That pulsing emptiness... Truly, it has been transformed by the revelations it found.
- White Lady
Solidarity: Part Two
Taylor screamed as she collapsed down on to the ground. Her head was on fire, and her eyes stung with tears. Thoughts flew through her brain quicker than she could process; what had happened, what was that, and finally, where was she?
"HATYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYA!"
That wasn't her!?
Taylor's head whipped towards the sound of screaming.
Herself?
Taylor's mouth hung open at what she saw. The person was...Taylor, a gangly teenage girl with long dark hair and baggy clothes. The other Taylor was crouched on the ground, hand over her head, and shaking. It was a pitiful scene that cut Taylor deeper than she ever could have expected; was this what she looked like at school?
Taylor tried to think quickly, not easy with a massive headache, about the correct response. Someones crying infront of you, what to do?
Her legs shook as she went to her feet. The other Taylor was only a couple feet from herself, and it didn't take long to make the distance. Taylor just barely saved herself from falling on her twin but ended up throwing an arm over her shoulder in a half hug.
Hug? Idly Taylor recognized the ludicrousness of that statement. She couldn't remember the last time she was hugged by… by anyone, really. In fact, Taylor wasn't sure why she rushed to this unknown person that looked like her. Taylor noted that she was probably not responding to this situation in the usual way.
The other Taylor froze under her touch, and her screaming turned to sobs. A sudden feeling of awkwardness came over Taylor as she tried to soothe the other… her. The thought of how her mom dealt with a younger Taylor, crossed her mind. Taylor swiped the stray memory of yesteryear away; she didn't have time for that.
Taylor finally looked at her surroundings as she rocked the 'other' back and forth. They seemed to be on a great pillar of some kind, a familiar location. The sky was filled with golden clouds that passed both above and below. Taylor turned to where she knew the throne was; Godseeker sat-
Taylor paused.
Where did she know that name? Taylor winced at the small spike of pain shooting through her head.
There was movement beneath her arms. Taylor moved a little as the other Taylor sat back on her haunches. Slowly, she made eye contact with the other Taylor.
They were white; her eyes were pure white. Taylor could do nothing but stare.
[Query… I am confused. Host?]
The girl did not speak the words. Taylor looked around in confusion until she realized that the voice sounded a lot like herself.
"Are… did you just speak to me? In my head?"
The pale eye Taylor nodded. Taylor forced her heart to calm itself; this was getting very weird.
"Who are you, and why do you look like me?"
[I… I?]
Taylor wasn't sure how she knew, but she was given the impression of confusion and distress from the other girl. It was on her face, but Taylor could also feel it. That could just be her own feelings, though.
[Self can answer your questions]
Both girls turned to see the owner of the new 'voice' that spoke. The person, being, was a very familiar figure. The memories flooded back into Taylor. She remembered the roof, and Lung prepared to kill her and… and the shadowy person that saved her.
Yes, she remembered his name; he was self and Void.
Self, Myla, Quirrel, Grimm,
Sister, Brother.
Those memories were not hers, they were his; memories of a god. Those memories of that buried kingdom belonged to Self.
"Gods!" Taylor palmed her aching head.
[Self is sorry. Self did not expect the process would be painful]
[What?]
"Was that," Taylor finished the other Taylor's thought.
[Yes, This happened because Self connected to your Soul. This sharing of memories was to understand and to change]
Soul: The thing, the power that animates bug's bodies. Taylor's brow creased in concern; how did she know that?
[The memory transference]
Taylor looked back at the other, wondering if she could hear her thoughts. It was a scary thing to think about. Taylor still was unsure how she could do that.
[It's because of what I am]
The other Taylor suddenly looked a lot more apprehensive.
[This is so strange, I shouldn't be feeling like this. I know what emotions are but this is different]
"What does that mean?"
[Her name is Queen Administrator, that was her role at least. She is what you would call your power]
Taylor said nothing; she thought of nothing as well. All she did was blankly stare as she processed what Self said.
"So powers are alive. Where did they come from? And what did you do to her!?" Taylor couldn't help the anger from her voice, and the small feeling of possessiveness. It-she was Taylor's Power after all, which was still weird, and Taylor didn't want people to mess with her Power. It was one of the few things that was hers.
[Their origins are hard to explain. What did Self do to her? To answer that, you must understand her purpose. Queen Administrator?]
She did not answer immediately; instead, Queen Administrator looked at her host. Taylor wasn't sure, but it seemed the Power was looking for something. The question was, what?
Encouragement maybe? Noting that she still had Queen Administrator in a half hug, she gave her a small squeeze. It had been so very long since she had a friend that would do something like that.
[I am… I was a shard of an entity. They have no names, but Star Wyrm is a good enough description.]
Taylor remembered; the two great whales twisting in the Void of space. The light that came for her that slammed into her was-
[That was me. Those two great beings were the closest thing I have to "parents" although it's not that simple] Queen Administrator paused, her face contorted as if unsure how to continue. Taylor was amazed as she looked at her Power, this was incredible. Taylor was sure she should be panicking right now, either at the truth bomb she was being hit with or the blatant use of telepathic communication. Yet, Taylor didn't feel overwhelmed at the moment; that probably should have scared her even more.
[Our purpose was data, to gather it, and to experiment. We would learn and take this Data back to our "parents" at the end of the cycle-] a sob came out of the girl as she started crying again.
Self walked over and placed a shadowy hand on Queen's shoulder. Instantly after contact, the girl calmed down, regaining control over herself.
[Self may have underestimated the result of the data exchange]
"Data exchange?"
Self turned his gaze to Taylor. There was a subtle shift of his appearance; it became close to his true Voidself.
[The Star Wyrms love data, they love information, as you might know, knowledge is power. So that's what Self did, but then that, Self gave her more data than she could handle. with your help, we changed Queen Administrator]
The whisper of a quote floated into Taylor's mind, 'If you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.' It was evident that her Power gazed too long… and Taylor realized something else.
She gazed into that abyss too. Is that why.
But the question of why was still bugging the teenager.
"So, she became more human? Something like that, right? Why would that cause a panic attack!?"
[Empathy]
Taylor looked back into her copied face with confusion.
[So many… so many are dead]
Dead? Taylor was confused by this… this confession. Who was dead?
The surroundings shifted, the clouds raced by as Taylor found herself at the bank of a small golden pond. The air felt frozen as Taylor let out a breath, the clods were also frozen in place.
Taylor looked over and let out a small gasp. They were all here; the towering figure of Unn, Voidseeker, is formally known as Godseeker and her family. Taylor shook her head; it was self's family, not hers.
There was a small pang of sadness in her gut.
They were all nothing but window dressing compared to the two figures in the center of the lake. Self was tiny in this form, and he was even smaller compared to the six-foot being he was practically standing on.
The second figure was fascinating, His skin was a Golden-red, two giant moth wings protruded from his back, and his four great horns added another couple feat to his height. They were also lit on fire.
The figure was on his knees as Self held onto the Dream Nail buried in his chest. Void tendrils were shooting out of the ground, holding the golden man down.
Soul and essence poured from the wound that was being created by Self. A visible wave of power was pushing the liquid gold away from the two.
Taylor noticed that, like their surroundings, and everyone else, the scene infront of her was frozen. It was as if time was at a standstill.
Taylor was hit with a sense of confusion and worry that was not her own. Turning her head, she found her Power standing next to her, a series of complex emotions rit on her face.
[This is a memory]
Looking to her left, she found Voidself standing. His gaze was fixed on the frozen moment of time.
[Tell me Taylor does that remind you of anyone you may know of]
Taylor thought about the question. What other golden man has she seen-Taylor froze mid-thought as she recognized the connection. Her immediate response was to deny; it was insane to think of it.
[That is an avatar. The Warrior, my 'Father' uses a similar one as well. You may know him as Scion, or Zion]
Scion was a Star Wyrm, an entity that gives people powers. That must mean he was one of the giant whale things from before. Taylor didn't know what to think; the revelation of the world's first parahuman was too much, although it made a weird sort of sense. There were other questions to be asked like why this particular Wyrm and Self were they fighting.
[They're fighting because there is no other way]
"Why is fighting the only way?"
[Because… at the end of the cycle, the Star Wyrms will destroy the host species, their planet, and all versions of that planet in all possible universes they can find. Omnicide complete and total… To make sure the host will never threaten them]
Taylor saw a world much like Earth, destroyed, and all life snuffed out. A prediction or memory?
"Wha………."
Taylor felt her legs give way as she fell on the grass-covered marble of the plinth.
"This is," Taylor didn't continue, what could she say? She looked up to her Power, her face still creased with indecision and worry.
"That's what you meant by data, isn't it? We are just lab subjects to be used and discarded." The comment was biting and heated, but Taylor didn't have the energy for any real force to her word. Taylor was just too mentally exhausted at the moment. Her first day caping had really gone off the rails.
The sound of rustling beside her alerted Taylor to Queen Administrator sitting down beside her.
[For what it's worth I… I'm sorry]
Taylor sighed; there was nothing she could say. She could be made, but that would be pointless. The shards don't really have a choice, at least from what Taylor had piece together. No, Taylor wasn't going to be angry with Queen Administrator, because where would that leave her? Back in the locker, most likely.
However.
"Your father sucks, though."
That got a laugh from the other girl, [He's also an idiot. His partner, Eden my 'mother' died when they came to Earth]
The other Wyrm; Taylor's eyes rose, "How did that happen?"
[Not all Star Wyrms are as vindictive, paranoid, or mean as Zion and Eden]
Taylor's mind was filled with images of a Small Thing. Its surface was warped and shaped like polished obsidian near unrecognizable to the darkness it traveled. It offered a trade to the Thinker, to Eden. It left, bypassing Earth entirely.
Eden was distracted; she fell to the Earth and was killed. The Loner, The Small thing, had poisoned Eden and sent her to her death. Earth had a secret benefactor, it seemed.
Good, but Taylor just wished it stayed and finished the job and did just a little more to help but who was she? Only a tiny human. Taylor wondered if it would have been too much to ask for some of its mightiest children to help out at least. Maybe some anti-endbringers.
[Eden is not the only dead Wyrm]
As Self 'spoke' the world seemed to unfreeze. Taylor was almost swept back by the pure force emanating from the conflict in the lake's center. Her hands came to her ears of their own volition as the sound of battle reached her ears.
The Wyrm was shrinking, wailing, a sound unnatural to human senses. The beast was thrashing as the memory of Self held onto his Nail, as Self plunged it deeper into avatar's chest.
[IT'S DIEING], Taylor's Power shouted over their mental link. She, too, seemed affected by sheer weight behind what was going on.
Suddenly a hand was on her shoulder, locking her to her spot. Looking up, Taylor found Self was standing between herself and Queen Administrator. He had a hand around her as well.
[Prepare yourselves]
As if responding to his words, the battle between Wyrm and God stilled. The Golden monster fell to the water, as flakes of white essence floated into the endless sky.
Was it over?
BOOOOOOOM!
Past Self was blown back as the corpse of the Star Wrym exploded into a red-black vortex of hate. Taylor felt her clothes start to be pulled towards the thing. Although this was a memory Taylor was glad that Self was holding her in place, she didn't want to test what would happen if she was pulled in.
"It's self destructing!" The large form of Unn shouted. The mother goddess started grabbing the Little Vessels too weak to hold themselves down.
"Is this happening in reality TOO," shouted a panicked Hornet. Taylor looked behind her, and saw the family and friends of Voidself were struggling to hold themselves down.
Taylor turned her head to her Power; she was met with a grim look.
[Evrey Wrym is different, but a suicide revenge function is not out of the realm of possibility]
Taylor watched as rock, stone, and liquid was thrown about, creating a dense tornado of debris around the vortex.
"How did you survive this!"
[Not all of us did]
The epicenter of destruction began to pulse in an ominous shower of dark reds and purples. It was at that moment, something burst beneath the surface of the water.
Roots.
Dozens then hundreds of roots began rising, throwing themselves around the terrible corona that the Wyrm created. Taylor's eyes widened as she recognized the bright white color of the wood.
Her suspicions were confirmed as a pale figure rose out of the gold. It was the White Lady, not as tall as she was in Taylor, no Self's memories. Taylor had to remind herself of the difference. Emotions of longing and regret, some her own and some not, rose through her gut, but Taylor pushed them away. There was time for that later.
The difference in height was not the only change to the old Queen. She looked far more… human, strangely enough. Her hair was that of leaves, and her feet were root; those roots connected her to the vast spherical prison she was creating around the Wyrm's corps.
As the vines, and tree bark closed, the pulling sensation dissipated.
Hornet and the memory of Self rushed forward to their mother. Taylor tried to move forward without realizing it, but Self's grip was secure and did not yield. Taylor looked up into the eyes of the God and sighed. No words nor thoughts need to be exchanged.
The memory played out, as the two siblings talked with their mother. There was a shout from Hornet, a cry of negation, and suddenly, Hollow Knight was rushing to his sister. There was a brief struggle as the much larger sibling picked up Hornet and leaped back to the shore. The Gender child had tears rolling down her face as she reached for her last living mother.
"No, Mother! Please!"
Sounds of screeching tires and twisting metal. her mother's phone clicking off.
The White Lady did not respond to her daughter and instead focused on the prison she had created. A golden light was shining through the cracks of the Pale bark, pulsating with sinister intent. A slow, humming noise reached Taylor's ears.
There was a moment where Self bloomed into his full extent; The Void Heart. Shadows sprung to his command and swallowed the sphere.
The next second was filled with an all-encompassing vision of white-hot light.
And then...
Taylor was back on the roof.
A/N: So I rushed this one definitely so any criticisms are appreciated (thank you to the Beta's that took a look at this one). I will admit that this one is a bit exposition-heavy.
A/N 2: I'm thinking about putting a spoiler post about what Self actually did to Taylor and QA, because he did not explain the full extent. Not sure though so tell me what you think.
A/N 3: Solidarity is a short chapter and will go until it catches up to Collision. So this means about two more parts may be as few as one depending on how things work out.
