungrateful. Lucky for her it seemed like bugs didn't really sweat or anything like that so it was simply a matter of scrubbing dirt off, rinsing the towel in the bucket, and repeating until every inch of her was clean. It also gave her the opportunity to get to know her new body better. Most of it was soft black skin save for her fingers and toes, which ended in small black claws. Her head of course was completely covered in a hard white shell adorned with four curved horns.

Her new cloak sat folded on a stool where Heimich had left it. Ythe picked it up and once again admired how smooth it was as she slipped in on, clasping it at the front with her upper hands. She considered taking her shell, which she had wiped down as well, but decided against it. It wasn't the most comfortable thing to wear and it wasn't like she needed it inside the Tower.

Still need to ask why it's called what it is...

A knock on the door pulled her from her musings. Ythe opened it, being greeted by a wide-eyed face staring back at her. Her chest heaved in surprise, making her hiss loudly. Riebel pulled away laughing and clapping their hands. Ythe stepped out into the hall and did a quick turnaround for her friends.

Riebel continued their wild laughing and whooping while Heimich clapped politely.

"It looks wonderful on you my dear, it seems I chose well?" Heimich chuckled. "I had planned on going out today so in any case we could have simply stopped by the tailor to have it fitted. On that topic, I was wondering if you'd like to come with me. I know you haven't had much to do around the tower and it would do a grub good to stretch her legs, hm? It would also be a good opportunity to stock up on whatever a grub might need. I must admit I do not have much experience raising children..."

Ythe hesitated. They might still be looking for her. Trying to catch her. She worried what would happen to her if they did. However... it had been days since they'd chased her through the city streets. Surely things had cooled down since then, right? And besides, Heimich, despite her being a complete stranger at the time, had stuck his neck out her before at the shop when she was being chased by those guards.

"Ythe, are you alright?" Heimich asked, voice laced with a hint of worry.

Ythe snapped out of examining every nook and cranny of the wall across from her, giving a 'yes' in sign. She waited a moment, then did her best to explain with her limited vocabulary.

"Scared, shield bugs.” She paused. “...Excited see city!"

Heimich hummed to himself and said, "You mean the guards?" Ythe nodded. "Fret not, the city guards are here for our protection. But I will keep you safe, I promise."

Despite her worries, Ythe couldn’t help but let her childlike excitement take priority in her mind. She gave Heimich a happy nod to which he tilted his head in what seemed to Ythe like the bug equivalent of a smile.

"I have a thing or two to attend to first, then we'll ghrrk-!!"

Heimich nearly doubled over as another fit of coughing wracked his rotund body. Ythe froze in shock, not sure what to do but before she could try to offer help Heimich shakily stood up straight once more and exhaled deeply from his spiracles.

“A-Ah- I-..” Heimich cleared his throat. “I apologize Ythe but I- eckh.. I believe we will have to postpone our outing. I suddenly am not feeling-.. I am feeling quite ill and I think I’ll need the day to recover..”

Riebel’s usual hyper energy had dissipated just a bit and they were now standing stiller than Ythe had seen them in the entire, albeit somewhat short, time she’d been at the tower. They fiddled their hands together, eyes locked on Heimich with an expression of worry clear in their eyes. Heimich reached out and gave them a reassuring pat on the shoulder with the hand he hadn't used to cover his mouth with. Like before he kept said hand turned away from their eyes both.

Ythe patted Heimich on the arm and gave him a look that she hoped said ‘It’s okay’. The message seemed to get across as Heimich’ shoulders relaxed ever so slightly. He took another deep breath before turning to go to his room. Both Ythe and Riebel stepped forward to help but Heimich waved them off, stating that he would be fine.

Both not-quite-entirely bugs watched as he walked quietly to his room, none of the usual cheery spring in his step.

Riebel was of course the first the break the silence as he commented sadly about Heimich being ‘icky sick’ again. Ythe reached out with her mind and asked them what they meant.

[Quiet explanation (heimich-many-times-was-sick-before)(always-coughing-and-hacking-and-hiding-his-self-away)]

Riebel perked up a little, prompting Ythe to pull her gaze away from the hall and towards the pear shaped bug next to her.

[Hopeful assertion (always-gets-better-though!)(collector-comes-back-out-in-just-a-bit-good-as-fresh-rock-jelly!)]

Ythe had no idea what rock jelly was, but assumed it was something good and decided to ask about it later.

[Apologetic statement (im-gonna-go-to-my-room-to-read-sorry-riebel)

Riebel simply nodded in understanding and danced away leaving Ythe alone in the hall. She was feeling pretty shaken by Heimich so suddenly falling ill like that and at the moment she really only felt like sitting down in a quiet place and finding something to occupy her mind with. She sat down next to the crate sitting squatly to one side of the room and started looking through the scrolls and tablets to find something to read. She pulled one out detailing the anatomy of a small flying creature with a habit for explosively defending its nests she recognized from.. from before. She sat down, back against the heavy box, and started reading.

Heimich sighed as he closed the door behind himself, trundling over to his desk to recoup. Various scrolls sat strewn across its surface, all in various states of completion. He took a moment to tidy it up a bit, sorting personal work from forms and dockets. The portly bug sighed as he picked up a particular scroll, eyeing it dryly. The property re-registration petition form stared back at him, unfinished. He rolled it up and put it away with the others before pulling his chair out and taking a seat. The old, but well cared for wood of it creaked in that familiar. comforting way as it settled under his weight.

Now at ease, his mind began to wander back to Ythe. She had seemed so excited to go out for the day if the way she practically vibrated with energy despite her worries. He would have to make it up to the little grub.

Pale light, it was so easy to forget how young she was. Ythe was exceptionally intelligent for a grub and acted far more mature than she ought to. Heimich didn’t have much knowledge of grubs but he was sure that she had hatched not so long ago given her proportions and lack of chitinous plates on her body. And yet, she acted much more akin to a grub nearing her adult molt. Heimich had heard that grubs might exhibit such behavior as a result of stress and trauma. What Ythe had described of her life up until this point definitely fit that bill.

Never in his life though would Heimich have thought that he would be looking after one, especially not one who so abruptly came crashing into his life. He had never intended to have grubs of his own (Riebel didn’t count, even with how childish they could be), but Heimich had quickly become fond of the odd little grub.

He had quickly taken note of how she interacted with Riebel in the few days since she'd come to the Tower of Love. (Urgh he really needed to get that property re-registration petition along.) While most bugs would treat them a freak or even dangerous, Ythe had been especially patient. She got along well with Riebel despite their often overwhelming and eccentric personality. It even seemed that a bit of her mild demeanor had been rubbing off on them. They'd had more bouts of calmness recently, even being able to sit through most of a reading on the biology of the tiny aquatic beetles that can be found in the waterways of the city!

Heimich sighed to himself, getting up from his personal desk and settling down on his bed. He wasn't cut out for raising a grub to begin with, let alone one with such a... complicated background. Heimich had tried to keep it from clouding his perception of the grub, but it continued to lurk at the corners of his mind. The more he thought, the more apparent things he had previously brushed off about the girl became. The most obvious of which being her lack of appetite. She had been bashful about food at first, but Heimich had simply dismissed it as a product of her living conditions up until then. He'd had no objections about her eating in private and had not questioned the behavior.

...That was until he'd noticed a completely uneaten meal left hidden behind the shell propped up against the wall in Ythe's room when he'd gone to in to give her a scroll on a particular type of bug she'd shown interest in. He hadn't said anything to her in the moment, but had later brought up his concern, to which Ythe had been evasive.

Ythe never seemed tire either despite her best attempts to fool Heimich into thinking she was asleep when he checked in on her before going to bed. And there were of course the other day when she had stayed up all night with him. Heimich wasn't the best with grubs, but he should have at least noticed these concerning habits right away. He'd only been a... a guardian for a few days and already he was lacking in his duties in caring for the grub.

Heimich knew now that, being partly a child of the Void, a thing of myths and stories told in hushed tones, Ythe didn't have the need to eat or sleep much like Riebel (Who he was also now aware was a being of the Void however artificial). Despite this Heimich continued to mentally kick himself for his lack of awareness before. The poor girl's nerves had seemed so frayed by the end of her explanation. Perhaps if he'd-

Heimich's brooding was cut short by another fit of spasms and coughing. His hand shot to his mouth, attempting to muffle the sound, as well as to contain the corrosive black liquid he knew he was hacking up. He'd done well to hide his mysterious affliction from Riebel and Ythe, only coughing in front of them a handful of times and only once having experienced a fit in their presence. But it was nowhere near as intense as the one he was having now. It seemed to go on with no end in sight, definitely longer than they had been in the past as well. Heimich could feel more of the liquid slowly running down his face as it leaked from his eyes, staining his shell with black tear streaks. Heimich had initially been relieved when he realized that this sickness was not the infection, but that relief had been short-lived. It had been getting slowly worse over time, though mercifully it had lessened in the days since Ythe's arrival. Until now. Another violent and uncontrollable retch saw more of that insidious black liquid flying from Heimich's mouth, this time dripping onto the floor below.

Ythe was in her room, thinking about the events of the past few days. She had given up on reading scroll after scroll a few -what felt like- hours ago. Her thoughts swirled around in her mind like the pools of void deep below.

Even Riebel had stopped bouncing off the walls, taking on a more meek attitude that was absolutely not fitting of them.

Ythe sighed, steadying her jittery nerves and resolving to go talk to Heimich about it. She got up from where she was sitting on the floor and made her way to Heimich’s room, smoothing out her deep blue cloak as she walked. Something in the back of her head made her step as quietly as she could, not that that was very hard to do. While she couldn't tip toe anymore on account of her feet being not much bigger than her calves with the only protrusion being two small claws, her feet now had soft pads on the bottom that allowed her to walk with cat-like quietness if she was careful about her claws. She didn't have to be now though, as every square inch of the Tower of Love's floor was covered in a semi-soft padding.

Ythe's silent creeping and foot pondering was cut short by a horrific hacking noise coming from down the hall. She froze in her tracks, listening intently for the noise. It rang out once again, this time being accompanied by a wet coughing.

Is that-? Jeez, that scared the crap out of me…

Ythe continued forward, only to be stopped once more as the hacking started up again, becoming much more violent this time. Ythe thought she heard water dripping as well, but she couldn't pick up on the sound once the hall fell quiet again for a second. Ythe went up to the door and, after a moment of hesitation, knocked. The coughing became choked as Heimich tried to stifle it, sounding like he was now coughing to death and being strangled. Ythe could hear him try to answer as he got the coughing under control only to continue hacking up a lung.

Ythe's anxiety was rising by the second, not sure of what to do. She didn't want to just barge in (what if he was naked!?) but she couldn't in good conscience just ignore it. Ythe finally decided to just go in, shoving open the door and stepping through.

The sight that met her was... horrifying.

Heimich was doubled over sitting on the edge of his bed, black tears streaking down his face. His hands were covered in them, dripping the liquid onto the floor in small puddles as well. Heimich tried to speak again but was cut off by another disgusting retch, more of that black fluid flying out of his mouth.

Ythe stood frozen in place. She didn't know what to make of the situation. What she originally thought were tears was dribbling down Heimich's chin as he hacked and coughed. She had no idea what the liquid was. It couldn't have been the infection. Was this what bug blood looked like? Why was Heimich coughing up blood?! Why was it coming out of his eyes!?

Ythe's chest heaved with panic as she tried to think of what to do. Her head was spinning and her stomach (she had a stomach?) felt ill. She tried to take a few deep breaths to calm herself down, but her spiracles continued to fight against her. Ythe moved forward to at least help Heimich stay upright as he looked like he could fall over at any moment now. The feeling in her gut only grew stronger as she approached, turning into a vaguely familiar tug. So much fainter than it had been before, but enough to be recognized.

The last time I felt this was when... But I'm nowhere near-! Oh my gods.

Ythe reached out a hand, causing Heimich to try and pull away. He sputtered out a halting, "S-Stay-" he coughed. "A- A- Awa-" He hacked. "Away! I- I'm v-" More coughing. "Ver- y si-" Black liquid hit the floor. "Sick!"

Ythe faltered, but reached out anyway, touching the black liquid with her claws. It was warm from Heimich's body, but the almost uncanny nothing feeling of it was unmistakable. This was void.

Ythe's mind raced. Questions of why, how, when, her fault? whirling around inside her head. She couldn't think about that right now she needed to focus. She was able to control the void down in the Abyss so maybe-

A hand fell on her shoulder. Ythe looked up, seeing Heimich's face looking down at her. He didn't say anything, only barely managing to keep the cough stifled, but he didn't need to. It was that same look of worry she'd seen on his face before. When Riebel had put her in a jar, when Heimich had confronted her about not eating, when she'd told him about where she came from, and now. Now he was trying to comfort her while he was literally dying to death.

Ythe shook her head.

Nuh-uh, no! I'm not the one who should be being worried about!

Heimich only strengthened his grip on her shoulder, trying to push her away from him. Ythe dug her claws into the padded floor as hard as she could and leaned forward. Her breathing finally settled as she found something to push back against, literally. With her spiracles under control, Ythe now focused on calming her mind, pushing away thoughts of anxiety and guilt. Eventually she was able to focus on that tugging feeling in her gut. She could feel the void permeating Heimich's insides, slowly eating away at them. Shuddering, Ythe started to gently pull at the tug in her guts, goading the void inside of the Collector to move out of him. She went extremely slow, not wanting to hurt him or do anything to his organs and muscles. Something she very very much did not want to think about.

Ythe had no idea of how to get it out of him, she couldn't force it out of his pores, bugs didn't have those. Draining it out through his spiracles would most likely drown him.

Then Ythe had an idea. She used the tug to move every last drop of void through Heimich's body into his core. The large bug shuddered as he continued coughing uncontrollably. Ythe persisted, going as slowly and gently as she could. The fluid gradually permeated through the walls of Heimich's stomach, pooling at the bottom. His coughing and hacking became more and more sporadic as the void moved out of his spiracles and throat. It wasn't done yet though, and Ythe kept pushing on.

As soon as all of the intruding liquid had pooled in Heimich's stomach, Ythe let go of the tug, not trusting herself to maintain the gentle hold while moving around. She backed up as Heimich gasped for air. She felt bad about what she was about to do but knew it was the only way. With a loud hiss that startled Heimich into sitting upright, Ythe charged at the portly bug.

"What-" Heimich yelped, being cut off as the tiny body of Ythe slammed directly into his body with enough force to crack his shell slightly. Heimich heaved and Ythe scrambled out of the way as Heimich emptied the contents of his stomach, which was thankfully only void fluid, onto the padded floor below. He continued heaving and vomming for a few more minutes until finally, he coughed and spat the last of the void fluid onto the floor where he now knelt on his hands and knees. Ythe made sure absolutely none was left in his system with another feel of the tug before allowing herself to collapse to her hands and knees as well. For the first time in her admittedly short life Ythe felt tired. More tired and fatigued than she had in her entire existence. She watched the void slowly seep down into the floor, draining down through the gaps in the floorboards. She couldn't have cared less where it ended up so long as it left the Tower. As the last of it safely disappeared she allowed herself to slump over, legs unfolding in front of her so she could sit down properly. Everything became hazy as her eyes slowly closed.

I'll- I'll just take a nleap... sleep.. nap-? Doesn't.. tired...

Ythe felt like she was back in her egg, floating in an endless sea of comfortable nothingness. She briefly worried that she’d died again, but she flexed her little grub hands to reassure herself that, if she’d died again, she’d be in a brand new body like before. Content with this, her mind settled back into peaceful rest.

She was staring out at an infinite expanse of gray. It went on and on forever. Then her sight focused and she saw a vast plain of gray sand stretching out to the horizon under an equally gray, dust-filled sky. Winds blew all around her, but she couldn't feel them. Intrigued, she focused more on her surroundings. She felt the gritty soil between her toes and the winds battering her shell. Then she saw the mountain in the distance. It was impossibly large, a great looming mound the top of which disappeared into the clouds of sand above. Ythe got the distinct feeling that the mountain was watching her. The entire scene felt like a breath held just before speaking.

A cry filled the air, drawing Ythe’s attention away from the mountain. She was in a realm of white light and swirling golden patterns. A heavenly glow drew her gaze and before her was a magnificent creature of light and feather. The being radiated an energy that felt orange, warm, like the light of a campfire, beckoning her to draw closer…

The being spared her only a moment’s glance though, and as Her attention was drawn away from Ythe, the small grub was released from the radiant warmth’s pull. She was looking out across the horizon now, and Ythe followed her gaze. Ythe stood in the gray expanse, staring up at the great mountain. The being floated some distance away on her right. The mountain loomed before them both, far away in the distance yet commanding the entire vista, blotting out what little sky filtered through the gray sands blowing. Fear danced in the winds and anxiety grinded between grains of sand. The mountain was close. An impossible, overwhelming presence commanded full attention. The god shrieked in defiance. The world trembled as the mountain rose from its resting place of aeons.

Groaning, Heimich pushed himself up off the floor, wincing as the crack in his shell ground together at the edges. Using the edge of the bed, he stood up, examining the scene before him. Had it all been a dream? A wretched fitful nightmare? The floor was completely devoid of that horrible black liquid. It was if it had never been there at all. However, no, the ache in his guts and rough burning in his throat and spiracles stood as testament to what had befallen him just minutes ago.

Across the room, slumped against the wall was Ythe. She seemed to be sleeping where she'd sat down. The image was almost heartwarming before a feeling of dread creeped bubbled up in Heimich's core. He made his way over to the grub as quickly as his fatigue and pain would allow, kneeling down in front of her. He placed a claw on her shoulder and gently shook it. causing Ythe's head to loll to the side. Heimich's heart stopped cold in his abdomen.

"Ythe? Ythe?"

Taking one arm in a claw Heimich let it fall to her side, completely limp. No twitching fingers, no suspiciously gentle landing, no head turn, nothing. He leaned in and listened to her chest. No breathing.

"Oh no! I- I-" Heimich felt his claws shaking as he tried shaking her once more, only causing her to slump over more. Heimich gingerly lifted her tiny body up, cradling her in his arms as he stumbled through the bedroom door and down the hall into the lounge. Riebel was sitting there, fiddling with something. Heimich addressed him as he passed, announcing in a frail voice, "R-Riebel? I'm going out, Ythe is unwell. You must stay here while I'm gone, wont be long I promise."

Riebel leapt up from the padded bench, spinning on their feet over to the two bugs.

"Ythe? Unwell? How so? Tiny friend was very well not so long ago!" Riebel sang, doing a twirl.

"I don't- Just- Just stay, please," Heimich was stumbling over his words, barely able to think at this point. He'd never done well under stress. In fact he'd-

Heimich was brought to rapt attention as he felt the tiniest of stirs. Looking down, he watched as Ythe groggily lifted her head. She let out a long huff with her spiracles, a yawn, before looking back at him. She sluggishly lifted her arm and waved her claws around. It took Heimich a moment to register the motion as sign.

"What? Tired. Tired," Ythe signed again.

Heimich's chest felt tight. He hugged the grub tight as he sat down on the padded bench Riebel was doing cartwheels on.

"Oh. Oh dear I- You'd- You had gone completely limp and- Well I simply had no idea what to- Well, how are you feeling?," Heimich said. Ythe was still for a moment.

"Okay. Tired."

Heimich internally breathed a sigh of relief, laying down right where he sat with Ythe ending up sprawled out on his shell. He heard her breathe a sigh before stilling. Letting his own breathing even out, Heimich's mind slipped into blissful unconsciousness. With his adrenaline fading, the stress finally caught up to him and he fell into a restful slumber. The last thing his mind registered being a weight leaning against his side.

Chapter Text

There was a sudden jerk and then a gruff exhale. The warrior woke with a start. He blinked, surveying his surroundings. There was an odd feeling weighing in his chest, but he quickly forgot it.

The station was much brighter and spacious than the one he had departed. Ornate windows let rays of light trickle across the floor in wide beams. The smell of plantlife hung heavy in the air. The warrior could hear dozens of voices trickling in from the main hall.

“Here we are, Queen’s Station,” the stag announced curtly. The great beetle turned his head to look back at his passenger, likely wondering if the strange looking bug was still asleep.

The warrior cleared his throat and stood before climbing down to address the stag. He did his best to straighten his tattered cloak and make himself look a bit more presentable, but the effort was in vain.

Bowing his thanks, the warrior turned and walked away from the platform. He ignored the row of benches and exited the platform into the main area of the station.

Eyes taking a moment to adjust to the hall’s brightly lit walls, he could see the room was vast, with a second floor and a vaulted ceiling high above. He stood in the threshold for a moment, planning his next move carefully. Conversations drifted past, so he listened intently, hoping to gain some information.

“Have you heard about the peace negotiations?”

“Yes, of course. It’s a disgrace, frankly. Our glorious king, captured by some malfunctioned creation. Hopefully negotiations are swift and the Pale King is returned to us in short order.”

“Apparently the queen refrained from attending.”

“Truly? How then were the negotiations held? Behind Hallownest’s back no doubt.”

“I would not disagree, however in her grace’s stead, the emissary of the king attended.”

“I believe I’ve heard of him before. A cunning bug, well picked for his position.”

“Quite. He managed to work out a peace treaty with Deepnest.”

"What a valiant soul, able to make terms with those monsters. Did you hear of the claims the broken vessel made? Truly disgusting to accuse his shining grace of such things!"

"Indeed. Though it does raise interesting queries. The broken vessel claims that there were many more of its kind created, but killed. What does it gain from slander such as that when it is so clearly powerful as to already have taken his grace hostage?"

"I won't hear of it. The thing is defective. Mad, no doubt."

"Perhaps. But what if it is not?"

"I refuse to speak of it any longer."

The warrior let his attention be drawn to another pair of voices, and then another. He stood there for a long time, listening in on any conversations that caught his interest, but very few yielded much useful information.

Attempting to straighten his cloak once more, he mumbled a curse under his breath as it stubbornly remained an ugly, tattered rag. He huffed quietly to himself before walking out into the wider room, setting his eyes on a bug who seemed to be waiting, and approached with a polite, “Ho there.”

He was a beetle in white robes that stood to the height of the warrior’s chin, with well polished horns and an air of importance about them. The warrior bowed as he came to a stop in front of the surprised noble.

“I apologize, as I have no name to introduce myself with. I have just arrived to this kingdom, and I am seeking out Deepnest. Perhaps you might point me in the right direction?”

The bug stared at the red warrior for a moment before responding.

“Deepnest? Why would you want to go to that beastly place?”

“I am a warrior, and it is my duty to aid and protect innocents in times of conflict. It would be dishonorable to let my blade lay idly in times of strife. I wish to assess the actors in this conflict, such that I may figure out to who I shall offer my blade.”

The pompous beetle scoffed. “Bah, you won’t find any innocents in that den of beasts and monsters. They’re all vicious. Only good for their silk, which they’ve since withheld from the kingdom. I was there when that deal was signed. That was many years ago now, and it seems those spiders have forgotten.”

Unconsciously, the red warrior fiddled with the edge of his cloak. He stayed silent for a moment.

“I see,” he responded simply. “I thank you for your help.”

Bowing once more, the warrior turned away to find someone else to ask. The older bug seemed to hold a genuine disdain for Deepnest. Their words were harsh, but they hadn’t said anything about what the tribe had done other than cutting off trades during times of war.

Faint memories tickled the back of his mind, but once again, trying to reach for those wisps only made them fade away like mist.

Putting his thoughts aside, he approached another bug. This one looked much more like they were of the common folk. The warrior couldn’t see how tall they were, as they were sitting behind a table covered in goods that glittered, rustled, or crinkled as the preoccupied bug organized and reorganized their wares. Before the warrior had even gotten close, he could hear the seller mumbling to themself as they debated on the placements of a box of writing tablets and a stack of what looked like sheets of woven fabric.

The red-shelled bug gave his greetings as he walked up to the makeshift shop and bowed. The seller disregarded him for a moment as they placed the box of tablets to one side of the table and the stack of fabrics in the center.

“Greetings, traveler! I see you’re looking for some wares? I believe I have what you’re in need of. Very fine quality and limited stock what with trades cut off,” the bug said, their face attentive and friendly. The warrior was slightly caught off guard. The bug had spoken first but hadn’t introduced themselves. It bothered him, but the reason why eluded him, so he ignored it.

“I do not remember my name, but I do know that I use he and him. Well met.”

The seller regarded him for a moment.

“The name’s Wohlo. He and him. Now, about your interest in my wares,” Wohlo replied.

“Unfortunately I do not have the geo to buy anything. I was hoping you might be able to give me directions for where I am headed. I am a warrior, and I am seeking Deepnest such that I might assess the motives of the actors in this conflict,” the warrior said.

Wohlo sighed, but kept his amiable expression. He repeatedly adjusted the positions of items slightly, or switched their places around entirely as he spoke.

“Hmm, I suppose I could. You’ll want to go out through the exit on the uppermost floor. The one opposite the stag station. Go through the Fungal Caverns and into the village of Mantises. That’s the only way into Deepnest currently, and the Mantis Lords guard the passage that leads there. Perhaps I could sell you a map? I’d accept trade in place of geo."

The warrior thought to himself. He had nothing to trade but his filthy cloak, and some shells he had held onto when he ate those tiny, crawling creatures. It filled him with a small amount of shame. He grabbed one from his cloak and held it forth.

The seller eyed it.

“Hmm, a Tik-tik shell? You’ve been through the crossroads. Interesting, but not valuable. Those things are pests. Always nibbling away at scrolls and fabrics and whatever else they can get their little mandibles on...”

The warrior put the shell away and scratched his chin.

“Perhaps I can trade information?”

Wohlo tilted his head and thought for a moment. He swapped two items on the table’s places and said, “Alright, what have you got?”

“Unfortunately I do not know much. I have seen Dirtmouth, the town on the surface. When I arrived from the stagway, I overheard bugs talking of a Pale Lady, a broken vessel, and an emissary,” The warrior recalled.

“Mm, the broken vessel. It’s been much the topic of conversation lately. I have heard of the peace negotiations. Hmm... You went through Dirtmouth, yes? Did you meet the shopkeeper there? I’d like to know if he’s finally back in town.”

Wohlo rearranged some decorative trinkets. The warrior couldn't help but have his eyes drawn to the colorful patterns as they were shuffled around like- like...

Some vague impression mocked him.

“Yes, I’d spoken with him as I passed through. He traded me a map in exchange for me teaching him my nail arts,” The warrior said as he pulled the map from his cloak, holding it out for the seller to see. Wohlo took the map and scanned it, laying it out flat on top of the fabrics.

“Well, good to know. I’ve been meaning to pay him a visit and trade goods. Here, it seems he didn’t mark out the way into the Fungal Caverns. He avoids it because he’s scared of catching moldy wing.”

Wohlo chuckled and produced a pen, quickly scribbling a crude addition to the map.

“Take this route to the Mantis Village. From there you’ll have to navigate the maze on your own. Deepnest is uncharted territory to everyone but the spiders.”

The bug put the pen away and handed the map back. Stowing it away in his cloak, the warrior bowed deeply and voiced his thanks before heading straight off for the exit into the mushroom filled caverns. From what he could tell, it was going to be a long and winding trek.

Just beyond the entrance of the station, a bridge led across a pool of a roiling, light blue liquid. The sour air in the cave told him it was acid.

Past that was simply a matter of traversing the winding, fungus coated tunnels. He met very little resistance, only occasionally having to dispatch an odd mushroom creature that bled some kind of glowing orange fluid when he sliced it to pieces.

At one point he was faced with a closed door with no obvious way of opening it from this side, so he was forced to smash the stone barrier to pieces with a few well coordinated strikes with his horn-nail. He must be getting close to the village now.

He trudged down the long passageway and found himself in a huge chamber. The walls were lined with the rounded caps of mushrooms and a strange, bulbous creature floated on the other side of the space. It didn’t seem aware of him though, so he pulled the map from his cloak and studied it. The way was just below him, so he stashed the map again and jumped off the ledge he stood on, landing on the pebbled ground with a thud.

The entrance was behind him, up on a ledge all its own, so he had to leap upwards and grab the edge to haul himself up. He was forced to crawl as the passage shrunk to barely the width of his shell, then opened up into another large room. He dropped down again and continued on.

One final drop and he was suddenly surrounded by walls made of dark gray stones that had been cut and placed. It was oddly quiet, but he pressed on, moving through the roughly-hewn stone corridors. Skulls and masks were hung up on the walls. Grim trophies of battles past.

Once again that feeling of familiarity nagged at him, but no memories came to the surface. It felt like reaching for something you know intuitively is there, but having your hand pass right through where it ought to be. It left him unnerved every time he tried to recall things, so he let it go and pushed on.

The warrior had still not seen a single bug. He hadn’t even heard the slightest of sounds to give away someone hiding out of sight. Pulling his blade off his back, he took it in one hand and held it by the blade, the tip pointing to the ground behind him. He kept his other hand on the handle, ready to draw it at a moment’s notice.

He stalked forward cautiously, coming into a larger room that had a strange round door built into the floor. The lever to which was hidden in a side room that took no small amount of skill to safely navigate into without getting impaled on spikes.

The warrior decided to leave the door closed, as he was already below it and had no reason to leave a potential route for enemies to sneak up of him from behind open.

Further careful traversal brought him finally to the bottom of the shaft.

He found himself in another large chamber, this one with a vaulted ceiling of natural rock. On one side of the room stood four tall thrones, all covered in a fine layer of dust.

The warrior did not like this. The merchant had made it sound like he would find a bustling village of Mantises, but so far he hadn’t heard so much as the sound of a bug’s breath.

On the far left of the room was a tall archway with a tunnel of rock beyond it. Looking down it he could see that the stone changed partway between the tunnel and the room he was in.

This must be it.

He headed down the unlit passage. The sound of creatures scurrying around him in some unseen place was a comfort. The tunnels were long and winding, and at some point he began to feel a presence. He kept his blade at the ready and pushed on.

He had noticed the small glowing points of light floating around him a while ago but he’d payed them no mind up until now. Had he made a fatal error? Was this the sign of some kind of magic?

“Who goes there? Show yourself,” The warrior called down the tunnel.

Suddenly, the air became heavy with the presence, and a mist blacker than anything the warrior had ever seen poured forth, coalescing into a mass in front of him. It was dotted with the same lights that were floating all around.

The being’s form was alien, like some strange approximation of a bug, and with the body of a beast. It had a formidable set of mandibles, and given its resemblance, likely a fierce stinger as well. The warrior dropped into a battle stance.

The being’s voice boomed in the relatively small space.

“I AM TANTABUS, GUARDIAN OF DEEPNEST. YOU HAVE TRESPASSED AGAINST US. EXPLAIN YOUR REASON IMMEDIATELY.”

The warrior remained in his battle stance, every inch of his musculature pulled taut and ready to strike. He was silent for a moment as he chose his words carefully.

“I apologize for my intrusion, and that I can not introduce myself properly. I have lost my memory traveling to this kingdom from the wastes. I am a warrior, and I am bound by a code of honor to protect the innocent in times of strife. I have heard tell of a war between this kingdom and the kingdom of Hallownest. I merely want to learn of this conflict further, such that my blade might serve those in need.”

The being, Tantabus, was silent for a few minutes. They were a guardian of their people. The warrior respected that.

“STAY HERE, AND DO NOTHING.”

The warrior nodded politely, slowly rising from stance, but keeping his hand firmly on the handle of his blade.

Tantabus floated in place for minutes on end, saying nothing. The warrior could tell it was occupied with something.

Tantabus spoke once more as they turned and headed down the tunnel.

“Follow me. Queen Wasp and Queen Hornet will meet you at the gate.”

The warrior hesitated for a moment. He returned his horn to his back and followed. This would be first impressions with the Queens of Hallownest. He couldn’t risk offending them by having his blade drawn.

Soon, they reached a massive gate. It had an imposing, mystical aura about it. Magic, no doubt.

Tantabus stopped a ways away from the wall, turning to stand, er, float at attention. The warrior stood before the gates, and waited. After only a moment, the massive doors swung open. Two figures stepped out from them, striding towards the warrior.

The one on the right was about as tall as him, with a majestic set of horns adorning her head. Three smaller horns adorned her mask just above her forehead, giving the impression of a crown.

Her body was muscular as hell. Even from where he stood he could see the thick muscles rippling under her shell as she approached. She wore a long cloak that was colored a deep blue like the warrior had never seen before. Behind her swished a long, powerful tail. The warrior could make out spines laid flat along its length. A truly deadly weapon.

The other looked more like what the bugs the warrior had seen so far. She was shorter than the other one, and had only two long curved horns atop her v-shaped head that ended in single points. She wore a scarlet red dress and seemed to be carrying some kind of elongated nail. No doubt a deadly implement all its own, and even more of a threat as he had no prior experience of such a weapon.

The taller of the two stepped forward and opened her chelicerae, revealing a nightmarish maw full of pointed teeth. The warrior kept his composure, but nonetheless a shiver ran through his shell.

“Hey. So, mind telling us what you were doing trying to storm Deepnest?”

The Warrior was taken aback by the casualness of the Queen’s question. While he couldn’t remember anything about his life prior to arriving at this kingdom, he had the sense that conversation with royalty was usually much more formal. He sputtered for a moment before finally responding.

“I- Ah. I apologize for my intrusion, my lady. I would introduce myself, but I have lost my memory to the wastes beyond this kingdom. I have come here to Hallownest because…”

He trailed off, only then remembering that him finding his way here had been pure chance. Still, he felt as though he had a purpose. He couldn’t glean any more though.

“I... do not remember my reason for coming to this kingdom. Truly, I had stumbled upon it by pure chance wandering the endless plains. But I do know why I have come here to Deepnest. I could never forget it, for it is something integral to my very essence. I am bound by a code of honor to aid those in need during times of conflict. To let my blade lay idle in times of conflict when it could be protecting the innocent would be nothing less than an absolute dishonor.”

The warrior paused for a second to give the royals in front of him their turn to speak. They stayed silent, so he continued.

“Pardon my impoliteness, your grace, but I have come here to assess your motives and role in this war. Should your cause be honorable, I will gratefully offer my blade to your service.”

Both the queens and Tantabus were silent. The warrior felt as though there was something being said, but he heard not even a whisper among them. After a moment, the taller one took a step forward and addressed him.

“Okay, the noble warrior shit is pretty cool, but you don’t have to grovel at my feet like that. I’m not going to go all queen of hearts on you if you don’t suck up to me every other sentence.”

The warrior was gobsmacked. Was this truly the queen of Deepnest? Her manner of speaking was so informal, nothing like what he had been expecting. He had no clue who this Queen of Hearts was, perhaps the leader of another nation in Hallownest or maybe a former ruler. Regardless, she seemed to be infamous, but for what he could only guess.

The queen had started speaking again. The warrior was vaguely aware that his mouth had fallen open in shock.

“Well, you don’t seem like one of the douche-canoe's spies. If you’re being serious about the code of honor thing, then I think we’ll get along just fine. Let’s go inside so we don’t have to stand around to talk.”

The warrior stood frozen in place as the queen, who had not even introduced herself, turned to walk back through the gates, waving one hand for the warrior to follow. He shook his head to pull himself out of his stupor and followed behind.

Chapter Text

Blissful, quiet sleep. She hadn’t realized how important it was until now, and how strenuous it was on someone’s mental wellbeing to be stuck in one long and unbroken stream of consciousness. She felt content to stay as she was. No dreams, no restless tossing and turning to find a comfortable position, just a total feeling of relaxation she had always found difficult to achieve.

She soaked in the peaceful quiet around her. It was broken only by soft, slow breathing and quiet murmuring.

Her first mistake was focusing ever so slightly on the murmurs. Awareness flooded her as her pattern-seeking brain betrayingly woke her up so it could identify the sound and satisfy her curiosity.

Sucking in a deep breath, she stretched all four of her arms out, then tucked them back against her body. She laid still for a while, trying to figure out the source of the noise without looking.

At some point she had discovered that she could close her eyes despite completely lacking eyelids, or even any ability to move her eyes (eyeholes?) at all. She imagined how she would look from an outside perspective. Her face always the same blank expression, her eyes empty and indiscernible.

That might make communication a little difficult, but honestly? She was glad to be rid of the social expectations of facial expression.

It finally clicked in her mind that the sound was Riebel’s voice, and that she was fully awake now thanks to her flying too close to the metaphorical sun of conscious thought.

She opened her eyes to see Riebel’s face squished against Heimich’s carapace, eyes closed but mouth still running softly. It was weirdly kind of adorable. Given their void-based nature, they lacked any of the chitinous shell that regular bugs had, so they were completely soft and squishy. Ythe wondered if they had bones like her, or if they were more like a caterpillar with hydrostatic 'pistons' giving their body support.

Ythe carefully sat up and slid down off Heimich’s chest, her feet making a soft thump as they hit the padded floor. She stretched again.

Ugh, why am I always the first to wake up.

That uncomfortable feeling that came from being the only one awake in a room full of sleeping people crept in, so she elected to go hide in her bedroom until Heimich and Riebel got up. Her plans were quickly foiled though, as she heard a high pitched yawn from behind her.

“Oooh~ hahaha~ Good morning!~”

She jolted at the loudness of their voice in the relative silence.

[Panicked Plea (riebel-wait-quiet-shhhh)]

Unfortunately the damage was already done, and Ythe cringed as Heimich yawned, putting a hand up to his mouth. He smacked his lips – er, mandibles – a few times and sighed. Ythe stood awkwardly as the portly bug hefted himself up into a sitting position in one swift movement.

At least, that’s what he tried to do. Instead he barely made it halfway up before freezing and flopping back down on his back as he groaned in pain.

Oh no, should I go over and help?!

Heimich rolled onto his side and slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. He groaned again, rubbing the crack in his shell as he took a deep breath. He scratched his head and yawned again, before standing up with a grumble to clear his throat. He stretched his back and addressed the two bugs.

“Good morning Ythe, Riebel.”

Riebel was already doing little hops and pirouettes. Ythe could not understand how they could be so energetic first thing in the morning. They did a little bow to Heimich and cheerfully said, "Good Morrrrninggg!~"

Heimich chuckled and turned toward Ythe.

“Is everything all right, my dear? You seem worried.” Ythe stared for a second before remembering to talk. She waved Riebel over and started broadcasting her response. It was too early in the morning to try and string together something coherent in signed speak with her limited vocabulary.

“Hmmm? Ahh, hahaha~ Ythe says she had no clue what to do. Ooh, and she’s worried about cracks in your shell~” Riebel relayed absentmindedly as they spun in place.

“Oh dear, you needn't worry about me. I assure you I’m quite all right. In fact I feel much better than I have in months!” Heimich chuckled as he patted his stomach. “You must have knocked a few years out of me with that headbutt!”

The tension in Ythe’s shoulders loosened as Heimich gave her a pat on the head which she admittedly found quite nice.

“Let’s see about fixing some breakfast, shall we? I myself am quite famished after last night’s commotion.”

Heimich hummed a cheery tune as he crossed the room. He organized a few stacks of scrolls as he passed, though his work was quickly undone as Riebel, ever the whirlwind of energy, followed close behind, picking up and admiring each one before haphazardly placing them back down.

Ythe followed behind the two, doing her best to straighten things out as she passed. It was soothing to her, and the worries that Ythe would normally have held onto slipped away, letting her relax and enjoy the morning.

Heimich was already pulling food from the cabinets by the time Ythe made it to the kitchen. It was one of the only rooms in the tower that had normal flooring, and her claws clicked satisfyingly on the stone as she walked in.

The room was way bigger than Ythe was expecting. It looked more like the back of a fancy restaurant than a home kitchen. Cabinets and shelves lined the walls, with seemingly endless counters below them. There was even a huge island counter in the middle of the room stacked high with yet more scrolls and tablets and diagrams.

It seemed like Heimich only used a small section of the room for cooking, as all of the cookware, dishes, and food seemed to be concentrated in one corner which had a strange boxy chest in it. The rest was either left empty or piled with random items.

Heimich seemed to be debating on what to make, leaving an assortment of ingredients all across the counters. Most of it looked familiar, but there were some item that looked totally alien.

Not really sure what to do, Ythe just stood to one side of the room and watched Heimich work. The three of them hadn’t actually eaten any meals together for the entire time Ythe had been living there.

She wasn’t sure how to feel about it. She almost always hung out in her room reading or practicing her signed speak during meals, a habit that had carried over from her past life as a result of the discomfort she felt about eating in front of people her parents had instilled in her. Plus, Heimich usually ate in his study at the top of the tower where he could look out through the floor-to-ceiling window at the city below. Part of her did want to ask if they could all share a meal, but she never did for fear of bothering him and his routine.

A few days after Ythe’s lack of a mouth was discovered, Heimich had talked to her about it. He had been worried that she was hiding in her room because she was upset that she was the only one unable to enjoy meals.

The question had caught Ythe off guard because she hadn’t even thought that he might have noticed.

She didn’t want Heimich to think she was upset at him, so she decided to just tell him that while she did wish she could, she just forgot about it most of the time so it didn’t bother her too much. It was sorta the truth, if maybe downplaying her feelings a bit.

But before she'd been able to answer, she had just started crying. The feelings overwhelmed her and she couldn't, or just didn't want to, suppress it. Her body wasn’t capable of producing tears, so she had sat there, chest racked with quiet sobs as Heimich pulled her into a hug which she had welcomed shakily.

After she had cried it out, she told Heimich the whole truth. She didn’t want to lie to him, even indirectly.

Later that same day she’d overheard him cursing out the Pale King, which itself had been a shock as Heimich seemed incapable of talking bad about people. Hearing that someone else shared her negative opinions of that piece of crap felt...

Well it made her feel like her feelings were valid, and not just a product of her own biased views.

By now Heimich had decided on what he wanted to make, putting away the rest of the food. Some of it went into the strange chest. It looked like a big metal box with decorative lines etched into the deep blue surface in complex swirling patterns. Inside it were multiple shelves that could stack on top of each other to make it easier to retrieve things from the bottom.

Out of curiosity Ythe approached the strange box, grabbing the edge so she could stand on her tiptoes and peer inside. The air that wafted up from it felt cool.

A refrigerator! But how would you make one in this world? Gas compression based cooling seems a little too... modern for Hallownest. Oh, it’s probably just a regular ice-chest, duh. I wonder where you would get the ice from though. I don’t remember any areas in the game that had it.

Heimich, having noticed her staring, chuckled and came over to explain.

“A fascinating thing, isn’t it? It’s called a kitchen cellar. I bought it for no small sum many years ago.”

Heimich gave the box a pat as he looked down at it with pride. Riebel pirouetted past the two, singing, “The hot-cold box, the warm-cold box, many delicious things we keep in the hot-cold booox~”

Heimich chuckled again, clapping for Riebel before turning back to the fridge.

“Usually one would have to use a ground cellar dug in a naturally cool area such as the cavern below us, but this chest is imbued with a spell that pulls warmth from inside itself and moves it to the outside. Touch the side here. Feel how it’s warm?”

Ythe let go of the edge and pressed her hands, all four of them, against the front of the chest. It had a pleasant warmth to it, so she, quite shamelessly, squished herself against the smooth surface to soak in as much as she could. Heimich laughed and continued speaking.

“All it needs is to have its energy replenished occasionally, and in return you get perfect food preservation without having to go all the way down and up the tower every time you forget an ingredient for the meal you were preparing,” Heimich said. His tone was joking but Ythe could hear the slightest bit of sourness from lived experience slip through.

“Ah, which reminds me. It ought to be due for just that right about this week,” Heimich thought aloud, his tone suddenly shifting as he said, “I’ll have to do a bit of searching to find a mage qualified now that the Soul Sanctum is destroyed...”

Heimich was silent for a long minute, leaning against the edge of the kitchen cellar as she stared down at its contents.

“...Terrible things were done in that place, and I can’t help but feel some small amount of responsibility for my patronage.”

He went quiet again.

Gods, right... All the ghosts and abominations you find in that part of the game were people that the Sanctum Master killed to make himself more powerful. He definitely had it coming.

Wait, but how did the sanctum get destroyed? You kill the master in the game but the building never gets destroyed.

...Unless those skylights were load-bearing I guess. Soul Master seems like the kind of guy to pull a Grover's House.

But it's too early in the timeline for Ghost to have come back to Hallownest. I guess maybe it gets destroyed and then rebuilt at some point...? I don't know.

Ythe hesitated for a moment before placing a hand on his forearm. He looked down at her.

“Thank you, my dear. Perhaps-... Perhaps I am holding myself unfairly accountable. There had been rumors, but the truth of what was done there was only made public after its destruction.”

Ythe nodded. Heimich’s head lifted a bit.

“I shouldn’t be worrying you with such things, forgive me. Let’s see about breakfast.” Heimich closed the kitchen cellar and went back to the counter.

It took him a while to prepare the food, in which time Riebel dragged Ythe over to a table that felt minuscule in comparison the grandness of the room. Even so, it was still fairly large on its own. Big enough to accommodate at least six people comfortably.

When she climb up into one of the chairs, she found she was far too short for it, her eyes just barely clearing the top of it. She grabbed the edge to try and pull herself a little higher to see over it and watched as Riebel jumped up from their seat and dashed out of the room.

Ythe was confused, but waited patiently in her seat. From the other room she could hear what sounded suspiciously like things being dumped on the floor. She cringed a little at every small thump and clatter.

Riebel came back after a minute or two carrying a cushion, which Heimich sighed at. They bounded over and suddenly Ythe was being lifted out of her chair, making her inhale sharply. Her spiracles tensed, so the sound that came out was a high pitched squeak.

Just as suddenly, she was dropped back onto the cushion.

"Uff!"

Riebel clapped before giving Ythe a pat between her horns. She was still a little too short, but for Heimich’s sake she didn’t mention it.

They only had to wait a minute longer before Heimich happily loaded up three plates and brought them over to the table. He hummed cheerfully as he set them down in their respective places before taking his seat.

If she had one, her mouth would have been watering at the delicious smells wafting up from her plate. She wasn’t sure how she was smelling it, since she didn’t have any kind of nose, but she remembered that some bugs smelled through their feet.

It didn’t feel like that was how he was doing it, which was a relief. She did not want to have to deal with smelling everything she stepped on.

Sitting on her plate were two orange orbs which she recognized as rancid eggs, some small fruits, and a slice of what looked like bread with a thick layer of some kind of bright orange spread that seemed to glow slightly and had an almost creamy smell to it.

She sorely wanted to try all of it and it was only then that Heimich seemed to notice his blunder.

“Oh. Oh dear, I’m so sorry. I’ve been so preoccupied thinking about last night that I completely forgot about your condition,” Heimich said.

“How cruel to be robbed not only of a voice but the mere ability to enjoy one of life’s greatest pleasures. Should I ever get my hands on your father, I will most certainly be having a word with him..”

It was still bizarre hearing Heimich angry, but Ythe appreciated him being mad on her behalf. She could hardly wrap her head around it, him caring so much for her when they’d only met about two weeks ago.

Ythe looked down at the plate of food in front of her. She felt mad too.

You know what? So what if the Pale Jerk made her without a mouth? She was going to flip him the bird and find a way to eat just to spite him.

But how...

She thought back to her knowledge of the games. There were items that you got that were food, and therefore had to be eaten. There wasn’t any animation for it in the games though. You just... got it and you’d suddenly have whatever ability it provided.

Maybe Ghost just... absorbs them. With the vessels being part void, it kinda, sorta makes sense. Hmmm...

Ythe picked a berry from the plate and held it up to her face. She closed her eyes and imagined the ball of void in her stomach reaching out and consuming the fruit, absorbing it into her body. After a few moments of concentration, a wonderful sensation overcame her.

It's sweet! I can taste it!

Hyped up on the success and the small sugar rush, her eyes shot open and she readied her sorta-hivemind so she could tell Heimich and Riebel about her discovery.

Except they were already staring at her. Heimich’s mouth hung open and Riebel was silent, their eyes wide.

Had she done something wrong?

“I-... That was...” Heimich sputtered.

Ythe reached out to Riebel.

[Nervous Question (did-I-do-something-wrong?)] Riebel stayed silent, which made Ythe extremely worried. They stared at her for an uncomfortable minute before exploding in joyous laughter.

“Wahahahaha!!~ Amazing! Hahaha!~ Amazing! Do it again!” Ythe wasn’t sure how to react, so she just picked up another piece of food. This time tearing a piece off the slice of bread covered in what she would later learn was 'rock jelly', which was a slime mold that grew in the damp caves near the City of Tears. It was used in a wide variety of foods, and despite its appearance, completely unrelated to the Radiance’s infection.

Holding the bread in front of her, Ythe went through the same process of imaging the little void ball reaching out to take the food, keeping her eyes open this time.

To her shock, and Riebel’s renewed whooping laughter, three or four pitch-black tendrils appeared from just beneath her chin. They flailed around violently, the barbs making quiet whooshing sounds as they cut through the air.

Then, in perfect sync, they lashed forward, entangling the bread in a mass of black. Ythe dropped it in surprise, but the tendrils held on, retracting back into her body with the morsel in tow.

The bread tasted how she would have expected, if a little denser than what she was used to and with a slight smokey flavor. The bright orange jelly was new and exciting. If she had to compare it to anything, it was like if someone had blended raspberries and cream cheese together with a splash of lemon juice.

It was delicious, and she reveled in the taste as her void body broke the food down into nutrients. It was strange, she could taste the flavors but not really taste them. It was more like she was experiencing the memory of the taste but in real time, like someone was uploading the sensation right into her brain. She could even feel the texture of it to some degree.

It took her a minute to remember the two bugs in front of her. Heimich was still staring at her, mouth agape. Riebel knelt on their chair, rocking it back and forth as they cooed and laughed, studying where the tentacles had been just a moment ago. Ythe signed out the first thing that came to mind, just as lost for words as Heimich.

“I learned how eat.”

Heimich stared dumbfounded at her hands, then burst out laughing.

“Yes my dear it seems you have! You are grub with no small amount of surprises! And with the quip of a poet,” he exclaimed.

Ythe may not have been able to make noise, but she laughed just as hard as her little group talked back and forth over the first meal they’d gotten to enjoy together.

After a while, things finally calmed back down. Ythe had savored every single piece of food on her plate, taking in all the new tastes. It had been so long since she’d been able to experience food that she’d forgotten what eating was like, and how good it felt.

Riebel had also insisted on grabbing samples of nearly everything Heimich had in the kitchen and putting them in front of Ythe for her to try. She had a suspicion they just wanted to see her eat with her void-tendrils again, but she didn’t mind.

Turns out rancid eggs were basically liquid pickled eggs, which was kind of gross from a texture standpoint, but it gave Ythe an idea she would have to try at some point. The rock jelly on toast remained one of her top favorites, along with a sort of smoothie made from blended fruits and honey.

It turned out that the kingdom of Hallownest didn’t have any kind of dairy foods. It only made sense, since as far as she knew there weren’t any bugs or arachnids that produced milk. It wasn’t too big of a deal, but she was sorely going to miss grilled cheese sandwiches and aged applewood-smoked cheddar...

As conversation around the table quieted, Ythe’s mind began to wander. She was still curious about what had happened to the Soul Sanctum.

Ythe tapped her plated with a claw to get Heimich’s attention and signed, “What happened soul... soul house?”

“Hmm? The Soul Sanctum, yes... I’ve heard that it was destroyed by the um, I believe she calls herself Wasp?” Heimich said between bites.

Ythe nodded.

Holy shit

Ythe mentally kicked herself. She’d had every chance to ask Heimich about Wasp but it had completely slipped her mind. The perks of having adhd.

"It was quite sudden. Apparently, she appeared within its very walls as if from thin air and quickly went about tearing it down from the inside. It was barely an hour before the entire building had been leveled, and the Soul Master found dead not long after.

They say... Well, it's rumors, but they say only his shell was left. As if he'd simply faded away. Of course it was not long after that word of what he'd done became public. There was a terrible outcry. So much so that the White Defender himself came to the city to issue a statement on behalf of the Pale Emissary.

He denied any involvement of he kingdom with what was being conducted in the Sanctum, and that those involved would be held trial before the White Counsel. Shortly after, all of the mages that had survived were taken away to the Palace."

Bullshit they weren't involved. It was probably one of the Pale Prick's personal side projects.

Ythe realized she was glaring at her plate and gave Heimich a small nod to let him know she'd been listening.

There was probably a ton of things Ythe didn't know about that she would know already if she'd just asked. She racked her brain for anything else important she might have forgotten.

The most important thing struck her immediately. She’d slept last night. She’d slept last night with the infection in full swing and she'd been completely vulnerable while she dreamt.

She knew that she’d had one but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t remember even a single detail. All she got was this feeling like a rock sitting in the pit of her stomach.

Ythe decided to ask Heimich about it, tapping a claw on her plate and signing her question.

“Hmm, I haven’t heard anything about people not being able to remember the dreams. They’re extremely vivid. So much so that it’s easy to forget your waking life. The allure of their promises are strong, and many bugs have sadly succumbed to them,” Heimich explained. He stared upward, lost in thought.

“Come to think of it though, I don’t believe I had any dreams at all last night. How peculiar...”

Ythe turned this new information over in her mind. If her dream hadn’t come from Megamoth, then where? And what had it actually been? Maybe she was just overthinking this. It was definitely possible the dream had just been a dream.

“Speaking of, I have been meaning to talk with you what happened last night. Are you all right my dear? I can’t imagine how frightening it must have been seeing me like that," Heimich asked with no small amount of shame in his voice.

Ythe snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at Heimich. She waited a second before signing, “I’m okay. Made you better, no sick.”

It had been terrifying seeing the normally jovial bug hunched over with black void fluid pouring from his eyes, and flying from his mouth and spiracles as he choked on it.

The whole thing had happened so fast though that it was all a blur to her, and as such she hadn’t really processed what was happening in the moment. It felt like it had been a surreal, terrifying nightmare more than anything else.

Ythe reassured Heimich again that she was fine, and turned the conversation to the sickness itself. Heimich’s system had been absolutely saturated with void. Unless he had been secretly drinking the stuff, the only logical conclusion was that he’d somehow been absorbing it through being close to void. Namely the now two bugs made of void that he lived with.

Ythe did her best to explain all this with her somewhat limited sign vocabulary since Riebel was somewhere else in the tower and too far away to talk to through the sorta-hivemind. She needed the practice anyway.

It had taken a while, with a lot of makeshift euphemisms needed to fill in the gaps of words she didn’t know yet, but she’d eventually gotten the idea across.

Ythe looked down at the table, picking at the edge of it with one of her claws on her lower right hand. With the upper set she continued signing.

“My fault. I’m sorry.”

Heimich shook his head.

“My dear, I had been ill long before you arrived. If anything, my health improved after you got here. Given... Well, now that I know that Riebel is made of this void substance, it’s clear that... that they are the source...” Heimich said, his voice quieter than before.

After a long silence, they both heard what sounded like a sniffle from the other room. Ythe turned to look, but she couldn’t see past the doorway from where she was sitting. Heimich was able to see however, and he let out a small gasp.

Riebel came into the kitchen. All of their usual energy had gone. They stopped on the other side of the room and stood silently, staring at the floor with each hand intertwined with its twin.

The air in the room felt heavy, and eventually another small whimper was heard.

“My fault. Sorry... So sorry. You were sick because of me...” Riebel choked out. Black tears were streaming down their face and softly falling to the floor. They had started to shake slightly as they sobbed quietly. The sound was awkward and hiccuping, like they’d never made it before. It was absolutely heartbreaking to listen to.

Ythe didn’t know what to do. She’d never been good at consoling people, and so she was frozen in place, feeling horrible for her friend but with no idea how to help them.

Heimich got up from his seat then, and took a step forward.

“No, no my dear don’t blame yourself. You had no idea,” Heimich said soothingly as he crossed the room, pulling Riebel into a hug.

They squirmed for a moment, their sobs getting more intense, but they relented and hugged Heimich back so hard that a small wheeze was forced out of him.

Ythe couldn’t stand by any longer, so she dropped from her chair and hesitantly walked over to the two, wrapping her arms around Riebel as much as she could.

They stood like that for a long time, just letting poor Riebel cry themself out. Eventually their breathing slowed into rhythmic gasps, which slowly evened out into soft breathing only occasionally broken by hiccups. They let go of Heimich, who took a step back to give them air.

“I- I should go. O-or you’ll be sick again...” Riebel croaked. Their eyes were still averted.

Heimich shook his head and said, “Your home is here, no matter what. We will figure something out.”

Ythe's mind wandered as her brain kicked into problem solving mode. Riebel was unfortunately right. If they stayed near Heimich he would eventually become sick again. Ythe too, maybe.

That was, unless they somehow figured out a way to prevent it from happening. The guards she’d seen back when she was escaping through the White Palaces courtyard, which she now remembered were called Kingsmoulds, were basically the same as Riebel, but encased in full suits of white armor.

Surely the Pale King wouldn’t just have a bunch of them walking around the castle making people deathly ill, which meant there must be something about the armor that kept the void safely contained. But what?

She would have to go back to the palace and capture one if she wanted to find out.

There were a few problems with that plan though. The most prominent being that the Pale King would probably have her captured on sight, or worse.

Sure she’d gotten away before, but that time she’d had the element of surprise.

There was also the matter of somehow actually taking down a Kingsmould and dragging it back with her so she could study it. She didn’t have any weapons, let alone combat training. Plus, even if she did manage to do all that, she had no knowledge about how this world’s magic worked.

Maybe there was some kind of spell they needed. But the Pale Jerk would probably be the only person who knew how to do it. And she was definitely not going anywhere near him.

What about a charm? There were tons in the game and the effects they could have seemed limitless. So if they could find one that had the effect of containing someone’s illness or something, maybe it could be modified to contain Riebel’s void.

It was the best idea she had and unless she learned magic overnight, she'd have to try.

Ythe was about to reach out to Riebel to have them translate her thoughts into words, but decided against it. She didn’t know the signs for magic or charm and didn’t feel like charades or euphemisms, so she went with plan C.

Going into the other room, it only took a moment to find what she needed in the pile of supplies jut outside the door. Grabbing a stone tablet and a chalk, she went back into the kitchen to explain her idea.

She blew out through her spiracles in a light hiss to get Heimich and Riebel’s attention, then started scribbling out her idea as best she could. She’d picked up High Palean faster than she had signed speak since she spent a lot of time pouring over biology studies and stories, so it was the best method of communication available.

Her written vocabulary wasn’t quite big enough to justify going to retrieve a slate every time she wanted to speak, but it was still fairly robust for having only been learning it for about a week and a half.

She held the slate up for Heimich and Riebel. It read, “What if we go to store? Get spell rock that keeps nothing liquid in Riebel. No more sick!”

“Hmm. What do you mean by spell ro- ahh, you mean a charm?” Heimich asked.

Ythe nodded vigorously.

Heimich hummed and stared up at the ceiling in thought. Ythe wiped her slate clean while she waited.

“I suppose it could be possible. I’ve heard that charms are capable of a great many things. They are very rare though, only created by the dying wish of the strong-willed. Or through great labor by a skilled mage.”

So there was a chance then!

“The place most likely to have been able to produce such charms would have been the Soul Sanctum. Other than that though... I suppose I would have to ask around.”

Okay maybe less of a chance than she was hoping, but it was still a chance! Ythe scribbled on her slate furiously. Her handwriting came out a little bit sloppy, but she was too revved up to erase it and do it again. She held the slate up to Heimich.

“We go, we get spell rock! Heimich okay! Riebel not danger!” Heimich clicked his mandibles and gave Riebel a reassuring pat on the back.

“We’ll make a day of it then. I suppose this is also a chance to make up for not being able to go yesterday. Will you be okay to spend the day alone, Riebel?”

Riebel looked up at Heimich with big wet eyes and said, “Yes, I’ll be okay. I just want my family to be safe.”

Heimich pulled them into a hug before leaving the room to get ready. Ythe and Riebel were left alone in the kitchen. They still looked worried and sad so Ythe reached out with her mind.

[Reassuring statement (it’ll-be-okay-I-promise)(we’ll-find-a-charm-to-keep-you-from-making-Heimich-sick-ever-again)(don’t-blame-yourself)]

Riebel looked down at her, their face lifting a bit. They thanked her and left the kitchen, still quiet, but with just a little of the usual spring back in their step.

Ythe was waiting patiently by the front door as Heimich double-checked his side bag. He'd put on his strange pointy hat and broach, which made her briefly consider a hat of her own. The idea was swiftly quashed when she remembered her horns.

To avoid attention, she'd decided to leave her shadow creeper shell at home. She knew that the odds of anyone recognizing her were low, since she’d run through the crowd with her head down, but the Emissary had seemed hell-bent on having her captured.

Weirdly though, when Ythe had checked with Heimich he told her that there was no bounty put out for her, not even a call for information. Still, she wanted to lay as low as possible.

She'd never seen any bugs with four arms other than Riebel, so she decided keeping hers covered by her cloak was a good idea.

They went out the door, Heimich locking it behind them. The air outside was cool and felt nice on Ythe’s skin. It was also quite humid, which she wouldn't have normally been able to stand, but since bugs didn't sweat the feeling of moisture on her face and skin felt decidedly less unpleasant.

It occurred to her this was the first time she’d been outside since getting to the tower. Oops.

The walk down the multiple sets of stairs was much nicer than it had been on the way up, and Ythe was able to better appreciate the cool, humid air of the flooded caves. The sound of the water lapping against the rocky outcrops echoed through the chamber. If she listened closely enough, Ythe could hear small creatures scuttling and splashing in the water below.

Heimich seemed to notice Ythe’s nervousness as they came out of the cave into the abandoned station.

He pointed out the broken bench and began telling a story about a time that he’d spent an entire day running all over the city looking for something or other. By the time he’d gotten home he’d been exhausted, and decided to take a break before climbing up the tower steps.

Heimich hadn’t realized how rusted the bench had become in its disrepair and it ended up snapping clean in half when he'd sat down, sending him tumbling onto his back where he’d gotten stuck for over an hour before he’d managed to roll back over.

Ythe laughed silently as they stepped out into the station proper. It was much less populated today, with only a few bugs mulling around as they waited for a stag. Some people were talking quietly with each other but Ythe couldn't make out their words.

Their first stop was Kaman’s shop since it was closest to the station. As soon as they entered the door, they were greeted by the tall bug, who was wearing a forest green cardigan today.

“Heimich! Good to see ya! Pale light, you rushed out so fast last time you’d think you'd spilled diatomaceous chalk on yourself,” Kaman laughed. Their antennae bobbed as they spoke.

“Ahh, so you were listening when I told you about that!” Heimich replied jovially.

Kaman shuddered. “Unfortunately. Pale light, I’ve had nightmares about the stuff ever since you told me.”

“Ah, uh my apologies Kaman,” Heimich said.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I see you brought this adorable little nymph again,” Kaman asked as they leaned over the counter to get a better look at her, head propped up on one hand. “I had no idea you had a grand-niece. Which of your sibling’s grand kids is she?”

Ythe was a little uncomfortable. It felt deceptive to go along with people thinking she was a kid.

Argh, this hasn’t been a problem whatsoever with Heimich.

...He did say that he’s never really been around kids so I guess that's why. I guess I’ll just have to suffer feeling like a lying little weirdo for now...

Ythe waved awkwardly at Kaman. They clicked their mandibles, the bug equivalent of a grin, and gave her a small wave back.

“Ah, uh, you know my sister, Belthada? Ythe is her grand-daughter,” Heimich said. His lying was pretty bad, but it didn’t seem like Kaman was suspicious. Ythe supposed that Heimich’s generally awkward nature made his awkward lying not stand out.

Kaman hummed and said, “She’s the one who works as a scribe in the Sliver Moth Archival Library, right?”

Heimich nodded.

“Seems like nerdiness runs in the family,” Kaman joked. They stood up from the counter and moved to examine their stock. “You know, I’ve heard rumors that the Pale King didn’t actually have it built in honor of that poet fella. Some folks think it was just for the sake of making the moth tribe like him better because he foresaw the infection and the tensions it’s caused between Hallownest and the moth tribe.”

Heimich scratched his head. “I haven’t heard of that before. I suppose it is possible.”

“Hah, of course you haven’t, you’re always up in that ‘Tower of Love’ of yours poking the insides of things. You're not usually one to entertain such rumors about the Pale King, something change?” Kaman teased. They pulled a jar from the shelf in front of them and inspected it.

Ythe wanted to ask Kaman about a charm for Heimich right away, but she didn't want to be rude and interrupt. So she just elected to stand off to the side and stare at whatever was around. It reminded her of when she used to do the same on the rare occasion she went shopping with her mom back when...

A somber feeling washed over her. She'd been doing her best to put it out of her mind for as long as possible. She just wasn't ready to face the obvious of what had happened. She wasn't ready to grieve her past life and she knew if she kept thinking about it she was going to break down crying in the shop, so she pushed it down.

But then, she'd already been doing that this whole time, hadn't she? She'd just been suppressing it and not letting herself grieve properly. Ythe knew that it wasn't healthy, but she just couldn't do it. It hurt too much. Was muddled with too many mixed feelings.

Groaning, Heimich turned his gaze away. “I truly am working on that property re-registration petition form, it’s just...”

“Bureaucracy? Can’t blame you for that. Still, people are going to talk about the bug who bought up a foreclosed brothel~” Kaman said in a slight sing-song tone. They put the jar back on the shelf and snorted to themself.

Heimich shifted his weight and huffed through his spiracles. "It- It was an incredibly cheap deal and all I had to do was agree not to reopen it! Besides, there- there's a child here, Kaman, y-you shouldn’t be talking about such things!" Heimich sputtered in protest. If bugs didn't have shells, Ythe imagined that his face would have been beet red with embarrassment.

Kaman raised their hands in a placating gesture, chuckling softly. "Sorry, sorry."

Heimich sighed lightly. "Quite all right my friend. I suppose it's to be expected coming from such a dirty-minded bug such as yourself," he teased back. Kaman laughed in response.

Ythe stopped paying attention to the conversation then, as something on the shelf to her right caught her eye. She needed a distraction from her own brain and whatever little trinket was siting there seemed like the perfect thing.

The whole shop, which was really just a small room with a counter at the back, was lined wall to wall with shelves filled with all sorts of items. She wanted to take a look at all of it.

Going over to the shelf, Ythe took a closer look at the assortment of items kept seemingly haphazardly on the shelves. She felt a little compelled to start rearranging, but refrained since she figured it would be rude. Plus, maybe Kaman had a system.

There were slates and scrolls, inkwells and bundles of chalk. On one of the higher shelves out of her reach, aka most of them, she could see what looked like tools.

The hammer she could recognize immediately, but the others took some time to puzzle out. Not being able to see them at eye level definitely didn't help.

As Heimich and Kaman continued talking, Ythe wandered back and forth, looking at everything within reach. On one shelf there were little carvings of various bugs. Both people and wildlife.

On another was a set of what were probably just trinkets. The kind of thing old ladies buy to put all over their house. Some of them actually looked pretty enticing, like a silver table lamp that was etched with swirling patterns and words she couldn't read.

Attached to either side of the tapered base were two beetle-people in flight that held the glass bubble between them. There was a metal lid on the bottom of the glass that was polished to a mirror. It was clearly meant to hold those brightly glowing insects that were used in all of the lamps in the city, but it was currently empty.

Near to the counter there was a wide variety of cups and plates and other kitchenware. Nothing too interesting.

Eventually Heimich said something that brought Ythe's attention back to the conversation.

"I was hoping you might have some charms. Particularly, we're looking for one that could er, something that could contain an illness of sorts."

Ythe walked up to the counter, but not too close that she couldn't be seen behind it. She stuck her upper set of hands out of her cloak and began to sign.

"We looking for spell rock to hold sickness. Stop Heimich from getting sickness."

Kaman tilted their head, watching her hands carefully.

"I'm a bit rusty with sign speak, sorry kiddo. You said you're trying to find a 'spell rock'?" Kaman asked, leaning over the counter to get a better view.

Ythe nodded. She was cautiously hopeful that Kaman would have what they were looking for.

Heimich spoke up. "She means a charm. It's for Riebel. Recently we discovered that their presence has been making me very sick. Something to do with... They're made of this strange substance called 'void' apparently, and it's been- Well I'm not sure how to describe it. Ythe had the idea to find a charm that could contain this 'void' to prevent the sickness it causes."

Kaman was quiet for a moment. Their antennae twitched.

"I... Well that's certainly news. I wish I could help, but I don't have any charms in store. Even if I did, I've never heard'a 'void'. Don't know if I'd have any that could stop it from infecting people, I'm sorry," they said.

Heimich waved a hand.

"No need to apologize. Thank you anyway."

"Maybe I could point you in the right direction though. I do know of a few vendors that sell charms. Let me write you down a list," Kaman said, already pulling a scrap of paper out and scribbling down a list of names and addresses.

The paper looked a bit odd. It had been torn off from a larger piece, but the edges looked more like frayed fabric than torn paper.

Kaman handed the weird paper over to Heimich, who thanked them again. He and Ythe sad goodbye to the shopkeeper and headed out to check the stores and sellers on the list.

They weren't able to find the first seller on the list, which was a great start. They'd wasted half an hour going back and forth looking for her to no avail.

The streets were surprisingly busy with bugs just going about their days. There wasn't a single infected in sight, which Heimich had told her was because they were all sent away somewhere to keep them and those around them safe.

Eventually they gave up looking and moved on. The second vendor on the list had charms in stock, but none of them had been what they were looking for.

For some reason Heimich had been super dodgy in talking about why he needed a charm. He'd completely avoided talking about Riebel whatsoever.

Ythe realized that Heimich was most likely keeping them a secret from the public. If the Pale King was willing to kill thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands of his own children for being 'defective' he would definitely have no qualms about having a single 'defective' Kingsmould destroyed.

She must have been shaking from anger, because Heimich asked her if she was alright.

She unclenched her fists and nodded. There was no point in getting distracted thinking about the Pale Piece-of-Crap right now, so she put the bitter thoughts aside and focused on not accidentally walking into anyone.

About halfway through the day, their trek across the city took them through a small plaza that was surrounded by water on all sides. In the middle was a large statue.

The base was made to look like a massive flower. The leaves fringed the bottom and the open bloom that sat atop served as a pedestal for four figures.

Ythe was able to get a good look at them as they passed by the front. The figure in the center was the Hollow Knight. At least, they looked like the Hollow Knight.

Their horns had a different pattern. Instead of the horns that looked like the jaws of a large beetle, they had thinner horns, with just two prongs at the very end.

The sight had caused her to stop in place and stare. It only dawned on her then, that if the Hollow Knight was Wasp, and she was off in Deepnest, then of course the Pale King would have chosen a different vessel to be the Pure Vessel.

It seemed like that vessel had turned out to be the knight. In the birthplace cutscene, they were just behind pure vessel, so it made sense.

Ythe heard a hum to her side. Heimich was standing next to her, having noticed she wasn't following anymore and had come to see what she was looking at.

"The Hollow Knight. His apparent solution to the infection."

Heimich's voice was flat, almost contemplative.

"They finished it just a few months ago. The Pale King commissioned it barely a week after he announced the pure vessel as the cure for the sickness."

Ythe looked up at Heimich, hoping for more. He noticed her staring and shook his head.

"Unfortunately that is all I know. Some people have claimed they saw the Hollow Knight fleeing the palace. Running through the caverns. But it's all hearsay and rumors. No-one has come forward with proof or eyewitness testimony."

They stood in the plaza for a while longer. Ythe felt melancholy, thinking about what was happening to her sibling in the Pale King's clutches. The game was never explicit about what happened in between the birthplace cutscene and the Black Egg being sealed.

"And there's been no word from the White Palace about it ever since the Pale King was taken hostage by Deepnest," Heimich said plainly.

Ythe turned to stare at him again.

What.

Heimich looked down at her.

"What?" Ythe signed. If they could move, her eyes would have been big as dinner plates.

Heimich's eyes widened.

"Oh dear, it never occured to me to tell you! I assumed your foresight had shown you."

Ythe shook her head rapidly. She started signing rapidly.

"White shit taken? What? Tell more. How taken? Taken by who? How long??"

Heimich chided her for her language, then explained the situation in detail.

This changed things considerably. So much for using her game knowledge.

Evidently she'd been reincarnated in some crazy alternate timeline of the Hollow Knight universe where everything she knew about the game was different. Because screw her, apparently.

Ythe asked what must have been a hundred questions as they walked from shop to shop. It seemed like most, if not all of the changes to the Hollow Knight timeline were because of Wasp. Not only had she destroyed the Soul Sanctum and left Ghost to take the role of Hollow Knight, but she'd also been seen all over the kingdom, creating all sort of rumors and speculation.

Some said that she'd been at Crystal peaks when she was still just a grub and stolen the heart of one of the mining golems. Others said she'd been at the Coliseum at the far edge of the kingdom, and had fought like no-one had seen before, going through an incredible molt in between fights.

Most impressively, she'd launched an attack on the White Palace, even fighting the Pale King himself one-on-one and overpowering him by bringing an entire tram car down on his head and the roof of the palace.

Oh my gods she's a total badass aaaaaaaahh! I hope the Pale Piece-of-Crap wet his stupid pretentious robes!

Apparently the Pale King was now being held as a political prisoner by Deepnest, which if rumors were to be believed, had become an absolute fortress in the past year or so since Wasp was first seen.

Heimich was still having a hard time wrapping his head around everything that he'd been witness to these past weeks. Ythe was an exceptionally peculiar grub with no small amount of surprises.

Seeing how other's treated her only cemented in his mind that she was unusually smart and mature. At her age she ought to be very childish and still just learning the alphabet, not writing somewhat fluid High Palean as well as Signed Speak. Not to mention her inexplicable ability to somehow transmit her thoughts into Riebel’s mind.

Perhaps it was a trait inherent to beings of void? She was not able to to the same with other bugs.

If ever given the opportunity, Heimich would be more than chuffed to study the creatures that called the Abyss home. Especially this strange 'void' substance that Ythe seemed to speak of almost as if it were alive.

Things had certainly become very interesting in Heimich's life after this strange grub entered it. And that was taking into account the ever energetic whirlwind that was Riebel!

They were almost at the next shop now. He talked with the shopkeeper for a short while, finding that they too did not have what they were looking for.

He was feeling a bit drained, and could tell that Ythe was as well. She'd been drifting off from him and nearly bumping into people and street lamps while they walked more frequently, seemingly lost in thought.

Heimich couldn't help but worry that last night's terrors had effected the poor girl more than she had let on. Despite her maturity, she was still just a grub, and while Heimich did not have much experience in child rearing, even he knew that it was simply not good for a child's wellbeing to see their caretaker in such a dire way.

Unfortunately he had no idea how to go about helping her. He couldn't ask one of his relatives at risk of one of them reporting her to the kingdom. Heimich didn't much feel like talking to them anyway.

Asking Ythe directly was the best he could think to do at this time, but he didn't want to press her about it. Normally he would confide in Kaman about these sorts of things, but they too were childless.

If only there was... Ah, but perhaps there was! Heimich resolved to browse for scrolls on childcare at the next places they visited. It was such a good idea, the fact that he hadn't thought of it sooner left him nonplussed.

Regardless, they'd arrived at their next stop. Heimich had decided that they should stop for lunch at a restaurant he was quite fond of. It was near to a local park that overlooked part of the city's waterways. Ever since he was a grub he'd adored sitting on the ledge just above the water and watching the diving beetles and nymphs dart around beneath the water's surface.

The place was busy as always, even with so many taken off the streets by the infection. Heimich got in line and chatted idly at Ythe about the behavioral habits of squibs and their fascinating way of hunting by using their sharp proboscis as spears to impale their prey.

He'd only thought to explain the menu to Ythe once they were second in line. She'd decided to try the meal Heimich usually got, so he ordered two of that, plus an order of Riebel's favorite.

After he'd gotten their food and paid, Heimich led Ythe to the nearby park to eat. Ythe was excited to take her meal and head straight for the ledge overlooking the waterway. A warm feeling swelled in Heimich's chest.

He strolled over to where she'd sat down and lowered himself beside her, handing her food over. The feeling of watching a child's awe and wonder of the natural world blossom was like nothing else.

He'd never intended on having children of his own, and in truth, had never held much interest in the pursuit of romance, but he felt a great protectiveness and care for Ythe. The thought of any harm coming to her left him quite troubled.

Yes, if any harm might befall her, he would see to it that any and all in his presence would meet a quick and violent end. Not to mention a very stern talking to.

Ythe pulled him from his thoughts with a tap on the shoulder to ask about the large water beetles hunting in the water below them. She accurately remembered them from the scrolls he'd lent her, and tentatively listed some facts about them.

She seemed unsure, signing slowly and second guessing frequently. She'd gotten everything right on the first try, so Heimich reassured her and gave her much praise.

The look she'd give him, face turned attentively toward him and slightly titled to the side as she kicked her feet had redoubled the warmth in his chest. How lucky was he to meet such a bright and intelligent soul, even more so for her to be such a promising protege. He couldn't help but start rambling about the predacious beetles, relaying every fact, observation, and anecdote he knew about them.

In a pleasant change of pace, his audience was enraptured by his lecture rather than politely but bewilderingly staring off into space.

Ythe ate her meal slowly as she listened, tearing off small bites for her peculiar tentacle-like structures that seemed to appear from thin air to envelope and pull into her body. Heimich did much the same, tossing bites into his mouth every once in a while we he caught his breath. At one point he dropped a piece of his lunch in the water to illustrate the vicious raptorial foremost legs of the water beetles.

Luckily the park was empty that day, and a fence thickly overgrown by plant-life obscured the two of them from the sight of anyone walking by. There was no risk of anyone seeing Ythe's unusual anatomy in action.

After they'd finished eating, Heimich had gotten up to lay against a nearby rock to let his lunch digest. Ythe had elected to lay sprawled in the soft grass nearby.

If Ythe had to stand around awkwardly as yet another adult treated her like a baby she was going to scream. But she couldn't even do that!

Thanks Pale Piece-of-Crap, you're definitely winning the world's worst father award. All year every year for one-thousand years.

...Jail. Jail for Pale-Prick for one thousand years. Heheh.

After they finished lunch, they had tried to cross names off the list as quick as they could. At a certain point, Heimich had dropped small talk altogether and gave each shopkeeper the same short introduction and description of what they were looking for.

One by one, the list grew shorter as the day crept on and still nothing to show for an entire day of walking. Maybe Ythe was just feeling impatient, but the days in Hallownest felt way longer than they should've.

It wasn't like she got physically tired or anything, but it was still frustrating and she was starting to feel mentally exhausted. By now Ythe had completely spaced out, lost in her own thoughts as she trudged along with Heimich from shop to shop.

From what she'd learned from listening to the conversations, magic was actually a pretty rare practice which required a lot of skill and dedication to get good at. The biggest center for magical practice and education had been the Soul Sanctum until its destruction at the hands of her incredibly cool and powerful sister.

Even some of the shopkeepers they'd visited had mentioned Wasp. They all had something to say about the apparent queen of Deepnest. Some were less than flattering and made Ythe mad, but all of them painted her as an incredibly mysterious and talented warrior-mage.

Ythe learned that Wasp used a club to fight. One that could fly as if of its own will, impact things with impossible force, and create bolts of crackling lightning that could atomize any bug in an instant.

Many of the shopkeepers, being associated to magic themselves in one way or another, had commented on the strange and powerful spells Wasp used. They described her calling out incantations and power words that were utterly foreign to any mage or text. But most interesting of all, there were rumors that she'd created the spells all by herself.

I bet she could help us! If we can find her. Who knows how far Deepnest is from the city though. Maybe Heimich does. But if not I guess we'll ask for directions.

It's weird how different Wasp is from the game. If she just switched places with Ghost, shouldn't things be basically the same? Like what's with her being this super powerful mage? Sure Ghost learns some spells but they never destroy the Soul Sanctum or attack the palace...

Maybe it had something to do with growing up in Deepnest? Maybe the spiders were super advanced with their magic before they dipped from Hallownest. Even then... something about her feels kind of- Ack!

Ythe stumbled back a step from where she'd ran into Heimich. He'd stopped completely and was looking a ways down the road at something. He whispered an apology and told her to stay behind him.

What was going on? Ythe peeked out from behind Heimich and froze. Coming down the street right in their direction was squad of city guards. One of the giant shield-bearing ones, two of the smaller nail wielders, and three of the flying ones.

Crap. Have they seen us yet? It looks like they're patrolling for something, or some one .

Heimich placed a hand on her shoulder and Ythe looked up.

"It's all right my dear. They won't notice us, let's just go by quickly." Heimich said in a quiet voice. He didn't sound entirely confident. Still, Ythe followed close behind as they walked down the street, Heimich doing his best to keep his body in between her and the guards.

The group didn't seem to pay them any mind as they passed, and Ythe was ready to breathe a sigh of relief when someone called out.

"You there, please halt."

Heimich picked up the pace a little. Ythe couldn't help but do the same.

"Hey! I said halt!" the raspy voice called out again as a pair of wings beating came up behind them. Heimich took a breath and stopped to face the winged guard. His squad were close behind, with the large shield bug staying a ways behind.

"Is- Is something the matter?" Heimich said, doing his best to hide the nervousness

in his voice.

The flying guard landed and stepped to the side for one of the three nail-wielders. The guard, who seemed to be in charge, eyed the two up and down. His voice was much deeper and more gruff than the flying one.

"We're searching for a highly dangerous criminal. Your small friend seems to match their description."

The guards had surrounded them now.

Heimich hesitated for a second before saying, "O-oh dear, you must have us confused. This is my granddaughter, Vela. She's recently been placed in my custody after her parents were taken by the infection. It's been very rough on her and we were just heading home."

The guards mumbled to each other. One of them pulled a scroll from their side and passed it to the leader. He examined it for a moment before responding.

"Hmm, well, you should come with us so that we can ask a few more questions."

Ythe tensed. The guards were closing in on them ever so subtly. Her gaze darted around, searching for anything she could use. She tried to keep herself from turning her whole head so the guards wouldn't catch on that she was planning something.

They were surrounded on all sides, including from above. She didn't have her shell and they were in a part of the city she didn't recognize. Even if she could make a break for it, she'd be leaving Heimich behind. His portly figure made him a bit awkward and slow, and there was no chance he'd be able to get past the guards without them grabbing him or worse.

The air was still, like the world was holding its breath. Heimich took Ythe by the shoulder again and pulled her closer.

"Of course. We'll be more than happy to aid his grace in the matter." Heimich said, voice flat.

In less than a split second, Ythe was pulling dragged violently to the side. Heimich had picked her up like a football and was bulldozing straight for one of the guards.

"Go! Run, my dear!" Heimich yelled.

Ythe was shaken as Heimich collided with the guard, and then she was in the air. She tumbled for a moment before crashing on the hard stones, just barely catching herself from falling flat on her face.

She didn't want to leave Heimich alone but instinct took over and she bolted. She had no idea where she was going, but with the guards hot on her trail she couldn't be bothered to care. She could hear Heimich struggling against the guards behind her, making her chest tighten with guilt.

Ythe tore down the street, her cloak whipping behind her as she pumped her arms and legs as fast as she could. Footfalls echoed off the walls surrounding of buildings, the clicking of tiny claws drowned out by heavy footfalls and the deep buzz of wings. She scanned her surroundings frantically. There was an alley a ways ahead of her on her right. Eyes locked on, she barreled towards it.

By the time the flying guards had caught up to her she was already skidding around the corner, claws scraping the paving stones like nails on a chalkboard.

The wingbeats gradually faded as the alley was too narrow for the flying guards to follow. Not long after though the sounds of armored footfalls reverberated through the narrow street as the guards chasing on foot caught up.

Ythe soon burst out onto another street, startling the few bugs who were milling about. She paid them no mind as she took a hard left and kept sprinting just as the wingbeats started to close in again.

A hand closed around Ythe's shoulder, yanking her to a halt. She tumbled out of the grasp for a moment, momentum carrying her forward, but the hands quickly got hold of her once more and her feet were lifted from the ground.

Thrashing as hard she could, she whirled around in her captor's grasp and used all four arms to strike and scratch everything in reach. This took the flying guard by surprise, and they staggered in the air before finally losing their balance and crashing to the ground, sending Ythe tumbling away.

By sheer luck she managed to right herself with the momentum and took off sprinting again, this time sticking as close as she could to the sides of buildings and overhead platforms.

Ythe sprinted down street after street, taking as many twists and turns as she could and taking advantage of her small stature whenever possible.

It felt like her mind running at superspeed, taking in every little detail. A bug pushing a cart of some produce was blocking her way as it slowly rolled across the street. Going around would cost her precious seconds, so she opted to leap as high as she could and barely cleared the top of the pile of greens.

As her claws hit the ground she heard a crash behind her, followed by wails of despair from the seller. Ythe cringed a little but couldn't dwell on it.

The guards had cut her off somehow. The big shield bearer and the one in charge blocked the end of the street. Ythe frantically looked for an alley she could duck into but found none. With the other groundborne guards behind her, she had nowhere left to go.

Ythe slowed just a little as time ran out. She barely thought about what she was doing, charging straight at the guards blocking the street, carefully watching them prepare to strike.

At the very last second she turned on a dime, making her lose her balance and slide past the big guard's nail as it hit the stone pavers heavily. She had no time to think as the head guard lunged at her.

Ythe scrambled on hands and knees between the big guard's legs, giving herself just enough time to stumble to her feet and keep on sprinting past them. The lead guard shouted something but she was too hyped on adrenaline to pay attention.

She sprinted as fast as she could, trying to take as convoluted a path as she could now in hopes of losing them for good. Just as she started to feel like she'd shaken them off her trail, Ythe ran into a huge problem.

She'd accidentally ran right into a dead end street. The buildings closed her in on all sides, stretching up to the roof of the cavern. She was forced to turn around but just as she made it to the mouth of the street the colossal figure of the big guard stomped into her way. He held his shield in front of him to block her from pulling the same trick again.

Ythe skidded to a halt barely inches from the enormous shield. The big guard's defense partially working in her favor as it stopped him from immediately grabbing for her. She managed to scramble back in the direction she'd come, slamming hands first painfully into the wall of the building opposite.

Glancing behind her, she saw the big guard letting the nail and flying guards past before returning to blocking the street.

Ythe frantically clawed at the stone in front of her, clumsily scaling the building as fast as she could. She didn't get far though as she was harshly ripped from the wall by one of the fliers, sending hot pain through her fingers.

Once again she thrashed as hard as she could, and while the guard was careful to keep her at arms length, eventually she managed to strike one of their wings, giving her just enough opportunity to wriggle free as the guard tried to right themself in the air.

Before she'd even had time to register the sensation of falling, Ythe landed hard on the ground below. It disoriented her for a moment, but her adrenaline got her back on her feet quickly.

Running out of options, she grabbed the nearest object. A twisted piece of metal pole barely longer than her arm. Most of her wild swings missed by a mile, and those that did come close were expertly deflected by the trained warriors.

Ythe was quickly overwhelmed and subdued. As soon as the guards were on her they produced some kind of silk rope and bound all of her hands together behind her back.

And just like that it was over. Ythe gasped for air through her sides, even though she technically didn't need to do so. Doing her best to wriggle free, she was barely processing her surrounding as she was carried away by the guards.

Eventually they turned a corner and came up to another group of guards. Ythe's struggles became renewed as she saw Heimich similarly tied up. As soon as his eyes fell on her he tried to wrestle away from the guards holding him by the shoulders.

"Ythe! Ythe dear are you alright! If you've hurt her I'll have very strong words for y- urk!"

Heimich was cut off as one of the guards kneed him in the stomach, making the crack in his shell grind painfully. Ythe shook her head at him desperately.

He reluctantly gave up struggling, though Ythe could still see a fire burning hot in his eyes. He allowed the guards to haul him to his feet as they talked to the group Ythe was being held by.

The next few hours were a blur. Ythe was in a daze from mental exhaustion, stress, and the wild flurry of emotions battering her like a hurricane. She felt so stupid for being careless, angry at herself for doing this to Heimich, scared of what would happen to her, warmed by how much Heimich cared about her, guilty that it had led to this.

At some point they'd left some of the guards behind to get onboard a stag. Ythe briefly considered making an attempt to escape. They were right there in the station, only a short way from the path that led to the Tower of Love's stairs. But Heimich was in no condition to fight and they'd be leading the guards right to Riebel. So Ythe stared numbly at the ground as she and Heimich were loaded onto a stag and taken down the dark tunnels.

The White Palace was more imposing than Ythe could have ever imagined, even in its partially ruined state. She hadn't been able to really appreciate the sheer scale of the building when she'd fled past it. Now that she was being ushered in its main gate though, it felt like a great white beast ready to swallow her up forever.

The damage on the inside was somehow worse than it seemed from the front, and they were forced to take a long and winding path to avoid areas under construction as they ascended the great structure.

Eventually they were escorted into a massive hall, the city guards at some point replaced by Kingsmoulds. The room was dominated by a massive table made of a gleaming white stone. All around it were grand chairs, though none as tall and impressive as the one sat at the head of the table.

To its immediate right was one of the few chairs with an occupant. Dark eyes glared at the group like black orbs of malice. They were set in a pristine white face atop which were two familiar silver-banded horns.

"So... The escaped vessel finally caught. It was merely a matter of time of course. This defective creature could never outrun his Grace's light for long," The Pale Emissary said, voice dripping with smugness and disdain.

"We'll see to it that it is dealt with in short order, along with this traitor. Take them away."

Chapter Text

The Emissary was somehow even more of a stuck up shithead than he'd seemed the first time Ythe had encountered him. He had this way of speaking like he was both better than you but also oh so very humble that reminded her a lot of her father.

How did the saying go? The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Ythe had expected him to be the evil monologuing type, but he'd wasted no time with that and just interrogated them if they knew anything about Wasp or Deepnest. Heimich had denied knowing anything and Ythe for her part stayed silent. The vessels had been made with no ability to speak in mind, so she hoped the Emissary wouldn't think twice about it. Still though, there was no way she was going to rat on Wasp. She was technically her sister and honestly, Ythe was kind of afraid of what a super-powerful mage might do to her if she pissed her off.

One of the other bugs in the room who the Emissary called the High General suggested torturing them to get the information they wanted. Another said they should call on one of the kingdom's most powerful mages to extract it through magical means. The Emissary discussed with the other council members for a bit before simply sending Ythe and Heimich to be held.

For some reason he wanted to personally escort Ythe to her cell, which made her mind race with ideas of what kinds of horrible torments he might be planning. The trip was long and winding, though Ythe was barely paying attention.

The room she was brought to wasn't the dungeon she expected, rather it seemed to be some kind of storage room that had been hastily repurposed. Though even that was being generous. Large chests and other items filled the room and it seemed like they hadn't even bothered pushing them against a wall given the thick layer of dust covering everything.

Ythe's hands were cut free by one of the Kingsmoulds before she was shoved into the dimly lit room.

The Emissary took a step forward and cleared his throat, taking care to lift the edges of his pristine white robe off of dirty floor. He eyed her up and down a moment before stating, "Your escape was a great upset to this kingdom's order."

Good.

Ythe refused to dignify him with a response or even look him in the eye. She just knew he would turn her broken High Palean and Signed Speak against her. The Pale Emissary scoffed in disdain.

"Even in spite of your violent and demented behavior, you failed vessels were made to possess some level of intelligence. Do you understand me?" the Emissary asked.

Ythe continued glaring at the wall, not moving a muscle.

Oh my gods I hate him so much. I might hate him even more than the Pale Prick.

"If you'll get over this childish behavior perhaps we can have a meaningful discussion," The Emissary said, voice dripping with condescension and righteous irritation.

Ythe still refused to look him in the eye. The Emissary sighed with annoyance as if she was in the wrong here somehow.

"I have other matters to attend to. Guards, with me."

With that the next best contender for the world's biggest prick turned and strode out the door, the Kingsmoulds following right behind. The door was shut and a heavy clunk told Ythe she was locked in. She stood frozen in place for a long time, struggling to process everything that had happened in just the past hour or so.

Eventually Ythe's fear and anger, with nowhere to go, created a buildup of nervous energy in her little body that forced her to pace about the dim and dirty room.

Raspy hissing filled the space. She wanted to scream, but it was all she could manage so she hissed and seethed as hard as she could. She wanted the world to know how mad she was but the sound barely carried. It wasn't enough.

She picked up a nearby trinket and threw it at the wall opposite her. It bounced off with a loud "CLACK". She stepped to the side to avoid being hit by it as it tumbled back at her. She followed it to pick it up again for another throw and found something better instead: A hammer made of tarnished gray metal that felt nice and heavy in her hand.

Searching for the nearest thing to destroy, Ythe grabbed another one of those trinkets from the floor. On closer inspection it was one of those Pale King idols that you could find scattered around the game. They were pretty valuable, right? She placed it on the floor, sitting criss-cross in front of it.

She hesitated for a moment at the thought of destroying it. Then she brought her hammer down hard on the stupid pointy worm, her anger rekindled now that it had somewhere to go.

Her unchecked rage set loose feelings she'd been repressing until now. It had become too much to bear and she'd finally been pushed to her tipping point.

All of her newfound grief and anger for her countless siblings, all of the regret and guilt for getting Heimich involved in this, all of her feelings of stupidity for being so uncautious, even her long ignored grief over her own death. It all boiled to the surface like lava, bubbling and burning everything it touched.

Her first strike only glanced the idol, making it go skittering across the grimy stone floor. She leaned over and grabbed grabbed it, briefly examining the tiny dent she'd put in it. The newly uncovered surface was just a regular metallic gray. Not the near-glowing white she'd been expecting based on the idol's surface.

Of course he's a cheapskate. Why not!? No cost too great my ass!

She set the idol back down, aiming her next hit. THUNK! A perfect strike, and the idol crumpled. She hit it a few more times for good measure until it was nothing more than a mangled puck. She tossed it aside and looked up.

The idol had been sitting next to a chest, which she now scooched over to to inspect. The lid had a carving depicting the Pale King's visage on the front, leading her to believe there were more idols inside. She tried to pull the lid open, but it was locked somehow.

She got onto her knees and backed up slightly to give herself room. CLANG! She brought the hammer down weakly for fear of it rebounding into her face. There was a minor scuff on the lid. With more confidence she brought the hammer down on it again. CLANG! Louder this time, and with more progress to boot. The lid caved a little under the blow, wrenching the edges out of shape a little. She swung wildly at it, though mostly aiming her blows at the barely recognizable carving on the front.

One more blow and the lid swung open, surprising Ythe. The lock had broken. The warping in the hinges prevented it from opening all the way, so she used the hammer to smash those as well, revealing a whole trove of those ugly idols. She pulled one out and slid back again to make room between herself and the chest to set it on the floor.

THUNK! The idol's face, at least she assumed it was meant to be a face, flattened. She brought it back and THUNK! Put it back and THUNK! She tossed the ruined puck with the other one, pulling a fresh idol from the chest and starting over.

I wish this was his actual stupid face, she thought darkly to herself.

THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! Tunk...

Ythe let the hammer drop to the floor. Her arm went slack, resting heavily on her lap. All of the seemingly infinite anger she'd been holding on to had slipped away, stealing her energy as it went. Melancholy set in. She sighed through her spiracles, the sound hoarse. Raging wasn't getting her anywhere, just sending her spiraling like she always did.

Before... She couldn't even bear to think about that right now. She'd been making good progress on breaking her habit of spiraling when things got bad. Even in spite of her cruddy living situation she'd managed to find a tolerable groove to run in.

Now though it felt like all that hard work for emotional growth had been undone, thrown in a paper shredder and burned.

Ythe took a shaky breath. She still knew to work on it. She still was aware it was a problem she had. Even if she had regressed, she could always work back toward it again. She'd caught herself before she slipped into the depressive part of the spiral. She knew to keep her head above water she needed to get up and do something instead of wallowing.

Ythe got to her feet and began looking for anything that could help her escape. On closer inspection there actually wasn't much in the dingy room. Some more chests, this time full of geo.

Go figure.

She cracked open a few more. White robes, even more geo, and an assortment of useless junk. She hit the hinge of the nearest chest in frustration, cracking it and leaving the lid hanging off lopsided.

An idea sparked in her mind. She cracked the other hinge and passed her hammer into one of her lower hands. The lid itself was in good condition, retaining its curved shape. Ythe lifted it up off the floor, taking note of how heavy it was. It wasn't awful, given its size and thickness, but it would slow her down a bit. The benefits would outweigh the drawbacks though. The chests weren't very resistant to bludgeoning, but lucky for her, most if not all the Kingsmoulds carried slicing weapons. Even the high general wielded a spear from what she could tell.

She grabbed an idol from the chest near the door and, using the floor as an anvil, flattened part of the top. She kept hammering it until the metal was thin enough to be sharp.

She also took the opportunity to do the same to the edges of the lid she'd broken off. It wasn't as good as her shadow creeper shell, but it would have to do.

She moved on to making the harness to hold it on her back by cutting the white robes into stripes which she then tied together. As a last-minute addition, she made sure to make one of the knots easily undone. She could hold it with one hand to keep it secure and simply yank one of the loose ends to drop the lid entirely if she needed to.

Satisfied with her work, and mentally exhausted from her rampage, she did her best to hide what she could and sat down near the door. If anyone came to check on her, they'd hopefully not think she'd been up to anything and leave her alone.

"-mand you to rise immediately!"

The voice sliced through her dreamless sleep like an irritating knife. Ythe jolted awake and stared at the group in front of her, vision taking a moment to focus. She felt groggy, as if she'd been asleep for hardly more than a few minutes.

The Pale Emissary stood in the door flanked by two Kingsmoulds. Barely visible past the edges of the doorway she could see the backs of even more of the constructs. It took her a long moment to fully come to and process the scene in front of her, though she was rudely interrupted by the Pale Emissary's repeated demand.

Her knee jerk reaction was to stay where she was on the floor out of spite, but she rationalized that it would probably be in her best interest to comply just a little.

"Finally. Your impotence seems a common defect of your kind." The Pale Emissary said, sounding offended.

Ythe stood in front of the Emissary, tiny, clenched hands hidden in her robe. Studying the wall to her right, she tried to push down the deer-in-the-headlights feeling reverberating in her chest and replace it with anger.

The Emissary's voice took on a chiding tone.

"Everyone heard your little tantrum. It is incredibly rude of you to be making such noise and disturbing those above you. What were you doing in here?"

The Emissary's eyes were narrowed, scanning the room.

Panic won out and she was lucky in that moment that bugs couldn't sweat. Ythe had done her best to hide every bit of evidence that she could, placing lids back on destroyed chests and doing her best to hide the obviously mangled ones by pushing them to the back and hiding them behind undamaged ones. Every flattened idol and the hammer were tucked behind one such chest in the back, but now she was seriously regretting that decision. Nothing to point to what she'd been up to at all was more suspicious than if she'd left a few of the flattened idols and the hammer within sight.

Now she was at risk of being found out, and literally just as she'd actually gotten something productive done! If the Emissary saw what she'd been making he'd have the whole room stripped bare for sure.

Ythe waited for so many agonizing seconds she felt like she was going to burst into flame. She knew consciously her face could betray nothing, and her body was obscured by her cloak, but still some primal part of her mind had her holding her breath in anticipation.

The moment finally passed as the Emissary hummed to himself dismissively. His gaze locked back onto her and he continued.

"Refrain from such outbursts, or I should have to take what meager little light you are privileged with."

Was the room dark? Is seemed fine to her if a tad less bright than the hall outside. Now that she thought about it only one of the glass bulbs had been supplied with those little glowing insects, the one in the very back of the room near the corner.

Huh, I guess being in the void so long gave me nigh vision. Or maybe it's just a vessel thing? Hah, take it then, see if I care.

"I know that you can hear me, and I expect you to listen," The Emissary said coldly. The room fell back into smothering silence as he waited for her to turn her head. She refused to give him even the slightest bit of satisfaction.

Eventually the war of attrition was won, and Ythe relished in the irritated sigh the Emissary rewarded her with. He turned briskly and left the room, the door locking behind him.

After that time became a blur. At first Ythe wanted to go right back to hammering just to spite the Emissary but convinced herself not to. The less of his attention she drew the better. She wanted him to become complacent.

For a while Ythe simply rested, leaned up against a chest far from the door. Eventually her brain got its fill of sleep and refused her any more of the easy way to pass time.

She spent the next however long coming up with plans in her head, though she quickly got sick of it, and somewhat paranoid that the Kingsmoulds might tap into her brain and rat her out.

She tried to meditate, but couldn't keep her mind clear enough or her nerves calm enough long enough to really achieve anything.

The silence was nice for a while. She'd never really gotten to appreciate true quiet back then due to the constant whine of electronics or the bassy rush of hot air blowing through the heating vents. The only exception of course had been power outages, but with her family in the house even then it hadn't been truly quiet.

This was a whole new kind of silence. It was so quiet she could hear every slight movement that made her clothes rustle, and the faintest buzzing from the bugs in the glass orb high on the wall.

She found it pleasant for a while, but eventually anxiety crept up in her mind and it became unsettling. Every little noise she couldn't immediately identify made her jumpy, every unseen nook a place for some creature to be hiding. She'd always had a massive love of all things scary, and right now all the possibilities horror media had put in her mind came bubbling up.

She did what she usually did and tried to pretend like she was just as off putting to the hypothetical creatures as they were to her, if not more so. Her blank, hollow face made her act feel extra convincing to herself, but even still it wasn't enough to fully ward off the eerie feeling.

Maybe her brain was subconsciously picking up on the fact that she wasn't breathing and freaking out because of its vestigial survival instincts? Ythe tried taking some deep breaths, but the noise only seemed to make her more on edge once she realized how much it overwhelmed everything else she could hear.

Giving up, she gradually let the thoughts slip from her mind and relaxed enough to slip into a light nap.

More quiet, more restless pacing. She had no idea how long it had been. There was no sun to indicate the passing of the days so unless she started counting, there was no way to tell. She was pretty sure this was a war crime, but obviously Hallownest wouldn't follow the same laws. The U.S. prison complex didn't either, really, so she wasn't sure what she expected.

Gradually the silence went from peaceful to maddening and, anxieties now fully forgotten, Ythe started practicing noise making with her spiracles just to fill the space.

It was a slow process but no only did she get to know her body better, but she even managed to teach herself how to produce hisses and squeaks that nearly almost kinda sounded like words!

...Maybe she was stretching a bit.

Sighing she slumped in her makeshift seat -a collection of royal robes folded up and stacked to make a rudimentary cushion- and sighed long and loud, just to hear the sound.

At one point, she was woken by the sound of the door. She startled, expecting the Emissary, but found that it was still locked shut. On the floor just beyond the threshold was a small plate of food. It perplexed her. Maybe they didn't know that the vessels could go without food?

But they'd had the Knight here for however long it took to make them into the Hollow Knight. Did the transformation give them a mouth maybe? That would go against the whole 'no voice to cry suffering' thing though. Plus they would have been trying to feed the Knight before they'd fully grown, right?

Ythe picked up the plate and carried it back to her cushion, studying it as she puzzled over why she was given it.

What if it was poisoned? But why would someone want her... okay, stupid question. But what good would poisoning her actually do? Wouldn't the Pale Prick want to make some big show of it?

...Yeah, no, the other vessels were pretty strong evidence against that idea. Then again, the Pale King was presumably still being kept prisoner in Deepnest. Maybe it was drugged to knock her out so she could be traded for him?!

Ythe ran over every possible idea she could think of, stacking points against each other. She set the dish far away from her, deciding it was better safe than sorry, but temptation slowly crept its tendrils around her will.

Eventually she caved and snatched up the smallest, least poison-able seeming thing -a small blue transparent fruit- and cautiously ate it. It was quite sweet, and had a nice crispness to it like a pomegranate seed, though, not able to really chew she only got the idea that it was crisp.

She waited a long time after that, periodically checking herself to see if anything felt off. What felt like hours, maybe days passed by and nothing seemed to happen.

In fact, the other food on the plate seemed to have started to go stale while she'd been waiting. It was the best measure of time she had so far, funnily enough.

Ythe considered having the rest before it went bad, but the thought struck her that if she had picked something difficult to poison, she may as well not have tested the food at all. She struck her face with her palm and pulled the plate into her lap.

It looked less appetizing than before, but she felt like she'd gone so long without food her standards were supremely lowered. It was totally irrational, since she didn't need it to begin with, but some part of her mind still demanded it anyway. In the very least, it would help her mental state to have a full belly, so she carefully chose the item that looked like the most likely candidate for being laced and carefully tore a piece off.

It was a sandwich made of that smoky flavored bread with only some kind of meat slices and what smelled like rancid egg yolk drizzled on top, giving it a strong pickled odor.

She assimilated the little piece with her void tendrils and set the plate aside to wait some more. The smokiness of the bread tasted okay with the rather plain meat, and the pickled egg flavor was an interesting addition to say the least.

To her, it tasted like the best thing she'd ever had. It was most certainly not, just her hungry mind speaking.

Agonizing hours went by as Ythe side eyed the plate. Nothing seemed to happen still and every second that passed felt like it would be the moment the food would turn inedible.

Surely it's fine, right? Who knows maybe it was poisoned and my void.. blood? Just neutralized it. I feel like I'm going to go insane if I just let that food rot right in front of me.

Ythe went back and forth with herself for at least an hour, maybe more.

Aaaagh, screw it, I'll just- I'll stop if I start to feel sick. Yeah.

Ythe snatched the plate up and dug into the stale meal, relishing the taste and feeling. Sooner than she would have liked it was all gone, but she was left feeling a bit better and refreshed.

Even if she didn't need to eat, food still gave her a boost of energy that was much appreciated.

Boredom eventually set back in and Ythe did her best to find more ways to pass time. Somehow her train of thought ended up at trying to come up with an insulting nickname to call the Emissary.

Something about his banded horns uhm... Crab claws... banded... Nah. Bargain Bin ZigZag? Mmmmm... Too long, and he's not nearly charismatic enough. Uhhhhhhhhh

Ythe racked her brain.

First Lady-bug? Eheheh, that's good. Mm but no one would get it. Oh maybe like uhh, Discount Pale Lady? Meh.

I feel like a had a good one but I can't remember what it was...

Ythe stared hard at the far wall as if it held any clues.

Uhhhh...

She blew air out of her spiracles.

Shitty Jafar? That one doesn't even make sense. He does seem like the 'secretly evil royal advisor who wants to steal the throne' type but he's still kissing the Pale King's feet even though he's not around. Hmm...

Ythe sighed out loud. She really sucked with names.

Her mind was starting to feel tired again, so she got comfortable on her cushion and let sleep take her once more. Her schedule was probably in total shambles by now but she couldn't be bothered to care under the circumstances.

Ythe woke with a stretch, inhaling deeply. She felt utterly creeped out and shaken but couldn't place why. Another dream? No matter how hard she wracked her brain she couldn't recall a thing. Only empty, silent sleep and a feeling of worry that made her stomach churn. If she had a stomach.

She wasn't given much time to think on it though as the silence was broken by the sound of approaching footsteps. Ythe froze, then shot to her feet, grabbing up the stack of folded robes and flinging them behind the chests. Her short arms meant her throw came up pathetically short, most of the robes landing on top of the assorted chests. Frustrated and panicking, Ythe rushed over and hastily shoved them in behind the chests.

She froze again, the door had been unlocked. One last desperate shove and she whipped around to face the door, doing her best to look innocent. Luckily that was fairly easy for her given her expressionless face.

The door swung open, accosting her eyes with bright light from the hallway. Ythe squinted until her eyes adjusted.

The Emissary strode in with his usual air of importance, flanked by two Kingsmoulds. He stopped in the doorway, silhouetted by the light from the hall. As he scanned the room Ythe thought she saw his eye twitch at one point, making her tense up. She hated when someone did this sort of thing to her: not immediately letting her know if she fucked up so she was forced to just wait anxiously until they started yelling.

"I appreciate you rising to address me." The Emissary's voice indicated that he was not in fact appreciative, but that he felt he'd been given something he was owed.

"I have much to discuss with you, defective vessel. The Pale Council, of unanimous vote, hath decided that for your treason against the Kingdom of Hallownest, you are to be put to death. Both you, and your... accomplice."

Ythe's heart sank.

"Indeed, he is to be executed this coming month. You however, possess a great deal of leverage in this situation. You have something to offer me," The Emissary said, voice neutral.

Ythe felt like she was burning up. Her mind was racing, hands shaking.

"A half dozen months ago, our grace, the Pale King, fought valiantly against a direct attack by Deepnest, which was led by the defective vessel that calls itself Wasp. His Light surrendered himself to the den of beasts such that further destruction would not be wrought upon the palace and innocent within."

Ythe mentally gritted her teeth.

"This was to be a move towards negotiations, which indeed were opened soon after. Herrah, queen of Deepnest, did not participate. It seems the broken vessel has done something terrible to claim power. I digress, as what is important is that negotiations went... poorly. A treaty was struck between us and Deepnest, but we were refused the return of his grace, the Pale King," The Pale Emissary explained.

Ythe stared at the floor. She was going to be killed. She got Heimich killed.

"We have tried to reopen negotiations, but our pleas for reason have been ignored. Now we must resort to other measures. And that is where your bargaining chip lies. I could have the executions postponed indefinitely. Plenty of time for you to fulfill your end of the deal," The Emissary droned on.

Taking it was the only option. She had to. No matter what the cost was she couldn't let Heimich be killed. But could she? What if the demand was impossible for her? Fear gripped her chest tighter.

She had to try. In the very least she could bluff and buy herself enough time to figure something out, maybe even get help. Maybe Wasp would be able to storm the palace again and rescue Heimich. Ythe tore her eyes from the floor where she'd been staring while lost in thought.

Eyes locked with the Emissary's, Ythe nodded. His mandibles moved subtly in what felt to her like a self-satisfied smirk. It made her want to strangle him right then and there but even if he'd had a neck she could wrap her tiny fingers around, it wouldn't do any good with two Kingsmoulds ready to pull her off.

"I'm glad that you're willing to be reasonable. Now, what I ask of you is simple: Enter Deepnest's borders and ensure the return of his grace. Do so by any means. However."

The last word was sharp like the snap of a ruler against the palm of a hand.

"You shall not tell the broken vessel of anything. Should an assault be launched on the palace, Heimich will be executed effective immediate. There are guards on standby at all times to end his life at on command." The Emissary took a breath. "Nor will you attempt to sneak into his cell to free him. The entire palace has enchantments placed to detect even the faintest wisp of unsanctioned magic. Should any of these be set off, the guards will execute Heimich. If I or any of the Pale Council are to befall harm, the same shall happen," The Pale Emissary said, listing it off as it were just simple bureaucracy.

"Do you understand the terms laid before you?"

Ythe's blood, if she had any, was ice, her skin burning up with fever. She nodded, feeling numb. The bastard had everything figured out.

The Emissary's smirk grew bigger.

"Excellent. Arrangements will be made. Prepare yourself for the journey ahead. You will be escorted as close to Deepnest as is possible given the nature of this situation. You are granted one year to see this task fulfilled. If the Pale King has not been allowed to return to his rightful place by then consider our deal forfeit. Ah, and one more thing."

The Emissary turned and gestured for a Kingsmould in the hall to enter. In its pristine white claws was her old cloak. A second followed holding her shadow creeper shell.

Ythe didn't think it was possible to feel any worse than she did now. But here she was, raising the bar.

"I presume these are yours. As stated before you are to tell no one of anything. As far as your story goes, you escaped the Palace grounds and went directly to the den of beasts for refuge," The Emissary said. He gestured for the Kingsmoulds to go ahead, and they descended on Ythe, grabbing her and forcibly taking the robe Heimich had gifted her. She struggled and writhed as hard as she could, breathing fast and heavy through her sides. The constructs were too strong for her though and easily stripped her down.

Just as soon as they'd come down on her, the Kingsmoulds retreated out the door. Ythe was left curled up and shaking on the floor of her prison.

"Get ready. I'll return as soon as preparations are in order," The Emissary said flatly.

Ythe shivered there on the floor, but not from cold. Her arms wrapped tightly around her soft vulnerable body. Eventually the shakes went away some, and she pulled herself to her feet.

Creeping across the filthy floor, Ythe snatched up her ragged cloak and tied it on as quickly as she could, fumbling the many loose shreds and having to completely start over once. Once she was dressed again she sat down next to her shell, just trying to calm down at that point.

She was too shaken to even think, so she just curled up under her shell and waited. Sleep never came, and what felt like an eternity passed before she heard the footsteps returning.

Getting to her feet Ythe hauled the shell onto her back and tied the straps around herself. Her mind was a swirl of emotion. Most of all she felt drained and scared and frustrated. Not just her clothes had been stripped from her but everything she'd done it felt like. She felt like she might as well have just come out of the Abyss. All of it undone.

No, Heimich still needed her. Riebel too. She hoped they were okay. The Emissary hadn't mentioned them so she hoped with all her heart they'd hidden when the guards searched the Tower. She had to be strong for them both.

Steeling her nerves, Ythe faced the door, watching it swing open. The Emissary said nothing, simply gestured for her to follow. Ythe hesitated for half a second, then walked up to him, glaring invisible daggers right at his head.

The Emissary did that little movement of his mandibles again that she read as a smirk and turned to lead her out of her cell. He made her walk beside him, the two Kingsmoulds that were flanking him before now taking lead. She didn't turn to look, but she could here more following behind.

The sight of anything but the four dingy walls and chests of her prison felt completely alien to see. She'd nearly forgotten that there was an entire palace right above her the whole time.

Every hall seemed unfamiliar. She'd been dissociating whe they'd first dragged her to her cell, so she wasn't sure if it was a part of the palace she'd seen before or not. Worry crept up in her mind that they weren't letting her go like they'd said, but all Ythe could do was obediently follow where the Emissary led. Eventually they came out into a passage cut out of raw stone rather than the polished white of the palace.

The Emissary had not said a word the entire walk, which only served to heighten Ythe's anxiety. The tunnel curved back and forth, until it finally terminated at a sudden dead end.

The Kingsmoulds in lead walked up to the stone wall, then turned to stand at attention, facing each other from either side of the tunnel. The Emissary approached the wall and raised a hand. A white aura appeared around him for a moment before disappearing with a fwoosh. The wall seemed to suck up the white light, glowing symbol appearing all over its surface before it disappeared, leaving little motes of the white light that quickly faded away.

Ythe knew it wouldn't do much good, but she logged the information in her mind anyway.

Turning to look back at her, the Emissary gestured for her to follow. Reluctantly she stepped out of the tunnel after him and had to squint briefly at the brighter light in the room she'd entered. Behind her she heard the wall reappear, and when she turned to look saw that it blended in perfectly with the wall. There were a couple spools of silk leaned against it here and there, each taller than her horns included.

She was back in the White Palace's stag station. Waiting next to a stag was a tall white bug with a portly body and elegant pincer-like horns. He had some kind of loincloth or- oh, that's pubes. Ythe tried to avert her gaze as she was ushered forward by the Emissary.

I remember this dude, he's the poop guy. What's he called, Dung Defender? I think his name is like, Okrim? Ogrim?

Whatever his name was bowed as the Pale Emissary finally spoke. As soon as he opened his mouth Ythe missed not hearing his voice.

"Ogrim," the Emissary greeted, his tone slightly less condescending. "Defective vessel, you shall be escorted by the White Defender, one of the Pale King's five great knights. As discussed you will be brought as close to Deepnest's borders as is possible. From there it will fall upon you to make the rest of the trip alone."

Ogrim looked Ythe up and down, his face difficult to read.

"Greetings little one! Indeed I am to be you escort for the first leg of your trip. It is a pleasure to meet you," Ogrim said jovially. He gave a half bow to her, which she hesitantly reciprocated with a polite nod. The Emissary muttered something under his breath.

"Here." The Emissary pulled a scroll from his robes and held it out to her. "A map to guide you."

Ythe took it, passing it to a lower hand for safe keeping. The Emissary leaned in and quietly told her, "You got this from a kindly merchant on your travels. You'll be going through the Mantis Village. You won't have to worry about that barbaric tribe though, they've moved into the depths of the den of beasts. Remember that you are to speak none of this to anyone. You know what the consequences shall be. One year."

With that the Emissary turned and left the station, Kingsmoulds in tow. His tone had been shockingly... normal? Like he was actually treating her like a person. Probably just an act to look better in front of Ogrim. Whatever the case, she had no time to waste. Ythe turned back to the jolly knight and with a bit of help, got onto the back of the stag.

With a grunt, the huge beetle took off, making Ythe briefly get forced into the backrest of her seat. They were very comfortable, even with the carriage jostling to the rhythm of the stag's clawbeats.

After not so long, Ogrim piped up, having to raise his voice a little to be heard over the thunderous roar.

"A mission from the Pale Council themselves, how lucky! You must be excited!" Ogrim said cheerfully. Ythe wasn't sure how to respond, so she just glanced up at him to let him know she was listening. He seemed unbothered by it and continued speaking.

"Hm, perhaps nervous as well? Have no fear little one, I shall guard you with my life until our paths split! Hahaha!"

Ythe felt a little bitter. How could he be so upbeat about this? Everything felt surreal. Beyond the obvious of course. How had it ended up like this? Nothing about this was remotely canon to the game. She was swimming blind.

"You know, I've met a grub like yourself before."

Ogrim was watching the stone walls rush past, tapping his right claw on his knee. Ythe avoided looking at that area and instead opted to stare at the back of his head. After a long minute he turned to look back at her.

"Back then she looked a lot like yourself. Now, she is much larger, haha! She's grown to be a skilled and powerful warrior in such short time. Our encounters have been short and few, but she leaves quite the impression," Ogrim said, turning to watch the tunnel ahead.

He was quiet for a long time. His face was still hard to read, seeming to shift through many emotions. Human faces were already hard for Ythe to interpret, so bug faces were Greek to her. Though, she was better at it than she would have expected. Maybe she'd gained some level of intuition from her bug brain.

"I've been wondering..." Ogrim trailed off, voice disappearing under the roar of the tunnel. "Ah, well, I won't bore you with all that. Might I ask, little one, what is your name? The Pale Emissary seems to have er, forgotten to properly introduce you."

Ythe debated internally. Ogrim seemed nice enough, but outward appearances could be deceiving. For all she knew he was a total friendly pscho type, Mr. Takaoka style. She did want more info from him if she could get it though, so playing along for now seemed the best idea.

Ythe gingerly tapped Ogrim on the arm to get his attention, then signed out her name slowly. The bumpy ride made her hands shake around.

Ogrim tilted his head slightly and said, "Ah, could you run that by me again little one? My signed speak is rather rusty. My apologies.

Ythe held her hands up a bit higher and signed her name again. It was one of the first things Heimich had taught her. Thinking about it made her feel like there was a pit in her hypothetical stomach. If Heimich had never met her his life would be so much better off... He was so kind and thoughtful, he didn't deserve any of this.

"Yih-... Yeh-thuh? Eye'eth?" Ogrim tried. Ythe shook her head. "Let me know if I am getting closer. Eh'th? Yith?"

She nodded slightly, signing her name again.

"Eth? Ith?" Ogrim asked. Ythe nodded and pointed at him.

"Ith? Ythe. Ythe, I see. A most unique name! How interesting!" Ogrim exclaimed cheerfully. If he was pulling some kind of fake persona to make her let her guard down, it was working. Just a little bit.

Ogrim chatted at her for the rest of the ride, telling stories, cracking jokes, gushing about his fellow knights, etc. Ythe became so distracted by it that she didn't immediately realize when they arrived at the stag station. The sudden lurch forward startling her slightly before turning to confusion then realization.

It was the City of Tears station.

Chapter Text

Are you kidding me? The universe has to be taunting me, it must be. This is ridiculous.

Is this really the closest station to Deepnest? Curse you past me for putting off playing the game...

Ythe seethed quietly to herself as she and Ogrim walked out into the station proper. She wanted so badly to sprint into the abandoned platform and up the tower stairs but there were two city guards stood right outside the entrance to the platform. Even if she could get past them, what good would it do? She didn't have a lot in this world, and what wasn't currently on her back was in the clutches of the Emissary.

What if Riebel was still up there? The Emissary hadn't mentioned them at all during her imprisonment. The piece of shit wouldn't have passed up the opportunity to use them as leverage against her like he was with Heimich, so there was a good chance they hadn't been found.

They were passing right by the guarded platform and Ythe got an idea. She tried to connect with Riebel through the sorta-hivemind but no matter how far she stretched the bubble envisioned in her brain she found nothing. She hoped that she just didn't have the range, or that Riebel had escaped and fled somewhere safe.

Still, Ythe didn't stop trying until they had left the station entirely.

Ogrim was much quieter now that they were walking through the city streets than he'd been during the stag ride, content to softly hum a tune to himself. He would occasionally nod at the passerby in response to their stares. They were murmuring among themselves, some sounding excited, others reverent. Ythe wasn't sure if their attention was more directed at her, or Ogrim. Either way, the White Defender kept up a quick pace, forcing Ythe and her stubby legs to jog to keep up.

Ythe's mind wandered as she followed behind the Ogrim. What was she going to do when she gets to Deepnest? Just walk right up to Wasp and say 'hey I know the Pale King is a piece of shit but could you let him go pretty please? No reason just trust me bro.' ?

She'd probably have an easier time getting Wasp to help her out by just frickin telling her what's up. But no, the Emissary just had to have it so Ythe was forced to pretend that none of the past few months of her life had ever happened. That the guy that had been so kind and welcoming to her wasn't going to be fucking executed in a year if Ythe didn't somehow free the Pale Prick.

Ythe's hands started to shake and her chest clenched. Just the slightest bit of blurriness began to creep into the bottom of her vision.

How did any of it make sense? What good was holding someone's life hostage if you weren't going to use that against the person who has what you want? How was Ythe freeing the Pale Prick on her own supposed to be the better option? Maybe he knew that Wasp wouldn't be willing to let the Pale King go free even if someone’s life was on the line? But he'd made it seem like he'd been worried that she'd storm the palace if she found out.

Should she even trust that the Emissary hadn't been lying about being able to know if she told anyone? For all she knew it was just another layer to the manipulation. Even so, she couldn't take that chance.

He was probably using some kind of spell to make sure she didn't tell anyone anything he didn't want her to. Could he listen in on her conversations? Read her mind? Maybe it was some kind of subconscious trigger, like a sleeper agent. Like if she told anyone about it it would activate some kind of magical alert.

Aaaaaghhh! It was probably in the food! Gods damn it I knew I shouldn't have touched it. Why am I so stupid sometimes?!

Best case scenario she would have to somehow break into wherever the Pale Prick was being held when no one was looking and deal with the consequences later.

Ythe sighed internally.

I hate having to go in blind. If only I actually had inherited the foresight...

Ythe was pulled from her thoughts as she noticed she recognized where they were. Ogrim was bringing her through the courtyard where the Hollow Knight monument stood.

Lagging behind a bit, Ythe studied the statue again. Everything she knew about this world was thrown on its head, and it sucked. Maybe the universe thought it would be unfair for her to have insider (or would it be outsider?) knowledge. Or maybe it just thought it would be funny. Who knows.

Someone did know, unbeknownst to Ythe. Two someone’s, technically, but that was neither here nor nor there.

Ythe randomly shivered. She thought nothing of it.

Realizing she had fallen behind, Ythe quietly took a few jogging steps to catch up without Ogrim noticing. Just as she had, he stopped at the entrance to one of the buildings that surrounded the courtyard. He stopped for a moment to check that Ythe was with him, saying, "This way."

He held the door for her as she entered, following close behind. He led her through a long hall made of blue stone brickwork that felt like the inside of a medieval castle. About halfway through the passage they came to a giant grate in the ground and stopped. Ogrim turned to address her.

"Our path from here will be a bit unconventional. We will be traversing the city's waterways in order to reach the fungal wastes. I admit that it is not the most... appealing route, but the Pale Emissary has insisted on discretion," Ogrim said, swinging the massive and heavy grate open with ease. "Shall we be off then?" He asked cheerily.

Ythe nodded. Just as she was about to step up the hole, Ogrim picked her up and stepped off the edge with her in tow. She involuntarily squeaked in surprise, the sound echoing in the chambers below.

Ogrim made sure to soften the landing for her, dropping to his knees as his feet hit the floor below. He let Ythe drop back on the ground before standing, giving Ythe a moment to look around. It didn't seem so bad. They stood right in the middle of a stone bridge that led to hallways in either direction. Curtains of water fell from above on either side of them, making the air feel cool and humid.

Ogrim took a step toward the shorter hallway then hesitated. He crossed his arms over his broad chest and thought for a bit, tapping a claw to his chin.

"I do hope you wouldn't mind us taking a short detour. I want to give you something before you set out alone."

Ythe didn't protest. Ogrim knew the waterways better than she did so she was totally reliant on his guidance. Despite her reluctance, his friendliness had softened her up a bit. She tried to rationalize the nervousness away.

The Emissary's plan was reliant on her making it to Deepnest, so there was no way that Ogrim would hurt her or anything before she got there.

Even if the worst did happen, as unlikely as it was, she could just use her shadow creeper shell and flee. Ogrim didn't carry any weapon, seemingly preferring to use hand-to-hand combat, which would give Ythe a decent advantage. Something nagged at the back of her mind though. She didn't pay it attention.

The longer hallway led into a large cistern, which they stood at the top of. The both of them followed a narrow staircase to the bottom of the flooded chamber.

There they entered one of the huge pipes directing water into the cistern. Ogrim had to crouch to keep his horns from scraping the brick ceiling, but Ythe could stand up just find with plenty of headroom. The floor was slick with algae and the rushing water threatened to sweep Ythe off her feet many times though thankfully they made it to the end without her falling in.

The pipe led to another cistern, which led to another passage. Ogrim had been quiet the whole time.

Eventually they made it to the final turn, and Ogrim announced, "Here we are! We'll be here just a moment, do not worry."

Ythe was about to wonder what he meant when the smell hit her. On reflex she choked, her spiracles spasming. The smell remained just as strong though, utterly baffling Ythe.

If she'd known there'd be days like these her ass would have never left the void sea.

Slamming her spiracles shut as hard as she could, Ythe tried to squeeze every pint of air out of her chest. Her brain lit up alarm warnings saying 'No, you need air!!' which she violently repressed. It took a minute to fully shut her lizard brain up before she could continue.

Ogrim looked sheepish, rubbing the back of his head with his claw.

"I ah, oh dear. Wasp seemed unbothered by the smell when she was down here. I had assumed you would be the same," Ogrim said apologetically. "Just uh, wait here a moment while I fetch something."

Ythe was left alone in the stinking hallway. Even without breathing she could smell the reek of poop, and covering where her mouth out to be with her hands turned out to be a futile effort. She quickly retreated to the hall behind her, making extra sure she was out of stink range before she took forceful breaths to flush out any fetid air that might still be in her lungs. Granted, it hadn't actually been that bad. But the mere idea of breathing poop-air was enough to pay the balance where her literal sense of smell fell short.

I think I'm gonna throw up- Gods, how would that even work? I'm scared to find out. Don't think about it. Just don't think about it. Blerghhh.

Thankfully Ogrim returned shortly, getting confused when he had to backtrack a bit to find Ythe. She didn't even bother asking what he'd stopped to get that was worth the assault on her senses, just happy to quickly go back the way they'd come.

As they passed the water curtain bridge Ythe took the opportunity to clear her airways, the cool air helping to sooth her nausea.

The passages in this direction were thankfully less rank, only having a mild musty odor. Child's play compared to the Geneva Convention violation she'd be forced to experience.

Ogrim swiftly dispatched a weird kind of insect with floppy tendrils coming out of its back that Ythe had completely failed to notice approaching them before leading on. Ythe stared at its corpse as they passed, studying every detail. She had seen one in Heimich's research but hadn't gotten to those scrolls yet before they'd been taken. It made her chest ache but she pressed on.

The two of them stepped out of the cramped waterway tunnels and into a huge chamber. All around the room were multi-tiered rises like giant steps that wrapped all the way around the huge room. The bottom of the chamber was filled with water, all seeming to be pouring in from channels carved in repeating pattern all along the steps.

Ogrim shuddered at the sight. Ythe followed him as they went around the edge of the chamber, careful not to fall into the rushing current.

There was nothing of real note beyond that, just more hallways and tunnels, rushing water and the sound of little critters out of sight. In one section of tunnel though there was a grisly sight. Dried off-white paste absolutely covered one wall. The room reeked of insect death.

Ogrim noticed the gore splatter and said, "Wasp did that when she was a grub like you, if you could believe it." He laughed heartily, the sound reverberating through the humid tunnels. "Even when she was but a tiny grub she was a terrifyi- er, fierce warrior."

Ythe stared at the absolute carnage in front of her, mind trying to process how someone her size could even pull off that level of destruction.

"Are you coming, little one?" Ogrim asked, snapping her out of it. He was already on the other side of the room. Ythe sheepishly nodded and jogged to catch up. The tunnels led down into a room overgrown with bulbous, spotted fungus. High above their heads pufferfish-looking creatures floated.

Ogrim brought her to a large metal door and stopped. He pulled some unseen lever and stepped back as it rose out of the way, revealing a metal chute spacious enough to walk through and so long it was hard to see the other end. The walls were lined with some kind of symbol made of metal. They were perforated like a strainer, leading Ythe to believe they were some kind of needlessly decorative drain.

The White Defender got down on one knee to speak with Ythe eye to eye. A bit rude but she was in no position to complain.

He pulled something from his back and held it out, finally showing Ythe what it had been that they'd stopped for.

"It's not in the best shape, but it should serve you well. I would like to give you training in at least the basics... But I understand that you must go with haste. Wield it well, little one."

Ythe took the worn nail and examined it. It felt nice and sturdy, but not as heavy as she expected. The blade was cracked and chipped, but was otherwise in good condition.

Ythe couldn't help but fangirl over how cool it was to see one in person. After giving it a good look over she lifted it over her back. It slid perfectly into her shadow creeper shell and a few bounces confirmed it was secure. She did notice though that while her shell moved around her back like she'd expect, the nail stuck perfectly in place, not even so much as jostling around.

Huh, that's convenient.

Ythe bowed to Ogrim. He chuckled and waved a claw, saying, "Think nothing of it! It's the least I could do. I'm afraid this is where we part ways, Ythe. I wish you the best on your journey. I do hope we meet again soon. Perhaps say hello to Wasp for me if you see her!"

Ythe nodded in agreement. Ogrim got up and stepped to the side to let Ythe past. She was a bit hesitant, but took a deep breath and stepped into the chute. One last look back at the beetle showed he was watching her go from the mouth of the chute. He waved. Ythe waved back with both of her right arms. She giggled silently to herself when Ogrim's eyes widened.

Ythe took one last look before setting off down the chute. Her tiny footclaws clicked on the metal floor. It took her a few minutes to reach the end, and once she stepped out into the mushroom filled cave she was relieved by the relative quiet.

Two small pipes were sticking out of the wall above her, draining water into the untamed space. In the distance to her right she could make out the silhouette of similar runoffs.

From here she could either climb upward, or drop down into the tunnel below. Checking her map showed that the lower path just led into a small chamber. Something about it felt familiar though, so she dropped down from the ledge she was standing on and went to investigate.

It was just a small, round room like the map showed, with carved stone arches on the ceiling. In the middle of the room proudly stood a statue. It depicted a short and round bug with a long flowing cloak not unlike the natural cloaks of vessels standing atop a tall pedestal. This guy had a mouth though, so that cleared up any possibility of relation. The bug was standing in a triumphant pose, arm held high to point at... some random part of the ceiling. It took Ythe a moment to figure out where she'd seen this before but when she did she got giddy.

Oh fuck yes, Dashmaster time! I won't even need to use my nail if nothing can catch me, mwehehehe!

Taking a closer look at the base of the pedestal where the charm was held immediately flattened Ythe's excitement. It was gone.

Oh screw you, universe, are you kidding me?! You just had to get my hopes up.

Ythe fumed for a bit before sighing long and loud. No point in dwelling on it. She had places to be. Ythe climbed back out of the chamber and up through the above path.

It wasn't long before yet another issue presented itself.

Water? You're wrong, sulpheric acid!!!

Great. Before her was a deep pool full of boiling acid, the path she needed to take on the opposite side. How was she supposed to get past this without the mothwing cloak? Oh right. Come to think of it Dashmaster would be completely useless to her right now anyway.

She needed to figure out another way around. Eyeing the bulbous mushrooms growing all over the walls, Ythe began to hatch an idea. A really awful, terrifying idea. But it was all she had.

Ythe carefully climbed onto the mushroom jutting out of the wall nearest to her. It seemed to hold her weight, so she began crawling on all fours. It was agonizing slow, and it felt like every little shift or slip would send her tumbling into the pool. She could feel little drops of acid landing on her exposed skin like boiling oil bubbling from a frying pan. On the bright side, she didn't have any teeth to mess up by gritting them.

Finally, she reached the other side after so many long, tortuous minutes. Ythe grabbed the edge of the platform like it was the last lifesaver thrown from the deck of the sinking titanic and hauled herself onto it.

She didn't feel safe to lay down and rest until she was as far as she could get from the ledge. Luckily there was a room just beyond that had a bench waiting for her. Whoever decided to put it here was a saint.

Ythe collapsed onto the metal bench, finding it surprisingly comfortable. She let herself have a few minutes to regain her composure and stop the shaking in her limbs.

She briefly wondered if benches worked like they did in the game as well. She certainly felt refreshed just by resting on it for a bit.

Still though, ability to respawn or not, dying was a miserable fucking experience (she would know) and she would much rather avoid if it she could thank you very much. Plus, there was a non-zero chance that dying was permanent in this alternate version of Hallownest, and she did not like those odds.

She hopped down from the comfortable metal embrace and begrudgingly walked back out onto the outcrop of rock sitting above the pool of liquid agony and death.

This time she had to do vertical platforming over the acid, which made her want to give up right then and there, and curl up and die. In spite of how tempting it was to return to the bench, she steeled her nerves and just went for it before she could change her mind. It was only four jumps, but in the moment they felt like the most herculean task of her life. After it was over Ythe climbed to the next section of tunnel and felt her heart sink into her stomach. Another acid pit.

She inspected the pool further. At least this time there was a bit of solid rock surrounding the edge to stand on. She tiptoed out onto the outcrop and inched her way to the other side. The rocks felt loose under her feet, shifting slightly every time she took a step. She began to consider shuffling back to the ledge and trying to crawl across on all six like before but her thoughts were cut short.

She was falling right into the acid. The ground underneath her had come loose and small pebbles now slid her toward her untimely demise.

In the very last second she was able to dig her claws into the mushrooms in front of her, barely stopping herself from falling. She was in an awkward position now though and had to strain to pull herself back up. The ground gave as she pushed off it and her right foot slipped into the acid.

Immediately searing white hot pain shot through her leg, making her exhale in a hiss. Her leg jerked reflexively, making her slip a little further down. Adrenaline flooded her system. The only thing in existence right now was the ledge she was on, and the ledge she had to make it to.

The edges of her vision were fading into darkness, narrowing her field of view to just the wall in front of her. She could feel the acid eating away at the sensitive skin on her foot, stinging in the gap between claws and soft flesh. One inch further, two inches.

Three inches, four.

Every time she put her right foot down was fresh agony.

Five, six inches.

The rocks kept giving out under her, sending fresh waves of panic with every movement.

Seven, eight, nine inches.

She was breathing heavily, primal instincts taking full control. The acrid air rising from the pool made her chest burn.

Ten, eleven, a foot now.

Her muscles ached. She'd never had to climb in such an awkward position.

A foot and a half.

She couldn't do it. She couldn't do it. She couldn't-

Her right foot struck something, sending a jolt of electricity through it. Her gaze shot to her side. The next second felt like an eternity as she realized what she was looking at.

Ythe threw herself off the wall. Her body hit the solid, blessed ground hard. She clawed her way away from the edge before curling up in a ball, sobbing silently from the pain and terror.

She hadn't felt like this since she was very little. Her family had a small shed in their backyard meant for storing garden tools, hoses, etc. One time she'd decided explore the high shelf on the wall for some reason or another, having to climb onto the plywood counter to peek her face over the shelf.

She'd come face to face with a whole nest of yellow jackets and, being a very small child faced with a situation she never could have even conceived of, she'd gone catatonic, sobbing and screaming in terror until one of her parents had come to pull her down.

Through the agony Ythe couldn't help but feel just a little proud of herself for overcoming her freeze response.

She pushed herself shakily into a sitting position, crying out as her foot dragged against the rough ground. Tears clouded her vision, dripping down her face. They couldn't obscure the damage done to her foot though, and she had to rip her gaze away as soon as what she was looking at registered in her brain.

Steeling herself as best she could, Ythe tried to Focus. It took a while to block out the alarm bells her brain was screaming in her ears but eventually comforting warmth washed over her. The pain quickly faded but Ythe waited until she was entirely sure it was healed to look again.

Her foot looked as if it had never been burned in the first place. Probing it with her fingers though demonstrated that while the damage was gone, it still hurt.

Good to know... I need to be more careful, I almost died. I am never, NEVER doing that again.

After a long rest, Ythe was ready to keep going. Right in the middle of the area she stood in the ceiling fell away revealing a long tunnel that stretched high above her. The platforms jutting from the wall were far too high for her to jump too, which left her no other option than to climb. There was no point in wasting time, so she got right to it.

Thankfully the ground below her was solid, so the worst that could happen if she slipped was a rough landing. In the game Ghost was able to fall from basically any height without recourse. Likely because vessels were too small to actually hit a terminal velocity that would be fatal to them, like squirrels.

Scaling the lumpy fungal wall wasn't as bad as she thought it would be, aside from the ache in her right foot of course. Her sharp claws easily tore into the thick mushroom caps, acting as built in climbing picks. Having an extra set of arms proved to make things much easier as well, as she didn't have to worry about holding on with just one hand each time she took a step upward.

Finally she reached a ledge and clambered on to take a break. It was a big alcove in the wall with some huge mushrooms growing near the back wall. On closer inspection she noticed that they were weirdly stone-like, and had something shiny embedded in them.

Oh shit!

Ythe ran her fingers over the surface. Finally things were looking up! Drawing her nail, she got into her best impression of a swords fighting stance and took a swing.

CLANK!

The handle reverberated painfully in her hand as the nail bounced off the geo cluster, clattering to the ground as Ythe reflexively held her hand.

Owwww ow ow oww!

Once the throbbing in her joints had subsided (she didn't feel like it was worth a Focus), Ythe picked her nail back up and examined it. No real damage, luckily.

What had gone wrong? The Knight smashed geo clusters in the game like it was nothing. Was her swing just too weak? Bad edge alignment? Ythe tried looking to the cluster for answers.

The surface was unchanged. Except, on closer inspection Ythe found the cut mark. It had landed squarely on one of the pieces of geo poking out from the rock, leaving a shallow scratch.

Oops.

Ythe stepped back and prepared for another swing. Last time she'd closed her eyes as the blade made its arc, this time she made sure to keep them locked on her target.

Okay, I can do it. First time was a fluke. It's not gonna rebound in my face again.

Ythe swung, aiming for the rock between the geo.

CRUNCH!

Yes!

Bits of rock flew into the air. Ythe's arm took the brunt of the impact again but it was much less painful. She swung again, trying to make a more shallow cut this time. It was like machining, she just had to keep her cuts light enough so the tool wouldn't take too much backlash.

CRUNCH!

Barely any pain in her arm this time, and it looked like she'd even done a bit more damage than her first swing.

CRUNCH!

CRUNCH!

The petrified mushroom crumbled into gravel, freeing the shiny geo within. Ythe counted thirteen of the shiny fossils. They reminded her of pyritized ammonites, but more of a somewhat dull silver color rather than the usual gold. Either way, they were hers now.

There was on problem she'd overlooked so far though. How would she carry it all? Each piece was easily the size of her hand and she had no pockets.

Shoot. Uh, hm. It wont stay in my shell... I could make a pouch but I don't have enough excess fabric to work with.

Ythe rolled one of the cool pieces in her hand as she thoughtfully examined the tattered and dirty shreds of cloth she passed off for a cloak.

She held up the piece of geo, studying it. Once upon a time she'd found a cute little comic on youtube where Ghost used their eye holes to stash their geo. It was a long shot but what else was there to try?

Bringing the piece up to her eye, Ythe hesitantly pushed it in. She closed her eye on that side, though of course it didn't actually close her eyehole. There wasn't any pain or resistance, so she kept going. Eventually the whole thing was in her eye, and let go.

Ew, why do I taste salt?!

The geo felt weird sitting in her eye, and the longer it was there the stronger the saltiness got, becoming too much to handle and forcing Ythe to fish the fossil out. It actually ended up falling out on its own when she tipped her head forward in disgust, letting the piece of geo fall on the ground.

Yuck, even if she could safely store geo in her eyes, there was no amount of wealth that could make her put up with that taste.

Why the hell could I taste it though? I put it in my eye!

Is that where my mouth actually is?? That is like, I don't even know what to think of that.

Ythe shuddered and picked up the piece of geo. It wasn't slimy with spit, but the surface looked tarnished now.

Huh, interesting. Maybe it's another way for the void in my body to be accessed? Super weird. I'll need to test this out when I can get some food again.

Ythe promptly forgot that resolution when felt a twist in her stomach, as if it had just remembered that it was supposed to feel hungry when she hadn't eaten in a while. She sighed, deciding that if she couldn't take her geo with her, she could at least make the most of the geo deposits in another way.

She used the remaining rocks as practice for her nail, and once they were all destroyed, shoved all the geo in a crevice underneath the biggest mushroom cap in the immediate area.

When she was getting ready to keep climbing, she noticed that growing on the edge of the alcove was one of those bouncy mushrooms you could Pogo off of with your nail. She had been utterly terrible at it playing the game, and had zero confidence about her actual nail skills to try it for real.

The universe had an intended way for her to ascend this section of cave, and she intended to completely disregard that intended way.

Take that, universe!

Feeling smug, Ythe began scaling the wall up to the next ledge. Once she got there, she was rewarded with a promising sight.

Standing in the alcove ahead was a wood framed tunnel lined with masks of bugs. Ythe ran toward it. She had made it to the Mantis Village! All she had to do now was find the entrance to Deepnest and... Well she'd have to figure it out from there.

Unfortunately for her though, it seemed the universe had decided to get even, as at the end of the tunnel Ythe found the biggest pool of acid she'd seen yet. Her enthusiasm immediately deflated.

She unrolled the map again, hoping this wasn't the right way. Annoyingly, it was the right way and in fact was the fastest way to get to the village, even being able to literally see it on the other side of the acid.

Arrggghh come on! I'm so close! I don't have time to waste for this bullshit!

None of her tricks were going to work this time. There was platform hanging over the pool, but it was too high to jump to and the walls of the cavern were far too steep and rocky to try climbing.

Ythe sighed. Scenic route it is. Turning back, she continued her ascent.

There wasn't much farther to climb to get to the alternate path, and the giant pits that demanded she do ridiculous pogo maneuvers to climb quickly gave way to normal winding tunnel that she could easily ascend by jumping from ledge to ledge.

The caves opened up again at the top, revealing a huge tunnel absolutely chock full of massive mushrooms. There were a few places that forced her to climb because of her lack of a mantis claw, but it was otherwise easy going.

Until the universe decided it had one last trick to pull on her.

Another pit of acid that demanded she pogo to get to the other side safely. Screw that, she was climbing. Thankfully this area was far more tube shaped, so she easily was able to scale the walls and bypass the natural obstacle. This pit had a large and flat rise in the middle, like a medieval fort surrounded by a moat.

Only a little ways further to go now.

The next two chambers were much smaller and twisty, but Ythe's sharp claws made easy work of skittering up and down walls and slowing her descent from higher ledges.

By the time she reached the vertical shaft that would drop her right into the mantis village, Ythe felt exhausted. Her body may not have needed sleep or food, but her muscles could still be overworked. Nearly an entire day of climbing and jumping had seriously worn her out.

The ache in her foot was getting worse too and she was worried that she might be doing permanent damage to it. As much as she desperately wanted to press on, fucking up her leg would ultimately only slow her down. Especially in a place as maze-like and dangerous as Deepnest.

Ythe couldn't help but feel unnerved as she entered the village. The Emissary had told her it was empty but even still she felt like she was trespassing. Still though, she was basically getting to go on an urbex trip, and that made her feel just as excited to poke around the abandoned village.

For now though, she needed to sort out her foot. Ythe found a nice little nook built into the stone walls and curled up. She wanted to waste as little time as possible here though so she tried Focusing her Soul again, thinking that maybe she'd just under-healed herself.

The warmth washed over her once more, easing the tension in her back that she'd been holding. It made her foot feel a little better, but practically as soon as she'd done it, an intense feeling of tiredness fell over her like a weighted blanket.

She tried to fight it off but she was quickly pulled into a deep rest, nestled up snug in her own little corner of the world.

Eheh, I'm snug as a bug.. In a rug. In a.. stone- sto-ug..? Nook... Mm...

Unbeknownst to her she'd also used up every last bit of Soul she had, forcing her body to shut down to recover.

Chapter Text

What the hell...?

Wasp's vision snapped into focus from the blurry gray void she'd been floating in.

Suddenly the feeling of gravity and time and direction returned to her. Sand shifted between her toes, sending a chill sensation through her skin that would have bothered a bug that didn't have a naturally low body temperature like vessels did.

Spinning in place, Wasp examined her surroundings. All around her was an endless wasteland of gray silt and rocks and a relentless wind that buffeted her shell with colorless grit. It took her an unusually long time to realize where she was. It felt like her mind was in a haze. The kind that was so faint it left you feeling slow and confused yet unable to figure out why.

How the hell did I end up in Outskirts...?

She couldn't see the cliffs that made up the outer edge of Hallownest. She couldn't even see the lanterns. Whatever this was she had already decided that she was thoroughly fed up with it, assuming it was some kind of magic fuckery or someone trying to mess with her head. Even mage sight, which would normally have shown all of the little currents that flowed through the world offered no additional information.

Wasp reached for her club, ready to knock the absolute shit out of whoever was doing this to her, but when she reached into her hammerspace she came up with nothing. It wasn't just Raid that was missing though; as she searched with increasing franticness she found that she was missing every single one of her items.

A tightness gripped her chest. She battled the anxiety back down, reminding herself that even disarmed she still had her claws, her spiked and venomously barbed tail. And she was no stranger to cqc.

Laying on a road, life draining by the second. Breaking free from an egg. On the run. Sisters. Growing into her strength. A journey of self discovery. Claiming the thrones of maelstrom. A sibling found. A sibling taken. The loss of a mother. Grief of the mass grave. A great battle followed by a time of tense peace.

Wasp's hands shot to her head to stop it spinning.

Before her stretched the wastelands, gray hills of monochromatic sand rolling off into forever. She stood at the foot of a colossal, acheronian mountain.

It reached forever into the sky, the top obscured by thick clouds of dust carried by the roaring winds.

The feeling of being watched rolled over her like a tsunami. An unrelenting icy force that threatened to sweep her away.

The world was silent as death. The wind continued to blow violently, but no sensation reached her anymore. Not the feeling of her own body nor the cold sand beneath her feet. It was as if she was merely a consciousness floating in the fields of eternity.

Someone, somewhere, stood off to her left. Wasp didn't have to look to know it was a vessel, still just a grub. She could feel the fear radiating off them. So palpable it was like Wasp was feeling it herself. Her voice was gone, so she tried to reach the vessel with her mind.

The vessel turned their head slowly, eyes locking with hers. They just stared for what felt like hours. Then, Wasp could feel their surprise through the bond. Their mind felt fuzzy and slow.

In years now past, the ground began to shake violently, throwing dust into the air and blocking the vessel from Wasp's sight.

She watched, entranced, as the mountain cracked and shuddered, sending rock and dirt rushing down its jagged slopes. Great pillars broke free of the cliffs, floating through the air like skyscrapers that had rejected gravity.

The ground beneath her feet collapsed as it rushed to fill the gaping chasm left by the mountain as it rose from its tectonic grave.

Wasp tried to rush to the vessel, hearing their terrified cries through the bond.

Wasp stood in the wastelands, alone. Great earthquakes shook the ground at periodic intervals, threatening to tear apart the world itself. The mountain hovered on the horizon, a temple of eternity sat atop great pillars that rose one after another into the air before crashing down and sending another terrible shock through the earth.

CHILD OF WYRM AND ROOT AND VOID

USURPER OF THE TWIN GODLINGS

YOUR ESSENCE IS FASCINATING

UNEQUALED

I SHALL RELISH IN THE PROMISE OF THIS MORSEL MOST INTERESTING

The mountain was close now. It swallowed all light and commanded Wasp's entire field of vision.

WORRY NOT, CHILD

YOUR PETTY SQUABBLE WITH THE LUCENT GODLING WILL END SOON

LET GRACE AND THANKS WASH OVER YOU

FOR I SHALL CONSUME WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY MINE

AND YOU SHALL SERVE YOUR RIGHTFUL PURPOSE

Wasp flew out of the nest of blankets she and Hornet had been sharing ever since they outgrew their childhood bedroom, becoming tangled as the sheets got caught on the sharp angled parts of her shell.

"Mother!? Mother are you okay?!" Tantabus' form was hovering over her. They were panicked. Wasp's head was spinning, trying and failing to process the swiftly fading fragments of recollection swirling around in her mind.

"What. The. FUCK." she yelled.

Ow!

A jolt that would normally have made Ythe's teeth rattle in her skull shot through her head as her horns collided painfully with the stone above. Her brain was stubbornly stuck on the idea that she was still in her human body where tall horns weren't something she had to be mindful of, so when she'd sat bolt upright in her tiny hidey hole, they'd crashed painfully into the hard stone above.

That's one way to fucking wake up. Ugh...

Pulling herself from the tight but comforting space, she tried to rub the hurt area to no avail. Her arms were still too short to even reach the top of her head, let alone the tips of her horns which were tall as the rest of her head alone.

Gods damnit. Stupid vessel body and these stupid short arms. Ugh, I had another nightmare. What was it even about...?

. . .

I can't remember anything.

Was it just from stress? She certainly hadn't eaten right before going to sleep. Was it because of her unresolved trauma relating to her isekai because she kept repressing it and refusing to work out her grief?

No. Nope. Way too early in the morning to be thinking about stuff like that. Morning? Whenever it is, whatever. Too soon, I just woke up. Ugh...

Aside from the mild headache she was now suffering, Ythe felt pretty good. Her body didn't hurt and she was as awake and energetic as ever.

She was just now noticing too she could feel this sense of... denseness? In her chest that she hadn't noticed was absent the day before. She tried to focus on the feeling to get a better understanding of it. She tried bringing her hands up to her chest and pressing them flat on it. It wasn't that her chest was tight. The sensation didn't feel physical at all.

Was this her Soul meter? She didn't have a handy little hud in the top left of her vision telling her how much she had but maybe she could simply feel it instead.

She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the feeling. Visualize it. Deep breath in. Deep breath out. It took a while for her brain to quiet down, but once it had, she was able to picture that sensation in her chest. It was like a little ball of energy, swirling and flowing, with gossamer threads branching out from it and across her entire body.

Was that it? She tried Focusing to heal her headache to find out.

She watched as the little ball swirled faster, sending its energy across the entire network it sat at the center of. Ythe concentrated on imaging her Soul traveling to her head. The little ball was immediately responsive, directing all the energy it had been aimlessly spreading upwards into her throbbing head. In an instant the ache was gone.

Ythe rocked backwards onto her shadow creeper shell as she threw her hands in the air, laughing to herself in her mind and hissing loudly through her spiracles in excitement.

She pumped her fists in the air as she celebrated. She felt like she'd just been treading water ever since she hatched. How much had she actually done? Granted, it had been quite nice to just settle in with Heimich and Riebel, but there was so much she could be doing.

Or maybe should be doing. She'd completely forgotten about the infection. About the fall of the kingdom. She had all this foreknowledge and hadn't thought to do anything with it!

Well that was going to need to change. Ythe got to her feet and stretched. Whatever nightmare she'd had was long forgotten, and she wasn't wasting any time. She decided it would be best to think while she walked.

She pulled her map out and examined it carefully, finding the area she was currently in. The map laid out a long and winding path downwards, culminating ultimately in one huge chamber at the very bottom.

Three guesses as to what that was.

At least I won't have to fight the Mantis Lords.

Why did they abandon their village though? The silver-banded asshole said it was because they were taking refuge in Deepnest, but... They just don't seem like the type to give up their home.

In the game they were all still around. And not infected.

So much is different! It's just so frustrating. The Pure Vessel has already been sealed so I can't go tell the pointy dipshit that his plan was trash.

What can I even do in this tiny weird baby body?

Ythe looked down at her hands and curled and uncurled her fingers, pressing the tiny claws against the pudgy heels of her palms. Damn, her claws where actually way sharper than she'd realized. Not very strong though, since it didn't take a lot of force to bend them.

It was surreal looking at her body. She hadn't really paid attention to it at all since basically right after she hatched. She'd just been putting it out of her mind so she didn't have to think about it. But now, staring at her hands -all four of them- it hit her just how weird it was.

Her perspective was far, far lower than it should have been, her legs didn't quite work the way her brain thought they should, and her whole body just felt... stumpy.

And of course there was the top-heaviness. That she'd at least acclimated to, given that it was a such a constant force threatening to topple her over it would've been impossible not to.

There was one thing she'd forgotten to even consider until now though. She didn't think about it on the best of days and when you're thrust into bug world and having to deal with everything she'd been dealing with, it wasn't really a high priority in her mind.

She made sure the curtain separating the side room from the hall was fully closed and sheepishly sat down in the corner to take a closer examination of her lower half.

It's like a barbie doll. Eugh, weird.

...Does this make me more or less trans than I was before?

On the one hand, going from no gender to female would be-...? I guess if you thought about it as like, a neutral middle ground then I'm technically going less far? Then again no sex is kinda removed from bimodal sex.

Truly one of the most thought-provoking conundrums of our time. Haha.

I don't really care either way. I'm a girl and anyone who has a problem with that can go- go fall in acid or something.

Ythe jumped to her feet, pushed the curtain aside, and stepped out into the quiet hall.

First things first, she wanted to get mantis claw. Movement was everything and she wanted the best, most broken movement she could possibly achieve. It would be incredibly helpful to be able to dodge around her enemies like it was nothing, not to mention super fun.

Luckily for her the mantis claw could be found just a room or two from the village entrance so it was barely a detour to get to the little stockpile of them.

Here we go.

Ythe grabbed one from the pile and looked it over. She'd never actually seen what they looked like in game, having never thought to check in the inventory or look it up online.

She'd kind of been expecting a literal mantis' claw, but it was really just a thick hook carved out of bone with two spikes pointed out from the back. Possibly to hold on to?

Ythe wrapped her fingers around it and tried a few different grips until she found one that felt secure and comfortable.

Oh hell yes, this is gonna make all the difference. I wish I could get the mothwing cloak...

Who knows if that vessel is even in Greenpath though. Ugh! Stupid alternate timeline and all its stupid uncertainty.

Ythe sighed. Moping about it wouldn't be productive. She set off in the direction she was headed and started practicing with the mantis claw. It was surprisingly easy to get the hang of.

What do I even do when I get to Deepnest? Lying is unavoidable.

Let me make sure I have my story straight: The other shades told me about Wasp and Deepnest, I escaped the Abyss through the secret tunnel next to the door, then I made my way straight there.

No, it's been months. I would've gotten there ages ago if I'd actually gone straight to Deepnest.

It took a little practice to get the timing right, but Ythe found that the claw was a major upgrade from her sloth-like climbing. Before she'd had to go one careful step at a time but now she could simply hook the wall, kick off, and hook it again, repeating ad infinitum for some decently fast vertical movement.

I really don't want to lie to Wasp, not even taking into account the fact she's some kind of insanely powerful mage who could probably read my mind if she wanted to.

It wouldn't be the first time I've had to tailor my thoughts at least. Though this time it would be for real and not just because of anxiety induced paranoia. Who knows if it even works in a real scenario. If this is real. The fact that I'm able to think about it and not wake up means I'm probably not dreaming, right?

Ythe stopped at the foot of the wall she'd dropped from.

Ouch! Okay, pinching myself didn't wake me up. Ugh, I really don't want to feel existential dread right now.

...Would I actually be happier thinking this is real though?

She brushed off the thoughts and distracted herself by focusing on the task at hand.

Shouldn't I have had to take a detour by now? Wait, unless that was the big trapdoor I just passed.

Ythe looked up.

Yep. Why is it open though? Did they just leave everything wide open when they left or what?

A voice shattered her thoughts. Somewhere else in the village, someone was speaking. Her blood ran cold, trauma reflexes telling her to freeze right there clinging to the wall and hope she wouldn't get caught being up late by her father.

The voice called out again, snapping her out of her brief flashback.

"-wants u-us to leave our homes... She can't..."

Ythe wanted to move, but her muscles were locked up, her whole body tense on high alert. Should she call out and let them know she was here? Something in the back of her mind told her it would be best to just slip past unnoticed.

The voice had been fairly muffled, making most of it unintelligible, so whoever it was was far enough away that the latter idea was probably unnecessary. Stealth it is then. She detached from the wall and dropped to the ground, trying her best to bend her knees on impact so her claws wouldn't make any noise hitting the stone floor.

The village wasn't very scary. There were a decent amount of luma fly lights still on and even if they hadn't been, Ythe could easily see in even the darkest of areas. Perks of being a void creature she supposed. Maybe it had something to do with how her eyes weren't really eyes but just holes in her mask with void behind them

Still though, for some reason she felt unusually on edge. Her whole body felt electrified as she crept down the hall, nearly jumping out of her skin when she turned the corner and mistook one of the masks hung on the wall for a figure.

Now she was full on shaking. Just focus on breathing. Everything was fine, she assured herself. She had been so quiet, there was no way the mantis had heard her.

Now that she was thinking about it, the quiet all around her was... unnatural. It was the kind of utter silence she hadn't experienced since the Abyss. There wasn't even the sound of small insects buzzing or crawling around. Something she hadn't even made a conscious note of until she could no longer hear them.

It sent every alarm her caveman brain had evolved to ensure its survival go off all at once, screaming at her to get the fuck out of dodge before the large predator stalking her from the grass pounced and sunk its teeth into her throat.

Ythe held her breath, not having noticed that her deep breathes had turned into quiet panting.

She was not equipped to fight so much as a simple husk, let alone one of the more advanced enemies in the game. She had a nail sure, but she wasn't confident in herself that she could fight a moving enemy that was swinging back at her because to be completely honest, she'd sucked ass at combat when she'd played the game. She wasn't sure if she'd ever even beat Hornet.

So she decided to put all her effort into getting the heck out of there before whoever was here with her even knew she was ever there.

A tiny memory floated in the back of her mind; something about mantises having some of the best hearing of the insect family.

"It's not okay," the voice said, slicing through the heavy air like the fangs of a saber tooth cat through the jugular of its unwitting and helpless prey.

It was clearer than before, but Ythe still couldn't determine which direction it was coming from.

She started sneaking as fast she could in what she hoped was the opposite direction. She took turn after turn, struggling to recall what the map had said was the right direction. Her concentration was too monopolized by paying attention to her surroundings in order to be able to make the jumps and turns to pull her map out and she wasn't willing to stop.

Her paranoia was quickly growing now every second. She knew better than to look behind you when you were being chased, but the tension was eating away at her willpower and she caved, turning nearly all the way around to see what was behind her.

In her fear, she'd forgotten about the bulky shell on her back and didn't account for the extra space it took up. It collided with the masks on the wall behind her.

The noise was short, and in any other context would have not been very loud at all. But in the breathless silence it was like a gong being struck, the smallest of clatters a thunderous crack.

Ythe heard someone take in a ragged breath.

Her body betrayed her and she froze, staring at the hall she'd just come from. Terror gripped her chest and she was too afraid to tear her eyes away for fear that as soon as she did whoever was coming would step around the corner.

"What?!"

It was like a gunshot, a thunderous report that made her ears ring. And it was definitely closer than before.

Without thinking, Ythe let out the most ear-piercing screech she could with her spiracles.

Shit. Fuck. Shit.

She hurried away down the hall, claws clicking against the floor occasionally as she was too scared to concentrate on walking with them raised.

Footsteps echoed dryly through the halls behind her, slowly getting louder. Ythe, unable to control herself, broke into a run.

Her claws clicked loudly on the stone as she sprinted away. She didn't care which way she went now, too panicked to even think. She shouldn't be this afraid of a single bug, but something in her brain was screaming bloody murder, as if it were the devil himself who was chasing her.

Ythe was sent careening to the floor as she hung a right as hard as she could. Had she turned any later, she would surely be impaled on the wall of spikes she'd narrowly managed to avoid. Luck wasn't willing to do her any favors though, and her cloak had caught on the sharp protrusions, twisting her in the air like in a cartoon where the dog runs to the end of its leash and gets yanked into the air by its inertia.

She was vaguely aware of tears streaming down her face as she clawed at the snagged fabric like a wild animal chewing through its own leg to free itself from a trap. It was just one bug, why the hell was she so terrified?!

The footsteps were getting closer. Ythe could hear them so clearly now. They were just around the corner now.

"-the principle. It's o-our hair a-..." the voice trailed off mid-sentence, becoming too quiet to understand.

Her cloak finally came free, tearing loudly. Ythe stumbled to her feet, already running again before she was even upright.

The voice growled inaudible words behind her. The halls finally gave way to more open rooms. Ythe nearly went sailing over the edge when she came to a landing. She recovered her balance on instinct but leapt over the edge right after. She tried to hit the ground running but the tattered remains of her cloak tangled around her legs.

A shock jolted through her head for the second time that day as she hit the floor hard, her unwieldy head striking the ground so hard she thought it must have cracked.

Thrashing her legs she unsuccessfully tried to right herself. The footsteps were above her, and she could hear ragged breathing.

She began clawing her way across the floor, kicking her legs haphazardly. She managed to drag herself into an open room to her left just a little ways down the hall and under a small space under some shelves built into the wall. Her shell made it almost impossible, but it had shifted on her back when she'd landed and now sat lopsided enough to give her just enough clearance to wedge herself under the heavy slab of wood.

Time seemed to slow to a halt as she waited in silence. She was twisted in a way that just barely let her see the open doorway on the other side of the room.

Muted buzzing ripped through the air for a moment, followed by the sound of feet scraping on stone with a thud and something wet slapping on the ground.

A shadow crept across the floor outside, steadily growing longer and longer until a single foot came into view. It was covered in black chitinous exoskeleton that looked scuffed and worn. The claws were dulled, like the owner had been dragging their feet. It was attached to a thick and uneven leg.

They were breathing erratically; short bouts of intense, full-chested panting that would abruptly halt, as if the figure had choked, only to start again not long after. The pauses were just long enough that every time they happened it almost made Ythe to think it may be the last, but it always started again just as she started to believe it.

The figure took a step further into the door frame. Ythe stared in horror as the foot was clumsily dragged forward, claws skimming the stone. It came down on the floor at an angle, causing the ankle to roll and bend far beyond what it should have. The sound of cracking shell mixed with wet flesh being pulled and torn.

Light green fluid began to trickle from the split chitin, running down the exposed, colorless meat and pooling on the floor beneath. The figure shifted their weight from side to side, unbalanced. And every time the weight was shifted to the left the delicate flesh bulged from between the broken shell. The injury squelched and crunched and jets of insect blood shot out from under the jagged edges of the chitin.

Eventually the foot was lifted off the floor, but the limp claw didn't return to its original position. It was now permanently bent inward and when it was placed down on the floor again the flesh swelling from the injury bulged out again, squirting a jet of green hemolymph across the floor. It left a trail from where the figure was standing that led all the way into the room Ythe was hiding in. It had only come up short by a few inches from landing on her.

The only sound that filled the space was the ragged and unnatural heaving.

Eventually, in what felt like a gift from the heavens themself, the figure mumbled something and began to walk away. Ythe watched as the pair of feet continued down the hall, the injured leg making a sickening wet crunch every time it stepped.

The sound slowly receded, fading until Ythe couldn't hear them anymore. She didn't dare move until she was absolutely sure she could no longer hear them shuffling across the stone floors.

Every bone in her body ached from the tension. Had that thing just blocked her path? It was too cramped for her to pull out the map and check.

Agonizingly slowly, Ythe scooched out from under the shelves, dragging herself over the still wet streak of blood. Her legs were still tangled in her cloak and in her panic she'd wedged herself in an incredibly awkward position.

Memories flashed in the front of her mind of stories about those unfortunate who became wedged in narrow passages while exploring caves, their breathing restricted, often in agonizingly uncomfortable and unnatural positions. The thoughts made her panic rise even more than it already had. Her lungs felt like they were on fire despite the lack of a need for oxygen. She was suffocating.

But she couldn't afford to thrash. She had to remain as calm as she could. She had to make sure every movement was slow, careful, and thought out. She couldn't afford to make a sound as she slowly inched her way out from under the heavy slab of wood pressing down on her like the lid of a casket.

After what felt like forever she was finally free from under the shelf. Pulling her nail from her back, she hastily sawed through the malignant cloth. Finally she was able to yank her feet free, letting the loose ribbons fall to the floor.

Her cloak was now considerably more ragged, barely able to cover her properly anymore and the shadow creeper shell had shifted so far from her back that she had to take the thing off entirely and redo the straps holding it in place from scratch. She made sure to tighten the knots as much as she could this time.

Keeping her nail drawn, she crept to the doorway. She wanted to peek around the corner to make sure the figure had completely gone, but her horns would get her spotted immediately.

Ythe backed up into the corner, hoping it would be dark enough to obscure her from sight.

What should she do? What could she do?

Her hands shook as she unfurled the folded and dirty map, making it more difficult to read. She puzzled out that she'd accidentally ran deeper into the village and she'd have to backtrack to get back on the right path.

Okay. Okay... Fuck, I feel lightheaded.

She allowed herself a few slow, deep breaths to satiate her anxiety riddled brain. The figure didn't seem to be coming back her way so far, but she knew that at any moment she would hear those awful, crunching footsteps coming back in her direction. The way the figure had gone down was a dead end, with only a few small rooms for them to search before they inevitably turned back the way they came.

Overcoming her trepidation, Ythe stepped out into the hall. As soon as she had a line of sight, her eyes were locked on hall to her left. She could see all the way to the end. The figure was nowhere to be seen.

Taking her eyes off it was the very last thing she wanted to do, but eventually she was forced to focus on the ground ahead of her to avoid bumping into anything. She carefully began to retrace her steps. The vertical drop she'd come down was further away than it'd felt as she'd crawled into her hiding place.

On the ground right in the center of the hall below the vertical tunnel was some kind of mass. It was covered in the yellow-green blood and looked like a polished black oval. Stringy white material trailed across the floor from where it was attached to the inside of the object and as she got closer, it caught the light, revealing the many hexagons that made up its surface.

Ythe gagged, whatever that meant for her mouthless biology. She couldn't bear to take a single step closer to the thing.

She just stood in place and stared as before her very eyes the stringy flesh sloughed, dissolving as if in acid. The harder exoskeleton soon followed, until nothing was left but a dark green stain in the outline of the eye that had been there just a moment ago.

She had no time to process her shock, and simply avoided the shadow burnt into the floor as she hooked onto the wall and climbed back up to the ledge she'd jumped from. Every single time the mantis claw scraped against the stone wall Ythe wished she had teeth to clench.

Finally she was able to pull herself back up over the edge and take half a moment to try and recover just a little bit. There was no sign that the figure was coming back from what she could hear, which offered just the smallest bit of relief. She hurried to retrace her steps and get back on the right path.

Quickly but quietly. Quickly but quietly. Just keeping moving.

Every step felt like it would alert the thing to her presence, but eventually the tension began to slowly release. The further she got from the hall where she'd hidden the more confident she felt that she was out of immediate danger. The world around her seemed to agree, as the sounds of life slowly returned. Never in her life would she have thought that the noise of tiny legs scurrying in the cracks in the walls would feel comforting.

Hurried sneaking gradually became an all out sprint as the desire to simply Nope the fuck out of there became greater then the fear of being heard and soon she was back on the right track booking it for the Mantis Lords' throne room slash battle arena.

The final drop couldn't come soon enough and Ythe began to tear up with relief when she finally stepped into the gigantic chamber.

She was met by the sound of wildlife, various creatures skittering and calling out. The huge mushrooms that lined the walls had begun to creep onto the stone floors which had once been kept clear and maintained. It was an alien sort of nature, but it didn't care what Ythe thought about it reclaiming the space. It was beautiful despite how strange and foreign it was to her.

At the center of the room was the thrones. They looked even more grand and imposing in person, especially from her short perspective. They all sat atop a slightly raised platform of stone, like a stage. It was then that Ythe realized that all four were intact.

She'd never gotten to this area herself, but she'd watched enough gameplay and B-roll footage in lore videos to know that the far right throne should be half-destroyed and shoved off to the side.

Now that she was thinking about it, as she walked around the front of the stone stage she took a closer look at the placement of each pillar. All four were aligned with each other to be evenly centered. In that game, only the three leftmost ones had been centered, with the fourth sat off to the side.

Had the mantis lords in the canon timeline pushed all four enormous thrones over just a bit after the Traitor Lord's was destroyed just for the sake of symmetry?

Ythe tried to picture the usually regal mantis lords straining themselves to shove each throne over -each probably weighing more than every mantis in Deepnest combined- all with that one stock stone scraping sound dubbed over it. She doubled over with laughter, her spiracles making a soft wheezy sound as she giggled to herself.

Her brain was fried from all of the stress and fear she'd just endured and a good laugh was more than welcome in her opinion.

Being able to laugh felt like a cool breeze across her skin after being trapped in a hot, itchy box for days. She hadn't felt this light since that morning in the kitchen with Heimich and Riebel.

The thought put an immediate damper on her mood and her giggles quickly faded into a morose sigh. She missed them both so badly. She hadn't realized how much she'd come to care about them until they were gone.

Heimich had given her something she only peripherally knew she'd been missing her whole life. Her father was always the "do all the work and none of the emotions" kind of man, and she didn't really see her grandparents or aunts and uncles super often. Her maternal grandparents would visit once every couple months but she barely ever saw the rest of her extended family.

Heimich had been so attentive and open and kind. He was always patient (probably a skill Riebel helped build) and never treated her as less than. Even if he saw her as a small child.

He was just as awkward as she was and he seemed to get that. He understood her, knew how to reach her. He'd just about become a father figure to her in the short few months since they'd met. Ythe's chest ached horribly at the idea that she might never get to tell him just how much of a positive impact he'd had on her.

Ythe grabbed that painful tightness inside herself and squeezed it as hard as she could until it crystallized into a diamond-hard resolve to save Heimich and reunite her little family. She wouldn't leave her warpath until she knew they would be safe and happy, no matter the cost to herself.

She would save them both, or she would die trying. She would storm Deepnest as a single bug army and free the Pale Prick all on her own if she had to. Ythe pulled herself from the floor and marched for the entrance on the opposite side of the arena.

Her footfalls echoed in the massive space, her claws clacking against the worn stone. The sound reminded her of her dogs and the way their nails clicked on the hardwood floors of her parent's house.

The thought made her feel like someone had put her in slowmo. Like all of her energy was slowly being drawn away until she couldn't move.

Ythe hadn't thought about her past life at all since those first few days after she hatched. It was too painful for her to face. So she had just pushed it all down, repressed every bit of grief so she didn't have to feel it.

Could she ever go back? How long had it even been? Did her siblings miss her? How many times had her dogs stared out the front windows waiting for her to come home?

Each question felt like a stab to her heart. How could she have been so selfish? She hadn't even stopped once to consider how her death would be hurting those that did care about her.

Her footsteps slowed until she finally came to a total stop in the middle of the room. All of the huge emotions she'd felt in just the past half hour had shaken her emotional walls at their foundation, letting the grief and sorrow come crashing down on her like a small, unfortunate town sat helplessly at the base of a huge damn, watching as the concrete crumbled and the floodwaters bore down.

Tears began to run down her mask as she sobbed. She hadn't cried like this in years. It was such a pathetic, embarrassing sound. Tiny gasps and shudders barely audible yet echoing as the only sound throughout chamber as if the world itself was mocking her for her grief.

Despair twisted into fear as she slowly realized the aberration in the scene around her.

The entire space had become completely quiet save for the tiny gasps of her spiracles.

The silence became absolute as she sucked in her breath and held down her tears. It created a tight, cold ball in her chest just as it always had when she'd forced herself to stop crying. It felt like the entire world around her had done the same.

Ythe slowly let go of the breath to not make a sound. As quietly as she could, she drew her nail from her back and held it in front of her in her best approximation of a battle stance. The most sword fighting experience she had was swinging a stick around and watching Lego Ninjago as a kid.

Turning in place slowly, Ythe scanned the room around her. It was completely empty and flat so there was nowhere to hide but on the other side of the thrones. How could it have entered behind her without her knowing? And why hide?

Slowly stepping toward the entrance to Deepnest, Ythe kept her eyes fixed on the spaces between the tall pillars of stone, but she could see nothing.

If that was how they were going to play it, Ythe had no objections. She however, was abso-fucking-lutely not going to play the horror movie protagonist and go over there to check behind the throne and find nothing, leading to a moment where she let her guard down only for the monster to dramatically leap out from around the other side and kill her.

She'd watched a lot of horror media, okay??

Instead, she continued walking toward the tunnel entrance, keeping her sword between herself and whatever may be lurking out of sight. She knew better than to turn her back on a predator that liked to stalk and prowl. Like a tiger in the jungle so long as it thought you were looking at it, it wouldn't pounce.

Something hit the floor behind her, making a loud, wet slap.

Ythe booked it for the entrance. Like hell was she going to wait to look up at the monster on the ceiling!

Her escape was swiftly denied as the creature flung itself from where it hung and landed directly between Ythe and the tunnel leading to Deepnest. When its feet hit the ground, the left one had rolled inward with a sickening pop before completely snapping off with a crunch. The figure dropped to one knee as their balance was lost.

It gave Ythe a chance to finally get a good look at the mantis that had been pursuing her. She wished she hadn't.

Yellowish-green blood pooled on the ground as it dripped from the broken stump that was its left ankle. Its entire body looked swollen and grotesque and off-white meat bulged from within where the chitin had cracked and split along its legs and arms as if the mantis had tried to molt but its body grew far too fast for the old shell to weaken enough to split open properly, and no new shell ever grew beneath to replace it.

Its abdomen was the softest and therefore most affected, with the plates that ran down it broken and warped and pushed apart. In many places the skin between the plates had broken open as well, showing more of the shifting flesh beneath. It was all off-white and translucent and webbed with pale green veins and bruises where the blood vessels had burst.

Its face was angled toward the ground, but Ythe could still make out the features. They only had a right eye, with the left missing entirely. Left behind in some dead end corridor where it had rotten away in seconds. In its place was a pulsing, cancerous mass that swelled and throbbed, its green-bruised surface glistening with wetness.

As soon as Ythe made eye contact, the thing let out a piercing, eerily human shriek that hurt Ythe's ears as it raised its left claw to hide its face. The thing had seemingly burst out of its shell entirely, the flesh becoming deformed and jelly-like as it swelled without confines. It bent flaccidly with no structure to support it anymore, flopping and wiggling as it moved.

Ythe held her nail pointed at the monstrous creature, terrified and unsure what to do next.

She watched as the thing stood, the bits of flesh poking out of its shell flexing and twisting with each movement. It lurched forward, struggling to balance with one of its feet missing. That was all the motivation Ythe needed to burst into a sprint in the opposite direction. Her mind was already racing trying to figure out a plan with the outcome that had the highest odds of her survival.

The mantis got used to its impairment quickly and Ythe could hear its footsteps getting faster and closing in, constantly alternating between a thudding scrape and a squishy crunch.

It was clumsy, and didn't seem to have much care for its surroundings, so Ythe sprinted for the thrones, leaping up onto the platform and dodging back and forth between the square pillars. It slowed her down considerably, but it had the intended effect. She heard the wet crunch of the mantis running straight into the immovable stone and giving her a bit of headway.

"AaaaaAAAAAAaaah! Help meee!!" The mantis screamed behind her, their voice hoarse and shrill with desperation. Before she could even think, Ythe was sent flying by a loud crash.

She tumbled head over heels across the hard ground, feeling something wet splatter on her mask. Looking up, she saw that the throne she'd just been next to was destroyed, huge chunks of rock raining down on the floor as it crumbled. Some kind of mechanism was revealed by the devastation, getting bent and broken by the debris falling around it. It must have been some kind of lever, because it made a loud clunk as it was wrenched to the side.

Before the sound had even made its first reverberation off the walls a cacophonous grinding sound filled the chamber.

No no no, please!

Enormous metal fences dropped from above, walling in the area surrounding the thrones with a cage that stretched from floor to ceiling. Simultaneously, hidden trapdoors all around the arena fell open, revealing the moat of spikes surrounding it.

The mantis crawled out of the rubble of the formerly-tallest throne, shoving chunks of stone out of its way and sending them tumbling down to the floor. Their right claw with its rocky and overgrown shell was covered in hemolymph, which dripped to the floor as it rushed at Ythe.

She raised her nail and swung as hard as she could at the creature. At the same moment, the thing had taken a swing at her with its thick-shelled claw, colliding hard with Ythe's blade.

It was nearly knocked from her hands by the impact. The club-like claw had just barely grazed her too, knocking her back. The mantis reared up with a shriek as it lifted the heavy claw high in the air.

She narrowly avoided the next swing by rolling under it, which gave her just enough time to get some distance before the confused mantis could turn around to pursue her.

The thing was fast, even with a missing foot. Ythe could already hear it catching up to her even as she sprinted away from it as fast as her legs could possibly carry her.

Were spells an option? She was too busy fighting for her life to try and remember how you got the soul blast spell or whatever it was called. She was stressed, give her a break!

It couldn't be too hard though, right? All she had to do was release a big ball of soul. Easy.

Ythe tried to spin around as fast as she could, but she'd misjudged just how close the mantis had actually gotten. The impact hit her before she'd even had time to react, her mask audibly cracking as the mantis' club claw connected with her face. Time seemed to slow for just a moment, Ythe's gaze locked with the singular gleaming eye of the mantis.

She was sent flying by the blow, tumbling across the ground painfully. A wailing screech filled the air, echoing through the massive chamber. As Ythe managed to pull herself to her knees, a heavy blow came down on her back. There was a loud crack as shell split, followed by a pained wail.

Pulling herself up once more as she snatched her nail off the ground, Ythe stumbled into a run. The skin of her palms and knees stung from the deep scrapes they'd been inflicted and it felt like some of her fingernails had been broken or torn out.

The mantis' footsteps were already catching up.

She had to think of something else. That thing was a lot bigger and for sure heavier than she was, so maybe she could take advantage of its momentum. It was the best plan she had at the moment, so she made a beeline for the nearest wall.

Alarms screamed in her mind to turn away before it was too late, but she had to get the timing right or this wouldn't work.

Mere inches from a horrific death, Ythe dug her feet into the floor and, by striking the wall on the other side of the spikes with her nail at just the right moment, managed to completely change the direction of her momentum.

Her left foot barely stayed on edge as she ran along the pit. Behind her she heard a loud reverberating crash follow by the squelch of pierced flesh.

Skidding to a halt, Ythe whirled around to asses the outcome. Just like she'd hoped, the heavier, clumsier mantis had gone careening right into the cage wall, falling into the spikes below.

Unfortunately it seemed like the cage wall had absorbed most of the thing's inertia, meaning it hadn't hit the spikes all that hard. That, and the fact that it had so much surface area, meant the pit acted more like a bed of nails. In spite of all this though, Ythe could see hemolymph leaking from where the gravid flesh bulging from the shell had been punctured.

Seizing the opportunity, she charged for the downed bug. She was hoping for a clean slice through the neck, but the way the mantis was laying in the trench made that impossible. Regardless, every strike counted, so Ythe brought her blade down on the mantis as hard as she could.

The nail sliced through the mantis' wing with a sound like tearing paper and left a deep gash in its side. The mantis shrieked in pain, words garbled. It was enough to scare Ythe into momentary paralysis, stealing a potential second strike and allowing the mantis finally pull itself free from the spikes. Now that it wasn't folded in on itself it was able to scream again.

"It's not- not riiiiiiiiiiiiight!" the mantis screamed, throwing their head back.

Pieces of its mask flaked away, revealing more of the horrible pulsing meat within. Ythe broke into a sprint just as the mantis righted itself, hearing its awful wet crunching behind her soon after.

Tears were streaming down her face. She'd never so much as even hurt someone before. The most combat training she'd ever done was some karate classes in her school gym when she was ten. She hadn't even gotten past blue belt before she'd lost interest in standing in a smelly gym with a bunch of sweaty kids for an hour and a half every week. Violence just wasn't in her nature, and she was lucky to have never been in a situation that necessitated it. Not until now. She knew that in this moment it was kill or be killed.

Hardening her heart, Ythe made sure the mantis was hot on her heels and got ready for another close call. Same as before, she redirected herself away from impalement with her nail and whirled around once her enemy was downed.

This time she didn't hold back. The most she could do was make it quick.

She tried to ignore the screeches and wails as she ruthlessly tore into the soft muscle bulging from the mantis' shell, spraying hemolymph all over the walls and herself. Ythe managed two good hits this time, the third only grazing the mantis as it clawed its way directly toward her, barely bothering to lift itself out of the pit first. It made a horrific wet tearing noise as its tender meat was shredded on the spikes.

Taking off running once more, Ythe hoped that the next attempt would be the last. She made sure it was behind her, readied her nail, and CLANG!

But no second clatter came. Seconds ticked by with no indication that the mantis had hit the wall. Unable to help risking a glance over her shoulder, Ythe saw that it had stopped before reaching the pit. It stared at her with its one remaining eye, face unreadable and mandibles clenched tight.

Fuck! It's a multiphase boss fight!? I only just figured out how to swing a nail!

She took another look behind herself. The mantis was following her, but it was slower now. Its limp had become extremely pronounced and its entire front side was in tatters. Ribbons of flexible shell and stringy white flesh swung violently sending hemolymph flying in every direction as it lurched after her.

It has to be on its last legs now.

Ythe continued running laps around the room, keeping the mantis just close enough behind that it wouldn't try to cut across the room and destroy more of the thrones. There was a good chance that the falling rubble would bury it for good, but Ythe didn't want to have chunks of stone flying at her head. More importantly, she couldn't risk the lever that controlled the arena cage being destroyed and trapping her inside with the mantis forever.

Steeling herself, Ythe waited until she was sure she was far enough from the mantis so she could whirl around with her nail outstretched. The swing came up far too short, and she just barely had enough time to return to a fighting stance before the thing was on her.

With sheer luck, her second swing managed to parry the mantis' claw. It staggered the monster just long enough for her to attempt another attack with some amount of confidence. The blow connected, but her form had been bad and it was difficult to recover her stance.

In that short time the mantis had recovered and took a swing at her that hit her square in the upper right shoulder. It sent her tumbling backward and forced her to use her nail as a crutch to avoid falling.

Ythe took off in a sprint again, mind rattled and confidence thoroughly stamped out.

Maybe it was time to revisit the spell idea? Ythe concentrated on the ball of Soul in her chest. She wasn't exactly sure what she should be doing, so she just tried whatever felt right.

She pictured the ball compressing itself into a highly pressurized point. She squeezed her eyes shut, focusing as hard as she could on the image. Once she'd done that, she sprinted as hard as she could for a few seconds to give herself as much room as possible before skidding to a halt and turning on a dime. She imagined the Soul ball pushing forward in her chest, and with the mantis right on top of her, willed it to release in front of her.

In less than an instant, a white flash appeared, consuming her entire field of view for just a moment before quickly fading. It happened faster than she'd expected, immediately blasting the mantis backward as the projectile tore through the air with a whoosh.

The mantis was caught off guard by the spell, being taken right off its feet by the enormous ball of soul. It flew backwards through the air for a feet few before landing hard on its back on the platform just in front of the thrones. It thrashed its limbs violently in an attempt to right itself.

Ythe's visions suddenly went dark before quickly fading back in. Tiredness flooded over her, making her limbs heavy and her mind numb. She had to move now!

Ythe rushed forward, circling around the staggered mantis and raised her blade. The monster was covered in gashes that leaked hemolymph profusely and Ythe could see flesh beginning to swell out from the injuries. Its shell was blackened in the front where the spell had hit it, cauterizing the meat that had been bulging out from its skin and singing the wing covers. The thing was writhing around too wildly for her to get a clean swing, but she aimed for the neck nonetheless.

CRACK!

She looked down. Her nail had cleanly sliced through the mantis. Unfortunately, it hadn't quite made its mark, having embedded itself just below the mantis' eyes. If it weren't for the awkward angle, its head would have been bisected.

Ythe, in a panic, yanked on her nail as hard as she could, sending her stumbling backwards. She watched as the mantis writhed in agony on the ground, eventually managing to roll on its side and pick itself up.

The lower half of its face was hanging loosely from its head now, giving the appearance of a gaping, humanoid mouth. Gurgling noises erupted from the gaping wound, making the hemolymph pouring out of it bubble and spray from its ruined face.

Ythe's adrenaline was fading fast. The little ball of Soul was nearly completely gone. She'd accidentally used way more than she thought she would and expended nearly all her Soul. With no other options remaining, she charged the shambling monster again.

She hacked and slashed at its limbs, one blow connecting with the crack in its left thigh. The already damaged area was easily sliced through, sending the mantis tumbling onto its back once more.

Ythe raised her nail in the air as the mantis dragged itself toward her, bringing it down on the ruined head as hard as she could.

Its mask split right down the middle, coating the immediate area in green blood and finally, at long last, the thing stopped moving. Its limbs twitched for a minute or so before curling in on the mantis' body, bringing the grueling battle to a close.

Ythe stumbled backwards a few feet before collapsing to her knees.

Her fingers remained locked around the handle of her nail. Despite multiple strikes, the ball of Soul in her chest remained hollow. Every inch of her body felt sore. She stayed there for a while, staring at the carnage.

Eventually though she had to shakily rise to her feet once more. She didn't want to spend a single fucking second longer in the same room as that thing.

It took a long time to unbury the cage mechanism from the pile of rubble and every scrape, every pebble clattering across the ground set her nerves on fire wondering if the thing just three feet behind her had gotten back up.

It took even longer still to force the twisted lever back into the other position. The sound of the cage rattling as it was lifted back into the ceiling was like a choir of angels in that moment.

Ythe trudged out of the arena, pausing just outside the entrance to Deepnest. There on the ground was a dark green stain where the dropped piece of flesh had been. Looking back, she saw the surface of the mantis' body shifting. She turned forward again and stepped into the tunnel.

The shift in environment was immediate. Fungus-lined walls gave way to deep blue rock walls made up of countless huge stones. Each one was about the same size and shape; a smooth oval with two creases running around the middle. Ythe was too tired to think about how strange it was, or the implications of such a sheer fucking density of fossils. She barely even registered the numerous bodies of burrowing insects as she marched through the entrance.

She hesitated, listening to the constant noise of thousands of little legs scurrying and crawling all around her. Deepnest was one of those areas she had little to no knowledge of from her human life. At most, she knew it was one of the more dangerous and dificult part of the game.

Glowing mushrooms growing from the floor and sprouting on the walls and ceiling were the only light source in the dark tunnels. Ythe was feeling unsure about her odds of making it through alive even before she reached the writhing pits of spiky shelled creatures.

She'd made the climb up the Abyss, she could do this. It was child's play by comparison. If you were talking about the movie, maybe.

She gauged the distance to the first island and backed up, taking a deep breath to calm herself. As soon as she started running a voice called out, echoing in the tight space.

"Halt!"

Ythe stumbled, falling into a roll that brought her right to the edge of the pit. She backed herself away from it and stood up. Looking around she tried to identify the source of the voice, but whoever was there must be hiding out of sight.

"Don't go any further, or you shall DIE!" the voice said, putting emphasis on the latter half of their warning. "These tunnels are filled with traps. Wait here."

Ythe gave a short hiss in response to let whoever was watching her know she'd heard. They didn't make any noise as they left. Ythe found a rock to lean against and sat down, tugging at the straps holding her shadow creeper shell in place. They were cutting into her skin uncomfortably but no amount of fiddling could undo the hemolymph-caked knots.

Eventually she simply gave up and tried her best to find a position that took the weight off

her back as much as possible. She nearly nodded off a couple of times, but she needed to stay awake. Digging her claws into the palms of her hands kept her mind on edge just enough to ward off sleep for the time being.

It couldn't have been more than a dozen minutes before something began to tickle at the back of her mind. She disregarded it at first, but it quickly became too difficult to ignore as she suddenly felt another person's mind connect to hers through the sorta-hivemind. She initially closed it out of shock. She'd connected to plenty of minds before, but this was the first time she'd been on the receiving end.

Hurriedly she stretched her mental bubble out. She didn't have to go far before she found it. It was like the person on the other end was holding their mental bubble just beyond hers, letting her connect on her own terms.

Immediately she was struck by the other person's emotions. Confused, excited, surprised, and she thought she could feel just the slightest hint of guilt buried beneath it all.

[Surprised greeting (hello?) (are-you-okay?)]

Ythe hesitated for a moment. What should she say? Her mind went blank trying to come up with a response.

[Unsure reply (um-hi) (I-think-so-I-guess)]

Ythe was still feeling unsettled by all the noise happening around her, not helped by the warning the mystery person had given her before they'd run off presumably to tell Wasp she was there.

[Comforting statement (i'm-on-my-way-to-you-now-baby-just-stay-where-you-are) (you're-safe-now-nothing-will-hurt-you-here)]

Ythe was too exhausted to protest the nickname.

[Affirmative reply (okay)]

Just a few minutes after the short conversation ended, Wasp came rushing into the tunnel where Ythe was resting. She landed with a thud and seemed surprised when she saw Ythe. It was such a minor reaction though Ythe chalked it up to her imagination.

Ythe wearily pulled herself to her feet and stared up at Wasp in awe. Finally after all this time they were standing face to face and she was leagues more impressive looking in person. The vision the shades had shown Ythe didn't do justice to how tall she was. Though it probably also had to do with the fact that Ythe was about as tall as a toddler now.

She was digitigrade, like Ythe, and had four arms as well. She hadn't thought about it before, but now Ythe was wondering if that was just the norm for vessels in this timeline. Ghost's statue in the city had been covered in a cloak, so they easily could have had four arms as well.

Wasp's face was by far the most similar to the game, if a bit shorter. Though she had an extra set of eyes above her normal ones and three extra horns on her forehead arranged like a crown. Two chelicerae were folded on the underside of her head, but Ythe couldn't tell if they were attached to a mouth or if they were just decorative.

She was an absolutely intimidating figure, especially with how she towered over Ythe. It was hard to believe this was the same person who'd just been comforting Ythe as if she was a lost child. She seemed to realize this, as she knelt down to get closer to eye level with her.

Ythe suddenly remembered the state she was in and let her gaze fall to the ground as she did her best to pull the torn remains of her cloak around herself in a way that didn't look like she was wearing a rag mop that had been beaten to death with a minion. It didn't do much.

She had no idea just how bad it looked from Wasp's perspective. She was shaking from the exhaustion and adrenaline and covered head to toe in yellow-green hemolymph and dirt and the sickly black stains of corrupted flesh that had melted away. Her cloak was little more than dirty rags barely clinging to her shivering form, and the shadow creeper shell on her back practically dwarfed her, making her look smaller than she really was.

[Embarrassed apology (i-look-awful-i'm-sorry)]

"No no, you don't need to apologize. It's not your fault, okay? We'll get you set up with a nice bath as soon as we get to the village," Wasp said gently.

Ythe shifted her weight from one side to the other, her feet aching. Her mind was far too foggy to even begin to try to hold a conversation, and was kind of regretting not thinking of what she should say ahead of time.

[Grateful acceptance (yes-please)]

Wasp stood up, and looked off in the direction she came. Ythe couldn't hear anything but she got the feeling that Wasp was talking to someone else. After a moment she looked back down at Ythe, who was swaying in place just a bit as she tried to mentally wake herself up.

"You gonna be okay to walk the rest of the way back?" Wasp asked, pulling Ythe's consciousness out of the stupor she hadn't even realized it'd begun to slip back into.

[Groggy question (huh?-oh) (probably?) (i-dont-wanna-be-a-bother)]

In the end Ythe ended up needing to be carried most of the way by Wasp. It was embarrassing, but without the mothwing cloak navigating Deepnest safely was impossible. Not to mention the numerous traps Ythe nearly set off by accident. Eventually she had to relent and accept Wasp's offer, but that didn't mean she didn't grumble to herself the whole way there though.

Ythe had needed Wasp's help in removing her shadow creeper shell as well, as her own claws were too flimsy to tear through the crusted knots. Wasp hadn't even been able to undo them and resorted to simply cutting the straps with her claws. Ythe wasn't happy about her hard work being cut up but the straps were a lost cause by that point.

Hornet had been waiting for them at the entrance to the Hidden Village, though Ythe had nearly not recognized her. She had three pairs of eyes and eight limbs, the only thing giving away that it was her being the horns and bright red cloak.

She'd already had the bathtub set up by the time they arrived, which left Ythe confused. Had Wasp asked her to do it before coming to get her?

Ythe was grateful for the warm water anyway, using the provided rag to scrub every inch of herself down. She tried to wash her ragged cloak as well but nearly as soon as she'd started scrubbing it the whole thing came apart in her hands.

Luckily Hornet had given Ythe one of her old cloaks to wear instead. Ythe offered to return it as soon as she got a new one, but Hornet insisted that she keep it, saying it would just be sitting in a closet otherwise.

Ythe tried to wash her shadow creeper shell too, but the sharp edges shredded the rag and gave her so many cuts on her fingers she was sure she'd run out of Soul to heal them before she got even half the grime off her makeshift armor.

While attempting to clean it she'd also discovered a huge crack right through the middle of the shell, likely the source of the sound when the mantis had brought its club claw down on her when she was on her hands and knees. One more hit would probably split the thing in half so Ythe reluctantly decided to retire it, leaving it in the room Wasp and Hornet were letting her borrow for the time being. It had served her well, but without the ability to repair it it would just become more of a liability to her in future fights.

Ythe sighed through her sides, picking up the nail Ogrim had gifted her. It was the only belonging to survive the journey to Deepnest and Ythe couldn't help but feel a little resentful that it had been what made it instead of something from Heimich. She wanted something to remind her of him. Of what she needed to do.

She slid the nail onto her back where it stuck. She'd discovered after Wasp had cut her armor off that the blade hadn't fallen off with it like she'd expected.

Looking around, Ythe tried to figure out what to do with the tub full of dirty water. She was far too small to push it somewhere she could drain it, if she had even known where one such place might be. Better to just ask Wasp or Hornet, she decided.

Speaking of, before they'd left her to clean up in privacy, Wasp had told Ythe to come find her when she was done so they could talk. The only problem was that Ythe had forgotten to ask where to actually look. Her range with the sorta-hivemind was far too limited to reach Wasp wherever she might be, but it caught the attention of someone else.

The mind felt vast and omnipresent, just like the shades had, but this time only one voice came through.

[Polite question (do-you-need-help-finding-wasp?)]

Ythe was surprised to find it was the same person that she'd heard in the tunnels. She couldn't actually hear their voice through the sorta-hivemind since it was based entirely on feelings and direct concepts rather than words, but she was able to tell it was the same person.

[Surprised response (oh-um-yes-please-) (where-can-i-find-her?)]

The voice paused for a moment before replying.

[Dutiful statement (Wasp-is-currently-in-the-command-room-with-Queen-Hornet)]

Queen? Since when was Hornet the queen of Deepnest? Was she in the game and Ythe had just never dug deep enough into the lore to find out?

[Polite offer (if-you'd-like-I-can-bring-you-there) (both-of-them-are-expecting-you)]

[Polite acceptance (thank-you)]

Ythe waited for a moment. Where even was this other figure. It had to be Ghost, but Ghost was sealed. Only creatures of void could access the sorta-hivemind so who could it-

Black mist appeared in front of Ythe, pooling on the ground. Ythe could see innumerable pinpricks of light dotting its surface as if someone had poured the night sky out in front of her. The mist rose up and took a solid form, though still with that black-as-night appearance. Its eyes glowed an ethereal white signifying Soul magic.

Ythe jumped back in surprise, hissing loudly as a giant fuck-off wasp appeared just feet away from her. It tilted its head and rubbed its mandibles together as it watched her.

It wasn't like any of the bugs of Hallownest. No, this was a straight up real world wasp made massive and with a night sky shader slapped on for good effect. What the fuck.

"Oh, my apologies. I didn't mean to scare you," the giant fuck-off wasp said in the same voice she'd heard back in the tunnels.

[Startled reply (it's-fine) (um-sorry-for-reacting-like-that-it's-just-um-yeah)]

Ythe let herself relax, not wanting to be rude even if the creature in front of her did looked terrifying.

[Bewildered statement (you're-who-talked-to-me-in-the-tunnel)]

"The same. I am Tantabus, guardian of the sleeping and Deepnest. It is a pleasure to meet you face to face," Tantabus said, bowing their head.

[Shy greeting (it's-nice-to-meet-you-too) (oh-um-my-name's-Ythe-by-the-way)]

Tantabus dipped their head again, Ythe mimicked the gesture, hoping it was the polite thing to do.

"Shall we go now? Mother and Hornet will be expecting you," Tantabus asked.

Mother? Okay, that's a lot to unpack. Ythe pushed it to the back of her mind for later.

She nodded and Tantabus hovered away in the direction of the house with Ythe in tow. She noted that they buzzed their wings occasionally, but didn't seem to need to actually fly to stay in the air. They led her through the halls into a room at the top of the building. It was covered wall to wall in screens and buttons and levers and anything else you could think of to stick on a control wall. It was all unmistakably human tech. A revelation that had been building in Ythe's mind came rocketing to the surface.

What Tantabus had said back in the tunnels, the reason they looked like a wasp from Ythe's home world, hell, their name was clearly inspired by Greek mythology too. It was undeniable what was really going on and the more Ythe though about it the more it all made sense. All the weird differences from the game, all of it, it was because of Wasp.

Because Wasp was like her.

Ythe's mind was reeling as she stepped into the control room. Wasp and Hornet were sitting at a large table waiting for the pair. Ythe and Tantabus joined them at the table. Wasp was greeting them both but Ythe was hardly paying attention.

How do you deal with a situation like this? Where do you even start? What do you say?

Ythe was only half-paying attention when she agreed to let Wasp cast a "Speech 100" spell on her. Was she trying to hint to Ythe that she knew? Had she already figured it out?

Wasp explained that it would let her talk despite the lack of a mouth.

Ythe's mind whirled as she tried to figure out how to respond. Ythe needed to say something. She couldn't keep it to herself.

Should she just tell her she was also an isekai'ee? No, what if Hornet and Tantabus didn't know? She didn't want to reveal Wasp's identity by accident.

She could say something cryptic. Something vague that only Wasp would get. This wasn't a movie though. It would weird out everyone around them most likely.

She should just ask to speak with her alone. Yeah that seemed like a good plan. Everyone at the table was waiting for Ythe to speak. Oh gods, peer pressure.

Ythe took a deep breath. Everyone was looking at her. Ythe had never been able to think under stress, and humor had been her go to coping measure for as long as she could remember. Trying to lighten the tension by cracking a joke or saying something witty.

So when she finally spoke out loud, what Ythe meant to say, while staring Wasp dead in the eyes, was 'Can we talk in private?'.

What she did instead was blurt out the first thing that had come to mind when choosing what to say. Though she'd decided against it, the thought had continued to linger in the periphery of her mind. So what she ended up saying instead, in the harrowed, deep, and gravelly voice she'd been picturing in her head just a moment ago, was:

"I know what you are."

Chapter Text

Silence hung in the air of the control room like a heavy fog.

Wasp, Hornet, and Tantabus, who were thankfully the only witnesses to Ythe's blunder stared at the her while they processed what she'd just blurted out. Hornet and Tantabus were looking at her like she'd just spoken Latin.

Wasp's face was like stone, as to be expected for a vessel (Bug faces were surprisingly emotive if you knew what to look for). The only thing betraying Wasp's current feelings was how she silently opened and closed her mouth a few times.

"Do you only know how to speak English?" Hornet's voice cut through the quiet. The last word sounded odd coming from her mouth. A sound meant to be made by human vocal chords was something a bug's whatever-equivalent-they-had struggled to recreate. Ythe's subconscious had been translating the clicking, hissing language bugs spoke into something she could understand this whole time and it was only now that she'd realized it.

Ythe stared back dumbly at the other three bugs who were looking back at her expectantly. Eventually her brain came back to her and she was able to parse how weird it had felt to speak again after so long. It wasn't the usual hum in her throat she was used to either, it was more like her whole chest was resonating.

The voice that came out seemed to be tied to how she pictured it in her head, which made sense given that it was magic. She did her best to remember what her human voice had been like, but her memories were hazy.

Her voice this time still wasn't quite her own, but it was at least feminine this time. It had an airy quality to it, with that soft buzzy undertone other bugs had. It almost made her sound... digital? The most immediate comparison that came to mind was Cyn from Murder Drones, minus the stilted manner of speaking.

"No, I speak- um, normal? I just- I didn't mean to say 'I know-' I mean to say that. Accident," Ythe stammered. Hearing another person's voice speaking her words in sync with her was tripping up her brain. This was a weird, weird, experience.

Wasp inhaled deeply and brought her upper pair of hands up to her face, palms pressed together with her fingers pointed up like she was praying. A heartbeat passed and she brought her hands forward sharply, pointing them forward.

"Boi-"

Well, any doubts in Ythe's mind about Wasp were now thoroughly dissipated.

"So, we're absolutely having a talk about that later," Wasp announced. "How about we at least introduce ourselves first though."

Ythe shrugged. Oh, they were looking at her again.

"Oh uh, My name is Ythe, it's nice to meet you both," Ythe said, stumbled out robotically. Small talk had always felt like an alien language to her. Becoming a bug person be damned this girl had autism.

"I'm Wasp. This is hornet, queen of Deepnest and certifiable badass," Wasp introduced. Hornet dipped her head in a bow.

"We have already been introduced," Tantabus said with a polite nod.

"Cool. Now that that's out of the way I have a ton of questions," Wasp said, leaning over the table. "First off, what happened to you on the way here? You looked like someone threw you in a blender."

Ythe hesitated a moment before speaking as it took a second for her brain to recall everything and sort it into something legible. Ythe always had a habit of going into excessive detail and side tangents, and this story was one she couldn't help but elaborate on.

"I hatched like..." Ythe counted on her fingers and blew air out through her spiracles. "I have no idea how time works here. How long ago were the negotiations between Deepnest and Hallownest? Heim- Uhm, I heard a while back that they'd happened just two or three months ago but I don't know how long it's been since then," Ythe said, doing her best to swallow her nervousness from that near-deadly slip of the tongue. Her mind was already racing wondering if that had set off whatever ward the shiny-horned snob had put on her. Had she gone and fucked it all up in the first few sentences she even spoke?

She had to believe that she hadn't. It was close enough to 'hm' to slip by, right? And it would make no sense for the Emissary to give up his leverage when there was still a chance for Ythe to succeed.

"About six and a half months Hallownest time," Wasp said helpfully.

Had it really been that long? Time had seemingly flew by living with Heimich and Riebel.

Wasp looked like she wanted to say more, but refrained for whatever reason.

"When I hatched I... My egg was buried under the bodies of um... our siblings. I had to dig my way out," Ythe said, shuddering and clenching her fists. She'd pretty selfishly pushed the thought of the mass grave in the Abyss out of her mind for the past few months. Thinking about it made her want to storm whatever cell whiteboy Farquaad was being held in so she could trade him for Heimich's safety, then pummel him like the rotten sack of turnips he was.

She took a deep breath.

"I spent a long time with our siblings. They told me all about you and I figured if anyone, I could come find you for help," Ythe continued.

"I nearly gave up before I even got out of the Abyss 'cause when I got to the door it was sealed. But then I found this secret tunnel next to it that I escaped through. The Pale Emissary was right outside though and he and his guards chased me across the palace grounds. I escaped through the stag tunnels and ended up stumbling into the City of Tears."

Wasp tilted her head.

"Ugh, that douche. Somehow he manages to be even more pretentious than PK. Having to listen to him drone on about how great that baby murdering piece of shit was almost worse than hearing it from the fork-head himself," Wasp grumbled. "How come you didn't use the tunnel that led straight to Deepnest? It would've brought you straight into the Hive district where the bees could've found you and brought you straight to Deepnest."

Ythe stared at Wasp for a long moment.

"The. What."

Ythe threw her upper hands over her face, groaning in frustration. She could've been in Deepnest months ago! How had she not even noticed the tunnel? Least observant woman in the world.

But if she had gone that way... She would have never met Heimich in Kamman's shop. She'd have never gotten to know him or Riebel.

...But neither of them would be in danger right now because of her either.

Ythe dragged her hands down her mask before letting them fall back into her lap.

"Right. I spent like, I don't know how long in the city. I eventually found this guy that was willing to sell me a map to Deepnest, so I came right here once I got that," Ythe explained, keeping her voice level.

"The route had me go through the mantis village. The map guy told me it was abandoned but then I heard this voice. They were just talking to themself in this really weird way that scared me. I tried to slip by without them noticing but I accidentally made a ton of noise and they started chasing me. I got caught on some spikes which tore up my cloak, had to hide under a bookshelf and they-...

Something was... wrong with them. It was like... Bits kept falling off and they looked like they were growing right out of their shell. Like they were trying to molt but they grew way too fast and didn't have anything under the old one.

I got away but I ended up trapped in the throne room with it. I had to kill it before I could raise the cage again and I just- They wouldn't die! I kept hacking at them but they just kept coming after me," Ythe said, struggling to keep her composure. The image of the mantis crawling after her even after being gored to ribbons on the spikes flashed in the forefront of her mind.

She realized she was shaking slightly and wrapped her lower arms around herself. She was surprised to feel a hand on her shoulder. Hornet had come over and was standing next to her now. Ythe took a deep breath and tried to calm down.

"That definitely doesn't sound like regular infection... Maybe the moth bitch is throwing a tantrum because she got sealed? But that shouldn't be possible with Ghost sealed in the Black Egg Temple... Unless..." Wasp continued on muttering under her breath, seemingly more to herself than anyone.

Ythe shook her head furiously.

"It wasn't the infection. Their eyes didn't have the orange lights. They looked... I don't know how to describe it. They kept talking too. I think they said something about... something not being right. I can't remember," Ythe said, looking down at her hands as she fiddled with the edge of her cloak. "And the way the bits that fell off melted... I don't know how to explain it."

Wasp and Hornet were silent, though they kept exchanging glances like they were talking. There must have been some kind of communication going on but Ythe could only guess at how.

"That's... extremely worrying," Hornet said, not sure what to make of it.

"Understatement of the year," Wasp quipped.

Hornet punched Wasp lightly in the shoulder.

Wasp had asked Ythe a few more questions about minor details, thankfully very few being about the city, before deciding to relocate the conversation to the kitchen so they could have lunch. Wasp would visit the Mantis District later that day to talk to the Mantis Lords about what Ythe had seen. Tantabus had dissipated as they left the control room, presumably to go do whatever giant shadow wasps did in their free time.

Ythe, in spite of her usual anxiety about eating other people's food, was fully on board. She hadn't eaten in weeks, and though she didn't strictly need to eat it still felt like a need she had to sate, and if for nothing else, it was just nice to sit down and enjoy a meal.

Hornet and Wasp worked together to whip up something while Ythe sat awkwardly at the table. It felt rude to have someone do something for her while she just sat on her ass and watched, but asking to help also felt like overstepping her bounds, so she just sat in uncomfortable silence until they were done.

The pair had started chatting away with each other while they cooked, and continued to do so while they ate, leaving Ythe to stare at her plate. She picked up her lunch and admired it for a moment. It was unlike any earth food she knew of. Maybe she would ask Wasp or Hornet about it later.

Willing forth the void tendrils from just below the front of her mask, they happily wrapped around the morsel like the arms of a kraken around a ship before dragging it into the abyss of her void body. She relished in the flavor as it was broken down by her body into energy.

It was then that she noticed the five pairs of eyes divided among two faces directed at her.

"O-oh. Sorry, I should've warned you before I did..." Ythe waved her hands in front of herself to imitate the flailing motion of the void tendrils. "That."

Hornet turned to with eyes wide Wasp and practically shouted, "You didn't tell me you could eat with those!"

Wasp shook her head in response. "I didn't either! That's fucking awesome though! I thought it was just through the holes in our masks but that actually makes a lot of sense too."

Ythe shot up in her seat, leaning over the table.

"We can eat through our eyes!?" she shouted a bit louder than she'd intended. "I mean I kinda got the idea when I tried to put geo in mine but I guess I forgot."

"You tried to put geo in your eyes?"

Ythe waved her hands wildly in protest.

"I thought that I could store stuff in them cause like y'know, we're made of void and stuff and I figured it would be like a pocket dimension or something!"

She slumped back down in her seat and turned her gaze to the side poutily.

Wasp repressed a snicker.

"Why didn't you use your hammerspace? Or store it in that big shell you were wearing?" Hornet asked.

"Well it would have fallen out if I tried to carry it in my shell. I had to do a shit-ton of climbing and jumping and all sorts of stuff to get here. Wh- Hammerspace!? That's a thing!??" Ythe asked in bewilderment.

"It took me a decently long time to figure out to be fair," Wasp added.

Ythe sighed through her spiracles.

"I found this big cache of geo in the fungal wastes and I could've brought it with me and now I'm gonna have to go all the way back there to get it..." Ythe bemoaned. She stayed quiet for a moment. "Actually, nevermind. I'm not touching the mantis village ever again, not even with a fifty-foot pole."

"You don't have to worry about money while you're staying with us. That is if you want to," Wasp said.

Ythe was a bit shaken by the sudden offer. Part of her wanted to accept. She couldn't go back to the tower for the foreseeable future, and a cozy bed to retreat to was all she craved at the moment. But the premature guilt of what she knew she had to do weighed heavily on her.

If Wasp or Hornet noticed how long she had to think about it, they didn't say anything. Part of Ythe was grateful for that.

"S-sure, um... How... Like, um..." Ythe mumbled. "How long would you be fine with me y'now... staying here?"

Wasp and Hornet exchanged looks.

"You're a vessel, like Wasp, so that makes us half sisters through the Pale King. You're welcome to stay here as long as you want but if you'd prefer your own house we can give you a place in the village," Hornet said. Wasp nodded in agreement.

Ythe continued to stare at her hands as they picked at and smoothed out any imperfections in her cloak. Under normal circumstances, Ythe would probably have taken the latter offer. But the opportunity to keep close to the queen of Deepnest herself was too valuable to pass up. She needed every bit of information she could get if she was going to free PK within the year.

"A-are you sure?" she asked.

"I'm the queen, I can decide anything I want. If it makes you feel better, I decree that you, Ythe, are forever welcome in our home," Hornet said humorously with a pretend air of royalty.

It made Ythe's nerves a bit less jittery, and she looked up from her nervous fidgeting. Still, some small part of her in the back of her mind cringed. The specific wording felt like prophetic irony.

"Thank you," Ythe said, doing her best to hide the tears in her voice. It was a bittersweet feeling. She'd always lived with an uncertainty about her living situation. That had changed when she met Heimich, she now realized. She would do anything to get that back.

Anything.

Ythe managed to keep her emotions in check for the short rest of that conversation before Hornet had to leave to take care of queen stuff, leaving Wasp and Ythe alone in the kitchen.

"So, you got hit by truck-kun too?" Wasp asked, almost a little too casually. She'd waited until Hornet left the room, so that meant she probably didn't know and Wasp wanted to keep it that way.

The blunt question caught Ythe off guard. So they were doing this already. She wished she'd prepared mentally in advance.

"No. I mean I don't remember how it happened. I just remember being cold and then I'm in an egg," " Ythe replied, with far more bluntness than she would have thought she would have discussing her death.

It had been long enough since the initial shock that she just kind of felt.. numb about it. How else could she feel about it? If she let herself feel all of the grief right now she knew she'd be reduced to an inconsolable puddle of tears.

Ythe breathed in slowly and then let it out. How much did she want to tell Wasp? How much was there even to tell?

"I just- I don't know. How to feel. Awful, I feel awful, obviously, but just like. What do I do with this? I'm in fucking bug land. I know I have to face it at some point. I just don't know if I'm ready right now."

Wasp was quiet for a while. She didn't seem to know what to say and honestly who could blame her. Dying and being swept away to a video game world wasn't exactly a common topic of conversation.

"It took me a long time to come to terms with it. It was hard accepting that I'd never see my parents again. It hurt. But there's so much that I've done here that I knew I couldn't go back," Wasp said softly.

The two sat in silence for a while. Ythe thought over Wasp's words. She wouldn't miss dealing with her parents, that was for sure. Her siblings on the other hand... Thinking about them felt like a heavy weight being tied to her heart.

"I think... I think I just want to be as I am in the moment for now. Until I'm ready to... to deal with it," Ythe said, keeping her voice level.

Wasp blew air through her fangs. "I get that. You should go rest. I'll show you to the spare room."

Wasp stood up from where she was leaning against the counter and walked out of the kitchen. Ythe didn't move for a moment, but got up and followed out the door where Wasp was waiting.

She showed Ythe to the spare room before leaving to go to the Mantis District. Ythe was hesitant to sit down, even after she was alone, but eventually she laid on her back in the soft bed and stared at the ceiling. She'd always had trouble getting herself to fall asleep when she wasn't actively feeling the effects of sleep deprivation, but the weariness of everything that had happened in the past few days was enough to pull her mind into a deep rest.

When Ythe woke up she decided to just stare at the fabrics draped above her for a while. It took her a moment to remember where she was, and once she did she sighed and pulled herself out of bed, dropping to the floor. She'd always had that experience when she stayed more than a night somewhere. That moment of quiet confusion where you look around at the room, trying to match what you were seeing to the mental map of what you were expecting to see before it finally clicked that you weren't in your own bed.

The room was fairly nondescript, having most of what you'd expect for a normal guest room. A bed, places to store your things, and a small desk to use. Ythe's shadow creeper shell was laid solemnly on top of the dresser in the far corner. Sat like that it almost looked like it could've been alive, just waiting for something to come by and disturb it into motion.

Ythe stared at it for a few seconds, feeling sad. Maybe it was for the better. She'd all but made up her mind on it right then in that moment: Her goal was to have the best movement abilities possible, and a bulky shell on your back wasn't the right gear for that. She considered turning it into a shield once she was fully grown, but its flexibility and shape would make that impractical.

She stared at her pudgy baby hands while she thought. She'd never been very good at one on one combat in games and usually played some kind of long range attacker if she could.

In middle school she'd play online shooter games with a friend and she always played a sniper build. She fondly remembered one time she'd found a way to force her player character underneath some kind of industrial hvac thing on the rooftop of the map they'd been playing. It was right outside the enemy spawn and because of the way the game handled damage based on distance, a single shot to the foot had been enough to kill an enemy player in one hit. Not only that, but because she was technically inside the map geometry, she was completely protected against all damage, including grenades. It had been a riot, even if it was probably infuriating to the other players. She'd found a similar tactic wedging herself under stationary tanks on another map, though that hadn't given her the invincibility bug.

Playing Hollow Knight she'd found another way to do fun bullshit. Crystal dash did damage to any enemies you ran into, so she'd pushed it as far as she could. It really only worked in the fight with the lurking bug near the Colosseum of Fools, since that was the only fight in the game where the enemy stood still long enough for a bad player like her to actually hit with a Crystal Dash, but that didn't stop her from having a good time.

She grabbed her worn nail from where it was leaned next to the doorway and returned it to her back as she left the room. She had no idea how much time had passed and even if she could find a clock it wouldn't do much good. There was no sun or moon underground naturally, so judging how long it had been that way wasn't an option.

Ythe stepped out into the house's backyard and scanned the cliffside. It was decently large, plenty of room to run around or swing a nail. No one else was around at the moment.

If her calculations based on the info from Wasp about Hallownest's time system were right, she only had four months, less than half of what she thought she had. Top priority right now was making sure she was physically capable, and to gather as much intel as she could so she could formulate a plan.

Easiest thing to do right now would be to focus on training, so Ythe got straight to it. She was going to run laps around the yard as long as she physically could and once she found something to practice on she'd start training with her nail as well.

The Pale Emissary was feeling quite pleased as he strode down the halls of the White palace, overseeing the repairs. The Pale King would be most pleased upon his return. The Emissary was sure that his plan for subverting Deepnest's walls was most clever. The flawed vessels seemingly had instead of their intended purity, a great excess in attachment to whatever bug they may come across. A trait that served his purpose's quite perfectly.

The escaped vessel would do exactly as the Emissary commanded to save the traitor it had become so enamored with. And should it somehow fail... Well, no plan goes without its hiccups, the Emissary knew that.

Was it underhanded? Some may argue so. But the Emissary prided himself on such cunning, after all a true devotee of the king would ensure his liege's will through any means. No cost too great. Some may see him and think him a conniving backstabber, looking to snatch up the throne for himself. Those people were fools.

The Emissary was many things but one thing he was not was arrogant. He knew very well he was no god. His standing in this world and the power he held was ensured only by the Pale King's benevolent rule.

Besides, he had no desire to be an idol of worship. He preferred to do his dealings in private quarters.

The Emissary turned a corner and began to ascend the flight of stairs. What was he pondering again? Oh yes.

It had been a shock to see yet another one of those frankly eerie vessels fleeing across the Palace grounds. He had been busy in a meeting during the chaos of the flawed vessel's little show, so he hadn't truly been able to appreciate the spectacle the creature had made. It was unusual that yet another of the Pale King's prototypes had somehow 'reactivated' itself and after so long too. Surely the things had all been properly disposed of after the fiasco with the flawed vessel but it was not the Emissary's place to question the methods of his grace.

Unfortunately this new vessel had caught them at a time when the usual rotation of Kingsmoulds had been busy aiding in repairs to the palace, allowing it to escape. It bothered the Emissary to no end, but its eventual recapture alongside the traitor had provided an opportunity that more than made up for the incident in his eyes.

In the end, its unexpected arrival had become a boon. The risk was great of course. Should the flawed vessel uncover the ruse it was likely that it might once again assault the palace. And with repairs still yet ongoing, and the Pale King's absence, they would have no way to defend against its barbaric onslaught.

Should the unforeseen vessel break its silence however, the consequences would be immediate, and the flawed vessel would be denied a victory anyway. The Pale Emissary had collaborated with the lucky few scholars who had not been present for the destruction of the Soul Sanctum to place a specially crafted ward on the vessel during one of its periods of inactivity. It was designed to constantly send a pulse of magic to the Emissary and should it ever be removed, or the vessel reveal any information regarding the naturalist or the scheme, the pulse would stop, and the Emissary would be notified immediately.

He also had placed on the Kingsmoulds guarding the traitor naturalist another ward. At any point the Emissary could break said ward, and the same should happen if any harm were to befall him. There would not be time to reach the cell before the traitor's execution was carried out.

And of course most vitally were the wards placed all over the Palace itself. Carefully created to detect the presence of either vessel, while under the flawed vessel's spell of indetectability or not. They would send the same command as the Emissary's personal ward.

Yes, he felt quite confident in this plan. It allowed him a measure of carefreeness as he returned to his private room to tend to another of his minor headaches. They'd been getting more frequent ever since that odd day, but he was assured it was little more than a minor sacrifice to achieve his ends.

Drip. Scuff. Drip. Rattle.

Right on cue, the Kingsmould on his right shifted their weight ever so slightly back to the other foot, making the brilliant white armor it wore clink against itself softly.

Not a few minutes later, the one to his left changed their grip on its lance right as he predicted. They seemed to be creatures of habit, these Kingsmould, Heimich had noted. They were tiny, imperceptible unless you were really looking for them but then, it was all that Heimich could do to keep himself occupied to track each minuscule noise and change down in his prison cell.

He had crafted a hypothesis that these very constructs were the "stuffy bug-shells" Riebel had told him he'd refused to be put into. The general anatomy was comparable, though it was hard to tell through the thick armor plates. That, plus the repetitive habits were something he'd noticed in Riebel after so long of living with him. For example, they would always tap some part of their body in perfect rhythm any of the rare times they sat still. When they were idly dancing about the house there was a very specific path they would follow on loop, though to the outside observer it would seem like utter chaos.

That was where similarities ended. Unlike Riebel these strange soldiers were hardly the conversationalist types. For all he could tell, they may be entirely incapable of spoken speech as he'd never heard them utter even a soft grunt in his whole time around them.

That didn't stop Heimich from talking to them, however. At first it had been pleas of mercy and begging for freedom but he was always met with the same grim silence from his captors. He hadn't stopped his one-sided conversations though, rather now it becoming a habit born out of boredom and mild unsettling of the mind to ramble on about whatever topic came to mind.

Heimich didn't think the Kingsmoulds much cared for his lectures on ecology and anatomy but it kept him sane and that's all that really mattered. He would continue to do it until someone personally came down to shut him up.

The cell itself was terrible. Barely more than a dingy old room carved from natural rock. The door wasn't even kept shut, as there was no need to. Heimich had been strapped face down into a dreadful contraption consisting of a flat cart upon which he laid, the joint between his head and body shackled tightly in a yokel. Attached to it was a tall frame, at the top of which hung a deadly sharp blade.

Due to his position, all his weight bore down on the unhealed crack in his stomach's shell. It was an agonizing, constant ache that clouded his mind and hindered his breathing. Worse more was the mental anguish.

When he wasn't counting drips or talking idly to his captors, all Heimich could think about was poor Ythe and Riebel. Riebel knew how to keep themself hidden and safe, and they would have the good sense to flee into the wilds should the tower be searched by the kingdom's authorities. But poor Ythe... He'd failed her.

More than the burn of his injury, a crushing heat burned in his chest imagining the tiny grub subjected to the same conditions as he, or worse. That was the thought that terrified Heimich the most. Ythe was no ordinary grub but a progeny of the Pale King himself. A discarded sacrifice before she'd even born from her egg. The so-called flawed vessel had a bounty placed on its- her head simply for the crime of escaping that fate. What would be done to the vessel the kingdom deemed broken and worthless?

Those feverish dreams had returned to him once more as well. Her warm voice was more alluring than ever, promising to him a relief from pain, all could want including the strength to protect those he held dear. But Heimich saw what became of bugs that fell to Her honeyed words. He would be of no use to Riebel and Ythe if he was reduced to one of those mindless, violent husks.

His idling thought were momentarily interrupted by another hacking cough. Saliva flew from his mouth, and he could see the lightless black drops that spattered across the rough stone among it.

One of the best things about being a vessel was that Ythe didn't really get tired anymore unless she really pushed herself. She could run in circles for hours hours on end without feeling so much as sore with the only limit being however long it took for boredom and dizzyness to set in.

At some point she'd had the idea to try reading while she ran, leading to the fairly absurd scene of a grub sprinting circles around Hornet and Wasp's back yard with a silk scroll in hand and struggling to keep it steady enough to read. It had helped her improve her literacy a bit, but trying to read the shaking letters made her feel nauseous after only a short time. It hadn't even occurred to her how ridiculous it looked until Wasp brought it up over dinner one night.

So she'd given up on that. She switched to carrying rocks instead while she ran, hoping to boost her speed and strength. Agility was also something she wanted to spec into hugely so she spent a great deal of her workouts practicing in a makeshift obstacle course of her own making. When she wasn't working on her speed or dexterity Ythe would climb up and down the cavern walls. Being able to move vertically was a necessity in Hallownest and without wings she'd have to settle for second best.

She'd forsaken her mantis claw pretty much right away as it didn't turn out to be as useful as in the game where you could air strafe back into the wall once you leapt off. Wasp had shown her how to harden her claws with some Soul, and with a little practice Ythe was able to consistently channel a small trickle of it into them. The extra durability meant she could cling to walls much easier without having to worry about her fingers getting hurt.

The changes were immediately noticeable even after only about a week and a half of training. She'd shed a bit of her baby pudge, enough that she got mistaken for an actual grub far less often by the residents of Deepnest. Though she'd also gained a bit of a reputation from the numerous times an adult had come up to her asking where her parents where only for her to respond in perfect High Palean with the voice of an adult which probably had something to do with it as well.

During a break from her running, Ythe scuttled over to the far side of the yard where there was a silk curtain set into the stone. It had caught her eye the first day she'd arrived and it had been a source of curiosity ever since. She kept meaning to ask one of the sisters about it but it always slipped her mind. Right now she was pretty sure both of them were out so if it had something to do with secrets she could use now was the time to find out.

Ythe scanned the surrounding yard just to make sure she was alone and finally pulled aside the wall of silk that had been nagging at her for days. Beyond was a whole other section of the yard, seemingly carved out of the natural stone and converted into a workshop. All kinds of tech and machines and drawings and diagrams and written notes covered the space from wall to wall. The gadgets and devices were all in various states of completedness, some fully put together while others looked like they were still being developed.

A lot of it was things she recognized like guns and other conveniences of the human world. Some things looked more magical in nature, with strange patterns and runes carved into- Actually, on closer inspection as she slipped past the curtain into the room, she realized that the runes were actually just English words carved into the surfaces of the objects in rough, blocky letters. Even stranger was that she recognized the writings as popular memes and references.

Were they just for the sake of looking cool, and the choice of words just inside jokes, or could there actually be something more to them? At this point she would have to ask Wasp about it the next time she saw her. After she pretended to be innocently wondering what was in the workshop at all of course.

What caught her eye the most though were the guns. Up until now she thought she would have to fight with swords and spells, but who needed any of that when she could just blast threats away with a safety glock!

Guns had never really been an intrest of hers for most of her life - she mostly saw them as something only drywall punching guys named Kyle would be interested in as a hobby but her mind had been opened by a little video she'd found online called Zach's Gun Rants. It turned out guns were far more interesting than just shooty bang sticks. Mainly it had been the mechanical aspect that got her hooked, especially super weird and experimental firearms like the Gyrojet pistol or the Konstantinov SA-01.

Remembering suddenly that her 'quick' peek had now become a multiple-minute long peek, Ythe hurriedly rushed back out the doorway and let the curtain fall closed behind her. She nervously scanned the yard once more, then the windows of the house looking down on it to make sure no one had seen her. There was not a single person in sight thankfully, so Ythe hurried back to her training.

Before she could though, she was stopped in her tracks by an accusatory voice.

"Snooping as usual I see?" Wasp said in an exaggerated voice, then laughed when Ythe practically jumped out of her skin, hissing loudly through her sides.

The air in front of Ythe shimmered and Wasp appeared. Ythe stared at her in shock before apologizing profusely for intruding. Wasp waved a hand.

"Don't worry about it. Who wouldn't wanna admire my handiwork?" She said proudly.

"Right. Oh, I was going to ask you; I noticed that all your stuff has phrases and memes drawn on them. They're like runes, right?" Ythe asked, having to crane her neck to look up at Wasp.

"Shit, yeah. I'm surprised you figured it out so fast. I honestly kind of forgot you would even know how to read them, it's been so long since I've been around another person from... our world."

"So how does it work? Can you just write down anything and it works?"

Wasp made a noise like sucking air through teeth with her spiracles.

"Magic in Hollow Knight is pretty much entirely based on belief and will. There is some logic to it, but for the most part it just has to do with you believing it will work," Wasp explained. "Which- Is why I'm not going to explain any further than that. It's all too easy to accidentally introduce subconscious biases to someone and I don't wanna limit your potential."

Ythe nodded along, fascinated. What she was hearing right now was: 'This system has holes and you can exploit the ever living shit out of them.' Ythe glanced back at the silk curtain.

"Would it be okay if I borrowed your workshop a little bit? I already have an idea I want to try out," Ythe said, unable to contain her audible grin.

"Feel free to any time. I don't spend too much time in there as of late anyway. Too busy trying to save everyone from Moth Bitch and all that," Wasp replied. "Oh, one thing though: Don't mess with my guns or touch anything that has to do with Tantabus' core. I'll put sticky notes or something on the off-limits stuff."

Ythe nodded enthusiastically, still only mostly paying attention. As soon as Wasp walked off she was back in the workshop to start experimenting.

The kingdom of Deepnest proved to be strange and wondrous. The warrior had never seen anything quite like it, though... his memory remained hazy. Small pieces had begun to return to him, but they were minuscule and fleeting and trying to grasp them was like trying to catch Zhe-Ma Flies with only one's hands.

The warrior had quickly come to learn that he had been mistaken about the two sisters he had met at the gates. The taller, more imposing sister was not the queen as he had assumed. Rather, the shorter of the two, Queen Hornet of Deepnest was. The taller, who he'd learned was called Wasp, crown princess of Deepnest, The Mad Godling, Miracle Maker.

In fact there were many names she was known by, though when the warrior had tried to address her in the proper manner she'd seemed... uncomfortable? He wasn't sure how to react to a royal asking him to simply refer to her simply by title and name. It seemed that Deepnest's customs were far unlike what the warrior was used to.

Admittedly, the warrior had found his first few weeks in Deepnest somewhat disappointing. He had hoped to serve by the blade in defending the innocent but it seemed that he had arrived not long after the war had come to a stop by treaty of peace.

Still, he had been making himself as useful as possible, helping the elderly and indisposed move things, assisting in minor building projects, even lending a hand in Deepnest's wonderful housed gardens. Though perhaps he might have gotten a little overzealous with that last task. The other workers had been a bit surprised when he began removing weeds by slicing them from the soil with his blade. And he may have shouted a battle cry or two while he was at it.

The day had finally come that Ythe would start combat training with Flipclaw. She'd been diligently training her body to be strong and fast as fuck, and now Wasp had decided she was ready to try out for the combat classes. Apparently Flipclaw was super strict about who she did and did not allow to train under her.

She'd accidentally stayed up all night practicing with her nail out of anxiety in anticipation of the assessment. Hornet had expressed a bit of disapproval when she found her still in the yard come morning. She knew that vessels didn't strictly need sleep like normal bugs do, but she still insisted both Ythe and Wasp try to get rest at least most nights. She especially made sure Ythe got at least a bit of sleep each night. Ythe wasn't sure if it was because she was technically a grub or what, but she felt too touched by Hornet's concern to complain.

The family had breakfast together in the kitchen as usual, something Ythe had actually come to enjoy despite her nervousness. She'd settled in much quicker than she would've expected to. Hornet had even started teasingly calling Ythe her 'littler sister'.

Ythe found out at some point that Hornet had spent the first few years of her life an only child and ostracized by other kids in Deepnest for only having four limbs instead of the usual eight weavers had.

For her part, Ythe was happy to be included as well. Things were nice here like they'd been in the tower with Heimich and Riebel. And she'd been able to learn much more about how things worked in this world thanks to Wasp. Given she was originally not from this world like her, she knew to point out things other bugs wouldn't even think twice about.

Mainly she wanted to study magic after seeing all the crazy shit Wasp had pulled off making up her own spells using memes of all things as a basis. Wasp had restricted Ythe from directly studying her spells so as to not place biases and subconscious limitations on her, which was a little frustrating but Ythe understood why it was necessary. She helped Ythe learned the basics and nothing else. Things like manipulating your Soul pool to change its shape, which Ythe may or may not have gotten a little carried away playing with.

In her old world, there was a species of frogs called Glass Frogs that had the ability to draw all of their blood from their heart and organs while they slept, which combined with their transparent underside and insides made them extremely hard to detect to predators. Ythe had taken inspiration from them and applying it to her Soul pool manipulation, she'd discovered that if she carefully distributed her pool across her whole body, her Soul became nigh impossible to detect by the average bug.

A person's Soul to bugs was almost like what a scent is to cats or dogs. Everyone's was unique and could identify you to those who knew you. So changing the shape of your Soul pool made you 'feel' like another person, which people obviously found pretty uncanny.

And if that felt unnerving, Ythe making her Soul pool completely undetectable was pretty much felt like running into an Alternate from the Mandela Catalog to them if she had to guess based on reactions.

She'd quickly gotten into mischief with this newfound ability, sneaking up on people with her Soul hidden before jumping at them with a shout or frightening noise. Her favorite method was to stay completely still behind them, then let her Soul Pool return to her chest all at once while simultaneously folding it into a random shape to create the feeling that some stranger had literally just appeared out of thin air behind them.

She'd even managed to catch Wasp off guard once with it. And while it had earned her getting knocked flat on her ass by a powerful, armored tail, it had been so worth the shocked screech Wasp had made.

Even Tantabus had fallen victim to her antics. When Ythe pulled the trick on him after she'd snuck up directly behind him while he was talking to Hornet in the War Room she'd scared him so bad his physical form demanifested out of shock and it had taken him a hot minute to collect himself enough to manifest it again.

Tantabus 'saw' all of Deepnest by comparing the ambient Soul present everywhere to the concentrated Souls of bugs and beasts, so he was used to having a fully mapped out 3d picture of his surroundings, including everyone in them.

Ythe felt so bad about it afterwards that she'd built a little model Garpede -since they were his favorite beast to watch roam around Deepnest's wilds- for him as an apology.

Anyway, today was Ythe's first day of real combat training, if she impressed Flipclaw enough. Both Wasp and Hornet were going with her, Hornet being especially excited to watch Ythe's run through the obstacle course.

As they led her to the training ground, they met up with a gruff and battle-scarred looking spider who was overseeing the trainees below. Mostly weaverlings, but there were a handful of young mantises and bees as well. All of which were equally getting yelled at on how they were standing wrong or holding their weapons incorrectly. Ythe wasn't a big fan of yelling, so the idea of being one of those trainees suddenly felt a little less appealing.

Flipclaw gave the queen and crown princess a polite bow as Hornet introduced her to Ythe. The tough looking spider stared at her silently, obviously judging her.

"She's meek. That won't do for my class, favor for the queen or not," Flipclaw said bluntly. There was clearly a lot of respect between her and Hornet. Ythe did her best to stand straight and look at least somewhat less nervous.

"Though I won't lie. I am interested to see what she can do given Wasp's record," she said, staring Ythe down once more. "Have you ever handled a weapon before?"

"Yes ma'am," Ythe said stiffly, turning slightly to show the handle of her nail peeking over her shoulder.

"Hell yeah she has. She encountered some kind of mutated monster mantis in the abandoned village and beat the thing on her own with no training whatsoever," Wasp said. From the way her chelicerae were clicking Ythe could tell she was grinning.

Ythe shifted her weight from one foot to the other. That felt like way too much credit given she'd let spikes do most of the work and had barely managed to kill the thing with her nail even when it was weakened by its severe injuries.

"Hm. Very well, I'll train her. But I expect dedication, no slacking off," Flipclaw said before turning to the trainees below and shouting for them to take a break.

Before she would even join the class properly Ythe would have to run an obstacle course to prove her fitness. She'd been vaguely aware of it thanks to Wasp, but it was far larger and more imposing looking than she'd pictured. Much more the military kind than the fun ones she associated the words 'obstacle course' with.

Flipclaw led the group over to it, the other trainees gathering on the side to watch. There was no small amount of murmuring and whispers.

“Alright, rules are simple. You have to pass each obstacle and remain inside the boundary lines for the entire course. Any methods are permitted so long as you don't skip any obstacles, so no gettin' off the course and going around. You start on my mark and finish by ringing the bell at the end. Oh and please if you can help it, try not to destroy any of the course," Flipclaw said, side-eyeing Wasp, who began to whistle a basic tune, clicking her chelicerae in a grin as she did.

Ythe stepped up to the starting line and adopted a runner's stance.

“Get ready, set, mark!” Flipclaw shouted.

Ythe took off in a sprint, earning her a small handful of surprised exclamations from the trainees. Mostly from the buzzier sounding voices of the bee kids and perhaps some of the mantises as well, though their voices were far more similar to the weaverlings so it was hard to tell without looking.

She'd had plenty of time to look at the first obstacle, being simply a large field of pillars set just close enough together that she would have to dodge around them to get through.

Ythe dove headfirst between the first row, landing horizontally on the first pillar past those two and latched on with her claws. Using her momentum she swung herself around it and let go at just the right time to send herself flying between the next few rows.

As soon as her feet touched the ground she was running again, nimbly dodging and weaving between the pillars with ease. After nearly getting crushed by the falling debris of the thrones dexterity had been one of the main things she'd focused on improving.

She could hear Wasp and Hornet cheering loudly for her.

There was a small stretch of open ground between the end of the pillars and the next obstacle, this time a long stretch of webs suspended over a pool of water. Ythe easily sprinted over the sandy section, landing on the bottom of the net leading up to the suspended section with a leap.

Ythe wasted no time in scaling the net ramp and onto the webbing. She channeled her inner gremlin as hard as she could and scurried across it on all six as fast as possible.

Rather than dropping down the other side, she coiled her legs as tight as she could while clinging to the edge before launching herself straight over the next little stretch of sand and directly onto the ropes ahead. She would have to scale them to reach the ledge high above, occasionally stopping to move from the top of one rope to the bottom of another sat just a little distance away. While she was a fast climber, she had an even better idea for this.

In the game, you could climb vertical walls extremely fast if you abused the movement system just right by rapidly leaping off and clinging to the wall over and over. Unfortunately in reality you had to obey Newtonian laws of physics and couldn't simply will yourself to fall in the opposite direction you jumped.

Unless you had bullshit magic.

Activating her air strafe spell which she'd been working on for the past week between workout sessions, she leapt onto the first rope and dug her claws in hard. She flung herself straight up as hard as she could, using the spell to make sure she fell right against the wall again. It only took a couple jumps before she scaled the whole thing and came leaping over the edge, taking off sprinting again as soon as her feet hit the ground.

The next section of the course proved to be the hardest, requiring her to roll a heavy barrel through a winding path full of barriers to catch it up on. With no tricks this time, Ythe did her best to steer the unwieldy thing through, having to stop multiple times when it got wedged in a corner.

The last portion was probably the simplest, just a tall stone wall she had to climb over to reach the bell on the other side. Using the same air strafe trick as before, she managed to scale it even faster than she had the rope wall.

As soon as she reached the top she swung herself over and dropped down the other side, catching the wall right as she came level with the rope connected to the bell. She summoned every ounce of strength her little grub legs could muster and launched herself straight at the rope. She twisted herself at just the last second to face the way she'd come, an idea having sprouted in her mind.

When you used the Vengeful Spirit spell, you got pushed just a tiny bit in the opposite direction it was sent. Speedrunners used this to get just a tiny bit of extra horizontal movement to skip certain barriers.

When the spell had hit the mantis it burst into pure energy and knocked the thing back through the air. So what if instead of releasing her Soul in a concentrated projectile, she let it immediately disperse?

Ythe summoned the ball of Soul in her chest and concentrated it in front of her, pressing it down as hard as she could until it was a tiny, volatile orb of brilliant light. Rather than pushing away from herself like before, she let it all go in an instant. It was difficult to make herself do it. Like trying to go limp and let yourself fall to the ground her brain sent protests of danger. Eventually will won out and the Soul was unleashed explosively. There was even a loud Pop! sound that briefly deafened her.

Ythe cackled like a madwoman as she went soaring through the air riding the shockwave as her audience looked on, stupefied. She kept laughing raucously as she hit the rope and grabbed on tight, her momentum yanking it harshly and making the bell ring loudly.

She slid down to the ground and began swinging it back and forth wildly as she continued cackling. Her chest hurt so fucking bad but it was so, so worth it between the shocked looks of the trainees and the loud cheering from Hornet and Wasp. Flipclaw simply sighed and shook her head lightly.

Ythe started out training with the nail Ogrim had gifted her but Flipclaw had stopped her after just an hour of practicing her stances and swings. The nail was completely unbalanced for someone Ythe's size and in pretty poor condition to boot (Flipclaw had refrained from commenting about the... peculiar color crusted into the grooves in its surface). The only reason she'd been allowed to use it in the first place was because it was so dull an accidental strike on another trainee would leave little more than a scrape.

Flipclaw brought her to the equipment shed while the other trainees practiced and had her chose one of the training blades. At first she'd nearly picked a needle because that's what Hornet used and Hornet was an absolute badass, but after a bit of deliberation she went with a nail instead.

Needles were basically the bug equivalent of spears and as everyone knows, spears are the best melee weapon ever invented, no contest. Having reach trumped basically any fancy moves you might be able to pull off with a shorter weapon. You opponent could parry and slash all the like but it wouldn't do them any good if they couldn't even reach you without entering stabbing range.

But what Ythe really wanted was to be a ranged type fighter. Her clever spur of the moment use of Vengeful Spirit had inspired a multitude of ideas for spells she wanted to try out. Why even give the enemy the opportunity to hit you when you could just blast their ass into next week from a hundred feet away?

Of course, she knew she couldn't always rely on an enemy to stay far away. So naturally she would need a side arm in case she did ever have to fight in close quarters. Despite needles' superiority, they did have one drawback; a long stick is harder to swing around than a short stick. And if an enemy combatant did come close enough to warrant melee, her sidearm would need to be something she could draw and have readied in less than half a second.

As soon as Ythe got back onto the training field and into stance, she could feel the difference with her new weapon. Her old nail, which she'd handed off to Wasp for safe keeping, had been too long and heavy for her to reasonably wield with her arm fully extended. The nail Flipclaw had helped her pick out felt nearly weightless by comparison.

All of the training weapons had a silk cuff attached to the handle, which Flipclaw explained were there to make the edges magically dull and harmless. Once you graduated from the class they would be removed as part of the ceremony and the nail or needle would be yours to keep. Most bugs joined the class when they were the equivalent of a teenager, almost fully grown. Since Ythe was a grub though she would likely have to trade out her nail for a larger one once she hit her first few molts. And judging by Wasp's stature (as well as the game's Hollow Knight) she was going to get a lot taller.

Ythe strolled into the corner of the workshop Wasp had cleared out for her and plopped down on the floor, sitting criss cross. She pulled her nail from her back and set it down in front of her, alongside a few carving tools she'd nabbed from Wasp's worktables on the way in.

Truthfully, even with Flipclaw's rigorous training, and despite the fact that she'd easily caught up with the rest of the class thanks to her vessel physiology allowing her to train for hours on end without needing breaks, Ythe still sucked with a nail. Close combat just wasn't her strong suit. Being right up in her sparring partner's face shrank her field of vision uncomfortably narrow, making it difficult to keep up with their attacks.

But that hardly mattered. She was going to spec into a long range combat build anyway, so one on one melee skills were a low priority. Still, an unprotected angle is just begging to be exploited, so she would continue practicing with her nail.

There was no combat training class today so Ythe had plenty of time to work on her personal projects. She decided the easiest thing to start with would be her training nail. Flipclaw probably wouldn't mind and even if it didn't work out how she hoped she could probably just fix it with another spell. Probably.

Having been a huge fan of Percy Jackson ever since she was a kid, the choice for what enchantment to add first felt obvious. Percy's sword, Riptide, always returned to him if he lost it, reappearing on his person whenever he needed it. It would be extremely useful for Ythe since she had a habit of misplacing things.

Ythe wasn't sure exactly where to start, but Wasp's club just had phrases and memes carved all over it so if all she had to do was believe her runes would work to make them do so, the simplest and obvious choice was to just use the name of Percy's sword for the inscryption. Yeah, yeah. Wasp did want her to work on her magic free of external biases but the idea was already in her head and there wasn't much she could do about it now.

It took hours of careful planning and measuring to make sure the lettering came out just right, but eventually Ythe scratched the final slivers of metal from the surface of the blade, finishing the blocky text. It was a bit sloppy, and didn't catch the light on faceted surfaces like she'd been picturing, but for her first time ever engraving it came out pretty well.

Her first test of the enchantment was to toss the blade over the edge of the cliff the house was next to, which she only realized as she watched the blade sail through the air into the waters below was probably over-zealous. Dread creeped up on her as the seconds ticked by, the reality of having to climb all the way down there to retrieve the faulty blade becoming more well, real.

But just as she was about to go find some rope, a familiar weight manifested on her back. Reaching over her shoulder, her fingers clasped around the wrapped handle. Ythe did a small victory dance right then and there, swinging her enchanted nail around haphazardly while giggling like a maniac at her success.

Eventually though she returned to the workshop and started packing supplies into her hammerspace. The nail was just a proof of concept you see. Ythe had far bigger and more complex ideas in the works. But before she could construct them she would need to do some research. She grabbed the last few things she would need, a notebook and a pencil, and headed out for the caverns of Deepnest.

Chapter Text

What do you do when you're in a hostile ecosystem where you're the only thing that doesn't have sharp claws and teeth and great strength? You use a weapon. And what weapon was better than a gun? You point at thing, loud noise, high velocity tiny thing hits thing, thing dies. Simple, yet effective! And what was even better than a gun? A magic gun, duh!

At first she figured she would just use one of the guns Deepnest already produced, but on a whim she'd changed her mind, deciding that she wanted her signature weapon to be unique. Something people would see and immediately associate with her. Something specially suited for her style of fighting. And ever the stubborn artist she decided to make the whole thing herself.

There were so many real-world options to choose from though. Her first thought had been an M1 Garand, because how could she resist the bad-assery of the 'Ping'? Though, with great 'ping' comes great drawbacks. At least there were when compared to the fairly modern assault rifles Deepnest had thanks to Wasp's engineering.

There was the Sjogren Inertial Recoil Semi-automatic shotgun, another one of her all time favorites. But shotguns weren't great for long range shooting. A Konstantinov SA-01 was cool, but assault rifles weren't her style, hence why she decided against any of Deepnest's existing guns to begin with. Any kind of sniper rifle would be cool, and was usually her choice of weapon in games, but it would be impractical for the high-movement high-dexterity build she was going for.

Maybe it would be funny to use a Pancor Jackhammer? Wasp was definitely a bit of a gun nut if the wide variety of firearms she had in her workshop were any indication, and the urge to annoy her with an overrated experimental and barely functional gun was almost too great to resist.

Of course, then Ythe would have to deal with the cost of using said experimental gun that barely works and which you have to disassemble to reload.

But then, why worry about actual gun mechanics when you can just magic the thing into working? You could just summon new rounds right into the chamber, make the bullets explode or freeze on impact. Better yet, why even limit yourself to the ammo a shotgun is supposed to use? A Pancor Jackhammer firing sniper rounds was probably the most delightfully cursed thing she could think of in terms of guns.

The problem was she wouldn't be able to make a Pancor Jackhammer if she couldn't remember how the thing looked. She would have to base her gun off something else. Definitely not something of her own design. She knew a bit about guns but definitely not enough to make one that didn't look like it was drawn by a bored middle-schooler during class.

Better yet, if she was disregarding conventional gun mechanics (as cool as they were), why not make one of—if not her favorite fictional gun of all time? Barely a minute after she'd had the thought, she was already drawing up design schematics and figuring out how she would go about it.

First she had to build the gun itself, which she had thought would be the easiest part since most of its design would be functionally cosmetic. But it turned out to be just as complicated as making a normal gun, requiring precise carving and etching on tiny parts to make it all work.

Most important and difficult was figuring out how to replicate the Vengeful Spirit spell with runes. It took an incredibly long time to work out, as she had to repeatedly use the spell herself so she could piece by piece replicate the "feel" of it in runes. It was like trying to recreate the experience of a feeling with nothing but colors on a page. Maybe if she had synesthesia it would have been easier.

She tweaked the runes until she got them to create the spell with less Soul but hyper-condensed into the bullet she was looking for, which had the bonus effect of it doing more damage like she'd hoped. It was maybe a little too effective for how little control she had over which direction it actually went in, which lead to more than a couple close calls where she was nearly hit by a stray projectile.

Finally, she would need a power source. Using her own Soul pool would be inefficient since she would have to get into melee combat to replenish it. And after some deliberation she chose to base the design off Soul Totems. It was really the only thing in the game she knew of that actively accumulated Soul. The knight either had to get it from hitting enemies directly or resting—which as she had guessed in her old life and now knowing from firsthand experience—took a lot longer than just sitting down for a moment.

Fortunately the Hidden Village had one right below it, just on the shore of the small lake that filled the entire bottom of the cavern. Unfortunately, Ythe had somehow managed to break it while she was trying to pry it open at the seams which she'd discovered hidden in its surface. In the game you could hit it with your nail as much as you liked without leaving so much as a scratch but a chisel was enough to shatter one like a pot? The best she could figure it was either some kind of magic nonsense or they were just indestructible in the game for gameplay reasons. She was ashamed to admit it, but in her anger she had shouted more than a few expletives at her fuckup along with a hammer that was forever lost to the middle of the basin lake. She really hoped no one above had heard her.

Ythe had no clue how to repair the broken totem and figuring that out could take weeks, months even. With the Emissary's deadline approaching, that wasn't something she could do. She was left with just one option—and that's why she was currently struggling to traverse the winding outer tunnels of Deepnest in search of another.

Damnit-!

Ythe lunged forward to get out of the way of a charging garpede she'd failed to notice before crossing through its tunnels. They didn't seem to be hostile, given they never deviated from their well-worn routes to give chase. And if that wasn't any indication, the lasers strapped to their heads were a dead giveaway that these things were tamed in some way or another. Ythe just knew this was one of Wasp's ideas and she admired the creativity a lot. The garpede's natural behavior of patrolling a set route and indiscriminately chewing up anything that got in their way must make them pretty good guard dogs.

It was just as well. Her gun, although fully built and assembled, could only fire weak dummy rounds; the best she had been able to produce from what little remained of the runes carved into the Soul Totem. The tiny metal capsules could only hold a tiny amount of Soul and the time for a full recharge was barely any faster than her own Soul pool would regenerate when at rest.

Ugh, I should've asked someone for a map before leaving.

Ythe had been walking for what felt like hours. For all she knew a day or more could have passed already thanks to being underground plus her poor sense of time. If Deepnest was hard to navigate in the game, having to find your way in person was impossible. The tunnels weren't conveniently squared nor did she have the ability to see what was ahead or around her, only what was directly in her immediate line of sight. And by all accounts her sense of direction had always been absolutely crap.

By this point she'd remembered that Tantabus was always just a sorta-hivemind call away but she wasn't quite at the stage where she was willing to face the embarrassment of admitting she got over-zealous and ended up lost. Though it seemed like she was quickly approaching that stage.

A few minutes ago she'd started seeing mushrooms popping up on the walls and not the small glowing kind that grew all throughout the tunnels. It seemed as though she'd managed to wander all the way up to the Fungal wastes, which was putting her on edge.

I'll go just a little bit further and then I'll turn back...

A little bit further turned into quite a bit further which steadily crept up on being much further than first intended. Ythe had already come all this way and didn't want to have wasted all her time and effort for nothing. Surely she'd spot that dark surface striped with glowing lines after this bend... Or maybe the next...

Maybe the universe felt bad for her, or maybe she'd actually beat the sunk cost fallacy, because only a few minutes of walking and climbing later the sight she'd been hoping to see around every corner for hours now finally met her eyes.

Tired, dirty, and with a nearly empty Soul pool from having to Venge-boost her way out of the paths of numerous garpedes, Ythe was ready to give up. But exasperation was swiftly replaced by exhilaration and Ythe rushed over to the stone statue, pulling her notepad and pencil from her hammerspace. She quickly got to work jotting down as many details as possible.

Once she was done making sketches of every conceivable angle she put her notepad aside and began to examine the Soul Totem more closely. It turned out you didn't have to strike them to collect from the reservoir held within—a simple touch was enough to do the trick, albeit slower.

The most important thing she discovered was that the totem seemed to have a glow about it she hadn't noticed on the previous one. So faint it was impossible to see unless she really looked closely. She quickly dispatched the nearby glowing fungus with her sword to make the room darker.

What she found was that the glow wasn't radiating off of the stone. If she focused hard enough, she could see what looked like tiny gossamer threads floating through the air like mist and gently flowing into the surface of the Soul Totem where it was absorbed.

Ythe ran her fingers through the imperceptible currents and watched transfixed as they swirled into eddies around her fingers, the soft glow becoming ever so slightly brighter. They even seemed to slightly gravitate to her skin, microscopic dew droplets forming on her where they were instantly absorbed. She could feel her Soul pool replenishing ever so slightly quicker.

Retrieving her tools from her hammerspace, Ythe searched the Soul Totem with her fingers for the seam. She hoped foresight and luck would let her take it apart safely and put it back together once she was done.

Placing the sharp edge of the tool in the widest part of seam she could find, Ythe carefully tried wiggling the chisel back and forth. So far, no give. She cringed at the stone crumbling at the edges around the metal implement as she applied a bit more force. Who knew how old these things were or if the method for making them was even still known.

The stone still wouldn't budge though, forcing Ythe to take a harsher approach. She picked up the backup hammer she'd brought with her and began gently tapping the butt of the chisel, going all around the seam to hopefully weaken whatever was holding the stone parts together.

Ythe methodically went around and around the statue for hours, carefully chipping away at the seam. Even then though it seemed like she was making no progress at all. Frustration began to build, with her hammer strikes getting more and more aggressive. In a moment of anger and desperation, she hit the butt of the chisel a little harder than she meant to.

The blade of the chisel slid deep into the stone with a sharp crack. Ythe felt like she herself had become a statue. Even the air around her seemed to freeze as seconds ticked by, her gaze locked on the totem.

Eventually something had to happen, and since the totem wasn't going to move on its own, Ythe was forced to take the initiative. She carefully extracted her chisel, wincing as tiny bits of debris and threads of Soul escaped from the fracture. She gave the top half of the totem an experimental tug and found that with only a little resistance, she was able to twist the top off in one piece and drop it on the floor as gently as she could manage.

The totem turned out to be hollow on the inside like she thought. Inside she found lots of runes carved into the interior surface and she quickly got to work making diagrams and notes of them all before unloading the rest of her kit from her hammerspace. About a dozen blank stone tablets, some carving tools, and a lunch which Hornet had delivered to her in the workshop not long before she'd left.

Neither of the sisters actually knew she was out here right now, and in retrospect she should've asked them for help as they both knew Deepnest far better than her. In Ythe's excitement to finally complete her gun, she hadn't even thought of it. Oh well. She was here now.

She quickly got lost in her work. She spent an indeterminate amount of time jut carefully copying the totem's runes onto tablets, having to adapt them onto the flat slate like mapping an inside-out Earth, then onto the tiny cylinders designed to fit into her gun. A few additions of her own bullshit-brand meme runes (and one or two borrowed from Wasp) and Ythe had a functional prototype. Loading it into the frame, Ythe donated a bit of her Soul to top off the tiny cylinder-shaped totem and took aim at a large mushroom on the far wall.

It was instant, a streak of white light that made the fungal cap explode into chunks. Only Ythe, who was intimately familiar with the inner workings would have known all that had gone on inside the gun to make it happen.

When the trigger was pulled, it activated a rune on the back of the miniaturized totem, forcing it to expel all of the Soul stored within. Sealed within the chamber, the Soul had nowhere to go but forward, rushing into the barrel where her modified runes inscribed in the bore used it to form the heavily compressed version of the Vengeful Spirit spirit, then, as the spell traveled down the barrel, more runes accelerated it to insanely high velocities like a magic railgun.

Ythe couldn't help but throw her hands in the air with a shout and do a little victory dance right there on the spot. Finally, it was complete! The culmination of weeks of work to create a near-perfect replica of the iconic Revolver from Ultrakill. Ythe admired the tall, rectangular barrel, the glowing slits along its length, the heavy grip that sat comfortably in her hand. She spun the cylinder, making the glow from the single miniaturized Soul Totem turn into a streak of light.

Well, technically it wouldn't be complete until she could make the other five little capacitors. It would serve a similar function as the game's version, giving each Soul capacitor enough time to fully recharge before it was its turn again.

She wouldn't be able to use any of the gun's other fancy abilities until later either. The Piercer alt fire would require all six capacitors and she hadn't even started designing the coins for the Marksman variant yet. She planned to make her revolver capable of both functions instead of two individual firearms like in the game. Mechanically the only difference between the two was what the little onboard display where a cocking hammer would normally sit showed, so if need be should could just make it switch between the two modes. Or just have the chargeup symbol for the Piercer alt fire sit in the top left corner. She didn't plan on adding the Sharpshooter's wall-to-wall ricochet ability as frankly she never really liked using it when she played Ultrakill.

Ythe came to a halt in the middle of the tunnel, stopping the cylinder of her revolver which she'd been spinning idly as she walked. She could had sworn there was a faint whispering. It was the third time now she thought she'd heard it. It must have been some trick of her imagination because yet again it seemed to disappear as soon as she tried to focus on it. Probably just some random noise her brain was misinterpreting as voices. Maybe the swish of her cloak? She spun in place a little to see. It just sounded like soft silk, nowhere close enough to be what she thought she heard.

Just as she was ready to dismiss the eerie sound entirely, she was stopped in her tracks not more than a few feet from where she'd paused. Right around the bend she found herself right in the path of a garpede. But this one didn't charge her down. In fact, it didn't move a muscle from where it was lurking at the far end of the tunnel. There was something different about it too. Unlike the other garpedes she'd caught glimpses of, this one didn't have a starry night sky in its eyes. She needed to ask someone about that when she got back. She didn't remember them looking like that in the game.

It must have been asleep. Unfortunately for Ythe it had chosen to nap right in the middle of the tunnel she needed to go down. She was retracing her steps to get back to the village, so an alternate route wasn't an option. No big deal, she would just have to slip by without waking it.

Using her glass frog Soul trick (gods, what a mouthful), Ythe began tiptoeing along the wall toward the sleeping beast. She kept her eyes locked on the thing's face the entire way, watching for any movement or reaction to her presence. She had an unshakable feeling that it was watching her back, tracking her movement as she crept. But the way bug eyes worked it would be impossible to actually tell where it was looking even if it were awake.

Foot by foot the distance closed between her and the garpede's form. Now that she was up close to one she could really appreciate just how huge it was compared to her. She watched its body expand and contract slightly with its breath. It looked just like the rapid undulation she'd seen insects in her world do with their abdomens.

Ythe sped up a little bit, wanting to get past the thing already. She shifted her focus to the ground ahead of her to avoid bumping one of its legs. As she passed between it and the wall, she was hit by a sickly sweet and acrid smell. Hurrying her pace a bit more, she took a quick glance behind her to check on the garpede's condition again.

Cold, faceted orbs met Ythe's gaze. The garpede's head was turned backwards to face her, its sinister eyes locked onto her. Ythe's stomach jumped into her chest. There was a long beat where the garpede simply watched her, and she watched it. But distracted as she continued to creep by, she tripped over one of its legs.

Time seemed to freeze as she fell backwards, arms flailing to regain balance. She watched in slow motion as the garpede's entire body tensed, jerking to attention. It let out a chittering roar that echoed through the tunnel, making dust fall from the ceiling.

Ythe managed to catch herself on the wall—and just in time as the garpede began to thunder after her. She took off like a rocket down the tunnel, frantically checking her single Soul capacitor. It was barely half charged. There was no way she would be able to Focus her Soul to refuel it unless she stopped. Ythe shot a glance over her shoulder. The garpede was hot on her trail, mandibles gnashing wildly.

Ythe checked the capacitor again. She couldn't tell if the charge had increased even the tiniest fraction. It would have to be good enough. Ythe waited for just the right moment to aim over her shoulder and take a shot right at the massive garpede's face.

The white streak found its mark just above the beast's right eye. It screeched in pain, whipping its head back. But its charge barely slowed, and only seemed to pick up in frenzied speed.

Slamming her foot to the side, Ythe dug her claws deep into the cobbled stones. She only barely made the sudden turn into an adjacent tunnel she'd been lucky enough to have spotted in the split second after she turned back around.

The sound of thundering legs came to a crescendo, then leveled out before fading away with an enraged roar. It didn't take long for the rhythmic marching to pick up in volume again. Ythe ducked around every corner and up every ledge and down every drop and squeezed into every tight pass she saw. But the roar of hundreds of claws on stone never left her. No matter what she did it was never too far behind. The moment of initial fright had startled her into dropping her glass frog Soul trick and now she was unable to focus on the little ball in her chest long enough to start doing it again.

When the march became slightly distant again, Ythe dove head first into the first little crevice she spotted; a little nook set in the roof of the cave, and forced herself against the wall. Struggling to combat the adrenaline rush, she spread her Soul out across her body just in time for the garpede to come rushing under her hiding spot like a runaway subway car of death.

She listened to it come to a halt in the dead end a few meters ahead, everything falling silent. Silent, save for the erratic heaving that came and went in between sudden moments of quiet. Ice crept up her back and down all four of her arms, making her hands feel weak.

I have to- I need- I need to get out of here! Oh gods why? This can't be happening again-

Ythe wanted to simply drop down behind the garpede, but the back half of its body was still filling the tunnel below. She waited with baited breath as it moved by, ready to drop the moment the way was clear. Finally the tail end disappeared into the tunnel. But just as she was about to step of the ledge, pebbles tumbling down to the floor below, the head of the beast shot past, pausing just beneath hear. If she were to drop right now, it would be right into those rabidly gnashing jaws dripping with yellow-green-tinged saliva.

Ythe carefully opened the cylinder of her gun and examined the capacitor. A little over one-third refilled. Would it be worth it to drop her glass frog trick in order to refuel it and hope she can get a good shot at the beast's eye?

No, she would wait until it was in a position more advantageous to her. If it would move at all. The garpede so much as twitched for a while now, and it seemed like it was going back into that semi-dormant state she'd found it in before.

Shit. Of course it would decide to sleep right in my way, of course! The universe hates me!

Could she dig herself to safety? Not quickly with her tiny claws. And the first rock she pulled loose would only roll right off the small ledge she was perched on and onto the garpede's head, alerting it to her location immediately.

Fighting was out of the question. Even at half capacity her shot had barely left a pock mark in the garpede's thick shell. And there wasn't even a chance her nail would penetrate its armor either, not with the magic cuff dulling its edge.

Options depleted, Ythe reached out as far she could with her mind. She wasn't sure if she was in range of anyone anymore with how far she'd run, but the cave walls were still distinctly of Deepnest, so it was worth a shot.

Before she could send out a word, a sound echoed through the caves, slightly muffled by the wall of chitin and muscle blocking her hiding place's entrance, but it was unmistakable as a voice.

"Ythe! Tantabus said you were being attacked are you-" Wasp shouted, but her sentence was drowned out by the chittering, snarling roar of the beast. The sound reverberated through every bit of Ythe's being, making her chest tighten and her brain rattle.

"Wasp watch out!" Ythe cried, but it was useless. The garpede shot into motion at unnatural speed, rushing out from below her as it went after the newest thing of interest. Seizing the chance, Ythe dropped her Soul obscuration and Focused her Soul pool to flow into the capacitor. With only a single full-charge shot, she dropped from her hiding spot and rushed after the beast's quickly retreating tail.

There was a loud boom followed by a crack and a grunt. The tail of the garpede stopped dead, giving Ythe half a second to come to a stumbling halt as well. Wasp was presumably at the other end but with the beast filling the tunnel wall-to-wall it was impossible to get to her.

Ythe jumped back as a low rumbling filled the space, and the garpede's tail crept towards her. A muffled roar shook the space as the thing rushed forward once more. She could hear Wasp battling the monster's head end but it was impossible to tell who was winning. With another lunge forward came a pained shout that pulled Ythe to action.

She leapt onto the beast's back end and dug her finger claws into any purchase they could find, using her feet to kick and claw at every little gap that opened up between the invulnerable armor plates.

Ythe was nearly thrown off as the garpede was sent stampeding down the narrow tunnel. She had no clue what was happening at the head end but she held on tight nonetheless, wincing in pain every time the chitin plates pinched her fingers. She wished she had teeth to grit.

Sound suddenly became clear again and as Ythe looked up she saw the garpede had carried her and Wasp into a larger chamber. She was clutched in the mandibles of the beast yet doing everything to bash its head in all the same.

No longer constrained by the tight tunnel, the garpede writhed and thrashed about, trying to simultaneously attack the little bug clinging to its back and shear the large one in its jaws in half.

"FUS-ROH-DAH!!!" The words boomed throughout the chamber and with a flash of light the garpede was sent rearing up with a screech of pain. When Ythe could see again, she saw Wasp was no longer in the monster's grasp, instead she was hovering high above on opalescent wings.

With its prey out of reach now, the garpede's distorted mind became laser-focused on the pain in its back. In a split second, it lunged for Ythe, who was still clung to its shell. She barely had time to rip her claws out of the squelching flesh and kick herself off. With wild abandon the garpede clamped down anyway, crushing, shearing jaws breaking impenetrable shell. It hardly seemed to care about injury when it wasn't coming from something it could hunt, chunks of white meat tearing off in the serrated edges of the mandibles. Its only focus was the little thing stumbling away from its side not ten feet away.

BOOM!!!

The second lunge was swiftly denied by a shining silver-white club coming down hard on the beast's back so hard it was momentarily pinned to the ground before rebounding off. Ythe dashed out of range of the dripping mandibles and behind cover.

With its attention now drawn back to Wasp, the monster had its back exposed to her. Rotating the cylinder to align the single capacitor with the barrel, she took aim and fired. The shot hit the beast just behind the head, just inches from the vulnerable membrane connecting the plates of the garpede's armor. It wasn't entirely in vain though. Despite the longer distance, it left a sizable charred pit in the chitin that was the epicenter of a spiderweb of cracks.

Fire power has exponential drop-off with reduced charge—noted.

The room shook with another trilling screech as the garpede's head snapped back, curling backwards over itself like the corpse of an ancient beast postmortem to bore holes in Ythe's soul with its cold eyes. The shattered remains of the head-mounted laser hung loosely from its head. Greenish-yellow blood seeped down from the laser-shaped shallow crater in its exoskeleton and ran down the metal scraps, dripping to the floor below.

Ythe only had enough time to register the sight before it twisted over itself in a mad dash to snap her up, but with its underside now exposed it was hit with another "FUS-ROH-DAH!!!" that sent it tumbling into a writhing heap. Ythe Focused as fast as she could, pouring Soul into the capacitor.

Wasp danced in the air, unleashing a flurry of spells and taunts and strikes with her club, too agile on her six wings to be caught by the garpede's mandibles again. Ythe followed suit from the ground, running circles around the monster to further disorient it. It seemed to send the thing even more into a frenzy, unable to chose a single target to focus on.

She took shots when she could, aiming for the gaps in its armor or its delicate eyes. Her Soul pool afforded her three of them before it ran dry, throwing off the pattern she fell into of "gain distance, find opening, take shot, flee to recharge". It tripped her up just enough to make her momentarily loose concentration on the fight and before she knew it, a wall of chitin came crashing into her, sending her flying across the room. She hit the rock with a thud that would have knocked the breath out of a normal bug.

Dazed, she spotted Wasp hovering near the cave ceiling and with arms outstretched she began to flicker and emanate darkness, arcs of void-black lightning shooting across her form. An abyssal haze had begun to coalesce at the roof of the cave, making it seem like she was staring up into an endless, empty night sky. Both Ythe and the garpede were transfixed by the flashing darkness, only somewhat aware of the smell of ozone quickly filling the room. The air began to crackle as the arcs reached a crescendo, Wasp a living storm cloud shining dangerously at the peak of the cavern.

"RAIKIRI!"

An explosion of dark erased Ythe's vision, blinding her equally as much as the resounding boom deafened. When her vision returned, she almost couldn't believe what she was seeing. a blackened crater had formed in the center of the room, too deep to see to bottom of yet so wide Ythe was at risk of falling in. Motes of void fell lazily from the air, giving the entire scene a dreamlike feel.

"Hey! Are you alright? I might have went a bit overboard, my bad." Wasp called out, snapping Ythe from her daze. She swooped over to her and helped pull her away from the edge of the smoldering crater and to a side of the room that had a bit more space to stand without being too near to the edge.

"I- Y-yeah," Ythe said, her hands unable to stop shaking and her back aching and stinging from the impact with the stone. The fight over, the tension in her body were able to relax a bit.

"Krrrgghkk....... Hhhggkkk.. grhhgggkkk...."

Both Wasp and Ythe froze, heads swiveling to the crater. From its black depths rose a charred and broken form. The mass slowly uncurled, snarling and gurgling. The garpede, dark as the stone beneath it, raised its head to glare at the two of them, its face burned beyond recognition and yet against all reason, its eyes remained unscathed. Two icy orbs that burned with freezing malice. The disembodied pair of eyes slowly rose from the crater, inching closer to Wasp and Ythe.

Wasp breathed, raising Raid as she dropped into an offensive stance. "How the fuck is it still alive? That should've flashed-fried its ass into oblivion." She was clutching her side with one of her arms and Ythe could see dark void blood seeping from the cracks in her shell.

The eyes were steadily picking up speed.

It was then that Ythe started to pay attention to the shuddering in her right hand. It wasn't her that was shaking—it was the revolver. It vibrated in her hand, small arcs of the same black lighting shooting across its silver-gray surface. The single capacitor glowed with an increasingly intense corona of white that became near-blinding to look at.

Without a word, Ythe raised the revolver to meet the monster's head just as the charred and twisted mandibles wrapped around her tiny form. The recoil nearly ripped the gun from her hand. A bolt of crackling energy that was both searing light and suffocating dark ripped through the air making it cavitate and rebound in explosive rings. The world went dark again for just a moment, like a lapse in reality itself.

In an instant the garpede's head was what could only be described as "erased". The blast had torn straight through with no resistance and out the back of the neck, leaving only the body behind. The stone on the far wall had met a similar fate. The small bore hole was so charred it was impossible to tell from where they stood how deep it ran.

"Holy-" was all that Wasp managed to utter before Ythe slipped into unconsciousness.

Pain. Her head felt like it was splitting. Her entire body ached and it felt like she'd broken bones in some places. Ythe was assaulted by a cacophony of worried, hurried voices talking back and forth, some overlapping. She dared peek her eyes "open", which she quickly regretted, as even the slightest bit of light felt blinding.

"What... What happened...?" Ythe asked the voices. They all went quiet, then became a hurricane of relief and concern. Ythe recoiled at the sudden noise to which they softened. It took her a long time before she could open her eyes again, and once she did she found herself laying on some kind of cot. The stone ceiling not far above told her she was still in the caves.

A small crowd of people were surrounding her cot and the one beside it where Wasp was sitting, a hand resting on her head. She immediately recognized the faces of Hornet and Tantabus, and Flipclaw's scarred face soon after that. She picked out a couple more Weavers she'd seen around town but the rest were strangers. One with a vibrant red shell and a missing horn stuck out to her among the crowd of spiders. Most of them were wearing some kind of samurai armor and carrying automatic rifles. It was a bizarre combination to say the least but Ythe was in no state to comment on the mish-mash of aesthetics.

She pushed herself onto her elbows, grunting as the pain became blinding. Hornet and Tantabus rushed forward along with two Weavers who must have been medics judging by the bags they were holding. Ythe was already Focusing though and they held off a moment to let her heal herself.

Her Soul pool was little more than half full even after resting for who knew how long, and even using every bit she had only helped soften the worst of the pain. Aches still throbbed in many parts of her little body, the worst being in the forearm of the hand that had been holding the revolver and her back from when she'd hit the wall.

Ythe slowly pushed herself fully upright, sitting criss-cross in the middle of the cot. She scanned the small crowd around her again, as well as the room they were in. There was nothing distinct she could see, so for all she could tell they were anywhere between right next to the brand-new crater and just outside the gates of the Hidden Village.

The two medics were still hovering over her so she allowed them to give her a once over to make sure her injuries were stable. One of the two, who introduced herself as Sigourney gave Ythe a handful of little herb-smelling cubes which she was instructed to eat. Ythe couldn't help but giggle at the Weaver's name which created a great deal of confusion for the spider, but said Weaver was used to the princess' eccentricities by this point.

For a long time many believed that Princess Wasp was just odd by her nature. This idea was further strengthened when the King's vessel, Ghost, had arrived with their passive and quiet nature in strong contrast to the princess. This newest arrival had sparked a new theory that vessels were just Like That and Ghost was merely and outlier due to the abuses they'd suffered at the hand of the Pale King.

Not feeling well enough to summon her void tendrils, Ythe opted to just toss the blocks into the eye-holes of her mask. It felt so, so wrong putting things right in her eyes again, but they passed right through painlessly into the void within her were they were immediately absorbed.

It only took a moment for the pain to be relieved a bit more, now reduced to just a minor ache in the worst injured spots. She even felt a bit more energized now, the fog of her mind having cleared. Stretching, Ythe tested her body.

The plan now, from what she learned from Wasp and Hornet, was to simply head back to the village (they were indeed just beyond the battle site) and recoup while they figured out what to do —if there was even anything they could do— about this apparent new threat.

Some of the Weaver warriors would be staying behind to guard the crater while the rest accompanied Wasp, Hornet, and herself home. If the garpede did manage to get back up again though, Ythe doubted they would fare much better than she and Wasp—a literal goddess—had.

She insisted on examining the corpse herself, despite her still injured state. She wouldn't allow for even the possibility of the thing coming back. Thankfully, it seemed to be completely, absolutely dead this time.

As a matter of fact, before Ythe could even finish studying the remains, they had begun to slough and decay. The same way the mantis had. What little white flesh was left turned black as it melted into a reeking slurry that looked like a concoction of oil and ash. Soon all that was left was an empty shell, but judging by the way Ythe could watch in real time as the sharp edges lost definition and shrank away like melting ice, even that wouldn't last. By the time she was completely done even the puddle of sludge that had once been flesh had become little more than a dried shadow on the already dark stone

With some help from Hornet Ythe crawled back out of the pit and rejoined with the others. One of the beasts she'd studied in Heimich's scrolls were garpedes, and while the information available was inevitably sparse, there were comprehensive anatomical diagrams from specimens that had been found far beyond their usual territory.

"It's all kinds of messed up, but it would be hard to tell unless you were looking for it. I'm not even sure how to describe it; It's like bits all over just started curling or growing or changing with no real rhyme or reason. The plates on the back, they're sort of peaked in the center. They should be smooth and mostly flat..." Ythe relayed to Wasp and Hornet and the group of Weavers standing behind them, half thinking to herself. "The legs are more muscular too, and absolutely covered in fractures. Around the joint connecting them to the body as well. I can't tell if that happened during the fight or what, but if I had to guess? They're because of the unnatural speed it was moving at. Literally breaking the limits of its own anatomy."

"It's..." Ythe took a deep breath through her sides. "I think- no, it is connected to the mantis I encountered in the village. There's too much in common to be a coincidence. And I think the infection can be entirely ruled out. I couldn't find so much as a trace of it and that's beside the fact that Radi is currently sealed."

Wasp had a dark look on her face, her chelicerae were clenched tightly. Hornet had similarly troubled expression. The Weavers were exchanging glances and whispered words.

"Goddamnit. It's got to be that ROB bastard. What, did I throw too much bullshit around? Not my fault you let me get here with all my foresight," Wasp spat quietly. So quietly Ythe wasn't sure if Wasp had meant to say it aloud at all.

Wasp brought a hand up to her forehead and massaged the spot between her upper pair of eyes despite the fact that she wouldn't even be able to really feel it through the hard shell. "Let's head back to the village. I want to start looking into this shit ASAP."

The trek to the village was shadowed by a miasma that hung over everyone's heads. Wasp had chosen to go on foot with the group even though she could have simply flown. Ythe couldn't help but notice that Wasp seemed... tense. Nothing about her outward appearance had changed, she still carried herself with the same graceful confidence but Ythe could feel her internal turmoil. Hornet seemed to pick up on it too.

The Weaver warriors were quietly talking among themselves at the back of the procession, speculating about the new threat, about the show of power they'd all heard of before but only now were they able to see it with their own eyes if only the aftermath, but what caught Ythe's attention most was their talk about her. She thought they couldn't possibly be talking about her when she heard the words "new godling" but her suspicions were confirmed when they mentioned her by name.

Godling? Do they really think I'm some kind of god like Wasp? I guess I am the child of two gods, technically three if you count the Void as a god-like force.

Ythe studied her upper set of hands, pouring over every detail of the pudgy, void-black flesh of her palms.

I definitely don't feel like a god. Wasp was a grub when she got here so I guess they think I might turn out the same. That's a lot of pressure though... And I doubt they're going to like me once-

Ythe was pulled from her thoughts by a gentle tap on the shoulder. She looked up.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Hornet asked softly, having lagged behind sightly to fall in step with Ythe. "If it's not too soon to ask, could you tell me about the fight?"

Ythe was hesitant to reply. Truth be told she didn't really know how she felt. She felt like she owed it at least to Hornet to not lie and just say she was fine.

"I don't know. Shaken, I guess. I'm not in immediate danger anymore so that's... good. It's like there's this buzzing in the back of my head though. I don't really know how to describe it," Ythe said slowly, fiddling with the edge of her cloak. In an odd sort of way, it was comforting to have a matching outfit with Hornet. Like sharing it made her less of an outsider.

"From what Wasp told me while you were unconscious it was a difficult fight, but you did really well. What were you doing all the way out here in the first place?" Hornet asked.

Ythe pulled her Ultrakill revolver from her hammerspace. Holding it up she clicked the cylinder out to show Hornet the single capacitor glowing softly. Wasp slowed her pace slightly to get a look as well.

"I needed to study Soul Totems to finish this cartridge. It accumulates and stores Soul to be used by the gun for a specialized version of the Vengeful Spirit spell. I um... I broke the one under the village so I had to find another. I'm sorry."

Hornet gave Ythe an inscrutable look. "I honestly had no idea that was even there so don't worry about it."

"Oh, okay. Thank you," Ythe said. "I probably should have told you I was going out."

"Wasp used to do the same thing," Hornet said half-teasingly in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Hey, I left you a note! That counts!" Wasp retorted. Ythe could hear the grin in her voice.

"Sure, whatever you say, sister. Are you sure you're alright? You've been unusually quiet," Hornet asked.

"Huh? Oh, just thinking. Sorry. I'm worried about this new infection or whatever it is. I have no knowledge of it like I do the Radiance and I hate not having that edge.

I have my whole plan laid out for dealing with the bitchy lamp, and I was ready to just go throw hands with her and save everyone and all that good stuff, and while that's still the main goal, this has definitely made things a lot more complicated," Wasp said bitterly.

"Are we sure it's an infection like the Radiance? It was kinda hard to tell from what was left but it didn't seem like the same sort of thing. Wait, oh no, I was all in its guts and stuff. What if I'm infected?" Ythe said, halting. The Weavers behind them who were listening in on the conversation stopped as well, looking between each other worriedly.

"No, I think you have a point. It doesn't seem to be like the infection or a normal virus. Else we should be seeing other infected aside from just that one garpede seeing as we're nowhere near the mantis village entrance and garpedes don't tend to wander. Plus, we're effectively immune to all kinds of diseases or poisons since our insides are made of Void, so that wouldn't be a concern anyway," Wasp replied. Ythe picked up pace to fall in step with her again. Not easy since one stride for Wasp was about six jogging steps for Ythe.

"We need something to refer to it as," Ythe said, walking between the two sisters. "Maybe like 'aberration'? If I had to describe what I saw in the mantis and the garpede I'd have to go with 'aberrated'."

"Is that even a word?" Wasp asked, glancing down at her.

Ythe shrugged, then hummed an "I don't know" noise. Turning the images of the warped garpede in her mind over again she tried to think of any details she may have missed initially.

"There's no sign of the infection, or void sickness, or anything I know about from the g- visions," Ythe thought aloud. " And like you said it wouldn't make sense as to how that garpede in particular got infected so far from mantis village if it were a virus... But then how would we know for sure there aren't others that are infected?"

Wasp shook her head. "Tantabus keeps track of every single garpede in Deepnest along with every other creature. He would notice right away if a bunch of them got sick and report it," She explained. Her gaze drifted ahead again in thought.

As they passed through the village gates the Weavers split off from the group leaving just Ythe with Wasp, Hornet, and that red-shelled warrior she'd seen earlier. Just before they reached the house they stopped, the red warrior turning to address the sisters.

"Queen Hornet of Deepnest. Princess Wasp of Deepnest. My thanks for allowing me to accompany you, and for my continued stay in your kingdom. Should you ever need my blade, I am always at your service," he said, bowing.

Hornet perfectly matched his rigid bow. Wasp's was a little less accurate, but she was clearly making the effort to be polite. They exchanged a few more formalities and the warrior bug bowed again and curtly walked off.

"Who's that? I don't recognize him," Ythe asked.

"No idea. He just showed up at in the outskirts of Deepnest a little while ago looking to fulfill some kind of honor code. Apparently he came from outside Hallownest so all his memories are gone. I don't recognize him either so he must have either moved on or died before the infection starts showing up again in the original timeline," Wasp replied, following Hornet into the house. Ythe followed after her, slipping through the door before Wasp closed it behind them.

The three of them went straight to the war room, Tantabus arriving in physical form a few minutes after them. His head was bowed and his mandibles quivered.

"Mother, you've returned! I'm sorry I did not come right away. I've been scouring every inch of Deepnest since you left trying to find any sign of more rogue beasts. As far as I can tell, that was the only one. Eight days ago I lost track of one of the garpedes and I had assumed it merely died. This is my fault, mother," Tantabus said morosely.

Wasp strode forward and wrapped all four arms around the huge, ethereal wasp.

"Oh baby boy, no. You did the best you could under the circumstances. If I didn't see it coming no one could have."

Ythe joined Wasp and hugged Tantabus' front leg.

"If you hadn't sent Wasp I'd probably be dead right now. Or still stuck in a hole above a mutated monster.

"If you hadn't sent Wasp I'd still be stuck in a hole right next to a rabid garpede, or chewed to death. What do you mean you couldn't sense it though? How'd you know I was in danger then?" Ythe said.

Tantabus chattered his mandibles in thought.

"It was not unlike that unnerving thing you do with your Soul. But when you do that, it's like you fade into the ambient Soul present everywhere. When I saw you fleeing, and watched more closely, I noticed that where I thought there was nothing behind you, it was like there was an absence of Soul entirely."

"So you're saying it had no Soul at all? But how could anything have no Soul and still be alive? Even the tiniest little skitter-y things have Soul," Hornet interjected.

The room fell quiet.

"I think top priority is gaining intel," Wasp said. "I'm going out ASAP to see if I can find anything in the other parts of Hallownest. For all we know there's already Aberrated all over the kingdom."

"You're leaving?" Hornet asked.

"Yeah. We have no clue what we're facing here. That one garpede gave both of us a run for our money and even a 'Raikiri' wasn't enough to put it down for good. Even in the best case scenario we're dealing with some kind of super zombie outbreak where they get all juiced up like Bane," Wasp replied, pulling out a notepad from her hammerspace to jot down some notes.

Hornet's chelicerae fell open, not even acknowledging the English word Wasp had dropped. Ythe's jaw would have dropped too if she had a mouth to begin with, but not for the same reasons as Hornet.

This was the chance she'd been hoping for. Wasp was the biggest obstacle in her plans, and Ythe had spent months trying to come up with a way to draw her away from Deepnest or otherwise leave her indisposed.

With her far away in other parts of Hallownest Ythe might just stand a chance if she played her cards right. She tried not to let the excitement and anticipation show in her posture. It took every ounce of her willpower to not blurt out the obvious question lest she rouse suspicion. Hornet was quick to ask it on her behalf.

"How soon?"

"A few weeks. I need to upgrade Deepnest's security before I leave to make absolutely sure we don't have another incident like this," she responded.

Shit, nothing good comes for free and it looked like the universe wanted to make sure that balance was paid.

"Can I help?" Ythe had already blurted out the question before she'd put much thought into it. Too late to back out now. "I-I have some ideas for new security features. So if you don't mind I'd love to help."

The breath between her final word and the response felt like an eternity.

"Sure, I'll take all the help I can get. A new perspective would be an advantage too. You might be able to notice things I missed," Wasp said.

The rest of the meeting seemed to speed by as Ythe's mind rushed, thinking of new plans and strategies to use when the time finally came. Before she knew it, everyone had wrapped up and was leaving to go focus on something else. Ythe absentmindedly followed them out, mumbling something about going to rest.

It wasn't a lie, she did head straight for her room with the intent to sleep a bit after all that'd happened. In fact as she climbed under the silk sheets she realized it was the first time she'd stopped to rest since she'd begun working on her revolver — which she'd decided to simply dub the "Ultrakill Revolver Version 1" or UKR-V1 for short. It must have been what, days?

Staring up at the ceiling, Ythe tried to relax and let herself slip off to sleep. But her mind wouldn't stop spinning with thoughts. The excitement at the opportunity handed to her. What she would need to do to prepare, ideas for how to sabotage Deepnest's security, plans for when the day finally arrived. But most of all she was troubled by just how real it all suddenly felt.

From the day she'd been set loose from the White Palace she knew this day would come, but it had always felt like something to think about tomorrow. Now? It was tomorrow. And she had to face what was to come. What she was about to do. She didn't end up getting any sleep.

Chapter Text

Yes, you read that right, I'm rebooting this fanfic as of uhh like a couple weeks ago I think? The decision came about after only getting partway through chapter thirteen and then not working on it at all for a long time. I just don't know where to go with A Not So Stillborn Vessel anymore. I have an ending in mind (which I'll spoil below) but at this point in the story I just can' think of things for Ythe to do to get to that point. That, and a couple of other things have lead me to make the choice to completely start over. I apologize to those of you who were excited to see it continue. Worry not, the new fic will be much the same, just higher quality, better thought out, and will share many of the same plot beats if not similar ones to the original fic.

Let me start by explaining why I'm rebooting ANSSV. (If you want to skip the essay, the link to the new fic is at the very bottom of this "chapter")
As stated, I feel like I've written myself into a corner, and the only way to get out of it is to back up. Like all the way up. When I started writing A Not So Stillborn Vessel (then A Poorly Titled Hollow Knight Fic) I had literally no writing experience beyond school writing assignments which I hated lmao.
I was using the built in word processer on my old laptop, which didn't even have a word count. I had no idea how much I was writing, and no clue what a reasonable goal was, so I tried to get the highest Kilobyte number I could - very bad and unreliable, don't do this!

I'd just finished reading A Not So Hollow Knight, and felt inspired to write my own fic. Lacking any original ideas I thought it would be cool to write a continuation fic featuring my own self insert vessel. I went into it with the mentality of just doing whatever I thought of as I went, no planning. Not a great system. I started planning out my chapters by just writing down a wordspew summary which I would later go over and write out fully, also not something that worked very well for me. And finally I made the smart decision to download a proper word processor (LibreOffice if your curious, would recommend). I was still aiming for 10k word chapters and doing the wordspew first draft method up until I stopped writing chapter 13. (I'm now setting much more reasonable word goals for myself and just first drafting like a normal person lol)

I have two other main reasons for why I chose to reboot the fic: A. Mysterious Warrior and B. Wasp and by extension the eldritch god-titan

As for the Mysterious Warrior (who's name is Shodoran btw) I added him mainly just because he was one of my Oc's and I didn't want Ythe to be the one sacrificing herself at the end. I'll elaborate on him and his story below. Frankly I just don't feel like writing him anymore. It's not that I dislike him, but it's hard giving him enough depth while not being a main character, and I don't feel like writing multiple MCs for my first large writing project. The problem is I already set him up as someone important, and had planned from the start for him to play a major role in the ending, so I couldn't just cut him.

Now Wasp, I really like Wasp if you couldn't tell by the fact that I wrote a fic of the fic she's from lol. However it has dawned on me as I've grown out of being a teenager that trying to write someone else's oc is... awkward? Like, I don't want to mischaracterize her, but I also don't know how to write her faithfully. So I'm in a weird position where I have to super sideline her and minimize how much she's actually on screen. Now the other issue it that I created The Last God-Titan specifically as a foil to Wasp's bullshittery (more on that below) and so to have the main antagonist be like, not the foil to the main character, but rather a side character... Yeah it's just not gonna work lol. At least I'm not experienced enough to make it work.

So that's why I'm rebooting this fic, not rewriting it. It won't be set in A Not So Hollow Knight's timeline anymore rather it'll be in the main Hollow Knight timeline just like how ANSHK began. So needless to say Wasp won't be in the new fic. But that just gives Ythe more opportunity for her own magic bullshit :). The story will still take heavy inspiration from ANSHK, and I'll reuse many plot beats including ones y'all haven't even seen yet.

So now that that's out of the way, let me fill you in on what won't be making it into the reboot but hasn't shown up in A Not So Stillborn Vessel so you all can get answers and so all this cool stuff I thought up doesn't just get left to collect digital dust on my hard drive.

General plot:

I can't say much, since a good deal will get repurposed to be used in the new fic, but I will give a short summary. Wasp would have left Deepnest, giving Ythe the opportunity to do her jailbreak. She would have had to spring a trap on Hornet to take her out of the picture and there would have been a scene where Hornet is looking up at Ythe, asking her why she would do this. Ythe would have said nothing, and turned away before Hornet could see the void tears running down her face.

Ythe would then have snuck into the prison and effectively used the magic equivalent of that trick from heist movies where they loop the footage to fool the guards in order to keep Tantabus off her back. She would have broken PK out, cue all the alarms going off and shit hitting the fan. It's a race against the clock to get the fuck outta dodge before an army of automatic rifle wielding spiders and laser-mounted garpedes come crashing down on them. But unfortunately Hornet is there to greet them outside the prison with all of Deepnest's warriors. Ythe would have had to begrudgingly team up with the world's shortest deadbeat dad, fighting their way to the tunnels. PK would have gone on a rampage, trying to do as much damage as possible, with Ythe trying to do as much damage control as possible, pushing Weavers out of the way, etc.

The two would manage to make their way to the borders of Deepnest, but oh no, Wasp has already doubled back to head them off. Another big battle ensues, culminating in Ythe using her Marksman to absorb Wasp's void-lightning attack and supercharging the gun. The capacitors would have become too unstable though, and force Ythe to eject them causing a huge explosion of energy.

And this is the point where I started to falter. Somehow, some way, Ythe convinces Wasp to trust her. Cut to Pale Emissary showing up with Heimich still in the guillotine-on-wheels. Ythe and Wasp send PK over, and Heimich is set free. Cue touching emotional moment with Heimich and Ythe reuniting.

Pale Emissary turns to PK and is all "Oh my lord we have awaited your return blah blah we have been preparing for 'his' arrival etc etc" but PK cuts him off and tells Emissary he's fired. And also fuck you. Twist! PK was actually one of Ythe's inventions, masquerading with his appearance and Soul-signature. The real PK had been swapped out after Wasp chose to trust Ythe. (See how iffy this is??)

But yeah, now that the eldritch god thing is out in the open Wasp and Ythe both go out to find info. Ythe being tasked with going upwards to Dirtmouth and eventually Queen's Garden to convince the Pale Lady to come back and lead her people. This would've effectively been her version of the Colosseum arc in ANSHK, as she would have found Dirtmouth and the other higher parts of Hallownest overrun with the Abberated bugs, being closer to The Last God-Titan's influence. She would have had to fight her way through hoards of Dredge inspired monsters, protect townsfolk, and lead them to the safety of Deepnest.

I was going to write it so the first war party launched on GT would have gone really poorly, the mountain sized sea scorpion just slurping up all their magic and easily tanking all conventional weapons. I wanted to have them build a Jaeger then, powered by the Absolute Lamp herself. More something-something. Final showdown, they manage to get into a huge crack on the top of the God-Titan's shell and someone has to sacrifice themself to create the seal to put God-Titan back into its eternal slumber. Cue Mysterious Warrior (who has since recovered his memory, more on that below) jumping in and making the sacrifice. Big emotional scene, then a memorial service, something something and the fic ends.

The Mysterious Warrior

The Mysterious Warrior was added to the story half because he was just one of my HK ocs and half because I needed someone to sacrifice for the ending, and I didn't want to do any of the vessels or Hornet. His original characterization was really simple. Pretty much just a red-shelled samurai-inspired foreign warrior version of Ogrim. All focused on his honor code and stuff, but way too enthusiastic to jump in to help, sometimes to the end result of shenanigans. For ANSSV he was once a proud warrior in his homeland, but when God-Titan showed up he, in a moment of weakness, fled instead of helping to save his people. As atonement he banished himself to the wastes (not that he had a home to go back to now anyway) where he would either die, or find himself in a new kingdom, stripped of his former self. Over the course of the fic he was going to slowly remember who he was and what he did, including his name, Shodoran. So in the big final battle he chooses atonement for his sins and sacrifices himself to save the people of Hallownest.

I like Shodoran as a character, but I don't enjoy writing him. His story would be really interesting to explore, but I don't have the skill or interest in trying to explore it in a side character, nor do I want to write a story where he's the main character. At least not for now.

The Last God-Titan, God Eater, Prince of the Dying Age

GT was probably the most fun to write about. I love love eldritch monsters and gods and creating my own based off of my headcanons was great. The Last God-Titan was inspired by all the huge fossil shells across Hallownest, all packed together unusually close. I thought "What could have caused such a mass extinction" and came up with the idea of an ancient sea scorpion angry at the world for changing and choosing to take what he saw as his rightful claim by force. Specifically GT is a jaekelopterus, the largest type of eurypterid that we know of, coming in at a whopping seven to eight feet long!!! Yes I have dinosaur autism how could you tell?

The Last God-Titan would have gone on a killing spree in his time, consuming all the souls and power of every other giant arthropod and invertebrates, effectively causing a self-fulfilling prophecy of the end of the age of God-Titans to come true. Hundreds of millions of years later only rumors about rumors about ancient folktales exist about the God-Titans, and only the oldest of beings still remember them. (like Radiance)

Once every other God-Titan was dead, GT went into an endless sleep, only woken up by one Wasp causing a very big stir in the godly-power economy. Not only a child of two higher beings, but also of the Void itself, the most ancient and primordial force in the world. And on top of all that, having claimed the domains of the former gods of the land of storms. Not to mention all the crazy OP magical bullshit she got up to. So GT was pretty interested, and wanted to take all that power for itself, eating up any gods and higher beings it found along the way to Hallownest.

And now, finally, what you've been waiting for (or skipped to), the new fic:

The new fanfiction will be called That Sign Can't Stop Me Because I Can't Read High Palean! or just That Sign Can't Stop Me for short. It will have some of the same plot beats as the original, just as an original story only heavily inspired by A Not So Hollow Knight, rather than a direct fanfiction of it. Every character will be making a return, excluding Wasp and The Last God-Titan obviously, and maybe Pale Emissary. Idk yet, I may find a way to work him in. And you can read it right now, here: https://ao3-rd-18.onrender.com/works/74065366