Conflicting Conundrums

In which Nobody Knows What is Happening or What to Do

The three of them all looked towards the entrance where the loud noise was originating from, even the vessel who was wrapped in the Pale King's cloak.

The rather large "pure" vessel had made its way in and untangled itself from the narrow passageways using what one could only assume was sheer will and desperation.

They continued moving until they came to a stop in front of The Pale King and the White Lady. They didn't think this through really.

Shortly thereafter Hornet landed gracefully and walked to stand beside said vessel.

She would have bowed towards the White Lady in greeting, but well...

She met the Pale King's gaze directly, trying not to show any weakness.

Everything was silent.
Tense.

No one knew what to say.
Silence reigned supreme above them all despite their better judgment.
It wasn't that no one had anything to say, it was that they all had too much to say, and not a single one of them knew how to proceed.

They had so many things to say, so many feelings to express, and to add onto it all not a single one of them knew what was going on or what had already happened. All of this was adding to their increasing frustration which was sure to spill over when they figure out that no party had any answers. (Though the vessel awkwardly bundled up may not understand anything either they were mostly terrified at being in the same room as their family.)

The bundled vessel unconsciously squirmed before freezing at the realization of what they did.
The Pale King startled as he had momentarily forgotten the child in his arms and looked down at them.
No expression.

What exactly was he expecting?

He would have asked, "Do you want down?" But they couldn't reply. They had the voice,- despite his best efforts -but no words to accompany it. His fault.

Despite a hidden and unspoken urge to keep holding at least one of his children he gently unwrapped them and set them down. Silently he folded his cloak leaving one to wonder how it managed to wrap around the vessel who was both taller and bigger than him. (Not by much, he would like to think.)

The vessel stood there for a few moments, terrified at everyone's unintentional stares.
(One might suppose it was good in this case the White Lady couldn't exactly stare.)

It was such a simple act to drag their attention away temporarily.

The vessel decided to "press" their luck and back away from everyone.

The silence seemed to shift tones after that.

°•°•°•○●○•°•°•°

Quirrel wasn't sure what to think.

As he traveled through the kingdom he had slowly recovered some memories, enough to remember his duties and the pain of all of the people and places endeared to him fade into memories. Along the way, he always coincidentally encountered his little "friend" and they always stayed to listen to hear his thoughts. It was nice and it certainly always brightened his day whenever they happened upon each other even when he remembered the plan and the "hollow" nature of his friend.
(Some part of him clung to the hope they weren't. They certainly didn't seem so to him.)

When it came time for them to kill- wasn't that hard to fathom? -Monomon they stood there quiet as ever, listened to all he had to say, and left. He assumed they had something to do, but they never came back.

Could they not bear to kill someone not infected? Or was it that they were presented as a person by Quirrel?
Or was he looking into it a bit too much?

If he is he thinks he can forgive himself this time around all things considered right now.

Still, he waited. He never wanted to miss Monomon's final moments in the event the little knight came back to finish the job.

So imagine his surprise when the sickly sweet taste in the air dissipated.

In a strange turn of events, he panicked upon that realization. Had the little knight killed Monomon while he was asleep? Did the Dreamers somehow pass on naturally? He rushed over to look at Monomon to see if she was alright. The answer?

She was alive. Quirrel was immensely confused. (and relieved Monomon wasn't dead, of course.) The sickly sweet air was gone, implying the infection was gone as well, but Monomon was still alive and asleep. Was he having an odd dream? Was he infected? He didn't have any odd urges to spread or worship the light though. (That's what being infected was like right? Thankfully he didn't know for sure.)

Was the little knight somehow behind this?

Okay, maybe that was a bit ludicrous to assume right off the bat. Still, he needed to confirm what happened and whether the infection was gone for good this time or not to decide on how to proceed. But Monomon...

He looked towards her sleeping form and debated fiercely with himself internally. Should he risk it? His memory was still rather splotchy, but even then he remembered how important she was to him. He didn't want her to die, and he certainly didn't want her to do so alone.

Just in case, he decided. Just in case the knight visits he'll stay a few more days.

A few days later he didn't know which was more shocking, the fact that the sickly sweet air dissipated or that the King's "light" seems to have returned. He couldn't possibly mistake the feeling of it after its return following a long absence.

Had the King returned and the infection gone? If so, why was Monomon still here and asleep?

•°•°•°●○●°•°•°•

"What happened to the infection?" Hornet finally managed to ask, still rather blunt as usual.

Something changed about the Pale King's demeanor that Hornet nor the smaller vessel in the room couldn't place. The Pale King spoke after a moment, "That's what I wanted to inquire myself."

Everyone was a bit stunned at the moment. The Pale King looked to the White Lady for a brief moment."I'm am afraid I do not know either." The White Lady pauses before continuing, "There appears to be a lapse in my memory regarding recent events with no readily available explanation as to why. And, I suppose that neither of you knows what happened?" Hornet and the Hollow Knight look at each other briefly. "That is correct." Hornet responds.

Everyone turns to the smaller vessel, who then freezes again before furiously shaking their head for a short time. Everyone in the room knew it wouldn't do any good visibly panicked as is. (Which is an achievement itself when you don't have any facial expressions.)

How could none of them have a clue as to what happened?

Was at least one of them lying?