The Hollow Moth: Reincarnated as a Caterpillar

"Ha. Ha." I narrow my eyes at her. "Goldy, didn't know you could make a joke now."

"Joke?" Her thoughts are flat, unflinching. "What's a joke? I mean it, Nur. You are not coming with us."

The air shifts—heavy, cold. My gut twists. "You… mean it?" My thoughts comes out quieter than I want it to. "Why? Is it because of what Vex said? Because I let that human escape?"

Goldy doesn't answer right away, her golden-red cocoon catching what little light there is. Around us, the brood stays silent—Vex's faint venom-glow pulsing, Spiky's gaze shifting between us, even Tessa's tail frozen mid-sway. That pause, that long pause, says more than words ever could.

Goldy's thoughts soften, but it doesn't lose its edge. "Well… it's not that, and I don't blame you for it. More than half of our brood is already dead. If anything, I'm mostly responsible. It's just… the way it is in this place."

"Tch." Vex's derisive sound cuts through the air like a thorn.

I grit my mandibles. "Then why, Goldy? Why?"

Her reply comes sharp and deliberate. "Because you keep bringing random monsters with us. First Tessa… and now this thing?" Her cocoon tips slightly toward Morven.

"Really?" My tone spikes. "Is that it? You even said yourself before that it wouldn't be a problem—but now it is?"

Tessa's ears flatten, the warmth in her eyes dimming as she stares at Goldy. Her voice is small, almost fragile.
"Am… I a problem to you, Goldy?"

Goldy doesn't even hesitate, but there's no softness in her tone. "No. You're not. I'd love for you to be with us more, Tessa. Really. But at this rate, you two… you're being different." She pauses, her gaze shifting between me and Tessa, lingering just a little too long on Morven. "And that difference… It's going to draw too much attention."

A slow heat creeps into my chest. My spines twitch. "Attention to what?"

Goldy's eyes lock with mine. For a heartbeat, she says nothing, but the silence is heavy.

Finally, she exhales, voice low and weighted with something colder than anger.

"To Mother."

I turn to Victor, my voice sharper than I intended.
"Is it true, Victor?"

His eyes don't meet mine. He just shifts slightly, his bristles trembling in that way they do when he's uneasy.
"I… I hath no remark to offer."

The words hang there like a dead weight, and something in my gut twists. No denial. No defense. Just… nothing.

Goldy's gaze flickers toward him, then back to me. "You already know the answer, Nur. You just don't want to admit it."

My mandibles clench, the silence between us so taut it feels like one wrong word will split it wide open.

Goldy's thoughts are steady, but there's a hard edge beneath them.
"Mother might or might not tolerate outsiders like Tessa or Morven, but that alone is already a risk. It'll be worse if she finds out the truth—that you and Tessa were human in a past life. You know how she feels about humans, Nur. You saw what they did to me… to Rin."

The image flashes in my mind uninvited—Rin's still form, Goldy's wounds from the human raid. My spines bristle without me meaning to.

Goldy doesn't look away, doesn't soften. "If she learns that, it won't matter what we've done for the brood. She'll see only the enemy."

My voice comes out sharper than I mean it to.
"Then why tell me now? Why didn't you say something earlier? Why didn't you tell us back when we revealed we were humans?"

Goldy's spines twitch, a faint ripple of red along their tips.
"Because I hoped it wouldn't matter," she says quietly. "I thought… maybe if you stayed useful enough, if you didn't stand out too much, Mother wouldn't care. But after today… after everything we've been through… you're drawing too much attention, Nur. Both of you are."

Her gaze flicks toward Tessa, and I see the way Tessa's ears pin back, her shoulders tightening.

Goldy's tone hardens. "If I let you come with us now, I'm not just risking myself. I'm risking the whole brood."

"Damnit, Goldy… damnit all."
The words scrape out of me, low and bitter. My spines bristle without me meaning to, a tight coil winding in my chest.

"Fine," I say, each syllable sharp enough to cut. "Go then. Without us."

Goldy doesn't flinch. Vex's expression—or whatever passes for one in that cocoon of his—remains unreadable. Victor looks away. Tessa's ears stay low, her eyes fixed on the ground like if she looks up she'll break. Misa shifts uncomfortably, glancing between us, clearly wanting to speak but biting her tongue. And Morven… Morven just stands there, silent, his gaze unreadable, hands resting loosely at his sides as if weighing the room without taking a side.

No one moves. No one speaks. Just the quiet hum of the cavern and the space stretching wider between us than it ever has before.

"Alright, Nur," Goldy says, her thought steady but too careful, like she's trying not to let anything slip. "Then we'll take our leave and please, be safe. If you plan to enter the Fifth Zone, don't go toward the northern areas. It's Mother's territory."

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The weight in her words isn't lost on me. It's not just a warning—it's a line being drawn, and I can feel it settling like stone between us.

Victor clears his throat, speaking with that deliberate, almost ceremonious tone of his. "Safety is a fragile thing, dear sister. Guard it well, for once it slips, no power nor cunning can buy it back."

Spiky tilts her head, a faint smirk in her voice. "If we're lucky… we might see each other again."

Misa's voice is softer, but sincere. "It was… pleasurable being with you, Sister Nur."

Then there's Vex—no parting words, no farewell. He only turns toward me, holds my gaze for a few seconds, unreadable, before silently floating after Goldy and the others, their forms disappearing into the shadows.

Just like that… my brood… my family… gone.
The cavern feels bigger now, emptier, the echoes of their departure heavier than the silence they left behind.

Tessa walks forward toward me, her steps careful, almost hesitant.
"N–Nur…" she says softly.

"I knew it. I knew it's too good to be true. Me? Having a real, supportive family? Not even in a damn fantasy world."
The words leave me in a low, flat voice, but I know Tessa received every bit of it.

"I got reincarnated in a dungeon full of murderous monsters. I grit my teeth, struggle to survive—every damn day is hell. But you know what? At least I thought I had my own family. We supported each other, fought side by side. Maybe… maybe that's what it would take for me to finally have a real family."

My gaze drops to the ground, claws digging into the dirt.

"But guess what? Even in a hellish world like this… even after everything… it's still not enough for me to get a real family."

The air feels heavier. Tessa doesn't move, doesn't say anything. She just stands there, her ears low, like she's carrying the weight with me.

Tessa's voice trembles. "Nur… stop…"

I don't. I can't.

"Or maybe it's just a me problem," I say, my thoughts spilling out like venom. "Maybe I just fucking suck at being a family."

Her eyes soften, but I can't look at her. I keep my gaze fixed on the ground, because if I meet her eyes right now, I'll break.

Then Tessa snaps, her voice sharp enough to cut through the pit in my chest.

"NUR, IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT! AND YOUR PAST LIFE FAMILY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS ONE!"

The words hit me harder than any axe or spell I've taken today, ringing in my head until I can't tell if I want to yell back or just… stop.

I freeze, my thoughts grinding to a halt under the weight of her voice.
She's glaring at me now, ears high and tail stiff, like she's daring me to say otherwise.

"You think this is about you failing? About you not being 'good enough' for us?" she growls, stepping closer. "Goldy's scared. Vex is stubborn. Victor just hides behind fancy words. None of that is on you."

Her words claw at me, tearing through the tight, knotted mess inside. I want to argue, to cling to the idea that maybe if I'd been different, stronger, better, they'd still be here—but Tessa's eyes won't let me.

"They left because of them, Nur. Not because of you." She takes a breath, softer now. "And I'm still here. I'm not going anywhere."

Tessa continues, "Yeah, I know it hurts—what happened to your little sister, how your parents treated you in our past life… I don't blame you for thinking like that. But hey, you still have me here. And maybe, uh… Morven."

Morven, who had been half-distracted picking at some mana residue in the dirt, looked up. "Huh? Oh. Yes. Me too, apparently."

Tessa shoots him a look, then return her gaze to me, firm but soft. "Point is, you're not alone, Nur. Not then, and not now."

"Yeah… you're right. Tess, you're right. I still have you, after all. I…"
My thoughts stutter, the weight in my chest loosening just a little.
"…sorry."

Tessa's expression softens, and she steps closer, placing a paw gently against my side. "Don't be."

"Besides, you were always like this, weren't you? You always hated home, and I'm the one who had to put up with your yapping and shake you to your senses," Tessa says, her voice carrying that familiar mix of teasing and sincerity.

I let out something between a huff and a laugh, my spines twitching. "Yeah… guess some things don't change, even across worlds."

"Good," she smirks. "Means I know exactly how to deal with you."

For the first time since Goldy's words, the air between us feels a little lighter. Not much—but enough.

---

We let the moments pass, the silence settling like the damp air around us. Eventually, I straighten, brushing off the lingering weight in my chest.

"So," I say, my tone flat but steady, "what's next? Goldy and the others are gone. We can't just sit here rotting."

Tessa shrugs, glancing toward the dark stretch of tunnel ahead. "We still need to reach the Fifth Zone eventually. Mother or no Mother, we'll have to pass through. But…" She pauses, her ears twitching. "We take the long way. Avoid the north like Goldy said."

Morven finally speaks, his voice low but certain. "If we're avoiding the north, that means weaving through the southern choke points. Not exactly safe. But safer than walking into a death sentence."

I shake my head. "Wait—do we even need to go to the Fifth Zone at all? Why not just… get out of this labyrinth altogether? I mean to the human world?"

Morven's gaze flickers toward me. "Too dangerous. You saw what they're capable of, right? Sure, we've met a few friendly ones, but I can't guarantee all of them would react the same way."

"Yeah, you're right there, Morven, but advancing to the Fifth Zone unprepared could also be dangerous. Well, not for Goldy and the others, since it's close to Mother's territory now."

Tessa crosses her arms, her tail swishing behind her. "Which means we don't have the upper hand anymore. No numbers, no backup—just grit."

I click my mandibles in thought. "Hmm… then we stay in this zone. Kill monsters, eat, sleep until we get stronger. Besides, this place is supposed to be for my cocoon stage, and it's perfect for enhancing my psychic senses anyway."

Morven tilts his head slightly. "Also… there might be other humans in this zone too. Especially ones that hold other parts of… me."

"Also," I add, "we eventually have to go to the surface somehow."

Morven glances at me, eyes narrowing slightly. "Why?"

"Well," I say, "I wouldn't want to be in this death trap forever, not gonna lie."

Tessa nods. "Same."

"Besides," I continue, "there might be other parts of you in the surface world too, you know."

Morven's gaze lingers on me for a moment, unreadable. "…You might be right. But if that's the case, finding them won't be simple. The surface isn't any less dangerous—it's just dangerous in… different ways."

"Then we prepare for both," I reply. "For now, we survive here. Then we make our way up."

"Also," I add, "we can just get info about the surface world from humans anyway. Could help whenever we decide to go there—given we find the friendly ones again."

Morven exhales through his nose, almost like a laugh but without the humor. "That's a dangerous bet to make."

"Yeah, well," I shrug, "so is everything else in this place."

Tessa smirks faintly. "Guess we're already good at playing with bad odds."

"Then it's settled," I say. "We train, we hunt, we get stronger. And when the time's right… we go up."

Tessa tilts her head, ears twitching. "Only if we get the right info, right? Otherwise…" She glances deeper into the darkness ahead. "…we press further down."

"Yeah," I nod, "either way, we keep moving forward. Just depends on which direction kills us slower."

Morven mutters, "Comforting," under his breath.

And with that newfound goal, purpose, and resolve, the three of us embark on a journey—towards whatever will let us survive.

End of Chapter 58