IMPERIUM INSECTUM

My eyes burned at the sudden explosion of light.

<Aghk!Was it always so bright?> Suddenly, several things moved back and forth in my eyes. Causing the light to dim significantly.

<Woah…. What the hell was that!> 

I paused as I heard my voice.  < I'm speaking the same language as Diva.>

A bulb of joy exploded inside of me. Finally, I will be able to understand everything she says! I spoke a bit more and listened to the lovely clicks and chirps coming out of me. This is so much fun! I've always wanted to learn a new language, and finally, I have! What's really surprising is just how expressive this language is. Every chirp has power and meaning that you don’t notice when you can't understand it.

<Having fun?>

I snapped my head around in a flash to see Diva scrunched up on a window sill.

<Diva!> I yelled! My body moved faster than I expected, sending me flying towards her. Diva was at my side in a flash, where she caught me with ease.

<Easy, there. You’ve just been through a big change, and your body is much faster and stronger than you’re used to..> Diva turned me around and sat me down on the bed.

<You okay?> She said, looking me over.

<Thank you. I'm just very excited.>

<I can tell she.> She said with a smile that she'd never shown me before. I've seen Diva smile plenty of times, and each smile differs depending on what she is doing. If she is playing with the children, her smile is wide to the point it looks childish. However, the smile she has when she is tormenting and torturing people is more feral, like a monster eyeing its prey. But this smile was different. It was unique; it was incredibly soft, and her eyes were wider and more open than ever before. She looked so…happy.

<It feels so long since I last saw you. And if you don’t mind me saying, you’re even hotter now than you were before.>

My cheeks suddenly got very warm<d....d.dont say that.... I don’t even know what I look like any more..>

<Well, let's fix that> Diva quickly pulled me up into a princess carry. I Put my ears against her chest. I could hear the steady beat of her heart accompanied by a heavy, constant drone. It was nice. I don’t know if it’s the change, but being this close to her has never felt so good.

<Here we are.>

Before I even realised it, I was in the bathroom. I thanked her as she settled me gently on the ground

<Are you ready?>

<Ready as I'll ever be.>

Diva smiled as she stepped out of the way of the mirror, revealing my new body. Wow. To say I was different is an understatement. My face had changed slightly. It was still the same sort of shape, but now, these slight gaps were going from the back of my head towards my lips.

<Diva..Wh-> As soon as I opened my mouth, I saw it. The way my mouth had changed. When I talked, it split into segments, allowing it to open wider than normal. I opened my mouth as wide as I could. Orange bits of tissue stretched between the segments, holding it all together. The weirdest thing about all of this was that.. It felt completely natural. Like my mouth had always been like this. I kept going, opening my mouth as wide as I could. Mostly out of curiosity but because I remembered that there was something else special about this mouth. Maybe if I just stretch a bit wide-

Suddenly, a loud, wet noise came through the room, and 4 fangs came out, 2 at the bottom and 2 at the top.

<With a mouth that wide, I can think of a few fun things we can do. Maybe after we are done here>

I rolled my eyes. <You and your insatiable libido. I can tell you’ve done it recently as well.>

<At least 5 times in the last 3 days. But come on. You wouldn’t have me any other way.>

A deep sigh escaped me. <You are right. it makes me happy that you want me so much.>

Diva smiled wider as I turned back to face the mirror. Another thing that stood out about my face was my eyes. to say they were different is an understatement. The whites of my eyes had gone completely black, Whilst my iris had gone pure white followed by a pitch black hole that was a pupil

<what in the..>

I brushed a finger against my eye, and suddenly, the same feeling as earlier went across my eyes, causing the room to brighten slightly; however, now my eyes looked completely normal. I did it again, causing the room to brighten and darken repeatedly. If I had to guess, my eyes have different filters or lenses. Letting in different amounts of light.

<Diva, what does the room look like to you. Is it bright or dark?>

< It's normal. I guess. I don’t know. Due to the extra eyes, I got on my evolution. I can't tell any more. Everything kind of looks the same.>

<I see.> So my eyes aren't as good as divas by the sounds of it, but I feel like there is more to them than what I'm using right now. I guess I'll have to figure it out later. I quickly moved on to the next big change: my mushroom cap. It was no longer red and white but now gnarly black with yellow spots. I put my hand against the black section. It was hard as a rock. Was it armoured, maybe? I moved over to one of the yellow spots and pushed it down, and suddenly, a puff of yellow mushroom spoons came out.

<something tells me it would be a bad idea to breathe that....> Diva said as she inhaled several spores.

<Then why did you->

<Because we Alvearix have an inherent resistance to poison and venoms like how dogs have a good sense of smell and so on. I mean, my body alone is inherently poisonous. If you eat a part of me, you will more than likely die.>

<That makes sense. I guess this means I'll have to be careful around humans. >

<Or don’t. Human lives aren't really that valuable.>

I glanced away from my face and towards the rest of my body. It was still mostly the same shape as my old body; however, there was one very big change, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but I didn’t have any skin. All of my skin was replaced with chitinous armour that matched my skin tone. Unlike Sally, who had armour underneath her skin, mine was very similar to that of divas. The chitin along my arms was the same pale skin tone I had before; however, as it reached the centre of my body, it darkened, and the chitin felt coarser and rougher. My hands and feet hand changed as well, gone where flesh and bone. Now it was all chitin mixed with the same black mesh diva had and a set of tiny sharp chitin that acted like claws.

I looked a little closer at my arms and noticed several ornate etchings down my arm, leading down to the centre of my body. Additionally, my  forearm had bumps that went from the elbow down to the base of my hands

<Does your body not have any weapons?>

I shook my head < I mean, I dont remember picking any, at least. I dont know. There was a lot going on at the time>

<Hmmm, let me try something> Diva moved off from the nearby wall and towards me.

<When I converted Sally, I got a little menu explaining everything I changed. I wonder, can I…>

Diva placed her hand on my head. Her being so close to me like this felt…intense. I don't know why. Since I've woken up. Divas have just been on my mind a lot more. Is this what it's like for Sally and Diva, no our children.

<Ah, that’s it! One second…>

Suddenly, a bright blue table erupted in front of me.

 

 

 

<Wow, so your body is very geared towards magic. I guess it makes sense. I dont see you using blades or anything like that.> Diva held my hand and traced a finger down the many engravings on my arms.

<they suit you very well. Are you happy with your change?>

<Very! I feel like I can finally stand at your side. Thank you, Diva.>

<No, thank you. Instead.>

<Whatever for Diva?>

<For trusting me like this. It’s not...easy to do what you did after I've let you down so many times>

<Diva... what’s gotten into you? You have never let me down. It's very much the opposite. Come on, tell me what happened whilst I was gone..>

<Okay, but let's do it somewhere more comfortable.>

Before I knew it. Diva carried me from the bathroom and placed me gently onto the bed, where she snuggled up. Against me.

<So Diva. What happened.>

She sighed deeply as she started giving me all the details. The tunnel, her new spell and what she did to the nuns, not surprisingly, she quite enjoyed talking about that bit. None of it was surprising or anything to be down about. But then she mentioned Andre and Titus, their meeting, and his demands.

<Diva...I’m so sorry. I should have Been there. I could have done something to help.>

Diva's arms suddenly pulled me a bit closer.

<Thank you. It means a lot. I’m sorry, but it feels like I have made things more difficult for you. It was my plan to work with Titus. It was me taking too long that made him want you. I->

<Diva, stop...okay. You can’t blame yourself for stuff like this. The things with Titus can’t be helped. Even if we delivered on time, I still feel like he would have demanded me.>

<I know, I’m just worried. About you, the children, everything. I like having you and so many children around. It makes me feel....happy, and the idea of losing any of that, especially to him, vexes me beyond belief. The survival and safety of my family is the most important thing to me, and I won't let any man, nation, race or god stop me from keeping that.>

And with those words, it hit me. The weight Diva carries on her shoulder is immense. I sometimes forget that she is the lone patriarch of a race. She has to focus on the survival of her race. If she dies. The Alvearix go with her. And the fact that she was willing to put her life on the line to save me is….I don’t know.

<I’m sorry, Diva... I didn’t know you had so much on your shoulders, but you don’t have to worry about me, okay. I’ll be fine.>

<How can I not worry! Apollinaris, I’ve nearly lost you twice. And now there is some guy who is coming for you. I had planned to leave you alone here, but maybe it would be better if I stayed.>

<You are not staying, Diva. I understand why you are scared. But you need to go. This man is after me. I will deal with him.>

<but->

<Diva, please listen to me, okay? We are together now as a couple. Which means that We share our burdens together. You don’t need to do it all, okay? I'm here to help you remember. And besides, how can I ever hope to stand next to you as an equal if I can't even deal with one man by myself? I know you are worried, but you already have so much on your plate. So let me give you a hand.>

I looked up towards Diva. Her face filled with concern. < Okay, apollinaris. I'll leave it to you.>

<Thank you. Now, let's talk about something more upbeat. It's been a while since we just talked to each other.>

A smile appeared on her face, and soon, we chatted and laughed like we'd never left each other. I've missed these moments. I've missed her.