Chapter Text
It wasn’t supposed to end like this.
Not with this death, this carnage. Not with the fading of everyone they had grown to care about, to love. Vanquishing the Old Light shouldn’t have cost the lives of their friends, and the lives of those they never got to meet.
It wasn’t supposed to end like this.
They were not meant to stay here, trapped, in a form they could not safely call themself.
Everything about it felt wrong . Maybe if they had more time, they could’ve saved everyone, or at least someone. Maybe if they had more time, they could find some alternate way to deal with this. If they just had more time. More time.
Time.
Theirs to control.
But they did not know how. They did not know this form like they did their old. This form was wrong, leaking thoughts they could not call their own into what might not even be their mind anymore.
Please, stop. Please, go back. Please, no more.
Stop. No more. Go back.
Go back.
Go back.
And that is what the Ghost of Hallownest did.
--
Leaping hard into walls, breath knocked from their lungs, and yet, despite the burning in their very core, they lifted themselves up and leapt again. Clawing at each stoney face as they ascended, higher, higher, towards the light. Not so they could leave, no, so they could be with their sibling. The light called for their sibling, for all of their siblings, them as well, but the will to be with their sib, their twin , was what made them leap across the darkness, claws outstretched, hoping to make contact with the next platform in the gruelling gauntlet.
They continued to ascend, leaping and landing, their leg jabbing into some spikes. If they had voice, they’d make not a sound, for their pain did not matter in that moment. Reaching their twin was all that mattered, all they wanted. They leapt again, but it was off, to short, they fell.
But their paws caught them. The ledge of cold metal, just barely illuminated by the light. It was breathtaking, and for a moment, their mind, traitorous as it was, willed to join it, but then they say their twin. Staring down at them, halfway between the freedom of the light and their prison of the dark. They tried to push themselves up, but their arms were exhausted. They were surprised they were even able to keep hanging, suspended, on nail’s edge.
They called to their twin for aid. But their twin only continued to gaze. And then, they turned around. Not to help them, but to join the light. They called out again, frantic, wondering why their twin was leaving. They were supposed to have each other, no? Come back! Don’t leave me! Don’t leave!
But the light consumed their twin, and burned them, as the heavy doors sealed shut. Their grip slipped, and has they tried to recover, the last of the light burned through their wings, as did the betrayal of their twin burned their core. They fell, plunging through the darkness, burning alive.
Don’t leave me… don’t leave… don’t….
--
Ghost woke in agony. Even without voice, they screamed. Screamed across void, screamed with their movements, with the scrapping of joints and carapace on the masks of so many long gone kin. Everything hurt, everything burned, even though their wings had long since stopped burning and were nothing but charred wisps of what once was. They could not move, laying on the corpses of their brethren, as void leaked from their mask. They shivered. It was cold, in the Abyss. They did not remember it being cold, and yet.
Footsteps. Ghost did not move, could not move. They stopped beside them, and a mask entered their view. Another vessel, living. Ghost felt a gentle prod, not anywhere on their body, but from the link all vessels shared, as beings of void. The other vessel prodded again, stronger this time, more urgent in manner. Ghost did not respond, part of themself wishing to fade away into the voidsea.
Was that even possible, now, when they were the voidsea? The entirety of the void? Is that what they wanted?
Another vessel soon joined the picture, urging the smaller one to come with. But the smaller one did not, instead, pointed to Ghost’s form. The taller one came closer, asking a simple “Why?”
To which the smaller vessel responded with, “They’re alive.”
“No, they are not. Come now, we must go, the other three will only wait for so long.”
They taller one moved to take the smaller one’s paw, but the smaller one instead reached for Ghost’s own splayed out one. They placed their paw on Ghost’s, and the tiniest twitch of Ghost’s claws confirmed to the small one what they thought. “See? Alive.”
The tall one was looking now. Mournfully, the spoke, “They will die soon. There is not much we can do for this sibling. We must go if we wish to live.”
Again, the tall one tried to move the small one. And again, they refused. Instead, the focused all their attention on Ghost. Get up, the called, get up and come with. Live with them. Join them in freedom of the Abyss. The same urgency was back, pleading, begging. Ghost pushed themselves up, slowly and carefully, as their wings still burned despite having long since lost their usefulness. How long had they remained inert? When did their twin claw their way to freedom without them? Time was meaningless down in the Abyss. What could feel like hours would only be a few minutes outside of the Abyss, and what felt like minutes could be centuries. Perhaps they had already failed..?
The smaller vessel tugged Ghost along. They did not look over the two vessels, or their surroundings, looking at nothing, until they joined three other vessels at a wall. How could this be an escape, they wondered? One of the three vessels moved towards the wall, placing a paw on it. Their horns almost resembled that of their twin. They tried not to think about that, instead focusing on the differences. Two horns with two prongs, close together but like a staircase. The inner prong was taller then the outer one.
Ghost then focused on the other vessels. They were conversing, but Ghost did not listen. The second of the three vessels had two horns at the top of their head, smooth with no prongs. The third had two horns at the top of their head that pointed downwards, again, with no prongs. It was when they looked over the small vessel still holding their paw did they realize something.
All of them, every last vessel here, had been dead on Ghost’s journey.
They had seen their corpses. The three vessels all strung up in Nosk’s lair. The tall one, with three horns on their head, two on one side, both the larger of the horns, and a singular horn on the other, was the broken vessel they had to fight in order to repair their broken wings. And the vessel holding their paw, with four little, stubby cheek horns, was the Greenpath vessel. The one impaled on, presumably, their own nail, mask cracked. They one who had given them the mothwing cloak.
Ghost felt… sick, almost. Their body swayed, and then they crashed. Sparks of alarm rang out and they could see paws reach for them. But then, they were once again deep in slumber.
--
The second time the Ghost of Hallownest awoke in the past was more peaceful, with less pain. The second time Ghost awoke, they were not alone. They were immediately aware of their surroundings, which was dark and poorly lit, asides from the pale glow of the mushrooms. They could hear the distant rumble of garpedes, and even more distant shrieking. Next to Ghost, sitting and watching something else, was the same vessel from Greenpath. Ghost thought they ought to find names for everyone, or encourage them to name themself.
They shifted up, which caught the attention of everyone. They looked at each other for a moment. “Now that they are awake, we should go,” one of the Nosk vessel’s said.
“Wait,” the not-so-broken vessel spoke. “You seem familiar. Are you the twin of the one who left?”
Ghost was silent for a moment. And then they nodded. They expected some sort of backlash, and instead they got pity. They didn’t need the pity. Ghost struggled up, standing on two vaguely shaking legs, and nodded determinedly. “It’s dangerous here, we can’t stay long,” they said. “If we can get to Greenpath, we should be safe.” And then they wondered how much of Deepnest’s danger came from the Infection and the lack of upkeep. “We should choose some names, first.”
“And what do you suggest?” Another of the Nosk vessel’s said. The one with the singular upward horns.
Ghost thought for a minute. “I’ll start with my name. It’s Ghost.” Given by Hornet, our sister, they silently added. They then looked to the Greenpath vessel. “Why not Mossy? Or Mothwing.”
“Mothwing!” The greenpath vessel Mothwing clapped. Then Mothwing looked towards their twin. “What about you?”
“Hmm. Lost? Or maybe Kin, but that could be confusing.”
The not-so-broken vessel considered this, and Ghost could feel some displeasure. “If you do not like it, we could come up with something else? I think it is good for you, though. I like the name.” Mothwing suggested.
“No. Lost is fine,” Lost insisted. Mothwing brightened and hugged Lost. Ghost felt a pang in their voidheart, finding themself missing Hornet and The Hollow Knight. Would The Hollow Knight remember them? Did they, the first time they fought? Or were they too far gone, taken by the Pale King and then the Radiance?
“What about us three?” Another of the Nosk vessels piped up.
Ghost started with the first of the three vessels they had seen, the one with the staircase horns (do not remember your twin). “Mimic.” And then Ghost looked at the next vessel, smooth horns who pointed up. “Thread.” And then the last, who’s smooth horns pointed downwards. “And Falcer. Are everyone satisfied with their names?” Ghost got a chorus of yes. With that, the group made the decision to find a way out of Deepnest. It may be safer before the Infection, or, perhaps since the Infection killed bugs, it was more dangerous? Either way, Ghost had another reason to flee Deepnest. The Dreamer, Herrah, mother of Hornet. If she was not yet asleep, she would end up finding them and would probably tell the Pale King. Maybe. They didn’t know Herrah well, couldn’t read her like they could other bugs. Still, they rather not chance it.
Dirtmouth was probably the safest place to be. The town on the surface was probably somewhere the King would not go, nor would those who would tell him about the escapees. Plus, they could probably blend in as some bug from a distant land. The memory of an old friend drifted across their mind. Maybe, if they could fix everything, they could find Tibia again?
Ghost didn’t know where they were headed until they stumbled upon a familiar room. Oh no. Staring back at them were themself. “Stay behind me,” Ghost told their siblings.
“But there’s two of you!” Mothwing said.
“They’re a fake!” Falcer hissed, dropping into a combative stance. However, they lacked a nail. All of them did. Them, defenseless, against as Nosk? Not defenseless, a part of Ghost whispered. Maybe they retained their spells? They had had no soul in the Abyss to test, but perhaps now?
The Nosk twisted its body in what should be unnatural, revealing it’s true form to the group. Ghost was about to spring forward when Mimic rushed forward, brandishing what looked like a mandible from a dirtcarver. Their fierce battlecry rushed over the other vessels. Mandibles! Why hadn’t Ghost thought of that? A perfect stand in until they could get a real nail.
Mimic stabbed one of the Nosk’s legs. The Nosk cried out and swept at Mimic, legs making contact and sending them flying away. Thread gave Ghost another dirtcarver mandible. Thread themself held a leg. Falcer was already charging in, swiping at the Nosk with another mandible. “Protect the others,” Ghost told Lost who nodded. They then joined Falcer in their attack.
Nosk leapt with a screech, sprawling out its legs. Ghost dodged away, but Falcer wasn’t so lucky. Still, as soon as the Nosk landed, Falcer was on them, as was Mimic. Ghost took a moment as the two hounded on the Nosk, it screeching before charging. Mimic leapt away while Falcer rolled. Ghost side stepped, swinging out their improvised nail to do some damage. Mimic landed next to Ghost, watching as the Nosk collided with a wall. “We should run.”
“Agreed.” And yet, the chance to take out even one Nosk was tempting. It may protect the triplets in the long run. But staying might doom them. Nosk was charging again. Mimic leapt up again, but the Nosk slammed right into Ghost and kept going. Straight for Lost.
Lost charged forward, and plunged their weapon straight into the Nosk’s head. The Nosk reared back, screeching, as its blood pooled away. Falcer was there, stabbing into the sides to make sure it died. With one final screech, it fell limp. Mothwing, who was hiding behind Thread, stepped out and looked at its body. “Problem solved,” Falcer said amused.
“We still need to head for Greenpath.”
“We need to fix you, first. That… what is it? Whatever that is, hit you hard. I can see cracks,” Thread observed, pointing to the Nosk’s corpse and then to Ghost’s mask. They hadn’t even realised that the Nosk had dealt some good damage to them. Three masks? Nosk didn’t even deal two!
Ghost wanted to fight back, wanted to get to Greenpath asap, but if they were down to 2 masks and certainly hadn’t gotten enough soul to even heal one, not to mention they weren’t the only one to take damage. They relented, saying, “There’s a hot springs and bench not too far from here.” I just hope nobody is there . Ghost lead the way, holding their improvised “nail” at the ready. Falcer walked next to them. Mimic took up the rear with Lost next to them.
The trip to the hot springs wasn’t nearly as eventful, thankfully, and their mandible weapons worked well as an impromptu mantis claw. The only thing that made it difficult to navigate was the dark. Thankfully Mothwing had taken some of the glowing plants. Even without that, Ghost had some idea of where to go, having remembered fighting Nosk so many times over. Eventually, they had almost reached the hot springs. “Be careful of the spikes,” Ghost told them before going first. Leap, land, leap, land, leap, land. And then they were on the other side.
Falcer went next and was soon by Ghost. Then Mothwing. “What if I mess up?”
“I’ll be right behind you,” Lost reassured their twin. Mothwing nodded and went. Leap, land, leap, land. And then they stood next to Ghost. They clung to Ghost’s cloak until Lost had safely made it. Thread was next. They did well, until they landed wrong and slipped. Right into the spikes. Their leg was punctured straight through.
Ghost was closer to them then Mimic, and so reached them first. Mimic waited on the platform right behind. Ghost gently lifted Thread off the spikes, then wondered how they were supposed to make it across. Thread whimpered as they tried to stand on their void leaking leg. “Lost, you’ll have to catch Thread. Thread, you’ll have to jump. I’m right behind you, and if you must fall, fall towards Lost.”
Thread nodded and looked towards Lost’s extended paws. Thread took a breath, then leapt. For a heart stopping moment, their sibling hovered in the air, then they fell into Lost’s paws. The taller sibling held them firmly, bringing them to their chest. Ghost followed, then Mimic. They all took a small moment to collect themselves before pressing forward, right into the hot springs.
They rushed forward (or limped in Thread’s case) towards the warm water. Mothwing splashed Lost playfully, while also hitting Falcer. Falcer responded with splashing Mothwing, which caused Lost to splash them. Soon enough, those three were having a splash fight. Thread and Mimic rested together as the warm, soul filled water closed up Thread’s wounds. Ghost joined their sibs, but still kept their distance. They tried to remember the way out, but blanked. Mm, didn’t spend enough time in Deepnest. They didn’t want to wander around aimlessly, but they had no tram pass to use. Plus, using it would be dangerous, it going to the Ancient Basin.
“Something the matter?” Thread asked, sensing Ghost’s worry.
Ghost thought over their words. “I… do not remember the way out, but I do not want us to go without purpose.” They faintly remembered the direction of the Distant Village, where Herrah would be. If push came to shove… no, they weren’t going to ask a Dreamer for help, even one who might not like the King. (Might not? They were pretty sure Herrah only tolerated the King.)
“Remember?” Mimic prompted with some confusion leaking from them.
Oh. Didn’t choose well enough. Ghost’s body shook, showing their light chuckle. “I may be from, ah, the future.”
“Really?!” Both Mothwing and Falcer asked in excitement.
“And what does the future hold, sibling?” Lost asked.
Ghost again hesitated. They didn’t want to scare their siblings, but they didn’t want to lie to them, either. “The future I came from was… not a good one. All of you I only found once you had passed. As for my twin… there was barely anything of them left, and what I could tell was insurmountable sadness.” If they had a voice, it would wavor. If they spoke through hands, they would hesitate. Instead, a feeling of nothing came from them as they spoke. A consuming, inescapable nothing. “But I came back to change that. So none of you would die, so Hallownest would not suffer from the Old Light.”
They were met with silence, not even a thing over their shared bond. And then Lost stood. “We should find a way out, then.” Mothwing followed quickly, picking up their leg-nail and Lost’s mandible-nail, handing that to them. The others followed suit as did Ghost.
“I know we must go up to get out, but that’s all I remember.”
Thread almost made a ‘tsk’ noise with vocal chords that did not exist. That noise surprised Ghost, who turned around to look at them. “Your wings didn’t heal.”
Ghost paused before shrugging, as though it didn’t bother them (it did.) “Well, let’s go already!” Falcer said, brandishing their mandible-nail. “I’m ready to fight any other creepy crawlies!”
Amusement.
Ghost again led the way, more hesitantly. They had to pass over the spikes again. They looked up, wondering how they were supposed to make that jump. Lost landed next to them, since this platform was a bit larger. Without a word, their taller sibling lifted them up. Ghost thanked them with a nod before climbing up the wall. Soon the rest of their siblings joined them, which took some time as Thread was much more careful.
They kept walking, Falcer watching the darkness nervously. “Afraid of the dark?” Mimic teased.
“I am not!” Falcer responded with.
“Oh really? Then why don’t you take up the very back? If you weren’t afraid, it wouldn’t matter to you.”
“Maybe I will!” But Falcer didn’t move to take up the back. In fact, none of them did, as a small spiderling clad in a red cloak dropped in front of them.