Silent City

26. The Sacrifice

 The Pale King's plan required a return trip to Hallownest. His plan relied on a hunch, a tiny hope that was completely and entirely unsupported by any evidence whatsoever. Still, that was good enough for Hornet. There was quite literally nothing else for them to do while they waited for the day of the Pantheon, and a hope, no matter how small, was better than nothing at this point.

Hornet planned to take Ghost and the Pale King down to Hallownest with her, for backup in case they ran into trouble on their way there. Both her and her father agreed to leave behind Hollow, since it was obvious they'd probably only slow them down, but they seemed content on proving themselves to their dad. They would leave the same day, only an hour after Grimm's visit, straight towards the parking garage in the center of the city. No funny business. If the police didn't let them near the place, it was their own fault. She'd have Ghost take care of them.

They were set in disguises, ready to leave Godhome when Hollow came out of their room, in their own disguise, in the hope that Hornet might let them help with the plan.

"Hollow." She addressed them, sighing. "You have to understand-- the less people we bring, the better. And you draw attention to yourself. You're way too tall."

Hollow looked at the floor, and the Pale King walked to Hornet's side. "If they really want to help, then we could find a use for them."

She looked down at him. "What are you thinking?"

"If the parking garage is guarded," He says, "then we could use them as a distraction to draw the police, or at least the majority of them, away from the entrance."

Hornet's eyes narrowed. "Like... like bait?" She looked appalled. "You-- they're your child. You're really just going to-- let... They'll get captured, no doubt, and the Radiance will find out. What will she do to them?"

PK looked up at her. "The Hollow Knight has been through worse than this. Besides, I don't think the Radiance will do anything to them. She has a connection to them. She's been stuck inside their mind for the longest time. She's... probably not going to hurt them."

Hornet looked back up at the Hollow Knight. They were looking at her with a sorrowful look in their eyes, almost pleading to be helpful. She felt a sharp pang in her chest.

"Fine." She sighed. "But we don't have much time. Follow me."

Hornet turned on her heel and walked through Godhome down to the gateway, the Pale King at her heels. She was prepared, above all, to take on anything they might face, since the fate of the world quite literally depended upon it. She stepped up on the platform she had first appeared on and cast an eye out at the numerous godseekers looking up at her. Some had their heads bowed in respect, some were simply staring at her. She ignored them, and suddenly she felt her vision go to a blinding white, and she stepped forward, into the dank and dirty stairwell that they had taken down to Godhome.

She looked backwards to see the Pale King stepping from the supposedly blank wall, followed closely by Ghost, and then the Hollow Knight. Surprisingly, their disguises they picked out in Godhome stayed with them as they left the place, which Hornet was skeptical of. She motioned for them to follow her out of the stairwell, and into the Hotel's main hallway. There was nobody in the lobby, except for an older man looking down at his phone. He didn't seem particularly fazed by the strange group of white-haired people, surprisingly, but Hornet was thankful without a doubt.

The sun had just begun to set as the four of them stepped onto the street. They took the alleyways when possible, but it wasn't a huge problem when they had to take the main sidewalks. It was rush hour, and nobody was paying much attention to anybody else on the streets. The flow of traffic was fast and loud, perfect for blending in despite their bright white hair. The garage was about 10 blocks away from the hotel, but problems arose a block before they arrived. All the blocks around the Parking garage were blocked off so that nobody could enter them. Most people were just pissed off, but Hornet became concerned almost immediately.