Chapter Text
Grimm sits in his tent, at a desk writing in a full notebook. Plans, ideas and thoughts lay in the notebook, jumbled chaotically and without much reason or organisation. To his left are a few letters, and a long-cold coffee, courtesy of Brumm.
He has been planning and thinking for hours now, incessantly. Planning specifically about how he is going to get the Radiance and the Pale King to do what he needs them to do; and to convince Ghost not to kill them afterwards.
So far, he hasn’t imaged a situation where the Radiance and the Pale King do exactly as asked without immediately getting killed afterwards. He knows that they can be better now, he’s seen it. He has seen them work together despite how much they hate eachother.
Most importantly, his sister seems more like herself than she ever has. It's been centuries since he's heard her voice, her real voice. He doesn’t think that she remembers her past, but he's sure he could tell her.
He’s desperate to rekindle their siblingship. She has been so far away, for so long; so angry at him. She still is, but he hopes that now that he can actually talk to her he can say something, anything, to improve her view of him. He doesn't really think it’ll work, but he’s desperate to try.
He doesn’t know about the King, though. An excellent king; but a terrible father. He’d love to have the King work with them, even after the plan; his skills with running a kingdom are unmatched. He turned a small village and a band of farmers into one of the largest kingdoms he has ever seen.
But Hornet loathes her father, a justified hatred that would blind her to his more practical uses. She is pushing for the immediate execution of the both of them upon the completion of their task. He believes that this is a rather extreme precaution, and that despite what they both have done they should still be treated as people. When he questioned her on this, she told him that it was only practical; both would only cause further issues being alive. It was unnerving.
And the Hollow Knight. How would they react to their father being alive? How would they react to the Radiance being alive? Too many variables; they are in an extremely fragile situation, if they ever saw the King or the Radiance there would be trouble.
The plan is a hail mary, He really doesn’t think it will work; but they’ve run out of options. What Dionysus plans to do will repeat the last century of God conflict, and will lay waste to what little they have built up. He can't bear to watch someone else repeat his mistakes. Sisyhpus has done a lot of reprehensible things, but they do not deserve what Dionysus has planned. If only they could understand that, if only they would hear him.
He rubs his forehead, the first signs of a migraine appearing. The stress of the whole situation has been getting to him lately, and he has had less and less time to spend with his friends.
Hornet stalks into his office, needle in hand. He can see that she is on edge, still nowhere near comfortable with his presence. She’s here for the meeting; to be updated on the plan and how it is progressing.
She stands next to the door, glaring at him.
“How have things been?” He tries to open some conversation.
“I don't want to hear your vain attempts at small talk, Troupe Master. When will Ghost arrive?” As she says this, the room drops a few degrees; she shivers almost immediately.
He sees the void gather in his room, lights darkening; it isn’t the quick appearances Ghost used to be capable of, their control of the void has crumbled quickly. He hopes that they lose control; ever since becoming ‘The Shade Lord’ they’ve been a shadow of their former self. He understands that them losing control completely could put them and the town in danger, but he can’t help but want his dear friend back.
They finish forming, already staring at him. He’ll need to say what he needs to say quickly.
“Plan is proceeding, but slowly. The two are having difficulties in the city of tears; Without food and other supplies the Pale King deemed it necessary to make a supply run, leaving the Moth in the apartment.”
Hornet pays closer attention to this. Ghost doesn’t move at all.
“I believe the Radiance would have been fine, without my… Intervention. I too had realised the issue with supplies, and had made a visit to provide them. When I arrived, she was already fighting back the infection. My Presence made it far worse. More than I realised, at the time.”
“Your presence made it worse? How much worse?” Hornet Questions.
He prepares himself to answer this in a way that would not tip his hand. He cannot let Hornet or Ghost know that the history he has with the Radiance, how personal his role in the plan is… They would surely question his judgement.
Hornet would have him expelled from involvement in the plan, then she would be the sole ‘mortal touch’ that Ghost needs. The Radiance and the Pale King would be killed, and who knows what she would push Ghost to do.
“When I arrived, She forced me to leave. I believed at the time she would be able to hold herself together, but not long after that I was called back by the Pale king whom had found a way to summon me through the use of nightmare essence that remained within himself.”
“When I arrived, he explained the situation, then he and I both began to search the nearby area. I had no luck in my search, but the Pale King did. From what I could gather, He found the Radiance and cured her, but was wounded in the process.”
He watches Hornet for a reaction, and finds nothing but a faint twitch of her hand. He doesn’t know if this means anything.
“Somewhere between where he and I split up, Sisyphus had found the Pale King.” He drops the bombshell of the meeting, what he had been dreading.
Hornet drew a sharp breath, likely expecting the worst. Ghost didn’t move.
“Sisyphus did not seem to recognise either of them. He assisted the Radiance with medical aid, though both of them were very bad at it. When I returned i used my own abilities to aid the Pale King, though it may take him some time to recover.”
“Sisyphus is bad with medical aid? Is he not the soldier and protector of Dionysus’ cult?” Hornet questions.
“That is what I had also assumed, but believe me. If you had been there to see his bandage ‘work’ you would come to the same conclusion.” He tries to alleviate the tension with a joke. He doesn’t even think Hornet heard him.
“I believe once the Pale King has recovered we can continue the plan; but if we over exert him, we may accidently kill him.”
At this, Ghost stiffly nods. Hornet does too.
“Ghost, I will summon you when the Pale King recovers, to update you on the plan.” They nod again, and swiftly dissolve; void receding fast from the room.
Hornet immediately goes to leave.
“Hornet! Please, I'd like to speak to you.”
She doesn’t turn around, just slightly turns her head and stops walking.
“Please, sit down. I can make us some tea.” He’s practically pleading with her at this point.
She doesn't move. But she does speak.
“Why are you trying so hard?” She says, cold and distant. He can’t tell her the real reason, but he can tell half truths.
“The Hollow Knight is worried about you… And so am i. You spend all your time hunting or watching the cult, you are hardly ever home.”
Grimm is worried about her, but the more truthful reason as to why he is trying so hard to get close to her is so that he might be able to convince her to spare the Radiance.
“The Hollow Knight told you this?” She questions, voice quiet.
“Yes, but I am also worried about-” Before he could even finish his sentence, she storms off. He slumps in his chair; he hopes he hasn’t made things worse for her.
Hornet
Hornet walks home at a brisk pace. She doesn’t usually spend any time at home nowadays; She is still Hallownests protector, with or without the infection. But she needs to talk to the Hollow Knight, why did they share their worries with Grimm, and not her?
It’s inconceivable. Grimm is a God, and as a God he can never be trusted. Not him, not his troupe. After all the things that Gods have done to them both, the Hollow Knight would still trust Grimm more than they would her?
She doesn’t understand. She can’t understand. She needs to temper her rage; she is frustrated with the Hollow Knight but she won’t show them that. They are fragile, she needs to treat them delicately.
She reaches their home, and takes a deep breath in preparation before she enters.
She slowly opens the door, carefully controlling herself to not show her frustration and enters the home. There she sees Elderbug, Fysi and the Hollow Knight; Elderbug is teaching them how to read.
“Elderbug, Fysi. I need to speak to the Hollow Knight in private.” She says sternly and clearly. Fysi excitedly runs over to her, giving her a big hug. She weakly reciprocates it, unused to hugs in general.
They lightly tink her needle with their nail; It seems they’d like to spar.
“No, I can not spar right now.” She says that far too sternly than what she meant; They visibly flinch at this, and leave the room with lower energy than before she had arrived. It breaks her heart, but she maintains her stern facade and shuts the door behind them.
She slowly approaches the Hollow Knight and rests her needle against the table. They pull out a chair for her to sit; she does not.
“Grimm told me that you were worried about me.” They look away; they don't like confrontation. But she needs to hear why.
“Why didn’t you come to me? Why’d you ask him first?” She tries not to let the hurt show in her voice, but her voice wavers nonetheless.
They avoid her gaze, and they say nothing. She waits for a few more seconds, hoping that they say something; but they don't. She wants to pressure them, push them to answer her. She knows better; she won't.
She leaves swiftly. Her anger is boiling over the edge, fueled by hurt and confusion. The bugs of Dirtmouth try to ask if she is alright; she ignores them. She throws her needle, and launches herself to follow it.