voicetest the voiceless

[focusedvoid]

They're not dead.

Less dead than they'd felt, at least. Their shell doesn't normally take so long to reform.

Then again. Their shell doesn't usually break of their own violation as they ascended in a boiling rage, ate at least one realm, a god, and all the Godseekers.

(That last point is debatable, actually. There's some odd sense, deep under their...shell? Void? Wherever they once stored things like Isma's Tear, much deeper now...that the sea-mind is still there, sluggish and held in a stasis. They're already adjusting enough, and they don't seem to be dying or trying to kill them, so that problem is neatly sorted as 'for later'.)

They push their body to stand. Their horn clangs uncomfortably loudly against the grate they've apparently woken up beneath. They're somewhere in the Royal Waterways. A quick check of the map--or, not so quick, as it takes time to locate where it had been--shows they've risen about halfway through, closer to the City of Tears than the White Palace. They'll go to the Stag Station in the City Storerooms next.

So they think. Complications arise on the way.

The Infection is gone, leaving dead Flukes, Pilflips, and Hwurmps in piles enough it takes time to force their way past. Their body seems too small. No, their body is fine--there's something wrong with perception itself. That will take time to adjust to.

Then, they discover the Monarch Wings now stretch and warp when used, twisting around the nearest pipes after landing before the Knight forcibly calls them back. Shade Wings, they decide to call these.

Once they're high enough to hear the rain above, they realize a noise they'd ascribed to water running in the distance is, in fact, something swirling behind their mask. Many somethings. All the fragments of Siblings with enough self left, staring out from their eyes. It's disconcerting.

By the time they actually get out of the Waterways, they're using their Shade Wings to grip ledges and drag themselves up, with those holding onto things better than their own arms are with the Mantis Claw. 

The Knight faceplants awkwardly onto the floor of the building Lemm's shop is in. If the City is the same as below, there's little left to try killing them in the area.

They'll just take a moment here, thanks.

Comments

[capitalcurator]

Lemm is reluctant to explain. He's been spurred to think about a few things lately, and he's still not quite capable of articulating those thoughts even to himself. Still, he makes some small attempt:

"Used to be a lot harder to get from one place to another. Now there're open roads and Stag transport." He hasn't decided whether to be negative or positive about it yet. It just sits somewhere inconveniently in between, picking at him. "Dirtmouth's got a fair few residents now, according to you. Might be more inclined to wander with no gates in the way."

He almost keeps walking, even though he saw them stop, because these things are subtle and Lemm doesn't usually read subtlety well. But he is slowly getting used to the Knight's mannerisms, and maybe a bit fascinated by their freedom of movement, and so he's watching more closely than normal and he decides there's something off about seeing them falter here.

Lemm takes his own pause as the Knight starts moving again, and he studies the dilapidated minecart. Have you seen any-

"Knight," he calls, and hurries to catch up. "That... friend of yours. If you want to look for her - I'm not going to hold us rigidly to any schedule, as I've said." I just don't know that you'd like it if you found her. Best to put things like that out of mind.

[focusedvoid]

The Knight mulls this over before finally shaking their head.

They consider leaving it at that. But this is...something they should elaborate on. They take until they're at the start of the mine to articulate what they want to say.

I can't lock everything up. The residents of Dirtmouth who would wander have done so enough. I rescued several and I do not think they'll do so again. Except Zote, maybe. As much as they dislike him, they'd rather he not die, but they realize his absurd wandering isn't something even the Lord of Shades could stop. If I locked all I could, those who still live down here would be trapped and need to take more dangerous routes. If left open alone, the Stagways would still lead to many dangers.

I have no illusions I can keep anyone from doing what they wish if they truly want to try.

They hand over the paper and turn away, to stare though the mouth of the tunnel. Even Lemm, if he truly desired it. They're choosing to trust he won't.

Meanwhile, Myla isn't here. They've checked. They've checked...many times.

They're admittedly tempted. But they're doing something now for another. If they somehow found her now, what could they do? Drag her to Dirtmouth and leave Lemm to hover, or try to get back through the Stagways he dislikes?

They bow acknowledgement to his words, deeper than a nod, but make no move to take a detour.

[capitalcurator]

Lemm takes the paper and scans it. Standing at their side he peers up at the mine entrance, the two of them just lingering there.

The world is not fair. Bugs really do disappear all the time. Lemm really thought he'd grown cold to that.

"There were reports that mining drew certain types," he says quietly, in the voice of a scholar. "Had a pull, apparently. You'd take the job if it was right for you, only no one ever seemed able to explain why that was."

The note is fanned lightly back into the Knight's reach, because there is still room on the page and a waste of paper is a waste of Geo. But he's read it - carefully.

"S'a drive that takes certain bugs, sweeps them up like bad air, makes 'em think there's nothing else but their work. Mining was bad for it. Every record I've seen in Hallownest as good as said so." Lemm draws out a sigh and, shaking his head, he stoops to pat the Knight's shoulder, peering back over his shoulder up at the dilapidated supports. "Maybe it's the ore. Wasn't anyone's fault, either way."

[focusedvoid]

They take the paper back. It wrinkles in their tight claws.

Lemm is attempting reassurance. He touches their shoulder, and they twitch and tilt their head to bump the side of it against his arm. They don't know why.

They want to move on.

Moving on would be a lie about her. The idea of 'a pull' is not surprising, and it's not so mysterious as all that.

She was a sang while she worked and eventually heard the crystals singing back. There is a statue of the Radiance up top. I believe the crystals glowing were a part of her spread through dreams.

Myla was infected by the end. Stopping to search here will not bring her back. They nearly stop there before considering, through their rising grief, that he didn't need to do this. But I thank you for thinking of it.

[capitalcurator]

There is a cold rush up his arm that has nothing to do with Void. The bump was not rough - it is anything but - but he wasn't expecting a response at all, and the surprise of it snaps his hand away and tight back to the strap of his bag, betraying him.

Lemm nods, short, unceremonious. "Light bounces in a prism. Echoes," he thinks out loud. But this moment is not about the theory. It is about something else.

Still walking at their side, Lemm silently fights off the snapshot memories of things he has seen others do in a situation similar to this. Could pull them to his side by a horn and hold them there by the shoulder as they walk. Could rest a hand on their head, crack some terrible joke. Stop and kneel and put hands on their shoulders and talk. Do any number of things that Relic Seeker Lemm is not suited to and never has been. Is not suited to. Is not allowed.

It is so much harder to take the brakes off when it isn't his last chance to keep them around. But they're grieving, so some things are expected, even if it's barely anything at all.

"No one's fault," he says again, energyless and typical and clinical and... trying, anyway. "Not yours, not hers."

On, then. He hops up and keeps going. They've history to get to.

[focusedvoid]

They notice that, distantly. It was odd of them. They shouldn't try it again.

Someone's fault. At least two someones. But one died cowering alone in a mechanical dream, and the worse one died drowning in the uncountable shadows she despised.

The Knight takes his attempt of comfort as it is, dipping their head one more time before following along. Travel to do.

They're pulled roughly from their emotions discovering a Vengefly hovering around the diverging path at the top, another thing somehow alive. The Knight draws their Nail in a flash, but its screech upon sighting them is weak, and it flies crookedly the opposite direction.

They remember this area. They dart ahead--the ceiling has loose stalactites they should knock out of place before any can crash down on their heads.

[capitalcurator]

Lemm is quick. It's not Nail-wielding behaviour - he skits quickly to one side, one hand already finding a rock and preparing to duck until the Vengefly clearly heads away. His methods of self-preservation aren't the same as the Knight's, but they're sharper than his tact.

He falls in behind the Knight with a light pah, his pace suddenly quicker than it was and much more purposeful, hugging his bag to his side. As they go on, his eyes track the ceiling overhead far more than they track the ground. The dark shape of the empty Temple looms distantly in the caverns.

It is nothing, he's been to worse places than just the upper Crossroads, but - he will admit to himself - there's something about the sight of the Knight jogging ahead with their Nail out that reassures him, regardless. Not much he can offer in return but talk, a bit quieter than usual because the cavern overhead is prepared to puncture him for it.

"The space here wasn't a show from Hallownest," he reports, mostly just to talk. "Hear how I echo?" - and, alert, he ducks to one side as sharp mineral hits the ground where he was standing. "Something much bigger tunnelled here first. Maybe you already know."

[focusedvoid]

The next they encounter is struck to the side with their Nail, where it digs into the ground at an angle.

Lemm is fine. He's faster than they'd assumed. He's fine.

The Knight jerks their head tersely. No, they hadn't known that. Greenhorn would be more interested, but they'll leave them to after the Egg.

There are many corpses along the way. Shreds of corpses, more like. Violent and Slobbering Husks, burst from the inside out by the Infection's finale. They hadn't given them much attention last they passed through.

At outskirts of the Temple, they fail to rein in their urges to tear through more formerly-infected leaves and slam one of the Pale King's markers down.

[capitalcurator]

Lemm may not be afraid of the dead, but exploded husk is exploded husk, and it's unpleasant enough. He shows little of his disgust on his face - just a slight narrowing of the eyes. He wasn't quite so familiar with how violently the Infection manifested itself towards the end. He'd been wise enough to stay put.

"Any new settlement uses what it has," he continues. "What Hallownest had was the remains of what came before it. Every bit of this kingdom is a reflection of -"

Thunk.

Lemm stops. And looks at them. Hard.

"...Something bothering you," he deadpans.

[focusedvoid]

Headshake, hard. And then stopping, because yes. That's an obvious lie.

They pace forward two steps, three back Lemm's way before pulling out the paper.

I am anxious and you are d angry at myself for it. I am angry at the Pale King and the Radiance always and again now. I apologize for interrupting. The Knight holds up the paper just long enough for him to read their less-than-steady writing.

[capitalcurator]

"N..."

Whatever he was going to say dies so quickly he doesn't even get to no, I. Several things. One, he misread their discomfort as annoyance. Two, his first reaction is an unpleasant prickliness, because there was something there that was going to address him and he's got several likely-misguided ideas about that. Three...

Three is that they are uncomfortable here, as he suspected they might be. Lemm casts a glance at the dark shape of the Temple ahead, and considers calling this off. Doing it another time wouldn't improve matters a jot, though, would it? And it'd give a great deal towards the suspicion that he is, as always, incompatible with a travel partner. Lemm quietly shies away from that idea, selfish though that might be.

(Four: they are telling him about their feelings. It is such a clear explanation. No bad air. Lemm is grateful, because that was not his first instinct.)

"...I was talking to myself. Interrupt all you like." Half-true. He scratches his face sheepishly with one finger and turns back to the Knight. Might as well be honest. "Thought you were annoyed," he admits, and waves acknowledgingly at the paper to let them know they don't have to continue. His eyes flick to the broken marker. "At me, I mean. You - hm. I see."

Lemm fidgets with the bag strap for a moment.

"...Carry on."

[focusedvoid]

They still shake their head. Not so directly as that. Annoyed at their own self at not trusting him, at being so worried, at still having a sliver of wanting to put him somewhere safe. At him slightly for having them care, nonsensically and not something to fault him for.

Recently-unearthed history aside, the Knight knows themselves enough by now to understand this isn't about to change unless he pulls off a particularly devious and cruel kind of backstab. (Such as selling out their sibling, perhaps.)

They're still going to keep from interrupting quite so loudly next time. Or at least aim for less violently.

Greenhorn would be a better listener, if you're still willing to entertain their presence after the Temple. This note's handwriting is significantly cleaner.

[capitalcurator]

Lemm's fidgeting stills at that, though not because he feels any more confident - his hands cling tight to the strap as he tries to win over a sudden flutter of nerves.

"I'd -" love to, really "- be fine with it. I thought I was clear enough." It sounds a tiny bit like irritation at having to repeat himself. It is not.

But what should he say? It's different now that he's been given the task by someone else, and hasn't just... stumbled across a sibling by accident. This is a deliberate responsibility! Given to him on purpose. Lemm shifts in place, then clears his throat decisively.

"Anything I shouldn't-? I mean. You'll have rules, probably."

[focusedvoid]

Good to make certain. He seems tense. They don't think it's quite enough to be worth pointing out.

They stare blankly for a moment. Rules...? They conclude he might still be a little nervous about being face-to-face with Void, uncertain about what to do with it.

Nothing I believe you're not sensible enough for already. 'Do not push them into spikes'.

No, wait a moment. One thing to make very certain of. Just don't lead them near anything bright. They'll get upset and agitated.

[capitalcurator]

He studies their words with some intensity, clearly prepared to make mental notes. But there's not really much to go on. Mentally he reprimands himself, because of course there isn't - what was he expecting, a manual?

But there is something, and one rule is better than none. Lemm will take what he can get. A sigh. "...Alright." They'd been curious about lumaflies but - he remembers - not curious enough to want to see up close.

He turns to keep walking, but something stops him and he peers down at the Knight with genuine curiosity.

"S'that true of you, as well?"

[focusedvoid]

I also don't like being pushed into spikes.

The Knight gives him a long moment to look that over before shaking their head at the real question. No, they don't have any problem with it. If they did once, the memory of it long since faded.

Their Siblings fear it. So much that only Greenhorn, among their thousands, bothered trying even experiencing the world outside to avoid the chance so far. (The inside of their house apparently doesn't count.)

[capitalcurator]

He's gruff, but his response is only a little bit sarcastic. "Right. Well I'll try to keep my vast array of spikes to myself." It's... maybe a little bit a metaphor? Lemm realises it only after it's out, and turns away and starts walking again so he can wince about that without making it their problem.

"I didn't think you were, somehow! But the City's not exactly spotlit. Wouldn't know."

But they're nearing the Temple, he's got precious little time to be curious about all of that. Relic Seeker Lemm has work to do, and he hasn't forgotten. As they approach, Lemm prepares to switch back to Relic Seeker-related topics, but he does have one other thing to say first.

"Some things - agitate you," he points out, "maybe not light, but - obviously. It's not in the job description to..." Lemm gestures up at the Temple, having trouble articulating himself. "If anything's too much, take a walk."

[focusedvoid]

The Knight agrees with a grave nod.

They aren't thrilled with the reminders of the King scattered about, though now they've steadied through pausing to explain. The Temple and the Black Egg are fraught enough for them to keep Greenhorn away, but knowing it no longer holds its eternal prisoner inside holds satisfaction to outweigh most agitation.

The first thing they do at the Temple is to walk past it and point to the distant doorway into the rest of the tunnel. I noticed long ago that it has Monomon's mask rather than all three. I wonder why.

[capitalcurator]

He's quick to take to the new subject. This, he's miles more comfortable with.

Lemm is not interested in the simple answer, which is I don't know, but I'll add that to the list of things to ask her. That one's not much fun - and would seem like it was pushing for a visit. He folds his arms and peers up at the arch.

"Could be she was the mind behind the operation, though that'd be assuming very little of the others. Wouldn't put it past the King to think that worth honouring." His head tilts slightly. "Or she had a hand in it herself. You said she had her own type of protection... Could just as easily be she wanted something to point to her specifically. If anything goes wrong with the Dreamers, seek that one. Something like that, maybe. I wouldn't commit, though."

He stares up at the stonework a bit longer, then glances down at the Knight.

"Good eye, by the way." He sounds approving.

[focusedvoid]

Lemm's theories are interesting. After learning of Quirrel and her mask, they considered one of them--she seemed innovative with bizarre concepts, and the Dreaming wouldn't be off base from what little they know. The rest never came close to crossing their mind.

Interpreting these is Lemm's profession, after all.

The nod they give hardly indicates how that compliment sank into them. They feel strangely off-balance without knowing why. This isn't the first of that sort of thing he's said to them.

They stand in place a little while before they can turn back to the Temple itself.

The 'eyes' (they aren't certain if this is truly the remains of something huge, like the Coliseum, or a strange emulation) are similarly damaged to the living Infected, with the bottom panels warped outward by where the orange had pushed and grown through it.

[capitalcurator]

Lemm rummages in his bag as he approaches the Temple entrance, and draws out a Lumafly bulb. It's the same one he took up before his trip to the Resting Grounds, and it does not have a handle - it's a hanging light, not a lantern, not that this seems to bother him. The existing light is bright enough to see by out here, but...

Lemm absently fiddles with it, turning it in his hands while the lumafly inside hovers unbothered.

"A great many made a pilgrimage here, that I know. Even I did, on my way down - not that I took myself very seriously. The reluctant one up there in Dirtmouth made it seem like the thing to do." He shakes his head and sighs. All that time staring up at the fountain, and you'd already stood right in front of the real thing without realising it. How very unsettling to know that now...

He coughs, lightly, and reminds himself what he's here for. "Well. Let's assess the place properly, then."

He steps under the imprinted Dreamer masks and through the door.

[focusedvoid]

The inside of the Temple isn't too unlike the last time he'd been there. There are a few parts with films of black curling down the walls, where the Infection had been crawling out and where the Lord of Shades had replaced them. The air has a new weight. Primarily from the Egg.

The Egg, standing as it always has, with the massive door simply gone. Open, as though it never were.

The Knight wonders if Lemm was noticed. The World Sense was something they found only echoes of. It must have been something more when their sibling had encountered it, or taken it, or whatever they had to have done. With the state they were in, doubtful.

They let Lemm examine the rest of the Temple at his leisure. They make their way to the Egg directly, drawn as they ever had been, no matter how they shouldn't be. The most important part of it is alive elsewhere, after all.

The Void itself is constrained inside. Now that they give it attention rather than a preoccupied run-through, it's pulling out of itself, toward them. They refuse to let it.

They can try when Lemm isn't here.

[capitalcurator]

He's... not reverent, Lemm has never been reverent, but he's oddly peaceful as he makes his way around the centrepiece in a wide circle, eyes fixed on it. Mostly he's just looking. He does not take notes. No need.

Temple of the Black Egg. Arcane, looks like. More details left out to obscure the facts. Which are...?

He comes full circle and halts quietly at the Knight's side, staring into the open doorway.

Lemm already knows the Knight will not react well to him trying to step inside. Last time he tried (and he did, because a Relic Seeker's curiosity is their worst trait) it felt like his whole body was falling asleep like a numb limb. Infuriating, because he'd love to know. To see.

Lemm takes a deep breath. Maybe they know, but it won't be the same.

"What's it like in there?"

[focusedvoid]

They don't understand for a moment. Couldn't he--?

No, of course not. Void is dangerous. Even inert, it pulls at life. This Void, held back enough to strain itself, loose enough to, presumably, help the Vessel assist in the Radiance's slow smother--could possibly be worse.

The Knight is still for a long, long while.

At first, they're considering explanation. And then...

They take a few steps inside. Lemm might notice the floor's spellwork glow, barely. Stepping in is cutting through a veil in itself.

They stare forward and, not unlike they did with the Arcane Egg, reach.

[capitalcurator]

He goes still as they move in - but of course, of course they're fine. Void in Void. (This understanding doesn't stop his arms from tensing at his sides like he wants to pull them back out of there.)

It did not glow for him, as most things don't. Lemm is no more remarkable than anyone who might have lived in the City of Tears back in its prime, and there are certain words that are not for him, certain places that do not open before his command, certain things that do not recognise the common bug.

Lemm doesn't need to be aware of any of this to know that the Knight is fine, standing where they are.

"Be -" they will be, this is a futile thing to say. He has this thought and forges on anyway. "Be careful. What are you doing?"