#darkside being a moth is a last minute decision honestly

[pixillandjester]

Finally showing what i envisioned with luna having eyes at the back of his hands showing darkside!

Dracula lookin ass

[sophi-s]

It's been a while since I last touched my Darksiders/Hollow Knight crossover thingy. It's because I'm mostly out of ideas. I tried to do Avarice but I'm kinda scared where this is gonna go from the point I got to 😂

To fill in a hole, I give you a short backstory for Moth!Azrael (with Abaddon being mentioned there, of course).

Just a head's up, Azrael is sad. Very sad.

Out of all members of the long gone moth tribe, the powerful sorcerer Azrael was the most devoted to their Goddess, the Radiance. He used to teach hatchlings her ways and spread her religion wherever he went, acting kind of as her prophet. As long as the bugs of the land that would eventually become Hallownest remained in Radiance's grasp, primitive and following the basest of instincts, all linked to their hive mind, everything seemed to be just fine. But this serenity was abruptly broken by the arrival of the Pale King.

The Wyrm granted bugs the ability to formulate thoughts and a free will of their own. Not long after this, they started to turn their backs on the Radiance, choosing this new God, pale as moonlight, a stark contrast to the sun they used to revere. Eventually, even the moths abandoned her. All of them. Except for Azrael. Of course, possessing free will meant freedom of choice. And he chose the Radiance.

At first, the Goddess hid away, deep inside her Realm of Dreams, hurt and slowly fading as her followers left and forgot her. Azrael attempted to console her, assuring her that he's, after all, still there for her and that as long as he lives, so will she.

But it wasn't long before hurt turned into bitterness and bitterness into blind rage. Radiance unleashed the Infection upon Hallownest as an act of desperation and aggression against the Pale King. To say Azrael was horrified, would've been an understatement. The Goddess he knew his whole life, one who loved him like her own son, one he loved like his own mother (to some extent, she was his mother), transformed from the soft sunlight he trusted into a twisted monster blinded by spite, driven by vengeance against the Wyrm.

Azrael tried reasoning with the enraged Goddess but to no avail. Heartbroken and scared, he eventually left her side like all others have before him. His kind nature couldn't stand the atrocities committed in the name of petty revenge.

One day, the one who unintentionally angered the Radiance, extended his hand to Azrael and proposed an alliance, offering the depressed moth a way out of the hole he found himself in. Azrael reluctantly accepted and soon had a new purpose.

To some extent, Azrael recovered and even made some friends in the White Palace (Monomon and Quirrel were his fellow scholars and he enjoyed their company) as he attempted to aid the King in battling the Infection. The moth tribe began to die out until very few of them remained and Azrael was one of them.

Though he was utterly devoted to stopping the plague of the Old Light, his faith in the Pale Monarch faltered once he learned what the Wyrm intends to do to the silent child who one day returned to the Palace with him. And when he discovered what the King had done to create the Pure Vessel, the scholar was left heartbroken and betrayed once again but… Should he remain alone, he'd surely succumb to grief and fall down. Honestly, he couldn't decide which of the two was worse. A once loved Goddess driven mad by lust for vengeance after the loss of her children? Or the Pale Wyrm who was willing to sacrifice everything to achieve his goals? After some time with his thoughts, Azrael settled on the latter. The King at least had good intentions and wished to save Hallownest and his subjects, no matter the cost, while Radiance was forcing innocent bugs under her whim in hopes of reaching and getting rid of the Wyrm once and for all. Trying to seek out the Fallen Brother of the Radiance was out of question as Azrael had no wish to get involved in the affairs of the Nightmare King.

At some point in time, Azrael was approached by his friend, one of the generals of the Pale King, Abaddon. The other bug told the moth he was having dreams of searing light and a soft but spiteful voice calling him, telling him to "remember" and "destroy the Pale Usurper". First symptoms of the Infection.

Because Azrael was a moth, he knew a lot about the Dream Realm and even wielded a Dream Nail of his own. This is exactly the reason Abaddon came to him. No amount of convincing would dissuade the stubborn warrior from taking the steps against the source of the Infection that was the Radiance. Azrael eventually agreed to help, even though he knew his friend stood no chance against the Goddess. If they didn't do anything, he would meet fate worse than death but if he tried, he would surely perish. A lose-lose situation. However… if somehow, by a stroke of luck this mad plan succeeded.. It was worth a shot. If only to end the suffering and spare the Hollow Child from the torment awaiting them.

In secret from the King, Azrael and Abaddon retreated into the Resting Grounds where the veil between the Dreams and Reality is thin. Using herbs and magic, Azrael managed to project Abaddon's consciousness into the Dream Realm, first lending him all the strength he could spare.

His fears were unfortunately confirmed as not even two hours since falling asleep Abaddon suddenly started to convulse violently, shaking and letting out strained screams of pain. Radiance was undoubtedly winning. It was over in barely a minute. The unyielding warrior passed away on Azrael's hands before the moth had a chance to pull him back into the waking world.

Ashamed, devastated and terrified, Azrael laid his friend to rest in a grave beside his beloved who succumbed to the Infection long ago and returned to the White Palace. The King would've heard about it sooner or later. As expected, the Monarch was not pleased by the news. However, with how useful Azrael was, all Wyrm did to punish the moth for disobedience and indirectly causing the death of one of the most skilled warriors of Hallownest was forbid him from ever setting foot in the Palace again until he revokes this decision.

After this fiasco, the Infection seemed to be spreading even faster, decimating entire villages in merely a couple months. There was no way of stopping it. The only one who could make a difference was the teenage Pure Vessel. But they still needed time to grow up and finish their training.

Azrael spent about four days in exile before something strange happened. While he was at the Blue Lake to enjoy some peace and quiet, a sound of footsteps ripped him out of his silent musings. When he turned around, his heart skipped. He could've sworn he saw his deceased friend dart across the pathway to the Crossroads. Confused and apprehensive, Azrael decided to investigate. And that was a mistake.

Once the moth caught up with his friend who limped through the caverns, he realised what a fool he'd been as a single, orange eye glared at him beside a ruined, empty eye socket. Infected. But Abaddon - or rather his infested corpse - didn't charge at Azrael. With a disturbing, garbled voice, he told the moth that the Radiance wants to speak with him face-to-face. It didn't seem he had much choice. Using his Dream Nail, Azrael travelled to the Realm of his mistress. Soon, he found himself before his once beloved Goddess who pleaded for him to help her crush the Pale King. Return her children he'd taken from her. Azrael again tried to reason with her but still in vain. If anything, the Radiance decided sadly the King managed to corrupt even his once pure thoughts to turn him against her. But she neither killed nor Infected Azrael. She still loved him after all.

One of the last members of the moth tribe vanished without a trace, leaving the Pale Court in confusion. His spirit, trapped by his "mother" in the Dream Realm - as she hoped she will be able to eventually convince him to return to her side, to be her son again without forcing the Infection into his mind - remains shackled to the Dream without a chance for rescue. Azrael patiently awaits the end of the Infection, hoping that either Radiance will eventually let go, or the Pale King actually succeeds in defeating her for good. Until then, his body protected by a Seal of Binding - created by the Radiance herself - slumbers hidden away from the world under the supervision of the former Champion of the Wyrm, nobody (except for the Infected as they share the mind of the Old Light) knows where, waiting for someone to release him from the hold of the vengeful Goddess.