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The empty halls of the White Palace echoed with footsteps. The grand structure had vanished, once upon time, but had suddenly reappeared in the same fashion. And now, its undisturbed air was rent by two sets of footsteps.
One was quick and heavy, the other long and light. The two visitors were allowed by birthright to enter the Palace, but they had no regard for their legacy. Hornet, technically a Princess of Hallownest, and the vessel that had guided her here, one of the few to survive the depths of the ruined kingdom’s infection.
Hornet turned to her small guide. “This is quite the sight, little Ghost, but what purpose do you have in dragging me here?” In lieu of a response (because they couldn’t talk), the vessel continued forward. For a being that supposedly didn’t have a will of their own, they’d been awfully insistent about this little trip.
Down, down in the depths, past empty Kingsmolds and hallowed halls faded by time, the vessel traveled on, seemingly with some greater agenda. If she’d been on her own, Hornet would’ve wanted to inspect the scenery, perhaps rekindling some old childhood memories. Or perhaps wondering how it had vanished. But instead, she continued.
Finally, she started to recognize their surroundings, a moment too late. After all, she never would’ve entered the throne room of the Pale King in any other circumstance. She followed mindlessly after the little Ghost (and what a reversal this was…), unable to tear her eyes away from her father on his throne.
No…not her father.
His desiccated shell. Empty.
The sight was almost worse than him having somehow survived.
She stopped before the throne, falling in line with the Vessel, who seemed content to wait. Was this…some sort of closure, perhaps? For a being designed to be a hollow snare for the Radiance, it seemed the Ghost was capable of more kindness than she anticipated. At some point, she had to learn to stop underestimating them.
“Father…” Hornet shook her head. “No, you have no claim to be my father. There’s only my mother, Herrah, whom you doomed with your scheme.” She met his hollow eyes, ignoring a similar pair at her side. “This is quite fitting, isn’t it, Pale Wyrm? Your grand plan has failed. The kingdom of Hallownest no longer exists. Now you’re but a shell of yourself. Much like your other offspring, who you doomed to a worse fate.” She tightened her grip on her needle.
“Pale King…You are nothing. To me. To this world. Stay here, in the ruins of your mistakes. We will be better off for it.”
She finally broke eye contact, feeling both better and worse about the visit. She heard the steps of the vessel leaving her side, approaching the throne for themself. She wasn’t quite sure what they needed. If this place did nothing for her, surely there was nothing left for a vessel who knew nothing of it?
She heard the sound of a nail being drawn.
WHAM!
She snapped to attention, lowering her stance as a clatter sounded, echoing madly. Instead of an infected bug, or perhaps a reactivated Kingsmold, she only found the Ghost, standing over their father’s husk, now laying flatly on the ground. There was a shadow over their shell, perhaps some facsimile of rage.
“Ghost?! What are you-?” She cut off, noticing the lack of real damage. He was a Wyrm, after all. He was quite durable. It seemed…this was their choice of catharsis. Hornet approached the empty shell, looking curiously at what remained of her father.
So many lives ruined, and he had the audacity to die quietly? To remain when so many were lost? She felt something ignite inside her. She lashed out with a kick.
The shell rattled but didn’t respond. So she did it again. And again. And again.
There was an impact from the other side. Ghost had apparently begun imitating her. They looked up as if asking for approval. And Hornet nodded.
The halls of the Pale King, the founder of Hallownest and instrument of its destruction, the thuds and rattles of its last king’s body echoed, along with the occasional word of approval from its princess.
Suddenly, there was a much larger thud from outside the room. Both of them froze as Hollow rounded the corner, leaning slightly into their nail. The weight of their actions seemed to hit all at once, under the empty, yet accusatory, gaze of the elder vessel.
“Hollow One, I…” Hornet fell silent as her sibling approached. Ghost gave the body one last kick before standing at Hornet’s side, who quickly gave them a reprimanding smack to the back of their shell. Finally, Hollow knelt before their father’s husk.
They laid their hand on the back of his head, lowering their shell as if passing on a blessing of some sort. She knew about the supposed emptiness of these vessels, yet she could tell they were grieving.
(Perhaps they were never truly hollow to begin with.)
Hollow stood, using their sole arm to brace on their nail. The full height of the vessel meant they stood tall above both their siblings and the remnant at their feet. For a moment they were still.
Then, they raised a leg and slammed it down on the king’s head.
Hornet and Ghost both paused to process this revelation. Then Ghost’s arms shot up in a silent cheer, jumping past their sibling to continue attacking the other side with a pounding from their little legs.
Hornet stood stunned for only a moment longer, before allowing herself to join the fun, beating up on the husk with her siblings, reveling in the violence and the vengeance behind the action.
She realized she was laughing. And crying a bit, inky tears gathering beneath her eyes, but she was having too much fun to stop. When she was younger, she’d wondered what it would be like to have siblings, a brother or sister to join her in Deepnest, not bound to the empty fate of the vessels. And it had taken the end of her world to receive it.
She stepped back to catch her breath, and the vessels, who didn’t breathe, did the same, apparently out of courtesy. She carefully leveled her breathing, trying to ignore the urge to shed tears, something she hadn’t done since…
Something wrapped around her leg. The little Ghost had approached, and was hugging her. Now where did it learn to do that? Possibly the same place Hollow did, as they moved in on her other side.
And for the first time in many years, she hugged back, bringing her not-so-empty siblings closer, their shells clinking together.
“Thank you, my siblings. Thank you.”