r...remember..

[meifen-within-the-dark]

r-remember….family..!

-

ooc:

hi chat it’s me @echothevessel back at it again with yet another blog

It’s Mei!!! @tein-of-weavenest-karn’s sibling!!!!! Previously @/something-within-the-dark

They got “cured” of the infection, and will mostly be interacting with their sibling, Midwife, Karn or Phillip!

Please use They/Them when referring to them!

There is also.. a Light.. within them. Not the Radiance, but a light that has shone brighter, and now has taken over the control of the infection. It calls itself “Lucent”, though it now is dead due to fighting the Radiance in order to help free Phillip from the infection.

Please use it/its when referring to Lucent :)

They used to be called “Tebby” by @midwife-of-deepnest

They're now in a QPR with Amba!!!!! :))))))

Rules

NO NSFW. NO, I WILL KILL YOU! /silly /hj

Please use THEY/THEM WHEN REFERING TO MEI! It/Its for when referring to them when they're infected or when referring to Lucent

You can be mean to them if you’d like to :3

Gore is fine and somewhat encouraged! Just NO images!!!!

PLEASE DONT SHIP THEM!!! They're in a Queer Platonic Relationship with @amba-the-hidden!! :)

DO NOT MAKE MY CHARACTERS DO SOMETHING THAT I DO NOT SAY THEY DO IN RESPONSES.

Tags

compose oneself - all posts

lurking - them hunting someone ;)

stay away - asks

draws of blood - arts :)

the blinding light - Anything relating to the infection, or The Light

Familiar Shape - uh oh they’re murderous now in Pharloom….

Tein! - interactions with @tein-of-weavenest-karn

Mama! - Interactions with @midwife-of-deepnest

Mom! - interactions with @weavers-of-rebellion (Karn)

Friend! - Interactions with @the-hallownest-bio-department (Phillip)

Mei questions - Mei questioning their sexuality

Lost Sibling - interactions with @li-of-hidden-caves

Budding Kindness - Lucent is trying to be better

Amba! - Interactions with @amba-the-hidden

Uncle Styx! - Interactions with @styxs-nest

Echo voice acts - voice acting posts!

the voices - ooc posting

ref sheet for Mei and Lucent below

[meifen-within-the-dark]

How would you feel if Li was put in a death tournament against Amba?

Purely hypothetical btw don't worry :3

"WHAT?!?!"

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei led the group out of the tiny cave they were in and towards the Palace as they were instructed by Arc, walking through the abandoned marketplace that was apparently called "Souk", and towards the area ahead called "Lystic Caverns"*

*Once they got to said caverns, they stopped, looking up from the map and around the area, large orange and yellow crystals scattered about that had a faint glow to it that occasionally got brighter before sinking back into the faint glow, it was almost rhythmic, like.. breathing. It felt like there was some kind of presence here, though it was hard to tell what.*

*Mei walked up to one of the crystals, staring at it. It felt familiar to them, but they were not sure why.*

(ooc: sorry this is a bit late guys! i originally queued the post but smt happened so i had to re-write it </3)

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba slowly turns a circle, her eyes wide with wonder.*

"Wow... this place is interesting... like beautifully eerie, y'know? Almost like it's alive, or a big heart. What do you guys think?"

*She turns to the others, her gaze flicking around.*

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx takes time admiring the cavern. The breathing glow of the crystals made this cave feel somewhat… Uncanny… But at the same time, it was fascinating. He had never seen any place like this before.

Sssss. I have not thought of it like that, but now that you you mention it… Yessss. In a way, it feelssss like thisss cave is a form of life of ssssome sort.

@li-of-hidden-caves, @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip shudders when he sees the glowing orange crystals before walking toward one of them and smashing it with his cane.*

I think we shouldn't risk coming into contact with these. There's a chance they're something to do with the Infection.

@li-of-hidden-caves @amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinches as Phillip breaks one of the crystals, watching as the glow dissipates for a few moments before going bright again, continuing its rhythmic pulse.*

"I dont think the infection reaches that far.. it never left Hallownest until it brought a bug to Pharloom, and i dont think anyone knew about Neyst either..." *They replied, then hesitantly touched the crystal they were looking at. As soon as they touched it, all of the crystals in the cavern glowed a bit brighter, and a voice, ragged and clearly weakened significantly could be heard.*

"m..e.....i.... ......g....o..od..........h..ea...r....."

"woh-" *Mei stepped back from the crystal, looking back at the others and then at the crystal again. The voice sounded very familiar to them, they could only think of one bug of who it could be..* "....Lucent??"

@amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx flinched as the unfamiliar voice spoke, looking around, confused as to where it was coming from. Were the crystals talking? Was someone speaking through them?

Who’ssss there…?

He worried, hearing how weak the voice sounded. Was someone… dying?

@amba-the-hidden, @the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba swings her head around to look at the crystals, then Mei.*

"Oh... That's the one in your head..."

*She murmurs, disturbed.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li wakes up at the sound of the voice with a start, scrambling up and looking around frantically*

Where are we?! What's going on?! Who was that?!

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

...

*Phillip shatters another crystal.*

@amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Phillip!" *Mei gave Phillip a glare as the glow in the crystals falter.*

"it....f.....f..fi..n..e...... c...cry..s..t..al..s....o.....o-ohnl...y...l..et....s....s-spea...k.....y....y...o..u.."

*They looked back at the crystal,* "So these crystals let you speak to us? wohh thas cool!" *They then looked back at the group,* "Is okey guys! It's just Lucent! uhm... the..thing that had infected me... Its nice now though, dont worry!! It helped get Phillip out of the infection! Though its uhm... kinda dying now.."

"...a..m......s....s..so.r....r..y.....f..feor......t...h..a..t....m..mei.."

"Its okay! ...are you doing okay though? .. you sound worse than the last time i talked to you..."

".........."

"..n...no.."

"oh... :("

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx was unsure of what to feel, knowing the one who infected Mei— Lucent, apparently— was speaking through the crystals. On one hand, he couldn’t help but remain vigilant, given Mei implying it hadn’t been nice before. On the other hand, though, he couldn’t doubt that it was in bad shape, just by how weak its voice sounded.

It was a chilling sense of déjà vu.

He didn’t know what to do nor say, so he hesitantly walked forwards and stood next to Mei, hoping it would comfort them a bit.

@amba-the-hidden, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba frowns upon hearing the weak voice's admitance.*

"Is... is there anything we can do to help you? I mean; I guess that's why we're here... So, I guess the better question is how do we help you?"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"n...ot....m..much......c...c..a.n......d.......do.... ......i...i-if...f...in..d........s...s..c.r...sc..ar...v...... t..el..l....a...m..s....s..sor..y.."

"We will! We did find a bug but they werent a Scarav, i dont think... We're going to the Palace now since they gave us a map!" *They held up the map to the crystals even though they didnt think that it would be able to see it.* "How would telling the Scaravs that youre sorry help you though?"

*It sighed,* "i-it....w..won...t....h...e.l..p...h...e.al...."

"Oh... Then why did you want us to do it?"

"m..mes...sed....u..p...l....lon..g....t..im..e..a....go.....n..ev..er..s...ai..d....s...so..r........ ........."

".....?" *Mei tilted their head as Lucent trailed off, the crystals dimming a little.* "...Lucent?"

"..........s..so..r..y.." *It apologized, the crystals brightening.*

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department @styxs-nest

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip snaps a crystal off of the wall, looks at it suspiciously and puts it in a pocket in his cloak.*

We can take it places if it can talk through these, right? It can apologise to whoever it did wrong to itself.

@meifen-within-the-dark @li-of-hidden-caves @styxs-nest

[styxs-nest]

If it can sssspeak through them, then perhapssss.

Can it sssstill communicate through the crysssstals if detached from the wall?

@meifen-within-the-dark, @li-of-hidden-caves, @amba-the-hidden

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"c....an......b...b-b..ut is.....q.....qui...et.......ve..ry......qu...i...et"

"That's okay! If we find any Scaravs then we can give them the crystal and let them hear you up close!"

@amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba nods in agreement.*

"Even if you did kinda take over Mei, you apologized, and you deserve a chance to right your wrongs. Maybe the queens will forgive you!"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

Plus, if they don't forgive you, maybe they could put your crystals in a jar and use them as an energy source!

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li seems on edge, but stays quiet, although they do step a bit away from the crystals*

@styxs-nest @meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden

[styxs-nest]

Regardlesssss of what happensss-sss, we will be there with you if you choosssse to apologize.

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"t...th-..ank... y..y-you....." *It thanked, the crystal's light brightening a tiny bit before going dim again.*

"Ye!! We're here to help you, Lucent! If we werent then- well- we wouldnt be here anyway- heh-"

"i-it....m..me..ans...a...... ........................ a..l..lo..t....... t...hat.............. y..y-you..r.." *The crystal's light dims further as Lucent trails off again,* ".....y..ou..r.e.......h....h.e..l.......... .........h elp......i............"

"............" *Mei stays silent as it trails off once again, waiting patiently for it to finish but the continuation never happens, at least, after a full minute of waiting.*

".... Lucent?" *They call out, tilting their head.*

*The crystals dim further and further until the cave is no longer lit with the orange light, only darkness in place of it. The presence had disappeared as well.*

Visit Original Link

"Lucent?" *They called out again, getting worried as the cave is blanketed in darkness, though they did not get an answer.* "Lucent!"

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

As the light dies, and the darkness awakens, a pit forms in Styx’s stomach.

W-what’s happening

He did not need an answer, for he had a feeling he knew what it was. He wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba's eyes widen, and she looks around as the darkness blooms.*

"Oh... we... we were too late... It's... not there now..."

*She doesn't know how to feel as well, mirroring Styx's uncertainty. She shifts, her bioluminescence adding a little light back, and slowly walks up to Mei's side, looking at their face to judge the mood.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei was staring at the dark crystals, a mix of concern, and sadness on their face. They walked closer to one of the crystals, placing their hand flat on it.* "l-lucent-...?" *They waited, not really expecting a response but they tried anyway.*

*They waited for about a minute or so before letting their hand rest at their side, and they stared at the ground. They thought over what had happened, then started to cry.* "lucent-..."

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li… almost beams with joy. The being that infected their sibling is dead! There’s nothing to fear!*

*And then they hate it. Hate how they’re happy when their sibling is crying. They don’t deserve this happiness. They should be sad like their sibling. They feel guilty for disagreeing with Mei*

*…*

*They hug Mei tightly, trying to comfort them while not knowing how*

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip looks at the crystals all around him dimming and time for him sort of just... stops. The following reactions of his companions are drowned out by just the realisation of what had just happened.*

It's dead.

*He looks off into the distance, turning his back to the others. His tone is that of happiness and yet also of anger?*

Good. It was about fucking time. What next?

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”Phillip!” *Mei shouted at him, giving him a bit of a glare,* “You can’t just- say that!!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

What?

*He flips around, turning to face Mei.*

It was nothing but a parasite!

*On that last word, what seems to be a faint orange light flickers through his eyes and then dims yet again.*

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”It was getting better!” *They retorted, not noticing the light in his eyes,* “Thats the entire reason why we’re here! To help it!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

You asked us to go with you! I don't think you ever even said why!

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"I-" *Mei stopped in their tracks, they don't think they ever said why either... To be fair though, Lucent didn't really tell them why until recently. They stood there, staring at the ground as tears silently fell from their eyes.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba gently nuzzles her joyfriend, her tail curling around them. Then after a moment, her spines lift slightly, her wings puff up a little, and she turns her head to glare at Phillip.*

"Lucent may have been more then annoying, may have taken over Mei at one point, but that doesn't mean that a being doesn't deserve a chance to change. And that certainly doesn't mean that you celebrate when it dies! No creature deserves that kind of disrespect, especially if that creature is trying to improve itself as it dies, slowly! You came here to help Mei with a mission. And it was clear from what they were saying that helping Lucent was the mission they were going to try to take on. So, if you're gonna celebrate *she spits out the word like poison*, have the decency to do it in your head, in your thoughts, and don't take it out on Mei."

@styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[styxs-nest]

A lump forms in Styx’s throat as he processes the death he just witnessed. As mixed as his feelings were about Lucent, he still couldn’t stomach how horrifyingly familiar it was to hear a dying voice. Neither could he stomach seeing Mei so stricken with grief.

But before he could give them a hug, he was taken aback at what Phillip said. As Mei and Phillip began to argue, Styx got worried and took a few steps back. Between the stress of Lucent’s death, Mei’s grief and the argument starting to boil, Styx was becoming overwhelmed. Eventually, his limbs began to shake.

THAT’SSSSS ENOUGH!!!!!

Styx’s eyes widened in shock at his own voice. He didn’t think he could shout so loud before, let alone hold so much frustration. His anger began to turn into guilt as he breathed out a tired sigh.

I apologize for shouting…

But Amba’s right. At the end of the day, we all agreed to go on thissss journey and sssupport Mei no matter what. We all have reasssson to feel the way we do, and I will neither pry nor judge any of you for thossse reasons. But arguing is-ssss not going to get us-ssss anywhere. And neither will openly celebrating death in front of the grieving.

Styx then joins Li and Amba in comforting Mei, giving them a hug.

@meifen-within-the-dark @li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinches as Styx shouts, though they listen to his words as more tears fall from their eyes. As soon as he hugs them, they return the hug, hugging Li as well. They give them both a tight squeeze as they fully start to sob.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li... stands in front of Mei, growling slightly, tears falling*

Do not speak ill of Mei's friend. You may think it as we do, you may wish it silently, but do not speak it. We are your friend, but we are Mei's sibling the most, and we are ready to make sure they are happy, for it is what makes us useful.

*Their tears are slowly turning orange as they fall to the floor*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip looks at all of them, his gaze flicking between Mei and Li mostly. He notices Li's tears turning the sickly orange that he knows so well, and he takes a deep breath.*

I am going to leave. Li, if you can follow, please do so.

@li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"w-wait-!" *Mei pulled back from the hug with Styx, wiping away their tears and grabbing his arm.* "Please dont go... I- i know we're all mad but i dont want you to leave.."

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

...

Fine. I won't leave, but I need to go for a bit, take a walk.

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"okay.. Just... please dont get lost... ... We'll make our way to the Palace, okay?" *They said, then let go of him, walking over to the others.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Meanwhile, Styx had frozen at the sight of Li’s tears. He was trembling.

Those orange tears… They were just like the ones that had gathered in Mei’s eyes months ago when they were hurting— When Styx too, had been hurt.

Not again- This couldn’t be happening AGAIN- Mei suffering through it was already more than enough. Li didn’t deserve this same fate either.

Styx doesn’t think he could bear to handle one more innocent bug, let alone another bug he knows, going through the same pain again.

M-Mei- Li’s tearssss… Are th-they alright?

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Wuh?" *They tilted their head, not having noticed Li's tears. They looked over at Li, noticing the tears. Their pupils turned to slits, staring at the orange tears for a long time.* "... L-Li?"

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li turns to Mei and Styx, fluff puffed up like a scared or angry animal from the ordeal with Phillip*

*they need to fight off those who hurt Mei, they need to fight to stay safe, t h i s i s h o w y o u s t a y u s e f u l*

What's wrong?

*They pat their blindfold, feeling the tears*

Ah. Sorry, we got emotional. We shall stop crying, if it hurts you so.

*They don't notice, of course they don't notice, how the tears are the same sickly orange of the infection, if watered down a bit*

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"No, no its okay! You can cry, its completely normal! I-its just that- ...... ..... the tears are orange..." *They said, kneeling down to Li's height.*

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Upon learning the colour of their tears, they move away from everyone as best they can, afraid that they’ll hurt them*

G-get away from us, Mei!

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinched, getting up and stepping back.* "B-but-.."

@amba-the-hidden

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba looks from one bug to the other as the conversation gets more and more panicked, tensions running high, her own muscles getting tense, her spines raising, her eyes flicking around.*

"Please! Can we please calm down? Li, you're not hurting anyone... This is all too much... can we talk about what's happening, please, I don't understand..."

*She looks at each of the three remaining bugs as though for some explination.*

@styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx tries to take a deep breath, though it’s clear he’s still shaking.

R-right… I’ll try…

Amba, I can try and explain what I know later. Mei can probably explain it better than I can. But right now, I think it is-sss besss-sssst we make sure Li shall be alright.

He looks at Li sympathetically, a few tears starting to gather in his own eyes.

Afraid as I am, I don’t want to run. I want Li to be okay. There hassss to be a way.

@meifen-within-the-dark, @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*They move back even more*

*There are pinpricks of orange in their eyes behind the blindfold, able to be seen, showing wide, fearful eyes*

I said get away from me!

*They swipe at the air with their claws, thankfully hitting nothing*

*They have to fight they have to fight-*

*T H I S I S W H A T B E I N G U S E F U L I S , R I G H T ?*

@meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei is unsure of what to do. They've never seen Li act like this before, and it hurt to see them like this. They wanted to give them a hug but they also wanted to respect their personal space. They felt like they were stuck between a rock and a hard place.*

*They started to fidget with their claws, starting to cry again.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden

[styxs-nest]

LI-

No. This shouldn’t be happening again- He wanted to run. So bad. But he didn’t want to leave Li here. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t.

Thissss is exactly what I’ve ssseen happen monthssss ago…

The orange… I ssstill don’t know much about it… But it’sssss hurting Li. I think it isssss fighting for control over them.

Styx hugs himself in a desperate attempt to keep his trembling fear at bay.

There musssst be sss-sssome way to help, but I don’t know how…

@amba-the-hidden

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba arches her back and steps away as Li swipes, her wings flaring out halfway. Instincts tell her that Li is a threat, her brain tells her they're not, Mei is in distress, as is Styx, Li is fighting something she can't even see, and it all scares her on a different level then just instinctual. Her pupils shrink, but she keeps her shaky voice quiet as lowers her body closer to the ground in a display of passiveness.*

"Li, calm down, fight it, please... we know you can do it... we're your friends... We need you..."

@li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark

[li-of-hidden-caves]

Y O U A R E O N L Y U S E F U L W H E N-

(tw self harm)

*They claw at their eyes through the blindfold, cutting off the voice in their head, trying so hard to fight the voice that tells them to fight. They never got free of the wretched thing, not really, having it lash out to protect them from fear*

*But what happens when they fear themselves?*

@meifen-within-the-dark @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*They watch as Li starts to claw at their eyes. They quickly waste no time in stopping them, lunging forward and grabbing Li's wrists, pulling their claws back. They then give them a big hug, hugging them tight enough that they couldnt easily leave but not too tight that its entirely restricting.* "please dont hurt yourself, sibling... I dont want you to get hurt..." *They then pull back from the hug a little, gently taking Li's head in their hands, keeping their lower pair of arms wrapped around them.* "I know you can fight it, if i could, then you can too!"

@styxs-nest

[styxs-nest]

Styx gasps in fear when Li starts to claw at themself. He couldn’t stand idly anymore. Fighting his shaking limbs, he took one step at a time, approaching Li next.

The more steps he took, the more he began to tremble. But he remained strong. He promised not to run, and he was keeping that promise.

He joined the hug, carefully and lightly wrapping his four arms around Li.

Lisssten to Mei… Pleasssse, Li… We believe in you…

He took a shaky breath, ignoring his own tears.

Focussss on the love that sss-sssurrounds you… Let it be your sssstrength.

@amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*As Amba watches Li harms themselves, tears spring up in her eyes, her tail tucking underneath her. The others spring into action instantly or near instantly, but her fear holds her back for a few moments.

Why was Li hurting themselves? What could possibly be that bad? Is that something that Mei dealt with? Did they ever try... I don't know how to help, why can't I figure out how to help!?

She then takes a deep breath, and shakes her head, flinging away the tears and the worries for the time being. She then wraps her wings and tail around the group embrace.*

"Don't let it take you under... we need you. You're safe..."

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Slowly, slowly, they calm down, feeling horrible for scaring their friends*

Apologizes, everyone... we haven't had that happen since before we met all of you... we should've warned you...

*They try to hug everyone as best they can*

@meifen-within-the-dark @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Its okay! We're just glad that you're okay!" *Mei said, clearly happy that Li was alright now, nuzzling them a bunch.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden

[styxs-nest]

Styx shakily sighed, relieved that Li was alright at last. He continued hugging them as they hugged everyone in return.

It’sssss alright, Li. What mattersss-sss, like Mei sssaid, is that you’re okay again.

With everything having calmed down at last, Styx’s breath began to tremble even more. He allowed the rest of his tears to shed freely in quiet sobs, weeping the rest of his stress away. Everything had hit too close to home.

He was so far away from home.

@amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Some of the tension in Amba's frame relaxes as Li comes back to themself. She takes a few breaths, a quiet, stress relieving purr drifting out of her. She gently squeezes them all, especially Styx. Her illumination brightens a bit as the mood returns to a calmer place.*

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li snuggles them, trying to comfort them*

We're fine now... thank you...

@styxs-nest @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"yay.... ..... I think I need a nap..." *They said, exhausted after all that just happened.*

@styxs-nest

[styxs-nest]

As the group hug comforted him, Styx’s quivering began to relax, and fatigue slowly began to replace distress.

He sniffled, as he wiped some of his remaining tears away with one of his claws.

I… I believe I could usssse ssssome shut-eye as well…

Even jusss-ssst time to… resss-ssst and processsss…

@amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba perks up, wagging her tail.*

"Sleep pile? Please please please, can we do a sleep pile!?"

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

Sure… we will participate…

@styxs-nest @meifen-within-the-dark

[styxs-nest]

Styx pulls away from the hug, mustering a weak but genuine smile.

Ssssss. I think I’d like that too.

@meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Yay!!! Sleep pile!!" *Mei cheers, pulling away from the hug as well and flopping onto the ground.*

@amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba curls up beside Mei, purring, and tucks a wing over them, tail swishing happily across the ground. She then looks at the other two and smiles.*

"Find a spot!"

@li-of-hidden-caves @styxs-nest

[styxs-nest]

Styx chuckles, happy to see everyone cheering up. He yawns as he walks up to join the sleep pile Mei and Amba began to form. He sat down on the ground, loafing comfortably.

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li loafs beside Styx, watching over them all, pretending to sleep to give them a sense of comfort yet unable to do so since they just woke up from their own nap*

@meifen-within-the-dark (so you can decide whether to continue or not)

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei purred as everyone piled on, nuzzling Amba and giving her a few licks on the cheek before settling down to sleep.*

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei led the group out of the tiny cave they were in and towards the Palace as they were instructed by Arc, walking through the abandoned marketplace that was apparently called "Souk", and towards the area ahead called "Lystic Caverns"*

*Once they got to said caverns, they stopped, looking up from the map and around the area, large orange and yellow crystals scattered about that had a faint glow to it that occasionally got brighter before sinking back into the faint glow, it was almost rhythmic, like.. breathing. It felt like there was some kind of presence here, though it was hard to tell what.*

*Mei walked up to one of the crystals, staring at it. It felt familiar to them, but they were not sure why.*

(ooc: sorry this is a bit late guys! i originally queued the post but smt happened so i had to re-write it </3)

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba slowly turns a circle, her eyes wide with wonder.*

"Wow... this place is interesting... like beautifully eerie, y'know? Almost like it's alive, or a big heart. What do you guys think?"

*She turns to the others, her gaze flicking around.*

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx takes time admiring the cavern. The breathing glow of the crystals made this cave feel somewhat… Uncanny… But at the same time, it was fascinating. He had never seen any place like this before.

Sssss. I have not thought of it like that, but now that you you mention it… Yessss. In a way, it feelssss like thisss cave is a form of life of ssssome sort.

@li-of-hidden-caves, @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip shudders when he sees the glowing orange crystals before walking toward one of them and smashing it with his cane.*

I think we shouldn't risk coming into contact with these. There's a chance they're something to do with the Infection.

@li-of-hidden-caves @amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinches as Phillip breaks one of the crystals, watching as the glow dissipates for a few moments before going bright again, continuing its rhythmic pulse.*

"I dont think the infection reaches that far.. it never left Hallownest until it brought a bug to Pharloom, and i dont think anyone knew about Neyst either..." *They replied, then hesitantly touched the crystal they were looking at. As soon as they touched it, all of the crystals in the cavern glowed a bit brighter, and a voice, ragged and clearly weakened significantly could be heard.*

"m..e.....i.... ......g....o..od..........h..ea...r....."

"woh-" *Mei stepped back from the crystal, looking back at the others and then at the crystal again. The voice sounded very familiar to them, they could only think of one bug of who it could be..* "....Lucent??"

@amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx flinched as the unfamiliar voice spoke, looking around, confused as to where it was coming from. Were the crystals talking? Was someone speaking through them?

Who’ssss there…?

He worried, hearing how weak the voice sounded. Was someone… dying?

@amba-the-hidden, @the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba swings her head around to look at the crystals, then Mei.*

"Oh... That's the one in your head..."

*She murmurs, disturbed.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li wakes up at the sound of the voice with a start, scrambling up and looking around frantically*

Where are we?! What's going on?! Who was that?!

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

...

*Phillip shatters another crystal.*

@amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Phillip!" *Mei gave Phillip a glare as the glow in the crystals falter.*

"it....f.....f..fi..n..e...... c...cry..s..t..al..s....o.....o-ohnl...y...l..et....s....s-spea...k.....y....y...o..u.."

*They looked back at the crystal,* "So these crystals let you speak to us? wohh thas cool!" *They then looked back at the group,* "Is okey guys! It's just Lucent! uhm... the..thing that had infected me... Its nice now though, dont worry!! It helped get Phillip out of the infection! Though its uhm... kinda dying now.."

"...a..m......s....s..so.r....r..y.....f..feor......t...h..a..t....m..mei.."

"Its okay! ...are you doing okay though? .. you sound worse than the last time i talked to you..."

".........."

"..n...no.."

"oh... :("

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx was unsure of what to feel, knowing the one who infected Mei— Lucent, apparently— was speaking through the crystals. On one hand, he couldn’t help but remain vigilant, given Mei implying it hadn’t been nice before. On the other hand, though, he couldn’t doubt that it was in bad shape, just by how weak its voice sounded.

It was a chilling sense of déjà vu.

He didn’t know what to do nor say, so he hesitantly walked forwards and stood next to Mei, hoping it would comfort them a bit.

@amba-the-hidden, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba frowns upon hearing the weak voice's admitance.*

"Is... is there anything we can do to help you? I mean; I guess that's why we're here... So, I guess the better question is how do we help you?"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"n...ot....m..much......c...c..a.n......d.......do.... ......i...i-if...f...in..d........s...s..c.r...sc..ar...v...... t..el..l....a...m..s....s..sor..y.."

"We will! We did find a bug but they werent a Scarav, i dont think... We're going to the Palace now since they gave us a map!" *They held up the map to the crystals even though they didnt think that it would be able to see it.* "How would telling the Scaravs that youre sorry help you though?"

*It sighed,* "i-it....w..won...t....h...e.l..p...h...e.al...."

"Oh... Then why did you want us to do it?"

"m..mes...sed....u..p...l....lon..g....t..im..e..a....go.....n..ev..er..s...ai..d....s...so..r........ ........."

".....?" *Mei tilted their head as Lucent trailed off, the crystals dimming a little.* "...Lucent?"

"..........s..so..r..y.." *It apologized, the crystals brightening.*

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department @styxs-nest

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip snaps a crystal off of the wall, looks at it suspiciously and puts it in a pocket in his cloak.*

We can take it places if it can talk through these, right? It can apologise to whoever it did wrong to itself.

@meifen-within-the-dark @li-of-hidden-caves @styxs-nest

[styxs-nest]

If it can sssspeak through them, then perhapssss.

Can it sssstill communicate through the crysssstals if detached from the wall?

@meifen-within-the-dark, @li-of-hidden-caves, @amba-the-hidden

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"c....an......b...b-b..ut is.....q.....qui...et.......ve..ry......qu...i...et"

"That's okay! If we find any Scaravs then we can give them the crystal and let them hear you up close!"

@amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba nods in agreement.*

"Even if you did kinda take over Mei, you apologized, and you deserve a chance to right your wrongs. Maybe the queens will forgive you!"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

Plus, if they don't forgive you, maybe they could put your crystals in a jar and use them as an energy source!

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li seems on edge, but stays quiet, although they do step a bit away from the crystals*

@styxs-nest @meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden

[styxs-nest]

Regardlesssss of what happensss-sss, we will be there with you if you choosssse to apologize.

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"t...th-..ank... y..y-you....." *It thanked, the crystal's light brightening a tiny bit before going dim again.*

"Ye!! We're here to help you, Lucent! If we werent then- well- we wouldnt be here anyway- heh-"

"i-it....m..me..ans...a...... ........................ a..l..lo..t....... t...hat.............. y..y-you..r.." *The crystal's light dims further as Lucent trails off again,* ".....y..ou..r.e.......h....h.e..l.......... .........h elp......i............"

"............" *Mei stays silent as it trails off once again, waiting patiently for it to finish but the continuation never happens, at least, after a full minute of waiting.*

".... Lucent?" *They call out, tilting their head.*

*The crystals dim further and further until the cave is no longer lit with the orange light, only darkness in place of it. The presence had disappeared as well.*

Visit Original Link

"Lucent?" *They called out again, getting worried as the cave is blanketed in darkness, though they did not get an answer.* "Lucent!"

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

As the light dies, and the darkness awakens, a pit forms in Styx’s stomach.

W-what’s happening

He did not need an answer, for he had a feeling he knew what it was. He wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba's eyes widen, and she looks around as the darkness blooms.*

"Oh... we... we were too late... It's... not there now..."

*She doesn't know how to feel as well, mirroring Styx's uncertainty. She shifts, her bioluminescence adding a little light back, and slowly walks up to Mei's side, looking at their face to judge the mood.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei was staring at the dark crystals, a mix of concern, and sadness on their face. They walked closer to one of the crystals, placing their hand flat on it.* "l-lucent-...?" *They waited, not really expecting a response but they tried anyway.*

*They waited for about a minute or so before letting their hand rest at their side, and they stared at the ground. They thought over what had happened, then started to cry.* "lucent-..."

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li… almost beams with joy. The being that infected their sibling is dead! There’s nothing to fear!*

*And then they hate it. Hate how they’re happy when their sibling is crying. They don’t deserve this happiness. They should be sad like their sibling. They feel guilty for disagreeing with Mei*

*…*

*They hug Mei tightly, trying to comfort them while not knowing how*

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip looks at the crystals all around him dimming and time for him sort of just... stops. The following reactions of his companions are drowned out by just the realisation of what had just happened.*

It's dead.

*He looks off into the distance, turning his back to the others. His tone is that of happiness and yet also of anger?*

Good. It was about fucking time. What next?

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”Phillip!” *Mei shouted at him, giving him a bit of a glare,* “You can’t just- say that!!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

What?

*He flips around, turning to face Mei.*

It was nothing but a parasite!

*On that last word, what seems to be a faint orange light flickers through his eyes and then dims yet again.*

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”It was getting better!” *They retorted, not noticing the light in his eyes,* “Thats the entire reason why we’re here! To help it!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

You asked us to go with you! I don't think you ever even said why!

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"I-" *Mei stopped in their tracks, they don't think they ever said why either... To be fair though, Lucent didn't really tell them why until recently. They stood there, staring at the ground as tears silently fell from their eyes.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba gently nuzzles her joyfriend, her tail curling around them. Then after a moment, her spines lift slightly, her wings puff up a little, and she turns her head to glare at Phillip.*

"Lucent may have been more then annoying, may have taken over Mei at one point, but that doesn't mean that a being doesn't deserve a chance to change. And that certainly doesn't mean that you celebrate when it dies! No creature deserves that kind of disrespect, especially if that creature is trying to improve itself as it dies, slowly! You came here to help Mei with a mission. And it was clear from what they were saying that helping Lucent was the mission they were going to try to take on. So, if you're gonna celebrate *she spits out the word like poison*, have the decency to do it in your head, in your thoughts, and don't take it out on Mei."

@styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[styxs-nest]

A lump forms in Styx’s throat as he processes the death he just witnessed. As mixed as his feelings were about Lucent, he still couldn’t stomach how horrifyingly familiar it was to hear a dying voice. Neither could he stomach seeing Mei so stricken with grief.

But before he could give them a hug, he was taken aback at what Phillip said. As Mei and Phillip began to argue, Styx got worried and took a few steps back. Between the stress of Lucent’s death, Mei’s grief and the argument starting to boil, Styx was becoming overwhelmed. Eventually, his limbs began to shake.

THAT’SSSSS ENOUGH!!!!!

Styx’s eyes widened in shock at his own voice. He didn’t think he could shout so loud before, let alone hold so much frustration. His anger began to turn into guilt as he breathed out a tired sigh.

I apologize for shouting…

But Amba’s right. At the end of the day, we all agreed to go on thissss journey and sssupport Mei no matter what. We all have reasssson to feel the way we do, and I will neither pry nor judge any of you for thossse reasons. But arguing is-ssss not going to get us-ssss anywhere. And neither will openly celebrating death in front of the grieving.

Styx then joins Li and Amba in comforting Mei, giving them a hug.

@meifen-within-the-dark @li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinches as Styx shouts, though they listen to his words as more tears fall from their eyes. As soon as he hugs them, they return the hug, hugging Li as well. They give them both a tight squeeze as they fully start to sob.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li... stands in front of Mei, growling slightly, tears falling*

Do not speak ill of Mei's friend. You may think it as we do, you may wish it silently, but do not speak it. We are your friend, but we are Mei's sibling the most, and we are ready to make sure they are happy, for it is what makes us useful.

*Their tears are slowly turning orange as they fall to the floor*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip looks at all of them, his gaze flicking between Mei and Li mostly. He notices Li's tears turning the sickly orange that he knows so well, and he takes a deep breath.*

I am going to leave. Li, if you can follow, please do so.

@li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"w-wait-!" *Mei pulled back from the hug with Styx, wiping away their tears and grabbing his arm.* "Please dont go... I- i know we're all mad but i dont want you to leave.."

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

...

Fine. I won't leave, but I need to go for a bit, take a walk.

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"okay.. Just... please dont get lost... ... We'll make our way to the Palace, okay?" *They said, then let go of him, walking over to the others.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Meanwhile, Styx had frozen at the sight of Li’s tears. He was trembling.

Those orange tears… They were just like the ones that had gathered in Mei’s eyes months ago when they were hurting— When Styx too, had been hurt.

Not again- This couldn’t be happening AGAIN- Mei suffering through it was already more than enough. Li didn’t deserve this same fate either.

Styx doesn’t think he could bear to handle one more innocent bug, let alone another bug he knows, going through the same pain again.

M-Mei- Li’s tearssss… Are th-they alright?

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Wuh?" *They tilted their head, not having noticed Li's tears. They looked over at Li, noticing the tears. Their pupils turned to slits, staring at the orange tears for a long time.* "... L-Li?"

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li turns to Mei and Styx, fluff puffed up like a scared or angry animal from the ordeal with Phillip*

*they need to fight off those who hurt Mei, they need to fight to stay safe, t h i s i s h o w y o u s t a y u s e f u l*

What's wrong?

*They pat their blindfold, feeling the tears*

Ah. Sorry, we got emotional. We shall stop crying, if it hurts you so.

*They don't notice, of course they don't notice, how the tears are the same sickly orange of the infection, if watered down a bit*

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"No, no its okay! You can cry, its completely normal! I-its just that- ...... ..... the tears are orange..." *They said, kneeling down to Li's height.*

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Upon learning the colour of their tears, they move away from everyone as best they can, afraid that they’ll hurt them*

G-get away from us, Mei!

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinched, getting up and stepping back.* "B-but-.."

@amba-the-hidden

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba looks from one bug to the other as the conversation gets more and more panicked, tensions running high, her own muscles getting tense, her spines raising, her eyes flicking around.*

"Please! Can we please calm down? Li, you're not hurting anyone... This is all too much... can we talk about what's happening, please, I don't understand..."

*She looks at each of the three remaining bugs as though for some explination.*

@styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx tries to take a deep breath, though it’s clear he’s still shaking.

R-right… I’ll try…

Amba, I can try and explain what I know later. Mei can probably explain it better than I can. But right now, I think it is-sss besss-sssst we make sure Li shall be alright.

He looks at Li sympathetically, a few tears starting to gather in his own eyes.

Afraid as I am, I don’t want to run. I want Li to be okay. There hassss to be a way.

@meifen-within-the-dark, @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*They move back even more*

*There are pinpricks of orange in their eyes behind the blindfold, able to be seen, showing wide, fearful eyes*

I said get away from me!

*They swipe at the air with their claws, thankfully hitting nothing*

*They have to fight they have to fight-*

*T H I S I S W H A T B E I N G U S E F U L I S , R I G H T ?*

@meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei is unsure of what to do. They've never seen Li act like this before, and it hurt to see them like this. They wanted to give them a hug but they also wanted to respect their personal space. They felt like they were stuck between a rock and a hard place.*

*They started to fidget with their claws, starting to cry again.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden

[styxs-nest]

LI-

No. This shouldn’t be happening again- He wanted to run. So bad. But he didn’t want to leave Li here. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t.

Thissss is exactly what I’ve ssseen happen monthssss ago…

The orange… I ssstill don’t know much about it… But it’sssss hurting Li. I think it isssss fighting for control over them.

Styx hugs himself in a desperate attempt to keep his trembling fear at bay.

There musssst be sss-sssome way to help, but I don’t know how…

@amba-the-hidden

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba arches her back and steps away as Li swipes, her wings flaring out halfway. Instincts tell her that Li is a threat, her brain tells her they're not, Mei is in distress, as is Styx, Li is fighting something she can't even see, and it all scares her on a different level then just instinctual. Her pupils shrink, but she keeps her shaky voice quiet as lowers her body closer to the ground in a display of passiveness.*

"Li, calm down, fight it, please... we know you can do it... we're your friends... We need you..."

@li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark

[li-of-hidden-caves]

Y O U A R E O N L Y U S E F U L W H E N-

(tw self harm)

*They claw at their eyes through the blindfold, cutting off the voice in their head, trying so hard to fight the voice that tells them to fight. They never got free of the wretched thing, not really, having it lash out to protect them from fear*

*But what happens when they fear themselves?*

@meifen-within-the-dark @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*They watch as Li starts to claw at their eyes. They quickly waste no time in stopping them, lunging forward and grabbing Li's wrists, pulling their claws back. They then give them a big hug, hugging them tight enough that they couldnt easily leave but not too tight that its entirely restricting.* "please dont hurt yourself, sibling... I dont want you to get hurt..." *They then pull back from the hug a little, gently taking Li's head in their hands, keeping their lower pair of arms wrapped around them.* "I know you can fight it, if i could, then you can too!"

@styxs-nest

[styxs-nest]

Styx gasps in fear when Li starts to claw at themself. He couldn’t stand idly anymore. Fighting his shaking limbs, he took one step at a time, approaching Li next.

The more steps he took, the more he began to tremble. But he remained strong. He promised not to run, and he was keeping that promise.

He joined the hug, carefully and lightly wrapping his four arms around Li.

Lisssten to Mei… Pleasssse, Li… We believe in you…

He took a shaky breath, ignoring his own tears.

Focussss on the love that sss-sssurrounds you… Let it be your sssstrength.

@amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*As Amba watches Li harms themselves, tears spring up in her eyes, her tail tucking underneath her. The others spring into action instantly or near instantly, but her fear holds her back for a few moments.

Why was Li hurting themselves? What could possibly be that bad? Is that something that Mei dealt with? Did they ever try... I don't know how to help, why can't I figure out how to help!?

She then takes a deep breath, and shakes her head, flinging away the tears and the worries for the time being. She then wraps her wings and tail around the group embrace.*

"Don't let it take you under... we need you. You're safe..."

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Slowly, slowly, they calm down, feeling horrible for scaring their friends*

Apologizes, everyone... we haven't had that happen since before we met all of you... we should've warned you...

*They try to hug everyone as best they can*

@meifen-within-the-dark @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Its okay! We're just glad that you're okay!" *Mei said, clearly happy that Li was alright now, nuzzling them a bunch.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden

[styxs-nest]

Styx shakily sighed, relieved that Li was alright at last. He continued hugging them as they hugged everyone in return.

It’sssss alright, Li. What mattersss-sss, like Mei sssaid, is that you’re okay again.

With everything having calmed down at last, Styx’s breath began to tremble even more. He allowed the rest of his tears to shed freely in quiet sobs, weeping the rest of his stress away. Everything had hit too close to home.

He was so far away from home.

@amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Some of the tension in Amba's frame relaxes as Li comes back to themself. She takes a few breaths, a quiet, stress relieving purr drifting out of her. She gently squeezes them all, especially Styx. Her illumination brightens a bit as the mood returns to a calmer place.*

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li snuggles them, trying to comfort them*

We're fine now... thank you...

@styxs-nest @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"yay.... ..... I think I need a nap..." *They said, exhausted after all that just happened.*

@styxs-nest

[styxs-nest]

As the group hug comforted him, Styx’s quivering began to relax, and fatigue slowly began to replace distress.

He sniffled, as he wiped some of his remaining tears away with one of his claws.

I… I believe I could usssse ssssome shut-eye as well…

Even jusss-ssst time to… resss-ssst and processsss…

@amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba perks up, wagging her tail.*

"Sleep pile? Please please please, can we do a sleep pile!?"

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

Sure… we will participate…

@styxs-nest @meifen-within-the-dark

[styxs-nest]

Styx pulls away from the hug, mustering a weak but genuine smile.

Ssssss. I think I’d like that too.

@meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Yay!!! Sleep pile!!" *Mei cheers, pulling away from the hug as well and flopping onto the ground.*

@amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei led the group out of the tiny cave they were in and towards the Palace as they were instructed by Arc, walking through the abandoned marketplace that was apparently called "Souk", and towards the area ahead called "Lystic Caverns"*

*Once they got to said caverns, they stopped, looking up from the map and around the area, large orange and yellow crystals scattered about that had a faint glow to it that occasionally got brighter before sinking back into the faint glow, it was almost rhythmic, like.. breathing. It felt like there was some kind of presence here, though it was hard to tell what.*

*Mei walked up to one of the crystals, staring at it. It felt familiar to them, but they were not sure why.*

(ooc: sorry this is a bit late guys! i originally queued the post but smt happened so i had to re-write it </3)

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba slowly turns a circle, her eyes wide with wonder.*

"Wow... this place is interesting... like beautifully eerie, y'know? Almost like it's alive, or a big heart. What do you guys think?"

*She turns to the others, her gaze flicking around.*

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx takes time admiring the cavern. The breathing glow of the crystals made this cave feel somewhat… Uncanny… But at the same time, it was fascinating. He had never seen any place like this before.

Sssss. I have not thought of it like that, but now that you you mention it… Yessss. In a way, it feelssss like thisss cave is a form of life of ssssome sort.

@li-of-hidden-caves, @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip shudders when he sees the glowing orange crystals before walking toward one of them and smashing it with his cane.*

I think we shouldn't risk coming into contact with these. There's a chance they're something to do with the Infection.

@li-of-hidden-caves @amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinches as Phillip breaks one of the crystals, watching as the glow dissipates for a few moments before going bright again, continuing its rhythmic pulse.*

"I dont think the infection reaches that far.. it never left Hallownest until it brought a bug to Pharloom, and i dont think anyone knew about Neyst either..." *They replied, then hesitantly touched the crystal they were looking at. As soon as they touched it, all of the crystals in the cavern glowed a bit brighter, and a voice, ragged and clearly weakened significantly could be heard.*

"m..e.....i.... ......g....o..od..........h..ea...r....."

"woh-" *Mei stepped back from the crystal, looking back at the others and then at the crystal again. The voice sounded very familiar to them, they could only think of one bug of who it could be..* "....Lucent??"

@amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx flinched as the unfamiliar voice spoke, looking around, confused as to where it was coming from. Were the crystals talking? Was someone speaking through them?

Who’ssss there…?

He worried, hearing how weak the voice sounded. Was someone… dying?

@amba-the-hidden, @the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba swings her head around to look at the crystals, then Mei.*

"Oh... That's the one in your head..."

*She murmurs, disturbed.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li wakes up at the sound of the voice with a start, scrambling up and looking around frantically*

Where are we?! What's going on?! Who was that?!

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

...

*Phillip shatters another crystal.*

@amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Phillip!" *Mei gave Phillip a glare as the glow in the crystals falter.*

"it....f.....f..fi..n..e...... c...cry..s..t..al..s....o.....o-ohnl...y...l..et....s....s-spea...k.....y....y...o..u.."

*They looked back at the crystal,* "So these crystals let you speak to us? wohh thas cool!" *They then looked back at the group,* "Is okey guys! It's just Lucent! uhm... the..thing that had infected me... Its nice now though, dont worry!! It helped get Phillip out of the infection! Though its uhm... kinda dying now.."

"...a..m......s....s..so.r....r..y.....f..feor......t...h..a..t....m..mei.."

"Its okay! ...are you doing okay though? .. you sound worse than the last time i talked to you..."

".........."

"..n...no.."

"oh... :("

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx was unsure of what to feel, knowing the one who infected Mei— Lucent, apparently— was speaking through the crystals. On one hand, he couldn’t help but remain vigilant, given Mei implying it hadn’t been nice before. On the other hand, though, he couldn’t doubt that it was in bad shape, just by how weak its voice sounded.

It was a chilling sense of déjà vu.

He didn’t know what to do nor say, so he hesitantly walked forwards and stood next to Mei, hoping it would comfort them a bit.

@amba-the-hidden, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba frowns upon hearing the weak voice's admitance.*

"Is... is there anything we can do to help you? I mean; I guess that's why we're here... So, I guess the better question is how do we help you?"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"n...ot....m..much......c...c..a.n......d.......do.... ......i...i-if...f...in..d........s...s..c.r...sc..ar...v...... t..el..l....a...m..s....s..sor..y.."

"We will! We did find a bug but they werent a Scarav, i dont think... We're going to the Palace now since they gave us a map!" *They held up the map to the crystals even though they didnt think that it would be able to see it.* "How would telling the Scaravs that youre sorry help you though?"

*It sighed,* "i-it....w..won...t....h...e.l..p...h...e.al...."

"Oh... Then why did you want us to do it?"

"m..mes...sed....u..p...l....lon..g....t..im..e..a....go.....n..ev..er..s...ai..d....s...so..r........ ........."

".....?" *Mei tilted their head as Lucent trailed off, the crystals dimming a little.* "...Lucent?"

"..........s..so..r..y.." *It apologized, the crystals brightening.*

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department @styxs-nest

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip snaps a crystal off of the wall, looks at it suspiciously and puts it in a pocket in his cloak.*

We can take it places if it can talk through these, right? It can apologise to whoever it did wrong to itself.

@meifen-within-the-dark @li-of-hidden-caves @styxs-nest

[styxs-nest]

If it can sssspeak through them, then perhapssss.

Can it sssstill communicate through the crysssstals if detached from the wall?

@meifen-within-the-dark, @li-of-hidden-caves, @amba-the-hidden

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"c....an......b...b-b..ut is.....q.....qui...et.......ve..ry......qu...i...et"

"That's okay! If we find any Scaravs then we can give them the crystal and let them hear you up close!"

@amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba nods in agreement.*

"Even if you did kinda take over Mei, you apologized, and you deserve a chance to right your wrongs. Maybe the queens will forgive you!"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

Plus, if they don't forgive you, maybe they could put your crystals in a jar and use them as an energy source!

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li seems on edge, but stays quiet, although they do step a bit away from the crystals*

@styxs-nest @meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden

[styxs-nest]

Regardlesssss of what happensss-sss, we will be there with you if you choosssse to apologize.

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"t...th-..ank... y..y-you....." *It thanked, the crystal's light brightening a tiny bit before going dim again.*

"Ye!! We're here to help you, Lucent! If we werent then- well- we wouldnt be here anyway- heh-"

"i-it....m..me..ans...a...... ........................ a..l..lo..t....... t...hat.............. y..y-you..r.." *The crystal's light dims further as Lucent trails off again,* ".....y..ou..r.e.......h....h.e..l.......... .........h elp......i............"

"............" *Mei stays silent as it trails off once again, waiting patiently for it to finish but the continuation never happens, at least, after a full minute of waiting.*

".... Lucent?" *They call out, tilting their head.*

*The crystals dim further and further until the cave is no longer lit with the orange light, only darkness in place of it. The presence had disappeared as well.*

Visit Original Link

"Lucent?" *They called out again, getting worried as the cave is blanketed in darkness, though they did not get an answer.* "Lucent!"

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

As the light dies, and the darkness awakens, a pit forms in Styx’s stomach.

W-what’s happening

He did not need an answer, for he had a feeling he knew what it was. He wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba's eyes widen, and she looks around as the darkness blooms.*

"Oh... we... we were too late... It's... not there now..."

*She doesn't know how to feel as well, mirroring Styx's uncertainty. She shifts, her bioluminescence adding a little light back, and slowly walks up to Mei's side, looking at their face to judge the mood.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei was staring at the dark crystals, a mix of concern, and sadness on their face. They walked closer to one of the crystals, placing their hand flat on it.* "l-lucent-...?" *They waited, not really expecting a response but they tried anyway.*

*They waited for about a minute or so before letting their hand rest at their side, and they stared at the ground. They thought over what had happened, then started to cry.* "lucent-..."

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li… almost beams with joy. The being that infected their sibling is dead! There’s nothing to fear!*

*And then they hate it. Hate how they’re happy when their sibling is crying. They don’t deserve this happiness. They should be sad like their sibling. They feel guilty for disagreeing with Mei*

*…*

*They hug Mei tightly, trying to comfort them while not knowing how*

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip looks at the crystals all around him dimming and time for him sort of just... stops. The following reactions of his companions are drowned out by just the realisation of what had just happened.*

It's dead.

*He looks off into the distance, turning his back to the others. His tone is that of happiness and yet also of anger?*

Good. It was about fucking time. What next?

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”Phillip!” *Mei shouted at him, giving him a bit of a glare,* “You can’t just- say that!!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

What?

*He flips around, turning to face Mei.*

It was nothing but a parasite!

*On that last word, what seems to be a faint orange light flickers through his eyes and then dims yet again.*

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”It was getting better!” *They retorted, not noticing the light in his eyes,* “Thats the entire reason why we’re here! To help it!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

You asked us to go with you! I don't think you ever even said why!

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"I-" *Mei stopped in their tracks, they don't think they ever said why either... To be fair though, Lucent didn't really tell them why until recently. They stood there, staring at the ground as tears silently fell from their eyes.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba gently nuzzles her joyfriend, her tail curling around them. Then after a moment, her spines lift slightly, her wings puff up a little, and she turns her head to glare at Phillip.*

"Lucent may have been more then annoying, may have taken over Mei at one point, but that doesn't mean that a being doesn't deserve a chance to change. And that certainly doesn't mean that you celebrate when it dies! No creature deserves that kind of disrespect, especially if that creature is trying to improve itself as it dies, slowly! You came here to help Mei with a mission. And it was clear from what they were saying that helping Lucent was the mission they were going to try to take on. So, if you're gonna celebrate *she spits out the word like poison*, have the decency to do it in your head, in your thoughts, and don't take it out on Mei."

@styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[styxs-nest]

A lump forms in Styx’s throat as he processes the death he just witnessed. As mixed as his feelings were about Lucent, he still couldn’t stomach how horrifyingly familiar it was to hear a dying voice. Neither could he stomach seeing Mei so stricken with grief.

But before he could give them a hug, he was taken aback at what Phillip said. As Mei and Phillip began to argue, Styx got worried and took a few steps back. Between the stress of Lucent’s death, Mei’s grief and the argument starting to boil, Styx was becoming overwhelmed. Eventually, his limbs began to shake.

THAT’SSSSS ENOUGH!!!!!

Styx’s eyes widened in shock at his own voice. He didn’t think he could shout so loud before, let alone hold so much frustration. His anger began to turn into guilt as he breathed out a tired sigh.

I apologize for shouting…

But Amba’s right. At the end of the day, we all agreed to go on thissss journey and sssupport Mei no matter what. We all have reasssson to feel the way we do, and I will neither pry nor judge any of you for thossse reasons. But arguing is-ssss not going to get us-ssss anywhere. And neither will openly celebrating death in front of the grieving.

Styx then joins Li and Amba in comforting Mei, giving them a hug.

@meifen-within-the-dark @li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinches as Styx shouts, though they listen to his words as more tears fall from their eyes. As soon as he hugs them, they return the hug, hugging Li as well. They give them both a tight squeeze as they fully start to sob.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li... stands in front of Mei, growling slightly, tears falling*

Do not speak ill of Mei's friend. You may think it as we do, you may wish it silently, but do not speak it. We are your friend, but we are Mei's sibling the most, and we are ready to make sure they are happy, for it is what makes us useful.

*Their tears are slowly turning orange as they fall to the floor*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip looks at all of them, his gaze flicking between Mei and Li mostly. He notices Li's tears turning the sickly orange that he knows so well, and he takes a deep breath.*

I am going to leave. Li, if you can follow, please do so.

@li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"w-wait-!" *Mei pulled back from the hug with Styx, wiping away their tears and grabbing his arm.* "Please dont go... I- i know we're all mad but i dont want you to leave.."

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

...

Fine. I won't leave, but I need to go for a bit, take a walk.

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"okay.. Just... please dont get lost... ... We'll make our way to the Palace, okay?" *They said, then let go of him, walking over to the others.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Meanwhile, Styx had frozen at the sight of Li’s tears. He was trembling.

Those orange tears… They were just like the ones that had gathered in Mei’s eyes months ago when they were hurting— When Styx too, had been hurt.

Not again- This couldn’t be happening AGAIN- Mei suffering through it was already more than enough. Li didn’t deserve this same fate either.

Styx doesn’t think he could bear to handle one more innocent bug, let alone another bug he knows, going through the same pain again.

M-Mei- Li’s tearssss… Are th-they alright?

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Wuh?" *They tilted their head, not having noticed Li's tears. They looked over at Li, noticing the tears. Their pupils turned to slits, staring at the orange tears for a long time.* "... L-Li?"

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li turns to Mei and Styx, fluff puffed up like a scared or angry animal from the ordeal with Phillip*

*they need to fight off those who hurt Mei, they need to fight to stay safe, t h i s i s h o w y o u s t a y u s e f u l*

What's wrong?

*They pat their blindfold, feeling the tears*

Ah. Sorry, we got emotional. We shall stop crying, if it hurts you so.

*They don't notice, of course they don't notice, how the tears are the same sickly orange of the infection, if watered down a bit*

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"No, no its okay! You can cry, its completely normal! I-its just that- ...... ..... the tears are orange..." *They said, kneeling down to Li's height.*

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Upon learning the colour of their tears, they move away from everyone as best they can, afraid that they’ll hurt them*

G-get away from us, Mei!

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinched, getting up and stepping back.* "B-but-.."

@amba-the-hidden

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba looks from one bug to the other as the conversation gets more and more panicked, tensions running high, her own muscles getting tense, her spines raising, her eyes flicking around.*

"Please! Can we please calm down? Li, you're not hurting anyone... This is all too much... can we talk about what's happening, please, I don't understand..."

*She looks at each of the three remaining bugs as though for some explination.*

@styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx tries to take a deep breath, though it’s clear he’s still shaking.

R-right… I’ll try…

Amba, I can try and explain what I know later. Mei can probably explain it better than I can. But right now, I think it is-sss besss-sssst we make sure Li shall be alright.

He looks at Li sympathetically, a few tears starting to gather in his own eyes.

Afraid as I am, I don’t want to run. I want Li to be okay. There hassss to be a way.

@meifen-within-the-dark, @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*They move back even more*

*There are pinpricks of orange in their eyes behind the blindfold, able to be seen, showing wide, fearful eyes*

I said get away from me!

*They swipe at the air with their claws, thankfully hitting nothing*

*They have to fight they have to fight-*

*T H I S I S W H A T B E I N G U S E F U L I S , R I G H T ?*

@meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei is unsure of what to do. They've never seen Li act like this before, and it hurt to see them like this. They wanted to give them a hug but they also wanted to respect their personal space. They felt like they were stuck between a rock and a hard place.*

*They started to fidget with their claws, starting to cry again.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden

[styxs-nest]

LI-

No. This shouldn’t be happening again- He wanted to run. So bad. But he didn’t want to leave Li here. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t.

Thissss is exactly what I’ve ssseen happen monthssss ago…

The orange… I ssstill don’t know much about it… But it’sssss hurting Li. I think it isssss fighting for control over them.

Styx hugs himself in a desperate attempt to keep his trembling fear at bay.

There musssst be sss-sssome way to help, but I don’t know how…

@amba-the-hidden

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba arches her back and steps away as Li swipes, her wings flaring out halfway. Instincts tell her that Li is a threat, her brain tells her they're not, Mei is in distress, as is Styx, Li is fighting something she can't even see, and it all scares her on a different level then just instinctual. Her pupils shrink, but she keeps her shaky voice quiet as lowers her body closer to the ground in a display of passiveness.*

"Li, calm down, fight it, please... we know you can do it... we're your friends... We need you..."

@li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark

[li-of-hidden-caves]

Y O U A R E O N L Y U S E F U L W H E N-

(tw self harm)

*They claw at their eyes through the blindfold, cutting off the voice in their head, trying so hard to fight the voice that tells them to fight. They never got free of the wretched thing, not really, having it lash out to protect them from fear*

*But what happens when they fear themselves?*

@meifen-within-the-dark @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*They watch as Li starts to claw at their eyes. They quickly waste no time in stopping them, lunging forward and grabbing Li's wrists, pulling their claws back. They then give them a big hug, hugging them tight enough that they couldnt easily leave but not too tight that its entirely restricting.* "please dont hurt yourself, sibling... I dont want you to get hurt..." *They then pull back from the hug a little, gently taking Li's head in their hands, keeping their lower pair of arms wrapped around them.* "I know you can fight it, if i could, then you can too!"

@styxs-nest

[styxs-nest]

Styx gasps in fear when Li starts to claw at themself. He couldn’t stand idly anymore. Fighting his shaking limbs, he took one step at a time, approaching Li next.

The more steps he took, the more he began to tremble. But he remained strong. He promised not to run, and he was keeping that promise.

He joined the hug, carefully and lightly wrapping his four arms around Li.

Lisssten to Mei… Pleasssse, Li… We believe in you…

He took a shaky breath, ignoring his own tears.

Focussss on the love that sss-sssurrounds you… Let it be your sssstrength.

@amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*As Amba watches Li harms themselves, tears spring up in her eyes, her tail tucking underneath her. The others spring into action instantly or near instantly, but her fear holds her back for a few moments.

Why was Li hurting themselves? What could possibly be that bad? Is that something that Mei dealt with? Did they ever try... I don't know how to help, why can't I figure out how to help!?

She then takes a deep breath, and shakes her head, flinging away the tears and the worries for the time being. She then wraps her wings and tail around the group embrace.*

"Don't let it take you under... we need you. You're safe..."

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Slowly, slowly, they calm down, feeling horrible for scaring their friends*

Apologizes, everyone... we haven't had that happen since before we met all of you... we should've warned you...

*They try to hug everyone as best they can*

@meifen-within-the-dark @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Its okay! We're just glad that you're okay!" *Mei said, clearly happy that Li was alright now, nuzzling them a bunch.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden

[styxs-nest]

Styx shakily sighed, relieved that Li was alright at last. He continued hugging them as they hugged everyone in return.

It’sssss alright, Li. What mattersss-sss, like Mei sssaid, is that you’re okay again.

With everything having calmed down at last, Styx’s breath began to tremble even more. He allowed the rest of his tears to shed freely in quiet sobs, weeping the rest of his stress away. Everything had hit too close to home.

He was so far away from home.

@amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Some of the tension in Amba's frame relaxes as Li comes back to themself. She takes a few breaths, a quiet, stress relieving purr drifting out of her. She gently squeezes them all, especially Styx. Her illumination brightens a bit as the mood returns to a calmer place.*

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li snuggles them, trying to comfort them*

We're fine now... thank you...

@styxs-nest @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"yay.... ..... I think I need a nap..." *They said, exhausted after all that just happened.*

@styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei led the group out of the tiny cave they were in and towards the Palace as they were instructed by Arc, walking through the abandoned marketplace that was apparently called "Souk", and towards the area ahead called "Lystic Caverns"*

*Once they got to said caverns, they stopped, looking up from the map and around the area, large orange and yellow crystals scattered about that had a faint glow to it that occasionally got brighter before sinking back into the faint glow, it was almost rhythmic, like.. breathing. It felt like there was some kind of presence here, though it was hard to tell what.*

*Mei walked up to one of the crystals, staring at it. It felt familiar to them, but they were not sure why.*

(ooc: sorry this is a bit late guys! i originally queued the post but smt happened so i had to re-write it </3)

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba slowly turns a circle, her eyes wide with wonder.*

"Wow... this place is interesting... like beautifully eerie, y'know? Almost like it's alive, or a big heart. What do you guys think?"

*She turns to the others, her gaze flicking around.*

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx takes time admiring the cavern. The breathing glow of the crystals made this cave feel somewhat… Uncanny… But at the same time, it was fascinating. He had never seen any place like this before.

Sssss. I have not thought of it like that, but now that you you mention it… Yessss. In a way, it feelssss like thisss cave is a form of life of ssssome sort.

@li-of-hidden-caves, @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip shudders when he sees the glowing orange crystals before walking toward one of them and smashing it with his cane.*

I think we shouldn't risk coming into contact with these. There's a chance they're something to do with the Infection.

@li-of-hidden-caves @amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinches as Phillip breaks one of the crystals, watching as the glow dissipates for a few moments before going bright again, continuing its rhythmic pulse.*

"I dont think the infection reaches that far.. it never left Hallownest until it brought a bug to Pharloom, and i dont think anyone knew about Neyst either..." *They replied, then hesitantly touched the crystal they were looking at. As soon as they touched it, all of the crystals in the cavern glowed a bit brighter, and a voice, ragged and clearly weakened significantly could be heard.*

"m..e.....i.... ......g....o..od..........h..ea...r....."

"woh-" *Mei stepped back from the crystal, looking back at the others and then at the crystal again. The voice sounded very familiar to them, they could only think of one bug of who it could be..* "....Lucent??"

@amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx flinched as the unfamiliar voice spoke, looking around, confused as to where it was coming from. Were the crystals talking? Was someone speaking through them?

Who’ssss there…?

He worried, hearing how weak the voice sounded. Was someone… dying?

@amba-the-hidden, @the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba swings her head around to look at the crystals, then Mei.*

"Oh... That's the one in your head..."

*She murmurs, disturbed.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li wakes up at the sound of the voice with a start, scrambling up and looking around frantically*

Where are we?! What's going on?! Who was that?!

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

...

*Phillip shatters another crystal.*

@amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Phillip!" *Mei gave Phillip a glare as the glow in the crystals falter.*

"it....f.....f..fi..n..e...... c...cry..s..t..al..s....o.....o-ohnl...y...l..et....s....s-spea...k.....y....y...o..u.."

*They looked back at the crystal,* "So these crystals let you speak to us? wohh thas cool!" *They then looked back at the group,* "Is okey guys! It's just Lucent! uhm... the..thing that had infected me... Its nice now though, dont worry!! It helped get Phillip out of the infection! Though its uhm... kinda dying now.."

"...a..m......s....s..so.r....r..y.....f..feor......t...h..a..t....m..mei.."

"Its okay! ...are you doing okay though? .. you sound worse than the last time i talked to you..."

".........."

"..n...no.."

"oh... :("

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx was unsure of what to feel, knowing the one who infected Mei— Lucent, apparently— was speaking through the crystals. On one hand, he couldn’t help but remain vigilant, given Mei implying it hadn’t been nice before. On the other hand, though, he couldn’t doubt that it was in bad shape, just by how weak its voice sounded.

It was a chilling sense of déjà vu.

He didn’t know what to do nor say, so he hesitantly walked forwards and stood next to Mei, hoping it would comfort them a bit.

@amba-the-hidden, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba frowns upon hearing the weak voice's admitance.*

"Is... is there anything we can do to help you? I mean; I guess that's why we're here... So, I guess the better question is how do we help you?"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"n...ot....m..much......c...c..a.n......d.......do.... ......i...i-if...f...in..d........s...s..c.r...sc..ar...v...... t..el..l....a...m..s....s..sor..y.."

"We will! We did find a bug but they werent a Scarav, i dont think... We're going to the Palace now since they gave us a map!" *They held up the map to the crystals even though they didnt think that it would be able to see it.* "How would telling the Scaravs that youre sorry help you though?"

*It sighed,* "i-it....w..won...t....h...e.l..p...h...e.al...."

"Oh... Then why did you want us to do it?"

"m..mes...sed....u..p...l....lon..g....t..im..e..a....go.....n..ev..er..s...ai..d....s...so..r........ ........."

".....?" *Mei tilted their head as Lucent trailed off, the crystals dimming a little.* "...Lucent?"

"..........s..so..r..y.." *It apologized, the crystals brightening.*

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department @styxs-nest

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip snaps a crystal off of the wall, looks at it suspiciously and puts it in a pocket in his cloak.*

We can take it places if it can talk through these, right? It can apologise to whoever it did wrong to itself.

@meifen-within-the-dark @li-of-hidden-caves @styxs-nest

[styxs-nest]

If it can sssspeak through them, then perhapssss.

Can it sssstill communicate through the crysssstals if detached from the wall?

@meifen-within-the-dark, @li-of-hidden-caves, @amba-the-hidden

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"c....an......b...b-b..ut is.....q.....qui...et.......ve..ry......qu...i...et"

"That's okay! If we find any Scaravs then we can give them the crystal and let them hear you up close!"

@amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba nods in agreement.*

"Even if you did kinda take over Mei, you apologized, and you deserve a chance to right your wrongs. Maybe the queens will forgive you!"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

Plus, if they don't forgive you, maybe they could put your crystals in a jar and use them as an energy source!

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li seems on edge, but stays quiet, although they do step a bit away from the crystals*

@styxs-nest @meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden

[styxs-nest]

Regardlesssss of what happensss-sss, we will be there with you if you choosssse to apologize.

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"t...th-..ank... y..y-you....." *It thanked, the crystal's light brightening a tiny bit before going dim again.*

"Ye!! We're here to help you, Lucent! If we werent then- well- we wouldnt be here anyway- heh-"

"i-it....m..me..ans...a...... ........................ a..l..lo..t....... t...hat.............. y..y-you..r.." *The crystal's light dims further as Lucent trails off again,* ".....y..ou..r.e.......h....h.e..l.......... .........h elp......i............"

"............" *Mei stays silent as it trails off once again, waiting patiently for it to finish but the continuation never happens, at least, after a full minute of waiting.*

".... Lucent?" *They call out, tilting their head.*

*The crystals dim further and further until the cave is no longer lit with the orange light, only darkness in place of it. The presence had disappeared as well.*

Visit Original Link

"Lucent?" *They called out again, getting worried as the cave is blanketed in darkness, though they did not get an answer.* "Lucent!"

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

As the light dies, and the darkness awakens, a pit forms in Styx’s stomach.

W-what’s happening

He did not need an answer, for he had a feeling he knew what it was. He wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba's eyes widen, and she looks around as the darkness blooms.*

"Oh... we... we were too late... It's... not there now..."

*She doesn't know how to feel as well, mirroring Styx's uncertainty. She shifts, her bioluminescence adding a little light back, and slowly walks up to Mei's side, looking at their face to judge the mood.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei was staring at the dark crystals, a mix of concern, and sadness on their face. They walked closer to one of the crystals, placing their hand flat on it.* "l-lucent-...?" *They waited, not really expecting a response but they tried anyway.*

*They waited for about a minute or so before letting their hand rest at their side, and they stared at the ground. They thought over what had happened, then started to cry.* "lucent-..."

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li… almost beams with joy. The being that infected their sibling is dead! There’s nothing to fear!*

*And then they hate it. Hate how they’re happy when their sibling is crying. They don’t deserve this happiness. They should be sad like their sibling. They feel guilty for disagreeing with Mei*

*…*

*They hug Mei tightly, trying to comfort them while not knowing how*

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip looks at the crystals all around him dimming and time for him sort of just... stops. The following reactions of his companions are drowned out by just the realisation of what had just happened.*

It's dead.

*He looks off into the distance, turning his back to the others. His tone is that of happiness and yet also of anger?*

Good. It was about fucking time. What next?

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”Phillip!” *Mei shouted at him, giving him a bit of a glare,* “You can’t just- say that!!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

What?

*He flips around, turning to face Mei.*

It was nothing but a parasite!

*On that last word, what seems to be a faint orange light flickers through his eyes and then dims yet again.*

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”It was getting better!” *They retorted, not noticing the light in his eyes,* “Thats the entire reason why we’re here! To help it!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

You asked us to go with you! I don't think you ever even said why!

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"I-" *Mei stopped in their tracks, they don't think they ever said why either... To be fair though, Lucent didn't really tell them why until recently. They stood there, staring at the ground as tears silently fell from their eyes.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba gently nuzzles her joyfriend, her tail curling around them. Then after a moment, her spines lift slightly, her wings puff up a little, and she turns her head to glare at Phillip.*

"Lucent may have been more then annoying, may have taken over Mei at one point, but that doesn't mean that a being doesn't deserve a chance to change. And that certainly doesn't mean that you celebrate when it dies! No creature deserves that kind of disrespect, especially if that creature is trying to improve itself as it dies, slowly! You came here to help Mei with a mission. And it was clear from what they were saying that helping Lucent was the mission they were going to try to take on. So, if you're gonna celebrate *she spits out the word like poison*, have the decency to do it in your head, in your thoughts, and don't take it out on Mei."

@styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[styxs-nest]

A lump forms in Styx’s throat as he processes the death he just witnessed. As mixed as his feelings were about Lucent, he still couldn’t stomach how horrifyingly familiar it was to hear a dying voice. Neither could he stomach seeing Mei so stricken with grief.

But before he could give them a hug, he was taken aback at what Phillip said. As Mei and Phillip began to argue, Styx got worried and took a few steps back. Between the stress of Lucent’s death, Mei’s grief and the argument starting to boil, Styx was becoming overwhelmed. Eventually, his limbs began to shake.

THAT’SSSSS ENOUGH!!!!!

Styx’s eyes widened in shock at his own voice. He didn’t think he could shout so loud before, let alone hold so much frustration. His anger began to turn into guilt as he breathed out a tired sigh.

I apologize for shouting…

But Amba’s right. At the end of the day, we all agreed to go on thissss journey and sssupport Mei no matter what. We all have reasssson to feel the way we do, and I will neither pry nor judge any of you for thossse reasons. But arguing is-ssss not going to get us-ssss anywhere. And neither will openly celebrating death in front of the grieving.

Styx then joins Li and Amba in comforting Mei, giving them a hug.

@meifen-within-the-dark @li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinches as Styx shouts, though they listen to his words as more tears fall from their eyes. As soon as he hugs them, they return the hug, hugging Li as well. They give them both a tight squeeze as they fully start to sob.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li... stands in front of Mei, growling slightly, tears falling*

Do not speak ill of Mei's friend. You may think it as we do, you may wish it silently, but do not speak it. We are your friend, but we are Mei's sibling the most, and we are ready to make sure they are happy, for it is what makes us useful.

*Their tears are slowly turning orange as they fall to the floor*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip looks at all of them, his gaze flicking between Mei and Li mostly. He notices Li's tears turning the sickly orange that he knows so well, and he takes a deep breath.*

I am going to leave. Li, if you can follow, please do so.

@li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"w-wait-!" *Mei pulled back from the hug with Styx, wiping away their tears and grabbing his arm.* "Please dont go... I- i know we're all mad but i dont want you to leave.."

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

...

Fine. I won't leave, but I need to go for a bit, take a walk.

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"okay.. Just... please dont get lost... ... We'll make our way to the Palace, okay?" *They said, then let go of him, walking over to the others.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Meanwhile, Styx had frozen at the sight of Li’s tears. He was trembling.

Those orange tears… They were just like the ones that had gathered in Mei’s eyes months ago when they were hurting— When Styx too, had been hurt.

Not again- This couldn’t be happening AGAIN- Mei suffering through it was already more than enough. Li didn’t deserve this same fate either.

Styx doesn’t think he could bear to handle one more innocent bug, let alone another bug he knows, going through the same pain again.

M-Mei- Li’s tearssss… Are th-they alright?

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Wuh?" *They tilted their head, not having noticed Li's tears. They looked over at Li, noticing the tears. Their pupils turned to slits, staring at the orange tears for a long time.* "... L-Li?"

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li turns to Mei and Styx, fluff puffed up like a scared or angry animal from the ordeal with Phillip*

*they need to fight off those who hurt Mei, they need to fight to stay safe, t h i s i s h o w y o u s t a y u s e f u l*

What's wrong?

*They pat their blindfold, feeling the tears*

Ah. Sorry, we got emotional. We shall stop crying, if it hurts you so.

*They don't notice, of course they don't notice, how the tears are the same sickly orange of the infection, if watered down a bit*

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"No, no its okay! You can cry, its completely normal! I-its just that- ...... ..... the tears are orange..." *They said, kneeling down to Li's height.*

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Upon learning the colour of their tears, they move away from everyone as best they can, afraid that they’ll hurt them*

G-get away from us, Mei!

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinched, getting up and stepping back.* "B-but-.."

@amba-the-hidden

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba looks from one bug to the other as the conversation gets more and more panicked, tensions running high, her own muscles getting tense, her spines raising, her eyes flicking around.*

"Please! Can we please calm down? Li, you're not hurting anyone... This is all too much... can we talk about what's happening, please, I don't understand..."

*She looks at each of the three remaining bugs as though for some explination.*

@styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx tries to take a deep breath, though it’s clear he’s still shaking.

R-right… I’ll try…

Amba, I can try and explain what I know later. Mei can probably explain it better than I can. But right now, I think it is-sss besss-sssst we make sure Li shall be alright.

He looks at Li sympathetically, a few tears starting to gather in his own eyes.

Afraid as I am, I don’t want to run. I want Li to be okay. There hassss to be a way.

@meifen-within-the-dark, @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*They move back even more*

*There are pinpricks of orange in their eyes behind the blindfold, able to be seen, showing wide, fearful eyes*

I said get away from me!

*They swipe at the air with their claws, thankfully hitting nothing*

*They have to fight they have to fight-*

*T H I S I S W H A T B E I N G U S E F U L I S , R I G H T ?*

@meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei is unsure of what to do. They've never seen Li act like this before, and it hurt to see them like this. They wanted to give them a hug but they also wanted to respect their personal space. They felt like they were stuck between a rock and a hard place.*

*They started to fidget with their claws, starting to cry again.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden

[styxs-nest]

LI-

No. This shouldn’t be happening again- He wanted to run. So bad. But he didn’t want to leave Li here. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t.

Thissss is exactly what I’ve ssseen happen monthssss ago…

The orange… I ssstill don’t know much about it… But it’sssss hurting Li. I think it isssss fighting for control over them.

Styx hugs himself in a desperate attempt to keep his trembling fear at bay.

There musssst be sss-sssome way to help, but I don’t know how…

@amba-the-hidden

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba arches her back and steps away as Li swipes, her wings flaring out halfway. Instincts tell her that Li is a threat, her brain tells her they're not, Mei is in distress, as is Styx, Li is fighting something she can't even see, and it all scares her on a different level then just instinctual. Her pupils shrink, but she keeps her shaky voice quiet as lowers her body closer to the ground in a display of passiveness.*

"Li, calm down, fight it, please... we know you can do it... we're your friends... We need you..."

@li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark

[li-of-hidden-caves]

Y O U A R E O N L Y U S E F U L W H E N-

(tw self harm)

*They claw at their eyes through the blindfold, cutting off the voice in their head, trying so hard to fight the voice that tells them to fight. They never got free of the wretched thing, not really, having it lash out to protect them from fear*

*But what happens when they fear themselves?*

@meifen-within-the-dark @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*They watch as Li starts to claw at their eyes. They quickly waste no time in stopping them, lunging forward and grabbing Li's wrists, pulling their claws back. They then give them a big hug, hugging them tight enough that they couldnt easily leave but not too tight that its entirely restricting.* "please dont hurt yourself, sibling... I dont want you to get hurt..." *They then pull back from the hug a little, gently taking Li's head in their hands, keeping their lower pair of arms wrapped around them.* "I know you can fight it, if i could, then you can too!"

@styxs-nest

[styxs-nest]

Styx gasps in fear when Li starts to claw at themself. He couldn’t stand idly anymore. Fighting his shaking limbs, he took one step at a time, approaching Li next.

The more steps he took, the more he began to tremble. But he remained strong. He promised not to run, and he was keeping that promise.

He joined the hug, carefully and lightly wrapping his four arms around Li.

Lisssten to Mei… Pleasssse, Li… We believe in you…

He took a shaky breath, ignoring his own tears.

Focussss on the love that sss-sssurrounds you… Let it be your sssstrength.

@amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*As Amba watches Li harms themselves, tears spring up in her eyes, her tail tucking underneath her. The others spring into action instantly or near instantly, but her fear holds her back for a few moments.

Why was Li hurting themselves? What could possibly be that bad? Is that something that Mei dealt with? Did they ever try... I don't know how to help, why can't I figure out how to help!?

She then takes a deep breath, and shakes her head, flinging away the tears and the worries for the time being. She then wraps her wings and tail around the group embrace.*

"Don't let it take you under... we need you. You're safe..."

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Slowly, slowly, they calm down, feeling horrible for scaring their friends*

Apologizes, everyone... we haven't had that happen since before we met all of you... we should've warned you...

*They try to hug everyone as best they can*

@meifen-within-the-dark @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Its okay! We're just glad that you're okay!" *Mei said, clearly happy that Li was alright now, nuzzling them a bunch.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei led the group out of the tiny cave they were in and towards the Palace as they were instructed by Arc, walking through the abandoned marketplace that was apparently called "Souk", and towards the area ahead called "Lystic Caverns"*

*Once they got to said caverns, they stopped, looking up from the map and around the area, large orange and yellow crystals scattered about that had a faint glow to it that occasionally got brighter before sinking back into the faint glow, it was almost rhythmic, like.. breathing. It felt like there was some kind of presence here, though it was hard to tell what.*

*Mei walked up to one of the crystals, staring at it. It felt familiar to them, but they were not sure why.*

(ooc: sorry this is a bit late guys! i originally queued the post but smt happened so i had to re-write it </3)

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba slowly turns a circle, her eyes wide with wonder.*

"Wow... this place is interesting... like beautifully eerie, y'know? Almost like it's alive, or a big heart. What do you guys think?"

*She turns to the others, her gaze flicking around.*

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx takes time admiring the cavern. The breathing glow of the crystals made this cave feel somewhat… Uncanny… But at the same time, it was fascinating. He had never seen any place like this before.

Sssss. I have not thought of it like that, but now that you you mention it… Yessss. In a way, it feelssss like thisss cave is a form of life of ssssome sort.

@li-of-hidden-caves, @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip shudders when he sees the glowing orange crystals before walking toward one of them and smashing it with his cane.*

I think we shouldn't risk coming into contact with these. There's a chance they're something to do with the Infection.

@li-of-hidden-caves @amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinches as Phillip breaks one of the crystals, watching as the glow dissipates for a few moments before going bright again, continuing its rhythmic pulse.*

"I dont think the infection reaches that far.. it never left Hallownest until it brought a bug to Pharloom, and i dont think anyone knew about Neyst either..." *They replied, then hesitantly touched the crystal they were looking at. As soon as they touched it, all of the crystals in the cavern glowed a bit brighter, and a voice, ragged and clearly weakened significantly could be heard.*

"m..e.....i.... ......g....o..od..........h..ea...r....."

"woh-" *Mei stepped back from the crystal, looking back at the others and then at the crystal again. The voice sounded very familiar to them, they could only think of one bug of who it could be..* "....Lucent??"

@amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx flinched as the unfamiliar voice spoke, looking around, confused as to where it was coming from. Were the crystals talking? Was someone speaking through them?

Who’ssss there…?

He worried, hearing how weak the voice sounded. Was someone… dying?

@amba-the-hidden, @the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba swings her head around to look at the crystals, then Mei.*

"Oh... That's the one in your head..."

*She murmurs, disturbed.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li wakes up at the sound of the voice with a start, scrambling up and looking around frantically*

Where are we?! What's going on?! Who was that?!

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

...

*Phillip shatters another crystal.*

@amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Phillip!" *Mei gave Phillip a glare as the glow in the crystals falter.*

"it....f.....f..fi..n..e...... c...cry..s..t..al..s....o.....o-ohnl...y...l..et....s....s-spea...k.....y....y...o..u.."

*They looked back at the crystal,* "So these crystals let you speak to us? wohh thas cool!" *They then looked back at the group,* "Is okey guys! It's just Lucent! uhm... the..thing that had infected me... Its nice now though, dont worry!! It helped get Phillip out of the infection! Though its uhm... kinda dying now.."

"...a..m......s....s..so.r....r..y.....f..feor......t...h..a..t....m..mei.."

"Its okay! ...are you doing okay though? .. you sound worse than the last time i talked to you..."

".........."

"..n...no.."

"oh... :("

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx was unsure of what to feel, knowing the one who infected Mei— Lucent, apparently— was speaking through the crystals. On one hand, he couldn’t help but remain vigilant, given Mei implying it hadn’t been nice before. On the other hand, though, he couldn’t doubt that it was in bad shape, just by how weak its voice sounded.

It was a chilling sense of déjà vu.

He didn’t know what to do nor say, so he hesitantly walked forwards and stood next to Mei, hoping it would comfort them a bit.

@amba-the-hidden, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba frowns upon hearing the weak voice's admitance.*

"Is... is there anything we can do to help you? I mean; I guess that's why we're here... So, I guess the better question is how do we help you?"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"n...ot....m..much......c...c..a.n......d.......do.... ......i...i-if...f...in..d........s...s..c.r...sc..ar...v...... t..el..l....a...m..s....s..sor..y.."

"We will! We did find a bug but they werent a Scarav, i dont think... We're going to the Palace now since they gave us a map!" *They held up the map to the crystals even though they didnt think that it would be able to see it.* "How would telling the Scaravs that youre sorry help you though?"

*It sighed,* "i-it....w..won...t....h...e.l..p...h...e.al...."

"Oh... Then why did you want us to do it?"

"m..mes...sed....u..p...l....lon..g....t..im..e..a....go.....n..ev..er..s...ai..d....s...so..r........ ........."

".....?" *Mei tilted their head as Lucent trailed off, the crystals dimming a little.* "...Lucent?"

"..........s..so..r..y.." *It apologized, the crystals brightening.*

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department @styxs-nest

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip snaps a crystal off of the wall, looks at it suspiciously and puts it in a pocket in his cloak.*

We can take it places if it can talk through these, right? It can apologise to whoever it did wrong to itself.

@meifen-within-the-dark @li-of-hidden-caves @styxs-nest

[styxs-nest]

If it can sssspeak through them, then perhapssss.

Can it sssstill communicate through the crysssstals if detached from the wall?

@meifen-within-the-dark, @li-of-hidden-caves, @amba-the-hidden

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"c....an......b...b-b..ut is.....q.....qui...et.......ve..ry......qu...i...et"

"That's okay! If we find any Scaravs then we can give them the crystal and let them hear you up close!"

@amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba nods in agreement.*

"Even if you did kinda take over Mei, you apologized, and you deserve a chance to right your wrongs. Maybe the queens will forgive you!"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

Plus, if they don't forgive you, maybe they could put your crystals in a jar and use them as an energy source!

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li seems on edge, but stays quiet, although they do step a bit away from the crystals*

@styxs-nest @meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden

[styxs-nest]

Regardlesssss of what happensss-sss, we will be there with you if you choosssse to apologize.

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"t...th-..ank... y..y-you....." *It thanked, the crystal's light brightening a tiny bit before going dim again.*

"Ye!! We're here to help you, Lucent! If we werent then- well- we wouldnt be here anyway- heh-"

"i-it....m..me..ans...a...... ........................ a..l..lo..t....... t...hat.............. y..y-you..r.." *The crystal's light dims further as Lucent trails off again,* ".....y..ou..r.e.......h....h.e..l.......... .........h elp......i............"

"............" *Mei stays silent as it trails off once again, waiting patiently for it to finish but the continuation never happens, at least, after a full minute of waiting.*

".... Lucent?" *They call out, tilting their head.*

*The crystals dim further and further until the cave is no longer lit with the orange light, only darkness in place of it. The presence had disappeared as well.*

Visit Original Link

"Lucent?" *They called out again, getting worried as the cave is blanketed in darkness, though they did not get an answer.* "Lucent!"

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

As the light dies, and the darkness awakens, a pit forms in Styx’s stomach.

W-what’s happening

He did not need an answer, for he had a feeling he knew what it was. He wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba's eyes widen, and she looks around as the darkness blooms.*

"Oh... we... we were too late... It's... not there now..."

*She doesn't know how to feel as well, mirroring Styx's uncertainty. She shifts, her bioluminescence adding a little light back, and slowly walks up to Mei's side, looking at their face to judge the mood.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei was staring at the dark crystals, a mix of concern, and sadness on their face. They walked closer to one of the crystals, placing their hand flat on it.* "l-lucent-...?" *They waited, not really expecting a response but they tried anyway.*

*They waited for about a minute or so before letting their hand rest at their side, and they stared at the ground. They thought over what had happened, then started to cry.* "lucent-..."

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li… almost beams with joy. The being that infected their sibling is dead! There’s nothing to fear!*

*And then they hate it. Hate how they’re happy when their sibling is crying. They don’t deserve this happiness. They should be sad like their sibling. They feel guilty for disagreeing with Mei*

*…*

*They hug Mei tightly, trying to comfort them while not knowing how*

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip looks at the crystals all around him dimming and time for him sort of just... stops. The following reactions of his companions are drowned out by just the realisation of what had just happened.*

It's dead.

*He looks off into the distance, turning his back to the others. His tone is that of happiness and yet also of anger?*

Good. It was about fucking time. What next?

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”Phillip!” *Mei shouted at him, giving him a bit of a glare,* “You can’t just- say that!!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

What?

*He flips around, turning to face Mei.*

It was nothing but a parasite!

*On that last word, what seems to be a faint orange light flickers through his eyes and then dims yet again.*

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”It was getting better!” *They retorted, not noticing the light in his eyes,* “Thats the entire reason why we’re here! To help it!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

You asked us to go with you! I don't think you ever even said why!

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"I-" *Mei stopped in their tracks, they don't think they ever said why either... To be fair though, Lucent didn't really tell them why until recently. They stood there, staring at the ground as tears silently fell from their eyes.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba gently nuzzles her joyfriend, her tail curling around them. Then after a moment, her spines lift slightly, her wings puff up a little, and she turns her head to glare at Phillip.*

"Lucent may have been more then annoying, may have taken over Mei at one point, but that doesn't mean that a being doesn't deserve a chance to change. And that certainly doesn't mean that you celebrate when it dies! No creature deserves that kind of disrespect, especially if that creature is trying to improve itself as it dies, slowly! You came here to help Mei with a mission. And it was clear from what they were saying that helping Lucent was the mission they were going to try to take on. So, if you're gonna celebrate *she spits out the word like poison*, have the decency to do it in your head, in your thoughts, and don't take it out on Mei."

@styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[styxs-nest]

A lump forms in Styx’s throat as he processes the death he just witnessed. As mixed as his feelings were about Lucent, he still couldn’t stomach how horrifyingly familiar it was to hear a dying voice. Neither could he stomach seeing Mei so stricken with grief.

But before he could give them a hug, he was taken aback at what Phillip said. As Mei and Phillip began to argue, Styx got worried and took a few steps back. Between the stress of Lucent’s death, Mei’s grief and the argument starting to boil, Styx was becoming overwhelmed. Eventually, his limbs began to shake.

THAT’SSSSS ENOUGH!!!!!

Styx’s eyes widened in shock at his own voice. He didn’t think he could shout so loud before, let alone hold so much frustration. His anger began to turn into guilt as he breathed out a tired sigh.

I apologize for shouting…

But Amba’s right. At the end of the day, we all agreed to go on thissss journey and sssupport Mei no matter what. We all have reasssson to feel the way we do, and I will neither pry nor judge any of you for thossse reasons. But arguing is-ssss not going to get us-ssss anywhere. And neither will openly celebrating death in front of the grieving.

Styx then joins Li and Amba in comforting Mei, giving them a hug.

@meifen-within-the-dark @li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinches as Styx shouts, though they listen to his words as more tears fall from their eyes. As soon as he hugs them, they return the hug, hugging Li as well. They give them both a tight squeeze as they fully start to sob.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li... stands in front of Mei, growling slightly, tears falling*

Do not speak ill of Mei's friend. You may think it as we do, you may wish it silently, but do not speak it. We are your friend, but we are Mei's sibling the most, and we are ready to make sure they are happy, for it is what makes us useful.

*Their tears are slowly turning orange as they fall to the floor*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip looks at all of them, his gaze flicking between Mei and Li mostly. He notices Li's tears turning the sickly orange that he knows so well, and he takes a deep breath.*

I am going to leave. Li, if you can follow, please do so.

@li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"w-wait-!" *Mei pulled back from the hug with Styx, wiping away their tears and grabbing his arm.* "Please dont go... I- i know we're all mad but i dont want you to leave.."

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

...

Fine. I won't leave, but I need to go for a bit, take a walk.

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"okay.. Just... please dont get lost... ... We'll make our way to the Palace, okay?" *They said, then let go of him, walking over to the others.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Meanwhile, Styx had frozen at the sight of Li’s tears. He was trembling.

Those orange tears… They were just like the ones that had gathered in Mei’s eyes months ago when they were hurting— When Styx too, had been hurt.

Not again- This couldn’t be happening AGAIN- Mei suffering through it was already more than enough. Li didn’t deserve this same fate either.

Styx doesn’t think he could bear to handle one more innocent bug, let alone another bug he knows, going through the same pain again.

M-Mei- Li’s tearssss… Are th-they alright?

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Wuh?" *They tilted their head, not having noticed Li's tears. They looked over at Li, noticing the tears. Their pupils turned to slits, staring at the orange tears for a long time.* "... L-Li?"

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li turns to Mei and Styx, fluff puffed up like a scared or angry animal from the ordeal with Phillip*

*they need to fight off those who hurt Mei, they need to fight to stay safe, t h i s i s h o w y o u s t a y u s e f u l*

What's wrong?

*They pat their blindfold, feeling the tears*

Ah. Sorry, we got emotional. We shall stop crying, if it hurts you so.

*They don't notice, of course they don't notice, how the tears are the same sickly orange of the infection, if watered down a bit*

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"No, no its okay! You can cry, its completely normal! I-its just that- ...... ..... the tears are orange..." *They said, kneeling down to Li's height.*

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Upon learning the colour of their tears, they move away from everyone as best they can, afraid that they’ll hurt them*

G-get away from us, Mei!

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinched, getting up and stepping back.* "B-but-.."

@amba-the-hidden

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba looks from one bug to the other as the conversation gets more and more panicked, tensions running high, her own muscles getting tense, her spines raising, her eyes flicking around.*

"Please! Can we please calm down? Li, you're not hurting anyone... This is all too much... can we talk about what's happening, please, I don't understand..."

*She looks at each of the three remaining bugs as though for some explination.*

@styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx tries to take a deep breath, though it’s clear he’s still shaking.

R-right… I’ll try…

Amba, I can try and explain what I know later. Mei can probably explain it better than I can. But right now, I think it is-sss besss-sssst we make sure Li shall be alright.

He looks at Li sympathetically, a few tears starting to gather in his own eyes.

Afraid as I am, I don’t want to run. I want Li to be okay. There hassss to be a way.

@meifen-within-the-dark, @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*They move back even more*

*There are pinpricks of orange in their eyes behind the blindfold, able to be seen, showing wide, fearful eyes*

I said get away from me!

*They swipe at the air with their claws, thankfully hitting nothing*

*They have to fight they have to fight-*

*T H I S I S W H A T B E I N G U S E F U L I S , R I G H T ?*

@meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei is unsure of what to do. They've never seen Li act like this before, and it hurt to see them like this. They wanted to give them a hug but they also wanted to respect their personal space. They felt like they were stuck between a rock and a hard place.*

*They started to fidget with their claws, starting to cry again.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden

[styxs-nest]

LI-

No. This shouldn’t be happening again- He wanted to run. So bad. But he didn’t want to leave Li here. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t.

Thissss is exactly what I’ve ssseen happen monthssss ago…

The orange… I ssstill don’t know much about it… But it’sssss hurting Li. I think it isssss fighting for control over them.

Styx hugs himself in a desperate attempt to keep his trembling fear at bay.

There musssst be sss-sssome way to help, but I don’t know how…

@amba-the-hidden

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba arches her back and steps away as Li swipes, her wings flaring out halfway. Instincts tell her that Li is a threat, her brain tells her they're not, Mei is in distress, as is Styx, Li is fighting something she can't even see, and it all scares her on a different level then just instinctual. Her pupils shrink, but she keeps her shaky voice quiet as lowers her body closer to the ground in a display of passiveness.*

"Li, calm down, fight it, please... we know you can do it... we're your friends... We need you..."

@li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark

[li-of-hidden-caves]

Y O U A R E O N L Y U S E F U L W H E N-

(tw self harm)

*They claw at their eyes through the blindfold, cutting off the voice in their head, trying so hard to fight the voice that tells them to fight. They never got free of the wretched thing, not really, having it lash out to protect them from fear*

*But what happens when they fear themselves?*

@meifen-within-the-dark @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*They watch as Li starts to claw at their eyes. They quickly waste no time in stopping them, lunging forward and grabbing Li's wrists, pulling their claws back. They then give them a big hug, hugging them tight enough that they couldnt easily leave but not too tight that its entirely restricting.* "please dont hurt yourself, sibling... I dont want you to get hurt..." *They then pull back from the hug a little, gently taking Li's head in their hands, keeping their lower pair of arms wrapped around them.* "I know you can fight it, if i could, then you can too!"

@styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei led the group out of the tiny cave they were in and towards the Palace as they were instructed by Arc, walking through the abandoned marketplace that was apparently called "Souk", and towards the area ahead called "Lystic Caverns"*

*Once they got to said caverns, they stopped, looking up from the map and around the area, large orange and yellow crystals scattered about that had a faint glow to it that occasionally got brighter before sinking back into the faint glow, it was almost rhythmic, like.. breathing. It felt like there was some kind of presence here, though it was hard to tell what.*

*Mei walked up to one of the crystals, staring at it. It felt familiar to them, but they were not sure why.*

(ooc: sorry this is a bit late guys! i originally queued the post but smt happened so i had to re-write it </3)

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba slowly turns a circle, her eyes wide with wonder.*

"Wow... this place is interesting... like beautifully eerie, y'know? Almost like it's alive, or a big heart. What do you guys think?"

*She turns to the others, her gaze flicking around.*

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx takes time admiring the cavern. The breathing glow of the crystals made this cave feel somewhat… Uncanny… But at the same time, it was fascinating. He had never seen any place like this before.

Sssss. I have not thought of it like that, but now that you you mention it… Yessss. In a way, it feelssss like thisss cave is a form of life of ssssome sort.

@li-of-hidden-caves, @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip shudders when he sees the glowing orange crystals before walking toward one of them and smashing it with his cane.*

I think we shouldn't risk coming into contact with these. There's a chance they're something to do with the Infection.

@li-of-hidden-caves @amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinches as Phillip breaks one of the crystals, watching as the glow dissipates for a few moments before going bright again, continuing its rhythmic pulse.*

"I dont think the infection reaches that far.. it never left Hallownest until it brought a bug to Pharloom, and i dont think anyone knew about Neyst either..." *They replied, then hesitantly touched the crystal they were looking at. As soon as they touched it, all of the crystals in the cavern glowed a bit brighter, and a voice, ragged and clearly weakened significantly could be heard.*

"m..e.....i.... ......g....o..od..........h..ea...r....."

"woh-" *Mei stepped back from the crystal, looking back at the others and then at the crystal again. The voice sounded very familiar to them, they could only think of one bug of who it could be..* "....Lucent??"

@amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx flinched as the unfamiliar voice spoke, looking around, confused as to where it was coming from. Were the crystals talking? Was someone speaking through them?

Who’ssss there…?

He worried, hearing how weak the voice sounded. Was someone… dying?

@amba-the-hidden, @the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba swings her head around to look at the crystals, then Mei.*

"Oh... That's the one in your head..."

*She murmurs, disturbed.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li wakes up at the sound of the voice with a start, scrambling up and looking around frantically*

Where are we?! What's going on?! Who was that?!

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

...

*Phillip shatters another crystal.*

@amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Phillip!" *Mei gave Phillip a glare as the glow in the crystals falter.*

"it....f.....f..fi..n..e...... c...cry..s..t..al..s....o.....o-ohnl...y...l..et....s....s-spea...k.....y....y...o..u.."

*They looked back at the crystal,* "So these crystals let you speak to us? wohh thas cool!" *They then looked back at the group,* "Is okey guys! It's just Lucent! uhm... the..thing that had infected me... Its nice now though, dont worry!! It helped get Phillip out of the infection! Though its uhm... kinda dying now.."

"...a..m......s....s..so.r....r..y.....f..feor......t...h..a..t....m..mei.."

"Its okay! ...are you doing okay though? .. you sound worse than the last time i talked to you..."

".........."

"..n...no.."

"oh... :("

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx was unsure of what to feel, knowing the one who infected Mei— Lucent, apparently— was speaking through the crystals. On one hand, he couldn’t help but remain vigilant, given Mei implying it hadn’t been nice before. On the other hand, though, he couldn’t doubt that it was in bad shape, just by how weak its voice sounded.

It was a chilling sense of déjà vu.

He didn’t know what to do nor say, so he hesitantly walked forwards and stood next to Mei, hoping it would comfort them a bit.

@amba-the-hidden, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba frowns upon hearing the weak voice's admitance.*

"Is... is there anything we can do to help you? I mean; I guess that's why we're here... So, I guess the better question is how do we help you?"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"n...ot....m..much......c...c..a.n......d.......do.... ......i...i-if...f...in..d........s...s..c.r...sc..ar...v...... t..el..l....a...m..s....s..sor..y.."

"We will! We did find a bug but they werent a Scarav, i dont think... We're going to the Palace now since they gave us a map!" *They held up the map to the crystals even though they didnt think that it would be able to see it.* "How would telling the Scaravs that youre sorry help you though?"

*It sighed,* "i-it....w..won...t....h...e.l..p...h...e.al...."

"Oh... Then why did you want us to do it?"

"m..mes...sed....u..p...l....lon..g....t..im..e..a....go.....n..ev..er..s...ai..d....s...so..r........ ........."

".....?" *Mei tilted their head as Lucent trailed off, the crystals dimming a little.* "...Lucent?"

"..........s..so..r..y.." *It apologized, the crystals brightening.*

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department @styxs-nest

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip snaps a crystal off of the wall, looks at it suspiciously and puts it in a pocket in his cloak.*

We can take it places if it can talk through these, right? It can apologise to whoever it did wrong to itself.

@meifen-within-the-dark @li-of-hidden-caves @styxs-nest

[styxs-nest]

If it can sssspeak through them, then perhapssss.

Can it sssstill communicate through the crysssstals if detached from the wall?

@meifen-within-the-dark, @li-of-hidden-caves, @amba-the-hidden

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"c....an......b...b-b..ut is.....q.....qui...et.......ve..ry......qu...i...et"

"That's okay! If we find any Scaravs then we can give them the crystal and let them hear you up close!"

@amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba nods in agreement.*

"Even if you did kinda take over Mei, you apologized, and you deserve a chance to right your wrongs. Maybe the queens will forgive you!"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

Plus, if they don't forgive you, maybe they could put your crystals in a jar and use them as an energy source!

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li seems on edge, but stays quiet, although they do step a bit away from the crystals*

@styxs-nest @meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden

[styxs-nest]

Regardlesssss of what happensss-sss, we will be there with you if you choosssse to apologize.

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"t...th-..ank... y..y-you....." *It thanked, the crystal's light brightening a tiny bit before going dim again.*

"Ye!! We're here to help you, Lucent! If we werent then- well- we wouldnt be here anyway- heh-"

"i-it....m..me..ans...a...... ........................ a..l..lo..t....... t...hat.............. y..y-you..r.." *The crystal's light dims further as Lucent trails off again,* ".....y..ou..r.e.......h....h.e..l.......... .........h elp......i............"

"............" *Mei stays silent as it trails off once again, waiting patiently for it to finish but the continuation never happens, at least, after a full minute of waiting.*

".... Lucent?" *They call out, tilting their head.*

*The crystals dim further and further until the cave is no longer lit with the orange light, only darkness in place of it. The presence had disappeared as well.*

Visit Original Link

"Lucent?" *They called out again, getting worried as the cave is blanketed in darkness, though they did not get an answer.* "Lucent!"

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

As the light dies, and the darkness awakens, a pit forms in Styx’s stomach.

W-what’s happening

He did not need an answer, for he had a feeling he knew what it was. He wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba's eyes widen, and she looks around as the darkness blooms.*

"Oh... we... we were too late... It's... not there now..."

*She doesn't know how to feel as well, mirroring Styx's uncertainty. She shifts, her bioluminescence adding a little light back, and slowly walks up to Mei's side, looking at their face to judge the mood.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei was staring at the dark crystals, a mix of concern, and sadness on their face. They walked closer to one of the crystals, placing their hand flat on it.* "l-lucent-...?" *They waited, not really expecting a response but they tried anyway.*

*They waited for about a minute or so before letting their hand rest at their side, and they stared at the ground. They thought over what had happened, then started to cry.* "lucent-..."

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li… almost beams with joy. The being that infected their sibling is dead! There’s nothing to fear!*

*And then they hate it. Hate how they’re happy when their sibling is crying. They don’t deserve this happiness. They should be sad like their sibling. They feel guilty for disagreeing with Mei*

*…*

*They hug Mei tightly, trying to comfort them while not knowing how*

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip looks at the crystals all around him dimming and time for him sort of just... stops. The following reactions of his companions are drowned out by just the realisation of what had just happened.*

It's dead.

*He looks off into the distance, turning his back to the others. His tone is that of happiness and yet also of anger?*

Good. It was about fucking time. What next?

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”Phillip!” *Mei shouted at him, giving him a bit of a glare,* “You can’t just- say that!!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

What?

*He flips around, turning to face Mei.*

It was nothing but a parasite!

*On that last word, what seems to be a faint orange light flickers through his eyes and then dims yet again.*

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”It was getting better!” *They retorted, not noticing the light in his eyes,* “Thats the entire reason why we’re here! To help it!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

You asked us to go with you! I don't think you ever even said why!

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"I-" *Mei stopped in their tracks, they don't think they ever said why either... To be fair though, Lucent didn't really tell them why until recently. They stood there, staring at the ground as tears silently fell from their eyes.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba gently nuzzles her joyfriend, her tail curling around them. Then after a moment, her spines lift slightly, her wings puff up a little, and she turns her head to glare at Phillip.*

"Lucent may have been more then annoying, may have taken over Mei at one point, but that doesn't mean that a being doesn't deserve a chance to change. And that certainly doesn't mean that you celebrate when it dies! No creature deserves that kind of disrespect, especially if that creature is trying to improve itself as it dies, slowly! You came here to help Mei with a mission. And it was clear from what they were saying that helping Lucent was the mission they were going to try to take on. So, if you're gonna celebrate *she spits out the word like poison*, have the decency to do it in your head, in your thoughts, and don't take it out on Mei."

@styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[styxs-nest]

A lump forms in Styx’s throat as he processes the death he just witnessed. As mixed as his feelings were about Lucent, he still couldn’t stomach how horrifyingly familiar it was to hear a dying voice. Neither could he stomach seeing Mei so stricken with grief.

But before he could give them a hug, he was taken aback at what Phillip said. As Mei and Phillip began to argue, Styx got worried and took a few steps back. Between the stress of Lucent’s death, Mei’s grief and the argument starting to boil, Styx was becoming overwhelmed. Eventually, his limbs began to shake.

THAT’SSSSS ENOUGH!!!!!

Styx’s eyes widened in shock at his own voice. He didn’t think he could shout so loud before, let alone hold so much frustration. His anger began to turn into guilt as he breathed out a tired sigh.

I apologize for shouting…

But Amba’s right. At the end of the day, we all agreed to go on thissss journey and sssupport Mei no matter what. We all have reasssson to feel the way we do, and I will neither pry nor judge any of you for thossse reasons. But arguing is-ssss not going to get us-ssss anywhere. And neither will openly celebrating death in front of the grieving.

Styx then joins Li and Amba in comforting Mei, giving them a hug.

@meifen-within-the-dark @li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinches as Styx shouts, though they listen to his words as more tears fall from their eyes. As soon as he hugs them, they return the hug, hugging Li as well. They give them both a tight squeeze as they fully start to sob.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li... stands in front of Mei, growling slightly, tears falling*

Do not speak ill of Mei's friend. You may think it as we do, you may wish it silently, but do not speak it. We are your friend, but we are Mei's sibling the most, and we are ready to make sure they are happy, for it is what makes us useful.

*Their tears are slowly turning orange as they fall to the floor*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip looks at all of them, his gaze flicking between Mei and Li mostly. He notices Li's tears turning the sickly orange that he knows so well, and he takes a deep breath.*

I am going to leave. Li, if you can follow, please do so.

@li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"w-wait-!" *Mei pulled back from the hug with Styx, wiping away their tears and grabbing his arm.* "Please dont go... I- i know we're all mad but i dont want you to leave.."

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

...

Fine. I won't leave, but I need to go for a bit, take a walk.

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"okay.. Just... please dont get lost... ... We'll make our way to the Palace, okay?" *They said, then let go of him, walking over to the others.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Meanwhile, Styx had frozen at the sight of Li’s tears. He was trembling.

Those orange tears… They were just like the ones that had gathered in Mei’s eyes months ago when they were hurting— When Styx too, had been hurt.

Not again- This couldn’t be happening AGAIN- Mei suffering through it was already more than enough. Li didn’t deserve this same fate either.

Styx doesn’t think he could bear to handle one more innocent bug, let alone another bug he knows, going through the same pain again.

M-Mei- Li’s tearssss… Are th-they alright?

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Wuh?" *They tilted their head, not having noticed Li's tears. They looked over at Li, noticing the tears. Their pupils turned to slits, staring at the orange tears for a long time.* "... L-Li?"

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li turns to Mei and Styx, fluff puffed up like a scared or angry animal from the ordeal with Phillip*

*they need to fight off those who hurt Mei, they need to fight to stay safe, t h i s i s h o w y o u s t a y u s e f u l*

What's wrong?

*They pat their blindfold, feeling the tears*

Ah. Sorry, we got emotional. We shall stop crying, if it hurts you so.

*They don't notice, of course they don't notice, how the tears are the same sickly orange of the infection, if watered down a bit*

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"No, no its okay! You can cry, its completely normal! I-its just that- ...... ..... the tears are orange..." *They said, kneeling down to Li's height.*

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Upon learning the colour of their tears, they move away from everyone as best they can, afraid that they’ll hurt them*

G-get away from us, Mei!

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinched, getting up and stepping back.* "B-but-.."

@amba-the-hidden

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba looks from one bug to the other as the conversation gets more and more panicked, tensions running high, her own muscles getting tense, her spines raising, her eyes flicking around.*

"Please! Can we please calm down? Li, you're not hurting anyone... This is all too much... can we talk about what's happening, please, I don't understand..."

*She looks at each of the three remaining bugs as though for some explination.*

@styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx tries to take a deep breath, though it’s clear he’s still shaking.

R-right… I’ll try…

Amba, I can try and explain what I know later. Mei can probably explain it better than I can. But right now, I think it is-sss besss-sssst we make sure Li shall be alright.

He looks at Li sympathetically, a few tears starting to gather in his own eyes.

Afraid as I am, I don’t want to run. I want Li to be okay. There hassss to be a way.

@meifen-within-the-dark, @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*They move back even more*

*There are pinpricks of orange in their eyes behind the blindfold, able to be seen, showing wide, fearful eyes*

I said get away from me!

*They swipe at the air with their claws, thankfully hitting nothing*

*They have to fight they have to fight-*

*T H I S I S W H A T B E I N G U S E F U L I S , R I G H T ?*

@meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei is unsure of what to do. They've never seen Li act like this before, and it hurt to see them like this. They wanted to give them a hug but they also wanted to respect their personal space. They felt like they were stuck between a rock and a hard place.*

*They started to fidget with their claws, starting to cry again.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei led the group out of the tiny cave they were in and towards the Palace as they were instructed by Arc, walking through the abandoned marketplace that was apparently called "Souk", and towards the area ahead called "Lystic Caverns"*

*Once they got to said caverns, they stopped, looking up from the map and around the area, large orange and yellow crystals scattered about that had a faint glow to it that occasionally got brighter before sinking back into the faint glow, it was almost rhythmic, like.. breathing. It felt like there was some kind of presence here, though it was hard to tell what.*

*Mei walked up to one of the crystals, staring at it. It felt familiar to them, but they were not sure why.*

(ooc: sorry this is a bit late guys! i originally queued the post but smt happened so i had to re-write it </3)

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba slowly turns a circle, her eyes wide with wonder.*

"Wow... this place is interesting... like beautifully eerie, y'know? Almost like it's alive, or a big heart. What do you guys think?"

*She turns to the others, her gaze flicking around.*

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx takes time admiring the cavern. The breathing glow of the crystals made this cave feel somewhat… Uncanny… But at the same time, it was fascinating. He had never seen any place like this before.

Sssss. I have not thought of it like that, but now that you you mention it… Yessss. In a way, it feelssss like thisss cave is a form of life of ssssome sort.

@li-of-hidden-caves, @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip shudders when he sees the glowing orange crystals before walking toward one of them and smashing it with his cane.*

I think we shouldn't risk coming into contact with these. There's a chance they're something to do with the Infection.

@li-of-hidden-caves @amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinches as Phillip breaks one of the crystals, watching as the glow dissipates for a few moments before going bright again, continuing its rhythmic pulse.*

"I dont think the infection reaches that far.. it never left Hallownest until it brought a bug to Pharloom, and i dont think anyone knew about Neyst either..." *They replied, then hesitantly touched the crystal they were looking at. As soon as they touched it, all of the crystals in the cavern glowed a bit brighter, and a voice, ragged and clearly weakened significantly could be heard.*

"m..e.....i.... ......g....o..od..........h..ea...r....."

"woh-" *Mei stepped back from the crystal, looking back at the others and then at the crystal again. The voice sounded very familiar to them, they could only think of one bug of who it could be..* "....Lucent??"

@amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx flinched as the unfamiliar voice spoke, looking around, confused as to where it was coming from. Were the crystals talking? Was someone speaking through them?

Who’ssss there…?

He worried, hearing how weak the voice sounded. Was someone… dying?

@amba-the-hidden, @the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba swings her head around to look at the crystals, then Mei.*

"Oh... That's the one in your head..."

*She murmurs, disturbed.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li wakes up at the sound of the voice with a start, scrambling up and looking around frantically*

Where are we?! What's going on?! Who was that?!

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

...

*Phillip shatters another crystal.*

@amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Phillip!" *Mei gave Phillip a glare as the glow in the crystals falter.*

"it....f.....f..fi..n..e...... c...cry..s..t..al..s....o.....o-ohnl...y...l..et....s....s-spea...k.....y....y...o..u.."

*They looked back at the crystal,* "So these crystals let you speak to us? wohh thas cool!" *They then looked back at the group,* "Is okey guys! It's just Lucent! uhm... the..thing that had infected me... Its nice now though, dont worry!! It helped get Phillip out of the infection! Though its uhm... kinda dying now.."

"...a..m......s....s..so.r....r..y.....f..feor......t...h..a..t....m..mei.."

"Its okay! ...are you doing okay though? .. you sound worse than the last time i talked to you..."

".........."

"..n...no.."

"oh... :("

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx was unsure of what to feel, knowing the one who infected Mei— Lucent, apparently— was speaking through the crystals. On one hand, he couldn’t help but remain vigilant, given Mei implying it hadn’t been nice before. On the other hand, though, he couldn’t doubt that it was in bad shape, just by how weak its voice sounded.

It was a chilling sense of déjà vu.

He didn’t know what to do nor say, so he hesitantly walked forwards and stood next to Mei, hoping it would comfort them a bit.

@amba-the-hidden, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba frowns upon hearing the weak voice's admitance.*

"Is... is there anything we can do to help you? I mean; I guess that's why we're here... So, I guess the better question is how do we help you?"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"n...ot....m..much......c...c..a.n......d.......do.... ......i...i-if...f...in..d........s...s..c.r...sc..ar...v...... t..el..l....a...m..s....s..sor..y.."

"We will! We did find a bug but they werent a Scarav, i dont think... We're going to the Palace now since they gave us a map!" *They held up the map to the crystals even though they didnt think that it would be able to see it.* "How would telling the Scaravs that youre sorry help you though?"

*It sighed,* "i-it....w..won...t....h...e.l..p...h...e.al...."

"Oh... Then why did you want us to do it?"

"m..mes...sed....u..p...l....lon..g....t..im..e..a....go.....n..ev..er..s...ai..d....s...so..r........ ........."

".....?" *Mei tilted their head as Lucent trailed off, the crystals dimming a little.* "...Lucent?"

"..........s..so..r..y.." *It apologized, the crystals brightening.*

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department @styxs-nest

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip snaps a crystal off of the wall, looks at it suspiciously and puts it in a pocket in his cloak.*

We can take it places if it can talk through these, right? It can apologise to whoever it did wrong to itself.

@meifen-within-the-dark @li-of-hidden-caves @styxs-nest

[styxs-nest]

If it can sssspeak through them, then perhapssss.

Can it sssstill communicate through the crysssstals if detached from the wall?

@meifen-within-the-dark, @li-of-hidden-caves, @amba-the-hidden

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"c....an......b...b-b..ut is.....q.....qui...et.......ve..ry......qu...i...et"

"That's okay! If we find any Scaravs then we can give them the crystal and let them hear you up close!"

@amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba nods in agreement.*

"Even if you did kinda take over Mei, you apologized, and you deserve a chance to right your wrongs. Maybe the queens will forgive you!"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

Plus, if they don't forgive you, maybe they could put your crystals in a jar and use them as an energy source!

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li seems on edge, but stays quiet, although they do step a bit away from the crystals*

@styxs-nest @meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden

[styxs-nest]

Regardlesssss of what happensss-sss, we will be there with you if you choosssse to apologize.

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"t...th-..ank... y..y-you....." *It thanked, the crystal's light brightening a tiny bit before going dim again.*

"Ye!! We're here to help you, Lucent! If we werent then- well- we wouldnt be here anyway- heh-"

"i-it....m..me..ans...a...... ........................ a..l..lo..t....... t...hat.............. y..y-you..r.." *The crystal's light dims further as Lucent trails off again,* ".....y..ou..r.e.......h....h.e..l.......... .........h elp......i............"

"............" *Mei stays silent as it trails off once again, waiting patiently for it to finish but the continuation never happens, at least, after a full minute of waiting.*

".... Lucent?" *They call out, tilting their head.*

*The crystals dim further and further until the cave is no longer lit with the orange light, only darkness in place of it. The presence had disappeared as well.*

Visit Original Link

"Lucent?" *They called out again, getting worried as the cave is blanketed in darkness, though they did not get an answer.* "Lucent!"

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

As the light dies, and the darkness awakens, a pit forms in Styx’s stomach.

W-what’s happening

He did not need an answer, for he had a feeling he knew what it was. He wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba's eyes widen, and she looks around as the darkness blooms.*

"Oh... we... we were too late... It's... not there now..."

*She doesn't know how to feel as well, mirroring Styx's uncertainty. She shifts, her bioluminescence adding a little light back, and slowly walks up to Mei's side, looking at their face to judge the mood.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei was staring at the dark crystals, a mix of concern, and sadness on their face. They walked closer to one of the crystals, placing their hand flat on it.* "l-lucent-...?" *They waited, not really expecting a response but they tried anyway.*

*They waited for about a minute or so before letting their hand rest at their side, and they stared at the ground. They thought over what had happened, then started to cry.* "lucent-..."

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li… almost beams with joy. The being that infected their sibling is dead! There’s nothing to fear!*

*And then they hate it. Hate how they’re happy when their sibling is crying. They don’t deserve this happiness. They should be sad like their sibling. They feel guilty for disagreeing with Mei*

*…*

*They hug Mei tightly, trying to comfort them while not knowing how*

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip looks at the crystals all around him dimming and time for him sort of just... stops. The following reactions of his companions are drowned out by just the realisation of what had just happened.*

It's dead.

*He looks off into the distance, turning his back to the others. His tone is that of happiness and yet also of anger?*

Good. It was about fucking time. What next?

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”Phillip!” *Mei shouted at him, giving him a bit of a glare,* “You can’t just- say that!!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

What?

*He flips around, turning to face Mei.*

It was nothing but a parasite!

*On that last word, what seems to be a faint orange light flickers through his eyes and then dims yet again.*

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”It was getting better!” *They retorted, not noticing the light in his eyes,* “Thats the entire reason why we’re here! To help it!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

You asked us to go with you! I don't think you ever even said why!

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"I-" *Mei stopped in their tracks, they don't think they ever said why either... To be fair though, Lucent didn't really tell them why until recently. They stood there, staring at the ground as tears silently fell from their eyes.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba gently nuzzles her joyfriend, her tail curling around them. Then after a moment, her spines lift slightly, her wings puff up a little, and she turns her head to glare at Phillip.*

"Lucent may have been more then annoying, may have taken over Mei at one point, but that doesn't mean that a being doesn't deserve a chance to change. And that certainly doesn't mean that you celebrate when it dies! No creature deserves that kind of disrespect, especially if that creature is trying to improve itself as it dies, slowly! You came here to help Mei with a mission. And it was clear from what they were saying that helping Lucent was the mission they were going to try to take on. So, if you're gonna celebrate *she spits out the word like poison*, have the decency to do it in your head, in your thoughts, and don't take it out on Mei."

@styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[styxs-nest]

A lump forms in Styx’s throat as he processes the death he just witnessed. As mixed as his feelings were about Lucent, he still couldn’t stomach how horrifyingly familiar it was to hear a dying voice. Neither could he stomach seeing Mei so stricken with grief.

But before he could give them a hug, he was taken aback at what Phillip said. As Mei and Phillip began to argue, Styx got worried and took a few steps back. Between the stress of Lucent’s death, Mei’s grief and the argument starting to boil, Styx was becoming overwhelmed. Eventually, his limbs began to shake.

THAT’SSSSS ENOUGH!!!!!

Styx’s eyes widened in shock at his own voice. He didn’t think he could shout so loud before, let alone hold so much frustration. His anger began to turn into guilt as he breathed out a tired sigh.

I apologize for shouting…

But Amba’s right. At the end of the day, we all agreed to go on thissss journey and sssupport Mei no matter what. We all have reasssson to feel the way we do, and I will neither pry nor judge any of you for thossse reasons. But arguing is-ssss not going to get us-ssss anywhere. And neither will openly celebrating death in front of the grieving.

Styx then joins Li and Amba in comforting Mei, giving them a hug.

@meifen-within-the-dark @li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinches as Styx shouts, though they listen to his words as more tears fall from their eyes. As soon as he hugs them, they return the hug, hugging Li as well. They give them both a tight squeeze as they fully start to sob.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li... stands in front of Mei, growling slightly, tears falling*

Do not speak ill of Mei's friend. You may think it as we do, you may wish it silently, but do not speak it. We are your friend, but we are Mei's sibling the most, and we are ready to make sure they are happy, for it is what makes us useful.

*Their tears are slowly turning orange as they fall to the floor*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip looks at all of them, his gaze flicking between Mei and Li mostly. He notices Li's tears turning the sickly orange that he knows so well, and he takes a deep breath.*

I am going to leave. Li, if you can follow, please do so.

@li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"w-wait-!" *Mei pulled back from the hug with Styx, wiping away their tears and grabbing his arm.* "Please dont go... I- i know we're all mad but i dont want you to leave.."

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

...

Fine. I won't leave, but I need to go for a bit, take a walk.

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"okay.. Just... please dont get lost... ... We'll make our way to the Palace, okay?" *They said, then let go of him, walking over to the others.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Meanwhile, Styx had frozen at the sight of Li’s tears. He was trembling.

Those orange tears… They were just like the ones that had gathered in Mei’s eyes months ago when they were hurting— When Styx too, had been hurt.

Not again- This couldn’t be happening AGAIN- Mei suffering through it was already more than enough. Li didn’t deserve this same fate either.

Styx doesn’t think he could bear to handle one more innocent bug, let alone another bug he knows, going through the same pain again.

M-Mei- Li’s tearssss… Are th-they alright?

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Wuh?" *They tilted their head, not having noticed Li's tears. They looked over at Li, noticing the tears. Their pupils turned to slits, staring at the orange tears for a long time.* "... L-Li?"

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li turns to Mei and Styx, fluff puffed up like a scared or angry animal from the ordeal with Phillip*

*they need to fight off those who hurt Mei, they need to fight to stay safe, t h i s i s h o w y o u s t a y u s e f u l*

What's wrong?

*They pat their blindfold, feeling the tears*

Ah. Sorry, we got emotional. We shall stop crying, if it hurts you so.

*They don't notice, of course they don't notice, how the tears are the same sickly orange of the infection, if watered down a bit*

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"No, no its okay! You can cry, its completely normal! I-its just that- ...... ..... the tears are orange..." *They said, kneeling down to Li's height.*

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Upon learning the colour of their tears, they move away from everyone as best they can, afraid that they’ll hurt them*

G-get away from us, Mei!

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinched, getting up and stepping back.* "B-but-.."

@amba-the-hidden

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei led the group out of the tiny cave they were in and towards the Palace as they were instructed by Arc, walking through the abandoned marketplace that was apparently called "Souk", and towards the area ahead called "Lystic Caverns"*

*Once they got to said caverns, they stopped, looking up from the map and around the area, large orange and yellow crystals scattered about that had a faint glow to it that occasionally got brighter before sinking back into the faint glow, it was almost rhythmic, like.. breathing. It felt like there was some kind of presence here, though it was hard to tell what.*

*Mei walked up to one of the crystals, staring at it. It felt familiar to them, but they were not sure why.*

(ooc: sorry this is a bit late guys! i originally queued the post but smt happened so i had to re-write it </3)

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba slowly turns a circle, her eyes wide with wonder.*

"Wow... this place is interesting... like beautifully eerie, y'know? Almost like it's alive, or a big heart. What do you guys think?"

*She turns to the others, her gaze flicking around.*

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx takes time admiring the cavern. The breathing glow of the crystals made this cave feel somewhat… Uncanny… But at the same time, it was fascinating. He had never seen any place like this before.

Sssss. I have not thought of it like that, but now that you you mention it… Yessss. In a way, it feelssss like thisss cave is a form of life of ssssome sort.

@li-of-hidden-caves, @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip shudders when he sees the glowing orange crystals before walking toward one of them and smashing it with his cane.*

I think we shouldn't risk coming into contact with these. There's a chance they're something to do with the Infection.

@li-of-hidden-caves @amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinches as Phillip breaks one of the crystals, watching as the glow dissipates for a few moments before going bright again, continuing its rhythmic pulse.*

"I dont think the infection reaches that far.. it never left Hallownest until it brought a bug to Pharloom, and i dont think anyone knew about Neyst either..." *They replied, then hesitantly touched the crystal they were looking at. As soon as they touched it, all of the crystals in the cavern glowed a bit brighter, and a voice, ragged and clearly weakened significantly could be heard.*

"m..e.....i.... ......g....o..od..........h..ea...r....."

"woh-" *Mei stepped back from the crystal, looking back at the others and then at the crystal again. The voice sounded very familiar to them, they could only think of one bug of who it could be..* "....Lucent??"

@amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx flinched as the unfamiliar voice spoke, looking around, confused as to where it was coming from. Were the crystals talking? Was someone speaking through them?

Who’ssss there…?

He worried, hearing how weak the voice sounded. Was someone… dying?

@amba-the-hidden, @the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba swings her head around to look at the crystals, then Mei.*

"Oh... That's the one in your head..."

*She murmurs, disturbed.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li wakes up at the sound of the voice with a start, scrambling up and looking around frantically*

Where are we?! What's going on?! Who was that?!

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

...

*Phillip shatters another crystal.*

@amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Phillip!" *Mei gave Phillip a glare as the glow in the crystals falter.*

"it....f.....f..fi..n..e...... c...cry..s..t..al..s....o.....o-ohnl...y...l..et....s....s-spea...k.....y....y...o..u.."

*They looked back at the crystal,* "So these crystals let you speak to us? wohh thas cool!" *They then looked back at the group,* "Is okey guys! It's just Lucent! uhm... the..thing that had infected me... Its nice now though, dont worry!! It helped get Phillip out of the infection! Though its uhm... kinda dying now.."

"...a..m......s....s..so.r....r..y.....f..feor......t...h..a..t....m..mei.."

"Its okay! ...are you doing okay though? .. you sound worse than the last time i talked to you..."

".........."

"..n...no.."

"oh... :("

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx was unsure of what to feel, knowing the one who infected Mei— Lucent, apparently— was speaking through the crystals. On one hand, he couldn’t help but remain vigilant, given Mei implying it hadn’t been nice before. On the other hand, though, he couldn’t doubt that it was in bad shape, just by how weak its voice sounded.

It was a chilling sense of déjà vu.

He didn’t know what to do nor say, so he hesitantly walked forwards and stood next to Mei, hoping it would comfort them a bit.

@amba-the-hidden, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba frowns upon hearing the weak voice's admitance.*

"Is... is there anything we can do to help you? I mean; I guess that's why we're here... So, I guess the better question is how do we help you?"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"n...ot....m..much......c...c..a.n......d.......do.... ......i...i-if...f...in..d........s...s..c.r...sc..ar...v...... t..el..l....a...m..s....s..sor..y.."

"We will! We did find a bug but they werent a Scarav, i dont think... We're going to the Palace now since they gave us a map!" *They held up the map to the crystals even though they didnt think that it would be able to see it.* "How would telling the Scaravs that youre sorry help you though?"

*It sighed,* "i-it....w..won...t....h...e.l..p...h...e.al...."

"Oh... Then why did you want us to do it?"

"m..mes...sed....u..p...l....lon..g....t..im..e..a....go.....n..ev..er..s...ai..d....s...so..r........ ........."

".....?" *Mei tilted their head as Lucent trailed off, the crystals dimming a little.* "...Lucent?"

"..........s..so..r..y.." *It apologized, the crystals brightening.*

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department @styxs-nest

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip snaps a crystal off of the wall, looks at it suspiciously and puts it in a pocket in his cloak.*

We can take it places if it can talk through these, right? It can apologise to whoever it did wrong to itself.

@meifen-within-the-dark @li-of-hidden-caves @styxs-nest

[styxs-nest]

If it can sssspeak through them, then perhapssss.

Can it sssstill communicate through the crysssstals if detached from the wall?

@meifen-within-the-dark, @li-of-hidden-caves, @amba-the-hidden

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"c....an......b...b-b..ut is.....q.....qui...et.......ve..ry......qu...i...et"

"That's okay! If we find any Scaravs then we can give them the crystal and let them hear you up close!"

@amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba nods in agreement.*

"Even if you did kinda take over Mei, you apologized, and you deserve a chance to right your wrongs. Maybe the queens will forgive you!"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

Plus, if they don't forgive you, maybe they could put your crystals in a jar and use them as an energy source!

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li seems on edge, but stays quiet, although they do step a bit away from the crystals*

@styxs-nest @meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden

[styxs-nest]

Regardlesssss of what happensss-sss, we will be there with you if you choosssse to apologize.

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"t...th-..ank... y..y-you....." *It thanked, the crystal's light brightening a tiny bit before going dim again.*

"Ye!! We're here to help you, Lucent! If we werent then- well- we wouldnt be here anyway- heh-"

"i-it....m..me..ans...a...... ........................ a..l..lo..t....... t...hat.............. y..y-you..r.." *The crystal's light dims further as Lucent trails off again,* ".....y..ou..r.e.......h....h.e..l.......... .........h elp......i............"

"............" *Mei stays silent as it trails off once again, waiting patiently for it to finish but the continuation never happens, at least, after a full minute of waiting.*

".... Lucent?" *They call out, tilting their head.*

*The crystals dim further and further until the cave is no longer lit with the orange light, only darkness in place of it. The presence had disappeared as well.*

Visit Original Link

"Lucent?" *They called out again, getting worried as the cave is blanketed in darkness, though they did not get an answer.* "Lucent!"

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

As the light dies, and the darkness awakens, a pit forms in Styx’s stomach.

W-what’s happening

He did not need an answer, for he had a feeling he knew what it was. He wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba's eyes widen, and she looks around as the darkness blooms.*

"Oh... we... we were too late... It's... not there now..."

*She doesn't know how to feel as well, mirroring Styx's uncertainty. She shifts, her bioluminescence adding a little light back, and slowly walks up to Mei's side, looking at their face to judge the mood.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei was staring at the dark crystals, a mix of concern, and sadness on their face. They walked closer to one of the crystals, placing their hand flat on it.* "l-lucent-...?" *They waited, not really expecting a response but they tried anyway.*

*They waited for about a minute or so before letting their hand rest at their side, and they stared at the ground. They thought over what had happened, then started to cry.* "lucent-..."

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li… almost beams with joy. The being that infected their sibling is dead! There’s nothing to fear!*

*And then they hate it. Hate how they’re happy when their sibling is crying. They don’t deserve this happiness. They should be sad like their sibling. They feel guilty for disagreeing with Mei*

*…*

*They hug Mei tightly, trying to comfort them while not knowing how*

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip looks at the crystals all around him dimming and time for him sort of just... stops. The following reactions of his companions are drowned out by just the realisation of what had just happened.*

It's dead.

*He looks off into the distance, turning his back to the others. His tone is that of happiness and yet also of anger?*

Good. It was about fucking time. What next?

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”Phillip!” *Mei shouted at him, giving him a bit of a glare,* “You can’t just- say that!!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

What?

*He flips around, turning to face Mei.*

It was nothing but a parasite!

*On that last word, what seems to be a faint orange light flickers through his eyes and then dims yet again.*

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”It was getting better!” *They retorted, not noticing the light in his eyes,* “Thats the entire reason why we’re here! To help it!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

You asked us to go with you! I don't think you ever even said why!

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"I-" *Mei stopped in their tracks, they don't think they ever said why either... To be fair though, Lucent didn't really tell them why until recently. They stood there, staring at the ground as tears silently fell from their eyes.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba gently nuzzles her joyfriend, her tail curling around them. Then after a moment, her spines lift slightly, her wings puff up a little, and she turns her head to glare at Phillip.*

"Lucent may have been more then annoying, may have taken over Mei at one point, but that doesn't mean that a being doesn't deserve a chance to change. And that certainly doesn't mean that you celebrate when it dies! No creature deserves that kind of disrespect, especially if that creature is trying to improve itself as it dies, slowly! You came here to help Mei with a mission. And it was clear from what they were saying that helping Lucent was the mission they were going to try to take on. So, if you're gonna celebrate *she spits out the word like poison*, have the decency to do it in your head, in your thoughts, and don't take it out on Mei."

@styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[styxs-nest]

A lump forms in Styx’s throat as he processes the death he just witnessed. As mixed as his feelings were about Lucent, he still couldn’t stomach how horrifyingly familiar it was to hear a dying voice. Neither could he stomach seeing Mei so stricken with grief.

But before he could give them a hug, he was taken aback at what Phillip said. As Mei and Phillip began to argue, Styx got worried and took a few steps back. Between the stress of Lucent’s death, Mei’s grief and the argument starting to boil, Styx was becoming overwhelmed. Eventually, his limbs began to shake.

THAT’SSSSS ENOUGH!!!!!

Styx’s eyes widened in shock at his own voice. He didn’t think he could shout so loud before, let alone hold so much frustration. His anger began to turn into guilt as he breathed out a tired sigh.

I apologize for shouting…

But Amba’s right. At the end of the day, we all agreed to go on thissss journey and sssupport Mei no matter what. We all have reasssson to feel the way we do, and I will neither pry nor judge any of you for thossse reasons. But arguing is-ssss not going to get us-ssss anywhere. And neither will openly celebrating death in front of the grieving.

Styx then joins Li and Amba in comforting Mei, giving them a hug.

@meifen-within-the-dark @li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinches as Styx shouts, though they listen to his words as more tears fall from their eyes. As soon as he hugs them, they return the hug, hugging Li as well. They give them both a tight squeeze as they fully start to sob.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li... stands in front of Mei, growling slightly, tears falling*

Do not speak ill of Mei's friend. You may think it as we do, you may wish it silently, but do not speak it. We are your friend, but we are Mei's sibling the most, and we are ready to make sure they are happy, for it is what makes us useful.

*Their tears are slowly turning orange as they fall to the floor*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip looks at all of them, his gaze flicking between Mei and Li mostly. He notices Li's tears turning the sickly orange that he knows so well, and he takes a deep breath.*

I am going to leave. Li, if you can follow, please do so.

@li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"w-wait-!" *Mei pulled back from the hug with Styx, wiping away their tears and grabbing his arm.* "Please dont go... I- i know we're all mad but i dont want you to leave.."

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

...

Fine. I won't leave, but I need to go for a bit, take a walk.

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"okay.. Just... please dont get lost... ... We'll make our way to the Palace, okay?" *They said, then let go of him, walking over to the others.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Meanwhile, Styx had frozen at the sight of Li’s tears. He was trembling.

Those orange tears… They were just like the ones that had gathered in Mei’s eyes months ago when they were hurting— When Styx too, had been hurt.

Not again- This couldn’t be happening AGAIN- Mei suffering through it was already more than enough. Li didn’t deserve this same fate either.

Styx doesn’t think he could bear to handle one more innocent bug, let alone another bug he knows, going through the same pain again.

M-Mei- Li’s tearssss… Are th-they alright?

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Wuh?" *They tilted their head, not having noticed Li's tears. They looked over at Li, noticing the tears. Their pupils turned to slits, staring at the orange tears for a long time.* "... L-Li?"

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li turns to Mei and Styx, fluff puffed up like a scared or angry animal from the ordeal with Phillip*

*they need to fight off those who hurt Mei, they need to fight to stay safe, t h i s i s h o w y o u s t a y u s e f u l*

What's wrong?

*They pat their blindfold, feeling the tears*

Ah. Sorry, we got emotional. We shall stop crying, if it hurts you so.

*They don't notice, of course they don't notice, how the tears are the same sickly orange of the infection, if watered down a bit*

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"No, no its okay! You can cry, its completely normal! I-its just that- ...... ..... the tears are orange..." *They said, kneeling down to Li's height.*

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei led the group out of the tiny cave they were in and towards the Palace as they were instructed by Arc, walking through the abandoned marketplace that was apparently called "Souk", and towards the area ahead called "Lystic Caverns"*

*Once they got to said caverns, they stopped, looking up from the map and around the area, large orange and yellow crystals scattered about that had a faint glow to it that occasionally got brighter before sinking back into the faint glow, it was almost rhythmic, like.. breathing. It felt like there was some kind of presence here, though it was hard to tell what.*

*Mei walked up to one of the crystals, staring at it. It felt familiar to them, but they were not sure why.*

(ooc: sorry this is a bit late guys! i originally queued the post but smt happened so i had to re-write it </3)

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba slowly turns a circle, her eyes wide with wonder.*

"Wow... this place is interesting... like beautifully eerie, y'know? Almost like it's alive, or a big heart. What do you guys think?"

*She turns to the others, her gaze flicking around.*

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx takes time admiring the cavern. The breathing glow of the crystals made this cave feel somewhat… Uncanny… But at the same time, it was fascinating. He had never seen any place like this before.

Sssss. I have not thought of it like that, but now that you you mention it… Yessss. In a way, it feelssss like thisss cave is a form of life of ssssome sort.

@li-of-hidden-caves, @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip shudders when he sees the glowing orange crystals before walking toward one of them and smashing it with his cane.*

I think we shouldn't risk coming into contact with these. There's a chance they're something to do with the Infection.

@li-of-hidden-caves @amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinches as Phillip breaks one of the crystals, watching as the glow dissipates for a few moments before going bright again, continuing its rhythmic pulse.*

"I dont think the infection reaches that far.. it never left Hallownest until it brought a bug to Pharloom, and i dont think anyone knew about Neyst either..." *They replied, then hesitantly touched the crystal they were looking at. As soon as they touched it, all of the crystals in the cavern glowed a bit brighter, and a voice, ragged and clearly weakened significantly could be heard.*

"m..e.....i.... ......g....o..od..........h..ea...r....."

"woh-" *Mei stepped back from the crystal, looking back at the others and then at the crystal again. The voice sounded very familiar to them, they could only think of one bug of who it could be..* "....Lucent??"

@amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx flinched as the unfamiliar voice spoke, looking around, confused as to where it was coming from. Were the crystals talking? Was someone speaking through them?

Who’ssss there…?

He worried, hearing how weak the voice sounded. Was someone… dying?

@amba-the-hidden, @the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba swings her head around to look at the crystals, then Mei.*

"Oh... That's the one in your head..."

*She murmurs, disturbed.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li wakes up at the sound of the voice with a start, scrambling up and looking around frantically*

Where are we?! What's going on?! Who was that?!

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

...

*Phillip shatters another crystal.*

@amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Phillip!" *Mei gave Phillip a glare as the glow in the crystals falter.*

"it....f.....f..fi..n..e...... c...cry..s..t..al..s....o.....o-ohnl...y...l..et....s....s-spea...k.....y....y...o..u.."

*They looked back at the crystal,* "So these crystals let you speak to us? wohh thas cool!" *They then looked back at the group,* "Is okey guys! It's just Lucent! uhm... the..thing that had infected me... Its nice now though, dont worry!! It helped get Phillip out of the infection! Though its uhm... kinda dying now.."

"...a..m......s....s..so.r....r..y.....f..feor......t...h..a..t....m..mei.."

"Its okay! ...are you doing okay though? .. you sound worse than the last time i talked to you..."

".........."

"..n...no.."

"oh... :("

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx was unsure of what to feel, knowing the one who infected Mei— Lucent, apparently— was speaking through the crystals. On one hand, he couldn’t help but remain vigilant, given Mei implying it hadn’t been nice before. On the other hand, though, he couldn’t doubt that it was in bad shape, just by how weak its voice sounded.

It was a chilling sense of déjà vu.

He didn’t know what to do nor say, so he hesitantly walked forwards and stood next to Mei, hoping it would comfort them a bit.

@amba-the-hidden, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba frowns upon hearing the weak voice's admitance.*

"Is... is there anything we can do to help you? I mean; I guess that's why we're here... So, I guess the better question is how do we help you?"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"n...ot....m..much......c...c..a.n......d.......do.... ......i...i-if...f...in..d........s...s..c.r...sc..ar...v...... t..el..l....a...m..s....s..sor..y.."

"We will! We did find a bug but they werent a Scarav, i dont think... We're going to the Palace now since they gave us a map!" *They held up the map to the crystals even though they didnt think that it would be able to see it.* "How would telling the Scaravs that youre sorry help you though?"

*It sighed,* "i-it....w..won...t....h...e.l..p...h...e.al...."

"Oh... Then why did you want us to do it?"

"m..mes...sed....u..p...l....lon..g....t..im..e..a....go.....n..ev..er..s...ai..d....s...so..r........ ........."

".....?" *Mei tilted their head as Lucent trailed off, the crystals dimming a little.* "...Lucent?"

"..........s..so..r..y.." *It apologized, the crystals brightening.*

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department @styxs-nest

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip snaps a crystal off of the wall, looks at it suspiciously and puts it in a pocket in his cloak.*

We can take it places if it can talk through these, right? It can apologise to whoever it did wrong to itself.

@meifen-within-the-dark @li-of-hidden-caves @styxs-nest

[styxs-nest]

If it can sssspeak through them, then perhapssss.

Can it sssstill communicate through the crysssstals if detached from the wall?

@meifen-within-the-dark, @li-of-hidden-caves, @amba-the-hidden

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"c....an......b...b-b..ut is.....q.....qui...et.......ve..ry......qu...i...et"

"That's okay! If we find any Scaravs then we can give them the crystal and let them hear you up close!"

@amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba nods in agreement.*

"Even if you did kinda take over Mei, you apologized, and you deserve a chance to right your wrongs. Maybe the queens will forgive you!"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

Plus, if they don't forgive you, maybe they could put your crystals in a jar and use them as an energy source!

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li seems on edge, but stays quiet, although they do step a bit away from the crystals*

@styxs-nest @meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden

[styxs-nest]

Regardlesssss of what happensss-sss, we will be there with you if you choosssse to apologize.

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"t...th-..ank... y..y-you....." *It thanked, the crystal's light brightening a tiny bit before going dim again.*

"Ye!! We're here to help you, Lucent! If we werent then- well- we wouldnt be here anyway- heh-"

"i-it....m..me..ans...a...... ........................ a..l..lo..t....... t...hat.............. y..y-you..r.." *The crystal's light dims further as Lucent trails off again,* ".....y..ou..r.e.......h....h.e..l.......... .........h elp......i............"

"............" *Mei stays silent as it trails off once again, waiting patiently for it to finish but the continuation never happens, at least, after a full minute of waiting.*

".... Lucent?" *They call out, tilting their head.*

*The crystals dim further and further until the cave is no longer lit with the orange light, only darkness in place of it. The presence had disappeared as well.*

Visit Original Link

"Lucent?" *They called out again, getting worried as the cave is blanketed in darkness, though they did not get an answer.* "Lucent!"

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

As the light dies, and the darkness awakens, a pit forms in Styx’s stomach.

W-what’s happening

He did not need an answer, for he had a feeling he knew what it was. He wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba's eyes widen, and she looks around as the darkness blooms.*

"Oh... we... we were too late... It's... not there now..."

*She doesn't know how to feel as well, mirroring Styx's uncertainty. She shifts, her bioluminescence adding a little light back, and slowly walks up to Mei's side, looking at their face to judge the mood.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei was staring at the dark crystals, a mix of concern, and sadness on their face. They walked closer to one of the crystals, placing their hand flat on it.* "l-lucent-...?" *They waited, not really expecting a response but they tried anyway.*

*They waited for about a minute or so before letting their hand rest at their side, and they stared at the ground. They thought over what had happened, then started to cry.* "lucent-..."

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li… almost beams with joy. The being that infected their sibling is dead! There’s nothing to fear!*

*And then they hate it. Hate how they’re happy when their sibling is crying. They don’t deserve this happiness. They should be sad like their sibling. They feel guilty for disagreeing with Mei*

*…*

*They hug Mei tightly, trying to comfort them while not knowing how*

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip looks at the crystals all around him dimming and time for him sort of just... stops. The following reactions of his companions are drowned out by just the realisation of what had just happened.*

It's dead.

*He looks off into the distance, turning his back to the others. His tone is that of happiness and yet also of anger?*

Good. It was about fucking time. What next?

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”Phillip!” *Mei shouted at him, giving him a bit of a glare,* “You can’t just- say that!!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

What?

*He flips around, turning to face Mei.*

It was nothing but a parasite!

*On that last word, what seems to be a faint orange light flickers through his eyes and then dims yet again.*

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”It was getting better!” *They retorted, not noticing the light in his eyes,* “Thats the entire reason why we’re here! To help it!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

You asked us to go with you! I don't think you ever even said why!

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"I-" *Mei stopped in their tracks, they don't think they ever said why either... To be fair though, Lucent didn't really tell them why until recently. They stood there, staring at the ground as tears silently fell from their eyes.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba gently nuzzles her joyfriend, her tail curling around them. Then after a moment, her spines lift slightly, her wings puff up a little, and she turns her head to glare at Phillip.*

"Lucent may have been more then annoying, may have taken over Mei at one point, but that doesn't mean that a being doesn't deserve a chance to change. And that certainly doesn't mean that you celebrate when it dies! No creature deserves that kind of disrespect, especially if that creature is trying to improve itself as it dies, slowly! You came here to help Mei with a mission. And it was clear from what they were saying that helping Lucent was the mission they were going to try to take on. So, if you're gonna celebrate *she spits out the word like poison*, have the decency to do it in your head, in your thoughts, and don't take it out on Mei."

@styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[styxs-nest]

A lump forms in Styx’s throat as he processes the death he just witnessed. As mixed as his feelings were about Lucent, he still couldn’t stomach how horrifyingly familiar it was to hear a dying voice. Neither could he stomach seeing Mei so stricken with grief.

But before he could give them a hug, he was taken aback at what Phillip said. As Mei and Phillip began to argue, Styx got worried and took a few steps back. Between the stress of Lucent’s death, Mei’s grief and the argument starting to boil, Styx was becoming overwhelmed. Eventually, his limbs began to shake.

THAT’SSSSS ENOUGH!!!!!

Styx’s eyes widened in shock at his own voice. He didn’t think he could shout so loud before, let alone hold so much frustration. His anger began to turn into guilt as he breathed out a tired sigh.

I apologize for shouting…

But Amba’s right. At the end of the day, we all agreed to go on thissss journey and sssupport Mei no matter what. We all have reasssson to feel the way we do, and I will neither pry nor judge any of you for thossse reasons. But arguing is-ssss not going to get us-ssss anywhere. And neither will openly celebrating death in front of the grieving.

Styx then joins Li and Amba in comforting Mei, giving them a hug.

@meifen-within-the-dark @li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinches as Styx shouts, though they listen to his words as more tears fall from their eyes. As soon as he hugs them, they return the hug, hugging Li as well. They give them both a tight squeeze as they fully start to sob.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li... stands in front of Mei, growling slightly, tears falling*

Do not speak ill of Mei's friend. You may think it as we do, you may wish it silently, but do not speak it. We are your friend, but we are Mei's sibling the most, and we are ready to make sure they are happy, for it is what makes us useful.

*Their tears are slowly turning orange as they fall to the floor*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip looks at all of them, his gaze flicking between Mei and Li mostly. He notices Li's tears turning the sickly orange that he knows so well, and he takes a deep breath.*

I am going to leave. Li, if you can follow, please do so.

@li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"w-wait-!" *Mei pulled back from the hug with Styx, wiping away their tears and grabbing his arm.* "Please dont go... I- i know we're all mad but i dont want you to leave.."

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

...

Fine. I won't leave, but I need to go for a bit, take a walk.

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"okay.. Just... please dont get lost... ... We'll make our way to the Palace, okay?" *They said, then let go of him, walking over to the others.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Meanwhile, Styx had frozen at the sight of Li’s tears. He was trembling.

Those orange tears… They were just like the ones that had gathered in Mei’s eyes months ago when they were hurting— When Styx too, had been hurt.

Not again- This couldn’t be happening AGAIN- Mei suffering through it was already more than enough. Li didn’t deserve this same fate either.

Styx doesn’t think he could bear to handle one more innocent bug, let alone another bug he knows, going through the same pain again.

M-Mei- Li’s tearssss… Are th-they alright?

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Wuh?" *They tilted their head, not having noticed Li's tears. They looked over at Li, noticing the tears. Their pupils turned to slits, staring at the orange tears for a long time.* "... L-Li?"

@li-of-hidden-caves

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei led the group out of the tiny cave they were in and towards the Palace as they were instructed by Arc, walking through the abandoned marketplace that was apparently called "Souk", and towards the area ahead called "Lystic Caverns"*

*Once they got to said caverns, they stopped, looking up from the map and around the area, large orange and yellow crystals scattered about that had a faint glow to it that occasionally got brighter before sinking back into the faint glow, it was almost rhythmic, like.. breathing. It felt like there was some kind of presence here, though it was hard to tell what.*

*Mei walked up to one of the crystals, staring at it. It felt familiar to them, but they were not sure why.*

(ooc: sorry this is a bit late guys! i originally queued the post but smt happened so i had to re-write it </3)

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba slowly turns a circle, her eyes wide with wonder.*

"Wow... this place is interesting... like beautifully eerie, y'know? Almost like it's alive, or a big heart. What do you guys think?"

*She turns to the others, her gaze flicking around.*

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx takes time admiring the cavern. The breathing glow of the crystals made this cave feel somewhat… Uncanny… But at the same time, it was fascinating. He had never seen any place like this before.

Sssss. I have not thought of it like that, but now that you you mention it… Yessss. In a way, it feelssss like thisss cave is a form of life of ssssome sort.

@li-of-hidden-caves, @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip shudders when he sees the glowing orange crystals before walking toward one of them and smashing it with his cane.*

I think we shouldn't risk coming into contact with these. There's a chance they're something to do with the Infection.

@li-of-hidden-caves @amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinches as Phillip breaks one of the crystals, watching as the glow dissipates for a few moments before going bright again, continuing its rhythmic pulse.*

"I dont think the infection reaches that far.. it never left Hallownest until it brought a bug to Pharloom, and i dont think anyone knew about Neyst either..." *They replied, then hesitantly touched the crystal they were looking at. As soon as they touched it, all of the crystals in the cavern glowed a bit brighter, and a voice, ragged and clearly weakened significantly could be heard.*

"m..e.....i.... ......g....o..od..........h..ea...r....."

"woh-" *Mei stepped back from the crystal, looking back at the others and then at the crystal again. The voice sounded very familiar to them, they could only think of one bug of who it could be..* "....Lucent??"

@amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx flinched as the unfamiliar voice spoke, looking around, confused as to where it was coming from. Were the crystals talking? Was someone speaking through them?

Who’ssss there…?

He worried, hearing how weak the voice sounded. Was someone… dying?

@amba-the-hidden, @the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba swings her head around to look at the crystals, then Mei.*

"Oh... That's the one in your head..."

*She murmurs, disturbed.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li wakes up at the sound of the voice with a start, scrambling up and looking around frantically*

Where are we?! What's going on?! Who was that?!

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

...

*Phillip shatters another crystal.*

@amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Phillip!" *Mei gave Phillip a glare as the glow in the crystals falter.*

"it....f.....f..fi..n..e...... c...cry..s..t..al..s....o.....o-ohnl...y...l..et....s....s-spea...k.....y....y...o..u.."

*They looked back at the crystal,* "So these crystals let you speak to us? wohh thas cool!" *They then looked back at the group,* "Is okey guys! It's just Lucent! uhm... the..thing that had infected me... Its nice now though, dont worry!! It helped get Phillip out of the infection! Though its uhm... kinda dying now.."

"...a..m......s....s..so.r....r..y.....f..feor......t...h..a..t....m..mei.."

"Its okay! ...are you doing okay though? .. you sound worse than the last time i talked to you..."

".........."

"..n...no.."

"oh... :("

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx was unsure of what to feel, knowing the one who infected Mei— Lucent, apparently— was speaking through the crystals. On one hand, he couldn’t help but remain vigilant, given Mei implying it hadn’t been nice before. On the other hand, though, he couldn’t doubt that it was in bad shape, just by how weak its voice sounded.

It was a chilling sense of déjà vu.

He didn’t know what to do nor say, so he hesitantly walked forwards and stood next to Mei, hoping it would comfort them a bit.

@amba-the-hidden, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba frowns upon hearing the weak voice's admitance.*

"Is... is there anything we can do to help you? I mean; I guess that's why we're here... So, I guess the better question is how do we help you?"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"n...ot....m..much......c...c..a.n......d.......do.... ......i...i-if...f...in..d........s...s..c.r...sc..ar...v...... t..el..l....a...m..s....s..sor..y.."

"We will! We did find a bug but they werent a Scarav, i dont think... We're going to the Palace now since they gave us a map!" *They held up the map to the crystals even though they didnt think that it would be able to see it.* "How would telling the Scaravs that youre sorry help you though?"

*It sighed,* "i-it....w..won...t....h...e.l..p...h...e.al...."

"Oh... Then why did you want us to do it?"

"m..mes...sed....u..p...l....lon..g....t..im..e..a....go.....n..ev..er..s...ai..d....s...so..r........ ........."

".....?" *Mei tilted their head as Lucent trailed off, the crystals dimming a little.* "...Lucent?"

"..........s..so..r..y.." *It apologized, the crystals brightening.*

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department @styxs-nest

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip snaps a crystal off of the wall, looks at it suspiciously and puts it in a pocket in his cloak.*

We can take it places if it can talk through these, right? It can apologise to whoever it did wrong to itself.

@meifen-within-the-dark @li-of-hidden-caves @styxs-nest

[styxs-nest]

If it can sssspeak through them, then perhapssss.

Can it sssstill communicate through the crysssstals if detached from the wall?

@meifen-within-the-dark, @li-of-hidden-caves, @amba-the-hidden

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"c....an......b...b-b..ut is.....q.....qui...et.......ve..ry......qu...i...et"

"That's okay! If we find any Scaravs then we can give them the crystal and let them hear you up close!"

@amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba nods in agreement.*

"Even if you did kinda take over Mei, you apologized, and you deserve a chance to right your wrongs. Maybe the queens will forgive you!"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

Plus, if they don't forgive you, maybe they could put your crystals in a jar and use them as an energy source!

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li seems on edge, but stays quiet, although they do step a bit away from the crystals*

@styxs-nest @meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden

[styxs-nest]

Regardlesssss of what happensss-sss, we will be there with you if you choosssse to apologize.

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"t...th-..ank... y..y-you....." *It thanked, the crystal's light brightening a tiny bit before going dim again.*

"Ye!! We're here to help you, Lucent! If we werent then- well- we wouldnt be here anyway- heh-"

"i-it....m..me..ans...a...... ........................ a..l..lo..t....... t...hat.............. y..y-you..r.." *The crystal's light dims further as Lucent trails off again,* ".....y..ou..r.e.......h....h.e..l.......... .........h elp......i............"

"............" *Mei stays silent as it trails off once again, waiting patiently for it to finish but the continuation never happens, at least, after a full minute of waiting.*

".... Lucent?" *They call out, tilting their head.*

*The crystals dim further and further until the cave is no longer lit with the orange light, only darkness in place of it. The presence had disappeared as well.*

Visit Original Link

"Lucent?" *They called out again, getting worried as the cave is blanketed in darkness, though they did not get an answer.* "Lucent!"

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

As the light dies, and the darkness awakens, a pit forms in Styx’s stomach.

W-what’s happening

He did not need an answer, for he had a feeling he knew what it was. He wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba's eyes widen, and she looks around as the darkness blooms.*

"Oh... we... we were too late... It's... not there now..."

*She doesn't know how to feel as well, mirroring Styx's uncertainty. She shifts, her bioluminescence adding a little light back, and slowly walks up to Mei's side, looking at their face to judge the mood.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei was staring at the dark crystals, a mix of concern, and sadness on their face. They walked closer to one of the crystals, placing their hand flat on it.* "l-lucent-...?" *They waited, not really expecting a response but they tried anyway.*

*They waited for about a minute or so before letting their hand rest at their side, and they stared at the ground. They thought over what had happened, then started to cry.* "lucent-..."

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li… almost beams with joy. The being that infected their sibling is dead! There’s nothing to fear!*

*And then they hate it. Hate how they’re happy when their sibling is crying. They don’t deserve this happiness. They should be sad like their sibling. They feel guilty for disagreeing with Mei*

*…*

*They hug Mei tightly, trying to comfort them while not knowing how*

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip looks at the crystals all around him dimming and time for him sort of just... stops. The following reactions of his companions are drowned out by just the realisation of what had just happened.*

It's dead.

*He looks off into the distance, turning his back to the others. His tone is that of happiness and yet also of anger?*

Good. It was about fucking time. What next?

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”Phillip!” *Mei shouted at him, giving him a bit of a glare,* “You can’t just- say that!!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

What?

*He flips around, turning to face Mei.*

It was nothing but a parasite!

*On that last word, what seems to be a faint orange light flickers through his eyes and then dims yet again.*

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”It was getting better!” *They retorted, not noticing the light in his eyes,* “Thats the entire reason why we’re here! To help it!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

You asked us to go with you! I don't think you ever even said why!

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"I-" *Mei stopped in their tracks, they don't think they ever said why either... To be fair though, Lucent didn't really tell them why until recently. They stood there, staring at the ground as tears silently fell from their eyes.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba gently nuzzles her joyfriend, her tail curling around them. Then after a moment, her spines lift slightly, her wings puff up a little, and she turns her head to glare at Phillip.*

"Lucent may have been more then annoying, may have taken over Mei at one point, but that doesn't mean that a being doesn't deserve a chance to change. And that certainly doesn't mean that you celebrate when it dies! No creature deserves that kind of disrespect, especially if that creature is trying to improve itself as it dies, slowly! You came here to help Mei with a mission. And it was clear from what they were saying that helping Lucent was the mission they were going to try to take on. So, if you're gonna celebrate *she spits out the word like poison*, have the decency to do it in your head, in your thoughts, and don't take it out on Mei."

@styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[styxs-nest]

A lump forms in Styx’s throat as he processes the death he just witnessed. As mixed as his feelings were about Lucent, he still couldn’t stomach how horrifyingly familiar it was to hear a dying voice. Neither could he stomach seeing Mei so stricken with grief.

But before he could give them a hug, he was taken aback at what Phillip said. As Mei and Phillip began to argue, Styx got worried and took a few steps back. Between the stress of Lucent’s death, Mei’s grief and the argument starting to boil, Styx was becoming overwhelmed. Eventually, his limbs began to shake.

THAT’SSSSS ENOUGH!!!!!

Styx’s eyes widened in shock at his own voice. He didn’t think he could shout so loud before, let alone hold so much frustration. His anger began to turn into guilt as he breathed out a tired sigh.

I apologize for shouting…

But Amba’s right. At the end of the day, we all agreed to go on thissss journey and sssupport Mei no matter what. We all have reasssson to feel the way we do, and I will neither pry nor judge any of you for thossse reasons. But arguing is-ssss not going to get us-ssss anywhere. And neither will openly celebrating death in front of the grieving.

Styx then joins Li and Amba in comforting Mei, giving them a hug.

@meifen-within-the-dark @li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinches as Styx shouts, though they listen to his words as more tears fall from their eyes. As soon as he hugs them, they return the hug, hugging Li as well. They give them both a tight squeeze as they fully start to sob.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li... stands in front of Mei, growling slightly, tears falling*

Do not speak ill of Mei's friend. You may think it as we do, you may wish it silently, but do not speak it. We are your friend, but we are Mei's sibling the most, and we are ready to make sure they are happy, for it is what makes us useful.

*Their tears are slowly turning orange as they fall to the floor*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip looks at all of them, his gaze flicking between Mei and Li mostly. He notices Li's tears turning the sickly orange that he knows so well, and he takes a deep breath.*

I am going to leave. Li, if you can follow, please do so.

@li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"w-wait-!" *Mei pulled back from the hug with Styx, wiping away their tears and grabbing his arm.* "Please dont go... I- i know we're all mad but i dont want you to leave.."

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

...

Fine. I won't leave, but I need to go for a bit, take a walk.

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"okay.. Just... please dont get lost... ... We'll make our way to the Palace, okay?" *They said, then let go of him, walking over to the others.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei led the group out of the tiny cave they were in and towards the Palace as they were instructed by Arc, walking through the abandoned marketplace that was apparently called "Souk", and towards the area ahead called "Lystic Caverns"*

*Once they got to said caverns, they stopped, looking up from the map and around the area, large orange and yellow crystals scattered about that had a faint glow to it that occasionally got brighter before sinking back into the faint glow, it was almost rhythmic, like.. breathing. It felt like there was some kind of presence here, though it was hard to tell what.*

*Mei walked up to one of the crystals, staring at it. It felt familiar to them, but they were not sure why.*

(ooc: sorry this is a bit late guys! i originally queued the post but smt happened so i had to re-write it </3)

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba slowly turns a circle, her eyes wide with wonder.*

"Wow... this place is interesting... like beautifully eerie, y'know? Almost like it's alive, or a big heart. What do you guys think?"

*She turns to the others, her gaze flicking around.*

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx takes time admiring the cavern. The breathing glow of the crystals made this cave feel somewhat… Uncanny… But at the same time, it was fascinating. He had never seen any place like this before.

Sssss. I have not thought of it like that, but now that you you mention it… Yessss. In a way, it feelssss like thisss cave is a form of life of ssssome sort.

@li-of-hidden-caves, @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip shudders when he sees the glowing orange crystals before walking toward one of them and smashing it with his cane.*

I think we shouldn't risk coming into contact with these. There's a chance they're something to do with the Infection.

@li-of-hidden-caves @amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinches as Phillip breaks one of the crystals, watching as the glow dissipates for a few moments before going bright again, continuing its rhythmic pulse.*

"I dont think the infection reaches that far.. it never left Hallownest until it brought a bug to Pharloom, and i dont think anyone knew about Neyst either..." *They replied, then hesitantly touched the crystal they were looking at. As soon as they touched it, all of the crystals in the cavern glowed a bit brighter, and a voice, ragged and clearly weakened significantly could be heard.*

"m..e.....i.... ......g....o..od..........h..ea...r....."

"woh-" *Mei stepped back from the crystal, looking back at the others and then at the crystal again. The voice sounded very familiar to them, they could only think of one bug of who it could be..* "....Lucent??"

@amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx flinched as the unfamiliar voice spoke, looking around, confused as to where it was coming from. Were the crystals talking? Was someone speaking through them?

Who’ssss there…?

He worried, hearing how weak the voice sounded. Was someone… dying?

@amba-the-hidden, @the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba swings her head around to look at the crystals, then Mei.*

"Oh... That's the one in your head..."

*She murmurs, disturbed.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li wakes up at the sound of the voice with a start, scrambling up and looking around frantically*

Where are we?! What's going on?! Who was that?!

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

...

*Phillip shatters another crystal.*

@amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Phillip!" *Mei gave Phillip a glare as the glow in the crystals falter.*

"it....f.....f..fi..n..e...... c...cry..s..t..al..s....o.....o-ohnl...y...l..et....s....s-spea...k.....y....y...o..u.."

*They looked back at the crystal,* "So these crystals let you speak to us? wohh thas cool!" *They then looked back at the group,* "Is okey guys! It's just Lucent! uhm... the..thing that had infected me... Its nice now though, dont worry!! It helped get Phillip out of the infection! Though its uhm... kinda dying now.."

"...a..m......s....s..so.r....r..y.....f..feor......t...h..a..t....m..mei.."

"Its okay! ...are you doing okay though? .. you sound worse than the last time i talked to you..."

".........."

"..n...no.."

"oh... :("

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx was unsure of what to feel, knowing the one who infected Mei— Lucent, apparently— was speaking through the crystals. On one hand, he couldn’t help but remain vigilant, given Mei implying it hadn’t been nice before. On the other hand, though, he couldn’t doubt that it was in bad shape, just by how weak its voice sounded.

It was a chilling sense of déjà vu.

He didn’t know what to do nor say, so he hesitantly walked forwards and stood next to Mei, hoping it would comfort them a bit.

@amba-the-hidden, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba frowns upon hearing the weak voice's admitance.*

"Is... is there anything we can do to help you? I mean; I guess that's why we're here... So, I guess the better question is how do we help you?"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"n...ot....m..much......c...c..a.n......d.......do.... ......i...i-if...f...in..d........s...s..c.r...sc..ar...v...... t..el..l....a...m..s....s..sor..y.."

"We will! We did find a bug but they werent a Scarav, i dont think... We're going to the Palace now since they gave us a map!" *They held up the map to the crystals even though they didnt think that it would be able to see it.* "How would telling the Scaravs that youre sorry help you though?"

*It sighed,* "i-it....w..won...t....h...e.l..p...h...e.al...."

"Oh... Then why did you want us to do it?"

"m..mes...sed....u..p...l....lon..g....t..im..e..a....go.....n..ev..er..s...ai..d....s...so..r........ ........."

".....?" *Mei tilted their head as Lucent trailed off, the crystals dimming a little.* "...Lucent?"

"..........s..so..r..y.." *It apologized, the crystals brightening.*

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department @styxs-nest

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip snaps a crystal off of the wall, looks at it suspiciously and puts it in a pocket in his cloak.*

We can take it places if it can talk through these, right? It can apologise to whoever it did wrong to itself.

@meifen-within-the-dark @li-of-hidden-caves @styxs-nest

[styxs-nest]

If it can sssspeak through them, then perhapssss.

Can it sssstill communicate through the crysssstals if detached from the wall?

@meifen-within-the-dark, @li-of-hidden-caves, @amba-the-hidden

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"c....an......b...b-b..ut is.....q.....qui...et.......ve..ry......qu...i...et"

"That's okay! If we find any Scaravs then we can give them the crystal and let them hear you up close!"

@amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba nods in agreement.*

"Even if you did kinda take over Mei, you apologized, and you deserve a chance to right your wrongs. Maybe the queens will forgive you!"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

Plus, if they don't forgive you, maybe they could put your crystals in a jar and use them as an energy source!

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li seems on edge, but stays quiet, although they do step a bit away from the crystals*

@styxs-nest @meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden

[styxs-nest]

Regardlesssss of what happensss-sss, we will be there with you if you choosssse to apologize.

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"t...th-..ank... y..y-you....." *It thanked, the crystal's light brightening a tiny bit before going dim again.*

"Ye!! We're here to help you, Lucent! If we werent then- well- we wouldnt be here anyway- heh-"

"i-it....m..me..ans...a...... ........................ a..l..lo..t....... t...hat.............. y..y-you..r.." *The crystal's light dims further as Lucent trails off again,* ".....y..ou..r.e.......h....h.e..l.......... .........h elp......i............"

"............" *Mei stays silent as it trails off once again, waiting patiently for it to finish but the continuation never happens, at least, after a full minute of waiting.*

".... Lucent?" *They call out, tilting their head.*

*The crystals dim further and further until the cave is no longer lit with the orange light, only darkness in place of it. The presence had disappeared as well.*

Visit Original Link

"Lucent?" *They called out again, getting worried as the cave is blanketed in darkness, though they did not get an answer.* "Lucent!"

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

As the light dies, and the darkness awakens, a pit forms in Styx’s stomach.

W-what’s happening

He did not need an answer, for he had a feeling he knew what it was. He wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba's eyes widen, and she looks around as the darkness blooms.*

"Oh... we... we were too late... It's... not there now..."

*She doesn't know how to feel as well, mirroring Styx's uncertainty. She shifts, her bioluminescence adding a little light back, and slowly walks up to Mei's side, looking at their face to judge the mood.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei was staring at the dark crystals, a mix of concern, and sadness on their face. They walked closer to one of the crystals, placing their hand flat on it.* "l-lucent-...?" *They waited, not really expecting a response but they tried anyway.*

*They waited for about a minute or so before letting their hand rest at their side, and they stared at the ground. They thought over what had happened, then started to cry.* "lucent-..."

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li… almost beams with joy. The being that infected their sibling is dead! There’s nothing to fear!*

*And then they hate it. Hate how they’re happy when their sibling is crying. They don’t deserve this happiness. They should be sad like their sibling. They feel guilty for disagreeing with Mei*

*…*

*They hug Mei tightly, trying to comfort them while not knowing how*

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip looks at the crystals all around him dimming and time for him sort of just... stops. The following reactions of his companions are drowned out by just the realisation of what had just happened.*

It's dead.

*He looks off into the distance, turning his back to the others. His tone is that of happiness and yet also of anger?*

Good. It was about fucking time. What next?

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”Phillip!” *Mei shouted at him, giving him a bit of a glare,* “You can’t just- say that!!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

What?

*He flips around, turning to face Mei.*

It was nothing but a parasite!

*On that last word, what seems to be a faint orange light flickers through his eyes and then dims yet again.*

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”It was getting better!” *They retorted, not noticing the light in his eyes,* “Thats the entire reason why we’re here! To help it!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

You asked us to go with you! I don't think you ever even said why!

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"I-" *Mei stopped in their tracks, they don't think they ever said why either... To be fair though, Lucent didn't really tell them why until recently. They stood there, staring at the ground as tears silently fell from their eyes.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba gently nuzzles her joyfriend, her tail curling around them. Then after a moment, her spines lift slightly, her wings puff up a little, and she turns her head to glare at Phillip.*

"Lucent may have been more then annoying, may have taken over Mei at one point, but that doesn't mean that a being doesn't deserve a chance to change. And that certainly doesn't mean that you celebrate when it dies! No creature deserves that kind of disrespect, especially if that creature is trying to improve itself as it dies, slowly! You came here to help Mei with a mission. And it was clear from what they were saying that helping Lucent was the mission they were going to try to take on. So, if you're gonna celebrate *she spits out the word like poison*, have the decency to do it in your head, in your thoughts, and don't take it out on Mei."

@styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[styxs-nest]

A lump forms in Styx’s throat as he processes the death he just witnessed. As mixed as his feelings were about Lucent, he still couldn’t stomach how horrifyingly familiar it was to hear a dying voice. Neither could he stomach seeing Mei so stricken with grief.

But before he could give them a hug, he was taken aback at what Phillip said. As Mei and Phillip began to argue, Styx got worried and took a few steps back. Between the stress of Lucent’s death, Mei’s grief and the argument starting to boil, Styx was becoming overwhelmed. Eventually, his limbs began to shake.

THAT’SSSSS ENOUGH!!!!!

Styx’s eyes widened in shock at his own voice. He didn’t think he could shout so loud before, let alone hold so much frustration. His anger began to turn into guilt as he breathed out a tired sigh.

I apologize for shouting…

But Amba’s right. At the end of the day, we all agreed to go on thissss journey and sssupport Mei no matter what. We all have reasssson to feel the way we do, and I will neither pry nor judge any of you for thossse reasons. But arguing is-ssss not going to get us-ssss anywhere. And neither will openly celebrating death in front of the grieving.

Styx then joins Li and Amba in comforting Mei, giving them a hug.

@meifen-within-the-dark @li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinches as Styx shouts, though they listen to his words as more tears fall from their eyes. As soon as he hugs them, they return the hug, hugging Li as well. They give them both a tight squeeze as they fully start to sob.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li... stands in front of Mei, growling slightly, tears falling*

Do not speak ill of Mei's friend. You may think it as we do, you may wish it silently, but do not speak it. We are your friend, but we are Mei's sibling the most, and we are ready to make sure they are happy, for it is what makes us useful.

*Their tears are slowly turning orange as they fall to the floor*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip looks at all of them, his gaze flicking between Mei and Li mostly. He notices Li's tears turning the sickly orange that he knows so well, and he takes a deep breath.*

I am going to leave. Li, if you can follow, please do so.

@li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"w-wait-!" *Mei pulled back from the hug with Styx, wiping away their tears and grabbing his arm.* "Please dont go... I- i know we're all mad but i dont want you to leave.."

[meifen-within-the-dark]

Revives thin mint because I'm just that cool :3

ooc: i feel like i know this is rose lmao /hj anyway naur its ded forevers :)

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei led the group out of the tiny cave they were in and towards the Palace as they were instructed by Arc, walking through the abandoned marketplace that was apparently called "Souk", and towards the area ahead called "Lystic Caverns"*

*Once they got to said caverns, they stopped, looking up from the map and around the area, large orange and yellow crystals scattered about that had a faint glow to it that occasionally got brighter before sinking back into the faint glow, it was almost rhythmic, like.. breathing. It felt like there was some kind of presence here, though it was hard to tell what.*

*Mei walked up to one of the crystals, staring at it. It felt familiar to them, but they were not sure why.*

(ooc: sorry this is a bit late guys! i originally queued the post but smt happened so i had to re-write it </3)

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba slowly turns a circle, her eyes wide with wonder.*

"Wow... this place is interesting... like beautifully eerie, y'know? Almost like it's alive, or a big heart. What do you guys think?"

*She turns to the others, her gaze flicking around.*

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx takes time admiring the cavern. The breathing glow of the crystals made this cave feel somewhat… Uncanny… But at the same time, it was fascinating. He had never seen any place like this before.

Sssss. I have not thought of it like that, but now that you you mention it… Yessss. In a way, it feelssss like thisss cave is a form of life of ssssome sort.

@li-of-hidden-caves, @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip shudders when he sees the glowing orange crystals before walking toward one of them and smashing it with his cane.*

I think we shouldn't risk coming into contact with these. There's a chance they're something to do with the Infection.

@li-of-hidden-caves @amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinches as Phillip breaks one of the crystals, watching as the glow dissipates for a few moments before going bright again, continuing its rhythmic pulse.*

"I dont think the infection reaches that far.. it never left Hallownest until it brought a bug to Pharloom, and i dont think anyone knew about Neyst either..." *They replied, then hesitantly touched the crystal they were looking at. As soon as they touched it, all of the crystals in the cavern glowed a bit brighter, and a voice, ragged and clearly weakened significantly could be heard.*

"m..e.....i.... ......g....o..od..........h..ea...r....."

"woh-" *Mei stepped back from the crystal, looking back at the others and then at the crystal again. The voice sounded very familiar to them, they could only think of one bug of who it could be..* "....Lucent??"

@amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx flinched as the unfamiliar voice spoke, looking around, confused as to where it was coming from. Were the crystals talking? Was someone speaking through them?

Who’ssss there…?

He worried, hearing how weak the voice sounded. Was someone… dying?

@amba-the-hidden, @the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba swings her head around to look at the crystals, then Mei.*

"Oh... That's the one in your head..."

*She murmurs, disturbed.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li wakes up at the sound of the voice with a start, scrambling up and looking around frantically*

Where are we?! What's going on?! Who was that?!

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

...

*Phillip shatters another crystal.*

@amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Phillip!" *Mei gave Phillip a glare as the glow in the crystals falter.*

"it....f.....f..fi..n..e...... c...cry..s..t..al..s....o.....o-ohnl...y...l..et....s....s-spea...k.....y....y...o..u.."

*They looked back at the crystal,* "So these crystals let you speak to us? wohh thas cool!" *They then looked back at the group,* "Is okey guys! It's just Lucent! uhm... the..thing that had infected me... Its nice now though, dont worry!! It helped get Phillip out of the infection! Though its uhm... kinda dying now.."

"...a..m......s....s..so.r....r..y.....f..feor......t...h..a..t....m..mei.."

"Its okay! ...are you doing okay though? .. you sound worse than the last time i talked to you..."

".........."

"..n...no.."

"oh... :("

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx was unsure of what to feel, knowing the one who infected Mei— Lucent, apparently— was speaking through the crystals. On one hand, he couldn’t help but remain vigilant, given Mei implying it hadn’t been nice before. On the other hand, though, he couldn’t doubt that it was in bad shape, just by how weak its voice sounded.

It was a chilling sense of déjà vu.

He didn’t know what to do nor say, so he hesitantly walked forwards and stood next to Mei, hoping it would comfort them a bit.

@amba-the-hidden, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba frowns upon hearing the weak voice's admitance.*

"Is... is there anything we can do to help you? I mean; I guess that's why we're here... So, I guess the better question is how do we help you?"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"n...ot....m..much......c...c..a.n......d.......do.... ......i...i-if...f...in..d........s...s..c.r...sc..ar...v...... t..el..l....a...m..s....s..sor..y.."

"We will! We did find a bug but they werent a Scarav, i dont think... We're going to the Palace now since they gave us a map!" *They held up the map to the crystals even though they didnt think that it would be able to see it.* "How would telling the Scaravs that youre sorry help you though?"

*It sighed,* "i-it....w..won...t....h...e.l..p...h...e.al...."

"Oh... Then why did you want us to do it?"

"m..mes...sed....u..p...l....lon..g....t..im..e..a....go.....n..ev..er..s...ai..d....s...so..r........ ........."

".....?" *Mei tilted their head as Lucent trailed off, the crystals dimming a little.* "...Lucent?"

"..........s..so..r..y.." *It apologized, the crystals brightening.*

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department @styxs-nest

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip snaps a crystal off of the wall, looks at it suspiciously and puts it in a pocket in his cloak.*

We can take it places if it can talk through these, right? It can apologise to whoever it did wrong to itself.

@meifen-within-the-dark @li-of-hidden-caves @styxs-nest

[styxs-nest]

If it can sssspeak through them, then perhapssss.

Can it sssstill communicate through the crysssstals if detached from the wall?

@meifen-within-the-dark, @li-of-hidden-caves, @amba-the-hidden

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"c....an......b...b-b..ut is.....q.....qui...et.......ve..ry......qu...i...et"

"That's okay! If we find any Scaravs then we can give them the crystal and let them hear you up close!"

@amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba nods in agreement.*

"Even if you did kinda take over Mei, you apologized, and you deserve a chance to right your wrongs. Maybe the queens will forgive you!"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

Plus, if they don't forgive you, maybe they could put your crystals in a jar and use them as an energy source!

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li seems on edge, but stays quiet, although they do step a bit away from the crystals*

@styxs-nest @meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden

[styxs-nest]

Regardlesssss of what happensss-sss, we will be there with you if you choosssse to apologize.

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"t...th-..ank... y..y-you....." *It thanked, the crystal's light brightening a tiny bit before going dim again.*

"Ye!! We're here to help you, Lucent! If we werent then- well- we wouldnt be here anyway- heh-"

"i-it....m..me..ans...a...... ........................ a..l..lo..t....... t...hat.............. y..y-you..r.." *The crystal's light dims further as Lucent trails off again,* ".....y..ou..r.e.......h....h.e..l.......... .........h elp......i............"

"............" *Mei stays silent as it trails off once again, waiting patiently for it to finish but the continuation never happens, at least, after a full minute of waiting.*

".... Lucent?" *They call out, tilting their head.*

*The crystals dim further and further until the cave is no longer lit with the orange light, only darkness in place of it. The presence had disappeared as well.*

Visit Original Link

"Lucent?" *They called out again, getting worried as the cave is blanketed in darkness, though they did not get an answer.* "Lucent!"

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

As the light dies, and the darkness awakens, a pit forms in Styx’s stomach.

W-what’s happening

He did not need an answer, for he had a feeling he knew what it was. He wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba's eyes widen, and she looks around as the darkness blooms.*

"Oh... we... we were too late... It's... not there now..."

*She doesn't know how to feel as well, mirroring Styx's uncertainty. She shifts, her bioluminescence adding a little light back, and slowly walks up to Mei's side, looking at their face to judge the mood.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei was staring at the dark crystals, a mix of concern, and sadness on their face. They walked closer to one of the crystals, placing their hand flat on it.* "l-lucent-...?" *They waited, not really expecting a response but they tried anyway.*

*They waited for about a minute or so before letting their hand rest at their side, and they stared at the ground. They thought over what had happened, then started to cry.* "lucent-..."

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li… almost beams with joy. The being that infected their sibling is dead! There’s nothing to fear!*

*And then they hate it. Hate how they’re happy when their sibling is crying. They don’t deserve this happiness. They should be sad like their sibling. They feel guilty for disagreeing with Mei*

*…*

*They hug Mei tightly, trying to comfort them while not knowing how*

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip looks at the crystals all around him dimming and time for him sort of just... stops. The following reactions of his companions are drowned out by just the realisation of what had just happened.*

It's dead.

*He looks off into the distance, turning his back to the others. His tone is that of happiness and yet also of anger?*

Good. It was about fucking time. What next?

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”Phillip!” *Mei shouted at him, giving him a bit of a glare,* “You can’t just- say that!!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

What?

*He flips around, turning to face Mei.*

It was nothing but a parasite!

*On that last word, what seems to be a faint orange light flickers through his eyes and then dims yet again.*

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”It was getting better!” *They retorted, not noticing the light in his eyes,* “Thats the entire reason why we’re here! To help it!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

You asked us to go with you! I don't think you ever even said why!

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"I-" *Mei stopped in their tracks, they don't think they ever said why either... To be fair though, Lucent didn't really tell them why until recently. They stood there, staring at the ground as tears silently fell from their eyes.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba gently nuzzles her joyfriend, her tail curling around them. Then after a moment, her spines lift slightly, her wings puff up a little, and she turns her head to glare at Phillip.*

"Lucent may have been more then annoying, may have taken over Mei at one point, but that doesn't mean that a being doesn't deserve a chance to change. And that certainly doesn't mean that you celebrate when it dies! No creature deserves that kind of disrespect, especially if that creature is trying to improve itself as it dies, slowly! You came here to help Mei with a mission. And it was clear from what they were saying that helping Lucent was the mission they were going to try to take on. So, if you're gonna celebrate *she spits out the word like poison*, have the decency to do it in your head, in your thoughts, and don't take it out on Mei."

@styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[styxs-nest]

A lump forms in Styx’s throat as he processes the death he just witnessed. As mixed as his feelings were about Lucent, he still couldn’t stomach how horrifyingly familiar it was to hear a dying voice. Neither could he stomach seeing Mei so stricken with grief.

But before he could give them a hug, he was taken aback at what Phillip said. As Mei and Phillip began to argue, Styx got worried and took a few steps back. Between the stress of Lucent’s death, Mei’s grief and the argument starting to boil, Styx was becoming overwhelmed. Eventually, his limbs began to shake.

THAT’SSSSS ENOUGH!!!!!

Styx’s eyes widened in shock at his own voice. He didn’t think he could shout so loud before, let alone hold so much frustration. His anger began to turn into guilt as he breathed out a tired sigh.

I apologize for shouting…

But Amba’s right. At the end of the day, we all agreed to go on thissss journey and sssupport Mei no matter what. We all have reasssson to feel the way we do, and I will neither pry nor judge any of you for thossse reasons. But arguing is-ssss not going to get us-ssss anywhere. And neither will openly celebrating death in front of the grieving.

Styx then joins Li and Amba in comforting Mei, giving them a hug.

@meifen-within-the-dark @li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinches as Styx shouts, though they listen to his words as more tears fall from their eyes. As soon as he hugs them, they return the hug, hugging Li as well. They give them both a tight squeeze as they fully start to sob.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[meifen-within-the-dark]

ooc:

Visit Original Link

Transcript: (without pauses)

"thank you, it means a lot that you're- ..... y-you're... help..i...."

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei led the group out of the tiny cave they were in and towards the Palace as they were instructed by Arc, walking through the abandoned marketplace that was apparently called "Souk", and towards the area ahead called "Lystic Caverns"*

*Once they got to said caverns, they stopped, looking up from the map and around the area, large orange and yellow crystals scattered about that had a faint glow to it that occasionally got brighter before sinking back into the faint glow, it was almost rhythmic, like.. breathing. It felt like there was some kind of presence here, though it was hard to tell what.*

*Mei walked up to one of the crystals, staring at it. It felt familiar to them, but they were not sure why.*

(ooc: sorry this is a bit late guys! i originally queued the post but smt happened so i had to re-write it </3)

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba slowly turns a circle, her eyes wide with wonder.*

"Wow... this place is interesting... like beautifully eerie, y'know? Almost like it's alive, or a big heart. What do you guys think?"

*She turns to the others, her gaze flicking around.*

@styxs-nest @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx takes time admiring the cavern. The breathing glow of the crystals made this cave feel somewhat… Uncanny… But at the same time, it was fascinating. He had never seen any place like this before.

Sssss. I have not thought of it like that, but now that you you mention it… Yessss. In a way, it feelssss like thisss cave is a form of life of ssssome sort.

@li-of-hidden-caves, @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip shudders when he sees the glowing orange crystals before walking toward one of them and smashing it with his cane.*

I think we shouldn't risk coming into contact with these. There's a chance they're something to do with the Infection.

@li-of-hidden-caves @amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei flinches as Phillip breaks one of the crystals, watching as the glow dissipates for a few moments before going bright again, continuing its rhythmic pulse.*

"I dont think the infection reaches that far.. it never left Hallownest until it brought a bug to Pharloom, and i dont think anyone knew about Neyst either..." *They replied, then hesitantly touched the crystal they were looking at. As soon as they touched it, all of the crystals in the cavern glowed a bit brighter, and a voice, ragged and clearly weakened significantly could be heard.*

"m..e.....i.... ......g....o..od..........h..ea...r....."

"woh-" *Mei stepped back from the crystal, looking back at the others and then at the crystal again. The voice sounded very familiar to them, they could only think of one bug of who it could be..* "....Lucent??"

@amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx flinched as the unfamiliar voice spoke, looking around, confused as to where it was coming from. Were the crystals talking? Was someone speaking through them?

Who’ssss there…?

He worried, hearing how weak the voice sounded. Was someone… dying?

@amba-the-hidden, @the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba swings her head around to look at the crystals, then Mei.*

"Oh... That's the one in your head..."

*She murmurs, disturbed.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department, @li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li wakes up at the sound of the voice with a start, scrambling up and looking around frantically*

Where are we?! What's going on?! Who was that?!

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

...

*Phillip shatters another crystal.*

@amba-the-hidden @meifen-within-the-dark @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"Phillip!" *Mei gave Phillip a glare as the glow in the crystals falter.*

"it....f.....f..fi..n..e...... c...cry..s..t..al..s....o.....o-ohnl...y...l..et....s....s-spea...k.....y....y...o..u.."

*They looked back at the crystal,* "So these crystals let you speak to us? wohh thas cool!" *They then looked back at the group,* "Is okey guys! It's just Lucent! uhm... the..thing that had infected me... Its nice now though, dont worry!! It helped get Phillip out of the infection! Though its uhm... kinda dying now.."

"...a..m......s....s..so.r....r..y.....f..feor......t...h..a..t....m..mei.."

"Its okay! ...are you doing okay though? .. you sound worse than the last time i talked to you..."

".........."

"..n...no.."

"oh... :("

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

Styx was unsure of what to feel, knowing the one who infected Mei— Lucent, apparently— was speaking through the crystals. On one hand, he couldn’t help but remain vigilant, given Mei implying it hadn’t been nice before. On the other hand, though, he couldn’t doubt that it was in bad shape, just by how weak its voice sounded.

It was a chilling sense of déjà vu.

He didn’t know what to do nor say, so he hesitantly walked forwards and stood next to Mei, hoping it would comfort them a bit.

@amba-the-hidden, @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba frowns upon hearing the weak voice's admitance.*

"Is... is there anything we can do to help you? I mean; I guess that's why we're here... So, I guess the better question is how do we help you?"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"n...ot....m..much......c...c..a.n......d.......do.... ......i...i-if...f...in..d........s...s..c.r...sc..ar...v...... t..el..l....a...m..s....s..sor..y.."

"We will! We did find a bug but they werent a Scarav, i dont think... We're going to the Palace now since they gave us a map!" *They held up the map to the crystals even though they didnt think that it would be able to see it.* "How would telling the Scaravs that youre sorry help you though?"

*It sighed,* "i-it....w..won...t....h...e.l..p...h...e.al...."

"Oh... Then why did you want us to do it?"

"m..mes...sed....u..p...l....lon..g....t..im..e..a....go.....n..ev..er..s...ai..d....s...so..r........ ........."

".....?" *Mei tilted their head as Lucent trailed off, the crystals dimming a little.* "...Lucent?"

"..........s..so..r..y.." *It apologized, the crystals brightening.*

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department @styxs-nest

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip snaps a crystal off of the wall, looks at it suspiciously and puts it in a pocket in his cloak.*

We can take it places if it can talk through these, right? It can apologise to whoever it did wrong to itself.

@meifen-within-the-dark @li-of-hidden-caves @styxs-nest

[styxs-nest]

If it can sssspeak through them, then perhapssss.

Can it sssstill communicate through the crysssstals if detached from the wall?

@meifen-within-the-dark, @li-of-hidden-caves, @amba-the-hidden

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"c....an......b...b-b..ut is.....q.....qui...et.......ve..ry......qu...i...et"

"That's okay! If we find any Scaravs then we can give them the crystal and let them hear you up close!"

@amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba nods in agreement.*

"Even if you did kinda take over Mei, you apologized, and you deserve a chance to right your wrongs. Maybe the queens will forgive you!"

@li-of-hidden-caves @the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

Plus, if they don't forgive you, maybe they could put your crystals in a jar and use them as an energy source!

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li seems on edge, but stays quiet, although they do step a bit away from the crystals*

@styxs-nest @meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden

[styxs-nest]

Regardlesssss of what happensss-sss, we will be there with you if you choosssse to apologize.

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"t...th-..ank... y..y-you....." *It thanked, the crystal's light brightening a tiny bit before going dim again.*

"Ye!! We're here to help you, Lucent! If we werent then- well- we wouldnt be here anyway- heh-"

"i-it....m..me..ans...a...... ........................ a..l..lo..t....... t...hat.............. y..y-you..r.." *The crystal's light dims further as Lucent trails off again,* ".....y..ou..r.e.......h....h.e..l.......... .........h elp......i............"

"............" *Mei stays silent as it trails off once again, waiting patiently for it to finish but the continuation never happens, at least, after a full minute of waiting.*

".... Lucent?" *They call out, tilting their head.*

*The crystals dim further and further until the cave is no longer lit with the orange light, only darkness in place of it. The presence had disappeared as well.*

Visit Original Link

"Lucent?" *They called out again, getting worried as the cave is blanketed in darkness, though they did not get an answer.* "Lucent!"

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[styxs-nest]

As the light dies, and the darkness awakens, a pit forms in Styx’s stomach.

W-what’s happening

He did not need an answer, for he had a feeling he knew what it was. He wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

@amba-the-hidden @the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves

[amba-the-hidden]

*Amba's eyes widen, and she looks around as the darkness blooms.*

"Oh... we... we were too late... It's... not there now..."

*She doesn't know how to feel as well, mirroring Styx's uncertainty. She shifts, her bioluminescence adding a little light back, and slowly walks up to Mei's side, looking at their face to judge the mood.*

@the-hallownest-bio-department @li-of-hidden-caves @meifen-within-the-dark

[meifen-within-the-dark]

*Mei was staring at the dark crystals, a mix of concern, and sadness on their face. They walked closer to one of the crystals, placing their hand flat on it.* "l-lucent-...?" *They waited, not really expecting a response but they tried anyway.*

*They waited for about a minute or so before letting their hand rest at their side, and they stared at the ground. They thought over what had happened, then started to cry.* "lucent-..."

@li-of-hidden-caves

[li-of-hidden-caves]

*Li… almost beams with joy. The being that infected their sibling is dead! There’s nothing to fear!*

*And then they hate it. Hate how they’re happy when their sibling is crying. They don’t deserve this happiness. They should be sad like their sibling. They feel guilty for disagreeing with Mei*

*…*

*They hug Mei tightly, trying to comfort them while not knowing how*

@the-hallownest-bio-department

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

*Phillip looks at the crystals all around him dimming and time for him sort of just... stops. The following reactions of his companions are drowned out by just the realisation of what had just happened.*

It's dead.

*He looks off into the distance, turning his back to the others. His tone is that of happiness and yet also of anger?*

Good. It was about fucking time. What next?

@meifen-within-the-dark @amba-the-hidden @styxs-nest

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”Phillip!” *Mei shouted at him, giving him a bit of a glare,* “You can’t just- say that!!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

What?

*He flips around, turning to face Mei.*

It was nothing but a parasite!

*On that last word, what seems to be a faint orange light flickers through his eyes and then dims yet again.*

[meifen-within-the-dark]

”It was getting better!” *They retorted, not noticing the light in his eyes,* “Thats the entire reason why we’re here! To help it!”

[the-hallownest-bio-department]

You asked us to go with you! I don't think you ever even said why!

[meifen-within-the-dark]

"I-" *Mei stopped in their tracks, they don't think they ever said why either... To be fair though, Lucent didn't really tell them why until recently. They stood there, staring at the ground as tears silently fell from their eyes.*

@styxs-nest @amba-the-hidden @li-of-hidden-caves