#i think both of them knew that the hollow knight wasn't hollow but they just. continued to convince themselves that they were

[helga-grinduil]

i adore the white palace from the storytelling perspective (i suck at platforming, so from the gameplay perspective this place is hell 💀). there's so much going on in that place - the fact that the pale king hid the castle in the first place (i do believe that he didn't do it because of cowardice, i think that removing himself and the castle was his last desperate attempt at trying to placate the radiance), the only apparent guards at the palace being void constructs, the same void constructs all being dead near the throne room, the fact that the throne room is the so dark ghost has to take out their lantern, void particles in the air of the throne room. 

the white palace also has some of the coolest secret rooms.

the nursery. and it really sucks so much that people almost always miss this room on their first run, because this room, holy fuck. the fucking music box lullaby. the way you enter this room and hear it and you don’t understand at first why it sounds so familiar until it hits you that it’s the same song that you can always hear near your shade, only this time it’s not distorted. ghost’s shade knowing the song that was played for the hollow knight... the white lady’s figure burned into the chair next to the crib...

did she look after them, when they were brought to the castle? was she the one putting them into their crib? was she the one playing this song for the child that was hers but would never be allowed to be? how long did it take before she had to start telling herself that they were empty, despite being the one to raise them, despite being the one to play them lullabies to help them fall asleep? when did she start actually believing it? was it because facing the truth was too hard? 

the path of pain being a seal that is used to contain something powerful or preserve something important. the fact that the name ‘path of pain’ has a double meaning and might be called this way not just because it’s a literal platforming hell to go through, but also because it hides away something the pale king considered painful.

the pale king’s last thoughts when you dreamnail him... ‘no cost too great’, but then also ‘...’. maybe he didn’t quite believe his own words. maybe the cost was too great after all.

#hollow knight #the pale king #the white lady #the hollow knight #white lady: 'the vessel was tarnished by an idea instilled' #MA'AM YOU WERE THE ONE PLAYING LULLABIES FOR THEM AND SITTING NEXT TO THEM AT NIGHTS #i know many people think that pk didn't regret what he had done and never cared but. there's like literal evidence of the opposite #they still both suck but at least they're not heartless monsters i guess #i think both of them knew that the hollow knight wasn't hollow but they just. continued to convince themselves that they were #(the pale king failing miserably while the white lady went even deeper into all the lies she told herself) #because acknowledging that the vessel wasn't empty would mean acknowledging that none of them were #and here's the difference between the pale king and the white lady lies i think #he accepted it and took the guilt #(maybe the fact that he was working with void so much helped a bit - he had to have at least some thoughts about void having a mind) #while the white lady convinced herself that the vessel was 'tarnished' by their love for them #and that another vessel would be truly empty

[akystaracer22]

So my older sibling started playing Hollow Knight again in anticipation for Silksong so I think it's now time for me to spill my personal feelings for how goddamn tragic the Pale King and the Pure Vessel both are.

With the Pure Vessel, it's clear what that tragedy is. Their story is one of a child desperately trying to prove themself to their father in the only way they know how. By being hollow, by being empty. Except it was always just a guise and at the end of the day, a guise just wasn't enough.

It's the story of a child who abandoned their sibling to an unknown fate, only to later see that same sibling return, nail in hand. And the Pure Vessel, now The Hollow Knight, doesn't want them to take their place (At least in my mind). But somewhere in the fight they realise they also don't want to be the one to kill their sibling, not again, not after they though that sibling was killed by them already. So that nail, the one made at their father's orders, the one that stayed with them in their sealing, it turned on them. An act of rebellion in the face of the Radiance. They will not hurt their sibling again.

And then the path split's, it's the player's choice. But that doesn't make it any less tragic for The Hollow Knight. If the player chooses the seal the infection within The Knight, the Pure Vessel dies, released from their sworn duty in the only way possible. A mercy, but not a kind one because they still failed. If you kill the Radiance, they still die, but at least it's with the knowledge that with them the Radiance ends, they completed their mission. It's probably the kindest of the endings for The Hollow Knight. With the Embrace The Void ending though, that's probably the cruellest for them. They live, their sibling died because of them but they now have to live with their failure, in a ruined kingdom they failed to save with only the Gendered Child for company, however well that company may be.

And then there's the Pale King.

His story is one of grief and sorrow and misery and desperation. The Hollow Knight plan would have never been gone through, would have never been started if not for his desperation. He had to go through with the vessel's because he didn't know he had a choice. He likely didn't know about the possibility of the vessels ascending or even the Dream Nail in general. And he was shown to have loved the Pure Vessel which made it worse. By his own hand he ruined his kingdom because he couldn't help but love his child. His child that in his mind was the only survivor of the thousand's, maybe million's that had died in the abyss. His Root left him, he sacrificed his own child. And for what?

His kingdom, the kingdom that he knew since his child wasn't pure would rot anyway. All he did was buy them time, time they couldn't use because the Hollow Knight was the last desperate effort of a king who couldn't save his kingdom.

So he locks himself away, he hides and he punishes himself. He places himself in a cage he can't escape, left with nothing but his own thoughts and the void that even then effects his dreams.

And he dies, alone, and forgotten by almost everyone.

There's something about the Pale King I love. The desperation, and the humanity of his actions. He's not perfect, he's not a good person. He's a desperate one, and that doesn't make him evil, it just makes him alive.

And the Pure Vessel, that burning desire to be something impossible just to earn the adoration of those you desire it from the most is a familiar feeling to many people.

And this is why they are both my favourite Hollow Knight characters.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk

#hollow knight #pure vessel #the pale king #the hollow knight #character study #probably not 100% canon #take this with a grain of salt

[vulturereyy]

Doodled a little Hegemol Pharom having a sit in his hometown... Background taken from a Hollow Knight screenshot :) Fully indulging in my canon character headcanons now. I have a previous post here that semi spells out what I think happened to Hegemol, but basically, I think he was one of the very first to succumb to the Radiance. Perhaps even targeted due to his proximity to the Pale King. But because she didn't yet have the influence over bug and mind she has at game time, her infection manifested more as growing illness, that slowly had him withering away as the dim light in the back of his head grew stronger. (It was during this time that the Maggot stole his armor; it seemed really unlikely that such a grand knight would just... let that slip willingly?) Again, most likely due to his proximity to the PK and his own will, Hegemol managed to stave her off to the very end. After months (years?) of slowly falling into her grasp, Hegemol finally met his fate at the hands of an infected siege. I imagine the City of Tears was only sealed off after the infected outside began invading the city in force. Hegemol was the one to pull down the gate himself with the last of his strength, shattering the mechanisms that raise and lower it in the process and succumbing to fatal wounds. This is why it's his statue that holds the city crest, made to commemorate the first of the Five Great Knights to fall. Hegemol had spent most of his years helping the denizens of Hallownest, and the city he called home would not be unsealed without his 'blessing.' The fact he broke the gate to close it is also why it shuts behind you upon opening; it wasn't repaired fully before the infection got to the rest of the city's inhabitants. Also I think Hegemol is the eldest of the Great Knights, and was born during the formation of Hallownest. He was from Dirtmouth originally, and his mothers were both confectioners lauded for their skill in making sweet jellies. They moved to the City of Tears fairly early on and were quick to support the PK's regime, mostly due to their existing ties with their noble customer base. Hegemol ended up joining the first wave of knights and worked his way up to the ranks, standing out by size of body and heart. Hegemol cared deeply for all of Hallownest, despite serving the upper echelons in the CoT for most of his run. When he fell, his fellow knights knew of his quiet desire to be lain to rest in the Howling Cliffs, so he could watch over his humble hometown and the way into Hallownest eternally. After the defeat of the Radiance, Hegemol found his life returned to him with the essence expelled from her body, but the injury and illness he suffered before his end still lingered. He managed to make his way back down to Dirtmouth and was taken in by the townsfolk to recover. With his distinct horns shattered and previous habit of almost never being seen without his armor, Hegemol took the gift of respite willingly. He told them his name is Pharom, and he claims he can't truly remember anything that happened. Really, he's just taking things slow... Enjoying life as a simple bug again and regaining his strength to help rebuild. Maybe one day he'll get the courage to see what became of his fellow knights an King. But I think this guy deserves a god damned break!

#'so basically' i say and then write an essay #i have like zero backing for any of this i just think he's cool #rotates hegemol in my head like a microwave #mighty hegemol #hollow knight #hollow knight headcanons #headcanon #pale king

[loosesodamarble]

Hello soda senpai. It's 🖤 anon here is a continuation of the fic I sent. I hope my writing skills have improved. I decided to turn my reader fic to an oc . Please give your feedback.

Empty manor

Astrea Celeste was busy with her least favorite work . She in fact hated the work of the house head with passion. "Even the paperwork I did as a magic knight was better." She said throwing her pen on the table

She checked the time, it was almost lunch time. She didn't want to leave her work but she remembered her promise to Nacht that she would look after herself. She left her room and walked down the stairs. "So empty." She thought.

She entered the dining room. The table was huge but she was alone. There were so many dishes but she was the only one to eat. After she finished her lunch, she called a maid.

"Clear my plate, and give rest of the food to the poor. Tell the kitchen head to not buy this much food for a single person, we don't have as much money as we used to." 

" Yes, my lady." The maid replied 

She returned to her office to continue her work. "I hate this place, I hate this work, I hate this mansion." She said out loud. "My squad headquarters are so much better. I wouldn't have even kept it if not for..." 

Just then a idea crossed her mind.

"Why didn't I think of it before?" she said and smiled "I should discuss it with Nacht tonight."

(Nighttime)

Nacht appeared in her room from the shadows like he always did. She immediately hugged him, she was waiting for him for hours.

"Hey, how was work?" He asked

"About that, I actually decided something." She replied smiling.

"What is it?" He asked knowing that she must have taken a huge decision.

"Nacht, I decided to give up my noble status and sell this mansion."

"What? But why?" He was shocked

"It's just too suffocating here and there are so many bitter memories."

"But then you won't be able to live the life you are living. It will be difficult."

"I know that but Nacht, this life is too hectic. It's too painful. I don't like this work. I don't like this mansion. I just want to keep a few income sources and leave." She said bursting into tears. Nacht wiped her tears and hugged her.

"I see." He said in an understanding voice as he rubbed her back.

"Ummm.. Nacht... I was also thinking that... maybe instead of keeping the manor, I'll buy a good house..." She said as started blushing

Nacht froze, he wasn't as dense as Yami, he knew exactly what this meant.

"Maybe..... for just the both of us, I know we have our squad headquarters but maybe we could go to that house during breaks." She continued. "I mean I kept this mansion because we can get our privacy. Don't get me wrong, I like your squad-."

Nacht kissed her forehead and she froze. "You don't have to explain, even I want to have some time for just the both of us." He said.

"I see, so if you aren't busy tomorrow shall we go look for a house? My break will be over soon and I want to be done with all the mansion and house head related work before that. "

"Sure" Nacht said and kissed her " I'd love that."

So what do you think? Also is my grammar okay?

Oh~ We went from an xreader to an oc~! How fun!

Astrea Celeste... A very spatial name. Stars and nighttime is a classic combo so the aesthetic of Astrea and Nacht's name alone is attractive~!

The first scene scene gives a smaller snapshot of Astrea's feelings towards her position as a whole. She doesn't like the duties she has as head of house, but she doesn't neglect doing them. Her responsibilities do weigh on her but she has the diligence to see them through. I also get the feeling that Astrea is bothered by the hollow excess of her position, like being served far too much food at once.

It's also very nice that Astrea doesn't take her frustrations out on others (at least from what you've shared here). She's not all that warm in the one interaction she has with her staff but neither does she make harsh comments about the chef's over indulgence. She just makes it known what she wants done without fanfare.

The plainness of the earlier interaction then highlights her intimacy with Nacht. She goes to hug him and lets herself cry, unloading her negative feelings. However, Astrea doesn't mope too long and instead shows some fluster when suggesting that she and Nacht live together. She's emotive without being temperamental. I feel that Nacht would take a lover who is quieter than his squad and easy to be around. And so Astrea being able to voice her feelings without being over the top about works for Nacht.

Eh heh heh heh~! The forehead kiss... Nacht smooching his s/o's forehead is something that's so easy to picture and feels so right.

I can tell your grammar has improved with this new snippet. Like, letting the single sentence of Astrea's idea coming to mind being its own paragraph is a good show of how she has the idea and pauses because it feels like a strong revelation to her. I have an easy time reading the flow of your sentences, although I think some comma divided parts could be turned into full sentence stops like

Nacht froze. He wasn't as dense as Yami and so he knew exactly what this meant.

And the only other bit that caught my attention was the use of "burst into tears." It comes off as a little strong, though maybe it's because I take the "burst" a little literally and picture someone letting out an audible sob. If you just meant that Astrea begins crying very suddenly, I think it still comes across.

Again, I like what you're sharing. It's got emotions and tenderness even without strictly being fluff. The drama isn't on the level of some canon events but it still gets me invested because sometimes the smaller, personal matters are more engaging since they laser focus on an individual. And seeing Nacht being able to support someone rather than need the support himself is nice.

#questions from the ask box #soda asides #🖤 anon #nacht faust #black clover oc #astrea celeste #nacht x astrea #(kisses nacht and astrea) #take care of each other lovelies...

[rwdestuffs]

I feel like the conflict was a bit more interesting when the cat wasn't a villain. It gave an actual conflict to the plot because we felt that both jaune and the cat were victims. But now that he's an antagonist (Admittedly, one with a decently compelling motive of wanting to know why he was left behind), it kinda feels… Hollow, I guess? I'm not sure what word I'm looking for is, but "hollow" feels like the most appropriate until I can figure out what word I mean. I know that I'm not looking for "unearned" though.

I really liked the conflict he had with jaune because it made neither of them the bad guy, nor did it make either of them the good guy. But now with this conflict, it really feels like it's black and white. The heroic knight jaune is now in conflict with the trickster cat… The Cat.

Which, props for doing that with the cat's new color scheme, I guess (Kinda obvious that it's now a black and white morality story going on, but interesting symbolism nonetheless), but holy hell is it boring. The conflict could have been the world and how different it is from the story that they know and Neo's singleminded quest for revenge, not the cat's manipulative nature.

We went from "Neither knew what happened to Alyx and Lewis at the tree" to "The cat did that because of his singleminded drive of figuring out why his creators left him behind."

I feel like something that would have been more compelling would be "The Cat is the ONLY ONE NOT allowed to ascend to the tree." He's the historian. He's the one that keeps records of what happens. And maybe he wants to know what would happen if he were to ascend, but he's not allowed to. So instead of all that, he's looking for someone to take his place as the record keeper. The whole "I want someone else to take up this job so I can live the life I want to" is a motive that is hard to fail.

Maybe this volume is here to deconstruct simple but still singleminded motives? Because if so, then way to go writers. It took you about nine years to deconstruct Ruby's singleminded goal of "Become a Huntress to help people" all the way back from Volume 2, but you did it! Yay for you! You get one clapping emoji for that 👏.

Look: I'm aware that the show is very much built around subverting expectations and stuff, but right now, I think we're at the point where the subversions are expected. Taking away the nuance and the shades of grey that were present prior to this episode wasn't interesting, all it did was just sorta make the cat feel like one of Disney's twist villains. Just there to be a villain for the twist. For a show about subverting expectations, doing the whole "Knight vs. Trickster" archetypal rivalry feels like staying on-brand with expectations, rather than subverting them. Kinda feels weird complaining about staying true to expectations in the same paragraph that I said that it felt like not subverting the expectations felt more like the subversion though.

But other than that rant about the cat, I really did think the episode did good. Focusing on Ruby's insecurities and deconstructing Neo's motives was well-done (by RT standards), and even having the rest of team _WBY admit that they did make mistakes in not reaching out to Ruby and instead expecting her to reach out to them was a good choice considering the strange reactions (And lack thereof) they had when Ruby initially blew up at them. It's a pretty good reflection of real life too. People who are hurting on the inside very rarely reach out to others because they always feel like a burden. I know I've felt that way before. Wish they had a better trigger warning for it though.

And while openly admitting that Neo's goals devolved into "I want revenge on Ruby for what happened to Torchwick" and showing that revenge will only lead to being lost once it's been obtained is an interesting way to go about the character, it feels more like the writers forgot that Neo was a character. Admittedly, she was thrown in last-second, so I can somewhat forgive it, but it still feels weird. Kinda wish they had done the whole "Revenge will make you feel empty" thing with a certain other character coughcoughAdamcough, but this is pretty good too.

And the beatdown that Ruby suffered, while brutal, was a great way of deconstructing the common complaint that has been prevalent since Mantle. That being "Team RWBY ends up hurting more than helping." And, despite my pessimism in RT, I'm looking forward to where the question that lies goes onto. Because maybe we'll finally get some Summer Rose scraps.

I want to meet the woman who inspired Ruby and raised Yang, goddammit.

#does this count as rwby? #does this count as rwde?

[marshiestars]

Tag 9 People You Want To Get To Know Better

thank you @scrawnytreedemon for tagging!! let’s begin, shall we? :3c

Three Ships: ughhhhh this is real hard because I JUST invented the most horrible, wonderful “why does it work” crackship a few weeks ago, but if I want to include it, I have to ignore one of my three big zelda ships :C

1. Ghiralink. because of course. I feel like it’s illegal to leave this one out or put it any lower. it’s the good food. it’s well-established. I can afford to be picky with my content. it’s great :D

2. Astlink! sorry Kohlink, but Astlink is less likely to scare half my audience away 😔.

tbh I’m still VERY surprised that Astor and Link aren’t paired together nearly as often as Zelast (Astor / Zelda). don’t get me wrong, both are rare pairs, but somehow Astlink is even *rarer* shksjhdjhsshs, and I can’t for the life of me figure out why. either way, it's 'moody goth bitch rejected by society (or maybe he rejected society first, it's a chicken or egg situation tbh) with the perfect golden person that everyone admires who secretly has their own issues'!! and it's about how they're on the complete opposite sides of this huge conflict and yet they find unexpected parallels in each other! and having everything fall apart but deciding to be a better person, even when the rest of the world says it's too late, because that one person believes in you and is willing to give you a chance! darkness and light! it's GOOD FOOD

(...man, I really gotta finish chapter 3 of swordsman and the seer.)

3. ...fuck it. scrawny, I hereby challenge you for the title of Weirdest Fucking Crossover Ship. Ghirahim x Godrick? Sephiroth x the Hollow Knight? I'm intrigued, but not crumbling to ash at the thought.

and so I give you this in place of gushing about Kohlink, which is unbelievably rare, but damn it, at least they're from the same source material! besides, I wasn't the first person to pair them by a long shot, no, no, no.

but there’s a special, lonely sort of pride in knowing you’re probably the first of 8 billion people in the world to ever even think of a pairing. ready? here it is:

R*x D*ng*rv*st x S*np*i from FNF.

(censored their names like that because if this shows up in the tags I’m gonna jump out a window)

yeah, man. I don't even know either.

I mean, I do know, somewhere, and my original train of thought is buried in the memory slush of a few months ago, gone forever. so now we're here. fuck. kill me. why am I writing shit for these two. girl what the hell is this

everyone who reads this post, I want a brick emoji in my inbox to simulate getting one through my window

First Ever Ship: ANYWAY, fuck, I don’t even remember at this point, I've been in greater fandom for so long. wait... oh, son of a bitch, nevermind, I do.

*sigh*

it was Billdip.

DO NOT COME AFTER ME, I DON’T SHIP IT ANYMORE. haven’t for years. I was 12. but I loved Bill Cipher (still do, he's my funny meow meow blorbo <3) and was very upset when the finale happened even though I knew that was how it had to be. but every time Billdip art came across my screen, I saw cool art where he: # 1. was still around and # 2. was more often than not a pretty human / humanoid (this was at the height of his sexymanification). hell, I didn't even give a shit about Dipper honestly, I just wanted more Bill content. and again, being literally 12, I didn’t really stop to think abt any moral implications. but yeah.

(also nowadays I hc Bill as ace sooo)

Last Song: 'She Had The World' by Panic! very nice to sing to, it's right in my range <3

Last Movie: does ‘My Little Pony: A Very Minty Christmas’ count? it’s a childhood film and practically tradition for me to watch it every year for christmas lol. although this year I’ve been replaying it for... research purposes. yeah. totally not for a lethally cursed fanfic, no sir.

if that doesn’t count, then ‘The Lego Movie’!

Currently Reading: nothing atm!! even as my 'to read' pile gets taller by the day, hhhh

Currently Watching: Minty Christmas, again, but definitely not so I can copy the dialogue verbatim to use as the base for a coked-up christmas crack fic

Currently Consuming: soup <3

Currently Craving: instant ramen, good god, especially if it’s spicy. they have cups for sale in vending machines around campus but they’re all beef and chicken flavour :C

I won't tag anyone else in this because nine people is a lot; far too many to bother with this wall of personal nonsense shdhdj but thanks anyway for tagging me scrawny, my beloved mutual!!! <3

#long post #ask game

[comfort-questing]

night and death and the rain are given (p5)

previous

Diluc didn't think he was hungry, but he did dimly realize he hadn't eaten since the night before, so he complied when Jean handed him a bowl of soup. It felt strange to be standing up and eating across from Jean at his messy desk in his room, but not a bad kind of strangeness - or else a less bad kind of strangeness than everything else that was happening.

"I can't stay long," Jean said, an elbow on the desk rim, soup bowl wedged between a paperweight and a book of maps. "I wish I could. But - "

"Of course." They needed her, back at the city, because she'd conditioned and permitted the Knights to run to her with every problem; and being Jean, she wouldn't leave them to inflict the consequences of their bumbling on the locals.

"You have to rest, sir, and you have to finish that soup, too." She narrowed her eyes at him just a little. "Take care of yourself for Kaeya's sake, if you can't do it for your own."

Ironic indeed coming from Jean, but Diluc said nothing, only nodded and mechanically took another spoonful.

"I'm staying," said Barbara from across the room. "Don't worry, Jean. I'll see to them both."

Diluc did not particularly like the sound of that last part. But Jean finished off her soup and put the last bite of crusty roll in her mouth far too quickly for his wishing, and stood up, with a quick press of her hand to his shoulder. "Send word if anything changes with him. Please."

He nodded again, not trusting his voice quite, and followed her to Kaeya's bedside. For the first time in long hours his foster-brother was sleeping peacefully, sweat-matted hair half-covering his eye and the eyepatch, his breathing slow and even despite the flush of fever along his cheekbones. He didn't stir as Jean bent over him, or touched her lips quickly to his forehead.

"Be strong, my captain," she whispered, just loudly enough for Diluc to catch the words. "Hold on. There are so many of us who love you."

And then, far too quickly again, Jean was gone, her boots and cane slow on the staircase and fading away below.

*

The afternoon wore on, in cloud-scattered sunlight and wind through the open casement, in drowsy moments of nodding off and snatches of song from Barbara, in endlessly patient attempts to drip water into Kaeya's mouth with a spoon or use a damp cloth to wipe his dry cracked lips. Diluc knew dimly that he should be busy with other matters too, from the sound of voices in the hallway and carts creaking in and out of the front courtyard. But he couldn't will himself to budge from where he sat for more than the fewest moments possible, and Elzer had taken one look at him on the staircase and told him kindly that he wasn't needed particularly at the moment anyway.

This was a lie, Diluc knew perfectly well. There plenty of was work he was needed for, and more work to do after that, which he was also needed for. But he was grateful for the mercy nonetheless.

Barbara fixed her eyes on him at one point when he'd returned with a fresh basin of water and asked, pointedly, "Has your heart been bothering you more these days, sir? Any dizzy spells? Fainting?"

"No - not much - not worth mentioning." He didn't like lying to Barbara, and it never seemed to work. "I'm fine, Barbara."

She tilted her head a fraction, gold curls bobbing.

"Make sure you're getting lots of water to drink and lots of salt," she said, "and don't stay out too long in the cold and damp now that autumn's here. And don't climb cliffs for at least another month."

Diluc sighed, rubbing at the sore bone-hollows above his ears. "I said that I am perfectly fine, and I stand by this remark." He hadn't exactly been planning to go to Dragonspine again soon anyway.

Barbara didn't look like she believed him, but she did stop talking.

Kaeya grew more restless again as the day drew on, tossing and turning amid the covers, flinching away from Barbara's hands and coughing on the water they trickled into his mouth. Adelinde and Barbara worked together to change his bandages again, and Diluc held him still once more, sitting on the bed pillows and cradling Kaeya's head and shoulders against him to make the girls' job easier. He clenched his teeth at every wince and startle that his foster-brother made, pitifully easy as it was to pin Kaeya's hands down with his own. After they'd finally got the fresh bandages on, another round of healing Hydro from Barbara sent him back into limp stillness; the inert weight of his body in Diluc's arms was almost more frightening than the earlier agitation.

"He's responding well to the healing, anyway," Barbara said, smiling brightly up at Diluc. "That's a good sign."

Nothing about this looked like a good sign to Diluc, but he didn't say so.

He clung to that promise anyway, as the sharp golden afternoon turned to evening, blue-purple dusk gathering above the shore of Cider Lake and the mountain's silhouette looming cloud-wrapped in the distance. He didn't want to let go of Kaeya, and so he stayed where he was, leaning back against the pillows and letting Kaeya rest in the curve of his arm and side, head lolling against his shoulder.

Winds of mercy, Kaeya seemed so fragile now, as if the bones of his face were rubbing through the transparent tawny skin. The shadow under his visible eye was sunken, the heavy dark locks of his hair unkempt and damp with sweat and Hydro mist.

"I have to rest," Barbara said, when Hilie had come through to light the lamps. "I can help more - later. I'm sorry, sir."

"Nothing to be sorry for," Diluc muttered.

"Wake me anyway if anything changes." She rubbed her eyes, stifling a yawn in her sleeve. "I'll do my best, I promise! Honestly - " Another yawn interrupted her then, and Hilie ushered her out of the room.

*

So Diluc was alone with Kaeya in the early watches of the night, as the last round of Hydro wore off and his fever soared again, heedless of the cool cloths Diluc wiped his flushed face with. He scratched and flailed against Diluc's hands and cried out broken words in some language Diluc didn't understand, until his struggling turned to shivering, pressing close to hide his face from the lamplight.

"Help me," Kaeya was whispering, then, between gasping shuddering breaths. "Help. It hurts, it hurts."

Diluc blinked, the tears in his eyes a hazed shimmer in the light.

"I'm here," he said, hoarsely. He ran a hand through Kaeya's hair, bringing his foster-brother's face in towards his chest, clutching him close to try to still the shivering. "I've got you, Kay. Luc's got you."

"Diluc," Kaeya said, and reaching out, he clung to Diluc's shirt with both hands just as he had the night before, knuckles white with strain. "Luc, don't go."

"I am not going to go anywhere," Diluc said. "I swear it by the winds and the Archons." He swallowed hard, the lump in his throat burning, almost choking his words off; his voice shook, but he wanted to speak, desperate in case waiting made it too late. "And I will always be here if you choose to come home. Or if you don't, either. Whatever you choose. You know that, Kay? I - I want you to always know that."

"Luc," said Kaeya again, and sighed, and did not let go.

Diluc was never sure quite when the tide turned, somewhere in the dark blank hours between midnight and morning, when the world seemed small and close and all the shadows hid terrible possibilities. But nonetheless it did, the wild flutter of Kaeya's heartbeat slowing again, his sharp breaths lengthening, and the ghastly heat of his fever ebbing away so that Diluc folded another blanket around him to keep the chill of the autumn night off.

And then, at last, they both slept until morning.

#genshin impact whump #hurt comfort #whump #whump fic #crow writes a thing

[eryiss]

The Perils Of Matchmaking

Summary: Freed knew he and Laxus couldn't last, and he was meant to marry someone else. But, at his engagement party, he realises the mistake he's made. But is it too late?

Notes: Hi all. Day for of @fuckyeahfraxus Fraxus Week. This one is inspired by royal romances. It also has a side ship of Rufus x Orga, which was really fun to write. I hope you enjoy it.

Links: Ao3, FFN

The Perils of Matchmaking

As a prospective mate, there was nothing necessarily wrong with Rufus.

Freed knew that he would have to marry the man, so he should probably start being more optimistic about him. He should also start referring to Rufus as his fiancé rather than his prospective mate, but it was the only way he could protest the ridiculous lot in life he'd been given, and he would do so until he could no longer speak. Words like fiancé, lover, and partner were far too romantic anyway, that was hardly an accurate descriptor for what was happening between Prince Freed Justine, third of his name, and Viscount Rufus Lore.

Rufus was fine, but not much else. He was elegant, handsome, and charming enough, but not to Freed's taste. He was simply a little too… royal. He had probably been prepared from childhood to be Freed's ideal husband, and as such he'd had his personality whipped away. Or maybe he'd always been this way, Freed didn't know.

That was Freed's main problem with Rufus: he didn't know him.

Optimistically, Freed would say they had met maybe three times in their lives. Once, when they were children, Rufus had been invited to the palace so Freed could meet boys his own age. Once on Freed's sixteenth birthday, when Rufus had been invited as the guest of honour despite Freed not remembering his name. And the current time, at their engagement party. All in all, Freed would say they'd had about seven hours in each other's company in their lives, and now they were expected to be wed and to be happy about it. Freed had to wonder at his parents' delusion, because they were really acting as if this day was the best of his life. They genuinely seemed to think that he would be delighted with this turn of events.

Maybe he was being cruel in an immediate dismissal. They'd chosen a man over a woman, and Freed knew of many kingdoms where that wouldn't be an option. And, on paper, he and Rufus could be seen as kindred spirits. Intellectuals at heart, a similar shared fashion style, and likely they were both born to a lifestyle the general populous wouldn't understand. But, speaking with Rufus just made Freed feel flat. Stilted. Uninterested.

The party was already a rambunctious affair, with the usually reserved and stiff collared people of the palace seemingly free and loose from their restrictions. They danced and drank and laughed, and it felt like Freed was the only person there struggling with the event. He wondered if it showed on his face.

Probably. He didn't have much to smile about.

Obviously, he had known this was coming, but it didn't make things any easier. As he sat at the head of the table, his future mate beside him, he felt hollow and bored and miserable in equal measures. The lavishness around him seemed to taunt him, like a trap that nobody else could see. The ring on his finger was the shackle, one that he would be with for the rest of his life.

He gulped down a solemn swallow at the thought of his future. That had always been out of his control, but recently it didn't feel like it. The past year, he had seen the cracks in his gilded cage and felt like he could break free from it. But not anymore, not without Laxus.

Where was Laxus? It was all Freed could think about.

Of course, he wasn't at the party, he was far too low a rung on the castle's ladder. He was a knight, so likely was standing at one of the doors, keeping them safe and contributing to the world rather than dictating it. Freed could probably find him, if he were so inclined, and spin a lie about needing air to tender his thoughts and better give his future husband the attention he deserved, but he thought against it. Standing beside Laxus was nothing, certainly not compared to lying in his arms.

Thinking of Laxus was the worst thing he could do, of course. The heart could only yearn for what the mind gave focus to, but knowing that didn't change Freed. All he could think of was the night before, where he'd slept in Laxus' arms.

----

"We could run," Freed said, voice low and quiet. "Steal a horse and some jewels, flee the country and live as we pleased."

Laxus chuckled, and Freed was rocked slightly by the movement of his body. They were in Laxus' barracks, tucked close in the cot bed and huddled under the scratchy blankets they were provided. Nobody else in the barracks was awake, and Freed doubted they would speak up if they did. The entire guard's unit knew of he and Laxus' relationship, and Freed wouldn't be shocked if it was castle gossip all around.

"Where would we go?" Laxus asked, a finger gently drawing spirals into Freed's back. "Not the south, right?"

"Of course," Freed huffed out an offended scoff. "Far too hot a climate. No, somewhere to the north, where it snows. The mountains, perhaps. You could build us a cabin; it should be easy for you with how often you boast your practical skills."

"I could," Laxus nodded a little, and Freed smiled. He yawned and let his eyes flutter closed, his cheek brushing Laxus' chest. "Or we could get a house that's already been built. With a bed and a kitchen and everything your princely ass couldn't live without."

"A beautiful view would tend to all my needs," Freed assured him, then yawned again. "And with you around, I'm sure that wouldn't be a problem."

"You're bein' charming now, huh?"

"No, simply pointing out that you're so ridiculously tall that sitting on your shoulders would put me higher than any ugly intrusion," Freed smiled as Laxus laughed and pulled him closer. "I'm sure that, with your help, I could see the ocean from any part of the kingdom without hindrance."

"Nah, you just think I'm beautiful," Laxus pushed, and Freed was not going to argue with that. "So, we're living in the mountains in a cabin that I've built, huh? You gonna contribute anything to this or just sit on your ass and look at the view."

"Would providing materials for the house count?"

"Not if you want all the prince jokes to stop."

"I could learn to hunt," Freed mused, eyes closing as he considered. "I've shot animals before, so if we stole a rifle then I could use that. And if not, then I'm sure you could train me to use a knife. That would work better, I expect. No need to rely on a town for ammunition. We could be self sufficient. Just the two of us."

"Is that what you'd want?" Laxus asked, sounding tired himself. "Just the two of us."

"It's something I think about a lot," Freed gently ran a hand down Laxus' stomach, cold skin a nice contrast to Freed's warmer body. "The two of us together. No need to consider what other people think. No need to hide away from the crowds and my parents. No need to be anything but in love with each other."

"You need to be alone for that?" Laxus asked, and there was a tinge of an emotion there. An emotion Freed couldn't identify but didn't like.

"I would make you my consort at this moment if I could. I would parade you around with such pride that nobody in this kingdom would dare doubt my adoration for you. I would declare my love for you on the world's stage, but I can't," Freed pressed a light kiss onto Laxus' chest. "But there's precedent for breaking the tradition of matchmaking. If the current King or Queen aren't in support of the match, the attacks begin. Everyone in society will slander you, dredge up everything you've done and paint it in a way that makes you look awful. You'll be after money and power, and you'd only be with me to use me. Or you'd be reduced to a pretty face that turned me away from my duties. If my family isn't united in your support, you're the enemy. You'd be forced to dine with men who want to hurt you, each and every day, and I don't think I can put you through that."

"What if I think you're worth all of that?" Laxus asked.

"Then I would doubt your judgement," Freed sighed, looking up at Laxus' with sad eyes. "I don't know what we can do, Laxus. But I know what it's like to have an entire kingdom judging you, and that's horrid enough when they seem to like you. Having that many people hate you - and to have them hate you for loving someone - it would be unimaginable. I can't think that wouldn't be hell on earth," He averted his eyes, speaking quietly. "I can't imagine it wouldn't ruin what we have. I'm scared of you growing to not love me anymore. I'm sorry if it's selfish."

"It's not selfish," Laxus murmured. "I hate it, I'm not gonna pretend I don't, but I'm not gonna push you to do anything you don't want to do."

"Would you say yes," Freed whispered. "If I could make it happen, would you rule beside me? Be my prince?"

"It'd be an honour," Laxus' voice was so quiet, Freed could barely hear it, but the words nursed him into a soft, dream filled sleep.

----

"I can't do this," Rufus' voice cut through Freed's thoughts, and it took him a moment to realise Rufus was looking at him. He was smiling as if sharing a secret between lovers, but his tone belied his inner turmoil. "I'm sorry, but I can't."

"You can't do what?" Freed asked, wondering after the smile.

"Marry you," Rufus said it so quietly that nobody but Freed would have been able to hear it. "I'm truly sorry if this is something that you wanted, but I'm of the idea that love trumps convenience and the desire for social advancement. I played along with this, I didn't know what else to do, but this is far too much for me. A wedding without love is a contradiction in terms. This night has been hellish - a night of sitting on thrones and being catered to - and I can't endure a life like this. I can't marry you, Prince Justine. I'm sorry but I can't."

Freed looked at Rufus properly for the first time, and it was like looking at a new man. He still wore the fake smile, probably to stop anyone looking from realising what they were discussing, but there was an honesty and openness in him now. If they were alike as Freed thought they were, he could only imagine one thing that would bring out such openness.

"Who are they? The person who has claimed your heart so strongly."

"Orga Nanagear," Rufus whispered, and smiled earnestly at the name. Freed gaped at the familiar name.

"Dreng Orga Nanagear?" He parroted the name, adding the title to the start of it. "The scourge of the northern seas? The warrior of lightning? That Orga Nanagear?"

"He'll be delighted to know his reputation proceeds him this far into land," Rufus laughed to himself. "And yes, the very same."

"How in the god's name did that happen?" Freed spluttered, fascination drowning out everything else.

Under his breath, Rufus told Freed the first love story he had ever believed in. Rufus, under his father's command, needed to earn his place in the family business. He had been sent to the north to negotiate for a cheaper price of fish from one of his father's suppliers. Rufus had been arrogant and assumed it would be easy, and as such had conducted his negotiation on the boat itself. It had not gone well, a scuffle had occurred, and the fishermen had pushed Rufus overboard and left him to swim back to the coastline despite being miles away from it. He would have likely drowned in the churning ocean, if it weren't for the Viking captain Dreng Orga Nanagear, who fished him from the ocean and took him back to shore.

Rufus had caught a cold after his dunking in the ocean, and Orga had nursed him to health before allowing him to leave for home. Rufus' father had beaten him for destroying his links to the fisherman, and Orga had offered him a home to recover. Rufus had fallen in love, and Orga had fallen for him back.

As enraptured as Freed was by this abridged story, he could only really focus on Rufus's smile. It was the smile of a man besotted, and it made Freed think back to Laxus and the moment he knew he was in love.

----

"Wow, you are really bad at that," Laxus' grumbling voice shocked Freed, and he fumbled with the bow and let the arrow fall to the grass as he turned.

It was night, and Freed was standing in the knight's training yard, which was illuminated by torches despite the fact it was meant to be unused in the night. The archery targets were still set up, and an array of arrows were scattered across the grass near the closest target. One of them had actually hit the target, and quite close to the centre too, but anyone who saw the mess could guess that it had been a fluke rather than a sudden burst of skill.

"Do you really want to mock me when I'm armed?" Freed asked, raising the bow and pointing it at Laxus despite it not having an arrow.

"With your aim? I'm not scared," Laxus smiled, handsome face illuminated by the flickering torch light as he stepped closer. He was wearing his casual clothes and looked handsome in his sleep worn state. "But I'm afraid I'm not here for you, your highness. Y'see, I was told there was a neerdowell skulking around the training grounds; apparently a shady character who could pose a threat to the royal family. It can't be you, of course. Because, if it was you that might be trying to kill the king, you'd at least have to be able to shoot an arrow at a target that's about ten feet away. Looking around at this, at all these embarrassing mistakes, I don't believe you could do that."

"And I didn't believe you could say words as long as neerdowell. I suppose life is full of surprises," Freed smiled, walking towards Laxus with the bow still in hand.

"Guess it is," Laxus nodded, placing his hands on Freed's side. "A lot of people are surprised at how good a bowstring can be at strangling a jumped up little rich boy when he pisses a knight off."

"It's perhaps less surprising to find out that the aforementioned rich boy-"

"Jumped up little rich boy," Laxus corrected.

"The aforementioned jumped up little rich boy," Freed agreed with a smile. "Can have any knight hung, drawn and quartered without any difficulty whatsoever."

"Capital punishment is outlawed," Laxus murmured with a smile.

"There are other definitions behind those words," Freed purred, leaning in, his breath ghosting Laxus' lips. "Maybe I would have you painted nude, and have prints sold throughout the kingdom for a quarter of your worth. That would certainly bring out your shy side, I expect."

"That's only drawn and quartered. I guess the hung part was covered with me being nude?" Laxus grinned.

"Don't be smug, darling. You're much better red faced and stumbling over your words," Freed pressed a chaste kiss, before his teasing smile parted for a genuine one. "I'm sorry if I forced you out of your bed. I thought I was being subtle."

"I was playing cards with some of the other men," Laxus shrugged, and Freed didn't believe him. Your hair didn't get that messy playing cards. But, Laxus was being kind so Freed wouldn't call him out on his lie. Laxus took the bow from Freed's hand and gently ran a finger down the wood. "You're still at it, huh?"

"Until I become proficient, this is where I'll be."

As part of his duty to his kingdom, Freed needed to be battle ready. His family had told him he needed to excel at one of the fighting styles that his army were required to know, so that if war came, he could fight alongside them. He had chosen swordsmanship and had gotten a reputation for being able to hold his own against most of the knights who were stationed at the castle. Not enough for him, he wanted to learn the other main form of fighting: archery. But his skills with a sword were inversely proportional to his skills with a bow, as he was pathetically inept with the weapon.

For two weeks, he had been trying, and yet he had made no progress. He chalked that up to being distracted by other duties, which had been put on hold when he was learning to use a sword, but he had kept at it. But as he put more time into it, his skills remained low.

"Show me what you're doin', I'll tell you where you're going wrong," Laxus instructed, removing his hands from Freed's hips.

Freed nodded, pulled an arrow from the quiver and pulled it into the bow. As he had multiple times that night, he pulled the bowstring back, closed one of his eyes and did his best to focus on the centre of the target. The bowstring snapped with a loud twang as he released it, and the arrow flew through the air. It was on track from the target but landed in the dirt a limp three feet from the target. Freed could have snapped the bow in frustration.

"You're trying to run before you can walk," Laxus scolded, stepping forward. "You're focusing on the target, but you're not there yet. You don't know how to judge power yet. If you don't know how to do that, you can't aim. You're trying to do everything but don't know how to do anything yet."

It was refreshingly honest, and Freed liked that about Laxus. "How did you know that?"

"You kept wavering between raising the bow higher to get it to stay in the air longer and pulling the string back to amp up the power," Laxus answered, then walked towards the row of targets. He started to move them around, taking them off their stands and placing them face up on the ground in a row in front of Freed. "Shoot an arrow, don't aim for anything. If you shoot it straight, it's gonna hit one of these targets."

Laxus stepped back and crossed his arms, a clear sign that Freed was being instructed and there was no room for argument. Freed pulled another arrow from the quiver, slid the string back and let the arrow fly. As Laxus had expected, it landed on one of the targets that covered the grass. The fifth one in the row.

"Good," Laxus said, not moving. "Do it again, exactly like you just did, and hit the same target. We're gonna stay here until you've hit that target ten times."

"Why?" Freed asked but pulled an arrow out.

"Because once you've managed it ten times, you'll know exactly how far you pull the string back and how high to aim it. You know how to get the power for that exact shot, and that's a good baseline to start with. Once we figure that out, we figure out what we need to do to get you to hit the next target. We make those adjustments, you hit the next target ten times. Then we do it with another target. Then another. We keep going until you can judge how to cover each distance. Once we're comfortable with that, you're halfway to being good at archery."

It sounded so simple, and Laxus' simple pragmatism spurred Freed on.

Simple was the last thing it was, and after missing the target five times Freed wanted to set the bow on fire and storm into his quarters in defeat. He knew Laxus wouldn't allow that, not after the last time Laxus tried to teach him something. His parents had been away, and Laxus had told the maid that Freed wanted to clean his own quarters for the week. Laxus had demanded military standards when it came to how Freed made his bed and mopped his floor and Freed had eventually yelled at Laxus that this was not something he needed to know.

Laxus had, in turn, decided that Freed was sleeping in the barracks for the rest of the week and would work to the same standard as all the castle's knights. Erza, the knight commander, had needed some convincing to let it happen, but she had caved, and Freed had lived like a knight for a week. It had been hard for him, but good. He learned personal responsibility and his first touch of true independence. Now, he didn't need a maid for his chambers, which kept him grounded and allowed his cleaner some time off.

No, Laxus wouldn't let him storm off when things got hard, and Freed was glad of it.

"Okay, let's try this," Laxus said, stepping forward when he could see Freed's frustration growing. "Close your eyes."

"What?"

"Close your eyes and let me guide you."

Freed, not sure what was about to happen, closed his eyes. Laxus stood behind him, body pressed against Freed's as he placed his hands on Freed's. He guided Freed without words, showing him how high to aim the arrow and how far back to hold the bow.

"Think about how your body is right now. Remember it. Keep it sealed in your muscles," Laxus said, voice low and distracting. "Let it go, but keep your eyes closed.

Freed did as he was told. He took a moment to focus on his body, the strain in his muscles and the wind on his face. The bow was tilted up and his fingers were burning against the bowstring. He was getting good at meditation - another thing Laxus had taught him about - and he felt at one with his body for the moment. There was no target to shoot, just a post to hold. With that in mind, he let the arrow go and kept his eyes closed, focusing on the sound of the airborne arrow.

"Did it hit the target?" Freed asked, expecting Laxus to move. He didn't.

"I ain't gonna tell you that until I say something else first," Laxus whispered into Freed's ear. "You're allowed not to be good at this, you understand me? I get you're a perfectionist, and you hate it when things don't work out, but I need you to know things can go wrong and it doesn't mean the world's gonna end. It's okay to miss."

"Laxus, I'm a prince-"

"That's why I'm saying it," Laxus said firmly. "People act like you can't make mistakes, and maybe there are things you'll have to do that y' have to get right, but not this. Nothing with me has to be perfect, you understand? At least with me, you can stumble around in the dark and fuck up all you want. I wanna see that side of you as much as I wanna see the perfect prince."

Freed didn't know what to say, and there was a worry that he might be crying, so all he could think to do was whisper: "Can I open my eyes now, Laxus?"

"Of course," Laxus smiled, still not moving.

Freed opened his eyes and saw the arrow he had shot in the centre of the target. Laxus hadn't said all of that to placate him and make him feel better, he had said it just for the sake of it. Because he wanted Freed to know it. That was the moment he knew Laxus was the man he loved.

----

"You can't marry me," Freed agreed, because if Rufus felt for Orga like Freed felt for Laxus, then trapping him in marriage would be cruel.

"Who are they?" Rufus parroted Freed's own words back at him, and Freed smiled indulgently.

"He's one of my knights," He confessed, blushing a little. "You might have seen him. He's blonde, rather large and with a scar over his eye in the shape of a lightning bolt."

"Yes, I did. He's a handsome man, isn't he?" Rufus laughed, and Freed tried to ignore the slight shot of jealousy that ran through him. "And a knight in your own castle? You certainly don't make things easy for yourself, do you?"

"Says the man in love with a Viking," Freed laughed.

"No, I think out of the two of us, I've chosen the easier life," Rufus sounded remorseful, then looked contemplative for a moment. A stubborn look crossed his face, and Freed had to wonder what was going on in his mind. "Despite that, I believe that I might have a way for us both to be happy."

"Oh?" Freed asked but didn't believe it.

"If I don't marry you, I'll be removed from polite society with vicious speed," Rufus said, and Freed knew that it was true. "I only have my father left, and I don't care for him. While wealth keeps me comfortable, it doesn't do much else for me. I don't own anything, not until I inherit my family business. My father is unfortunately quite healthy, so that will take some time. All of this is to say, I lift out of society shockingly well. In fact, I'd wager that I could run for the north, stumble across a certain boat, and live a life with the captain without anybody caring about it. It's a sad reflection on my life up until now, but helpful given the situation."

"I suppose it is," Freed said slowly, not exactly sure how this helped him.

"If I'm leaving, I don't care about the legacy I leave behind me," Rufus continued, almost sounding mischievous. "A prince and a knight aren't a bad match, they would just need a little push to get the public on their side. Who doesn't love a good love story? And what is a love story without a villain? A villain who, perhaps, cheated on the charming prince despite their engagement?"

Freed looked around. The idea was a good one. If he painted Rufus as the cheat, then Freed could get out of this marriage without anyone questioning him. It would be easy to spin a story about the prince falling into the arms of a handsome guard, who repaired his heart and brought his smile back. The public would eat it up.

"You'd be okay with playing that role?"

"I'm perfectly fine with it. Are you okay with playing the role of a jilted lover?" Rufus asked, and Freed nodded. He could play any role to assure his and Laxus' relationship. "This will only work on the public, I expect. Your family-"

"I will deal with my family," Freed said firmly. "Perhaps if I had done so earlier none of this would be needed. You have my apologies for that."

"We both made mistakes, we wouldn't be here if we hadn't," Rufus shrugged. "You should expose me as a cheater here and now, so people can gossip about it, and nobody can deny it."

"You'll have to make a swift exit," Freed mused, looking around.

"I may have organised a horse to be waiting for me," Rufus said, averting his eyes. "Just in case. Don't worry about me, Freed. I can handle myself."

"I can see that. I do have one more question for you, before we do this," Freed smiled a little, and Rufus tilted his head. "The Vikings, do they have any form of marriage in their culture?"

"They do, though not quite like what we know it to be," Rufus looked content even thinking about it. "It's purely an expression of love, there's no exchange of property nor societal position. It's simply a way for two people who have found love to celebrate it publicly and further their bond."

"Well, if it's appropriate, when you and your Viking engage in this ceremony, I will expect an invitation, as will my knight," Freed said with princely authority. Rufus just laughed.

"I will make it so," Rufus promised. "Now, enough dawdling, I have a veritable God sailing around without my company and I'd like to amend that fact. Might I suggest throwing a drink in my face to kickstart the proceedings."

Freed smiled, picked up a glass filled with wine, and nodded. "It'd be my pleasure."

----

Four Hours Later

"Hey," Laxus said quietly, sneaking into Freed's room quietly. "Heard what happened. You okay?"

Freed was still wearing the suit he had worn for his engagement party and had been waiting impatiently for Laxus to arrive. Usually, it would be Freed going to Laxus as Freed could walk the halls without question, but he was being watched and gossiped about by everyone in the castle so couldn't leave his room without being talked about. Laxus, however, had managed to get the night patrol so could walk to Freed's rooms without anyone wondering what he was doing. Freed tried not to focus on the fact Laxus had gotten the night shift as a distraction from Freed's engagement.

Once he saw Laxus, Freed felt warm inside again. He stormed over to him and hugged him despite his armour and the hilt of his sword digging into his thigh. Laxus hugged him back, and Freed smiled into the awkward and metallic embrace.

"Freed, seriously, you okay?" Laxus insisted, but he sounded hesitant. "Everyone who saw what happened said you looked… heartbroken."

"I'm fine, Laxus," Freed assured him.

"He was cheating on you, right? Fucking asshole. Lucky I didn't see him or I'd-"

"Laxus, he didn't cheat on me because we were never together. We were victims of matchmaking, and we had met three times in total. If he was cheating on me, then I was also cheating on him," Freed pulled away, and cupped Laxus' cheeks with both hands fondly. "There was one man in this castle who has a claim to my heart, and it is you. Nobody else even comes close to you."

"I heard you threw a drink at him," Laxus argued. "You wouldn't-"

"We both have men in our lives we love, and a public argument would allow us to love these men freely," Freed said firmly. "He needed to be disowned in disgrace so he could run to his lover, and I needed to be left at the altar so I could fall in love with the man I was always meant to be all along."

"Me?"

"Yes, you beautiful idiot," Freed scolded lightly, before sighing and letting his face fall. "I shouldn't have let it get this far. At any point I could have talked to my parents and put my foot down and told them about us. I shouldn't have put any of us in this position, and I know that if we got found out your livelihood was put at risk, and I shouldn't have risked that either. I have been scared, and that is not acceptable. I will make amends for that, and I'm sorry it took me this long to come to that conclusion."

"You don't need to apologise," Laxus tried to say, but Freed cut him off with a glare. "Your parents aren't going to accept me."

"They will, because if they don't, I will abdicate and leave them without an heir," Freed said firmly, and Laxus looked at him with a frown. "I'm not joking, nor am I making a hollow threat. I know we spoke about that cabin in the mountains as a joke, but I could live like that happily so long as you're there. You are my priority, and I will make our relationship work no matter what is needed. Even if we have to sail to another continent to find our home, I will do that. In fact, I think I might already have a boat lined up to take us wherever we need to go," He shook his head a little. "That's beside the point. The point is, you are the man I love, and people will know. Tomorrow morning, I will do what I should have done the moment I fell for you. That is a promise."

"You're sure?" Laxus asked, but he was holding back a smile. "I don't want you giving up anything on a whim."

"You're not a whim, Laxus, and you will never be that to me," Freed promised. "I would give up anything for you, I know that now. My title, my crown, my home. It's incidental compared to you. I will prove that to you tomorrow."

"I know you will," Laxus whispered. "Fuck, I love you Freed."

"I love you too. More than you could imagine," Freed gasped the words, relief flooding him. "Now, speaking of things that are long overdue, I think it's finally time for you to grace my bed with your presence. I am somehow both exhausted and teeming with energy, and I have found your company the perfect remedy for that. There's something about the great Knight Dreyar cuddling me like a teddy bear that makes me feel safe and content," He grinned, then put on his regal voice. "So, get to it."

"Yes, your highness."

#Fraxus Week #Fraxus Week 2022 #Fraxus #Freed Justine #laxus dreyar #freed x laxus #Rufus Lore #orga nanagear #Rufus x Orga #Fairy Tail #Fanfic #One Shot #Writing #Writing Event #Historical AU #Royal AU

[scarasimplysimping]

Festering Desire

Characters: Xingqiu, Bennett,

Warnings: Idk they go batshit. Angst. murder, injuries, blood. Major Character Death. Uhhh... Dumb reader.

(Might be very confusing if you weren't around during the albedo event)

Albedo told you; warned you even. The sword would be too evil and would corrupt any normal mortal who were to wield it.

Yet you didn't listen.

Xingqiu

When he first laid eyes on the sword, he could already tell it wasn't your typical weapon you get from anywhere. He felt honored that you wanted him to use it.

"The design of this thing, almost as if it were alive! How curious. Such a well-made sword, designed for the most chivalrous of knights." The blue haired boy studies the sword passionately, throwing a few practice swings with it as you happily watched him from the side lines.

"And you've entrusted such a sword to me! I shall be sure to use it with utmost care." He coos proudly.

"Thank you, my liege."

The first time you noticed changes in him was when Chongyun pointed out that his friend's pranks had gotten crueler. Xingqiu shot him down, saying he couldn't take a joke. The hydro user seemed completely unapologetic.

You felt yourself being more uneasy everytime he smiles. There was nothing necessarily wrong with them but sometimes you swear you could see a hint of purple light in his eyes. You dismissed this of course, thinking he was just getting more enthusiastic in battle.

Unbeknownst to you, even he had caught up on his own changes. And he knew it was because of the sword.

Xingqiu started to hate the way the hilt of the sword looked like an eye, seemingly staring at his every move and egging him on to create one more mistake.

"Stop. Stop looking at me like that." He nearly begs the sword, sitting in front of him.

He chuckles dryly to himself, thinking he'd gone insane.

Perhaps if Xingqiu had told you how the sword made him feel, the situation wouldn't have spiralled out of control, resulting in him standing before you with dead bodies of treasure hoarders... Even those of innocent bystanders around you both.

You stare up at him in horror as if it all wasn't your fault. If you had given him the sword, If you had listened to what Albedo said-

Your thoughts were cut short when you hear him laughing menacingly , the laugh quickly turning into sobs.

"The chivalrous thing to do would be to own up to your actions and destroy the monster that you created, " He nearly chokes out, his eyes meet yours. The eyes that were once a lively shade of the ocean, now were a hollow of purple. "Please, for I cannot go on like this."

You comply of course, not wanting to make anything worse.

As you raise your weapon, you hear his last words.

"Thank you, my liege."

Bennett

He was ecstatic when you handed him the sword. You could almost see his eyes turn into literal stars.

"Are you for real?? You're really gonna trust me with such a cool-looking sword?" Bennett questions as if he can't believe it.

You nod in approval, happy to see that he's also happy.

Never had he felt such validation for someone to give him such a valuable weapon.

"It's definitely my lucky day! I promise you won't regret this!" Bennett says, practicality buzzing with excitement as he raises the sword, to observe it against the sun's light.

You noticed him growing a bit more impatient and a little more reckless each time you find empty chests.

While he never took his anger out on you, you could tell he was obviously more agitated than his normal self.

The blonde boy started returning with a bit more injuries than usual, shoving you off as you offered to bandage them for him.

"Not now. I still need to go back. I could feel it. I'm close to stumbling upon the greatest kind of treasure you'll ever lay your eyes on." Bennet tried to sound confident but you could hear his voice faltering as if he didn't believe his own words.

And despite him smiling, tears were already threatening to fall. A useless attempt to put you at ease, really.

It was all for you. He wanted to make you proud. Bennett wanted you to think you'd made the right choice in giving him the sword.

All of his failures and mood swings, the desperation and the disappointment, he blamed on his luck.

The thought of his problems rooting from the sword made him sick to the stomach, feeling guilty and disgusted with himself that he'd ever accuse you of giving him a cursed sword.

You trusted him and he trusted you. You'd never do such a thing.

And one day, he got a little bit too desperate, and reckless or maybe he was just fine and getting in to such a predicament was all thanks to his luck,

Either way, he lay bleeding out in your arms, as you cried.

Your voice had grown hoarse in calling for help. Bennett even felt bad for it.

Even as he were in his last moments. He blamed himself for being too weak.

His hand caressed your cheek in an attempt to soothe your sobs.

Bennett hears you trying to apologize incoherently through your tears and with his last breath he attempts to comfort you.

"No worries.. it's not your fault."

(A/N: This has been on my mind since I got the sword. Was feeling cute. Wrote some angst. Might make one for Kazuha and Kaeya later. Bouken da bouken 👍)

#genshin imagines #genshin impact #genshin x reader #genshin angst #xingqiu x reader #bennett x reader

[unkownknowledge]

Genshin characters and their spider s/o

A little crossover HC post between terraformars and genshin.

Basically the reader is the result of a messed up experiment and now they look like a monstrous humanoid spider, like this guy:

Except you have no human skin or hair, just pure chitin, extra legs out the back, and mandibles(like a turian)

Also: request are still open, feel free to request!

Including: Jean, Xinqiu, and Razor

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Jean: hollow knight

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Jean had been receiving reports of frightened merchants and townsfolk, all of whom had been found on the road ranting about a giant spider.

Jean was sure it was nothing more than hilichurls or hoarders or abyss mages and the people were merely suffering panic induced hallucinations, this was supported by the clear signs of such dangers at the scene of the crime.

But still, neither any of the knights nor adventurers in the guild reported saving these people, nor did Diluc claim that he did when she asked him.

So Jean decided to investigate, after all not only is there a chance of finding camps of the three above dangers, but also the chance of finding a new ally.

When she saw you in a clearing you looked like a normal human, until you turned your head in an inhuman manner and looked at her with eight red glowing eyes.

You screamed at her and used your geo vision to grow eight giant legs out your back, which you used to run away.

Jean, being the persistent woman she is, wasn't about let you go until she confirmed if you were a friend or foe.

She chased you through the forest for a while, and unfortunately didn't notice a group of hilichurls hiding behind some trees.

One swung out and struck her from behind, knocking her to the ground.

At the sound of this you turned around and saw Jean on the ground.

While she easily could have beaten the hilichurls, she didn't have to. This is because you were immediately next to her, sword drawn and slicing through the monsters like a hot knife through butter. Your geo legs acted like extra blades that parried any attack directed towards the knight.

Because you're other legs were busy, however, you were unable to block the attack from a crossbow that shot right through your knee.

You fell down and were beaten senseless by the hilichurls, the last thing you remember was the sounds of a blade and the monsters turning to dust before you blacked out.

You woke up on a soft bed inside an unfamiliar building. You tried to get up but your knee had a large hole in it, luckily for you your ability to feel pain was long lost.

Jean entered a minute later with some food, "good, your awake."

"Where am I?" You asked.

"In my home, the guest room to be exact."

"Why did you save me?"

"Because you were in danger."

"Yes but why? Aren't you afraid of me?"

"Considering how you saved me as well? No, not at all."

Jean poured some tea for both of you, "now onto-"

You felt your eyes water, something you didn't realize you could still do.

"What's wrong?" Jean asked.

"It's just, it's been so long since anyone was...nice to me. My appearance isn't exactly very welcoming."

"And yet you still help people, the same people who call you a monster?"

"Of course! I might be an abomination, but I'm not a monster. In fact, before I became...this I had always dreamed of joining the knights."

"Well, that makes things easy."

"What do you mean?"

"While I cannot officially make you a knight, I can make you an honorary member of the knights of favonius."

"REALLY!?" You said, a child like excitment on your face.

So you joined the knights, of course not everyone was happy about this.

But noone doubted the acting grand master's decision, after all she never once failed the city.

After a while the city warmed up to you, even hailing you as a hero thanks to all you've done!

But the city's attitude towards you wasn't the only thing getting warmer.

Infact, a certain person's cheeks seemed to grow red as Amber's ribbon at the mere mention of your name.

Lisa and Kaeya were the first to notice Jean's infatuation with you, and they were quite intent on helping her.

It would be easy for them to set it up: you were cold blooded, so you had a heater in your room during the winter, and thanks to a 'freak lightning strike', your house was under renovations for the whole season, this caused Jean to let you stay in her home until yours was repaired.

Now all they had to do was sneak in an 'cool it' down.

You awoke in the middle of the night due to the temperature suddenly dropping. You tried turning on your heater but that didn't work. You went downstairs to make some hot tea, unaware that Kaeya swapped the labels on Jean's coffee and your tea. After making the beverage you sat down in the warmest corner, covered in blankets, and with a warm drink in hand.

Fun fact! Spiders get hella drunk off caffeine.

You are a spider.

One sip of the coffee and you felt funny, you couldn't think straight and felt wobbly.

Kaeya and Lisa giggled watching you.

"So, how DID you get them drunk? You couldn't exactly have spiked their tea could you?" Lisa asked.

"I swapped the labels on their tea and Jeans coffee. Spiders get hella drunk on-" Kaeya noticed Lisa worried face, "fuck, what did I do this time?"

"Kaeya, spiders don't get drunk on caffeine like humans do with alcohol."

Lisa pointed Kaeya towards the window

"Whoops"

Caffeine doesn't make spiders drunk the same way alchohol does a person, which is what Kaeya expected.

Caffeine makes spiders hyper, very hyper.

When Jean heard skittering and clanging she thought someone was robbing the house, so she was reasonably surprised to see you lying in the center of the kitchen, crying, and with webs all over.

When she asked what happened you just rolled over and mumbled out gibberish about how you can't catch any flies.

Jean picked you up to take you to bed, but you wrapped your arms and legs around her and caused her to fall.

"(Y/n), please let me go." Jean pleaded.

You shushed her, "nap time" and fell asleep.

Your grip was to strong for her to get out, and with your weight she couldn't get up in this position, so she just had to wait for you to get up.

The next day Jean got up the same time as you, she would have said something if you didn't kiss her and pet her head.

"I love this dream." You said, nuzzling into the crook of her neck.

Jean was shocked, what dream? You were clearly awake.

"I wonder if Jean is this warm in real life....I wish I could find out..."

"(Y-y/n)" she stuttered out, "you're not dreaming."

You shot up with all your eyes wide as saucers.

You immediately thought of running. But where would you go? The forest? Yeah, that works, just go there a-

You felt a warm sensation on your cheek.

"So (y/n), how does this dream usually go?" Jean said with a suggestive wink.

.

.

.

"(Y/n)?"

404 error, reader.exe has crashed

After that rather unconventional confession session, you both started dating.

Jean was concerned about not having enough time for you, but that proved to be very unfounded. Thanks to your many years alone you didn't know what dating was, so to you simply working together was fine.

On every mission out of the city you would bring gifts or a picnic for when the sun was setting.

On days where you both had paper work you would make tea and buy little cakes or biscuits and sit on her lap as you rested on eachother's shoulders and fed each other snacks, under the excuse that "sharing a chair saves space".

On the rare occasion Jean gets to have a day off, she showers you in affection.

She'll make you breakfast in bed(it's not good 80% of the time, but you don't tell her), she'll cuddle with you all day, she'll even read to you if you want. She wants to give back to you for all the time she couldn't give you her full attention.

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Xingqiu: it's like one of my Inazuman graphic novels

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Your meeting with the guhua geek was far more coincidental.

You were just minding your business, catching some animals to eat, when some weird guy just walks by you, not noticing you at all, as he reads his book.

You were rather suprised and, by extension, curious about this boy.

Was he blind in peripheral? Was he that brave? Was he an idiot?

A bit of colum B, mostly colum C.

Xingqiu sat down on a rock and continued reading, given how he was reading aloud you figured you might as well take advantage of his lack of notice and learn to read.

But he did notice.

"Ah shoot, spaces out again." Xingqiu cried, "now I have to start all over."

Xingqiu started reading the book all over again, much to your joy.

You could easily match his words to the page thanks to your speed of comprehension.

When the boy noticed it was getting late he decided to head home, while you were upset you didn't try and stop him. In fact you immediately darted away before he saw you.

The next day he came back, and read from the same spot.

And again

And again

This went on for quite some time.

Xingqiu knew someone was watching him, but he never was able to catch a glimpse. He just figured it was someone who wanted to read legends of the shattered halberd but couldn't find any copies, and so the chivalrous thing to do would be to read it for them.

One day he finished the fifth book and proclaimed it was the last one, which made you rather sad.

Until he spoke to you.

"Well my secretive friend," he turned around, "shall w-"

You screamed

He screamed

For about five minutes.

After which you both just stared at eachother.

He pointed a shakey finger at you, "you're-"

You turned away, 'a freak I know' you thought.

"SO COOL!"

"What?"

Xingqiu immediately ran at you and started inspecting you.

The whole time he had such an amazed look on his face.

"Woah!" He said as he grabbed your mandibles, "are these real?!"

"Ye ey are, a ah ee e ah a" you said hoping he would understand that you need them to talk.

"Oh. Hehe. Sorry." He said releasing them.

"Aren't you...scared of me?" You asked.

"Why would I be? If you wanted to kill me you would have. It's not like I was particularly on guard when I was reading for you."

'Y-you knew I was there?"

"I knew someone was there, and I knew they were watching me read. Since you showed such interest in my book I thought the only chivalrous thing to do was to keep reading."

You were shocked, most people just ran and screamed upon seeing you.

"Now, shall we go look for the sixth book?"

After that you and Xingqiu became fast friends.

He used some of the money he made from the scam he pulled on that scammer to buy out the forest you lived in, making it officially private property so that people won't go after you.

He kept coming back with books for you both to read, you absolutely loved it!

And while you never realized it, you also loved him.

He however, did know he loved you.

Being the menace to society he is, Xingqiu decided the best way to confess was to just kiss you.

You're sitting on a stump with your head on Xingqiu's shoulder.

"This book isn't as good as the others." You say.

"Ah don't be like that, fairy tales are the foundation of all those 'knight in shining armor books' you love."

"Yeah but this is boring."

"True, true. But I think it has a great ending." Xingqiu turned to the final page, "and then the knight told the (royal title) how much he loved them, and to seal his love he placed a kiss on their cheek."

"That wasn't good."

"Why? It was very realistic."

"In what reality does someone confess by kiss-"

*smooch*

It took you a solid five seconds to process what happened.

Xingqiu smirked at you like the bastard man he is, "this one I believe."

Your mandibles hung slack as your face got a dark shade of blue.

"Uh, (y/n)?"

"Clothes off, now."

Xingqiu stumbled out the forest four hours later. Chongyun, who was protecting his privacy, asked him what's wrong.

"Absolutely nothing." He responded with the largest grin a human could muster, before his legs gave out, "can you carry me home?"

Your relationship was more steady than just that bit though.

Xingqiu spent as much time with you as he could, he even learned how to hunt so he could be with you while you hunted for food.

You never left your forest though, you were far to afraid of people and especially the vigilant yaksha(which Xingqiu tried to convince you was friendly).

Of course, not everything goes so simply.

Xingqiu was skipping through the forest, far to enamoured at the idea of you to notice someone following him.

You sat calmly on your rock and awaited your boyfriend of two years, today was his birthday so you made him a beautiful silk picture of his favorite scene from 'the legend of the broken halberd'

You felt the boy drop into your lap, "hello my love!"

You wrapped your arms and extra legs around him, "hello my little knight, I have a wonderful gift for-"

"XINQIU! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!"

You both turned around to see a man who looked oddly like Xingqiu.

"H-hey big bro..." Xingqiu said, clearly nervous.

"You're his brother?" You asked, "nice to meet you! I'm your future sibling in law!"

His brother looked surprised, then angry, "Xingqiu, a word."

"No," he responded, "anything you can say to me you can say to my (s/o)."

"Xingqiu, this is not a game."

"ANYTHING," Xingqiu said, far more aggressive, "you can say to me, you can say to them."

His brother sighed, "you can't date them."

"I believe I can."

"XINGQIU! ME AND FATHER HAVE TOLERATED ENOUGH OF YOUR CHILDISHNESS! YOU ARE AN HEIR OF THE FEIYUN COMMERCE GUILD, YOU CANNOT DATE THAT-THAT THING!"

Xingqiu shot up into a fighting stance, "care to repeat that?"

Xingqiu stared down his brother with murderous intent.

"So you wont back down?"

"Never, I love (y/n) to much!"

"If you don't leave them, you'll be disowned by father, all your wealth, power, and influence will be forfeited. All for an inhuman freak!"

"Xinqiu please," you tried telling your beloved, "I won't let you sacrifice-"

"Sorry darling, but I don't give a damn." He interrupted you before turning to his brother, "I will NOT abandon my beloved (y/n)! They are the most precious thing in the world to me! So go ahead! Strip me if my title, my riches, of my very skin! My heart will yearn for nothing else but the cold hard touch of love that is my (s/o)!"

Xinqiu's brother smirked

"So, you promise to always be with (y/n)?"

"Yes!"

"Through both sickness and health?"

As smart as he was, Xinqiu couldn't see what was happening, "with all my heart and soul!"

"And you would take (Y/N) as your contractually bound spouse?"

"I would sooner bite my arm off than live another day without them as such! In fact!" Xinqiu turned to you, "(Y/N)! WE'RE GOING TO GET MARRIED RIGHT NOW! COME ON!"

"Hold it!" His brother demanded, "(Y/N)! Would you stay with my brother, Xinqiu, through sickness and health, through rags and riches?"

You nodded, "forever and always!"

"And would you take him to be your contractually bound husband?"

"E-even if I had to fight Rex Lapis himself!"

Two burly hands grabbed the couple and pushed them together, "You may now kiss the bride!"

Without thought, you two kissed each other, not thinking to question the cheering, clapping, and crying-

You both pulled apart, "what the abyss is happening here?!"

The burly arms, now wrapping you both, was an older crying man who also looked like Xinqiu.

Xinqiu's Brother was crying and clapping.

Chongyun was blasting off party cones(🎉🎉these things)

And several other of Xinqiu's friends were there celebrating.

"W-wait..." Xinqiu started to remember that his brother, as a high ranking member of a commerce guild, can officiate marriages.

The older man, Xinqiu's father, cried and said, "finally! Grandchildren!"

(If you can't have babies, adoption exists and is perfectly normal)

Needless to say

404 error, Xinqiu.exe and Reader.exe have stopped working

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Razor: the big bad spider and the itsy bitsy spider

_____________________________

(Please understand that my knowledge of Razor is based on his quest, I know of his special vision but it won't be brought up for this. I will be sure to read the wiki page for him if I write him again)

Razor knew something was wrong.

His wolf side told him something was wrong with the forest, and his human side told him it should be either avoided at all cost or destroyed.

Because it had stayed away he had largely tried to just avoid it and keep his lupical away from whatever IT is.

Until a foolish pup decided to try and defeat whatever big bad monster had their protector so scared.

Razor ran faster than any lightning bolt upon hearing the news.

Razor didn't know what he was seeing: giant webs strewn out covering entire trees, boars and Hilichurls wrapped in webs and frozen in a sickly green.

And at the center of it all was a giant, monstrous creature with eight leg like roots coming from it's back, feeding off the life of all the creatures stuck here.

This is what he was afraid of, the beast that every inch of his primal self screamed to get away from.

But he couldn't, not until he found the pup!-

"Hello." You said calmly to the strange man coming into your home, "is this your's?"

You outstretched your hand and a sleeping pup drifted towards razor on a flower.

"He caused lots of problems, so I made him sleep. Don't worry, it's nothing permanent, give him an hour or two and he'll be right up."

After Razor left, you assumed that would be the last disturbance for a while.

But it wasn't.

Razor's wolf half still feared you, was still mortified when he pictured your spider like face, your towering body, everything.

But his human half...teembled.

Not in fear, but in a different way.

He couldn't stop thinking of you, and his primal upbringing did little to quell the less romantic thoughts about your gem like eyes, the way your mandibles clicked and moved when you talked, the overwhelming nature energy that you radiated.

But he still knew good enough to get to know you better.

Just not HOW to do it.

"Why are you spider?"

Is not a good first thing to ask.

But you explained regardless: you were taken as a kid and experimented on by some rogue students from Sumeru academy.

Then some purple lady rescued you, and while you were grateful you much preferred living out in the wild.

"Yes...wild is good! Wolvendom, especially good!"

Someone please help him.

"Purple lady....ah! Shockey wizard lady from knights?"

You nodded

"Razor good friends with her and honorary knight! Do you know red flamy girl?"

"Klee? Oh yes! I love her! She's such a nice kid!"

"Yes, Klee is like lupical! Even if she...burns down forest from time to time."

Lucky for him, your shared familial love for the pyromaniacal minor helped bridge the gap between you two.

Eventually he even got you to leave your grotto(?) And meet his lupical!

He introduced you to the wonders of actually eating rather than just sucking the life force out of animals.

You both love and protect the forest of wolvendom, and if any large threat arises to it then you both will fight fang and claw to protect your home!

Neither of you know what love is in the human sense, but you both feel it to each other and act upon it: giving each other a portion of your food, taking blows in battle for each other, and cuddling more intimately than just friends would.

You are his lupical, and so much more.

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I started this near last year's end, it took me till now to realize I should only do 3 characters.

(Paging: @golden-wingseos, @storytravelled)

#genshin #genshin impact #genshin impact fanfiction #jean x reader #Razor x reader #Xinqiu x reader #xinqiu #genshin jean #razor

[jacensolodjo]

Prompt: Lost Pairing: Vi/Cait Verse: Star Wars AU Words: 1244 (approx. 4 1/2 minute read) Notes: For anyone unfamiliar, every time I write ViCait unless otherwise stated Cait is trans and Vi is genderqueer. (Late again in posting oh well.)

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Vi was full of tiingilar and had been fighting for the past half hour to not giggle at Cait's expression from her very first taste of the spicy Mandalorian stew.

"Not funny," Caitlyn complained, the Force telling her exactly what was going through Vi's mind.

"Little funny, my dear aruetii," Vi said. Normally an insult, Vi said it with a certain fondness that kept Caitlyn from saying anything against it.

Caitlyn sighed, shaking her head. The pair continued walking until finally arriving at the vheh'yaim that had been broken down and rebuilt numerous times since Vi had been gone.

"Buire? It's me, Vi'ika," the Mandalorian knight called out as they rapped on the wall of the dwelling made mostly of wood.

Vi took a step back when the door opened, revealing the face of her father then mother. They stared at her as if she was a ghost.

"I was finally able to visit. Where's Powder? I've been wanting to see my vod'ika for years now," Vi said excitedly, clearly not noticing the expression on their parents' faces. Should have noticed how odd it was for the pair to be barefaced when greeting company.

"Vi..." Caitlyn murmured softly, a bit more attuned to the body language the older Mandalorians were displaying. She reached out to touch Vi's shoulder but the Mandalorian walked forward at the last moment.

"Buir?" Vi asked, frowning, as she looked between them.

"Perhaps it may be best for ner ad'ika to see for herself," Vi's father finally spoke. His words caused Vi to frown deeper.

"See what?" they asked as they instinctively followed their parents inside. Her gaze wandered the large living space, none of it familiar thanks to so many moves on the surface of Mandalore. They were of a highly nomadic people, a deep change to having stayed in the same room at the Temple since being taken away as barely older than a toddler.

Caitlyn followed closely behind as the Mandalorians wandered deeper into the home. Eventually they arrived at a new door. Vi felt dread curling through their gut suddenly. The door opened and Vi felt the air knocked out of them. It was a room frozen in time despite constant moves. A room meant for a child barely older than Vi had been when they were taken by the Jedi. Powder should be in her teens by that point.

"What... I don't understand," Vi mumbled as they walked further into the room. It felt like a memorial. "Did... did she die? And I just didn't get the message? Please, don't tell me she--"

"Well, Powder is lost. Just... not in the way you're thinking. This isn't how we wanted you to find out," Vi's mother spoke this time.

Vi felt a tightness in their chest as their brain went into overdrive to figure out the older woman's meaning. Caitlyn started forward but was too slow to stop Vi from collapsing to her knees. They yanked one of the stuffed toys close with the Force, staring at it as if it had all the answers. Caitlyn knelt down next to her partner, gently placing an arm over their shoulders.

"How? Who? ...Why?" Vi mumbled, knowing it wasn't the Jedi that had taken their baby sister.

"A man came when Powder was about the same age you were when the Jedi took you. He said she would become much stronger than any Jedi if he trained her. We tried to stop him but... he had one of those laser swords," Vi's father explained.

Vi curled in on herself, clutching the stuffed toy close to their chest. Caitlyn bit her own lower lip as she tightened her grip on Vi's shoulders, whispering apologies. They both knew the answer but...

"Was it red?" Vi asked, voice hollow and tight from anguish. Tears blurred their vision.

"As red as on your armor," Vi's mother confirmed.

Vi felt their universe crumble around their ears. Their breathing grew ragged, prompting more murmured words of comfort from Caitlyn.

The older Mandalorians crouched down beside their child. Vi's mother dropped her forehead to rest against Vi's, armored hands cupping Vi's face. Their father pressed his head to the side of Vi's, resting one hand on their back and the other resting on his wife's spine.

The Jedi Code cautioned against emotion, against attachment. But family was paramount for a Mandalorian. Suddenly Vi's mouth opened and it released a scream of anguish that shook the walls courtesy of the Force. Their parents and Caitlyn all squeezed in closer, doing their best to comfort the prodigal child.

The scream continued for an impressive amount of time, tears falling heavy from her eyes. Caitlyn used the Force to make sure nothing fell or broke, but allowed Vi to release their anguish on the home otherwise.

When the scream died away, an eerie silence fell. Vi struggled to control the tears.

"What was his name?" Vi asked, voice scratchy.

"He said his name was Silco. And to keep an ear out for news about him and Powder. So far, nothing," Father answered.

"A sith lord has my sister," Vi whispered, as if not quite believing it still. She abruptly got to her feet, pulling from their grip.

"A sith lord... has my sister!" they suddenly screamed and Caitlyn was shocked at the amount of anger in her partner's voice and felt in the Force.

"Vi, don't. This won't help anything. There is no emotion, there is peace," Caitlyn said, frantic about the change in the Mandalorian Knight. She knew Vi had always been fighting a temper. This was the first time she had witnessed it this strongly.

"No! You don't get to say that. Not about this! A sith lord has my sister!"

Caitlyn shook her head, carefully cupping Vi's cheeks in her palms.

"I know. I know he does. But, Vi, please. Please don't go down this path. We will find your sister. I promise you, Vi, we will find her. I will help you find her. But you have to control your temper. Master Vander would want you to go looking with a clear head. Please, Vi," Caitlyn begged, stroking Vi's cheeks as she spoke.

Vi had trained under Vander while Caitlyn had trained with Grayson, an old friend of Vander's. Both had died in separate battles against the Sith. Vi had always regretted never knowing the name of the Sith Lord that had killed Vander. It suddenly occurred to her it could be the same one who took Powder. However unlikely that might actually be, it increased her anger anyway. Vi's jaw clenched hard enough it made their face ache.

"I'm going to get her back. I promise, ner buire," Vi said, gray eyes landing on her parents as the pair got to their feet.

"If anyone can, it's you, Vi'ika," Mother said with a nod. And it wasn't an empty affirmation.

"Stay the night. One more day won't matter much," Father suggested.

Vi wanted to disagree, wanted to decline, but Caitlyn squeezed their shoulder gently, blue eyes connecting with gray. Communication without words.

"One night," Vi agreed after a long pause. Her parents smiled the best they could then nodded.

You hear that, Sith? Your death is delayed. For now, Vi thought fiercely even as they followed their parents from the room, using the Force to return the toy they had been cradling to its rightful place.

It was just a matter of time.

#femslashfeb2022 #vicait #vi arcane #caitlyn kiramman #arcane #r: oil and water #my writing

[sophi-s]

In Their Hollow Heart

Chapter II: Absolution

Fandom: Hollow Knight video game

Words: 9,832

Characters: Hollow Knight, Hornet, Ghost (the Knight), the Radiance, Tiso (he’s alive, screw the cannon XD), the Pale King

Warnings: Blood and Gore, Violence, Sickness, Mind manipulation, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Gross imagery, Self harm TW, Permanent injury, Angst, SPOILERS for the game.

Summary:

The tormented Hollow Knight unexpectedly stands face to face with one they thought dead throughout their whole life. And to their astonishment, the very same bug does the impossible and relieves them of their duty.

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Another day passes in utter silence in the Black Egg Temple. Nothing disturbs the stillness of this place aside from a steady sound similar to a heartbeat which comes from the pulsing veins of Infection. And at the centre of the dark chamber illuminated weakly by the said Infection hangs a large, slender figure in armor and a cape. The passage of long years hasn’t done much justice to the once silver-white attire. Cloaked in shadow and held firmly by enchanted chains, the figure makes no move. Only indicators of the spark of life still flickering weakly in them is a loud, disturbingly raspy breath and the furious light in their eyes glinting with madness. Deemed worthy and strong enough to contain the Goddess of Dreams, the failed Vessel holds as still as a statue, sometimes squirming in futile attempts to break free from the chains. The disease keeps spreading without control, only halted by the Void in the ruined body of its host. Such is the fate of the Hollow Knight.

Since the Radiance had torn their willpower to pieces, the Hollow Knight found their true self slipping away into darkness way too often, hopelessly seeking relief in dreams but unsurprisingly finding none in the domain of their tormentor. If anything, all that waited for them there was more pain. Everything they wanted was to be finally free from this cursed existence, this… mockery of life. But it seems even that was too much to ask for, desoite the fact that they’d been promised an end long ago now. The Pure Vessel was never supposed to think, have feelings or desires. For its mind should be empty. They shouldn't want anything. And their fate was brutally reminding them of that.

Day by day, their body was burning up from the disease that held them tight in its grasp, making them wish for the end all the more. Memories began to fade as they fought to keep them from escaping. Without them… they would become just another husk animated by Her light. And it scared them.. Fear, alongside dejection, seemed to be an emotion that accompanied them constantly these days... They just needed one strong person to open this blasted Vault. Just one skilled knight to shatter the chains and put them out of their misery. But then the Radiance would be fully free. Nothing would be stopping Her from wiping the Hallownest off the pages of history. If only one of the lost siblings survived… empty like their father wanted. The true Hollow Knight. Just one, to successfully relieve them of their duty… Cruel. Something scolded the Vessel at these thoughts. They deserved what they'd gotten for their lies and had the audacity to wish for the same fate on someone else? Selfish. Cruel. Cruel! In despair (much stronger than sadness they knew already...), the Hollow Knight let themself slip away again, unable to argue with the laughter of the Goddess.

Like father, like son!

They had no wish to face the Radiance again so soon but their weariness took the better of them. Maybe this time She will have mercy on them and fulfill Her end of the bargain? Who knows? Soon they found out it unsurprisingly was not going ot be the case. However… when they left their infested shell behind to drift through the Realm of Dreams something has changed. Everything around was shaped differently. In this dream, they stood tall and proud, they were free and the scorching heat of the disease no longer troubled them. Memories returned in full with the moment they opened their black eyes. The pure nail rested in their hands - yes, hands! - its sharp tip on the ground at their feet as they started forward at nothing in particular. Like they had many times in the White Palace. What an odd dream… everything was dark and grey, chains swung from the sky around but never touched them and the inky smoke of Void drifted around. Just to make sure, they flex the fingers of their right hand. It responds as it should but it's.. numb. They have no feeling in the offending appendage. As though - bitter laughter bubbles up in their chest but never comes to be - it wasn't truly there. Was this another form of torture? Was the Radiance tormenting them again by showing them what they could've been but will never be? Their armor was beautiful and silver, glinting in the pale light of white sigils surrounding the strange arena they found themself in. As enchanting as the dream was, it caused them only further misery. Now they began to understand those who considered the Nightmare King the good-aligned deity and not the Radiance. Dreams cause disappointment with the reality - because it could be just like in this dream - while nightmares allow one find comfort and appreciate the world as it is.. A soft pitter patter of small feet behind them was all they needed to snap. Had She conjured an illusion of their baby sister running around them and bouncing in place, pleading to be picked up, as well?

Enough!

The Hollow Knight jammed their nail further into the ground in frighteningly unfamiliar fury - anger but... stronger, more violent somehow - as their armor started to give out underneath the pressure of seething Void before shattering into tiny pieces, leaving them only in their plain light-grey cloak. If She wanted them to cast off their hollow mask then congratulations, because She just managed to royally piss them off. Even that day when they saw three ethereal nails protruding from their father's chest as he fought for life bleeding out on the ground after Xero attacked him in disease-induced insanity they weren't this mad at the Goddess. And before they never thought it even possible. Whipping around angrily, ready to face the doppelganger of tiny Hornet, they intended to end this foul dream. I won't have the strength to cut her down. A small voice whispered. Illusion or not, they wouldn't have it in them to harm their little sister. Still, they were ready to face down whatever the Radiance wanted to throw at them. But what they saw instead made them freeze for a moment in shock and horror. Nothing could've prepared them for what waited behind them. As unmoving as always, their face didn't show the fear that paralyzed them. Fear just like any other but much more intense. Crippling. Petrifying. Horror.

Before them, standing no taller than their kneecap, stood… not Hornet. Worse still, someone they never thought they'd be seeing again as long as they still draw breath. Small, lithe and dressed in a ragged cloak.. A memory flashed before their eyes, a pale face gawking at them and silently crying for help.. None other than their lost twin. Just like the day they left the poor child to die in the Abyss, staring up at them with their large, empty eyes from the white shell with slim horns sporting tiny notches at their ends. And in those hollow eyes, there was no hatred, no accusation, no sadness, nothing.. aside from a small spark of something resembling surprised fondness. As though they were.. happy to see the older twin. Through the link of the Void, the Hollow Knight heard a small voice reach out to them. No, not a voice. more like.. a thought or an emotion shaped into a single word that struck them like a nail to the gut.

Sibling!

No, this can't be.. this isn't true! Their twin is dead! Resting on the bottom of the Abyss with all the shattered shells of other siblings. Does Her depravity know no bounds? They will not let the Radiance toy with them like that! Throwing their head back, the Hollow Knight wished to scream out their hatred into the darkened skies but… no sound leaves their throat. No voice...  As it was meant to be. No matter. It changes nothing. They barely paid any mind to a mysterious figure in a brass mask watching them from a gilded throne with curiosity and reverence as they lunged at the ghost of their sibling with cold rage and fiery determination. And to their surprise, they felt.. strong. Just like they used to before their imprisonment and absorbing the Old Light. And what was even odder, the fake twin easily avoided their attack by dissolving into a shadowy form that passed through their body without any resistance like icy cold air. Its cool brush unexpectedly turned into a sharp bite and to Hollow Knight’s surprise, once they looked down on themself they discovered that a shallow cut suddenly appeared on their side, dripping small amount of Void. Strange..

Unimportant. This was but a scratch, barely visible. Still, rather strange... Not letting it throw them off, the Pure Vessel immediately leaped into the air only to descend onto the twin's head and slam their nail into the ground, focusing to summon Soul Pillars and impale the little one. With no luck. The child unfolded six, glowing wings - just like the ones father had on his back, they noticed glumly - just in time to move out of the way of the pale blades. They followed up the narrow dodge by swinging their tiny, pure nail - a rare, fine weapon - at the older sibling's face. The blade cracked loudly against their shell, knocking stars into their vision for a moment. The Hollow Knight recoiled, both in pain from the strike and in shock from how… real it felt.

The Radiance is a master of weaving Dreams but something was not right. Even the most realistic dreams cannot feel so true. Vision should be more blurry, their senses duller.. but they weren't. Besides, a strike this hard definitely should've slapped them awake without issue. Yet, here they still were. But it's not like they had time to ponder over it. They were in the middle of a duel, for Wyrm's sake. Gathering their bearings, the Pure Vessel let their battle instincts take over. Writhing shadows consumed them and reformed their body on the other end of what they with all certainty could call an arena and extended their numb hand to shoot out a barrage of Soul Daggers at their opponent.

The fight went one like this for quite some time, the ghost managing to get hits on their sibling between their fast-paced, merciless attacks and spells. Small size worked on advantage for Hollow Knight's adversary who always somehow found a way to worm their way to their target without getting hit (minus that one time they failed to dodge one of the daggers and it slashed across their shoulder). At least until the Vessel has had enough of this little game. Intending to surprise the illusion of their twin, the Hollow Knight arched their back and released a pair of thrashing Void Tendrils from their own chest and finally knocked the little vessel down, leaving them stunned for a moment. Giving them no room to breathe, they followed up with a triple slash of their long nail and whacked the unfortunate child to the side before pouncing on them and pinning them down with their free hand.

No more trickery. This ends here and now. But… even though they were eager to shatter the cruel illusion, the Vessel had to admit that this fight made them feel… alive. For the first time in forever since the time stopped flowing for them. It was kind of sad to end this already. Why would the Radiance entertain me with a battle? But something in the back of their head was compelling them to carry on. Fully prepared to stab the nail down into the tiny body squirming in their hold, the Hollow Knight raised their weapon when suddenly… they heard clapping. Blinking down befuddled, they realised it was the child clapping their small, nubby hands, oblivious to the fact that Void was now seeping through a crack in their mask and from a slash across their chest, and that they were about to die. Congratulating them?

Sibling won! Sibling is still so strong!

Words sent through the Void said. If the Hollow Knight didn't know any better, they'd think the miniature twin seemed.. impressed. Were they actually impressed? What is going on? Focusing on the weak bond between the two of them, the Hollow Knight squinted. There was something… familiar about the presence of the tiny vessel and by no means was it the sense of closure they shared long ago. No, it was something else. Beating within their heart, familiar, yet foreign at the same time. It almost felt like the presence of the Pale King but.. darker. It felt like... home. Is that…? Slowly, the Hollow Knight let a small glimmer of hope rekindle in their broken heart. Believing that this might not be an illusion. But… what was it in that case? What does this mean? Their twin lives? How…?

Will come back! Help sibling! Just a little longer...

They chirped happily through the connection between their minds before some unseen power forced the Hollow Knight's hand down and brought the pure nail straight through their small heart, silencing it in an instant. Dream particles erupted from their shattered body and the Hollow Knight suddenly found themself back in the Egg. In chains, rotten through and absolutely flabbergasted. Severe confusion fused into one emotion with surprise. Whatever happened, it snapped them back to reality. To cold, rough bonds, to the burning Infection tearing its ruthless claws into their insides.. And for just a short moment, they felt their head clear out. Only one question remained. What was that supposed to mean? Whatever that was.. Their questions were aggressively halted by a jolt of pain and a mist clouding their senses.

Ever since this strange dream, the Radiance started to force Her will onto the Hollow Knight much more brutally, trying to keep them Her pawn - though they initially weren’t sure why - causing them so much pain it more than once made them pass out. But even still, the Vessel and the Radiance were one. They felt something in Her they hadn't before. And it was nothing different than straight out fear in its purest form. She was afraid. A Goddess. What could She possibly be afraid of? The little sibling. Something told them when the memory of the darkness pulsing within the small vessel's chest came to mind. Slowly, they began to understand. She was attempting to keep them as far away from that dream as possible as this one seemed to be out of Her direct control.. And soon, the Hollow Knight was about to realise they'd never been more right in their life before.

In spite of Her efforts, they returned to the arena again. Greeted by the sight of their twin just like the first time. And an unexplainable force made them fight the child. It ended as expected when the ghost fell yet again after a stray Soul Dagger cracked their shell apart. And again, impaled on a Soul Pillar. And again, caught in the area of an exploding Focus spell, after that. But they never gave up. And each time this dream repeated, the more apparent Radiance's apprehension was becoming. As broken and tortured as they were, the Hollow Knight found some small semblance of hope rising from the depths of their despair again. Resurrected by the supposedly dead twin sibling. Killing them over and over again brought the Vessel no joy but whatever this dream was, whatever the tiny voidling was attempting to do, it scared the life out of the Goddess of Dreams Herself, filling the Hollow Knight with wicked satisfaction. A pleasant feeling one feels after accomplishing some great feat or watching something... well, satisfying happen. Oh, how they wished to live to see Her get what's coming to her.. For the first time in what felt like forever, the Hollow Knight felt the urge to smile (metaphorically, as their face cannot really express much), even through the pain She was inflicting on them. Soon, they found themself looking forward to battling their twin again.

With each time the ghost challenged the Pure Vessel to a fight, they were getting stronger, faster, more cunning. And when a decisive strike of a small nail finally brought them down to their knees the Hollow Knight couldn't help the alien feeling of gentle warmth welling up in their chest, the overwhelming… joy. Was this what their father felt when they took on all of the Five Knights at the same time and won? Was this.. pride? Even leaking Void from every possible body part and in pain (different from the disease, more familiar and somewhat comforting), they wished to mentally smile at their tiny counterpart but never had a chance as ray of blinding light - dreadfully familiar bright light - descended on the twin siblings and a cry of outrage echoed through the air, making both of them look up. A brutal yank brought the Hollow Knight back into their plagued body but… something was different. No force was ripping their sentience out from their grasp. The Radiance, while present in their head, paid them no mind as Her overwhelming fury filled every fiber of their being, sending ripples through the Infection clinging to them. What is happening?

It continued for a couple more minutes before an excruciating pain shot through the Hollow Knight without a single warning as a soul rending screech of the Dream Goddess made their head feel like it was about to explode. They seized and trembled when the horrid sensation did not cease. Their heart began to hammer in their chest quickly and unevenly, sometimes skipping a beat until they twisted in their bindings and released a cry of agony. But it wasn't their voice. They lacked one of their own after all. It was the Radiance. All their entrails felt as though they were set on fire or something was tearing them apart from the inside. In fear and confusion, the Vessel trashed about, Infection pouring freely from their opened mouth and eyes but they could sense some feelings that weren't theirs. Rage. Denial. Terror. Through the burning light filling up the entirety of their vision they saw Her figure writhing amidst a foreign darkness invading Her domain. Just there, at the peak of this darkness - as if the steadied, yet still ravenous Abyssal Sea rose up to challenge its nemesis - stood the familiar presence of the Hollow Knight's twin. And She was undoubtedly completely and absolutely terrified.

But the satisfaction coming from this fear did not ease in pain or the gurgling coughs ejecting the pus from their throat. The Hollow Knight felt as though their head was being split in two as the Infection was aggressively beating against the walls of their weak body, violently peeling itself off their organs and simultaneously desperately trying to keep itself rooted inside. A strained wheeze that escaped them sounded like a death rattle of an asthmatic Wyrm. Fitting, considering their origins.. It was much less funny when taking into account the fact that they couldn't breathe. They screamed alongside the Radiance, desperately gulping down every, even the smallest gasp of air they could. Another shriek tore through them and the bulging tumors on their chest abruptly ruptured, as did the ones on the stump of their right arm, spilling the disgusting, rotten fluids every which way. Infection was sizzling and thrashing about with a mind of its own until it started to evaporate in the clouds of sticky, rapidly fading smoke.

It takes a lot to bring a seasoned warrior to the point of crying out of pain but this was more than enough. Before, the Infection existed mostly in "agreement" with its host but now the Vessel felt as though they had ingested a bucket of potent acid. Tears - their normal, Void tears - started to flow uncontrollably as they shivered in spasms. The Hollow Knight didn't know how long this ordeal lasted so far but even half dazed by the pain they knew one thing. They were dying without a doubt. And the Infection inside was dying with them. Despite the dark thoughts inhabiting their broken mind as of late, ones whispering of sweet, cold claws of death, they were scared. Their twin, one whom they presumed dead for so long came back in a desperate attempt to help them, even in a dream. They couldn't let their efforts be for naught and die just like that! Praying to all Gods of Hallownest for strength, the Vessel drew another struggling breath that lined their lungs with miniscule needles and pins.

Help... Someone... anyone...

And then suddenly… the screaming stopped. The next thing the Hollow Knight knew was that the light was gone from their sight, replaced by blackness. Seconds later, or maybe longer, they couldn't say for certain, a heavy impact brought the scraps of consciousness back to them. At first, they were sure they'd been struck but in truth it was their form limply hitting the floor when they crumpled in a heap like a puppet when one cuts the strings. The stone tiles were underneath their cheek, the hold of chains absent. Burning pain remained but it was… different somehow. It wasn't the searing of the Old Light but the injuries it left behind. Even with their mind swirling like a carousel, the Hollow Knight realised it felt.. clear. Clearer than it has in ages. No alien presence lingers in the depths of their psyche. Still, the splitting headache wasn't making the thoughts easier to formulate. Do not think. It will be easier this way.

Although the possibility of receiving an answer sacares them, the Hollow Knight has to make sure. They hesitantly search through their own mind and quietly call.

Old Light?

Nothing. Silence.

Are you still there..?

No response. Dead quiet. Darkness. No internal fire, no force pressing against the remnants of their resolve and forcing its will upon them. No wisps dancing around in their vision, only dots of black and sparks of white caused by the pain. In their heaving chest, their black heart skips a beat. Could it be? Hesitantly, the Hollow Knight tries to move, to lift their arm. The appendage raises according to their will, trembling violently and falling to the floor not even a second later but there's nothing aside from their exhaustion holding them back or setting their entire system ablaze. It has to be. The Infection left. As hard to believe as it is… the Radiance.. She's gone. They can't feel Her anymore. The Darkness took over. Her light has been extinguished, at long last. In their mind they can feel a large hole, an empty space where She used to reside but this emptiness feels... good.

Happy. No, that's not the right word to call the emotion that assaults them, making them want to scream and weep, and laugh out loud all at the same time while being able to do only the second part. Struggling to form a forbidden thought, fighting the still present fever, they search for the right name for this one. Ecstatic? Yeah, that feels more like it.. However, the Hollow Knight doesn't spare time to rejoice. If they do they soon too will be gone.

Clenching their jaws, the mangled Vessel attempts to lift themself on their remaining arm but the weakened appendage gives out underneath their meager weight as though it was made of jelly. Unfortunately, their armor wasn't making the whole thing easier. The fall leaves them disoriented and stunned for a moment until they feel something wet pooling beneath their face. Forcing their head, which seems to weigh far too much, as though it was made out of lead, to turn, they see black. Void. Void spilling from their wounds and their right eye where their shell had cracked. Not the pus but pure Void. As black as it could ever be. It was… both comforting in color and disconcerting in amount. Losing that much life essence would kill a normal bug at least six times over. They needed to try something different before their Shade slips free from its confines to rejoin the Abyssal Sea. Focusing on a Healing spell was out of question with how drained of energy they were. Attempts to pull themself back to their knees also yield no results aside from agonizing stabs through the torn chitin on their chest where the cysts once were and left deep, bleeding holes after they'd bursted. Not all tumors were gone just yet. Some were still there, throbbing and scorching them with the now apparently caustic fluids.

Enough with this cursed plague! Without care for their own wellbeing, only wanting the Infection finally OUT, the Hollow Knight makes their conscious decision, rolls slightly to the side to have a more or less clear view and focuses their anger on the remaining cysts.. Their shivering hand wanders over to the last cluster of Infection still anchored to their body and hovers there for a single beat.. It's better to get this done with before they change their mind. In one swift motion, sharp tips of their claws sink into their own flesh. One drag is enough to tear deep gashes in the mutated membrane. The pustules split open with a sensation not dissimilar to being ran through with a white hot iron bar. The Hollow Knight gasps in pain, with a pang of worry realising that their breathing remained loud, ragged and unsettling. No wonder. After all this, most of their organs were likely severely damaged if not ceased to function at all. Orange liquid quickly drains from the self-inflicted wounds before being replaced by Void. It wasn't one of their finest moments, it hurt like hell but they didn't want this blasted stuff inside of them for a single second longer. Now, they were left still stuck splayed out on the floor and bleeding out at an alarming rate. They don't have much time left. Looking around, noting the lack of Infected veins and bubbles, they let their eyes linger on their old, trusty nail. If that doesn't work, then nothing will.

Scraping their head through the dust that accumulated on the floor throughout years, the Hollow Knight crawls to their discarded weapon, leaving a trail of quickly dissipating Void in their wake, and heaves themself up to get a hold of the hilt. Any second, they feared the chains would shoot out to trap them again but no such thing happened. Only two fo the longer sections remained attached to their shoulder pads and were dragging behind them. The Infection was eradicated. The purpose of the Temple fulfilled. As was theirs. Their hand trembles but otherwise holds fast as they pull up onto their knees, still wheezing dreadfully. For so long, the Hollow Knight ceaselessly begged all Higher Beings for the blessing of death, wishing their nail was in their reach so that they could end their own misery. Now… here it was in their grasp. Waiting, taunting. All it takes is one stab. Just one little push… You failed. Disappointment. Pick it up, turn the tip towards their already open chest and drive the blade through their heart. No one would miss a failure like you. The Vessel's hand tightens around the nail. It would be so easy… Just a second and it will be over. You're already as good as dead. Their task had come to an end. There's nothing more for them here. Do it!

Slowly, the Hollow Knight forces themself to stand on their weak and shaky legs, using their unkempt weapon as a crutch instead. Too late for that now. If they have to die, they'd rather do so out in the open. Everywhere but in this grave. All limbs hurt. The pain is insufferable… Do not feel.. They breathe raggedly, letting the sharp throbbing subside. Can they even make it to the outside world? What if the Dreamer Seals linger still? Do not think… No thoughts. Pick a destination. The entrance to the Egg. Don't ponder over it. Endure.

First steps come with difficulty - they hadn't walked in years and their legs feel as though the Infection has hollowed them out - they stumble and fall to their knees more than once but never give up. They refused to give up ever again. Eventually, each next step becomes easier as they drag their husk of a crippled body towards the doorway - the chains singing their grim song against the floor behind them - where their father disappeared all those years ago. Even now, after all the suffering they'd endured, the Hollow Knight hoped the Pale King is still out there somewhere. If so then the chances are once he realises the Radiance is no more, he will return to reclaim his Kingdom without the threat of the Infection hanging grimly over his head. And when that day comes, they will meet again. And after that, they will find mother too. And apologise for their defeat. Maybe they will even grant the Hollow Knight the forgiveness they don't deserve? Yes, that sounds good… If they live up to this moment, that is.. If not, then maybe their parents will at least lay their body to rest? Still, the thought of their father being dead and gone forever nearly makes them give in and fall again, unwilling to keep pushing forward. No. The Pale King is a God. It's not a trivial task to kill a Higher Being. They know it. He has to be alive. Doesn't he? Clinging to this tiny ray of hope, the Hollow Knight staggers through the dark corridor of the Temple, heading towards the light at the end where the (thank Wyrm!) opened door awaits.

A wave of stale air smelling of dirt crashes over them at the entrance and almost makes them cry with relief. No more sweet stench of Her plague. This is really happening.. Begging their weak body to hold on just a wee bit longer, they push towards their freedom. Though, no matter how hard they tried, their armor was slowing them down and making moving around difficult. In an attempt to spare the rapidly diminishing reserves of their strength, the Hollow Knight uses their claws to slash through the straps holding their shoulder pads in place they clumsily fight to unclip their ruined breastplate. With how it was bent out torn open and completely eaten through by the acidic Infection, it comes off without much difficulty and soon each armor piece hits the floor with a series of metallic clangs.

To be honest, the Vessel had no delusions they would survive this. Only one look at the ruptured chitin on their chest told them everything. After tearing the last pustules open they could've sworn for a moment they'd seen their heart trembling inside but it might as well have been a hallucination. In any case, they were too severely injured to pull through without aid and considering the sorry state of Hallownest, that is not happening. Even if they could call for help, they doubt anyone would heed their desperate pleas. Disoriented by the disappearance of the Infection and scared, any survivors, who aren't in equally as sorry state as them, are likely to head in the opposite direction. Besides, they couldn't imagine anyone would dare to touch the disgusting mess of a broken being they are now. At least… they will die happy, out in the open, gazing out at their homeland. Knowing it is safe and that they have their twin to thank for it. And that the ghost of their mistakes doesn't hold a grudge for the wrong they'd done.

A glimpse of red. A moving figure, just outside. Some strange sense of familiarity lights up a spark in the Hollow Knight's mind. Just a few more steps… After what felt like an eternity, the hero of Hallownest emerges from the Black Egg that was their and Her prison for so long and comes face to face with the shadow of their past. The Weaver clad in red dress took on a defensive stance and drew a needle once they leaned heavily against their nail, trying to steady their breathing. Red dress.. needle… strands of silk angrily lashing behind.. mask as pale as the King's.. Far more adult than they remember but still familiar. It cannot be.

It cannot be that for once since this madness had begun, the Hollow Knight has a stroke of good luck. Their tired eyes land on the one they remember as a small, temperamental girl. The spiderling princess of Deepnest. Even though the passage of time changed her, there can be no mistake. It was her. Their sister. Hornet… No longer a girl, but a young adult. How long has it truly been? And there was utter shock painted across her face once she realised that she's looking at her long lost, stoic sibling who was taken from her when she was a child. No aggressive glow in their eyes. Only soothing black, silently asking for help. What little strength they had left finally abandons them as they fall over face first again, smiling to themself inwardly. What a happy coincidence. Not only will death claim them free and at peace but in the presence of their beloved baby sister. Despite what they'd been expecting, they don't hit the floor. Instead, their body collapsed straight into Hornet's arms. How she didn't keel over underneath the weight of their much larger form was a mystery.

A firm grip on their shoulders, a pair of strong hands hardened by years of combat cautiously lower them to the kneeling position as a concerned Hornet fills their entire vision. How similar to their father she is… The same hands cup their face, just like Her wings had before (don't think about it, don't panic, it's just Hornet! They reprimanded themself when they begin to tremble), to make them look ta her. Clearly, she's saying something to them in a very frantic non-Hornet-like fashion but they can no longer hear. Her fingers gently caress the Hollow Knight's forehead, deliberately avoiding the crack in their shell and the spilling Void that could potentially kill her as the other hand rests on the underside of their mask. Such a gentle, loving gesture.. unfamiliar yet so… comforting… Each touch sends a delighted tremor through Hollow Knight's succumbing body. They didn't know one could be missing something that was never received in the first place. Yet, here they are. Yes.. yes, now they are ready. They are ready to go.. Were it not for Hornet, they wouldn't have managed to keep their head up. When they cough and wheeze, she starts speaking again. And this time bits and pieces do get through to the Hollow Knight.

"...-be alright-... -...ust hold on…!"

Weakly, the Vessel nuzzles their face into her touch as they heave in attempts to take another breath. Maybe the Hollow Knight was ready to face death but it doesn't mean they weren't afraid of it. They truly want to reassure Hornet that all will indeed be alright. But they can't. It's terribly cold out here… Flashes of images, glimpses of faces pass through their mind. Every bug they'd known well and those they met only once as well. As colorless and empty as their life had been, it was.. good. They lived a good life...

Then, suddenly, it's not Hornet they're looking at anymore. A luminous form of a small bug with multiple sleek horns shaping into a crown on the top of his head. The Pale King stands there with an aghast expression and holds their heavy head in his blackened hands making his child stare in bewilderment. He looked so real! But it cannot be him.. The feverish mind of he Vessel doesn't seem to care though. Am I dead already...? Black eyes in the pale face of their father watch the dying Hollow Knight with anguish gleaming in them. He’d never looked at them like this.. To hell with their Pure Vessel facade, they’re dying anyway... What does it matter at this point? An uncontrollable shiver makes them seize in pain rippling through their whole body as they swallow the black liquid filling their mouth and they lift their shaking hand to surprisingly firmly grasp the front of Pale King’s robes to keep him here just a little longer. The fabric seems.. strange to the touch...

Father, don't leave..

They want to call what they wished to years ago when they didn't have the courage to but.. No voice to cry suffering. The darkness is upon them and there's nothing in sight that could stop it. It was a miracle they lived long enough to crawl out of the Temple. If they were a normal bug so heavily Infected, they wouldn't have gotten up from where they'd fallen at all. Their last regret was that after all this, they will leave their twin behind. Again. And do so without so much as a single "thank you" for everything they'd done. But Gods... they were so tired.. Leaning forward the Hollow Knight rests their head on their father’s shoulder, possibly ruining the robe in the process with the Void leaking from their shell. Even if it was just the figment of their imagination, they didn’t care. To die peacefully, whether it be in the arms of Hornet or his father, was more than they could ask for or ever deserve. They breathe out with relief and for the first time in an eternity slip away into the embrace of sleep without fear in their heart, never expecting to wake up again.

Please, forgive me... All of you...

To their utter astonishment… they do. First thing they register is warmth. Not the burning fire of the disease tearing at their every nerve. A soft, comforting warmth filling up their entire being. Air around is hot and humid. Without opening their eyes, the Hollow Knight draws a loud breath that sounds kind of like a suffocating Vengefly. Strangely enough, the dense air does not hurt their damaged lungs. Quite the opposite. It spreads around their respiratory system like a balm, easing the burning left by Her plague. So long… so long since they felt any sort of something pleasant.. They could stay like this in the warmth forever and everything else can shove off with the odd, stinging pressure in their belly taking the lead. If only they could breathe easier… It takes barely a split of a second after their sudden wheeze for a pair of hands to rest on the sides of their head to steady it.

"No, no, don't you dare! Hornet's gonna tear my face off if you die!"

No memory of a name comes to mind with this male voice that sounds as though it was coming from behind a glass wall. As much as they want to remain inert, the Hollow Knight forces their eyes to pry open, wincing inwardly at the bright white glow of Soul surrounding everything, emanating from the… water they're in? A hot spring? Absent-mindedly noting they cannot see with their right eye as something was draped over it, the Hollow Knight looks up at… exactly, who? Looming over them upside down and still holding their head, was a hooded warrior with big white eyes. An ant most likely, judging by features. The unfamiliarity of the face made Hollow Knight tense in agitation but their limbs were unresponsive and aching, refusing to move. The stranger firmly held their head still even as they began to stir.

"Easy there. Not gonna hurt you. I'm a friend."

A friend? The no-longer-Sealed Vessel isn't sure what this means but they assume it's a good thing. The Pale King more than once called either one of the Five, or the future Dreamers (except for Herrah as she was the mother of his daughter) a "friend" with fondness in his voice when in good mood. Besides, if this ant really knows Hornet.. If they were being honest, the Hollow Knight was much too spent to feel threatened or try to analyse the situation to determine whether the ant does pose any threat or not. They ceased their struggling to continue wheezing heavily, fighting for air. Seems like it's not going away anytime soon.. With their every breath, the warrior's frown was deepening.

"No clue what battered you like that but I don't wanna meet it."

And you won't… The Hollow Knight thinks to themself with a sense of relief washing over them. She really is gone. They weren't sure what their twin did and how but they'd done it. No more Infection. No more pain. No more struggle.. A silent hope that they might have gotten a second chance makes them slump in the warm water working on their injuries. This warmth causes them to grow awfully sleepy, maybe they really did lose too much "blood" and were actually dying, but the stranger above them was determined to keep them in the waking world.

"For the love of- No! Stay with me! Hornet will kill me if you don't!"

Hornet.. The sound of her name somewhat keeps them from passing out. She must've been the one to bring them here. Then... it can’t have been their father they were seeing earlier... Just like they thought, their imagination was merely playing tricks on them, reshaping Hornet’s already similar features into those of the Pale Wyrm, and all this time it was her. Where did she go? Hornet wouldn't leave without a good reason… Speaking of which-..

TISO! Back the fuck off!"

Familiar, yet far more mature voice of Hollow Knight's younger sister almost brings small rocks raining down from the ceiling, making the ant in question jump away from them. As unexpected as her arrival is, it brings the Vessel peace and a sense of security.

"Okay, WOW! First you literally drag me down here by my antennae and now you yell at me for actually helping? Rude."

"May I remind you you owe me a favor? Now shut up and move."

"Geez, calm down princess! Your buddy was just breathing very loudly, I legitimately thought they're choking or something."

"I still don't trust you."

"Then why the FUCK-...?!"

As if to prove Tiso's point, the Hollow Knight descended into a fit of rattling coughs when they tried to move to see their sister, unintentionally making the strain in their stomach worse, proceeding to wheeze horribly afterwards. The Infection took a lot out of them… The arguing duo ceased in an instant (though the Hollow Knight could've sworn they felt the energy of "didn't I tell you" radiating off of the smug ant). Hornet didn't wait before walking into the hot spring and helping her older sibling sit up. Everything protests at the movement, especially their chest - now, like the stump of their arm, bound in bandages made of Weaver silk - but they don't stop her. They close their eyes as she does, breathing deeply until the painful wheezes slowly turn into nearly soundless huffs. Still, they feel and hear their breath eerily whistling in their lungs.

"That's it, keep breathing. It'll be alright. Here. This should help."

Out of a hidden pocket in her red dress she brandishes a bottle filled with gently glowing blue liquid. Lifeblood. So that's what she'd gone for.. The Hollow Knight blinks at the vial she holds, waiting for permission out of habit. They aren't quite sure if there is a point to keep the play up, especially before Hornet but… old habits die hard. Doing things without being prompted still felt... weird and uncomfortable. It causes a moment of awkward silence before Hornet frowns, seemingly catching a wind of what's going on, and brings the bottle closer to them.

"Take it. Drink."

In a beat the Hollow Knight seems to spring back to life and follows her instructions without any signs of hesitation. They down the blue concoction, bitter and by no means savory but they don't mind it. One, they aren't used to showing discomfort, two, they'd take the bitter over sweet and rotten any day. In comparison to the Infection, the Lifeblood was the best thing they'd tasted in a while. And true enough, the blue liquid works its magic quite quickly. The sharp throbbing of their wounds that the spring's power reduced to a bearable ache seemed to ease even more and some part of their strength returned to them. Honestly, they never understood why their father was so skeptical and untrusting towards the Lifeblood… On the other hand though, the Hollow Knight hangs their head low and grasps at their chest when they suddenly begin to feel awfully sick again.

"Hollow, are you-...?"

She starts but they silence her by lifting up their remaining hand when the familiar, sweetness dangerously quickly wells up in their throat. Oh no.. On an instinct, the Hollow Knight twists around and lurches forward, heaving out the contents of their stomach onto the cave floor. An unbelievably large amount of vibrant orange fluid mixed with freshly consumed Lifeblood and a little bit of Void makes its way out of the inside of their body, drawing disgusted groans from both witnesses. Well... so much for the Lifeblood treatment...

"EUGH! How the hell did all that stuff even fit inside this guy?!"

Mildly horrified Tiso asked the question into the air as Hornet, equally disturbed, didn't seem too eager to answer. The Hollow Knight was, thankfully, done in seconds and breathed out with relief once the tension left their stomach as the - hopefully - last traces of the Infection were expelled from their system. That feels so much better… As gross as the sticky substance was, the Hollow Knight found strange joy in watching the color fade into dull brown and eventually black before evaporating once and for all. Another proof. Though, the unpleasant aftertaste still lingered..

Sh-shit, I'm about to throw up too..."

With his hand over his mouth, Tiso quickly runs out of the cavern after the display and the smell left his own stomach very upset. The Hollow Knight isn't all that surprised. No one's going to try and convince the poor ant that what has just transpired wasn't thoroughly disgusting. Hornet merely rolled her eyes and returned her attention to her weakened sibling.

"How do you feel? Are you okay now?"

Never mind all the wounds which will surely leave awful scars. Never mind the dizziness that will eventually pass. Never mind the no longer existing right arm. The Hollow Knight looked Hornet straight in the eye but remained stone still, without a clue how to say it without words. Despite all the pain and the memories of suffering still fresh in their mind, they have never felt like this before. No more waking nightmares. No more Infection. No more Her. No more chains and bindings. Freedom. Peace. Safety. They are going to live to see another day and if the luck wishes to be on their side again, they will reunite with their father, mother and their sibling. Here they are, no threat in sight, beside their baby sister… "Okay" fails to describe one third of it.

"Hollow?"

Again, she called them this, trying to coax a response from the stiff voidling. And to be honest, it felt… nice. It was no longer the title mocking their existence but a sense of familiarity in it was putting the Vessel at ease. There's no need to pretend in front of Hornet. Who were they kidding, she certainly knew from the very beginning. And now she spoke this word as though it was a name like any other. The Hollow Knight never had a name. Though, they remember the Pale King accidentally calling them like this for short a couple times. Another fond memory. Yes. Yes, they like it that way.. They like that very much.

At Hornet's impatient and concerned prodding, Hollow bowed their much larger head until theirs and their sister's horns connected with an empty clunk. She seemed rather… shocked to say the least, judging by the look on her face. But fortunately the message was clear.

"You're ah... welcome, I guess.."

In response they only stared at her until she finally took a seat on the edge of the pool of healing water with her legs submerged. Hollow never had many interactions with people aside from following commands and watching their affairs from the side lines. Yet, there were moments, like after a particularly bad training session, when they received a gentle touch, most often from their mother. Root had a natural affinity to heal and she couldn't help but give into her motherly instincts when she saw her child hurting. Unfortunately, only until the young Pure Vessel managed to hone their skills to Focus Soul into healing injuries. And not so long ago Hornet was lightly stroking their head as they were knocking on death's door in her arms. Is this alright to ask her to do it again?

Uncertain, Hollow rested their heavy head beside where she sat, watching her out of the corner of their uncovered eye, the other wrapped up in Void-stained silk. Their memories of Hornet seemed so distant… The little girl with definitely too large amounts of energy stored within her tiny body was all over the Palace whenever she visited and she always found ways to sneak away to bother them. Not that they minded it. When Hollow found out the spiderling is their half sister from another mother, they took it as a point of honor to watch over her whenever they could, glad every time their father told them to do so. As cold and distant as he was, Hollow knew they loved their father, they just didn't know how to name this emotion yet. To feel safe and happy, to feel one would do anything for the person subjected to it.. With Hornet it felt… different. While they - metaphorically, of course - looked up to the Pale King, respected him and never doubted his words, every time Hornet was in sight they felt the same joyous warmth that came from the presence of either of their parents but laced with a protective instinct. They would follow the princess of Deepnest to hell and back if she asked them to and make sure she returns unscathed. Turns out, it is her who has to keep watch over them. How the tides have turned…

A small, lively child she always was, Hornet feared nothing and never backed out from any challenge. She even had a phase for a couple of months in the past when she declared she will kill the Infection for her dad on her own and it left the poor King utterly stressed out and terrified, ready to launch himself behind his cocky daughter at any moment so that Herrah doesn't gut him for being a "sorry excuse of a parent who can't even do his job properly". Memories like this bring the invisible smile to their face... Hollow couldn't imagine she would change much as she grew up. But it seems they still don't know their sister all that well.. With barely any noticeable hesitation she surprised her older sibling by lifting their head to her lap.

"I never thought I'd see you again. Let alone alive.."

She said more to herself than to anyone else as she rested her hand between their horns like they used to do to her when she was little. Uninfected. This word never left her mouth, as though saying it out loud would break the spell, but Hollow somehow knew that's what she meant. Nuzzled into the soft, albeit a bit worn dress and warmed by the magical waters of the hot spring, Hollow found a wave of unimaginable exhaustion, coming from years of being locked away with the Goddess of Dreams tormenting them, finally crashing over their broken body. After everything they've been through, they wanted and deserved to finally sleep in peace. But while before they were sure they were falling asleep never to return to the land of the living again and were okay with it, now some small, seemingly insignificant vestiges of fear lingered in the back of their psyche. They were plainly afraid of falling asleep. Hollow never wanted to have to stand before the Radiance ever again. However, this fear melted away with gentle strokes of Hornet's hand on their shell and the other one rubbing circles into their back to put them at ease the moment she noticed them fighting with their weariness.

"Hey, it's okay. She will never hurt you again."

Hollow knew this. They'd felt the Radiance at her strongest fall, even though they never thought it possible. Seems like the word "impossible" does not exist in their twin's dictionary.. But still, the fear was always there. What if I was wrong? What if this is just another hallucination? Those what ifs scared them all the same no matter what they'd seen and lived through. They knew that it's finally over. But they had to hear someone else say it with certainty. To make them believe. And Hornet's stern but sympathetic voice along with her comforting touch did just that. Finding new strength in their sore limbs, Hollow clambered up a little further onto the shore but not out of the warm water to lay more comfortably with their head still resting on Hornet's lap, and awkwardly reached around her waist with their left arm to snuggle up even closer like a desperate child they never had a chance to be. They weren't sure if they're doing the "hug-thing" right but it worked nonetheless. It took the fear away, soothed the ache of their shattered soul. With utmost certainty, they knew this was an emotion they liked feeling now that no one is here to judge them. Maybe they were wrong. Perhaps there's still a reason to keep going? Hornet never ceased caressing them and soon, Hollow found themself calmly falling asleep on her thighs with the last words they heard before slipping into the blessedly dreamless sleep ringing in their ears like a lullaby, the long forgotten tune of a small music box that the White Lady was so fond of...

…You are safe…

Out from the winding tunnels of Crossroads and into a cavern housing the healing waters of the hot spring, a pitch black shadow slithers across the ground like a serpent towards two sleeping figures slumped against one another. The temperature dips noticeably as it creeps closer to the Protector of Hallownest and the Hollow Knight resting at the shore oblivious to any form of danger while the hooded ant - saved from certain death by Hornet herself under the insistence of the Pale Wanderer - slumbers beneath an opposite wall with his arms crossed not to intrude on this peaceful moment. The shadow's attention is focused on the pair of pale siblings however. It raises and collapses in on itself like a liquid given life as it silently crawls up to the sleeping duo.

Reaching their side, the shadow begins to rise up from the ground and rapidly swell in size. The shapeless substance forms into a massive body with four, clawed arms, a large head adorned with multiple ghostly horns and dark tendrils swaying lightly from the creature's back. It stands tall on two animalistic legs half obscured by an ethereal robe melding perfectly with its torso and looms over the siblings, casting no shadow. If anything, its body is so dark that the light seems to bend around it. Eight, brilliant white eyes open in a faceless head and blink slowly, one pair after another. The Abyssal horror, blacker than anything existing in this world, composed of Void in its purest form and shape, barely fits in this cave but doesn't seem to care. It watches both the Void born creature and the half-spider for a couple seconds before its numerous eyes crinkle in something resembling a smile.

. . . S a f e . . .

The Void rumbles satisfied. Carefully, the giant lays something beside them - a small, pale mask split in two - and begins to focus. In barely half a minute, the dark menace shrinks and loses its intimidating shape once more in favor of sliding into the cracked shell, reforming a tiny body in a dark grey cloak tattered from long travels. As though it was the most natural thing in the world, the Ghost of Hallownest picks up the other half of their mask and as the last bits of their true form compress within their broken head they lift the missing piece and without any effort mend the crack that used to run through the middle of their face, leaving but a faint scar behind. This form was way too small, they could feel the Void pressing against it from the inside uncomfortably but for now it will have to do. Though, they liked this body and were very used to it. Maybe they could just make it grow properly in the near future?

With that transformation done, the warmth returns to the cavern. Casually, Ghost shuffles closer to their last remaining siblings and - mindful of numerous recently healed wounds Hollow bears - cuddles against Hornet's side next to Hollow's arm, careful not to wake up either of their siblings in the process. Especially Hollow. They need their rest the most. Actually, it's new to see Hornet of all people peacefully sleeping with the Hollow Knight's head on her lap. All of the sudden she seemed far less scary than the little vessel found her during their first meeting in Greenpath, though that may have something to do with their newfound Godhood. With a quiet sigh, Ghost lets their eyes slip closed but doesn't fall asleep. Their Ascension, although it brought unthinkable power that let them tear apart the Goddess of Dreams, left them utterly spent. Rooting out the Infection was not an evening stroll... But they have no desire to sleep. Not yet. For now, they're content with listening to breaths and heartbeats of their siblings. After cutting their way through the entire Pantheon of Hallownest in order to save this land, to save their lost twin, they feel like they've earned this moment of respite. Woe be upon any who thinks otherwise.. Eventually however, even the God of Gods gives into their exhaustion and falls into a deep slumber beside their siblings, knowing both of them are safe. Hallownest is safe. They all are..

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First try at drawing a proper background! Woo! Before you ask, I didn't give Ghost a shadow on purpose, I'm not that oblivious XD

#hollow knight #hk pure vessel #hk pale king #hk hornet #hk ghost #hk the radiance #my writing #my fic #my art #pale king #the radiance #pure vessel #the hollow knight

[zuffer-weird-girl]

I know is still early as hell. But when mother's day come around, hopefully, my country will be out of quarentine. And I will be super busy.

So. I noticed that you all like a Chisaki who begrudily shows his emotions. So why not?

Btw, the character might be a bit OOc on this one. Sorry about that and stay safe.

Mother's day...

His chest was enveloped by that tightness and bitter sweet sensation as he watched the outdoors, propagandas, and the worst, kids and other people celebrating on the fucking street with the person who brought them to this disgusting word.

Some had the luxury of having good parents right when born. Those spoiled bastards like the heroes surely didn't know what torture people had been through, more specifically the ones who didn't belonged to that word, the ones abandoned on the darkness... which hero would come to there anyway?

Heck, even in the fucking yakusa some had their parents who didn't treated them like shit.

To say the least. Father and Mother's day... wasn't a very found date of his.

He just had this eyes full of pure pain and not so great nostalgia. Memories of his past coming back like some type of torturous flash... the beating, the yelling... everything.

Pops did his best through the years to make some change of it. But with no success.

He walked past the door of his home, shoulders feeling like he was carrying the world on his back and head throbbing with a headache.

"You're back Kai!" A soft voice brought him back to reality as he merely gave a blank loook at his girlfriend, walling towards him with that smile.

He only nodded at her, not noticing her eyebrows furrowing in worry bit brushing it off as his usual attitude.

"I.. I'm going to go visit my mother for a bit." His heart seemed to sand at that, but his face didn't even twitched "If you want, you can come-"

"No." Simple and short was his answer, no harshness or annoyance on his tone, only... empytiness, lifting his gloved hand up and lowering after it with a sigh "Have a good day, careful when you come back...will you?" He said in a broken and flat tone as he walked past you.

Your worry only grew at seing that he didn't entered his office like usual, but the bedrock instead... you knew what this was all about, yet you couldn't stop over worrying about him..

You sighed as your phone buzzed, your mother worried why you were taking so long as you got out of the house with other plans in your head besides seing your mom...

~

His back rested on the mattress as his hollow gaze was directed at the windows and balcony of his room. Memories haunting him like some type of ghost or even demon that wouldn't just leave him alone.

The disgust on her face every fucking time she would look at him, him being beaten up by his biological father as she looked at her reports or clothes while he cried for her to help him.... after the incident of his father's death, her gaze towards him was absolutely the worst, not only she had that disgust, but at that time it was fear.

Like she was looking at the Devil itself at that time.

Did it cost so much to have one look of her with... care? Heck, no one asked to be born, especially him that by five or eight years of his life the only thing he wanted to was to dissapear.

He took a shuddering breath at remembering those nights where he manage to read books that weren't related about medical advances neither case of diseases... one kid's book he found on the street once and cleaned, it was childish and boring compared to the ones he had read, but he remember how it described the love of a mother towards her child.

He wanted that... was it so difficult? Was it so difficult for her to even spare at glance at him like the book itself described it? Was he so broken and disgusting that he wasn't deserved of a mother's genuine love?

Was it so difficult for her to treat him like her son? He remembered one time where at the age of six, he saw a kid on the hospital crying on their mother for just receiving a injection, seeking comfort on her... and when he came to touch the white overcoat of his own mother to catch her attention, the scowl she gave was enough for him to retreat back and stay on his corner.

He forgot how in his childhood days, he just wanted to know and feel like how it was being loved and what that word meant... he saw many parents hugging their childs and praising them, why he couldn't have that...?

Was something that bad for him to be born?

He stopped his train of thought when the door of his bedroom clicked. For a moment, he could care less at anyone who saw him that way, casual clothes as he had this broken look on his face, he could just order them to get out... but when he saw you with a bad on your hand, his body stiffen immediately.

"What are you doing in here?" I thought you were-" he started with a irritated tone of voice, praying that you didn't noticed his moment of weakness.

"I was. But I told her I would compensate on another day spending with her. I told my mom it was kinda of an 'emergency'." You smiled as you settled the tiny bug on the nightstand and frowned slightly at his his eyes, pink instead of the color white in them, but being the stubborn man he is, even with no one around, he refused to spare a single tear.

He sighed, eyes closing as he layed his head in the matress as he pointed with his palm while his free other glived hand pinched his covered nose.

"What is even this?"

You unwrapped it. One fo Kai's favorite pantries with a bit of berries on it. His sweet tooth was something so endearing for you that it made you smile purely only at him.

"I thought a little picked me up would do you some good." You cooed as he slowly opened one of his eyes and looked at what you brought. Immediately sighing, but still reaching for it.

"This will dirty the bedroom and you are the one cleaning after wards." He mumbled as he stared at the sweet on hjs hand enveloped by a napkin.

"Definitely. But will you complain about that 'I missed a spot' or something later, surely." Yoj let out a giggle but immediate stopped when you saw that you got no reaction of his. Only that he placed the sweet back on the box and returned it to the nightstand.

Ok. Serious. This shit was serious.

You sighed and walked around the bed to sit besides him, back resting on the mattress the same as him, watching him carefully.

Neber on your life you would think that you were gonna be so close yet so far from Chisaki. You were literally touching shoulders legs and shoulders with, and he didn't even scoffed or complain it about it! Yet, his mind was so stuck on whatever bad memory of his right now, that it made quite difficult to reach out for him.

Yet, you were persistent. Going for something that you knew that if anyone did that with him, they would be dead on the spot.

But not only were you brave, you knew he cared and allowed you to do it.

You sighed in hope, reaching out a gentle hand to cup his covered cheek and carresed gently. Earning only a look as if he was questioning you.

But before he could mutter one word, you slid your fingers to his ear and slowly took off his black mask, lips on that strict and straight line as his eyebrows furrowed at your actions, but he did nothing to stop you.

You holded his face gently before touching your lips in both of his cheeks and after his lips... he did nothing to stop you still.

Then you pushed his head to rest on your chest where your heart bumps could echo on his ears. His body once stiff relaxed a bit when he heard that sound which helped him to sleep.

Gentle fingers started to scratch carefully and caress his dark brow looks. The amount of love on your actions almost overwhelmed him if it wasn't for his hollow and numb estate of mind.

The voice of his mother echoed on his head along with your heart beat his jaw tighten as his arms came hesitantly to wrap around your waist.

"I'm sorry. I know you don't like this day, not even a bit." You whispered on his hair as you felt him blinking on your skin "But you wanna know something?... I have one, one only reason to thank that woman..." he arched his eyebrow at that, lifting himself from your chest to look down at you like you had grow not only a second, but a third head along.

Ever since he admitted, opened himself to talk about his past for you, your rage towards those two was almost, if not equal, to his own.

You touched forehead with him as you interlocked your fingers with his. Doing your best to put ever live you had towards this man in every word.

"I only have to thank her despicable existence, for making and bringing you on this world... my knight in shinning armor, my yakusa's boss." You sighed dreamily and pecked his lips once again "My devil."

When you opened your eyes the last thing you were expecting to see was his eyes tightly closed as his shoulders trembled.

You cooed an apology immediately, desperately in making up to him but he just let his face fall to your shoulder as he let out a muffled sob.

"Dammit (Y/n)..!" He whispered as he tried to control his breathing and how his heart was hammering against his chest, your fingers on his back, lips on his temple and sweet words only overwhelmed him in a way he hated, despise it to be.

A moment where all the walls he had built on his years of life complete fell...

You must have notice how he was still trying to hold back by the way you embraced him, whispering things that he swear was the reason for his break down.

"I love you, Chisaki Kai. And I always will... hou already protect me, so let me do the same?"

His face fell from your shoulders to your thighs and stomach, burring himself on them as he gripped in your waist like a life saver as he let out all the tears he needed to shed in his silent crying with only a few sobs here and there.

All the love he didn't know he needed and secretly craved ever since childhood, he was receiving right now as a young adult from his partner... how was that even possible? Him? Receiving such a divine thing from such a beautiful and sweet person like youserlf?

He didn't know for ling he cried in your stomach, opting to bury his face on it to hide his shame of acting like he was a weak midget again... savoring like a starved man at your sweet touches and whispers of love confessions and praises.

Who needed the love love of a project of a mother when he had such a beautiful angel like yourself to care for him?

He didn't count how long he stayed there, but he did remener that it wasn't nighttime when you had come back and entered you guys room.

He sighed shakily as his grip lessen only for a bit, getting half or one inch away from you so he could take a deep breath and come back again.

"She really didn't know what she lost." You suddenly said while carresing his dark brow hair as his embrace tighten "You just are the incarnation of perfection, dammit, how blind and dumb were they?"

He tsked and scoffed in your skin.

"Dramatic..." he spoke with a sore voice, gruffly and hoarse as he heard your giggles.

"I speak only the truth here!"

He slowly got up and locked his arms around your waist as he rested his chin on your shoulder and burried his face in your hair. His mysophobia completely forgotten as he enjoyed the love and care from someone that knew him, respect him.... loved him.

"Aw?" You cooed as you hugged his neck "Someone is in the cuddling mood?" He only scoffed and burried his face on your neck even more "I thought cuddling was, what the words you said again?" You stopped hugging his neck to mockingly poke your chin "Ah! 'Useless and disgusting-"

"Dammit woman, just hug me for once." He growled as he tighten his arms in your waist. His words making your heart melt, feeling all warm and fuzzy inside as your arms returned to his neck.

"I love you." You cooed, nuzzling your face on his own shoulder while he squeezed you tight as his response.

Some time passed with both of you locked in the arms of each other, the two of you agreeing to at least lay down until you remembered that you were still on casual clothes not sleeping ones.

Although when you tried to move he only grunted and tighten his embrace over you, face resting on the top of your head.

"Kai I have to change."

"... just five minutes and you go." He whispered lowly in the top of your head, sending shivers even to the tips of your toes.

You forgotten thhat once Kai was in this mood he bargained and refused to let you go. And him being almost in the verge of sleep no less? You were stuck. Amd you couldn't be more happy with that.

At least you brought peace to him on a day where his last came to haunt him.

#overhaul x reader #overhaul scenario #fanfic overhaul #overhaul #chisaki kai imagine scenario #kai chisaki x reader #chisaki kai x reader #kai chisaki #chisaki kai #bnha imagine #bnha characters #bnha villains #bnha x reader #bnha #my writing #zuffer writings

[zuffer-weird-girl]

Sorry! Tumblr just erased the original post and I had to re write all over again! Apologies for the delay

After everthing this man had to go through, it's not even a surprise to say that he will surely become depressed...

From personal experiences with this, Chisaki at the most part of the day would refuse to leave the bed, opting to just blantly look at the ceiling and sometimes considering to take a quick nap; he is afraid of going to sleep and face his usual night terrors with Shigaraki; making even the slightly peace not last for long...

At night though, Kai would probably drag his feet around the house, sit on the couch, with every bit of color of his eyes drained, as he stared at the floor... Rarely requesting your help to drink just a tiny cup of water...

He is grateful that you're there for him, but sometimes when you call his name or even tries to get his attention he won't respond, prisioned in his own thoughts...

You better prepare yourself, because you'll be hearing a lot of his self deprecating and deprived of any happines thoughts...

Chisaki not only feels hollow; he feel useless, he loosed...; everthing he worked so hard for to repay the gratitude of the yakusa just went downhills and in such a terrible way...

Kai feels like he is an infant again; scared, vulnerable, a weakling... a nobody; and he despises himself in so many levels for that...

After a bit of talking about his feelings; since he trust you with his whole soul I mean come on you're the only one he has left; he will catch you by surprise when you see silent tears dropping from his eyes as he forced them to stop, since he couldn't even brush them away... pathetic.

When he feels the gentle brush of your fingers to wipe away his tears, and your eyes filled with no pity but with understanding, that's when he broke down in sobs and shamelessly cried in your shoulder... not only that to break your heart but his confession:

"You have many reasons to leave me in the dirt... so, so many reasons (Y/N)" he sniffed to prevent that the disgusting snot on his nose sticked on your shirt along with his tears "Yet you never did... I don't deserve any of your kindness... however, I don't think I could handle you going away... even if it is for your own best... I want to be your knight in shiny armor but-" he bitterly chuckled to hide a coming sob "Who would want me in this state, right? But still..." he sobbed this time, burring his face deeper in the crook of your neck "I don't want to be left behind... I-I don't want to be alone again! But I still want you to be happy and safe and be with me... B-but how could I even do that if I'm nothing but useless garbage?!" He muffled shouted as he let out all of his frustations and sadness on his crying...

PLEASE caress this baby's hair... the feeling of your fingers traveling up and down from the top of his head to his scalp gives him a sense of comfort he never once had in his childhood days, only getting contact with it when you appeared in his dark life...

After his outburst quieted down a little, reassure him of your loyalty and love towards him, never once breaking eye contact, with a gentle smile on your face, that is enough for him to calm down for a while as the rest of his tears falled... he still nestled in the crook of your neck.

Until he notices that he almost gave you a bath from only his tears and tries to quickly left to help you to clean up (at least try to) but you didn't let him when you hugged him by his torso making both of you falling again on the bed, now you on top of him, face in his neck and breathing deeply; this position gives a sense of pride and confidence for him so its for the better.

"It's going to get better soon Kai I promise" you kissed lightly his cheek before returning to snuggle on his toned chest "And forever I will be by your side my knight, since the burning flames of my love for you never will went off" you knew it that when you got cheesy, he would let out a playfull eye roll and lift his spirits up sometimes.

It wasn't different; he gave you a dry chuckle before you felt some wetness appearing on your head... squeezing him as form of comfort as he spoke once again.

"Do you see now why I call you 'angel'?" He sadly commented but still with a sad tiny smile on his face as he nuzzled your head "You're too good for this world... too good with me..."

It will take a lot of pacience, understanding and time for him to get a little better, but with you he always felt these feelings he so desperately craved eben not knowing about it before...

Love and care...

#overhaul x reader #overhaul headcanons #overhaul scenario #fanfic overhaul #chisaki kai x reader #chisaki kai headcanons #bnha requests #bnha x reader #bnha characters #bnha villains #bnha fanfiction #bnha character x reader #bnha villains x reader #overhaul #chisaki kai #aaa this one was too sad im sorry T-T #my writings #zuffer writings #request