The next morning was a solemn one in the entire Kingdom of Hallownest.
Even with the remoteness of the ground level town of Dirtmouth, the people there had still heard of the massacre in the City of Tears.
There was a grief riddled silence that rested in the land and many barely believed what had happened.
What was worse is that Stardust couldn't go outside without being bombarded by questions concerning the incident. One she hadn't even known of until that morning.
She had no idea what the King and Queen planned on doing, or that it was them who had carried out such a horrible tragedy.
That was why Vessel waited longer than she had expected herself to. She needed to read what they had written yesterday, but was ashamed of what had happened.
Maybe she could've prevented it by acting sooner.
The full written declaration was currently with the Hollow Shade, who had spent the past three hours waiting for Vessel to go deliver the message. They weren't impatient with her though, they understood she had a lot to say.
But if she didn't say something soon, then her adversary would say it first.
The two shades split up, Oamri staying with the paper and the mask, while the Hollow Knight went to comfort Vessel.
She sighed as they lay a hand on her shoulder, "You know, I just don't know if we've done the right thing... no matter what I do, all this tragedy will be on my hands and..." She took a deep breath, "I don't know if I can live the way I used to deal with that."
The armored void behind her moved their hand from her shoulder to her upper back, patting it comfortingly.
"You know, I wish you could just tell me what it is you have to say." Vessel looks into their face, "I... think the silence is starting to get to me."
"..." a soft noise came from the Hollow Knight, as they turned Vessel fully around and pulled her into a hug.
They stated there for a long while.
When they finally pulled away Vessel decided she was ready.
The people needed to hear what they had written, and the solution they had come up with.
They both stood before the fountain in the City of Tears, the Hollow Shade using their enormous form to shield Vessel and the paper in her hands from the rain.
People instantly swarmed around both of them, asking frantic questions and desperately trying to grab both of them.
Someone eventually called over the crowd, not even one of the two monarchs, just a person waiting to hear them.
"Quiet! They can't answer anything if we don't give them time to say anything!" Vessel managed to spot them in the crowd, definitely an emperor gum moth. She could tell because the circle pattern on their wings was vivid against the pale tan they were on.
[definitely Ophelia for those reading Monochromatic King. Which is funny because this was written a few days before I started writing that. Yeah, definitely a self-promotion but if you like my stuff I recommend checking it out. The chapters are like 1/10–1/6 the length of these ones. It's on my alt account]
But Vessel needed to focus, she was distracting herself.
Taking a deep breath, she began over the silence of the crowd.
"My citizens and other visitors that may be within our kingdom.
I speak on behalf of both me and my dear partner when I say that we apologize for what has occurred. We thought we had no other solution, but we were blind to the outcome the other saw in hopes of ending our adversary. This is not a battle between you and ourselves. It is a battle against a mantis who did nothing to stop the slaughter of his followers when they were killed before his eyes.
The truth of the matter is that the one standing beside me is the one who slaughtered all those people, hoping to be fast enough to kill their leader, but they failed, and understand that something must be done to atone for the crime they have committed against you. They did not tell me of what it was they planned, nor did I have any knowledge of what exactly was to happen until after the act was finished.
They are will to accept whatever may become of them.
But I have come up with a different solution. One that will end this violence once and for all.
I have spoken to the people in the Colosseum just outside the kingdom, I'm certain most are familiar with the location. They have agreed to allow Regal and us to settle our differences there. Do not worry, they would not care if we both died, it just makes for a more exciting show.
I will be there, waiting, all through the day. If he does not come, you will all know what he truly is. What we have already learned he is. A coward who refuses to face his enemies in battle.
As for the mantis. I wish to speak to you directly.
If you believe you can rule our people better than we can then you should be prepared to defeat all who try to destroy them, that means it is likely you will have to fight both of us, even if you manage to kill me."
They both disappeared, giving the same message to Dirtmouth.
They did not stay long enough to answer questions, they both had somewhere they needed to go.
Vessel went home, quickly got her staff and departed to the Colosseum of Fools to wait for the remainder of the day. She did not know when the mantis would come after all.
The Hollow Shade was going somewhere else though, and they needed to hurry or they would be too late.
So while Queen stood there, waiting for Tritaron, the King was moving as fast as they could up to Hallownest's Crown.
To say both were afraid was an understatement. They were terrified, Vessel especially, but they both knew what they had to do.
So Vessel stood there, half hoping that the mantis wouldn't show up. It gave her a lot of time to think. Time to consider whether this was really the best thing to do.
The Hollow Shade sped as fast as they could through the crystals, looking for any landmark to find it.
Of course, she knew he would—despite any pleading with fate she did. That was just what calling him a coward would do. There was no way he wouldn't show his face after she so brutally insulted his ego.
Why did these mines have to look the same everywhere you went? At least nothing attacked them as they passed.
It took maybe ten minutes for the mantis to appear. He looked proud and slightly annoyed. His expression made Vessel realize that this was a the first time she had seen him.
It was incredible how much he reminded her of the Traitor Lord.
"I almost assumed I would get here before you did." He says.
"That would be very difficult considering I came straight here."
The King punches a crystal in frustration at how lost they were.
How could the mines possibly be this large and confusi— oh hey, there it is.
"Unfortunate too. That means you didn't get a chance to say goodbye to your pathetic King."
Vessel blinks at this and shrugs, "They'll be here. Eventually."
She was amazing herself with how calm her actions were. All she wanted to do was run.
"How can you be so sure of that?" Regal snarls.
"Wyrms have foresight." Vessel reminds him in an almost automatic way.
She had seen bits and pieces of the fight in her time of isolation, so she wasn't lying entirely.
The body of the small wyrm had been entirely encased in crystal.
...shoot. How were they going to go about this?
"Oh right. A pathetic ability for a pathetic god." The mantis laughs.
"Considering this 'pathetic god' doesn't care about your whole line of insult you were going to tell me, Tritaron, I suggest we actually go inside."
The mantis's eyes widen, "Who told you that name?"
"...?" Vessel gives him a shocked look for his stupidity, but doesn't answer his question.
Finally having smashed the crystal and carefully pulled the corpse into the open, the Hollow Shade prepared to cut it open.
Oh.
Oh no...
The mantis was clearly enraged that she knew who he was, but his question was stupid.
"I'm the Queen of Hallownest, Tritaron. That's how I know it." Vessel rolls her eyes.
"Regal", Tritaron, growls.
"It's also a pretty memorable name..." Vessel shrugs[me who had to look it up three times when writing it—].
The mantis growls something quietly.
"I'm going to go inside. When you're ready you can join me." Vessel turns around and walks into the Colosseum, letting out a silent sigh of relief. She could hear her thunderous heartbeat pounding through her ears as she jumped down the latch to the waiting room.
People around look at her, noticing her immediately due to how out of place she looks.
No armor and only a flimsy looking staff as a weapon. Yeah she looked completely lost. No wonder they were all staring.
But focusing on her breathing was all she could do to not shake with nerves.
How do books make this seem so easy? It's not! It's terrifying!!
This may be slightly harder than they anticipated...
Literally.
Despite being ancient, the wyrm's shell was tougher than the Hollow Shade's nail and not even dented by the repeated attempts at stabbing it.
The same cannot be said about the nail...
Ugh! They don't have time for this!
Vessel finally managed to calm her nerves when someone called out to her, setting her on edge again.
Looking over she saw one of the crowd members who runs the Colosseum standing at the entryway to the waiting area.
Vessel nods and gets up, taking the way by the champion's gate instead, stepping into the hot spring to try and calm her nerves one last time before starting.
After a few more failed attempts to stab through the corpse, they managed to pry on of the scales off of it, the once Pure Nail now reduced to a handle, and used that to cut cleanly through the hard armor.
Hopefully they'd be there in time still. They had just wasted quite a bit of time with the slight problem.
Vessel takes a deep breath before disappearing into the arena. The layout was quite a bit like the Traitor Lord's was in Godhome, but not nearly as wide. She's just have to work with the space she had.
On the other side stood Tritaron, looking ready to smash the tiny (in comparison) wyrm back into the Abyss she crawled out of.
There was dead silence as both stood, seemingly sizing each other up. After the brief moment which felt like it took eternity, both roared and the fight began.
The mantis took the first swing, lunging for Vessel before she vanished behind him, using a spell to dive to the ground from above him.
He stumbled a bit, but turned around hastily, swinging his claws to counter attack and smashed them straight into the staff in Vessel's many hands. Right between two of them, in fact.
Vessel had to duck to avoid the other swinging to met the first. And she took the moment to send a Shade Soul his way, before he used his gripe on the staff to push her to the ground and she was forced to disappear to another part of the arena once again.
The mantis growled in annoyance to her, quite useful, ability. He dashed off in her direction once again, with her moving to jump over him.
Despite making it, he managed to twist around and hit her in the back, knocking her to the metal cage on the other side of the arena.
He was more quick-witted like the Mantis Lords, but large and strong like the Traitor Lord. His intelligence and clear mind definitely made him far more challenging than the Traitor Lord.
But Regal stopped to breath for a moment and Vessel took the opportunity to focus before he lunged for her again.
She could move faster than him and it made playing a defensive position a very good tactic.
When he moved to strike again, Vessel sent another spell his way, pushing back his assault.
The crowd was roaring at this point, eager to see how this would end.
There's just one problem for Vessel when it comes to continually sending spell at the mantis.
They don't push back his advances very much, and sooner rather than later he was going to land a blow despite being hit.
Her Seal prevented her from fully running out of Soul, but the knock back of the spells was just not enough.
If only she had brought a nail with her...
But no time for regrets now! She just had to work with what she had. Vessel waited for Tritaron to charge to her side of the arena before disappearing behind where he was just standing and using the monstrous form her arms took when she was first named Queen of Hallownest to snap his legs out from underneath him and strike his face rather hard before retracting the void back into the four arms that rested on that side of her body.
Clearly Tritaron understood that he needed to figure out how to anticipate her movements and get around her teleportation if he wanted to win. His large stature definitely did not do him any favors in the speed department. It was almost comical to think he could out speed her. Not only that, Vessel seemed to specialize in range, something he didn't seem adequately suited to handle.
"What's the matter? Losing your touch?" Vessel calls at the struggling mantis.
"Ha! You seem like you're losing yours!" Tritarton yells back at her.
"You're the one limping." Vessel gestures to his leg, which she had totally smashed the exoskeleton of with the Void tendrils.
Tritaron growls and smashes his claw into the dirt, creating a shockwave that Vessel easily phased through using her body of void.
He could not fight her with a head on combat style that he appeared to normally use. Vessel knew this. Undoubtedly, he was weighing his options to try and catch her off guard, but for now she watched his every move.
"He doesn't have an attack that is almost iconic to the mantis of these lands..." Vessel mutters to herself, "That's why he's doing so poorly when I remain at a distance..."
Despite currently having the advantage, the wyrm would really appreciate it if the Hollow Shade finished up their task and arrived already.
The Shades were doing their best. They didn't anticipate the task to be so confusing... They needed help with this!
Of course this was the one thing Oamri had never studied!
Tritaron hissed in annoyance, which was probably for how easily Vessel managed to slip through the shockwave.
She was a Queen for a reason at least... and Vessel calmly watched him test his leg before sending another Shade Soul to strike him.
He stumbles and an audible crack is heard as he legs bleeds uncontrollably, clearly coming off.
The audience roars with laughter at the sight of its feeble condition.
"You know... not too long ago I would've asked if you would simply like to admit defeat upon an injury like that..." Vessel gestures to the mantis's mostly-removed limb.
"You know nothing of me! I've trained my whole life for this!" Tritaron says.
"Hmm... care to elaborated... this seems like quite the story and if one of us is going to die I'd at least like to know it." Vessel shifts her weight onto the staff.
He laughs, "As if I'd tell you!"
"Why would it matter if I'm dead?" Vessel laughs, "You seem like you have this epic life story, when I... well, it's not much of a story." Vessel rolls her eyes before disappearing behind him as he tries to charge her again.
He stumbles halfway through the arena. The crowd erupts in laughter.
"But you... you have a reason for this, Tritaron. I am just interested as to what it is." Vessel shrugs, "Is it wrong to want to understand the motives of a person's actions?"
"Regal." The mantis hisses at her.
"There's nothing 'regal' about you now." Vessel gestures to his kneeling position, "There's really no point in not telling me other than a petty ego... if I die, who can I tell? If you die, I won't tell anyone."
"..." He looks at the ground, shifting into a more comfortable seated position. "My mother told me stories of a terrible god that killed most of my tribe and drove us into the wastelands."
Vessel listens with great interest.
"Before I was born she lived with my father in a beautiful kingdom far away, where they and the other tribes there worshipped the Higher Being Tritaron." He continues. "One day he arrived in their camp and began to kill the men and children, saying he would take the women as sacrifices. My mother, taking me with her, was one of the few who escaped. She never knew why the one she worshipped so dearly decided to destroy their tribe, including my father. She named me after the beast in hopes I would be able to destroy a higher being when the time came. She gave her life to feed and protect me through my childhood."
"But why come here and try to kill me?" Vessel asks.
"After the destruction of my tribe, our homelands became nothing but dust. The one who destroyed us was nothing but bone." Tritaron hisses.
"So you came to fulfill your mother's wish elsewhere..." Vessel sighs. "Had I met you before this... ascension of whatever, I get the feeling you and I would've gotten along rather nicely. But now... I guess it's time to finish this."
"No... you get to tell me now."
"...What?" Vessel says, stunned.
"How did this happen to you? You just crawled out of nowhere when people needed you!"
"Oh." Vessel sighs, "Well... I'm not a grand storyteller, but... I suppose this starts with the creation of the vessels to seal the infection. My parents created us to contain the Radiance and chose the Hollow Knight to do so. I escaped too though. I don't remember it clearly... but I watched as countless fell around me and in the end, I had to leave one behind to escape before we were all sealed in. My father always hated me because no one was supposed to know about the others, and frankly his hatred made me want to disgrace his legacy as much as I possibly could.
I engaged with the moth tribe, connected with every other higher being I possibly could, came here all the time to test out random fighting techniques, even pulled a few pranks around Hallownest... I only ended up like this because after he ditched his kingdom his servants pushed me in his well and... I died."
"But then... how did you get like this?"
Vessel fails to notice that Tritaron stands up.
"I'm not entirely sure... every answer I get is vague and barely answers the question at all." She shrugs.
She hears the snap of his broken leg as he begins to move in her direction and she disappears to a different spot, only to find that he guessed the right spot.
"Then I suppose it's time for you to die again." He taunts, a claw raised above her head.
She's frozen in place. She shut her eyes tight.
But instead of a crunch as her skull is smashed, there's a loud crunch with no sensation of pain.
The King of Hallownest, the Hollow Shade, is revealed as the mantis's severed leg give out and his torso caves into the giant hole in its center.
The armored creature holds a long, white, bloodied sharp edge in their hand.
The crowd erupts into cheers.
"You couldn't have shown up sooner?" The Queen shouts at him.
"You're very welcome."
"Do you have any idea how hard it was to stall for time that long?"
"Why were you stalling? You could've finished this fight soon after it started. Were you simply afraid of how easily you could've ripped him limb from limb?"
"Wait... since when did you have a voice." Vessel points to him.
"A wyrm's body is suprisingly compatible with Void you know... even if it's not the parent wyrm. Besides, the Knight is still silent, I am the only one who can speak to you."
"Oh gosh, no wonder you like reading so much." Vessel cringes at the eloquent Oamri was speaking.
"Thank you for not dying in enough time that we could sort out the... issue we encountered." They hold up the busted nail.
Vessel gapes at it.
"That expression summarizes our reaction nicely. I assume we would've had something similar... who knew that a pale wyrm's exoskeleton was tough enough to withstand a pure nail!" Oamri laughs, "Oh I'm so excited to start writing again."
He pauses for a moment as the cheering continues and Vessel continues to gap at the totally busted once almost invincible nail.
"Hmm, you're right. We do still have a job to do. Come along... Vessel." He takes one of her arms and begins to drag her out of the colosseum.
"Wait! What were you about to call me?" Vessel asks.
"Why would it matter, I didn't call you it?" They argue.
Vessel runs back to the corpse that the people were attempting to clean up.
She grabs the severed leg as proof and pulls off one of the mantis's claws.
"Trophies seem unnecessary."
"Proof of his death. Not trophies." Vessel clarifies.
"The difference seems unclear to well... both of us." Oamri reasons, "Aren't they both still pieces of his body taken to show off to others?"
"Do you think all those people he convinced to follow him will think we followed our terms if we just let them throw his entire body in a massive pit of acid?" She moves past him.
"Touché. I suppose not."
They disappeared back to the City of Tears, Vessel still holding the leg and claw.
"You do know that's still bleeding right?" The Hollow Shade whispers, pointing at the leg.
"Well then that's all the better!" Vessel raises the claw in the air yelling, "The mantis is dead. His blood has yet to go cold."
"Not that it ever will..." The King whispers.
"I bear his claw and leg as symbols of his downfall." Vessel continues, "There will likely not be anything else left of him due to how the Fools dispose of the dead."
People look around to the two rulers in the street. Many gasped, some began to cheer, while others began to move away.
It did not matter to the rulers, they had proved they could protect their people and were worthy of the title of Higher Beings.
"Come now." The King tells her. "We have a lot a head of us now, Ava."
"Atlas Vessel Argrias?" Vessel asks, not quite sure how she knew exactly what all the pieces were."
"It's far more a fitting name than your species ever was."
"I think you're right about that."
They took one of her hands, the Hollow Shade's vessel like head seeming to glow brighter as the two raised their joined hands in victory over the restored kingdom.
The Kingdom of Hallownest.