Hollow Knight: Soul and Magic

by UnchargedShip38

Chapter 8

The following couple of days had gone without much fanfare and no new threats seemed to have arrived since then. Since the incident on Nightmare Night, Princess Luna had effectively put Grim under house arrest until further notice. Much to the Nightmare King's chagrin, he was under house arrest in Twilight's home rather than any abode of his choosing. The reason? He and Ghost had been there temporarily and the dungeons were not an area he would choose. Especially with two, very angry, alicorns keeping an eye on him over his ritual...a ritual the locals thought of as a simple performance.

"How much more of this boredom must I endure?" Grim grumbled to himself as he stared blankly outside the window. A book firmly in his hands but he could not even read the language of this land. Despite all the nightmares having been absorbed by the Heart, he learned nothing of substance. For such a primordial being, his knowledge was limited, which meant he had to learn in one way.

The door in the room opened up suddenly with an enthusiastic voice of a purple unicorn behind it, "Are you ready for your first lesson on Equestria's customs, Grim? I am so glad Princess Luna gave me the opportunity to teach you about our history ."

"The feeling is not mutual, Sparkle," Grim merely replied. He looked downwards to see that there were at least a few guards in front of the main door of Twilight's home. Did the Princess of the Night sincerely think a few equine guards were going to stop the Nightmare King? He could easily just turn into a swarm of bats and fly out of this tree to anywhere he so pleased.

Why didn't he?

"I don't see why I am getting roped into this," Ghost's voice spoke out as he entered the room. He did nothing wrong and he was being put under house arrest just as much as Grim. If anything, Ghost was the sole reason the Nightmare King didn't go overboard with his ritual practice and reincarnation.

Twilight had an answer for that. "You did tell the Princesses that Grim was under your care. So by definition, you are responsible for his actions as much for yours. Plus, it was my idea to keep you here."

"How come?" Ghost would have raised a brow if his mask could barely allow expression.

"So I can document everything about where you came from and I'll share everything I have about Equestria. Consider this an official and recognized cultural exchange program." Twilight said

Grimm muttered, "By being forcibly restricted to one location. The Princesses might as well have locked us up again."

"In their defense, you two showed up out of nowhere and considering Ghost is made of the Void, locking you up would not have been on their minds. If it wasn't for the fact the Princesses found you harmless eventually, this is the best-case scenario."

"Then where do you want to begin with?" Ghost questioned. His knowledge of Hallownest was limited to whatever his adventures had uncovered through his sole prerogative. Pieces of what Hallownest was like came to mind and he did know a decent amount about the Pale King, his father. Other than that, he only knew of the few bugs still left behind there and what was left over since the Radiance's infection.

Twilight brought over several notebooks and pencils before looking expectantly at the duo, "What can you tell me about the Pale King?"

"Ah yes, the Wyrm." Grimm mused

"He was a dragon?" Twilight asked

Ghost shook his head, "From what I gathered, he could change form. Supposedly, every 'dead' of his current form would lead to a new form taking shape. He had great power within him and is the reason why Hallownest was able to become the kingdom that it was. At one point, bugs all were under one influence and without any free thought but his intervention allowed society to spring from his power."

Twilight scribbled a few notes, whispering lowly before looking upwards, "So...he was your ruler and god?"

"Depends if you consider strength like that godlike," Grimm answered before snapping his fingers to produce a flame. "I have the power granted by me through the Nightmare Heart. The Pale King has his own strength that none truly know but his actions gravely angered the previous power before him. The Radiance everyone calls it."

"I assume it was your enemy," Twilight murmured. The story seems to add up so far but the idea of a being changing forms after every death made her wonder if anyone had similar strength in Equestria. She wasn't confident either of the Princesses could do such a thing. "Please continue."

"The Radiance was an ancient god of the moths. When the moths broke from her shining light, it was deeply wounded and enraged against the Pale King. It used its power to infect bugs in a trance-like state where they were no better than thralls. I had to kill many of them just to stop the Radiance," Ghost explained.

Grimm nodded, "Indeed. that's how I was brought to Hallownest and met you. In a way, the Radiance made a red carpet for my arrival. How lovely of it to do so."

Twilight scribbled a bit more while her mind was boggling at the idea of a god coming to take revenge. How astounding it must be and...how dangerous Hallownest must have been. "So your father angered a god and the citizens had to pay for it? What happened next?"

"My creation. I should say, the creation of all Vessels," Ghost answered. "All other methods seemed to have failed and my father could not stay trapped in his palace forever. So..."

"He made a deal with the devil," Grimm finished. "I had been using my ritual for quite some time then but it seems that even the Pale King so wisdom in using a Vessel. Bodies were made from the Queen while the Void filled the very essence and souls."

"How many?" Twilight asked inquisitively

"Thousands," Ghost answered. His eyes broke from Twilight's gaze as he could recall the many empty shells and masks just littering the graveyard. His estimate was way off but what did that matter?

Silence befell the trio as even Twilight stopped writing. There was Ghost, Coo, and a mention of a Hollow Knight. That was three named Vessels that came to mind, but did that mean the rest of the Vessels were gone? Dead? Corrupted? She considered just avoiding the question altogether but something nagged her to ask. "Where are they now?"

Ghost's answer was as bad as it seemed, his lifeless void eyes looking back at Twilight's purple.

"Gone."

---

Everfree

The day was bright and the birds merrily chirped amongst the trees. Squirrels roamed amongst the ground to search for fallen nuts or anything edible to store. The grass waved to and fro while the clouds littered the sky above them. The occasional insect searched for its next meal while predators kept to themselves. But unfortunately for all these creatures, one other had seemed to arrived to their environment. Staggering one step at a time with labored breathing while scanning for any form of shelter.

It had no idea had it arrived here but it remembered being chained up with the most traumatizing pain coursing through its body. It had done this for the sake of the kingdom...it's father's kingdom since the moment it had been created. Out of the thousands of its brethren that had been created, only this one was viable to contain the disease. It had been a powerful creation of the king, so powerful to stand higher than the knights. It was the perfect vessel...or so everyone thought.

Deciding to rest against one of the trees, the figure used a sharpened sword as a makeshift crutch since its body was so close to giving out. Despite all of its strength, it had not stopped the infection nor did it even save the kingdom. It failed at everything it was supposed to be. A mind that should have not had the ability to think, a heart that had no warmth, no feelings of guilt or bonds to hold it back. Yet...it failed at all this.

Did it...have a bond the Radiance exploited? It must have. The moment with the Pale King looking over Hallownest came to present itself before the being. No wonder it was doomed from the start. Just one moment, one moment to even have some semblance of a familial bond was enough to doom an entire kingdom.

"Father...where are you now?"

The figure gave a heavy sigh as his body leaned against the tree, the nearby creatures running in all directions as if it were devil spawn. In truth, they weren't far off. Despite the blessings and gifts given to it, the cloak it wore was battered and withering. The sword that it once used was cracked yet holding up strong despite the structural damage. One arm was completely missing due to the infection having corrupted it beyond saving. It could maybe use what little strength it had to repair it, but would it be worth it? What would the Pale King say at it's sorry state now?

Would he be disappointed? Angry? Disown it like the rest of its brethren and look for a new heir? But, even worse, was there a Hallownest left to rule? Did the Pale King still live? All of these questions burrowing themselves deep inside the figure's mind as it looked towards the sky. It had never seen such a thing and it looked beautiful. Nowhere near the beauty of the White Palace yet it was beautiful nevertheless.

As if on instinct, the figure reached out with its one remaining arm to no avail. It could not reach the sky but it still wanted to experience it nevertheless. Although, with its mind currently set on the sky, the figure noted that he felt quite strange in this new scenery. Energy flowed so easily through the land as if the Pale King's strength had spread far. Yet, this was not the Soul that it once knew. It seemed much more balanced and did not require the essence of creatures. Where did this come from?

"Could I....use this?"

It seemed so. It flowed so easily and without the figure to do much at all. With a small amount of meditation, a faint glow overlapped it and almost all of its pain began to fade away. Strength ushered itself back as the figure was able to push itself back onto its feet. It looked once more at the stub of its severed arm and considered using this energy to heal itself further but such an injury would unlikely be impossible to heal. That would require being in the presence of the Void. This land seemed unlikely to hold such a dark energy. So full of life without even a taint of darkness.

It looked around itself once more to wonder what direction it should head towards. Whatever forest it was a part of, the figure had no clue where the exit was. Following the essence of this magic would not being useful either since it permeated everywhere. Whichever direction it went, it had to lead somewhere. So thus, it took a step forward with its regained strength and wandered in a random direction.

But it would not be long for it to be stopped by a pack of timber wolves. Despite being an vessel made out of the Void itself, the wolves defiantly growled and held their ground. The figure got into a slightly crouched position with its sword pointed towards the pack as if awaiting an imminent attack. Instead, the pack of wolves began to circle around the being, gnashing their teeth and snarling to intimidate their intruder. However, only one party was going to walk away out of this alive.

Whatever land it was on, it would create a tale of its own. This land would come to know this figure as...

The Hollow Knight

---

The past several hours wore through as Ghost and Grim were taught the basic alphabet of the Equestrian dialect. It was a lot easier than expected but considering one was a primordial being of Nightmares and the other Void-spawn, learning such knowledge was not impossible. However, the two were growing increasingly annoyed at Twilight's very methodical explanation of everything. Even to the tiniest of details when they were not necessary.

"And that is the first lesson, courtesy of me." Twilight finished by closing the book with a proud smile. Oh joy was she going to go through Equestria's history and myths in the following days after learning a little about Hallownest. More questions still posed her mind but there were gaps of knowledge that could not be filled by Ghost. "Any questions?"

"Not really, it's very straight forward unlike Hallownest and the lack of records before the Pale King," Ghost replied.

Grim added, "Even the leftover souls of intelligent bugs hardly know. Quite a conundrum that is. Oh well, such is the ways of empires and kingdoms. They rise, they fall, and many take their place. I've seen so many in my travels."

"Speaking of history," Twilight mentioned, her horn lighting up momentarily as a few books came off from the shelves. "Let's go over the early history of Equestria. I'm sure you'll find it fascinating."

"Not like we have a choice in the matter." Ghost shrugged as he prepped himself for a long history lesson of Equestria. He was beginning to already miss not having a mind to think nor the ability to speak. Things were much simpler back then.

But at least Equestria didn't have to deal with the Radiance.

Author's Note:

Well, look who returns to give this story an update. I decided I'll be updating this story again, but don't expect my updates to be frequent as this chapter is on the shorter side. I prefer at least double this length or more but I am very rusty so, got to loosen it up.

Comments

[SPANIARD KIWI]

It's back! Woo!

[UnchargedShip38]

11664160
Indeed it is

[RandomCommentor]

But at least Equestria didn't have to deal with the Radiance.

Ah yes.

foreshadowing

[ghostcyclone02]

Okay so I was only kinda wrong about grimm but tbf I've only ever gotten up to Hornet1 in-game because I'm bad and keep getting lost. Still thrilled for more tho

[UnchargedShip38]

11664431
And the thorns...the so many thorns!

[Artich]

This is just
https://images.app.goo.gl/ZtgEzrB15NXv8y2B8

[Late_Night]

oh dear, the third has entered the fray

[Magic_thief]

Ok but where's "shorty/coo/broken vessel" the one the CMC found earlier? He didn't appear for nightmare night either, and the broken vessel deserves love too

[UnchargedShip38]

11664918
Oh don't worry, I have Lost Kin coming up soon.

[Heavy759]

Enjoyable story

[shadollpony]

Holy crap I'm so invested, I just hope this one continues, sadly alot of the stories I read on here are abandoned. still this one's awesome!