Chapter Text
” Your highness, there are three messengers requesting to speak with you” a servant spoke to the pale king. The pale king turned away from the window and over to the servant.
“Bring them here” he ordered. The servant disappeared, leaving the luminescent wyrm to watch the royal garden once again. He was keenly observing the hollow knight train in silence; they were growing so much. Soon, they would be in top form and able to contain the radiance, just as planned. Just as needed.
“Royal wyrm, it is a pleasure to finally meet you” an unfamiliar voice said, the king turned to face the voice, only to see three bugs wearing flowing blue capes with an ornate brooch resembling a phantom butterfly approaching.
“We have travelled far and wide to finally arrive in this lush paradise you call home” the second one, a bee said.
“what is it that brought you this far?” the king asked.
“We are here with a simple request. To let our goddess be a guest here while she is transforming” the bee spoke again. Another goddess? He already had trouble enough with one now. But perhaps this one might be able to be of help.
“very well, she may stay here. But I will as a favour of her in return once her transformation is done” he said. They bowed to him and thanked him before walking out.
It was quiet for a few days, before once again the followers returned, this time there were 12 of them and they were bringing a golden statue about the same size as the king.
“Thank you, Royal Wyrm. For your open-handed nature, we brought you a sign of our endless gratitude” a mantis spoke. The king nodded, watching the warm reflections of the golden statue.
“Our lady Spectra desires to rest amongst your royal gardens, is that something that could be arranged?” the mantis continued. The king was hesitant about what the white lady would say. Yet since it was only temporary, he did not see any problem with it.
“You have my permission to proceed” the king said. The followers quickly exited and made their way to the gardens with a visible buzzing excitement. He followed curiously, interested in seeing her arrival. They gathered in a circle and the mantis proceeded to draw a sort of pentagram in the middle, with geometrical forms and symbols. They started chanting a poetic chant, attracting even more spectators from the court. When they were finished the ground started rumbling and soon a gigantic regal caterpillar appeared, it was about half the length of the pale king’s old self, yet the same size. The followers bowed deeply before her. The caterpillar oriented herself and proceeded to carefully navigate through the gardens and positioned herself in a corner.
Crystals started forming around her, protruding from her body as she froze into a brilliant chrysalis. But unlike those in crystal peak, these were a pale green.
“How long will she remain this way?” the pale king asked, watching the crystals forming further. The followers stood up and the mantis answered.
“last time it was 10 days” The king froze slightly, that is time they might not have.
The days went by peacefully for the followers and their goddess, with the followers gathering repeatedly to worship at the opalescent crystal's feet. But the pale king was getting increasingly nervous, the infection was spreading further amongst his people like a sun slowly rising, the first rays waking slumbering eyes. The radiance was getting stronger with every minute, with every night, yet so was the vessel.
The king’s plan was slowly taking on form. However, he still needed two more dreamers. The first one he had was Monomon. He doubted that he could ask the goddess resting in his garden. She had a loyal following that seemed unwilling to give her up, as they would not even seem to bend to his control. She seemed to have a positive effect on her surroundings. Ever since her arrival, the court seemed pacified in their fears. The king has seen many of them approach the chrysalis, even the hollow knight. When they approached the chrysalis, the followers were getting uneasy.
“Young knight, your presence is unsettling for the lady” one of the followers said to the knight. They looked up at the chrysalis before walking away, heeding the words of the follower. But the lady did not find him unsettling, it was something else.
It was time once more. I opened my eyes and looked at my surroundings. It had been 9 days since my arrival in this kingdom. I could hear my followers outside my chrysalis excitedly welcoming me back to full conscience. I knew what they wanted, and I wanted to come out and greet them. The crystal-like shell started cracking and breaking. I left my chrysalis slightly exhausted. They bowed deeply in front of me as I stood over them, greeting them with a nod of the head. The king would most likely want to meet me now and I should give my host a proper sign of my gratitude.
“take me to the king, I wish to speak with him” I said softly, careful not to strain my voice. They quickly stood up and escorted me to him. I could sense his power and the power of five others, yet they were not as prominent. I entered the castle; it was all a pale white. We entered the throne room and there he was, accompanied by one of the other powers I had sensed. It was a tall knight, standing high above the king and taller than myself, which was quite a hard task to accomplish, considering most bugs here were below the length of my legs. The king stood up when he saw me.
“Royal wyrm, may I present to you. Our lady spectra” Adonis the mantis and one of three higher followers, introduced me.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Pale king” I spoke softly.
“I have a request for you, Lady spectra” the king spoke. I nodded as a sign for him to proceed.
“the radiance is presenting herself as a threat to my subjects. I want to know if you could assist me in eliminating this threat” he continued.
“that could be arranged. Under the condition that my people stay out of this matter” I requested, knowing that honour wasn't an instinct for every god.
“they will remain unharmed by me” he answered. I was hesitant to agree, I knew what he was doing, he was after all the reason the radiance was returning, it was because he was trying to erase her . The radiance might go after my followers, so I will have them return to our main temple in Silvertombs once it gets too dangerous.
“very well, I will lend you my aid” I responded. The king nodded, I glanced at the knight standing next to him. They were undoubtedly powerful, I could sense it. A mixture of light and dark. It was surprising, considering the other gods were of light, except for the lord resting in the abyss. The knight was just like me. They met my gaze. I could see their memories and their mind. I averted my gaze from them.
A few days passed and I could sense the fear and worry growing amongst the king’s servants, a doubt and worry growing that outgrew their faith in their pale wyrm. The mantis lord had betrayed his people and the king had started to close off areas of his kingdom.
“Lady Spectra, you asked for me?” I turned to face Galag.
“I will open a portal for you and the others to return to Silvertomb, you are no longer safe here. I fear neither god involved in this is acting with a clear mind” I answered, looking over the pale garden. The king had found another dreamer for his project, his conviction growing just as fast as the wrath of the radiance. I have watched the vessel too, they were getting stronger. Galag bowed, understanding what I meant without me having to put it into words.
“thank you, Lady Spectra” she spoke.
“inform the others. It will be by the fountain outside” I said and gave her a key. She took the key and nodded before leaving. I was once again alone, feeling the cold light all around me, its sickly light unsettling. Outside my followers were gathering by the fountain, eagerly awaiting my arrival. Once I met them there, I spread out my wings and opened a portal for them. They bowed to me before being engulfed by the spectrum of light and just like that, they were safely gone. I tucked my wings back and sat down on the bench, now no longer as heavily weighed down with worry. I closed my eyes and tried to reach out to the white lady. I had yet to meet her in person since she had exiled herself in a cocoon of roots and connected with the earth permanently.
Someone approached me. I turned to look once they were behind me. Monomon, the first selected dreamer. Her mask hid her true emotions, but her body showed them all. She was nervous to be scared of me.
“I assure you, Monomon, there is no reason for you to fear me” I said calmly.
“How did you know my name?” she asked me.
“Why shouldn’t I know it?” I countered, standing up and turned towards her. She was quite a bit taller than the other bugs residing here, yet still shorter than myself.
“Pardon?” she said.
“you are the one offering up your life to hold the radiance contained?” I asked.
“to save the people, yes” she said, confidence rising in her voice. I nodded slowly before returning to the bench, she was certain this plan was the only way.
“Who are you, if I might ask?” she asked me politely. She seemed to understand that I did not agree with the king’s plan.
“I am Penumbra; however, my followers often refer to me as Spectra, you’re welcome to do the same” I answered, sitting down.
“May I know what someone like you is doing here, Spectra?” she asked me, walking over to my side.
“A place of transformation, I needed a place with another resident higher being to be capable of performing it. I remain here only due to the king's request for me to do so” I answered.
It took a servant asking for her to get Monomon to leave. She was smart, if there would be someone whom I could convince, it would most definitely be her, her loyalty lay with reason and the king gave her enough to fulfil the plan. But it was clear that he didn’t share all there was to know.
The white lady’s presence lay thickly over me, as if she was right beside me.
“I welcome you, Spectra. Your presence is having a positive effect on Hollownest” I heard her speak gently.
“You must be aware of the mistake being made, white Root. There must be a better way to solve your problem” I answered. An agreeing humming was her answer.
“I suppose it is too late to convince my beloved wyrm of this fact. I wish you the best of luck with such a mission, for I have failed as much.” She answered me. I thanked her and with that, her presence faded into the background. Something was off, the air felt so empty all of a sudden. When I turned around, they stood there, the knight. It was something about them that made my heart tear up with sadness and pain. It hurt to see them like this. I wanted to look away and leave this place of cruelty, but at the same time, I could not look away from them. They were so familiar, so very perfect. A harmony between darkness and light. Just like me.
“A true pleasure to meet you, knight. I am sure you already know who I am” I said. They did not answer, only looked at me with a blank stare.
“Not very talkative I see. Aren’t you the one who stood by the king’s side the day I truly arrived?” I asked. No answer yet again, they simply looked at the bench. I tapped on the space beside me.
“Please join me, the garden looks lovely from here” I invited them. They were hesitant yet did as asked. A tired exhale of pure air left them, not a trace of a voice. I sat beside them, observing them quietly for a moment.
“This is one of my favourite places here so far, it reminds me of my home” I spoke after a while. They looked up at me with their big black eyes. I smiled and started telling them about it. I was from a place called 'the Rainfalls'. Thousands of waterfalls and many delicate and precious plants grew there with all the colours of the rainbow reflecting in every being there, including the specks of dust floating in the air. They listened closely from what I could tell.
“Lady Spectra, the king wants to speak with you” a servant suddenly said, interrupting me intentionally.
“Very well, I hope we will meet once more” I said to the knight as I stood up and followed the servant to the throne room. The pale king sat on his throne, this time two of his kings-moulds stood on either side of him, looking at me suspiciously.
“lady Spectra, your followers told me you are very skilful in combat” he spoke.
“they claim a lot of things, pale Wyrm. I’m sure you are familiar with such yourself” I answered with a polite smile.
“that is true. But I would like to think those claims hold truth to them, for I would need those skills to help train my vessel to perfection” he said. How very selfish of a plan. Yet to refuse his request and bring forth further disarray would do nothing but hinder my own mission.
“Very well, I will try my best. But I cannot promise that a creature of light will be able to use my abilities” I answered. He smiled.
“Do not worry about that, I’m sure he’ll be the perfect pupil” the king answered. I looked at the kingsmoulds once again.
“I hold one question. How did you convince the void inside these armours to remain?” I asked, looking into their empty sockets.
“I they have a target” the king answered blankly. It was only partly the truth, I could sense as much. I bowed my head slightly in response.
“Very well. The training shall begin tomorrow” I decided, he nodded approvingly.
“Sleep well, Spectra” the king said as I turned to leave. I exited and walked past the many pale pillars that lined the halls of this palace. My guest quarters held the same sickly paleness, yet not for long. I spread my wings and the lustrous colour started dancing around in the room, filling it with a playful complexity which made me feel right at home. Yet one thing simply never seemed to leave my mind: why did this king persist in letting his subjects and child do his bidding when he could solve it so much simpler? I suppose that once you’re a god you intend to stay one, at every possible cost.