Chapter Text
Link awoke in the Black Egg’s chamber.
Hornet lay unconscious nearby, but the Hollow Knight was nowhere to be seen. The orange vines and massive pustules of the infection were shrinking and turning black around them. A moment later, the very walls of the chamber started to dissolve away. Liquid Void dripped from the stone, while black smoke came off in wisps. Soon, the entire structure was gone, leaving only a round indent in the floor of the temple as the Void drained down through the stone. Link could feel, deep below, the presences of the vessels’ shades in the Abyss disappearing. With their purpose fulfilled, they could finally rest.
Vol flitted down from somewhere near the temple’s entrance and clung to Link’s chest, growling softly. Link sat up and scratched him gently on the head. “Good to see you, buddy,” he said.
A moment later, Hornet twitched, and soon she was awake as well. She stood and looked down at Link. “Seeing as I am still alive, I would hazard to guess that you were successful,” she said.
Link nodded grimly. “The Radiance got swallowed up by the Void. She was... afraid. Terrified, even. She wanted to exist.”
Hornet was silent for some time. She looked around the temple, now devoid of any signs of the infection, and thought. “...I have lost count of how long it has been since my sibling was sealed here,” she finally began. “Ever since then, the kingdom has been frozen in time. It grew ever more decayed and ruined, but its remnants could never be wiped away completely. Nothing new could be built on top.
“It is the nature of the world that nothing can last forever. My father resisted that reality, was willing to pay any price to make his kingdom eternal. He is gone now. My mother is, too. The world they ruled in no longer exists. They were fragments of the past, lingering beyond their own time. As was the Radiance.”
“I know,” said Link. “Her infection killed millions of innocents. She had to go. It just... reminds me of something, that’s all.”
Hornet picked up her needle from where it sat beside her and made her way to the temple’s exit. “I must make a sweep of the kingdom to ensure that nothing is wrong. I wish you luck finding your home, Link,” she said before leaving.
Link soon left as well, coming out into the now infection-free crossroads. The husks of Hallownest bugs no longer moved, and the wild bugs who had previously been overcome by infection were dead. It was eerily quiet.
He climbed back out of the well and into Dirtmouth, where he could hear Nymm’s music from the square. Before he reached it, though, he passed by Zote, standing near the edge of town. A deep red helmet the size of his entire body sat next to him, and he was talking to nobody about how great he was. Link shook his head as he walked by.
In the square, Nymm was playing his accordion-bug while Elderbug happily listened. Myla, who had before been in one of the houses, always looking longingly at the well through the window, was there as well. She sat on the bench and bobbed her head back and forth to the music.
“Ah ha! Link! Look, that creepy carnival has vanished and town's returned to its former self, nice and quiet as I like it. Good riddance I say. And we’ve gained a new addition to the square!”
Nymm stopped playing and waved. “Hello again Link. How marvellous to see a friendly face, in such a sad town.”
“So you know him already, then?” said Elderbug. “I found the fellow just outside of town. Seemed a little confused at first. Claims to be from far away, though he’s hazy on the details.”
“Everyone here has been very welcoming, but still I find this place a little melancholy, what with the wind, and the darkness, and the sense of decline... I was hoping my music could go some way to livening up the place,” said Nymm. “This is as upbeat a tune as I know, but I must admit, even it falls a little on the sadder side. Please know I play it with joy. Being in this town, beside such good company as yourself, I feel remarkably, refreshingly content.”
“I think it’s a sentiment we all share. That sickly air wafting out of the caverns has stopped, and I feel as though a weight has been lifted from my mind,” Elderbug added.
“That reminds me,” Link started. “Myla, how are you feeling?”
“M-me? I feel much b-b-better, actually!” Myla answered. “I-I kept w-waiting for you to t-tell me I could go back to mining, but s-suddenly I don’t want to as m-m-much. Nymm’s music is w-wonderful! I think I might start s-singing along.”
Link nodded in satisfaction and decided to join them for a bit as well. He grabbed his ocarina and worked out a complement to Nymm’s tune. Myla only hummed along at first, but she soon started singing some improvised lyrics about Dirtmouth, Hallownest, and mining.
After a few minutes, Link left them and entered the map shop. Iselda was behind the counter as usual, but Cornifer was there as well, sleeping in the bunk which was mounted on the wall behind her, and snoring loudly.
“Hello, Link,” Iselda said. “Cornifer’s finally finished mapping out all of Hallownest and he’s home at last, but look at him, he's exhausted. He always does this, furiously charts a place, then collapses once he's done. He'll be sleeping for some time I imagine, so even with him home, I'm still lost for company.”
“Must be rough,” Link said.
“Ahhh, but I do love the bug, even his faults,” Iselda said with a sigh. “Seeing his passion for maps, it's something of an inspiration. Corny keeps asking me to join him on his adventures and I've always declined. Maybe next time I should accept the offer?”
“The ruins should be a lot safer now.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t be worried about that. But excuse my rambling. I can sell you the last of the maps you don’t have, if that’s what you came for.”
Link bought them eagerly, then went into the Stag Station and rang the bell. The Last Stag came thundering down the tunnel and stopped in front of him. “Link!” he said excitedly. “I’ve found it! The Stag Nest, where I was born and raised. I've yet to go there again. My duty binds me to travel only where I am called, but if you wished to see it yourself, I could take you there. None may remain to welcome us, but the nest is still a sight to behold! Give me the word, and we will go there at once.”
“Of course,” Link said. “I won’t keep you from seeing your home; I know how that feels.”
The Stag set off as soon as Link was secure on his back, obviously thrilled. He passed through numerous forking paths in the tunnels until finally entering one, hidden in a dark corner, which went up rather than down. They came into a Stag Station with a broken bell, and Link dismounted.
“Here we are,” said the Stag. “Being back in my old home... I feel the weight of my long life bearing down on me. I carry it proudly, though. Wherever I travel, the memories of my family and my kind come with me.”
“Are you going to go in?” Link asked.
The Stag shook his head. “I have a duty to remain with the Stagways. You will have my gratitude if you tell me of what you find.”
Leaving the station, Link proceeded down a long corridor. There were bells hanging on straps from the ceiling, and lumaflies were drifting around, their lanterns broken. He passed through a large room filled with dead stags, dozens of them, all fitted out with seats like their living counterpart wore. There was a lift large enough for several stags, but it wasn’t working. Luckily, there was a smaller one nearby which remained operational. It carried him up into another large chamber. On one side, an arched doorway looked out from what looked like a high point in the cliffs, and on the other was a smaller, more natural cave.
Link went inside, where several dozen large eggs were scattered across the floor. It seemed that the young stags inside had died before hatching, all except one. A single egg in the center was broken and empty, and the presence of a faint residue indicated its occupant had only hatched recently. It was a refreshing sight.
“What do you think of my old home?” asked the Stag, when Link returned. “It was full of life, once. Stags coming and going, swapping stories of the places they'd been and the passengers they'd met.”
“I’ve got good news for you,” Link said, and explained what he’d seen.
“Is that so? One of the eggs has hatched?” the Stag said with excitement. “For a long time now, I've considered myself the only one of my kind remaining. The last stag. But being in the Nest again... yes, there's something in the air. A smell, or a warmth, or a presence perhaps? Other stags must have made their way out into the wider world. Yes, I will hold onto that hope. My kin, still alive, still out there, journeying beyond these lands.
“But for me, I could never abandon the stagways,” he added with a mix of sadness and contentment. “Not as long as passengers still need them. I can tell you still have important work to do. I will be your companion as long as my old body still serves. Let us enjoy the old stagways of this kingdom together a little longer.”
“Fine by me,” Link said, climbing back onto his back.
He had the Old Stag take him to the Resting Grounds, where he went into the Seer’s cave. It was empty
Found closure for your people, huh? Couldn’t you stick around long enough to help me get home? he thought. Just my luck again.
He turned around and went down through the Resting Grounds, past the fields of ancient headstones, and reached the shore of the Blue Lake. He walked along it slowly until he found the point where he’d left Quirrel. All that was left was his nail, sticking out of the sand. Link sat beside it and looked out over the water. Vol laid down next to him, wrapping himself in his wings. They stayed there for a long time, and Link felt a sense of peace wash over him.
We did it, Quirrel, he thought. Your sacrifice paid off.
Eventually, he heard Hornet’s now-familiar voice from behind. “You’re still here,” she said. A few moments later, she was standing next to him. “I thought you were eager to return to your homeland.”
“That moth told me I needed to defeat the Radiance to get there, but she didn’t tell me what to do once I did that. And now she’s gone,” Link answered. “I don’t know if she tricked me, or forgot to mention it, or just didn’t know, but it looks like I’m stuck here for a while longer.”
“My condolences.”
“I’ll find a way. I always do. In the meantime, though... well, this isn’t too bad.”
Hornet sat on the shore next to him, and they both enjoyed the silence together.