Chapter Text
Grimm, Troupe Master, King of Nightmares, Vessel of the Nightmare Heart, is an old higher being. He and his sister, the Radiance of Dreams, were once a part of one whole as an even older higher being. He had lived through eras of enlightenment that dispersed through the wind like unremarkable chaff. He had seen glorious kingdoms and dynasties rise from ashes and fall to ashes.
Hollownest was no different to him.
At first.
It was another Wyrm who made their claim to rule, which are getting quite scarce now aren’t they? They would create another age of invention and wonder, only for the rain to rust it to the ground and for it to become forgotten like the rest. Grimm would be there regardless at the end of it all to sweep up the the dying flames.
So when he heard wind that this particular Wyrm’s light had drawn away his sister’s moth worshipers and left her to waste away to nothing he was instantly infatuated with this little kingdom.
He and his sister rarely saw eye to eye and that was a partial reason for their split into two separate deities. He preferred to settle things with words, decorum and perhaps some showmanship if the situation allowed it. She settled her issues with brute force and manipulation. It was a bit ironic to Grimm, shouldn’t it be the other way around with nightmares and dreams?
She was prideful and boasted of her power. She would gloat of her abilities of light and dream making. She relentlessly patronized Grimm for choosing to keep himself obscure, feeding off of the dying breaths of kingdoms “like a lowly dermestid.”
So in a way, he was rooting for Hollownest and its Wyrm god.
He could see the Wyrm’s fears clearly through their- oh this one is a he- his nightmares. Wyrms consistently had worse nightmares than any other creature Grimm had encountered. He came to realize that it was thanks to their foresight that their uncertainties were magnified. One would think foresight would make the Wyrms untouchable, but Grimm was privy to the knowledge that foresight wasn’t simply the ability to see the future.
Foresight granted its users the ability to see possibilities of the future, for the future is not a clear cut path. One small decision can change the life of thousands. Such as, an early death of an unremarkable bug would delay possibilities of new discoveries that would enrich the lives of many generations to come. Foresight was unreliable in Grimm’s opinion as the future was much more fickle than the Nightmare King.
Grimm could see plainly that this Wyrm was grasping at straws through his nightmares as the Radiance swept through his kingdom with her infection. Grimm saw that the Wyrm’s foresight only gave him one certainty and it was the death of the kingdom he tirelessly raised from the rubble. It was evident that the Wyrm disapproved of that certain outcome. The Wyrm hid his desperation well from his followers, keeping their bad dreams at bay as he toiled fruitlessly to prevent the demise of his kingdom.
The Wyrm turned to the Void, one of the very few things Grimm had learned to respect out of fear. He had seen Void scattered throughout many kingdoms and he had seen its deadly properties. If weaponized correctly it could be used to wipe out thousands of lives in one day or snuff out even the light of a god, something that the Wyrm caught onto to very quickly.
So it was perhaps then, when the Wyrm was plagued with nightmares of culling his subjects with injections of void to combat The Radiance’s wrath, that he decided to intervene.
“Show yourself. I know you’re there,” the Wyrm’s regal voice cuts through the air like a needle the moment Grimm took a gentle step into the nightmare. The order catches him off guard as normally no one notices his entry until he announces himself.
Well then, time to make an introduction~
Crimson bleeds into the setting around the Wyrm like a ruthless stain. Elegant pale drapes shift to black satin curtains. Perfect tile floors morph into stitched fabric. The very air turns red as Grimm holds his natural aura back no longer.
“I didn’t anticipate you to become lucid so quickly, dear Wyrm~” Grimm’s raspy voice permeates through the altered workshop that was the setting of this nightmare. In a flash, Grimm reveals himself in all his crimson glory with a blaze of scarlet fire.
The Wyrm immediately throws his hands out and Grimm can only blink in surprise as pale chains materialize out of the floor. He doesn’t even have time to react as they wrap around his body ruthlessly and pull him to the floor. The impact pushes the air out of him and Grimm grunts as he whacks his head into the ground. The pure light burns his through cloak wings and makes him wince. Even though the Wyrm was a younger god than him, age did not necessarily mean more power. With the way his influence on the nightmare recedes like a tide, but doesn’t disappear completely Grimm infers that they’re equally matched.
Perhaps he should have anticipated this reaction. His sister had been ruthlessly tearing through the Wyrm’s subjects like paper so of course he had a right to be paranoid.
But Grimm was still irked at his treatment. He didn’t get to bow.
The Wyrm approaches, wings extended to their fullest. He points a pale needle mere centimeters away from Grimm’s masked face. The tip shivers as the Wyrm’s hand refuses to still.
“Who are you?” He demands and Grimm grins. Ah, the pale god is scared. While Grimm did not intend to torment the already stressed Wyrm he still revels in his fear.
“I am Grimm, The Nightmare King. I come offering insights on your war against my sister,” He says smoothly. The Wyrm’s eyes narrow before widening in understanding. The grip on the needle tightens.
“How can I believe what you say is true? You have the ability to invade the my mind like infection has with my subjects. How do I know this is not some trick to lower my guard?”
“Because she would much rather you watch your kingdom fall to nothing than cut your suffering short,” Grimm says, sitting up on his knees. The needle follows. The Wyrm wasn’t enthused with that answer as the three pairs of wings slightly flare out even more.
“But you are not her. You are the king of nightmares,” the Wyrm says, unwavering, “she is your sister and you could be working with her.”
Grimm stares at the Wyrm before throwing his head back with a laugh. The needle falters slightly.
“Oh~ what jokes you have Pale Wyrm! My sister and I? Working together, a-hA!” Grimm chuckles and looks back at the now disgruntled king, “My flame has no warmth for her. On the contrary-“
Grimm leans forward, letting the tip of the sharp needle brush against his cheek as the Wyrm stiffens with the bold approach, “I would rather see her light fade out than help it burn. You see, dear Wyrm, it’s not often something intrigues me enough to invest myself. You, standing your ground against the Radiance is the most entertaining thing I have seen for centuries. I suppose it might just be spite, but my desire to aid you and your kingdom are real.~”
How much he would help Grimm had not yet determined. He didn’t want his influence to be so obvious that his sister would notice his meddling. Even though she was dying of her lack of followers, she could still make his life more difficult than it needs to be.
The Wyrm stares at Grimm for a long moment, searching his painted masked face with a level of scrutiny that would make any lesser bug curl in on themselves. He lowers the needle slowly. Grimm’s mask is lightly scorched from sitting against the construct of pure light, but he heals himself with a simple hiss of soul.
“I will allow this,” The Wyrm says carefully and Grimm smiles.
“Wonderful~” Grimm says right before he disappears in a burst of flame and the chains drop limp. The Wyrm startles back and then he feels a flash of heat behind him. He whirls around and points the needle right under Grimm’s smiling mask, “I look forward to our future nightmares together~”
The Pale King was staring at Grimm over his desk with papers haphazardly stacked. The Wyrm said they were organized, but Grimm had his doubts.
This was their fourth time meeting in the Wyrm’s nightmares and with the Wyrm’s insistence to remain awake as long as he could so he could work on a solution to the infection made their meetings far and few between. Grimm kept his word and provided insight on the Radiance. How her infection worked and how it spread. How she tricks bugs into serving her or else they die. Why she was so quick to ruthless retribution even thought the Wyrm didn’t intentionally steal her followers.
Grimm had also gotten more acquainted with the Wyrm now being so close to his mind. The Wyrm, to his credit, apologized for his initial behavior. He was short on patience as every moment he delays more of his subjects are enthralled to the Old Light. Grimm accepted the excuse, for he is also protective of his troupe. If a foreign entity threatened his beloved crew he would also have an easily agitated temper.
“What are you?” The Wyrm asks, sitting back with a sense of exhaustion. It permeated so deeply in the Wyrm’s body that his very mind could not shake it.
“Grimm, the Nightmare King,” Grimm answers, curiously browsing the King’s study.
“No, there was more,” he mutters, shuffling through some of the papers on his desk. His dark eyes squint at a stack. He carefully removes what looks to be a flyer with dark and crimson ink, “I didn’t leave this here… but this is it.”
Grimm laughs under his breath. Are you sure you’re organized? The Wyrm reads off the flyer- one of the Troupe’s flyers now that Grimm has gotten a good look at it. Odd. He doesn’t remember bringing his circus to Hollownest before.
“The circus is coming to you, prepare for nights of glee and laughter under the glow of the Nightmare Heart,” the Wyrm says and Grimm hums. One of the earlier flyers too. They had decided against mentioning the Heart as it seemed to work against them gathering larger audiences. In hindsight, Grimm should’ve thought of that before spending a couple thousand Geo to get those flyers painted.
“This is one of yours- Grimm the Troupe Master, it is scribed at the bottom. You hold a different appearance here as well,” Grimm walks closer to the desk as the Wyrm has a habit of muttering, “I thought you and The Radiance were confined to the realms of dream and nightmare.”
“That is a hasty assumption, Wyrm,” Grimm says, idly picking up a book to idly flip through. It was full of gibberish he couldn’t make sense of. The Wyrm’s wings rustle as they shift against each other in what Grimm senses is unease.
“Then how? How do you have the ability to walk amongst mortals yet retain this— form? Does the Radiance have this ability as well?”
“Oh no, the Radiance does not care for containing her light in a vessel, and a vessel is what I am,” Grimm sees the Wyrm sit up straighter at the mention of the term vessel, “I do not wish to get into the complicated intricacies of my relation to the Nightmare Heart, but it is what I contain in my body. If I did not, it’s volatile influence would be as sickening as the Radiance’s infection.”
The Wyrm stares at Grimm and is silent for a long breadth of time. His perception of the tall, crimson bug had changed with this new information. Grimm lets the moment linger as he turns new pages in the book he doesn’t understand. He finally tires of feigning his interest in it and places it somewhere back on the shelf. He looks back at the Wyrm and sees him with threaded fingers beneath his chin, deep in thought.
What Grimm didn’t account for as he mentioned his existence as a vessel was how the Wyrm’s foresight had suddenly revealed a new pathway into the future, one that made his light brighten from a dim glow to something regal once more. Grimm curiously trills at the display.
“Two Geo for your thoughts?” The Wyrm jumps at Grimm’s rough voice and looks up to those baleful scarlet eyes that would make a weak mind whimper. The Wyrm could never force himself to relax around this creature as his subtle aura screamed fear and danger. There was an unspoken threat with behind the amiable demeanor and the Pale King constantly felt it like a pressure against his carapace.
“The Radiance lacks a vessel?” The Wyrm asks slowly and Grimm squints at the sudden calm.
“Yes.”
That apparently was all the king needed to hear and suddenly Grimm felt the world twist underneath him, a clear sign that the Wyrm was waking up. Grimm was startled as it came out of nowhere like the pale chains from before.
“Wyrm-“ Grimm started to say before he was pushed out of the king’s mind and back into his body. The force of being expelled loosened the grip he had on his perch and he nearly falls flat on his face. He shakes his head and stands to his full height. That was sudden and unexpected. Grimm climbed back up to his preferred sleeping position and closed his eyes, reentering the realm of nightmares. He peers down at Hollownest and finds the king shaking off a piece of parchment stuck to one of his horns before hurriedly scrabbling to write something down.
What is he in a rush about?
It is hard to follow and see acute details from above the tangible world, but slowly things began to click. The king had a building swell of hope in his abdomen and there was new found determination behind his eyes before Grimm was kicked out of his mind. Grimm thought back to the king’s question before he was so rudely expelled from their conversation. Why would the king be concerned about the Radiance having a vessel…
Ah.
He wants to contain the Radiance, and her infection, with a vessel.
Oh poor Wyrm.
“That won’t work,” Grimm muses to himself. Vessels and gods had to both mutually want to participate in the dance or else one of them would be destroyed. The Radiance loved to gloat in Grimm’s face about how Vessels were a waste of time, especially because he infused his consciousness into one. She had even laughed when she gave himself a name instead of continuing to go by the Nightmare Heart.
While Grimm had no stakes in this entire thing, he looked forward to listening to the indignation of the Radiance. Ooh how frustrated she will be, confined to a small mortal as she continuously weakens. The Wyrm’s actions would only further delay the inevitable and the vessel would deteriorate, unable to hold the infection from wreaking havoc on Hollownest and Grimm would be summoned to start the ritual.
Grimm was excited for it all.
But… the Wyrm had done significant research on the Void below Hollownest. Was he going to discard all the work he had done in leu of this new vessel project?