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On one beautiful afternoon, the king was enjoying a warm light shining through the window. Everything was peaceful, had been, until it was suddenly disrupted by his youngest daughter, who sprinted into the room like a bright red typhoon. Her face filled with terror.
“Father! Why do they use their eyes to eat?!” Hornet yelp.
He looked at her in bewilderment. “What are you talking about?”
“Them.” She pointed her shaking finger outside. “They accompanied me to a shop, we walked around for a while then I decided to buy them some snacks and…”
She paused to inhale deeply. “Ghost just shoved a snack into their eye socket and it disappeared!”
She must have been utterly shocked because she forgot herself and ended up calling him father.
The king stared at her, Hornet stared back. Both of them looked at each other in stunning silence for a while.
“Well.” He started, voice calm. “I don’t know about that.”
“What do you mean you don’t know.” Hornet frowned. “You must know how they eat, your majesty, unless…”
Hornet stopped. She looked at him in disbelief.
“Yes.” The king somehow found this situation amusing. “The vessels do not need to eat, Hornet. They don’t even have a mouth. They are just a shell filled with void inside. I guess Ghost don’t want to disappoint you since you took the trouble of buying them snacks, so they tried to find a way to eat. Which is… any way to get the snacks to come into direct contact with the void in them. Unfortunately, the only place possible was their eyes, or should I say holes on the mask that seem to be their eyes. So it came out that way. It might look uncomfortable for a normal bug like you.”
He explained in a calm and reasonable tone, but Hornet still looked displeased. “That means all the time you raised Hollow, you never gave them anything to eat?”
“Yes? I told you the vessels do not need food to sustain their life.”
“That’s so mean.” Said Hornet, voice cold. “What kind of a father you are, never give a single piece of candy to your kid.”
He felt offended. Even if he raised Hollow to be a vessel, he always took good care of them in every way possible. “...I remember giving plenty to you, but Hollow is different. I suspect even if they swallow anything into their void, they don’t taste it anyway. There is no point in giving them food.”
Behind her, Hollow poked their head inside the room, still holding Hornet’s snack in their remaining hand. Ghost sat indifferently on their head.
After a short time spent together, he started to be able to read their emotions. He could tell Hollow was extremely worried.
Hornet turned around to see them. “Is it true?”
Ghost jumped down from Hollow’s head and was standing on the floor. Both looked at her in question.
She continued. “What he explained, is it true? That there is no point giving you food or snacks because you are of void, you don’t need to eat and can’t taste it.”
Hollow nodded. Ghost, however, shook their head. Both siblings turned to the other, they kept staring at each other for a long time. There seemed to be a silent conversation going on between them.
Hornet and the king looked at them one by one. Confused.
Finally, Ghost pointed at the snack in Hollow’s hand and gestured to them to eat it.
Hollow still held a snack, dumbfounded.
Ghost pointed at the snack again then poked a finger into one of their eyeholes. Next to him, Hornet was making a weird noise.
However, Hollow still shook their head and handed the snack to Ghost, who accepted it and shoved it into their eye with no hesitation. The king could see small void tendrils reach out from inside, take the snack, and in a second, a whole piece disappears inside the pitch dark of their eye.
Very well, the king understood now why Hornet had been freaked out at first. This was somehow kind of uncanny and uncomfortable to see.
“If you really have to eat this way, I guess I will get used to it one day.” Hornet said weakly.
Ghost silently huffed at their big sibling and walked out with irritation.
Hollow looked more worried than before.
Hornet took another piece of snack out from inside of her red cloak and handed it to Hollow. “I first plan to give this one to Lace, but I can get her another thing later. Try it Hollow. Like Ghost did. If you don’t like it, it's fine. But try first.
Hollow started to shake their head again but stopped themselves and reluctantly accepted the snack from Hornet.
“Tell me later how it tastes.” Hornet said. “Write on a paper or something. I really want to know if you truly cannot taste at all, I doubt that.” She spared one last glance at the king and left.
He could not help but feel guilty, it was not an excuse when he said he had taken good care of Hollow when they were young. As good as it can be for the empty, mindless vessel he had thought they were.
He turned to Hollow, who was still standing there in their impressive height, horns almost touching the ceiling, holding a snack in their hand. The king found the sight adorable.
His child looked at him in desperation.
He encouraged them softly. “I know you might feel confused since you never eat anything before, but your sibling already demonstrated it to you. I suppose that is one possible way for you to…consume things.”
Hollow stared at the snacks for a ridiculous length of time before yielding at last. They gave the snack a little nibble, which, in their case, put half of the snack into their eyehole. Tiny void tendrils appear, take it, and disappear inside.
…This scene surely was such an uncanny sight to behold.
“Do you like it?” He asked.
Hollow was silenced for a while. They tilted their head to one side (again, that was adorable) before hesitantly nodding.
Therefore, curiosity arose in the king's mind instantly. They said they liked it. How did they taste it, after all?
He pondered for a moment before walking over to get a piece of paper and a pen. When he came back, Hollow had just stuffed half the remaining piece of snack into their own empty black eye, looking extremely satisfied. The king handed the paper and pen to his child.
“Your sister told you to describe the taste for her.” He said. “Besides, I myself also have some curiosity too. How do you taste it?”
Hollow took the paper and pen, found a suitable spot, bent down in a very uncomfortable position and started to write. Their demeanor was serious.
The king watched them write. “You don’t need to write so formally, just describe the taste for your sister.” He said. Amused.
Hollow finished their essay. They looked somehow embarrassed or he might have interpreted it wrong, one way or another. They turned the paper to the king. It wrote; I am not certain what “tasting” actually feels like. I suspect I would never experience it. However, what I get when I consume it is like getting a pat on the head. It is soft and gentle and brings me joy.
“I see.” He said after a careful thought. “I will give that as ‘delicious’ then. Good to know new things about you, my dear child.”
Hollow looked delighted. They were about to go out to find Hornet when the king spoke.
“I…” He stuttered a little. “I am sorry I never knew that. I should have…”
Hollow placed a hand on his arm and shook their head gently, their touch was sweet and loved and forgiving as always.
They bent down so he patted their head. “I will bring you some more to try next time. There is one dish I prefer, I wonder if you and your sibling would like it too.”
Hollow nuzzled his cheek with their mask then left to report their first consumption experience to their sister.