This is the dreaded Infected Au I have been hinting at for a while! I have finally finished this ramble of it! Now this is not an exact story, it is more like a third perspective from mainly Ingressus and a bit from Thalleous. Also a HUGE shout out to my Cowriter @browntaildraws for helping me with this and letting me scream at her about this AND introducing me to Hollow Knight and Songs of War lol So everyone knows; this is just an idea in the works. I have no huge plans for it unfortunately. But if anyone wants to use the idea I don't mind! Just credit me please! And there might be another post further explaining the infection sometime.
Another thing before you read I should probably put a warning right now: Descriptions of violence, mentions of blood and gore, and death.
Everything is mostly the same as canon lore wise up until midway through the First Great War. There is a slow decrease of Ardoni fighting in the field, and those that are still in the field appear almost disassembled. As if they do not even know why they are there or what they are supposed to be doing.
At least from reports that Ingressus had been receiving from his men. He had not been out in the field to see this for himself.
This does not exactly worry Ingressus immediately, but what does is the fact that it seems like Achillean just suddenly disappeared. The last sighting of him was from months ago, and was him heading towards Sendaria.
Ingressus convinces King Chronos to send a few of his men to act as spies; to see if they can find the Tidesinger, but oddly enough, none ever return. This was already rising Ingressus suspiciousions but then a large group of humans were caught appearing to be fleeing from something. When pressed they just said that the Ardoni had gone insane and had invaded their small village slaughtering all in their paths.
Ingressus was now truly worried about what was happening with the other Ardoni clans.
Once again he speaks to King Chronos and convinces him to send out a sizable army of wither skeleton warriors out towards the Ardoni lands. As sending spies has proven useless, and these humans would rather run towards the Nether and certain death or worse because of the Ardoni.
This time some do come back, not all of them, barely a handful compared to what was sent. However they have brought back an Ardoni with them.
Thalleous Sendaris.
The Sendaris was deathly silent, twitchy around every little movement and very dull. His body was covered in gaping wounds, dried mud and some sort of clumpy vibrant red goo. It seemed to be stuck to his skin, but the Sendaris never let anyone touch it. The blue markings that once shone brightly on the Sendaris were dull, and the first time Ingressus saw him he thought the Sendaris were actively dying.
When the warriors were questioned they didn't say much, seeming far too out of it themselves. But one did speak up for a moment to say that Thalleous had begun to follow them when they retreated from Sendaria. When ordered to explain why they retreated there was silence before the one murmured that the prisoner would know more than they would.
Thalleous did not speak when they dragged him into a prison, he did not make a sound when they attempted to get answers out of him. He did not speak even when a Voltaris came in and wrapped his wounds besides a few grunts and hisses when they attempted to interact with the goo.
It was not until Ingressus himself came down did he finally start talking.
The first words Thalleous finally spoke were; "Achillean killed Master Aegus."
Ingressus had not been given time to process that sentence, much less form a reply before more words came pouring out from Thalleous;
Achillean had been acting strange for a while, no one could quite remember when it started. He had become short tempered with his soldiers, he had been becoming far more violent on and off the battlefield even in negotiations, and he would disappear for long periods of time at random points during the day without a word and would refuse to say where he had gone. It all came to a head when he struck one of his own men for something rather minor, in the middle of his camp, Thalleous did not know what the man had done, he never learned. Doesn't matter now though.
Several reports had been sent back to the Masters, they called Achillean back from the front lines immediately. All four of the Masters traveled to Sendaria to confront The Tidesinger.
The Masters summoned the Nestoris in the middle of the village to demand answers for his recent actions. Thalleous had been there, and before it had begun he remembered seeing Achillean's eyes. They were the same color and shape they had always been but something was wrong. They looked almost completely hollow, devoid of any emotion. It had been unsettling.
The Tidesinger did not react when the Masters' demanded answers, he did not even appear to be breathing from a distance. Master Aegus had approached him, trying to get the Nestoris to answer. Thalleous couldn't remember what he had been saying but he recalled that Master Aegus had been far more gentle with Achillean then the others. Thalleous remembered that specifically because he thought it was foolish considering the Tidesingers actions.
Then Achillean had just jumped on his Master. There was instant panic and shouting that had followed, but Thalleous could clearly remember seeing Achillean ripe out the Master's throat with his teeth. His eyes were bright and feral.
Guards had rushed forward and tried to pull Achillean off of Master Aegus, but that was what made it worse. Or at least that is what Thalleous believed, he wasn't sure if it would have happened without their intervention.
There was a red light, inside of Achillean, It seemed to be coming from his torso. Almost like a song powering up, but what came out of him was no song. When the guards tried to yank him back, this vile red goo came spouting from his mouth like a river. It sprayed everywhere, all over Master Aegus’ body, over the guards and the ground. Then he just… Slumped, like he was dead, but his markings were glowing. And it was silent, completely and utterly silent. A very brave guard grabbed his body and pulled him away from Master Aegus.
Thalleous was not sure how long everyone just stood there, felt like hours but must have been only a few minutes. It was Master Aegus that finally broke the frozen terror that had grabbed everyone. He began to twitch. One of the Master must have shouted an order, Thalleous had not been listening. Because Master Aegus' markings were dimming into a lifeless grey, but the twitching was only growing more violent.
A healer had approached him, and was leaning over him. Covering the wound maybe, but then the fully dull Nestoris Master sprung up with more energy than Thalleous had ever seen from the old Master. And he was screaming, screaming some awful sound that was beyond blood curdling.
It was a blur from there, Thalleous was quite certain the dead Master had torn off the healer's arm. And he hadn't stopped with the healer, he moved so fast that those closest did not have time to react before he was one of them. And the red gore was coming from him now, getting everywhere and on everyone he killed. And eventually they must have gotten up as well. But Thalleous had gotten shoved and fallen into a den.
Thalleous trails off, and Ingressus just… Stood there. Staring at the former Champion like he was insane, which at the moment in time he might have been. But instead of shouting or accusing like he should have done, he looked down at Thalleous' hands. One of them was nearly covered in goo.
He grabbed Thalleous wrist and pulled it up to examine. Thalleous merely muttered not to touch it with his bare hands. Ingressus asked why. Thalleous said it was infectious, once it got on your skin it would not come off.
Ingressus looked down at the goo. It appeared to be wet, and thrumming like a deformed heart, and on an odd impulse Ingressus put his thumb over Thalleous pulse. His heart was beating at the same pace as the goo was twitching.
What happened to Achillean, was finally the first question Ingressus had about Thalleous’ story. The only question he could manage to pull together while his mind was struggling to comprehend everything he had been told.
Thalleous did not speak for a long time, and Ingressus yanked his arm forward, careful of the infectious goo and shouted the question again.
Thalleous said he was not sure, when he had finally pulled himself out of the den he had fallen in, the village was a massacre. The red goo was mixed with blood and flesh and limbs on the ground and Ardoni were fighting each other. Thalleous paused for a moment again, before he corrected himself and said they were ripping each other apart.
The only thing that Thalleous remembered was Achillean's body had not been in the spot he had last seen it. It was months before he saw it again.
Ingressus asked how Thalleous lasted that long, and the Sendaris explained that some dens in Sendaria connected to an underground system. He had run down there, and had been surviving on the resources stored there. The infected as he came to call them found their ways down eventually, but he had barricaded himself in a tunnel. They nearly got in many times. And even a few had, but he had killed them.
It was the army Ingressus and King Chronos had sent that had drawn them out of the tunnels and the village, and it had given Thalleous a chance to escape. The infected had attacked the army of skeletons and tore their bones apart just as they had done to each other. When the few remaining ran, Thalleous had followed.
It was as he was running away that he looked back one more time, and saw it.
Achillean, or what was left. It was standing in the center of all that carnage and watching Thalleous run.
It barely looked like Achillean anymore; the red goo had grown over his entire torso and nearly half his face. It was like a giant muscle twitching as a sporadic beat. But in the middle of that mass, was a song protruding out of it. The Aggressium Prime Song.
