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Being chained in the Black Egg for what felt like forever gave one bountiful time to explore their thoughts. Though The Hollow Knight was intended to have no mind, no will, no voice, they retained all of the above regardless.
From pure boredom, they tested the usage of their voice, calling out to the silence for someone, anyone, anything; no response came, of course. Their will, physical and mental, had been bound long ago with the seals that kept them anchored in their current spot along with The Radiance. Their mind was lost long ago.
Although the Radiance kept them company as she whispered words of loathing and vitriol, it was not enough for them to maintain their sanity, and in fact, contributed to its deterioration. At better moments, the scathing words could not penetrate their tough armor, truly with no mind as the Pale King once proclaimed. At others, they stung deeper than the Hollow Knight would ever recognize, thoughts of failure implanting themselves permanently into their membrane. The existence of these thoughts in their headspace alone proved their validity, that they truly were a runt and a disappointment.
The littlest, and only, comforts that The Hollow Knight was able to give to themselves were the memories they shared with the Pale King and White Lady. At times when The Radiance’s hatred felt especially overbearing, they retreated deep into their shell and relived those memories.
They basked in the first moments of their existence when the Pale King first came to retrieve them from the Abyss, his child and that of the White Lady. They remembered when they met the Queen herself, radiant, pristine, perfect, and they had been as eager to please her as they were to do so for the Pale King. They relished in the training they underwent to hone their skills, tearing their opponents to shreds with their nail. Occasionally, they squirmed in their bindings at the thought of fighting against a worthy opponent, unleashing the power they had in their body to rip another apart as they knew they could. Their most treasured memory, however, was when the Pale King gave them a purpose.
Together, they had sat in the White Palace, the Pale King having requested their presence after another bout of training. The Hollow Knight had remained silent and still at the time, as was expected, as they awaited for the King to speak. Until eventually, he did.
“My subjects have been growing unsteady,” he began. “The more time that passes, the more of those that would fall to the Infection. Your training, your time here, has been prolonged enough.”
Without turning to meet their inquisitive gaze, the Pale King continued his dialogue. “The time for you to fulfill your duty to me has arrived. That prick in my shell will at last be contained, and I will rule with no distractions.”
His head had turned to The Hollow Knight, then known as The Vessel, who had been attentive as they knew they needed to be. “It is you who shall seal the blinding light that plagues their dreams. It is you who must answer my every hope and expectation. You will not disappoint me.” This last statement was stressed, both a reassurance and a promise.
At the time, The Vessel had planned to uphold that promise in full. A glance at their current state signaled otherwise. What a pitiful disappointment of a child.
They were successful in their role as a container for The Radiance at first. The Pale King had proudly gazed upon The Vessel and expressed his approval, but of course, that could not last. When accepting The Radiance into their body, it felt like the light was burning them from the inside out, angry and blazing as it desired to burst from their body to destroy the world. They felt as if their innards were melting as they tried to contain this Godbeing.
The Pale King, ashamed of his mistake and disappointed in his child, abandoned them and stored them away in the Black Egg, assigning the Dreamers as seals to further cement the door shut. Before his death, he must have wondered what went wrong with what should have been his masterpiece, but there was one trait they held that no one had anticipated.
They were flawed, as hopelessly as all other bugs in Hallownest, and with those imperfections came their demise.
A familiar sound broke them from their mindlessness, and they turned to the entrance of their chamber. It had not opened in… how long was it now?
Too long, The Radiance hissed within them.
The Hollow Knight ignored her and called out, their voice hoarse from the lack of use. It wasn’t a phrase or even a word, just a sound to let the intruder know that yes, they were still here. Whether this noise was a threat or a warning to the other, The Hollow Knight did not know themselves.
Before they saw them, they heard them. The intruder responded with a sound of similar, yet higher pitched note, a sign that they acknowledged their presence. From the opening entered… another Vessel. They were tiny, immature in mentality and in stature, yet from them emanated an incredible strength. This Vessel was unhesitating as they quickly set to work releasing the Hollow Knight’s bonds. The entrapped being could only observe as one by one, the seals broke apart.
Once released from the chains, their body fell to the ground, and they struggled to take their first free breath before looking up at their savior. The small insect tilted their head at them, and they mimicked the motion. There was a kindred spirit between the two, both born from Void and Wyrm and White Lady. This Vessel, the other one that crawled out from the Abyss and survived, was the only one that could come close to understanding them.
Another beat passed. With a roar, their nails collided.
What better way to express kinship than through battle?