Silent City

32. The Nailmasters

    The sky above the Pantheon arena did not mirror what the sky looked like outside the arena. The Radiance discovered this when she decided to go outside after a few hours of waiting; what she discovered was that even though the sky inside the arena was filled with light, the sky outside was pitch dark, and the streets were illuminated by the moon alone.

And of course, naturally, time progressed faster outside of the arena. The time in Godhome didn't progress nearly as slow as it did in Hallownest, but it was still slower than the time in the city. When the Radiance told the rest of them this information, none of them really wanted to think about what this meant. Time was already confusing enough.

"You know, the people who have not yet succumbed to my influence will be a strange mix of the strong willed and the ignorant." The Radiance was saying as she looked at a few more people who filed into the colosseum. There were a few people already in the arena, and most of them looked on the young side; they might have been college or high school students, sneaking in here on a dare.

Neither Hornet nor the Pale King answered her. The Nightmare King had gone to take a walk around the arena, and right now he was standing on the other side, looking at a boy who was on his phone.

The Radiance took a look over at the Pale King. She could tell he had just been staring at her, and looked away the moment she turned back to him. The last time they had seen each other was in that hospital, and they hadn't parted on the best of terms. Of course, they were mortal enemies, so they couldn't have really parted on good terms, but it could have been better than what happened.

"You're looking better than when I last saw you." Radi says to the Pale King. He turns his head slightly to the side and glances at her out of the corner of his eye.

"What are you trying to say?"

"Nothing." She replied, walking over to him and sitting down next to him on the bench. "Just trying to have a conversation."

"I see." The Pale King looks away before he rolls his eyes slightly, adjusting his robe. She seemed a lot less scary now than she was when she was in the mental hospital with him, even though she was probably ten times more powerful.

"I don't suppose you considered apologizing to the Hollow Knight during the time you had with them." She infers. PK doesn't respond. "I thought so."

"There's nothing to apologize for." The Pale King lies, his voice flat.

"If you truly think that, then you really did belong in that mental hospital." Radi mutters. PK can feel her eyes burning into his back, but is completely unprepared for when she stands up and lightly grazes his shoulder with her hand.

A rush of adrenaline ran through his entire body, and his shoulder felt like it was on fire. He gasps, and clutches himself before the feeling is passed. He had sworn his mind had gone to some sort of blank state in that moment, and now that it was returning to him, it was terrifying.

He looks up at the Radiance, who wasn't even looking at him. She had her head turned to the arena, and she looked bored. She had just crossed her arms and strolled over to the railing when PK heard someone yelling behind them.

"It's you!"

Both Hornet and the Radiance turned around, although the Radiance was more subtle about it. A bald, white man with sunglasses was walking down the stairs towards them, and he looked furious.

"Ah, Officer Bill Wilde!" Radi chuckles, adjusting her wings slightly. "Fancy seeing you here."

The police officer continues down the stairs until he reaches the Radiance, when he immediately reaches into his jacket pocket to pull out a pistol. He doesn't waste a single second to pull the trigger with the gun pointed right at Radi's forehead, but only a blank is fired.