Chapter Text
Hornet knew that Ghost wasn't empty.
When first meeting Ghost, they seemed to be as empty as any other vessel. However, that was quickly disproven.
She remembered when Ghost said their first word, Sibling, at the Hollow Knight monument, catching her off guard and temporarily breaking her usually stoic and serious look.
She remembered when Ghost comforted her after their encounter with Herrah, patting her head in their lap, too exhausted and overcome with grief to resist.
She remembered when, in return, she comforted Ghost after they realized Quirrel was gone, finally calming the vessel after they tried to remove themselves from her grip for 5 minutes straight at the blue lake, crying and ignoring Hornet's pleas to calm down, while she tried to restrain their hands.
She was brought out of her musings after noticing her cue to enter the Black Egg. She shot her needle through the darkness right into the The Hollow Knight's mask, as Ghost pulled out their Dream Nail. In that split second, she saw the young Vessel, and she could've sworn she saw tears of black rolling down their cheeks.
---
She woke up on the ground, her head pounding. The Black Egg was gone. Frantically looking around for Ghost, she quickly stopped after setting eyes on their mask, split right in half.
She knew they knew the consequences, and Hornet so deeply realized that she focused so much on the Vessel's sacrifice that she never stopped to think about what that would entail on her end.
Picking up the broken pieces of their mask, tears began to roll down her face. She was so enveloped in her mourning she did not even stop to look at the quiet bug next to her, sharing her pain, mourning with her.
After she finally stopped crying and wiped her tears away, she looked to her right and was taken aback by the bug next to her.
Or rather, Vessel. It was The Hollow Knight.
The Hollow Knight was a bit confused at Hornets reaction, told by a head tilt sent her way. They assumed she knew it was them. Either way, she quickly sat back up, if you could even call it that. Her usual stoic and serious demeanor reduced to a sad slouch over the mask of her once alive half sibling.
Now taking an actual good look at her sibling, it was clear he was not in the best shape possible. The infection clearly did a toll on him.
One arm lost, several very large stab wounds inflicted by The Hollow Knight themselves, and too many to count cuts clearly done by the nail Ghost had carried.
How The Hollow Knight managed to even stand, or think of anything but their pain, eluded her.
---
Hornet brought The Hollow Knight to the nearby hot spring, and firmly ordered him in timeout in the hot spring until he didn't have several gaping holes in his stomach.
After the infection was destroyed, most of the infected husks died off, save for a few who still retained the dying light of the Radiance.
She decided after this whole ordeal, she might need a place to stay. While Greenpath was good enough, it was too small for both her and The Hollow Knight, and was too isolated.
Remembering what Ghost had told her once, she traveled to the surface.
Arriving at Dirtmouth, she approached an old bug with a particularly white and bright flower in his hands.
"Ah, hello there, stranger! It's always nice to see a new face!" Elderbug started. "So, what brings you to this fading town?"
"Well, with the infection over, I've decided to find a new place to live." Hornet replied.
Elderbug almost dropped his flower in disbelief.
"The infection is over? But how?"
"My sibling sacrificed himself to do so." she answered, pulling from under her cloak the broken mask of Ghost.
This time, Elderbug actually dropped his flower in disbelief.
"... You knew him?" Hornet replied after the silence was beginning to be uncomfortable.
"He... He always listened to my stories, and even gave me this flower. I..." Elderbug muttered.
"So that's why he gave me this flower. As a goodbye." he finished as he picked up the flower from the ground.
"I'll miss him dearly..."
Truth be told, Hornet wasn't listening very intently. She was more taken aback by Elderbug's reaction, as Ghost had never mentioned of him, or the flower. She could feel a tinge of sadness for the old bug. He probably had seen too many people go down that well and never come back, and the moment he thought he had someone who would always come back, he died.
"There will be time for grieving later." Elderbug began, pulling Hornet out of her thoughts. "You mentioned how you were moving here, yes? Let's find a suitable house for you."
---
It had been a few days since Ghost's death. Ever since, she kept their mask on her nightstand, considering it a token of good luck.
Thankfully, The Hollow Knight (which Hornet had begun to simply call Hollow) had recovered, and begun living in the same house as her in Dirtmouth. The house they lived in was average, with a common area, a small room and a large room. It was perfect to accommodate them both.
Hornet had sewn a new cloak for them because their previous one was completely torn apart, and most of the holes and cuts in their body had sealed. The arm however, was either taking more time or won't come back.
Like Ghost, and evident from their failure to contain the Radiance, Hollow was not empty. Especially with The Pale King not around to scold the vessel (or dispose of him) they began to show much more emotion. However, unlike Ghost, he did not speak at all. While able to make noise, he did not speak a single word. No matter how much Hornet tried to make Hollow speak, it simply did not happen. She had assumed because Ghost could speak, they could all speak, but maybe it was isolated to just Ghost.
Lost in her thoughts at the dinner table, eating with Hollow, she spoke aloud by accident.
"It's fine. Even if they can't learn to talk, they're expressive enough." Hornet muttered to herself, before receiving a sad sound of concern from Hollow.
Oh right. Hollow was right next to her.
"Don't worry Hollow, I don't care if you can't speak. You're good enough for me." Hornet reassured, caressing their crown.
Hollow made a soft and happy purr as they leaned into her touch.
---
A figure emerged from the wastelands beyond and into Hallownest.
He had not known why his stomach sank when he entered Hallownest. He felt as if he wanted to be anywhere but here. He did not know why, on account of not remembering anything. However, he had to press onwards, as he had ran out of food, and was severely undernourished, as starvation pounded his stomach. He would have to suck up his fear, and press onwards. As he approached the small, quiet village ahead, memories flooded back.
Quirrel fell to his knees as he remembered. He remembered the Infection, he remembered Monomon, he remembered Ghost, he remembered Hallownest.
Forcing himself to move forward, even more reluctant than before, he passed through Kings Pass and spotted the familiar Elderbug, still there from when he entered and left Hallownest.
Collapsing on the iron bench, from exhaustion and hunger, Elderbug approached him.
"My, I have not seen you for quite a while! I thought you dead!" Elderbug exclaimed. "...Actually, looking at you, you might as well be. Come, I'll make you some food." Elderbug gestured towards his home and Quirrel followed him.
The soup was nothing particularly special, but after weeks out there, eating practically anything he could, plus his ravaging stomach, he practically ate it all in one go.
"My, you must be hungry."
"Sorry, I can't help it. I haven't ate a hot meal in so long..." Quirrel answered, in-between gulps of soup.
"...You said you wanted to leave Hallownest for good last time." Elderbug recalled. "Why did you come back? Not that I don't enjoy your company. It's always nice to have more people around."
"I simply wandered back on accident, and had no food left. I left because I couldn't stand to look at the state of Hallownest. It was too much, and I decided to rather leave and forget." Quirrel replied.
"Well, at least things are going better with the whole thing about the Infection dying."
"What?"
"Oh yes, you left before it happened. About two weeks ago, the Infection ended."
"What?!" Quirrel repeated in disbelief. "How?"
"I wouldn't know. You best ask the bug just north of here in that particularly large house in the red cloak. She seems to know more than me about it." Quirrel's mind poked at him, feeling as if he should know this bug with a red cloak. However, he just pushed it aside for now.
"Hmm. I guess I'll see to it. Thanks for the meal, Elderbug. I would pay you but I have no Geo on me. Only these rosaries from my time in Pharloom.."
Elderbug laughed. "There's no need to pay. Your company is good enough."
As Quirrel left with a goodbye, his head began to spiral on how in the world the Infection was stopped. Their friend couldn't have contained it, considering their lack of emptiness. The infection wouldn't just... leave. It just didn't make sense. Stopping in front of the door of the house Elderbug had hinted at, he knocked on the door and waited.
Upon opening the door, both Hornet and Quirrel backed up in stunned silence, both remembering the encounter they once had at Howling Cliffs.
After the silence began to be a little too uncomfortable, Hornet was the first to say anything.
"What brings you here?" A glint of hostility filled her words.
"Ah, I was just here to ask about the Infection, and how it disappeared. Elderbug told me to come here for answers."
At this, Hornets face drooped.
"Follow me."
And in her room resided the broken mask of his friend. Quirrel fell to his knees as he began to cry before Hornet could even get a single word in. Hornet, feeling a tad awkward, decided to sit next to him and ease his sadness.
---
It had, again, been a few days since Quirrel's appearance. He decided to live in Dirtmouth, claiming his wanderlust began to calm. Hornet, with some time on her hands decided to sort out the things Ghost had left behind after his death, which she had been putting off for some time. She found the Pure Nail, the Dream Nail, a suprisingly large amount of Geo of dubious origin, their box of charms, their map... at least a dozen rancid eggs??? Was Ghost a rancid egg enthusiast???
Sorting everything out, (and keeping those eggs in a chest in case Ghost actually was a rancid egg enthusiast) she decided to check their map. Save for the clean parts Conifer had mapped, It was quite crudely made; the scale rarely matched, lines were never straight, and the grammer similarly followed suit. How Ghost even figured out were they were, she did not know. She was not very surprised though, considering Ghost was a child and did not exactly receive a formal education.
One spot caught her eye though. "MASC MEKUR" was crudely written on an area on the North West part of Deepnest.
...A Mask Maker? She had considered such a job non-existent with the Infection, but it seemed one was left. But if they could make masks... could they fix masks?
---
Travelling through Deepnest with a speed and determination she hadn't experienced in a while, Hornet followed the crude map through a small opening into Deepnest, which she was not aware of earlier. There, she met the Mask Maker.
"A new bug, a new mask. Or is it a face?" The Mask Maker questioned.
"Are you the Mask Maker?"
"You say so."
"Can you fix masks?"
"It is a delicate process, and rarely will it fix wholly. For some masks, I can make it seem a crack never happened. For some, I can do nothing."
"What about a vessel mask? This one is split in half." she asked, pulling out the remains of her half-sibling.
"Oh, that vessel, hmm? Such an odd and hard to work with mask, the Wyrm made. The most I can do for the little one is mend the two parts together."
"Do you think with a mended mask, I could get them back?"
"I am but a mere Mask Maker. I cannot answer such questions. Although, considering all that I can do, even if you bring them back, they would not be the same until it mends together naturally."
"...Thanks for the info." Hornet settled on. "Can you fix it? I'm willing to pay."
The Mask Maker chuckled. "The ingredients to fix vessel masks are hard to find and expensive. The price is 5000 Geo."
Begrudgingly, Hornet coughed up the Geo. (That may or may not be related to Ghost's giant stash of Geo of dubious origin.)
---
"It is done." The Mask Maker announced.
Hornet woke up, and realized she had fallen asleep in the Mask Maker's workshop. The Mask Maker handed her Ghost's mask. It was still in a terrible state, the crack even looked untouched. The only difference was the mask was one piece, not two.
"It is very hard and difficult to fix these masks the Wyrm made." The Mask Maker started. "You are lucky I was even able to mend it together."
"Thanks for your help." And with that, Hornet left.
Without much of a plan or idea of how to get Ghost back, she thought of the next best idea. She shot her needle, and headed east.
Taking the tram to the Ancient Basin, she continued downwards into the Abyss. Jumping from platform to platform, she eventually landed on the ground.
She never liked the abyss. Too dark, full of void beings which attack you, scary...
Oh yeah. The floor was also made from the heads of dead children. Fun.
Pulling out her lantern and looking about, she spotted many shades, but none matched Ghost. Not that she expected it anyways. With the massive amount of vessels down here, it would be searching for a needle in a haystack.
Realizing the futility of trying to get Ghost back, if their shade even survived, she sat down at the edge of the void sea. She pulled out the mask and began to simply stare at it.
"I'm sorry I couldn't save you..." Her voice trailed as tears began to form. "This... This was my fault. You dying was my fault. If only I could've..."
However, she was brought out of her mourning as a large wave of void hit her, making her emit a noise of surprise as she fell backwards, and the mask out of her hands.
She screamed in alarm but it was too late. The Mask sank under the sea of void, and not knowing what void would- or could- do to her, she did not pursue it.
But before she had enough time to make a move, the mask had surfaced. Not giving another chance for it to sink again, she pulled Ghost's mask up by the horns.
Along with the rest of their body.
Screaming in alarm, she let go of Ghost. Ghost landed on their feet shortly before tripping and falling backwards onto the ground. Hornet, realizing it was only Ghost, calmed down.
"Are you okay, Ghost?" she asked as they stood up and looked at her with uncomfortably hollow eyes.
No answer.
"Can you talk?"
No answer.
She was taken aback by their actions. Ghost was usually restless and could not stay still for a second, save for the benches. And here they were, dead still infront of her. No movements, no nothing.
She remembered what the Mask Maker said.
They would not be the same.