And how did we get here? (OLD)

Short side chapter (ver 2)

I decide that's for future me to think about as I drift off to sleep, yet again ignoring the whispers at the edge of my mind

When I woke up I grabbed my stuff and headed out of that door for the last time. I turned my key in to the innkeeper and started on my way to the city.

 --luriens's POV 3rd person--

He paced the room as he thought about the recent events at the soul sanctum. He had seen it happen while he was watching over the city, the fight was.. underwhelming to say the least. He would never say it out loud but the soul master's death was quite pathetic.

What was strange though, was the inside of the sanctum in the aftermath. The parts that hadn't collapsed from many of the supports being destroyed were gruesome, he suppressed a shudder at the memory of the soul master's corpse. 

If he were being honest the one who destroyed the sanctum was creepy. He was thankful that they had solved the mystery of the missing bugs, but they were unnaturally calm for the gore they left behind.

From the what the guards he sent in had described it was a hemolymph bath with bugs cut in half, mutilated beyond recognition, limbs missing, and and some with gaping holes in the stead of where their hearts should be. It was a massacre to put it lightly. And if the incident was strange then he had no idea what words he would use to describe the bug who had caused it.

The reports say that one day they just appeared out of the blue, it isn't uncommon for travelers to come through hallownest but the guards at the entrance to the kingdom reported never seeing a bug that looked like the one described. And with their stature they would difficult to miss with their stature and general disposition.

 Not to mention they apparently bent a damn metal gate. And there was that strange substance in the room they described too, he believed it to be similar to void but he had never touched the ancient material. Monomon was quite interested in it so she had sent her assistant to collect some of it in order to study the substance as she was busy at the time.

He really never would understand monomon, but some bugs were just odd he supposed.

 --a month late in the pale king's POV 3rd person--

"They did WHAT" Surprise would be an understatement, the mental image of what they had done to those scholars was not pleasant to say the least.

His wife repeated the description of what the bug had done but it fell on deaf ears. That certainly was not what he expected to hear when his wife told him about what happened in the city of tears. He had known that they were unhinged but he did not expect this.

He usually doesn't take note of the news she brought, usually just the average noble drama that he didn't care for. He never did understand why his wife was so social, he found mortal bugs overdramatic. But this? 

The same bug that mysteriously found a way to prevent the infection that he couldn't replicate, the same bug who was brave enough to threaten him, the same bug who showed no respect for him as a god or as a king whatsoever had not only just stumbled upon the missing cases lurien has been working on for years, they had left a path of destruction of such proportions behind them.

To say he was shocked was an understatement, not to mention the damage they did to the place, there was no way the support structures being reduced to rubble was an accident, not to mention the gate that was just ripped off it's hinges. He pinched between his eyes as he felt as though he was about to have a headache if any more weird shit happened.

He doesn't know who they are let alone what they are but they're a threat. The only good thing he's learned from the glorified gossip about them is that they only attack when provoked and are actually content with a peaceful life as some stall vendor.

It makes no sense to him, no sense at all. He waits for his wife to finish her latest gossip from the nobles she hosted tea for this time around before he leaves. Once he does he sees the vessel standing outside the door, waiting for him as instructed. It's still only on it's second stage but he's sure it will be in prime form in due time.

He sighed and got to his workshop, once he did he sat down and started his daily paperwork, he had the vessel go and train, he had to make a visit. After he was done with his paperwork-

(A/N VER 2 I thought about it and realized that in medival times news traveled very slowly since there wasn't exactly the internet or anything to spread it, and I don't think the white lady would socialize on a mortal scale since she's a god and all so she would probably have a very delayed view of the world)