Chapter Text
The only thing they remember was a bright, hot, searing light- and pain. Pain like they could have never imagined. It resonated in their head, their heart, everywhere. They heard someone scream, it might have been themselves.. Then, without warning, they woke up on the floor of their prison. The Vessel found themselves in a puddle of black liquid, but before they could process what the mysterious substance was, they were thrust into a thousand sensations at once.
They were exhausted, their mask felt as if it was breaking in two, they were incredibly cold, a sharp pain echoed throughout their whole body that originated from their abdomen, and a- panic inducing- realization that they were missing their left arm roused to the surface of their mind. They heard voices- no, just one voice that echoed off of the black temple walls, and they saw two, blurry, figures.
One was way taller than the other. The tall one sprouted two, smooth, large horns. They- no, the Vessel was sure it was a she- was talking to the other figure. The other figure seemed painfully familiar. It was small, just as they had been when they were a grub themselves. Was it a child? What was a child doing in a place like this?
Before they could think about it for much longer, the figures approached the Vessel. Anxiety bloomed in their chest and they tried looking around for their nail. Just as they found it- lying a few feet away- a hand rested on the side of their mask. It was a reassuring touch, one that a young bug might expect from a worried mother. The Vessel looked up at the figures in front of them, barely able to lift their own head off of the ground. They recognized the tall figure, now that she was close. It was their sister! Their sister had come to save them!
As soon as the Vessel realized this, they thought about the possibility of Sister bringing Father. After all, Father always watched Sister- granted she was much bigger than they remembered. Sister started lifting the Vessel up, looping their singular arm around herself, and the Vessel managed to get their legs working. It wasn’t long before the pain became increasingly apparent, and before they knew it, they were throwing up a sticky, hot, orange, mystery substance. The child lept to the side, startled, before reassuringly rubbing the Vessel’s leg, for moral support.
“Are you okay to walk?” Sister asked the Vessel, once they were done spewing out liquid. The Vessel nodded, and the trio started their trek out of the egg. The Vessel felt as if they were going to collapse by the time they reached it out.
Helping the Vessel out of the crossroads was a WHOLE other story. The smell of death was in the air- rotting corpses of bugs littered the old pathways. With the infection gone, there was nothing keeping the dead undead. The Vessel stopped every so often to throw up- the smell too much for them to handle. They hadn’t smelled anything but infection and stale air for who knows how long. Sister reassured them that they would get to the town soon. The Vessel replied only with a blank stare, but inside they were trusting she was right. They were growing weaker by the minute.
The child stayed ahead of the two siblings. They used their nail- the Vessel recognized it from somewhere- to kill any enemies that were going to attack the pair. There weren’t many- any that did try to attack them were simply confused and scared in a post infection haze. The child ruthlessly killed them, to the Vessel’s surprise. Eventually, the trio reached the rope that ascended to the town Sister had promised.
Getting the Vessel up was tricky, Sister managed to use her silk to help pull them up. Sister helped the Vessel into town, seating them at the bench. An old looking bug approached them, offering to help in any way he could. The Vessel, now sitting, let themselves rest. They heard more voices join Sister’s and the old man as they let their eyes close. A woman, a man, a young girl, and then a raspy voice all joined the mix. The sound of howling wind and soft spoken voices faded out as their exhaustion lulled the Vessel to sleep.
When the Vessel awoke, they found themself wrapped up in many soft blankets on a bed. Looking at the ceiling above them, they soon realized they could only see out of one eye. They tried sitting up, but they noticed a weight on their good shoulder. Looking to their right, they found the Child, sleeping, on them. With their vision clearer than when they were still dazed and confused with the sudden loss of The Radiance inside of them, they could see the Child clearly. It was indeed a child, but it wasn’t a normal child. It was a sibling- a vessel- just like them.
As the Vessel sat and thought more, memories started to come back to them. Their sibling hanging off of the edge of a platform in the Birthplace so long ago, right before the Vessel left with Father. Their sibling breaking open the door of the temple and releasing the Vessel from their chains. Unwillingly fighting them, before trying to stab themselves to death. Sister joining them, pinning down the Vessel, and their sibling entering the dreamscape inside of them. After that, things got hazy, and the Vessel couldn’t piece together what had happened. All they knew was that their sibling had killed and destroyed The Radiance, and in turn, the infection.
The Vessel felt as if someone were watching them and they looked down to see their sibling staring at them, awake. Sibling got into the Vessel’s lap and the Vessel sat up. It was then the Vessel also noticed they were without their cloak and there was shiny, silk-like wrappings around their middle- where they stabbed themselves. Sibling patted them on the arm and then rushed out of the room. The Vessel, unsure what to do, stayed where they were.
It wasn’t long before Sibling returned with Sister. “Hello, sibling,” Sister greeted them, “I hope you slept well.” She said, walking over to the Vessel, and then sitting next to them. When the Vessel gave no response, she sighed, “You don’t have to act perfect anymore, sibling. The King isn’t here and your job is done. The infection is gone.”
They still gave no response. Sibling waved their arms at Sister and she looked down at them. “Oh, right. Sibling, I want you to meet Ghost. I’m not sure if you’ve figured it out, but they too are a vessel,” Sister explained to the Vessel.
'Ghost'...so they had a name. Did they, themself, have a name? Sister had a name, they presumed. The Vessel hesitantly pointed at Ghost, and then Sister. Before the Vessel realized it, they were making some noise. “ Name?” They asked, but Sister didn’t seem to understand them, or even hear them. That was expected, no one had ever been able to understand or hear them before- not even Father.
“ Hornet.”
The Vessel looked at Ghost. So they COULD talk. To each other, at least. Sister couldn’t hear them, though. The Vessel must have betrayed a look of perplexion, because then Ghost spoke up again. “Hornet no hear. Not void. Only void hear. You void. I void. We hear. We talk,” Ghost explained. They must have not learned proper language. The Vessel understood them, nonetheless.
“ Sister’s name is Hornet?” The Vessel asked. Ghost nodded in response. Hornet looked between the two of them.
“Are you two….talking?” She asked, not sure what was going on. Ghost nodded again, this time looking at Hornet. Not sure what to say in response, she didn’t say anything.
“Do I have a name?” the Vessel asked Ghost. Ghost looked at the Vessel for a few moments, before shrugging. The Vessel nodded and then looked at the blankets they were sitting on. The Vessel felt tired again. They must be injured really badly. They let out a soft sigh and laid back down. Ghost immediately re-assumed their position on their shoulder, the Vessel patted them on the head. For a god killer, they certainly were quite docile. The Vessel closed their eyes, and once again, slipped into unconsciousness.