My Post Infection AU [Hollow Knight]

Part 14: Fools and Fiends

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.