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Chapter Text

Hallownest was a breath away from all-out conflict. The bitterness between the Radiance and the Pale King had only seemed to grow, and many of those involved were wondering if there would ever be an end to this.

Truthfully, privately, the Pale King wondered the same thing.

There had been a plan, long since in the works: creating a Vessel capable of sealing the Radiance within itself, locking it away for the sake of the kingdom. And in the beginning, he’d pursued this plan without hesitation. Multiple vessels, numerous vessels, had been created in the hopes that one would at least be pure enough to contain the moth god. And he’d enlisted his Dreamers already; three bugs who would serve as additional seals of protection for the vessel. But in the midst of all his planning, all his preparation...something changed. He’d intended to distance himself from the vessels as they grew, but many had come to regard him as their father. And he had to admit that a similar notion had been growing within him, as well.

He could no longer regard them as mere potential tools. These were little beings he’d created, beings he’d enlisted his queen’s help in bringing about.

These...these were his children.

Unfortunately, while this change of heart had granted him a...rather unusual family, it did little to provide a way to end his feud with Radiance. Perhaps, he thought, just perhaps they could come to some sort of agreement. Even with her anger towards him, she had to be able to listen to reason. Surely she could see that the kingdom had begun to thrive under his rule. That things were better under his rule.

But the Radiance likely wouldn’t come if he were to send for her--she mistrusted him far too much for that. With that in mind, the Pale King wondered if anything could be done to spare both his kingdom and his family.

He was slowly realizing that, perhaps, there was a cost too great.

Chapter Text

The Radiance was loathe to admit it, but this conflict between herself and the Pale Wyrm--the Pale King, as he was now fashioning himself--was beginning to take its toll on her. And not only her, but the remnants of the moth tribe as well.

“This anger burns hot now, Lady Radiance,” the Seer croaked, her old eyes gazing at Radiance and through her all at once. “But I fear it will leave Hallownest a cold, empty ruin should this feud continue for much longer.”

Radiance sighed, golden eyes briefly flickering about the Resting Grounds, watching the shadows caused by the light she steadily glowed with.

“The Wyrm is intent on ruling,” she said at last. “If he isn’t willing to settle on an agreement, I see no other option but to continue to press him.”

“But you’ve seen the kingdom yourself. The bugs of Hallownest seem to be happier under his rule--”

“Yes. And I suspect the Wyrm is happy for the monuments and idols they build in his honor.”

“Perhaps,” the Seer replied. “Although if this dusty old memory serves correctly, you’ve been built a shrine or two in your time, as well.” If it had been someone else speaking with Radiance, perhaps they might have had reason to fear speaking in such a blunt manner. But Radiance considered the moth tribe to be her children, and she valued their candor.

“You’re almost too perceptive, dear Seer,” she responded, laughing quietly to herself. “But the problem remains: I doubt the Wyrm will deign to speak to me himself. And I will not give him the satisfaction of knowing he’s driven me into seeking him out.”

“I believe the two of you have more common ground than you realize,” the Seer said. “I know that despite your differences, despite your beliefs...you both truly desire what is best for this little kingdom.”

The elderly moth laughed, as if she were in on some joke the Radiance was not.

“You two merely need to come together, and decide on what course of action is truly best for Hallownest.”

“You make it sound so simple when you say it like that,” Radiance sighed. It was easy to say what needed to be done, easy to acknowledge what would likely be the proper course of action. But to actually go about doing so was an entirely different story.

The Radiance and the Pale King had no love for one another. How could they, given what had happened between them? She’d ruled Hallownest first, before it had even been given that name. All bugs, all beasts were united under her rule. But then the Wyrm had to come along, pushing forth his own form of order, swaying the citizens in his favor.

She hated to admit it, but the Seer was right. Hallownest was truly thriving under the Pale King’s rule. But it wouldn’t for long. Not if their conflict raged on.

A distant sound coaxed her out of her thoughts, and she exchanged a glance with the Seer. It had been distant, but she could still say with relative certainty that it had been caused by something falling. Something large...a rockfall, perhaps?

“My lady,” another voice said, and Radiance turned to face another moth. Unlike the Seer, he was dressed and armed for combat, carrying a shield and equipped with two nails strapped to his back.

“Markoth,” she greeted in turn. He’d always been a bit abrupt, but this...this was something else entirely. The Resting Grounds were a peaceful, quiet place, so if something seemed to have stirred him up like this, it must be noteworthy. “What’s happened?”

“Something’s fallen through from the caverns above us. A mechanical construct of some sort.”

“Most likely another one of the Wyrm’s trams. They seem to be attempting to build more and more of those.” Radiance dismissed.

“Whatever it is, Lady Radiance, it isn’t of Hallownest.”

Those words gave her pause; she knew that the Pale King’s claims that Hallownest was the only kingdom of its kind were just that. Just claims, claims she knew to be false--even one of his great Five Knights had traveled elsewhere, after all. So, if this...this transport unit was from beyond the kingdom’s bounds, how had it gotten to the Resting Grounds? What was its business here?

“Did you happen to see any of the machine’s occupants? Perhaps they survived the crash.” she mused, even as she made to exit the Seer’s chambers and investigate herself.

“I saw no occupants--I left quickly to inform you.” Markoth said. “They were being pursued, however. I saw a number of strange guards closing in, and not the King’s guards--these ones wore shimmering armor. Lights of all colors glinted off of them.”

Markoth’s observation about the craft not being of Hallownest had given Radiance pause, but his description of the apparent pursuers, the guards in iridescent armor? Radiance froze, a shuddering exhale leaving her chest.

“Show me.” She said at last, turning to Markoth with blazing golden eyes. “I know the wretch who sent those guards, and neither I nor the Wyrm would allow their presence in this kingdom.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Neither Markoth nor Radiance knew it just yet, but it turned out that there were survivors still inside the vehicle. For now, at the moment--the driver and the one sitting up front had both been killed from the impact. But others were alive, dazed and hurting, but alive and struggling to escape the confines of their vehicle.

Before they could make much progress, however, the door creaked from the other side. There was a low, metallic groaning before it was wrenched free with almost impossible strength. Instead of relief, those inside let out horrified exclamations at the figures outside.

Their armor glinted in the dim light, yet they seemed to be casting impossibly-bright reflections all over the passengers. A handful of faces--human faces--glared at the guards with a mixture of fear and hatred.

“Our Matron has made it clear that we are not to take prisoners,” the largest one intoned. “Those who would so readily abandon our Queen are unfit to live with knowledge of Her splendor. Come and die with whatever dignity you have left.”

“Go to hell, bastards!” one woman exclaimed, even as she was wrenched from the car by two other guards. Their armored fingers dug into her arms with enough force to draw blood. “She’s no queen, that bitch is nothing but a murderer! Shame on you for acting as her lackeys, shame--!”

She may have continued on for a while longer. Indeed, she showed no signs of stopping, even as she was forced onto her knees. None of her companions said anything as they, too, were dragged from the car. They said nothing to the guards, but they also said nothing to the ranting woman. It seemed as though they had already given up.

“What is in the bundle, traitor?” one guard asked, eyeing a woman crouched in the back of the van. She looked almost like a wild animal caught in a trap, and in a way, she was. Her legs were caught in the mangled remains of the seat in front of her, but she was gripping a small bundle of blankets against her chest as if her life depended on it.

“Leave her alone! She’s already hurt enough, don’t you touch her!” One man, her husband, exclaimed, fighting to reach his wife in the back of the car.

He didn’t notice the guard behind him draw a spear. Like the armor they wore, the weapon glinted with an iridescent light. One moment the man was rushing back towards the car, and the next...

...The next, he was crumpling to the ground with an unceremonious thud, and his companions cried out in rage.

“Kill the rest,” the lead guard ordered impassively. “We’ll find out what that bundle contains after.” The woman in the back of the car shrank back down, as if by doing so she would convince the guards to forget about her. But the one who had found her, the one standing outside the car showed absolutely no interest in backing off. Even so, she closed her eyes tight, trying to drown out the cries of her friends, her family, as the guards ruthlessly carried out their orders.

A hand that wasn’t human by any means reached into the car, roughly seizing the bundle and tearing it from her hands. She cried out in fear, in anger, in pain, all at once. Not even for herself, not even when a spear lodged through the seat and into her side. It may very well have ended for her little bundle, had it not been for the blinding, golden light that suddenly erupted throughout the caverns.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

She was too late to save the transport’s occupants. It was a bitter feeling, one that ached in her very core. They were creatures she’d never seen the likes of--certainly not bug, but nothing like any of the other creatures that called Hallownest home. But they were innocents all the same.

The guards, on the other hand...those she did recognize. Maybe not the bugs specifically, but certainly the armor they wore. Yes, that she knew all too well, and she thought she’d never have to lay eyes on it again.

“This doesn’t concern you, high being! We act in accordance of our Matron’s orders!” One guard said, looking up at Radiance. A cluster of dead travelers--dead refugees--lay at his feet, and his shimmering spear was tipped with red.

“You recognize I’m a higher being,” Radiance said, almost dryly. “And you still presume to talk down to me? I know the orders your mistress issues; the Wyrm may have declared himself ruler of Hallownest, but I know for certain he won’t object to my taking action.”

She didn’t give them time to act. Radiance may have been too late to save these poor souls, but she was still in a perfect position to avenge them. The golden lances she conjured were sent flying with devastating accuracy, and they punched through the guards’ armor as if it were parchment.

“...More bodies for the Resting Grounds,” Markoth observed quietly. “Although I doubt all of them will be sleeping peacefully.”

Radiance sighed, nodding partially, a reply at the ready. But a new sound cut through the silence before she could, a sharp, albeit muffled, cry. It came from a small pile of cloth on the ground, not far from a guard’s splayed-out hand. Markoth acted first, approaching the bundle cautiously--he doubted anything this small could pose much of a threat, but it was best not to leave anything to chance. Whatever plan he seemed to be formulating, it failed him as he nudged a blanket aside. He hadn’t known what he’d expected, but...perhaps he shouldn’t be too surprised.

“It’s a child,” he called, turning towards the Radiance even as she approached. Her golden eyes looked over the strange child as its cries filled the area around them.

The next thing Radiance knew, she was scooping up the tiny little thing in one feathered wing, turning it--turning her, something told her--this way and that as if checking for injuries. Despite being dropped, the child thankfully didn’t seem to be hurt...

Cries gradually gave way to sniffles, and then the occasional whimper or coo. A pair of tiny hands buried themselves in Radiance’s fluff, curiously running through the softness. Despite the occasional tugging, Radiance couldn’t find it in herself to make any effort to stop the child. In fact, it seemed to warm something deep within her, a maternal feeling that had suddenly flared to life.

“My lady?” Markoth asked, just the slightest bit concerned. “What shall we do?”

Radiance looked up from the child, seeming to come to a decision long overdue.

“I’m going to speak with the Pale Wyrm. There are some things we need to discuss.”

Chapter Text

He’d thought, perhaps, that he’d misheard. The Radiance, seeking an audience with him? It would be a pleasant surprise if it were true, of course, but the Pale King couldn’t help but have his doubts. Why so sudden? Why now? What did she want?

All doubts and questions aside, he’d managed to maintain his composed façade as he greeted the moth deity at the gates of the White Palace. And he might have been able to maintain it even longer, had it not been for the Radiance’s…peculiar companion. It was a small creature, wobbling on two unsteady legs after Radiance had set her down, plopping to the ground shortly after. Her clothing consisted of a striped pink…robe? He wasn’t quite sure. All the Pale King knew was that this situation only managed to get stranger.

“Radiance, what is that?” he asked. He cursed the fact that his apprehension was so clear in his voice.

“She’s clearly a child, Wyrm.” Radiance said reproachfully. “I’d thought you’d be able to figure that much out on your own—you have an entire palace full of them, if I recall.”

“None like that,” the king argued. “But I sense we’re getting off topic. What exactly are you doing here? Especially with a…child.” He watched with a mixture of fascination and caution as the child slowly wandered around the room, seeming to enjoy exploring her new surroundings. Occasionally, she would take two or three fumbling steps before losing her balance, settling on the ground and resorting back to a crawl.

“Her kind fell into the Resting Grounds. How they got there, I do not know,” Radiance murmured. She also kept a close eye on the child, although it was less out of suspicion and more like…concern.

“There are others??”

“There were.” Radiance corrected. “They fell a great distance. Those who survived were pursued. By armed guards.”

“Are you suggesting I had something to do with--?!” The Pale King began, sounding indignant at the very thought. How dare she come into his palace, his domain, and make accusations?! He was no murderer, and nor were his guards!

“I’m not.” Radiance said coolly. “In fact, I know for certain that it had nothing to do with you. I brought one of the guards’ weapons—I think you’ll agree it’s all too familiar.” She paused for a moment, waiting for the Wyrm to gesture for her to continue. Drawing weapons without warning didn’t do well for any conversation, much less one that was tinged with a history like the one between the two deities.

The Pale King couldn’t quite restrain a gasp at the iridescent weapon clattering to the ground in front of him. The spear still managed to shimmer with light, even the parts coated with red.

“Aurora.” He said flatly. “That answers the question of where the child’s kin went.”

“The little wretch is making another attempt to establish a kingdom,” Radiance agreed. “The child’s family was likely fleeing her conquerors.”

“It obviously didn’t end favorably.” The Pale King mused. The spear was heavy in his hands as he turned it over in his grasp, inspecting the weapon. Whoever crafted it had clearly been focusing heavily on aesthetic merits, but despite its cumbersome weight, the king had to admit the spear’s tip was lethally sharp. And the red substance that had crusted over said tip…he could only assume it was blood.

“I assume the guards were dealt with.” He said at last. He didn’t believe they had much to fear as far as retaliation was concerned. Aurora had always seen her soldiers and subjects as expendable; she likely wouldn’t even notice that these guards never returned.

“Every single one,” Radiance confirmed. “Markoth is searching the Resting Grounds to ensure those were the only ones.”

“Excellent. I’ll send a few Kingsmoulds of my own to double-check later. I have to admit you were perhaps the last one I was expecting to see, but I have to thank you for bringing this to my attention. The last thing I want is Aurora thinking she can stroll into my kingdom whenever she pleases.” The king said. He paused for a moment, noticing Radiance had made no move to leave. “Was there something else?”

“Yes.” She replied, the word ground out almost reluctantly. “This feud of ours has continued on for long enough. The kingdom can’t handle this sort of burden forever.”

“At least we can agree on that.”

“With that being said…” Radiance began. “…I know I’m not in much of a position to be making demands, but I’m here to negotiate my surrender.”

“…I’m sorry, what?” The Pale King exclaimed, almost unwilling to believe what he’d heard. “You’ve fought against me all this time, Radiance. Why the change of heart now?”

“I’ve seen the bugs of Hallownest. Maybe not directly, but I’ve seen how the city is filled with life. How bugs truly seem to be thriving. It was never like this under my rule—even the few moths who haven’t yet forgotten me agree that…that your order truly is what’s best. Perhaps I’ve known it all this time, and avoided thinking on it.” The Pale King said nothing for a while. This was what he’d hoped for, wasn’t it? An end to this conflict, a resolution that meant the vessels—the children—could perhaps grow to lead normal lives.

“In the past,” he began, slowly, “I may have preferred to destroy you or, failing that, seal you away at the very least. In another time, I may have succeeded. But you aren’t the only one who’s had a change of heart.” He folded his hands in front of him, looking up to meet the Radiance’s gaze. “Name your terms, Radiance. I’ll see what I can do.”

It wasn’t a guarantee by any means; depending on what Radiance requested, it may force his hand in a way he couldn’t allow. But he was willing to listen, and that was more than Radiance had dared to hope for.

“The few moths who would still claim loyalty to me,” she said. “I’d like for them to have someplace safe to call home.” The Pale King paused, mulling over both her words and his response.

“The moth tribe is welcome anywhere in Hallownest,” he said. “Although I’ll leave Hallownest’s Crown and the areas around the Resting Grounds to them, as well. They’re both important locations to them, and I’m loathe to disrupt the Seer’s caretaking duties.”

“…If you don’t watch yourself, Wyrm,” Radiance said slowly, “I may start thinking you can actually be reasonable.”

“I’ll have you know that I am fully capable of being reasonable. I only ask to be met halfway.”

Relinquishing control over a kingdom didn’t sound much like “meeting halfway” to Radiance, but she said nothing of it. She’d acknowledged that she likely didn’t have much room to bargain, and her focus was almost solely on ensuring her moths would be safe and taken care of.

“There is still the matter of the child you found…” the king began.

“Hardly. I’ve decided I’m taking her in.”

“I don’t recall granting that particular favor…”

“And I don’t recall asking your permission—”

“You acknowledged that I’m the one with the palace full of children—”

“Yes, children you originally intended to weaponize.”

Their eyes locked, anger clear in both their voices and their expressions, and for a moment it looked like they were going to have to say farewell to any chance of peace.

Yes. Yes, he’d originally planned to weaponize the vessels. Sacrifice them, even. The Pale King was by no means proud of what he’d done, proud of what he’d planned to do. But it was a low blow indeed for Radiance to twist it against him. It wasn’t as if she was blameless—

“My wyrm?” Both higher beings paused, turning away from each other and towards the source of the voice. The White Lady stood in the doorway, a handful of vessels lingering behind her.

“Yes, dear?” The Pale King asked, stopping short as the tallest of the vessels stepped forward. They were far from fully grown, but as the king’s proclaimed Pure Vessel, they had much more growing to do. But what caught his attention was that his little Hollow Knight was carrying the small child Radiance had brought with her.

He quickly glanced over at the Radiance, gauging her reaction with growing concern. Thankfully, she didn’t seem angry; no, she merely seemed just as surprised as he was. For a creature relying mainly on crawling, she’d managed to wander off surprisingly quickly.

“They found her in the courtyard,” the White Lady explained. “I’m not sure where exactly the little one came from…”

“That would be my fault,” Radiance spoke up. “I found the child in the Resting Grounds. Her family…her family is gone.”

“Oh, the poor dear…” the White Lady murmured, bending down and gently taking the child from Hollow’s hands. Much like she had with Radiance, the girl leaned forward, quietly mumbling nonsense as her hands wandered over the queen’s face.

“Dearest,” the Pale King sighed. He knew that look in his wife’s eyes—it was that same gleam she’d gotten when he’d created the first round of successful vessels. The same gleam a mother had for her child…didn’t they have enough children?

“Yes, my wyrm?” came her response, as she looked up from the small being in her arms. The Pale King said nothing for a moment, merely sighing once more as the few vessels trailing behind their mother scampered over to him.

“Keep??”

The vessels had no real voice—not in the traditional, typical sense of the word, anyway. But it seemed like the Void had granted them other ways to communicate with their family. Their thoughts were shared with him like whispered words, although he knew they had no mouths to speak with.

“The Radiance seems intent on keeping her,” he said, glancing at the moth’s surprised reaction. Truth be told, he was a bit surprised, himself. It wasn’t like him to relent so easily—after all, what sort of king would he be if he did? Something about this whole situation had changed things for him. This wasn’t simply about his disagreements with the Radiance, nor was it about the general conflict between her light and his.

No. They had a kingdom to consider. Children to consider. And it seemed as though Radiance had come to the same conclusion.

“Perhaps she could visit from time to time,” she offered. “I imagine Hallownest’s Crown and the Resting Grounds can get old for a child. It may do her good if she had some siblings to play with.”

“Ah…’siblings’?” the king questioned. “I don’t recall saying anything about—” About what, even? Sharing guardianship? Yes, his queen and his children seemed quite taken with this child, but he’d never agreed to take in another one. He was still working on being a decent father for his vessels.

One of the smaller vessels tugged at his robes, their head tilted to the side as if in a question.

“Ghost, please, don’t give me that look.” The wyrm sighed, despite the fact that the little one’s mask remained as stoic as ever. It didn’t matter; their actions more than made up for it.

“Please please please please?”

These vessels were going to be the death of him, he just knew it.

“I suppose,” he began, noticing how both Radiance and the White Lady had glanced at him…almost expectantly. “I suppose it would serve well if the child also had a place here. If we are to come to an agreement, working to raise the little one will help give us a common interest.”

“…Indeed. Common ground.” Radiance’s thoughts drifted back to the Seer’s words from earlier that day. This…likely hadn’t been what the old moth had meant.

“It would be the same as when little Hornet visits,” the White Lady said, fondness clear in her voice. “And it would do good to keep communications open, given that this is quickly turning into an alliance.”

Truth be told, they’d said nothing about an alliance—this was merely a peace treaty, an end to a feud. But neither of the other two deities seemed to have the heart to mention that.

“Speaking of Hornet…” the Pale King mused. “I’ll have to ask you to stay a while longer, Radiance, while I send for my Dreamers. We all have to discuss this…newfound alliance.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It hadn’t taken long to gather his Dreamers—with his reliance on their commitment, it was important to keep in close contact with them. Soon enough, the three joined the circle of bugs in the palace’s heart. The explanation itself took longer than the summons—just like that, it seemed, they were free from their duties. Free to go about their lives.

“I understand I asked much of you,” the Pale King said. “I asked much, and I’m certain it must have taken each of you some time to say your goodbyes and come to terms with it all. I realize that hearing the Seals are no longer necessary is…likely a bittersweet and confusing feeling, and for this I must apologize to each of you.”

“You have nothing to apologize for, my King.” Lurien said quickly. “You did what needed to be done, as you always have.”

Radiance, who was standing off to the side with the White Lady and the children, rolled her eyes, but said nothing.

“What brought about this change of heart?” Monomon asked, always the teacher, always curious, always seeking knowledge. “For you to abandon a plan so long in the works, for the both of you to suddenly come together like this…it must have been something rather large.”

“I can’t quite speak for the Radiance,” the Pale King replied, a smile growing in his tone and on his face. “But it seems like both of our reasons were actually rather small. Small and numerous.” He gestured to where Hollow and Ghost were sitting quietly, although every one of the vessels each counted as a reason to seek alternative solutions. To seek peace.

“I doubt I’ll say this again, but the Wyrm is right.” Radiance said. “Our conflict doesn’t only affect the two of us—it creates a lasting effect on our subjects and our children. Even children from beyond this kingdom’s bounds.”

Lurien, Monomon, and Herrah exchanged confused glances at the light deity’s words. They already seemed to be ready to ask for clarification when Hollow helpfully stepped forward. The child Radiance had found was once again being hoisted up by the vessel, clutched to their chest. Given that the two were nearly the same size, it was almost comical.

“What…what sort of creature is that?” Herrah asked, gently prodding at the girl’s small mop of light brown hair. She giggled shyly, recoiling back in response.

“I’m not sure,” Radiance admitted. “She wasn’t alone when she arrived here, but…”

“From what Radiance has told me, the rest of the child’s family is, sadly, dead.” The Pale King cut in. “They were killed by guards acting on the orders of one of our king. Another higher being.”

“…Another?” Lurien repeated. “Would they seek to disrupt the kingdom?”

“It’s unlikely,” the king assured him. “Aurora fancies herself a conqueror, but she’s never been able to hold her own against either myself or Radiance. She knows that crossing either of us would end badly for her, so she’ll keep her distance instead. Hallownest will be secure.”

“A pity the same can’t be said for wherever this little one came from,” Herrah said, in a tone of voice that was remarkably soft for the Beast. “I assume you know better than to try and return her—”

“Out of the question,” Radiance said. “Aurora’s guards killed her kin; they likely would have killed her as well, if I hadn’t arrived soon enough.”

“She knows better than to risk a child growing up to be an enemy,” the White Lady murmured from where she stood, earning a few startled reactions. A few of those present had almost forgotten the second pale being was among them, given how silent she’d been up until this point. “I don’t have as much history with Aurora as my husband, or the Radiance. But I know she is a callous ruler who only cares to be worshipped. It’s hardly appropriate conditions for a child to grow up.”

“So this newfound peace between the two of you is just as dedicated to protecting Hallownest from outside threats as it is with saving it from crumbling from within,” Monomon said. “If this Aurora’s guards could find their way to Hallownest once, they could manage it again.”

“Which is why the Radiance and I will be traveling to the Resting Grounds. We intend to place a Seal of Binding over the entrance the child’s family fell through; nothing else will be entering from that way.”

“…Speaking of the Radiance,” Herrah began, turning to look at the golden deity. “If the Seals are no longer needed, and the Vessel won’t be sealed away…what becomes of her?”

“I will be tending to the remaining moths who still remember me.” Radiance spoke up. She had to admit she wasn’t particularly fond of these bugs speaking of her as if she wasn’t in the same room. “The Pale Wyrm will continue ruling Hallownest—I may hate to admit it, but bugs are thriving in a way they never did under me.”

“And the child?” Monomon asked.

“The child will be spending time in the White Palace, although the Radiance has taken it upon herself to be her primary guardian.”

The three would-be Dreamers fell silent for a long moment. Given the bitter anger the two gods shared for one another, it was a startling thing to hear that they were now suddenly sharing responsibility for a child.

“Well. Nothing allies bugs together quite like a child, and I would know.” Herrah said at last, a trace of humor in her voice. “I assume the little one has a name?”

“I assume,” Radiance said. “I don’t want to take the child’s original name from her, so I hope my trip to the Resting Grounds will provide answers.  Since her kin are now buried there…perhaps there are some lingering dreams that can tell me more.”

Chapter Text

“How far do you think they must have traveled?” The question cut through the silence of the Resting Grounds like a finely-honed nail, despite the fact that the Radiance had by no means raised her voice.

“Excuse me?” The Pale King asked, glancing up at his unlikely traveling companion. Radiance gestured to the mangled remains of the vehicle, trying to ignore the red spatters on the ground. Whatever the child’s kind was…they evidently bled red.

“You and I both know that the wilds beyond Hallownest stretch on almost infinitely. How far do you think this group must have come to fall into the Resting Grounds? How long had they been running?”

“Not far enough, if Aurora’s guards were that close behind.” The monarch answered. “Although her subjects are made to be rabidly obedient; I doubt there would have been any distance great enough.” They’d brought the child with, so as to allow Radiance to return to the moth tribe as soon as they’d finished, but he was beginning to understand her insistences to leave the girl with the Seer. The bodies may have been removed, but Aurora’s magic still lingered in the air. And he didn’t want to risk burdening the child with memories of what had happened to her family.

They fell silent, two deities who, until very recently, had been at odds. Two deities once again faced with the reminder of lower beings’ mortality. How delicate it all was.

“Shall we get this over with?” he said. Some found the Resting Grounds calming, maybe even soothing. But all the Pale King felt was a strange sort of dread. Radiance, thankfully, said nothing; she merely nodded before spreading her wings wide. She needed no Dream Nail to enter that space between waking and dreaming—that realm was hers to command, and in a moment the two stood in a Resting Grounds that was all at once familiar and very, very different. Golden dreamcatchers of light gently drifted through the air, casting shadows across the clouds that surrounded them.

Unlike in the waking world, the Pale King and the Radiance were not alone here.

A third figure stood across from them on two legs, one hand clamped over her side despite there being no sign of injury. Ragged, dirty clothing hung somewhat loosely on her frame, and although the hair on her head was a messy tangle, the color matched that of the child’s.

“…Where am I?” she asked, voice raspy and quiet. Both Radiance and the Pale King’s abilities allowed them to understand her, but they could still recognize that the language she spoke was nothing like anything they’d heard in Hallownest.

“…Hallownest.” The Pale King said at last. “You’re in the kingdom of Hallownest.”

“How…how did we get here?” The spirit asked, continuing on before the king could reply. “We…we were running, Daniel told us to pack the car and leave. This…this enormous white…white bee appeared. I don’t know. I can’t remember.” Her voice shook, body taking in ragged breaths despite the fact that she no longer would benefit from them.

“I remember…colors. Colors everywhere, lights everywhere. People stared at them for too long and they changed. They said they were ‘inspired’, their eyes were all wrong. Nothing behind them but colors. They wanted to hurt the normal people, so we ran…” She froze mid-sentence, looking around almost frantically, as if she’d just realized she was missing something.

“My daughter. My baby. They took her, they took her and then they…they killed…me…? Oh, god—”

Radiance cast one look at the wyrm, fighting the urge to roll her eyes once again. Had he truly never dealt with this sort of thing in the dream realm? Beings who were alive in dreams but not in waking?

“Your daughter is safe,” she said quietly, snapping the woman out of her thoughts. “I’m sorry I was too late to save you and the others, but the child is alive.”

“I…she is? She really is?” For a moment, it looked as if the mother was going to ask for proof. Ask for Radiance to produce the child she’d worried about for so long. “I…I hope you’re right. I hope you’re telling the truth, that she’s alive. She’s only a year old, she deserves to grow up safe…e-even if I can’t be there…” she paused, fighting back tears as she looked between the Radiance and the Pale King.

“She’ll be taken care of? She’s still so young, she’ll need so much care…”

“She’ll be all right. She’ll be raised just like any of my children. And since she’ll be growing up along his children, I can guarantee she won’t be lonely.” Radiance said quietly, hoping this would help put this ghostly memory to rest.

“Does the child have a name?” The Pale King asked. “We’d like to keep that, if possible…”

“…Alexis. Her name is Alexis. My pride and joy…” the mother smiled tearfully. “I don’t know what it is about you, but I feel I can trust you. Maybe you’re angels, here to help my family in its time of need.”

Neither Radiance nor the Pale King knew what an “angel” was, but they assumed it must be a powerful being if it could appear to those in need. This creature had that right, at least; they were very powerful.

“The others went quiet a while ago. I told them I wasn’t going anywhere until I knew what happened to my baby. But they’re calling me now. They’ll want to know what happened…won’t they…?”

The lost mother’s eyes fluttered closed. With a serene, grateful sigh, she vanished in a small burst of Essence. The dream realm faded around them, a blinding white light filling the deities’ vision as they once again arrived in the waking world.

“…Little Alexis.” Radiance said, the name a strange sound in her voice. But perhaps…perhaps she could grow used to it. “What a strange path you must have taken, to find yourself here.”

“…Despite everything she’s done, I may have to thank Aurora just this once.” The Pale King said, earning a confused stare from Radiance.

“Have you lost your senses?”

“Hardly. But if she hadn’t sent this group fleeing, and if Alexis hadn’t come along…would we have come to an agreement?”

Probably, said Radiance’s pride, although she doubted that would have been the case.

“Perhaps we wouldn’t have.” She said. “What a mess that would have been.”

They fell silent, each thinking of how an infection could have very likely brought the kingdom crumbling down. Of how, in another time, Hallownest might have been lost forever.

It was always the littlest creatures that seemed to alter the fates of kingdoms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They left the Resting Grounds shortly after—constructing a magical barrier was nothing new for either god, and the work only progressed that much faster given that they were working together. With one final ounce of magic, the last touches of the Seal flared to life. Intricate swirls of gold and pale light shimmered in the air, blocking the path and ensuring no intruders with ill intentions found their way into Hallownest.

“What if more come through? More of her kind?” Radiance asked. She’d retrieved the child—Alexis, the Pale King corrected himself—and held her snugly as she slept. The lights from the barrier cast soft shadows across her face.

He doubted they would. What Aurora lacked in true leadership skills, she more than made up for in ruthlessness. Truth be told, he found it impressive that little Alexis’ family had made it this far.

“I doubt more will come.” He said at last. There was little to be gained from false hope. “You know Aurora as well as I do—she would have cracked down on her subjects by now.” Golden eyes glared at him reproachfully, pointedly gazing back down at the sleeping girl.

“I doubt she’s listening.” He said, leaving the rest of his words unsaid.

I doubt she understands.

I doubt she’ll remember them.

That would be ideal, wouldn’t it? A life this young had no place for tragedy, no place for loss. Alexis had been given a second chance. She may have lost the life she would have grown into, but she had a new life down in Hallownest. A new chance, a way to grow up with everything Aurora had nearly taken from her.

And in a way, she’d given he and the Radiance second chances as well. Everything would change now.

“We accomplished what we came here to do.” He said, turning to the moth. “Take the child back home and get her settled in—she’s had a long day.”

“Haven’t we all?” came the Old Light’s dry response.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Radiance didn’t need to sleep.

That wasn’t to say she had nothing to occupy her mind at night, of course—there were dreams she could visit, although she did limit it to her moths. It didn’t quite compare to before the wyrm, when all bugs were united under her light…

…No. She could make do with this. This was what she’d agreed to. She’d lost a majority of the kingdom, yes, but her moths remembered her. Her light had not been forgotten, and she was still free. What more could she ask for?

Alexis jolted awake with a sharp cry, more tearful wails following as the child suddenly roused herself from her slumber.

“Oh, ohhh…what’s wrong, little one?” she murmured, gently holding her closer. She couldn’t expect much of an answer—this child wasn’t like the wyrm’s vessels, wasn’t capable of much just yet. She could barely stand on her own, let alone tell Radiance what she needed!

Perhaps she was hungry?

The thought stopped her short. She’d been so preoccupied that she hadn’t even considered what sorts of food this child could eat! Not much grew on Hallownest’s Crown…a few moths had begun cultivating berries, perhaps those would do?

“Come on, little one,” Radiance cooed. “I’ll get you taken care of.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Markoth had seen much in his lifetime. But none of those sights had prepared him for what he was currently witnessing: Lady Radiance furiously crushing berries in a stone bowl, her only companion a slightly-fussy, very sticky child.

“She’s hungry, but won’t eat!” the light god exclaimed, sounding exasperated. “Look, all she’s done is made a mess of herself!”

Markoth’s eyes drifted toward the girl. She’d overturned the berries, smashing them down further with her hands and spattering dark purple juice everywhere…mostly on herself.

“…I can see that.” He said at last, as Alexis offered a toothy grin and a fistful of ruined fruit. “No thank you, little one. You eat it.”

Green eyes blinked lazily once or twice, and then the child merely slammed the would-be meal onto the table with a squelching noise.

“I think she’s trying to copy you.” Markoth said after another moment or two. The child seemed oddly focused on the radiant being in front of her, deliberately mirroring the god’s movements. Her eyes flickered between the Radiance and the berries in front of her, as if she was comparing her work.

“Is she? I—oh. Hm. She might be,” Radiance said, watching the child. “But I’d prefer if she were to, instead, simply eat the food rather than cover herself with it.” Markoth wasn’t certain what it as about the god’s words, but something clearly seemed to amuse the child. Alexis let out a small shriek of laughter, clapping her hands against the berry-stained table.

“Child, please…” Radiance sighed. “Aren’t you hungry? Can you please at least eat a bite or two?”

Alexis tilted her head to one side, then the other, squinting a bit as she glanced at the bright light the moth gave off.

Radiance held back acheer as the child finally brought a handful of smashed berries to herself. The relief was short-lived, however. Alexis’ little face screwed up into a disgusted expression, and she shoved her bowl away.

“…Shall I fetch the wyrm?”

“No.” Radiance sighed. “No, I’ll pay a visit to the Hive. Perhaps the child merely needs something sweeter.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting to see you here.” Queen Vespa said. The Hive glowed with warm yellow lamps to begin with, but Radiance’s light seemed to only add to the glow. “Our Hive tends to be well-removed from Hallownest.”

“I’m aware, and I apologize for the inconvenience,” Radiance said. “But I have a bit of an urgent, and embarrassing matter. The child I’ve recently taken in is having difficulty eating. I know the Pale Beings’ children seem to enjoy the syrup this Hive produces…” how they ate it was another mystery; she wasn’t even sure the vessels needed to eat.

“And you wished to know if I was willing to share?” Queen Vespa asked, smiling warmly. “The Hive produces a large amount of honey, and we always seem to have extra.”

“Thank you,” Radiance sighed, not even bothering to hide her relief. “I was growing worried, and there is no way I wanted to go to the wyrm this soon after taking her in.”

Vespa simply laughed to herself, accepting a jar from a small hiveling before passing it to the Radiance.

“This should hold the little one over for a few days. Send one of your moths along should you find you need more, Lady Radiance.”

“Thank you, Queen Vespa,” Radiance said, offering a small bow. “Hopefully this is just what she needed.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Radiance returned to Hallownest’s Crown in a burst of golden light, only to find that Alexis was, once again, fast asleep. She’d been tucked into a small bundle of her blankets, an overturned Dreamshield serving as a makeshift bed.

“She started crying again after you left,” Markoth supplied. “She seemed to calm down after Thistlewind found her some sweeter berries, and the next I knew, the child fell asleep.”

Radiance set aside the jar of honey, smiling fondly. “I’m just glad she finally ate something.” She said, moving closer to look over the sleeping child.

A small, content noise welled up in the girl’s throat as she curled up into her blankets, eyelids fluttering as she dreamed.

Maybe she would have been frustrated, hearing that the girl hadn’t needed her help. That the problem would have been solved with something as simple as a different bowl of berries. But that didn’t matter too much. What mattered to her was that Alexis was taken care of, and it was now Radiance’s job to ensure that was the case.

She stifled a laugh as she caught a glimpse of the girl’s juice-stained hands peeking out from under her blankets.

“You’re going to need a bath tomorrow,” she mused. “But that can wait. Sleep well…my daughter.”

Chapter Text

The time that had passed since the Radiance’s fateful visit seemed to fly by all too quickly. How long had it been? Six, eight months? However long it had been, it seemed like the children had all grown even closer since then.

“Father! Father look!” the Pale King glanced up from the Wingmould on his table as he heard the workshop door slam open. Hollow, Ghost, and a few other vessels scampered up to him. He wasn’t sure what they wanted to call his attention to for a moment, until a small cry rang out.

“Why, hello Alexis,” the king smiled, laughing quietly. “What do you have there?” the child seemed to have been crafted a harness of sorts. A number of small ropes fastened her to Hollow’s chest; it was a feat that wouldn’t have been possible at first, and the wyrm was honestly impressed the children had made it work now. Hollow had grown quite a bit, but it seemed like Alexis was determined to catch up.

“Hornet and Silk made Alexis a harness!” Ghost said. “And now we can take her on adventures with us!”

“What a clever idea!” he said, much to the joy of Hornet and Silk, a vessel with a pair of smoothly-curved horns. “Did you have fun adventuring with your siblings, Alexis?”

“Yeah yeah yeah!” The girl cheered, nodding.

“Where did you go, by the way? Your cloaks look a bit bedraggled.”

“We travelled the Path of--!” another vessel, this one with a broken horn on the right side, piped up before being nudged urgently by Hornet. But the damage had already been done.

“The Path of Pain?!” the Pale King exclaimed. “You…how did you even find your way up there? And why would you bring your sister?!”

“She was with Hollow! They kept her safe the whole time!” Silk explained, and said vessel nodded emphatically. They were often in charge of looking after their siblings, and it was a duty Hollow took very seriously. They wouldn’t dare endanger their siblings, and the fact was that Alexis was perfectly safe with Hollow.

And besides, their sister had seemed to enjoy the whole adventure, giggling and laughing as they flew and fell and climbed.

The Pale King said nothing for one moment, two moments, three. He had half a mind to scold them; the Path of Pain was dangerous, and he’d sealed it away for a reason. Even for the vessels, it was no place to play…and the fact that they’d brought Alexis along…

Radiance would have murdered him if anything happened to her daughter on his watch.

“I’m glad you had fun,” he said quietly, slowly. “And I’m very glad you’re all unhurt.” He rested a hand on Hollow’s head, patting it fondly. The vessels already seemed to understand where he was going with this; a few suddenly seemed awfully preoccupied with their shuffling feet.

“But the Path of Pain is no place for you to be playing. I understand you’re very good at looking out for your siblings, Hollow, but from now on I’d prefer if all of you found a different place to explore.”

“…Okay, Father.” Came a chorus of void whispers, accompanied by Hornet and, a bit belatedly, Alexis.

“Good!” the wyrm said. “Now, Radiance and Herrah will be by in an hour or so to pick up your sisters, so until then why don’t you run along and finish up your games? Just stay in the palace this time!” The last sentence was shouted after the children, as they were already running back out of the king’s workshop. The door slammed shut behind them, and just like that, he was left with the silence and the single, in-progress Wingmould in front of him.

He supposed he shouldn’t be that alarmed—the children tended to be little whirlwinds on the best of days, and it only intensified when their sisters came to visit. Perhaps they’d be able to mellow out with age—after all, Hollow had apparently mostly outgrown that childish energy, although they still enjoyed playing with their siblings as much as ever. That, he supposed, was something that would never change. They were siblings, family, and while they may not all share the same blood, the same lineage, it did nothing to break the ties already holding fast between them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I assume she still has a lot more growing up to do.” Herrah said, watching as Alexis played with her siblings. She was running now, although still not quite able to keep up with either Hornet or the vessels.

“She isn’t even two years old,” Radiance said defensively. “She has a lot of growing up to do, just give her time.”

“I mean no disrespect. I only want to know what to expect—it isn’t as if we’ve seen her kind before.”

“No, and we don’t have much to go off,” the White Lady interjected. Radiance, Herrah, and the Pale Beings had gathered hear the White Palace’s front gates, talking among themselves while the children said their farewells. At least, that was what they were supposed to be doing.

“Will you be training her? If I recall, the vessels have already started some rudimentary training with a nail.”

“Only a few of them,” the Pale King said. “Though they’re very basic lessons. And I don’t think Alexis is quite old enough to begin with.” Radiance seemed to visibly relax—she’d been having similar thoughts, as well as a few concerns. Alexis belonged to…a particularly delicate breed; even nicks and scrapes could draw blood. Not that she seemed to mind it. Radiance sometimes wondered if it even bothered the child at all, with the way she’d normally continue as if nothing had happened.

“Why do you ask? Have you been training Hornet at all?” she asked the Beast, who nodded.

“Oh, yes. She seems to be a born warrior, but maybe that’s my pride talking.”

“She’s already quite fierce,” the White Lady smiled. “A striking image of her mother.”

“You flatter me,” Herrah said, looking back over at the small crowd of children. “Hornet! It’s time to return home, say goodbye to your siblings!”

“…Yes, Mother.” Came the reply, a bit reluctant to have her games come to an end.

“Alexis, it’s time we returned as well,” Radiance said, noticing how the vessels clustered around their remaining sister as if to hide her.

“Don’t worry, little ones, she’ll be back soon enough,” the king said, unable to fully hold back a laugh at the children’s antics. Alexis, go with your mother. I’m sure it’s nearly your bedtime.”

“Oh, we’re well past it at this point.” Radiance said dryly. “Come on, daughter. We’ll use the Dreamgate.”

Alexis’ expression seemed to light up, a wide smile breaking across her face. She quickly hugged her closest siblings before running to the light god.

“Okay, Radi!” she giggled, not quite slowing to a stop in time to avoid bumping into her mother.

“…’Radi’?” The king echoed. Radiance shot him a glare, although it was slightly less intimidating when considering the fact she had a child clinging to her.

“Not to you, Wyrm.” She said. She directed her attention to Alexis, tone noticeably softer.

“Say goodbye to your siblings, little one.”

“Bye, Hollow!” Alexis called, throwing out a hand in a wave. “Bye, everyone!” The vessels present offered waves of their own, and a few attempted to climb up Radiance’s side to join their sister.

“No, no, you stay here,” the king sighed, tugging a squirming vessel back and holding them against his chest. It was the same vessel with the broken right horn as earlier. “You cause plenty of trouble already, Jet. I don’t feel keen on leaving you unsupervised.”

“…you’re no fun.” The vessel sulked.

“Easy.” Came the response, sounding a bit scandalized. “Take care Alexis. Radiance.”

Radiance nodded, holding back an amused smile at Jet’s antics before she and her daughter vanished in a plume of gold light and dream essence. Just like that, the White Palace seemed to fall silent. The vessels all seemed to collectively realize how tired they were; it was hardly a surprise, seeing how they’d been running around playing for a vast majority of the evening.

“I think it’s time the rest of you went off to bed, as well.” He smiled—even as he spoke, a few of the littler ones were shuffling toward him, clutching at his robes and tugging in the vague direction of the vessels’ bedroom.

It had originally been a dining hall, the Pale King remembered, herding the remaining void children toward the doorway. But they’d since repurposed it; the one dining hall on the first floor was enough, and it was one of the only places large enough to fit enough beds.

The vessels in front of him scurried down the hall, stopping in front of a large set of doors and pushing them open.

“…oh, goodness.” The king said, looking around the room. Blankets and pillows had been dragged off the beds, clustered in the center of the room in a massive pile. It was very clear the children had been playing in here.

“It’s Pillownest!” Came a proud exclamation. A vessel with uneven horns spread their arms wide, obviously proud of their siblings’ creation. “Get it??”

“I do.” He laughed, shaking his head slightly. “It’s a very clever name, Fracture.” The Pale King was about to ask if “Pillownest” would play host to some sleepy vessels tonight, but judging from the increasing number of children clambering up and making themselves comfortable, he didn’t need to ask.

“Can you tell us a story tonight?” Ghost yawned. Truthfully, they seemed almost ready to fall asleep right then and there, but the Pale King knew how quickly the vessel could perk back up if there was a story to be heard.

“…I suppose, if it will get all of you to settle down for the night.” He said, the agreement met by a few enthusiastic claps. “What sort of story are you interested in?”

A tiny vessel—the smallest of them all—gently tugged at Silk’s cloak, whispering something to their sibling.

“Berry…” Silk hesitated, glancing between their sibling and their father. “Berry wants to know if you have any stories about…about Aurora.”

The king bristled, but it was more at the name itself rather than the fact the children knew it. The vessels were a curious bunch, and with the amount of conversations and precautions he’d discussed with Radiance, it was only natural they would hear the name.

“I’m not sure many of them are appropriate for a bedtime story,” he said, settling down on a few pillows himself. His children took this as a sign that their father was going to stay for a while, and they moved to huddle around him. “I can understand your curiosity, however. While I doubt you’ll ever have to make use of any of this information, I suppose it couldn’t hurt to explain a bit.”

After all, he’d much rather prefer if they came to him with their questions.

“What do you know about Aurora?” Just like that, a number of little hands shot into their air, although a few moved more lethargically than others.

“She’s another ‘high being’, like you and Mother and Radiance. Right?” One vessel said. They’d sat up so quickly that the edge of a blanket had caught on the two curved horns on the side of their head.

“She is, Thorn.” The king responded, gently freeing his child from the grip of the suddenly-hostile blanket. “There are a few others of our kind—not wyrms like myself, but deities in their own right. Aurora is one of the few I’ve ever had direct conflicts with…aside from the Radiance, of course.” Said conflict was hardly a secret, especially among the vessels; after all, they’d been created as a result of it.

“What happened?” Silk asked, tugging Berry close to them. “Did you get in a fight?”

“Did you win??” Jet cut in.

“Of course I won.” Their father replied. He sounded almost offended by the suggestion that he might lose. “And it was a much easier fight than one against the Radiance might be; Aurora is significantly weaker than I am, and she knows it. She ran from our battle in the end, and I haven’t seen her since.” For a moment, it seemed like the vessels were bracing themselves for a rousing tale of their father’s battle against another god, before a realization seemed to set in. Before words sank in, their meanings understood.

“…But didn’t she send bugs after Alexis’ family? Her old one?” Ghost asked. The king sighed; here was the difficult part. Trying to satisfy his children’s curiosity without telling them anything especially upsetting. None of the vessels—except perhaps Hollow, he wasn’t sure—knew the full story of what had happened to Alexis’ kind. They merely knew they were gone now, and she was now living in Hallownest.

“Yes. She did, and she is.” He said at last. “What you need to understand, children, is that Aurora wants to be a queen. She wants her own kingdom to expand, wants to be worshiped.”

“Does she have a kingdom?” Hollow asked. A ruler without one was hardly worth noting, after all, let alone worshiped.

“She does, tucked away, somewhere on the other side of a dream realm. I don’t know exactly where; bugs don’t simply travel into Aurora’s domain. She brings them there. Her kingdom is called Shimmerfield, a land of bright crystals and glass, and she’s constantly attempted to expand its borders…as well as constantly failing. She conquers new areas, smaller kingdoms, but she tends to run them into the ground and get bored of them before long.”

“But that doesn’t make sense!” Jet exclaimed, jumping up and startling a decent amount of their siblings. “If you were that bad at…at being king, you wouldn’t be in charge! How come Aurora’s still in charge if she’s so bad at it?”

The Pale King said nothing for a moment, picking Jet up and settling them back down on a pillow, quietly admonishing them for jolting their siblings awake this close to bedtime. He got the feeling it didn’t matter much; each and every vessel in the room was hanging onto his every word.

“Aurora has her own sort of power,” he said. “She fashions herself in a way that could resemble myself, or your mother—a bright white bee in shimmering robes…and an incredibly garish crown she likely fashioned herself, or had someone fashion for her. All gold and jewels. Her eyes are lavender, not dark like the bugs of Hallownest, but while they’re unusual, they hold none of her power. No, her brand of magic would be in her wings.”

“…Wings?” Silk asked, and their father nodded.

“Her wings are like stained glass, each portion glowing with an iridescent light that shines in any color you can imagine.”

“…It sounds pretty.” Fracture said quietly.

“It is, I suppose.” He relented. “But that magic can seep into an unprotected mind, and change bugs from the inside out.” Much like Radiance’s infection may have done, but he left that part out. “Nothing is left but a husk with glowing, iridescent eyes, willing to do anything for their mistress. They’ll follow her to the ends of the world…and until the ends of their own lives.”

It was truly a powerful bit of magic. Powerful and cruel, to break into a being’s thoughts, break them down until there was hardly anything left but blind, unfaltering devotion. A hive mind dedicated to its Muse…

A few vessels had shuddered as his words sank in. Berry tugged at Silk’s robes again, this time with more urgency than before.

“She wouldn’t come to Hallownest, would she?” Silk asked, relaying their sibling’s unspoken question.

“No.” the wyrm said firmly. “No. She makes targets of weaker beings, and she wouldn’t dare harm Hallownest.” Especially now that he and Radiance were no longer fighting between themselves—if Aurora couldn’t take on either of them alone, the odds were good that she wouldn’t stand a chance against the both of them.

“Father beat her once,” Hollow spoke up. “I doubt she’d want to cross him again.” Thankfully, this seemed to reassure their siblings, as they each relaxed one by one.

“That’s right,” the king agreed. “But enough of this; I worried this would be too much for bedtime, and you’ve already stayed up for much longer than you should have, you little vagabonds.”

A small bit of scattered giggles resonated through “Pillownest” as the king rose, returning to the doorway as the children settled in for the night.

None of them seemed particularly troubled, thankfully. They were naturally a more resilient bunch than other children, perhaps, but he still didn’t want to frighten them. Especially not with images and tales of a god they likely would never see with their own eyes.

“Goodnight, Father.” Came the response, and the door softly clicked shut.

All was silent in the vessels’ bedroom for the longest time. Then, amidst the occasional toss and turn,

“…If Aurora took over Alexis’ old home, does that mean she might try to take Alexis back there some day?” Thorn asked.

“Didn’t you hear Father? She isn’t setting foot in Hallownest.” Hollow assured them. “And even if she did, she isn’t hurting our sister.”

The response ended the conversation almost as quickly as it began. Aurora was far away, the vessels reasoned. She may as well be just another character in one of their storybooks, or one of the tales Ze’mer or Isma or Ogrim would tell.

And even if she did set those eyes on their sister, she would have every single one of Alexis’ siblings to contend with.

Chapter Text

“You want to do…what?” the Pale King asked, having just turned from his conversation with the White Lady and the Radiance. He was surprised any of the vessels had made their way here; unless someone took too big of a fall, they typically were content with playing while their parents conversed.

“We want to throw Alexis a birthday party!” Ghost explained, their bright tone startling against their stoic mask.

“We don’t know her real birthday, but it’s almost that day Radi—I mean, Lady Radiance—found Alexis. That’s close enough, right?” Jet asked.

“…I suppose we could make do with that.” The king said, smiling. “It’s already quite the memorable occasion; we may as well add one more thing to celebrate.”

“I must admit, I’m curious,” Radiance said, looking down at the two vessels. She had to admit the little ones were growing on her, and had been for some time. They were Alexis’ family, and in a way…that could possibly make them Radiance’s family, too, couldn’t it? “What do you have planned for your sister?”

“It’s a secret!” Jet said, before Ghost could respond. They grabbed their sibling’s arm, tugging them back the way they came. "Come on, Ghost! We need to come up with a plan!"

“’Plan’?” the Pale King asked. “Why plan if you already have a secret—” he was cut short by a gentle nudge from his wife, her eyes shining with amusement.

“—Ah. I see.” He said, although Ghost and Jet were long gone. “So by ‘secret’, Jet meant that they don’t know, either.”

The White Lady laughed quietly, taking a sip of tea and looking fondly at where the two vessels had vanished off to.

“Let them have their fun, dear. At least Jet isn’t getting into your spells again.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A number of vessels had gathered in their room, cloth and wood and all manner of craft supplies strewn out onto the floor. Pillownest had since been relocated, the various components shoved to the ends of the room to make space for…whatever it was they were working on.

Each of the children present looked up as Jet and Ghost entered the room, an expectant hush falling over them.

“They’ve agreed to host a party!” Jet cheered. “So now we’ve got to come up with something really good!”

“Alexis is…so little, though,” Hornet said, looking up from a large ball of spider silk she and Silk were in the process of winding. “Will she remember a party at all?”

“Doesn’t matter! It’s her first birthday in Hallownest, and we should celebrate it! We’re her family, after all!”

“But how? We can’t bake her a cake, Father won’t let us in the kitchen anymore. Not since Bramble…” Fracture said, trailing off with a slight giggle.

“It wasn’t my fault, Jet dared me!” Bramble exclaimed.

“But why did you listen to them?” Ghost asked, in a tone of voice that was almost too smug.

“…Y’know, they’ve got a point,” Jet shrugged. They barely void-stepped out of the path of a pillow Bramble sent hurtling toward their sibling in response.

“Oh! We could probably make her something!” Silk offered, earning nods from both Hornet and Berry. “She’s been growing a lot, maybe we could make her a new cloak!”

“I’ll bring over some more silk,” Hornet said. “We can get started right away; between the three of us it shouldn’t take long at all.”

“We’ll need decorations,” Bramble mused. “Banners, and lanterns…oh! Thorn and I can go find some flowers, too!”

“Yeah! Mother’s gardens have lots of pretty flowers, and there’s always cool plants in Greenpath!” Thorn piped up.

“If you’re leaving the palace, make sure Hollow goes with you,” Hornet said. “Neither of you can wield a nail, and if I’m helping Silk and Berry, I can’t go with you.”

“…You’re right.” Bramble said. Hollow was one of the most skilled fighters, and it wasn’t as if they didn’t want their sibling’s company.

It was just…their father seemed to spend a lot more time training with Hollow than he did with the rest of the vessels. As if some faint traces of favoritism still remained, back when Hollow was still intended to serve as the Pure Vessel.

“Gifts, decorations…is all of this up to your standards now, Jet?” Ghost asked, mostly teasing.

“…Maybe. Let me think.” Jet replied seriously. “Let’s all figure out one more thing…something to make this first birthday really special! Let’s think, everyone!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It wasn’t as if the children were outright forbidden from leaving the palace, but not all of them could openly come and go as they pleased. It was a matter of safety more than anything else, and Bramble and Thorn knew it.

It did make it a bit harder to head for their mother’s gardens, though. Especially considering that they were still being a bit secretive, and maybe not as upfront with their father’s Kingsmoulds as they might have been otherwise. They wanted the details of this party to be a surprise for everyone, not just Alexis!

“Children? What are you doing out here?” Thorn, Bramble, and Hollow turned around to see their mother approaching, with Dryya at her side. She normally was when the queen was heading to her retreat.

“We wanted to go to your gardens,” Bramble said. “We need some flowers, it’s for a surprise!”

The White Lady’s eyes crinkled into a smile; given Ghost and Jet’s conversation with their father earlier that week, she could venture a guess as to what her children needed flowers for. But she said nothing of a surprise party, instead simply nodding and turning to her knight.

“I see no reason why the little ones can’t travel with us, do you?” She asked. “They’ll be well-supervised on the way, and Hollow even brought their own nail.” The tallest of the three vessels nodded, proudly holding a channeled nail up in the air in response. Dryya huffed out a quiet laugh at the sight; the king’s favored child was already turning out to be a promising fighter, if they were entrusted with their own nail so young.

“Come on, then,” she said, a rare smile on her face as she looked over the little vessels. “If you’re looking for flowers, you’ve definitely chosen the right place to go.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thorn, Bramble, and Hollow had barely left the room to set out for the gardens when the other vessels scurried into action of their own. The children had been quietly working all throughout the week leading up to Alexis’ birthday. Now that they were only one day from their planned celebration, that had only intensified.

Jet had taken it upon themselves to stand at the head of the entire plan, looking over their siblings’ work with obvious pride.

“This looks great!” They exclaimed, gesturing to a large banner the vessels carefully laid out in the corner of their bedroom. The paint was still drying at the moment, but hopefully it would be dry by the time tomorrow night came around.

Despite all the vessels’ planning, and all the time spent painting banners and gathering up the best lumafly lamps the White Palace had to offer, the vessels had one more surprise in store.

Hornet, Silk, and Berry had finished their sister’s new cloak quickly, but they hadn’t stopped there. The three were still huddled in a far corner of the room, surrounded by spools of silk and half-finished swatches of cloth. Hornet was rapidly knitting a robe made from a pale gray thread, while Silk seemed to match her speed in their own construction of a shimmering golden cape. Berry sat nearby, small enough to perch on one of the large balls of spider silk that Hornet had brought from Deepnest. While they were too small to knit larger clothing—at least, not without getting themselves tangled in thread in the process—their small size meant they were especially skilled with detail work. The tiny vessel was working on the parts of the gold robe Silk had already completed, embroidering shimmering patterns into the fabric.

The vessels worked in silence, oblivious to the world around them…up until the Pale King entered the room to see whether his children had gone to bed already.

Just like that, they sprang to life; blankets were hurled over banners and lanterns, pillows piled in front of works in progress that were already being hidden out of sight. Silk bundled up their project, not realizing they’d accidentally scooped up Berry along with it until they’d pushed the gold cloth behind their back.

Berry, to their credit, seemed to merely accept their fate. At least the cloth was nice and soft.

“Father, wait!” Ghost exclaimed, jumping off the bed they’d been perched on and running up to their father. For a moment, it seemed like they were trying to push the Pale Wyrm back out of the vessels’ room. “Don’t look, it’s not ready yet!”

Although certainly bewildered, and more than a little curious as to what exactly his children were working on, the Pale King allowed Ghost to herd him back into the hallway.

“My apologies, Ghost,” he said with a faint laugh, even as they pushed the door closed behind them. “I hadn’t realized the surprise party wasn’t only for your sister.”

“Nope! It’s for everyone!” Ghost chirped. “And I can’t tell you what it is, so don’t try to spoil the surprise!”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Ghost.” The king sighed, gently rubbing his child’s head. “Your siblings are back from your mother’s gardens, but they seem to be avoiding me as well. Be sure all of you get to bed on time, tonight. It won’t do to exhaust yourselves.”

 “Don’t worry, we’re almost done! Just wait until the party tomorrow!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The “party” seemed to be a rather small affair, when considering the amount of bugs in attendance. There was the Pale King, and the White Lady, of course, as well as the Radiance; three parental figures of the guest of honor herself. Herrah, Monomon, and Lurien had been invited as well, and the Teacher had brought along her young apprentice, Quirrel.

Naturally, the King’s Five Knights were all in attendance as well, each watching with humored expressions as the vessels ushered everyone into their room.

The beds had once again been pushed away, used as benches to line the walls and face the center of the room. The flowers gathered from the Queen’s gardens were arranged throughout the room, and more than a few bouquets had been clustered around where Alexis would presumably be seated: in the center of all the benches, close to her parents, and surrounded by colorful banners and blossoms.

More than one banner read “Happy Birthday, Sister!” in carefully-painted letters, hung proudly on the walls.

“Goodness, children,” the White Lady smiled, a proud gleam in her eyes. “This is a wonderful display!”

“Lady Isma helped us with the flowers,” Thorn said, leaning against said knight in a quick hug.

“I was happy to help,” Isma smiled, hugging the little vessel before they scampered back to join their siblings. “Although they didn’t exactly tell me what else they planned—we arranged the flowers in the courtyard.”

“Told you it was a surprise,” Jet said, at which their father let out an exaggerated groan.

“I believe you’ve kept us in suspense long enough,” he said.

“Right!” Hollow stepped over to Alexis, and the girl reached for her sibling even as her mother worked to keep her from toppling off her lap. “Alexis, are you ready for your present?”

Her face lit up in response, and she clapped loudly as she cheered.

“Yeah, yeah! Presents!”

“Alexis,” Radiance said, a smile in her voice. “What do we say?”

“Thanks you!” The girl exclaimed, and more than one of the bugs present laughed in response.

“It’s close enough, I suppose.” Radiance sighed, watching as Hornet and Silk stepped forward with a package carried between them. Berry clung to Silk’s back, as they normally did when the two walked about.

The present was wrapped a bit hastily, but it was likely for the best; Alexis enthusiastically yanked at the bow tying everything together, revealing a small blue cloak woven from spider silk.

“Alexis was trying to copy us a while back,” Jet laughed as Hollow carefully wrapped the garment around their sister. “She kept wrapping herself in blankets, but they were so long she fell over. And since she’s growing a lot, we made her a cloak of her own!”

“’We’? You didn’t do—” Hornet began, before a rapid tugging at her poncho stopped her. Berry had leaned over, clearly hoping to stop a fight before it could begin.

“It’s wonderfully made,” Radiance said, also aiming to keep Jet and Hornet from squabbling. “And even large enough where she can grow into it a bit more.” Alexis squirmed in Radiance’s lap, kicking her feet in an attempt to be let down on the ground.

“Radi down! Down please!” She exclaimed, although it didn’t seem like she planned on going far. She wobbled over to Hollow and caught them in a hug, giggling as she did so.

“We have one more surprise,” Hollow said, gently settling down on the floor with their sister. “It’s for all of you, not just Alexis.”

“Oh? What sort of surprise, children?” Ogrim asked, having to feign none of his surprise or curiosity. Hollow nodded, even as their siblings scattered, dispersing behind a stack of pillows.

There was silence, except for the rustling of fabric or the occasional exclamation of “ah, you’re standing on my cloak!”. A large blanket was laid out on the floor by Fracture, Bramble, and Thorn, who quickly scampered off as Ghost stepped onto the blanket.

“Today isn’t just Alexis’ birthday,” they began, making sure their words were being clearly broadcasted to everyone present. They had a sheet of parchment held in front of them, although it was nearly impossible to tell how often they looked at the notes in front of them.

No, the bugs in the audience corrected themselves, one by one. These weren’t notes. This was a script.

“Today is a special day for both our family and all of Hallownest,” Ghost said, seeming to settle into their apparent role as a narrator. “And today, we celebrate not only our sister’s birthday, but the peace we finally welcomed to Hallownest.”

Ghost paused, seeming to build suspense. Or maybe they were merely stalling for time; the king thought he could hear a few hushed, bickering children in the back of the room.

“It all started long before any of us were born. Before Hallownest fully rose, there were two beings who arrived in the same land. The first was the Radiance,” Ghost held an arm out to the side, stepping to the edge of their makeshift stage as Silk strolled onto the blanket. The gold robe they’d been working on for the past week seemed to glow with the light of the nearby lanterns, and a small, golden crown was carefully perched between their horns.

A few of the adults chuckled at the sight, and even Radiance couldn’t help but smile.

“The Radiance led with one kind of light, a golden burst to tie bugs together,” At this point, Ghost seemed to focus more heavily on their script; they remembered their lessons from Monomon, but they wanted to be sure everything was exactly right!

“But there was another being approaching, and he thought his light would be better for the bugs of Hallownest.”

“…Oh, dear.” The Pale King murmured, even as Jet joined Silk in the center of the stage. They wore a robe, a costume, made of a shimmering silver fabric, with a wooden crown carved to resemble their father’s horns haphazardly settled on their head.

“The Pale Wyrm wanted a kingdom to lead,” Ghost said, amidst the hushed laughs and exclamations of their audience. “But neither of them wanted to share.”

“Excuse me,” The “Pale King” said, strolling forward. “What are you doing in my kingdom?”

“What are you doing in my kingdom?” The “Radiance” countered.

“I asked you first!”

“I asked you second!”

“It seemed like nothing could convince the Pale King and the Radiance to get along,” Ghost continued solemnly—almost too solemnly, considering the simple hilarity of the vessels’ version of the deities’ age-old quarrel.

Watching as the children played out the scene, Radiance had to admit that the entire feud seemed almost…silly, now.

“But suddenly, just as things looked like they were going to turn for the worst…” Jet and Silk struck exaggerated poses, trying and failing to hit each other in slow motion, “…something appeared in the Resting Grounds.”

A few bugs gasped when Berry seemed to appear from above, clad in the striped remains of Alexis’ long-outgrown outfit from her arrival in Hallownest. Hornet carefully perched above, lowering her sibling down to the ground with a strand of thread.

“What is that?” Silk exclaimed with exaggerated shock. They made a show of scooping Berry up and turning the little one side to side, as if inspecting them.

Radaince watched as Silk and Berry seemed to reenact exactly what had happened that fateful day. Much like Alexis had done, Berry leaned forward, gently tapping their hands against Silk’s mask.

“It was love at first sight for the Radiance,” Ghost said, as Silk clutched Berry close to their chest.

“I only just met her, but I would die for this child!” They exclaimed dramatically, much to everyone’s amusement.

“So the Radiance met with the Pale King,” Ghost said. “And even the Pale Wyrm had to admit that the child was pretty cute. And if the Radiance could meet him halfway, maybe he could return the favor.”

“And that’s how Alexis was added to our family,” Silk piped up. “And Lady Radiance, too. From this day on, Hallownest would know a new kind of peace—all because a little baby fell into the kingdom.”

“The end!” Jet said, before bowing so quickly that their crown was launched forward onto the ground. The applause was quiet, for the most part, but no less sincere as the vessels gave a bow. Hollow quietly passed Alexis back over to their mother, approaching the Pale King.

“I asked them not to talk about Aurora,” they said quietly, even as Ogrim and Isma complimented the children’s work, and Monomon praised Ghost for putting their history knowledge to use in such a creative way. “It’s not her story; I wanted us to talk about our family.”

“And you all did a wonderful job,” the Pale King smiled, silently thankful that Aurora hadn’t crept her way into their little celebration. Even if it was only the mere mention of her name, she had no place here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Radiance had been content to stand off to the side and watch—Alexis and her siblings were caught up in another game of chase, and the Old Light supposed it would be best if her daughter could burn off even a tiny bit of that seemingly-boundless energy.

The Pale Wyrm seemed to have vanished; one moment he’d been speaking with Herrah or the White Lady, and the next moment…Radiance wasn’t sure, but she knew he’d slipped out of the room. The “why” didn’t concern her much—she knew the wyrm was focused on maintaining an air of mystery, and if that meant he’d slip out of a room from time to time then that was hardly a cause for her to be concerned.

“Lady Radiance,” Markoth said quietly, appearing at her side with a fairly large bag in his arms.

“Markoth,” she responded, sounding surprised. He’d been in attendance as well, although he’d remained quiet and out of sight for most of the evening. “What do you have there?”

“A gift, of sorts,” the warrior moth replied. “I don’t know how long it will take the girl to grow, or how tall she’ll become. But I thought it would be best to be prepared.” Radiance considered calling Alexis over to open her gift, but it seemed like she was content with playing some sort of clapping game with a few of her siblings. With that in mind, Radiance gently took the package from Markoth, opening the bag to see an assortment of cloth within; they were no materials she’d seen in Hallownest, meaning…

“…Where did you get this?” She asked him.

“I returned to the crashed tram after you returned from your talk with Queen Vespa,” Markoth explained. “I was hoping to find some sort of information on her kind, but found a bag of clothing one of her family members had packed.”

It was a bit…morbid, if Radiance thought about it too much. Dressing her daughter in the clothes of her dead family…

…No. No, it was only clothing, and the dead shouldn’t be burdened with such things. It could almost be seen as them taking care of Alexis, indirectly providing for her even though they’d passed on from this world.

“Good idea, Markoth,” she said. “This would certainly be easier than crafting all of Alexis’ clothes from scratch.” It had already proved to be a challenge, even when using her old clothes as reference; the child wasn’t exactly interested in holding still while her measurements were being taken. Markoth nodded a bit, gaze drifting around the room.

“I may take my leave soon,” he said after a pause. “The children will likely wear themselves out before long, but I’ll return to the moth village just to be safe.”

Radiance held back a smile; given her peace with the Pale King, it seemed unlikely that there was anything particularly threatening for the moths. But she admired Markoth’s vigilance, and appreciated having an extra set of eyes watching out for her moths.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For a bug of such high standing, it was surprisingly easy for the Pale King to excuse himself from the party. He supposed it helped that he wasn’t the center of the partygoer’s attention; today may also be the anniversary of his truce with the Radiance, but the children’s party was dedicated mainly to Alexis’ birthday.

At any rate, he wouldn’t be gone for long, and he hadn’t gone far. He’d already reached the door that glowed with the white seal he’d placed upon it. The door to the Abyss.

The metal platform quietly creaked and groaned under him as he stepped out above the darkness, pausing when he reached the edge.

“…Hello, children,” his voice was quiet, but it carried far in the deafening silence. A moment passed, two moments, three, before the first pair of white eyes rose in front of him.

Not all of the Pale King’s vessels had been successful. He’d managed to give bits of void life, give them form and such, but some had been…less successful than others. The first vessels he’d created hadn’t taken to masks, hadn’t been willing to occupy one. They resided as shades in the Abyss, although ever since the king’s change of heart, he’d tried to make efforts to visit them.

It hadn’t been easy at first, no. Especially since in the beginning, he’d been all too dismissive of the failed vessels.

“…Father…” Came a whispering voice, followed by another, and another. A small group of shades had risen from the very bottom of the Abyss, but he wasn’t concerned. Not all of them seemed to want to come up to visit every time.

“…It’s your sister’s birthday,” he murmured, reaching out and pressing a hand against the head of the closest shade and doing his best to ignore the chilling sensation that resulted. “Your adopted sister, do you remember me telling you about her?”

“…Sister…?” Came the response. “…Sister. Blazing light. Sister.”

The king sighed as a few of the shades began to get a bit restless; they usually did when the Radiance came up.

“Yes, your sister, and the Radiance’s daughter. Alexis.”

“…Sister…play?” one asked. “Can sister visit?”

“…Perhaps someday,” the Pale King said. “She is part of our family, and that includes you.” Even if nobody knew of these little ones, aside from himself and the White Lady.

“…Children. I have no right to ask anything of you, but I need your help with something. Something important.”

“…Help Father?” A shade asked. “We help Father.”

They were simple words, fragments of thought, yet they put him at ease so quickly.

Wyrms were gifted with the power of foresight. He didn’t get glimpses of his future often, and his visions rarely managed to unnerve him. But this…what he’d seen…that was different.

“I need you to hold onto something for me,” the king said, reaching into a pocket of his robes and withdrawing a glowing white trinket. Half of a whole, a fragment of the soul binding himself and his queen. “Part of something powerful, something that may need protected someday. I know you never asked for the circumstances around your births. Never asked, nor deserved, the way I discarded you so easily. But can I ask this of you?”

The handful of shades had expressions as inscrutable as their siblings in the White Palace. They looked at each other, then over at the Pale King, then to the white fragment in his hand.

“…Changed. Father changed.”

“Siblings will forgive.”

“Siblings will help.”

The Pale King held out his hand, the fragment resting in his palm as his fingers gently curled over it. The siblings made no move to take it. Perhaps they were reluctant to touch the fragment of his soul.

“The time may come where I’ll need this back,” he said. “But until then, keep this safe. Keep it hidden.”

The shades of the King’s very first vessels nodded, and with that, the Pale King allowed the fragment to plummet down into the darkness.

Chapter Text

One would think that the White Palace would have been thoroughly explored by now. Yet, even after a couple years, it seemed as if the children were still finding new secrets to be explored.

Their latest discovery involved a small nook overlooking the throne room, where a handful of vessels could sit and observe the day-to-day functions of the Pale Court. Or, at the moment, a couple vessels and a ten-year-old girl.

“Are you sure something’s supposed to be happening today?” Alexis whispered, looking over at her siblings. “We’ve been waiting here for ages…”

“Trust me, there’s some sort of important visitor,” Ghost said. “The retainers won’t stop whispering about it.”

“They whisper about almost everything, though,” Alexis said. They whispered about her in particular, although she pretended not to know. It was…understandable, in a way. She was like Ze’mer—someone who had reached Hallownest from some land beyond the kingdom. It was bound to raise some curiosity.

“Maybe, but Father has been awfully tense today,” Ghost shrugged. “Something must be happening.”

“Look! There’s Hollow!” Fracture pushed in between Ghost and Alexis, pointing down into the throne room. Hollow was seated to the Pale King’s right, almost as tall as their father and showing no signs of slowing their growth. Why did Hollow continue to grow when most of their siblings had stopped? Alexis had asked before, but it seemed like no one knew for sure.

“Do you think they’ll see us up here?” Ghost asked, waving nonetheless. Below them, Hollow idly glanced around before jolting in surprise—evidently, they hadn’t expected to have company while attending court.

“Why do you think Father asked for Hollow to join him?” Alexis whispered. It wasn’t common for him to tug her big sibling away, so things must be special today.

“I dunno? Something about lineage or something. I wasn’t paying attention,” Fracture said, and Alexis giggled.

“Thank you, Fracture, very helpful,” she teased.

“Shh!” Ghost tugged at both of their siblings’ cloaks, directing their attention back to the throne room. They were in the perfect position to observe both the throne and the entryway, but right now their attention was fixed solely on the latter.

Entering the throne room was a group of bugs the children had never seen before. Lights from the nearby lanterns cast gleaming reflections on wicked sharp claws. The newcomers’ footsteps were nearly silent as they stopped in front of the throne, and the Pale King rose to his feet.

These weren’t citizens, then—they would have bowed, and their father wouldn’t have stood. That was how it worked, right…?

…Maybe there was a reason Alexis was never asked to attend a day of court like Hollow occasionally was; the moth tribe rarely dealt with situations this formal, so she was very out of practice.

“Lord Vaas,” the Pale King said, inclining his head slightly; it was a bow to an equal, rather than a superior.

“Pale King,” came the tallest bug’s response, accompanied by a slight bow in return. “I thank you for the opportunity to speak face-to-face.”

“As Lord of the Mantis Tribe you deserve such respect, although I’ll admit I was surprised to hear from you. Up until now, our two civilizations have seemed content with keeping to themselves.”

“The Mantis Tribe?” Fracture breathed, sounding almost awestruck. “And they wanted to speak with Father? Why??”

“Fracture, we won’t know why if you don’t quiet down,” Ghost whispered.

“Times change, do they not? The Mantis Tribe and the Kingdom of Hallownest have little love for one another, yes. But all this time we’ve maintained a cordial relationship.” Lord Vaas said. Hollow seemed to stiffen in their seat just a touch, although a calming wave from the Pale King relaxed them.

“I doubt you would be so crass as to bring children to a declaration of war,” he said, eyeing the four young mantises in tow. “Successors, then?”

Lord Vaas laughed, nodding slightly.

“Not for a while but yes, these are my children and they will, eventually, succeed me as lords of the Mantis Tribe. These are my daughters, Valda, Isolde, and Brava—” the three mantises in question bowed their heads slightly, even as their father continued, “—and the youngest, my son Kieza. I thought it prudent to have them grow used to some of the finer points of leadership early on.”

“What’s ‘prudent’?” Ghost asked.

“I think it means something’s a good idea,” Alexis murmured. “Markoth uses words like that a lot.”

“—and, assuming the arrangement between the two of us is to continue, each of them ought to know and be familiar with the bugs behind it.”

“Of course,” the Pale King said.

The arrangement he’d struck with the Mantis Tribe was one relic that hadn’t changed as a result of his treaty with the Radiance. Hallownest’s treaty with the Mantis Village promised that the tribe would be allowed to function as its own civilization, without any interference from Hallownest, much like the kingdom of Deepnest. In return, the gates between the village and the aforementioned Deepnest would be heavily guarded, assuring no threats could use that point as a way to intrude on the kingdom.

With the conflict with Radiance nothing but a memory, and his alliance with Herrah cemented in the form of Hornet, the Pale King recognized that the latter part of their treaty was likely just a formality. But there was little practical use to alter it now, especially given that driving the beasts back benefitted the Mantis Tribe as well. There was no sense in attempting to fix what was not broken, after all.

“That is largely the reason Hollow is attending this meeting, as well,” the Pale King continued, gesturing to the vessel. They bowed their head in response.

“I’m surprised you only have one child here. Given the large amount of them supposedly running about—”

“Yes, well. Not all of them have expressed interest in such matters, and given that I’ve come to rely on Hollow quite a bit—”

There was a quiet rustling somewhere in the throne room, just loud enough to get the bugs’ attention. The Pale King stiffened, looking around even as Lord Vaas and his children shifted into defensive stances. Unknown to them, Fracture had shifted a bit too close to the edge of their hiding place, teetering over the edge even as their siblings made to grab them.

Fracture’s cloak slipped out of Ghost’s hand, and Alexis barely missed when she moved to grab her sibling. The vessel toppled over the edge, falling down to the throne room in a dark blur of movement.

Their mask shattered against the floor with a dry crack.

“…Children!” The Pale King shouted, unable to quite hold back his exasperation…and concern. “My apologies, Lord Vaas, it seems like we had more of my children present than I thought.” He rushed over to the pieces of Fracture’s mask, sighing quietly at the little shade in front of him. Their shade was a familiar sight, yes, but he wasn’t happy with that by any means.

“…Sorry…” They murmured, and the king sighed.

“Children, come down here,” he said, looking up at where Fracture had presumably fallen from. He didn’t know for sure that there were others present, but it was a safe guess. His children rarely wandered off completely alone.

From where he was standing, and now that he was looking closely, there was a small opening high up in the wall, just large enough for a few vessels to crawl through. Two faces cautiously peered down at him, and he suppressed another sigh. Alexis and Ghost. Why was it always those two?

Ghost, at least, could make the leap down to the ground with little trouble, given that their mask was more durable than Fracture’s and that they were landing on their feet. They were careful to avoid landing on Fracture’s shade or mask, fidgeting with the ends of their cloak.

“…Sorry, Father. And sorry for interrupting, Lord Vaas.” They mumbled.

A shuffling noise pulled the Pale King’s attention away before he could respond to Ghost’s apology. Alexis perched on the edge of the overhang, seeming to be considering making the leap herself.

If she hadn’t grown so much in recent years, maybe the Pale King could fly up and fetch her. But both she and Hollow had almost outgrown him, and neither showed signs of stopping.

“Sister, wait!” Hollow slid off their seat, rushing over to where everyone was gathering. “You’re going to hurt yourself, remember last time?”

Yes, last time Alexis had jumped from a height like this, she’d hurt her ankle pretty badly; Hollow had to help her limp her way back to Hallownest’s Crown. But this was the fastest way down…

“Here!” Something whistled through the air, sinking into the wall next to Alexis with a dull thunk that made her jump. It was a large claw, carved from bone and sharp enough to cling to the wall.

“Brava, what was that?” Lord Vaas asked his youngest daughter. She simply shrugged.

“I heard the Pale King’s children were adventurous, so I brought a spare claw from the storerooms. It’s a token of good faith.”

“You certainly heard correctly,” the king muttered, watching as Alexis slid down the wall with the claw. For something that had gripped onto the wall and stuck, it seemed to be fairly easy for her to maneuver. It only took her one or two experimental tugs to separate it from the stone walls.

“Thank y—” Alexis turned, only to find herself face-to-face with the Mantis Lord. He said nothing, but he didn’t need to; Alexis knew a curious stare when she saw one.

She was quite the strange creature, after all.

“I’m Alexis,” she said, with a small bow. It was only polite. “Daughter of the Radiance, and also the Pale Beings.”

“Greetings, Princess,” came Lord Vaas’ reply, a bit humored at the formality of the child’s greeting. Or maybe it was instead caused by the slight twisting of Alexis’ face—“princess” wasn’t quite her preferred title. She had no royal blood like Hornet, wasn’t born of the pale beings like her siblings. She was simply here.

“A princess still intent on eavesdropping, it seems.” Alexis winced at her father’s remark, eyes lowering to her feet. She, Ghost, and Fracture hadn’t considered themselves to be spying; they’d just wanted to see what was going on to get their father so nervous.

“Children will be children, it seems,” Lord Vaas replied. “Perhaps this is a sign we should be leaving. I believe both of us are very busy.”

“You don’t know the half of it, some days,” came the Pale King’s reply, accompanied by a bow of his head. “I appreciate your visit, Lord Vaas. Ideally, this means nothing but civility between Hallownest and the Mantis Tribe.”

“I see no reason to declare otherwise, as long as we keep to our own.”

One of the younger mantises, the one who’d thrown the claw that remained in Alexis’ hands, stopped next to her. She was a bit taller than the girl, with wings she hadn’t quite lost yet tucked against her back.

“Thank you again for the claw,” Alexis said. “It’s Brava, right?”

“That’s right.” The future Mantis Lord replied. Her eyes sparked with mischief as she leaned forward. “Come visit sometime, and I’ll teach you how to use that claw as if it’s an extension of your own body…assuming you believe you have what it takes to learn.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Alexis asked.

She was given nothing but a grin and a sharp peal of laughter in response.

The Pale King remained silent, watching as his guests left the throne room. The slamming of the room’s great doors, however, was accompanied by a turn of his head in the children’s direction, the motion almost ominous in the sudden silence.

“…Would any of you care to explain what you were doing crawling in the walls?” He asked.

“I…”

“We just…”

“…sounded fun…”

Three explanations began all at once, quieting down again as Alexis, Ghost, and Fracture exchanged glances.

“…We just wanted to see what was going on,” Alexis said at last. “You seemed nervous, and the retainers wouldn’t stop talking about it—”

“And so you invited yourselves to court.” The Pale King cut her off, clasping his hands behind his back. “And created quite the spectacle of yourselves, and me, in the process.”

“It was an accident! Fracture didn’t fall on purpose!” Alexis said. It wasn’t as if any of them had intended to disrupt the meeting!

“No, Alexis, they didn’t,” the Pale King said. “But how do you think this makes me look to Lord Vaas, and his children? If I cannot have one simple meeting without it being clear that I have little control over my own children, how can others believe that I can exercise any control over a kingdom? What do you think they see me as?”

“…You’re a father. You’re our father,” Alexis said quietly. “Any other parent would understand—”

“This isn’t the moth tribe, Alexis.” The king snapped, harsher than intended despite himself. “Hallownest doesn’t need—nor does it want—a father. It needs a ruler, and that is what I intend to be.”

He realized—a bit too late—that there were tears welling in his daughter’s eyes, and even Ghost and Fracture seemed visibly upset.

“…I am your father,” he relented, quieter this time. “But I’m also the king of Hallownest, and it’s important that I act as such when others are visiting.” They didn’t come all the way to the White Palace to see the father of the vessels—they came to see the Pale King, god-ruler of Hallownest.

“…I understand.”

“Good. Does your mother know you’re here? Or does she simply know you’re gone?”

“She knows I’m here,” Alexis mumbled. “Root invited me over for tea. I ran into Ghost and Fracture after.”

“I think it’s about time you started heading home, then.” It was a command, not a suggestion, and Alexis knew it. “Hollow, would you be willing to walk your sister back? At least to the stag station.”

“Of course, Father.” Hollow replied, even as Alexis rolled her eyes in a way that would likely make her mother proud.

“Father, I can make the trip back,” she argued. “It’s just a ride on the stags, and the station is just past the palace…”

“I know you’re more than capable, Alexis,” was her father’s reply, clipped and tired. “But if your younger siblings are asked to only leave the palace in groups or pairs, I’d like for you and Hollow to set a good example.”

That request made sense, at least. The last thing the Pale King wanted was for any of his children to go out alone and get hurt, and they all knew it.

“All right,” she nodded, and the king’s shoulders relaxed.

“Thank you, child,” he said, giving her shoulder a small squeeze before turning his attention to Ghost and Fracture.

“Come along, you two. Let’s get Fracture’s mask fixed…again.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hallownest’s Crown was as quiet as always, with nothing but the light wind ruffling through her hair to keep Alexis company as she ascended to the peak. Crystals had long since been cleared, ladders built and paths laid down to aid the moths in their comings and goings.

(The lifts and ladders were primarily for Alexis’ sake, seeing as she had no wings to speak of).

“Alexis? You’re home early,” Thistlewind said from her right, curiously looking her over even as she approached. “Is something wrong?”

“…Not really.” Alexis shrugged, although the way that she glanced off to the side seemed to suggest otherwise. “Where’s Radi?”

“Visiting with someone. She only said they’re an old friend of hers,” Thistlewind replied. “She asked me to send you along if I saw you. Perhaps she wants to introduce you.”

Well, at least Alexis wouldn’t get in trouble for interrupting this meeting.

“Thanks, Thistlewind,” she replied, and the moth nodded.

“Of course, Alexis,” the girl offered a quick hug and a short wave before continuing on, heading for the very top of Hallownest’s Crown.

The moth village had steadily grown much like Alexis had, shifting from a collection of small tents to a cluster of houses, sturdily built and teeming with life. A few houses featured small gardens or planters, filled with clusters of greenery from other areas of Hallownest. It helped to bring another bit of color to the village, a breath of lively green amidst rocks and crystals.

The house Alexis lived in with her mother was at the top of the hill, directly beneath the stone statue of the Radiance. Their house was a bit taller than the others, a result of both Radiance’s height and her desire for her daughter to have her own quarters.

The windows glowed faintly from within, a telltale sign that her mother was home, and Alexis pushed open the door.

“Mother? I’m home, Thistlewind said to find you…?”

The quiet conversation in the next room halted, and the golden light grew just a bit brighter as the Radiance appeared from around the corner.

“Alexis! You’re back early,” she said, sounding about as surprised as Thistlewind had.

“I know. Thistlewind said the same,” she simply replied, not sure how to explain why she was back so early. She wasn’t even sure if she wanted to explain. Instead, Alexis walked forward, throwing her arms around her mother in a tight hug that was quickly returned.

“…Do you wish to talk about it, my daughter?” she asked quietly.

“Not really…”

“All right. I asked Thistlewind to send you along because there’s someone here I’d like for you to meet. An old, and dear, friend.”

“Oh! Who is it?” Alexis asked, curiosity quickly taking the place of sadness. They didn’t often get visitors here, so high up in Crystal Peak. Even a visit from her siblings was rare, given how far from the White Palace they were.

“Another high being,” Radiance replied, leading Alexis into their living room. Another mantis—closely resembling the ones Alexis met earlier, but much taller—sat in the room, rising to stand as Radiance and her daughter approached.

“Alexis, this is Kallistrate, creator of the Mantis Tribe. Kallistrate, this is my daughter, Alexis.”

“Hello, Alexis,” the mantis said, her voice stern but somehow no less warm. “Radiance has told me much about you.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Alexis said. “I…didn’t know the mantises had a god of their own…”

“They might not know, themselves.”

“Kallistrate is much more…’hands-off’ than myself or the Wyrm,” Radiance explained, noticing Alexis’ quizzical look.

“I don’t feel much need to be worshipped like your parents do.” Kallistrate replied, although a playful wink in Radiance’s direction indicated she meant no insult in the remark. “Knowing the Mantis Tribe is flourishing is enough.”

They fell silent for a moment, the quiet disturbed only by the shuffling of Alexis’ feet.

“So. Uh…what brings you here?” She asked awkwardly. Thankfully, neither Kallistrate nor Radiance commented on it.

“It has been a long while since I’ve spoken with your mother,” Kallistrate replied. “And I wanted to meet you for myself—I was curious about the being that managed to quell a fight between her and the Pale Wyrm.”

That was another thing Alexis wasn’t quite accustomed to, even after all this time. Saying she’d stopped their fighting seemed to imply that Alexis had actively engaged in the process somehow, rather than just so happening to appear. She didn’t even remember anything from that time.

“I didn’t really do anything…” she mumbled. “It was Radi’s decision to talk with him…and his decision to listen.”

“Maybe so, but you can’t deny that your presence did a great deal in encouraging that conversation.” Kallistrate said, before turning her attention to the Radiance.

“You know I would have taken your side in a heartbeat if the Wyrm had grown hostile, don’t you, Radiance?”

“I couldn’t have asked such a thing of you,” she replied, quietly. “Even if it had been an option.”

“And I wouldn’t have asked, my light.”

Alexis blinked in confusion, looking between Kallistrate and her mother. “My light?” That was a nickname she hadn’t heard before, and her mother had many different titles.

And while she knew her mother and father hadn’t always gotten along—had been outright hostile towards each other long before she or any of her siblings had drawn their first breaths—she wasn’t sure she liked the mental image of them fighting one another.

“I know you wouldn’t have,” Radiance laughed. “The mantises had to get their stubbornness from somewhere, after all.”

“Stubbornness,” Kallistrate scoffed. “I prefer ‘dedication’.”

Alexis grinned widely at the mantis’ words.

“I like her.” She said to Radiance.

“I thought you’d say that,” her mother laughed quietly, and Kallistrate smiled a bit.

“I’m glad you approve, young one,” she said. “I’ve heard you’re quite the stubborn—ah, dedicated—one as well.”

Radiance sighed, rolling her eyes even while smiling. That seemed to be an understatement; there had been a good year or so when Alexis’ favorite word had been “no”.

“That’s quite the understatement, Kallistrate,” she laughed.

“No, it’s not!” Alexis exclaimed. It took her a couple moments to understand why the two goddesses were laughing at what she’d said.

Chapter Text

Alexis wiped the sweat from her brow, turning to face her companion even as she fought to catch her breath.

“You know, when you offered me lessons, I didn’t think it’d involve so much sparring so quickly.” She panted, earning a laugh from Brava.

“And here I thought you wanted to learn how to use a nail!” she said. “You figured out the claw easily enough, after all.”

“I do, it’s just…” Just what? Alexis didn’t know. Didn’t know how to put into words how the mantis claw had fit in her hands so easily, while the nail she was using did anything but.

She hadn’t had much experience with a nail before—between her parents’ caution and the fact that she lacked a nail of her own, it wasn’t exactly reasonable to expect lessons. Maybe that was why she’d all but lunged at the opportunity when Brava offered it. She’d left for the Mantis Village with one of Hollow’s old training nails; it was clumsy, unwieldy, not made for her hands, but it would suffice.

“Still at it, sister?” Valda asked, stepping onto the training ground with Isolde close behind. “You aren’t trying to wear out our guest, are you, Brava?”

“Of course not!” the youngest sister exclaimed indignantly. “I’m just trying to help Alexis with her training, I’m not pushing her hard at all.”

“It’s just the nail I’m using,” Alexis added. “Not anything Brava’s done.” She held up the channeled nail she’d brought. Even with the simple gesture, the mantis sisters could see the apparent strain it put on Alexis’ wrist. It was too heavy to be wielded with only one hand, but too small for her to hold it with both hands. It was, clearly, a hand-me-down nail, something loaned, something intended for a pair of hands very different from Alexis’.

“That’s perhaps the worst training weapon you could have brought.” Valda said flatly.

“It’s the only one I could find,” Alexis replied. Valda moved to reply, froze…then stopped and stared at the girl in front of her.

“…Are you trying to tell me you’ve never had a nail of your own?”

“…Should I?”

“I…yes, you should!” Valda exclaimed. “You’re the daughter of the Pale King, surely he ought to furnish his children with some sort of weapon. Something fitting your station—”

“I’m the daughter of the Radiance, too.” Alexis said quietly. “The moth village is peaceful—out of everyone there, only Markoth and Thistlewind even have nails. And my father wouldn’t trust me with a nail. Not until he was sure I know how to use one.”

And Root? She wasn’t exactly the type Alexis talked about weapons with, even when accompanied by Dryya.

“That’s…you’re how old and you’ve never had formal nail training?”

“Almost fifteen,” came the mumble.

“Sister,” Isolde said, tapping Valda’s shoulder. “What point are you trying to make? Hallownest’s bugs do things very differently, after all.” Differently and strangely, but she didn’t mention that in front of their guest.

“They do,” Valda agreed. “But the Mantis Tribe does things in their own way, and a friend of the tribe’s future lords should benefit from that.”

“You mean…?” Brava trailed off, seeming to brighten as she straightened up.

“Let me get my nail. It’s time Alexis learned how a real weapon handles.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Where have you been?” Radiance asked, although she didn’t really need to ask. Spores from the Fungal Wastes still clung to Alexis’ cloak, even after all her travelling and attempts to brush them off.

“I went to see Brava and her sisters,” Alexis said, only confirming what Radiance had already known.

Radiance had to admit that she was still a bit nervous to have her daughter wandering the kingdom unsupervised. But at the same time, she was far from the helpless child that had fallen into the Resting Grounds fourteen years ago. She’d grown, she needed space to continue growing, and Radiance always loved hearing about Alexis’ adventures. Loved watching the way her face lit up in a bright smile.

“Mother…” Alexis began, sounding a bit hesitant. “Ah…part of what we did was train with a nail. My birthday is coming up, and I was…wondering if I could ask for a nail of my own.”

Radiance fell silent for a moment, though she was all too aware of Alexis’ nervous shuffling. She was clearly still nervous about asking…she wondered how long the poor dear had been trying to come up with a way to ask her.

“It’s not something typical for the moth tribe…” she began.

“I know. I know, I know moths are usually more passive, but…but there’s still exceptions. Look at Markoth and Thistlewind!”

“I’m well aware, little light,” Radiance smiled, gently smoothing some of Alexis’ hair out of her face, noticing how much it had grown, even when Alexis kept the unruly waves tied up for the most part. “And I never said that was the problem. But we have no nailsmiths here—even Markoth and Thistlewind had to get their weapons elsewhere…”

“Mother, is this your way of telling me to go ask my father?” Alexis asked, laughing at her mother’s grimace.

“Goodness, no,” she sighed. “No, I’ll speak to him myself. He has resources I do not.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Sire, a group of nobles from the City of Tears has arrived. They seem to be complaining about the quality of some of the merchants’ wares…” A retainer began, trailing off as the Pale King’s dark eyes fixated on him.

“Direct them to one of our advisors.” He said, truly not in the mood to deal with the petty complaints that were typical of the city’s upper class.

“Yes, sire,” the retainer said, bowing so low he nearly toppled forward onto the floor.

“Sire, we’ve been getting some concerning reports from the Soul Sanctum,” another voice piped up. The Pale King wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting; the Palace retainers always seemed to travel in droves, and this was no exception.

“There have been reports of a vengefly nest developing in the Crossroads. A few travelers have said the roads aren’t safe.”

“An aspiring shopkeeper has questions regarding the trade of silk between the kingdom and Deepnest.”

“The Radiance is here. She wishes to speak with you.”

The last statement caught his attention, and it showed. The Radiance, here? True, it wasn’t unheard of—quite the opposite, actually—but she typically kept to the moth village unless something prompted her to speak with him.

“Send her in.” He said. The retainers around him threw themselves to the floor as he rose from his throne.

“And…and the other issues?” One asked; they were particularly bold to do so, although not bold enough to ask the question without a meek shake to their voice.

The meek tone was warranted—the sharp sigh the Pale King released sounded far from pleased.

“Send a group of Kingsmoulds to clear out the Crossroads,” he began. “Send for the Soul Master when we’ve finished speaking with the Radiance. Direct the shopkeeper to the head of the Merchant’s Guild. You can do all this, can’t you?”

“Y-Yes, sire!” The retainer skittered away, followed closely by his peers. They barely avoided running into the Radiance, given how quickly they’d left to fulfill their king’s commands.

“…You seem to be in a wonderful mood.” The moth god said dryly.

“Simply marvelous,” the Pale King replied. “I don’t suppose you’re here to improve that, are you?”

“If you need coddling from me, Wyrm, I’m concerned for your kingdom.” Radiance said. “I’m here to speak with you about Alexis.”

“Has something happened?” came the question, undeniably concerned. Radiance didn’t seem distressed—and she likely wouldn’t be making wisecracks if her daughter was in any sort of trouble—but…still…

“She’s in perfect health,” Radiance assured him. “Nothing has happened, she just made a request for her birthday.”

“…Ah,” the Pale King said. “I believe I know what that request was.”

“She wants a nail of her own. She’s been forced to use either Hollow’s old nail, or borrow one from the mantis sisters. Neither is ideal, to hear her tell it.”

“So fashion her a nail,” the Pale King waved off. “You’re her mother—you hardly need my permission.”

“The moth tribe has no nailsmiths,” Radiance deadpanned. “You know that as well as I.”

“So you want me to commission a nail for her?”

“You don’t need to sound so enthusiastic. It isn’t as if she views you as her father, views your queen as a second mother.”

“…I know. I know, Radiance,” he said at last. “I don’t intend to make this sound like it’s a burden for me. You’ve simply caught me at a rather bad time.”

Radiance could believe that; she hadn’t heard the retainers’ requests, but she had heard the Wyrm snap at them as she entered the throne room. Clearly, whatever they’d said had been cause for some annoyance.

“If this is truly a bad time, I can come back later,” she said, although the offer was more out of being polite than it was out of a desire to actually come back later. Crafting a nail took some time, after all. And Alexis’ birthday was approaching faster than originally thought.

“No, no. I’ll see that this gets done,” he replied quickly. “I have much to do, yes, but getting Alexis a weapon of her own is hardly the largest burden.” She turned fifteen this year, after all—and given that it looked like she wouldn’t grow much taller, then ideally they would only have to have the one nail crafted. Hollow’s rapid grown had already led to quite a few different nails that they’d ultimately grown out of.

About halfway through Hollow’s third nail, the Pale King had promised himself that he’d wait until the rest of his children had stopped growing.

“Good,” Radiance sighed in obvious relief. “I’ve seen the work your nailsmith has done with Hollow’s blades—Alexis will be so excited.”

“Without a doubt,” the Pale King said, smiling just a touch. “I’ll have her nail done in plenty of time for her birthday, Radiance.”

“I’ll hold you to it, Wyrm,” she said, although the threat had no real bite behind it.

…Goodness, how things had changed.

“If you must, Radiance,” he said. “I’ll need you to send Alexis along when she has a spare moment—given that this is to be her nail, she should have some input in how it looks.”

“I’ll send her here as soon as she’s free,” Radiance smiled, already picturing the bright excitement on her daughter’s face.

“I’ll be sure the nailsmith is ready. You there!” The Pale King’s last phrase was directed to yet another messenger in the corner of the room, who jumped to attention before rapidly skittering over to him.

“Yes, sire?”

“Send for the Soul Master. We have matters to discuss with him before Alexis arrives.”

“Yes, sire! Right away, sire!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You wanted to see me?” Alexis asked, poking her head into the Seer’s tent. For what purpose, she wasn’t sure; all she knew was that she’d been invited down to the Resting Grounds to speak with the old moth.

Briefly, even as the Seer invited Alexis inside, she wondered how anyone could stand living down here. The Resting Grounds was a silent place and deathly still, and it felt like a weight pushing down on her shoulders with every moment she lingered.

“You’ve been living here for a long time, now,” the Seer said, as Alexis settled down on one of the cushions across from her. “You’re practically an honorary moth, yourself.”

“I’m not sure I’d go that far,” Alexis shrugged.

“I am sure,” the Seer laughed. “But I called you down here to the Resting Grounds because as a member of the moth tribe, and a daughter of the Radiance…it’s time I gave you a gift.”

“…what sort of gift?” Alexis asked, trying to keep her hopes down despite everything. She doubted the Seer had a nail somewhere in her cloak.

“And old relic. A treasure of the moth tribe…and, I believe, your birthright.”

“But I’m not—” Alexis began, trailing off after a moment.

The Radiance was her mother, yes, but…that was only because…

“Child,” the Seer said. Her voice cut through the thoughts swarming through Alexis’ head as efficiently as any nail. “The Radiance calls you daughter, and you call her mother. Perhaps you aren’t related by blood, but this does nothing to change the fact that the two of you are family. And, as the daughter of our Lady, it’s only suitable that I give you this.”

The object in question was fairly small as the moth pulled it from her cloak, and at first glance it wasn’t all too impressive. Yet all the same, Alexis felt almost drawn to it. Her fingers curled around the dark handle—the metal was cool against her skin, seeming to shape itself to her grip as it warmed. At the end of the handle was a flat circle, covered in pale purple glass and etched with a complex symbol Alexis recognized as a dreamcatcher.

It wasn’t a very large object by any means; she could hold it in one hand with ease, and it was so light she worried she may end up accidentally hurling it across the room if—

The end of the device flared to life, a brilliant light erupting from the tip and stretching outward even as Alexis suddenly moved to hold it away from her body. The light shone for a moment or two, but it was just long enough to see that it hadn’t adopted the shape of any particular beam of light.

It almost, Alexis thought, as the light dissipated in a flash of essence, looked like a nail.

“…What is this?” She breathed, and the Seer let out a hoarse laugh in response.

“A Dream Nail. Long wielded by the moth tribe, although this is one of only a few remaining.”

“What happened to the others?”

“They were tucked away, I presume. Perhaps a few were lost, although they aren’t much use to anyone who isn’t fit to wield one—not just anyone can. But it wasn’t always like that.” She laughed again, before Alexis could think of what she wanted to respond to first.

“Oh, but listen to me, prattling on about the past. I’m giving this to you, Alexis, because I believe you can put it to good use. Look at how it responded to you! From the moment your mother brought you to me for the first time, it’s as if something has shifted. I had a feeling you would grow to be a capable wielder…I don’t possess the same foresight as your father, but I’m sure I was right all the same.”

Alexis wasn’t about to refuse a gift generously given. Especially not something that was apparently this special. A Dream Nail…the name sounded familiar, now that she thought about it a bit longer. It was something mentioned in the stories Thistlewind would tell her when she was younger, afraid of the dark and in need of something to lull her to sleep. Something mentioned, but never explained—maybe because Alexis had never asked in the first place.

“What does it do?”

“It cuts through that veil between dreams and waking. Allows one to peer into a bug’s dreams, their very mind. Wielding this would allow you to use the Dreamgate just as your mother can. A trip between here and the White Palace would be no trouble at all if you were to travel through dreams.”

The Seer must have noticed how Alexis’ expression seemed to light up in wonder, because she laughed fondly.

“But all things in time. This Dream Nail has worn with age over the years, and may not be capable of all these wonders just yet.”

“…Oh.” Alexis said, trying not to sound too disappointed. How to fix it, then? A worn-down nail could be restored by a nailsmith. Did such services exist for a Dream Nail?

“It can be restored, however,” the Seer said. “I wouldn’t have given this one to you if it couldn’t. Seek out the Essence in this kingdom—the remnants of memories and lives left behind. A good place to start would be those strange, whispering plants scattered throughout the kingdom—you’ve seen them, haven’t you?”

Alexis nodded; she’d seen a handful of those strange roots while exploring with her siblings. If she wasn’t mistaken, she’d passed one on the way to the Seer’s tent.

“Gather their Essence, learn from the memories you find as you hone your Dream Nail back to its full potential. You and the Dream Nail will grow even closer together as you progress—I’m sure of it.”

A faint, gold glow appeared outside the tent, the light seeping into the area.

“Seer, dear, Alexis wouldn’t happen to be with you, would she?” Radiance called, peering inside and blinking in surprise. “Oh! I suppose you are, my daughter. What brings you here?”

“The Seer wanted to give me something.” Alexis explained. She held up the Dream Nail, noticing how it seemed to glow softly in her mother’s light.

“Ah, a Dream Nail,” she said, eyes flickering over the blade. “The Seer always has insisted that you would make for an impressive wielder.”

Great. Alexis had given them standards, and she hadn’t even done anything yet!

“Did you need me back at home?” She asked her mother. “I’ve probably been gone longer than I planned to…”

“Maybe so, but that’s hardly a bad thing.” As long as you’re safe, Radiance added silently. It wasn’t something that particularly needed to be said—that was the general sentiment whenever Alexis went off on one of her wanderings. As long as she was safe. As long as she was happy. “But I did want to tell you that I’ve spoken with your father…”

She trailed off on purpose, watching her daughter’s face slowly but surely light up in anticipation. “…And he’s asked that you come by and speak with him and the nailsmith, whenever your time permits.”

Alexis leaped to her feet, a bread smile on her face as she let out a cheer.

“You talked him into it?!” Her voice shot up an octave or so before she could stop it. The Radiance smiled warmly, tugging her into a warm embrace.

“He is capable of listening to requests, little light,” she said wryly. “But if you want to phrase it like that then yes, I did talk him into it. I think we’d all feel a bit better about you wandering Hallownest if you had something to defend yourself with.”

“…Thank you, Mother,” Alexis smiled, clutching the Dream Nail to her chest even as she made to leave the Seer’s tent. “And thank you, Seer, for the Dream Nail. I’ll try it out on that root outside as soon as I get back!”

She dashed out into the Resting Grounds amidst the laughter of both the Seer and the Radiance, stopping dead in her tracks soon after.

Had…has the Resting Grounds always been this colorful?

It was impossible—but, clearly, it wasn’t, because the more Alexis looked around, the more she saw. That same stifling sensation she’d had on her way here was gone. The weight on her shoulders, the crushing silence…it was all gone. Was this the Dream Nail’s doing?

Whatever it was, she couldn’t deny that the Resting Grounds felt…alive now, in a way. Almost as if she could reach out and touch one of those memories the Seer had been going on about. Reach out and tap into the dreams of the bugs who had once called Hallownest home, and who now slept in its resting grounds.

But she could dwell on that later. She made her way to the stag station, tucked off to the side of the grounds. It was a stop she used fairly often, and as such, the stags that heeded the ringing bell all seemed to know her by name.

“Greetings, Alexis!” The stag exclaimed in his gravelly voice. “And how are you faring today?”

“I’m doing well! And yourself?” It was only polite to ask, yes, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t also genuinely curious. The stag beetles ran throughout the expanses of the kingdom all day, and all night. Did they ever tire? Ever wish to see beyond the stations and tunnels of the stagways?

“Well as always, young one,” came the warm reply. “Ah, but I’m forgetting myself. Where do you wish to go?”

“The White Palace, please.” Alexis clambered up onto the saddle. Sometimes she was concerned that she was growing too big for the stags, even despite her father’s insistences that the beetles were capable of carrying far heavier loads than herself. More importantly to her, the stags also assured her that she was far from a burden.

It seemed almost as if they were steadily growing—not so much that it risked safety or too large for the stagways, but it was there. A subtle change, maybe one that only she had noticed. Maybe one that wasn’t actually there.

Or maybe the Pale King had somehow nudged something just right, in the same way he seemed to expand the minds of the bugs of Hallownest. Nudged something in a way that allowed her to continue to ride the stagways. An accommodation like the tram passes he seldom issued.

Alexis snapped out of her thoughts to the sound of the loud pounding of the stag’s feet against the ground as they took off down the tunnels, and she couldn’t help the wide grin spreading on her face. She’d never grow tired of this: the thudding of powerful feet, the rocking of the seats, the wind pushing her hair back from her face as they charged along. Alexis knew the route from the Resting Grounds to the palace almost as well as the back of her hand—she’d joked with some of her siblings that she could probably make the trip through the stagways on foot. Assuming she wouldn’t be running the risk of getting trampled, of course.

The ride was familiar and almost all too short; before Alexis knew it, the stag was skidding to a halt at the station platform.

“Thank you for the ride,” she said, as she always did when hopping down from a stag’s back. They were doing a service, Thistlewind had said once. They ought to be properly acknowledged for it.

“You’re very welcome, young one,” the stag said, also as he and his kind typically did in response. Some of the stags’ responses were amused, others merely took it in stride as a pleasant exchange. One or two were even surprised by her thanks, as if they’d expected to simply be required to carry on in their duty without any real recognition.

Maybe they had. The thought was a sobering one and, ever since Alexis was a child, it had instilled a message that her thanks were all the more important if she were only one of a handful to give them.

Waving farewell to the stag beetle, Alexis set off at what was almost a full run towards the White Palace. It wasn’t as if her father was about to change his mind in the time it took for her to reach her second home, but judging by the speed at which she passed the Kingsmoulds at the front gate, any onlooker may have questioned that.

She slowed her pace once inside the palace walls, if only out of habit. She and her siblings could only careen around corners into each other so many times before a line was drawn on how quickly they were permitted to move throughout the hallways. Her pace was slowed to a stop outside the throne room; the doors were closed, guarded by two more Kingsmoulds standing at perfect attention.

They were composed of the same Void that made up her siblings, yes. But the Pale King’s choice of soldiers still made her a bit uneasy. They weren’t like the vessels, weren’t teeming with life and personality all their own.

Ironically, Alexis thought, as the guards pushed open the doors to allow her entry, they might be as close to hollow beings as her father had ever gotten.

“—my liege, if I may ask, for whom are you commissioning such a nail?”

Alexis supposed she shouldn’t be surprised to hear that there were still retainers in the throne room, milling about and on the verge of throwing themselves to the floor with every one of the Pale King’s passing glances.

“We intend to gift it to our daughter,” he replied. The retainers shouldn’t have surprised her, but the use of the royal “we” still sounded strange to Alexis. She was all too used to hearing that voice utilizing the more informal “I” while telling stories, repairing masks…or pleading with Jet and Fracture to get down from the chandeliers in the dining hall. The voice and language of a father, rather than a king.

“A thousand pardons, sire, but…is that wise? To bestow a mark of such high standing upon a creature without so much as a drop of royal blood?” Alexis bit back an exasperated growl, stepping off to the corner of the throne room. Something in her told her it would be best to linger back here for a moment—her father had heard the doors open and shut, certainly, so she wasn’t eavesdropping so much as she was simply observing.

The bug who had spoken wasn’t a retainer—at least, not one belonging to the lower castes of the Pale Court. No, he was something else entirely, a rather large, rotund bug with glassy black eyes.

“If we desired your judgment, Morgis, we would ask it of you.” The Pale King sternly replied. He sounded far from pleased with the bug, but it was likely nothing further would come of it. Morgis was the direct—and only—link between the Pale Court and the Soul Sanctum. It wasn’t a job most bugs envied; finding a suitable replacement would be an ordeal best left avoided.

“My deepest apologies” Morgis said, in a way that made it very clear to Alexis that his apology was driven more by technicality than sincerity. “My master has merely voiced concerns regarding the un-bug, and has asked that I pass them to you. A creature with no history in Hallownest, no standing nor distinction—”

“—A girl whose mind is a product of neither ourselves nor the Radiance. Whose kind travelled from beyond Hallownest with complete minds that required no further prodding. A higher being in her own way, perhaps, but more importantly, our daughter. You will treat her with the same respect you owe any of our children, and you may pass that order on to your master.”

A small spark of warmth filled Alexis’ chest. The Pale King was much more…distant than Radiance was, although he truly did try to express affection in the ways he knew how. And the fact that he’d made a point to not only defend her, but actively reprimand Morgis…if she could, she may have started glowing, herself.

“We will speak no further on this matter. It is, after all, rude to speak of someone who is listening.” Morgis at least had the decency to look alarmed as he briefly turned. Alexis moved from the corner of the room to the center, halfway between the throne and the doors, and she offered a toothy grin as she met his stare. If a bow could ever be considered sarcastic, then the one she aimed at the Soul Master’s student definitely qualified.

“Morgis, you’re looking well. That waistcoat suits you much better than your last one.”

The bug gaped at her for a moment, looking between her and the Pale King as if waiting for him to intervene on his behalf. The king said nothing, and Alexis forced the laughter out of her voice as she offered a second, very sincere bow to him.

“Father.” She greeted.

“Daughter,” he replied, holding a hand out and gesturing for her to rise. “We would speak with you. The rest of you may attend to your duties elsewhere.”

“Yes, Great King!” The retainers chorused, bowing deeper than Alexis would ever consider necessary…or comfortable. A few of them even offered bows to her as they passed, murmuring greetings such as “Our Princess”.

Morgis offered little more than a begrudging half-nod of acknowledgement. It was perhaps the most pleasant interaction Alexis ever had with him.

“I apologize for his outburst,” the Pale King said, dropping the royal “we” as soon as the doors slammed shut. “I’ve grown weary of Morgis’…less than useful ‘contributions’, but until I can find another willing to take his place…”

“I understand.” Alexis said. “And thank you. For stopping him short like that.”

“What sort of father would I be if I let any of my children be disrespected behind their backs? In my own court, no less.” He rose from his throne, tilting his head to the side with a slight smile. “Given your penchant for backhanded compliments, I wonder if I should be concerned for the other members of my Court.”

“Morgis is the only one who deserves it.”

“I’m inclined to agree.”

He noticed how Alexis merely nodded along, eyes flickering about, feet shuffling…she wasn’t here purely for a social call, and he’d made her endure the wait long enough.

“So, Alexis. Daughter of lights both pale and gold,” he said, and her expression brightened in anticipation despite her efforts to maintain composure. “What qualities do you prefer in a nail?”

Chapter Text

Her nail was a magnificent specimen—partially modeled after the nail-lances of the Mantis Lords, the pale ore composing its blade twisted and turned over itself in intricate carvings. It gleamed in the air as she swung it in a wide arc, sending the blade clanging off another nail with a loud noise and a brief, bright flash.

The light of the surrounding lumafly lanterns bathed the area in white, and the combatants’ nails were almost nothing but bright arcs as they cut through the air. Alexis whirled on her feet, cobblestone grinding under her boots. She raised her nail to block, to strike, maybe, but…

Before she knew it, her feet continued on, moving out from under her, and she felt herself falling backwards. She hit the ground with enough of an impact to knock the wind from her lungs.

The tip of a nail hovered directly in front of her face.

“…Dead.” Came Valda’s remark. Her voice was the only other sound to accompany Alexis’ heavy breaths. She moved her nail from Alexis’ face, holding out a hand and helping her to her feet.

“I almost had you that time!” She groaned, straightening her cloak.

“It was certainly one of your better fights,” Valda said. “You’ve gotten quicker, but this is not a dance.”

“Not with that attitude.”

The eldest Lord merely scoffed out a laugh, shaking her head.

“You’ve made impressive progress. For one who’s been training only for a couple years, you’ve picked up the nail quickly.”

“The fact that you goaded me into getting a proper nail certainly helped,” Alexis smiled. “As did your lessons.”

“Can you go one week without finding some way to hold me solely responsible for your progress?” Valda asked. “This is just as much of a result of your hard work.”

“I know,” Alexis shrugged. “But you’re still my friend, and I know you aren’t fond of visiting the White Palace.”

“If you can make the trek to the village, I can make the journey to the palace. It’s only fair.” Valda straightened, offering a nod to the girl across from her. “I can’t see much else to teach you for today. It’s probably best if we both allow ourselves to rest.”

Alexis knew Valda was saying “we” more out of courtesy than anything else—she wasn’t the one who was still tired out by the end of most of their sparring matches, after all.

“Isolde and Brava will probably be missing you, as well. And Kieza. How are they, by the way?” Alexis asked, turning to walk beside Valda as she headed for the doors. They always walked each other back at least to the edges of the village or palace—it was a nice way to talk and cool down their muscles.

“My sisters are as well as ever. Brava was especially anxious to come see you, but she’ll simply have to wait her turn,” the way Valda spoke was lighthearted enough; she was particularly serious to begin with, but she did have her moments. Even so, Alexis noticed how Valda made no mention of her brother.

“…And Kieza?” She prompted. She wasn’t exactly friends with him—certainly not like how she was with his sisters—but they were on good terms all the same.

“He’s spoken of leaving.” Valda said, after a moment. “Taking his mate, child, and followers and setting up a colony of their own.”

“…I hadn’t even known he’d found a mate.”

“Neither did we, until the child hatched.”

“Only one? I thought…” Alexis trailed off, not sure how to word her statement.

“She’s the only one we’ve been introduced to,” Valda said. “Meaning that we simply haven’t met the others who have hatched, or there are no siblings to hatch at all.”

A chill ran up Alexis’ spine at the words. Valda must have noticed, because she seemed to regret phrasing it the way she had.

“Kieza is no murderer, especially not where his own kin are involved,” she explained. “But his mate has miscarried eggs before. We were all surprised to see she’d managed to produce even one hatchling.”

“What if he does decide to leave?”

“No scales off my back,” Valda said simply, even as they reached the White Palace’s main gates. “So long as he makes no move to harm those who would stay, I see no need to fret. He’s a grown bug; he’s more than capable of making his own decisions.”

“And what if he finds out that he’s made the wrong one?”

“Then I suppose he’ll still have the village to crawl back to. Or maybe he won’t.” Valda mused. “Every action has a consequence, after all.”

It was a bit harsh, but Alexis didn’t comment on it. Valda was hard on her siblings because she knew they could handle it. Stern with her people because it was what they needed of her.

“I’ll see you next week?” she asked instead, glancing up at the mantis when they stopped at the gates’ threshold.

“Of course,” Valda said. “Brava has asked me to remind you to bring the claw when you come to the village.”

“I never leave home without it.”

“Good. Until next time, Alexis.”

“Take care, Valda.”

No sooner had the eldest Mantis Lord left when Alexis scurried back inside the palace, heading for an area close to the training grounds—the palace hot springs, to be exact. It was a good place to simply relax one’s body after training sessions, and it was, typically, fairly quiet. As such, she was surprised to see that the spring was already occupied.

“Alexis!” the void-whispers reached her only a moment or two before her siblings did. They’d jumped out of the water, running over and hugging her legs with surprising strength.

“Hi, Thorn. Bramble,” she laughed, greeting each vessel in turn. “Silk and—wait, where’s Berry?” Laughter quickly faded to anxiety as she turned, trying not to move her feet around too much. Gods, Berry was so tiny, and the last thing she wanted was to step on them by mistake—

There was a gentle tug at her hair, and she stopped short. Berry had clambered up Alexis’ back in the commotion, and was now happily perched on her shoulder.

“Hello to you, too, Berry.” Alexis giggled. The vessel waved in response.

“Were you sparring with Lord Valda again?” Thorn asked. The three vessels around Alexis’ feet dispersed enough to allow her to walk forward, toward the water.

“That’s right,” Alexis took of her boots, taking care to keep Berry balanced on her shoulder as she leaned down to roll up the legs of her pants.

“Did you win?”

“There isn’t really a winner or loser in sparring,” Alexis argued, sitting at the edge of the spring and sighing gently as her feet hit the warm water. “But I’m improving, so we’ll call it a victory.”

“That’s good!” Bramble cheered. “We’ve been taking lessons, too. Or at least me and Thorn have. Ghost is showing us what they know.”

“I think you’re in good hands then. Ghost is probably the only one I know who can go toe-to-toe with Hollow.”

“I think you could, if you wanted to,” Silk said, leaning against their sister’s side as they moved to sit by the water, too. Alexis laughed.

“I doubt it, Silk, but thanks. Father and Radi would probably throw a fit before I got the chance to actually try, anyway.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It seemed like Alexis was always clad in gifts of one sort or another. Furnished with the finest Hallownest had to offer—the best her family could do for one another.

Despite her familiarity with the items, she always seemed to catch herself looking them over, reliving the memories attached.

There was her nail, of course, honed to a fine edge and kept that way with daily maintenance. The Dream Nail was similarly cared for—it shone much brighter than it had when she was first gifted it, glowing with essence gathered from whatever whispering roots she’d managed to find.

Her clothing was much simpler, in comparison. It was composed of dark fabric, a combination of whatever her kin had used and spider silk to reinforce it, used as a sort of way to mimic the void-y bodies of her siblings. Her cloak was stitched from a dark red fabric, and had held up well throughout the years. It had always been her favorite, and that had likely been why she was so upset when it briefly disappeared.

Berry and Silk had gotten ahold of it, largely at Radiance’s request. They’d helped her stitch mothwing strands into the fabric, and added swirls of a strange thread that shone silver under the Pale King’s light and golden under the Radiance’s. Small touches, perhaps, but it had made the garment all the more magical when Alexis had gotten it back.

Her hair was…admittedly difficult. It didn’t compare with what most other bugs boasted—a wild tangle of waves and curls that she typically kept tied back with a strip of cloth. It was a wonder she hadn’t chopped it off in a fit of passion yet. It only reached down to around her shoulder blades, and yet she still found it unwieldy at times. Perhaps, Alexis thought, that the reason she hadn’t gone and cut it all was because of the pin her mother had given her.

It was small, probably more of a hair comb than anything, with three gold prongs closely resembling the sort of “crown” Radiance’s horns formed. Each prong was the length of her finger, and the comb helped to keep her hair from spilling from its tie. That, and it was almost…soothing. Alexis ran her fingertips over the cool metal, wiping away a few smudges of dirt. It was a reminder of home at Hallownest’s Crown, a piece of the moth village that she could take anywhere.

A piece of the moth village to keep her grounded, in a sense. A reminder that she always belonged somewhere, despite the whispers and sideways glances of the Pale Court.

…Speaking of which…

Alexis replaced her hair pin, raising her feet back out of the water. She didn’t know how long they’d all been sitting there, but it was enough for her siblings to doze off.

“Sorry,” she whispered as Thorn, Bramble, and Silk all jolted upright at her movements. Berry nearly slid off her shoulder before she caught them. “Sorry. I promised Root I’d meet her for tea, and I don’t want to keep her waiting.”

“…Okayyyy…” Thorn sighed, dragging out the word as they stretched. “C’mon, Bramble. I want to go see how those flower Ze’mer planted are doing.”

“We can go take a nap in our room, Berry,” Silk said, as their tiny sibling slid down Alexis’ arm and settled on their back as usual. “We’ll see you later, Alexis!”

“See you later!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sometimes Alexis felt like she should be guilty, for referring to Root as a second mother. It felt as if she was somehow on a lower tier than Radi, despite the fact that Alexis was just as close to the queen as she was to either of the other two higher beings she recognized as her parents.

In a number of ways, Root was somewhat of a counterbalance to her husband. She was pragmatic in her own way, as any ruler had to be, but she possessed very little of the stern detachment that the Pale King still occasionally had for his subjects. While he saw them as beings to be led, the White Lady seemed to approach them as beings to be cared for. And, like she had with her numerous children, she’d taken that duty quite seriously.

“You seem tired, Alexis,” Root said softly. Her eyes sparked with a sort of motherly concern, something she always seemed to have no matter how tall Alexis—and Hollow—had grown. “I hope my Wyrm hasn’t been working you too hard…”

Alexis said nothing for a moment, instead taking a sip of tea and sighing softly at the warmth that coursed through her veins as a result. It was some sort of combination between the natural warmth it took to brew, and the faint traces of Soul from the roots it was brewed from.

“He isn’t, don’t worry. I was just training with Valda again.” That wasn’t to say that the Pale King never kept Alexis busy, himself; much like how Hornet had become an emissary for Deepnest, Alexis was entrusted with representing the moth tribe when the Radiance was unable to attend. Her mother was typically only called on in times of emergency—Alexis, as she’d grown, had shown she was more than capable of tending to day-to-day matters.

“I see,” Root murmured, smiling fondly. She shared little of many of her children’s zeal for combat, but if her children were interested in it then she was willing to listen.

It helped that a few of the vessels seemed to take after their mother. Thorn and Bramble learned enough to defend themselves, but they shared their mother’s love for her gardens. Bramble in particular favored the Greenpath; they’d brought many new blooms back to the Palace to cultivate for themselves.

Alexis ran a finger along one such plant, its leaves a deep green with tiny yellow buds barely peering through the greenery.

“Thorn mentioned earlier that Ze’mer was growing some new flowers,” she said, turning the subject back to something she knew the White Lady was very familiar with. “Have you seen them at all? I haven’t gotten a chance to, yet.”

“I have. In fact, she brought one of the first successful blooms to me,” Root rose from her seat, her gaze focused on a small, vine-covered nook in the wall. The pale roots shifted away at the Queen’s silent command even as Alexis approached, revealing a singular white blossom tucked safely inside.

“Mind yourself around it. That flower has traveled far to reach this kingdom.” Root’s eyes crinkled with amusement as Alexis cautiously reached out, touching one of the parchment-thin petals. “Much like you, although infinitely more fragile.”

It was certainly unlike anything she’d encountered in the kingdom; while most of its plants were hardy and vibrant, this flower seemed as if it could fall to pieces if treated too roughly…or even sneezed on, to be frank.

With that in mind, Alexis backed away. The last thing she wanted was to damage such as beautiful flower.

“I don’t know a whole lot, as far as Ze’mer’s old home goes.” Alexis said. “But this makes me wonder if all the flowers of her homeland are like this.”

“You could ask her, I suppose. I doubt there would be much harm in it.” Root said quietly, not sure how to mention the fact that Alexis may not get as many answers as she’d like. Her dear Wyrm had gathered many of his Great Knights from other lands, but he’d largely discouraged them from talking about the lands beyond. It was only practical, he’d insisted, that they come to regard Hallownest as home, as where their loyalties rested.

It was all too easy, sometimes, to forget that Hallownest was merely one of many kingdoms, spread out across wastelands and sprawling across a land none had yet measured. Even Alexis sometimes caught herself in need of being reminded. The lands beyond, the land she came from, her kin? They were nothing but stories to her, fractured images conjured up to try and fill some sort of blank space.

Hallownest was all she knew, but the realization was never as bitter as it may have sounded. She had family here, a home here, friends here. And, for as long as she could remember, at least, it was safe.

Chapter Text

The pads of her fingertips drummed against the silvery table, nails occasionally tapping out against the surface.

It wasn’t often that they used this room—a meeting hall with a single, large table, where the functions of the Pale Court could be carried out more privately if the situation called for it.

It also wasn’t often that Alexis and Hollow were asked to attend these sorts of meetings, but here they both were. Hollow was clad in their full set of pale armor, and Alexis donned the white cloak she always wore when attending to the Pale Court. The Pale King sat at the head of the table, flanked by his two children and accompanied still by two of his Great Knights.

“Alexis.” He said, and her drumming came to an abrupt stop.

“Sorry.”

A flush of embarrassment swept through her chest; her father and Hollow seemed content with sitting and waiting, and Dryya and Hegemol were both disciplined enough to not show that the long wait was getting to them. It looked like it was just Alexis who was getting restless.

“We’ve been waiting for a while now, Father,” Hollow said quietly. “Is the Soul Master even coming?”

“He had better. He is the one who requested an audience with me.” The response was sharp, the only indication the Pale King gave that announced his patience was quickly waning.

“That’s all we’re waiting on?” Alexis asked. “With everyone gathered here, I thought it was someone more…impressive.”

Hegemol coughed out loud for a moment or two, stifling a laugh.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, Alexis,” the Pale King said wryly. “I’m afraid it’s just the Soul Master who is meeting us. He spoke of plans for future projects.”

“Why are Hollow and I here? I’m not complaining, I just…” The king fixed Alexis with and inscrutable expression. Perhaps it was just a trick of the light, but she could have sworn those inky dark eyes had almost softened. Just a touch.

“You’re here because I asked you to be. I value your input, and Hollow’s as well.”

He stopped there, but there was more than that. There always was, with the Pale Wyrm. The fact was that inviting Alexis and Hollow was as much a statement as it was a courtesy. The Soul Master and his students—his followers, perhaps, he didn’t care for the details—still questioned Alexis’ value and legitimacy. Still viewed Hollow as the tool he’d set out to create, all those years ago. Seating the two of them with him at the head of his table was a statement the Pale King had been pondering for a while, now. It was a silent way of demanding respect. A declaration that the Soul Master was not on the same tier as the Pale King’s children, regardless of his vitriol.

“Sire, my liege,” a retainer bustled into the room, bowing low even as he spoke. “The Soul Master has arrived.”

“Finally.” The king muttered, just loudly enough for Alexis and Hollow to hear. The former schooled her face into a neutral expression as best she could. “Show him in.”

“Right away, my liege!” The retainer scurried back outside, vanishing only for a moment or two. When he reappeared, two bugs were in tow. The shorter of the two was Morgis, who looked surprised to see Alexis attending court. The second, the larger, was one she only knew by reputation. The Soul Master offered the king a bow that Morgis quickly mirrored. His voice was a nasally rumble as he spoke.

“My deepest apologies for our tardiness, Your Majesty,” he said. “Your retainers showed us the way to the throne room, rather than this meeting hall. They really are quite useless, if I may be frank.”

“We will attend to that matter. It’s hardly acceptable for any of our retainers to delay our guests.” The Pale King said. “You mentioned, Soul Master, that you wished to share the results of your latest round of experiments?”

“Ah, yes!” He said, as Morgis produced several rolls of parchment and spread them out over the table. “Forgive my distraction, I hadn’t known we would be accompanied by…”

His large mouth twisted into a sneer, and he eyed Alexis and Hollow in turn. “…By an emissary and a vessel.”

His tone almost managed to make Alexis’ main duty an insult, but she said nothing. She’d heard far worse from the Soul Master by way of Morgis, and his attempt to insult her now was a feeble one at best.

“Is there a problem?”

“No, sire. No. But as far as our research goes…” he gestured to the first scroll, which was crammed with charts and writing, “We may be on the brink of something extraordinary.”

“We believe,” Morgis began, “that the key to advancing Hallownest’s society lies in our ability to harness Soul. The first number of tests have, admittedly, produced mixed results—”

“So we see,” the king murmured, eyes flickering over the pages in front of him, seeming to take in everything all at once. The markings, admittedly, meant very little to Alexis. But from where she sat, it was still possible to read the passage concerning the trials’ “failures”.

“I’ll admit there have been a fair amount of casualties,” the Soul Master said. “A number of my students have tried and failed to attain a pure focus. But with each and every failure, we learn more. We merely need one more round of volunteers, one more round of funds, and your highness, we can attain wonders!”

The speech may have dazzled a lesser bug, the Pale King thought. It likely had captivated quite a few, if so many of the Soul Master’s students had been willing to gamble with their lives in the name of progress. But the Pale King was no mere lesser bug. His was to sway others in his favor, not to be swayed.

“…To what end?” Alexis asked. Her voice slipped through the silence, and the Pale King did nothing to stop her. He hadn’t brought her to be silent. “Progress for the sake of progress has its place, yes, but what’s worth all these risks you’ve taken?”

“Hm. Spoken like one of Monomon’s students,” the Soul Master said with a sneer. It was quite obvious he’d intended it as a insult. “By correctly harnessing Soul’s potential, Princess, we could put an end to death itself. Imagine how glorious a society we would have, if all our greatest minds stood untouched by the passing of time.”

A society with an eternal, immortal Soul Master sounded like a number of backward steps to Alexis. The glance she exchanged with Hollow was a worried one, but neither sibling spoke. Both simply waiting while their father perused the pages in front of him.

“It’s clear you’ve put a great deal of thought into this, as you do with everything else,” the Pale King said. “We would ask if you are willing to hear our answer after we’ve finished reading this in its entirety. It would be quite the disservice to merely skim through such meticulous work.”

The Soul Master bowed, even lower than before. Both Alexis and Hollow silently wondered how he could manage to avoid sending his rotund body falling face-first onto the floor.

“I thank you most humbly, sire. It took many drafts before we produced something worthy of your presence.”

“And we value your dedication. We shall send for you once we’ve given this the proper amount of attention.”

There was a quiet buzz of whispers between the Soul Master and Morgis, but they both seemed pleased with the arrangement as they bowed again. Of course, even if it wasn’t the response they’d been looking for…would they really argue with the king?

“We look forward to working with you, your highness,” Morgis said. “And look forward to serving Hallownest even more so.”

The Pale King nodded in acknowledgment.

“Dryya, if you will, could you ensure our guests are not delayed by any more faulty directions?”

“Yes, my King.”

The three left the room, the heavy doors slamming behind them, and the Pale King reached up to rub at his temples.

“Hollow, Alexis, the two of you are excused, as well.” He said.

“Father, are you all right?” Hollow asked. Their question was quickly waved off.

“I’m just fine, Hollow, but thank you.”

They glanced over at Alexis, returning her concerned expression with a simple tilt of their head before the two siblings filed out of the room.

“What do you make of all this?” the king heard Alexis ask.

“I think Father is right to say ‘no’.”

“…Me, too.”

The doors closed behind the two, but the Pale King smiled nonetheless. They’d both picked up on his answer, it seemed. Even though he’d wanted to shut down the request immediately, he hadn’t been willing to pass up the opportunity to take his time reading through the Soul Master’s prattle.

“…Hegemol, I need extra eyes on the Soul Sanctum. Tell the City Watch to increase its patrols, but to be discreet about doing so.”

“Right away, my King.”

He offered little more than a nod—his eyes had caught on a particular note scribbled into the margins.

“No cost too great for the sake of enlightenment.”

No cost too great. No cost too great. The Pale King’s old mantra had fallen into disuse, and perhaps this was why the words surprised him like this. Penned by a different hand, used to justify the actions of someone else. He knew there was a cost too great; there was always a cost too great, and he’d learned his lesson before fate could send it back to bite him. But the Soul Master? He was volatile, overly ambitious…he likely wouldn’t learn on his own.

He sought power to equal that of the Pale King’s. Maybe even to rival it. As long as his projects were being supported by the king, it would end only in more and more lives wasted.

There was only one course of action he could take.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Pale King’s foresight had never failed him, and it was with this in mind that he’d decided to attend court by himself, with no one but his Kingsmoulds. It had been strange to insist on absolute privacy, yes. Usually a few of his children would come to visit and sit with their father on the throne, and he’d had to postpone the lessons he’d intended to go over with Jet. He’d foreseen their angry outburst before it had happened, and it pained him to go back on a promise to his child.

But Jet’s anger was a mere flicker compared to what was coming.

“Out of my way!” The bellow echoed from down the hall outside the throne room. Even with the distance and walls between them, the Pale King knew the bug who had shouted, knew his reason for being here.

“I’m afraid I must ask you to—”

“Get out of my way, fool! I demand to speak with the King!!” A loud thudding at the door rang through the throne room, and each and every Kingsmould in the room readied their weapons in eerie unison.

“Open the doors,” the Pale King said. “It would be impolite to keep a guest waiting.”

The usage of the word “guest” here was something he took very, very lightly.

The Soul Master barged into the room, fury in his glassy eyes. He heaved a series of heavy breaths as he approached the throne.

“I’ve slaved over this work for years,” he hollered. “All the progress we’ve made, all the resources I’ve put into furthering our understanding of Soul, and you…you order me to cease?! Through a meager messenger, no less?!”

“Are you finished?”

The question was mild, flat, even, but the tone cut through the room all the same. The Pale King was no stranger to shouting—Hornet and Alexis had both been absolute hellions when they were children. If anything, he was disgusted. The Soul Master was acting no better than a petulant child being scolded.

“You…your majesty, why would you choose to be the enemy of knowledge?”

“It is not knowledge that I oppose. Only your unchecked ambition.” The Pale King rose from his throne, light flaring off of his crown and his robes. The motion somehow managed to be an intimidating one, despite the fact that he was quite a bit shorter than the Soul Master. “Your experimental methods are rash and unnecessarily sloppy. The risks and costs you’ve imposed on others have yielded no results worthy of the lives lost, you demand your followers to give their lives while you stand safely by and—”

“’Stand by’?! Do not mistake my success for being idle!” The Pale King stopped speaking, possibly because he had to admit he was surprised the bug had actually dared to interrupt him.

Then again, it could also be because of the fact that the Soul Master was hovering over the ground, towering over the pale monarch. The latter still looked thoroughly unimpressed, but his attention was caught by the shining white orb that had manifested next to the Soul Master.

The ball was a crude projectile of some sort, made entirely from Soul. It slowly hovered forward, stopping an arm’s length from the Pale King. He held a hand out, uttering a firm “stand down” to his Kingsmoulds. The Soul Master hadn’t attacked him—he wasn’t that foolish—but it had certainly appeared that way for a moment or two.

It wasn’t as if he could be a match for the Pale King even if he had tried.

“Many of my students tried and failed, yes,” the Soul Master said. “But I, and a few others, have succeeded! A pure focus can be attained!”

The Pale King reached out and swatted at the ball of Soul. It dissipated in a handful of white wisps that quickly faded.

“Sloppily made.” He said flatly. “One can only imagine how your departed students would feel, knowing their deaths resulted only in a ‘focus’ susceptible to the faintest breeze.”

“If I could only continue my efforts without your opposition…”

“I don’t oppose knowledge, nor do I obstruct progress. What I do take issue with are your methods, and the recklessness they entail.”

“My methods will pay off, in the end!” The Soul Master said, desperation lacing his tone. “I only need to know—”

“No. You only need to cease.” The words struck the Soul Master dumb, his large mouth hanging open in disbelief. “I forbid you from carrying out any more of the projects related to this matter. The Soul Sanctum is intended to be a proud research facility, and you’ve all but run it into the ground while being blinded by ambition.”

The Soul Master said nothing, for a time—what could he manage? This was the culmination of his life’s work, the pinnacle of his career, and he was being ordered to throw it all away?

“…You fear me.” He managed at last, facing the crowned bug. “You fear I’ll grow as powerful as you. Fear what could happen if too many of your dear subjects were privy to my knowledge. A king wielding Soul is impressive until his entire kingdom is capable of it.”

“You think this is about my image?”

“—Until the entire kingdom consists of higher beings—”

“Silence!”

It happened suddenly. As soon as the word—the order—had left the Pale King’s mouth, it was accompanied by a cold surge of energy that managed to knock the Soul Master backwards.

“Don’t dare to presume you know my thoughts.” He snapped. Glimmering wisps of Soul radiated off of the Pale King, frost slowly creeping across the tiles under him. “The danger you pose to my subjects cannot be ignored. You are ordered to turn over all your research and plans relating to ‘pure focus’, and should I ever learn that you’ve continued in this reckless exploration, I’ll put you in chains myself.”

The Soul Master offered only a dark glare, his rotund body quaking with rage.

“…Is that your final word on the matter, your highness?”

“If you wish to pursue this fool’s errand, experiment on yourself. I am not allowing you to experiment on any more bugs.” The Pale King waved a hand dismissively. Truth be bold, he would like nothing more than the Soul Master succumbing to his own foolish endeavors.

“…Very well.” The admission was ground out, every syllable reluctant to be breathed into open air. “I shall limit—no, cripple—myself if it suits you, but only to prove you wrong when I succeed. The next time we meet, my king, we shall do so as equals.”

“We shall see.”

Chapter Text

They’d been underground for a long while, now. The passing of time was something they could only measure by way of their clocks and calendars, watches and meticulous journal entries.

“September 17, 2019 – Day 36.

We’ve been exploring these tunnels for two weeks now, but don’t seem any closer to picking up the trails of any of the other fleeing refugees. We know a lot of people tried to run for it when the White Bee first arrived, but not many of them made it.

“Supposedly, this group managed it. They traveled for one of the pathways opened up by the Bee and her soldiers, and were never seen again. We think they’re still out there somewhere. We HOPE they are, anyway. Hopefully, we catch up to wherever they ended up, and we can tell them the Bee is gone. We’re still rebuilding above ground, but it’s safe for them to c—”

“Hey, Lauren, wanna actually help us with some of this shit?” A man’s voice rang out in the small space they’d camped in, and she rolled her eyes as she closed her journal.

“Ace, come on, we’ve got this just fine—” Another man said, a few years younger than the first.

“No, everyone’s gotta do their share, or we’ll never get out of here.” Ace folded his arms over his chest, offering a slight glare.

For someone apparently so concerned with getting a move on, he had spent surprisingly little time helping to load up the trucks. Lauren raised an eyebrow, blue eyes meaningfully shifting between their group’s self-proclaimed “leader” and the number of crates of supplies that still needed to be packed back up.

Unfortunately, rather than taking this as a cue to help, Ace took it as a sign that it was time for him to “supervise” some other portion of their camp.

“…I don’t know what I was expecting.” Lauren huffed, and the man from earlier snorted.

“That’s Ace for ya. You expect nothing and you’re still let down.”

“Sounds about right.”

“Yeah, well, he’s also the one who funded this whole trip, so I guess we’re stuck with him.” He and Lauren lifted a heavy crate, partially hurling it into the back of the closest truck. “When he hired me as the mechanic, I thought this would be more like Atlantis, y’know? Instead it’s just the world’s lamest road trip.”

“A-Aww, Sparks, I’m sorry this isn’t living up to your expectations…” Another girl skipped up behind them, and a handful of dark curls fell into her face as she did so. “Um, L-Lauren, can I talk to you for a sec…? It’s really important.”

“Sure thing,” Lauren said, exchanging a glance with Sparks even as she followed. “What’s going on, Lark?”

“Allegra and I were taking inventory, like we always do when we’re loading up, and…” Lark trailed off before she could finish, and her twin sister helpfully filled in the blanks.

“And it looks like the fresh food supplies are dwindling a little faster than we thought.” Allegra said. “It’s nothing serious yet, but given that you’re the cook here, we thought you should know.”

“What happened? Has someone been taking extras?” Lauren asked.

“I don’t think so. Things have just been spoiling faster than we thought,” Lark pointed to a discarded pile of wilted, browning lettuce. “We’re trying to cut off the bad parts, since the rest of it looks okay—”

“Not like we can afford to just waste a whole romaine heart, anyway.”

“E-Exactly. We’ll…we’ll try to stack the oldest stuff on tip, so you can go through that first, okay?”

“I think I can make that work. Thanks for letting me know, Lark.”

“Sure thing, Lauren.”

“Catch you later, Lauren. Ace is gonna have an aneurysm if we don’t pack up his precious trucks soon.”

“Allegra!” Lark exclaimed, even as Lauren walked away.

“Tell me I’m wrong. You can’t.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The truck lurched as it drove over a cluster of loosely-stacked rocks, and Sparks hissed out an audible apology to the vehicle.

“Sorry, Baby, hang in there.”

“…Did you just call the truck ‘baby’?” Allegra asked from the back seat.

“What? Cars work better if you name them, everyone knows that!”

“I’m preeeetty sure you’re just fuckin’ with us.”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“Allegra, let her drive,” Ace snapped, turning around from the passenger seat to glower at her.

The truck went deathly silent for a moment. Two moments. Three.

“…Him. Let him drive.” Lark spoke up. The usual waver in her voice faded as she spoke. “You said ‘her’, Ace.”

For one of the first times since they’d set out, Ace at least had the decency to look abashed.

“…Right. Sorry.”

“…s’fine, I guess.” Sparks muttered. He glanced at the rearview mirror, as if to make sure the others hadn’t lagged too far behind. Sure enough, the second truck’s headlights shone steadily behind them, just as always.

The next few minutes passed by in silence, until the truck lurched to another, complete stop. The others behind them barely stopped in time to avoid ramming into the back of Sparks’ truck.

“Hey, what’s the deal?” Ace asked, even as Sparks clambered out of the driver’s seat. “Come on, man, it was an accident—”

“Not everything’s about you, Ace. Pass me that flashlight, Lark?”

“Sure, here…” Sparks took the flashlight from her outstretched hands, flicking on the switch and sending a beam of light forward. It reached past even the trucks’ headlights as he cautiously stepped forward, illuminating the path ahead.

The sweeping of the flashlight beam stopped after a moment or two, and Sparks shook his head before returning to the group.

“What’s up, Sparks?” A man asked, hanging his head out the driver’s window of the second truck.

“There isn’t enough clearance for the trucks down there. Ceiling’s too low, you can tell from here.”

“So what, we came all the way down here for nothing?” Allegra asked. “Because it doesn’t look like there’s anything here, either.”

“There has to be something,” Lauren said. Ace clambered out of the car, muttering to himself as he looked down the path ahead.

“No fuckin’ way we made it all the way here just to turn around. Don’t even have anything to show for it except David’s fuckin’ geode collection…”

“Hey, they’re cool geodes!” David exclaimed from the driver’s seat.

“They aren’t the people we’re trying to fi—WHAT THE FUUUUUCK--?!” Ace’s shout rang out through the cavern, and his voice was followed by two gunshots that had multiple people covering their ears.

“What the hell was that, Ace?!” Allegra shouted when the noise died down. Her arms were wrapped around a shaking Lark, who had firmly pressed her hands against her ears.

“Something came crawling right at me! I just saw its beady fuckin’ eyes and—” Ace trailed off. He was quiet for a few seconds, taking the flashlight from Sparks.

“…You guys should look at this. I think I just made a whole new discovery.”

Gradually, the other expedition members filed out of the trucks, looking over the edge of the hill.

Even from here, the corpse was large. Large, white, and almost completely spherical, with eight spindly, dark legs stiffly raised in the air.

“…A spider?” Sparks asked. “You screamed bloody murder over a spider?”

“It’s fucking huge, Sparks, shut up.”

“I cannot believe our fearless leader got spooked by a lil’ spooder—”

“Hey!” Ace exclaimed over the others’ snickering. “You’re missing the point. If there are things living down here, who’s to say people can’t do the same?”

There was quite the difference between abnormally-large bugs and human beings, but he continued on before anyone could point that out.

“Pack the bags and the carts. Only the essentials. We’re going on foot from here.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It all happened so fast. One moment they’d been investigating the strange lights, the strange noises, and the next…

…The next, they were spattered with their friend’s blood. Fleeing through an elaborate system of tunnels with the echoing “bangs” still ringing in their head.

What creatures were these, to dispense death so quickly?

The Weaver couldn’t reach the village quickly enough. Couldn’t enter the sanctuary of the indoors soon enough—

Their quaking body bumped into another’s, and they let out a startled peep.

“P-Princess Hornet! I’m sorry, I—”

“What’s happened?” Hornet asked, gaze fixed on the pale blue blood that had spattered over the Weaver’s body.

“There are travelers, strange travelers with stranger weapons. They brought down Arachnae in a heartbeat, I…” they sobbed. They couldn’t do anything. They weren’t quick enough…

“Were you followed?”

“No. No, no, no, I wasn’t. But they’re on the edge of Deepnest. It’s likely they’ll continue on.”

Gods, Arachnae hadn’t even had time to scream, hadn’t had time to run. And they hadn’t even brought her body back home…

“Get…go get some rest. I’ll speak with my mother the queen, but stay nearby in case I need to send for you.”

“Yes, Princess. Thank you, I…I-I’ll be nearby.”

Hornet nodded firmly. Her needle flashed through the air, and she was off.

Her red cloak was the last thing to vanish into Deepnest’s shadows.

Chapter Text

Hallownest’s Crown was a fairly isolated area. It wasn’t particularly dangerous anymore; the crystals blocking the paths had long since been mined up. It was merely a bit out of the way for most of the kingdom’s denizens, and didn’t boast many visitors.

A messenger from the White Palace, however, was no regular visitor.

“Lady Radiance? My king asks for an audience with your daughter.” They called, standing on the doorway of Alexis and Radiance’s home. The door hung open, as it usually did—the moth village was secure, after all, and not many thieves would think to scale the Peak.

“Did he say what for?” A voice asked behind him, and the messenger jumped as he whirled around.

“G-Gah, I—oh! Princess, I hadn’t heard you approach.”

That had been the point, Alexis thought, but she didn’t say it out loud.

“If you’re looking for my mother, she’s out at the moment.” Alexis said. Radiance was visiting Kallistrate at the moment, and she’d left Alexis and Markoth to tend to the village while she was gone. “But if you’re asking for me…”

“Yes, although the King stressed that it is a quick matter. He wished to speak with you before you left for the Mantis Village.”

“I see,” Alexis tried her best not to be unnerved by the fact that it seemed her father knew her schedule better than she did at times. “I’ll be along, in that case.”

“Would you like an esc—”

“No, thank you. I think I’ll make it to the White Palace before you do.”

She pulled the Dream Nail from her cloak before the messenger could reply, flashing him a quick grin before she vanished in a burst of Dream Essence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Earlier…

It wasn’t often that Hornet arrived in the White Palace for social visits, let alone for serious matters. It was even rarer for her to be accompanied by her mother.

That, the Pale King knew, was what told him it was a serious matter indeed for the two of them to find themselves here.

The problems began three days ago, to hear them tell it. A pair of Weavers stumbled across a small caravan of unknown travelers, and only one had returned to tell the tale. Herrah’s beasts had been monitoring the strangers from a distance, but…

…if the Beast herself was concerned, it did not bode well.

“And these strangers, whoever they are, are continuing on?”

“Slowly but surely,” Herrah replied. “At their current pace, they’ll find themselves at the border to the Mantis Village before the week is out.”

Well, that was…certainly concerning. Especially since it was impossible to determine what these interlopers even wanted.

“There’s more as well. The bugs carrying Deepnest’s imports from Hallownest never arrived. I scouted along their usual path but found nothing.” Hornet said. “It’s as if they’re simply vanished.”

“And you think these travelers are behind these disappearances?”

“It’s likely. The roads the merchants take are cleared often. It’s unlikely a beast or other hunter slipped my watch.”

"Given that these strangers have killed once before, I doubt they would have hesitated if met with opposition. And I know you take your duties very seriously, Hornet. I doubt any of Deepnest’s beasts could creep past you.” The Pale King said. His flattery was met only by a stern silence, a curt nod—he’d always liked his daughter’s pragmatism.

“What do you require of me, Herrah?”

“For now, Pale Wyrm, we sought only to warn you.” Herrah replied. “Until these travelers leave, one way or another, Deepnest will be ceasing its trade with Hallownest.”

“I shall let the appropriate bugs here know of the changes,” the Pale King responded. “Hallownest’s merchants will have to cope with what silk they have until further notice.”

“The Mantis Village should be alerted, as well,” Hornet said. “Since their watchkeeping duties are now needed for sure.”

“I’ll send for Alexis. She should be visiting the Mantis Lords today; it will be a simple matter to ask her to carry a letter for me.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The messenger had made surprisingly good time; the Pale King had honestly been prepared to wait for a good while before Alexis arrived. But truth be told, it didn’t take long at all before Alexis arrived in a burst of Essence, appearing directly in the center of the throne room with practiced ease.

He was thankful she hadn’t landed on any of the retainers, watching as those closest to her gasped and wondering exactly how often she’d practiced that entrance while he was occupied in other areas of the palace.

“Your messenger has good timing,” she said. “I was about to catch the stags at Dirtmouth.”

“I’m glad I caught you beforehand,” the Pale King responded. “I need you to deliver a letter to the Mantis Lords on my behalf.”

“…Is something wrong?” Alexis asked.

“Nothing you need concern yourself with. Queen Herrah has merely noticed some strange occurrences in Deepnest.”

“I see.” Alexis didn’t sound entirely convinced, but she had to admit that since Deepnest was hardly an area she frequented, it was fair to say the issue likely wouldn’t affect her.

“Does she know what’s causing it?”

The Pale King hesitated—actually hesitated—for a moment, before he shook his head.

“I know only what Herrah told me. That there are travelers making their way through Deepnest, and bugs are going missing.”

“So this letter…” Alexis tapped the parchment against her palm, watching the seal glint in the light. “I’m assuming it’s a warning to Valda and her sisters? A request to watch the gates?”

“that is exactly what this is.” The Pale King smiled. “Ordinarily I would send a messenger, but the mantises like you much more. And the last thing I want to hear about is one of my messengers making a fool of themselves in the village…”

“We do want them to like us,” Alexis said with a sage nod.

“We can’t all be the Lords' sparring partner,” the Pale King said dryly. He knew as well as Alexis did that she was firmly in the Mantis Village’s favor. “I do apologize for giving you as menial a task as this…”

“It’s no trouble, really.” Alexis assured. “I was on my way there, anyway. And from the sounds of it, this is important.”

“Hopefully nothing will come of it. I can already hear the merchants complaining about the lack of silk from Deepnest.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To say all the mantises residing in the village were fond of Alexis may be a bit of a stretch—they respected her, yes, and tolerated her at the very least. But Alexis knew the way to most of these bugs’ respect rested in her ability to beat their Lords in ritual combat. And Alexis wasn’t quite that strong. Still, they offered no resistance, offering Alexis cool nods as she made her way through the village, following the familiar path down to the Lords’ thrones.

Alexis had learned very quickly that the claw Brava gave her all those years ago was very necessary. The walls lining the twisting route downwards were devoid of any other handholds. And the drop would likely only hurt her, if she simply jumped.

(If her parents ever asked, Alexis would deny the suggestion that she knew that from experience).

At least the Mantis Lords had had the courtesy to remove some of the razor-sharp spines when Alexis’ visits became more frequent. But even that had been converted into a challenge, a training exercise—Valda had installed a series of narrow wooden beams across the spikes. If Alexis’ balance hadn’t been up to par the first time she navigated across them, it definitely was now. Now, she could simply skip across the beams without breaking stride, her movements almost like a dance as—

Something whistled above her head as she slid down the wall, striking the dirt above her and sending a small shower of dirt raining down.

“Watch yourself, Alexis!” Isolde called out, a laugh ringing in her voice. Alexis planted her feet, stopping her descent long enough to turn and see Isolde clinging to one of the walls that dropped down during challenges. The other wall, the one closest to Alexis’ current position, hadn’t been dropped down. That certainly explained the first boomerang…

…as well as the second one that was shooting toward Alexis.

So. It was going to be one of those sparring matches.

Alexis slid down faster, enough to send the first projectile whistling harmlessly above her head, and planted her feet once more. A quick glance told her she was only about eight feet from the ground—high enough for what she had planned. She waited, shifting as another of Isolde’s boomerangs arced toward her. These ones came in a pair—one flew high, the other hovered a bit lower.

Alexis bent her knees, crouching against the wall as the boomerangs carved closer through the air. Closer…closer still…

She took one final, shaky breath, and pushed herself off the wall and into the air with all the force she could muster. Her cloak fluttered around her, the mothwing strands woven into the fabric helping to push her through the air, sending her farther than momentum alone.

She soared between the cyclones, landing on the ground with a light thump and trying to ignore the sensation shooting up her ankles. It was short-lived, thankfully; as good as sign as any that she hadn’t done any real damage to herself.

“…Well. That was a new strategy,” Isolde said, unable to keep the surprise out of her tone. “Usually it takes another five minutes or so before you can make your way around all of them.”

“I learn slowly, but I learn well,” Alexis smiled. Isolde tilted her head to the side, a challenge of sorts flashing in her eyes. The wall behind Alexis finally crashed down, but she didn’t dare take her eyes off the mantis in front of her.

“I suppose we’ll see just how much you’ve learned seen enough.” She said, before launching herself off the wall and into the air in a blur of movement Alexis could only dream of matching. But she didn’t have to match it—she only had to learn to combat it.

Isolde wasn’t like Valda. She was more than capable of fighting on her own, but it wasn’t what she preferred.

Alexis heard more than saw the mantis appear above her, lance poised to strike, and she rolled out of the way as her second appointment joined the fray. Brava slammed her nail into the ground where Alexis had been standing mere moments ago. She flashed her a quick grin before jumping back up.

“Hello, Alexis!” She called from somewhere above her head. “Let’s see how much you’ve improved from last week!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“…I don’t understand you sometimes, Alexis.” Isolde said. Her voice cut through the silence that had fallen over the three of them. The walls had been pulled back up, the spikes covered, and they tended to their nails in relative quiet. “You always seem more comfortable when fighting me and Brava together. Why would you prefer being outnumbered?”

“I’m not sure, honestly,” Alexis shrugged. But she knew that wasn’t the case. The truth was that Isolde and Brava’s fighting styles centered around working in tandem. If one rushed her head-on, Alexis could safely reason that the other would be right behind her. If Brava wend for an attack from mid-air, it was safe to guess that Alexis would have to prepare to dodge a second rush.

Valda used the same techniques as her sisters, but she was stronger, quicker. There wasn’t a second mantis to cue her in on where the other sister would appear next. Alexis was quick, but…not that quick. Whatever she was, she didn’t seem built to function in the same way the Mantis Lords were.

“I still think it’s because you fancy our sister,” Brava said, although the nudge she gave Alexis made it clear she was mostly joking. Mostly.

“Brava…” Alexis groaned. There was a warning note to her tone, but it went ignored.

“It could explain it! There are a few mantises that get so nervous they can’t beat her in combat, either.”

“I don’t think either Alexis or Valda are particularly interested in mates.” Isolde said.

“It wouldn’t be like that, they’d be partners! I think they’d be good together.”

“I…what’s the difference?”

“I know sometimes mates and lovers intersect, but—” Brava trailed off abruptly, straightening up. “Oh! Valda, we were just talking about you!”

“Is that so?” Valda asked, approaching the trio with a slight smile. “Why has poor Alexis turned so red, then?”

“It’s nothing. Just Brava making jokes,” Alexis waved off, although she knew her face was likely just as deep of a red as her cloak. “I’m glad you came by, though, Valda. I have a message for you.” She dug into the inner pockets of her cloak, and for one heartstopping moment she worried that it had fallen out somewhere. But her fingertips soon closed around the parchment, and she couldn’t help the small sigh of relief that followed.

Valda took the parchment from Alexis’ outstretched hands, taking only a moment to note the Pale King’s sigil before breaking the wax seal it was stamped into.

“…Sister? What is it?” Brava asked, rising to take a look at the message even as Valda read for herself.

“Patience, Brava,” Isolde chided.

“Easy for you to say. She’ll pass it to you before I get to look.”

“I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about.” Valda said, even as she handed the parchment to Isolde. Alexis stifled a laugh, snickering at Brava’s indignant expression.

“Alexis, you traitor.” She said, which only made the girl laugh even more.

“…Something’s happened in Deepnest?” Isolde asked.

“I only know what my father told me,” Alexis said. “But there’s some group making their way into the kingdom. Bugs are going missing. Herrah’s called off trading until the roads are safe.”

“And they don’t know who these strangers are?” What they are? What they want?” Brava asked.

“No,” Isolde said. “Or, if they do know, it doesn’t say here. But according to the Beast, they have been seen killing a Weaver, unprovoked. They seem…dangerous.”

Valda sighed, nodding to Alexis.

“Tell your father we have no qualms with keeping our end of his arrangement with our father,” she said. “The beasts of Deepnest, and these intruders, will not be entering that gate.”

Alexis rose to her feet, nodding in return.

“I’ll let him know. Thank you, Valda. Isolde, Brava.”

“Wait one moment,” Valda said, and her sisters exchanged a quick, quizzical look. “You used the Dream Nail last time, Alexis. I want you to at least climb out into the village proper before using it again.”

“I…really? You’re serious?” Alexis asked.

“Perfectly serious. Consider it my portion of your training, since I missed the chance to see you sparring.”

Alexis heaved a dramatic sigh, throwing her arms up in the air.

“Fine, fine, I’ll do this your way.” She groaned, turning on her heel and heading for the wall.

“And the vault off to the side has been locked. No creeping in there and using your Dream Gate. I know that’s what you did last time.”

“…Gods dammit.”

Chapter Text

“September 20, 2019 – Day 39.

We’ve been down here, on foot, for three days now, and the passages here are only getting narrower. Narrow and dark, even with our flashlights and whatever strange, glowing plants there are down here.

(David asked if he’d glow if he ate some. I really hope he’s kidding.)

We came across some other bugs—they’re not like that spider Ace shot, but they’re still bigger than anything we’ve ever seen before. They came crawling up out of the dirt and tried to bite us.

They left pretty quickly after that. Thankfully our flashlights are heavy enough to do enough damage to convince them to look somewhere else for a snack. We haven’t seen any more of those spiders, but that’s probably a good thing. Ace is still grumpy over the first one scaring him, and he’s been even worse to deal with than usual. He actually took Sparks’ rations for the day, as “punishment” for laughing at him (???).

I snuck him food anyway, of course. I’m not about to let anyone go hungry just because Ace has to be an asshole.

Hopefully we either find a dead end, or what we’re looking for, and we can leave. I’m not sure how much more of this we can take. Lark is really starting to miss the sun, and we’re running low on supplies.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three days. They were a mere three days into their embargo with Deepnest, and Hallownest’s textile merchants were at one another’s throats. If they didn’t manage to kill each other, the Pale King had half a mind to do it himself.

The first merchants to learn of the pause in trade had turned and nearly doubled the prices of all the silk they had on hand. Their competitors had swept in to take advantage of their opponents’ lapse in judgment, reveling in how the kingdom’s residents flocked to their lower prices. Some of them had realized exactly what was happening. Some, but not all, still had silk left to sell.

All of them, it seemed, were more than willing to air their complaints to anyone unfortunate enough to be in their vicinity.

This merchant felt as if he’d been cheated somehow, and that he should be compensated. If he’d known, if he’d been told, if he’d been privy to the same information, there was no way he would have sold his wares at such a low price.

Others believed their silk stocks had been broken into, and they were certain it was him, Your Majesty, I implore you to do something!

Still, others complained about the lack of business at all, and even some nobles seemed to take enough offense to personally complain. What did it matter that there was a halt on the trade of weaver silk? These merchants were charging them two, three, even four times their usual rates, and there was nothing notable or different about the resulting product. They should receive more silk to match the exorbitant fees they’d paid or, better yet, be refunded completely! And what sort of compensation had these scheming merchants offered? Nothing! Not one single Geo, not so much as a measly bolt of weaver silk…

It was, oddly, enough to direct his attention to a low growling in his stomach, but he ignored it as best he could. While consuming one or two of these petty nobles surely couldn’t hurt…the last thing the Pale King needed was for one of his children to see such a spectacle.

“It’s ridiculous,” he sighed once he was finally through with the last of these pointless meetings. His Root sat beside him in their private quarters, gently attempting to rub the knots from his shoulders.

“I know, my Wyrm.”

“Their complaints are so petty. Bugs are going missing, and they still seek only profits and lavish goods.”

“It’s gotten worse, then?”

“The cessation of trade hasn’t stopped everyone. Some are travelers, others seek to do trade themselves, directly…most haven’t returned, and that caravan is slowly cutting its way through Deepnest…”

“Would it not be more prudent to…nip this problem in the bud, so to speak?” The White Lady asked. Her husband chuckled flatly in response. Prudent, yes. Prudent, and pragmatic, but…not likely.

“I doubt that it would be received well if I were to send troops into Deepnest. And Herrah has made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that she neither needs nor desires my input in running her kingdom.”

Root hummed, softly.

“So they continue on. All of this continues on.”

“It appears so.” The Pale King sighed. He said nothing for a moment, composing his thoughts. “But that may not be the only affair to do so.”

“There’s more? My Wyrm—”

“It’s a possibility that these disappearances are not entirely the work of this one group. There are travelers who had set out from the Distant Village before they disappeared, far from where the interlopers were first seen. Lurien’s investigations are still ongoing, but others have apparently vanished from the tram station, the—the...."

“My Wyrm?”

“…Apologies, my Root. I’m merely lost in thought.” The White Lady’s eyes crinkled into a smile.

“You always are. But if these bugs aren’t falling victim to the interlopers, who would be responsible for this?”

“The Soul Master.” The response wasn’t immediate, but what it lacked in timeliness it more than made up for in conviction. “The day I informed him the Pale Court would no longer be funding the Sanctum’s work. He…insisted that he would make attempts to continue on, himself.”

“Did you not make it clear that he was to stop involving other bugs in these endeavors? Even his students?”

“Perhaps I haven’t made it clear enough,” the Pale King sighed, “if he still seeks out bugs to harvest Soul from.”

It was silent between the two Pale Beings, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. Merely a meditative quiet between two beings who were, for the first time in a long while, dealing with something they didn’t quite understand.

A knock at the door coaxed the both of them out of their thoughts, and the Pale King rose to his feet. He crossed the room, opening the door to reveal a small retainer.

“My apologies, Sire. You wished to know when the Watcher arrived?”

“Thank you. That will be all.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The meeting area, tucked away as it was, seemed to be getting used more and more often as of late.

“Lurien. Thank you for coming, especially at such—” the Pale King trailed off. Lurien, it seemed, hadn’t come alone. He was accompanied by a shorter bug, clad in the desaturated maroon that was currently so popular with Hallownest’s nobility. His clothing was ragged, streaked with dirt and dust and another substance he couldn’t quite identify.

“Who is this?”

“He came stumbling into the city as I was on my way to you,” Lurien explained. “His group ventured into Deepnest. They ran into…some sort of trouble.”

“You’ve been to the Deepnest?” The King asked, unable to mask his surprise. “What happened? Where are you companions?”

“I don’t…I don’t know,” the bug stammered. “It was just my brother, our assistant, and myself. Our father sent us to try and find more weaver silk—he knew trading was halted, but wanted us to brave the roads ourselves. He’s desperate, without that silk to make our clothes, we have no source of income.”

“Slow down,” the Pale King coaxed. “I understand many of Hallownest’s merchants are in dire straits, and believe me when I say that I did not come to this decision lightly.” The bug nodded, and after a moment or two, he continued.

“We lost our way, while trying to return to the village’s Stag Station, and we were separated,” he said, and his entire body trembled as he did so. “I heard him calling out for our assistant, somewhere in the dark, and I tried to follow his voice. But I could never catch up. I think…I think they left me down there.”

“…But why would they?” Lurien asked.

“Our father favors my brother; we both know it. He’s expressed his…distaste before, but now I wonder if this was merely a front. I’m the oldest; if something were to befall me…”

It was an…appalling situation, yes. But it did nothing to explain exactly what happened to all the bugs who were disappearing in Deepnest. He doubted that scheming brothers were responsible for all of this.

“You noticed nothing else? Nothing unusual?” The Pale King asked.

“I…not really, why?”

“…The King closed off trading for a reason. Bugs are going missing, and—” Lurien began, although he was cut off.

“Missing?! I..I had no…oh, oh no…” the bug put a hand to his mouth. “I left them down there. Maybe something happened to my brother, maybe he was calling for help, and I left him…”

The Pale King looked to Lurien, and while there was no way he would ever so much as acknowledge it, there was a tiny bit of helplessness as he did so.

“One of my Watcher Knights is outside,” Lurien said. “They will make sure you return home safely, my friend.”

“…C-Can I go elsewhere? I can’t…I can’t face my father. Not yet.”

“…Very well. They’ll take you wherever you wish to go, so long as it’s safe.”

The bug nodded shakily, offering a trembling bow to the Pale King.

“My King…”

“Get some rest,” he replied, with a small nod in response. After he and Lurien were left alone, he turned to the Watcher. “Well. Not the sort of information I was hoping for, but concerning in its own way.”

“I apologize, my king. Given your concerns with what’s been occurring in Deepnest, I’d thought…”

“It’s all right, Lurien,” he said. “As I said, it’s a separate cause for concern. As for our…main concern…”

“Forgive my tardiness, I wanted to be certain I was as thorough as I could be.” Lurien produced a stone tablet from within his robes, with numerous numbers and figures carved in glowing white chalk. “Looking at the city’s last census, and the missing persons reports different citizens have made, I’ve compiled a list of bugs that appear to have gone missing. “It’s…unfortunately, I don’t think it’s a complete account. I can only account for bugs who reside in the City of Tears and whose absences would have been noticed and reported by loved ones…”

“So for all we know, there could be more.” The Pale King murmured, running a finger down the list and counting the names printed there. Ten…fifteen…almost twenty, and this was just the bugs in the City of Tears. This was likely nothing more than an underestimation. A rough guess.

…Why hadn’t his foresight told him this? All he’d been given were glimpses, the briefest flashes of a future he couldn’t quite place. Flashes of swirling white, of masks vanishing into the dark…

…Swirling white? No. Swirling Soul. The realization came so suddenly, hit so hard, that he nearly dropped the carefully-compiled list.

“My King, are you all right?!” Lurien exclaimed, unable to keep the shock from his voice.

“I’m…quite all right, Lurien, thank you.” The Pale King said, righting himself. Odd…when had he stumbled? “I have a request of you.”

“Anything, my King.”

“Keep a close watch on the Soul Sanctum. If the Soul Master so much as considers leaving his towers, I want to know of it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a few days later when another meeting was held in the White Palace. The Pale King was accompanied by Lurien, as well as Herrah, Hornet, and all three of the Mantis Lords (their brother, they explained, had left with a few others and settled somewhere on the edges of the Queen’s Gardens).

“I’d hoped this wouldn’t be necessary,” Herrah said, exchanging a look with her daughter that was…almost sad. “But even a few of my own weavers and devouts have vanished without a trace.”

“It seems as if the best way to prevent bugs from disappearing in Deepnest is to cut off their access to it entirely,” the king said decisively. “I know what I ask of you is, perhaps, extreme…”

Herrah scoffed out a laugh.

“Pale Wyrm, 21 years ago you asked me to become a Seal upon an angry light god. Quarantining the Distant Village is nothing in comparison.”

“The gates to Deepnest will remain guarded,” Valda said. “The interlopers won’t be coming through. Nor will anyone else.”

“I’ve already escorted the weavers and devouts elsewhere to the Distant Village,” Hornet said. “Deepnest’s subjects will be safe.”

“Good,” the Pale King said. “I’ve ordered the stags not to transport bugs to the Distant Village, and the tram has likewise been disabled for the time being.”

“For how long?” Isolde asked. “How long are we to isolate the village?”

Those present were silent for a moment. Then, finally, Herrah spoke.

“Until those behind these disappearances are found.” She said. “And, preferably, when the party traveling through Deepnest stops progressing.”

Her last sentence went unsaid, but its meaning was clear despite the silence.

As long as they stopped pressing forward…one way or another.

Chapter Text

“Is something wrong, little light?” Radiance asked, a touch of concern in her tone. “You’ve barely touched your food.”

“I’m all right,” Alexis replied. “Everything is just…stressful. Father and Herrah decided to isolate the Distant Village, to try and stop bugs from doing down there and disappearing. And that caravan is still going, last anyone saw.”

“The king told you this?” Markoth asked. “He’s shared very little with the moth tribe.”

“We’re well isolated up here, Markoth. Deepnest is a very long way off.” Thistlewind chided.

“But to answer, he did tell me some of it, at least. The rest I picked up on my own. Or from Brava.”

“I don’t envy the Wyrm right about now,” Radiance laughed. “I’m sure dealing with a number of petulant merchants is difficult even without a shortage of silk.”

Alexis smiled, laughing to herself. Her mother was almost putting it mildly—she’d run into her father shortly after one such meeting, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen him so aggravated. And…as amusing as Radi seemed to find it, as amusing as Alexis wanted to find it, a small part of her couldn’t help but be worried. If the Pale King was driven to losing his composure, to fracturing that distant façade he’d perfected and maintained as king of Hallownest…then this was a matter far more serious than a handful of squabbling merchants.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Nothing to report from the Soul Sanctum, I’m afraid.”

The Pale King turned his head; he’d heard Lurien enter, of course, but his Root had mentioned something he hadn’t quite…

“Nothing at all?” He repeated, as if unable to believe what had been said. In a way, he truly couldn’t. No. No, the Soul Master must have grown some semblance of sense and was covering his tracks, but…but…

…but how many bugs could hide their activities from his Watcher? Surely Lurien would have been able to detect something; comings and goings at odd hours, a sudden frequenting of stag stations, strange shipments. Something out of the ordinary.

“I’m afraid not, my King,” Lurien said. “I’ll instruct the guards to maintain their observations, of course, and I’ve long since diverted my attentions to this. But there has been nothing out of the ordinary for a long time.”

“…Thank you, my Watcher.” He said at last. It wasn’t until Lurien bowed and left, wasn’t until the doors of the throne room closed behind him that the Pale King let out a heavy sigh.

“We must be missing something.” He said, rubbing at his temples. “The Soul Master is certainly up to something, it’s been too quiet—”

“What has that foresight of yours shown you?” The White Lady asked, and her tone was so even and calm that the Pale King wished he could wrap himself up in it until it merged with his very Soul and soothed him from the inside out.

“Nothing useful. Nothing clear. Just the same snippets over and over.”

The darkness of Deepnest. A white flicker of Soul illuminating the discarded corpses of bugs. A Nail arcing through the air, his children plummeting down, down, down.

“Perhaps if you rested…” Root said, although her words were cut off by the Pale King’s humorless chuckle.

“I don’t need sleep like mortal bugs do. It’s been a while, yes, but I can go for much longer—”

“Just because you can, my Wyrm, does not mean you need to.”

“Perhaps, but—”

“But nothing. You’re stressed, my love. You carry the weight of an entire kingdom on your shoulders, and then condemn your body when it falters under it.”

“Hallownest needs a king. Needs me.” He said, even as his wife rose from her throne. “It was never intended to last long without me, I need to be here for my sub—gah!”

His words trailed off into a very undignified gasp, but considering the fact that his Root had picked him up from his own throne, it was understandable.

“And Hallownest’s king needs to rest,” she said gently. “So he can better attend to his kingdom and his people. Because if he falls, so does Hallownest and everything he’s worked to build.”

“…Love, please, we have a reputation to maintain.” The Pale King sighed, although his attempts to wriggle out of his wife’s grasp were halfhearted at best.

“Do you want me to set you down?”

“…No.” He said, sounding both resigned and…somehow surprised by his own words. But the White Lady, his dear Root, merely laughed softly, holding her Wyrm closer as she made her way to their chambers.

“Tell me again, what you’ve seen.” She said quietly. The halls of the White Palace were mercifully empty; the Pale King didn’t quite want anyone seeing him like…this. Carried like a child refusing to go to bed on their own.

“I’ve only seen fragments. Everything is clouded for the most part, I…I’m beginning to fear my foresight is failing me.”

“Oh, my Wyrm…”

“I see Deepnest, but I don’t know where or why,” the Pale King continued even as his Root pushed open the door to their private chambers. “I see corpses and Soul, but the Soul Master has not done anything I can prove.”

The White Lady set her husband down on the bed, carefully sliding next to him, those glimmering eyes fixed on him as she clung to his every word.

“Most worrying, I see our children. Fighting something in the dark. Falling. And I know nothing of how to stop it. How to protect them.”

“Which of our children?” The question caught him by surprise. To an extent, he wondered just why she’d asked at all.

“Does it matter?”

“It may help us keep an eye on them.”

…Ah. Right. That may help.

“Our usual suspects, to be frank. Hollow and Ghost. Alexis and Hornet.”

The White Lady hummed out a soft laugh.

“I can’t say I’m surprised. They do spend the most time outside the Palace; Alexis and Hornet live on two other ends of the kingdom altogether.”

“And if something were to happen…”

“Then they will face it together, as they always have. They’re family, my Wyrm; they’ll look out for one another even when you cannot.”

“I…you’re right, my love.” The Pale King said at last. Was it what he’d seen that had rattled him so? Or was it what he hadn’t seen and could only guess at? Perhaps it was both, but…

His Root’s embrace was soothing. She glowed with the pale light of Soul, but it was something that warmed him. It wasn’t a force that was twisted and manipulated like the Soul of those bugs in the Sanctum. It was merely a part of her, a part of him, a bond they shared.

“Is there anything you wish of me, love?” The White Lady asked, and he sighed. This time, however, it was in content, and not aggravation.

“Stay by my side,” he murmured. The slowing of his body was alarming at first; he truly couldn’t remember the last time he’d permitted himself the luxury of sleep. “Both while I rest and…and no matter what the future may hold.”

“Oh, my dear Wyrm,” his Root breathed, gently running a fond hand over his face. “I already promised that long ago.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It wasn’t often that the White Lady sent for any of her children. But here Hollow was, escorted by a single retainer, who simply offered them a bow before running back off.

“Mother?” They called, knocking once or twice on the door to their parents’ bedchamber.

“Come inside, Hollow.” Came the response, and the tallest of the Pale King’s children stepped inside.

“…Oh.” Hollow murmured. Their parents were both in bed, and their father appeared to be sound asleep and curled against his wife.

“Your father has finally managed to grant himself some much-needed rest, but…” the White Lady smiled. “It also means neither of us are able to put your siblings to bed. I’m sorry to trouble you, but would you—”

Hollow nodded after a moment, and their shoulders shook with a laugh that was felt more than heard.

“Of course I will. I always like helping the others get ready for bed.”

“Thank you, my child,” their mother replied, her eyes sparkling. “Let them know I’ll be in for their bedtime story later…once their father wakes.”

They made sure they closed the door gently behind them before venturing back down the hall.

Their siblings, it seemed, were already in the process of tucking themselves into bed. A few of the vessels glanced up in surprise as they saw the door open.

“Hollow!” Came a few exclamations, and just like that, all that work of tucking themselves in went right out the window and Hollow was being swarmed by their siblings.

“Big sibling! Big sibling!”

“You were too busy with knight stuff today, we missed you!”

“Where are Mother and Father?”

“They’ve been gone for a while, too!”

“Father is asleep,” Hollow managed at last. They sounded remarkably composed when considering they had numerous vessels clinging to their cloak, their shoulders and arms, and hanging onto their legs.

“I didn’t know Father needed to sleep!” Thorn exclaimed.

“I didn’t know he could sleep,” Jet giggled, and Hollow sighed out a laugh.

“He can, and he is. Mother will be in here for your story when he wakes, but for now…” Hollow leaned down, scooping up a number of vessels. “It’s time for bed.”

“But Hollow…..”

“No, no buts, it’s bedtime.” Hollow said, dropping a few of their siblings onto the closest bed. They giggled, bouncing slightly and rolling around on the pillows.

“Ghost, please, settle down. Fracture, Bramble, Jet, I…” Hollow trailed off, but this time there was no laughter behind it.

Gradually, their siblings picked up on it, though Ghost seemed to catch onto it first.

“…Is someone missing?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hallownest’s Crown was illuminated solely by lanterns, the crystals on the peak, and hints of the Radiance’s glow. As such, Alexis’ room was fairly dark.

And she wasn’t expecting being visited.

“Sister! Alexis! Wake up, hurry!” Something fairly small jumped up next to her and shook the bed, tapping at her face while trying to wake her.

“…Nnnnn…Ghost? Hollow?” Alexis sat up in bed, hair a wild tangle as she blearily blinked up at two of her siblings. Ghost remained in her lap, still tugging at her clothes, while Hollow fidgeted restlessly by the doorway.

“I’m sorry, Alexis, but we need your help.” They said.

“What happened?”

“Silk and Berry went out to visit Hornet before Deepnest was closed off…” Hollow began. It may have been obvious if Alexis was…slightly more awake, but given the current, foggy haze her mind was in…

“That…sounds…normal enough?”

Ghost grabbed onto the front of Alexis’ shirt, tugging her to meet their dark gaze.

“We just realized: they never came back.”

Chapter Text

“Does Father know?” Alexis asked, dressed and much, much more awake as she, Hollow, and Ghost strode through the sleeping moth village. Ghost had barely given her enough time to scrawl a quick note to Radi before the quill in her hand was replaced with her nail.

The metal was cool, grounding, though she’d slung it on her back for easier transport.

“Not yet.” Ghost replied. The steady crunching of rock under their sister’s boots halted.

“…What?”

“We didn’t tell him. We came straight here.”

Alexis took in a deep breath, slowly letting it out in a long sigh.

“…Two of his children are missing, and you didn’t tell him?” She asked, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“He’s asleep, and he’ll probably be that way for a while,” Hollow said. “It’s…it’s my job to look out for the others when Father is busy, and…”

“We can find them. I know it.” Ghost said as their sibling trailed off.

“That’s all well and good, and I understand your position, Hollow,” Alexis said quietly. As someone who was often entrusted not only with the wellbeing of her siblings, but with that of the moth village as a whole, she understood that weight on her sibling’s shoulders.

“But Deepnest has been closed off. We aren’t getting in there without Father’s approval.”

“Silk and Berry could be in trouble! We can’t wait for Father to call his meetings,” Ghost argued. “There has to be some other way in. Hallownest is full of secrets…”

“…And we are the best at finding them,” Alexis finished with a small smile. “But where do we start? We don’t have time to search the entire kingdom.”

The three of them fell silent for a while. Finally, Hollow piped up.

“…I might know somewhere we could learn more.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fog and static clung to the heavy air, the environment so dense it almost seemed muffled. A few Uomas hovered in the air as the siblings descended through Fog Canyon, making sure to steer clear of the Oomas floating along.

(They’d learned very quickly that it was best not to touch them at all.)

The path they took was a familiar one, but one they hadn’t traveled in a long while. Their lessons with Monomon required the siblings to grow accustomed to skipping over and traversing the hissing acid pools Fog Canyon played host to. Hollow and Ghost’s shells, and Alexis’ boots, offered protection from the rare spatters and shallow puddles that were more of a film than anything else. But it was still not enough to keep them unharmed in the event of an unexpected fall, and their progress was slower for their lack of recent practice.

Alexis and Hollow’s progress was slow, at least. Ghost scampered along like it was nothing, constantly stopping and turning back to watch their siblings’ progress. If the two didn’t know any better, they’d be fairly convinced Ghost was showing off.

They reached the Archives no worse for wear, save for a few strands of Alexis’ hair that were beginning to fly out from the static in the air. Hollow knocked gently on the door, and when a minute or two passed without incident, Alexis and Ghost both tapped on it even harder.

“It’s the middle of the night!” Hollow hissed. “You can’t just—”

The door creaked open before they could say much more.

“I’m terribly sorry, the Madam isn’t—oh! Why, hello!” Quirrel shifted from grogginess to being completely alert at a rate Alexis envied, and his demeanor was genuinely cheerful as he greeted each of them in turn. “Hollow, Alexis, and Ghost, of course! What brings the three of you here, especially at this hour?”

Alexis nudged her taller sibling; it had been Hollow’s idea to come here.

“Oh! I…I know it’s late, Quirrel, and my siblings and I apologize for disturbing you. But this is an emergency; may we look at the maps of the kingdom?”

Quirrel was, understandably, alarmed at Hollow’s use of the term “emergency”, but to his credit he hid it well.

“Of course, of course! Right this way.” Quirrel said, stepping to the side and ushering the king’s children inside.

The Teacher’s Archives hadn’t changed much since they’d last visited. The glowing green acid still bubbled through hissing pipes, casting a few eerie shadows over the Uomas floating along. The smaller of them floated up to Quirrel; if the siblings weren’t mistaken, they seemed to almost purr with delight as he ran a hand over them.

“It must be a pressing emergency for you to be all the way out here at this time. But why did the King send you?”

“Father doesn’t know yet.” Ghost said.

“…He…what?”

“See, that’s what I said.” Alexis sighed. “I’m sorry, Quirrel. Father is resting and apparently asked not to be disturbed, so when Ghost and Hollow realized that Silk and Berry never came back from Deepnest…”

After a moment or two, she registered the dawning horror emanating from Quirrel.

“Since the entrances are closed off and we need to get in there—”

“And there’s no time to go through all the meetings Father would have to call…” Ghost said,

“We were hoping one of the old maps of the kingdom might show another way into Deepnest.” Hollow finished. All three siblings watched Quirrel carefully, gauging his reaction and seeming almost guilty.

“I…I know this is a lot, I—”

“No, no, it’s fine! Silk and Berry are missing and the King doesn’t know, but it’s…it’s fine!” Quirrel said. He sighed, rubbing at his temples.

“If things are this serious, it may do well to have an extra mind at work. Wait here; I’m going to wake the Madam.”

He was gone before any of the Pale King’s children could stop him.

“…You don’t think Monomon will tell Father, do you?” Hollow asked after a moment or two.

“I’m surprised you didn’t, honestly,” Alexis said. “But it doesn’t really matter now; let’s just hope she can help us get into Deepnest.”

Hollow nodded, and they lapsed back into silence. Ghost wandered around the room, looking at the different pipes and tubes and displays lining the walls. Alexis merely yawned and rubbed her eyes, jumping a bit at the loud static discharges her hair let out.

Hollow laughed silently. Alexis retaliated in the form of rubbing her hands through said hair and poking her sibling. They jumped back in surprise at the crackling static.

“Who taught you to be such a dirty fighter?” They asked, although it was meant mainly in jest.

“Ghost, probably,” Alexis snickered.

“What did I do?” Ghost asked, turning away from a crackling tank of charged lumaflies.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“I think those lumaflies missed you, Ghost,” Monomon said. She floated into the room, Quirrel following not far behind. “It’s certainly been a while since any of you have come by the Archives.”

“I…I know. We’re sorry,” Ghost said.

“And we’re also sorry for bothering you so late. We—”

“It’s quite all right, Ghost, and you don’t need to explain anything, Hollow. Quirrel already told me what’s going on.”

“Can you help us?” Alexis asked. One or two of Monomon’s tentacles curled forward, each grasping a few worn tablets or scrolls.

“I certainly hope so, Alexis.” The Teacher said. “These are some of the oldest maps of Hallownest. Let’s see if any of them can tell us something.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ghost, I don’t think that’s the best way to read a map.” Hollow said quietly. The smaller vessel was lying face-down on one of the stone tablets, and had been for a while.

“Mm…wha--? Oh.” Ghost sat up, rubbing at their face.

“Someone dozed off,” Alexis grinned, although she was also still holding back the occasional yawn. They’d already gone through so many maps, but…they were no closer to finding a way into Deepnest. “Monomon, how many more maps do you have?”

“I’m afraid this is the last of them. Hallownest hasn’t changed much, there isn’t much demand for changing maps—”

“Wait! I may have found something!” Quirrel jumped up from where he was sitting, pointing to one of the scrolls. It was fairly tattered, and woven from weaver silk as many scrolls of Hallownest were.

He set the scroll down so all of them could see, and he pointed at a small area near the Queen’s Gardens.

“…What am I supposed to be looking at…ohhh.” Alexis breathed. She reached out and traced her finger along a small, scribbled space.

“Look,” she said, further directing her siblings’ attention. “There’s a small cavern at the far end of the gardens. Some abandoned…digging project?” The scribbled notes weren’t particularly clear, and Alexis had never been the best at that particular dialect. But Monomon nodded, confirming that she’d at least gotten the gist.

“Before your mother the Queen built her gardens here, it looks like a small shaft connected this area and Deepnest,” the Teacher said. “It hasn’t been included on any following maps, but perhaps, if this tunnel was merely sealed like these notes claim…”

“…Then we can get down to Deepnest! And find Silk and Berry!” Ghost cheered. Despite the fact that they’d been on the brink of falling asleep, they shot straight to their feet. “Come on, we have to hurry!”

“I—Ghost! Wait!” Hollow called after the smaller vessel, who was already bolting for the door. “I’m sorry about them, Monomon, thank you for all your help…and yours as well, Quirrel.”

“Of course, Hollow,” Monomon said warmly. “I’m glad we could be of service. Hopefully you won’t come across any trouble on your way to find your siblings, but considering how Deepnest can be…Quirrel, would you be able to accompany them?”

“Oh! You don’t need to trouble yourselves, we’ve already dragged you into this at a very late time of night,” Hollow said hastily.

“If you’re willing, Quirrel, I definitely won’t say ‘no’,” Alexis said. She turned to look at Hollow even as they seemed to be readying a response.

“We’re capable fighters, but Deepnest is still unfamiliar territory, Hollow. We can use all the help we can get.”

“I’m admittedly not much of a fighter if I don’t have to be,” Quirrel said. “But I’m certainly able and prepared to defend myself.”

“Extra pair of eyes might help us find Silk and Berry faster,” Alexis coaxed.

“It isn’t as if I don’t want him to join us, I just don’t want him to feel as if he has to--!” Hollow sighed.

“Hollow, Silk and Berry are my friends. I worry for their safety, too; if I’m able to help ensure they make it home safe and sound, I would much rather do that than wait here for news.” Quirrel said.

Hollow glanced at their sister, although it was fairly clear from her words that she’d already made up her own mind.

“Let’s get going, then.” Hollow said. “I think we’ve kept poor Ghost waiting for long enough.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They’d been gone for 40 days. Not all of that time had been spent underground, thank God, but 40 days was still an incredible amount of time for all of them to be in such close quarters.

In close quarters, with no sight of anything even resembling what they came down here to find, tensions were beginning to rise among a few members of the expedition. It was only a matter of time before things reached a boiling point.

“Who’s the last person to put up the food?!”

Considering how loudly—and harshly—Ace asked the question, he received very little in the way of a response.

“…What’re we yelling about?” Allegra asked after a moment or two.

“The. Food.” Ace said, and while she hadn’t looked up from trimming her nails with a pocket knife, she knew he was grinding his teeth again.

“Wasn’t that y—What the fuck?!” She shrieked—Ace threw the container to the ground in front of her, sending the lid flying off in the process.

The sight of chewed-up vegetables and jerky greeted them. One lone, heavily scratched can of soup fell forward and rolled to a stop at Allegra’s feet.

The commotion, at least, had gotten everyone’s attention. Writing came to a halt, truck maintenance stalled, a couple pairs of headphones were removed…all eyes were on the ruined food. Their only real lifeline down here in the dark.

“What…what happened?” Lark breathed, holding both hands over her mouth. This was awful, what did this?

“Probably more of those little crawlers. The food bin was half open when I found it, so unless the things figured out how to open locks—” Ace said, right before everyone started speaking up all at once.

“Maybe they did, we don’t know what they can and can’t do--!”

“At least they were chewing on our larder, instead of one of us…”

“Yeah, but we’re still out of food now, dipshit.”

“So what do we do?” Lauren asked, looking over the food on the ground, trying to determine what she could salvage and what could be trashed. Maybe she would have been able to salvage most of this, but now that Ace had dumped everything on the ground in his little fit… “That can of soup won’t be enough to feed even half of us.”

“We need to get more food.” Ace scoffed, as if the answer was something painfully obvious. “Or, you need to get more food.”

Lauren’s jaw wasn’t the only one that dropped, and there was a loud clattering noise nearby as Sparks dropped his wrench.

“Are you serious?!” He called, fumbling inside the truck’s engine in search of the fallen tool. “She’s our cook, Ace, and you’re sending her into the dark hellscape alone?”

“She’s the cook, so she should be able to find out what’s edible. That way she knows what she’s got to work with!” Ace said.

“These are species and plants we’ve never seen, Ace.” Lauren said flatly. “None of us are gonna know what’s edible and what isn’t.”

“Plus there are still the crawlers to worry about.” Allegra said.

“Right. Can’t have you getting jumped out there. Here,” Ace nodded, fumbling with his waistband and pulling out his pistol. He held it out to Lauren handle first. “Take it.”

A flicker of unease and what was almost disgust dotted Lauren’s face.

“You know I’m scared of guns, Ace.” She said, and the other man sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Fine. Just take one of your kitchen knives or something. It’s better than nothing.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been a long while since they’d set foot in the Queen’s Gardens; Alexis, truthfully, had a difficult time remembering if she’d ever been there at all. The air was sweet, faintly so, and everywhere she turned she was greeted with lush green leaves, pale flowers, and wicked thorns. The gardens were, for the most part, allowed to grow wild, and it showed.

“All right, we’re at the stag station,” she said, pulling out a copy of the map and laying it out flat. “And the tunnel we’re trying to reach is riiiight…over here.” She tapped another section a little ways away.

“That doesn’t seem too bad,” Ghost said, before they hopped on one of the metal platforms that served as the main way to traverse through the gardens.

With a light squeaking and clanking of metal, they fell downwards, and Alexis, Quirrel, and Hollow followed suit.

The tallest of their group found themselves ducking low to avoid the thorns that lined their route, and occasionally, Alexis would let out a small curse as her cloak got snagged on another branch as she climbed. But they progressed through the gardens quickly enough, all things considered.

“Wait,” Hollow said. They reached forward, grabbing Ghost by their cloak and tugging them back into the undergrowth. “There are tents up ahead.”

“How strange.” Quirrel mused, pushing a large leaf out of the way so he could see. “It almost looks like the same type of construction the Mantises use in the Wastes.”

“I think it is,” Alexis said. “Valda said a while ago that Kieza and a few of the other mantises broke off to live in the Gardens.”

“So…do we go around?” Ghost asked. Truth be told, they had no problem with continuing on. This looked to be the edges of the Mantis territory, and the fastest way was through.

But, given that Hollow was still holding onto them tightly, Ghost got the impression that their input was less that crucial.

“This seems to be the fastest way,” Quirrel said, glancing over their map. “Unless we want to backtrack, and risk stumbling further into Lord Kieza’s territory.”

“And it would waste time.” Ghost piped up. Alexis huffed out a laugh, parting a few branches and slowly stepping foot in the clearing.

It was quiet here. And, hopefully, if there was anyone else present, they’d at least recognize her and refrain from attacking on sight.

“It’s alright. I think they’re out elsewhere right now.” She called. After a bit of rustling from the bushes, their little traveling party continued. No one called attention to it, but they all moved a bit faster than before.

Regardless of Alexis’ acquaintance with Kieza, nobody wanted to stay here longer than absolutely necessary.

“There! There’s the rest stop up ahead, and look!” Ghost pointed at the ground a few paces away. It was covered with branches and leaves, but they could all still see a hole in the ground, right where the map said one should be.

“Thank the Gods.” Alexis sighed. Her shoulders relaxed, tension ebbing away as they all took in the sight of the abandoned tunnel. It had been a very real possibility that the place had been destroyed or blocked off entirely, and she didn’t know what they’d do if it turned out that this passage wasn’t an option. But it looked like, thankfully, that wasn’t the case.

Or, at least it didn’t seem that way at first. But a moment or two after Ghost dropped down, her sibling’s voice whispered up from the darkness in what was an unmistakably anxious tone.

“Everyone? We might have a problem…”

Alexis, Hollow, and Quirrel exchanged alarmed glances, each of them rushing to join Ghost and see what had the vessel so nervous.

Quirrel jumped down first, with Alexis and, finally, Hollow, right on his heels. The small chamber they found themselves in was barely large enough for the four of them to stand at comfortable distances, and it didn’t take long to see why that was the case…and why Ghost had sounded so unsure.

Thick vines spread over each of the walls, their orange thorns jutting out in all directions and making the area seem even more confined. The path ahead was even more constricted with plants and thorns; not even Ghost could fit through a space that small.

At least, that was the general sentiment, which seemed to be shared by everyone present except for Ghost. The smaller vessel wriggled forward, trying to push their way through the thorn clusters and making little progress for their efforts.

“Ghost! Ghost, come back!” Hollow exclaimed, lunging forward and nearly knocking Alexis into Quirrel.

“I can make it, it gets wider up ahead!”

“But it isn’t wide there!” Alexis joined her sibling, reaching for Ghost and just barely managing to grab their cloak. “Stop wiggling, you’re gonna—Aagh!” Alexis jerked her hand back, yanking Ghost out of the thorny tunnel in the process. A handful of thorns had cut through her sleeve; one even protruded from her arm.

“Spawn of an Aspid, that hurt,” she hissed, even as she pulled the thorn free and tossed it aside. “I don’t think any of us are getting through that way.”

“Are you all right, Alexis?” Quirrel asked, even as Hollow took hold of their sister’s injured wrist.

“I’m okay, Quirrel, I’ve had a lot worse.”

Hollow bent their head down for a moment; white Soul briefly swirled and flared around them before the light flickered over Alexis’ arm. It closed the wounds as if they’d never been there at all.

“Heh. I always forget you can do that,” Quirrel chuckled. “But if our only way into Deepnest is blocked off…what do we do now?”

“There has to be something.” Ghost said.

“…There is.” Alexis said after a moment. “But I don’t think you’re going to like it.”

She boosted herself up out of the cavern, followed by the concerned voices of her companions.

“What do you mean, Alexis?” Hollow asked warily.

“If we take…this route, right here…” Alexis said, pointing at the map, “then we’ll end up in the Fungal Wastes.”

“Is there even a route to Deepnest—oh. Oh.” Quirrel said, looking up at her. “Alexis, are you—”

“We don’t have time to consider any other options,” Alexis said, talking to them over her shoulder as she led the way. “This route was a bust, but we do have one other way left. And the Mantis Lords are guarding it.”

“Sister!” Hollow exclaimed in shock. They almost slipped off one of the metal platforms overhanging the thorns below. “You can’t seriously be considering challenging them!”

“If you have a better idea, Hollow, now would be the time.” Came her grim response. “Because this is all I’ve got.”

“I could always challenge them instead!” Ghost offered, darting ahead of Alexis. “I can fight with Hollow, the Mantis Lords shouldn’t be too hard!”

“I do have the most experience with their fighting style,” Alexis said. “I think I can pull out a win for Silk and Berry’s sakes.”

Hollow let out an uneasy noise, gently bumping their side against Alexis’.

“Please be careful, sister…” they murmured. Even though their voice was quiet, it seemed to almost reverberate through the small building they were cutting through.

“I will, Hollow, don’t worry.” Alexis smiled, bumping her forehead against Hollow’s shoulder.

“The Mantis Lord’s agreement is with your father,” Quirrel said. “What if they refuse to let you through regardless?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “Hopefully we won’t have to find out.”

They stepped out of the old, moss-covered building, and despite the fact that they were still on the edge of the Fungal wastes, it was still possible to make out the pungent odor of the mushrooms beyond.

“Wow. Has nobody come through this way?” Ghost asked, brushing away a large amount of spores from their cloak.

“We did pass through a hole in the wall. It’s likely.” Hollow said with a chuckle. “It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve found something long forgotten.”

The rocks crunched under their feet as they walked along. Crunched, and crumbled, and shook.

Hollow reached out quickly, grabbing Alexis with one hand, Ghost with the other, and void-stepped a few paces back. Quirrel leaped backwards as well, just in time to see the ground they’d been walking on collapse and crumble down into the dark.

“…Goodness.” Quirrel breathed after a moment.

“How far do you think it goes?” Alexis asked, though she and Ghost were still being held back by Hollow. “This definitely wasn’t on the map.”

“There’s one way to find out.” Ghost said. They shrugged in response to the others’ shocked glances. “Alexis said so herself: we’ve spent a lot of time out here already. If this is a fast way to Deepnest, we should go down.”

It didn’t seem like Ghost was waiting on an answer or an agreement, as they jumped forward and plummeted into the dark.

“…Oh. Well, then.” Alexis said, leaning forward to try and catch a glimpse of her sibling. She could see only a small flash of their mask before they vanished into the shadows.

Hollow sighed, nodding to themselves.

“Climb on my back. It looks like a long way down.”

Alexis nodded and clambered up onto Hollow’s back. She nodded to Quirrel before shouting down into the dark.

“We’re coming down, Ghost!” She called, just before Hollow jumped from the edge. Alexis squeezed her eyes shut, burying her face in Hollow’s shoulder as they fell, the wind whistling through her ears and tugging at her cloak. It felt like an eternity as they were suspended in the dark, but all too soon Hollow was slamming into the ground with almost enough force to jolt her off her sibling’s shoulders. Not for the first time, Alexis wondered how Hollow, Ghost, and Quirrel could walk away from these sorts of falls like they were nothing.

“Sister!” Ghost exclaimed in the dark, before Alexis could really get a chance to take a good look at their surroundings.

“Yes, Gh--?” Alexis asked, but judging from how Ghost darted right past her, it soon became clear that they hadn’t been talking to her.

“Hornet! What are you doing out here?” Quirrel asked. Alexis and Hollow turned around to see their sister standing nearby, with Ghost hanging off her side in a hug.

“I heard something collapse…I was hoping it was Silk and Berry.” She said, gently easing herself out of Ghost’s grip.

“You’re looking for them, too?” Ghost asked. “We noticed they were gone from the White Palace earlier, we’ve been trying to find a way down here.”

Hornet glanced up; it was just barely possible to see the faint yellow glow of the Wastes.

“I think you’ve succeeded.” She said, turning her gaze back to her siblings and Quirrel. “Silk and Berry were supposed to meet me for our training sessions, just outside the village. I’ve covered almost all of Deepnest except for the deepest reaches…”

“Do you think they would have gone that far down?” Alexis asked.

“It’s possible. They aren’t in the village or any of our meeting places, and if something scared them and sent them running…”

“Gods.” Hollow sighed. “Let’s get searching, then. Together.”

“Wouldn’t we be able to cover more ground separately?” Hornet asked.

“Yes, maybe. But nobody knows Deepnest like you.” Quirrel said. “And the last thing any of us need is to have to search for anyone else.”

“That’s..a fair point.” Hornet said. “Let’s get going, then.”

They all nodded firmly, and Hornet led the way further down into the darkness.

Chapter Text

Their sister was quick. She always was.

She’d grown up in Deepnest, knew each nook and cranny, knew how to traverse the area like few others could.

They hadn’t been sure she would arrive, for a while. They’d waited for what was almost an hour before there was a shuffling in the dark, a sight of Hornet on a ledge above them.

She’d looked at them silently, which was a bit odd, but when she’d turned and ran back into the darkness, Silk and Berry followed.

They trusted their sister. She’d keep them safe, down here in the dark.

She always did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Somewhere else in Deepnest, Hornet led Quirrel and her siblings through the winding caverns the area was so well known for. They hadn’t had much experience in this particular territory, but all the same it felt as if there was something wrong.

The darkness should be filled with the sounds of skittering legs, footsteps in the dark, eyes barely illuminated by glowing fungus and the lantern Ghost carried close to them. But aside from the distant rumble of the Garpedes traveling through their tunnels, there was no sign of anyone or anything else down here with them.

“If everyone’s still isolated in the village, what were Silk and Berry doing so far from it?” Alexis asked.

“Most of the citizens aren’t isolated. A few Weavers returned to their own den.” Hornet replied tersely. “The disappearances and the Interlopers are both far enough away where—”

“They clearly aren’t far enough away if our siblings are missing.”

Hornet paused, turning to look over her shoulder at her sister. Alexis had crossed her arms over her chest, and she suddenly seemed incredibly interested in her feet.

“…Sorry.” She murmured, before anyone else could speak up. “I’m sorry. This isn’t your fault, and I know you’re worried, too. I just…they both know better than to just wander off alone down here. So if you can’t find them…”

“Something else might have. I know.” Hornet said quietly, ignoring the brief look Hollow shot her. “But Silk is capable, and Berry is quick. If they ran into trouble, they know how to evade it. It’s just a matter of helping them come out from where they’re hiding.”

Nobody mentioned it, but it seemed like the thought of the Interlopers fell upon them all the same. The strange creatures with their stranger weapons, beings who could kill a Weaver without showing themselves or the weapon used.

Could Silk and Berry evade something like that, if it had killed a Weaver before she could so much as cry out?

One by one, they shook the thoughts from their minds. Silk and Berry were okay. They had to be okay. And they’d find them.

“There’s another drop up ahead, through a few more tunnels, past the Garpedes.” Hornet broke the silence, resuming her walk at a brisk pace that Ghost struggled to match. “They get fairly narrow through here, so Alexis, Hollow, prepare yourselves.”

The Garpedes’ rumbling was louder here, almost so much of a dull roar that they couldn’t hear one another speak. Hornet led the way, nimbly leaping out of the path of one Garpede, pausing to look back at the others. Ghost went next, followed by Quirrel, Alexis, and finally Hollow, in a grim sort of game of “follow the leader”. It felt like they’d been scrambling through claustrophobic spaces for ages, but in reality it was only a handful of minutes later when they reached a small hole leading further down.

“There’s a hot spring below, but we shouldn’t rest long.” Hornet said. She leaped down into the faint light below, and the others followed. Rather than clamber onto Hollow’s back again, and risk the both of them getting stuck in the narrow passage, Alexis simply produced the Mantis Claw tucked away in her cloak. She used it to slowly ease herself down before landing in the water with a loud splash.

“There’s two ways out of here. One leads to the tram, if I’m not mistaken.” Quirrel said, gesturing to a shrouded pathway beyond the single iron bench that rested by the water.

“And the other leads further in,” Hollow said, looking down the tunnel in the opposite direction.

“Silk and Berry don’t have a tram pass. I don’t think they’d go toward the station.” Ghost said.

“Even if it meant somewhere safe to wait for help?” Quirrel asked, sounding perplexed.

“The trams into Deepnest were shut down. They probably knew help wouldn’t be coming from that way.” Alexis groaned slightly, stretching her arms over her head and leaning back until there was a quiet string of pops heard. More than one of the bugs present winced.

“I will never get used to that.” Hornet said.

“I can only hope it’s normal for my kind.” Alexis replied. “Whatever my kind even is, anyway.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even here, in his chambers, tucked in his Queen’s embrace, the Pale King couldn’t help but dream.

His mind’s eye was a haze of cloud and fog, which obscured all but the merest flashes of glimpses of events, impossible to put on any sort of timeline except for the order in which he could discern them.

A pillar of crystal. Flashes of Soul. The rain pouring against the windows of the Soul Sanctum. A flash and a bang unlike anything in Hallownest.

A blade plunging through his chest.

The last bit was…alarming, he would admit. He’d bolted upright, halfway through readying some sort of attack before the White Lady reached out and took his hand in hers, gently easing it back down.

“My Wyrm, are you all right?” She asked, even as the chilling wisps of Soul he’d managed to summon faded away.

Why had the vision shaken him so? There wasn’t a single bug in Hallownest he feared any sort of attack from. The Pale King was a god among mortals; what had he to fear from something as simple as a nail?

“Just another nonsensical vision, my Root. I’m just fine.” He said. He’d already stopped his body from tensing, already composed himself. It was nothing, nothing but a mere distraction that he’d already pushed to the back of his mind.

“Should we check on the children? They should still be in bed.” The White Lady said, and her question was met with a nod from her husband.

“Yes, let’s…wait. The children are already in bed?” He was glad it was just his Root here in the room; he couldn’t quite keep the shock out of his voice. But she merely laughed softly, her eyes sparkling with humor.

“You’ve been asleep for a few hours now, my Wyrm. Hollow put their siblings to bed so I could remain here with you.”

“Ah. Remind me to thank them,” the Pale King said, laughing quietly to himself as the couple proceeded from their own chambers to those of the vessels. “Sometimes I really do wonder what I would do without them.”

“With you and the Radiance on good terms, we’ll likely never need to know.” The White Lady replied, and despite her smile there was something incredibly sad in her voice. “Imagining any of our children absent from our lives is…well. Not a day goes by where I don’t stop to appreciate that treaty.”

For a moment, the Pale King had to suppress a shudder as his mind drifted to the Abyss, to the pairs of glowing white eyes looking up from the black. If he’d continued, if he’d kept discarding vessels…how many eyes would be looking up at him each time he stepped on that platform? How many children would he and his Queen have, if any?

But like she’d already said, they’d never need to imagine what life may be like without any of their children.

He pushed open the doors to the vessels’ room, trying to remain quiet in case they were, indeed, asleep. But to his surprise, almost every head rose up and turned to look at him, empty gazes radiating what might have been…anticipation?

“Are they back—oh! Hello, Father, how was your nap? Are you feeling better? Did you come to tell us a bedtime story?” Jet’s added questions were hurled at him rapidly, and it took a moment or two before the Pale King could properly respond.

“Jet, what did you mean, ‘are they back’?” He asked. His question was met only by a few shuffling noises as the vessels looked around at one another. “Children, who is missing?”

“…Silk and Berry.” Fracture said, so quietly he almost didn’t hear. “They…they never came back from Deepnest, so Hollow and Ghost went to go find them.”

“They got Alexis, too, she’s helping!” Thorn said, although they didn’t sound overly anxious. Ghost and Hollow were both stronger than any of their siblings, and Alexis had been training with the Mantis Lords for years. If those three couldn’t handle Deepnest, no one could.

“How long ago did they leave?”

“I…I don’t know. Not long after Hollow came in to put us to bed.” Jet shrugged.

“My Wyrm?” The White Lady asked, and there was a touch of worry in those eyes as he turned to meet her gaze.

“I’m going to speak with the Radiance, let her know what’s happening, and we’ll go to Herrah and ask if she’s seen them.” He said, doing his best to push all his worry down and allowing that serene authority to take its place. He needed to remain calm. If the Pale King lost his nerve, Hallownest would be all too quick to follow. “Children, stay here with your mother. Nobody else leave until I return.”

“Yes, Father.” Came a chorus of void-whispers, which followed the king as he hurried out of the room, walking as fast as he could for one of the palace’s balconies.

Shimmering white wings unfurled from his cloak, stretching for a moment or two and casting a brilliant white glow.

With a rapid, light buzzing sound of beating wings, the Pale King darted for Hallownest’s Crown.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Dear Radi,

I know you’re still out visiting the Seer, but I can’t wait for you to return. Hollow and Ghost stopped by, they need my help. Sorry to make you worry, I’ll be home before you know it.

Love, Alexis.”

Not for the first time, and likely not for the last, Radiance found herself reading over the note she’d found in her daughter’s stead. It wasn’t like her to simply vanish without warning, and the note was rushed; Radiance gingerly ran a finger over a few dried splotches of ink that had likely resulted from Alexis’ rapid writing.

Whatever her siblings needed her for, it was clearly urgent. But what could they possibly need at this hour?

A pale light flickered into view, drawing closer and closer until she could distinguish the rapid beating and fluttering of wings.

Interesting…it had been a very long time since she’d seen the Wyrm fly. She hadn’t even known for sure whether this form he’d taken had wings at all.

The king alighted not far from the doorway of the house she shared with Alexis, striding for her at a pace a bit too quick to be regal.

“Hollow and Ghost have already come through.” She said, holding up the note as he drew closer.

“I’m aware.” The Pale King replied. “You don’t seem too concerned.”

He took the note, reading it over with a quiet sigh.

“…Of course she didn’t tell you where they were going.”

“I assume her siblings didn’t quite give her enough time.” Radiance said dryly. “Where are they going?”

“Deepnest.” The Pale King responded with a sigh. “Silk and Berry, supposedly, never returned, so Ghost and Hollow set out themselves…with Alexis.”

“…Oh.” Was all Radiance could muster, as she recalled the conversation she’d had with Alexis just a day or so before.

Bugs were disappearing, there were strange travelers making their way through…and her daughter was right there, anyway.

“I assume you were going to try and find them?” She asked, after a moment or two.

“You assume correctly. I assume you would prefer to accompany me to Herrah’s domain?”

“As if you even need to ask, Pale Wyrm.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The flashlight beam swept over the rocks in front of her, flickering a bit before winking out.

“Shit. No, no, no, come on…” Lauren murmured, shaking the flashlight and tapping it against her palm a few times.

Mercifully, the light turned back on, and she let out a sigh of relief.

“Stupid batteries.” She breathed, glancing around. Nothing but dirt and rocks down here. Not even any of those Crawlers that had ambushed them earlier. Did they not usually live this far down?

…Did anything live this far down?

Her chest tightened at the thought, anxiety flaring in her stomach. Ace wanted to keep pressing on, to keep looking for those who had fled the Bee. But with their food all but gone, and not a whole lot of options…they might have no choice but to turn back.

Maybe they could head back the way they came, and could kill one of those Crawlers. It was…a bit gross, but bugs were considered delicacies in some places, right? It was better than starving. And much better than Allegra’s jokes about becoming the next Donner Party.

She’d gotten…not quite comfortable, but accustomed to the silence. So when something rustled behind her, it was enough to make Lauren jump in surprise, flick on her light, and turn around.

“…Hello?” She called, her voice seeming too loud in the quiet. “Sparks, if that’s you, it’s not funny…”

Sparks had been one of the people who’d argued against sending her out here, though. Well, everyone had, really, except for Ace. So it didn’t seem likely he’d try to scare her.

But there the noise was again. And again. Darting behind rocks around her, always staying just ahead of her flashlight beam. Whatever was down here with her, it was small, and fast. Lauren shook her head, turning on her heel and continuing on. Maybe it was just some smaller thing waiting for her to leave it alone. Maybe it was nothing but her eyes playing tricks on her.

She…preferred the latter, to be honest. Although as she continued on, and she could still hear the soft, occasional noise from behind her, it didn’t seem like that was the case. Something was following her, but maybe…maybe, if she could surprise it…

Lauren gripped her flashlight tightly, taking a deep breath as she counted down in her head.

Three…two…one…

She whirled around, bringing the light with her, and nearly jumped.

Two strange little white faces with dark eyes stared back at her, shaking slightly, but remaining frozen in the light. Well, at least she’d startled…whatever these were, as much as they’d startled her. And while they didn’t look all that dangerous, Lauren and the other expedition members learned all too quickly that just about everything down here was more dangerous than it appeared.

“Shoo. Go on,” she vaguely gestured with the flashlight, taking a few warning steps in their direction. But while they backed up a few feet, they didn’t turn, didn’t run. They simply stared at her with those pitch-black eyes.

When Lauren started walking again, the two little creatures followed. They remained a few feet behind, but whenever she turned to look over her shoulder, her newfound traveling partners were right there in her shadow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They could have mistaken her for Alexis; Silk and Berry had never seen any other beings that resembled their sister, but…this one did. It was strange. Everything else about her was so different, and they couldn’t be sure what her intentions were down here in the dark. But her strange light seemed to keep the Dirtcarvers at bay, so Silk and Berry followed all the same, happy that while they might have lost track of Hornet, at least they weren’t completely alone.

They wandered through another, winding set of tunnels, keeping a healthy distance between themselves and the one they were shadowing, but always making sure they kept that light in view. She’d stop, every now and then, at the strangest things: a cluster of glowing fungus, long-discarded shells of some poor bug or another, a strange vein of ore that almost radiated a chilling aura.

Berry pressed closer to Silk, their small body trembling slightly as they continued walking.

“It’s okay.” Silk assured them quietly. “We’ll find her soon.”

The guiding light revealed a chamber up ahead, and soon trained itself on another bug in red.

“Sister!” Silk exclaimed, and Berry clapped their hands excitedly. “I told you, Berry! Come on!”

The siblings darted forward, out from behind the taller being, heading straight for Hornet. But after a moment, Berry paused. They grabbed on to Silk’s cloak, dragging their feet in the rocks until the both of them slowed to a stop before continuing to tug back on the fabric.

“Berry! What are you…doing…” Silk trailed off at their sibling’s wild gestures, slowly letting their gaze flit around the rest of the room. As if she’d come to a similar conclusion, the being with the light cast the glow around the room.

It highlighted a number of corpses, empty shells dangling by threads from the ceiling, hung up all around the room like a morbid set of party decorations. The vessels recognized a handful of Weavers, a Devout, a couple Dirtcarvers, a few bugs from the City of Tears, others whose origins were unknown but who certainly didn’t live in Deepnest…

Slowly, with a new sinking dread in their chest, Silk turned back to where Hornet still stood, watching them.

…This was all wrong, and it wasn’t just the bodies. A creature the likes of which they’d never seen walked into the room, between her and her siblings, and Hornet never once drew her needle.

…Where was her needle?

Hornet’s head snapped to the side with an unnatural crack, a growling ringing out as their sister’s body—or, what had looked like their sister’s body—grew and shifted with a cracking and grinding of shell on shell. Spindly legs burst free, a cage of carapace filled with noxious orange venom emerged, small wings sprouted.

The creature still wore Hornet’s face, although it hung upside down, a mockery of the safety they’d thought was within their grasp.

The creature hissed, swooping down at the two shaking vessels. From behind them, the being they’d followed let out a scream.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was no sign of Silk and Berry, not even as they traveled even deeper, searching and occasionally calling for them when it felt safe to do so.

“I had no idea Deepnest went this far,” Alexis said quietly. It didn’t seem that large on the map, but experiencing it herself? That was something else entirely.

Ghost bumped against her leg, seeming like they were about to say something before they and Hollow both froze.

“…I think they’re nearby. I can feel it.” Ghost said, and Hollow nodded.

“They’re near? You’re sure?” Alexis asked, excitement quickly taking the place of fatigue.

A faint, distant scream cut through the air in response. It was far too loud to be a vessel’s cry—their voices didn’t carry far—but all the same, Ghost took off running.

“I suppose they’re sure,” Quirrel said, even as he and the others followed close behind. “You can sense your siblings, Ghost? Where are they?”

“Below us!” Ghost replied. “Through…right about…here!”

They struck at a spot of wall with their hail a few times, sending dirt cascading down to reveal a tunnel, haphazardly hidden.

“…How do you even do this?” Hornet asked flatly.

“It if leads to Silk and Berry, I’m willing to let it be a mystery.” Quirrel laughed.

“Seconded, but…I doubt Hollow and I can fit through there.” Alexis said. “Ghost, you think they’re below us?”

Her sibling nodded. Hollow put a hand on her shoulder.

“There are parts of the ground that aren’t entirely stable. Maybe digging through one of those can help us reach them.” They suggested.

“It’s worth a try,” Alexis relented, although she clearly hated the idea of splitting up, despite their lack of options. “We’ll try to find another way down. Be safe, all of you.”

“You, too. Both of you.” Hornet said.

“And hurry!” Ghost exclaimed. Hollow and Alexis nodded, turning back the way they came. Alexis looked back over her shoulder, watching the others disappear into the dark.

“…Alexis and Hollow definitely wouldn’t have made it.” Ghost said, after a while. The tips of their own horns scraped against the tunnel ceiling in some places. They could only hope their taller siblings would be able to find a way to join them somewhere farther down.

“Why is it that Hollow grew to be so large when none of your other siblings did?” Quirrel asked.

“I asked Father about it, once, but he didn’t really say.” Ghost shrugged. “It had something to do with needing them to seal away the Radiance, back before Alexis came along. He needed them to grow faster than normal.”

“Ah.” Quirrel replied. He remembered the king’s conflict with the Radiance well, remembered Monomon’s decision to become one of the Dreamers…How different Hallownest would have been without its Teacher.

An occasional hiss filled the air, growing louder as the three proceeded through the narrow, winding tunnels, stooped over at some points in a single-file line. It was a chilling sound, one that made Hornet draw her needle, made Ghost reach for their nail.

Through a crudely-made gate, at the far end of a long tunnel, something darted around the closed-off room. It was a large, dark mass, glowing orange near its center, flying around and spitting globs of hissing acid at two, much smaller figures.

“Is that…?”

“Silk! Berry!” Hornet shouted, running forward and only stopping once she reached the gate.

“Hornet??” Silk called, skirting around a glob of venom. Berry clung tightly to their back as they ran around the room. “Is that really you?!”

“Of course it’s me! Why ask—”

The creature turned toward the source of the noise. Uncharacteristically, Hornet felt her voice die in her throat.

“Why is that thing wearing your face??” Ghost asked.

“What is it? Some sort of mimic?” Quirrel asked, equal parts horrified and almost fascinated.

“It doesn’t matter,” Hornet barked, shaking herself out of her daze. “We’re on the wrong side of the gate, we need to find a way to get through…”

“The acid it’s spitting. Could that work?” Quirrel asked. “It seems to evaporate quickly, but it may be potent enough.”

“It’s a fair shot,” Hornet mused. “Now to get its attention.”

She wound up, taking careful aim, and hurled her needle between the bars of the gate. The needle flashed through the air, catching in the creature’s flank and prompting a growling hiss in response.

“Er, Hornet.” Quirrel said. “Not to alarm you, but if it spits at the gate…it likely will hit us.”

“…Right.” Hornet yanked her needle back through the gap. “Get back!”

She, Ghost, and Quirrel darted back from the gate, trailed by glowing orange acid.

Despite taking the brunt of the attack, the bars held strong.

“Damn.” Ghost said.

“Language.” Came Hornet and Quirrel’s response, which was accompanied by Hornet swatting the back of Ghost’s head. For just a moment, despite their current situation, Ghost snickered.

Silk darted over to the other side of the gate, dodging blows as best they could, and when they reached the bars they eased their smaller sibling toward them.

“Here, take Berry!” They called, much to the smaller vessel’s alarm. Berry shook their head rapidly, desperately clutching at their sibling’s cloak even as Silk handed them off to Quirrel.

“What…what about you, Silk?” He asked, although judging from the resignation with which Silk pried Berry’s hands from their cloak…

“I don’t know. I’ll be okay. Just—”

The winged creature shrieked, barreling directly towards Silk, and they barely dove out of the way in time.

“Keep Berry safe!”

The monster turned in midair, legs scrabbling against the wall as they poised to strike.

Instead, a light shone out from the darkness, right in its eyes, and a swipe that may have struck its mark hit only air as the blinded monster flailed.

In all the commotion, Silk forgot about the other being they and Berry had followed. But here she was, using her curious lantern to direct a beam of light into their opponent’s eyes, giving Silk time to duck for cover.

“…is that…?” Quirrel asked, almost unable to believe his eyes.

“She looks like Alexis,” Ghost said quietly. “Are the Interlopers more of her kind?”

“We’re about to see what her kind is capable of, then.” Hornet said, as the monster seemed to clear its vision, turning on the light-wielder with a hiss.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She’d acted impulsively when she’d shone the flashlight beam toward the monster. It had just occurred to her; Lauren didn’t want the little creatures following her to get hurt. Whatever they were, they seemed to be just as lost as she was.

But her impulses had consequences, as now this thing was gunning for her.

Lauren hurled a rock, which sailed just over the monster’s head before clattering uselessly to the ground.

Another rock fell. Then another. And another. One bounced off the monster’s head, and it paused to look around with a confused grumble. Lauren looked up in just enough time to see the ceiling cave in, and a figure landed heavily on the ground. The monster roared out, swooping towards her as the new arrival got their bearings. Lauren swung her knife out in a wide arc, although the monster was so close it was able to bat the makeshift weapon out of her hand. She let out a sharp cry and fell backwards, with the monster following and pinning her to the ground.

Her heart hammered in her chest, breathing ragged and shaky. All she could see was that pair of dark, empty eyes boring straight through her, and she realized that she truly was about to die. It reared back, prepared to strike…

…and was suddenly hurled sideways, slamming into a rock formation a few feet away with a screech.

A pair of dark, inhuman legs stepped between her and the creature. Lauren let her gaze travel up, taking in a gray-green cloak, a pair of white horns that managed to glow in the dim light.

The eyes that looked back at her were as dark as ever, but they felt…different, somehow. Like there was real intent and will behind them.

A sharp cry rang out across the room as the monster struggled back to its feet. Lauren’s apparent savior wasn’t alone, it seemed, and they’d been joined by…by…

…A girl with dark brown hair, garbed in a red cloak, stood a few paces away, wielding a wicked-looking spear as she stepped forward.

The creature that had saved Lauren looked between her, the girl, and the smaller being from earlier, before gesturing to a small wall of rocks a few steps to her right.

A series of overlapping, echoing whispers filled her head, their words impossible to distinguish, but a meaning somehow seeped through all the same.

Hide.

The small creature darted forward, reaching out after a moment and carefully taking hold of Lauren’s sleeve. Too surprised to do much else, she let the little one tug her behind cover.

Even with the monster rising back up, Lauren felt eyes on her. The girl was staring at her with an expression that might have been shock on her face.

Not that she blamed her, really. That was more or less the same thing going through her mind, too. Despite their goal to find the humans who fled, many of them had quietly wondered if they would ever actually find anyone.

As the monster rose back up, and the girl and the white-horned savior strode forward to meet it, it became clear that if anything, the surviving humans had found them instead.

Chapter Text

She couldn’t stare long, not with the creature wearing Hornet’s face fast approaching. But it was long enough for the shock to set in all the same.

In all her life, Alexis had never seen another being like her. Something taller, softer, with no shell but a tangle of hair and an expressive face…but here she was. Standing across the way from where another of her…her kind had just darted behind a rock with Silk.

“Sister!” Hollow warned. Alexis’ head snapped up to see the creature bearing down on her, and she leaped out of the way, letting the mimic speed past her and slam into one of the chamber’s walls with a deafening screech. She was still close enough to see the orange venom sac compress at the impact, its glowing contents sloshing around inside.

She backed away, looking over exactly what kind of beast they were dealing with. The shell itself seemed strong, and stabbing the venom sac would likely do more harm to her than anything. The wings, though…those seemed much easier to damage. It would be easier for her and Hollow to get at this thing if it wasn’t constantly flying above them.

“Hollow, the wings!” She called. From across the room, her sibling nodded and held a glowing hand to their chest. They didn’t say anything, but they didn’t have to. Alexis knew what her sibling was doing; even as she dove behind a rock, she could see a series of glowing-white lances materialize and hurl themselves forward.

Three hit the wall and faded. One tore through the mimic’s wing before following suit. It let out another hissing screech as it was thrown off balance, its undamaged wing desperately flapping in an attempt to keep itself in the air. It tipped sideways, falling even as it made one last swooping dive for Hollow.

They void-stepped out of the way, reappearing beside Alexis as she stepped out from her cover.

“That ought to even the odds a bit.” She muttered, watching it ungracefully land and haul itself back to its spindly feet. It barreled forward at an alarming speed, hissing and snarling, and the two siblings ducked out of the way. Alexis’ nail slashed at its side, glancing off one bit of carapace but cutting deep into another. The mimic turned, winding up…

Hollow grabbed their sister, teleporting the both of them back a few paces. A dozen or so globs of hissing orange acid struck the ground where they’d been standing just moments before.

“…Oh.” Alexis breathed, head still swimming from being teleported so suddenly. Hollow patted her head before walking forward, swinging their own nail in quick, wide arcs as the creature lunged again. The last slash struck so hard it sent the mimic flying, once again introducing it to the walls of its lair.

“Yeah! Go Hollow!” Ghost cheered from the barred entryway. The Pure Vessel said nothing, merely nodding once at their siblings; with…whatever this was still running about, it wouldn’t do to let themselves get too distracted.

If it was just Hollow and the mimic in the room, perhaps they wouldn’t be as nervous. They were skilled in combat, incredibly so; their father had trained them in some attributes, himself. But with Alexis, Silk, and the other being confined in the same room, Hollow had to be careful. In some ways, it felt as if they were fighting with one hand behind their back.

On the other hand, as Alexis darted forward and landed another well-placed slash, Hollow was thankful for the assistance. When the creature spit out another cluster of acid, she was ready. She darted back out of range, watching her step, always keeping one eye on it. A few tiny, brief hissing noises emanated from her cloak as a few spatters of acid struck the fabric, but it held strong.

“I’m fine,” she called to Hollow, even as they reached out for her. “It’s just my cloak, not me.” Her sibling hesitated for a moment or two, but nodded. They readied their nail, Alexis mirrored the action, and the mimic seemed to slowly come to the realization that it was right in between the two fighters.

It bent its spindly legs, glancing back and forth between Alexis and Hollow. Before either sibling could take a step closer, it leaped straight up in the air, vanishing in the darkness.

“…Is it gone?” Silk asked quietly, peering out from behind the rocks.

“I’m not—” Alexis began, although she stopped herself short.

Their conversation was brought to a stop by the sound of thudding footsteps skittering along the chamber’s ceiling.

It was all but forgotten when the first glob of acid fell from above, narrowly missing Hollow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If she made it back to camp alive, she was going to murder Ace.

This trip to find something edible had been a mess from the start, and that was before there was some sort of monstrous thing dropping acid from the ceiling. Lauren moved to take cover like the others, head craned up, only barely able to make out the outline of that creature as it ran along the ceiling. The little one from earlier held onto her shoulder as she ran, frantically patting the side of her head.

She wasn’t sure if it was trying to get her attention or if the poor thing was about to fall off. Maybe it was just trying to spur her into going faster.

While random, the drops of acid seemed to favor the side of the room the girl and the taller being was on. When the orange globs stopped falling down, and the monster dropped back to the floor—with its back to Lauren, thankfully—the girl in the red cloak looked across the room. She called out something, something that could almost sound like words, but the meaning was lost on Lauren.

The little one tapped her head again, and when she turned to look at them they pointed to the outcropping of rocks they’d hidden behind earlier.

“You want us to go back?” Lauren panted, even though it probably couldn’t understand her. As the fight went on, its three combatants moving almost impossibly fast, she needed something at least sort of normal to keep herself grounded.

But to her surprise, even as she eased back down behind the rocks, the creature nodded. They tapped her shoulder, peering out from behind the rocks and pointing almost excitedly at the girl and the tall being.

Another set of whispers filled her head, overlapping and clicking and creating what almost felt like a sort of pressure that settled in her skull. They formed no words of their own—nothing she understood, anyway—but much like it had before, it painted enough of a picture in her head where Lauren could almost convince herself she could understand.

“Siblings!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Save for a handful of scattered lamps, the Distant Village was very much wrapped in darkness. Its denizens were comfortable in it, accustomed to it. Naturally, they were a bit alarmed when two beings of light arrived right in the center of it all, gold and pale lights both casting their own shadows in the Deepnest.

“Pale Wyrm. And the Radiance as well,” Herrah said; to her credit, if she was at all surprised by the beings’ sudden arrival, she hid it well. “Has something happened?”

“Silk and Berry have not yet returned home,” the Pale King said. Everything in him was hoping the two vessels would be right here in the village, simply lost track of time, and that would be the end of it. But at Herrah’s startled response, he knew that was not the case…

“Hornet went out to bring them back to the village for the night,” she said, unable to mask her growing concern. “I planned to bring them back home personally in the morning, but…”

But Hornet wasn’t back yet. And neither were the two little vessels.

This explained the Wyrm’s presence, at least, but why had he taken the extra step of calling on the Radiance?

“Hornet isn’t the only one searching.” The King said, as if he’d heard her silent question. For all she knew, he had. “Ghost and Hollow slipped out of the palace to go looking, as well.”

“And they’ved enlisted Alexis.” Radiance finished.

Ah.

“So all of them are wandering somewhere in Deepnest,” Herrah said, “without you knowing, Pale Wyrm?”

“Unfortunately.” He said. “They’re capable, of course, but Deepnest is a dangerous and largely unfamiliar area for them all the same. The sooner all of them are found and returned safely home, the better.”

“Let us go find them, then,” Herrah said. “Although I’m sure they can take care of themselves in the meantime.”

“I certainly hope you’re right.” Radiance murmured.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In a strange way, it was almost a relief when the mimic fell back down from the ceiling. At least it was easier to keep an eye on it now.

Even then it was a challenge of course; when it wasn’t charging at either her or Hollow, it was spitting globs of venom—in which case it did more harm than good to stay focused solely on their attacker. She’d already taken a few hits; they’d all been fairly indirect, but the spatters still ate holes in her clothes and left faint orange welts that were already beginning to itch and burn.

Although they hid it well, Alexis knew Hollow wasn’t faring much better. They stumbled, caught by their sister, who only barely managed to keep from sliding away at the sudden weight.

“Heal up, I’ll keep it busy for a few moments,” she murmured. Hollow had already righted their balance, nail firmly in hand, and they gave her a small nod.

“Be careful, Sister.”

“I always am.”

If Hollow had an eyebrow to raise, they would have done so. Instead they settled for a tilted head and a small huff as Alexis snickered and darted away.

Gaining the mimic’s attention was easy, even before her nail shot out and slashed at its sides. But with Hollow needing to Focus, it was best to be absolutely certain their foe’s eyes were solely on Alexis. And, if the way it charged after her was anything to go by, she’d accomplished that. She could already hear a quiet whooshing noise as Hollow focused their Soul, and a few white flashes illuminated the darkness.

But that still left them in roughly the same position; scrambling for hits against an enemy neither of them had seen before.

“…Quirrel, Hornet, any ideas?” Alexis called, skipping around another burst of acid. Her nail slashed against its carapace in response, earning an angry hiss.

“It keeps trying to get the drop on you and Hollow,” Quirrel said after a moment, tapping his chin in thought. “Perhaps…perhaps you could try the same tactic.”

“Whatever you’re trying, end it soon,” Hornet advised. “It looks like it’s trying to wear you two out.”

Alexis nodded, not wanting to admit that it was working; she was sore, tired, but…

Her fingers curled tightly around her nail. She would keep going. She had to. Her eyes flickered up to the walls, the ceiling where this mimic had run around so effortlessly, and a grin spread across her face.

“Hollow!” She called, and her sibling’s head snapped up to face her.

“Sister??”

“Can you distract it for me?”

With three slashes, Hollow tore from one side of the room to the other; the third swing of their nail caught the mimic in the side and sent it flying with a loud crunching noise.

They stopped paces from Alexis, the tip of their nail passing close enough to her face to breeze past, but Alexis didn’t so much as flinch.

“What are you planning?”

“I’m going to try to drop on it…but I might need a boost.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Siblings.” It was a simple word, but under the current circumstances it threw her off just a bit. She could see the resemblance, true; there were those same dark eyes and white horns, even the same sort of cloaks. But this little creature had pointed at the girl, too, when they’d proudly announced that one word.

There was something truly incredible going on down here in the dark, and all Lauren could really do was hope she’d live to ask about it. She couldn’t quite help the gasp she let out when that taller being suddenly dashed across the room; that weapon was heavy and lethal, and it was maybe inches from the girl’s face…!

But she stood there all the same, with even the audacity to grin. She’d barely even blinked. Instead, the two exchanged what Lauren could only assume were words before the horned creature nodded, and the girl smiled and backed up a few paces. She cast a quick glance to the mimic, which was struggling back to its feet, before breaking into a sprint. Her companion—no, her sibling—knelt down, hands outstretched and fingers interlaced, and when she planted her foot in their hands they stood and all but hurled her up into the air.

She seemed to almost hover there, for a moment, suspended in time. And then she was swinging an arm forward, latching onto the wall with a large hook.

It was…impressive, definitely. But what was the point…

Oh.

Oh.

“Is she going to jump on it?” Lauren breathed, forgetting where she was, forgetting the little creature that had taken cover with her couldn’t exactly hold a conversation with her. Not in any way she understood, or they understood…

But like last time, they nodded vigorously, dropping one hand onto another as if miming out their sister’s intended attack. Lauren stared for a moment before nodding back, and the little one clapped their hands in what might have been excitement.

This entire expedition was already turning out to be so absolutely weird. This may as well happen.

Another screech rang out across the cavern, followed closely by another wave of hissing orange venom. This time it had been spat out with even more force than the previous attacks, and some globs of venom struck the wall where the girl in red was perched. Luckily, it didn’t seem to have struck her, although a handful of rocks she’d been using as footholds clattered to the ground. It was like the mimic knew, knew was she was planning, and was doing all it could to stop her.

But her sibling, the tall being with white horns, was quick to intervene, slashing at the mimic and drawing its attention away from where their sister just barely managed to regain her grip on the stone wall. Lauren sighed in relief; while there was no noise, she could have sworn the little creature’s shoulders relaxed as well.

Vaguely, Lauren found herself wishing that the other members of their expedition were here. Maybe not Ace—actually, definitely not Ace—but pretty much anyone else. She knew a few of the others had commented multiple times on the lack of action down here in the caverns, and she had a feeling this would even help Sparks’ boredom. She’d definitely gotten her action fix after this whole mess, thank you very much, and thankfully it seemed to be drawing to a close.

…or at least, Lauren had thought as much. But the fight continued, with the mimic spitting venom at the girl at every opportunity and always, it seemed, trying to stay out of both her range and her sibling’s. At this rate, she’d have to come back down, give up on her aerial attack in favor of taking cover, and potentially sacrifice their one good advantage in doing so…

…But…

Her eyes flickered over to a faint, yellow light emanating from where she’d dropped her flashlight. Aside from what she guessed were some newly formed cracks in the lens, it appeared to have somehow escaped any significant damage from the combatants just feet away.

Lauren had blinded this thing once before. If all the girl and her sibling needed was to keep it still long enough to gain a clear shot, an absolute advantage, she could give them that much. But she had to do this now…before she lost that nerve. Before it was too late.

Gently, Lauren pried small, dark hands free from her jacket. Pitch-black eyes stared up at her in what she could only interpret as confusion as she gently set the little creature on the ground. Although Lauren hesitated for a moment, she softly patted their head—a helmet? A shell? She didn’t know, but whatever it was, it was surprisingly smooth and cool against her hands.

“Stay here.” She murmured, and while the small being said nothing, their hands reached up almost frantically, making grabbing motions as she moved out of range.

“It’s okay,” she said, although the insistent pounding behind her ribcage made it clear that she was trying to reassure herself just as much as her companion. “I’m going to help your siblings.”

The little grabby hands slowed, but did not entirely stop. It would have to do; Lauren couldn’t afford to waste time like this. With another quiet “stay put”, she slinked out from behind the rocks, thankful that the crunching of gravel and god-knows-what else under her boots was drowned out by the nearby fight. Her flashlight wasn’t too far from where she’d crouched down behind a pile of smaller stones, but it was still in a difficult place for her to reach. The tall sibling’s weapon had arched right over it a few times now, and even the mimic had come dangerously close to trampling the little flashlight. If Lauren didn’t time this carefully, it could end very badly for her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Attack. Dodge. Counter.

Over and over, in a hundred different patterns. Hollow was just as aware of the strategy to wear them out as Alexis was, but even then, they had to keep a clear head. Desperately rushing to finish this would only result in mistakes. And Hollow did not have the luxury of making mistakes down here in the dark. Not when so many lives were potentially resting in their hands.

No. Not just “potentially”. They were resting in Hollow’s hands; even if it wasn’t solely up to them to save everyone, even if they had help, the knight they’d been created to become still shouldered the responsibility all on their own.

Battle was demanding, especially in an unfamiliar place like this; Hollow’s attention was being pulled in several directions at once. They had to keep an eye on their opponent, obviously, but that was far from their only concern. Hollow also had to take their own surroundings into account, both to make sure they would not drive themselves into a corner and to ensure they did not accidentally put anyone else in the line of fire. Even with their honed skills, it took Hollow a moment to catch sight of Alexis’ newfound kin, creeping along the rocks. But she was unarmed, so why? Why had she slipped out from her cover to enter the thick of things?

Their gaze flickered to the curious stick of light lying on the ground a few paces away. It was dark down here, yes. Incredibly so, even for the vessels born from Void itself. But surely, a tiny beacon was not worth—

There was a loud hiss; the mimic arched its back and reared up on its hind legs, orange venom already launching towards them both.

All questions and thoughts abandoned, Hollow lunged towards the girl, their free hand wrapping around hers and tugging her out of the way. It was a bit rougher than they intended, but Hollow hoped she would forgive them. It was better than taking the full brunt of an attack like that, especially for someone without a shell.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She could have sworn, for just a moment, that her newfound kin was going to get herself trampled. But to Alexis’ relief, Hollow was quick, and managed to move the both of them out of harm’s way.

“Alexis!”  She jumped, looking around for a moment before her eyes settled on Silk down below. Even from her vantage point, she could only barely make out the upper portion of her sibling’s mask from where they’d taken cover. “She said she’s going to help!”

That would be wonderful; Alexis felt no shame in acknowledging that she and Hollow could use any help they could get. But…at the same time, what could the Interloper do?

A beam of light shone out from the darkness, and for a heartbeat Radi’s name was on Alexis’ lips, but that light wasn’t of her mother nor her father. So what…?

The beam darted wildly around the room, but Alexis was able to finally trace it back to its source: her kin, peering out from behind Hollow, and aiming a weak beacon at the mimic charging them down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lauren’s shoulder burned. Not because the tall sibling had pulled her particularly roughly; that had hurt for a moment, but the adrenaline coursing through her system had shot the discomfort down quickly. No, she figured a few stray drops of that acid had struck her while she was being moved out of the way.

It was fine. This was fine. Everything was fine. She was going to steal Ace’s kneecaps if she got out of this, and that was fine, too.

Fortunately for her, the mimic didn’t seem to have learned of the dangers a well-aimed—or, well, adequately-aimed—flashlight beam could pose to a creature specifically adapted to living in dark places. The hiss it let out was more pained than the previous ones, and it shook its head as if to try and shake the spots that had definitely clouded over its vision.

The girl in the red cloak shouted something, her words unknown but her tone filled with something Lauren knew was hope.

Something glinted in the dim light, something quick and slender that shot through the air like a needle. The guess was actually accurate, to her surprise; it was larger than any she’d seen, but the thing that had shot out of the darkness and sank into the mimic’s side was undoubtedly a sewing needle. The thread looped through the eye of the needle went taut, pulling the mimic off balance and forcing it to scramble for purchase on the rocky ground, spindly legs wildly flailing in all directions.

Lauren was glad that these…people, beings, were able to act on such short notice, given that she’d had no real way of communicating any sort of plan she may or may not have come up with in the heat of the moment. What was it with her? Why did she just…consistently get the feeling that she could be understood, that she could understand?

What was going on down here?

The girl leaped from the wall, cloak flaring out like a pair of wings, her spear shining in the glow of Lauren’s flashlight. Like earlier, she seemed to hang there for just a moment. And then she fell squarely onto her target, the tip of her spear sinking into and through part of its spine.

If that couldn’t take it down, Lauren had no idea what would.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a clean strike; Valda and her sisters would be proud.

But the pride welling up in Alexis' chest had to wait. There was a peculiar sound coming from the corpse beneath her, something akin to bubbling and hissing as the mimic’s body trembled.

“I think you should move!” Quirrel called from behind the gate, alarm clear in his voice. “Quickly!”

He didn’t have to say it twice. Alexis stumbled off the mimic and dove behind a cluster of rocks beside Silk. Hollow void-stepped out of the center of the room with the other girl, appearing behind a similar pile of rocks on the far side of the chamber.

The hissing only intensified in the moments it took for them to take cover. And then there was a burst, an explosion of venom and carapace.

The cracked impersonation of Hornet’s face clattered off somewhere across the rocky ground. Somewhere, there was a click, and then the rising of a gate.

And just like that, all was still.