Silent City

31. The Arena

    The Radiance could see herself spending a few extra days with the Hollow Knight. It didn't seem like the police were in any hurry to apprehend her, and her influence was spreading of its own accord. She noticed that fewer and fewer cars sped down the road throughout the day, which was a good indication that her influence had spread far overnight. But her attention hadn't been on her influence yesterday-- it had been on the Hollow Knight.

They had been relatively quiet yesterday and today, only saying a few words amidst their silence. She noticed that their uninfected eye had taken on a slight orange tint; an indication that they had spent a good deal of time with her. The tint grew darker as she spent more time with them, and she figured that eventually their eyes would fog over completely, like they had in the Black Egg. The Radiance was indifferent to the infection in their eyes. It reminded her of the influence she had on the Hollow Knight, but she wasn't sure if she liked that. It had her feeling like she was controlling them, and she was, to an extent, but it made her doubt the fact that the Hollow Knight actually wanted to side with her. Then again, they couldn't 'want,' or at least, they weren't meant to. She didn't really know what to think. It hurt her mind to try to understand it.

She had no intentions for the rest of this day: the day after her rescue of the Hollow Knight. Her influence was spreading on its own, so she didn't feel like she needed to get out and do anything. Not to mention that Hollow seemed to want to leave their apartment. They kept staring out the window, and walking around the place nervously, but it didn't seem like they were fully in control of where they were walking. They had stood at the window for a full hour, not moving a bit, before turning around and pacing the room. At this point, the Radiance, who had been sitting on the couch for the longest time, started to grow concerned.

She stood up and went over to the kitchen, watching as they looked blankly at the front door. She took a step towards them with the intention of taking them back to the couch, when a sharp wave of pain suddenly shot through her chest. It felt like a crossbow bolt had been shot through her heart, and it brought her to her knees. She muffled a groan as she hit the floor, clutching at her chest. The pain had disappeared now, and instead a renewed vigor bubbled in her stomach. It took her a moment to realize that that sudden feeling hadn't been pain, but a violent rush of adrenaline running from head to toe. And with that adrenaline rush came a surge of power.

She slowly glanced up at the Hollow Knight, who had turned around again to stare at the window on the other side of the room. When she got back to her feet, her chest felt heavy, but her body felt energized. She could feel the heat at her fingertips, and she could swear the ground beneath her shook slightly. She looked at her hands and flexed her fingers before looking back at Hollow again. They appeared unfocused and wildly distracted. They weren't even looking at the Radiance, even though she had just fallen to the floor.

She gave herself a moment to let the power seep in. It had been so sudden, so violent, and without any warning. Now that the moment had passed, the power seemed less overwhelming, but it was still there, burning at her from the inside. She had never been stronger.

The Hollow knight was back on the other side of the room, staring out the window with rapt attention. It slowly dawned on her what they were aching to get to, and why an unexpected surge of power had suddenly shot through her veins.

The pantheon was calling them. They were both gods, after all, from Hallowest. She would have recognized the signs if this had happened before, but the Pantheon of Hallownest was so elusive that nobody before had ever dared to even try it. This would be the first time in history that anyone attempted it.

The Radiance knew that her power would grow uncontrollably over the next few days. She was curious as to how it would feel, but highly concerned that even she wouldn't be able to handle it if the vessel made it to the top. She didn't want to think about the possibilities, because they were terrifying.