Silent City

37. The Silence

    The time couldn't possibly progress any more slowly. Hornet had been sitting in silence for what seemed like hours, and she was annoyed with herself when she had to ask Grimm how long it had been since the Radiance and Ghost disappeared to battle each other to the death.

"Eight minutes and forty-seven seconds." He answered, checking his watch. Hornet sighed and continued staring at the ground. Even though the silence was thick, it wasn't awkward. Three of them were thinking about nearly anything and everything, since it might as well be the last time they would do so. The Hollow Knight sat with one arm around the Pale King. They might have been thinking, but no one could tell.

Grimm was the one who broke the silence. He couldn't stand it any longer. He figured there would be silence to spare if either outcome occurred.

"If the Radiance does win, what do you plan on doing later?" He asks nonchalantly. Hornet narrowed her eyes as if she was thinking about this question, while the Pale King's eyes widened in bewilderment.

"How could you ask that?"

Grimm's face twisted into a mild scowl. "Of course. The prissy Pale King hasn't lived through the infection."

"What's that got to do with anything?" He looked rather annoyed.

"The ones who weren't lucky enough to mysteriously disappear prior to the Radiance's reign over Hallownest had to live through her nightmare." Grimm rolls his eyes. "So ironic that she's the Goddess of Dreams."

The Pale King is still staring at him, confused.

"What I mean to say is that it's not asinine to consider what we could be doing after today, should she win. I mean, sure, it's the end of the world for everyone else, but for us— well, I still have a few TV shows I'd like to watch."

The Pale King looked like he wanted to cut in with a counter argument to this, but he couldn't think of anything.

"We should speak to the survivors," Hornet proposes, and the Pale King jumps on this.

"Yes. We'll need to get everyone together and build a new society. Since the population of the surface is much greater than that of Hallownest, we'll be able to find enough people to—"

"Come on." The Nightmare King groans. "First of all, how would you even get to the people on the other side of the world? With a goddamn horse and buggy? Secondly, aren't you tired? We have plenty of time. Humans are versatile— they can fend for themselves. They have on worse occasions."

It falls silent again. The Pale King looks down at the floor and leans against the Hollow Knight. Hornet is looking up at the sky.

"I have a few good zombie movies we could watch, given the circumstances." Grimm shrugs. Despite herself, Hornet utters a soft laugh. "Ironically, they might give the Pale King some hope. Human resilience can be seen at the forefront of those kinds of movies."

The Pale King sighs and closes his eyes. Hornet continues to stare at the ground, and Grimm crosses his arms and starts to whistle. Hornet was silently thankful for Grimm's avid attempt to avoid the silence.

Perhaps it was a while before any of them could sense a distinct change in the atmosphere. A second after, the light pouring from the clouds above dimmed, like the sun had suddenly been blocked out by grey clouds. It made the Pantheon arena look significantly less impressive as the light reflecting off the gold lining on the benches vanished. Everyone looked to the sky, their chests tightening. It was the feeling of knowing what this meant but not wanting to believe it that seeped into their stomachs.