Hollow Time (A Hat in Time X HollowKnight AU)

Chapter 14 (Insanity at it's Finest)

Hat Kid, Quirrel, and Snappy stare at Hat Kid's hat on the floor. "It's turning black... why!?" Hat Kid saying panicking.

Quirrel picks it up and inspects it. "Doesn't seem to be harmful, It's still just your regular old hat from the looks of it. Put it back on." He hands it back to Hat Kid who places it back on her head. "See, no issue." Quirrel says as Hat Kid smiles.

"I promised Monomon that I'd take the knowledge of her archives... I can take it to the TTA archives when I get there... at some point." She goes over to a terminal-like device and scans the languages as they scroll by. After about a minute of sonic speed scrolling, she stops scanning. "Decrypting this is not a job for me. KcUf!" Hat Kid tweaks her head back and forth as if something popped out of thin air.

"Woah! You okay, kid?"

"I think the voices in my head are finally speaking up." Hat Kid starts hearing ghostly voices around her.

"̴̻͑V̵͚͛͝ö̴̲̝́̾i̶̯͠d̴̞̉͜ ̶͈̗́g̸̰͉̍͛i̴̠̹̔̕v̴̬̈ẻ̶͕̯n̸͍̘͆ ̴̱̱̓̆v̷̦̝̇e̶͎̍͠s̵͓̱̈́͑s̸̡͈͝e̴̜l̴͚͝.̸̞̽̕.̸̭͈̈́.̶̰͋ ̵̞͝f̸̞̹̉r̵͉̼̍e̷̫͕̍̄e̶͚̍̌ḍ̴̓̓ ̶̬͉́f̸̨̥̂r̶͇͊͝o̶̝̾͆m̴̲͋ ̷̖͑t̴͎͂̍h̸̲̳́e̶̺͠ ̴̖̍͘s̷̟͊̓ę̶̦͝a̵̟͂.̸̞̙͋.̵͕̦͊̃.̷̬́̚"̴̩̈́

"What are you talking about?!" Hat Kid says to the air as Quirrel and Snappy stand back with utmost concern. Quirrel gently approaches Hat Kid with caution as she twitches. She shoves him aside and runs off.

"Scyaaaa."

"That's not good, let's go after her... what do I call you?" Quirrel asks.

"Scyaaaa."

"I'll just call you companion for now."

Hat Kid leaves the archives and runs towards Greenpath. "Get out of my head!"

"̴̖̊͋Ḿ̸̹͔͝ï̶͚͍n̴̠̮͊ď̵̯̜̚.̵̨̩̂.̸̗̥͌͐.̸̼͓ ̶̮͂͝p̴͕̗͊r̶̙͝o̵̞͕͑̕ṯ̵͎̀͝ë̸̻́͒c̷̲̙͐t̵̙̐ę̵͐ḏ̵̈́.̸̄̈͜ͅ.̴̢̓̔.̸̬͎́ ̸̞͒̐f̷͙̄r̵̛͇̼̕o̶̯̍̓m̶͈͝ ̸͎̉͜l̶̗̃́i̶̳̒͌g̴͉̈́̐ḧ̴͈͈́͘t̶̢͔͆̋.̴̡̛̹̏"̵̳̀

"What are you even saying?!" Hat Kid says holding her head in pain.

"Hat Kid, stop!" Quirrel calls from a distance.

Hat Kid keeps running till she reaches Greenpath.

As more messages are growled in her head, she lies on the grassy floor, cowering and twitching until all Hat Kid can see is black and white blobs. A familiar figure hovers over her and helps her up. She pushes it away and runs away again. She gets tripped and begins rolling in place. She tries to squirm but is restrained and hears a voice, "I don't think you're infected but you sure aren't the Hat Kid I know, what has become of you?"

Hat Kid awakens with her vision coming back to normal and see's Hornet and a snail looking at her hat on the floor. She notices that she's wrapped in web and squirms.

"Hey, give me my hat!" She says more tired than angry.

"huhuho I think I've figured it out." The snail says.

Hat Kid examines the snail with a staff. "Wait a minute."

The snail looks over to her.

"You were the one who took my soul!" Hat Kid snarls at the snail.

"No no no, I merely gave you a soul that wasn't your own, and by the looks of it, you've acquired a few others far more powerful."

"Someone just let me out of these webs, please."