Chapter Text
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You are washing dishes.
You were sitting on the floor, as the sink was much too low for you otherwise. You put out your hand once you gently placed the dried dish on the rack, patiently waiting for the cook next to you to place the one he was washing into it.
You had recently returned from making an important delivery entrusted to you by the King. Predictably however, you were currently unable to report this fact back to him, as he was in a meeting with some people (bugs, your subconcious supplies helpfully,) from the capital. But which ones were it this time? – you continued thinking – last week it was a group complaining about something along the lines of the sentries’ station platforms, being so high up, not having guard rails. It was a valid concern until it was realized that those platforms weren't walkways, but resting perches for the sentries able to fly.
The time before that, it was Watcher Lurien. The man was basically the City’s president, from what you understood. At least that's the closest thing you would associate with his position. You were actually personally introduced to him, when His Royal Majesty called for you to carry a letter to Great Knight Hegemol – who was patrolling in the City at the time – when they reached a particularly important point in their meeting. Your first impression of him was a somewhat uptight, formal, and yet somehow shockingly pleasant individual. He was soft spoken and polite when he introduced himself to you.
“We’re finished.”
The voice beside you had spoken. Apparently you had been holding your hand out for the next dish for a while without realizing. The bug was looking up at you with palpable amusement, in response to which you huffed and stood.
“Thank you for your help, Maskfly!” He said.
“Anytime.” You sighed back.
And just like that, you were off to the courtroom to check on the meeting proceedings.
The doors of the room were guarded by a pair of Kingsmoulds standing eternally at attention. These things were… a little dumb, but pretty efficient as guards, in your opinion. They hit like a semi-truck, and were blindly obedient to their Liege; model knights, really. They couldn’t talk, but they did nod affirmative when you asked them if the meeting was still ongoing. Having stood there with them while waiting for meetings to end so often, they were perfectly used to your presence. You had even taught them how to play rock-paper-scissors. They would always stomp their feet in a brief tantrum when they lost a few times in a row.
Suddenly, the doors opened, interrupting the match you were having with ‘mould 2. You two froze in position as a clearly high class bug floated out of the meeting room. The newcomer regarded you with so much judgment you could taste it in the air. It tasted remarkably foul.
Not moving an inch, you watched as they floated off, followed by two other floating bugs, and one with a sword following on foot after them. Once they passed, you turned back to you and 2’s match. It was their rock against your paper.
“HAH–!”
“Maskfly?” The King’s voice carried from inside at your joyous exclamation, reminding you of why you were even there. You quickly gave the two Kingsmoulds a few pats on their shoulders before sliding into the view of the doorway.
“My Lord! Yes, hello-” You quickly brushed off some spores you noticed were still clinging to your white cloak. “I return from Mantis Village, Your Brightness. Your message has been delivered.”
He was an imposing figure, the King of Hallownest. Not in height- he was remarkably short, even among his subjects not to mention yourself, but in presence alone. His pale shell gave off its own light, only intensified by the shimmering silver walls around you. He was a being of power, in every way it mattered. You had only recently stopped being afraid of him.
“Some good news at last…” The King sighed, and you could tell just how tired he was.
“Goodness... Did the meeting not go according to plan, Your Majesty?” You fretted.
“No, no it has not. It was hardly planned, even. They just barged in demanding an audience.” You could tell he was frustrated by the muffled sound of his voice behind grit teeth…mandibles? “Have you a reply for Us?”
“They said ‘it did not require one.’ If it was an invitation somewhere, I'm going to assume their answer is a resounding "No".”
The Pale King chuckled and shook his crowned head in good-natured amusement. “We were not expecting one. It was merely a report on the territories surrounding theirs.” He elegantly brushed his robes off and folded all his arms behind his back. “Thank you, you are dismissed. Remain on standby as always.”
You bowed in that fancy way you practiced, and turned heel out of the conference room.
This is how your days went. You woke up, sat around until someone needed you for something, did that thing, then went to bed at the end of the day. You supposed it wasn't all that different from when you were back home. The only change was your self-assigned part-time job of babysitting. Speaking of, how long has it been since you've been home? Two months? Three? You barely think about it anymore. Though your method of arrival was anything but forgettable.
In a freak act of rebellion, you decided to make a point on leaving a hormonal teenager without supervision by stealing your father's car. Now, you didn't have a license, and while you did spectacularly on the highways due to being perfectly sane and sober, the narrow mountainside roads were just a bit more difficult. But you did fine!
…Who are you kidding, you swerved right off the edge.
And that's about how you ended up lost in the forest blanketing the valley about a hundred and fifty miles from your hometown. Ironically, it was your lack of a seatbelt that saved you, having fallen out of the vehicle through a shattered window and landed face down on a small overhang while the car fell further down, and exploded upon impact. You carefully maneuvered the rest of the way down yourself.
Somewhere along the way of your wanderings you came across a bare clearing. Boulders taller than yourself towered over you from where they stood in an imperfect ring. You could only barely make out a faint humming over the rustling of the leaves above.
You were in pain. A lot of pain, and on the verge of passing out, but it barely compared to what came next.
You heard a voice, much too loud, speaking right into your ears from inside your mildly concussed head. It kindly welcomed you "wayward traveler" in "The Kingdom of Hallownest", gave you "the gift of understanding", told you not to break laws, and proceeded to shrink you.
The aforementioned process was wildly unpleasant. Excruciating, even. But you lived.
And much to your surprise, upon arriving bleeding and exhausted on this foreign fantasy kingdom's doorstep in the middle of the night, the insectoid residents immediately catered to you.
They didn't ask questions, they didn't turn you away, only rushed you to the nearest little house (which you did not fit into, so they brought some bedding outside instead), sat you down, and patched you up to the best of their ability. They were confused and maybe a little weary of you, but fretted over you nonetheless. You were…apprehensive, is the lightest work you could use, but knew better than to question it when it was the very last of your sacrificable blood supply on the line.
You learned the little village's name was Dirtmouth. It was serene and cozy, with little lanterns hung up around the huts like fairy lights.
All your attempts to apologize for barging in like that in the dead of night were shut down, and one of the older women even scolded you for trying to. They just paired you up with a young man and shooed you down into the actual kingdom to seek medical attention for the injuries they didn't have the tools to aid you with. You visit them whenever you are able.
The bug's name was Quirrel. He was tiny compared to you, but eager to help. Apparently he was only spending the night in the little town after an errand, and didn't mind heading back down a little sooner than anticipated. You could tell he was some kind of researcher before he even told you – as polite as he was, he was masking his curiosity about your general self with concern just poorly enough for you to pick up on it.
The best healer in the kingdom was stationed in the capital. It was constantly raining there, but you hardly minded when you were on the very edge of consciousness by the time you reached the hospital. Or, the healers' coven, rather. Hospital wasn't a word that was used here.
You quickly learned the city folk were a lot less considerate of a stranger of ambiguous species and origin stepping foot in their precious home, as they basically called the cops on you.
Great Knight Hegemol did not fit inside the clinic. He just pushed the door open and stared at you from behind that empty-eyed helmet like a predator and honest to god, you were afraid of him – you hadn't met anyone even close to your general size until then. Quirrel was quick to come to your defense and explained to him that you were the farthest thing from dangerous, while the doctor angrily muttered about "that brute barging in and frightening her patient."
Of course, as some sort of code dictated, as soon as you were no longer in danger of not waking up in the morning, you were brought to the King, where your poor companion was not allowed to accompany you.
To your pleasant surprise, the Queen took one look at you wrapped up in bandages, kneeling on the pristine white tiles flustered and on the verge of tears, and gave all your escorts the scolding of their life. Her husband didn't even move to stop her.
That was the only time you've ever felt like Hegemol was in any way small.
After a few days of allowing you healing respite within their halls, they offered to help you get home. You did not want that for several reasons you preferred not to discuss, so you opted to make a deal instead.
You offered to work at the Palace. You'd serve, and all they had to do was house you.
The royal couple was surprised at your insistence, but it really didn't look like you'd be backing down, so they accepted your proposal. The king had a wonderful idea on what you could do for them as well.
And so you became a royal messenger.
Formally it was only a test to see whether it'd work, but apparently you did it so well, it stuck. Your stamina seemed to far outlast the average bug's so you could make several trips across the kingdom in one sitting if you really wanted to. Maybe not with a grin, but you could. Thus, you were nicknamed "Maskfly", after a little bird-esc critter they generally use as messenger doves.
That brings you to now, standing in a random hallway and watching the occasional retainer rush by. They were always in such a hurry…then again you nary needed to run, your strides were long enough to keep pace with them walking.
What were you standing around for? Why, you were waiting to be dispatched, of course. Little did everyone know, this random hallway was in fact a very specific one, where you would receive a very special commission on a daily basis. They should be there any second now.
A rapid tapping noise got your attention from above. You looked up, small smile hidden behind the mask Kindly Isma had made you. There they are.
Above you, a tiny pale head poked out from a little tunnel built into the wall directly below the ceiling. There were many of these, their purpose being ventilation. Of course, instead they mainly served as hidden walkways for the King's many children.
The little head sported two horns curved inwards, letting you know who it was. Not that you had to guess.
“Good afternoon, your Highness. Punctual as always.” Prince Ghost tippy-tappied their little hands on the edge of the vent tunnel and pulled out a little pouch. They held it out, and simply let it fall into the waiting hand you had raised above your head.
The pouch seemed comically small in your palm, but you knew it was just the right size for what was inside. Ghost got your attention with the tappies again, and dropped a single 5-geo into your hands. Your payment.
“Pleasure doing business with you, my Liege. To the grounds as usual?” You were rewarded with an eager nod, and the little vessel disappeared into the hole again. You weren't disheartened by the lack of conversation, for Ghost was mute. In fact, all of the royal children were born voiceless. Unfortunate, but they were otherwise perfectly healthy.
You tenderly tucked the pouch safely away in one of your many pockets, and made your way towards the training grounds, where one of the Five Great Knights was currently training the firstborn in the art of the nail.
Well, not exactly. They were holding a fifteen minute break at the moment, having started it just about two minutes ago. Coincidentally, that break lines up with when the younger children are let go from tutoring.
The pouch contained candy. What kind or what flavor you didn't know, all you knew was that you were to smuggle it to Prince Hallow under the noses of his teachers. The difficulty of this assignment varied with who was holding the lesson that day. If it was Dryya, you would have to leave the pouch behind the nail rack nearest the door after break was over and she was occupied. You mustn't let her see you. If it was Ze'mer, the same applied, just for a different reason. Unlike Dryya, who would interrogate you on what you were doing there and why, Ze'mer would go mother-hen on you. You'd expect it to be Isma, but no, it's the tall lady with the claymore.
Where have you been today? How long have you been out? Did you get hurt anywhere? Did you get enough sleep last night? Have you eaten yet? You missed lunch again haven't you, stay here, I'll take you after training.
You appreciated her, but you had things to do!
Case in point: smuggle sweets to Hallow. You stuck your head through the gateway of the training grounds, and did a little victory cheer in your head.
Today was easy mode: you got Ogrim.
The companionable dung beetle was a chatterbox for sure, but in a lovable way. He let you go when you said you had to, and though you've never been caught, you knew if he was the one to reveal your scheme, he'd be in on it in a heartbeat. But still, you would take your job seriously.
Of course there were times you could avoid interaction with him entirely, namely when he actually stepped out for a while. This time though, he was sitting with his trainee in the middle of the grounds. So, you joined them.
“Your Highness, Defender Ogrim,” You did a silly little curtsey with your long cloak “Fine day, no?”
The way both of them perked up like flowers after fresh spring showers amused you greatly.
“Maskfly! I was wondering when you would stop by!” Ogrim laughed heartily as he took you by the hand, pulling you down into the newly formed circle. Hallow bounced a little where they sat and shuffled closer to you. “Where did your duties bring you today?”
You wrapped yourself in your cloak and discreetly began shuffling the candy pouch from one of your pockets underneath. "I've delivered to Lady Radiance this morning, and have just returned from Mantis Village a few hours ago.” You stated, pointedly ignoring the fact how the two were leaning in like curious children, lest you start going into detail. “As pretty as it is, if I had to choose between Crystal Peak and the Fungal Wastes, I'd pick the Wastes every time. No offense to the moths but these legs weren't made for climbing.” You complained while dramatically leaning on Ogrim's shoulder in pretend exhaustion, causing him to laugh and pat your head comfortingly. You quickly slipped Hallow the pouch while he was distracted.
Prince Hallow was your age. You barely believed it, but really, you should come to terms with your disproportionate scale sooner than later. They were only a few months younger than you, but they had a fair bit to grow if they wanted to catch up to you. You had no doubt they would, eventually.
You three chatted for the rest of the break, and eventually, you had to go.
You stood up and said your farewells, but staggered to a stop after the first three steps and turned heel. “Oops, I almost forgot! Here.” You carefully slipped a shard of pink crystal into the surprised vessel's grasp. “I remember you saying you wanted to see them the other day. This was the biggest one I could find.”
That was a lie. It was much larger when you picked it, but you severely overestimated the strength needed to separate it from the wall. That shard was the largest of the remains. It popped like a wine glass at an Adele concert.
Saying goodbye for real (while trying not to be too distracted by Hallow clutching the crystal shard like you'd just handed them the world), you shuffled out of the training hall and made a beeline for the Palace Garden. You had to give the geo Ghost gave you back to the Queen. You didn't stand for them giving any fraction of their allowance to you then, and you don't now.
