Never

Chapter 37: Change without Return

A general pain ran through Hollow's shell, one so intense it was unlike anything he remembered feeling. Not even after working or training to the limit of him did he feel such exhaustion. What was wrong with him? Had he gotten sick? That would be very strange, the vessels did not get sick.

"(Hollow? Are you okay?)" Green asked as soon as he noticed his brother regaining consciousness.

"(You finally woke up, you were very restless and noisy, we were about to call Big)" Lumis added.

Both vessels had been taking care of Hollow since they heard him scream during the dream. In their desire to help him they tried to wake him up in every possible way with unsuccessful results, so now they sighed in relief when they saw him awake. The knight noticed how worried they were and did not want to fright them further by mentioning the pain he felt so he opted to give a more reassuring message.

"Don't worry, I'm fine... Eh?"

Were his senses deceiving him or had he heard his voice? And not only that, he sensed the vibration of the sound in his throat.

"Ah... Ah... AAAAAHHH?"

"(Green do you hear what I hear?)"

"(I hear it! Hollow spoke loud, Doesn't your throat hurt?)"

"N-no... Actually... It feels very natural, I don't have a hard time talking or anything ... Did the Lord of the Shades give me a voice like Big?"

"(I don't know, I think the change encompasses much more than just the voice, there is something about you that looks different)" Lumis adjusted his fake glasses to give himself an intellectual air "(Does it bother you if we check you a little?)"

Hollow nodded somewhat uncertainly and had his reasons, just like most of the vessels, Lumis and Green were very enthusiastic and as soon as he authorized them, they threw themselves on top of him to see what new thing Hollow had. It took just one touch to notice the change. Hollow screamed and backed away from them, covering himself with his cloak and they were dumbfounded at the situation.

"(Your skin... It's not the same ...)" Green said.

"(It's tough... Like IN a normal insect ...)" Lumis noticed the way Hollow was covering himself and worried "(Did we hurt you?)"

"Not really... It's just... It felt weird... I got nervous and laughed... Is this what they call tickling? And now that I think about it, everything feels different."

He leaned back on the bed making sure most of his body was in contact with the sheets.

"Were these things always this nice?"

"(I guess?)" Green walked over to him and took his hand. "(Your body is now more sensitive, your skin is tougher and you have a voice... Can you by chance take off your mask?)".

Hollow held his breath, beginning to understand where his brother's suspicions were going. He nervously sat up and put his hands on his neck looking for the point where the mask ended to remove it, but he found nothing, his head was perfectly attached to his body.

"I can't"

"(What do you mean you can't?)" Lumis asked incredulously "(Did it get stuck or something?)".

"No... It's more like... This is not a mask, it's my head, my mask is attached to my body I..."

"(You're a real bug!)" Green exclaimed excitedly "(But how did it happen?)"

"Maybe it has to do with the dream I had last night. The Lord of the Shades said that I was a gift for a servant of his and that he was going to do something with me, maybe he was referring to this, I mean, he is the only one who can make changes of this type in us."