Chapter Text
Before they even open their eyes, they feel as if they have somewhat a bearing of where they currently are. It helped to have long tendrils tapping and feeling and rolling over everything that their form could reach (and they could reach a lot because of their gargantuan size, and something told them that they hadn't always been this big), but nothing truly managed to compensate for sight. The splatter of water from somewhere above onto metal and another body of water made sense when eight eyes blinked open amidst the dusty and wet cavern. Slowly they crane their head upwards, and they see small creatures floating above. The name of those creatures was lost to them, as if it was just on the tip of their metaphorical tongue. A little bit upsetting, they suppose.
Finally attention turned down to a golden clad bug, shriveled on the ground and mumbling under breath. They cannot pick up the words from so high up. Lowering slowly, the void curls and shifts and bubbles and gives to allow for a contortion of their form. "Our holy God of Gods, an honor of presence must it be. Bow to the strongest and highest of all Gods, for your glory and strength reign unmatched!" A tendril slipped closer, a decision made that the ground around here didn't look all that comfortable to stand on. A flinch from the other as void graced and curled under her feet, and carefully the bug was lifted up.
With an oddity in tow, there was a decision to make. No idea of where they were and what they were to do, they had to resolve with the area around them. Water and a tall tower - that was where more water was leaking, they noted - and behind them a massive wall of garbage. Head turned when the golden bug finally became upright, arms swiftly crossing over her form. Something about the posture reminded them of... prayer? The thought was foreign to them. "Ascended God to which we attune, what will you do in this land of puny mortals? Oh, let us aid you, God of Gods! These worthless specks must learn of your might, of your strength and power!"
The creature of the void slowly blinked their eight eyes one by one. Finding other people, was that what the other meant? The power that rippled in the void they could feel, but the point behind showing their might to others happened to be lost to them. Nonetheless, this area was rather cramped to them. Finding a more comfortable location was absolutely important. Eyes and head lift to the tower where water poured from above. A tendrils adjusts around the golden clad bug, and they whisk upwards and away into a brief lapse of fungal wastes to the city above.
Narrow cracks did not cause them any problem, but it proved a little difficult for the golden bug they were toting along. They wound up deteriorating a bit of the entrance so that they comfortably could pull her along. Once they squeezed through a more narrow opening, they burst forth into a chasm that was near equal in size to the one they'd been in previously. Eyes fall onto some more bugs, which stared and gawked at the god of void that had suddenly burst forth into the chasm. The way that they moved was stuttered and rough, and pity flickered in the depths of their mind.
"God of Gods, what do you wish to do with these unruly peasants? Look, they have no dignity to bow in your presence! Their absurd actions should be punished!" The Godseeker sounded, briefly earning the attention of the void god. They extend a tendril to gently tap her on the head, deciding that getting a better look at the cavern was a better use of their time. They could multitask anyways, and snagged one of the flying bugs from the air with a thinner tendril. Crushing them would be rather counterproductive, would it not? What reason did they have to punish these bugs, anyways? Were they supposed to? Those questions flickered in their mind, and gently they were pushed down in favor of curious exploration.
A tendril reaches forth, picking up a sentry from the ground. They expected more of a struggle, but were not to complain when the armored bug fell limp. As they rise higher, they notice that there's a hut perched on top of a fungal cliff. An arm rests on the platform as they squeeze their head inside. Warmth in the hut had steadily been fading, a forge with embers still pittering desperately. Satisfied with their look around the hut, they squeeze out and back away from the mushroom covered cliff.
While distant, the noise of water against stone can still be heard. The water that collected at the bottom of the current cavern held testament to the rain further along. Wondering how the rain would feel against their form, they begin to slither through the air until they are stopped by a rough poke from one of their tendrils. Perhaps they snapped their head around too quickly to the sentry, who used their nail to jab at the void tendril that was wrapped around. "Cringer! Cringer!" The Godseeker raved as she glared daggers at the poor newly uninfected bug.
They settle for another gentle tap, this one landing on the sentry's head, and they begin to squeeze their way through the tower that seemed to gate off this area from the rest of the city. Was this a city? Uncertain they were, and the squeeze was mighty tight. Where their knowledge of this being a city happened to be lost to them. At least they weren't having to destroy anything to help the Godseeker be pulled along. "The harshest punishment for those who defy you, Lord of Shades!"
A slow blink of their white eyes as they begin to move through an elevator. Another rough and tight squeeze, which they weren't too happy about. Lord of Shades... that sounded more like a name, rather than a title. Hm. They turn the name around in their mind as they continue squeezing, meanwhile becoming very glad that their body so easily could shift and move through any nook and cranny and crevice. Lord of Shades was rather lengthy, wasn't it? What about Shade? A bit on the nose, they supposed. The fog that came off of them sort of reminded them of ghosts, but where that train of thought came from, or why it rang so familiar happened to be lost to them. Ghost. That would be a fine name.
When the next cavern was significantly larger, sprawling out felt absolutely wonderful. The scrambling of many bugs away from them was not lost to their attention, but Ghost was far too busy uncurling and stretching from how they had been compressed to fit in the smaller caverns and not take up all the air in the room to notice. Now in this large cavern they could easily float, and they could feel rain falling from above. The void wasn't too sure how to deal with the rapid pittering of water, and they decided to take on a more solid approach to compensate. Made floating a bit more difficult, but they could manage. Floating wasn't all that hard anyways.
"Look at them, fleeing before the might of the God of Gods," the Godseeker sneered as the tendril around her loosened, allowing for her to move to the end of the little platform of void she had been settled on. "They should bow and pray, and seek your mercy. We attune to you! We seek the higher, neverending boundaries of your might!" She continued to prattle along as Ghost's attention was snared be something. Familiar it was, but foreign at the same time. Close, whatever it was. Void, they knew, but not the same as what they happened to be. As if something else had been snuck inside, a weed, a worm. What exactly it was they knew not, but seeking it out became their new goal. It was such an instinctive drive that perhaps if they weren't so confident in being able to reel it in, they'd be worried.
Before Ghost could even begin to move again, they became aware of something lodging itself in one of their arms. Head craned to look, and they noted a needle embedded in the thinner layer of their form. Truly their solid body had not been touched, as the dense gas that covered their form had been enough to protect their actual form. Therefore, it didn't hurt by any means, but it was still rather surprising. Down from the ceiling came a thin line of string, and swiftly came the bearer of the weapon. Not the altered void presence they were seeking, but it was fine. If Ghost really strained, they could still feel that odd worming presence, but there was no void and their deduction was based off of some inner instinct that told it to smother the light. They would not. They could restrain instinct.
"Who are you, to dare to strike against the God of Gods!" Ghost flinches at just how loud and how booming the Godseeker's voice became. White eyes settled on the swift creature that seemed to be confused by what exactly she was standing on. They go to move their head closer, to get a better look. A pearly shell with two long horns. A red cloak that was soaked from the current rain. Ghost is not allowed to move their head closer by a fair amount before the needle is pointed towards their face. The void bubbled with surprise, but swiftly fell still again.
"It is not everyday that a massive creature rises with no warning," the small bug said. Her voice was sharp, precise, and yet for some reason Ghost felt it familiar. Had they heard of this voice before? Such didn't make sense, considering their only memories consisted of unleashing the unbridled fury of millions of siblings onto a radiant goddess. Perhaps they should take the time to examine their memories later.
The Godseeker scoffed, her claws finally uncrossing as she moved along the void's body to begin approaching the other. "You hold no power to the God of Gods, protector of this fallen land," she seethed. Perhaps there was more that she said, but Ghost became acutely aware of the other presence of void approaching. A void with something instilled, the light, perhaps?
Ghost had claimed to be able to fight instinct, yes. But this was absolutely overwhelming, and they shot forth from where they'd been gently floating. A need to see, to help, for what reason they didn't know. There was light, it had to be smothered - if it was anything regarding that goddess that they'd just destroyed, then they were prepared for yet another fight. They would not allow more harm to come to the void after the turmoil that it had endured under two different lights bearing down on it. The yell of the Godseeker and the feeling of string trying to bind tendrils of void was lost to them.
Out from a tower in the City of Tears comes the Hollow Knight with a bag of groceries cradled in their single arm, and they were not expecting for the face of the united void to crash right into them.