Chapter Text
Edwyn was a very strange creature, it was impossible to deny it, everything about him was strange, his appearance, his family, even the circumstances of his life.
He was a worm, but he wasn't just any worm, he had mantis claws, a clear sign of his crossbreed nature, that in itself was nothing so extraordinary, in this kingdom there were many crossbreeds and they were accepted by the majority, the problem came precisely from the fact that he had mantis claws. What mantis in its right mind would get involved with a worm? It was not surprising that some people when they met him gave him strange looks, he was used to them, but it bothered him that people were saying that he was adopted.
Of course he was NOT adopted, according to his relatives, his grandfather's genes were very strong, and he was a worm, a shiny one, surely that's why he also had that strange bioluminescence. In fact his brother Coco liked to share a room with him because his constant glow served as a night lamp, Coco was scared of the dark.
And that was the other strange point in his life, his very family, starting with his aforementioned grandfather.
Supposedly he was a high being, an extraordinary, wise and powerful worm who reigned over all bugs for centuries along with his beloved queen, an enormous root almost as powerful as him, from such a union a race of bugs was born that had the appearance of a beetle mixed with a wingless mosquito and who called themselves shadelings. His father was one of them. And if it wasn't enough, his mother was a mantis.
With such a mixture of blood Edwyn often had doubts about his identity, he and his siblings were very different from each other, but he had been told not to complicate his existence, he was a mantis worm and that was all. He didn't owe anyone an explanation, and no one could demand them from him either, he was a prince after all.
Yes, that was the other extraordinary point in his life, Edwyn and his three siblings were princes and princess, nephews and niece of the current king of Hallownest's Hearth, the regent of Greenlands and the queen of Deep Nest. He was one of the four possible candidates for king in a few years.
But added to all that, Edwyn had his own quality that made him stand out even more within that whole group: His extraordinary intelligence.
It was no exaggeration to say that he was super gifted, he was the first of his brood to learn to speak, the first to read, to do complex mathematical operations. When his siblings were just learning the alphabet he was already writing essays, that was why It didn't take long for them to take him out of school and give him private tutors who were at the level of his intellect, and it wouldn't be long before he left them behind.
Such intelligence might seem like a very good thing, but along with all the good things, it came with a lot of loneliness. He couldn't get along with other children, in his eyes they were stupid and noisy, he preferred to talk to adults about important topics, but of course since he was a child, they didn't take him very seriously, only his uncles Big and Quirrel listened attentively to his ideas, debated with him and gave him suggestions for improvement.
But there was someone her age with whom he did get along well, his cousin Ren, she was quiet, educated and really liked to read, of course she read things appropriate to her age, she was smart within the group, but she was not even close to Edwyn's level. However, they both shared a taste for stories, they were capable of spending entire afternoons reading some adventure book, she was even the reason that the worm began to write and draw his own stories, so that his cousin could read them, he loved to see the excitement in her eyes when he handed her a new piece of writing.
And just as he got along well with her cousin, with the rest of his cousins and siblings the relationship was somewhat tense.
Silky and Chester weren't bad kids, but in his eyes they were idiots who did nothing but get into trouble and cause disasters. He didn't understand how Ren could be the sister of those two. As for his own siblings, the one he got along with the worst was his mantis brother, Aster.
To Edwyn, Aster was the king of idiots, a stuck-up and arrogant brat who felt superior just for being strong, his grades were mediocre and he was always looking to get away from homework, but for some reason people liked him. He couldn't deny it, he had charisma and the gift of leadership, which is probably why his other siblings, Jazmine and Coco, always followed him and supported him in all his ridiculous occurrences.
Actually this wouldn't have bothered him if Aster didn't have a fixation for him, he seemed to enjoy picking on him and ridiculing him just for not being in good shape. Yes, it was true that he had no fighting power and was a little overweight, but still, he was a worm! Even with his mantis claws he couldn't put up a decent fight, it was a matter of biology.
Unfortunately for the little prince, his father was never able to handle the situation correctly and inadvertently only contributed to increasing the distance between the brothers.
It was always very noticeable that Hollow had a certain dislike for Edwyn, he did not treat him badly or scold him excessively, but his attitude towards him was cold, he was never very willing to listen to him when he sought to talk and a certain tension was evident in his body every time he was around, almost as if he were an unwanted guest.
That attitude became much more noticeable when comparing the treatment he gave to Edwyn with Aster, for whom there was a preference. Hollow always praised his small and big achievements and loved taking him to activities and events that were organized in the kingdom. Coco and Jazmín perhaps received a bit lees attention than his favorite, but it didn't affect them, because their father still gave them tons of love.
But for Edwyn, there was only coldness and the courteous treatment that their relationship and status implied, nothing beyond that, but at least the boy was optimistic.
Maybe he didn't get the love he needed from his father, but his uncle Big made up for it, and Uncle Big was the king, so that made it better, and he also had the support of Aunt Hornet and her husband who always sought to advise him. And then there was Aunt Clara, who was sweet to everyone, even him.
Of course, not all of his uncles were so nice, Uncle Green, Uncle Shadow or Uncle Cliff showed a marked rejection towards him, then there were other relatives like Aunt Kairi and Uncle Soul who were friendly. In reality he had many uncles, according to his father there were more than ten thousand, although he only knew about forty or so, in fact he had made a classification table of uncles and aunts, where they were ordered according to how nice they were to him. That's was usefull to dealing with his family.
But strictly speaking, he didn't deal much with the rest of his family either, he was a solitary boy, he preferred to entertain himself by reading or building mechanical devices and toys, he had his own world in his mind, which little by little he was closing, leaving everyone behind, despite the loneliness that implied. Even with the love of his uncles and the company of his cousin, Edwyn felt alone, no one really understood him, no one understood his theoretical physics rants or his enthusiasm for architecture and engineering, he had no one with whom to share his intellect and the consolation he chose to cope with the situation was not the most positive.
"They're all idiots" was the excuse he forged in his head.
They were all stupid and incompetent, only he was worth it with his gifted mind, it was better to be alone than deal with all that garbage, he was special, unique, on another level and he should be proud of it. Loneliness didn't matter, because that was the destiny of superior beings like him.
The sad truth was that, although Edwyn denied it to himself, he was not entirely happy, even if he was a prince who lived in a fantastic palace full of comforts and with access to everything he could think of, the feeling of being out of place or not belonging overwhelmed him. Sometimes he wondered if things would have been different if he had a mother, maybe his father didn't love him very much, but everyone said that mothers' love is unconditional, surely his mother would have loved him even if he didn't have a very good physique or without being good for fighting.
There was very little he knew about his mother, he was aware that she was a mantis, according to testimonies from his uncles and aunts she was a formidable warrior, with a strong character and somewhat aggressive, some said she was a little crazy, but deep down inside she was a good person.
But beyond that there was no information, whenever he or any of his siblings asked about her, his father became so emotional and affected that they preferred not to say anything. And from his babbling of "she's in a better place" they had deduced that she was simply dead. In truth, Hollow had made quite a few mistakes raising those children, but could he be blamed?
The bug did the best he could, but he was too young when he had them, in addition to other complications due to his own origin and, more than anything, his past, one that was partly overcome, but that still brought him some pain when remembering it. And that it was impossible to ignore having in front the living image of his own father, the Pale King.
Dealing with that was complex for Hollow, even having the support of his siblings, he even had nightmares about it from time to time, although lately they happened more often.
.......................................
Hollow was climbing a steep cliff, an arduous task, almost impossible, the rock was full of sharp edges that hurt upon contact, his entire body was full of scratches and even bleeding wounds that dotted the path he left behind, his muscles were exhausted, they were barely able to lift their weight, and their hands stung from all the wounds that ran through them.
But he couldn't stop, beneath him there was a blanket of darkness that pursued him, but it was not a kind darkness like the home he came from, this was a darkness splashed with red, with the smell of sulfur and an oppressive atmosphere that terrified him. That's why he climbed, he had to reach the top where he would be safe from all the horror that pursued him.
He was close to reaching the top, he couldn't see it clearly but he knew it was there, he just had to give one last effort and his torture would end.
He extended his hand to grab onto the next rock and it fell away out of nowhere, causing him to lose all the firmness he had. He was then left hanging by only one hand, with his muscles screaming in pain and his heart beating at an impossible speed, while the darkness at his feet seemed ever closer.
He needed help immediately, now he was unable to climb up on his own. He screamed for help, but no sound emerged from his throat, now he was mute, no one would hear him, no one would know that he was there dying little by little in the midst of unimaginable terror.
Then, when the tears were already streaming from her eyes, a light caught her attention. A luminous creature appeared from the top of the cliff, its body was resplendent white and its gaze darker than the deepest abyss, the being was an ominous-looking worm, whose head itself resembled a crown.
He knew who he was, he knew that silhouette too well to forget who he was. He had already abandoned him once. Would he be able to do it again?
He extended his hand in a pathetic plea for help, he was missing the last stretch to reach the top, if he took his limb that would be enough for him to climb and save himself, but everything depended on the decision that the pale being made.
He looked at him with contempt, as if he were trash unworthy of his attention, then adjusted the white tunic he was wearing and turned his back on him.
"There is no place in this kingdom for failures like you".
Hollow opened his eyes in surprise, the rock he was holding on to gave way but at the last moment he managed to grab another one further down to which he clung with all his strength. Then he noticed that the glowing figure was leaning over the cliff, now that look of contempt had turned into one of pleasure as he watched him fall.
"Failures must be thrown into the void," He took out one of his limbs from among his clothes, it was a mantis claw which he waved in farewell. "Goodbye dad".
The boulder to which he was attached finally broke and Hollow rushed towards that harmful void where he would find his doom.
..........................
The bug woke up screaming in his dreams and to increase his terror, when he opened his eyes the first thing he saw was another pair of eyes black as the void that were a few centimeters from its face. Still dazed by the dream and the nightmare, he sat up in bed and head-butted the creature on top of him, which recoiled complaining about the blow and the fright he gave it.
"Hollow! What the hell is wrong with you!"
"Big?"
Finally the nebula that obstructed the knight's thoughts lifted and he was able to recognize his brother
"What are you doing here? Or rather, what the hell were you doing on top of me"
"I was going to wake you up".
"Uh? What time is it?". He looked at the clock on his nightstand and it said two o'cloc after midnight. "This is not the time to be awake, at least not for normal people".
When it came to sleep cycles, Big slept a ridiculously small number of hours, went to bed late and got up early, then took a half-hour nap in the afternoon and that was enough for him to function well. According to him, he spent too many years "dreaming ", so he had already slept half of what he would need to sleep in his entire life.
"Sorry for all that, I had already finished my work and was heading to my bedroom, but when I passed outside yours I heard you begging for help, so I went in, I was about to wake you up but in the end you managed it yourself."
"I see," Hollow fell back onto his cushions and looked for the tiktik stuffed animal he shared the bed with to hug him. "I hate having nightmares".
"No one likes them, they are unpleasant and prevent a good rest. Ogrim had one the other day that left him very bad, in the end I had to ask him to leave early to rest".
"Poor thing, Charlotte also had nightmares the other day, that day the children ate late for lunch because she fell asleep before serving the food".
"No one warned me about that incident"
The tone of annoyance in his voice became evident, anything that involved any harm to his nephews and niece, no matter how minimal, made him angry.
"It wasn't anything serious, we weren't going to bother you about those little things".
"Children should eat at the right time"
"Yes, but it wasn't her fault, it happens to everyone, just yesterday I caught a couple of guards sleeping during my shift, after the scolding they told me that none of them could sleep well because of the nightmares".
Big suddenly put on a worried expression, something didn't feel right.
"Hollow... Is it very common for your guards or service people to fall asleep?"
"Not really".
"How often does it happen?"
"Well... Before the truth was that it never happened, maybe you would find someone yawning or doing things slower, but never to the level of literally falling asleep at work"
"So it's something recent".
"Well... More or less, it happened a couple of times in the last few months, but in the last few weeks it's happening more often".
"This is not normal," declared the monarch.
Only when Big said it, Hollow started to think that seeing so many people sleeping during the day was something strange. His mind connected some dots and it didn't take him long to agree with his brother, there was a substantial increase in the number of nightmares. Anyone would say it was a mere coincidence, but those who had had to deal with dream, gods and specters could see beyond just a curious event.
"What do we do?" The knight asked tensely.
"For the moment investigate. Tomorrow I will order interviews in different parts of the kingdom to quantify how many nightmares people have had, find out if they are more common or intense in some places than others and find out if this has affected people's work performance, this issue is important".
"Sounds like a smart plan".
"Yes... That would be the first step. But the second thing would be to see if the content of the nightmares is related in some way, tell me, what did you dream about, Hollow?"
The aforementioned took a few moments to respond, it was uncomfortable for him to talk about it.
"Do I need to tell you?" He squeezed the stuffed animal in his arms.
"I think it's the best." He sat on the bed. "I have the feeling that your dream is something very personal and painful. Regardless of whether this has a supernatural origin, dreams are often manifestations of our fears or problems. Seeing how hard it is for you to talk about this makes me suspect that something is wrong with you and it worries me".
"It's no big deal..."
"And what did you dream?"
"I..." He sighed and finally gave in "I dreamed... Of dad... Of him letting me fall from the cliff into the void, looking at me with contempt, as if I were trash..."
"Keep going".
"That's all".
"Are you sure?"
There was no way to fool Big, it was almost as if he read his mind.
"At first it was my father who was abandoning me but... In the end he became Edwyn..."
"Hollow, I've already told you more than once, Edwyn is not dad, he is very similar, yes, but he is different".
"But what if he is similar in the idea of discarding those who do not serve him".
"Dad didn't enjoy having to get rid of you, he suffered a lot from that".
"And yet his suffering did not stop him" a hint of resentment was evident in his voice.
"Because he wanted to save his kingdom, all those who believed in him".
"We believed in him too".
"But he didn't know, theoretically you didn't have the mind to believe".
"Let's stop this discussion Big, it never gets us anywhere." He wrapped himself in his sheets, turning his back on his brother. "We cannot see things from your point of view because we do not live with the old king and you cannot understand us because you were not rejected. They are simply two irreconcilable ideas, you see him as the good guy and for us he was the bad guy".
"Ummmm... Well... Actually, maybe we're both right? In other words, a person is something complex, no one is absolute goodness or evil, we all do good and bad things for different reasons and..."
"Big do you think this is the time to start philosophizing? It is two after midnight! And I need to sleep seven hours to stay beautiful..."
"Okay, okay, I'll leave you".
He got out of bed and headed towards the door, but before leaving he turned to say a few last words.
"Hollow, please don't hate Edwyn, it's not his fault he looks like his grandfather".
"I don't hate him, he's my son, I love him very much, it's just that... He scares me... I'm afraid that he'll become like his grandfather and... He'll end up throwing us away when he finds out what his uncles are..."
"Oh Hollow, the fact that this year we will tell them the truth is bothering you... Don't worry, children are often more understanding than adults, they will understand us and continue to love their uncles and aunts as always, Edwyn is a good boy and very smart, he will understand it too, don't worry about that".
"I hope you are right".
"Have more faith in them, they are your children. Anyway, good night, take rest".
The monarch left the room, closing the door softly. As soon as he had left, Hollow took the tiktik plushie and raised it above his head, looking at it carefully.
"Raising children is so difficult... What would you do, Orchid?"