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The low, droning hum of the Abyss stalked Hornet and Lace on their silent trek back to the diving bell. Lace hung, reluctantly, from Hornet's shoulder—a compromise they'd agreed upon when she'd vehemently refused being carried. She hobbled on one leg awkwardly, while Hornet supported her weak side. There were no more words to be exchanged, Lace acknowledged that. Hornet won, fair and square. Even with the Void at her beck and call, she wasn't a match for the spider.
Pathetic... A sorry excuse for a knight she was.
And to top it all off, her ever benevolent mother was the one to give them the final push out of that lake of ink. To think she'd "owe" her, and this spider, for the rest of her life made her stomach twist in disgust.
Then, the twisting grew. Digging itself into her. Threatening to eat away at her silk—drops of void pooled between her threads, as if those tendrils were going to burst from within her body.
She doubled over, her vision blurred, only for Hornet to catch her before she could stumble face first into a pit of spikes.
"Still you refuse to be carried?" Hornet asked immediately.
Lace's breath was ragged, and she heaved out a hoarse laugh.
"Ha...haha! My answer remains the same. I don't desire your assistance spider." Lace glared. "Your meddling will be the death of you..."
"And yet, here I stand after all my meddling," Hornet retorted. "The bell is only a short ways away. Come."
Hornet secured Lace in the seat of the bell, taking care not to aggravate any invisible wounds that would need more devoted attention. She had administered some quick binding to Lace earlier, despite Lace's resistance, but to have been so consumed by the Void...she may need more specialized care. Dark, inky patterns on her arms continued to spread, revealing the Weavings which granted Lace her life.
"This odd contraption only has one seat, but you've strapped me here," Lace observed aloud. Her thoughts brought Hornet back to the present. "Don't tell me you're going to sit in my lap, spider."
"Hornet. My name is Hornet." Hornet rubbed her temples. "I have means of securing my own safety, you shouldn't concern yourself with me." Hornet released a thread of silk, wrapping it around her wrists, then walked to the strange mouthpiece. "Ballow, my work is done. Bring us back up."
"Oh, miss! Yer safe 'n sound it seems. And when ya say 'us', I'm presumin' you've got some company with ya?"
"The explanation can wait for after I surface."
"O' course o' course, I'll have ya up in a jiffy, miss."
With the silk secured around her wrists, Hornet tied herself to the walls of the bell, much to Lace's surprise. A lesser bug would have been rattled by the violent movement and temperature shifting of the vessel, but Hornet withstood the volatile journey back to Pharloom. Once the bell finished its perilous ascent, she removed her makeshift safety restraints as easily as she'd made them.
"...You're a crafty one, aren't you?" Lace questioned Hornet while she unbuckled her.
"I have my ways, but perhaps it just came with age."
"Or perhaps it's that Weaver side of you rearing its beastly little head." Lace tilted her head and smirked. "Mother would always say they had such conniving little minds."
"The Weavers I learned my craft from were clever and cunning, yes, but my skills are wholly my own." Hornet lifted her out of the chair and let her hang from her shoulder again. "You should know that that same cleverness is present in you, pale child, as we can trace our origins back to a shared creator."
"...Lace."
"Hm?"
"My name. It is Lace. You would do well to remember it from now on, spider."
"I could say the same to you."
The door creaked open and the nothingness of the void was replaced by the familiar heat and scent of Deep Docks.
Hornet wondered if Ballow would express any surprise from beneath that helmet of his, but when they exited the vessel, Ballow's voice was as levelled and unimpressed as it always was. She informed him that the kingdom was now safe and he could now return to his usual work. A man of few words, he and Hornet exchanged a few pithy words of gratitude, and he went on his merry way.
Lace was silent until Ballow was out of sight. She asked, "Will his work even need to continue, now that every lie this kingdom stood for is sunken into that unspeakable place?" Her legs stumbled awkwardly across the platforms, and the heat radiating off of the lava beneath them made her want to leave sooner than later.
"...I'm unsure, but the citizens are what create a kingdom," Hornet philosophized. She attempted to guide Lace, as if she was a hatchling still finding its footing. "One can only hope that they'll choose to create something better, or someone will lead them towards that ideal."
"Hah! Is that your attempt at persuading me? To take up the mantle my mother left behind?" Lace provoked Hornet. Her breathing was still ragged and uneven, but she still had needles in her tongue and was willing to use them.
"It was nothing of the sort," Hornet retorted without turning to look at Lace. "Your life is your own, but now... it is a life absent of the one who created you. ...She no longer holds dominion over you, Lace."
Lace looked at Hornet with a cold stare. "And you expect me to do that in this condition?"
"Do you find some...pleasure in being this much of a pain to converse with?" Hornet finally snapped back at her.
"I do! But it's your fault for meddling in private family affairs." You wouldn't have to deal with my vile personality if you didn't mess with my performance," Lace huffed and pouted like a child.
"You act as if your little melodrama didn't threaten the countless innocent bugs here, and that you weren't the one to free me from my shackles in the first place," Hornet chided her, then lifted her onto the solid ground away from the scorching molten rock.
"Now, I never--"
"Quiet." Hornet unsheathed her needle and threaded a line of Silk through its eye; then her fingers strummed out a simple melody.
The ground beneath Lace suddenly quaked and trembled, and she frantically searched for her pin—but it seemed to have been lost to the Abyss below. In pure fear and instinct she curled into herself.
That anticipated assault never came. What she saw before her were four strange, skittering, tittering creatures. They gazed at her with eyes filled with curiosity and innocence, smelling her and nuzzling into every inch of her body.
"Wh-what is the meaning of this?!" Lace's shock didn't completely mask her childlike glee at the adorable creatures. She pet one, but very discreetly.
"They'll be carrying you," Hornet explained. "It would be too much strain on your body to have you carried on their mother's back, but I cannot carry you swiftly enough to have your more serious injuries taken care of" She kneeled and stroked the head of one of the beastlings. "They're clever, quick, and will keep you safe. I will see you there."
"Spider, when did I ever say I wanted treatment for my wounds?"
"You didn't, but this is one decision I am making without your input," Hornet declared. "Only a fool messes with the Void..."
Before Lace could ask what Hornet meant by that, she was whisked away into the underground bellways by the flock of beastlings.
She surfaced at a strange, isolated bellhome. Somewhere in Greymoor, she could tell, but she rarely ventured beyond the walls of the Citadel. Lace had half a mind to flee, to never see Hornet or this cursed land again, but the clever little beasts interfered with any and all attempts she made to stand and flee.
Hornet appeared shortly. Her face was grave, and she called out to the bellhome in front of them without greeting Lace.
"Shoo, shoo! If the world is ending, leave the Great Yarnaby to spend her last moments in some peace!"
"It is I again, Yarnaby. I require your medical expertise once more. The world is no longer in danger," Hornet explained.
"You again?! Perhaps you've finally had a change of heart and decided to donate your body to me for the betterment of science!" The door swung open and a diminutive fly covered in the doorway. The buzzing of her rapidly beating wings made Lace want to cover her ears
"Not I, Yarnaby. My...companion here is afflicted with something, and it clings deep."
Yarnaby buzzed around Lace rapidly, examining the strange patterns on her body where the Void had deeply penetrated her silken core.
"This is no ordinary bug, nor no ordinary ailment! Yes, yes this shall be perfect for my research...!"
"She is no object, doctor," Hornet interjected. "I advise that you temper your scientific curiosity, lest I cut it right out of your body."
"Tch! Ethics and boundaries and dignity of life are all obstacles to progress, but have it your way! I'll still learn something interesting with even a little sample!"
Hornet carried Lace into the bellhome and placed her onto Yarnaby's operating chair. The worn leather dug into Lace's fragile Silk, and her nose crumpled at the medicinal smell of strong chemicals. The pain in her extremities only worsened with the discomfort, but she found herself completely unable to move.
"Why did you bring me here of all places, spider?"
"The ones who could extract that Void from within you...sacrificed themselves so I could save you, there are none left in this kingdom that understand it to its full extent," she explained, sighing. "I only want to be certain you won't suffer if it remains within your body."
Lace opened her mouth to ask more questions, but Yarnaby flew between the two of them with a syringe in hand.
"No chatting! The Great Yarnaby can hardly focus with all this blabbering and blubbering," she practically shrieked to get them to be quiet. In the blink of an eye, Yarnaby drew up a sample of the inky liquid leaking from inside of Lace.
"That Void... You talk as if you're familiar with it, spider."
Hornet didn't reply.
It was the first time Lace felt like she was actively tongue tied, and not just keeping quiet. She so badly wanted to pry further...when the liquid leaking from her arm suddenly transformed into a void tendril—lashing out at Hornet—who expertly dodged it and pulled Yarnaby out of harm's way.
Just as quickly as it transformed, it returned to its former state. Hornet, Lace, and Yarnaby all stood dumbfounded at what just happened—all they could do was stare at Lace's extended limb. The stain had transformed her arm into an almost entirely inky black, but it was still recognizable as hers...