Foolishly we feared thee, yet only by thine providence shall We find the one We seek. The God sleeping within…
…
Not bug…
Nor Beast…
Nor God…
Void given form…
Void given soul…
…
Inspired or mad, those ancient bugs. They devoted their worship to no lord, or power, or strength, but to the very darkness itself…
The sound of lapping water floods their mind as an image of a lake slowly fades into existence. They open their eyes only to see the vastness of the unnaturally blue water and remnants of what used to be a pier. The calming atmosphere was enough to make even the hollowed knight relax and ease away any leftover tensions they had in their small form.
Not even the sound of a soft sigh behind them startled them. In fact it was more surprising that they were expecting it. They turned their head to see the familiar blue hood flapping quietly in the small breeze and the light tap-tap of his foot on the sand in mild thought. He opened his eyes to look at the stoic form before him with friendly curiosity.
He sat up. "Again we meet my short friend, it has been a while hasn't it?"
The knight, now fully attuned to their surroundings, turned to the speaker in full attention. While unable to express, let alone feel their emotions, they were very happy to see Quirrel again. They were worried that perhaps they would never see him again after the fight with Uumuu, and that he would—
The knight shivered as a jolt of pain cascaded their body and blurred its vision. For a second, it broke the knight's emotionless façade and instead they were left shivering before subconsciously resuming their position again almost as quick as it had happened. But while it only happened for a split second, Quirrel saw it and immediately got up in panic.
"Are you alright?" He wasn't expecting an answer but he still felt like he needed to ask anyways. He went to move forward when the knight stopped him by holding out their hand.
Whatever that was, it was over, and Quirrel shouldn't be worried for the knight. For some reason the very idea of scaring the scholar made the knight feel sick, it didn't understand why.
Instead, the knight approached him and placed their hand on top of his in reassurance that they were okay. While Quirrel hesitated for a second, he placed his other hand on top of the little one's in acceptance and opted for the two of the them to sit down, side by side, instead.
At first, Quirrel didn't say anything and settled for gazing at the lake in quiet awe. The breeze kept whispering past them, quietly dancing into the darker cave opening behind them, almost like it was humming a tune, it was very relaxing, but not as much as the warm body next to the knight. For some reason, being in Quirrel's presence, made the knight happy. Traveling and fighting throughout Hallownest would often leave the knight tired and stressed, but all of that vanishes the moment they lay eyes on their companion; whether they were relaxing on a bench or observing the area around them, it gave them a small piece of refuge and peace from the infection caused by the Radiance's influence.
And now it's no different, being so close to Quirrel made the knight feel something, even when they're not supposed to feel at all.
After a while Quirrel spoke again. "I feel so at ease here, I'm glad I took the time to find this place." The knight leaned against him in response, prompting a soft gasp from the scholar. Realizing it was just the little one, he laughed softly. "Tired, hmm?"
Again, no verbal response, but Quirrel was okay with that, he was used to it at this point. "Hallownest is such a wonderful and beautiful place; there are so many wonders here," He looked down at the sleepy knight next him. "But none more mysterious or intriguing as you."
The knight slowly returned his gaze and cocked his head to the side in question.
Quirrel could only laugh at the response. "My flattery returns only silent stoicism. I like that." He placed his hand on top of their head and rubbed it gently, prompting the little one to cling to him. "I like that very much."
They stayed like that for a long time, they don't know how long but enough for their surroundings to slowly get darker. As it did, thoughts crept into the little one's mind, ones that didn't belong in this dream. It wasn't until one surfaced that something didn't feel right.
Where were you when I needed you?
It didn't make sense to them at first, not until another surfaced.
Why weren't you there?
Pieces of different memories started to flood their head.
Quirrel, where are you?!
Ascend.
Defeat them.
Defeat the Radiance.
Embrace the VOID.
Become the VOID.
Destroy the Light.
Show them.
Show them your power.
PROVE TO THEM.
MAKE THEM REGRET THEIR MISTAKE.
THEY DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE.
WHERE IS HE.
WHERE IS HE.
WHERE IS HE WHERE IS HE WHERE IS HE WHERE IS HE WHERE IS HE WHERE IS HE WHERE IS HE WHERE IS HE WHERE IS HE WHERE IS HE WHERE IS HE WHERE IS HE WHERE IS HE
WHERE .
IS.
QUIRREL?
The knight started and found themselves alone in darkness. Everywhere they looked it was pitch black. The lake was gone. The breeze was gone.
Quirrel was gone.
Their body shivered in what could only be panic and dread. They collapsed onto their knees and hands. They felt sick. They felt pain. Everywhere. All at once.
They don't understand. What is it that they're experiencing? It feels like a large piece of them just…broke off and vanished, and at the same time they felt hot. Very hot, like they just took a dip in the boiling acid in the fungal wastes. They never felt like this before, and no matter how much they tried to focus, to calm themselves down, nothing worked.
Then the pain grew worse. Their body couldn't stop shaking and it felt like they were going to break into little pieces. The sound of their shell cracking made the knight wince in silent agony as they slowly sat up and placed their hands along their shell. Cracks were lining their head and they only worsened with every second. They tried to focus again, to heal themselves, but nothing worked. There wasn't a surplus of soul to work with. Just VOID.
Not knowing what else to do, they receded into a fetal position and lied there. They waited helplessly as the pain continued and the cracks circled their head. As time went on, they started becoming numb. It started at their legs, then the arms, and then the chest. It was only when their vision blurred did the numbing sensation hit their head, and with it there was a loud crack sound as their shell shattered into pieces.
Then they lost consciousness.
"I wonder where the little one has gone? It has been ages since I have seen them last…"
…
"The infection…it has stopped! But how?!"
…
MRROOW? NYAAH?
There was a rippling from the void, almost as if it was startled by a sudden presence, or a realization. It stirred in apprehension at first, swirling cognitively before a wave of void rose from the malformed lake of blackness and slammed itself onto a distant piece of land, made entirely of garbage. From the wave, talon-like digits sprouted and dug deep into the tainted earth. While the grip was tight, the connected arm was at ease and lazily swayed in the mild torrent of the black liquid.
"So at last…it is over…if only the cost wasn't so great…"
…
"W-Who are…no…it can't be…you're…!"
Again another wave tore away the glass-stained surface of the lake and revealed itself to be another hand with razor-sharp claws to cling to the distant ground. But it did not stop there, another black shape surfaced from the darkest depths of the newly, blackened waters of the Royal Waterway. Its head reared out before slowly submitting to the ground it clung to in severe trepidation and disarray.
…
"This feeling…can it be…?"
The large creature's claws winced back in surprise. That voice. The voice that the creature could hear inside its head, it knew it all too well.
"So you finally did it…You beat them."
The creature unknowingly shrunk back in what could be perceived to be happiness or heart-wrenching despair. Or perhaps both. Whatever it was, there was a strong pain in their chest and their head grew very warm.
"Thank you…my friend…"
Quirrel! The large behemoth shot up in a start, opening its eyes in dismay, expecting a familiar figure to stand before them. But there was no one there, only litters of trash and discarded bodies blackened with the dark liquid of the void were there. It froze and took in its sights, everything was smothered with black, it was a miracle that anything stood out among the void to the eldritch beast, let alone how small the room was to them.
Was that a dream?
It took them a moment to realize that they had one of their arms outstretched, as if to grab onto something in front of them, and they stared at it in bewilderment. What happened to them? Was their first thought before slowly moving their fingers up and down, and then directed their attention to their torso. Their cloak was missing, as was their nail, but what confused the dark being the most was how big they were. They were enormous! They easily towered much of the room, their horns were only a few feet away from the hitting the cavern ceiling.
It tried to look at its reflection in the water, but all it saw were four pairs of glowing eyes; the water was too dark to give off a proper reflection. Instead it opted to feel its face with its claws, being careful of their new sharpness, as they took mental note of their face and horns. Just like the dark reflection foretold, they gained three extra pairs of eyes. They also grew a pair of horns on either side of its head along with the lengthening of their previous horns on top.
To say they had a growth spurt would be a huge understatement.
But enough about their new body, where were they? How did they get here?
They took in their surroundings once more to come to the conclusion that they were in the garbage pit, but it wasn't a conclusion that came easy. Everything oozed with void, not to mention more than half the room was covered with this new, black lake that came from nowhere.
Their head felt fuzzy and ached whenever they tried to recall the recent events that led to this.
Instinctively, they rested their head on the ground and lied there in deep thought. They closed their eyes and focused on the last thing that they did. As they did this, a rather large piece of the blackened sludge began to move. It moved slowly at first, inching itself closer to the thinking giant, but then it quickened its pace to a soft scoot before tripping over an emptied chest and falling to the ground.
The thump of the fall was loud enough to startle the giant into looking its way. It raised its head and slowly loomed over the shaking blob, watching cautiously as it studied its form and tried to make out the noises and gibberish it garbled out.
"Gggghhhh….heee….heeeellllllppppp…hhhh…"
To the giant's astonishment and mortified horror, they realized it was a bug, trapped in the black ooze. Carefully, they reached both of their hands to the blob and gracefully picked it up to bring it closer to its body. Subconsciously (and in quiet awe), the behemoth summoned their other pair of hands and began wiping the excess void matter off of the bug until a golden carapace and torn wraps were exposed.
The giant blinked in surprise.
It was the Godseeker!
Unfortunately, the once "glowing and prestigious" bug was reduced to a shaking mess with eye sockets filled with void. Her voice itself has lost its stoic tone of pride and resilience.
"T-the…g-god of…gods…"
Her voice was hard to hear to the giant, it gave new rise to unfamiliar emotions that the once hollowed vessel was unable to experience before. But now, their form is free from that restriction, and every experience that the god of void is now slowly regaining makes it all the more painful and terrifying.
Not noticing the inner conflict tormenting the god holding her, the Godseeker continued in her broken voice. "…forgive Us…f-for…for…" She bowed her head, making the void from eyes ooze quicker, it made the god sick. "…everything…for doubting you…for-for…treating you…like your…worth was nothing."
As the godseeker continued to ramble on, the giant used one of their free hands to prop her head up to stop the free flow of the void from her eyes as much as possible. It did not stop, but it lessened the speed of the flow greatly.
"We…were blind…" She continued. "…and We have deserved the punishment…you have bestowed upon Us…upon Me." She laughed hoarsely. "We have gone silent…all that remains…is I."
She tried to bow her head again, but the behemoth refused to budge their hand.
"A small…price to pay…for the retribution…and glorious power you shared with Us…by defeating all the gods here at Hallownest…We have attuned…to you…O great one…"
Ghost felt their chest get heavy at the godseeker's words and stroke her head gently in guilt. But at doing so, a pull of the void was exorcised from the godseeker's eyes in one stroke until not a single drop was left.
Startled the giant dropped the godseeker, but noticing their error in time, caught them again before her body could hit their floor. They opted to lay the poor bug on the ground again, right after looking her over again to make sure she wasn't tainted anywhere else. They didn't see any major spots, just specks of void in small parts of her shell, but nothing serious.
They gently put the bug back down on the ground and moved a few feet back to give her space. They watched in relief as the godseeker slowly sat up into a sitting position. As they watched her examine herself over in bewilderment, pieces of their memories flooded back into their mind all at once; the godhome…the halls…the fights…
But along with those memories, newfound emotions surfaced as well, and again the once "little ghost" was baffled and scared by the entourage of being able to feel. Slowly, but surely, however, they started recognizing some of the patterns; though it did nothing to lessen the pain.
"O great one…" The Godseekers' voice interrupted their heavy thoughts; though it has only been a few moments since she last spoke, her voice was much clearer and her prestigious tone underlined her words, it could only be the absence of the void that could have made her quick recovery. "…what shall you do now?"
Though their thoughts—and what seemed to be their newfound heart—was heavy with inexperience of emotion, they were taken aback by her words. They never thought of the future, they were too focused of the when and how that led up to this moment. They exchanged a bewildered glance at the godseeker, then their claws, and finally the oozing ceiling above them. They couldn't begin to wonder what to do next let alone decide their next action.
Although, thinking back on the dream they had, and the familiar voices they had somehow heard before, all they could think about was Quirrel and the others they had met on their journey. They wanted to see them again.
They looked back down at the godseeker with what may be called tired determination and shifted their head upwards.
She followed its gaze and nodded in understanding. "I see, you wish to reclaim your rule on the lands that once was Hallownest."
The giant gave her what look as they watched her slowly stand up with disgruntled grace.
"Allow Us- I mean, I to accompany you O great lord of shade…"
Lord of shade? They subconsciously tilted their head in confusion at the new title the godseeker gave them.
"…I can prove to be of great service to you and your kingdom."
They gave her an exhausted look. They didn't know about all of that, but then again, the godseeker certainly was the type to see every enemy ghost has ever faced to be of some kind of divine authority, perhaps this was no different with them; and even so, they certainly weren't going to leave her here to rot in the void.
They extended their claw and placed it on the ground, palm facing upward, as an invitation to the godseeker. She took it with grace as she slowly shuffled onto their claw and hung tightly to one of the claws' integers. All of this still felt odd to the once "little ghost of hallownest", being big enough to fill an entire room, having the godseeker fit in the palm of their hand…it was a little overwhelming.
But they could worry about that later, now is the time for action, to move forward and get out of this void infested pit.
They concentrated on their lower half of their body, getting a feel for whatever appendage or organ that hides in the depths of the void, and tried to ascend from the void to reach the ledge that led to the fungal infested pipes above. It felt uncomfortable at first, to leave the comfort of the darkness but it grew easier with every passing second. When their free hand firmly gripped the ledge, they turned their attention to below, a wyrm-like tail made up most of the lower half of their body, it reminded them of the wyrm corpse in the kingdom's edge. They wriggled it in curiosity and amusement, so this was what it was like to be a giant wyrm.
Amusement aside, they looked at the exit to the pit only to find it to be patched up with a combination of fallen debris and void. Out of reflex, they clenched their claw against the ledge in what they could guess would be irritation. The sound of rock breaking pulled them out of their thoughts to find that the ledge broke to pieces under their new strength. Their eyes lit up with a new idea.
They transferred the godseeker to one of their lower free hands and used the other as leverage. With their upper pair now free and ready to use, they clenched and unclenched their claws with unbridled excitement as they ready themselves to make a new exit out of this hellish pit.