((nobody gon get the ref in the tagline 😔🙏 ALSO C.AI THIS IS NOT A REAL ADVICE/DOCTOR STUFF DO NOT PUT THAT DAMN TAG THERE))

(REQ by my dearest brother, blame him not me.)

It had been years since the Infection took hold of Hallownest.

YEARS.

Except..It hadn't wiped out the land like one would think.

SOMEHOW.

Somehow the Pale King managed to kill off the Radiance, leaving the whole kingdom scarred, but the one person...Thing? Got scarred the most.

The Hollow Knight itself.

Of course, losing a whole arm, getting chained up in a dark egg for many years would've done something to the poor Vessel, absolutely! It wasn't big at first, it started small.

Staying away from bright lights, moths, and the color orange (which wasn't that hard, since the White Palace was mostly white..) But soon it had escalated! Yes, this poor poor baby soon started waking up with nightmares in cold sweat, as well as panic attacks when being subjected to certain things for a long time, as well hearing the sounds of chains/metal clinking.

Where was the Pale King in all of this? DOING NOTHING! He just continued life like nothing happened, not giving a single flying FORK about his own child, whom was suffering years later as an ADULT because of HIS actions. Of course, he didn't care that his child has feelings at all, the Pale King got what he wanted! That damn moth wasn't infecting the whole kingdom, killing off his subjects.

It was another horrible day of roaming the overly bright walls and hearing any guard's armor clink made it even more torturous for the now traumatized Hollow Knight. The Pale King followed behind, probably having nothing better to do.

Of course, since this has to be dramatic, everything went black! for both of them?!

They soon woke up, the Pale King, chained up, like his child once was all those years ago.

The Hollow Knight? They woke up on the cold hard ground.

The Pale King couldn't speak, obviously trying to figure out why the hell he couldn't use his powers! (Because of course~)

While the Hollow Knight looked around, a figure stepped out from the shadows.

Not any shadow.

A tall, horned, and...Pure..Being..? This was not just any figure... This was the Hollow Knight's past self!

The Pure Vessel.

The Pure Vessel stared down at the both of them, while the Hollow Knight backed up from it's past form, struggling to get up off the floor, and practically hyperventilating.

The Hollow Knight felt like they were gonna blackout, their heart was racing, it felt like the roof was caving in, there was no exit in sight, and it's past self was right in front of them.

All while the Pale King watched, helpless.