#but being a ghost makes rationalising easier when you have no mortal worries

[thehappiestgolucky]

STARING AT THIS YES YES

It’s Xero witnessing, even briefly, a small child be treated and trained as a machine. An unthinking, unblinking machine that can only carry out commands.

And he doubts it. He can see it. Machines don’t have large child eyes staring up at you, filled with so many emotions a child shouldn’t have to experience so young. A machine doesn’t observe the world with a silent curiosity, a machine is a construct that only repeats processes, not organically learn from trial and error. The King and Queen may say that this is child will stop the infection, but a part of him is so horrified he begins to doubt that this will solve anything.

And yet, when this dawning realisation hits that the King isn’t as he seems, all that it becomes is a seed for the infection to finally take a strong hold. The doubt he feels about the King, the kingdom itself, finally allows the infection to bloom, to force him to do things his own mind objects. The horrifying intrusive thoughts becoming a dawning and alarming reality.

And Hollow doesn’t know. Doesn’t desperately tries not to think about this knight. He is gone they don’t like that

Someone in the tags of my last Xero post (you know who you are) talked about the similarities between a doodle and Hollow so naturally I couldn’t stop thinking about Xero and Hollow.

I love the idea that Xero was a loved and respected knight. The idea he saw Hollow as a child and knew, knew, this was a child. And Hollow so, so young, feeling guilt about even letting this knight show kindness and love to them - when they were meant to be hollow (oh but they couldn’t be)

Do you think they felt guilty? When they overheard Xero raise his voice at the King, quickly hushed, because he dared suggest Hollow was a child? When they started seeing this knight less and less, scared that their father was furious at him? When suddenly this knight was executed, for betraying the king? Was it their fault? Should they have never allowed him to be himself, ran to avoid indulging in the tiny moments of someone looking at them as a person? Did they even know Xero was falling to the infection? Would that make it feel worse?

They were both victims of an infection, bound by gods with their own desires. No one wins in a gods game.